Among hemipteran insects which is the most important insect vector of plant viruses, small brown planthopper, Laodelphax striatellus, transmits the rice stripe virus (RSV) causing rice stripe disease. For effective control of RSV, it is important to understand interaction between RSV and L. striatellus. Therefore, in this study, expressed sequence tag (EST) databases were generated based on 454 GS-FLX pyrosequencing for comparative transcriptome analysis between nonviruliferous and RSV-viruliferous L. striatellus. By comparing the two EST libraries, we showed that 108 host genes were significantly up-regulated and 28 host genes were significantly down-regulated in viruliferous insects. Interestingly, genes encoding ribosomal proteins were mainly up-regulated in viruliferous L. striatellus, whereas genes related to translation were concentrated in the downregulated cohort. These RSV-dependently regulated genes may have important function in the behavior of planthopper or the transmission of RSV.

Bacillus thuringiensis serovar mogi of a novel serogroup (H3a3b3d), which showed mosquitocidal activity against Anopheles sinensis and Culex pipiens pallens, was isolated from fallen leaves in Mungyeong city, Republic of Korea. In contrast to the complicated plasmid profiles of B. thuringiensis H3 serotype strains, the B. thuringiensis serovar mogi contained only megaplasmid (> 30 MDa) on which the toxin genes were occasionally located. Sequence analysis using 454-pyrosequencing revealed that the megaplasmid harbored at least seven putative cry genes, showing about 84%, 75%, 73%, 58%, 84%, 39% and 75% similarities in amino acid sequences with Cry27Aa, Cry19Ba, Cry20-like, Cry56Aa, Cry39ORF2, Cry8Ba and Cry40ORF2, respectively. These cry genes were cloned to the Escherichia coli-B. thuringiensis shuttle vector, pHT1K, and then introduced into an acrystalliferous B. thuringiensis Cry-B strain for further molecular characterization. To investigate the role of these genes in crystal production, the expression profiles of these toxin genes were analyzed by quantitative real-time PCR (qrtPCR) from the wild type strain as well as transformant strains. The results clearly indicate that the cry39orf2 was the dominant ingredient in the crystal. This novel 3a3b3d type strain, B. thuringiensis serovar mogi, could be used as a good resource for studying unknown mosquitocidal cry genes.

The baculovirus expression system is one of the most popular methods used for the production of recombinant proteins but has several complex steps which have proved inherently difficult to meet a multi-parellel process. We have developed a novel recombinant bacmid, bEasyBm that enabling easy and fast generation of pure recombinant virus without any purification step. In the bEasyBm, attR recombination sites were introduced to facilitate the generation of recombinant viral genome by in vitro transposition. Moreover, extracellular RNase gene from bacillus amyloliquefaciens, barnase, was expressed under the control of Cotesia plutellae bracovirus early promoter. Therefore, only when the barnase gene was replaced to gene of interest, the bEasyBm could replicate in host insect cells. When the bEasyBm was transposed with pDualBac-EGFP and pDualBac-LUC respectively, there were no non-recombinant backgrounds were detected from unpurified BmEasy-EGFP or BmEasy-LUC stocks. In addition, the resulting recombinant virus, BmEasy-EGFP, showed comparable level of EGFP expression efficiency with the plaque-purified recombinant virus, BmEGFP, which was constructed using bBmGOZA system. Based on these results, high-throughput condition for generation of multiple recombinant viruses in a time was established.

Varieties of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) crystal proteins, Cry proteins, have so far been found as one of the most successful biological control agents which are safe to natural environments for a long time. Recently, cry genes encoding these Cry proteins have been widely applied for construction of transgenic crops resistant to pest insects. In this study, through the 3D structure prediction and accompanying mutagenesis study for the Mod-Cry1Ac, 7 and 16 amino acid residues from domain I and II, respectively, responsible for its insecticidal activity against larvae of Spodoptera exigua and Ostrinia furnacalis were identified. To construct novel cry genes with improved insecticidal activity, we randomly mutated these 23 amino acid sequences by in vitro muti site-directed mutagenesis, resulting in totally 24 mutant cry genes. For further characterization, these mutant cry genes were expressed as a fusion protein with polyhedrin using baculovirus expression system. SDS-PAGE analysis of the recombinant polyhedra revealed that expressed Cry proteins was occluded into polyhedra and activated stably to 65 kDa by trypsin. In the further study, we plan to investigate their insecticidal activity against Plutella xylostella, S. exigua and O. furnacalis larvae.

