Circadian rhythm response and its effect on photosynthetic characteristics of the Lhcb family genes in tea plant.

BACKGROUND: The circadian clock, also known as the circadian rhythm, is responsible for predicting daily and seasonal changes in the environment, and adjusting various physiological and developmental processes to the appropriate times during plant growth and development. The circadian clock controls the expression of the Lhcb gene, which encodes the chlorophyll a/b binding protein. However, the roles of the Lhcb gene in tea plant remain unclear. RESULTS: In this study, a total of 16 CsLhcb genes were identified based on the tea plant genome, which were distributed on 8 chromosomes of the tea plant. The promoter regions of CsLhcb genes have a variety of cis-acting elements including hormonal, abiotic stress responses and light response elements. The CsLhcb family genes are involved in the light response process in tea plant. The photosynthetic parameter of tea leaves showed rhythmic changes during the two photoperiod periods (48 h). Stomata are basically open during the day and closed at night. Real-time quantitative PCR results showed that most of the CsLhcb family genes were highly expressed during the day, but were less expressed at night. CONCLUSIONS: Results indicated that CsLhcb genes were involved in the circadian clock process of tea plant, it also provided potential references for further understanding of the function of CsLhcb gene family in tea plant.

The role of T-lymphoma invasion and metastasis inducing protein 1 in early pregnancy in mice.

T-lymphoma invasion and metastasis inducing protein 1 (Tiam1) is involved in tumorigenesis processes, including cell migration, adhesion and invasion, proteolysis, cytoskeleton reorganization, cell morphological transformation and intracellular signaling. These processes are also critical for embryo implantation, although the role of Tiam1 during embryo implantation remains poorly understood. The aim of this study was to investigate the spatio-temporal expression of Tiam1 in endometria of mice comparing early pregnancy and non-pregnancy. Fluorescent quantitative-PCR and immunohistochemical analysis showed that the expression of Tiam1 mRNA and protein in endometria of pregnant mice was higher than that of non-pregnant mice, and gradually increased from Day 1 of pregnancy reaching a maximum level on Day 5 and then declining on Days 6 and 7. Immunohistochemistry showed that Tiam1 protein was present in luminal epithelium from Days 3-5 of pregnancy and in gland epithelium from Days 4 to 6 and enhanced significantly in stromal cells on Day 5, regarded as the 'implantation window' period. The number of implantation sites was greatly decreased by the intrauterine injection with anti-Tiam1 polyclonal antibody in the early morning of the Day 4 of pregnancy. These findings suggest that Tiam1 might play an important role in embryo implantation in mice.