Paternal lipopolysaccharide exposure induced intrauterine growth restriction via the inactivation of placental MEST/PI3K/AKT pathway in mice.

Maternal lipopolysaccharide (LPS) exposure during pregnancy has been related to IUGR. Here, we explored whether paternal LPS exposure before mating impaired fetal development. All male mice except controls were intraperitoneally injected with LPS every other day for a total of five injections. The next day after the last LPS, male mice were mated with untreated female mice. Interestingly, fetal weight and crown-rump length were reduced, while the incidence of IUGR was increased in paternal LPS exposure group. Additionally, paternal LPS exposure leaded to poor placental development through causing cell proliferation inhibition and apoptosis. Additional experiment demonstrated that the inactivation of placental PI3K/AKT pathway might be involved in paternal LPS-induced cell proliferation inhibition and apoptosis of trophoblast cells. Furthermore, the mRNA and protein levels of mesoderm specific transcript (MEST), a maternally imprinted gene with paternal expression, were significantly decreased in mouse placentas from paternal LPS exposure. Further analysis showed that paternal LPS exposure caused the inactivation of placental PI3K/AKT pathway and then cell proliferation inhibition and apoptosis might be via down-regulating placental MEST. Overall, our results provide evidence that paternal LPS exposure causes poor placental development and subsequently IUGR may be via down-regulating MEST/PI3K/AKT pathway, and then inducing cell proliferation inhibition and apoptosis in placentas.

Cholic acid exposure during late pregnancy causes placental dysfunction and fetal growth restriction by reactive oxygen species-mediated activation of placental GCN2/eIF2α pathway.

Epidemiological studies suggest that fetal growth restriction (FGR) caused by gestational cholestasis is associated with elevated serum cholic acid (CA). Here, we explore the mechanism by which CA induces FGR. Pregnant mice except controls were orally administered with CA daily from gestational day 13 (GD13) to GD17. Results found that CA exposure decreased fetal weight and crown-rump length, and increased the incidence of FGR in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, CA caused placental glucocorticoid (GC) barrier dysfunction via down-regulating the protein but not the mRNA level of placental 11ß-Hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase-2 (11ß-HSD2). Additionally, CA activated placental GCN2/eIF2α pathway. GCN2iB, an inhibitor of GCN2, significantly inhibited CA-induced down-regulation of 11ß-HSD2 protein. We further found that CA caused excessive reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and oxidative stress in mouse placentas and human trophoblasts. NAC significantly rescued CA-induced placental barrier dysfunction by inhibiting activation of GCN2/eIF2α pathway and subsequent down-regulation of 11ß-HSD2 protein in placental trophoblasts. Importantly, NAC rescued CA-induced FGR in mice. Overall, our results suggest that CA exposure during late pregnancy induces placental GC barrier dysfunction and subsequent FGR may be via ROS-mediated placental GCN2/eIF2α activation. This study provides valuable insight for understanding the mechanism of cholestasis-induced placental dysfunction and subsequent FGR.

Calcitriol Suppressed Isoproterenol-induced Proliferation of Cardiac Fibroblasts via Integrin ß3/FAK/Akt Pathway.

OBJECTIVE: Cardiac fibroblasts (CFs) proliferation and extracellular matrix deposition are important features of cardiac fibrosis. Various studies have indicated that vitamin D displays an anti-fibrotic property in chronic heart diseases. This study explored the role of vitamin D in the growth of CFs via an integrin signaling pathway. METHODS: MTT and 5-ethynyl-2'-deoxyuridine assays were performed to determine cell viability. Western blotting was performed to detect the expression of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) and integrin signaling pathway. The fibronectin was observed by ELISA. Immunohistochemical staining was employed to evaluate the expression of integrin ß3. RESULTS: The PCNA expression in the CFs was enhanced after isoproterenol (ISO) stimulation accompanied by an elevated expression of integrin beta-3 (ß3). The blockade of the integrin ß3 with a specific integrin ß3 antibody reduced the PCNA expression induced by the ISO. Decreasing the integrin ß3 by siRNA reduced the ISO-triggered phosphorylation of FAK and Akt. Both the FAK inhibitor and Akt inhibitor suppressed the PCNA expression induced by the ISO in the CFs. Calcitriol (CAL), an active form of vitamin D, attenuated the ISO-induced CFs proliferation by downregulating the integrin ß3 expression, and phosphorylation of FAK and Akt. Moreover, CAL reduced the increased levels of fibronectin and hydroxyproline in the CFs culture medium triggered by the ISO. The administration of calcitriol decreased the integrin ß3 expression in the ISO-induced myocardial injury model. CONCLUSION: These findings revealed a novel role for CAL in suppressing the CFs growth by the downregulation of the integrin ß3/FAK/Akt pathway.

