No abstract

Copyright and reuse:The Warwick Research Archive Portal (WRAP) makes the work of researchers of the University of Warwick available open access under the following conditions. Copyright © and all moral rights to the version of the paper presented here belong to the individual author(s) and/or other copyright owners. To the extent reasonable and practicable the material made available in WRAP has been checked for eligibility before being made available.Copies of full items can be used for personal research or study, educational, or not-forprofit purposes without prior permission or charge. Provided that the authors, title and full bibliographic details are credited, a hyperlink and/or URL is given for the original metadata page and the content is not changed in any way. Publisher's statement:The original publication is available at www.springerlink.com A note on versions:The version presented here may differ from the published version or, version of record, if you wish to cite this item you are advised to consult the publisher's version. Please see the 'permanent WRAP url' above for details on accessing the published version and note that access may require a subscription. This gene was analysed in four resistant and three susceptible lines. A correlation was observed between the amino acid substitution (Gly/Asp) in the eIF(iso)4E protein and resistance/susceptibility. eIF(iso)4E has been shown previously to interact with the TuMV genome-linked protein, VPg.

SUMMARYRecessive strain-specific resistance to a number of plant viruses in the Potyvirus genus has been found to be based on mutations in the eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4E (eIF4E) and its isoform, eIF(iso)4E. We identified three copies of eIF(iso)4E in a number of Brassica rapa lines. Here we report broad-spectrum resistance to the potyvirus Turnip mosaic virus (TuMV) due to a natural mechanism based on the mis-splicing of the eIF(iso)4E allele in some TuMV-resistant B. rapa var. pekinensis lines. Of the splice variants, the most common results in a stop codon in intron 1 and a much truncated, non-functional protein. The existence of multiple copies has enabled redundancy in the host plant's translational machinery, resulting in diversification and emergence of the resistance. Deployment of the resistance is complicated by the presence of multiple copies of the gene. Our data suggest that in the B. rapa subspecies trilocularis, TuMV appears to be able to use copies of eIF(iso)4E at two loci. Transformation of different copies of eIF(iso)4E from a resistant B. rapa line into an eIF(iso)4E knockout line of Arabidopsis thaliana proved misleading because it showed that, when expressed ectopically, TuMV could use multiple copies which was not the case in the resistant B. rapa line. The inability of TuMV to access multiple copies of eIF(iso)4E in B. rapa and the broad spectrum of the resistance suggest it may be durable.

SUMMARY Rubus chingii Hu (Fu‐Pen‐Zi), a perennial woody plant in the Rosaceae family, is a characteristic traditional Chinese medicinal plant because of its unique pharmacological effects. There are abundant hydrolyzable tannin (HT) components in R. chingii that provide health benefits. Here, an R. chingii chromosome‐scale genome and related functional analysis provide insights into the biosynthetic pathway of HTs. In total, sequence data of 231.21 Mb (155 scaffolds with an N50 of 8.2 Mb) were assembled into seven chromosomes with an average length of 31.4 Mb, and 33 130 protein‐coding genes were predicted, 89.28% of which were functionally annotated. Evolutionary analysis showed that R. chingii was most closely related to Rubus occidentalis, from which it was predicted to have diverged 22.46 million years ago (Table S8). Comparative genomic analysis showed that there was a tandem gene cluster of UGT, carboxylesterase (CXE) and SCPL genes on chromosome 02 of R. chingii, including 11 CXE, eight UGT, and six SCPL genes, which may be critical for the synthesis of HTs. In vitro enzyme assays indicated that the proteins encoded by the CXE (LG02.4273) and UGT (LG02.4102) genes have tannin hydrolase and gallic acid glycosyltransferase functions, respectively. The genomic sequence of R. chingii will be a valuable resource for comparative genomic analysis within the Rosaceae family and will be useful for understanding the biosynthesis of HTs.

