Physiological and Biochemical Characteristics and Response Patterns of Salinity Stress Responsive Genes (SSRGs) in Wild Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa L.)

Cultivating salt-tolerant crops is a feasible way to effectively utilize saline-alkali land and solve the problem of underutilization of saline soils.Quinoa,a protein-comprehensive cereal in the plant kingdom,is an exceptional crop in terms of salt stress tolerance level.It seems an excellent model for the exploration of salt-tolerance mechanisms and cultivation of salt-tolerant germplasms.In this study,the seeds and seedlings of the quinoa cultivar Shelly were treated with different concentrations of NaCl solution.The physiological,biochemical characteristics and agronomic traits were investigated,and the response patterns of three salt stress-responsive genes(SSRGs)in quinoa were determined by real-time PCR.The optimum level of stress tolerance of quinoa cultivar Shelly was found in the range of 250–350 mM concentration of NaCl.Salt stress significantly induced expression of superoxide dismutase(SOD),peroxidase(POD),and particularly betaine aldehyde dehydrogenase(BADH).BADH was discovered to be more sensitive to salt stress and played an important role in the salt stress tolerance of quinoa seedlings,particularly at high NaCl concentrations,as it displayed upregulation until 24 h under 100 mM salt treatment.Moreover,it showed upregulation until 12 h under 250 mM salt stress.Taken together,these results suggest that BADH played an essential role in the salt-tolerance mechanism of quinoa.Based on the expression level and prompt response induced by NaCl,we suggest that the BADH can be considered as a molecular marker for screening salt-tolerant quinoa germplasm at the early stages of crop development.Salt treatment at different plant ontogeny or at different concentrations had a significant impact on quinoa growth.Therefore,an appropriate treatment approach needs to be chosen rationally in the process of screening salt-tolerant quinoa germplasm,which is useful to the utilization of saline soils.Our study provides a fundamental information to deepen knowledge of the salt tolerance mechanism of quinoa for the development of salt-tolerant germplasm in crop breeding programs.

End Late Paleozoic tectonic stress field in the southern edge of Junggar Basin

This paper presents the end Late Paleozoic tectonic stress field in the southern edge of Junggar Basin by interpreting stress-response structures （dykes, folds, faults with slickenside and conjugate joints）. The direction of the maximum principal stress axes is interpreted to be NW-SE （about 325°）, and the accommodated motion among plates is assigned as the driving force of this tectonic stress field. The average value of the stress index Rt is about 2.09, which indicates a variation from strike-slip to compressive tectonic stress regime in the study area during the end Late Paleozoic period. The reconstruction of the tectonic field in the southern edge of Junggar Basin provides insights into the tectonic deformation processes around the southern Junggar Basin and contributes to the further understanding of basin evolution and tectonic settings during the culmination of the Paleo- zoic.

Biliverdin Reductase-A correlates with inducible nitric oxide synthasein in atorvastatin treated aged canine brain

Alzheimer’s disease is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by progressive cognitive impairment and neuropathology. Recent preclinical and epidemiological studies proposed statins as a possible therapeutic drug for Alzheimer’s disease, but the exact mechanisms of action are still unknown. Biliverdin reductase-A is a pleiotropic enzyme involved in cellular stress responses. It not only transforms biliverdin-IX alpha into the antioxidant bilirubin-IX alpha but its serine/threonine/ tyrosine kinase activity is able to modulate cell signaling networks. We previously reported the beneficial effects of atorvastatin treatment on biliverdin reductase-A and heme oxygenase-1 in the brains of a well characterized pre-clinical model of Alzheimer’s disease, aged beagles, together with observed improvement in cognition. Here we extend our knowledge of the effects of atorvastatin on inducible nitric oxide synthase in parietal cortex, cerebellum and liver of the same animals. We demonstrated that atorvastatin treatment （80 mg/day for 14.5 months） to aged beagles selectively increased inducible nitric oxide synthase in the parietal cortex but not in the cerebellum. In contrast, inducible nitric oxide synthase protein levels were significantly decreased in the liver. Significant positive correlations were found between biliverdin reductase-A and inducible nitric oxide synthase as well as heme oxygenase-1 protein levels in the parietal cortex. The opposite was observed in the liver. Inducible nitric oxide synthase up-regulation in the parietal cortex was positively associated with improved biliverdin reductase-A functions, whereas the oxidative-induced impairment of biliverdin reductase-A in the liver negatively affected inducible nitric oxide synthase expression, thus suggesting a role for biliverdin reductase-A in atorvastatin-dependent inducible nitric oxide synthase changes. Interestingly, increased inducible nitric oxide synthase levels in the parietal cortex were not associated with higher oxidative/nitrosative stress levels. We hypothesize that biliverdin reductase-A-dependent inducible nitric oxide synthase regulation strongly contributes to the cognitive improvement observed following atorvastatin treatment.

