Genome-wide association study of plant color in Sorghum bicolor.

Introduction: Sorghum plant color is the leaf sheath/leaf color and is associated with seed color, tannin and phenol content, head blight disease incidence, and phytoalexin production. Results: In this study, we evaluated plant color of the sorghum mini core collection by scoring leaf sheath/leaf color at maturity as tan, red, or purple across three testing environments and performed genome-wide association mapping (GWAS) with 6,094,317 SNPs markers. Results and Discussion: Eight loci, one each on chromosomes 1, 2, 4, and 6 and two on chromosomes 5 and 9, were mapped. All loci contained one to three candidate genes. In qPC5-1, Sobic.005G165632 and Sobic.005G165700 were located in the same linkage disequilibrium (LD) block. In qPC6, Sobic.006G149650 and Sobic.006G149700 were located in the different LD block. The single peak in qPC6 covered one gene, Sobic.006G149700, which was a senescence regulator. We found a loose correlation between the degree of linkage and tissue/organ expression of the underlying genes possibly related to the plant color phenotype. Allele analysis indicated that none of the linked SNPs can differentiate between red and purple accessions whereas all linked SNPs can differentiate tan from red/purple accessions. The candidate genes and SNP markers may facilitate the elucidation of plant color development as well as molecular plant breeding.

The protective effects of icariin against testicular dysfunction in type 1 diabetic mice Via AMPK-mediated Nrf2 activation and NF-κB p65 inhibition.

BACKGROUND: Owing to the early suffering age and the rising incidence of type 1 diabetes (T1D), the resulting male reproductive dysfunction and fertility decline have become a disturbing reality worldwide, with no effective strategy being available. Icariin (ICA), a flavonoid extracted from Herba Epimedium, has been proved its promising application in improving diabetes-related complications including diabetic nephropathy, endothelial dysfunction and erectile dysfunction. Ensuring the future reproductive health of children and adolescents with T1D is crucial to improve global fertility. However, its roles in the treatment of T1D-induced testicular dysfunction and the potential mechanisms remain elusive. PURPOSE: The purpose of this present study was to investigate whether ICA ameliorates T1D-induced testicular dysfunction as well as its potential mechanisms. METHODS: T1D murine model was established by intraperitoneal injection of STZ with or without treated with ICA for eleven weeks. Morphological, pathological and serological experiments were used to determine the efficacy of ICA on male reproductive function of T1D mice. Western blotting, Immunohistochemistry analysis, qRT-PCR and kit determination were performed to investigated the underlying mechanisms. RESULTS: We found that replenishment of ICA alleviated testicular damage, promoted testosterone production and spermatogenesis, ameliorated apoptosis and blood testis barrier impairment in streptozotocin-induced T1D mice. Functionally, ICA treatment triggered adenosine monophosphate protein kinase (AMPK) activation, which in turn inhibited the nuclear translocation of nuclear factor kappa B p65 (NF-κB p65) to reduce inflammatory responses in the testis and activated nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2(Nrf2), thereby enhancing testicular antioxidant capacity. Further studies revealed that supplementation with the AMPK antagonist Compound C or depletion of Nrf2 weakened the beneficial effects of ICA on testicular dysfunction of T1D mice. CONCLUSION: Collectively, these results demonstrate the feasibility of ICA in the treatment of T1D-induced testicular dysfunction, and reveal the important role of AMPK-mediated Nrf2 activation and NF-κB p65 inhibition in ICA-associated testicular protection during T1D.

Iodine status and associated dietary factors among preschool children in Shanghai.

Children aged 3-6 years undergo a critical stage of growth and development and are irreversibly affected by their iodine status. In order to reveal iodine status in preschool children, we detected iodine concentrations in urine samples from 1382 children aged 3-6 years based on a cross-sectional study. The median urinary iodine concentration (UIC) of children was 193.36 µg/L and was 336.96 µg/g·Cr corrected for creatinine. The study developed a link between dietary habits and iodine status, revealing that regular calcium supplement (OR: 1.79, (95% CI: 1.03, 3.12)) increased deficiency risk, while moderate seafood consumption (OR: 0.60, (95% CI: 0.38, 0.95)) decreased it. Additionally, modest intake of shellfish (OR: 0.58, (95% CI: 0.33, 1.00)), vegetables (OR: 0.61, (95% CI: 0.38, 0.97)), and eggs (OR: 0.53, (95% CI: 0.30, 0.95)) was found to protect against excess iodine. The findings underline the importance of balanced diets and various nutrients' roles in preschoolers' iodine status.

