Expression of thaumatin, a new type of alternative sweetener in rice

  Sweet proteins are the natural alternative to the artificial sweeteners as well as flavor enhancers. Among other sweet protein, thaumatin protein was isolated from Thaumatococcus daniellii Benth plant fruit. In this study, pinII Ti plasmid vector was constructed with thaumatin gene, where thaumatin was placed under the control of the duel cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter into rice (Oryza sativa L. var. japonica cv. ‘Dongjinbyeo’) by Agrobacterium-mediated transformation to generate transgenic plants. Thirteen plant lines were regenerated and the transgenic rice lines were confirmed by different molecular analysis. The genomic PCR result revealed that all of the plant lines were transgenic. The single copy and intergenic plant lines were selected by Taqman PCR analysis and FST analysis, respectively. Expression of thaumatin gene in transgenic rice resulted in the accumulation of thaumatin protein in the leave. Thaumatin protein was also accumulated in leave of T1 generation. Sensory analysis result suggested that the thaumatin protein expressing transgenic lines exerted sweet tasting activity. These results demonstrated that thaumatin was expressed in transgenic rice plants

Electronic structures of La3_3S4_4 and Ce3_3S4_4

We have investigated electronic structures of La$_3$S$_4$ and Ce$_3$S$_4$ using the LSDA and LSDA+$U$ methods. Calculated density of states (DOS) are compared with the experimental DOS obtained by the valence band photoemission spectroscopy. The DOS at $E_{\rm{F}}$ indicates the 5$d$ character in La$_3$S$_4$ and 4$f$ character in Ce$_3$S$_4$. It is found to be nearly half metallic in the ferromagnetic ground state of Ce$_3$S$_4$. %Ce$_3$S$_4$ has ferromagnetic ground states with spin and orbital magnetic %moments of 1.27 $\mu_{\rm{B}}$ and $-$2.81 $\mu_{\rm{B}}$ per Ce, respectively, %and shows nearly half metallic ground state. We discuss the superconductivity and structural transition in La$_3$S$_4$, and the absence of structural transition in Ce$_3$S$_4$.Comment: Transport and Thermal Properties of Advanced Materials(Aug. 2002; Hiroshima, Japan

Overexpression of BrSAC1 encoding a phosphoinositide phosphatase isolated from Chinese cabbage (Brassica rapa L) improved tolerance to cold, dehydration, and salt stresses in transgenic tobacco

This study demonstrates the isolation and characterization of cDNA encoding a phosphoinositide phosphatase (PIP) from a stem cell cDNA library of Chinese cabbage (Brassica rapa) seedling. The full length gene (BrSAC1; GenBank accession no., GU434275) contained 1999 base pairs (bp), with an open reading frame of 1785 bp, encoding a polypeptide of 594 amino acids with a predicted molecular weight of 65 kDa, including a putative N-terminal signal peptide (the signal peptide counted within the 594 residues). Other regions found within the sequence include a conserved KXKXX COPI-binding motif and a consensus Cx5R (T/S) catalytic motif. BrSAC1 protein shares 92% identity with AtSac1B, and 86% identity with AtRHD4 at the amino acid level. Gene expression analyses revealed that BrsSAC1 was constitutively expressed at high levels in the pistil, stamen and flower bud, whereas it was expressed at low levels in the leaf and stem. In addition to injury, BrSAC1 expression was also induced in response to different types of stress condition, namely cold, desiccation, salt, submergence, abscisic acid and heavy metals. Overexpression of BrSAC1 in transgenic tobacco conferred tolerance to cold, dehydration, and salt stress at the seed germination/seedling stage as reflected by the percentage of germination/green seedlings, the fresh weight of seedlings and their development pattern. Our data suggest that BrSAC1 is an important stress response determinant in plants.Keywords: Abiotic stress, Brassica rapa, phosphoinositide phosphatase, transgenic plantAfrican Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(15), pp. 1782-179

Identification and characterization of longevity assurance gene related to stress resistance in Brassica