Sexual reproduction is the primary means of reproduction for the vast majority of macroscopic organisms, including almost all animals and plants. Sex chromosomes are predicted to play a central role in sexual dimorphism. Sex determination in spinach is controlled by a pair of sex chromosomes. However, the mechanisms of sex determination in spinach remain poorly understand. Here, we assembled the genomes of both a female (XX) and a male (YY) individual of spinach, and the genome sizes were 978 Mb with 28,320 predicted genes and 926 Mb with 26,537 predicted genes, respectively. Based on reported sex-linked markers, chromosomes 4 of the female and male genome were defined as the X and Y chromosomes, and a 10 Mb male-specific region of the Y chromosome (MSY) from approximately 95– 105 Mb, was identified that contains abundant transposable elements (92.32%). Importantly, a large-scale inversion of about 13 Mb in length was detected on the X chromosome, corresponding to ~9 Mb and ~4 Mb on the Y chromosome, which were located on both sides of the MSY with two distinct evolutionary strata. Almost all sex-linked/Y-specific markers were enriched on the inversions/MSY, suggesting that the flanked inversions might result in recombination suppression between the X and Y chromosomes to maintain the MSY. Forty-nine genes within the MSY had functional homologs elsewhere in the autosomal region, suggesting movement of genes onto the MSY. The X and Y chromosomes of spinach provide a valuable resource for investigating spinach sex chromosomes evolution from wild to cultivated spinach and also provide a broader understanding of the sex determination model in the Amaranthaceae family.

No abstract

The improvement of fatty acid composition is one of the major goals of breeding in rapeseed (Brassica napus). The aim of this study was to provide more information on the genetic determination of fatty acid composition by investigating quantitative trait loci (QTLs). The study was based on two-year of field trials (in 2006 and 2007) with a population of recombinant inbred lines (RILs), which originated from a cross between GH06 and P174. The level of erucic acid (C22:1) was significantly negatively correlated with those of palmitic acid (C16:0), oleic acid (C18:1), linoleic acid (C18:2), linolenic acid (C18:3), and eicosenoic acid (C20:1) in both years. A total of 40 QTLs for six fatty acids were detected and most of them were clustered on linkage groups N8, N9, and N13. These results suggested strongly that there were significant correlations between the levels of fatty acid components and would be useful for the future improvement of breeding programs focused on fatty acids in rapeseed.

Background: Kawasaki disease (KD) is a self-limiting illness with acute systematic vascular inflammation. It causes pathological changes in mostly medium and small-sized arteries, especially the arteria coronaria, which adds the risk of developing coronary heart disease in adults. Materials and methods: We detected the miR-223-3p expression in 30 KD patients combined with 12 normal controls using miRNA microarrays and RT-PCR. A KD mouse model was constructed using Candida albicans water insoluble substance (CAWS). We also checked the miR-223-3p's expression using qRT-PCR. The Luciferase reporting system was implemented to validate the correlation between miR-223-3p and Interleukin-6 receptor subunit beta (IL-6ST). TNF-α was used to stimulate human coronary artery endothelial cells (HCAECs), and miR-223-3p activator or inhibitor and KD serum were used to treat HCAECs. A Western blotting automatic quantitative analysis protein imprinting system was used to test the expression of signal transducer and the activator of transcription 3 (STAT3), phosphorylated-signal transducer and the activator of transcription 3 (pSTAT3) and NF-κB p65. Results: Clinical trials found that miR-223-3p expressions were markedly different (more than 2-fold) between the acute KD group and the control group. E-selectin and intercellular cell adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) levels were also significantly higher (about 2-fold) in KD especially with coronary artery lesions. MiR-223-3p could alleviate vascular endothelial damage in KD mice, and IL-6 (Interleukin-6), E-selectin and ICAM-1 were simultaneously negative. The values of IL-6, E-selectin, and ICAM-1 mRNA expressions decreased, while the value of IL-6ST was increased between the agonist treated mice and KD mice. The RT-qPCR consequences displayed that miR-223-3p explored the highest expression on the third day in both the KD mice as well as the agonist group. MiR-223-3p can directly combine with IL-6ST 3' untranslatable regions (UTR) and held back the IL-6's expression. Overexpression of miR-223 down regulated IL6ST expression and decreased the expression of p-STAT3 and NF-κB p65, while the miR-223 inhibitor could reverse the above process. Conclusion: MiR-223-3p is an important regulatory factor of vascular endothelial damage in KD and could possibly become a potential target of KD treatment in the future.