Construction of a potentially functional lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA network in sepsis by bioinformatics analysis.

Objective: Sepsis is a common disease in internal medicine, with a high incidence and dangerous condition. Due to the limited understanding of its pathogenesis, the prognosis is poor. The goal of this project is to screen potential biomarkers for the diagnosis of sepsis and to identify competitive endogenous RNA (ceRNA) networks associated with sepsis. Methods: The expression profiles of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), microRNAs (miRNAs) and messenger RNAs (mRNAs) were derived from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) dataset. The differentially expressed lncRNAs (DElncRNAs), miRNAs (DEmiRNAs) and mRNAs (DEmRNAs) were screened by bioinformatics analysis. DEmRNAs were analyzed by protein-protein interaction (PPI) network analysis, transcription factor enrichment analysis, Gene Ontology (GO), Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis and Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA). After the prediction of the relevant database, the competitive ceRNA network is built in Cytoscape. The gene-drug interaction was predicted by DGIgb. Finally, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was used to confirm five lncRNAs from the ceRNA network. Results: Through Venn diagram analysis, we found that 57 DElncRNAs, 6 DEmiRNAs and 317 DEmRNAs expressed abnormally in patients with sepsis. GO analysis and KEGG pathway analysis showed that 789 GO terms and 36 KEGG pathways were enriched. Through intersection analysis and data mining, 5 key KEGG pathways and related core genes were revealed by GSEA. The PPI network consists of 247 nodes and 1,163 edges, and 50 hub genes are screened by the MCODE plug-in. In addition, there are 5 DElncRNAs, 6 DEmiRNAs and 28 DEmRNAs in the ceRNA network. Drug action analysis showed that 7 genes were predicted to be molecular targets of drugs. Five lncRNAs in ceRNA network are verified by qRT-PCR, and the results showed that the relative expression of five lncRNAs was significantly different between sepsis patients and healthy control subjects. Conclusion: A sepsis-specific ceRNA network has been effectively created, which is helpful to understand the interaction between lncRNAs, miRNAs and mRNAs. We discovered prospective sepsis peripheral blood indicators and proposed potential treatment medicines, providing new insights into the progression and development of sepsis.

Relationship between smoking and postoperative complications of cervical spine surgery: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

To determine whether smoking has adverse effects on postoperative complications following spine cervical surgery (PROSPERO 2021: CRD42021269648). We searched PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science through 13 July 2021 for cohort and case-control studies that investigated the effect of smoking on postoperative complications after cervical spine surgery. Two researchers independently screened the studies and extracted data according to the selection criteria. The meta-analysis included 43 studies, including 27 case-control studies and 16 cohort studies, with 10,020 patients. Pooled estimates showed that smoking was associated with overall postoperative complications (effect estimate [ES] = 1.99, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.62-2.44, p < 0.0001), respiratory complications (ES = 2.70, 95% CI: 1.62-4.49, p < 0.0001), reoperation (ES = 2.06, 95% CI: 1.50-2.81, p < 0.0001), dysphagia (ES = 1.49, 95% CI: 1.06-2.10, p = 0.022), wound infection (ES = 3.21, 95% CI: 1.62-6.36, p = 0.001), and axial neck pain (ES = 1.98, 95% CI: 1.25-3.12, p = 0.003). There were no significant differences between the smoking and nonsmoking groups in terms of fusion (ES = 0.97, 95% CI: 0.94-1.00, p = 0.0097), operation time (weighted mean difference [WMD] = 0.08, 95% CI: -5.54 to 5.71, p = 0.977), estimated blood loss (WMD = -5.31, 95% CI: -148.83 to 139.22, p = 0.943), length of hospital stay (WMD = 1.01, 95% CI: -2.17 to 4.20, p = 0.534), Visual Analog Scale-neck pain score (WMD = -0.19, 95% CI: -1.19 to 0.81, p = 0.707), Visual Analog Scale-arm pain score (WMD = -0.50, 95% CI: -1.53 to 0.53, p = 0.343), Neck Disability Index score (WMD = 11.46, 95% CI: -3.83 to 26.76, p = 0.142), or Japanese Orthopedic Association Scores (WMD = -1.75, 95% CI: -5.27 to 1.78, p = 0.332). Compared with nonsmokers, smokers seem to be more significantly associated with overall complications, respiratory complications, reoperation, longer hospital stay, dysphagia, wound infection and axial neck pain after cervical spine surgery. It is essential to provide timely smoking cessation advice and explanation to patients before elective cervical spine surgery.

