Significant Microsynteny with New Evolutionary Highlights Is Detected through Comparative Genomic Sequence Analysis of Maize CCCH IX Gene Subfamily.

CCCH zinc finger proteins, which are characterized by the presence of three cysteine residues and one histidine residue, play important roles in RNA processing in plants. Subfamily IX CCCH proteins were recently shown to function in stress tolerances. In this study, we analyzed CCCH IX genes in Zea mays, Oryza sativa, and Sorghum bicolor. These genes, which are almost intronless, were divided into four groups based on phylogenetic analysis. Microsynteny analysis revealed microsynteny in regions of some gene pairs, indicating that segmental duplication has played an important role in the expansion of this gene family. In addition, we calculated the dates of duplication by Ks analysis, finding that all microsynteny blocks were formed after the monocot-eudicot divergence. We found that deletions, multiplications, and inversions were shown to have occurred over the course of evolution. Moreover, the Ka/Ks ratios indicated that the genes in these three grass species are under strong purifying selection. Finally, we investigated the evolutionary patterns of some gene pairs conferring tolerance to abiotic stress, laying the foundation for future functional studies of these transcription factors.

Novel synthesis of a versatile magnetic adsorbent derived from corncob for dye removal.

Corncob, an agricultural waste, was successfully converted into a novel magnetic adsorbent by a low-temperature hydrothermal method (453K), including carbonization under saline conditions and magnetization using iron (III) salt. The resultant magnetic carbonaceous adsorbent (MCA) exhibited a porous structure with a higher specific surface area and more oxygen-containing functional groups than its carbonaceous precursor (CP), which can be attributed to the catalytic effect of Fe (III). The adsorption behaviors of both MCA and CP could be described well by Langmuir isotherm and pseudo-second-order model. The adsorption capacity for Methylene blue (MB) revealed by adsorption isotherms were 163.93mg/g on MCA and 103.09mg/g on CP, respectively. Moreover, MCA was demonstrated as a versatile adsorbent for removal of both anionic and cationic dyes, and it showed good reusability in regeneration studies. This work provides an alternative approach for effective conversion of biomass waste and application of them in pollutant removal.

Genome-wide identification, classification and analysis of heat shock transcription factor family in maize.

BACKGROUND: Heat shock response in eukaryotes is transcriptionally regulated by conserved heat shock transcription factors (Hsfs). Hsf genes are represented by a large multigene family in plants and investigation of the Hsf gene family will serve to elucidate the mechanisms by which plants respond to stress. In recent years, reports of genome-wide structural and evolutionary analysis of the entire Hsf gene family have been generated in two model plant systems, Arabidopsis and rice. Maize, an important cereal crop, has represented a model plant for genetics and evolutionary research. Although some Hsf genes have been characterized in maize, analysis of the entire Hsf gene family were not completed following Maize (B73) Genome Sequencing Project. RESULTS: A genome-wide analysis was carried out in the present study to identify all Hsfs maize genes. Due to the availability of complete maize genome sequences, 25 nonredundant Hsf genes, named ZmHsfs were identified. Chromosomal location, protein domain and motif organization of ZmHsfs were analyzed in maize genome. The phylogenetic relationships, gene duplications and expression profiles of ZmHsf genes were also presented in this study. Twenty-five ZmHsfs were classified into three major classes (class A, B, and C) according to their structural characteristics and phylogenetic comparisons, and class A was further subdivided into 10 subclasses. Moreover, phylogenetic analysis indicated that the orthologs from the three species (maize, Arabidopsis and rice) were distributed in all three classes, it also revealed diverse Hsf gene family expression patterns in classes and subclasses. Chromosomal/segmental duplications played a key role in Hsf gene family expansion in maize by investigation of gene duplication events. Furthermore, the transcripts of 25 ZmHsf genes were detected in the leaves by heat shock using quantitative real-time PCR. The result demonstrated that ZmHsf genes exhibit different expression levels in heat stress treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, data obtained from our investigation contributes to a better understanding of the complexity of the maize Hsf gene family and provides the first step towards directing future experimentation designed to perform systematic analysis of the functions of the Hsf gene family.

Cloning and sequence analysis of maize FAD2 gene.

Delta-12 desaturases are involved in the conversion of oleic acid to linoleic acid in plant. Based on the conserved oligo amino acid residues of the published delta-12 desaturase genes from other higher plant species, a cDNA fragment was amplified by RT-PCR (reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction) from the total RNA of immature maize embryos. According to bioinformation analysis of the cDNA sequence, a specific fragment of FAD2 gene was isolated by RT-PCR from immature maize embryos, and DNA of the same length was amplified from maize genome. Results of sequence analysis indicate that they are all 1 164 bp long, and have just an open reading frame (ORF) coding for 387 amino acids, and there is no intron in the FAD2 ORF (GenBank accession DQ496227). The deduced amino acid sequence of the cloned FAD2 showed high identity to those of other plant delta-12 fatty acid desaturases. It contains three histidine motifs and two long stretches of hydrophobic residues, indicative of an integral membrane protein spanning membrane four times. Analysis by semi-quantitive RT-PCR showed that FAD2 was strongly expressed in maize immature embryos than in leaves, stems and roots.