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Mitogen-activated protein kinase (MPK) cascades play vital roles in plant innate immunity, growth, and development. Here, we report that the rice (Oryza sativa) transcription factor gene OsWRKY31 is a key component in a MPK signaling pathway involved in plant disease resistance in rice. We found that the activation of OsMKK10-2 enhances resistance against the rice blast pathogen Magnaporthe oryzae and suppresses growth through an increase in jasmonic acid and salicylic acid accumulation and a decrease of indole-3-acetic acid levels. Knockout of OsWRKY31 compromises the defense responses mediated by OsMKK10-2. OsMKK10-2 and OsWRKY31 physically interact, and OsWRKY31 is phosphorylated by OsMPK3, OsMPK4, and OsMPK6. Phosphomimetic OsWRKY31 has elevated DNA-binding activity and confers enhanced resistance to M. oryzae. In addition, OsWRKY31 stability is regulated by phosphorylation and ubiquitination via RING-finger E3 ubiquitin ligases interacting with WRKY 1 (OsREIW1). Taken together, our findings indicate that modification of OsWRKY31 by phosphorylation and ubiquitination functions in the OsMKK10-2-mediated defense signaling pathway.

Objectives Different criteria for assessing the reduction quality of trochanteric fractures have been reported. The Baumgaertner reduction quality criteria (BRQC) are relatively common and the Chang reduction quality criteria (CRQC) are relatively new. The objectives of the current study were to compare the reliability of the BRQC and CRQC in predicting mechanical complications and to investigate the clinical implications of the CRQC. Methods A total of 168 patients were assessed in a retrospective observational study. Clinical information including age, sex, fracture side, American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) classification, tip-apex distance (TAD), fracture classification, reduction quality, blade position, BRQC, CRQC, bone quality, and the occurrence of mechanical complications were used in the statistical analysis. Results A total of 127 patients were included in the full analysis, and mechanical complications were observed in 26 patients. The TAD, blade position, BRQC and CRQC were significantly associated with mechanical complications in the univariate analysis. Only the TAD (p = 0.025) and the CRQC (p < 0.001) showed significant results in the multivariate analysis. In the comparison of the receiver operating characteristic curves, the CRQC also performed better than the BRQC. Conclusion The CRQC are reliable in predicting mechanical complications and are more reliable than the BRQC. Future studies could use the CRQC to assess fracture reduction quality. Intraoperatively, the surgeon should refer to the CRQC to achieve good reduction in trochanteric fractures. Cite this article: Bone Joint Res 2019;8:502–508. DOI: 10.1302/2046-3758.810.BJR-2019-0032.R1.

Six circular mitochondrial genomes of multi-, bi-, and uninucleate Rhizoctonia isolates were assembled and found that all the genomes contain 14 conserved protein-coding genes, one ribosomal protein (rps3), and 23 tRNA in the same order. The mitogenome sizes of uninucleate isolates were relatively smaller than binucleate and multinucleate stains. The size variations between uninucleate and multinucleate isolates were from both intergenic and intronic regions, whereas the differences between uninucleate and binucleate isolates were predominantly from intergenic regions. The phylogenetic analysis revealed that Rhizoctonia strains of the same nucleate types had a closer relationship.

Microorganisms can produce many antibiotics against bacteria and fungi, which have been used as potential choice of new antibiotics. In this paper, Bacillus cereus, was used to study the properties of antibacterial substance in its fermentation supernatant. The results showed that the source of antibacterial activity of Bacillus cereus was mainly the antibacterial substance produced by acid precipitation method, and further characterization speculates that the antibacterial substance may be lipopeptide substance. Then the antibacterial spectrum of the antibacterial substance was investigated, which showed that the antibacterial substance only had good inhibitory effect on Gram-positive bacteria and fungi, and selenium enrichment could significantly enhance the antibacterial activity of lipopeptide antibacterial substance produced by Bacillus cereus, and the inhibition mode of antibacterial substance to indicator bacteria was determined. The effects of different treatment methods on the stability of antibacterial substance were studied and the results showed that the antibacterial substance were stable to heat, ultrasonic and ultraviolet treatment, and their antibacterial activity would not be greatly affected. However, they were sensitive to pepsin. The optimum pH range of antibacterial activity was 3-5. This study may contribute to reuse the fermentation supernatant often discarded in the previous fermentation process. At the same time, the lipopeptide antibacterial substance extracted from the fermentation broth of selenium enriched Bacillus cereus can be used in the development of antibiotics and biopesticides, and open up a new way for the control of plant diseases.

