Protein Phosphatase PP2C19 Controls Hypocotyl Phototropism Through the Phosphorylation Modification of NPH3 in Arabidopsis.

Plants exhibit shoot growth in the direction of the light source to facilitate photosynthesis, known as positive phototropism. In Arabidopsis hypocotyl phototropism, it is thought that a gradient of the signal intensity of the blue light photoreceptor phototropin1 (phot1) between the light-irradiated and shaded sides leads to the differential growth of hypocotyls. The intensity of phot1 signal is regulated not only by the protein kinase activity of phot1 but also by the phosphorylation status of the NONPHOTOTROPIC HYPOCOTYL3 (NPH3) protein, which has a dark form and a blue light form of the phosphorylation modification.

Decrease in purifying selection pressures on wheat homoeologous genes: tetraploidization versus hexaploidization.

A series of polyploidizations in higher-order polyploids is the main event affecting gene content in a genome. Each polyploidization event can lead to massive functional divergence because of the subsequent decrease in selection pressure on duplicated genes; however, the causal relationship between multiple rounds of polyploidization and the functional divergence of duplicated genes is poorly understood. We focused on the Triticum-Aegilops complex lineage and compared selection pressure before and after tetraploidization and hexaploidization events.

Genome Editing to Produce Knockout Mutations of Seed Dormancy Genes in Wheat.

Knockout mutants provide definitive information about the functions of genes related to agronomic traits, including seed dormancy. However, it takes many years to produce knockout mutants using conventional techniques in polyploid plants such as hexaploid wheat. Genome editing with sequence-specific nucleases is a promising approach for obtaining knockout mutations in all targeted homoeologs of wheat simultaneously.

Ethanol-Mediated Novel Survival Strategy against Drought Stress in Plants.

Water scarcity is a serious agricultural problem causing significant losses to crop yield and product quality. The development of technologies to mitigate the damage caused by drought stress is essential for ensuring a sustainable food supply for the increasing global population. We herein report that the exogenous application of ethanol, an inexpensive and environmentally friendly chemical, significantly enhances drought tolerance in Arabidopsis thaliana, rice and wheat.

Comparative transcriptome analysis of synthetic and common wheat in response to salt stress.

Salt stress reduces wheat yield. Therefore, improvement for enhanced salt stress tolerance is necessary for stable production. To understand the molecular mechanism of salt tolerance in common wheat and synthetic hexaploid (SH) wheat, RNA sequencing was performed on the roots of three wheat lines salt-tolerant SH wheat, salt-tolerant common wheat, and salt-sensitive common wheat.

Ethanol induces heat tolerance in plants by stimulating unfolded protein response.

Ethanol priming induces heat stress tolerance by the stimulation of unfolded protein response. Global warming increases the risk of heat stress-related yield losses in agricultural crops. Chemical priming, using safe agents, that can flexibly activate adaptive regulatory responses to adverse conditions, is a complementary approach to genetic improvement for stress adaptation.

Bleeding Risk Factors after Endoscopic Submucosal Dissection in Early Gastric Cancer and the Necessity of "Second-Look" Endoscopic Examination on the following Day.

Background And Aim: Hemorrhage is often encountered after endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD). In addition to active bleeding after resection, exposed blood vessels and blood clots without active bleeding on the post-dissection ulcer floor have been recognized within our department. We consider exposed and/or observable vessel findings and clots on the ulcer floor after re-section as important risk factors for hemorrhage.

Multiple Wheat Genomes Reveal Novel Sublocus Location and Variation of Celiac Disease Epitopes in Duplicated α-Gliadin Genes.

The seed protein α-gliadin is a major component of wheat flour and causes gluten-related diseases. However, due to the complexity of this multigene family with a genome structure composed of dozens of copies derived from tandem and genome duplications, little was known about the variation between accessions, and thus little effort has been made to explicitly target α-gliadin for bread wheat breeding. Here, we analyzed genomic variation in α-gliadins across 11 recently published chromosome-scale assemblies of hexaploid wheat, with validation using long-read data.

Geographical distribution and adaptive variation of VRN-A3 alleles in worldwide polyploid wheat (Triticum spp.) species collection.

The distribution of early flowering alleles of VRN-A3 was found to be biased to low latitudes, and these alleles may contribute to environmental adaptability to low latitudes in cultivated emmer wheat. In wheat (Triticum spp.), the flowering time is an important trait for successful seed production and yield by adapting to the regional environment.

A Case of Refractory Esophageal Ulcer Caused by Radiotherapy for Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

A 77-year-old man who underwent radiotherapy for hepatocellular carcinoma 6 months prior consulted for esophageal obstruction. Esophagogastroduodenoscopy revealed an esophageal ulcer caused by radiotherapy for hepatocellular carcinoma. He was treated with dietary counseling and vonoprazan.

Examination of Endoscopic Ultrasonographic Diagnosis for the Depth of Early Gastric Cancer.

Background: Endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) is one of the helpful tools to diagnose depth of early gastric cancer (EGC). In this study, we examined efficiencies of EUS for EGC such as overall accuracy, risk factors of over/under-staging, and accuracies of each invasive distance.

Methods: A total of 403 EGC lesions that could be investigated by EUS during pre-operation and histological diagnosis after endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) or surgery were enrolled in this study.

