Analysis on age structure of Zoysia japonica (Poaceae) population

The age-structure of natural population of Zoysia japonica in Xiuyan County of Liaoning Province was studied by generational method. The results showed that the highest tiller age class was three, but 1st age class tillers held dominant posi-tion with proportions over 95% in each month during the growing seasons. The 2nd age class and 3rd age class tillers were minority in the population. So Z. japonica population was an expanding population. The zero age class buds on the rhizomes were dominant in buds age structures. The proportion of buds to tillers on quantity in each month was about 30% to 40% and reached the highest at the end of September. The increasing of buds proportion before dormancy guaranteed the quantity of tillers in the next spring. The biomass of 1st age class tillers changed with time. The biomass kept increasing from April to July and reached the highest at the end of July and then decreased.

Performance and Inheritance of Rice Starch RVA Profile Characteristics

The classification and inheritance of rice starch RVA profiles were studied by testing RVA profiles of F2 clonally propagated population and some varieties, including japonica, indica, and glutinous types. All the RVA profiles of accessions could be divided into six kinds based on the cluster analysis, that is A, B, C, D, E and F. Feature profile of sticky variety was type A. The profiles of indica varieties could be presented as B, C, D, E and F types and that of japonica varieties fell into D, E and F types.RVA profiles of the rice were mainly affected by apparent amylose content (AAC), but the difference of RVA profiles could also be detected in the varieties with similar AAC. The close relationship between RVA profile indices and sensory of low or middle AAC varieties suggested that the RVA profiles can be used as indirect index to evaluate eating and cooking quality. In four hybrid combinations, the component indices of RVA profiles of F1 were between those of its parents except peak viscosity and pasting temperature. Also, in F2 clonally propagated population, all the components of the RVA profiles showed continuous segregation,suggesting that all of them were controlled by a series of minor genes, although Wx gene may play an important role in determining the RVA profiles. These results may provide some new information useful for rice quality breeding program.

Molecular Genetic Variation in a Clonal Plant Population of Leymus chinensis （Trin.） Tzvel.

Randomly amplified polymorphic DNA （RAPD） analysis was used to investigate the genetic variation among populations, between populations, and within populations, relationships between genetic distance and geographic distance, and the molecular variation and population size. The effects of geographic and genetic distances, as well as of genetic differentiation and population size, on genetic variations of Leymus chinensis （Trin.） Tzvel. are discussed. The present study showed that there was significant RAPD variation between the Baicheng region population and the Daqing region population, with a molecular variance of 6.35% （P 〈 0.04）, and for differentiation among area populations of the Daqing region, with a molecular variance of 8.78% （P 〈 0.002）. A 21.06% RAPD variation among all 16 populations among two regions was found （P 〈 0.001）, as well as 72.59% variation within populations （P 〈 0.001）. Molecular variation within populations was significantly different among 16 populations.

Clinical characteristics and prognostic factors of patients with mature T-cell lymphoid malignancies： a single-institution study of 225 cases

Mature T-cell lymphoid malignancies comprise a group of heterogeneous diseases that vary in clinicopathological features, biological behavior, treatment response, and prognosis. Bone marrow （BM） infiltration is more commonly present in mature T-cell lymphoid malignancies compared with their B-cell counterparts and hence important for differential diagnosis. In this study, clinical characteristics and prognostic factors were analyzed in 225 patients with mature T-cell lymphoid malignancies treated in a single institution. These included 29 cases of T-cell lymphoproliferative disorders （T-LPD, all with BM infiltration） and 196 cases of T-/natural-killer-cell lymphoma （T/NKCL, 56 with BM infiltration and 140 without BM infiltration）. The estimated 5-year overall survival （OS） rates of T-LPD and T/NKCL were 96.6% and 37.3%, respectively. T-LPD patients were less likely to exhibit poor performance status, advanced disease stage, presence of B symptoms, or abnormal level of serum [^-2 microglobulin. With similar pathological characteristics, T/NKCL patients with BM infiltration showed significantly lower response rates and shorter OS than those without BM infiltration （P = 0.0264 and P 〈 0.0001, respectively）. Multivariate analysis indicated that poor performance status, advanced disease stage, elevated serum lactate dehydrogenase level, and BM involvement were independent unfavorable prognostic factors. The Glasgow Prognostic Score may be more efficient than the International Prognostic Index in predicting disease outcome in T/NKCL. In conclusion, clinical characteristics may be useful in more effectively stratifying patients with mature T-cell lymphoid malignancies.