Preliminary study on the inducement effect of colchicine during microsporogenesis of Ginkgo biloba L.

This is the first report of colchicine treatment effect on microsporogenesis of Ginkgo biloba L, By high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis, colchicine was detected in microsporocyte inclusion from colchicine-treated microsporangium and microsporocyte of G. biloba, The change amount of colchicine was detected in mixture liquid after the protoplasm of G. biloba was co-cultured with colchicine by different conditions. Fixed with Carnoy's fluid and stained with improved phenol fuchsin, the development of colchicine-treated microsporogenesis could be examined with microscope. The results are as follows: The colchicine could intrude into treated microsporangium and microsporocyte, but intruded amount of colchicine was different when treatment conditions were different; the change of colchicine content in co-cultured mixtures liquid was few; and there were high frequencies of development tardiness in colchicine-induced microsporangium (more than 70%), but only a few dyads and triads were detected in meiotic products (less than 10%). These observations suggest that 2n pollen can be induced by colchicine but treatment conditions and slowing development of colchicine-treated microsporocyte may affect the inducement effect of colchicines.Key words: Ginkgo biloba L., microsporogenesis, colchicine, 2n pollen, high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)

MicroRNA expression profiling during upland cotton gland forming age by microarray and quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRTPCR)

Plant microRNAs (miRNAs) have important impacts on growth, development, flowering, metabolism and response to stress. Studies indicate that post-transcriptional processes are important for regulating gene expression during development. However, we still have very limited knowledge on the regulatory mechanisms associated with this process. In particular, the function of miRNAs during gland morphogenesis in cotton remains unknown. In this study, we used the Affymetrix GeneChip miRNA Array (v11.0-ther Species) and quantitative reverse transcriptase-PCR (qRT-PCR) to identify additional microRNAs during gland morphogenesis of near-isogenic lines in upland cotton. The results showed that 30 miRNAs were differentially expressed: 24 up-regulated (miR156, miR157, miR166 and miR390 families) and six down-regulated (miR149, miR169, miR289, miR705, miR1224 and miR1227 families). Some microRNAs, such as ghb-miR169a_st and ghr-miR166b_st, were confirmed by qRT-PCR assays. There was no significant difference in miRNA levels between the microarray and qRT-PCR. Analysis of the transcript data for some miRNA target genes indicated that they play an important role in the pathogenesis and development of gland morphogenesis. In summary, our results showed that some known miRNAs were expressed in the gland of upland cotton, and most of them were of low abundance. This data may be useful in future studies associated with gland control involved in the terpenoid aldehyde biosynthesis pathway, genetic engineering and molecular breeding of cotton.Key words: MicroRNA, cotton, gland morphogenesis, microRNA microarray, quantitative real-time reversetranscription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR)

Symmetries and Lie algebra of the differential-difference Kadomstev-Petviashvili hierarchy

By introducing suitable non-isospectral flows we construct two sets of symmetries for the isospectral differential-difference Kadomstev-Petviashvili hierarchy. The symmetries form an infinite dimensional Lie algebra.Comment: 9 page

New therapeutic targets in cardiovascular disease: focus on the renin-angiotensin system and lipid metabolism

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death world-wide. Hypertension is a major risk factor for CVD. The renin-angiotensin system (RAS) is one of the most important systems regulating blood pressure. In this project, we found (pro)renin receptor [(P)RR], a RAS component, has a novel RAS independent role in regulating lipid metabolism in vivo. Moreover, we have identified megalin as a novel endocytic receptor for prorenin and renin, and that the (P)RR determines its activity. Further, we investigated the placental RAS in preeclampsia, and explored the role of proton pump inhibitor in regulating megalin-mediated renin internalization. Finally, we uncovered that the angiotensinogen siRNA is a novel blood pressure-lowering tool