Background: Angiogenesis is essential for the tissue engineering bone formation, and osteoblasts (OBs) has been proved to play an important role in angiogenesis via various pro-angiogenic factors. However, whether the mineralized osteoblast derived exosomes (MOB-Exos) and containing let-7f-5p can promote the angiogenesis of endothelial cells (ECs) is still unknown.Methods: MOB-Exos, let-7f-5p mimicked MOB-Exos (miR mimic group) and let-7f-5p inhibited MOB-Exos (miR inhibitor group) were respectively harvested from mineralized osteoblasts (MOBs) and then co-cultured with bEnd.3. Besides, the Erk1/2 signaling pathway in ECs in miR mimic group was inhibited. Subsequently, CCK-8 assays, wound healing assays, transwell migration assays and tube formation assays were performed to detect the angiogenic capability of ECs. Dual luciferase reporter assays were conducted to verify the target genes of exosomal let-7f-5p. Results: The results showed that MOB-Exos could significantly promote the angiogenesis of ECs, which could be enhanced by mimicking exosomal let-7f-5p, and attenuated by inhibiting exosomal let-7f-5p. And the angiogenic capability of ECs was partly impaired after inhibiting the Erk1/2 signaling pathway despite co-cultured with let-7f-5p mimicked MOB-Exos. Moreover, let-7f-5p suppressed the luciferase activity of wide-type DUSP1, while mutation of DUSP1 abrogated the repressive ability of let-7f-5p. Conclusion: Based the results, our study concluded that exosomal let-7f-5p derived from MOBs could promote the angiogenesis of ECs via activating DUSP1/Erk1/2 signaling pathway, which might be a promising target for tissue engineering bone formation.

In this study, we designed a comparison study to investigate the effect of continuous cerebrospinal fluid pulsation (CSFP) stress on the remodeling of artificial vertebral laminae, and we found that the continuous CSFP stress played an important role in the physiological reconstruction of artificial vertebral laminae by promoting the remodeling abilities of tissue-engineered laminae (TEL). It deepens our understanding of the in vivo development of TEL, and the impact of biomechanical stimuli on the osteogenesis and remodeling.

This study reports the significant effect of volatile–char interactions on the emission of particulate matter (PM) during the combustion of biosolid chars in drop-tube furnace at 1300 °C under air and oxyfuel conditions. Slow and fast heating chars were prepared from biosolid pyrolysis and then interacted with the volatiles produced in situ from the pyrolysis of polyethylene (PE) and double acid-washed biosolid (DAWB) in a novel two-stage quartz reactor at 1000 °C (limited by the operating temperature of quartz). The results clearly show that under the experimental conditions, the interactions between chars and small non-oxygenated reactive species in both volatiles substantially decrease the yield of PM with aerodynamic diameter

The basidiomycetous fungal genus, Rhizoctonia, can cause severe damage to many plants and is composed of multinucleate, binucleate, and uninucleate species differing in pathogenicity. Here we generated chromosome-scale genome assemblies of the three nuclear types of Rhizoctonia isolates. The genomic comparisons revealed that the uninucleate JN strain likely arose by somatic hybridization of two binucleate isolates, and maintained a diploid nucleus. Homeolog gene pairs in the JN genome have experienced both decelerated or accelerated evolution. Homeolog expression dominance occurred between JN subgenomes, in which differentially expressed genes show potentially less evolutionary constraint than the genes without. Analysis of mating-type genes suggested that Rhizoctonia maintains the ancestral tetrapolarity of the Basidiomycota. Long terminal repeat-retrotransposons displayed a reciprocal correlation with the chromosomal GC content in the three chromosome-scale genomes. The more aggressive multinucleate XN strain had more genes encoding enzymes for host cell wall decomposition. These findings demonstrate some evolutionary changes of a recently derived hybrid and in multiple nuclear types of Rhizoctonia., Li et al. generate chromosome-scale genome assemblies of the three nuclear types of the basidiomycetous fungi Rhizoctonia isolates. Genomic comparisons implicate that uninucleate genomes were hybrids derived potentially from binucleate ancestors, suggesting evolutionary changes of a recently derived hybrid and in multiple nuclear types of Rhizoctonia.

