Transcriptome, cytological and biochemical analysis of cytoplasmic male sterility and maintainer line in CMS-D8 cotton.

Key message This research based on RNA-seq, biochemical, and cytological analyses sheds that ROS may serve as important signaling molecules of cytoplasmic male sterility in CMS-D8 cotton. To understand the mechanism of cytoplasmic male sterility in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum), transcriptomic, cytological, and biochemical analysis were performed between the cytoplasmic male sterility CMS-D8 line, Zhong41A, and its maintainer line Zhong41B. A total of 2335 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified in the CMS line at three different stages of anther development.

Online virtual isocenter based radiation field targeting for high performance small animal microirradiation.

Advances in precision microirradiators for small animal radiation oncology studies have provided the framework for novel translational radiobiological studies. Such systems target radiation fields at the scale required for small animal investigations, typically through a combination of on-board computed tomography image guidance and fixed, interchangeable collimators. Robust targeting accuracy of these radiation fields remains challenging, particularly at the millimetre scale field sizes achievable by the majority of microirradiators.

Treatment age, dose and sex determine neuroanatomical outcome in irradiated juvenile mice.

Pediatric cranial radiation therapy can induce long-term neurocognitive deficits, the risk and severity of these deficits are amplified in females and in those individuals exposed at a younger age and/or those irradiated at higher doses. To investigate the developmental consequences of these factors in greater detail, male and female C57Bl/6J mice between infancy and late childhood (16 and 36 days) were irradiated at a single time point with a whole-brain dose of 0, 3, 5 or 7 Gy. In vivo and ex vivo magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and deformation-based morphometry was used to identify radiation-induced volume differences.

Spatial and temporal mapping of heterogeneity in liposome uptake and microvascular distribution in an orthotopic tumor xenograft model.

Existing paradigms in nano-based drug delivery are currently being challenged. Assessment of bulk tumor accumulation has been routinely considered an indicative measure of nanomedicine potency. However, it is now recognized that the intratumoral distribution of nanomedicines also impacts their therapeutic effect.

Two-dimensional inverse planning and delivery with a preclinical image guided microirradiator.

Purpose: Recent advances in preclinical radiotherapy systems have provided the foundation for scaling many of the elements of clinical radiation therapy practice to the dimensions and energy demanded in small animal studies. Such systems support the technical capabilities to accurately deliver highly complex dose distributions, but methods to optimize and deliver such distributions remain in their infancy. This study developed an optimization method based on empirically measured two-dimensional dose kernel measurements to deliver arbitrary planar dose distributions on a recently developed small animal radiotherapy platform.

13C structuring shifts for the analysis of model β-hairpins and β-sheets in proteins: diagnostic shifts appear only at the cross-strand H-bonded residues.

The present studies have shown that (13)C=O, (13)C(α) and (13)C(β) of H-bonded strand residues in β-hairpins provide additional probes for quantitating the extent of folding in β-hairpins and other β-sheet models. Large differences in the structuring shifts (CSDs) of these (13)C sites in H-bonded versus non-H-bonded sites are observed: the differences between H-bonded and non-H-bonded sites are greater than 1.2 ppm for all three (13)C probes.

Identification of salt responsive genes using comparative microarray analysis in Upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.).

Salinity negatively impacts plant growth and productivity, and little is known about salt responsive genes in cotton. In this study, an intra-specific backcross population of cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) was treated with 200 mM NaCl after which differentially expressed genes were identified by comparison between salt tolerant and susceptible segregant bulks using comparative microarray analysis.

β-Sheet 13C structuring shifts appear only at the H-bonded sites of hairpins.

The (13)C chemical shifts measured for designed β-hairpins indicate that the structuring shifts (upfield for Cα and C', downfield for Cβ) previously reported as diagnostic for β-structuring in proteins appear only at the H-bonded strand residues. The resulting periodicity of structuring shift magnitudes is not, however, a consequence of H-bonding status; rather, it reflects a previously unrecognized alternation in the backbone torsion angles of β-strands. This feature of hairpins is also likely to be present in proteins.

Assessing genetic diversity in Gossypium arboreum L. cultivars using genomic and EST-derived microsatellites.

The cultivated diploid, Gossypium arboreum L., (A genome) is an invaluable genetic resource for improving modern tetraploid cotton (G. hirsutum L.

Lysine and arginine residues do not increase the helicity of alanine-rich peptide helices.

The helix-disfavoring, versus alanine, propagation values of lysine (0.8) and arginine (1.0) residues placed centrally in an (Ala)(9) unit have been measured by (13)C NMR.

Structural insights for designed alanine-rich helices: comparing NMR helicity measures and conformational ensembles from molecular dynamics simulation.

