QTL mapping of leafy heads by genome resequencing in the RIL population of Brassica rapa.

Leaf heads of cabbage (Brassica oleracea), Chinese cabbage (B. rapa), and lettuce (Lactuca sativa) are important vegetables that supply mineral nutrients, crude fiber and vitamins in the human diet. Head size, head shape, head weight, and heading time contribute to yield and quality. In an attempt to investigate genetic basis of leafy head in Chinese cabbage (B. rapa), we took advantage of recent technical advances of genome resequencing to perform quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping using 150 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) derived from the cross between heading and non-heading Chinese cabbage. The resequenced genomes of the parents uncovered more than 1 million SNPs. Genotyping of RILs using the high-quality SNPs assisted by Hidden Markov Model (HMM) generated a recombination map. The raw genetic map revealed some physical assembly error and missing fragments in the reference genome that reduced the quality of SNP genotyping. By deletion of the genetic markers in which recombination rates higher than 20%, we have obtained a high-quality genetic map with 2209 markers and detected 18 QTLs for 6 head traits, from which 3 candidate genes were selected. These QTLs provide the foundation for study of genetic basis of leafy heads and the other complex traits

Suberitine A–D, Four New Cytotoxic Dimeric Aaptamine Alkaloids from the Marine Sponge <i>Aaptos suberitoides</i>

Suberitine A–D (<b>1</b>–<b>4</b>), four new bis-aaptamine alkaloids with two aaptamine skeleton units, 8,9,9-trimethoxy-9<i>H</i>-benzo[<i>de</i>][1,6]-naphthyridine and demethyl(oxy)-aaptamine, linked through a rare C-3–C-3′ or C-3–C-6′ <b>σ</b>-bond between the 1,6-naphthyridine rings, together with two known monomers <b>5</b> and <b>6</b>, were isolated from the marine sponge <i>Aaptos suberitoides</i>. Their structures were elucidated using NMR spectroscopy. Compounds <b>2</b> and <b>4</b> showed potent cytotoxicity against P388 cell lines, with IC₅₀ values of 1.8 and 3.5 μM, respectively

The complete mitochondrial genome of ostorhinchus fleurieu (kurtiformes: Apogonidae) and phylogenetic studies of apogoninae

The complete mitochondrial genome of Ostorhinchus fleurieu was first determined, which was 16,521 bp in length, containing 13 protein-coding genes, two rRNA genes, 22 tRNA genes, a putative control region and one origin of replication on the light-strand. The overall base composition included C(29.2%), A(26.7%), T(26.7%) and G(17.4%). Moreover, the 13 PCGs encoded 3800 amino acids in total, twelve of which used the initiation codon ATG except for COI started with GTG. Most of them ended with complete stop codon, whereas three protein-coding genes (COII, ND4 and Cytb) used incomplete stop codon and represented as T. The phylogenetic tree based on the Neighbour Joining method was constructed to provide relationship within Apogoninae, which could be a useful basis for management of this species

Seven New Lobane Diterpenoids from the Soft Coral <i>Lobophytum catalai</i>

Seven new lobane diterpenoids, namely, lobocatalens A–G (1–7), were isolated from the Xisha soft coral Lobophytum catalai. Their structures, including their absolute configurations, were elucidated via spectroscopic analysis, comparison with the literature data, QM-MNR, and TDDFT-ECD calculations. Among them, lobocatalen A (1) is a new lobane diterpenoid with an unusual ether linkage between C-14 and C-18. In addition, compound 7 showed moderate anti-inflammatory activity in the zebrafish models and cytotoxic activity against the K562 human cancer cell line

Clavukoellians G–K, New Nardosinane and Aristolane Sesquiterpenoids with Angiogenesis Promoting Activity from the Marine Soft Coral Lemnalia sp.

The chemical examination of the marine soft coral Lemnalia sp., collected at the Xisha islands in the South China Sea, resulted in the isolation of four new nardosinane-type sesquiterpenoids, namely clavukoellians G&ndash;J (1&ndash;4), and one new aristolane sesquiterpene, namely clavukoellian K (5), together with five known compounds, 6&ndash;10. The structure elucidation of the isolated natural products was based on various spectroscopic techniques including HRESIMS and NMR, while their absolute configurations were resolved on the basis of comparisons of the ECD spectra with the calculated ECD data. The isolated new compounds 1&ndash;5 were evaluated for their anti- and pro- angiogenesis activities in a transgenic fluorescent zebrafish (Tg(vegfr2:GFP)) model. Quantitative analysis revealed that compound 5 displayed pro-angiogenesis activity in a PTK787-induced vascular injury zebrafish model at 2.5 &mu;M. Data showed that compound 5 significantly promoted the angiogenesis in a dose-dependent manner

Identification of a Novel Inhibitor of TfR1 from Designed and Synthesized Muriceidine A Derivatives

The transferrin receptor 1 (TfR1) plays a key role in cellular iron uptake through its interaction with iron-bound Tf. TfR1 is often reported to be overexpressed in malignant cells, and this increase may be associated with poor prognosis in different types of cancer, which makes it an attractive target for antitumor therapy. The marine natural product Muriceidine A is a potent anticancer agent reported in our previous work. In this study, we designed and synthesized a series of Muriceidine A derivatives and described the systematic investigation into their cytotoxic activities against four tumor cells. Most of the derivatives showed stronger antitumor activity and we found that the introduction of electron-donating groups at position C-2 of unsaturated piperidine was beneficial to anticancer activity and unsaturated piperidine was responsible for the antiproliferative activity. Among these compounds, 12b (methyl at position C-2 of unsaturated piperidine) exhibited the strongest cytotoxicity against MDA-MB-231 cells. Further pharmacological research showed that 12b bound to Transferrin receptor 1 (TfR1) directly caused iron deprivation and ROS imbalance along with the degradations of several oncoproteins, especially FGFR1, through the proteasome pathway; thus, inducing cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells. Our findings indicate that 12b is a promising lead compound targeting TfR1 for triple negative breast cancer

Characterization of the complete mitochondrial genome of Chinese Konosirus punctatus (Clupeiformes, Clupeidae) and phylogenetic studies of Clupeiformes

The Dotted Gizzard Shad (Konosirus punctatus) was one of the most important commercial fish species in China, Japan and Korea. In this study, the complete mitochondrial genome of K. punctatus was presented. The full length of the mitochondrial genome was 16,705 bp, including 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), two ribosomal RNAs, 22 transfer RNA genes, one non-coding control region (CR) and one origin of replication on the light-strand. The total nucleotide composition of mitochondrial DNA was 25.79%A, 25.09%T, 29.05%C, 20.08%G, and AT was 50.88%. The mitochondrial genome provides an important resource for solving taxonomic problems and studying molecular evolution

Data of head traits in the parents and the RIL population.

<p>Data of head traits in the parents and the RIL population.</p

Leaf traits of heading Chinese cabbage and non-heading Chinese cabbage and their recombination lines.

<p>Leaf traits of heading Chinese cabbage and non-heading Chinese cabbage and their recombination lines.</p

Linkage relationship between the QTLs for head traits.

<p>The names of QTLs are described in <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0076059#pone-0076059-t003" target="_blank">Table 3</a>. The black and grey arrow heads indicate the locations of QTLs in 2011 and 2012, respectively. The locations of the QTLs for qTr and qLW in the two years are the same and indicated by white arrow heads.</p