Selenium is an essential trace element and micronutrient for human health. Application of organic selenium in plants and microorganisms as trace element supplement is attracting more and more attention. In this study, Bacillus cereus, an important probiotic, was used for selenium enrichment with sodium selenite as selenium source. The growth curve of B. cereus was investigated, and 150 μg/ml was selected as the concentration of selenium for B. cereus fermentation. With application of response surface methodology, the optimal fermentation conditions were obtained as follows: inoculation quantity of 7%, culture temperature of 33°C, and shaking speed of 170 rpm, leading to the maximal selenium conversion ratio of 94.3 ± 0.2%. Field emission scanning electron microscope and energy dispersive spectrometry evidenced that inorganic selenium had been successfully transformed. This study may contribute to get a strain with high Se conversion ratio, so as to extract organic selenium in the form of selenoprotein to be used for further application.

Background Ketamine has been reported to cause neonatal neurotoxicity in a variety of developing animal models. Various studies have been conducted to study the mechanism of neurotoxicity for general anesthetic use during the neonatal period. Previous experiments have suggested that developmentally generated granule neurons in the hippocampus dentate gyrus (DG) supported hippocampus-dependent memory. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate whether ketamine affects the functional integration of developmentally generated granule neurons in the DG. For this purpose,the postnatal day 7 (PND-7) Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were divided into the control group and the ketamine group (rats who received 4 injections of 40 mg/kg ketamine at 1 h intervals). To label dividing cells, BrdU was administered for three consecutive days after the ketamine exposure; NeuN+/BrdU+cells were observed by using immunofluorescence. To evaluate the developmentally generated granule neurons that support hippocampus-dependent memory, spatial reference memory was tested by using Morris Water Maze at 3 months old, after which the immunofluorescence was used to detect c-Fos expression in the NeuN+/BrdU+ cells. The expression of caspase-3 was measured by western blot to detect the apoptosis in the hippocampal DG. Results The present results showed that the neonatal ketamine exposure did not influence the survival rate of developmentally generated granule neurons at 2 and 3 months old, but ketamine interfered with the integration of these neurons into the hippocampal DG neural circuits and caused a deficit in hippocampal-dependent spatial reference memory tasks. Conclusions In summary, these findings may promote more studies to investigate the neurotoxicity of ketamine in the developing brain.

Summary Rice blast disease, caused by the fungus Magnaporthe oryzae, is the most devastating disease of rice. In our ongoing characterization of the defence mechanisms of rice plants against M. oryzae, a terpene synthase gene OsTPS19 was identified as a candidate defence gene. Here, we report the functional characterization of OsTPS19, which is up‐regulated by M. oryzae infection. Overexpression of OsTPS19 in rice plants enhanced resistance against M. oryzae, while OsTPS19 RNAi lines were more susceptible to the pathogen. Metabolic analysis revealed that the production of a monoterpene (S)‐limonene was increased and decreased in OsTPS19 overexpression and RNAi lines, respectively, suggesting that OsTPS19 functions as a limonene synthase in planta. This notion was further supported by in vitro enzyme assays with recombinant OsTPS19, in which OsTPS19 had both sesquiterpene activity and monoterpene synthase activity, with limonene as a major product. Furthermore, in a subcellular localization experiment, OsTPS19 was localized in plastids. OsTPS19 has a highly homologous paralog, OsTPS20, which likely resulted from a recent gene duplication event. We found that the variation in OsTPS19 and OsTPS20 enzyme activities was determined by a single amino acid in the active site cavity. The expression of OsTPS20 was not affected by M. oryzae infection. This indicates functional divergence of OsTPS19 and OsTPS20. Lastly, (S)‐limonene inhibited the germination of M. oryzae spores in vitro. OsTPS19 was determined to function as an (S)‐limonene synthase in rice and plays a role in defence against M. oryzae, at least partly, by inhibiting spore germination.