The Long Way from Complex Phenotypes to Genes: The Story of Rat Chromosome 4 and Its Behavioral Effects

Quantitative trait loci (QTLs) mapping has been performed during the past decades in an attempt to identify genes, gene products and mechanisms underlying numerous quantitative traits. It’s a strategy based on natural variations in genes and gene products, which facilitates translation from animal models to human clinical conditions. Our team has shown that the inbred rat strains Lewis (LEW) and Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats (SHR) differ with respect to several emotionality- related behaviors, one of which (inner locomotion in the open field) was strongly influenced by a QTL (Anxrr16) on rat chromosome 4. Since then, several other studies not only corroborated the initial description of Anxrr16, but also extrapolated its effects to a broader context (rats from both sexes and regardless of the estrous cycle phase) and suggested that this same region influences other emotionality-related behaviors as well as alcohol intake. Other QTLs affecting neurobiological traits were also found on rat chromosome 4 and several candidate genes have been pointed out as possibly influencing those phenotypes. Altogether, these studies suggest that rat chromosome 4 constitutes an interesting target for the study of the molecular bases of anxiety and other traits related to emotional reactivity.

A structural view of the conserved domain of rice stress-responsive NAC1

The importance of NAC(named as NAM,ATAF1,2,and CUC2)proteins in plant development,transcription regulation and regulatory pathways involving proteinprotein interactions has been increasingly recognized.We report here the high resolution crystal structure of SNAC1(stress-responsive NAC)NAC domain at 2.5Å.Although the structure of the SNAC1 NAC domain shares a structural similarity with the reported structure of the ANAC NAC1 domain,some key features,especially relating to two loop regions which potentially take the responsibility for DNA-binding,distinguish the SNAC1 NAC domain from other reported NAC structures.Moreover,the dimerization of the SNAC1 NAC domain is demonstrated by both soluble and crystalline conditions,suggesting this dimeric state should be conserved in this type of NAC family.Additionally,we discuss the possible NAC-DNA binding model according to the structure and reported biological evidences.

Engineering strong and stress-responsive promoters in Bacillus subtilis by interlocking sigma factor binding motifs

Prokaryotic gene expression is largely regulated on transcriptional levels with the involvement of promoters,RNA polymerase and sigma factors.Developing new promoters to customize gene transcriptional regulation becomes increasingly demanded in synthetic biology and biotechnology.In this study,we designed synthetic promoters in the Gram-positive model bacterium Bacillus subtilis by interlocking the binding motifs ofσA for house-keeping gene expression and that of two alternative sigma factorsσH andσB which are involved in responding post-exponential growth and general stress,respectively.The developed promoters are recognized by multiple sigma factors and hence generate strong transcriptional strength when host cells grow under normal or stressed conditions.With green fluorescent protein as the reporter,a set of strong promoters were identified,in which the transcription activities of PHA-1,PHAB-4,PHAB-7 were 18.6,4.1,3.3 fold of that of the commonly used promoter P43,respectively.Moreover,some of the promoters such as PHA-1,PHAB-4,PHAB-7,PBA-2 displayed increased transcriptional activities in response to high salinity or low pH.The promoters developed in this study should enrich the biotechnological toolboxes of B.subtilis.

H3K27me3 and H3K4me3 Chromatin Environment at Super-Induced Dehydration Stress Memory Genes of Arabidopsis thaliana

Pre-exposure to a stress may alter the plant＇s cellular, biochemical, and/or transcriptional responses during future encounters as a ＂memory＇ from the previous stress. Genes increasing transcription in response to a first dehydra- tion stress, but producing much higher transcript levels in a subsequent stress, represent the super-induced ＇transcription memory＇ genes in Arabidopsis thaliana. The chromatin environment （histone H3 tri-methylations of Lys 4 and Lys 27, H3K4me3, and H3K27me3） studied at five dehydration stress memory genes revealed existence of distinct memory- response subclasses that responded differently to CLF deficiency and displayed different transcriptional activities dur- ing the watered recovery periods. Among the most important findings is the novel aspect of the H3K27me3 function observed at specific dehydration stress memory genes. In contrast to its well-known role as a chromatin repressive mechanism at developmentally regulated genes, H3K27me3 did not prevent transcription from the dehydration stress- responding genes. The high H3K27me3 levels present during transcriptionally inactive states did not interfere with the transition to active transcription and with H3K4me3 accumulation. H3K4me3 and H3K27me3 marks function indepen- dently and are not mutually exclusive at the dehydration stress-responding memory genes.