Fine Mapping and Candidate Gene Analysis of the Floury Endosperm Gene, FLO(a), in Rice

Qiao, Yongli,Lee, Song-I,Piao, Rihua,Jiang, Wenzhu,Ham, Tae-Ho,Chin, Joong-Hyoun,Piao, Zhongze,Han, Longzhi,Kang, Si-Yong,Koh, Hee-Jong Korean Society for Molecular and Cellular Biology 2010 Molecules and cells Vol.29 No.2

In addition to its role as an energy source for plants, animals and humans, starch is also an environmentally friendly alternative to fossil fuels. In rice, the eating and cooking quality of the grain is determined by its starch properties. The floury endosperm of rice has been explored as an agronomical trait in breeding and genetics studies. In the present study, we characterized a floury endosperm mutant, flo(a), derived from treatment of Oryza sativa ssp. japonica cultivar Hwacheong with MNU. The innermost endosperm of the flo(a) mutant exhibited floury characteristics while the outer layer of the endosperm appeared normal. Starch granules in the flo(a) mutant formed a loosely-packed crystalline structure and X-ray diffraction revealed that the overall crystallinity of the starch was decreased compared to wild-type. The FLO(a) gene was isolated via a map-based cloning approach and predicted to encode the tetratricopeptide repeat domaincontaining protein, OsTPR. Three mutant alleles contain a nucleotide substitution that generated one stop codon or one splice site, respectively, which presumably disrupts the interaction of the functionally conserved TPR motifs. Taken together, our map-based cloning approach pinpointed an OsTPR as a strong candidate of FLO(a), and the proteins that contain TPR motifs might play a significant role in rice starch biosynthetic pathways.

Polymorphisms in TYMS for Prediction of Capecitabine-Induced Hand-Foot Syndrome in Chinese Patients with Colorectal Cancer

Si-Qi Dong,Tong-Min Wang,Jiang-Bo Zhang,Yong-Qiao He,Wen-Qiong Xue,Zi-Yi Wu,Da-Wei Yang,Lian-Jing Cao,Jing-Wen Huang,Xi-Zhao Li,Pei-Fen Zhang,Xiao-Hui Zheng,Wei-Hua Jia 대한암학회 2021 Cancer Research and Treatment Vol.53 No.3

Purpose Capecitabine is an extensively used oral prodrug of 5-fluorouracil in treatment of colon cancer and is known to cause hand-foot syndrome (HFS). As the target enzyme for capecitabine, thymidylate synthase (TYMS) plays a key role for 5-fluorouracil metabolism and has been associated with some side effects caused by capecitabine. The aim of our study is to identify the possible genetic predictors of capecitabine-induced HFS (CAP-HFS) in Chinese colorectal cancer patients.Materials and Methods Whole exons of TYMS were sequenced for 288 extreme phenotype HFS patients, including 144 severe or early-onset (first 2 cycles) moderate HFS extreme cases and 144 extreme controls with no reported HFS. The associations between polymorphisms and CAP-HFS were analyzed using logistic regression under an additive model.Results We identified a novel risk mutation (c.1A>G, chr18:657743), was associated with severe HFS in an extreme case who was affected during the first cycle of treatment. Moreover, we identified three new variants, rs3786362, rs699517, rs2790, and two previously reported variants, 5’VNTR 2R/3R and 3′-untranslated region 6-bp ins-del, which were significantly associated with CAP-HFS (p < 0.05). In silico analysis revealed that the effect of these polymorphisms in the TYMS region on the development of HFS might not be restricted solely to the regulation of TYMS expression, but also the TYMS catalytic activity through the indirect effect on ENOSF1 expression.Conclusion This study identified new polymorphisms in TYMS gene significantly associated with CAP-HFS, which may serve as useful genetic predictors for CAP-HFS and help to elucidate the underlying mechanism of HFS.

tae-miR9674a, a microRNA member of wheat, confers plant drought and salt tolerance through modulating the stomata movement and ROS homeostasis

Wang Ling,Bai Xinyang,Qiao Yuanjinzi,Si Lili,Yu Zidi,Ni Chenyang,Li Tianjiao,Guo Chengjin,Xiao Kai 한국식물생명공학회 2023 Plant biotechnology reports Vol.17 No.4

