GPIbα-filamin A interaction regulates megakaryocyte localization and budding during platelet biogenesis.

ABSTRACT: Glycoprotein Ibα (GPIbα) is expressed on the surface of platelets and megakaryocytes (MKs) and anchored to the membrane skeleton by filamin A (flnA). Although GPIb and flnA have fundamental roles in platelet biogenesis, the nature of this interaction in megakaryocyte biology remains ill-defined. We generated a mouse model expressing either human wild-type (WT) GPIbα (hGPIbαWT) or a flnA-binding mutant (hGPIbαFW) and lacking endogenous mouse GPIbα. Mice expressing the mutant GPIbα transgene exhibited macrothrombocytopenia with preserved GPIb surface expression. Platelet clearance was normal and differentiation of MKs to proplatelets was unimpaired in hGPIbαFW mice. The most striking abnormalities in hGPIbαFW MKs were the defective formation of the demarcation membrane system (DMS) and the redistribution of flnA from the cytoplasm to the peripheral margin of MKs. These abnormalities led to disorganized internal MK membranes and the generation of enlarged megakaryocyte membrane buds. The defective flnA-GPIbα interaction also resulted in misdirected release of buds away from the vasculature into bone marrow interstitium. Restoring the linkage between flnA and GPIbα corrected the flnA redistribution within MKs and DMS ultrastructural defects as well as restored normal bud size and release into sinusoids. These studies define a new mechanism of macrothrombocytopenia resulting from dysregulated MK budding. The link between flnA and GPIbα is not essential for the MK budding process, however, it plays a major role in regulating the structure of the DMS, bud morphogenesis, and the localized release of buds into the circulation.

Characterization and Genetic Mapping of Black Root Rot Resistance in Gossypium arboreum L.

Black root rot (BRR) is an economically important disease of cotton and other crops, especially in cooler regions with short growing seasons. Symptoms include black discoloration of the roots, reduced number of lateral roots and stunted or slow plant growth. The cultivated tetraploid Gossypium species are susceptible to BRR. Resistance to BRR was identified in G. arboreum accession BM13H and is associated with reduced and restricted hyphal growth and less sporulation. Transcriptome analysis indicates that BM13H responds to infection at early time points 2- and 3-days post-inoculation, but by day 5, few differentially expressed genes are observed between infected and uninfected roots. Inheritance of BM13H resistance to BRR was evaluated in an F6 recombinant inbred population and shows a single semi-dominant locus conferring resistance that was fine mapped to a region on chromosome 1, containing ten genes including five putative resistance-like genes.

Catheter-related thrombosis incidence and risk factors in adult cancer patients with central venous access devices.

BACKGROUND: Central venous access devices (CVAD) are commonly employed in the management of cancer patients. While having several benefits they are associated with significant risks. AIM: To review the incidence and risk factors for catheter-related thrombosis (CRT) in cancer patients with a CVAD. METHODS: We performed a prospective observational cohort study of adult patients with cancer requiring a CVAD between 1 January 2004 and 29 June 2016. The rate of, and risk factors for the development of, symptomatic CRT were evaluated. RESULTS: A total of 4920 central lines was inserted into 3130 patients. The incidence of CRT was 3.6%. CRT developed a median of 12 days following line insertion. Peripherally inserted central catheters (PICC) were associated with the highest rates of CRT (hazards ratio (HR) 22.2, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.9-170.6). Older age groups developed CRT at lower rates (HR 0.57; 95% CI 0.39-0.84 for age 50-61 years, and HR 0.63; 95% CI 0.45-0.89 for age >61 years) compared to age <50 years. Increased CRT was seen in patients with prior CRT (HR 1.81; 95% CI 1.19-2.77). There was a trend to more CRT events with a Khorana tumour score of 1 compared to those with a score of 0 (HR 1.37, 95% CI 1.00-1.88). Hodgkin lymphoma, germ cell and oesophagus cancers had the highest CRT rates. Side of insertion was not associated with thrombosis risk (HR 0.77; 95% CI 0.57-1.05; P = 0.10). CONCLUSIONS: Age <50 years, PICC lines and prior CRT were associated with highest CRT rate. Cancer subtype and insertion side were not predictive of thrombosis.

