Background: There are increasing concerns over adverse effects of prenatal phthalate exposure on the neurodevelopment of infants.Objectives: Our goal was to explore the association between prenatal di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate and dibutyl phthalate exposure and the Mental and Psychomotor Developmental Indices (MDI and PDI, respectively) of the Bayley Scales of Infant Development at 6 months, as part of the Mothers and Children’s Environmental Health Study.Methods: Between 2006 and 2009, 460 mother–infant pairs from Seoul, Cheonan, and Ulsan, Korea, participated. Prenatal mono(2-ethyl-5-hydroxyhexyl) phthalate (MEHHP), mono(2-ethyl-5-oxohexyl) phthalate (MEOHP), and mono-n-butyl phthalate (MBP) were measured in one urine sample acquired from each mother during the third trimester of pregnancy. Associations with log-transformed creatinine-corrected phthalate concentrations were estimated using linear regression models adjusted for potential confounders.Results: MDI was inversely associated with the natural log concentrations (micrograms per gram creatinine) of MEHHP [β = –0.97; confidence interval (CI), –1.85 to –0.08] and MEOHP (β = –0.95; CI, –1.87 to –0.03), and PDI was inversely associated with MEHHP (β = –1.20; CI, –2.33 to –0.08). In males, MDI was inversely associated with MEHHP (β = –1.46; CI, –2.70 to –0.22), MEOHP (β = –1.57; CI, –2.87 to –0.28), and MBP (β = –0.93; CI, –1.82 to –0.05); PDI was inversely associated with MEHHP (β = –2.36; CI, –3.94 to –0.79), MEOHP (β = –2.05; CI, –3.71 to –0.39), and MBP (β = –1.25; CI, –2.40 to –0.11). No significant linear associations were observed for females.Conclusions: The results suggest that prenatal exposure to phthalates may be inversely associated with the MDI and PDI of infants, particularly males, at 6 months.

Successful delivery of sperm cells to the embryo sac in higher plants is mediated by pollen tube growth. The molecular mechanisms underlying pollen germination and tube growth in crop plants remain rather unclear, although these mechanisms are crucial to plant reproduction and seed formation. By screening pollen-specific gene mutants in rice (Oryza sativa), we identified a T-DNA insertional mutant of Germinating modulator of rice pollen (GORI) that showed a one-to-one segregation ratio for wild type (WT) to heterozygous. GORI encodes a seven-WD40-motif protein that is homologous to JINGUBANG/REN4 in Arabidopsis. GORI is specifically expressed in rice pollen, and its protein is localized in the nucleus, cytosol and plasma membrane. Furthermore, a homozygous mutant, gori-2, created through CRISPR-Cas9 clearly exhibited male sterility with disruption of pollen tube germination and elongation. The germinated pollen tube of gori-2 exhibited decreased actin filaments and altered pectin distribution. Transcriptome analysis revealed that 852 pollen-specific genes were downregulated in gori-2 compared with the WT, and Gene Ontology enrichment analysis indicated that these genes are strongly associated with cell wall modification and clathrin coat assembly. Based on the molecular features of GORI, phenotypical observation of the gori mutant and its interaction with endocytic proteins and Rac GTPase, we propose that GORI plays key roles in forming endo-/exocytosis complexes that could mediate pollen tube growth in rice.

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