The effect of night temperature and leaf inorganic nitrogen status on the C4 pathway enzymes in selected C4 photosynthetic grasses

Themeda triandra, Hyparrhenia hirta and Zea mays have a single bundle sheath with agranal, centrifugal chloroplasts suggesting a NADP-ME-type photosynthetic pathway. Plants grown in liquid cultures had a higher NADP malic enzyme activity than those grown in sand with nutrients being supplied. Decreased minimum night temperature and infiltration of inorganic nitrogen ions appeared to affect the decarboxylating systems of these species suggesting that this pathway is variable under different environmental conditions. Results are discussed in relation to nomenclature of the three distinct anatomical and biochemical C4 photosynthetic types.Keywords: temperatures|leaves|inorganic nitrogen|C4 pathways|enzymes|photosynthetic grasses|grasses|bundle sheaths|chloroplasts|photosynthetic pathways|photosynthesis|NADP|plants|enzyme activities|nitrogen|environmental conditions|nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphat

NFKBIZ polymorphisms and susceptibility to pneumococcal disease in European and African populations.

The proinflammatory transcription factor nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) has a central role in host defence against pneumococcal disease. Both rare mutations and common polymorphisms in the NFKBIA gene encoding the NF-kappaB inhibitor, IkappaB-alpha, associate with susceptibility to bacterial disease, but the possible role of polymorphisms within the related IkappaB-zeta gene NFKBIZ in the development of invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) has not been reported previously. To investigate this further, we examined the frequencies of 22 single-nucleotide polymorphisms spanning NFKBIZ in two case-control studies, comprising UK Caucasian (n=1008) and Kenyan (n=723) individuals. Nine polymorphisms within a single UK linkage disequilibrium (LD) block and all four polymorphisms within the equivalent, shorter Kenyan LD block displayed either a significant association with IPD or a trend towards association. For each polymorphism, heterozygosity was associated with protection from IPD when compared with the combined homozygous states (for example, for rs600718, Mantel-Haenszel 2 x 2 chi(2)=7.576, P=0.006, odds ratio (OR)=0.67, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) for OR: 0.51-0.88; for rs616597, Mantel-Haenszel 2 x 2 chi(2)=8.715, P=0.003, OR=0.65, 95% CI: 0.49-0.86). We conclude that multiple NFKBIZ polymorphisms associate with susceptibility to IPD in humans. The study of multiple populations may aid in fine mapping of associations within extensive regions of strong LD ('transethnic mapping')