Endoplasmic reticulum protein 5 attenuates platelet endoplasmic reticulum stress and secretion in a mouse model.

Extracellular protein disulfide isomerases (PDIs), including PDI, endoplasmic reticulum protein 57 (ERp57), ERp72, ERp46, and ERp5, are required for in vivo thrombus formation in mice. Platelets secrete PDIs upon activation, which regulate platelet aggregation. However, platelets secrete only ∼10% of their PDI content extracellularly. The intracellular role of PDIs in platelet function is unknown. Here, we aim to characterize the role of ERp5 (gene Pdia6) using platelet conditional knockout mice, platelet factor 4 (Pf4) Cre+/ERp5floxed (fl)/fl. Pf4Cre+/ERp5fl/fl mice developed mild macrothrombocytopenia. Platelets deficient in ERp5 showed marked dysregulation of their ER, indicated by a twofold upregulation of ER proteins, including PDI, ERp57, ERp72, ERp46, 78 kilodalton glucose-regulated protein (GRP78), and calreticulin. ERp5-deficient platelets showed an enhanced ER stress response to ex vivo and in vivo ER stress inducers, with enhanced phosphorylation of eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2A and inositol-requiring enzyme 1 (IRE1). ERp5 deficiency was associated with increased secretion of PDIs, an enhanced response to thromboxane A2 receptor activation, and increased thrombus formation in vivo. Our results support that ERp5 acts as a negative regulator of ER stress responses in platelets and highlight the importance of a disulfide isomerase in platelet ER homeostasis. The results also indicate a previously unanticipated role of platelet ER stress in platelet secretion and thrombosis. This may have important implications for the therapeutic applications of ER stress inhibitors in thrombosis.

FLT3-ITD positive acute myeloid leukemia: A retrospective analysis of the role of allogeneic transplant and allelic ratio in patient management.

AIM: FMS-like tyrosine kinase 3-internal tandem duplication (FLT3-ITD) positive AML is associated with increased relapse risk and reduced overall survival (OS) compared to non-FLT3-mutated AML. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of allelic ratio and allogeneic transplant on outcomes in FLT3-ITD+ AML. METHODS: A retrospective study across five centers in Queensland, Australia, was conducted to examine survival outcomes and impact of FLT3-ITD allelic ratio and allograft. RESULTS: Seventy-one patients were included in the study. OS was significantly better for patients who were able to be allografted in first complete remission (CR1; 50.1 months vs 8.5 months; P = 0.0002). We did not find allelic ratio to be predictive of outcome. CONCLUSION: Transplantation in first complete remission is associated with improved outcomes for patients with FLT3+ AML. When feasible transplantation in CR1 is recommended. We do not currently recommend using allelic ratio to stratify risk unless this has been validated by local results.

Identification of genomic regions for grain yield and yield stability and their epistatic interactions.

The task of identifying genomic regions conferring yield stability is challenging in any crop and requires large experimental data sets in conjunction with complex analytical approaches. We report findings of a first attempt to identify genomic regions with stable expression and their individual epistatic interactions for grain yield and yield stability in a large elite panel of wheat under multiple environments via a genome wide association mapping (GWAM) approach. Seven hundred and twenty lines were genotyped using genotyping-by-sequencing technology and phenotyped for grain yield and phenological traits. High gene diversity (0.250) and a moderate genetic structure (five groups) in the panel provided an excellent base for GWAM. The mixed linear model and multi-locus mixed model analyses identified key genomic regions on chromosomes 2B, 3A, 4A, 5B, 7A and 7B. Further, significant epistatic interactions were observed among loci with and without main effects that contributed to additional variation of up to 10%. Simple stepwise regression provided the most significant main effect and epistatic markers resulting in up to 20% variation for yield stability and up to 17% gain in yield with the best allelic combination.

Exploring and Mobilizing the Gene Bank Biodiversity for Wheat Improvement.

