Genome-Wide Identification of the GST Gene Family in Loquat (Eriobotrya japonica Lindl.) and Their Expression under Cold Stress with ALA Pretreatment

Loquat(Eriobotrya japonica Lindl.),a rare fruit native to China,has a long history of cultivation in China.Low temperature is the key factor restricting loquat growth and severely affects yield.Low temperature induces the regeneration and metabolism of reduced glutathione(GSH)to alleviate stress damage via the participation of glu-tathione S-transferases(GSTs)in plants.In this study,16 GSTs were identified from the loquat genome according to their protein sequence similarity with Arabidopsis GSTs.On the basis of domain characteristics and phyloge-netic analysis of AtGSTs,these EjGSTs can be divided into 4 subclasses:Phi,Theta,Tau and Zeta.The basic prop-erties,subcellular localization,structures,motifs,chromosomal distribution and collinearity of the EjGST proteins or genes were further analyzed.Tandem and segmental gene duplications play pivotal roles in EjGST expansion.Cis-elements that respond to various hormones and stresses,especially those associated with low-temperature responsiveness,were predicted to be present in the promoters of EjGSTs.Moreover,analysis of gene expression profiles revealed that 9 of 16 EjGSTs may be involved in the low-temperature responsiveness of loquat leaves.In agriculture,5-aminolevulinic acid(ALA),a potential multifunctional plant growth regulator,can improve the stress response of plants.Among the 9 low-temperature-responsive EjGSTs,the expression of EjGSTU1 and EjGSTF1 significantly differed under cold stress in response to exogenous 5-aminolevulinic acid(ALA)pretreat-ment.The remarkable increase in GST activity and GSH/GSSG ratio reflected the increase in the cold response ability of loquat plants caused by exogenous ALA,thereby alleviating H2O2 accumulation and membrane lipid preoxidation.Overall,this study provides an initial exploration of the cold tolerance function of GSTs in loquat,offering a theoretical foundation for the development of cold-resistant loquat cultivars and new antifreeze agents.

Level of serum neuron-specific enolase and brain damage in children with febrile seizures

BACKGROUND ： Febrile seizure （FS） has good prognosis in the majority of cases. But there is an ongoing debate on the relationship between complicated febrile seizure （CFS） and later development of temporal lobe epilepsy （TLE） due to hippocampal sclerosis.OBJECTIVE： To evaluate the level of serum neuron-specific enolase （S-NSE） of children with simple febrile seizure （SFS） and complicated febrile seizure and compare with children with non-FS respiratory tract infection. DESIGN： Contrast observation.SETTING ： Department of Pediatrics and Department of Laboratory, Fujian Provincial Hospita. PARTICIPANTS： Forty-nine patients who were admitted to Department of Pediatrics of Fujian Provincial Hospital from June 2002 to September 2003 with FS were enrolled in this study. There were 28 boys and 21 girls aged from 5 to 72 months. All children were divided into 2 groups based on frequency and duration. Thirty-two children whose FS occurred within 24 hours （lasting shorter than single and twice durations and also shorter than 10 minutes） were regarded as SFS group; meanwhile, 17 children whose FS occurred within 24 hours （lasting longer than single and twice durations and also longer than 10 minutes） were regarded as CFS group. Another 23 patients who were admitted to our hospital with respiratory tract infection in the same period, without the history and positive symptoms/features of neurological dysfunction, were enrolled as control group. There were 13 boys and 10 girls aged from 5 months to 86 months. All parents were told the facts. METHODS： 2 mL venous blood was collected from FS children within 24 hours after the seizures. Meanwhile, 2 mL venous blood was also collected from children in the control group. Level of S-NSE was measured with enzyme immunoassay procedure, and differences among groups were compared with ttest. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES： Level of S-NSE in each group RESULTS： A total of 49 children in FS group and 23 ones in control group were involved in the final analysis without any loss. Levels of S-NSE were （5.17±1.31） μg/L in SFS group, （5.84±1.62） μg/L in CFS group and （4.98±1.51） μg/L in control group, respectively. There were no significant differences among groups （t =0.498- 1.727, P 〉 0.05）. CONCLUSION ： FS may be not able to cause a severe brain damage.