Transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana expressing a wheat oxalate oxidase exhibits hydrogen peroxide related defense response

Oxalic acid（OA） is considered as an important pathogenetic factor of some destructive diseases caused by some fungal pathogens such as Sclerotinia sclerotiorum. Oxalate degradation is important for plant health, and plants that contain oxalate oxidase（OXO） enzymes could breakdown oxalate into CO_2 and H_2O_2, which subsequently evokes defense responses. However, some species, such as Arabidopsis thaliana, have no oxalate oxidase activity identified to date. The present study aims to develop transgenic Arabidopsis expressing a wheat oxalate oxidase, to test for the response to OA exposure and fungal infection by S. sclerotiorum. The results showed that the transgenic Arabidopsis lines that expressed the wheat OXO exhibited enhanced resistance to OA exposure and S. sclerotiorum infection in the tolerance assays. In the same manner, it could convert OA to CO_2 and H_2O_2 to a higher extent than the wild-type. Intensive osmotic adjustments were also detected in the transgenic Arabidopsis lines. The higher level of produced H_2O_2 subsequently induced an elevated activity of antioxidant enzymes including superoxide dismutase（SOD） and peroxidase（POD） in the transgenic Arabidopsis plants. The present study indicated that the expression of a gene encoding wheat OXO could induce intensive osmotic adjustments and hydrogen peroxide related defense response, and subsequently increased tolerance to S. sclerotiorum in transgenic A. thaliana.

Nanocapsules of oxalate oxidase for hyperoxaluria treatment

Enzyme therapeutics have great potential for the treatment of systemic disorders such as urolithiasis and nephrocalcinosis, which are caused by the excessive accumulation of oxalate. However, exogenous enzymes have short half-lives in vivo and elicit high immunogenicity, which largely limit the therapeutic outcomes. Herein, we report a delivery strategy whereby therapeutic enzymes are encapsulated within a thin zwitterionic polymer shell to form enzyme nanocapsules. The strategy is exemplified by the encapsulation of oxalate oxidase （OxO） for the treatment of hyperoxaluria, because as-synthesized OxO nanocapsules have a prolonged blood circulation half-life and elicit reduced immunogenicity. Our design of enzyme nanocapsules that enable the systemic delivery of therapeutic enzymes can be extended to various biomedical applications.

Study on Plant Regeneration of Wheat Mature Embryos Under Endosperm-Supported Culture

To reveal the suitability of using mature embryos as an explant source in wheat tissue culture, mature embryos from eight common wheat cultivars （Triticum aestivum L. cv.） were cultured with or without endosperm to test their efficiency of callus induction and plant regeneration. When embryos were cultured together with endosperm （endosperm-supported culture, ES）, the percentage of callus induction was significantly lower than that when embryos were cultured in the absence of endosperm （non-endosperm-supported culture, NES）. This pattern was evident in most genotypes, regardless of whether 2 or 8 mg L^-1 2,4-D was added in the NES culture. However, in ES culture, more induced calli were differentiated into distinct green spots and they further developed into plantlets. Thus, more plants were regenerated in ES culture than in the NES treatment. Most of the eight tested genotypes showed a significant difference in callus induction rate and plantlet regeneration in both ES and NES cultures. In addition, the enzymatic activity of oxalate oxidase in the callus of ES culture condition was obviously higher than that in the callus of NES culture condition, suggesting that the activity of oxalate oxidase may be a parameter for selection of calli with potential for plantlet regeneration. These results indicate that wheat mature embryos are valuable explants for highly efficient callus induction and plant regeneration, if proper treatment and medium are used.