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Pectic polysaccharides (PPs) could exert functions on ulcerative colitis (UC), which is classified as a nonspecific inflammatory disorder. This study investigated the molecular mechanism of PPs derived from Rauwolfia in UC. First, the dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced mouse colitis models and lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-treated colonic epithelial cell (YAMC) models were established and treated with PP. Subsequently, the effects of PPs on mucosal damages in DSS mice were detected, and the levels of inflammatory cytokines, pyroptosis-related factors, oxidative stress-related markers, and the tight junction-related proteins in the tissues or cells were examined, and the results suggested that PPs ameliorated colonic mucosal damages and cell pyroptosis in DSS mice, and limited colonic epithelial cell pyroptosis in in vitro UC models. Subsequently, the binding relations of retinol-binding protein 4 (RBP4) to miR-124-3p and NLR pyrin domain-containing 3 (NLRP3) were analyzed. miR-124-3p targeted RBP4 and reduced the binding of RBP4 to NLRP3, thus inhibiting NLRP3-mediated pyroptosis. Finally, functional rescue experiments revealed that miR-124-3p suppression or RBP4 overexpression promoted colonic epithelial cell pyroptosis. Collectively, Rauwolfia-derived PPs limited miR-124-3p and targeted RBP4 and reduced the binding potency of RBP4 to NLRP3 to inhibit NLRP3-mediated pyroptosis, resulting in the alleviation of colonic epithelial cell pyroptosis and mucosal damages in UC.

Through the salification reaction of carboxylation, successful attachment of the long-chain alkanoic acid to the two ends of 1,3-propanediamine was realized, which enabled the doubling of the long-chain alkanoic acid carbon chain. Hydrous 1,3-propanediamine dihexadecanoate (abbreviated as 3C16) and 1,3-propanediamine diheptadecanoate (abbreviated as 3C17) were synthesized afterward, and their crystal structures were characterized by the X-ray single crystal diffraction technique. By analyzing their molecular and crystal structure, their composition, spatial structure, and coordination mode were determined. Two water molecules played important roles in stabilizing the framework of both compounds. Hirshfeld surface analysis revealed the intermolecular interactions between the two molecules. The 3D energy framework map presented the intermolecular interactions more intuitively and digitally, in which dispersion energy plays a dominant role. DFT calculations were performed to analyze the frontier molecular orbitals (HOMO–LUMO). The energy difference between the HOMO–LUMO is 0.2858 eV and 0.2855 eV for 3C16 and 3C17, respectively. DOS diagrams further confirmed the distribution of the frontier molecular orbitals of 3C16 and 3C17. The charge distributions in the compounds were visualized using a molecular electrostatic potential (ESP) surface. ESP maps indicated that the electrophilic sites are localized around the oxygen atom. The crystallographic data and parameters of quantum chemical calculation in this paper will provide data and theoretical support for the development and application of such materials.

Objectives To evaluate the 3-year clinical outcomes of a polymer-free sirolimus-eluting, Nano plus stent for the treatment of coronary artery disease in the NANO multicenter Registry. Background The long-term clinical data evaluating the safety and efficacy of the novel polymer-free sirolimus-eluting Nano plus stent (Lepu Medical, Beijing, China) is limited. Methods The NANO all-comers Registry trial was a prospective, multicenter clinical registry conducted in 26 centers in China between August 2016 and January 2017. A total of 2481 consecutive patients were exclusively treated with the Nano plus stent. The primary clinical endpoint, target lesion failure (TLF, defined as cardiac death, target vessel nonfatal myocardial infarction, and clinically driven target lesion revascularization [CD-TLR]), was analyzed at 3 years. Results At 3 years, 2295 patients (92.5%) were followed. The incidence of TLF was 6.8% (168/2481). The rate of cardiac death was 3.8% (94/2481), target vessel nonfatal myocardial infarction 0.7% (18/2481), and CD-TLR 2.9% (68/2481). The rate of definite/probable stent thrombosis was 0.5% (13/2481). The risk factors of diabetes mellitus, acute myocardial infarction, age, chronic renal failure, in-stent restenosis, chronic total occlusion, and left ventricular ejection fraction Conclusions At three years, the rate of TLF was relatively low in patients treated with the polymer-free Nano plus stent. The polymer-free Nano plus stent showed a favorable safety and efficacy profile in real-world patients. Clinical trial registration URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/. Unique identifier: NCT02929030.

