Agropyron cristatum (L.) Gaertn. (2n = 4x = 28, PPPP) not only is cultivated as pasture fodder but also could provide many desirable genes for wheat improvement. It is critical to obtain common wheat-A. cristatum alien disomic addition lines to locate the desired genes on the P genome chromosomes. Comparative analysis of the homoeologous relationships between the P genome chromosome and wheat genome chromosomes is a key step in transferring different desirable genes into common wheat and producing the desired alien translocation line while compensating for the loss of wheat chromatin. In this study, six common wheat-A. cristatum disomic addition lines were produced and analyzed by phenotypic examination, genomic in situ hybridization (GISH), SSR markers from the ABD genomes and STS markers from the P genome. Comparative maps, six in total, were generated and demonstrated that all six addition lines belonged to homoeologous group 6. However, chromosome 6P had undergone obvious rearrangements in different addition lines compared with the wheat chromosome, indicating that to obtain a genetic compensating alien translocation line, one should recombine alien chromosomal regions with homoeologous wheat chromosomes. Indeed, these addition lines were classified into four types based on the comparative mapping: 6PI, 6PII, 6PIII, and 6PIV. The different types of chromosome 6P possessed different desirable genes. For example, the 6PI type, containing three addition lines, carried genes conferring high numbers of kernels per spike and resistance to powdery mildew, important traits for wheat improvement. These results may prove valuable for promoting the development of conventional chromosome engineering techniques toward molecular chromosome engineering.
Spike development in wheat is a complicated development process and determines the wheat propagation and survival. We report herein a proteomic study on the bread wheat mutant strain 5660M underlying spike development inhibition. A total of 121 differentially expressed proteins, which were involved in cold stress response, protein folding and assembly, cell-cycle regulation, scavenging of ROS, and the autonomous pathway were identified using MS/MS and database searching. We found that cold responsive proteins were highly expressed in the mutant in contrast to those expressed in the wild-type line. Particularly, the autonomous pathway protein FVE, which modulates flowering, was dramatically downregulated and closely related to the spike development inhibition phenotype of 5660M. A quantitative RT-PCR study demonstrated that the transcription of the FVE and other six genes in the autonomous pathway and downstream flowering regulators were all markedly downregulated. The results indicate that spike development of 5660M cannot complete the floral transition. FVE might play an important role in the spikes development of the wheat. Our results provide the theory basis for studying floral development and transition in the reproductive growth period, and further analysis of wheat yield formation.
Objective: To compare dental and skeletal changes after rapid maxillary expansion in patients with different bone ages. Methods: Thirty-seven patients in different growth period were divided into three groups according to cervical vertebral maturation (CVM). There were 13 patients in the growth acceleration group, 13 patients in growth peak group, and 11 patients in growth deceleration group. Cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) images were segmented and reconstructed using Mimics image processing software to assess the change of palatal morphology before and after treatment. Statistical analysis was carried out using SPSS 17.0 software. Results: After the expansion the posterior teeth and alveolar bone were tilted and the mid-palatal suture was opened in all three groups. The first molar angle in the three groups decreased by 2.66°±1.04°, 3.53°±0.81° and 12.32°±1.64°, respectively and no significant difference was found between the acceleration group and the peak group (P >0.05), but the changes in the acceleration group and the peak groups were significantly less than that in the deceleration group (P<0.05). The palatal angle in the three groups increased by 6.01° ± 2.06°, 4.79° ± 1.31° and 6.73° ± 1.71°, respectively and no significant difference was found between the acceleration group and the deceleration group (P>0.05), but the changes in the acceleration group and the deceleration group were significantly greater than that in the peak group (P<0.05). The palatal cemento-enamel junction (CEJ) width, the middle palate width and the mid-palatal suture width in the three groups increased by (7.37 ± 1.31), (6.68 ± 0.72) and (5.13 ± 1.42) mm; (5.72±1.68), (4.82±1.66) and (3.42±1.15) mm; (3.14±0.45), (2.98±0.51) and (0.96±0.83) mm, respectively and no significant difference was found between the acceleration group and the peak group (P >0.05), but the changes in the acceleration group and the peak group were significantly greater than that in the deceleration group (P <0.05). Conclusions: The mid-palatal suture could be opened in patients in different CVM period. More skeletal and less dental effects were found in patients in the growth acceleration and peek group than in those in the growth deceleration group and the inclination of the alveolar bone could be avoided to a greater degree in patients in the growth peek group.
As an important wild relative of wheat, Agropyron cristatum has been successfully used for wheat improvement. Currently, a few useful agronomic traits of A. cristatum, such as high grain number per spike and resistance to diseases, have been transferred into common wheat. However, the effective detection of small A. cristatum segmental introgressions in common wheat is still difficult. The objective of this study was to identify A. cristatum-specific single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) for the detection of small alien segments in wheat. The transcriptome sequences of A. cristatum were aligned against wheat coding DNA sequences (CDS) for SNP calling. As a result, we discovered a total of 167,613 putative SNPs specific to the P genome of A. cristatum compared with the common wheat genomes. Among 230 selected SNPs with functional annotations related to inflorescence development and stress resistance, 68 were validated as P genome-specific SNPs in multiple wheat backgrounds using Kompetitive Allele Specific PCR (KASP) assays. Among them, 55 SNPs were assigned to six homoeologous groups of the P genome using wheat-A. cristatum addition lines, and 6P-specific SNP markers were further physically mapped on different segments of chromosome 6P in 6P translocation lines. The P genome-specific SNPs were also validated by Sanger sequencing and used to detect the P chromatin in wheat-A. cristatum cryptic introgression lines. Two SNP markers (Unigene20217-182 and Unigene20307-1420) were detected in two wheat-A. cristatum introgression lines that showed enhanced grain number per spike and high resistance to powdery mildew. Together, the developed P genome-specific SNP markers will accelerate the detection of large numbers of wheat-A. cristatum derivatives and will be helpful for marker-assisted transfer of desirable traits from A. cristatum into adapted wheat cultivars in wheat breeding programs.
To investigate the distribution and projective feature of cat olivocochlear neurons.Eleven adult cats were divided into two groups randomly. The experimental group of eight cats was injected of 1% cholera toxin B (CTB) to the left cochlea, while injected of 5% fluoro gold (FG) to the right cochlea. The control group of three cats was injected of saline to bilateral cochlea. After a survival time of 7 days, serial frozen sections were cut in the cat brainstem. All the sections were processed by immunofluorescent procedure for CTB and FG, and the labeled olivocochlear neurons were observed by fluorescent microscope.In the experimental group, the mean total of olivocochlear neurons labeled by CTB and FG was 3210 +/- 168, including lateral olivocochlear neurons (LOC, 2298 +/- 120) and medial olivocochlear neurons (MOC, 913 +/- 64). The labeled neurons were divided into three different types according to their feature of projection: neurons which only projected to the ipsilateral cochlea, neurons which only projected to the contralateral cochlea, and double-labeled neurons which projected both to the ipsilateral and contralateral cochlea, but the double-labeled neurons comprised 3.9% and 15.1% in the LOC and MOC system respectively. No labeled neurons were found in the control group.There are three types of neurons in the cat olivocochlear system. The neurons which projected to the bilateral cochlea may distribute both in the LOC and MOC system.