[Determination of kojic acid in fermented foods by solid-phase extraction coupled with ultra performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry].

Kojic acid naturally appears in fermented foods and can be formed during the aerobic fermentation process induced by Aspergillus and Penicillium fungi. It is widely used in the food industry because it exhibits antibacterial and antifungal properties and does not affect food taste. However, recent studies indicate that kojic acid may be a potential carcinogen. Therefore, assessing the health risks of kojic acid in fermented foods are of great importance, and developing a sensitive and accurate analytical method for this compound is a significant endeavor. Much efforts have been devoted to the detection of kojic acid using electrochemistry, high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), and high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS). HPLC and HPLC-MS/MS are the analytical techniques most often employed for this purpose. Of these two methods, HPLC-MS/MS displays excellent sensitivity and is the optimal selective technique. Pretreatment is usually necessary for kojic acid determination because of the complex matrix effects of fermented foods. However, few researches on the determination of kojic acid in food are available, and, to the best of our knowledge, the determination of kojic acid using solid-phase extraction (SPE) pretreatment has not been reported yet. Herein, a convenient, sensitive, and accurate method was developed to determine kojic acid in fermented foods using solid-phase extraction-ultra performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (SPE-UPLC-MS/MS). The pretreatment conditions, such as the extraction solvent, cartridge, rinse solvent, and eluent, were systematically optimized. The samples, including soy sauce, vinegar, liquor, sauce, fermented soya bean, and fermented bean curd, were extracted with 0.1% formic acid-absolute ethyl alcohol and purified using a PRiME HLB cartridge. Kojic acid was separated using an ACQUITY UPLC® BEH C18 column (100 mm×2.1 mm, 1.7 µm) with formic acid-acetonitrile (1∶999, v/v) and formic acid-5 mmol/L ammonium acetate (1∶999, v/v) solutions as the mobile phases under gradient elution mode. MS was performed in electrospray positive ionization (ESI+) and multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) modes. An internal standard method was used for quantification. Under optimized conditions, good linearity was achieved at mass concentrations of 5.0-100.0 µg/L, with a correlation coefficient (r) of 0.9994. The limits of detection and quantification of the method for kojic acid were 2-5 µg/kg and 6-15 µg/kg, respectively. Good recoveries of 86.8%-111.7%, intra-day precisions of 1.0%-7.9% (n=6), and inter-day precisions of 2.7%-10.2% (n=5) were also obtained. The matrix effect was evaluated by establishing a matrix-matching calibration curve, and weak inhibitory effects were found in vinegar and liquor; moderate inhibitory effects in fermented bean curd, fermented soya bean, and soy sauce; and a strong inhibitory effect in sauce. The developed method was used to detect kojic acid in 240 fermented foods, and the results showed that the detection rate of vinegar was the highest, followed by liquor, sauce, soy sauce, fermented soya bean, and fermented bean curd, the contents were 5.69-2272 µg/kg. Matrix interferences can be significantly reduced by optimizing the pretreatment and detection procedures. The proposed method is sensitive, accurate, and can be used to analyze kojic acid in fermented foods.

A chromosome-scale genome sequence of sudangrass (Sorghum sudanense) highlights the genome evolution and regulation of dhurrin biosynthesis.