In this study, a typical inertinite- and AAEMs (alkali and alkaline earth metal species)-rich Chinese sub-bituminous coal was systematically investigated in terms of maceral component, mineral occurrence and molecular structure. Based on the experimental data, macromolecular-dependent evolutionary behavior during integrated cascade coal pyrolysis was unraveled, and further a mechanism on staged-pyrolysis was proposed. Compelling evidence shows that after heavy medium separation, the features of coal fractions with different densities were significantly varied in maceral compositions, AAEMs distributions and more importantly, in macromolecular structure. The various functional groups abundant in respective maceral-enriched (vitrinite, liptinite, and inertinite) coal fractions behaved distinctively during pyrolysis due to the different activation energies for the scission of these functional groups, thus resulting in temperature-dependent reactions. Specifically, at lower temperature (400–500 °C), carboxylic groups mainly inherent in vitrinite could be substantially decomposed into CO 2 . Subsequently, at ca. 500 °C, aliphatic chains in vitrinite were cracked to C 2 -C 4 ; while ether structures were broken and contributed to the generation of a small amount of CO. Meanwhile, the small aromatic molecules freely existed in liptinite could also be released in form of light aromatics. At higher temperature (ca. 700 °C), the volatiles including CO 2 would react with char and generate a larger proportion of CO; and particularly, this secondary reaction could be catalytically accelerated by AAEMs at higher temperature. Consequently, the pyrolysis route and gaseous products in different stages were varying in specific manner according to the reaction mechanism; and it was available to direct the production of methane-rich syngas, and provide a useful basis for optimization of cascade coal pyrolysis processes.

A three-stage pyrolysis/combustion reactor was used to demonstrate the importance of volatile–char interactions in inorganic particulate matter (PM) emission from the combustion of biosolid volatiles. It consists of a two-stage quartz reactor (including an inner drop-tube/fixed-bed pyrolyser as Stage I and an outer fixed-bed as Stage II) cascaded into a large drop-tube furnace (DTF, Stage III). The unique reactor design enables the volatiles that are produced in situ from the fast pyrolysis of cellulose, polyethylene or acid-washed biosolid in Stage I to pass through a preloaded bed of slow-pyrolysis biosolid char in Stage II then be immediately combusted (achieving complete combustion) in the DTF as Stage III at 1300 °C. Limited by quartz maximum working temperature (in Stages I and II), two temperatures (800 or 1000 °C) were considered for preparing the bed of char and generating the in situ volatiles. The results clearly show that volatile–char interactions lead to significant changes in the particle size distributions (PSDs) of PM emitted from the combustion of volatiles produced in situ from cellulose, polyethylene or acid-washed biosolid pyrolysis. The volatile–char interactions increase the yield of PM 1 (i.e. PM with aerodynamic diameter 0.1 (i.e. PM with aerodynamic diameter 1 during volatiles combustion. It is also evident that volatile–char interactions convert some of Pb and Cr in the biosolid chars into volatile forms which are released and then contribute to PM 1 emission.

Table S1. WRKY family genes in 36 plantae species. (DOCX 27 kb)

Reconstruction of vertebral laminae without epidural scar formation has been challenging. The success of bone formation depends on the biological and mechanical conditions of the surrounding tissues. In this study, we aimed to investigate the roles of biological and mechanical factors in the osteogenesis of artificial laminae. Mesenchymal stem cells derived from rabbit umbilical cord Wharton's jelly were induced for osteogenic differentiation for 3 weeks before seeding on the hydroxyapatite-collagen I scaffolds to construct the tissue-engineered laminae (TEL). TEL were then implanted into the fifth rabbit lumbar vertebrae in both orthotopic lamina (n = 30) and ectopic lamina (n = 30) groups. De novo laminae were examined through histological and radiographic analysis in the 2nd, 4th, 8th, 12th, and 16th weeks postimplantation. Our results showed that de novo laminae formed effectively in both groups, and the osteogenic gene expression levels and cancellous microstructure parameters of de novo laminae in the orthotopic lamina group were significantly higher than those in the ectopic lamina group. In conclusion, the biological stimulation of bone defect initiated the early onset osteogenesis, and the mechanical stimulation of cerebrospinal fluid pulsation stress promoted the osteogenesis of de novo laminae.