The Effect of Smoking on the Fusion Rate of Spinal Fusion Surgery: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

OBJECTIVE: To conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis comparing the fusion rate after spinal fusion surgery between smokers and nonsmokers. METHODS: We searched PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science electronic databases through March 10, 2021 for cohort and case-control studies assessing the effect of smoking on the fusion rate of spinal fusion surgery. Two researchers independently screened the literature and extracted data according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Statistical analysis was performed using RevMan, version 5.4. RESULTS: A total of 26 studies, including 4 case-control studies and 22 cohort studies, with 4409 patients, were included in the present meta-analysis. Follow-up was at least 6 months. Overall, the pooled results demonstrated that the fusion rate of smokers after spinal fusion was significantly lower than that of nonsmokers. The odds ratio (OR) was 0.55 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.45-0.67, P < 0.0001). Subgroup analyses by fusion level showed the adverse effect of smoking on the fusion rate at single level (OR 0.61, 95% CI 0.41-0.91, P = 0.02) was more significant than that of multiple levels (OR 0.55, 95% CI 0.38-0.80, P = 0.0010). Subgroup analysis according to the type of bone graft revealed an apparent association between smoking and fusion rate in the autograft subgroup (OR 0.47, 95% CI 0.33-0.66, P < 0.0001) but not in the allograft subgroup (OR 0.69, 95% CI 0.47-1.01, P = 0.06). CONCLUSIONS: The fusion rate of smokers is significantly lower than that of nonsmokers in spinal fusion surgery. Smokers should be encouraged to quit smoking to improve the outcome of spinal fusion surgery.

The Combination of Seven Preoperative Markers for Predicting Patients with Gastric Cancer to Be Either Stage IV or Non-Stage IV.

To assess whether preoperative markers could predict the stage of patients with gastric cancer. We analyzed retrospectively the preoperative indicators between stage IV and non-stage IV gastric cancer at the Gastrointestinal Surgery of Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital. A total of 500 patients with gastric cancer were screened. Of all the variables, alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), carbohydrate antigen (CA) 125, carbohydrate antigen (CA) 199, carbohydrate antigen (CA) 724, carbohydrate antigen (CA) 242, thrombin time (TT), prothrombin time (PT), activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), blood platelet count (PLT), white blood cell (WBC) count, C-reactive protein (CRP), neutrophil count (NC), lymphocyte count (LC), neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), hemoglobin (HB), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and ascites were found to have statistical differences between the two groups. Then, Stepwise Discriminant Analysis was conducted to establish a prediction model including 7 indexes (CA724, CA242, TT, PLT, CRP, AST, and ascites). According to the model, 90.6% of original grouped cases were correctly classified and 90.6% of cross-validated grouped cases were correctly classified. We built a discriminant including CA724, CA242, TT, PLT, CRP, AST, and ascites for predicting patients with gastric cancer to be either stage IV or non-stage IV. According to this discriminant, 90.6% of patients could be correctly predicted.

Gel performance in rheology and profile control under low-frequency vibration: coupling application of physical and chemical EOR techniques.

Flowing gel plugging and low-frequency vibration oil extraction technology have been widely applied in low-permeability formation. High probability of overlapping in action spheres of two technologies might lead to poor operating efficiency during gel injection. Study on flowing gel rheological properties under low-frequency vibration was essential, which was carried out indoor with viscosity measurement. Potential dynamic mechanisms were analyzed for the rheological variation. Under low-frequency vibration, gel rheological properties were found to be obviously influenced, with vibration delaying gel cross-linking in induction period, causing a two-stage gel viscosity change in acceleration period, and decreasing gel strength in stable period. Surface of gel system under vibration presented different fluctuating phenomenon from initial harmonic vibrating to heterogeneous fluctuating (droplet separation might appear) to final harmonic vibrating again. Dynamic displacement in unconsolidated sand pack revealed that low-frequency vibration during gel injection might be a measure to achieve deep profile control, with the gel injection depth increased by 65.8 % compared with the vibration-free sample. At last, suggestions for field test were given in the paper to achieve lower injection friction and better gel plugging efficiency.

