GIBBERELLIN INSENSITIVE DWARF1 encodes a soluble receptor for gibberellin

Gibberellins (GAs) are phytohormones that are essential for many developmental processes in plants. It has been postulated that plants have both membrane-bound and soluble GA receptors; however, no GA receptors have yet been identified. Here we report the isolation and characterization of a new GA-insensitive dwarf mutant of rice, gid1. The GID1 gene encodes an unknown protein with similarity to the hormone-sensitive lipases, and we observed preferential localization of a GID1-green fluorescent protein (GFP) signal in nuclei. Recombinant glutathione S-transferase (GST)-GID1 had a high affinity only for biologically active GAs, whereas mutated GST-GID1 corresponding to three gid1 alleles had no GA-binding affinity. The dissociation constant for GA4 was estimated to be around 10(-7) M, enough to account for the GA dependency of shoot elongation. Moreover, GID1 bound to SLR1, a rice DELLA protein, in a GA-dependent manner in yeast cells. GID1 overexpression resulted in a GA-hypersensitive phenotype. Together, our results indicate that GID1 is a soluble receptor mediating GA signalling in rice.     

Plastid proteins crucial for symbiotic fungal and bacterial entry into plant roots

The roots of most higher plants form arbuscular mycorrhiza, an ancient, phosphate-acquiring symbiosis with fungi, whereas only four related plant orders are able to engage in the evolutionary younger nitrogen-fixing root-nodule symbiosis with bacteria. Plant symbioses with bacteria and fungi require a set of common signal transduction components that redirect root cell development. Here we present two highly homologous genes from Lotus japonicus, CASTOR and POLLUX, that are indispensable for microbial admission into plant cells and act upstream of intracellular calcium spiking, one of the earliest plant responses to symbiotic stimulation. Surprisingly, both twin proteins are localized in the plastids of root cells, indicating a previously unrecognized role of this ancient endosymbiont in controlling intracellular symbioses that evolved more recently.     

Multiclass Functional Discriminant Analysis and Its Application to Gesture Recognition

We consider applying a functional logistic discriminant procedure to the analysis of handwritten character data. Time-course trajectories corresponding to the X and Y coordinate values of handwritten characters written in the air with one finger are converted into a functional data set via regularized basis expansion. We then apply functional logistic modeling to classify the functions into several classes. In order to select the values of adjusted parameters involved in the functional logistic model, we derive a model selection criterion for evaluating models estimated by the method of regularization. Results indicate the effectiveness of our modeling strategy in terms of prediction accuracy.     

Frequent pathway mutations of splicing machinery in myelodysplasia

Myelodysplastic syndromes and related disorders (myelodysplasia) are a heterogeneous group of myeloid neoplasms showing deregulated blood cell production with evidence of myeloid dysplasia and a predisposition to acute myeloid leukaemia, whose pathogenesis is only incompletely understood. Here we report whole-exome sequencing of 29 myelodysplasia specimens, which unexpectedly revealed novel pathway mutations involving multiple components of the RNA splicing machinery, including U2AF35, ZRSR2, SRSF2 and SF3B1. In a large series analysis, these splicing pathway mutations were frequent (～45 to ～85%) in, and highly specific to, myeloid neoplasms showing features of myelodysplasia. Conspicuously, most of the mutations, which occurred in a mutually exclusive manner, affected genes involved in the 3'-splice site recognition during pre-mRNA processing, inducing abnormal RNA splicing and compromised haematopoiesis. Our results provide the first evidence indicating that genetic alterations of the major splicing components could be involved in human pathogenesis, also implicating a novel therapeutic possibility for myelodysplasia.     

光敏色素影响赤霉素调控的水稻幼苗光形态建成特征

赤霉素(gibberellin, GA)是一种重要的植物激素, 它与光敏色素协同调节拟南芥植株的光形态建成特征. 但是GA对水稻幼苗光形态建成和暗形态建成的影响, 特别是在此过程中光敏色素与GA之间的相互作用仍不清楚. 本研究利用野生型和光敏色素突变体(phyA和phyB)水稻作为研究材料, 分析了GA生物合成抑制剂多效唑(PAC)对黑暗和光照下生长的水稻幼苗胚芽鞘、地上部分和主根延伸以及光调控基因LHCB表达的影响. 据此推测, 在暗生长条件下, PAC处理能够抑制野生型水稻幼苗胚芽鞘的生长, 诱导LHCB基因的表达; phyA突变体对PAC处理的反应不如野生型敏感; phyB突变体和野生型反应基本相同. 在光照条件下, PAC处理能够抑制水稻幼苗地上部分的生长, phyB突变体对PAC处理的反应不如野生型和phyA突变体敏感. 此外, phyB介导的光信号负调控PAC诱导的主根延伸反应. 据此推测, GA是维持水稻幼苗暗形态建成、抑制光形态建成所必需的; 另一方面, phyA和phyB或正或负调控PAC所诱导的光形态建成反应. 本研究结果揭示了光敏色素和GA在水稻幼苗生长发育中的相互作用, 为进一步研究光和GA协同调控水稻发育的分子机制奠定了基础.