KEY MESSAGE: Sudangrass is more similar to US commercial sorghums than to cultivated sorghums from Africa sequence-wise and contain significantly lower dhurrin than sorghums. CYP79A1 is linked to dhurrin content in sorghum. Sudangrass [Sorghum sudanense (Piper) Stapf] is a hybrid between grain sorghum and its wild relative S. bicolor ssp. verticilliflorum and is grown as a forage crop due to its high biomass production and low dhurrin content compared to sorghum. In this study, we sequenced the sudangrass genome and showed that the assembled genome was 715.95 Mb with 35,243 protein-coding genes. Phylogenetic analysis with whole genome proteomes demonstrated that the sudangrass genome was more similar to US commercial sorghums than to its wild relatives and cultivated sorghums from Africa. We confirmed that at seedling stage, sudangrass accessions contained significantly lower dhurrin as measured by hydrocyanic acid potential (HCN-p) than cultivated sorghum accessions. Genome-wide association study identified a QTL most tightly associated with HCN-p and the linked SNPs were located in the 3' UTR of Sobic.001G012300 which encodes CYP79A1, the enzyme that catalyzes the first step of dhurrin biosynthesis. As in other grasses such as maize and rice, we also found that copia/gypsy long terminal repeat (LTR) retrotransposons were more abundant in cultivated than in wild sorghums, implying that crop domestication in the grasses was accompanied by increased copia/gypsy LTR retrotransposon insertions in the genomes.

Chronic environmental inorganic arsenic exposure causes social behavioral changes in juvenile zebrafish (Danio rerio).

Arsenic (As) is a metalloid commonly found worldwide. Environmental As exposure may cause potential health hazards and behavioral changes in humans and animals. However, the effects of environmental As concentrations on social behavior, especially during the juvenile stage, are unclear. In this study, we observed behavioral changes in juvenile zebrafish after 28 days of exposure to inorganic As (NaAsO2 100 and 500 ppb) in water, especially anxiety and social deficits. Additionally, the level of oxidative stress in the zebrafish brain after As treatment increased, the content of dopamine (DA) decreased, and the transcription level of genes involved in DA metabolism with the activity of monoamine oxidase (MAO) increased. Oxidative stress is a recognized mechanism of nerve damage induced by As exposure. The zebrafish were exposed to N-acetylcysteine (NAC) to reduce As exposure-induced oxidative stress. The results showed improvements in social behavior, DA content, MAO activity, and gene transcription in zebrafish. In conclusion, environmental As exposure can induce behavioral abnormalities, such as anxiety and social deficits in zebrafish, which may be caused by As-induced oxidative stress altering gene transcription levels, causing an increase in MAO activity and a decrease in DA.

Genome-wide association mapping identifies an SNF4 ortholog that impacts biomass and sugar yield in sorghum and sugarcane.

Sorghum is a feed/industrial crop in developed countries and a staple food elsewhere in the world. This study evaluated the sorghum mini core collection for days to 50% flowering (DF), biomass, plant height (PH), soluble solid content (SSC), and juice weight (JW), and the sorghum reference set for DF and PH, in 7-12 testing environments. We also performed genome-wide association mapping with 6 094 317 and 265 500 single nucleotide polymorphism markers in the mini core collection and the reference set, respectively. In the mini core panel we identified three quantitative trait loci for DF, two for JW, one for PH, and one for biomass. In the reference set panel we identified another quantitative trait locus for PH on chromosome 6 that was also associated with biomass, DF, JW, and SSC in the mini core panel. Transgenic studies of three genes selected from the locus revealed that Sobic.006G061100 (SbSNF4-2) increased biomass, SSC, JW, and PH when overexpressed in both sorghum and sugarcane, and delayed flowering in transgenic sorghum. SbSNF4-2 encodes a γ subunit of the evolutionarily conserved AMPK/SNF1/SnRK1 heterotrimeric complexes. SbSNF4-2 and its orthologs will be valuable in genetic enhancement of biomass and sugar yield in plants.

Fibroblast growth factor 21 attenuates salt-sensitive hypertension-induced nephropathy through anti-inflammation and anti-oxidation mechanism.