With escalating economic growth during the last three decades, flower industry of China, especially cut flower is sharply developed. In this paper a brief review of the cut flower current situation of globe and current status of flower industry of China especially of cut flower in the world is presented. The acreage, yield, potential of cut flower in China along with distribution of major cut flower products and constraint of cut flower also was indicated in this paper was also presented.

A new model and resultant equation for the coagulation of acrylonitrile monomers in precipitation polymerization are suggested in consideration of the surface tension (γ) and cohesive energy density (ECED). The equation was proven to be quite favorable by considering figure fittings from known surface tensions and cohesive energy densities of certain organic solvents. The relationship between scale value of surface tension (γ/M) and cohesive energy density of monomers can be obtained by changing the coagulation bath component for effective precipitation polymerization of acrylonitrile in wet spinning.

Poly-L-lactic acid (PLLA), PLLA/hydroxyapatite (HA), PLLA/multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs)/HA, PLLA/trifluoroethanol (TFE), PLLA/gelatin, and carbon nanofibers (CNFs)/β-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) composite membranes (scaffolds) were fabricated by electrospinning and their morphologies, and mechanical properties were characterized for use in bone tissue regeneration/guided tissue regeneration. MWNTs and HA nanoparticles were well distributed in the membranes and the degradation characteristics were improved. PLLA/MWNTs/HA membranes enhanced the adhesion and proliferation of periodontal ligament cells (PDLCs) by 30% and inhibited the adhesion of gingival epithelial cells by 30%. Osteoblast-like MG-63 cells on the randomly fiber oriented PLLA/TEF membrane showed irregular forms, while the cells exhibited shuttle-like shapes on the parallel fiber oriented membrane. Classical supersaturated simulated body fluids were modified by CO2 bubbling and applied to promote the biomineralization of the PLLA/gelatin membrane; this resulted in predictions of bone bonding bioactivity of the substrates. The β-TCP membranes exhibit good biocompatibility, have an effect on PDLC growth comparable to that of pure CNF membrane, and can be applied as scaffolds for bone tissue regeneration.

It is well established that mitochondrial genome is strictly maternally inherited in mammalian, despite the fact that paternal mitochondria enter into oocyte during fertilization. To date, although some mechanisms have been extrapolated to interpret the elimination of paternal mitochondria, the exact mechanism still is unclear. Recent studies suggest that autophagy process and the ubiquitin-mediated degradation pathway may be involved in elimination of paternal mitochondria. However, the dynamic profiles of autophagy and ubiquitination associated with paternal mitochondria degradation have not been determined in mouse model. Through immunostaining with specific antibody LC3 and Ubiquitin and confocal microscopy, we investigated the dynamic profiles of LC3 and Ubiquitin signals in mouse embryos during preimplantation development. In addition, embryos were stained with MitoTracker Red for tracking the degradation process of paternal mitochondria. Our results showed that paternal mitochondria gradually degraded during postfertilization development, and sporadic paternal mitochondria were found at least in 16 cell embryos. LC3 and Ubiquitin signals appeared in the midpiece of sperm at 3 h postfertilization, and they were strictly colocalizated with paternal mitochondria from zygote to 2 cell embryo. Nevertheless, the colocalization became loose at 4 cell embryos, and gradually disappeared beyond 4 cell embryos. Our results confirmed that autophagy process and the ubiquitin-mediated degradation pathway may take part in the postfertilization remove of paternal mitochondria.

