Effects of Phytophthora sojae inoculation under flooded conditions on growth of soybean seedlings

Phytophthora root and stem rot due to Phytophthora sojae is a major constraint of soybean production. This study evaluated the combined effect of P. sojae inoculation and flooding on growth of soybean seedlings. The soybean cultivar ‘Enrei’ was grown in a greenhouse in pots containing vermiculite and containers of field soil. The plants were inoculated with two P. sojae isolates and subjected to flooding. The ratio of dead to live plants ranged from 0 to 0.32 across all treatments. Pathogen inoculation caused a significantly shorter maximum root length (MRL) in all the three experiments. MRL and shoot and root dry weight were affected by interaction between inoculation and flooding in one experiment with vermiculite media. Flooding affected the growth parameters only in the experiment with soil media. The results indicated that root of the soybean seedlings that survived from P. sojae infection grew less well than the non-inoculated plants

A functional M196R polymorphism of tumour necrosis factor receptor type 2 is associated with systemic lupus erythematosus: a case–control study and a meta‐analysis

OBJECTIVES: To perform a case–control study of a functional M196R polymorphism of tumour necrosis factor receptor type 2 (TNF‐RII) in a Japanese population and a meta‐analysis of all published reports on the polymorphism to investigate the association of the M196R polymorphism of TNF‐RII with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). METHODS: The functional M196R polymorphism of TNF‐RII was genotyped by using polymerase chain reaction combined with the subsequent single‐strand conformation polymorphism (PCR—SSCP) analysis for screening, followed by nucleotide sequencing for confirmation. A total of 331 patients and 359 controls were subjected to a case–control study. A meta‐analysis of the available case–control studies including all published data as well as our own data was performed to investigate the association of the functional M196R polymorphism of TNF‐RII with SLE. RESULTS: Our case–control study did not show any significant association of a functional M196R polymorphism of TNF‐RII with SLE, although there was a trend towards association. A meta‐analysis of seven case–control studies in eight different ethnic populations including our own showed that 196M/R and 196R/R genotypes combined was significantly associated with an increased risk of SLE (odds ratio (OR) 1.29, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.04 to 1.60; p = 0.02). Stratification by ethnicity showed a more significant association in Asians, including Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese (OR 1.40, 95% CI 1.10 to 1.78; p = 0.006). The effect of the 196R allele on SLE was not clear in Caucasians. CONCLUSIONS: The 196R allele of the functional M196R polymorphism of TNF‐RII is a risk factor for SLE, especially in the Asian population