(6S,7S,8S,8aS)-6-Ethyl-7,8-dihy­droxy-1,5,6,7,8,8a-hexa­hydro­indolizin-3(2H)-one monohydrate

The absolute configuration of the title compound, C10H17NO3·H2O, was assigned from the synthesis. In the mol­ecular structure, the central six-membered ring of the indolizine moiety adopts a chair conformation, with two atoms displaced by −0.578 (2) and 0.651 (1) Å from the plane of the other four atoms [maximum deviation 0.019 (2) Å] The conformation of the fused oxopyrrolidine ring is close to that of a flat envelope, with the flap atom displaced by 0.294 (1) Å from the plane through the remaining four atoms. In the crystal, one of the hy­droxy groups is hydrogen-bonded to two water mol­ecules, while the other hy­droxy group exhibits an inter­molecular hydrogen bond to the carbonyl O atom, resulting in a chain parallel to the b axis

(7R,8S,8aS)-8-Hydr­oxy-7-phenyl­perhydro­indolizin-3-one

In the title compound, C14H17NO2, the six-membered ring of the indolizine system adopts a chair conformation. In the crystal, mol­ecules form chains parallel to the b axis via inter­molecular O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds. The absolute mol­ecular configuration was assigned from the synthesis

(8aRS)-8,8a-Dihydro­furo[3,2-f]indolizine-6,9(4H,7H)-dione

The title compound, C10H9NO3, is a chiral mol­ecule with one stereogenic carbon atom, but which crystallizes as a racemate in the centrosymmetric space group P21/n. The central six-membered ring of the indolizine moiety adopts a definite envelope conformation, while the conformation of the oxopyrrolidine ring is close to that of a flat-envelope with a maximum deviation of 0.352 (1) Å for the flap atom

(4R,6S,7S,8S,8aS)-6-Ethyl-7,8-dihy­droxy-4-methyl-1,2,3,5,6,7,8,8a-octa­hydro­indolizin-4-ium iodide

The title compound, C11H22NO2 +·I−, is a chiral mol­ecule with five stereogenic centres. The absolute configuration was assigned from the synthesis and confirmed by the structure determination. The central six-membered ring of the indolizine system adopts a chair conformation, with two atoms displaced by −0.690 (2) and 0.550 (2) Å from the plane of the other four atoms. The conformation of the pyrrolidine ring is close to that of an envelope, with the flap atom displaced by 0.563 (2) Å from the plane of the remaining four atoms. In the crystal, there are two O—H⋯I hydrogen bonds

(11R,11aS)-11-Hydr­oxy-1,5,11,11a-tetra­hydro-1-benzothieno[2,3-f]indolizin-3(2H)-one

The absolute configuration of the title compound, C14H13NO2S, was assigned from the synthesis and confirmed by the structure determination. The central six-membered ring of the indolizine system adopts an envelope conformation, the greatest deviation from the mean plane of the ring being 0.459 (2) Å for the N atom. The benzothieno system is planar [mean deviation = 0.009 (2) Å]. In the crystal structure, mol­ecules form chains parallel to the b axis via inter­molecular O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds

(8aS)-7,8,8a,9-Tetra­hydro­thieno[3,2-f]indolizin-6(4H)-one

In the mol­ecular structure of the title compound, C10H11NOS, the central six-membered ring of the indolizine unit adopts an envelope conformation, the maximum deviations from the mean plane of the ring being 0.533 (2) Å. The fused thieno ring is nearly coplanar [mean deviation = 0.007 (2) Å]. The conformation of the fused oxopyrrolidine ring is close to that of a flat-envelope, with a maximum deviation of 0.339 (3) Å. The crystal structure is stabilized by C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds

Unique and conserved MicroRNAs in wheat chromosome 5D revealed by next-generation sequencing

MicroRNAs are a class of short, non-coding, single-stranded RNAs that act as post-transcriptional regulators in gene expression. miRNA analysis of Triticum aestivum chromosome 5D was performed on 454 GS FLX Titanium sequences of flow sorted chromosome 5D with a total of 3,208,630 good quality reads representing 1.34x and 1.61x coverage of the short (5DS) and long (5DL) arms of the chromosome respectively. In silico and structural analyses revealed a total of 55 miRNAs; 48 and 42 miRNAs were found to be present on 5DL and 5DS respectively, of which 35 were common to both chromosome arms, while 13 miRNAs were specific to 5DL and 7 miRNAs were specific to 5DS. In total, 14 of the predicted miRNAs were identified in wheat for the first time. Representation (the copy number of each miRNA) was also found to be higher in 5DL (1,949) compared to 5DS (1,191). Targets were predicted for each miRNA, while expression analysis gave evidence of expression for 6 out of 55 miRNAs. Occurrences of the same miRNAs were also found in Brachypodium distachyon and Oryza sativa genome sequences to identify syntenic miRNA coding sequences. Based on this analysis, two other miRNAs: miR1133 and miR167 were detected in B. distachyon syntenic region of wheat 5DS. Five of the predicted miRNA coding regions (miR6220, miR5070, miR169, miR5085, miR2118) were experimentally verified to be located to the 5D chromosome and three of them : miR2118, miR169 and miR5085, were shown to be 5D specific. Furthermore miR2118 was shown to be expressed in Chinese Spring adult leaves. miRNA genes identified in this study will expand our understanding of gene regulation in bread wheat

Increasing Incidence of Geomyces destructans Fungus in Bats from the Czech Republic and Slovakia

BACKGROUND: White-nose syndrome is a disease of hibernating insectivorous bats associated with the fungus Geomyces destructans. It first appeared in North America in 2006, where over a million bats died since then. In Europe, G. destructans was first identified in France in 2009. Its distribution, infection dynamics, and effects on hibernating bats in Europe are largely unknown. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We screened hibernacula in the Czech Republic and Slovakia for the presence of the fungus during the winter seasons of 2008/2009 and 2009/2010. In winter 2009/2010, we found infected bats in 76 out of 98 surveyed sites, in which the majority had been previously negative. A photographic record of over 6000 hibernating bats, taken since 1994, revealed bats with fungal growths since 1995; however, the incidence of such bats increased in Myotis myotis from 2% in 2007 to 14% by 2010. Microscopic, cultivation and molecular genetic evaluations confirmed the identity of the recently sampled fungus as G. destructans, and demonstrated its continuous distribution in the studied area. At the end of the hibernation season we recorded pathologic changes in the skin of the affected bats, from which the fungus was isolated. We registered no mass mortality caused by the fungus, and the recorded population decline in the last two years of the most affected species, M. myotis, is within the population trend prediction interval. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: G. destructans was found to be widespread in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, with an epizootic incidence in bats during the most recent years. Further development of the situation urgently requires a detailed pan-European monitoring scheme