Genome-Wide Association Study of Rice Grain Shape and Chalkiness in a Worldwide Collection of Xian Accessions.

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) appearance quality, which is mainly defined by grain shape and chalkiness, is an important target in rice breeding. In this study, we first re-sequenced 137 indica accessions and then conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) for six agronomic traits with the 2,998,034 derived single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) by using the best linear unbiased prediction (BLUP) values for each trait. The results revealed that 195 SNPs had significant associations with the six agronomic traits. Based on the genome-wide linkage disequilibrium (LD) blocks, candidate genes for the target traits were detected within 100 kb upstream and downstream of the relevant SNP loci. Results indicate that six quantitative trait loci (QTLs) significantly associated with six traits (qTGW4.1, qTGW4.2, qGL4.1, qGL12.1, qGL12.2, qGW2.1, qGW4.1, qGW6.1, qGW8.1, qGW8.2, qGW9.1, qGW11.1, qGLWR2.1, qGLWR2.2, qGLWR4.2, qPGWC5.1 and qDEC6.1) were identified for haplotype analysis. Among these QTLs, two (qTGW4.2 and qGW6.1), were overlapped with FLO19 and OsbZIP47, respectively, and the remaining four were novel QTLs. These candidate genes were further validated by haplotype block construction.

Serum protein expression patterns in detecting a new viral protein in HBeAg-negative chronic hepatitis B.

We analysed the changes in viral protein expression in HBeAg-negative chronic hepatitis B (CHB). In total, 160 samples were obtained from individuals infected by hepatitis B virus (HBV) and divided into four groups. Group A included 71 cases of hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)-negative CHB, Group B included 58 cases of inactive seroconverters and Group C included 31 cases of HBeAg-positive CHB. Group D included 22 normal healthy individuals as a control. All serum samples were examined using surface enhance laser desorption/ionization time of flight-mass spectrometry (SELDI-TOF-MS). The results indicated that a peak with 4140 m/z increased markedly in Group A at 1295.55 ± 745.87, which was significantly different from that in Group B at 896.99 ± 534.86 (P = 0.013). This peak indicated a close relationship with HBV DNA replication and may contribute to pathogenesis of HBeAg-negative chronic hepatitis.

Effects of lactitol on intestinal microflora and plasma endotoxin in patients with chronic viral hepatitis.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the effects of lactitol on intestinal flora and the levels of plasma endotoxin in patients with chronic viral hepatitis. METHODS: Sixty patients with chronic viral hepatitis and gut-derived endotoxemia were randomly divided into two groups: lactitol group (n=30) and control group (n=30). Patients in the control group received standard medical treatment for 3 weeks, while patients in the lactitol group received lactitol orally in addition to the standard medical treatment. Fecal flora and plasma endotoxin were measured before and after the treatment. RESULTS: In the lactitol group, the numbers of Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus per gram of wet feces were significantly increased (p<0.01) and Clostridium perfringens count was decreased markedly (p<0.001). The levels of plasma endotoxin decreased after the treatment from 72.89 ng/L to 33.33 ng/L in the lactitol group and from 66.00 ng/L to 51.07 ng/L in the control group, but the plasma endotoxin levels in the lactitol group decreased far more than in the control group (p<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Lactitol can decrease the levels of plasma endotoxin more effectively than standard medical treatment in patients with chronic viral hepatitis through improving intestinal microflora.

Influence of HLA class II molecules on the outcome of hepatitis B virus infection in population of Zhejiang Province in China.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the correlation between HLA class II molecules and the different outcome of viral hepatitis B. METHODS: Thirty patients with chronic hepatitis B and 56 subjects who had spontaneously recovered from HBV infection in Zhejiang were enrolled in this investigation. HLA class II molecules types and alleles were determined by PCR-ssp. RESULTS: HLA-DR12 was found in 21 of the 56 subjects (38%) recovered from hepatitis B, compared to 3 of the 30 patients with chronic hepatitis B [10%, relative risk (rr), 0.19; Pcorr<0.025]. The frequency of the allele of HLA-DR12 DRB1*1201 was higher in the subjects recovered from hepatitis B infection (32%) than in the patients with chronic hepatitis B (3%; rr, 0.07; Pcorr<0.005). On the contrary, more HLA-DR9 was detected in the patients with chronic hepatitis B (43%) than in the subjects who recovered from hepatitis B infection (18%; rr, 3.52; Pcorr<0.025). HLA-DQ9 was also detected with a higher frequency in the patients with chronic hepatitis B (43%) than in the subjects who recovered from hepatitis B (20%; rr, 3.13; Pcorr<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The HLA class II molecule DR12 and its allele DRB1*1201 are associated with protection against chronic hepatitis B in Zhejiang Province, China. HLA-DR9 and DQ9 are associated with chronicity of HBV infection.