Functional analysis of the exocyst subunit BcExo70 in Botrytis cinerea.

Botrytis cinerea is one of the most important saprophytic plant pathogenic fungi. The exocyst complex and exocytosis was demonstrated to be involved in fungal development and plant infection. Here, we investigated the function of an exocyst subunit gene Bcexo70 in B. cinerea. The results show that knockout of the Bcexo70 gene significantly reduced the fungal growth and hindered the production of conidia and sclerotia. The Bcexo70 deletion strains showed a severe decrease in virulence toward tomato leaves and reduced secretion of cell wall-degrading enzyme. Confocal and electronic microscopic observation showed that the vesicles in the Bcexo70 mutants were enlarged and scattered in the cytoplasm compared to the regular distribution in the hyphal tip in wild-type strain. This study showed that the exocyst gene Bcexo70 is crucial for fungal growth, conidiation and pathogenicity in B. cinerea.

Complete chloroplast genome of red seaweed Halymenia maculata (J. Agardh, 1885).

In this study, we first assembled and characterized the complete chloroplast genome of red seaweed Halymenia maculata. It is 190,431 bp in length, with an AT content of 70.56%. In total, 122 genes were identified, and they consisted of 87 protein-coding genes, 33 tRNA genes, and two rRNA genes. The chloroplast genome of H. maculata did not show an obvious quadripartite structure. A total of five microsatellites (SSRs) were identified in the genome using MISA. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that H. maculata was first clustered with Grateloupia filicina and Grateloupia taiwanensis in a monophyletic clade that provides useful data for the phylogeny and taxonomy of Rhodymeniophycidae.

Complete chloroplast genome of green alga Caulerpa serrulata (Forsskål) J.Agardh, 1837.

The complete chloroplast genome of Caulerpa serrulata from South China Sea has been assembled and characterized for the first time. The circular chloroplast genome was 177,848 bp in length, with a GC content of 33.80%. It contained 117 genes, which included 78 protein-coding genes, 37 tRNA genes, and 2 ribosomal RNA genes. Like other species in Caulerpa, the chloroplast genome of C. serrulata did not demonstrate a typical quadripartite structure. A total of 35 microsatellites (SSRs) were identified in the genome using MISA. Phylogenetic analysis showed that C. serrulata was closer to Caulerpa cupressoides, which further clarified the phylogenetic relationships of species in Caulerpa.

Complete chloroplast genome of green alga Caulerpa sertularioides f. longipes (J.Agardh) Collins, 1909.

The complete chloroplast (cp) genome of Caulerpa sertularioides f. longipes was first assembled and characterized using Illumina pair-end sequencing from the South China Sea. It is 133,626 bp long, with a GC content of 32.94%. In total, 92 genes were identified in the genome, and they consisted 60 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 30 tRNA genes, and 2 rRNA genes. Like other species in Caulerpa, the whole cp genome of C. sertularioides f. longipes did not demonstrate an obvious quadripartite structure. A total of 31 microsatellites (SSRs) were identified in the cp genome using MISA. A phylogenetic tree revealed that C. sertularioides f. longipes was closer to Caulerpa cupressoides, which further clarified the phylogenetic relationships of species in Caulerpa.

Complete mitochondrial genome of the fish leech Zeylanicobdella arugamensis.

The complete mitochondrial genome of the fish leech Zeylanicobdella arugamensis from China has been determined for the first time in this study. It was 16,161 bp in length and consisted of 22 tRNA genes, two rRNA genes, 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), and one control region. The nucleotide base content of Z. arugamensis mitogenome was 35.5% A, 10.4% C, 10.4% G, and 43.7% T. Start codon ATG was used in PCGs, while most of the termination codons are incomplete T or TA. The tRNA genes were ranged from 59 bp (tRNA-Arg and tRNA-Glu) to 69 bp (tRNA-Gln and tRNA-Cys) in length. The phylogenetic tree was constructed and suggested that Z. arugamensis has closer relationship to the Poecilobdella manillensis, Erpobdella octoculata, Hirudo hipponia, Whitmania acranulata, Whitmania pigra, Whitmania Laevis, Hirudo verbaba, and Hirudo medicinalis, and that they constitute a sister group.

Involvement of Antizyme Characterized from the Small Abalone Haliotis diversicolor in Gonadal Development.

The small abalone Haliotis diversicolor is an economically important mollusk that is widely cultivated in Southern China. Gonad precocity may affect the aquaculture of small abalone. Polyamines, which are small cationic molecules essential for cellular proliferation, may affect gonadal development. Ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) and antizyme (AZ) are essential elements of a feedback circuit that regulates cellular polyamines. This paper presents the molecular cloning and characterization of AZ from small abalone. Sequence analysis showed that the cDNA sequence of H. diversicolor AZ (HdiODCAZ) consisted of two overlapping open reading frames (ORFs) and conformed to the +1 frameshift property of the frame. Thin Layer chromatography (TLC) analysis suggested that the expressed protein encoded by +1 ORF2 was the functional AZ that targets ODC to 26S proteasome degradation. The result demonstrated that the expression level of AZ was higher than that of ODC in the ovary of small abalone. In addition, the expression profiles of ODC and AZ at the different development stages of the ovary indicated that these two genes might be involved in the gonadal development of small abalone.

[Observation on therapeutic effect of acupuncture combined with western medicine on paralytic strabismus].

OBJECTIVE: To find out a better therapy for paralytic strabismus. METHODS: Ninety cases were randomly divided into an acupuncture-medicine group, an acupuncture group, a western medicine group, 30 cases in each group. The acupuncture-medicine group were treated with acupuncture at Shuigou (GV 26), Fengchi (GB 20), Yifeng (TE 17), Yiming (EX-HN 14), Taiyang (EX-HN 5), Jingming (BL 1), Cuanzhu (BL 2), etc. intramuscular injection of Vit B1 and Vit B12, and oral administration of ATP; the acupuncture group were treated with simple acupuncture, and the western medicine group were treated with simple western medicine. Their therapeutic effects were compared. RESULTS: The cured rate of 66.7% in the acupuncture-medicine group was significantly higher than 26.7% in the acupuncture group and 26.7% in the western medicine group (both P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Acupuncture combined with western medicine has obvious therapeutic effect, which is better than that of simple acupuncture or simple western medicine.