Knockout of DDM1 in Physcomitrium patens disrupts DNA methylation with a minute effect on transposon regulation and development.

The Snf2 chromatin remodeler, DECREASE IN DNA METHYLATION 1 (DDM1) facilitates DNA methylation. In flowering plants, DDM1 mediates methylation in heterochromatin, which is targeted primarily by MET1 and CMT methylases and is necessary for silencing transposons and for proper development. DNA methylation mechanisms evolved throughout plant evolution, whereas the role of DDM1 in early terrestrial plants remains elusive.

DNA methylation mutants in elucidate individual roles of CG and non-CG methylation in genome regulation.

Cytosine (DNA) methylation in plants regulates the expression of genes and transposons. While methylation in plant genomes occurs at CG, CHG, and CHH sequence contexts, the comparative roles of the individual methylation contexts remain elusive. Here, we present as the second plant system, besides , with viable mutants with an essentially complete loss of methylation in the CG and non-CG contexts.

Publisher Correction: RdDM-independent de novo and heterochromatin DNA methylation by plant CMT and DNMT3 orthologs.

The original version of this Article contained an error in Fig. 5, in which the evolutionary origin of DRM2 was incorrectly placed prior to the divergence between gymnosperms and angiosperms . The correct evolutionary origin of DRM2 should be in angiosperms.

RdDM-independent de novo and heterochromatin DNA methylation by plant CMT and DNMT3 orthologs.

To properly regulate the genome, cytosine methylation is established by animal DNA methyltransferase 3 s (DNMT3s). While altered DNMT3 homologs, Domains rearranged methyltransferases (DRMs), have been shown to establish methylation via the RNA directed DNA methylation (RdDM) pathway, the role of true-plant DNMT3 orthologs remains elusive. Here, we profile de novo (RPS transgene) and genomic methylation in the basal plant, Physcomitrella patens, mutated in each of its PpDNMTs.

The Work of ASBH's Clinical Ethics Consultation Affairs Committee: Development Processes Behind Our Educational Materials.

The authors of this article are previous or current members of the Clinical Ethics Consultation Affairs (CECA) Committee, a standing committee of the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities (ASBH). The committee is composed of seasoned healthcare ethics consultants (HCECs), and it is charged with developing and disseminating education materials for HCECs and ethics committees. The purpose of this article is to describe the educational research and development processes behind our teaching materials, which culminated in a case studies book called A Case-Based Study Guide for Addressing Patient-Centered Ethical Issues in Health Care (hereafter, the Study Guide).

Coincident myelomeningocele and gastroschisis: report of 2 cases.

Myelomeningocele and gastroschisis, on their own, are both relatively common entities encountered in pediatric surgical care. Coexistence of these pathologies, however, is exceedingly rare. The authors report on 2 patients who presented with myelomeningocele and gastroschisis at birth.

The Evolution of Spina Bifida Treatment Through a Biomedical Ethics Lens.

Spina bifida is a neurodevelopmental disorder that results in a broad range of disability. Over the last few decades, there have been significant advances in diagnosis and treatment of this condition, which have raised concerns regarding how clinicians prognosticate the extent of disability, determine quality of life, and use that information to make treatment recommendations. From the selective treatment of neonates in the 1970s, to the advent of maternal-fetal surgery today, the issues that have been raised surrounding spina bifida intervention invoke principles of medical bioethics such as beneficence and nonmaleficence, while also highlighting how quality of life judgments may drive care decisions.

Informed Consent in Decision-Making in Pediatric Practice.

Informed consent should be seen as an essential part of health care practice; parental permission and childhood assent is an active process that engages patients, both adults and children, in their health care. Pediatric practice is unique in that developmental maturation allows, over time, for increasing inclusion of the child's and adolescent's opinion in medical decision-making in clinical practice and research. This technical report, which accompanies the policy statement "Informed Consent in Decision-Making in Pediatric Practice" was written to provide a broader background on the nature of informed consent, surrogate decision-making in pediatric practice, information on child and adolescent decision-making, and special issues in adolescent informed consent, assent, and refusal.

A single homeobox gene triggers phase transition, embryogenesis and asexual reproduction.

Plants characteristically alternate between haploid gametophytic and diploid sporophytic stages. Meiosis and fertilization respectively initiate these two different ontogenies(1). Genes triggering ectopic embryo development on vegetative sporophytic tissues are well described(2,3); however, a genetic control of embryo development from gametophytic tissues remains elusive.

The Polycomb group protein CLF emerges as a specific tri-methylase of H3K27 regulating gene expression and development in Physcomitrella patens.

Packaging of eukaryotic DNA largely depends on histone modifications that affect the accessibility of DNA to transcriptional regulators, thus controlling gene expression. The Polycomb group (PcG) chromatin remodeling complex deposits a methyl group on lysine 27 of histone 3 leading to repressed gene expression. Plants encode homologs of the Enhancer of zeste (E(z)), a component of the PcG complex from Drosophila, one of which is a SET domain protein designated CURLY LEAF (CLF).

Patients as partners in innovation.

