Differential Expression Levels of Genes Related to Myogenesis During Embryogenesis of Quail and Chicken

The present study was designed to investigate the expression dynamics of genes during myogenesis in quail and chicken. Real-time PCR was used to detect mRNA expressions of MyoD, MyoG, MLP and MSTN in breast muscle of quail and chicken embryos during the period of embryonic days E7-17. Results showed that expression profiles of each gene displayed similar trend in the experiment period between quail and chicken, however, the expression concentration between the two species differed at the same time detected. MyoD mRNA expression in quail was significantly lower in the early phase of the experiment period (E7-9) (P<0.01 on E7; P<0.05 on both E8 and E9). For MyoG and MLP, the mRNA expressions were both lower in quail than that in chicken during the experiment period. Additionally, the embryonic day when quail reached its peak expression was earlier than that in chicken (MyoG: quail E12 vs. chicken E13; MLP: quail E14 vs. chicken E15), and the peak expression for both in quail was significantly lower than that in chicken (P<0.01 for both). For MSTN, expression in quail was significantly higher in quail than that in chicken at each time detected (P<0.01). It is concluded that differential expression of these genes might or at least partially contributed to the different development of muscle development in quail and chicken

Green and Efficient PEG-Based Ultrasonic-Assisted Extraction of Polysaccharides from Tree Peony Pods and the Evaluation of Their Antioxidant Activity In Vitro

We adopted and developed an ultrasonic-assisted extraction method to obtain polysaccharides from tree peony pods using polyethylene glycol (PEG) as the solvent. The technological parameters have been designed as a single factor to enhance the tree peony pod polysaccharide extraction yield. Specific conditions (ultrasound irradiation power, 250 W; ultrasound irradiation time, 30 min; reaction temperature 50°C; liquid-solid ratio, 25 mL/g; and concentration of PEG, 0.2 g/mL) generated an experimental yield of 14.14%  ± 0.44%. Subsequently, the monosaccharide composition of the tree peony pod polysaccharides was determined by HPLC using a 1-phenyl-3-methyl-5-pyrazolone precolumn derivatization method. The results indicated that tree peony pod polysaccharides contained mannoses, rhamnose, glucuronic acid, galacturonic acid, glucose, galactose, arabinose, and fucose with a molar ratio of 1.44 : 2.87 : 0.32 : 18.99 : 3.99 : 10.21 : 0.96 : 1.85 : 0.21. The tree peony pod polysaccharides obtained are mainly galacturonic acid and galactose, which are acidic polysaccharides. Finally, the antioxidant activities (DPPH and FRAP) of the tree peony pod polysaccharides were assessed, and the compounds exhibited moderate antioxidant activities

Morphological and Crystallographic Characterization of Primary Zinc-Rich Crystals in a Ternary Sn-Zn-Bi Alloy under a High Magnetic Field

Due to the unique capacity for structural control, high magnetic fields (HMFs) have been widely applied to the solidification process of alloys. In zinc-based alloys, the primary zinc-rich crystals can be dendritic or needle-like in two dimensions. For the dendritic crystals, their growth pattern and orientation behaviors under HMFs have been investigated. However, the three-dimensional crystallographic growth pattern and the orientation behaviors of the needle-like primary zinc-rich crystals under a high magnetic field have not been studied. In this work, a ternary Sn-Zn-Bi alloy was solidified under different HMFs. The above-mentioned two aspects of the needle-like primary zinc-rich crystals were characterized using the Electron Backscattered Diffraction (EBSD) technique. The results show that the primary zinc-rich crystals are characterized by the plate-shaped faceted growth in three dimensions. They grow in the following manner: spreading rapidly in the {0001} basal plane with a gradual decrease in thickness at the edges. The application of HMFs has no effect on the growth form of the primary zinc-rich crystals, but induces their vertical alignment. Crystallographic analysis indicates that the vertically aligned primary zinc-rich crystals orient preferentially with the c-axis perpendicular to the direction of the magnetic field

A histone H3K4me1-specific binding protein is required for siRNA accumulation and DNA methylation at a subset of loci targeted by RNA-directed DNA methylation

In plants, RNA-directed DNA methylation (RdDM) is a de novo DNA methylation pathway that is responsible for transcriptional silencing of repetitive elements. Here, the authors characterized a new RdDM factor, RDM15, and show that it is required for RdDM-dependent DNA methylation and siRNA accumulation at a subset of RdDM target loci

Identification of a KCNE2 Gain-of-Function Mutation in Patients with Familial Atrial Fibrillation

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common cardiac arrhythmia encountered in clinical practice. We first reported an S140G mutation of KCNQ1, an α subunit of potassium channels, in one Chinese kindred with AF. However, the molecular defects and cellular mechanisms in most patients with AF remain to be identified. We evaluated 28 unrelated Chinese kindreds with AF and sequenced eight genes of potassium channels (KCNQ1, HERG, KCNE1, KCNE2, KCNE3, KCNE4, KCNE5, and KCNJ2). An arginine-to-cysteine mutation at position 27 (R27C) of KCNE2, the β subunit of the KCNQ1-KCNE2 channel responsible for a background potassium current, was found in 2 of the 28 probands. The mutation was present in all affected members in the two kindreds and was absent in 462 healthy unrelated Chinese subjects. Similar to KCNQ1 S140G, the mutation had a gain-of-function effect on the KCNQ1-KCNE2 channel; unlike long QT syndrome–associated KCNE2 mutations, it did not alter HERG-KCNE2 current. The mutation did not alter the functions of the HCN channel family either. Thus, KCNE2 R27C is a gain-of-function mutation associated with the initiation and/or maintenance of AF