Identifying and mobilizing useful genetic variation from germplasm banks to breeding programs is an important strategy for sustaining crop genetic improvement. The molecular diversity of 1,423 spring bread wheat accessions representing major global production environments was investigated using high quality genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) loci, and gene-based markers for various adaptive and quality traits. Mean diversity index (DI) estimates revealed synthetic hexaploids to be genetically more diverse (DI= 0.284) than elites (DI = 0.267) and landraces (DI = 0.245). GBS markers discovered thousands of new SNP variations in the landraces which were well known to be adapted to drought (1273 novel GBS SNPs) and heat (4473 novel GBS SNPs) stress environments. This may open new avenues for pre-breeding by enriching the elite germplasm with novel alleles for drought and heat tolerance. Furthermore, new allelic variation for vernalization and glutenin genes was also identified from 47 landraces originating from Iraq, Iran, India, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. The information generated in the study has been utilized to select 200 diverse gene bank accessions to harness their potential in pre-breeding and for allele mining of candidate genes for drought and heat stress tolerance, thus channeling novel variation into breeding pipelines. This research is part of CIMMYT's ongoing 'Seeds of Discovery' project visioning towards the development of high yielding wheat varieties that address future challenges from climate change.

Semidwarf (sd-1), "green revolution" rice, contains a defective gibberellin 20-oxidase gene.

The introduction of semidwarf rice (Oryza sativa L.) led to record yield increases throughout Asia in the 1960s. The major semidwarfing allele, sd-1, is still extensively used in modern rice cultivars. The phenotype of sd-1 is consistent with dwarfism that results from a deficiency in gibberellin (GA) plant growth hormones. We propose that the semidwarf (sd-1) phenotype is the result of a deficiency of active GAs in the elongating stem arising from a defective 20-oxidase GA biosynthetic enzyme. Sequence data from the rice genome was combined with previous mapping studies to locate a putative GA 20-oxidase gene (Os20ox2) at the predicted map location of sd-1 on chromosome 1. Two independent sd-1 alleles contained alterations within Os20ox2: a deletion of 280 bp within the coding region of Os20ox2 was predicted to encode a nonfunctional protein in an indica type semidwarf (Doongara), whereas a substitution in an amino acid residue (Leu-266) that is highly conserved among dioxygenases could explain loss of function of Os20ox2 in a japonica semidwarf (Calrose76). The quantification of GAs in elongating stems by GC-MS showed that the initial substrate of GA 20-oxidase activity (GA53) accumulated, whereas the content of the major product (GA20) and of bioactive GA1 was lower in semidwarf compared with tall lines. We propose that the Os20ox2 gene corresponds to the sd-1 locus.

Overexpression of alcohol dehydrogenase or pyruvate decarboxylase improves growth of hairy roots at reduced oxygen concentrations.

Overexpression of Arabidopsis thaliana genes for the fermentation enzymes, alcohol dehydrogenase and pyruvate decarboxylase, improved the tolerance of A. thaliana hairy roots to low oxygen conditions. Whereas the specific growth rate of untransformed hairy roots in shake flasks and in a multiple-tube recirculation bioreactor declined significantly with decreasing oxygen tension down to 25% air saturation, growth of the transformant root lines was maintained at rates similar to those achieved with full aeration. This work demonstrates that altering the expression of selected genes involved in anaerobic metabolism can alleviate the problems of oxygen deficiency in hairy root cultures caused by poor mixing and mass transfer conditions.

Mutants at the Slender1 locus of barley cv Himalaya. Molecular and physiological characterization.

