Observations of linear aggregation behavior in rotifers (Brachionus calyciflorus).

Linear aggregation is present in some animals, such as the coordinated movement of ants and the migration of caterpillars and spinylobsters, but none has been reported on rotifers. The rotifers were collected and clone cultured in the laboratory at 25 ± 1°C, under natural light (light intensity ~130 lx, L:D = 14:10). The culture medium(pH = 7.3) was formulated as described by Suga et al., and rotifers were fed on the micro algae Scenedesmus obliquus grown in HB-4 medium to the exponential growth stage. When density was high (150 individuals ml-1), the behavior of rotifers was observed using a stereo microscope (Motic ES-18TZLED). In this paper, linear aggregation in Brachionus calyciflorus was found for the first time, and experiments were carried out to verify the correlation between linear aggregation and culture density of B. calyciflorus. With the increase of density, the number of aggregations increase, the number of individuals in the aggregation increased, and the maintenance time of the aggregation was also increased. Therefore, we speculate that the formation of aggregates is related to density and may be a behavioral signal of density increase, which may transmit information between density increase and formation of dormant eggs.

Complete mitochondrial genome of Brachionus rubens from wuhu, China (Rotifera, Brachionidae).

The complete mitochondrial genome of Brachionus rubens was sequenced using primers design, clone culture, DNA extraction, LONG-PCR amplification, purification and clone sequencing. We found that it is composed of two circular chromosomes, designated mtDNA I (11,398 bp) and mtDNA II (12,820 bp). The gene content of the B. rubens mitochondrial genome was similar to that of the previously reported mitochondrial genome of B. plicatilis. It contained 22 tRNA genes, 2 rRNA genes and 12 protein-coding genes (PCGs). Four of the 12 PCGs had an incomplete stop codons, TA（cob, atp6, nd3）or T(cox3). The A + T content of B. rubens mitochondrial genome was apparently higher (mtDNA-I 70.2% and mtDNA II 70.4%) than that of the mitochondrial genome of B. plicatilis (mtDNA-I 63.9% and mtDNA-II 62.9%).

The complete mitochondrial genome of the Zacco platypus, Huangshan, China (Cypriniformes: Cyprinidae, subfamily Daninninae).

The mitochondrial genome of Zacco platypus (Cypriniformes: Cyprinidae, subfamily Daninninae) is a circular molecule of 16,611 bp in length, containing 37 typical animal mitochondrial genes: 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 2 ribosomal RNAs, 22 transfer RNAs and a D-loop region. Its gene order and arrangement are identical to the common type found in most fish mitogenomes. All PCGs start with a typical ATG codon except for COI which use GTG as start codon; all PCGs terminate in the common stop codon TAA or TAG, except for the COII which use single T as stop codon. The D-loop region is 928 bp long, located between tRNAPro and tRNAPhe genes. It contains some structures of repeated motifs and microsatellite-like elements characteristic of the Cyprinidae.

The complete mitochondrial genome of the Acrossocheilus fasciatus (Cyprinidae, Barbinae).

The mitochondrial genome of Acrossocheilus fasciatus (Cyprinidae, Barbinae) is a circular molecule of 16,589 bp in length, containing 37 typical animal mitochondrial genes: 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 2 r RNAs, 22 t RNAs and a non-coding D-loop region. Its gene order and arrangement are identical to the common type found in most fish mitogenomes. All PCGs start with a typical ATG codon except for COI which use GTG as a start codon; all PCGs terminate in the common stop codon TAA or TAG, except for the ND2, ND3, ND4, COII, Cytb and COIII which use single T or TA as a stop codon. The non-coding D-loop region is 938 bp long, located between tRNAPro and tRNAPhe genes. It contains some structures of repeated motifs and microsatellite-like elements characteristic of the Cyprinidae.

Analysis of SOX4 gene mutation in non-small cell lung cancer tissues.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the mutation of SOX4 gene in the different tumor tissues with pathological stages and types of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and to explore its roles in the progression of lung carcinoma. METHODS: The SOX4 gene HMG-box of lung cancer tissues and paracancerous tissues were amplified by PCR, 20 cases shown difference by single strand conformation polymorphyism analysis were sequenced. The DNA sequences were compared with normal sequences by software Clustal and DNAStar. RESULTS: In the 90 NSCLCs, 18 cases were found with mutations of SOX4 gene and were sequenced, and there were 2 mutational points. Seven were detected from squamous cell carcinoma, five from adenocarcinoma and six from adeno-squamous. Three were obtained from tissues in stage I, five in stage II, six in stage III, and four in stage IV. The mutation rate in stage II, III and IV was significantly higher than that in stage I. CONCLUSION: SOX4 gene mutation is not associated with pathology histological types of tumor, but it is significantly associated with pathological stages and the mutation rate increases gradually, which has relation with advanced pathological stages in NSCLC. The results indicate that the SOX4 gene mutations might be related in the lung carcinogenesis and tumor metastasis. The study also provides molecular data for study the links between the mutation of SOX gene and human oncogenesis.