"Microtia, Branchial Cleft Fistula, and Tetralogy of Fallot: A Possible Association".

When searching over associations between congenital ear abnormalities, especially microtia and affiliated deformities like cleft lip or palate and congenital heart diseases, some clinical analysis and genetic theories are found. A 10-year-old boy sent to the plastic surgery hospital was puzzled by a congenital anterior auricular fistula with fluid trace for more than 9 years. The preoperative diagnoses were branchial cleft fistula and congenital left ear deformity with postoperation of TOF. By browsing over studies on genetic concerns and clinical performance, it may be attributed to a possible association between microtia, branchial cleft fistula, and tetralogy of Fallot, though whose fundamental mechanisms remain concerned.

[A strategy based on comparative genomics to align ESTs of maize].

In this study, a new strategy to locate ESTs on maize linkage groups was described. In the strategy, the rice (Oryza sativa L.) genomic sequence database of was employed to locate maize EST on rice linkage groups, and then to locate on maize linkage group by comparative genetics mapping between rice and maize genome. The aligned ESTs information should available for further study on genomics and gene cloning. As an example, 139 ESTs of maize were assayed, and 96 maize ESTs (69%) were homologous with rice genomic sequence, 55% (77/139) ESTs were located on maize linkage groups based on the strategy, indicating that the locating approach of ESTs is feasible and available.

[Progress of molecular biology of CMS in maize].

In the paper,we have summarized the molecular biological accomplishment acquired and accepted by most of maize researchers on CMS of maize. A brief review of current molecular biological progress of CMS of maize are displayed in the paper. These progresses concern in the positioning,cloning and maker-assisted selection of nucleic genes associated with fertility,expression and cloning of cytoplasmic genes associated with male sterility. In order to elucidate the molecular mechanism of CMS of maize, the areas about cloning and expression profiling of male sterile nucleic genes,and functional genomics of mitochondria,and interaction cytoplasmic genes with nucleic genes will need to be researched in the future.