Dissecting the genetic control of natural variation in salt tolerance of Arabidopsis thaliana accessions

Many accessions (ecotypes) of Arabidopsis have been collected. Although few differences exist among their nucleotide sequences, these subtle differences induce large genetic variation in phenotypic traits such as stress tolerance and flowering time. To understand the natural variability in salt tolerance, large-scale soil pot experiments were performed to evaluate salt tolerance among 350 Arabidopsis thaliana accessions. The evaluation revealed a wide variation in the salt tolerance among accessions. Several accessions, including Bu-5, Bur-0, Ll-1, Wl-0, and Zu-0, exhibited marked stress tolerance compared with a salt-sensitive experimental accession, Col-0. The salt-tolerant accessions were also evaluated by agar plate assays. The data obtained by the large-scale assay correlated well with the results of a salt acclimation (SA) assay, in which plants were transferred to high-salinity medium following placement on moderate-salinity medium for 7 d. Genetic analyses indicated that the salt tolerance without SA is a quantitative trait under polygenic control, whereas salt tolerance with SA is regulated by a single gene located on chromosome 5 that is common among the markedly salt-tolerant accessions. These results provide important information for understanding the mechanisms underlying natural variation of salt tolerance in Arabidopsis

ザイタク キョジャク オヨビ ヨウ カイゴ コウレイシャ ニ オケル カイゴドベツ シンタイ キノウ ノ ケントウ

The purpose of this research is to examine body functions in a regional weak living and the nursing necessary senior citizen and the relations to the nursing necessary level. [Subject]:A regional weak living and needed nursing 167 senior citizens were targeted. [Method]:The object person was analyzed, and the crowd division was done according to the nursing level, and the relation between body functions and the nursing level was analyzed. [Result]: The nursing level decreases the capacity of balance, the lower limbs muscular power, the whole body endurance, and the ambulatory ability and the ability has decreased with advancing. However, the relation to the nursing level was not admitted as for the arm muscular power and flexibility. [Conclusion]: It was suggested that it was necessary to make the best use of this result for the programs aimed at preventing elderly people requiring nursing care from further losing physical and mental strength

DOCK2 is involved in the host genetics and biology of severe COVID-19

「コロナ制圧タスクフォース」COVID-19疾患感受性遺伝子DOCK2の重症化機序を解明 --アジア最大のバイオレポジトリーでCOVID-19の治療標的を発見--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2022-08-10.Identifying the host genetic factors underlying severe COVID-19 is an emerging challenge. Here we conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) involving 2, 393 cases of COVID-19 in a cohort of Japanese individuals collected during the initial waves of the pandemic, with 3, 289 unaffected controls. We identified a variant on chromosome 5 at 5q35 (rs60200309-A), close to the dedicator of cytokinesis 2 gene (DOCK2), which was associated with severe COVID-19 in patients less than 65 years of age. This risk allele was prevalent in East Asian individuals but rare in Europeans, highlighting the value of genome-wide association studies in non-European populations. RNA-sequencing analysis of 473 bulk peripheral blood samples identified decreased expression of DOCK2 associated with the risk allele in these younger patients. DOCK2 expression was suppressed in patients with severe cases of COVID-19. Single-cell RNA-sequencing analysis (n = 61 individuals) identified cell-type-specific downregulation of DOCK2 and a COVID-19-specific decreasing effect of the risk allele on DOCK2 expression in non-classical monocytes. Immunohistochemistry of lung specimens from patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia showed suppressed DOCK2 expression. Moreover, inhibition of DOCK2 function with CPYPP increased the severity of pneumonia in a Syrian hamster model of SARS-CoV-2 infection, characterized by weight loss, lung oedema, enhanced viral loads, impaired macrophage recruitment and dysregulated type I interferon responses. We conclude that DOCK2 has an important role in the host immune response to SARS-CoV-2 infection and the development of severe COVID-19, and could be further explored as a potential biomarker and/or therapeutic target