Early millet use in northern China.

It is generally understood that foxtail millet and broomcorn millet were initially domesticated in Northern China where they eventually became the dominant plant food crops. The rarity of older archaeological sites and archaeobotanical work in the region, however, renders both the origins of these plants and their processes of domestication poorly understood. Here we present ancient starch grain assemblages recovered from cultural deposits, including carbonized residues adhering to an early pottery sherd as well as grinding stone tools excavated from the sites of Nanzhuangtou (11.5-11.0 cal kyBP) and Donghulin (11.0-9.5 cal kyBP) in the North China Plain. Our data extend the record of millet use in China by nearly 1,000 y, and the record of foxtail millet in the region by at least two millennia. The patterning of starch residues within the samples allow for the formulation of the hypothesis that foxtail millets were cultivated for an extended period of two millennia, during which this crop plant appears to have been undergoing domestication. Future research in the region will help clarify the processes in place.

[Coxsackie virus B types were discriminated by RT-PCR].

OBJECTIVE: To develop a method for detection of coxsackie B virus type 1-6 by RT-PCR. METHODS: A pair of primers were designed to amplify all types of coxsackie B virus 1-6 efficiently. The PCR product was hybridized in micro-wells in which 6 type specific oligonucleotide probes had been coated respectively, colorimetric detection was performed to discriminate the types of coxsackie B virus. RESULTS: This method was shown to be concordant with the IgM ELISA, 71.7% of anti-coxsackie B positive cases could be detected by RT-PCR. CONCLUSION: The RT-PCR method can type coxsackie B virus efficiently and provides a tool for clinical diagnosis and epidemiological investigation.