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Mutation throughout Bombyx mori fibrohexamerin (P25) gene brings about reorganization of rough endoplasmic reticulum in rear cotton gland tissue and modifies morphology regarding fibroin secretory globules from the silk sweat gland lumen.
Mercury is a heavy metal that has caused concern regarding the health of fish and of those who consume them. In this research, the concentrations of mercury in the muscle tissues of zander and European perch from Anzali were measured using a graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometer (GFAAS). The average concentrations of mercury in the muscle of the zander and European perch were 244 and 105 µg/kg dry weight, respectively. A nonsignificant positive correlation between morphological parameters and mercury values was observed for both species (P > 0.05). The concentrations of mercury accumulated in the two fish species were lower than the values recorded in most similar studies, and were below the permissible limit provided by the National Iranian Standards Organization, FAO, WHO, US EPA, EC, and US FDA. In addition, the HQ value was less than one. Therefore, in general, this research indicates that exposure to mercury does not threaten the health of these species and their consumers.Bacillus subtilis strain NCD-2 is an excellent biocontrol agent against plant soil-borne diseases. With the purpose of understanding the colonization characteristics of strain NCD-2, firstly, a constitutive expression promoter was cloned from strain NCD-2 and was used to construct GFP-labeled strain NCD-2. The GFP-labeled strain NCD-2 showed strong green fluorescence under planktonic cells and biofilm formation. The colonization characteristics of strain NCD-2 on different parts of cotton root were qualitatively observed by confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM). Results showed that strain NCD-2 mainly colonized on the zone of differentiation and elongation. Rhizosphere populations of B. subtilis strain NCD-2 on different cotton root were quantitatively evaluated by traditional plating count and quantitative PCR (qPCR) analysis in both autoclaved soil and non-autoclaved soil, respectively. Results showed that both traditional plating count and qPCR analysis showed similar trend for colonization characteristics of strain NCD-2. The greatest strain NCD-2 populations were in the root tip, at 9.19 × 107 CFU g-1 root and 6.75 × 107 CFU g-1 root as estimated by qPCR in non-autoclaved and autoclaved soil, respectively. This study provides a clearer understanding of the interactions between biocontrol agent and plant, as well as with the indigenous microorganisms in the soil.Micro-organisms are often subjected to stressful conditions. Owing to their capacity to adapt, they try to rapidly cope with the unfavorable conditions by lowering their growth rate, changing their morphology, and developing altered metabolite production and other stress-related metabolism. The stress-related metabolism of the cells which interrupted their growth is often referred to as resting metabolism and can be exploit for specific and high rate production of secondary metabolites. Although the bacterial resting cell process has been described decades ago, we find it worthwhile to bring the process under renewed attention and refer to this type of processes as non-growing metabolically active (NGMA) cell processes. Selleck Ivarmacitinib Despite their use may sound counterproductive, NGMA cells can be of interest to increase substrate conversion rates or enable conversion of certain substrates, not accessible to growing cells due to their bacteriostatic nature or requirement of resistance to a multitude of different stress mechanisms. Biomass reuse is an interesting feature to improve the economics of NGMA cell processes. Yet, for lipophilic compounds or compounds with low solubility, biomass separation can be delicate. This review draws the attention on existing examples of NGMA cell processes, summarizing some developmental tools and highlighting drawbacks and opportunities, to answer the research question if NGMA cells can have a distinct added value in industry. Particular elaboration is made on a novel and more broadly applicable strategy to enable biomass reuse for conversions of compounds with low solubility.Objective Night shifts are associated with several major diseases. Mortality has been studied only to a limited extent, and the association with night shifts remains unclear. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the association between duration of night shift exposure and mortality in a large sample from the Swedish Twin Registry (the SALT cohort). Methods Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to analyze the data (N=42 731) over a follow-up period of 18 years, with years of night shift work as the exposure variable and adjustment for lifestyle factors and age, and stratification on gender and occupational group. Results The hazard ratio (HR) for "ever" night shifts for total mortality was 1.07 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.01-1.15] but 1.15 (95% CI 1.07-1.25) for longer exposure (>5 years). Also, HR for cause-specific mortality due to cardiovascular disease was significant, with higher HR for longer night shift exposure. Mortality due to cancer was significant for longer exposure only. White-collar workers showed significant HR for longer exposure. In particular, male white-collar workers showed a significant HR, with a highest value for longer exposure [HR 1.28 (95% CI 1.09-1.49)]. Heredity did not influence the results significantly. Conclusions Long duration of exposure to night shift work is associated with increased mortality, particularly in male white-collar workers. The lack of effects of accumulated exposure suggests that the results should be interpreted with caution.The temporary callose layer surrounding the tetrads of microspores is critical for male gametophyte development in flowering plants, as abnormal callose deposition can lead to microspore abortion. A sophisticated signaling network regulates callose biosynthesis, but these pathways are poorly understood. In this study, we characterized a rice male sterile mutant, oslecrk5, which showed defective callose deposition during meiosis. OsLecRK5 encodes a plasma membrane (PM)-localized lectin receptor like kinase, which can form dimer with itself. Moreover, normal anther development requires the K-phosphorylation site (a conserved residue at the ATP-binding site) of OsLecRK5. In vitro assay showed that OsLecRK5 phosphorylates the callose synthesis enzyme UGP1, enhancing callose biosynthesis during anther development. Together, our results demonstrated that PM-localized OsLecRK5 phosphorylates UGP1 and promotes its activity in callose biosynthesis in rice. This is the first evidence that an RLK positively regulates callose biosynthesis.
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