Superovulation, or ovarian stimulation is a commonly used ART for treatment of human infertility/subfertility. Recent studies suggest that superovulation unaffects methylated imprints acquisition in mouse oocytes during oogenesis, whereas disrupts DNA methylation maintenance in embryos during preimplantation development. However, the mechanisms of defects in methylation maintanence caused by superovulation remain largely unclear. We hypothesized that superovulation may disrupt the expression of DNA methyltransferases (Dnmts), the enzymes which catalyze DNA methylation acquisition and maintenance. The mice were subjected to superovulate with low (6 IU) and high (10 IU) dosage hormone. We examined the global DNA methylation levels in zygotes and DNA methylation of repeated sequences (IAP and Line 1) in blastocyst stage embryos. In addition, we investigated the expression of Dnmts (Dnmt3a, Dnmt3b, Dnmt3l and Dnmt1o) in ovulated oocytes and zygotes. Through staining with antibody 5mC and Di-H3K9 coupled with confocal microscopy, we found that global methylation profiles in zygotes derived from females after low or high dosage hormone treatment were not affected when compared to control counterpart. Moreover, methylation at IAP in blastocysts also was unaffected by superovulation, irrespective of hormone dosage. In contrast, methylation level at Line 1 decreased when the females were administered by high dosage hormone. Furthermore, expression of de novo DNA methyltransferase Dnmt3a, Dnmt3b, Dnmt3L, as well as maintenance Dnmt1o in MII oocytes and zygotes was not disrupted by superovulation. Given superovulation adversely affected methylation maintenance in blastocysts during preimplantation development but with normal expression of Dnmts in oocytes and zygotes, it is indicated that defects of embryonic methylation didn’t originate from abnormal expression of Dnmts.

Although evidences showed that histone deacetylation plays an important role in the mitotic and meiotic cell cycle, but the mechanisms are still unclear. Level of histone acetylation can be easily changed by deacetylase inhibitors (HDACi) i.e trichostatin A (TSA) and valporic acid. In this study, we determined whether the inhibition of histone deacetylation by TSA could affect porcine oocyte maturation and aging process. Our results showed that treated COCs with 100 nM TSA significantly increase the GVBD in each time group than 0, 5, 50 nM but no significantly different from that of higher concentration (200 nm or 300 nM). No significant differences on maturation, blastocyst development, MAPK pattern and expressions of apoptosis gene when treated oocytes with 100 nM TSA for the first 24h of IVM compared with control and 5, 50 nM TSA. However, in the oocytes treated with 200 nM and 300 nM TSA for first 24 h, MAPK significantly decreased and abnormal spindle were observed. But, in prolonged (64 h) of TSA treated group has no significantly different in control. Another data observed that after 24h TSA-treat to prolonged group were significantly decreased of MAPK activation and normal spindle than the other group. We concluded that TSA played a critical role in meiotic progression in porcine oocytes through the regulation of arrest GVBD, which prolonging the in vitro maturation time, but unaffected the subsequent pre-implantation embryo developmental potential and embryonic qualities. Moreover, the histone deacetylase inhibitor TSA may artificially control porcine oocyte maturation time and delay porcine oocyte aging process.

The objective of the present study was to investigate the effects of different concentrations of sorbitol supplementation for in vitro maturation medium and in vitro culture medium, on porcine cumulus oocyte complexe(COC) maturation and subsequent developmental capacity after parthenogenetic activation. Porcine COC were cultured for 44 h(0～ 22 h termed MI stage and 22～44 h termed MII stage) in TCM199 without(— ) or with(+) sorbitol (20 μM, 100 μM, 200 μM), and the resultant metaphase II oocytes cultured in PZM-3 for 7 days following activation. Our results showed that supplementation with appropriate concentrations of sorbitol (20 μM) during full term maturation culture(MI+/MII+) significantly(p<0.05) improved blastocyst formation rates and total cell number. When the concentration of sorbitol were increased to 100 μM and 200 μM during maturation culture, the maturation rate of COC were significantly reduced compared with 20 μΜ or control groups. Also blastocyst formation rates significantly(p<0.05) reduced with increasing concentration of sorbitol(200 μM). Supplementation with sorbitol(20 μM, 50 μM, 100 μM) into PZM-3 for in vitro culture significantly(p<0.05) inhibited blastocyst formation compared with control group. However, the blastocyst formation rates start to rise again when 50 μ M sorbitol was used for the first 48 hours and then cultured in PZM-3 without sorbitol. There was no significant difference in cell number between control and sorbitol treated groups. When the activated oocytes were cultured in PZM-3 for 48h and then cultured in PZM-3 with sorbitol, interestingly, the blastocyst formation rate was similar to that of PZM-3 with sorbitol for in vitro culture and significantly lower than control group. These results suggest that addition of low concentrations of sorbitol(20 μM) during oocyte maturation is beneficial for subsequent blastocyst development and improved embryo quality. However, treatment with sorbitol supplementation during in vitro culture medium is negative effect to blastocyst formation.