Metabolomic and transcriptomic approaches were used to dissect the enhanced disease resistance in the plants harbouring a RNA interfering construct of OsWRKY62 and OsWRKY76 (dsOW62/76) genes. The primary metabolic pathways were activated in dsOW62/76 compared with wild-type (ZH17) plants, revealed by increased accumulation of amino acids and constituents of citric acid cycle etc. Contents of phenolic acids derived from phenylpropanoid pathway were elevated in dsOW62/76 plants. Importantly, phenolamides, conjugates of the phenolic acids with amines, were detected in large number and mostly at higher levels in dsOW62/76 compared with ZH17 plants; however, the free pools of flavonoids were mostly decreased in dsOW62/76. Salicylic acid (SA) and jasmonic acid (JA)/JA-Ile contents were increased in dsOW62/76 and knockout lines of individual OsWRKY62 and OsWRKY76 genes. Transcription of isochorismate synthase (OsICS1) gene was suppressed in dsOW62/76 and in MeJA-treated rice plants, whereas the transcription level of cinnamoyl-CoA hydratase-dehydrogenase (OsCHD) gene for β-oxidation in peroxisome was increased. The calli with OsCHD mutation showed markedly decreased SA accumulation. These results indicate that OsWRKY62 and OsWRKY76 function as negative regulators of biosynthetic defense-related metabolites and provide evidence for an important role of phenylpropanoid pathway in SA production in rice.

Rice OsERF922, encoding an APETELA2/ethylene response factor (AP2/ERF) type transcription factor, is rapidly and strongly induced by abscisic acid (ABA) and salt treatments, as well as by both virulent and avirulent pathovars of Magnaporthe oryzae, the causal agent of rice blast disease. OsERF922 is localized to the nucleus, binds specifically to the GCC box sequence, and acts as a transcriptional activator in plant cells. Knockdown of OsERF922 by means of RNAi enhanced resistance against M. oryzae. The elevated disease resistance of the RNAi plants was associated with increased expression of PR, PAL, and the other genes encoding phytoalexin biosynthetic enzymes and without M. oryzae infection. In contrast, OsERF922-overexpressing plants showed reduced expression of these defence-related genes and enhanced susceptibility to M. oryzae. In addition, the OsERF922-overexpressing lines exhibited decreased tolerance to salt stress with an increased Na(+)/K(+) ratio in the shoots. The ABA levels were found increased in the overexpressing lines and decreased in the RNAi plants. Expression of the ABA biosynthesis-related genes, 9-cis-epoxycarotenoid dioxygenase (NCED) 3 and 4, was upregulated in the OsERF922-overexpressing plants, and NCED4 was downregulated in the RNAi lines. These results suggest that OsERF922 is integrated into the cross-talk between biotic and abiotic stress-signalling networks perhaps through modulation of the ABA levels.

Background: As an increasing number of aging patients are being referred for coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), the radial artery (RA) has gained increasing popularity as a conduit. The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of RA in CABG for the elderly with coronary heart disease. Methods and Results: Three hundred and twenty-six elderly patients underwent CABG with RA harvesting between January 2000 and June 2008. A total of 377 RA as grafts were collected. The mean number of distal anastomoses per patient was 3.1 while the mean for RA was 1.1. The operative mortality was 3.1%. Twenty patients developed atrial fibrillation, 7 experienced acute renal failure, 9 had neurological accidents, and 4 had myocardial infarction. There was no ischemic complication on hand. Paresthesia in the donor hand was found in 2 patients. A complete follow up was obtained in 77.2% of patients, with a mean time of 53.5 ±35.9 months. RA patency displayed by coronary angiography was 95.83% after a mean time of 74 months of follow up. Conclusions: It was proven to be safe and effective to use RA as a secondary arterial graft after the left internal mammary artery in the elderly patients. (Circ J 2009; 73: 1049-1054)

Osmotin promoter binding protein 1 (OPBP1), an AP2/ERF transcription factor of tobacco, has been demonstrated to function in disease resistance and salt tolerance in tobacco. To increase stress tolerant capability of rice, we generated rice plants with an OPBP1 overexpressing construct. Salinity shock treatment with 250 mM NaCl indicated that most of the OPBP1 transgenic plants can survive, whereas the control seedlings cannot. Similar recovery was found by using the seedlings grown in 200 mM NaCl for two weeks. The OPBP1 transgenic and control plants were also studied for oxidative stress tolerance by treatment with paraquat, showing the transgenic lines were damaged less in comparison with the control plants. Further, the OPBP1 overexpression lines exhibited enhanced resistance to infections of Magnaporthe oryzae and Rhizoctonia solani pathogens. Gene expressing analysis showed increase in mRNA accumulation of several stress related genes. These results suggest that expression of OPBP1 gene increase the detoxification capability of rice.