Background The incidence of placenta preiva is rising. Cesarean delivery is identified as the only safe and appropriate mode of delivery for pregnancies with placenta previa. Anesthesia is important during the cesarean delivery. The aim of this study is to assess maternal and neonatal outcomes of patients with placenta previa managed with neuraxial anesthesia as compared to those who underwent general anesthesia during cesarean delivery. Methods A retrospective cohort study was performed of all patients with placenta preiva at our large academic institution from January 1, 2014 to June 30, 2019. Patients were managed neuraxial anesthesia and general anesthesia during cesarean delivery. Results We identified 1234 patients with placenta previa who underwent cesarean delivery at our institution. Neuraxial anesthesia was performed in 737 (59.7%), and general anesthesia was completed in 497 (40.3%) patients. The mean estimated blood loss at neuraxial anesthesia of 558.96 ± 42.77 ml were significantly lower than the estimated blood loss at general anesthesia of 1952.51 ± 180 ml (p Conclusions Our data demonstrated that neuraxial anesthesia is associated with better maternal and neonatal outcomes during cesarean delivery in women with placenta previa.

Background: To investigate current knowledge, attitudes, and practices for CPR quality control among emergency physicians in Chinese tertiary hospitals.Methods: Anonymous questionnaires were distributed to physicians in 75 tertiary hospitals in China between January and July 2018.Results: A total of 1405 respondents answered survey without obvious logical errors. Only 54.4% knew all criteria of high-quality CPR. The main problems during CPR were related to chest compression: low quality due to fatigue (67.3%), inappropriate depth (57.3%) and rate (54.1%). 91.0% respondents considered CPR quality monitoring should be used, 72.4% knew objective method for monitoring, and 63.2% always/often monitored CPR quality during actual resuscitation. The utilization rate of recommended monitoring methods was reported as follow, ETCO2 was 42.7%, audio-visual feedback devices was10.1%, coronary perfusion pressure was 17.9%, and invasive arterial pressure was 31.1%. 96.3% respondents considered it was necessary to participate in regular CPR retraining, but 21.4% did not receive any retraining. The ideal retraining interval was considered to be 3 to 6 months, but actual interval was 6 to 12 months. CPR feedback devices were always/often used in training was reported by 49.7% of respondents.Conclusion: Chinese emergency physicians were very concerned about CPR quality, but they did not fully understand the high-quality criteria and impact on prognosis. CPR quality monitoring was not routine procedure during actual resuscitation. The methods recommended in guidelines were rarely used in practice. Many physicians have not received retraining or have received retraining at long intervals. Feedback devices were not commonly used in training.

From early life to adulthood, the microbiota play a crucial role in the health of the infant. The microbiota in early life are not only a key regulator of infant health but also associated with long-term health. Pregnancy to early life is the golden time for the establishment of the infant microbiota, which is affected by both environmental and genetic factors. Recently, there is an explosion of the studies on the role of microbiota in human diseases, but the application to disease or health is relatively limited because many aspects of human microbiota remain controversial, especially about the infant microbiota. Therefore, a critical and conclusive review is necessary to understand fully the relationship between the microbiota and the health of infant. In this article, we introduce in detail the role of microbiota in the infant from pregnancy to early life to long-term health. The main contents of this article include the relationship between the maternal microbiota and adverse pregnancy outcomes, the establishment of the neonatal microbiota during perinatal period and early life, the composition of the infant gut microbiota, the prediction of the microbiota for long-term health, and the future study directions of microbiota.

