Lung Metastases Presenting as Multiple Bleeding Ulcers in the Small Bowel: A Case Report

Introduction: Lung cancer is a leading cause of cancer mortality worldwide and approximately half of the patients are diagnosed at an advanced stage.  Gastrointestinal metastases from lung cancer are very rare.Case Report: Here, we present a case of a 73-year-old gentleman with gastrointestinal metastases from lung cancer, presenting as acute gastrointestinal bleeding from multiple bleeding ulcers in the small bowel.Conclusion: Early detection of gastrointestinal metastases will help with determining clinical management. Whilst likely palliative in nature, treatment may incorporate surgical resection which if to be undertaken, should be performed early for prompt palliation of symptoms and improvement of quality of remaining life

Oxidized OxyR Up-Regulates ahpCF Expression to Suppress Plating Defects of oxyR- and Catalase-Deficient Strains

It is well established that in bacteria, such as Escherichia coli, OxyR is a transcriptional regulator that mediates the response to H2O2 by activating the OxyR regulon, which consists of many genes that play vital roles in oxidative stress resistance. In Shewanella, OxyR regulates, however, in both reduced and oxidized states, the production of H2O2 scavengers, including major catalase KatB and NADH peroxidase AhpCF. Here we showed that the oxyR mutant carried a plating defect manifested as division arresting, a phenotype that can be completely suppressed by an OxyR variant constitutively existing in oxidized form (OxyRL197P). This effect of OxyRL197P could not be solely attributed to the increment in KatB production, since the suppression was also observed in the absence of KatB. Although expression of peroxidase CcpA was greatly activated by OxyRL197P, the contribution of the protein in alleviating plating defect was negligible. We eventually identified AhpCF as the critical factor, when produced at substantially elevated levels by OxyRL197P, to protect the cell from H2O2 attack. Our data indicate that AhpCF is a particularly important peroxidase in oxidative stress resistance in Shewanella, not only playing a compensatory role for catalase, but also by itself providing sufficient protection from killing of H2O2 generated abiotically

Complete Chloroplast Genome Sequence of a Major Invasive Species, Crofton Weed (Ageratina adenophora)

Crofton weed (Ageratina adenophora) is one of the most hazardous invasive plant species, which causes serious economic losses and environmental damages worldwide. However, the sequence resource and genome information of A. adenophora are rather limited, making phylogenetic identification and evolutionary studies very difficult. Here, we report the complete sequence of the A. adenophora chloroplast (cp) genome based on Illumina sequencing.The A. adenophora cp genome is 150, 689 bp in length including a small single-copy (SSC) region of 18, 358 bp and a large single-copy (LSC) region of 84, 815 bp separated by a pair of inverted repeats (IRs) of 23, 755 bp. The genome contains 130 unique genes and 18 duplicated in the IR regions, with the gene content and organization similar to other Asteraceae cp genomes. Comparative analysis identified five DNA regions (ndhD-ccsA, psbI-trnS, ndhF-ycf1, ndhI-ndhG and atpA-trnR) containing parsimony-informative characters higher than 2%, which may be potential informative markers for barcoding and phylogenetic analysis. Repeat structure, codon usage and contraction of the IR were also investigated to reveal the pattern of evolution. Phylogenetic analysis demonstrated a sister relationship between A. adenophora and Guizotia abyssinica and supported a monophyly of the Asterales.We have assembled and analyzed the chloroplast genome of A. adenophora in this study, which was the first sequenced plastome in the Eupatorieae tribe. The complete chloroplast genome information is useful for plant phylogenetic and evolutionary studies within this invasive species and also within the Asteraceae family

Uptake, Translocation, and Biotransformation of Organophosphorus Esters in Wheat (<i>Triticum aestivum</i> L.)

The uptake, translocation and biotransformation of organophosphate esters (OPEs) by wheat (<i>Triticum aestivum</i> L.) were investigated by a hydroponic experiment. The results demonstrated that OPEs with higher hydrophobicity were more easily taken up by roots, and OPEs with lower hydrophobicity were more liable to be translocated acropetally. A total of 43 metabolites including dealkylated, oxidatively dechlorinated, hydroxylated, methoxylated, and glutathione-, and glucuronide- conjugated products were detected derived from eight OPEs, with diesters formed by direct dealkylation from the parent triesters as the major products, followed with hydroxylated triesters. Molecular interactions of OPEs with plant biomacromolecules were further characterized by homology modeling combined with molecular docking. OPEs with higher hydrophobicity were more liable to bind with <i>Ta</i>LTP1.1, the most important wheat nonspecific lipid transfer protein, consistent with the experimental observation that OPEs with higher hydrophobicity were more easily taken up by wheat roots. Characterization of molecular interactions between OPEs and wheat enzymes suggested that OPEs were selectively bound to <i>Ta</i>GST4–4 and CYP71C6v1 with different binding affinities, which determined their abilities to be metabolized and form metabolite products in wheat. This study provides both experimental and theoretical evidence for the uptake, accumulation and biotransformation of OPEs in plants

Maximum parsimony (MP) trees of all the selected 24 chloroplast regions of six Asteraceae species

<p>. The phylogram of “combined regions” was constructed from the MP analysis using all the 24 regions together.</p

Percent identity plot for comparison of six Asteraceae chloroplast genomes using mVISTA program.

<p>Top line shows genes in order (transcriptional direction indicated with arrow). Sequence similarity of aligned regions between <i>A. adenophora</i> and other five species is shown as horizontal bars indicating average percent identity between 50–100% (shown on y-axis of graph). The x-axis represents the coordinate in the chloroplast genome. Genome regions are color coded as protein-coding (exon), rRNA, tRNA and conserved non-coding sequences (CNS).</p

Promising regions identified for developing phylogenetic markers in Asteraceae family.

*<p>commonly used phylogenetic markers included for comparison.</p

Genes present in the <i>A. adenophora</i> cp genome.

a<p>Gene containing two introns.</p>b<p>Gene containing a single intron.</p>c<p>Two gene copies in the IRs.</p>d<p>Gene divided into two independent transcription units.</p>e<p>Pseudogene.</p