Genome Editing in Commercial Wheat Varieties.

Limitations for the application of genome editing technologies on elite wheat ( L.) varieties are mainly due to the dependency on culture and regeneration capabilities. Recently, we developed an particle bombardment (iPB) method which has increased process efficiency since no culture steps are required to create stably genome-edited wheat plants.

De Novo Genome Assembly of the Japanese Wheat Cultivar Norin 61 Highlights Functional Variation in Flowering Time and Fusarium-Resistant Genes in East Asian Genotypes.

Bread wheat is a major crop that has long been the focus of basic and breeding research. Assembly of its genome has been difficult because of its large size and allohexaploid nature (AABBDD genome). Following the first reported assembly of the genome of the experimental strain Chinese Spring (CS), the 10+ Wheat Genomes Project was launched to produce multiple assemblies of worldwide modern cultivars.

Multiple wheat genomes reveal global variation in modern breeding.

Advances in genomics have expedited the improvement of several agriculturally important crops but similar efforts in wheat (Triticum spp.) have been more challenging. This is largely owing to the size and complexity of the wheat genome, and the lack of genome-assembly data for multiple wheat lines.

Relationship Between Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease and Endoscopic Finding "Iodine-Unstained Streak".

Background: Esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) with iodine stain is a useful and diffused method for diagnosing esophageal cancer. We can perform the procedure easily with endoscopic system which does not comprise image-enhanced endoscopy. Several studies advocated that iodine-unstained streaks are a characteristic finding of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).

Early-stage multi-differentiated gastric carcinosarcoma and post-resection local recurrence: a case report.

Background: Carcinosarcoma is a rare neoplasm with a poor prognosis that is most often discovered at an advanced stage; a gastric carcinosarcoma is even rarer than carcinosarcomas originating in other organs, such as the uterus. We report our experience with an early-stage multi-differentiated gastric carcinosarcoma.

Case Presentation: A 68-year-old male patient presented with anemia, and his fecal occult blood test was positive.

A rapid method for detection of mutations induced by CRISPR/Cas9-based genome editing in common wheat.

Genome editing using CRISPR/Cas9 is useful for common wheat because common wheat has allohexaploid nature and it can induce mutations simultaneously in three homoeologous genes. Although -mediated transformation has advantages in genome editing, it still has low efficiency and requires relatively long time in wheat. Therefore, the use of guide RNAs (gRNAs) with efficient mutagenesis in vivo is one of the critical factors for producing genome-edited mutant lines in a short time.

[A case of gastric antral vascular ectasia improved by splenorenal shunt embolization].

An 80-year-old man with chronic renal failure and a splenorenal shunt was admitted because of progressive anemia. Gastrointestinal endoscopy revealed bleeding from a gastric antral vascular ectasia (GAVE). Despite treatment with argon plasma coagulation and blood transfusions on multiple occasions, anemia caused by GAVE bleeding recurred frequently.

Genome-Edited Triple-Recessive Mutation Alters Seed Dormancy in Wheat.

Common wheat has three sets of sub-genomes, making mutations difficult to observe, especially for traits controlled by recessive genes. Here, we produced hexaploid wheat lines with loss of function of homeoalleles of Qsd1, which controls seed dormancy in barley, by Agrobacterium-mediated CRISPR/Cas9. Of the eight transformed wheat events produced, three independent events carrying multiple mutations in wheat Qsd1 homeoalleles were obtained.

Sealed endoscopic full-thickness resection for gastric cancer: a pilot study in an ex vivo and in vivo porcine model.

Endoscopic full-thickness resection (EFTR) is a useful procedure that allows minimal resection of the gastric wall because the tumor can be located endoscopically. However, the procedure carries a risk of peritoneal infection or dissemination. Thus, we devised a new EFTR technique in which the serosa is sealed using a silicone sheet to prevent the escape of gastric juice.

Molecular characterization of gliadins of Chinese Spring wheat in relation to celiac disease elicitors.

The wheat seed storage proteins gliadin and glutenin are encoded by multigenes. Gliadins are further classified into α-, γ-, δ- and ω-gliadins. Genes encoding α-gliadins belong to a large multigene family, whose members are located on the homoeologous group 6 chromosomes at the Gli-2 loci.

Erratum: Acetate-mediated novel survival strategy against drought in plants.

This corrects the article DOI: 10.1038/nplants.2017.

Acetate-mediated novel survival strategy against drought in plants.

Water deficit caused by global climate changes seriously endangers the survival of organisms and crop productivity, and increases environmental deterioration. Plants' resistance to drought involves global reprogramming of transcription, cellular metabolism, hormone signalling and chromatin modification. However, how these regulatory responses are coordinated via the various pathways, and the underlying mechanisms, are largely unknown.

Findings of the margin around lesions by magnifying endoscopy with narrow-band imaging in early gastric carcinoma and intestinal metaplasia.

Objective: Many endoscopists have reported their own classifications of early gastric carcinoma (EGC) using magnifying narrow-band imaging (M-NBI). However, few reports on classifying the margin around lesions by M-NBI have been published. The aim of this study was to advocate the usefulness of the demarcation area classification for the diagnosis of EGC.