The genome of the mesopolyploid crop species Brassica rapaThe Brassica rapa Genome Sequencing Project Consortium 1 Abstract:The Brassicaceae family which includes Arabidopsis thaliana, is a natural priority for reaching beyond botanical models to more deeply sample angiosperm genomic and functional diversity. Here we report the draft genome sequence and its annoation of Brassica rapa, one of the two ancestral species of oilseed rape. We modeled 41,174 protein-coding genes in the B. rapa genome. B. rapa has experienced only the second genome triplication reported to date, with its close relationship to A. thaliana providing a useful outgroup for investigating many consequences of triplication for its structural and functional evolution. The extent of gene loss (fractionation) among triplicated genome segments varies, with one copy containing a greater proportion of genes expected to have been present in its ancestor (70%) than the remaining two (46% and 36%). Both a generally rapid evolutionary rate, and specific copy number amplifications of particular gene families, may contribute to the remarkable propensity of Brassica species for the development of new morphological variants. The B. rapa genome provides a new resource for comparative and evolutionary analysis of the Brassicaceae genomes and also a platform for genetic improvement of Brassica oil and vegetable crops.2

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The present study offers data that are useful for the diagnosis and treatment of patients with collagen diseases and liver abnormalities.

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between prevalent radiographic abnormalities of the lumbar spine and the incidence of low back pain in high school rugby players. Three hundred and twenty-seven incoming high school rugby players (15-16 years of age) were recruited between 1986 and 1994. All of them underwent athletic physical examination before participation in high school athletics. The relationship between prevalent radiographic abnormalities of the lumbar spine in the pre-participation athletic physical examination and the incidence of low back pain during a 1-year period after the start of participation in athletics was analyzed. Radiographic abnormalities assessed were spondylolysis, disc space narrowing, spinal instability, Schmorl's node, balloon disc, and spina bifida occulta. The frequency of respective radiographic abnormalities was 15.6%, 13.1%, 32.7%, 14.1%, 11.6%, and 30.6%. Two hundred and forty-three players (74.3%) had at least one of these radiographic abnormalities. The incidence of low back pain was 44.0% in players with no such radiographic abnormalities and 41.2% in those with at least one radiographic abnormality. The incidence of low back pain in players with the respective radiographic abnormalities was 72.5%, 46.5%, 46.7%, 39.1%, 34.2%, and 41.0%, and only players with spondylolysis had a significantly higher incidence of low back pain than those with no radiographic abnormalities. This study shows that a radiographic abnormality, specifically spondylolysis, is a significant radiological risk factor for low back pain in high school rugby players.

SUMMARYBrassinazole (Brz) is a specific inhibitor of the biosynthesis of brassinosteroids (BRs), which regulate plant organ and chloroplast development. We identified a recessive pale green Arabidopsis mutant, bpg2-1 (Brz-insensitive-pale green 2-1) that showed reduced sensitivity to chlorophyll accumulation promoted by Brz in the light. BPG2 encodes a chloroplast-localized protein with a zinc finger motif and four GTP-binding domains that are necessary for normal chloroplast biogenesis. BPG2-homologous genes are evolutionally conserved in plants, green algae and bacteria. Expression of BPG2 is induced by light and Brz. Chloroplasts of the bpg2-1 mutant have a decreased number of stacked grana thylakoids. In bpg2-1 and bpg2-2 mutants, there was no reduction in expression of rbcL and psbA, but there was abnormal accumulation of precursors of chloroplast 16S and 23S rRNA. Chloroplast protein accumulation induced by Brz was suppressed by the bpg2 mutation. These results indicate that BPG2 plays an important role in post-transcriptional and translational regulation in the chloroplast, and is a component of BR signaling.