Climate-dependent variation in cold tolerance of weedy rice and rice mediated by OsICE1 promoter methylation.

The mechanisms by which weedy rice (Oryza sativa f. spontanea) has adapted to endure low-temperature stress in northern latitudes remain unresolved. In this study, we assessed cold tolerance of 100 rice varieties and 100 co-occurring weedy rice populations, which were sampled across a broad range of climates in China. A parallel pattern of latitude-dependent variation in cold tolerance was detected in cultivated rice and weedy rice. At the molecular level, differential cold tolerance was strongly correlated with relative expression levels of CBF cold response pathway genes and with methylation levels in the promoter region of OsICE1, a regulator of this pathway. Among all methylated cytosine sites of the OsICE1 promoter, levels of CHG and CHH methylation were found to be significantly correlated with cold tolerance among accessions. Furthermore, within many of the collection locales, weedy rice shared identical or near-identical OsICE1 methylation patterns with co-occurring cultivated rice. These findings provide new insights on the possible roles that methylation variation in the OsICE1 promoter may play in cold tolerance, and they suggest that weedy rice can rapidly acquire cold tolerance via methylation patterns that are shared with co-occurring rice cultivars.

Chronic fatigue syndrome treated by the traditional Chinese procedure abdominal tuina: a randomized controlled clinical trial.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of the traditional Chinese procedure abdominal Tuina (AT) on chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). METHODS: This randomized, single assessor-blinded clinical trial was carried out from May 2014 to April 2015. Eighty participants in the trial were divided randomly into two groups: experimental group and control. The experimental group (40 cases) was treated by AT and the control group (40 cases) by acupuncture. Each treatment was conducted once a day, 5 d for one course, at an interval of 2 d between each course. The whole treatment course lasted for 4 weeks. To ascertain the effect of AT and acupuncture, Fatigue Scale-14 (FS-14), Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) and Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAMD) scores were used before and after treatment. Patients were followed up for 3 months after treatment. RESULTS: After treatment for 4 weeks, 77 patients (39 cases in the experimental group and 38 cases in the control group) completed the trial. The FS-14, SAS and HAMD scores decreased (P < 0.05) significantly compared with those before treatment in both groups. The FS-14 and HAMD (P < 0.05) scores in the experimental group were much lower than those in the control group. The difference in SAS scores between the two groups was not significant. In the final follow-up, CFS in two cases in the experimental group and three in the control group recurred, but the difference was not significant. The scores for the FS-14, SAS and HAMD in the experimental group were superior to those of the control group, and the difference was significant (P < 0.05). No serious adverse events and few adverse events were observed. CONCLUSION: AT elicited a more efficacious effect than acupuncture alone on CFS.