Background Placenta previa, a serious obstetric issue, should be managed by experienced teams. The safe and appropriate mode of delivery for placenta previa is by cesarean delivery. However, no studies were found comparing either maternal or neonatal outcomes for different skin incision in women with placenta previa. The aim of this study was to compare maternal and neonatal outcomes by skin incision types (transverse compared with vertical) in a large cohort of women with placenta previa who were undergoing cesarean delivery. Methods This was a retrospective cohort study carried out between January 2014 and June 2019. All pregnant women with placenta previa had confirmed by ultrasonologist before delivery and obstetrician at delivery. The primary outcome was the estimated blood loss during the surgery and within the first 24 hours postoperatively. Mean (standard deviation), median (interquartile range) or frequency (percentage) was reported to variables. Appropriate parametric and nonparametric tests were used to analyses. Results The study included 1098 complete records, 332 (30.24%) cases in the vertical skin incision group and 766 (69.76%) cases in the transverse skin incision group. Those with vertical incision showed a higher percentage of preterm delivery, anterior placenta, abnormally invasive placenta, and history of previous cesarean delivery, and a lower percentage of first pregnancy, in vitro fertilization, and emergency cesarean delivery. After controlling for confounding factors, higher incidence of post-partum hemorrhage (OR 5.47, 95% CI 3.84–7.79), maternal intensive care unit (OR 4.30, 95% CI 2.86–6.45), transfusion (OR 5.97, 95% CI 4.15–8.58), and 5-min APGAR< 7 (OR 9.03, 95% CI 1.83–44.49), a more estimated blood loss (β 601.85, 95%CI 458.78–744.91), and a longer length of hospital stay after delivery (β 0.54, 95%CI 0.23–0.86) were found in the vertical skin incision group. Conclusions Our data demonstrated that transverse skin incision group showed the better perinatal outcomes in women with placenta previa. Future collaborative studies are needed to be done by centers for placenta previa to have a better understanding of the characteristics and the outcomes of the disease in the choosing skin incision.

Aims: To investigate current practices and problems of neurological prognostication in comatose cardiac arrest (CA) patients. Methods: An anonymous questionnaire was distributed to 1600 emergency physicians in 75 hospitals which were selected randomly from China between January and July 2018. Results: 92.1% respondents fulfilled the survey. The details of the neurological prognosis were not well understood. The predictive value of brain stem reflex, motor response and myoclonus was confirmed by 63.5%, 44.6% and 31.7% respondents respectively. Only 30.7% knew that GWR value

The potential of tetrazole-based ligands for forming energetic complexes applied in pyrotechnics and propellants is demonstrated with the use of 5,5’-(1,3-phenylene)bis(1H-tetrazole) (H2BTB) to generate an energetic complex with high energy. A new energetic complex of PbII-tetrazolate, [Pb2(BTB)2(H2O)8]·5H2O (1), was synthesized and structurally characterized by single crystal X-ray diffraction. Structural analysis reveals that the central PbII ions present two distinct coordination environments in the asymmetric unit, including distorted pentagonal bipyramid and distorted tetragonal pyramid geometries, respectively. To identify potential combustion catalyst as additives in propellants, we employed differential scanning calorimetry technique to evaluate the influence of the complex on thermal decomposition of ammonium perchlorate (AP) and cyclotrimethylenetrinitramine (RDX). The kinetic parameters of an exothermic process for the catalytic system of RDX+1 were investigated by the Kissinger’s and Ozawa-Doyle’s methods. For both AP and RDX, the decomposition temperature decreased obviously in the presence of 1, and the released heat could effectively compensate the propellants. Our observations demonstrate that 1 shows good catalytic activity toward the thermal decomposition of AP and RDX.

Three novel carboxylic arylhydrazone compounds named 2- oxo propionic acid terephthalal acyl dihydrazone (1), 2-ketoglutaric acid terephthalal acyl dihydrazone (2) and 2-ketoglutaric acid salicyl- hydrazone (3) were prepared and characterized by elemental analysis, IR and 1H NMR. The antibacterial activities of 1 and 2 against wheat rust and coliform were investigated. The results showed that 1 had more excellent antibacterial properties than 2 against both wheat rust and coliform. In addition, the title compounds interaction with calf-thymus DNA (CT-DNA) were measured by fluorescence spectra method which indicating that they combined with CT-DNA by groove binding through hydrogen bonds.

