Nuclear phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate islets contribute to efficient RNA polymerase II-dependent transcription.

This paper describes a novel type of nuclear structure - nuclear lipid islets (NLIs). They are of 40-100 nm with a lipidic interior, and phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate [PtdIns(4,5)P] molecules comprise a significant part of their surface. Most of NLIs have RNA at the periphery.

The Early Dendritic Cell Signaling Induced by Virulent Strain Occurs in Phases and Involves the Activation of Extracellular Signal-Regulated Kinases (ERKs) and p38 In the Later Stage.

Dendritic cells (DCs) infected by are poorly activated and do not undergo classical maturation process. Although reasons of such unresponsiveness are not fully understood, their impact on the priming of immunity is well appreciated. Previous attempts to explain the behavior of -infected DCs were hypothesis-driven and focused on events at later stages of infection.

Cytokinin oxidase/dehydrogenase overexpression modifies antioxidant defense against heat, drought and their combination in Nicotiana tabacum plants.

Cytokinins (CKs) as well as the antioxidant enzyme system (AES) play important roles in plant stress responses. The expression and activity of antioxidant enzymes (AE) were determined in drought, heat and combination of both stresses, comparing the response of tobacco plants overexpressing the main cytokinin degrading enzyme, cytokinin oxidase/dehydrogenase, under the control of root-specific WRKY6 promoter (W6:CKX1 plants) or constitutive promoter (35S:CKX1 plants) and the corresponding wild-type (WT). Expression levels as well as activities of cytosolic ascorbate peroxidase, catalase 3, and cytosolic superoxide dismutase were low under optimal conditions and increased after heat and combined stress in all genotypes.

Enhanced drought and heat stress tolerance of tobacco plants with ectopically enhanced cytokinin oxidase/dehydrogenase gene expression.

Responses to drought, heat, and combined stress were compared in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) plants ectopically expressing the cytokinin oxidase/dehydrogenase CKX1 gene of Arabidopsis thaliana L. under the control of either the predominantly root-expressed WRKY6 promoter or the constitutive 35S promoter, and in the wild type.