An Efficient Multiple Variants Coordination Framework for Differential Evolution.

Differential evolution (DE) is recognized as a simple but powerful algorithm in the family of evolutionary algorithms. Over the past two decades, many advanced DE variants with significantly improved performance have been proposed. However, the variants may only achieve the best performance on a certain type of functions. Moreover, a specific optimizer may not always be suitable for the whole optimization process. To overcome these weaknesses, this paper proposes a multiple variants coordination (MVC) framework with two mechanisms, namely, the multiple variants adaptive selecting mechanism and the multiple variants adaptive solutions preserving mechanisms (MV-APM). In MVC, the evolution process is divided into nonoverlap segments with equal numbers of generations. Each segment includes the learning generations (LGs) and executing generations (EGs). In LG, all the candidate DE optimizers are utilized independently. The best performing optimizer is determined and then utilized in EG in the same segment. Furthermore, MV-APM maintains the population by adaptively preserving promising solutions generated by multiple optimizers. Numerical experiments on the CEC2014 benchmark suit show that the proposed MVC framework can significantly improve the performance of the baseline algorithms and the resulted algorithm significantly outperform the start-of-the-art and up-to-date DEs. Moreover, as a general framework, MVC can also be applied to coordinate multiple improved DE variants to further enhance their performance.

Extralevator abdominoperineal excision for rectal cancer with biological mesh for pelvic floor reconstruction.

GOAL: To share our experience of extra-levator abdominoperineal excision (ELAPE) for low rectal cancer, focusing on perineal repair with biological mesh. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed medical records of all patients with low rectal cancer who underwent the ELAPE procedure using biological mesh for perineal repair at the Gastrointestinal Surgery of Nanjing Drum Power Hospital between January 2013 and September 2015. All patients were closely followed up to now. RESULTS: A total of 17 patients underwent ELAPE for low rectal cancer was screened. Of these, 15 patients had primary rectal cancer, 1 had local recurrent rectal cancer, and 1 had malignant melanoma. All patients underwent ELAPE successfully without intestinal perforation and got stage I healing in perineum wound without incision infection, dehiscence, cystocele perinealis, urethral dysfunction or intestinal obstruction. Perineum wound hematoma developed in just one patient and had successful percutaneous drainage in one week. During the follow-up, there was no recurrence, perineal hernia, sexual dysfunction, urinary retention, or bowel obstruction. Two patients described slight pain in the sacrococcygeal region without special handling. CONCLUSION: ELAPE is applicable to low rectal cancer. Biological mesh reconstruction of perineal defect seems to be safe and effective, with high patient compliance.

Dermatosis as the initial presentation of gastric cancer: two cases.

Paraneoplastic dermatoses are known to be certain dermatosis related with tumor. The common paraneoplastic dermatoses are acanthosis nigricans, acquired ichthyosis, dermatomyositis, erythroderma, and so on. Here we report two cases of paraneoplastic dermatoses associated with gastric cancer. One case was a 57-year-old man with dermatomyositis and proved to be associated with gastric cancer through stomachoscopy. The other was a 66-year-old man with erythroderma and proved to be associated with gastric cancer through stomachoscopy. Both cases were treated with radical total gastrectomy with lymphadenectomy (D2) and esophagojejunostomy of Roux-en-Y. The skin symptom of both cases had improved a lot but still existed after operation. Paraneoplastic dermatoses can be seen as the early manifestation of visceral carcinomas. As a result, gastric cancers should be excluded in the patients with paraneoplastic dermatoses.

[Studies on the transcriptomes of non-model organisms].