BACKGROUND: Patients with salt-sensitive hypertension are often accompanied with severe renal damage and accelerate to end-stage renal disease, which currently lacks effective treatment. Fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) has been shown to suppress nephropathy in both type 1 and type 2 diabetes mice. Here, we aimed to investigate the therapeutic effect of FGF21 in salt-sensitive hypertension-induced nephropathy. METHODS: Changes of FGF21 expression in deoxycorticosterone acetate (DOCA)-salt-induced hypertensive mice were detected. The influence of FGF21 knockout in mice on DOCA-salt-induced nephropathy were determined. Recombinant human FGF21 (rhFGF21) was intraperitoneally injected into DOCA-salt-induced nephropathy mice, and then the inflammatory factors, oxidative stress levels and kidney injury-related indicators were observed. In vitro, human renal tubular epithelial cells (HK-2) were challenged by palmitate acid (PA) with or without FGF21, and then changes in inflammation and oxidative stress indicators were tested. RESULTS: We observed significant elevation in circulating levels and renal expression of FGF21 in DOCA-salt-induced hypertensive mice. We found that deletion of FGF21 in mice aggravated DOCA-salt-induced nephropathy. Supplementation with rhFGF21 reversed DOCA-salt-induced kidney injury. Mechanically, rhFGF21 induced AMPK activation in DOCA-salt-treated mice and PA-stimulated HK-2 cells, which inhibited NF-κB-regulated inflammation and Nrf2-mediated oxidative stress and thus, is important for rhFGF21 protection against DOCA-salt-induced nephropathy. CONCLUSION: These findings indicated that rhFGF21 could be a promising pharmacological strategy for the treatment of salt-sensitive hypertension-induced nephropathy.

Genome-Wide Association Mapping Identifies Novel Panicle Morphology Loci and Candidate Genes in Sorghum.

Panicle morphology is an important trait in racial classification and can determine grain yield and other agronomic traits in sorghum. In this study, we performed association mapping of panicle length, panicle width, panicle compactness, and peduncle recurving in the sorghum mini core panel measured in multiple environments with 6,094,317 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers. We mapped one locus each on chromosomes 7 and 9 to recurving peduncles and eight loci for panicle length, panicle width, and panicle compactness. Because panicle length was positively correlated with panicle width, all loci for panicle length and width were colocalized. Among the eight loci, two each were on chromosomes 1, 2, and 6, and one each on chromosomes 8 and 10. The two loci on chromosome 2, i.e., Pm 2-1 and Pm 2-2, were detected in 7 and 5 out of 11 testing environments, respectively. Pm 2-2 colocalized with panicle compactness. Candidate genes were identified from both loci. The rice Erect Panicle2 (EP2) ortholog was among the candidate genes in Pm 2-2. EP2 regulates panicle erectness and panicle length in rice and encodes a novel plant-specific protein with unknown functions. The results of this study may facilitate the molecular identification of panicle morphology-related genes and the enhancement of yield and adaptation in sorghum.

Islet transplantation ameliorates diabetes-induced testicular interstitial fibrosis and is associated with inhibition of TGF-ß1/Smad2 pathway in a rat model of type 1 diabetes.

Islet transplantation (IT) is considered the most effective endocrine replacement therapy for diabetes mellitus (DM). Studies have demonstrated that IT can repair testicular structural injury caused by inflammatory and oxidative stress in a diabetic rat model. However, highly effective exogenous antioxidant and anti-inflammatory drugs can achieve this effect. Testicular interstitial fibrosis caused by long-term hyperglycemia is however difficult to reverse or recover. Thus far, there are no effective drugs that prevent or relieve testicular interstitial fibrosis. Therefore, it is necessary to explore the potential benefit of IT on testicular interstitial fibrosis induced by DM and its underlying molecular mechanisms. In the present study, Wistar rats were used to establish a DM model by intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin. The diabetic models then underwent IT or received insulin treatment after 12 weeks. IT was more effective than insulin treatment in ameliorating diabetic-induced testicular interstitial fibrosis, Leydig cells apoptosis, testosterone deficiency and poor sperm motility. IT and insulin treatment both significantly inhibited the upregulation of TGF-ß1 and phosphorylated Smad2 in DM, with IT being more effective than insulin. The present study's findings proved that IT effectively protects diabetic-induced testicular interstitial fibrosis probably by inhibiting the TGF-ß1/Smad2 signaling pathway, which offers hope in male patients with DM complicating with testicular interstitial fibrosis.