Brassica is a very important vegetable group worldwide and different stresses are a major concern for these crops. Enhancement of resistance against biotic and abiotic stresses by exploiting stress resistance related genes offers the most efficient approach to address this concern. In this study, a stress resistance related gene was identified from the full-length cDNA library of Brassica rapa cv. Osome, which was determined to be Brassica longevity assurance protein (BrLAP) after sequence analysis. A comparison study of this gene showed a high degree of homology with other stress resistance related longevity assurance genes and was shown to be expressed in all organs during all of the developmental growth stages. In addition, this gene significantly responded after cold, drought and ABA stress treatments in Chinese cabbage. All these data revealed that this gene may be involved in plant resistance against stresses.Keywords: Brassica rapa, longevity assurance gene, gene expression, biotic and abiotic stres

Overexpression of the pineapple fruit bromelain gene (BAA) in transgenic Chinese cabbage ( Brassica rapa ) results in enhanced resistance to bacterial soft rot

Bromelain is a crude protein extract obtained from pineapple stems, which comprises a variety of proteolytic enzymes. It exhibits potential therapeutic activities against trauma, inflammation, autoimmune diseases and malignant disorders. In this study, we cloned BAA1 (the gene encoding fruit bromelain) into a plant expression vector that was then used to transform Brassica rapa and overexpress BAA1 under the control of the cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) 35S promoter. We demonstrate that constitutive overexpression of BAA1 in B. rapa confers enhanced resistance to the soft rot pathogen Pectobacterium carotovorum ssp. carotovorum . These results suggest that it could be utilized for protecting plants from attack by bacterial pathogens

Angle-resolved and resonant photoemission spectroscopy study of the Fermi surface reconstruction in the charge density wave systems CeTe2 and PrTe2

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Safety and Efficacy of Second-Generation Everolimus-Eluting Xience V Stents Versus Zotarolimus-Eluting Resolute Stents in Real-World Practice Patient-Related and Stent-Related Outcomes From the Multicenter Prospective EXCELLENT and RESOLUTE-Korea Registries

ObjectivesThis study sought to compare the safety and efficacy of the Xience V/Promus everolimus-eluting stent (EES) (Abbott Vascular, Temecula, California) with the Endeavor Resolute zotarolimus-eluting stent (ZES-R) (Medtronic Cardiovascular, Santa Rosa, California) in “all-comer” cohorts.BackgroundOnly 2 randomized controlled trials have compared these stents.MethodsThe EXCELLENT (Efficacy of Xience/Promus Versus Cypher to Reduce Late Loss After Stenting) and RESOLUTE-Korea registries prospectively enrolled 3,056 patients treated with the EES and 1,998 patients treated with the ZES-R, respectively, without exclusions. Stent-related composite outcomes (target lesion failure [TLF]) and patient-related composite outcomes were compared in crude and propensity score-matched analyses.ResultsOf 5,054 patients, 3,830 (75.8%) had off-label indication (2,217 treated with EES and 1,613 treated with ZES-R). The stent-related outcome (82 [2.7%] vs. 58 [2.9%], p = 0.662) and the patient-related outcome (225 [7.4%] vs. 153 [7.7%], p = 0.702) did not differ between EES and ZES-R, respectively, at 1 year, which was corroborated by similar results from the propensity score-matched cohort. The rate of definite or probable stent thrombosis (18 [0.6%] vs. 7 [0.4%], p = 0.306) also was similar. In multivariate analysis, off-label indication was the strongest predictor of TLF (adjusted hazard ratio: 2.882; 95% confidence interval: 1.226 to 6.779; p = 0.015).ConclusionsIn this robust real-world registry with unrestricted use of EES and ZES-R, both stents showed comparable safety and efficacy at 1-year follow-up. Overall incidences of TLF and definite stent thrombosis were low, even in the patients with off-label indication, suggesting excellent safety and efficacy of both types of second-generation drug-eluting stents