A spontaneous bilateral fallopian tube pregnancy with didelphic uterus: A case report.

RATIONALE: In this article, we report interesting clinical manifestation of spontaneous bilateral fallopian tube pregnancies in a patient with a didelphic uterus. PATIENT CONCERNS: A 26-year-old female patient, gravida 2, para 0 + 1, suffered from progressive abdominal pain and vaginal bleeding. A laboratory exam revealed a human chorionic gonadotropin level of 1091 IU/L. Transvaginal ultrasound detected no embryo sacs in the uterus but revealed a didelphic uterus, and a mass measuring 39 mm x 32 mm in the left adnexa region with another mass measuring 42 x 28 mm in the right adnexa region. DIAGNOSES: An ectopic pregnancy in the left adnexa region and a corpus hemorrhagicum in the right adnexa region were suspected. INTERVENTIONS: Laparoscopic exploration operation confirmed a didelphic uterus, and pathological biopsy revealed bilateral fallopian tube pregnancies. OUTCOMES: The patient made a good recovery and the human chorionic gonadotropin became normal within the following 2 months. LESSONS: To the best of our knowledge, clinical manifestation of spontaneous bilateral fallopian tube pregnancies in a patient with a didelphic uterus has never been reported before. Based on the experience with this case, we suggest that if a gestational sac is found in 1 fallopian tube, the contralateral fallopian tube needs to be examined for an ectopic pregnancy during surgery.

Construction of gene causal regulatory networks using microarray data with the coefficient of intrinsic dependence.

BACKGROUND: In the past two decades, biologists have been able to identify the gene signatures associated with various phenotypes through the monitoring of gene expressions with high-throughput biotechnologies. These gene signatures have in turn been successfully applied to drug development, disease prevention, crop improvement, etc. However, ignoring the interactions among genes has weakened the predictive power of gene signatures in practical applications. Gene regulatory networks, in which genes are represented by nodes and the associations between genes are represented by edges, are typically constructed to analyze and visualize such gene interactions. More specifically, the present study sought to measure gene-gene associations by using the coefficient of intrinsic dependence (CID) to capture more nonlinear as well as cause-effect gene relationships. RESULTS: A stepwise procedure using the CID along with the partial coefficient of intrinsic dependence (pCID) was demonstrated for the rebuilding of simulated networks and the well-known CBF-COR pathway under cold stress using Arabidopsis microarray data. The procedure was also applied to the construction of bHLH gene regulatory pathways under abiotic stresses using rice microarray data, in which OsbHLH104, a putative phytochrome-interacting factor (OsPIF14), and OsbHLH060, a positive regulator of iron homeostasis (OsPRI1) were inferred as the most affiliated genes. The inferred regulatory pathways were verified through literature reviews. CONCLUSIONS: The proposed method can efficiently decipher gene regulatory pathways and may assist in achieving higher predictive power in practical applications. The lack of any mention in the literature of some of the regulatory event may have been due to the high complexity of the regulatory systems in the plant transcription, a possibility which could potentially be confirmed in the near future given ongoing rapid developments in bio-technology.

The function of OsbHLH068 is partially redundant with its homolog, AtbHLH112, in the regulation of the salt stress response but has opposite functions to control flowering in Arabidopsis.

KEY MESSAGE: The homologous genes OsbHLH068 and AtbHLH112 have partially redundant functions in the regulation of the salt stress response but opposite functions to control flowering in Arabidopsis. The transcription factor (TF) basic/Helix-Loop-Helix (bHLH) is important for plant growth, development, and stress responses. OsbHLH068, which is a homologous gene of AtbHLH112 that is up-regulated under drought and salt stresses, as indicated by previous microarray data analysis. However, the intrinsic function of OsbHLH068 remains unknown. In the present study, we characterized the function and compared the role of OsbHLH068 with that of its homolog, AtbHLH112. Histochemical GUS staining indicated that OsbHLH068 and AtbHLH112 share a similar expression pattern in transgenic Arabidopsis during the juvenile-to-adult phase transition. Heterologous overexpression of OsbHLH068 in Arabidopsis delays seed germination, decreases salt-induced H2O2 accumulation, and promotes root elongation, whereas AtbHLH112 knock-out mutant displays an opposite phenotype. Both OsbHLH068-overexpressing transgenic Arabidopsis seedlings and the Atbhlh112 mutant display a late-flowering phenotype. Moreover, the expression of OsbHLH068-GFP driven by an AtbHLH112 promoter can compensate for the germination deficiency in the Atbhlh112 mutant, but the delayed-flowering phenotype tends to be more severe. Further analysis by microarray and qPCR indicated that the expression of FT is down-regulated in both OsbHLH068-overexpressing Arabidopsis plants and Atbhlh112 mutant plants, whereas SOC1 but not FT is highly expressed in AtbHLH112-overexpressing Arabidopsis plants. A comparative transcriptomic analysis also showed that several stress-responsive genes, such as AtERF15 and AtPUB23, were affected in both OsbHLH068- and AtbHLH112-overexpressing transgenic Arabidopsis plants. Thus, we propose that OsbHLH068 and AtbHLH112 share partially redundant functions in the regulation of abiotic stress responses but have opposite functions to control flowering in Arabidopsis, presumably due to the evolutionary functional divergence of homolog-encoded proteins.