Hypoxia/reoxygenation (H/R) is used as an in vivo model of ischemia/reperfusion injury, and myocardial ischemia can lead to heart disease. Therefore, it is necessary to prevent myocardial H/R injury to avoid the risk of heart disease. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether inhibiting microRNA (miR)-101a-3p attenuated H9C2 cell H/R injury, apoptosis mechanisms and key target proteins. Cell viability and apoptosis were determined by Cell Counting Kit-8 assays and flow cytometry using a cell apoptosis kit, respectively. The contents of creatine kinase (CK) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) were detected using colorimetric assays. Dual luciferase assays were carried out to determine if miR-101a-3p inhibited Janus kinase (JAK)2. Western blot analysis and reverse transcription-quantitative PCR were used to determine proteins levels and mRNAs expression. It was found that the inhibition of miR-101a-3p increased the growth of H9C2 cells and decreased H9C2 cell apoptosis during H/R injury. The inhibition of miR-101a-3p reduced the amounts of CK and LDH in H/R model H9C2 cells. The inhibition of miR-101a-3p lowered the levels of Bax, interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor-α, but raised the levels of phosphorylated (p)-STAT3 and p-JAK2 in H9C2 cells subjected to H/R injury treatment. miR-101a-3p mimic was found to inhibit H9C2 cell viability, raise p-JAK2 level and slightly increase p-STAT3 during H/R injury. AG490 induced H9C2 cell apoptosis, and decreased the levels of p-JAK2 and p-STAT3 during H/R injury. The data indicated that inhibiting miR-101a-3p reduced H/R damage in H9C2 cells and decreased apoptosis via Bax/Bcl-2 signaling during H/R injury. In addition, it was suggested that the inhibition of miR-101a-3p decreased H/R injury in H9C2 cell by regulating the JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway.

The asymmetric unit of the title salt, 2C12H28N+·SO4 2−·3H2O, contains two n-dodecylammonium cations, one sulfate anion and three water molecules. In the crystal, N—H...O hydrogen bonds link the cations and anions into layers parallel to (100). These layers are further connected through O—H...O hydrogen-bonding interactions involving the sulfate ions and the isolated water molecules. The three-dimensional structure can also be considered as the superposition of thin inorganic layers of SO4 2− anions and thick layers of alkylammonium cations perpendicular to the c axis.

The molecular mechanisms underlying seed dormancy and germination are not fully understood. Here, we show that Arabidopsis thaliana SEED DORMANCY 4-LIKE (AtSdr4L) is a novel specific regulator of dormancy and germination. AtSdr4L encodes a protein with an unknown biochemical function that is localized in the nucleus and is expressed specifically in seeds. Loss of function of AtSdr4L results in increased seed dormancy. The germination of freshly harvested seeds of the Atsdr4l mutant is insensitive to gibberellin (GA). After-ripened mutant seeds are hypersensitive to the GA biosynthesis-inhibitor paclobutrazol but show unaltered sensitivity to abscisic acid. Several GA biosynthesis genes and GA-regulated cell wall remodeling genes are down-regulated in the mutant in both dormant and after-ripened seeds. These results suggest that the Atsdr4l mutation causes both decreased GA biosynthesis and reduced responses. In addition, a genetic analysis indicated that AtSdr4L is epistatic to DELAY OF GERMINATION1 (DOG1) for dormancy and acts upstream of RGA-LIKE 2 (RGL2) in the GA pathway. We propose that AtSdr4L regulates seed dormancy and germination by mediating both the DOG1 and GA pathways.

The control of seed dormancy by ethylene has been well studied, but the underlying molecular mechanisms are not fully understood. Here, we report the characterization of the Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) mutant reduced dormancy 3 (rdo3) and the cloning of the underlying gene. We demonstrate that rdo3 is a loss-of-function mutant of the ethylene receptor ETHYLENE RESPONSE1 (ETR1). ETR1 controls seed dormancy partially through the DELAY OF GERMINATION1 (DOG1) pathway. Molecular and genetic analyses demonstrated that ETHYLENE RESPONSE FACTOR12 (ERF12) is involved in the regulation of seed dormancy downstream of ETR1. ERF12 interacts with TOPLESS (TPL) and genetically requires TPL to function. ERF12 and TPL repress the expression of DOG1 by occupying its promoter. Thus, we identified the dormancy pathway ETR1-ERF12-TPL-DOG1 and provide mechanistic insights into the regulation of seed dormancy by linking the ethylene and DOG1 pathways.

As increasing demand for green energy and high-tech devices grows, so does rising prospection of rare earth metals required for their production. Protecting the environment and public health from rare earth elements mining as well as emerging pollutants is urgently required to achieve sustainable development. This study mapped earth's hidden rare earth elements deposits to identify potential contamination hotspots with the aim of preventing the deleterious effects on the environment. We worry about there would be widespread tailing facilities concomitant with serious pollutions like as the Bayan Obo tailings site and suggest that a tradeoff between the underground REE exploration and environment conservation should be reached as soon as possible.