Many bacterial pathogens of plants and animals deliver effector proteins into host cells to promote infection. Elucidation of how pathogen effector proteins function not only is critical for understanding bacterial pathogenesis but also provides a useful tool in discovering the functions of host genes. In this study, we characterized the Pseudomonas syringae pv tomato DC3000 effector protein Avirulence Protein E (AvrE), the founding member of a widely distributed, yet functionally enigmatic, bacterial effector family. We show that AvrE is localized in the plasma membrane (PM) and PM-associated vesicle-like structures in the plant cell. AvrE contains two physically interacting domains, and the amino-terminal portion contains a PM-localization signal. Genome-wide microarray analysis indicates that AvrE, as well as the functionally redundant effector Hypersensitive response and pathogenicity-dependent Outer Protein M1, down-regulates the expression of the NONRACE-SPECIFIC DISEASE RESISTANCE1/HARPIN-INDUCED1-LIKE13 (NHL13) gene in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana). Mutational analysis shows that NHL13 is required for plant immunity, as the nhl13 mutant plant displayed enhanced disease susceptibility. Our results defined the action site of one of the most important bacterial virulence proteins in plants and the antibacterial immunity function of the NHL13 gene.

Based on an analysis of second-order hydrodynamic forces induced by coupling of first-order wave potentials, second-order hydroelastic equations are established and solved in the frequency domain. The responses of a very large floating structure in multidirectional irregular waves are studied. The characteristics of the difference and sum frequency coordinates are discussed in detail; peaks can be found at the difference and sum frequencies close to the wet resonant frequencies of each mode. We present and analyze the maximum vertical displacement of different points as well as the time history of the vertical displacements of selected points. The differences of the combined (the summation of the linear and non-linear responses) and linear displacements of the selected points are calculated. Our results demonstrate that non-linear fluid forces influence the total responses of the referenced floating structure.

Chitosan (CS) scaffolds combined with osteogenically induced bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) have been proved to be promising substitutes for repairing bone defects. Nevertheless, the bone-forming and scaffold-biodegrading processes are seldom studied. This study aimed to determine the osteogenic ability of CS/osteo-induced BMSC composites by observing the bone-forming process and explore the relationship between bone formation and scaffold biodegradation.The CS/osteo-induced BMSC composites (CS+cells group) and the CS scaffolds (CS group) were, respectively, implanted into SD rat thigh muscles. At 2, 4, 6, 8, and 12 weeks postoperatively, the rat femurs were scanned by CT, and the CT values of the implants were measured and comparatively analyzed. Subsequently, the implants were harvested and stained with hematoxylin and eosin and Masson trichrome, and the percentages of bone area, scaffold area, and collagen area were calculated and compared between the two groups.The imaging results showed that the densities of implants of the two groups gradually increased along with time, but the CT values of implants in the CS+cells group were much higher than in the CS group at the same time point (P0.05). The histological results showed that the de novo bone and collagen formed in the pores of the scaffolds and gradually increased since 2 weeks postoperation in both groups, and the scaffold gradually degraded along with the boneforming process. However, the comparative analysis results showed that the CS+cells group gained more de novo bone and collagen formation and had less scaffold than the CS group at the same time point (P0.05).The CS/osteo-induced BMSC composites are excellent bone tissue engineering substitutes, and the scaffold biodegradation is accordant with the bone formation.

We describe a case of successful vegetectomy of the aortic valves for early infective endocarditis. An aortic vegetectomy was performed as an alternative to valve replacement for a 54-year-old man with three vegetations and mild regurgitation in aortic valve due to infective endocarditis. Postoperative clinical course was without signs of recurrent infection after follow-up of 19 months, and transesophageal echocardiography demonstrated aortic valve competence. We would suggest that vegetectomy with valve sparing may be a viable option in the context of early infective endocarditis involved aortic valve in selected patients.

