A novel endoscopic classification for craniopharyngioma based on its origin.

Endoscopic endonasal approach for craniopharyngioma (CP) resection provides a wide view and direct observation of hypothalamus and origin of tumor. Under endoscopy, 92 CPs were classified into 2 types: Peripheral and Central, according to its relation to pituitary stalk. Peripheral type was further divided into 3 subtypes: Hypothalamic stalk, Suprasellar stalk and Intrasellar stalk CP, according to the different origin site along hypothalamus-pituitary axis. Peripheral type arisen from the stalk but expanded and grown laterally in an exophytic pattern, accounting for 71.7% of all CPs, preservation rate of stalk was higher (76.0%). Central type grew within and along pituitary stalk and located strictly in the midline. The pituitary stalk was hardly preserved (only15.4%). Hypothalamic stalk CPs (n = 36, 54.6%) developed from the junction of hypothalamus and stalk, hypothalamus damage was found in all of this subtype after surgery. Suprasellar stalk CPs (n = 14, 21.2%) originated from the lower portion of stalk and displaced hypothalamus upward rather than infiltrated it. Intrasellar stalk CPs (n = 16, 24.2%) arose from the subdiaphragma portion of the stalk, with less hypothalamus damage. Recoginzing the origin of CP is helpful to understand its growth pattern and relation to hypothalamus, which is critical in planning the most appropriate surgical approach and degree of excision.

Genetic Diversity in Various Accessions of Pineapple [Ananas comosus (L.) Merr.] Using ISSR and SSR Markers.

Inter simple sequence repeat (ISSR) and simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers were used to assess the genetic diversity of 36 pineapple accessions that were introduced from 10 countries/regions. Thirteen ISSR primers amplified 96 bands, of which 91 (93.65%) were polymorphic, whereas 20 SSR primers amplified 73 bands, of which 70 (96.50%) were polymorphic. Nei's gene diversity (h = 0.28), Shannon's information index (I = 0.43), and polymorphism information content (PIC = 0.29) generated using the SSR primers were higher than that with ISSR primers (h =  0.23, I = 0.37, PIC = 0.24), thereby suggesting that the SSR system is more efficient than the ISSR system in assessing genetic diversity in various pineapple accessions. Mean genetic similarities were 0.74, 0.61, and 0.69, as determined using ISSR, SSR, and combined ISSR/SSR, respectively. These results suggest that the genetic diversity among pineapple accessions is very high. We clustered the 36 pineapple accessions into three or five groups on the basis of the phylogenetic trees constructed based on the results of ISSR, SSR, and combined ISSR/SSR analyses using the unweighted pair-group with arithmetic averaging (UPGMA) method. The results of principal components analysis (PCA) also supported the UPGMA clustering. These results will be useful not only for the scientific conservation and management of pineapple germplasm but also for the improvement of the current pineapple breeding strategies.

[Development and application of EST-derived SSR markers for bananas (Musa nana Lour.)].

A total of 2,284 banana unigene sequences were mined, resulting in the identification of 122 SSRs in 110 sequences. Among them, there were 37 motifs the overall average length of SSRs was 20 bp. The trinucleotide repeats appeared to be the most abundant SSRs (47.6%), followed by dinucleotide repeats (33.1%), whereas the tetranucleotide repeats were less abundant. The rich repeats AG and AGG were predominant, accounting for 75.7% and 36% in dri- and tri-nucleotide repeats respectively. A total of 63 primer pairs were designed and tested against genomic DNA of Brazil. Forty-one primers could be validated as usable markers. Nineteen of these primers revealed moderate to high polymorphism information content (PIC) across 49 accessions. The polymorphic bands were ranged from 4 to 12, averagely 7.58. The mean PIC value was 0.7324, ranging from 0.3572 to 0.8744. Forty-nine banana varieties were separated into two major clusters closely corresponding with the genome composition by UPGMA analysis. The results showed that the EST-SSR markers were of great value in evaluation of banana germplasms.