Implementation of two high through-put techniques in a novel application: detecting point mutations in large EMS mutated plant populations

Background  

The establishment of mutant populations together with the strategies for targeted mutation detection has been applied successfully to a large number of organisms including many species in the plant kingdom. Considerable efforts have been invested into research on tomato as a model for berry-fruit plants. With the progress of the tomato sequencing project, reverse genetics becomes an obvious and achievable goal.     

TOLERABILITY AND TUMOR RESPONSE OF A NOVEL LOW‐DOSE PALLIATIVE RADIATION THERAPY PROTOCOL IN DOGS WITH TRANSITIONAL CELL CARCINOMA OF THE BLADDER AND URETHRA

Previously reported radiation protocols for transitional cell carcinoma of the canine lower urinary tract have been ineffective or associated with increased side effects. Objectives of this retrospective, cross‐sectional study were to describe safety of and tumor responses for a novel palliative radiation protocol for transitional cell carcinoma in dogs. Included dogs had cytologically or histologically confirmed transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder or urethra, and were treated with 10 once‐daily fractions (Monday–Friday) of 2.7 Gy. Thirteen dogs were sampled, with six treated using radiation as first‐line (induction) therapy and seven treated using radiation as rescue therapy after failing previous chemotherapy. Within 6 weeks of radiation, 7.6% (1/13) dogs had a complete response, 53.8% (7/13) partial response, 38.5% (5/13) stable disease, and none had progressive disease. Three patients presenting with urethral obstruction had spontaneous micturition restored during the treatment protocol. A single patient with unilateral ureteral obstruction was patent at recheck examination. Median survival time from time of initial diagnosis was 179 days. Median survival time from start of radiation was 150 days. Acute radiation side effects occurred in 31% (4/13) patients and were classified as grade 1 or 2. No significant late side radiation side effects were reported. No variables examined were identified as prognostic factors. Findings indicated that the reported radiation protocol was safe in this sample of dogs with bladder and urethral transitional cell carcinoma. Future prospective studies are needed to determine utility of this treatment as a rescue therapy in patients with complete urinary tract obstruction.     

Selection of supported cobalt substrates in the presence of oxone for the oxidation of monuron

The immobilization of cobalt ion on different media to catalyze oxone has been investigated. A probe herbicide, Monuron, was effectively degraded by using Co2+/oxone systems. For Co2+ supported on zeolite, 100% of Monuron could be removed within a 10 min reaction time. However, the recycling of the spent Co-zeolite catalyst using various posttreatments did not give a promising result. This is likely because the zeolite particles in solution have blocked and significantly attenuated the incident UV light from reducing Co3+ to Co2+. On the contrary, the use of cationic resin has minimized these problems. In the process of Co-resin/oxone/UV, faster Monuron decay could be achieved than that in the dark reaction. In the presence of UV, a significant drop of total organic carbon (TOC) was also observed in this approach suggesting an effective and clean process for Monuron mineralization.     

Genome-wide insertional mutagenesis of Arabidopsis thaliana

Over 225,000 independent Agrobacterium transferred DNA (T-DNA) insertion events in the genome of the reference plant Arabidopsis thaliana have been created that represent near saturation of the gene space. The precise locations were determined for more than 88,000 T-DNA insertions, which resulted in the identification of mutations in more than 21,700 of the approximately 29,454 predicted Arabidopsis genes. Genome-wide analysis of the distribution of integration events revealed the existence of a large integration site bias at both the chromosome and gene levels. Insertion mutations were identified in genes that are regulated in response to the plant hormone ethylene.     

High-Tc superconductors in the two-dimensional limit:

The free modulation of interlayer distance in a layered high-transition temperature (high-Tc) superconductor is of crucial importance not only for the study of the superconducting mechanism but also for the practical application of high-Tc superconducting materials. Two-dimensional (2D) superconductors were achieved by intercalating a long-chain organic compound into bismuth-based high-Tc cuprates. Although the intercalation of the organic chain increased the interlayer distance remarkably, to tens of angstroms, the superconducting transition temperature of the intercalate was nearly the same as that of the pristine material, suggesting the 2D nature of the high-Tc superconductivity.     

Isolation and pathogenicity of Australian strains of Eimeria praecox and Eimeria mitis

Objective To determine the presence of E praecox and E mitis in Australia, to isolate representative strains of these species from chickens and determine their pathogenicity.
Design Morphological, physiological and cross protection studies were undertaken to confirm the identity of Australian isolates of E praecox and E mitis.
Procedure Oocysts were isolated from a backyard flock at Jimboomba, southeastern Queensland and numbers of E praecox and E mitis enriched by passage in chickens immune to five other species of poultry Eimeria . Oocysts of mean conformation and size of the two species were purified by single oocyst passage. Two isolates that closely matched recorded parameters for E praecox and E mitis were selected and designated JP and JM respectively. The cross protection between the isolates and E acervulina was determined by infection and challenge experiments. The virulence of the two isolates was determined by comparing weight gains of groups of birds inoculated with JP isolate or JM isolate with untreated groups.
Results Isolates JP and JM most closely matched recorded parameters of E praecox and E mitis respectively. Groups of chickens, previously infected with JP and JM isolates, showed no significant protection against infection with E acervulina . In a separate trial, groups of susceptible chickens inoculated with 10⁵ oocysts of JP and JM isolates showed significantly reduced weight gains compared with untreated controls.
Conclusion Isolates JP and JM are E praecox and E mitis respectively, confirming the presence of these species in Australia. These isolates were found capable of causing significant reductions in weight gains in susceptible chickens.