A dominant dwarf mutant of barley (Hordeum vulgare) that resembles dominant gibberellin (GA) "-insensitive" or "-nonresponsive" mutants in other species is described. alpha-Amylase production by endosperm half-grains of the mutant required GA3 at concentrations about 100 times that of the WT. The mutant showed only a slight growth response to GA3, even at very high concentrations. However, when additionally dwarfed, growth rate responded to GA3 over the normal concentration range, although only back to the original (dwarf) elongation rate. Genetic studies indicated that the dominant dwarf locus was either closely linked or identical to the Sln1 (Slender1) locus. A barley sequence related to Arabidopsis GAI/RGA was isolated, and shown to represent the Sln1 locus by the analysis of sln1 mutants. The dominant dwarf mutant was also altered in this sequence, indicating that it too is an allele at Sln1. Thus, mutations at Sln1 generate plants of radically different phenotypes; either dwarfs that are largely dominant and GA "-insensitive/-nonresponsive," or the recessive slender types in which GA responses appear to be constitutive. Immunoblotting studies showed that in growing leaves, SLN1 protein localized almost exclusively to the leaf elongation zone. In mutants at the Sln1 locus, there were differences in both the abundance and distribution of SLN1 protein, and large changes in the amounts of bioactive GAs, and of their metabolic precursors and catabolites. These results suggest that there are dynamic interactions between SLN1 protein and GA content in determining leaf elongation rate.

Isolation of gibberellin metabolic pathway genes from barley and comparative mapping in barley, wheat and rice.

Gene sequences encoding gibberellin (GA) biosynthetic and catabolic enzymes were isolated from "Himalaya" barley. These genes account for most of the enzymes required for the core pathway of GA biosynthesis as well as for the first major catabolic enzyme. By means of DNA gel blot analysis, we mapped coding sequences to chromosome arms in barley and wheat using barley-wheat chromosome addition lines, nulli-tetrasomic substitution and ditelosomic lines of wheat. These same sequences were used to identify closely related sequences from rice, which were mapped in silico, thereby allowing their syntenic relationship with map locations in barley and wheat to be investigated. Determination of the chromosome arm locations for GA metabolic genes provides a framework for future studies investigating possible identity between GA metabolic genes and dwarfing genes in barley and wheat.

MADS box genes control vernalization-induced flowering in cereals.

By comparing expression levels of MADS box transcription factor genes between near-isogenic winter and spring lines of bread wheat, Triticum aestivum, we have identified WAP1 as the probable candidate for the Vrn-1 gene, the major locus controlling the vernalization flowering response in wheat. WAP1 is strongly expressed in spring wheats and moderately expressed in semispring wheats, but is not expressed in winter wheat plants that have not been exposed to vernalization treatment. Vernalization promotes flowering in winter wheats and strongly induces expression of WAP1. WAP1 is located on chromosome 5 in wheat and, by synteny with other cereal genomes, is likely to be collocated with Vrn-1. These results in hexaploid bread wheat cultivars extend the conclusion made by Yan et al. [Yan, L., Loukoianov, A., Tranquilli, G., Helguera, M., Fahima, T. & Dubcovsky, J. (2003) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 100, 6263-6268] in the diploid wheat progenitor Triticum monococcum that WAP1 (TmAP1) corresponds to the Vrn-1 gene. The barley homologue of WAP1, BM5, shows a similar pattern of expression to WAP1 and TmAP1. BM5 is not expressed in winter barleys that have not been vernalized, but as with WAP1, expression of BM5 is strongly induced by vernalization treatment. In spring barleys, the level of BM5 expression is determined by interactions between the Vrn-H1 locus and a second locus for spring habit, Vrn-H2. There is now evidence that AP1-like genes determine the time of flowering in a range of cereal and grass species.

The effect of different height reducing genes on the early growth of wheat.

Genes that reduce height without compromising seedling vigour or coleoptile length have great potential for wheat improvement. We therefore investigated the effects of various reduced height (Rht) genes on the early stages of plant development, using a combination of near isogenic, recombinant, mutant and wild type comparisons. Gibberellin (GA) insensitivity caused by Rht-B1b or Rht-D1b was associated with reduced leaf elongation rate and coleoptile length. Similar results were found for two other sources of dwarfing, Rht11 and Rht17. We found one class of Rht genes (e.g. Rht8) which had no effect on coleoptile length, leaf elongation rate or responsiveness to GA, indicating that these dwarfing genes may act later in wheat development to reduce height and increase harvest index, without affecting early growth. A third class of Rht genes was found in three durum backgrounds. These had reduced coleoptile lengths and leaf elongation rates, but had a greater response to GA than the corresponding tall varieties. We discuss these results in relation to the possible mechanisms underlying the reduction in height and the suitability of the different Rht genes for wheat improvement.