Epigenetic status of the genome of a donor nucleus has an important effect on the developmental potential of cloned embryos produced by somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT). In our previous study has results showed that the donor cells treated with 5-aza-2’- deoxyctidine (5-aza-dC, DNA methylation inhibitors) and Trichostatin A (TSA, histone deacetylase inhibitors) could improve the development of porcine nuclear transfer embryos in vitro. In this study we want to investigate why these two drugs treatment with the donor cell can improve the cloning efficiency, whether they can alter the epigenetic status of the genome of the donor nucleus. This study included 6 groups: control group, the donor cell (porcine fetal fibroblast cell) with no treatment; 2.5 nM 5-aza-dC group, the donor cells treated with 2.5 nM 5-aza-dC for 1h; 5-aza-dC group, the donor cells treated with 5 nM 5-aza-dC for 1h; TSA group, the donor cells treated with 50 nM TSA for 1h; 2.5 nM 5-aza-dC+TSA group, the donor cells treated with 2.5 nM 5-aza-dC for 1h and subsequently treated with 50 nM TSA for another 1h; 5-aza-dC+TSA group, the donor cells treated with 5 nM 5-aza-dC and 50 nM TSA together for 1h. The first experiment detected the DNA methylation status in the different groups. After treatment with these two drugs, the DNA methylation level of the donor cells decreased, however there is no significant difference among the groups. This result indicated that the donor cell treatment with 5-aza-dC and TSA can partially alter the DNA methylation status of the donor cells. The second experiment checked the histone acetylation level of the donor cells treated with these two drugs by western blot. TSA, 2.5 nM 5-aza-dC+TSA, 5 nM 5-aza-aC+TSA, these three groups can significantly improve the hisone acetylation level compared with control and 5-aza-dC groups, there is no significant difference among these three groups. The results of this study suggest that the donor cells treated with 5-aza-dC and TSA can partially decrease DNA methylation and can significantly improve the histone acetylation level of the donor cells, these alterations of the epigenetic modification maybe can improve the clonging efficiency.

Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is a heterogeneous syndrome associated with follicle growth arrest, dysregulated sex hormone profile, hyperthecosis and insulin resistance. Chemerin, a novel adipokine, is associated with obesity and metabolic syndrome. Although obese women and in PCOS subjects have elevated plasma chemerin levels, whether and how chemerin is involved in the regulation of follicular growth/steroidogenesis and pathogenesis of PCOS is unknown. Our objective is to better understand the complex regulatory mechanisms involved in the control of these processes and gain insights in their dysregulation in the pathogenesis of PCOS. We hypothesize that: (a) hyperandrogenism induces small and medium antral follicle growth arrest and ovarian structural changes, resulting from granulosa cell and oocyte apoptosis and theca cell survival, and (b) chemerin regulates follicular growth and steroidogenesis and contributes to the pathogenesis of PCOS. Using immature rats (day 13～15 for follicle culture and day 21～24 for granulosa cells culture) and a chronically androgenized rat model [dihydrotestosterone (DHT); 83 μg daily, day 21～105] which recapitulates the reproductive and metabolic phenotypes of human PCOS, we have examined the granulosa cell expression patterns of chemerin and its receptor CMKLR1 and their steroidogenic and follicle growth capability. DHT treatment resulted in decreased follicle numbers in preantral to preovulatory stages and absence of corpus luteum, but increased numbers of condensed atypical follicles. Atypical follicles, constituted predominantly of theca cells, exhibited high expression of calpain and down‐regulation of the cytoskeletal protein substrates vimentin, fodrin and β‐tubulin. Granulosa cell aromatase expression was significantly down‐regulated, a response accompanied by increased activated caspase‐3 content and DNA fragmentation. While PTEN levels were considerably higher in granulosa cells in the PCOS rats than controls, phospho‐Akt (Ser473) content was lower. In addition, DHT also activated granulosa cell caspase‐3, decreased XIAP, PARP and phospho‐Akt contents and induced apoptosis in vitro, responses that could be attenuated by forced expression of XIAP. These findings are consistent with our hypothesis that dysregulated follicular growth in PCOS is associated with changes in follicular growth dynamics and follicle cell fate, a consequence of dysregulated interactions of pro‐survival (p‐Akt, XIAP, PARP) and proapoptotic (calpain, PTEN, caspase‐3) modulators in a cell‐specific manner. Chemerin and CMKLR1 were expressed in granulosa cells and negatively regulated by gonadotropin in vivo and in vitro. Serum and ovarian chemerin levels in DHT‐treated rats were elevated, and associated with arrested early antral follicular growth, remodeling of the follicle wall and decreased expression of p450 side‐chain cleavage enzyme (p450- scc), aromatase and hydroxysteroid dehydrogenases. Recombinant chemerin inhibited FSH ‐ induced estradiol secretion in granulosa cells from DHT‐treated rats in vitro. Chemerin also suppressed basal and FSH‐ and GDF9‐induced follicle growth and estradiol/ progesterone production in preantral follicle cultures. Moreover, chemerin suppressed FSH‐induced p450scc/aromatase expression and progesterone/estradiol secretion in immature rat granulosa cells in vitro. These studies demonstrate that chemerin is a novel negative regulator in FSH‐induced follicular growth and steroidogenesis and support the notion that the dysregulation of chemerin expression and function contributes to pathogenesis of PCOS. Our observations also suggest that this chronically androgenized rat model may be useful not only for studies on the long term effects of androgen on folliculogenesis, but also on the pathophysiology of PCOS. * This work was supported by grants from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR; MOP‐119381) and the World Class University (WCU) program through the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology funded by the National Research Foundation of Korea (R31‐10056).

In the transcriptome surveys of Laodelphax striatellus, several cDNA sequences showed a high level of similarities to the insect picorna-like virus genomes. Interestingly, there was no sequence similarity between picorna-like virus sequences from the RSV-viruliferous and those from the non-viruliferous L. striatellus. Picorna-like virus from the non-viruliferous L. striatellus was a geographical isolate of Himetobi P virus (HiPV). The genome of the HiPV was 9,272 nt in length excluding the poly(A) tail and contained two open reading frames (ORFs), which were separated by a 176 nt intergenic region that functions as an internal ribosome entry site (IRES). The 5' ORF encodes the non-structural proteins and the 3' ORF encodes the capsid proteins. The partial genomic RNA of the picorna-like virus from the RSV-viruliferous L. striatellus, LsPV-2, was 8,769 nt in length excluding the poly(A) tail and contained a single, large open reading frame (nt 1–8,535) encoding a 2,845 aa polyprotein. In terms of sequence similarity, identity, and genome organization, LsPV-2 resembled insect picornalike viruses belonging to the family Iflaviridae. A phylogenetic analysis based on RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) sequence showed that LsPV-2 was most closely related to the deformed wing virus (DWV). The HiPV and LsPV-2 were incompatible each other in L. striatellus, suggesting that these two picorna-like viruses may have important functions in transmission of the RSV.

Plasmids from Bacillus thuringiensis have been implicated in pathogenicity as they carry the genes responsible for different types of diseases in mammals and insects. B. thuringiensis serovar mogi of a novel serogroup (H3a3b3d), which showed mosquitocidal activity against Anopheles sinensis and Culex pipiens pallens, was isolated from fallen leaves in Mungyeong city, Republic of Korea. In contrast to the complicated plasmid profiles of B. thuringiensis H3 serotype strains, the B. thuringiensis serovar mogi contained only megaplasmid (> 30 MDa) on which the toxin genes were occasionally located. Sequence analysis using 454-pyrosequencing revealed that the megaplasmid harbored at least seven putative cry genes, showing about 84%, 75%, 73%, 58%, 84%, 39% and 75% similarities in amino acid sequences with Cry27Aa, Cry19Ba, Cry20-like, Cry56Aa, Cry39ORF2, Cry8Ba and Cry40ORF2, respectively. These cry genes were cloned to the Escherichia coli-B. thuringiensis shuttle vector, pHT1K, and then introduced into an acrystalliferous B. thuringiensis Cry-B strain for further molecular characterization. This novel 3a3b3d type strain, B. thuringiensis serovar mogi, could be used as a good resource for studying unknown mosquitocidal cry genes.

