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Sugar transporters are central machineries to mediate cross-membrane transport of sugars into the cells, and sugar availability may serve as a signal to regulate the sugar transporters. However, the mechanisms of sugar transport regulation by signal sugar availability remain unclear in plant and animal cells. Here, we report that a sucrose transporter, MdSUT1, and a sorbitol transporter, MdSOT6, both localized to plasma membrane, were identified from apple (Malus domestica) fruit. Using a combination of the split-ubiquitin yeast two-hybrid, immunocoprecipitation, and bimolecular fluorescence complementation assays, the two distinct sugar transporters were shown to interact physically with an apple endoplasmic reticulum-anchored cytochrome b5 MdCYB5 in vitro and in vivo. In the yeast systems, the two different interaction complexes function to upregulate the affinity of the sugar transporters, allowing cells to adapt to sugar starvation. An Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) homolog of MdCYB5, AtCYB5-A, also interacts with the two sugar transporters and functions similarly. The point mutations leucine-73 / proline in MdSUT1 and leucine-117 / proline in MdSOT6, disrupting the bimolecular interactions but without significantly affecting the transporter activities, abolish the stimulating effects of the sugar transporter-cytochrome b5 complex on the affinity of the sugar transporters. However, the yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) cytochrome b5 ScCYB5, an additional interacting partner of the two plant sugar transporters, has no function in the regulation of the sugar transporters, indicating that the observed biological functions in the yeast systems are specific to plant cytochrome b5s. These findings suggest a novel mechanism by which the plant cells tailor sugar uptake to the surrounding sugar availability.

Summary• In higher plants, the crosstalk between cold stress responses and reactive oxygen species (ROS) signaling is not well understood.• Two chilling-sensitive mutants, chs4-1 and chs4-3, were characterized genetically and molecularly.• The CHS4 gene, identified by map-based cloning, was found to be identical to LESION SIMULATING DISEASE RESISTANCE 1 (LSD1). We therefore renamed these two alleles lsd1-3 and lsd1-4, respectively. These two mutants exhibited an extensive cell death phenotype under cold stress conditions. Consistently, lsd1-3 plants exposed to cold showed up-regulation of the PR1 and PR2 genes, and increased accumulation of salicylic acid. These results indicate that low temperature is another trigger of cell death in lsd1 mutants. Furthermore, lsd1-3 plants accumulated higher concentrations of H 2 O 2 and total glutathione under cold conditions than wild-type plants. Genetic analysis revealed that PAD4 and EDS1, two key signaling regulators mediating resistance responses, are required for the chilling-sensitive phenotype of lsd1-3.• These findings reveal a role of LSD1 in regulating cell death trigged by cold stress and a link between cold stress responses and ROS-associated signaling.

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The Database of Human Gastric Cancer (DBGC) is a comprehensive database that integrates various human gastric cancer-related data resources. Human gastric cancer-related transcriptomics projects, proteomics projects, mutations, biomarkers and drug-sensitive genes from different sources were collected and unified in this database. Moreover, epidemiological statistics of gastric cancer patients in China and clinicopathological information annotated with gastric cancer cases were also integrated into the DBGC. We believe that this database will greatly facilitate research regarding human gastric cancer in many fields. DBGC is freely available at http://bminfor.tongji.edu.cn/dbgc/index.do

Idiosyncratic deals (i-deals) refer to customized work arrangements and employment conditions employees negotiate with employers. Significant scholarly attention has been paid to understand the responses of i-deals' recipients. However, little attention has been paid to coworkers' reactions to the i-deals. This study examines how coworkers react to focal employees' i-deals. We tested our hypotheses with a sample of 253 employee–coworker pairs and found that coworkers are more likely to accept focal employees' flexibility i-deals than development i-deals. Specifically, we found that coworkers view focal employees' development i-deals as more threatening to their status than flexibility i-deals, and status threat mediates the relationship between development i-deals and coworkers' acceptance. In addition, flexibility i-deals increase coworkers' perception of obtaining future i-deals more than development i-deals, and this perception mediates the relationship between flexibility i-deals and coworkers' acceptance. Furthermore, the results show that coworkers' relative leader–member exchange moderates the above relationships.

Pentoxifylline may be beneficial in reducing hydrogen peroxide induced embryo damage and improve IVF outcome. Patients with endometriosis-associated infertility may benefit from the use of pentoxifylline without significantly affecting embryo development.