Downregulation of the Gene Improves Cotton Fiber Fineness by Decreasing Acyl Pool Saturation, Stimulating Small Heat Shock Proteins (sHSPs), and Reducing HO Production.

Cotton fiber is one of the most important natural fiber sources in the world, and lipid metabolism plays a critical role in its development. However, the specific role of lipid molecules in fiber development and the impact of fatty acid alterations on fiber quality remain largely unknown. In this study, we demonstrate that the downregulation of , a gene encoding phosphatidylcholine diacylglycerol cholinephosphotransferase (PDCT), results in an improvement of fiber fineness.

Synthetic dual hormone-responsive promoters enable engineering of plants with broad-spectrum resistance.

In plant immunity, the mutually antagonistic hormones salicylic acid (SA) and jasmonic acid (JA) are implicated in resistance to biotrophic and necrotrophic pathogens, respectively. Promoters that can respond to both SA and JA signals are urgently needed to engineer plants with enhanced resistance to a broad spectrum of pathogens. However, few natural pathogen-inducible promoters are available for this purpose.

The role of urease in the acid stress response and fimbriae expression in Klebsiella pneumoniae CG43.

Background/purpose: Two urease operons were identified in Klebsiella pneumoniae CG43, ure-1 and ure-2. This study investigates whether a differential regulation of the expression of ure-1 and ure-2 exists and how urease activity influences the acid stress response and expression of type 1 and type 3 fimbriae.

Methods: The ureA1 and ureA2 gene specific deletion mutants were constructed.