Comparative Transcriptome Analysis of Shoots and Roots of TNG67 and TCN1 Rice Seedlings under Cold Stress and Following Subsequent Recovery: Insights into Metabolic Pathways, Phytohormones, and Transcription Factors.

Cold stress affects rice growth, quality and yield. The investigation of genome-wide gene expression is important for understanding cold stress tolerance in rice. We performed comparative transcriptome analysis of the shoots and roots of 2 rice seedlings (TNG67, cold-tolerant; and TCN1, cold-sensitive) in response to low temperatures and restoration of normal temperatures following cold exposure. TNG67 tolerated cold stress via rapid alterations in gene expression and the re-establishment of homeostasis, whereas the opposite was observed in TCN1, especially after subsequent recovery. Gene ontology and pathway analyses revealed that cold stress substantially regulated the expression of genes involved in protein metabolism, modification, translation, stress responses, and cell death. TNG67 takes advantage of energy-saving and recycling resources to more efficiently synthesize metabolites compared with TCN1 during adjustment to cold stress. During recovery, expression of OsRR4 type-A response regulators was upregulated in TNG67 shoots, whereas that of genes involved in oxidative stress, chemical stimuli and carbohydrate metabolic processes was downregulated in TCN1. Expression of genes related to protein metabolism, modification, folding and defense responses was upregulated in TNG67 but not in TCN1 roots. In addition, abscisic acid (ABA)-, polyamine-, auxin- and jasmonic acid (JA)-related genes were preferentially regulated in TNG67 shoots and roots and were closely associated with cold stress tolerance. The TFs AP2/ERF were predominantly expressed in the shoots and roots of both TNG67 and TCN1. The TNG67-preferred TFs which express in shoot or root, such as OsIAA23, SNAC2, OsWRKY1v2, 24, 53, 71, HMGB, OsbHLH and OsMyb, may be good candidates for cold stress tolerance-related genes in rice. Our findings highlight important alterations in the expression of cold-tolerant genes, metabolic pathways, and hormone-related and TF-encoding genes in TNG67 rice during cold stress and recovery. The cross-talk of hormones may play an essential role in the ability of rice plants to cope with cold stress.

A novel function of abscisic acid in the regulation of rice (Oryza sativa L.) root growth and development.

Plant roots retain developmental plasticity and respond to environmental stresses or exogenous plant growth regulators by undergoing profound morphological and physiological alteration. In this study, we investigated the effects of exogenous ABA on root growth and development in Taichung native 1 (TN1) rice. Exogenous application of 10 microM ABA leads to swelling, root hair formation and initiation of lateral root primodia in the tips of young, seminal rice roots. Cortex cells increased in size and were irregularly shaped. ABA treatment significantly increased 2, 3, 5-triphenyl tetrazolium chloride (TTC) reductase ability in the root tips and the exudation rate of xylem sap. In addition, the K(+) ion content in xylem sap increased nearly 2-fold, but not that of Ca(2+) or Mg(2+). Analysis of proteins expressed in the root tips identified several ABA-induced or -repressed proteins, including actin depolymerization factor (ADF), late embryo abundant protein (LEA), putative steroid membrane-binding protein, ferredoxin thionine reductase and calcium-binding protein. The effects of ABA on root morphogenesis change were Ca(2+) dependent and required the participation of calmodulin and de novo protein synthesis. A model is presented that illustrates how ABA acts through a potential cellular and signal transduction mechanism to induce morphological and physiological changes in rice roots.