ABSTRACT
Studies of the molecular mechanisms involved in the formation of the albino leaf cells are important for understanding the development of chimera leaves in Ananas comosus var. bracteatus. In this study, we identified a total of 163 novel miRNAs involved in the development of complete white (CWh) and complete green (CGr) leaves using high-throughput sequencing method. The potential miRNA target genes were predicted and annotated using the NR, Swiss-Prot, GO, COG, KEGG, KOG and Pfam databases. The main biological processes regulated by miRNAs were revealed. The miRNAs which potentially play important roles in the development of the leaves and the albino of the CWh leaf cells were selected and their expression patterns were analyzed. The expression levels of nine miRNAs and their potential target genes were studied using qRT-PCR. These results will help to elucidate the functional and regulatory roles of miRNAs in the formation of the albino cells and the development of the leaves of A. comosus var. bracteatus. These data may also be helpful as a resource for studies of small RNA in other leaf color chimeric plant species.
Subject(s)
Gene Expression Regulation, Plant , High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing/methods , MicroRNAs/genetics , Plant Leaves/growth & development , Plant Leaves/genetics , RNA, Plant/genetics , Carotenoids/metabolism , Chlorophyll/biosynthesis , Chlorophyll/metabolism , Cluster Analysis , Gene Expression Profiling , Genes, Plant , MicroRNAs/metabolism , Molecular Sequence Annotation , Photosynthesis , Pigmentation , RNA, Plant/metabolism , Sequence Analysis, RNAABSTRACT
Lilium regale E.H. Wilson is endemic to a narrow geographic area in the Minjiang River valley in southwestern China, and is considered an important germplasm for breeding commercially valuable lily varieties, due to its vigorous growth, resistance to diseases and tolerance for low moisture. We analyzed the genetic diversity of eight populations of L. regale sampled across the entire natural distribution range of the species using Inter-Simple Sequence Repeat markers. The genetic diversity (expected heterozygosity= 0.3356) was higher than those reported for other narrowly distributed endemic plants. The levels of inbreeding (Fst = 0.1897) were low, and most of the genetic variability was found to be within (80.91%) than amongpopulations (19.09%). An indirect estimate of historical levels of gene flow (Nm =1.0678) indicated high levels of gene flow among populations. The eight analyzed populations clustered into three genetically distinct groups. Based on these results, we recommend conservation of large populations representing these three genetically distinct groups.
Subject(s)
DNA, Plant/genetics , Lilium/genetics , Microsatellite Repeats , Polymorphism, Genetic , Wilderness , China , Gene Flow , Rivers , Sequence Analysis, DNAABSTRACT
Chronic mild stress (CMS) is suggested to produce abnormalities in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and hypothalamus-pituitary-thyroid (HPT) axis. Therefore, compound that attenuates the neuroendocrinological alterations may have potential as antidepressant. The behavioral and neuroendocrinological effects of icariin, a major constituent of flavonoids isolated from Epimedium brevicornum, were investigated in the CMS model of depression in male Wistar rats. CMS procedure caused an anhedonic state in rats resulted in increased corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) concentrations in dissected brain regions and serum, decreased total triiodothyronine (tT3) in serum with no significant changes in serum adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH) and thyroxine (tT4). Administration of icariin reversed CMS-induced sucrose intake reduction and CRF elevation. These results suggested that icariin possessed potent antidepressant-like activities which were at least in part mediated by improving the abnormalities in the HPA axis functions. However, we did not find a clear correlation between the HPT axis and icariin treatment in the CMS-treated rats.
