Over-expression of a gamma-tocopherol methyltransferase gene in vitamin E pathway confers PEG-simulated drought tolerance in alfalfa

α-Tocopherol is one of the most important vitamin E components present in plant. α-Tocopherol is a potent antioxidant, which can deactivate photoproduced reactive oxygen species (ROS) and prevent lipids from oxidation when plants suffer drought stress. γ-Tocopherol methyltransferase (γ-TMT) catalyzes the formation of α-tocopherol in the tocopherol biosynthetic pathway. Our previous studies showed that over-expression of γ-TMT gene can increase the accumulation of α-tocopherol in alfalfa (Medicago sativa). However, whether these transgenic plants confer increased drought tolerance and the underlying mechanism are still unknown.This work was financially supported by Earmarked Fund for China Agriculture Research System (CARS-34), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31872410), National Crop Germplasm Resources Center (NICGR-78), and the Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Program (ASTIPIAS10)

Formation of inclusion complex of enrofloxacin with 2-hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin

Enrofloxacin, a third-generation fluoroquinolone, is a broad-spectrum antimicrobial drug against a lot of veterinary bacterial diseases. However, bactericidal activity of enrofloxacin is concentration-dependent and its poor aqueous solubility and bitter taste limit its development and application. Meanwhile, 2-hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (HP-β-CD), a widely used cyclodextrin analog, is a safe and an effective drug carrier. It forms inclusion complexes with its drug substrates and improves their physiochemical and pharmacokinetic properties. Enrofloxacin was also found to form a stable inclusion complex with HP-β-CD and different research groups have shown improved solubility for enrofloxacin by 32.5%, 9.25 and 165-fold. Our own efforts in this direction resulted in manifold improvement (916-fold) in its solubility compared to the previous studies. It was further shown that pharmaceutical properties, absorption and bioavailability, of enrofloxacin have also been significantly improved by complexation with HP-β-CD

Overexpression of alfalfa γ-tocopherol methyltransferase (γ-TMT) gene increases salt susceptibility of transgenic Arabidopsis in seed germination

As antioxidants, tocopherols deactivate reactive oxygen species and prevent lipids from oxidation in response to abiotic stresses. γ-Tocopherol methyltransferase (γ-TMT) catalyzes the conversion of γ-tocopherol into α-tocopherol which has the highest biological activity. To investigate roles of γ-TMT in seed germination under salinity stress, we heterologously overexpressed an alfalfa MsTMT gene in Arabidopsis. MsTMT transgenic seeds germinated much slower than that of Arabidopsis wild-type (WT) seeds under salt stress or exogenous abscisic acid (ABA) treatment, indicating enhanced osmotic and ABA sensitivity in transgenic seeds. Under salinity stress, expression levels of ABA biosynthesis genes (NCED4 and NCED9) and signaling genes (ABI3 and ABI5) were increased in transgenic seeds. Meanwhile, the expression of GA biosynthesis genes (GA3OX1 and GA3OX2) were repressed and that of GA signal suppressor genes RGL2 was enhanced. Moreover, overexpression of MsTMT promoted the release of seemucilage and contributed to the redistribution of pectins. Interestingly, removal of seed mucilage eliminated the difference in the initiation of seed germination between WT and transgenic lines. Taken together, MsTMT had a strong influence on the response to salinity stress in transgenic Arabidopsis during seed germination. Our results reveal a novel role of MsTMT in mediating the regulations of ABA and GA signaling in seed germination, which is also associated with mucilage release and structure. This study provides new insights into the regulatory network controlled by tocopherol biosynthesis gene in response to abiotic stress in plants.This work was supported by the grant from the Earmarked Fund for China Agriculture Research System (CARS-34), National Nature Science Foundation of China (31872410), and the Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Program of Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (ASTIP-IAS10)

The Morphology of Cross-Beaks and BMP4 Gene Expression in Huiyang Bearded Chickens

Bird beaks are important for biological purposes such as food intake, removing parasites, and defining phenotypic attributes. Cross-beaks are a threat to poultry health and are harmful to productivity, wasting some units in the poultry industry. However, there is still limited research on subtypes of cross-beaks and the genetic basis of cross-beaks as well. Here, we described the subtypes of cross-beaks in terms of left or right and upper or lower jaw bones. We evaluated the impact of cross-beaks on craniofacial bones and figured out the relationship between bone morphogenetic protein 4 (BMP4) and the development of craniofacial bones in Huiyang bearded chickens. We identified five typical subtypes of cross-beaks by morphological assessment and X-ray scanning. We found that cross-beaks caused certain changes in the facial bone morphology, including changes to the length and width of the bone around the ocular area (p < 0.05). The relative expressions of BMP4 in lacrimal, mandible, premaxilla, frontal, and parietal bones were significantly higher in the severe cross-beak group, followed by that of the medium cross-beak group, weak cross-beak group, and control group (p < 0.05). Overall, we constructed a generally applicable method to classify cross-beaks in term of the angle. The skeleton around the ocular area was affected by the cross-beak. The expression levels of BMP4 in craniofacial bones may provide insight to potential role of BMP4 in the development of cross-beaks