A Pelota-like gene regulates root development and defence responses in rice.

Background And Aims: Pelota (Pelo) are evolutionarily conserved genes reported to be involved in ribosome rescue, cell cycle control and meiotic cell division. However, there is little known about their function in plants. The aim of this study was to elucidate the function of an ethylmethane sulphonate (EMS)-derived mutation of a Pelo-like gene in rice (named Ospelo).

Isolation, Characterization and Transcriptome Analysis of a Cytokinin Receptor Mutant in Rice.

Cytokinins play important roles in regulating plant development, including shoot and root meristems, leaf longevity, and grain yield. However, the functions of rice cytokinin receptors have not been genetically characterized yet. Here we isolated a rice mutant, , with enhanced tolerance to cytokinin treatment.

OsKASI, a β-ketoacyl-[acyl carrier protein] synthase I, is involved in root development in rice (Oryza sativa L.).

The involvement of OsKASI in FA synthesis is found to play a critical role in root development of rice. The root system plays important roles in plant nutrient and water acquisition. However, mechanisms of root development and molecular regulation in rice are still poorly understood.

[Biological characteristics and phylogenetic analysis of a denitrifying photosynthetic bacterium].

Objective: Nitrite accumulation in aquaculture water is toxic to reared animals. One of the solutions to this problem is to apply denitrifying bacteria. This paper is intended to get a strain of phototrophic bacteria for efficient removal of nitrite from aquaculture water.

Metabolic response to feeding in the Chinese striped-necked turtle, Ocadia sinensis.

We measured oxygen consumption in juvenile Chinese striped-necked turtles (Ocadia sinensis) after they ingested food, either as a single meal or as double meals, to examine the influence of meal type and feeding frequency on specific dynamic action (SDA). Temporal variation in oxygen consumption after feeding was evident in the ingesting turtles but not in the unfed control turtles. In the single-meal experiment, the peak metabolic rate and the integrated SDA response (the whole energetic cost for the processes of digestion) both did not differ between turtles ingesting mealworms and shrimps when the influence of variation in ingested energy was removed, and the time to reach peak metabolic rate was not affected by meal type and the amount of food ingested.

Influence of food type on specific dynamic action of the Chinese skink Eumeces chinensis.

We used the Chinese skink (Eumeces chinensis) as an experimental model to study influence of food type on specific dynamic action (SDA) of feeding. Thirty-three adult males collected from a natural population were divided equally into three (one control and two experimental) groups. We starved all skinks at 30 degrees C for 3 days and then provided the experimental skinks with a single meal consisting of either mealworms or meat [the flesh of the bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana)].