Invasive cardiac lipoma at the left ventricular intermuscular region: A case report.

The present study described the case of a 22-year-old woman who had symptoms of left chest pain for >6 months, with further aggravation over 2 days. Computed tomography (CT) images of the mediastinal and pulmonary windows showed low-density shadows in the left ventricle. Echocardiography indicated a slightly stronger echo cluster in the left ventricle, with a range of ~29x30x35 mm, which was closely related to the lower wall and part of the posterior wall of the left ventricle. Contrast-enhanced ultrasound showed that the left ventricular mass was enhanced in a circular and dot-line shape, with a solid mass occupying the left ventricle and a rich blood supply. CT angiography revealed a nodule of size 27x27x24 mm in the left ventricle. During the operation, it was observed that the cardiac lipoma invaded the chordae tendinae and papillary muscle, and a valve replacement was performed. Postoperative examination revealed a piece of gray and anaplastic tissue, measuring 30x22x17 mm. The pathology of the specimen showed that the morphology of the left ventricular mass met the criteria of an intramuscular lipoma. The present study reported a cardiac lipoma involving the left anterior chordae tendinae and papillary muscle, with the patient showing only nonspecific symptoms. Early surgery should be applied to improve the prognosis of cardiac lipoma.

Uptake, translocation, accumulation, and metabolism of fluroxypyr-meptyl and oxidative stress induction in rice seedling.

Fluroxypyr-meptyl (FLUME) is heterocyclic herbicide with internal absorption and transmission characteristics. Owing to its low cost and rapid efficacy, it has been widely used to control broad-leaved weeds in wheat, corn, and rice fields. However, the uptake, translocation, accumulation, and metabolism of FLUME in rice seedlings and the extent of oxidative stress induced by it remain largely unknown, which consequently restricts the comprehensive risk assessment of FLUME residues in the environment during rice production. Hence, we systematically investigated the growth and physiological responses of rice to FLUME and analyzed its uptake, translocation, accumulation, and metabolism in rice seedlings. The results indicated that under 0-0.12 mg/L FLUME treatment, only a small proportion of FLUME was translocated upward and accumulated in rice shoots following absorption via roots, with all the translocation factor values being < 1. Moreover, the distribution and enrichment ability of FLUME in rice seedlings were greater in roots than in shoots. Furthermore, we revealed that FLUME accumulation in rice seedlings evidently inhibited their growth and activated the defense system against oxidative stress, with an increase in the activity of antioxidant and detoxifying enzymes. In addition, multiple metabolic reactions of FLUME were observed in rice seedlings, including dehalogenation, hydroxylation, glycosylation, acetylation, and malonylation. Our study provides systematic insights into the uptake, translocation, accumulation, and metabolism of FLUME in rice seedlings as well as the oxidative stress induced by FLUME accumulation, which can help improve FLUME applications and environmental risk assessments in crops.

Genome-wide identification and characterization of the CsSnRK2 family in Camellia sinensis.

The sucrose nonfermenting 1 (SNF1)-related protein kinase 2 (SnRK2) genes play central roles in plant stress signal transduction. In this study, 8 SnRK2 genes were identified from the tea plant genome database and named CsSnRK2.1-8. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the CsSnRK2 genes were classifiable into three groups, similar to those of Arabidopsis thaliana, Oryza sativa and maize. The coding sequences (CDSs) of all CsSnRK2s were separated by eight introns, and their exon-intron organizations exhibited high similarity to those of other plants. The fluorescence of GFP fused with CsSnRK2.3 was detected in only the cytoplasm, while the rest of the proteins showed GFP signal in both the nucleus and the cytoplasm. The results of the expression patterns of the CsSnRK2 genes showed that CsSnRK2s were differentially induced by salt, polyethylene glycol (PEG) and abscisic acid (ABA) stress. Interestingly, The expression of CsSnRK2.3 was inhibited by ABA, suggesting the complicated roles of CsSnRK2s in the ABA signal transduction pathway. Some CsSnRK2 gene pairs showed significant expression change correlations under stresses, indicating that CsSnRK2s might exhibit synergistic effects of signal regulation in response to various stresses. In summary, this comprehensive analysis will facilitate further studies of the SnRK2 family of Camellia sinensis and provide useful information for the functional validation of CsSnRK2s.

[Effects of rodents and litter coverage on the seed fate of wild Prunus divaricata in wild fruit forest of Tianshan Mountain, Northwest China].

The dynamic variation characteristics of seed bank and the main factors influencing the fate of Prunus divaricata seeds under the pressure of rodent predation and litter coverage were investigated with artificial soil seed banks from September, 2010 to April, 2013. It was found that there was about 48.3% of seeds germinated under the rodent predation disturbance conditions, 50% of the seeds was predated in situ or removed, and only about 4% decayed. The artificial seed bank formed a short-term persistent soil seed bank without any rodent predation disturbance, and the seeds could germinate even though they had been stored in the seed bank for three years. Soil burial provided a lower predation pressure and promoted the recruitment of wild P. divaricata seedlings, removal and predation in situ by animals was an important factor affecting the fate of seeds. At the same time, seeds removed and foraged in situ in the control and litter coverage samples were significantly less than that in the bare soil samples. Ground coverage reduced the removal and predation of seeds by rodents, but the effect was not enough to result in more seedlings. Rodent predation and removal were the main factors that could affect the seed fate and dynamics of seed bank.