Summary• The cytokinin oxidase ⁄ dehydrogenase (CKX) gene plays a principal role in controlling cytokinin levels and has been shown to be a major quantitative trait locus (QTL) affecting grain number in rice. However, the function and evaluation of the haplotypes of the wheat CKX gene have yet to be illustrated.• In this study, TaCKX6-D1, a wheat ortholog of rice OsCKX2, was cloned and its haplotype variants were determined to be significantly associated with the 1000-grain weight on the basis of linkage mapping, association analysis and gene expression analysis.• Five TaCKX6-D1 haplotypes, designated a-e, were identified. An indel marker was developed to identify haplotype a, which was associated with higher grain weight. Haplotype a showed decreased expression relative to haplotype b in seeds at 8 d after pollination. Sequence variations among modern cultivars, landraces and wild species suggest a significant domestication signature at the TaCKX6-D1 locus in Chinese wheat germplasm.• TaCKX6-D1 may serve as a useful gene for the breeding of high-yielding wheat. A strategy for allele mining and utilization of TaCKX6-D1 was proposed. Our study also sheds light on the mechanisms of grain development and domestication of wheat, as well as the functional divergence of orthologs in comparative genomics.
Abstract. Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has a high mortality rate and poor prognosis. The aim of the present study was to silence EZH2 and explore the antitumor effect of small interfering RNA (siRNA)-EZH2 in combination with radiotherapy, which is a main treatment for NSCLC. The results showed that irradiation in the presence of siRNA-EZH2 arrested A549 cells in the G 0 and G 1 phases, delayed cell cycle progression and effectively inhibited cell proliferation, compared with cells that received radiotherapy alone. The combined therapy enhanced the percentage of apoptotic A549 cells in vitro and reduced the tumor size, in addition to increasing the survival rate in tumor xenograft experiments. This study demonstrates the antitumor activity of ionizing radiation therapy in combination with siRNA-EZH2 in NSCLC, both in vitro and in vivo, as well as providing a scientific rationale for targeting EZH2 to enhance the sensitivity of cancer to radiotherapy in NSCLC patients.
Congenital bronchoesophageal fistula is rare in adults. Its most useful diagnostic method is esophagography. It must be treated surgically as soon as the diagnosis is established.
Rabies remains a major public health concern in many developing countries. The precise neuropathogenesis of rabies is unknown, though it is hypothesized to be due to neuronal death or dysfunction. Mice that received intranasal inoculation of an attenuated rabies virus (RABV) strain HEP-Flury exhibited subtle clinical signs, and eventually recovered, which is different from the fatal encephalitis caused by the virulent RABV strain CVS-11. To understand the neuropathogenesis of rabies and the mechanisms of viral clearance, we applied RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) to compare the brain transcriptomes of normal mice vs. HEP-Flury or CVS-11 intranasally inoculated mice. Our results revealed that both RABV strains altered positively and negatively the expression levels of many host genes, including genes associated with innate and adaptive immunity, inflammation and cell death. It is found that HEP-Flury infection can activate the innate immunity earlier through the RIG-I/MDA-5 signaling, and the innate immunity pre-activated by HEP-Flury or Newcastle disease virus (NDV) infection can effectively prevent the CVS-11 to invade central nervous system (CNS), but fails to clear the CVS-11 after its entry into the CNS. In addition, following CVS-11 infection, genes implicated in cell adhesion, blood vessel morphogenesis and coagulation were mainly up-regulated, while the genes involved in synaptic transmission and ion transport were significantly down-regulated. On the other hand, several genes involved in the MHC class II-mediated antigen presentation pathway were activated to a greater extent after the HEP-Flury infection as compared with the CVS-11 infection suggesting that the collaboration of CD4+ T cells and MHC class II-mediated antigen presentation is critical for the clearance of attenuated RABV from the CNS. The differentially regulated genes reported here are likely to include potential therapeutic targets for expanding the post-exposure treatment window for RABV infection.
Soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] is a short-day crop that favors temperate weather. There have been a lot of studies on the responses to photoperiod, temperature or photothermal comprehensive regimes in soybean. However, little work has been conducted in the interactive effects of photoperiod and temperature on the development of soybean. To fully understand the photothermal responses of soybean and to identify the varietal variations in these traits, we designed two photoperiodic treatments of 12 h (short day or SD) and 16 h (long day or LD) integrated with two thermal conditions, i.e. high temperature (HT) (summer seeding in Beijing) and low temperature (LT) (spring seeding) in the current study. In 2007, the responses to the photoperiod, temperature, and photoperiod-temperature combinations of 10 spring sowing soybean varieties (lines) from the Northeast and 18 summer sowing varieties (lines) from Yellow-Huai-Hai River Valleys of China were identified in 4 photothermal regimes (LD+LT, LD+HT, SD+LT, SD+HT). In 2008, 50 varieties (lines) were used to test the photoperiodic responses. The results showed that SD promoted the developmental rate of soybean regardless of the temperature conditions; HT shortened the number of the days from emergence to flowering no matter whether the photoperiod was long or short. There was significant interaction between temperature and photoperiod from emergence to flowering. With the increase of temperature, the promotive effect of SD on developmental rate of soybean was enhanced, and the HT hastening effect was strengthened by SD as well. The apparent differences in photoperiod response sensitivity (PRS), temperature response sensitivity (TRS) and photothermal comprehensive response sensitivity (PTCRS) between ecotypes were observed. The above three indices of spring sowing soybean varieties from the Northeast were all lower than those of summer sowing varieties from Yellow-Huai-Hai River Valleys. However, the differences between TRSvalues under the two photoperiod treatments and that between PRS values under the two temperature conditions in spring sowing soybean varieties from the Northeast were both larger than those in summer sowing varieties from the Valleys, and it indicated that there was higher photoperiod × temperature interaction in the spring sowing varieties. The relationship between photothermal responses of soybean varieties and their ecological adaptability was discussed, and it was proposed that, in breeding program, emphasis should be paid not only on the identification of responses of soybean varieties to the individual photoperiod or temperature factor but also on the photothermal interaction.
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