The mitochondrial genome of the plant bug Apolygus lucorum (Hemiptera: Miridae): Presently known as the smallest in Heteroptera.

The complete mitochondrial (mt) genome of the plant bug, Apolygus lucorum, an important cotton pest, has been sequenced and annotated in this study. The entire circular genome is 14 768 bp in size and represents the smallest in presently known heteropteran mt genomes. The mt genome is encoding for two ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes, 22 transfer RNA (tRNA) genes, 13 protein coding genes and a control region, and the order, content, codon usage and base organization show similarity to a great extent to the hypothetical ancestral model. All protein coding genes use standard initiation codons ATN. Conventional stop codons TAA and TAG have been assigned to the most protein coding genes; however, COIII, ND4 and ND5 genes show incomplete terminator signal (T). All tRNA genes possess the typical clover leaf structure, but the dihydrouridine arm of tRNA(Ser(AGN)) only forms a simple loop. Secondary structure models of rRNA genes are generally in accordance with the former models, although some differences exist in certain parts. Three intergenic spacers have never been found in sequenced mt genomes of Heteroptera. The phylogenetic study based on protein coding genes is largely congruent with previous phylogenetic work. Both Bayesian inference and maximum likelihood analyses highly support the sister relationship of A. lucorum and Lygus lineolaris, and Miridae presents a sister position to Anthocoridae.

Expression of manganese superoxide dismutase in patients with breast cancer.

Breast cancer has become the second leading cancer among females in Taiwan. Even though the etiology of breast cancer is multifactorial, oxidative stress plays an important role in the carcinogenesis. The purpose of this study was to investigate the expression of manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD), one of the major antioxidant enzymes that is involved against oxidative stress, in adjacent cancer-free breast tissues and neoplasm tissues within the same patient. Sixty-five breast cancer patients' formalin-fixed tissue blocks, including ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) tissues, invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) tissues, and adjacent cancer-free tissues, were evaluated by immunohistochemical stain. Meanwhile, their demographic and clinical information was also collected. The combined scores of MnSOD-positive cell proportion and MnSOD staining intensity were compared for different tissues within the same patient. The results showed that the mean combined scores of MnSOD expression in adjacent cancer-free tissues (6.33), IDC (5.30), and DCIS (3.78) were significantly different when assessed by repeated-measurement analysis of variance (F=14.17, p<0.001). Additionally, the results revealed that the distribution of strong MnSOD protein expression was 80.0%, 72.3%, and 52.3% in adjacent cancer-free tissues, IDC, and DCIS, respectively. However, there was no statistically significant relationship between the expression of MnSOD and grades of breast cancer or other clinicopathologic variables. We suggest that the expression of MnSOD in neoplasm tissues, independent of the clinicopathologic characters, plays a critical role in breast cancer biology.