The members of the microRNA (miRNA) family exert essential roles in modulating plant growth and development as well as responses to diverse stresses, through negatively regulating their target genes at posttranscriptional or translational levels. In this study, we characterized taemiR9674a, a miRNA member in T. aestivum, in mediating plant responses to drought and salt stresses. Seven genes in total were predicted to act as the targets of tae-miR9674a via modulation of transcript cleavage. The transcripts of tae-miR9674a in roots and leaves were response to both stresses of drought and salt, displaying to be gradually upregulated following the progression of a 27-h regime of above stress treatments. The transgenic tobacco lines of tae-miR9674a exhibited modified growth traits under drought and salt treatments. Of these, the line with miRNA overexpression (i.e., Sen 1) improved drastically on plant biomass, leaf area, and root length, whereas that with its knockdown expression (Anti 1) significantly alleviated on above growth traits compared with wild type. The modified stress responses of tae-miR9674a were shown to be closely associated with the role of miRNA in regulating a suite of physiological parameters, of which Sen 1 displayed improved osmotic stress defensive-related traits, such as fastened stomata closing rate, increased leaf water retention capacity, enhanced osmolytes contents, and elevated antioxidant enzyme (AE) activities. The expression of NtP5CS1 involving proline biosynthesis and NtFeSOD, NtCAT1 and NtPOD4, the AE genes involved in modulating ROS homeostasis, was upregulated in Sen 1 upon drought and salt stresses, suggesting their involvement in miRNA-mediated plant drought and salt responses. Transcriptome analysis indicated that tae-miR9674a leads to modified expression of quantities of genes that functionally associate with GO terms “biological process”, “cellular component”, and “molecular function”, which are overrepresented by the biochemical pathways of phytohormones (i.e., ethylene and jasmonic acid), salt response, salt/drought osmotic stress response through abscisic acid-dependent pathway and reactive oxygen species (ROS) homeostasis. Our investigation suggested that tae-miR9674a is an essential mediator in plant osmotic stress tolerance by positively regulating osmotic stress acclimation, cellular ROS homeostasis, and related defensive processes.

Numerical Investigation of the Segmental Lining Performance for a Shield Tunnel

Fan Yang,Guang Liu,Yan-qiao Wang,Si-kun Yu 대한토목학회 2022 KSCE Journal of Civil Engineering Vol.26 No.5

The performance of segmental linings in China's Yellow River Crossing Tunnel is studied as a case study, and a complete three-dimensional numerical model is developed for the segmental joint to perform a bending test and reproduce the joint rotational performance. Besides, an improved three-dimensional solid-spring model together with a straightforward two-dimensional beam-spring model are presented for the segmental lining to take the influences of the joint into account. The bending test shows that the rotation stiffness of joints presents complex and nonlinear characteristics. The segmental lining simulation reveals that the segmental joint has little impact on the axial forces of the lining. However, the bending rigidity of the segmental lining corresponding to the joint location is weakened, which leads to discontinuous stress distribution, decreased bending moments and increased deformations. According to the comparison, the proposed three-dimensional solid-spring model excluding contact has the advantage of mesh generation, and it is capable of reproducing the three-dimensional segmental lining effects. The proposed two-dimensional beam-spring model combined with the calculation methods of all the spring stiffnesses is an effective and further simplified method for the segmental lining modeling, which incorporates the influences of the joint and staggered format.

Fine mapping and candidate gene analysis of thefloury endosperm gene, FLO(a), in rice

Song I Lee,Yong Li Qiao,Ri Hua Piao,Wen Zhu Jiang,Tae Ho Ham,Joong Hyoun Chin,Zhong Ze Piao,Long Zhi Han,Si Yong Kang,Hee Jong Koh 한국육종학회 2010 한국육종학회 학술발표회 발표요지 Vol.42 No.1

A successive ‘‘conversion-deposition” mechanism achieved by micro-crystalline Cu2O modified current collector for composite lithium anode

Yifei Cai,Bin Qin,Chun Li,Xiaoqing Si,Jian Cao,Xiaohang Zheng,LIANG QIAO,Junlei Qi 한국공업화학회 2023 Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Vol.120 No.-

