Use of the Puccinia sorghi haustorial transcriptome to identify and characterize AvrRp1-D recognized by the maize Rp1-D resistance protein.

The common rust disease of maize is caused by the obligate biotrophic fungus Puccinia sorghi. The maize Rp1-D allele imparts resistance against the P. sorghi IN2 isolate by initiating a defense response that includes a rapid localized programmed cell death process, the hypersensitive response (HR).

ATR2 from Arabidopsis-infecting downy mildew requires 4 TIR-NLR immune receptors for full recognition.

Arabidopsis Col-0 RPP2A and RPP2B confer recognition of Arabidopsis downy mildew (Hyaloperonospora arabidopsidis [Hpa]) isolate Cala2, but the identity of the recognized ATR2 effector was unknown. To reveal ATR2, an F population was generated from a cross between Hpa-Cala2 and Hpa-Noks1. We identified ATR2 as a non-canonical RxLR-type effector that carries a signal peptide, a dEER motif, and WY domains but no RxLR motif.

Oligomerization of a plant helper NLR requires cell-surface and intracellular immune receptor activation.

Plant disease resistance involves both detection of microbial molecular patterns by cell-surface pattern recognition receptors and detection of pathogen effectors by intracellular NLR immune receptors. NLRs are classified as sensor NLRs, involved in effector detection, or helper NLRs required for sensor NLR signaling. TIR-domain-containing sensor NLRs (TNLs) require helper NLRs NRG1 and ADR1 for resistance, and helper NLR activation of defense requires the lipase-domain proteins EDS1, SAG101, and PAD4.

A potato late blight resistance gene protects against multiple Phytophthora species by recognizing a broadly conserved RXLR-WY effector.

Species of the genus Phytophthora, the plant killer, cause disease and reduce yields in many crop plants. Although many Resistance to Phytophthora infestans (Rpi) genes effective against potato late blight have been cloned, few have been cloned against other Phytophthora species. Most Rpi genes encode nucleotide-binding domain, leucine-rich repeat-containing (NLR) immune receptor proteins that recognize RXLR (Arg-X-Leu-Arg) effectors.

Chaperone-like protein DAY plays critical roles in photomorphogenesis.

Photomorphogenesis, light-mediated development, is an essential feature of all terrestrial plants. While chloroplast development and brassinosteroid (BR) signaling are known players in photomorphogenesis, proteins that regulate both pathways have yet to be identified. Here we report that DE-ETIOLATION IN THE DARK AND YELLOWING IN THE LIGHT (DAY), a membrane protein containing DnaJ-like domain, plays a dual-role in photomorphogenesis by stabilizing the BR receptor, BRI1, as well as a key enzyme in chlorophyll biosynthesis, POR.

Age and Education Effects on a Novel Syntactic Assessment Battery for Elderly Adults.

The purpose of this study was to delineate the properties of a novel syntactic assessment battery and to present descriptive data on normal elderly individuals. We administered the Syntactic Assessment Battery (hereinafter SAB) using a sentence-picture paradigm to 195 normal elderly adults in three age groups (60-69, 70-79, and 80-90) and five educational levels (No formal education, Elementary School Graduation, Middle School Graduation, High School Graduation, College Graduation and Above). A multiple linear regression model was applied to verify the age and education effects.

Mutual potentiation of plant immunity by cell-surface and intracellular receptors.

The plant immune system involves cell-surface receptors that detect intercellular pathogen-derived molecules, and intracellular receptors that activate immunity upon detection of pathogen-secreted effector proteins that act inside the plant cell. Immunity mediated by surface receptors has been extensively studied, but that mediated by intracellular receptors has rarely been investigated in the absence of surface-receptor-mediated immunity. Furthermore, interactions between these two immune pathways are poorly understood.

Phosphorylation-Regulated Activation of the Arabidopsis RRS1-R/RPS4 Immune Receptor Complex Reveals Two Distinct Effector Recognition Mechanisms.

The Arabidopsis immune receptors RPS4 and RRS1 interact to co-confer responsiveness to bacterial effectors. The RRS1-R allele, with RPS4, responds to AvrRps4 and PopP2, whereas RRS1-S responds only to AvrRps4. Here, we show that the C terminus of RRS1-R but not RRS1-S is phosphorylated.

Estradiol-inducible AvrRps4 expression reveals distinct properties of TIR-NLR-mediated effector-triggered immunity.

Plant nucleotide-binding domain, leucine-rich repeat receptor (NLR) proteins play important roles in recognition of pathogen-derived effectors. However, the mechanism by which plant NLRs activate immunity is still largely unknown. The paired Arabidopsis NLRs RRS1-R and RPS4, that confer recognition of bacterial effectors AvrRps4 and PopP2, are well studied, but how the RRS1/RPS4 complex activates early immediate downstream responses upon effector detection is still poorly understood.

Functional characterization of chaperonin containing T-complex polypeptide-1 and its conserved and novel substrates in Arabidopsis.

Chaperonin containing T-complex polypeptide-1 (CCT) is an evolutionarily conserved chaperonin multi-subunit complex that mediates protein folding in eukaryotes. It is essential for cell growth and survival in yeast and mammals, with diverse substrate proteins. However, only a few studies on plant CCT have been reported to date, due to the essentiality of CCT subunit genes and the large size of the complex.

The subfamily II catalytic subunits of protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) are involved in cortical microtubule organization.

The subfamily II catalytic subunits of protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) regulate the cortical microtubule dynamics in Arabidopsis, through interaction with TONNEAU2 (TON2)/FASS and modulation of α-tubulin dephosphorylation. Protein phosphatase 2A is a major protein phosphatase in eukaryotes that dephosphorylates many different substrates to regulate their function. PP2A is assembled into a heterotrimeric complex of scaffolding A subunit, regulatory B subunit, and catalytic C subunit.

