Overexpression of AtWRKY50 is correlated with enhanced production of sinapic derivatives in Arabidopsis.

INTRODUCTION: WRKY proteins belong to a plant-specific class of transcription factors. Seventy-four WKRY genes have been identified in Arabidopsis and many WRKY proteins are known to be involved in responses to stress, especially to biotic stress. They may act either as transcriptional activators or as repressors of genes that play roles in the stress response. A number of studies have proposed the connection of Arabidopsis WRKY transcription factors in induced pathogenesis-related (PR) gene expression, although no direct evidence has been presented for specific WRKY-PR promoter interactions. OBJECTIVE: We previously identified AtWRKY50 as a transcriptional activator of SAR gene PR1. Although PR1 accumulates to high levels in plants after attack by pathogens, its function is still elusive. Here we investigated the effects of overexpression of several WRKY proteins, including AtWRKY50, on the metabolome of Arabidopsis thaliana. METHODS: The influence of overexpression of WRKY proteins on the metabolites of Arabidopsis was investigated by using an NMR spectroscopy-based metabolomic approach. The 1H NMR data was analysed using the multivariate data analysis methods, such as principal component analysis, hierarchical cluster analysis and partial least square-discriminant analysis. RESULTS: The results showed that the metabolome of transgenic Arabidopsis seedlings overexpressing AtWRKY50 was different from wild type Arabidopsis and transgenic Arabidopsis overexpressing other WRKY genes. Amongst other metabolites, sinapic acid and 1-O-sinapoyl-ß-D-glucose especially appeared to be the most prominent discriminating metabolites, accumulating to levels 2 to 3 times higher in the AtWRKY50 overexpressor lines. CONCLUSION: Our results indicate a possible involvement of AtWRKY50 in secondary metabolite production in Arabidopsis, in particular of hydroxycinnamates such as sinapic acid and 1-O-sinapoyl-ß-D-glucose.

Culture of non-genital sites increases the detection of gonorrhea in women.

STUDY OBJECTIVES: Although gonorrhea may infect the cervix, rectum, or pharynx of women, culturing non-cervical sites is rare outside of sexually transmitted disease (STD) clinics. This study aims to compare rectal and pharyngeal gonorrhea prevalence in adolescent and adult women and to calculate the percentage of cases that would be missed with cervical culture alone. DESIGN: Retrospective review of two laboratory databases. SETTING: STD clinic (2006-2007) and urban children's hospital (2003-2007). PARTICIPANTS: Adolescent women (age 14-21, n = 16,039) in the hospital database; adolescent (n=525) and adult (age >21) women (n = 1424) in the STD database. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Prevalence of gonorrhea by group and culture source. RESULTS: Cervical plus additional culture was performed in 76% of adult STD, 52% of adolescent STD, and 2% of adolescent hospital samples. Pharyngeal gonorrhea prevalence in the adolescent hospital (3.5%) was similar to adolescent STD (6.8%, P = 0.1) and adult STD (2.5%, P = 0.4) samples. Rectal gonorrhea prevalence in adolescent hospital (2.9%) was lower than adolescent STD (13.4%, P = 0.01) but not adult STD (5.2%, P = 0.6) samples. Pharyngeal gonorrhea occurred in 0.6-3.4% and rectal gonorrhea in 0-2.7% of women with a negative cervical culture. Culturing only the cervix missed 20-40% of adult STD, 14-26% of adolescent STD, and 11% of adolescent hospital infected cases. CONCLUSIONS: Pharyngeal gonorrhea is as high in adolescent women from a children's hospital as in adult women from an STD clinic. Without pharyngeal culture, 11-26% of infected adolescent women would be missed. Increased pharyngeal testing may impact the gonorrhea epidemic among adolescent women.