ORF11 (ac11) of Autographa californica multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus (AcMNPV) is a highly conserved baculovirus gene whose homologs are found in all lepidoteran Group I NPV, but its function is unknown so far. To determine the role of ac11 in baculovirus life cycle, ac11 knock-out mutant, Ac11KO, was constructed using the plasmid capture system (PCS). Real-Time PCR analysis showed that ac11 transcript was first detected at 6 h post-infection (p.i.) and accumulated to maximum at 48 h p.i., indicating that ac11 is belong to late gene. When the genomic DNA of Ac11KO was transfected into Sf9 cells, viral replication was restricted to a cell transfected originally. While viral transmission of the Ac11KO was not observed in Sf9 cells, production of budded virus (BV) in Sf9 cells transfected with Ac11KO was observed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). These results suggest that the ac11 is essential for AcMNPV to produce infective BV.

Microthermal fluctuations are introduced by atmospheric turbulence very near the ground. In order to detect microthermal fluctuations at Fuxian Solar Observatory (FSO), a microthermal instrument has been developed. The microthermal instrument consists of a microthermal sensor, which is based on a Wheatstone bridge circuit and uses fine tungsten filaments as resistance temperature detectors, an associated signal processing unit, and a data collection, & communication subsystem. In this paper, after a brief introduction to surface layer seeing, we discuss the instrumentation behind the microthermal detector we have developed and then present the results obtained. The results of the evaluation indicate that the effect of the turbulent surface boundary layer to astronomical seeing would become sufficiently small when installing a telescope at a height of 16m or higher from the ground at FSO.

5‐aza‐2’‐deoxyctidine (5‐aza‐dC) is DNA methylation inhibitor and Trichostatin A (TSA) is histone deacytlase inhibitor, both of them can alter the level of the epigenetic modification of cells. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of treatment with 5‐aza‐dC and TSA into fetal fibroblasts on the development of porcine nuclear transfer (NT) embryos. In this study, experiments were performed in order to modify epigenetic status in donor cells and evaluate developmental potential of NT embryos. 5‐ aza‐dC or TSA or combining treatment of TSA and 5‐aza‐dC was treated into growing donor cells for 1 h exposure and development of NT embryos was evaluated. Experiment was performed with 3 groups: control group (donor cells without treatment); TSA group (donor cell treated with 50 nM TSA for 1 h); TSA + 5‐aza‐dC group (donor cells were treated with 50 nM TSA and 5 nM 5‐aza‐dC for 1 h); TSA+1/2(5‐aza‐dC) group (donor cells were treated with 50 nM TSA for 1h and subsequently treated with 2.5 nM 5‐aza‐dC for another 1h). When donor cells were individually treated with 5 nM 5‐aza‐dC or 50 nM TSA for 1h, the blastocyst rate of NT embryos increased significantly compared with control group [18.8% vs 13.4% (5 nM 5‐aza‐dC group vs control group), and 26.2% vs 11.8% (50 nM TSA group vs control group), p<0.05]. However, the blastocyst rate in combining treatment group (50 nM TSA + 5 nM 5‐aza‐dC) did not increase compare with control group (12.3% vs 11.8%, p>0.05). When the donor cell were individually treated with 50nM TSA for 1 h firstly and then treated with 2.5 nM 5‐aza‐dC for another 1h, the blastocyst rate was significantly improved compared with control and TSA group (28% vs 10.2% and 23.7%, p<0.05). The present study suggested that donor cells treated with TSA or low concentration of TSA+5‐azadC in short time exposure may enhance the development of porcine NT embryo.