Functional characterization of chloroplast-targeted RbgA GTPase in higher plants.

Plant RbgA GTPase is targeted to chloroplasts and co-fractionated with chloroplast ribosomes, and plays a role in chloroplast rRNA processing and/or ribosome biogenesis. Ribosome Biogenesis GTPase A (RbgA) homologs are evolutionarily conserved GTPases that are widely distributed in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes. In this study, we investigated functions of chloroplast-targeted RbgA.

Coherent beam combination using self-phase locked stimulated Brillouin scattering phase conjugate mirrors with a rotating wedge for high power laser generation.

The self-phase locking of a stimulated Brillouin scattering-phase conjugate mirror (SBS-PCM) allows a simple and scalable coherent beam combination of existing lasers. We propose a simple optical system composed of a rotating wedge and a concave mirror to overcome the power limit of the SBS-PCM. Its phase locking ability and the usefulness on the beam-combination laser are demonstrated experimentally.

Physiological Functions of the COPI Complex in Higher Plants.

COPI vesicles are essential to the retrograde transport of proteins in the early secretory pathway. The COPI coatomer complex consists of seven subunits, termed α-, β-, β'-, γ-, δ-, ε-, and ζ-COP, in yeast and mammals. Plant genomes have homologs of these subunits, but the essentiality of their cellular functions has hampered the functional characterization of the subunit genes in plants.

Overexpression of the PP2A regulatory subunit Tap46 leads to enhanced plant growth through stimulation of the TOR signalling pathway.

Tap46, a regulatory subunit of protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A), plays an essential role in plant growth and development through a functional link with the Target of Rapamycin (TOR) signalling pathway. Here, we have characterized the molecular mechanisms behind a gain-of-function phenotype of Tap46 and its relationship with TOR to gain further insights into Tap46 function in plants. Constitutive overexpression of Tap46 in Arabidopsis resulted in overall growth stimulation with enlarged organs, such as leaves and siliques.

Helping fellow beings: anthropomorphized social causes and the role of anticipatory guilt.

People are often reluctant to comply with social causes because doing so may involve personal sacrifices of time, money, and effort for benefits that are shared by other members of society. In an effort to increase compliance, government agencies and public institutions sometimes employ financial tools to promote social causes. However, employing financial tools to induce prosocial behavior is expensive and often ineffective.

7-Nitroindazole upregulates phosphorylated cAMP response element binding protein, polysialylated-neural cell adhesion molecule and tryptophan hydroxylase expression in the adult rat hippocampus.

We examined the effect of nitric oxide (NO) on the expression of phosphorylated cAMP response element binding (pCREB) protein and on the polysialylated form of the neural cell adhesion molecule (PSA-NCAM), in the hippocampus of the adult rat, by administering 7-nitroindazole (7-NI) for 5 days, to block neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) activity. It was found that PSA-NCAM and pCREB immunoreactive cells were increased two-fold in the dentate gyrus by this treatment. In addition, the immunoreactivities of serotonin (5-HT, 5-hydroxytryptamine), known to be involved in neural plasticity, and of tryptophan hydroxylase immunoreactive-fibers in the dentate gyrus were both upregulated by 7-NI.

The inhibition of nitric oxide synthase enhances PSA-NCAM expression and CREB phosphorylation in the rat hippocampus.

It is well known that nitric oxide (NO) acts downstream of NMDA receptor activation, which regulates the neural plasticity in the brain. In the present study, the effect of L-NAME, a non-selective nitric oxide synthase (NOS) inhibitor, on neural plasticity in the hippocampus was investigated. L-NAME increased the expression of PSA-NCAM and pCREB in the adult rat hippocampus.

The chronic inhibition of nitric oxide synthase enhances cell proliferation in the adult rat hippocampus.

We investigated the effect of chronic blocking nitric oxide synthase (NOS), an enzyme producing NO from L-arginine, on granule cell proliferation in the dentate gyrus of adult rats under normal conditions. We treated 7-nitroindazole (7-NI) for 5, 15, and 25 days or N-nitro-L-arginine-methyl ester (L-NAME) for 25 days to block NOS activity and subsequently injected 5-bromo-2-deoxyuridine (BrdU) to detect proliferating cells. The BrdU-immunoreactive (IR) cell number was significantly increased in the 7-NI 15 and 25 day treated group, but not in the control or in the 7-NI 5 day treated group.

Cyclosporin A blocks muscle differentiation by inducing oxidative stress and inhibiting the peptidyl-prolyl-cis-trans isomerase activity of cyclophilin A: cyclophilin A protects myoblasts from cyclosporin A-induced cytotoxicity.

Allogenic myoblast transplantation (AMT) is under investigation for treatment of severe genetic myopathies. Data regarding the role of cyclosporine (CsA) and FK-506 in AMT have shown that CsA is less effective than FK-506. For this study, we investigated mechanisms of CsA toxicity during AMT and showed that a high level of reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated by CsA, mediated partly by inhibition of the peptidylprolyl-cis-trans-isomerase (PPIase)-like activity of cyclophilin A (CypA), blocked differentiation and induced apoptosis at an early stage of muscle differentiation.

Inhibition of neuronal nitric oxide synthase increases adrenalectomy-induced granule cell death in the rat dentate gyrus.

Recent studies have shown that the expression of neuronal nitric oxide synthase (NOS) mRNA is increased after adrenalectomy (ADX). However, the role of increased NO production after ADX in the dentate gyrus is unknown. In this study, the relationship between NO inhibition and apoptosis in the dentate gyrus after ADX was examined.