Acquired resistance triggered by elicitins in tobacco and other plants

Elicitins are a family of proteins excreted byPhytophthora spp. They exhibit high sequence homology but large net charge differences. They induce necrosis in tobacco plants which then become resistant to the tobacco pathogenPhytophthora parasitica var.nicotianae. In stem-treated plants, resistance was not restricted to the site of elicitin application, but could be demonstrated by petiole inoculation at all levels on the stem. Resistance was already maximum after two days and lasted for at least two weeks. It was effective not only towardsP. p. var.nicotianae infection, but also against the unrelated pathogenSclerotinia sclerotiorum. In contrast to dichloroisonicotinic acid, an artificial inducer of systemic acquired resistance, which was increasingly effective with doses ranging from 0.25 to 5mole per plant, the basic elicitin cryptogein exhibited a threshold effect, inducing near total resistance and extensive leaf necrosis above 0.1 nmole per plant. Between 1 and 5 nmole, acidic elicitins (capsicein and parasiticein) protected tobacco plants with hardly any necrotic symptom. Elicitins exhibited similar effects in various tobacco cultivars andNicotiana species, although with quantitative differences, but induced neither necrosis nor protection in other SolanaceÆ (tomato, petunia and pepper). Among 24 additional species tested belonging to 18 botanical families, only some BrassicaceÆ, noticeably rape, exhibited symptoms in response to elicitins, in a cultivar-specific manner. Elicitins appear to be natural specific triggers for systemic acquired resistance and provide a tool for unraveling the mechanisms leading to its establishment.Abbreviations AR acquired resistance - HR hypersensitive response - INA 2,6-dichloroisonicotinic acid - Ppn Phytophthora parasitica var.nicotianae - SAR systemic acquired resistance     

Increased expression of CD40 ligand by peripheral blood mononuclear cells in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus

AIM:To investigate expression and function of CD40 ligand by peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).METHODS:Expression of CD40 ligand by PBMCs in patients with SLE and control were examined by flow cytometric analysis before and after stimulated by phytohemagglutinin(PHA)and depressed by Dexamethasone(Dex). The correlation between expression of CD40 ligand and SLE activity index(SLEDAI) was analysed in patients with SLE.RESULTS:The expression of CD40 ligand by PBMCs in patients with active SLE was higher than that in patients with inactive SLE and control. Though the expression of CD40 ligang by PBMCs could be stimulated by PHA in three groups, it was the highest in patients with active SLE. Dex depressed the expression of CD40 ligand by PBMCs significantly in patients with SLE, but not in control. There was high positive correlation between expression of CD40 ligand and SLEDAI in patients with active and inactive SLE.CONCLUSION:Increased expression of CD40L by PBMCs in patients with SLE may play an important role in pathogenesis of SLE.     

建立系统性的高校图书馆文献资源

介绍了建立系统性的高校图书馆文献资源共建共享模式的意义，以及建立共建共享模式过程中存在的困难，并针对困难提出了具体的实施措施。     

不同温度下TMV侵染枯斑三生烟的LncRNA差异表达

【目的】 筛选不同温度下烟草花叶病毒（Tobacco mosaic virus,TMV）侵染后枯斑三生烟（Nicotiana tabacum var. Samsun NN）差异表达的长链非编码RNA（long non-coding RNA,lncRNA）,研究lncRNA在枯斑三生烟抗性反应中的作用。【方法】 N基因的温度敏感性使枯斑三生烟在25℃时具备对TMV的抗性、在31℃抗性丧失,在这两个温度条件下对枯斑三生烟接种TMV和磷酸盐缓冲盐水（phosphate buffered saline,PBS）,48 h后提取系统叶总RNA,构建链特异性文库后进行深度测序。对测序结果进行过滤后利用HTSeq将有效数据与近缘品种TN90（N. tabacum var. TN90）基因组比对,筛选得到lncRNA后利用FPKM法估计lncRNA的表达水平。通过edgeR筛选差异表达lncRNA（differentially expressed lncRNA,DElncRNA）,并利用qRT-PCR技术对这一结果进行验证。通过共定位及共表达分析预测DElncRNA的靶基因,通过参考基因组注释、GO和KEGG富集分析研究靶基因的功能。【结果】 4个处理共12个样本经lncRNA-seq各测得约8 000万条clean reads,共获得4 737条已知lncRNA、40 169条新lncRNA。其中64个lncRNA在不同温度条件下TMV侵染后存在差异表达,qRT-PCR测定结果显示这些lncRNA的测序正确率在80%左右,表明本研究所得测序数据具备较高的可信度。对DElncRNA进行靶基因预测,发现一些基因同时被25℃下调和31℃上调的DElncRNA靶向。靶基因注释功能丰富,主要参与植物抗病、激素和代谢等生理过程。部分可能与激素通路相关的lncRNA,在25℃下TMV侵染时呈现下调趋势,而在31℃下TMV侵染则呈现上调趋势。GO富集分析显示靶基因主要参与构成膜、囊泡等组分,具备钙、钾离子通道抑制剂活性等分子功能,使相应离子得以转运引发随后的反应,同时也参与发病、抗原加工和呈现、细胞分裂素代谢等生理过程。KEGG分析发现靶基因显著富集在植物激素信号转导通路,25℃下调和31℃上调的DElncRNA靶基因同时富集在激素信号传导、ABC运输蛋白、苯丙烷类生物合成等通路。【结论】 不同温度（25℃和31℃）条件下TMV侵染枯斑三生烟后,长链非编码RNA差异表达,DElncRNA通过作用于激素信号传导、物质转运等过程参与寄主系统获得性抗性反应。研究结果可为揭示植物系统获得性抗性中lncRNA的调控功能以及新型抗病毒技术开发提供依据。     