Identification of Candidate Forage Yield Genes in Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.) Using Integrated Genome-Wide Association Studies and RNA-Seq.

Genetic dissection of forage yield traits is critical to the development of sorghum as a forage crop. In the present study, association mapping was performed with 85,585 SNP markers on four forage yield traits, namely plant height (PH), tiller number (TN), stem diameter (SD), and fresh weight per plant (FW) among 245 sorghum accessions evaluated in four environments. A total of 338 SNPs or quantitative trait nucleotides (QTNs) were associated with the four traits, and 21 of these QTNs were detected in at least two environments, including four QTNs for PH, ten for TN, six for SD, and one for FW. To identify candidate genes, dynamic transcriptome expression profiling was performed at four stages of sorghum development. One hundred and six differentially expressed genes (DEGs) that were enriched in hormone signal transduction pathways were found in all stages. Weighted gene correlation network analysis for PH and SD indicated that eight modules were significantly correlated with PH and that three modules were significantly correlated with SD. The blue module had the highest positive correlation with PH and SD, and the turquoise module had the highest negative correlation with PH and SD. Eight candidate genes were identified through the integration of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and RNA sequencing. Sobic.004G143900, an indole-3-glycerol phosphate synthase gene that is involved in indoleacetic acid biosynthesis, was down-regulated as sorghum plants grew in height and was identified in the blue module, and Sobic.003G375100, an SD candidate gene, encoded a DNA repair RAD52-like protein 1 that plays a critical role in DNA repair-linked cell cycle progression. These findings demonstrate that the integrative analysis of omics data is a promising approach to identify candidate genes for complex traits.

Benign paroxsymal positional vertigo - recommendations for treatment in primary care.

Background: Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) is a common cause of vertigo that can be easily diagnosed and treated in primary care. Purpose: We describe our experience with a large cohort of patients and include recommendations for diagnosis and treatment in the primary care setting. Patients and methods: Three hundred and fifty-nine patients were diagnosed with BPPV between June 2011 and March 2017 at the dizziness clinic of Fujian Provincial Hospital, Fuzhou, China. We mainly used Epley's maneuver and barbecue roll for the treatment of PSC-BPPV and HSC-BPPV respectively. Results: Our results show that posterior semicircular canal (PSC) involvement is the most common (n=264, 73.5%), followed by horizontal semicircular canal (HSC, n=81, 22.5%) and multicanal (n=12, 3.3%) involvement. Anterior semicircular canal (ASC) BPPV is the rarest (n=2). Particle repositioning maneuvers (PRM) are the treatment of choice and have a high success rate (1 month after treatment), from 75% (9 out of 12) for multicanal to 95.8% (253 out of 264) for PSC, and to 100% for HSC and ASC involvement respectively. Conclusion: We recommend the use of the Epley's maneuver and barbecue roll for the treatment of PSC-BPPV and HSC-BPPV, respectively. Patients should be reviewed regularly and repeated maneuvers can be performed. Unresolving symptoms require tertiary evaluation.

Infiltrating regulatory T cells promote invasiveness of liver cancer cells via inducing epithelial-mesenchymal transition.

BACKGROUND: Regulatory T (Treg) cells are a major component of the microenvironment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) contributing to immunosuppression. The present study aimed to evaluate the effects of Treg cells on the invasion potential of HCC. METHODS: Infiltrating Treg cells were isolated from fresh HCC tissues by immunomagnetic bead separation and detected by flow cytometry. Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) were detected using the CellSearch platform. The cell migration and invasion potentials were evaluated by Transwell assays. The cell viability was tested by the cell counting kit-8 (CCK8) approach, and the apoptosis rates were determined by flow cytometry. The concentrations of active transforming growth factor-ß1 (TGFß1) were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS: Infiltrating Treg cells significantly correlated with the number of CTCs and vascular invasion (both P<0.05). Moreover, these cells could greatly promote HCC migration, invasion, and proliferation, and inhibit HCC apoptosis. Polymerase chain reaction and Western blot assays revealed that Treg cells significantly decreased the expression levels of epithelium-related molecules and increased the expression levels of mesenchyme-related molecules. Treg cells could activate Smad2/3 via secreting TGFß1, and these effects could be impaired by knocking down the expression of TGFß1 in Treg cells. CONCLUSIONS: The involvement of infiltrating Treg cells in triggering the TGFß1 signaling pathway and promoting the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of cancer cells during tumor hematogenous dissemination is presumably responsible for increasing the invasiveness potential of HCC cells. Targeting Treg cells in microenvironments can be a promising therapeutic strategy to improve the prognosis for patients with HCC undergoing resection.

