简介：Carotenepigmentsinflowersandfruitsaredistinctfeaturesrelatedtofitnessadvantagessuchasattractinginsectsforpollinationandbirdsforseeddispersal.Inpapaya,thefleshcolorofthefruitisconsideredaqualitytraitthatcorrelateswithnutritionalvalueandislinkedtoshelf-lifeofthefruit.Toelucidatethecarotenoidbiosynthesispathwayinpapaya,wetookacandidategeneapproachtoclonethelycopeneβ-cyclasegene,LCY-B.ApapayaLCY-Bortholog,cpLCY-B,wassuccessfullyidentifiedfrombothcDNAandbacterialartificialchromosome(BAC)librariesandcompletegenomicsequencewasobtainedfromthepositiveBACincludingthepromoterregion.ThiscpLCY-Bshared80%aminoacididentitywithcitrusLCY-B.However,fullgenomicsequencesfrombothyellow-andred-fleshedpapayawereidentical.Quantitativereal-timePCR(qPCR)revealedsimilarlevelsofexpressionatsixdifferentmaturingstagesoffruitsforbothyellow-andred-fleshedgenotypes.FurtherexpressionanalysesofcpLCY-Bshowedthatitsexpressionlevelswereseven-andthree-foldhigherinleavesand,respectively,flowersthaninfruits,suggestingthatcpLCY-Bisdown-regulatedduringthefruitripeningprocess.

简介：Anuranmetamorphosisinvolvessystematictransformationsofindividualorgansinathyroidhormone(TH)-dependentmanner.Morphologicalandcellularstudieshaveshownthattheremovaloflarvalorgans/tissuessuchthetailandthetadpoleintestinalepitheliumisthroughprogrammedcelldeathorapoptosis.RecentmolecularinvestigationssuggestthatTHregulatesmetamorphosisbyregulatingtargetgeneexpressionthroughthyroidhormonereceptors(TRs),whichareDNA-bindingtranscriptionfactors.CloningandcharacterizationofTHresponsegenesshowthatdiversegroupsofearlyresponsegenesareinducedbyTH.TheproductsoftheseTHresponsegenesarebelievedtodirectlyorindirectlyaffecttheexpressionand/orfunctionsofcelldeathgenes,whichareconservedatbothsequenceandfunctionlevelsindifferentanimalspecies.Amajorchallengeforfutureresearchliesatdeterminingthesignalingpathwaysleadingtotheactivationofapoptoticprocessesandwhetherdifferentdeathgenesareinvolvedintheregulationofapoptosisindifferenttissues/organstoeffecttissue-specifictransformations.

简介：FastPlant(Brassicarapa,Cruciferae)leaftissuefixedinglutaraldehyde-acroleinandpost-fixedinos-mium,wasexaminedforresponsetoseveraleasily-preparedheavymetalstains.Leadanduranium,separatelyandincombination,gavetypicalresultsacrossthespectrumofcellorganellets.Asasinglestainfollowingosmium,bismuthproducedimagesseeminglyequivalenttoleadanduranium.Phosphotungsticacidproducedverygoodmembranedelineationbutproducedawashed-outbackgroundimagesimilartothatfromleadstaining.Carbohydratecompoundswereespeciallyresponsivetoruthenium;thecytoplasmandthematrixofallorganelleswerealsostainedverywell.Theprocedureswerenomoredemandingthantraditionalstainingmethodsandmaybeeasilyusedinresearchandteaching.FastPlantmaterialsareareliable,quickandeasysourceoflivingmaterial.

简介：GABAtransporter1(GAT1)takesimportantrolesinmultiplephysiologicalprocessesthroughtheuptakeandreleaseofGABA,buttheregulationofGAT1geneexpressionindifferenttissuesisrarelyknown.Toaddressthequestion,first,5'RapidamplificationofcDNAend(RACE)wasusedtodetermineGAT1transcriptionalstartingsitesinneonatalmousecerebralcortexandintestine,adultmousebrainandadultrattestis.Theproductsof5'RACEwereconfirmedbyDNAsequencing.WefoundthatthetranscriptofGAT1inneonatalmousecerebralcortexandadultmousebrainstartsatthesamesite(insideofexon1),whileinmouseintestine,GAT1startstranscriptioninintron1,andinrattestis,thetranscriptofGAT1hasanadditionaluntranslationexontothe5'direction.

简介：FastPlant(Brassicarapa,Cruciferae)leaftissuefixedinglutaradehyde-acroleinandpost-fixedinosmium,wasexaminedforresponsetoseveraleasilypreparedheavymetalstains.Leadanduranium,separatelyandincombination,gavetypicalresultsacrossthespectrumofcellorgeanelles.Asssinglestainfollowingosmium,bismuthproducedimagesseeminglyequivalenttoleadanduranium.Phosphotungsticacidproducedverygoodmembranedelineationbutproducedawashed-outbackgroundimagesimilartothatfromleadstaining.Carbohydratecompoundswereespeciallyresponsivetoruthenium;thecytoplasmandthematrixofallorganelleswerealsostainedverywell.Theprocedureswerenomoredemandingthantraditionalstainingmethodsandmaybeeasilyusedinresearchandteaching.FastPlantmaterialsareareliable,quicknandeasysourceoflivingmaterial.