Histone acetylation is known to affect the speed of seed germination, but the molecular regulatory basis of this remains ambiguous. Here we report that loss of function of two histone deacetylase-binding factors, SWI-INDEPENDENT3 (SIN3)-LIKE1 (SNL1) and SNL2, results in accelerated radicle protrusion and growth during seed germination. AUXIN RESISTANT 1 (AUX1) is identified as a key factor in this process, enhancing germination speed downstream of SNL1 and SNL2. AUX1 expression and histone H3 acetylation at lysines 9 and 18 is regulated by SNL1 and SNL2. The D-type cyclins encoding genes CYCD1;1 and CYCD4;1 display increased expression in AUX1 over-expression lines and the snl1snl2 double mutant. Accordingly, knockout of CYCD4;1 reduces seed germination speed of AUX1 over-expression lines and snl1snl2 suggesting the importance of cell cycling for radicle protrusion during seed germination. Together, our work identifies AUX1 as a link between histone acetylation mediated by SNL1 and SNL2, and radicle growth promoted by CYCD1;1 and CYCD4;1 during seed germination., Histone acetylation influences the speed of seed germination. Here, Wang et al. show that loss of the SNL1/SNL2 histone deacetylase binding factors accelerates seed germination and provide evidence that they act by regulating the expression of AUX1 which in turn influences cell division.

With the increase in food standardization and the pace of modern life, the demand for ready-to-eat foods is growing. The strong processing conditions of traditional technology often accelerate the rate of deterioration of quality, and microbes are the safety hazard of ready-to-eat foods. Ultrasound technology is an environmentally friendly technology that hardly causes thermal damage to raw materials. In this paper, the ultrasound technology is used in the disinfection, sterilization, enzyme inactivation, desensitization, dehydration, curing, tenderization and cooking process of fresh food from the perspective of microbial safety and quality of fresh food. The cavitation effect of ultrasound can improve the mass transfer rate of infiltration processes such as dehydration and curing, promote the oxidation of lipids and proteins for enrich the flavor of meat products, improve the microbiological safety and reduce the sensitization by destroying the integrity of the microbial cells and the conformation of the protein. In addition, ultrasound as an auxiliary processing technology can reduce the damage of traditional production technology to reserve the quality and nutritional value of food. Ultrasound has proved to be an efficient and green processing technology for ready-to-eat food.

A survey was performed to assess the current management of targeted temperature management (TTM) in patients following cardiac arrest (CA) and whether healthcare providers will change target temperature after publication of 2015 American Heart Association guidelines for resuscitation in China. 52 hospitals were selected from whole of China between August to November 2016. All healthcare providers in EMs and/or ICUs of selected hospitals participated in the study. 1952 respondents fulfilled the survey (86.8%). TTM in CA patients was declared by 14.5% of physicians and 6.7% of the nurses. Only 4 of 64 departments, 7.8% of physicians and 5.7% of the nurses had implemented TH for CA patients. Since the publication of 2015 AHA guidelines, 33.6% of respondents declared no modification of target temperature, whereas 51.5% declared a target temperature’s change in future practice. Respondents were more likely to choose 35∼36 °C-TTM (54.7%) after guidelines publication, as compared to that before guidelines publication they preferred 32∼34 °C-TTM (54.0%). TTM for CA patients was still in the early stage in China. Publication of 2015 resuscitation guidelines did have impact on choice of target temperature among healthcare providers. They preferred 35∼36 °C-TTM after guidelines publication.

Background Acute respiratory failure (ARF) is still one of the most severe complications in immunocompromised patients. Our previous systematic review showed noninvasive mechanical ventilation (NIV) reduced mortality, length of hospitalization and ICU stay in AIDS/hematological malignancy patients with relatively less severe ARF, compared to invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV). However, this systematic review was based on 13 observational studies and the quality of evidence was low to moderate. The efficacy of NIV in more severe ARF and in patients with other causes of immunodeficiency is still unclear. We aim to determine the efficacy of the initial ventilation strategy in managing ARF in immunocompromised patients stratified by different disease severity and causes of immunodeficiency, and explore predictors for failure of NIV. Methods and analysis The VENIM is a multicentre randomized controlled trial (RCT) comparing the effects of NIV compared with IMV in adult immunocompromised patients with severe hypoxemic ARF. Patients who meet the indications for both forms of ventilatory support will be included. Primary outcome will be 30-day all-cause mortality. Secondary outcomes will include in-hospital mortality, length of stay in hospital, improvement of oxygenation, nosocomial infections, seven-day organ failure, adverse events of intervention, et al. Subgroups with different disease severity and causes of immunodeficiency will also be analyzed. Discussion VENIM is the first randomized controlled trial aiming at assessing the efficacy of initial ventilation strategy in treating moderate and severe acute respiratory failure in immunocompromised patients. The result of this RCT may help doctors with their ventilation decisions. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02983851 . Registered 2 September 2016.

