A Critical Role of Sodium Flux via the Plasma Membrane Na/H Exchanger SOS1 in the Salt Tolerance of Rice.

Rice () stands among the world's most important crop species. Rice is salt sensitive, and the undue accumulation of sodium ions (Na) in shoots has the strongest negative correlation with rice productivity under long-term salinity. The plasma membrane Na/H exchanger protein Salt Overly Sensitive 1 (SOS1) is the sole Na efflux transporter that has been genetically characterized to date.

Physiological Basis and Transcriptional Profiling of Three Salt-Tolerant Mutant Lines of Rice.

Salinity is a complex trait that affects growth and productivity in many crops, including rice. Mutation induction, a useful tool to generate salt tolerant plants, enables the analysis of plants with similar genetic background, facilitating the understanding of the salt tolerance mechanisms. In this work, we generated three salt tolerant mutant lines by irradiation of a salt-sensitive cultivar plants and screened M2 plants at seedling stage in the presence of high salinity.

Overexpression of a Calcium-Dependent Protein Kinase Confers Salt and Drought Tolerance in Rice by Preventing Membrane Lipid Peroxidation.

The OsCPK4 gene is a member of the complex gene family of calcium-dependent protein kinases in rice (Oryza sativa). Here, we report that OsCPK4 expression is induced by high salinity, drought, and the phytohormone abscisic acid. Moreover, a plasma membrane localization of OsCPK4 was observed by transient expression assays of green fluorescent protein-tagged OsCPK4 in onion (Allium cepa) epidermal cells.

EMS mutagenesis in mature seed-derived rice calli as a new method for rapidly obtaining TILLING mutant populations.

Background: TILLING (Targeting Induced Local Lesions IN Genomes) is a reverse genetic method that combines chemical mutagenesis with high-throughput genome-wide screening for point mutation detection in genes of interest. However, this mutation discovery approach faces a particular problem which is how to obtain a mutant population with a sufficiently high mutation density. Furthermore, plant mutagenesis protocols require two successive generations (M1, M2) for mutation fixation to occur before the analysis of the genotype can begin.

Molecular diagnosis of endometrial cancer from uterine aspirates.

Rapid and reliable diagnosis of endometrial cancer (EC) in uterine aspirates is highly desirable. Current sensitivity and failure rate of histological diagnosis limit the success of this method and subsequent hysteroscopy is often necessary. Using quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction on RNA from uterine aspirates samples, we measured the expression level of 20 previously identified genes involved in EC pathology, created five algorithms based on combinations of five genes and evaluated their ability to diagnose EC.

Analysis of transposon insertion mutants highlights the diversity of mechanisms underlying male progamic development in Arabidopsis.

To identify genes with essential roles in male gametophytic development, including postpollination (progamic) events, we have undertaken a genetic screen based on segregation ratio distortion of a transposon-borne kanamycin-resistance marker. In a population of 3359 Arabidopsis Ds transposon insertion lines, we identified 20 mutants with stably reduced segregation ratios arising from reduced gametophytic transmission. All 20 mutants showed strict cosegregation of Ds and the reduced gametophytic transmission phenotype.

SETH1 and SETH2, two components of the glycosylphosphatidylinositol anchor biosynthetic pathway, are required for pollen germination and tube growth in Arabidopsis.

Glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) anchoring provides an alternative to transmembrane domains for anchoring proteins to the cell surface in eukaryotes. GPI anchors are synthesized in the endoplasmic reticulum via the sequential addition of monosaccharides, fatty acids, and phosphoethanolamines to phosphatidylinositol. Deficiencies in GPI biosynthesis lead to embryonic lethality in animals and to conditional lethality in eukaryotic microbes by blocking cell growth, cell division, or morphogenesis.

Genetic control of male germ unit organization in Arabidopsis.

In flowering plants, the vegetative nucleus and the two sperm cells are proposed to form a functional assemblage, the male germ unit (MGU). Here, we describe the developmental pathway of MGU assembly in Arabidopsis and report two classes of mutations that affect the integrity and/or the positioning of the MGU in the mature pollen grain. In germ unit malformed (gum) mutants, the vegetative nucleus is positioned adjacent to the pollen grain wall, separate from the two sperm cells, whereas in MGU displaced (mud) mutants, the intact MGU is displaced to the pollen grain wall.