Mitochondria supply energy for physiological function and they participate in the regulation of other cellular events including apoptosis, calcium homeostasis and production of reactive oxygen species. Thus, mitochondria play a critical role in the cells. However, dysfunction of mitochondria is related to a variety of pathological processes and diseases. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of small noncoding RNAs about 22 nucleotides long, and they can bind to the 3′ un-translated region (3′UTR) of mRNAs, thereby inhibiting mRNA translation or promoting mRNA degradation. We summarize the molecular regulation of mitochondrial metabolism, structure and function by miRNAs. Modulation of miRNAs levels may provide a new therapeutic approach for the treatment of mitochondria-related diseases.

Soil microbial communities are fundamental to maintaining key soil processes associated with litter decomposition, nutrient cycling, and plant productivity and are thus integral to human well-being. Recent technological advances have exponentially increased our knowledge concerning the global ecological distributions of microbial communities across space and time and have provided evidence for their contribution to ecosystem functions. However, major knowledge gaps in soil biogeography remain to be addressed over the coming years as technology and research questions continue to evolve. In this minireview, we state recent advances and future directions in the study of soil microbial biogeography and discuss the need for a clearer concept of microbial species, projections of soil microbial distributions toward future global change scenarios, and the importance of embracing culture and isolation approaches to determine microbial functional profiles. This knowledge will be critical to better predict ecosystem functions in a changing world.

It has been demonstrated that calcium plays a central role in mediating abscisic acid (ABA) signaling, but many of the Ca 21 -binding sensory proteins as the components of the ABA-signaling pathway remain to be elucidated. Here we identified, characterized, and purified a 58-kD ABA-stimulated calcium-dependent protein kinase from the mesocarp of grape berries (Vitis vinifera 3 Vitis labrusca), designated ACPK1 (for ABA-stimulated calcium-dependent protein kinase1). ABA stimulates ACPK1 in a dose-dependent manner, and the ACPK1 expression and enzyme activities alter accordantly with the endogenous ABA concentrations during fruit development. The ABA-induced ACPK1 stimulation appears to be transient with a rapid effect in 15 min but also with a slow and steady state of induction after 60 min. ABA acts on ACPK1 indirectly and dependently on in vivo state of the tissues. Two inactive ABA isomers, (2)-2-cis, 4-trans-ABA and 2-trans, 4-trans-(6)-ABA, are ineffective for inducing ACPK1 stimulation, revealing that the ABA-induced effect is stereo specific to physiological active (1)-2-cis, 4-trans-ABA. The other phytohormones such as auxin indoleacetic acid, gibberellic acid, synthetic cytokinin N-benzyl-6-aminopurine, and brassinolide are also ineffective in this ACPK1 stimulation. Based on sequencing of the two-dimensional electrophoresis-purified ACPK1, we cloned the ACPK1 gene. The ACPK1 is expressed specifically in grape berry covering a fleshy portion and seeds, and in a developmental stage-dependent manner. We further showed that ACPK1 is localized in both plasma membranes and chloroplasts/plastids and positively regulates plasma membrane H 1 -ATPase in vitro, suggesting that ACPK1 may be involved in the ABA-signaling pathway.

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Coastal wetlands are one of the important ecosystems that play a crucial role in the regulation of climate change. Rare taxa (RT) exist in one habitat along with abundant taxa (AT).

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