Rice albino 1, encoding a glycyl-tRNA synthetase, is involved in chloroplast development and establishment of the plastidic ribosome system in rice.

The chloroplast is an important organelle that performs photosynthesis as well as biosynthesis and storage of many metabolites. Aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (aaRSs) are key enzymes in protein synthesis. However, the relationship between chloroplast development and aaRSs still remains unclear.

Functional characterization of rice CW-domain containing zinc finger proteins involved in histone recognition.

Histone recognition is important for understanding the mechanisms of histone modification, which play a pivotal role in transcriptional regulation during plant development. Here, we identified three cysteine-tryptophan (CW)-domain containing zinc finger (ZF) proteins involved in histone recognition, namely OsCW-ZF3, OsCW-ZF5 and OsCW-ZF7. Protein sequence analysis showed that they have two unknown motifs in addition to the CW domain.

Isolation and characterization of a spotted leaf 32 mutant with early leaf senescence and enhanced defense response in rice.

Leaf senescence is a complex biological process and defense responses play vital role for rice development, their molecular mechanisms, however, remain elusive in rice. We herein reported a rice mutant spotted leaf 32 (spl32) derived from a rice cultivar 9311 by radiation. The spl32 plants displayed early leaf senescence, identified by disintegration of chloroplasts as cellular evidence, dramatically decreased contents of chlorophyll, up-regulation of superoxide dismutase enzyme activity and malondialdehyde, as physiological characteristic, and both up-regulation of senescence-induced STAY GREEN gene and senescence-associated transcription factors, and down-regulation of photosynthesis-associated genes, as molecular indicators.

Dwarf and tiller-enhancing 1 regulates growth and development by influencing boron uptake in boron limited conditions in rice.

Boron (B) is essential for plant growth, and B deficiency causes severe losses in crop yield. Here we isolated and characterized a rice (Oryza sativa L.) mutant named dwarf and tiller-enhancing 1 (dte1), which exhibits defects under low-B conditions, including retarded growth, increased number of tillers and impaired pollen fertility.

Fine mapping of qSTV11(KAS), a major QTL for rice stripe disease resistance.

Rice stripe disease, caused by rice stripe virus (RSV), is one of the most serious diseases in temperate rice-growing areas. In the present study, we performed quantitative trait locus (QTL) analysis for RSV resistance using 98 backcross inbred lines derived from the cross between the highly resistant variety, Kasalath, and the highly susceptible variety, Nipponbare. Under artificial inoculation in the greenhouse, two QTLs for RSV resistance, designated qSTV7 and qSTV11(KAS), were detected on chromosomes 7 and 11 respectively, whereas only one QTL was detected in the same location of chromosome 11 under natural inoculation in the field.

Fine mapping of a gene causing hybrid pollen sterility between Yunnan weedy rice and cultivated rice (Oryza sativa L.) and phylogenetic analysis of Yunnan weedy rice.

Weedy rice represents an important resource for rice improvement. The F(1) hybrid between the japonica wide compatibility rice cultivar 02428 and a weedy rice accession from Yunnan province (SW China) suffered from pollen sterility. Pollen abortion in the hybrid occurred at the early bicellular pollen stage, as a result of mitotic failure in the microspore, although the tapetum developed normally.

Self-assembled nanoparticles of cholesterol-modified O-carboxymethyl chitosan as a novel carrier for paclitaxel.

Self-assembled nanoparticles of cholesterol-modified O-carboxymethyl chitosan (CCMC) were prepared to be used as a novel carrier for paclitaxel (PTX) in this study. CCMC-6.9 was synthesized by the covalent conjugation of cholesterol to O-carboxymethyl chitosan with the succinyl linkage and the degree of substitution (DS) of the cholesterol moiety was 6.