Congenital right ventricular diverticulum formed by pulmonary regurgitative jet flow in a fetus with tetralogy of Fallot and absent pulmonary valve.

Congenital ventricular diverticulum is a rare anomaly with an unclear pathology. Here, we report a male fetus at 24 weeks of gestation, diagnosed with right ventricular diverticulum associated with tetralogy of Fallot and absent pulmonary valve. The diverticulum was located at the anterosuperior wall of the right ventricle and faced into the massive pulmonary regurgitation flow jet.

Effects of a bile acid elicitor, cholic acid, on the biosynthesis of diterpenoid phytoalexins in suspension-cultured rice cells.

An elicitor of rice defense responses was recently isolated from human feces and was identified as cholic acid (CA). Pathogen infection in rice leaves induces phytocassanes and momilactones, both of which are major diterpenoid phytoalexins in rice, whereas CA mainly induces phytocassanes. We established a high-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry protocol for the rapid and accurate quantification of phytocassanes and momilactones.

Identification of a biosynthetic gene cluster in rice for momilactones.

Rice diterpenoid phytoalexins such as momilactones and phytocassanes are produced in suspension-cultured rice cells treated with a chitin oligosaccharide elicitor and in rice leaves irradiated with UV light. The common substrate geranylgeranyl diphosphate is converted into diterpene hydrocarbon precursors via a two-step sequential cyclization and then into the bioactive phytoalexins via several oxidation steps. It has been suggested that microsomal cytochrome P-450 monooxygenases (P-450s) are involved in the downstream oxidation of the diterpene hydrocarbons leading to the phytoalexins and that a dehydrogenase is involved in momilactone biosynthesis.

Involvement of the basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor RERJ1 in wounding and drought stress responses in rice plants.

The jasmonic acid (JA)-responsive gene RERJ1 isolated from suspension-cultured rice cells encodes a transcription factor with a basic helix-loop-helix motif. In this study, we found that RERJ1 is also expressed in rice plants in response to JA, and that its expression in rice leaves is up-regulated by exposure to wounding and drought stress. It is also suggested that JA but not abscisic acid is involved in the up-regulation of RERJ1 expression caused by wounding and drought stress.

Dihydrocoronatine, promising candidate for a chemical probe to study coronatine-, jasmonoid- and octadecanoid-binding protein.

Coronatine (1), its synthetic analogs (6-13) and jasmonic acid induced various volatiles in rice leaves. In the range of 0.01-0.