SUBSTANDARD STARCH GRAIN7 regulates starch grain size and endosperm development in rice.

Starch is synthesized as insoluble, semicrystalline particles within plant chloroplast and amyloplast, which are referred to as starch grains (SGs). The size and morphology of SGs in the cereal endosperm are diverse and species-specific, representing a key determinant of the suitability of starch for industrial applications. However, the molecular mechanisms modulating SG size in cereal endosperm remain elusive.

Rice LIKE EARLY STARVATION1 cooperates with FLOURY ENDOSPERM6 to modulate starch biosynthesis and endosperm development.

In cereal grains, starch is synthesized by the concerted actions of multiple enzymes on the surface of starch granules within the amyloplast. However, little is known about how starch-synthesizing enzymes access starch granules, especially for amylopectin biosynthesis. Here, we show that the rice (Oryza sativa) floury endosperm9 (flo9) mutant is defective in amylopectin biosynthesis, leading to grains exhibiting a floury endosperm with a hollow core.

Resolution modeling in projection space using a factorized multi-block detector response function for PET image reconstruction.

Positron emission tomography (PET) images usually suffer from limited resolution and statistical uncertainties. However, a technique known as resolution modeling (RM) can be used to improve image quality by accurately modeling the system's detection process within the iterative reconstruction. In this study, we present an accurate RM method in projection space based on a simulated multi-block detector response function (DRF) and evaluate it on the Siemens hybrid MR-BrainPET system.

Delivery of PUMA Apoptosis Gene Using Polyethyleneimine-SMCC-TAT/DNA Nanoparticles: Biophysical Characterization and In Vitro Transfection Into Malignant Melanoma Cells.

A synthesized PEI-based gene delivery system, wherein PEI was crosslinked with sulfosuccinimidyl-4-(N-maleimidomethyl) cyclohexane-1-carboxylate (Sulfo-SMCC) conjugating trans-activating transcriptional activator (TAT), yielding PEI-SMCC-TAT (PST), a novel non-viral vector for apoptosis-related gene PUMA (p53 up regulated modulator of apoptosis), was designed and evaluated. Sulfo-SMCC is a commonly used heterobifunctional crosslinker and is soluble in water, making the crosslinking easier without organic reagent like DMSO or chloroform. The PST/pDNA nanoparticles were 171.

Autofocus using adaptive prediction approximation combined search for the fluorescence microscope in second-generation DNA sequencing system.

Autofocus is an important technique for high-speed image acquisition in the second-generation DNA sequencing system, and this paper studies the passive focus algorithm for the system, which consists of two parts: focus measurement (FM) and focus search (FS). Based on the properties of DNA chips' images, we choose the normalized variance as the FM algorithm and develop a new robust FS named adaptive prediction approximation combined search (APACS). APACS utilizes golden section search (GSS) to approximate the focus position and engages the curve-fitting search (CFS) to predict the position simultaneously in every step of GSS.