Association mapping of germinability and seedling vigor in sorghum under controlled low-temperature conditions.

Sorghum is one of the world's most important food, feed, and fiber crops as well as a potential feedstock for lignocellulosic bioenergy. Early-season planting extends sorghum's growing season and increases yield in temperate regions. However, sorghum's sensitivity to low soil temperatures adversely impacts seed germination. In this study, we evaluated the 242 accessions of the ICRISAT sorghum mini core collection for seed germination and seedling vigor at 12 °C as a measure of cold tolerance. Genome-wide association analysis was performed with approximately 162,177 single nucleotide polymorphism markers. Only one marker locus (Locus 7-2) was significantly associated with low-temperature germination and none with vigor. The linkage of Locus 7-2 to low-temperature germination was supported by four lines of evidence: strong association in three independent experiments, co-localization with previously mapped cold tolerance quantitative trait loci (QTL) in sorghum, a candidate gene that increases cold tolerance and germination rate when its wheat homolog is overexpressed in tobacco, and its syntenic region in rice co-localized with two cold tolerance QTL in rice. This locus may be useful in developing tools for molecular breeding of sorghums with improved low-temperature germinability.

[Inhibition of Bacillus pumilus AR03 on Alternaria alternata and Erysiphe cichoracearum on tobacco].

This study aimed to evaluate the efficiency of Bacillus pumilus AR03 against Altenaria alternata and Erysiphe cichoracearum. The antagonistic activities were studied in the way of co-culture on plate, inhibition of pathogen conidia germination on concave slides and LB agar medium. In the investigation, the water suspension of living cells of strain AR03, at 3 x 10(8) cfu . mL-1 had a remarkable inhibition effect on hyphae growth and conidia germination of A. alternata and caused hyphae deformation, shorter and swollen nodes, winding hyphae accumulation, abnormal tubes with tips expanded or deformed. Conidia did not germinate and the tissues of compartment became swollen or formed a round spherical bubble. In addition, the inhibition rate of conidia germination of E. cichoracearum was 91. 3% and 69. 3%, respectively when treated with strain AR03 at 1 x 10(7) cfu . mL-1 and 1.5 x 10(6) cfu . mL-1. Conidia treated by living cells of AR03 became swollen, deformed, the protoplasm of conidia shrinked, disintegrated gradually and separated from the conidia wall. And some conidia were hollow because the protoplasm leaked out from inside. Greenhouse results revealed that the effects of living cells of AR03 with different concentrations were significantly different. Bacterial suspension of AR03 at 3 x 10(8) cfu . mL-1 was strongly antagonistic to E. cichoracearum with the control efficiencies 7 days and 15 days after treatment of two spays being 83.8% and 90.3%, respectively, while the control efficiencies of AR03 at 3 x 10(6) cfu . mL-1 were 70.0% and 73.3%, respectively. Strain AR03 had a long persistence against powdery mildew more than 30 days.

CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein α negatively regulates IFN-γ expression in T cells.