The coal bed methane content (CBMC) in the west mining area of Jincheng coalfield, southeastern Qinshui Basin, is studied based on seismic data and well-logs together with laboratory measurements. The results show that the Shuey approximation has better adaptability according to the Zoeppritz equation result; the designed fold number for an ordinary seismic data is sufficient for post-stack data but insufficient for pre-stack data regarding the signal to noise ratio (SNR). Therefore a larger grid analysis was created in order to improve the SNR. The velocity field created by logging is better than that created by stack velocity in both accuracy and effectiveness. A reasonable distribution of the amplitude versus offset (AVO) attributes can be facilitated by taking the AVO response from logging as a standard for calibrating the amplitude distribution. Some AVO attributes have a close relationship with CBMC. The worst attribute is polarization magnitude, for which the correlation coefficient is 0.308; and the best attribute is the polarization product from intercept, of which the correlation coefficient is −0.8136. CBMC predicted by AVO attributes is better overall than that predicted by direct interpolation of CBMC; the validation error of the former is 14.47%, which is lower than that of the latter 23.30%. CBMC of this area ranges from 2.5 m3/t to 22 m3/t. Most CBMC in the syncline is over 10 m3/t, but it is below 10 m3/t in the anticline; on the whole, CBMC in the syncline is higher than that in anticline. Keywords: Coal bed methane content, Amplitude versus offset, AVO attribute, Correlation coefficient

We conducted a case-control study to estimate the association between IL-17A rs2275913, rs3819025 and rs3748067 polymorphisms and development of coronary artery disease. A total of 415 patients with coronary artery disease and 448 health controls were recruited during the period of March 2013 and October 2014. Genotyping of IL-17A rs2275913, rs3819025 and rs3748067 were analyzed by polymerase chain reaction coupled with restriction fragment length polymorphism. By logistic regression analysis, we found that individuals with the AA genotype (OR, 2.18; 95% CI, 1.35-3.56) and the GA+AA genotype (OR, 1.39, 95% CI, 1.06-1.84) of rs2275913 were associated with an increased risk of coronary artery disease when compared with the GG genotype. Individuals carrying the GA+AA genotype of rs2275913 were more likely to have a higher risk of coronary artery disease in those with hypertension and smoking habit, and the adjusted ORs (95% CI) were 3.92 (2.13-6.82) and 2.74 (1.71-4.40). In conclusion, we suggest that individuals with the AA genotype and the GA+AA genotype of rs2275913 are associated with an increased risk of coronary artery disease, especially in those with hypertension and smoking habit.

Histone H2B monoubiquitination (H2Bub1) is an important regulatory mechanism in eukaryotic gene transcription and is essential for normal plant development. However, the function of H2Bub1 in reproductive development remains elusive. Here, we report rice (Oryza sativa) HISTONE MONOUBIQUITINATION1 (OsHUB1) and OsHUB2, the homologs of Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) HUB1 and HUB2 proteins, which function as E3 ligases in H2Bub1, are involved in late anther development in rice. oshub mutants exhibit abnormal tapetum development and aborted pollen in postmeiotic anthers. Knockout of OsHUB1 or OsHUB2 results in the loss of H2Bub1 and a reduction in the levels of dimethylated lysine-4 on histone 3 (H3K4me2). Anther transcriptome analysis revealed that several key tapetum degradation-related genes including OsC4, rice Cysteine Protease1 (OsCP1), and Undeveloped Tapetum1 (UDT1) were down-regulated in the mutants. Further, chromatin immunoprecipitation assays demonstrate that H2Bub1 directly targets OsC4, OsCP1, and UDT1 genes, and enrichment of H2Bub1 and H3K4me2 in the targets is consistent to some degree. Our studies suggest that histone H2B monoubiquitination, mediated by OsHUB1 and OsHUB2, is an important epigenetic modification that in concert with H3K4me2, modulates transcriptional regulation of anther development in rice.

