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The analysis of circulating tumour cells (CTCs) in cancer patients could provide important information for therapeutic management. Enrichment of viable CTCs could permit performance of functional analyses on CTCs to broaden understanding of metastatic disease. However, this has not been widely accomplished. Addressing this challenge, we present a separable bilayer (SB) microfilter for viable size-based CTC capture. Unlike other single-layer CTC microfilters, the precise gap between the two layers and the architecture of pore alignment result in drastic reduction in mechanical stress on CTCs, capturing them viably. Using multiple cancer cell lines spiked in healthy donor blood, the SB microfilter demonstrated high capture efficiency (78-83%), high retention of cell viability (71-74%), high tumour cell enrichment against leukocytes (1.7-2×103), and widespread ability to establish cultures post-capture (100% of cell lines tested). In a metastatic mouse model, SB microfilters successfully enriched viable mouse CTCs from 0.4-0.6 mL whole mouse blood samples and established in vitro cultures for further genetic and functional analysis. Our preliminary studies reflect the efficacy of the SB microfilter device to efficiently and reliably enrich viable CTCs in animal model studies, constituting an exciting technology for new insights in cancer research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The orderly development of winter wheat through its life cycle can be marked at three stages: stem elongation, heading date, and physiological maturity. The duration of a developmental phase between two stages is important in yield component generation. In this study the three developmental stages were characterized and 350 markers were mapped in a population of recombinant inbred lines (RILs) generated from a cross between two winter wheat cultivars ('Jagger' and '2174'). Three major QTLs were found to control variation in developmental process, and each of them was tightly associated with a known flowering gene, VRN- A1 on chromosome 5A, PPD- D1 on chromosome 2D, and VRN- D3 on chromosome 7D. The average contribution of the gene marker for each QTL to the total phenotypic variation ( R) was evaluated over 3 years. The effect of VRN- A1 ranged from 21.5% at stem elongation to 17.4% at physiological maturity. The effect of PPD- D1 was minor (6.7%) at stem elongation but increased to 29.7% at heading and 20.1% at physiological maturity. The effect of VRN- D3 was not detected at stem elongation but increased to 14.6% at heading and to 20.5% at physiological maturity. Hence, the VRN- A1 locus, the PPD- D1 locus, and the VRN- D3 locus had greatest impact on development at stem elongation, heading date, and physiological maturity, respectively. Whereas the Jagger VRN- A1 and VRN- D3 alleles accelerated development, the Jagger PPD- D1 allele delayed the developmental process due to its sensitivity to photoperiod. Our findings suggest that through the appropriate combination of alleles at these three loci one would be able to regulate the various developmental phases to accommodate different agricultural needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Responses to photoperiod and low temperature are the two primary adaptive mechanisms which enable wheat plants to synchronize developmental processes with changes in seasonal climate. In this study, the developmental process was characterized at two stages: stem length during the onset of stem elongation and heading date. These two developmental events were monitored and mapped in recombinant inbred lines (RILs) of a population generated from a cross between two complementary and locally adapted hard winter wheat cultivars. ‘Intrada’ undergoes stem elongation earlier but reaches heading later, whereas ‘Cimarron’ undergoes stem elongation later but reaches heading earlier. Variation in the developmental process in this population was associated with three major QTLs centered on Xbarc200 on chromosome 2B, PPD-D1 on chromosome 2D, and Xcfd14 on chromosome 7D. The Intrada Xbarc200 and Xcfd14 alleles and the Cimarron PPD-D1 allele accelerated both stem elongation and heading stages, or the Cimarron Xbarc200 and Xcfd14 alleles and the Intrada PPD-D1 allele delayed both stem elongation and heading stages. Integrative effects of the three QTLs accounted for 43% (initial stem length) and 68% (heading date) of the overall phenotypic variation in this population. PPD-D1 is a reasonable candidate gene for the QTL on chromosome 2D, PPD-B1 could be associated with the QTL on chromosome 2B, but VRN-D3 (= FT-D1) was not linked with the QTL on chromosome 7D, suggesting that this is a novel locus involved in winter wheat development. Because the PPD-D1 QTL was observed to interact with other two QTLs, all of these QTLs could play a role in the same pathway as involved in photoperiod response of winter wheat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In winter wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.), the stem begins to elongate after the vernalization requirement is satisfied during winter and when favorable temperature and photoperiod conditions are attained in spring. In this study, we precisely measured elongation of the first extended internode on 96 recombinant inbred lines of a population that was generated from a cross between two winter wheat cultivars, Jagger (early stem elongation) and 2174 (late stem elongation). We mapped a major locus for stem elongation to the region where VRN-A1 resides in chromosome 5A. Visible assessment of winter dormancy release was concomitantly associated with this locus. VRN1 was previously cloned based on variation in vernalization requirement between spring wheat carrying a dominant Vrn-1 allele and winter wheat carrying a recessive vrn-1 allele. Both of two winter wheat cultivars in this study carry a recessive vrn-A1 allele; therefore, our results suggest that either VRN-A1 might invoke a new regulatory mechanism or a new gene residing close to VRN-A1 plays a regulatory role in winter wheat development. Phenotypic expression of the vrn-A1a allele of Jagger was more sensitive to the year of measurement of stem elongation than that of the vrn-A1b allele of 2174. In addition to QSte.osu.5A, several loci were also found to have minor effects on initial stem elongation of winter wheat. Seventeen of nineteen locally adapted cultivars in the southern Great Plaints contained the vrn-A1b allele. Hence, breeders in this area have inadvertently selected this allele, contributing to later stem elongation and more conducive developmental patterns for grain production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The title compound crystallizes in the monoclinic space group P21/c with unit cell parameters a = 3.8380(12), b = 11.994(4), and c = 16.245(5) Å, β = 90.743(5)∘, V = 747.7(4) Å3, and Z = 4. The final reliability index is 0.0409 for 1088 observed reflections. All the non-hydrogen atoms in the title compound are almost coplanar, the largest deviation from the mean plane being 0.030(2) Å for atom C5. The crystal cohesion is accentuated by C–H⋅sN hydrogen bond. The X-ray crystallography analysis indicates that the methyl group is at the 5-position of the compound 4 rather than at the 7-position of the isomer 4-1. The preliminary biological test shows that the title compound has moderate herbicidal activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heterosis is an important way to improve yield and quality for many crops. Hybrid rice and hybrid maize contributed to enhanced productivity which is essential to supply enough food for the increasing world population. The success of hybrid rice in China has led to a continuous interest in hybrid wheat, even when most research on hybrid wheat has been discontinued in other countries for various reasons including low heterosis and high seed production costs. TheTimopheeviicytoplasmic male sterile system is ideal for producing hybrid wheat seeds when fertility restoration lines with strong fertility restoration ability are available. To develop PCR-based molecular markers for use in marker-assisted selection of fertility restorer lines, two F2 populations derived from crosses R18/ND36 and R9034/ND36 were used to map fertility restoration genes in the two elite fertility restorer lines (R-lines) R18 and R9034. Over 678 SSR markers were analyzed, and markers closely linked to fertility restoration genes were identified. Using SSR markers, a major fertility restoration gene,Rf3, was located on the 1B chromosome in both populations. This gene was partially dominant in conferring fertility restoration in the two restorer lines. SSR markers Xbarc207, Xgwm131, and Xbarc61 are close to this gene. These markers may be useful in marker-assisted selection of new restorer lines withT. timopheeviicytoplasm. Two minor QTL conferring fertility restoration were also identified on chromosomes 5A (in R18) and 7D (in R9034) in two R-lines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]