The WRKY family of transcription factors (TFs) functions as transcriptional activators or repressors in various signaling pathways. In this study, we discovered that OsWRKY62 and OsWRKY76, two genes of the WRKY IIa subfamily, undergo constitutive and inducible alternative splicing. The full-length OsWRKY62.1 and OsWRKY76.1 proteins formed homocomplexes and heterocomplexes, and the heterocomplex dominates in the nuclei when analyzed in Nicotiana benthamiana leaves. Transgenic overexpression of OsWRKY62.1 and OsWRKY76.1 in rice (Oryza sativa) enhanced plant susceptibility to the blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae and the leaf blight bacterium Xanthomonas oryzae pv oryzae, whereas RNA interference and loss-of-function knockout plants exhibited elevated resistance. The dsOW62/76 and knockout lines of OsWRKY62 and OsWRKY76 also showed greatly increased expression of defense-related genes and the accumulation of phytoalexins. The ratio of full-length versus truncated transcripts changed in dsOW62/76 plants as well as in response to pathogen infection. The short alternative OsWRKY62.2 and OsWRKY76.2 isoforms could interact with each other and with full-length proteins. OsWRKY62.2 showed a reduced repressor activity in planta, and two sequence determinants required for the repressor activity were identified in the amino terminus of OsWRKY62.1. The amino termini of OsWRKY62 and OsWRKY76 splice variants also showed reduced binding to the canonical W box motif. These results not only enhance our understanding of the DNA-binding property, the repressor sequence motifs, and the negative feedback regulation of the IIa subfamily of WRKYs but also provide evidence for alternative splicing of WRKY TFs during the plant defense response.

Cardiac haemangioma is an extremely rare, benign vascular tumour. A 42-year-old female patient who was previously very active presented with complaints of exertional chest pain as well as lower extremity oedema. Computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging showed a large mass in the anterior mediastinum originating from the right atrioventricular groove and abutting the superior vena cava, right atrium, right ventricular outflow tract and aortic root. Open biopsy via right mini-thoracotomy revealed cavernous haemangioma. After the biopsy, the patient was treated with three doses of bevacizumab but symptoms worsened and the mass did not regress. Therefore, the patient underwent median sternotomy and resection of the large tumour that encroached upon the right coronary artery. Final histopathological examination revealed cavernous haemangioma. The patient made an uneventful recovery.

In order to identify natural products for plant disease control, the essential oil of star anise (Illicium verum Hook. f.) fruit was investigated for its antifungal activity on plant pathogenic fungi. The fruit essential oil obtained by hydro-distillation was analyzed for its chemical composition by gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). trans-Anethole (89.5%), 2-(1-cyclopentenyl)-furan (0.9%) and cis-anethole (0.7%) were found to be the main components among 22 identified compounds, which accounted for 94.6% of the total oil. The antifungal activity of the oil and its main component trans-anethole against plant pathogenic fungi were determined. Both the essential oil and trans-anethole exhibited strong inhibitory effect against all test fungi indicating that most of the observed antifungal properties was due to the presence of trans-anethole in the oil, which could be developed as natural fungicides for plant disease control in fruit and vegetable preservation.

As an increasing number of aging patients are being referred for coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), the radial artery (RA) has gained increasing popularity as a conduit. The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of RA in CABG for the elderly with coronary heart disease.Three hundred and twenty-six elderly patients underwent CABG with RA harvesting between January 2000 and June 2008. A total of 377 RA as grafts were collected. The mean number of distal anastomoses per patient was 3.1 while the mean for RA was 1.1. The operative mortality was 3.1%. Twenty patients developed atrial fibrillation, 7 experienced acute renal failure, 9 had neurological accidents, and 4 had myocardial infarction. There was no ischemic complication on hand. Paresthesia in the donor hand was found in 2 patients. A complete follow up was obtained in 77.2% of patients, with a mean time of 53.5 +/-35.9 months. RA patency displayed by coronary angiography was 95.83% after a mean time of 74 months of follow up.It was proven to be safe and effective to use RA as a secondary arterial graft after the left internal mammary artery in the elderly patients.