As the culture of medical practice has evolved, so has the relationship between the physician and patient. This is decidedly true with regards to the introduction of innovative therapies, especially in the surgical arena. A critical challenge is identifying and defining innovative therapy.

DNA METHYLTRANSFERASE 1 is involved in (m)CG and (m)CCG DNA methylation and is essential for sporophyte development in Physcomitrella patens.

DNA methylation has a crucial role in plant development regulating gene expression and silencing of transposable elements. Maintenance DNA methylation in plants occurs at symmetrical (m)CG and (m)CHG contexts ((m) = methylated) and is maintained by DNA METHYLTRANSFERASE 1 (MET1) and CHROMOMETHYLASE (CMT) DNA methyltransferase protein families, respectively. While angiosperm genomes encode for several members of MET1 and CMT families, the moss Physcomitrella patens, serving as a model for early divergent land plants, carries a single member of each family.

A single CMT methyltransferase homolog is involved in CHG DNA methylation and development of Physcomitrella patens.

C-5 DNA methylation is an essential mechanism controlling gene expression and developmental programs in a variety of organisms. Though the role of DNA methylation has been intensively studied in mammals and Arabidopsis, little is known about the evolution of this mechanism. The chromomethylase (CMT) methyltransferase family is unique to plants and was found to be involved in DNA methylation in Arabidopsis, maize and tobacco.

Isolated intramuscular fibrous band masquerading antral web in a premature neonate. A case report.

Isolated fibrous gastric antral band in a neonate causing partial gastric obstruction and mimicking prepyloric antral web is not reported in the English literature, and we would like to report the first case. A premature neonate with feeding difficulties and bilious aspirate underwent upper gastrointestinal contrast examination. The upper gastrointestinal series showed a thin, radiolucent, circumferential band in the antrum with delayed gastric emptying.

The effect of values affirmation on psychological stress.

There is growing evidence for the efficacy of acceptance-based behavioral therapies, which aim to increase acceptance of internal experiences and values-consistent action. Further, experimental studies have demonstrated that acceptance decreases distress and increases willingness to engage in challenging tasks (e.g.

Factors associated with attrition from a randomized controlled trial of meaning-centered group psychotherapy for patients with advanced cancer.

Objective: The generalizability of palliative care intervention research is often limited by high rates of study attrition. This study examined factors associated with attrition from a randomized controlled trial comparing meaning-centered group psychotherapy (MCGP), an intervention designed to help advanced cancer patients sustain or enhance their sense of meaning to the supportive group psychotherapy (SGP), a standardized support group.

Methods: Patients with advanced solid tumor cancers (n = 153) were randomized to eight sessions of either the MCGP or SGP.

Guidelines for the Development of Comprehensive Care Centers for Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia: Guidance from the CARES Foundation Initiative.

Patients with rare and complex diseases such as congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) often receive fragmented and inadequate care unless efforts are coordinated among providers. Translating the concepts of the medical home and comprehensive health care for individuals with CAH offers many benefits for the affected individuals and their families. This manuscript represents the recommendations of a 1.

State of the practice for pediatric surgery--career satisfaction and concerns. A report from the American Pediatric Surgical Association Task Force on Family Issues.

Background: There has been increasing interest and concern raised in the surgical literature regarding changes in the culture of surgical training and practice, and the impact these changes may have on surgeon stress and the appeal of a career in surgery. We surveyed pediatric surgeons and their partners to collect information on career satisfaction and work-family balance.

Methods: The American Pediatric Surgical Association Task Force on Family Issues developed separate survey instruments for both pediatric surgeons and their partners that requested demographic data and information regarding the impact of surgical training and practice on the surgeon's opportunity to be involved with his/her family.

A case of luteinizing thecoma with sclerosing peritonitis: revisiting a link with anti-epileptic drugs.

Luteinizing thecoma with sclerosing peritonitis (LTSP) is a rare ovarian tumor of unclear etiology and pathogenesis. The diagnostic entity was proposed in 1994, but a number of earlier reports described possible cases, and some suggested an association with anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs). In presenting a new case we review the literature of previous cases to evaluate the possibility of such a link.

Regulation of stem cell maintenance by the Polycomb protein FIE has been conserved during land plant evolution.

The Polycomb group (PcG) complex is involved in the epigenetic control of gene expression profiles. In flowering plants, PcG proteins regulate vegetative and reproductive programs. Epigenetically inherited states established in the gametophyte generation are maintained after fertilization in the sporophyte generation, having a profound influence on seed development.

Multimedia article: endoscopically guided thoracoscopic esophagectomy for stricture in a child.

Purpose: Caustic ingestion is a common cause for acquired esophageal strictures in children. Thoracoscopic esophagectomy can be very useful in this setting, particularly for short segments of disease [1-4]. Thus far, the use of endoscopy to guide resection margins has not been described.

Polycomb group complexes self-regulate imprinting of the Polycomb group gene MEDEA in Arabidopsis.

Fertilization in flowering plants initiates the development of the embryo and endosperm, which nurtures the embryo. A few genes subjected to imprinting are expressed in endosperm from their maternal allele, while their paternal allele remains silenced. Imprinting of the FWA gene involves DNA methylation.