Systemic Listeria monocytogenes infection and concurrent pleural mesothelioma in a cat

Herein we describe a rare case of systemic Listeria monocytogenes infection with concurrent pleural mesothelioma in a stray cat that was found dead and submitted for autopsy. Gross pathology changes consisted of thoracic clear yellow fluid admixed with suspended fibrin strands; clear-to-tan, variably sized, <3 mm diameter pulmonary nodules; and enlargement of the submandibular, retropharyngeal, and prescapular lymph nodes. Histologic changes consisted of extensive areas of suppurative inflammation and necrosis with mineralization that partially effaced the pulmonary parenchyma and lymph nodes. Random, distinct necrotic foci were present throughout the hepatic parenchyma. Extending from the pleura, within perinecrotic alveolar spaces, and infiltrating the submandibular, retropharyngeal, and prescapular lymph nodes were dense sheets of neoplastic epithelioid cells with moderate pleomorphism and occasional karyomegaly and multinucleation. Neoplastic cells exhibited immunolabeling for pancytokeratin AE1/AE3 and vimentin, consistent with pleural mesothelioma. Aerobic bacterial culture of lung yielded heavy growth of L. monocytogenes. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) for L. monocytogenes revealed clusters of bacteria in the lung, lymph node, and liver. Pathologic changes were consistent with systemic listeriosis, confirmed by bacterial culture and IHC, and concurrent pleural mesothelioma.     

Systemic View on Heading and Overwintering: Are They Always Opposed?

The study investigated the cultivars of non‐obligatorily requiring vernalization plant Festulolium braunii and assessed the influence of non‐hardy reproductive and hardy vegetative structures on overwintering effect. The study was conducted taking into account systemic relations between these types of structures. The results show the cultivars differ according to the percentage of headed and overwintered plants, when the cultivars with the most abundant heading – ‘Felopa’ and ‘Sulino’ – are also better at overwintering. The positive correlation between heading and overwintering characteristics was also observed, what seemed to be a rather new finding. It can be explained by systemic effect: non‐hardy later reproductive structures induce the post‐generative regrowth of vegetative shoots, which during shorter days halt development and become potentially hardy. More detailed interpretation is also provided including discussion of causal mechanisms of the detected phenomenon. The authors suppose that these mechanisms constitute a survival strategy for such perennial plants. The observed late heading which represents reproductive structures could be applied in plant breeding as a marker of winter‐hardiness among perennial grass plants which non‐obligatorily demand vernalization.     

The Ecological Concept of Costs of Induced Systemic Resistance (ISR)

Plant defence is thought to provide benefits for the defended plants. Theoretical concepts must, therefore, explain why there is variation in defensive traits, which naively might be assumed to be present constitutively in fixed high amounts. Explanations are mainly based on the assumption of fitness costs. Investment in defence is thought to reduce the fitness of plants in enemy-free environments. Fitness costs often result from allocation costs, i.e. allocation of limited resources to defence, which then cannot be used for growth or other fitness-relevant processes. This theoretical concept can provide a useful tool for the interpretation of induced plant responses against pathogens, named induced systemic (or systemic acquired) resistance (ISR or SAR). Phenotypic plasticity, leading to induced responses, might have evolved mainly to reduce costs, since investment in defence is restricted to situations actually requiring defence. ISR can incur allocation costs and other, indirect costs, which ultimately may lead to fitness costs. Evolution of any defensive trait depends on both what a plant ideally 'should do and what it actually 'is able to do. Costs of defence constrain its expression. This might have important influences on the evolution of plant defensive traits, as well as on the exploitation of natural defences in agricultural crop protection.     

Fusarium confers protection against several mycelial pathogens of pepper plants

Inoculation of nonhost pepper ( Capsicum annuum ) plants with the tomato wilt pathogen, Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. lycopersici (FOL), caused no symptoms and the fungus was not recovered from any part of the plant. FOL, however, partially protected pepper plants from subsequent infection with Phytophthora capsici , Verticillium dahliae or Botrytis cinerea by significantly reducing the percentage of diseased plants and the appearance and intensity of symptoms. FOL did not inhibit the mycelial growth of these pathogens in vitro . The protection induced by FOL against Botrytis was inhibited by 1-methylcyclopropene (MCP), an inhibitor of ethylene perception, suggesting the involvement of this hormone in the signalling of FOL-induced resistance. The activities of β-1,3-glucanase and peroxidase 48 h after FOL induction were similar to those in control plants. Chitinase activity, however, was higher in the stems of plants inoculated with FOL. A study of the levels of phenolic compounds revealed that cell-wall-bound phenolics were more abundant in plants treated with FOL, especially in stems, while soluble phenolic contents did not differ.