Natural variation for primary root growth response to high Ca stress in Arabidopsis thaliana was studied by screening a series of accessions (ecotypes) under high Calcium (40 mM CaCl2) conditions. The genetic basis of this variation was further investigated by QTL analysis using recombinant inbred lines from Landsberg erecta (Ler) × Cape Verde Islands (Cvi) cross. Four QTLs were identified in chromosome 1, 2 and 5,and named response to high Calcium (RHCA) 1-4. The three QTLs (RHCA1, RHCA2 and RHCA4) were further confirmed by analysis of near isogenic lines harboring Cvi introgression fragments in Ler background. Real-time PCR analysis showed that several genes associated with high Ca response including SMT1 and XHT25 have changed expression pattern between Ler and near isogenic lines. These results were useful for detecting molecular mechanisms of plants for high Ca adaption.

Histone (de)acetylation is a highly conserved chromatin modification that is vital for development and growth. In this study, we identified a role in seed dormancy for two members of the histone deacetylation complex in Arabidopsis thaliana, SIN3-LIKE1 (SNL1) and SNL2. The double mutant snl1 snl2 shows reduced dormancy and hypersensitivity to the histone deacetylase inhibitors trichostatin A and diallyl disulfide compared with the wild type. SNL1 interacts with HISTONE DEACETYLASE19 in vitro and in planta, and loss-of-function mutants of SNL1 and SNL2 show increased acetylation levels of histone 3 lysine 9/18 (H3K9/18) and H3K14. Moreover, SNL1 and SNL2 regulate key genes involved in the ethylene and abscisic acid (ABA) pathways by decreasing their histone acetylation levels. Taken together, we showed that SNL1 and SNL2 regulate seed dormancy by mediating the ABA-ethylene antagonism in Arabidopsis. SNL1 and SNL2 could represent a cross-link point of the ABA and ethylene pathways in the regulation of seed dormancy.

The electrophoretic karyotypes of 32 clinical and 3 environmental Cryptococcus neoformans isolates from New York City were studied by contour clamped homogeneous electrophoresis. There was extensive variation among the electrophoretic karyotypes of isolates from different patients. Sequential C. neoformans isolates from patients with chronic or relapsing infection had very similar karyotypes. However, minor differences in electrophoretic karyotypes were detected among sequential isolates from 50% of the patients studied, suggesting the occurrence of chromosomal rearrangements or deletions in vivo. This hypothesis was tested by infecting mice, recovering isolates from mouse organs, and comparing the electrophoretic karyotypes before and after passage. Three clinical and three environmental strains were studied before and after passage in mice. Karyotype differences were detected after mouse passage for one clinical and two environmental strains. Our results indicate (i) extensive karyotype variation among isolates from a small geographic regions, (ii) a high frequency of electrophoretic karyotype differences among sequential isolates from individual patients, and (iii) the occurrence of electrophoretic karyotype changes during experimental infection of mice. The implications of these observations are discussed.

• Seed dormancy controls germination and plays a crucial role in the life cycle of plants. Chromatin modifications are involved in the regulation of seed dormancy; however, little is known about the underlying mechanism. • KYP/SUVH4 is required for histone H3 lysine 9 dimethylation. Mutations in this gene cause increased seed dormancy. KYP/SUVH4-overexpressing Arabidopsis plants show decreased dormancy. KYP/SUVH4 expression is regulated by abscisic acid (ABA) and gibberellins (GA). The sensitivity of seed germination to ABA and paclobutrazol (PAC) is enhanced slightly in kryptonite-2 (kyp-2) and suvh4-2/suvh5 mutants, but weakened in KYP/SUVH4-overexpressing plants. • In the kyp-2 mutant, several dormancy-related genes, including DOG1 and ABI3, show increased expression levels, in agreement with a negative role for KYP/SUVH4 in gene transcription. • Genetic analysis showed that DOG1 and HUB1 are epistatic to KYP/SUVH4, suggesting that these genes regulate seed dormancy in the same genetic pathway.