The transcriptome represents the whole complement of RNA transcripts in cells or tissues and reflects the expressed genes at various life stages, tissue types, physiological states, and environmental conditions. Transcriptome analysis provides a comprehensive understanding of gene expression and its regulation. Non-model organism has many interesting traits of which model organisms lack, and the study of its transcriptome has great significance in solving the questions of genetic evolution, genetic breeding, ecology and so on. Because of absence of reference genome information, and traditional transcriptome research methods which are complicated to operate, long experimental period and costly, slow progress has been made in the research of non-model organism transcriptome. Fortunately, RNA sequencing (RNA-seq), the next-generation sequencing technology, has completely changed the way of transcriptome study, becoming an advanced technology on the investigation of non-model organism transcriptome. In this paper, we give a summary of the non-model organism transcriptome research using RNA-seq in recent years and briefly describe its general flow and principles from aspects of sample preparation, high throughput DNA sequencing, and bioinformatics analysis. Finally, questions that are still open and awaiting further research are also discussed.

[Research on quality standards of herbs of Peganum harmala].

OBJECTIVE: To establish the quality standards of the herbs of Peganum harmala. METHOD: According to the Chinese Pharmacopoeia (2010 version, volume 1) and its appendix method, the water, total ash, acid insoluble ash, water-soluble extractives, and heavy metal were analyzed for herbs of P. harmala. TLC method was used to separate harmaline, harmine and vasicine from the herb samples by mixture of ethyl acetate-methanol-ammonia (10: 1.5: 0.5) as a developing solvent on high performance silica gel precoated plate (HSGF254) and to identify them inspected under UV 366 nm, visualized by spraying with both Dragendorff reagent, and by bioautographic assay. In the HPLC method, vasicine was separated on a C18 (4.6 mm x 250 mm, 5 microm) column with metnanol-0.1% trifluoroacetic acid (15:85) as the mobile phase and detected at at 280 nm. RESULT: In the TLC procedures, 254 nm fluorescent and bioautographic assay for the detection of acetylcholinesterase inhibitor can be used for the qualitative identification of the active ingredients. For the HPLC quantitation method, the calibration curve of vasicine displayed ideal linearity over the range of 0.7923-792.3 mg x L(-1) with the regression equation of Y = 18,227X - 24.879 (r = 0.9999). The average recovery of vasicine was 101.6% with a RSD of 1.9%. The RSD values of intra-day and inter-day precision were less than 2%. The content of vasicine in 10 batches of herbs of P. harmala fluctuates between 0.23% and 1.47%. CONCLUSION: The results indicated that the limit of vasicine was not lower than 0.6%, and the water, total ash, acid insoluble ash, and water-soluble extractives were not more than 10.0%, 20.0%, 1.7%, and 30.0%, respectively. The heavy metal of plumbum, cadmium, arsenic, mercury, and copper were not more than 5, 3, 2, 2, and 20 mg x kg(-1), respectively. The qualitative and quantitative method established was suitable for the quality evaluation and assessment of herbs of P. harmala.

Co-expression of nuclear and cytoplasmic HMGB1 is inversely associated with infiltration of CD45RO+ T cells and prognosis in patients with stage IIIB colon cancer.

BACKGROUND: The intratumoral infiltration of T cells, especially memory T cells, is associated with a favorable prognosis in early colorectal cancers. However, the mechanism underlying this process remains elusive. This study examined whether high-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1), a damage-associated molecular pattern (DAMP) molecule, is involved in the infiltration of T cells and disease progression in locally advanced colon cancer. METHODS: Seventy-two cases of pathologically-confirmed specimens were obtained from patients with stage IIIB (T3N1M0) colon cancer who underwent radical resection between January 1999 and May 2002 at the Cancer Center of Sun Yat-Sen University. The density of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) within the tumor tissue and the expression of HMGB1 in the cancer cells were examined via immunohistochemical analysis. The phenotype of CD45RO+ cells was confirmed using a flow cytometric assay. The association between HMGB1 expression, the density of TILs, and the 5-year survival rate were analyzed. RESULTS: The density of CD45RO+ T cells within the tumor was independently prognostic, although a higher density of CD3+ T cells was also associated with a favorable prognosis. More importantly, the expression of HMGB1 was observed in both the nucleus and the cytoplasm (co-expression pattern) in a subset of colon cancer tissues, whereas nuclear-only expression of HMGB1 (nuclear expression pattern) existed in most of the cancer tissues and normal mucosa. The co-expression pattern of HMGB1 in colon cancer cells was inversely associated with the infiltration of both CD3+ and CD45RO+ T cells and 5-year survival rates. CONCLUSIONS: This study revealed that the co-expression of HMGB1 is inversely associated with the infiltration of CD45RO+ T cells and prognosis in patients with stage IIIB colon cancer, indicating that the distribution patterns of HMGB1 might contribute to the progression of colon cancer via modulation of the local immune response.