Humoral immunity, including Ab switching and somatic hypermutation, is critically regulated by CD4(+) T cells. T follicular helper (Tfh) cells have been recently shown to be a distinct T cell subset important in germinal center reactions. The transcriptional regulation of Tfh cell development and function has not been well understood. In this study, we report that C/EBPα, a basic region/leucine zipper transcription factor, is highly expressed in Tfh cells. Cebpa-deficient CD4(+) T cells exhibit enhanced IFN-γ expression in vitro and in vivo. T cell-specific Cebpa knockout mice, although not defective in Tfh cell generation, produce significantly increased levels of IgG2a/b and IgG3 following immunization with a protein Ag. Moreover, C/EBPα binds to the Ifng gene and inhibits T-bet-driven Ifng transcription in a DNA binding-dependent manner. Our study thus demonstrates that C/EBPα restricts IFN-γ expression in T cells to allow proper class switching by B cells.

Profiling Gene Expression in Germinating Brassica Roots.

Based on previously developed solid-phase gene extraction (SPGE) we examined the mRNA profile in primary roots of Brassica rapa seedlings for highly expressed genes like ACT7 (actin7), TUB (tubulin1), UBQ (ubiquitin), and low expressed GLK (glucokinase) during the first day post-germination. The assessment was based on the mRNA load of the SPGE probe of about 2.1 ng. The number of copies of the investigated genes changed spatially along the length of primary roots. The expression level of all genes differed significantly at each sample position. Among the examined genes ACT7 expression was most even along the root. UBQ was highest at the tip and root-shoot junction (RS). TUB and GLK showed a basipetal gradient. The temporal expression of UBQ was highest in the MZ 9 h after primary root emergence and higher than at any other sample position. Expressions of GLK in EZ and RS increased gradually over time. SPGE extraction is the result of oligo-dT and oligo-dA hybridization and the results illustrate that SPGE can be used for gene expression profiling at high spatial and temporal resolution. SPGE needles can be used within two weeks when stored at 4 °C. Our data indicate that gene expression studies that are based on the entire root miss important differences in gene expression that SPGE is able to resolve for example growth adjustments during gravitropism.

A thermally labile copper (II) complex with hetero N- and O-donor ligands: crystal structure, Hirshfeld surfaces, thermal and luminescent properties.

A new complex ([Cu(L1)2(H2O]2]⋅2H2O, 1) derived from a hetero N- and O-donor ligand 5-methyl-imidazole-3-carboxylic acid (L1H) has been synthesized and characterized. Comparisons between [Cu(L1)2(H2O]2]⋅2H2O, [Co(L2)(H2O]2⋅H2O (2), and [Cu(L2)2H2O]⋅H2O (L2H=5-methyl-isoxazole-3-carboxylic acid) revealed that the coordinated water molecules play a key role in the construction of crystal structures: two coordinated water molecules in the axial positions lead to single-deck 1D chain and 3D motif while one coordinated water molecule resulted to double-deck 1D chain and 2D stacking motif. Molecular Hirshfeld surfaces revealed that complexes 1 and 2 were supported mainly by H-H, C-H⋯π, and O-H⋯O intermolecular interactions. The room temperature solid state luminescent properties of complexes 1 and 2 were all shown as two distinct bands, which attribute to ligand-metal charge transfer and metal purterbed ligand centered emission.

Mapping and candidate genes associated with saccharification yield in sorghum.

Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) is a high-yielding, stress tolerant energy crop for lignocellulosic-based biofuel production. Saccharification is a process by which hydrolytic enzymes break down lignocellulosic materials to fermentable sugars for biofuel production, and mapping and identifying genes underlying saccharification yield is an important first step to genetically improve the plant for higher biofuel productivity. In this study, we used the ICRISAT sorghum mini core germplasm collection and 14 739 single nucleotide polymorphism markers to map saccharification yield. Seven marker loci were associated with saccharification yield and five of these loci were syntenic with regions in the maize genome that contain quantitative trait loci underlying saccharification yield and cell wall component traits. Candidate genes from the seven loci were identified but must be validated, with the most promising candidates being ß-tubulin, which determines the orientation of cellulose microfibrils in plant secondary cell walls, and NST1, a master transcription factor controlling secondary cell wall biosynthesis in fibers. Other candidate genes underlying the different saccharification loci included genes that play a role in vascular development and suberin deposition in plants. The identified loci and candidate genes provide information into the factors controlling saccharification yield and may facilitate increasing biofuel production in sorghum.