No abstract

The radiologic criteria that should be used for assessment of RLN metastases in NPC patients are nodes with a minimal axial diameter 6 mm or larger, any node with central necrosis, groups of two or more RLNs, or any medial RLN; these criteria may be useful in tumor staging and treatment planning.

Abstract. It has been demonstrated that erlotinib is effective in treating patients with brain metastasis from non-small-cell lung cancer. However, the number of studies determining the erlotinib concentration in these patients is limited. The purpose of this study was to measure the concentration of erlotinib in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with brain metastasis from non-small-cell lung carcinoma. Six patients were treated with the standard recommended daily dose of erlotinib (150 mg) for 4 weeks. All the patients had previously received chemotherapy, but no brain radiotherapy. At the end of the treatment period, blood plasma and cerebrospinal fluid samples were collected and the erlotinib concentration was determined by high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS̸MS). The average erlotinib concentration in the blood plasma and the cerebrospinal fluid was 717.7±459.7 and 23.7±13.4 ng/ml, respectively. The blood-brain barrier permeation rate of erlotinib was found to be 4.4±3.2%. In patients with partial response (PR), stable disease (SD) and progressive disease (PD), the average concentrations of erlotinib in the cerebrospinal fluid were 35.5±19.0, 19.1±8.7 and 16.4±5.9 ng/ml, respectively. In addition, the efficacy rate of erlotinib for metastatic brain lesions was 33.3%, increasing to 50% in patients with EGFR mutations. However, erlotinib appeared to be ineffective in cases with wild-type EGFR. In conclusion, a relatively high concentration of erlotinib was detected in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with brain metastases from non-small-cell lung cancer. Thus, erlotinib may be considered as a treatment option for this patient population.

Aphids represent the most destructive of chrysanthemum pests to cultivation. Reliable variety sources of resistance and control methods are limited, so development of highly resistant breeding lines is desirable. An intergeneric hybrid between Dendranthema morifolium (chrysanthemum) variety 'Zhongshanjingui' and Artemisia vulgaris (mugwort) 'Variegata' was attempted. Most of the hybrid embryos aborted at an early developmental stage. Embryo rescue allowed the generation of hybrid plants, whose hybridity was confirmed by a combination of morphological, cytological and GISH analysis. The hybrids were vigorous, flowered normally, and their flower and leaf shape resembled those of the chrysanthemum more than those of the mugwort parent. The hybrids showed much higher resistance to chrysanthemum aphid (Macrosiphoniella sanbourni) than maternal chrysanthemum by inoculation test. The leaves of the hybrid developed a higher density of trichomes and secretory glands compared to the maternal chrysanthemum. GC-MS analysis revealed that approximately 51% of the essential oil in the hybrid leaves were monoterpenoids and sesquiterpenoids, while the proportion in the chrysanthemum was approximately 37%, and in the mugwort was approximately 90%. It is inferred that higher aphid resistance in the hybrid mainly owed to the leaf micromorphology and bioactive essential oil content.

No abstract

The inheritance of two flowering traits of chrysanthemum, initial blooming time and the duration of flowering, was investigated using segregation within an F 1 population derived from a cross between the autumn-flowering 'Yuhualuoying' and the summer-flowering 'Aoyunhanxiao' cultivars. The analysis, based on a single segregating generation and the major gene plus polygene mixed inheritance model, showed that the inheritance of both traits was compatible with the presence of two pairs of major genes displaying additivity-dominance-epistasis, with additivity predominating. As the heritability of both pairs of major genes was high (initial blooming time *65%, duration of flowering *72%), it should be possible to select for both traits in early breeding generations. A marker-trait association analysis based on sequence-related amplified polymorphism (SRAP) genotyping uncovered 10 (initial blooming time) and 12 (duration of flowering) markers significantly associated with phenotype, cumulatively explaining, respectively, 46 and 54% of the variation. Some potentially useful markers were identified.

No abstract

Rhododendron lapponicum L. is a familiar ornamental plant worldwide with important ornamental and economic value. However, a full-length R. lapponicum transcriptome is still lacking. in the present study, we used the Pacific Biosciences single-molecule real-time sequencing technology to generate the R. lapponicum transcriptome. A total of 346,270 full-length non-chimeric reads were generated, from which we obtained 75,002 high-quality full-length transcripts. We identified 55,255 complete open reading frames, 7,140 alternative splicing events and 2,011 long non-coding RNAs. In gene annotation analyses, 71,155, 33,653, 30,359 and 31,749 transcripts were assigned to the Nr, GO, COG and KEGG databases, respectively. Additionally, 3,150 transcription factors were detected. KEGG pathway analysis showed that 96 transcripts were identified coding for the enzymes associated with anthocyanin synthesis. Furthermore, we identified 64,327 simple sequence repeats from 45,319 sequences, and 150 pairs of primers were randomly selected to develop SSR markers. this study provides a large number of full-length transcripts, which will facilitate the further study of the genetics of R. lapponicum.Rhododendron is the largest genus in Ericaceae, with more than 1000 species of woody plants, either evergreen or deciduous 1 . Rhododendron species are widely cultivated around the world ranging from tropical to polar climates, and serve as a potential genetic resource for the development of new plant cultivars adapted to different environmental conditions 2 . Rhododendron is a familiar ornamental plant worldwide, and is decorative shrub with beautiful flowers that are widespread around the world. There are a remarkably broad range of rhododendron flower colours, including red, white, yellow, and green and so on. Rhododendron lapponicum L., a Rhododendron species found in subarctic regions around the world, is a common ornamental plant worldwide 3 . Recent advances in sequencing technology have facilitated genome and transcriptome studies in many species. However, genome and transcriptome sequencing in R. lapponicum has lagged behind that in other species, and information about the sequence and structure of its genes is limited. Therefore, the generation of a transcriptome data may establish a very important molecular biology basis for the research of R. lapponicum.The transcriptome reflects the number and type of genes expressed in different cell types and reveals underlying metabolic pathways and genetic mechanisms 4 . Transcriptome sequencing is an efficient and feasible approach for generating a large amount of sequence data, and a large number of cDNA sequences provides a useful resource for genomic and genetic research 5-9 . Thus, third-generation long-read transcriptome sequencing platforms such as the Pacific Biosciences (PacBio), Nanopore and Moleculo platforms were developed. Recently, PacBio single-molecule real-time (SMRT) sequencing technology has served as a better alternative for obtaining full-length transcripts 10,11 . The ...