[Influence of tumor-associated macrophages on progression and prognosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma].

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) density is negatively correlated to prognosis of lung cancer, breast cancer, and so on, and positively correlated to prognosis of gastric cancer and some colorectal cancer. This study was to investigate the influence of TAMs on the progression and prognosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). METHODS: Immunohistochemistry was adopted to detect the expression of CD68, a marker of TAMs, in 60 specimens of NPC. Macrophages were cocultured respectively with supernatant liquid of NPC cell lines CNE-1 and CNE-2 and lung cancer cell line 95D for 1 day or 6 days, and then activated by LPS for 1 day. The expression of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and interleukin-10 (IL-10), secreted by TAMs after coculture of TAMs and supernatant liquid of NPC cell lines CNE-1 and CNE-2, was detected by ELISA. The macrophages co-cultured with supernatant of lung cancer cell line 95D was used as positive control; normal macrophages were used as negative control. RESULTS: The 3-year tumor-freely survival rate was significantly higher in high TAMs density group than in low TAMs density group (85.7% vs. 56.3%, P<0.05). After coculture, the expression levels of TNF-alpha and IL-10 in supernatant were lower in CNE-1 group and CNE-2 group than in 95D group (73 pg/ml, 64 pg/ml vs. 7,794 pg/ml, P=0.001; 1 pg/ml, 1 pg/ml vs. 94 pg/ml, P=0.002); after LPS activation, the expression levels of TNF-alpha and IL-10 were higher in CNE-1 group and CNE-2 group than in 95D group (6,905 pg/ml, 6,788 pg/ml vs. 137 pg/ml, P=0.001; 87 pg/ml, 99 pg/ml vs. 416 pg/ml, P=0.015). But the difference between NPC cell lines and normal macrophages was not significant. CONCLUSIONS: TAMs density is positively correlated to the prognosis of NPC. The cytokines secreted by TAMs trend to kill tumor cells and promote antitumor immune response.

[In vitro flowering of cultures from a hybrid of Cymbidium goeringii and C. hybridium].

Wild-type female spring orchid (Cymbidium goeringii) was crossed with male Cymbidium hybridium. Over eight hundred protocorm clones were obtained from hybrid offsprings. Among them, one protocorm clone was identified to differentiate visible floral buds two months after subculture in vitro (Plate I). The protocorms and shoots derived from this clone were further used in studying the effects of abscisic acid (ABA) and paclobutrazol (PP333) pretreatment as well as different concentrations of 6-benzyladenine (6-BA) on floral bud differentiation. The optimum combination of hormones in floral bud induction was 6-BA 1.0 mg/L and NAA 0.1 mg/L, and total frequency of floral bud formation was up to 31% (Table 1). The optimum length of shoots used in floral bud induction was 1-2 cm, and the frequency of floral bud formation was 19% (Table 1). The increase in total frequency was not significant in floral bud induction from protocorms and shoots with length of 1-2 cm or 2-4 cm cultured on MS medium containing 6-BA 1.0 mg/L and NAA 0.1 mg/L after pretreatment on MS medium supplemented with ABA 0.5 mg/L and PP333 0.5 mg/L for 35 d (Table 2).

[Genetic polymorphism of 3 STR loci of CSF1PO, TPOX and TH01 in Chinese Sibo population].

OBJECTIVE: To obtain allele and genotype frequencies and related forensic data of CF1PO, TPOX and TH01 loci in Chinese Xinjiang Sibo population. METHODS: Genomic DNA from peripheral blood mononuclear cells of normal Chinese Xinjing Sibo population was used as template, and CSF1PO, TPOX and TH01 fragments were amplified by PCR. The PCR products were analyzed by 4% denaturing PAGE and detected using silver stain detection. RESULTS: Nine alleles were found at CSF1PO locus, eight alleles at TPOX locus and eight alleles at TH01 locus in Chinese Sibo population. All the 3 loci complied with Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. The heterozygosities were 0.9426, 0.8361 and 0.8853, and the polymorphism information contents were 0.8298, 0.7213 and 0.7626 for CSF1PO, TPOX and TH01, respectively. CONCLUSION: The data on the alleles frequency of these 3 STR loci might be used for individual identification and paternity identification and for genetic researches in Chinese Sibo population.