The temperature dependence of helical propensities for the peptides Ac-ZGG-(KAAAA)(3)X-NH(2) (Z = Y or G, X = A, K, and D-Arg) were studied both experimentally and by MD simulations. Good agreement is observed in both the absolute helical propensities as well as relative helical content along the sequence; the global minimum on the calculated free energy landscape corresponds to a single alpha-helical conformation running from K4 to A18 with some terminal fraying, particularly at the C-terminus. Energy component analysis shows that the single helix state has favorable intramolecular electrostatic energy due to hydrogen bonds, and that less-favorable two-helix globular states have favorable solvation energy.

Molecular markers linked to the Rf2 fertility restorer gene in cotton.

Cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) is a maternally inherited trait in which plants do not produce viable pollen. Fertility in plants with CMS can be recovered by nuclear restorer genes. Most restorer genes cloned so far are members of the pentatricopeptide repeat (PPR) protein family.

Alteration of oxidative and carbohydrate metabolism under abiotic stress in two rice (Oryza sativa L.) genotypes contrasting in chilling tolerance.

Abiotic stress is a major limiting factor in crop production. Physiological comparisons between contrasting abiotic stress-tolerant genotypes will improve understanding of stress-tolerant mechanisms. Rice seedlings (S3 stage) of a chilling-tolerant (CT) genotype (CT6748-8-CA-17) and a chilling-sensitive (CS) genotype (INIAP12) were subjected to abiotic stresses including chilling (13/12 degrees C), salt (100mM NaCl), and osmotic (200mM mannitol).

DNA content and expression of genes related to cell cycling in developing Gossypium hirsutum (Malvaceae) fibers.

The cell cycle in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) fibers is poorly understood. The objective of this study was to evaluate the cell cycle status and DNA content in developing cotton fibers. The DNA content and cell cycle distribution in fiber and hypocotyl cells were determined by flow cytometry.

Histological Observations of Rotylenchulus reniformis on Gossypium longicalyx and Interspecific Cotton Hybrids.

Observations on the development of reniform nematode (Rotylenchulus reniformis) on roots of Gossypium longicalyx, G. hirsutum, and two interspecific hybrids derived from them were made by light microscopy. Gossypium longicalyx is reported to be immune to reniform nematode, but the mechanism(s) for resistance are unknown.

Hairpin folding rates reflect mutations within and remote from the turn region.

Hairpins play a central role in numerous protein folding and misfolding scenarios. Prior studies of hairpin folding, many conducted with analogs of a sequence from the B1 domain of protein G, suggest that faster folding can be achieved only by optimizing the turn propensity of the reversing loop. Based on studies using dynamic NMR, the native GB1 sequence is a slow folding hairpin (k(F)(278)=1.

Histological Changes in Gossypium hirsutum Associated with Reduced Reproduction of Rotylenchulus reniformis.

The reniform nematode (Rotylenchulus reniformis) is an important parasite of upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum). Parasitism involves the formation of syncytia to provide nutrition for the female. Events that occur at the feeding site may determine the degree of susceptibility of cotton plants to reniform nematode.

Intraspecific Variability of Rotylenchulus reniformis from Cotton-growing Regions in the United States.

Reniform nematode (Rotylenchulus reniformis) is a major pest of cotton in the southeastern United States. The objective of this study was to examine the variation of reniform nematode populations from cotton-growing locations in the United States where it is prevalent. Multivariate analysis of variance and discriminant analysis were used to determine the variability of morphology in males and immature females.

Estimation of the nuclear DNA content of gossypium species.

Background And Aims: Gossypium is an economically important, globally distributed taxon comprising more than 50 species. DNA content estimates from about half of the species indicate over a 3-fold variation exists. However, the nine DNA content estimates for G.

TATA-binding protein mutants that are lethal in the absence of the Nhp6 high-mobility-group protein.

The Saccharomyces cerevisiae Nhp6 protein is related to the high-mobility-group B family of architectural DNA-binding proteins that bind DNA nonspecifically but bend DNA sharply. Nhp6 is involved in transcriptional activation by both RNA polymerase II (Pol II) and Pol III. Our previous genetic studies have implicated Nhp6 in facilitating TATA-binding protein (TBP) binding to some Pol II promoters in vivo, and we have used a novel genetic screen to isolate 32 new mutations in TBP that are viable in wild-type cells but lethal in the absence of Nhp6.

MOLECULAR EVIDENCE FOR HOMOPLOID RETICULATE EVOLUTION AMONG AUSTRALIAN SPECIES OF GOSSYPIUM.

Interspecific hybridization and introgression are important evolutionary processes in plants, but their full significance with respect to speciation at the diploid level remains unresolved. In this study, molecular markers from the plastid and nuclear genomes were used to document an unusual evolutionary history of Gossypium bickii Prokh. (Malvaceae).