Lithium (Li) metal is a promising material for high-energy–density batteries, but it is still plagued byobvious capacity degradation and low average Coulombic efficiency resulting from dendrite Li propagation. One main reason is the electro-mechanic coupled failure of plated Li on the current collector, whichcontributes to non-dense Li deposition on the anode. Transition metal oxides (TMOs) with a conversiontypemechanism have been used directly as the anode materials for lithium ion batteries, which demonstratedbetter electro-mechanical stability than metal Li. Herein, a successive ’’conversion-deposition’’mechanism is ingeniously developed to restrain the generation of dendritic Li. Specifically, a microcrystallineCu2O modified current collector was prepared, in which Li+ are sequentially inserted intoCu2O and deposited in the form of Li metal at successive low potential. A Li-Cu half-cell based on thehybrid mechanism sustains a high Coulombic efficiency of over 99.3 % in up to 800 cycles. This work ingeniouslyinhibits the generation of dendrite Li by incorporating conversion-type materials withdeposition-dissolution type metal Li, which contributes to a novel concept for the design of functionalcurrent collectors for composite Li anodes.

Mutations in AP22.65 Accelerate Flowering in Arabidopsis thaliana

Ji Hong Xing,Feng Ru Wang,Jiao Jia,Jing Zhang,Li Li,Zhan Chen,Qiao Yun Weng,Ping Yang,Ye Zhang,Bin Zhao,He Long Si,Jin Gao Dong,Jian Min Han 한국식물학회 2013 Journal of Plant Biology Vol.56 No.1

Identification of the gene(s) responsible for floweringtime in Arabidopsis has significant implications. We used theT-DNA insertion library of Arabidopsis thaliana to screen anearly-flowering mutant that exhibits accelerated floweringunder short-day conditions. AP22.65, a novel flowering-timegene in that species, was isolated and identified via genomewalkingand bioinformatics analysis. The flowering time ofAP22.65-complementing plants was similar to that of theCol-0 wild type (WT). Conversely, its overexpression delayedflowering. Consistent with this phenotype, expression ofAP22.65 was decreased in the ap22.65-1 mutant, recoveredin AP22.65-complementing plants, and increased in AP22.65-overexpressing plants. Compared with the WT, expressionlevels of critical genes in different flowering pathways, i.e.,SPY, FLC, GI, CO, FT, and LFY, were down-regulated inloss-of-function mutants. Expression of AP22.65 was distributedin flowers, siliques, rosette leaves, and whole seedlings. Therefore, this gene may be a negative regulator of Arabidopsisflowering.

Identification of Biomarkers for Diagnosis of Gastric Cancer by Bioinformatics

Wang, Da-Guang,Chen, Guang,Wen, Xiao-Yu,Wang, Dan,Cheng, Zhi-Hua,Sun, Si-Qiao Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2015 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.16 No.4

Background: We aimed to discover potential gene biomarkers for gastric cancer (GC) diagnosis. Materials and Methods: Genechips of 10 GC tissues and 10 gastric mucosa (GM, para-carcinoma tissue, normal control) tissues were generated using an exon array of Affymetrix containing 30,000 genes. The differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between GC tissues and normal control were identified by the Limma package and analyzed by hierarchical clustering analysis. Gene ontology (GO) and pathway enrichment analyses were performed for investigating the functions of DEGs. Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) analysis was performed to measure the effects of biomarker candidates for diagnosis of GC. Results: Totals of 896 up-regulated and 60 down-regulated DEGs were identified to be differentially expressed between GC samples and normal control. Hierarchical clustering analysis showed that DEGs were highly differentially expressed and most DEGs were up-regulated. The most significantly enriched GO-BP term was revealed to be mitotic cell cycle and the most significantly enriched pathway was cell cycle. The intersection analysis showed that most significant DEGs were cyclin B1 (CCNB1) and cyclin B2 (CCNB2). The sensitivities and specificities of CCNB1 and CCNB2 were both high (p<0.0001). Areas under the ROC curve for CCNB1 and CCNB2 were both greater than 0.9 (p<0.0001). Conclusions: CCNB1 and CCNB2, which were involved in cell cycle, played significant roles in the progression and development of GC and these genes may be potential biomarkers for diagnosis and prognosis of GC.