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Internal quality control (IQC) is a critical component of laboratory quality management, and IQC products can determine the reliability of testing results. In China, given the fact that most blood transfusion compatibility laboratories do not employ IQC products or do so minimally, there is a lack of uniform and standardized IQC methods. To explore the reliability of IQC products and methods, we studied 697 results from IQC samples in our laboratory from 2012 to 2014. The results showed that the sensitivity and specificity of the IQCs in anti-B testing were 100% and 99.7%, respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of the IQCs in forward blood typing, anti-A testing, irregular antibody screening, and cross-matching were all 100%. The reliability analysis indicated that 97% of anti-B testing results were at a 99% confidence level, and 99.9% of forward blood typing, anti-A testing, irregular antibody screening, and cross-matching results were at a 99% confidence level. Therefore, our IQC products and methods are highly sensitive, specific, and reliable. Our study paves the way for the establishment of a uniform and standardized IQC method for pre-transfusion compatibility testing in China and other parts of the world.

BACKGROUND: Thalassemia is the most common inherited disease in southern China. However, this disorder is usually ignored by Jiangxi provincial health system and government due to lack of epidemiological data. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 9489 samples from Hakka Han and Gan-speaking Han in three geographical areas of Jiangxi Province were analyzed for both complete blood cell (CBC) count and reverse dot blot (RDB) gene chip for thalassemia. RESULTS: 1182 cases of suspected thalassemia carriers with microcytosis (MCV

Sucrose synthase (Sus) (EC 2.4.1.13) is a key enzyme for the sugar accumulation that is critical to form fruit quality. In this study, extensive data-mining and PCR amplification confirmed that there are at least six Sus genes (CitSus1-6) in the citrus genome. Gene structure and phylogeny analysis showed an evolutionary consistency with other plant species. The six Sus genes contain 12-15 exons and 11-14 introns and were evenly distributed into the three plant Sus groups (CitSus1 and CitSus2 in the Sus I group, CitSus3 and CitSus6 in the Sus II group, and CitSus4 and CitSus5 in the Sus III group). Transcripts of these six CitSus genes were subsequently examined. For tissues and organs, CitSus1 and 2 were predominantly expressed in fruit juice sacs (JS) whereas CitSus3 and 4 were predominantly expressed in early leaves (immature leaves), and CitSus5 and 6 were predominantly expressed in fruit JS and in mature leaves. During fruit development, CitSus5 transcript increased significantly and CitSus6 transcript decreased significantly in fruit JS. In the fruit segment membrane (SM), the transcript levels of CitSus2 and 5 were markedly higher and the abundant levels of CitSus3 and 6 gradually decreased. Moreover, transcript levels of CitSus1-4 examined were higher and the CitSus5 transcript level was lower in the fruit SM than in fruit JS, while CitSus6 had a similar transcript level in fruit JS and SM. In addition, transcripts of CitSus1-6 responded differently to dehydration in mature leaves or to mild drought stress in fruit JS and SM. Finally, the possible roles of Sus genes in the regulation of sugar accumulation are discussed; however, further study is required.

Corky split vein caused by boron (B) deficiency in 'Newhall' Navel Orange was studied in the present research. The boron-deficient citrus exhibited a symptom of corky split vein in mature leaves. Morphologic and anatomical surveys at four representative phases of corky split veins showed that the symptom was the result of vascular hypertrophy. Digital gene expression (DGE) analysis was performed based on the Illumina HiSeq™ 2000 platform, which was applied to analyze the gene expression profilings of corky split veins at four morphologic phases. Over 5.3 million clean reads per library were successfully mapped to the reference database and more than 22897 mapped genes per library were simultaneously obtained. Analysis of the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) revealed that the expressions of genes associated with cytokinin signal transduction, cell division, vascular development, lignin biosynthesis and photosynthesis in corky split veins were all affected. The expressions of WOL and ARR12 involved in the cytokinin signal transduction pathway were up-regulated at 1(st) phase of corky split vein development. Furthermore, the expressions of some cell cycle genes, CYCs and CDKB, and vascular development genes, WOX4 and VND7, were up-regulated at the following 2(nd) and 3(rd) phases. These findings indicated that the cytokinin signal transduction pathway may play a role in initiating symptom observed in our study.

The increased worldwide commercial cultivation of transgenic crops during the past 20 years is accompanied with potential effects on the soil microbial communities, because many rhizosphere and endosphere bacteria play important roles in promoting plant health and growth. Previous studies reported that transgenic plants exert differential effects on soil microbial communities, especially rhizobacteria. Thus, this study compared the soybean root-associated bacterial communities between a 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase -transgenic soybean line (ZUTS31 or simply Z31) and its recipient cultivar (Huachun3 or simply HC3) at the vegetative, flowering, and seed-filling stages. High-throughput sequencing of 16S rRNA gene (16S rDNA) V4 hypervariable region amplicons via Illumina MiSeq and real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR) were performed. Our results revealed no significant differences in the overall alpha diversity of root-associated bacterial communities at the three developmental stages and in the beta diversity of root-associated bacterial communities at the flowering stage between Z31 and HC3 under field growth. However, significant differences in the beta diversity of rhizosphere bacterial communities were found at the vegetative and seed-filling stages between the two groups. Furthermore, the results of next generation sequencing and qPCR showed that the relative abundances of root-associated main nitrogen-fixing bacterial genera, especially Bradyrhizobium in the roots, evidently changed from the flowering stage to the seed-filling stage. In conclusion, Z31 exerts transitory effects on the taxonomic diversity of rhizosphere bacterial communities at the vegetative and seed-filling stages compared to the control under field conditions. In addition, soybean developmental change evidently influences the main symbiotic nitrogen-fixing bacterial genera in the roots from the flowering stage to the seed-filling stage.

Temperature is an important factor in research on the biological effects of extremely low-frequency electromagnetic field (ELF-EMF), but interactions between ELF-EMF and temperature remain unknown. The effects of ELF-EMF (50 Hz, 3 mT) on the lifespan, locomotion, heat shock response (HSR), and oxidative stress (OS) of Canton-Special (CS) and mutant w1118 flies were investigated at 25°C and 35°C (thermal stress). Results showed that thermal stress accelerated the death rates of CS and w1118 flies, shortened their lifespan, and influenced their locomotion rhythm and activity. The upregulated expression levels of heat shock protein (HSP) 22, HSP26, and HSP70 indicated that HSR was enhanced. Thermal stress-induced OS response increased malondialdehyde content, enhanced superoxide dismutase activity, and decreased reactive oxygen species level. The effects of thermal stress on the death rates, lifespan, locomotion, and HSP gene expression of flies, especially w1118 line, were also enhanced by ELF-EMF. In conclusion, thermal stress weakened the physiological function and promoted the HSR and OS of flies. ELF-EMF aggravated damages and enhanced thermal stress-induced HSP and OS response. Therefore, thermal stress and ELF-EMF elicited a synergistic effect.