Physiochemical Properties of Resistant Starch and Its Enhancement Approaches in Rice

With changes in food preferences and life styles,more and more attentions have been focused on healthier food.Nowadays,resistant starch(RS)which can resist digestion in the human intestine has been recognized and accepted.High RS diet shows great benefit for the human health,and breeding high RS rice variety is a great target for realizing dietary intervention.To provide guidance for RS improvement in rice,this review summarized the unique physiochemical properties of RS and the possible approaches,i.e.genetic regulation,for enhancing RS content in rice,and proposed the potential ways to obtain rice variety with high RS content.     

Genome assembly of the maize inbred line A188 provides a new reference genome for functional genomics

The current assembled maize genomes cannot represent the broad genetic diversity of maize germplasms.Acquiring more genome sequences is critical for constructing a pan-genome and elucidating the linkage between genotype and phenotype in maize.Here we describe the genome sequence and annotation of A188,a maize inbred line with high phenotypic variation relative to other lines,acquired by single-molecule sequencing and optical genome mapping.We assembled a 2210-Mb genome with a scaffold N50 size of 11.61 million bases(Mb),compared to 9.73 Mb for B73 and 10.2 Mb for Mo17.Based on the B73_Ref Gen_V4 genome,295 scaffolds(2084.35 Mb,94.30%of the final genome assembly)were anchored and oriented on ten chromosomes.Comparative analysis revealed that~30%of the predicted A188 genes showed large structural divergence from B73,Mo17,and W22 genomes,which causes high protein divergence and may lead to phenotypic variation among the four inbred lines.As a line with high embryonic callus(EC)induction capacity,A188 provides a convenient tool for elucidating the molecular mechanism underlying the formation of EC in maize.Combining our new A188 genome with previously reported QTL and RNA sequencing data revealed eight genes with large structural variation and two differentially expressed genes playing potential roles in maize EC induction.     

Effects of Garcinia cambogia extract on serum sex hormones in overweight subjects

(-) Hydroxycitric acid (HCA), an active ingredient extracted from the Garcinia cambogia fruit rind, has been commonly used as a dietary supplement for weight management. Given the controversy over HCA related testicular toxicity in animal studies, we investigated changes in serum sex hormones levels as an extension of our previous double-blind placebo-controlled trial in human subjects, in which 44 participants received either G. cambogia extract (1667.3 mg/day equivalent to 1000 mg HCA/day) or placebo for 12 weeks. Compared to the placebo group, administration of the extract did not significantly alter the serum testosterone, estrone, and estradiol levels. Similarly, hematology, serum triacylglycerol and serum clinical pathology parameters did not reveal any significant adverse effects. The results of this preliminary investigation indicate that ingestion of G. cambogia extract at dose levels commonly recommended for human use does not affect serum sex hormone levels and blood parameters.     

The Avalon explosion: evolution of Ediacara morphospace

Ediacara fossils [575 to 542 million years ago (Ma)] represent Earth's oldest known complex macroscopic life forms, but their morphological history is poorly understood. A comprehensive quantitative analysis of these fossils indicates that the oldest Ediacara assemblage-the Avalon assemblage (575 to 565 Ma)-already encompassed the full range of Ediacara morphospace. A comparable morphospace range was occupied by the subsequent White Sea (560 to 550 Ma) and Nama (550 to 542 Ma) assemblages, although it was populated differently. In contrast, taxonomic richness increased in the White Sea assemblage and declined in the Nama assemblage. These diversity changes, occurring while morphospace range remained relatively constant, led to inverse shifts in morphological variance. The Avalon morphospace expansion mirrors the Cambrian explosion, and both events may reflect similar underlying mechanisms.     

Surveillance of pine wilt disease by high resolution satelliteOA

Pine wilt disease caused by the pinewood nematode Bursaphelenchus xylophilus has led to the death of a large number of pine trees in China. This destructive disease has the characteristics of bring wide-spread, fast onset, and long incubation time. Most importantly, in China, the fatality rate in pines is as high as 100%. The key to reducing this mortality is how to quickly find the infected trees. We proposed a method of automatically identifying infected trees by a convolution neural network a...     

世界养猪生产,机遇还是困境?

近几十年以来,全球猪肉产量与消费水平一直在稳步提高。市场对猪肉的需求为美国以及其它国家的猪肉生产者开展国际业务创造了机会。各个国家对猪肉的需求取决于市场规模、其它肉类的供应与价格、人均收入,以及货币     

腐植酸天然植物生长素调节剂

腐植酸植物生长素可以由内源和外在二种形式存在。本文着重介绍了国内外研究者通过毛细管电泳、色谱、质谱和核磁共振等表征技术,证实了腐植酸天然植物生长调节剂中存在吲哚酸、赤霉素和萘乙酸、水杨酸等典型植物生长素;对促进环境友好的腐植酸类植物生长调节剂的产业化发展有着十分重要的现实意义。     

IgA肾病

ＩｇＡ肾病唐德燊（广东医学院肾脏病学科临床研究部，湛江５２４００１）ＩｇＡ肾病（ＩｇＡｎｅｐｈｒｏｐａｔｈｙ，ＩｇＡＮ）是１９６８年由Ｂｅｒｇｅｒ首先描述故又称Ｂｅｒｇｅｒ＇ｓｄｉｓｅａｓｅ。从病因及病理研究发现ＩｇＡＮ并非单一性疾病，而是多病因引起...     

用同功酶法分析研究欧洲赤松种子园内的授粉方式

一、引言近20年来,世界各地已普遍开展了在树木选择基础上,建立种子园的工作。许多国家以建立种子园,为改良森林种子基因型,获得较大遗传增益的途径。分析欧洲赤松种子园内自交、异型杂交和天然授粉等所产生的种子的空种频率差异,Johnson(1972)发现,至少有1%有生活力的种子是自交的。Rudin 和 Lin-