Ozone (O(3)), a serious air pollutant, is known to significantly reduce photosynthesis, growth, and yield and to cause foliar injury and senescence. Here, integrated transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics approaches were applied to investigate the molecular responses of O(3) in the leaves of 2-week-old rice (cv. Nipponbare) seedlings exposed to 0.2 ppm O(3) for a period of 24 h. On the basis of the morphological alteration of O(3)-exposed rice leaves, transcript profiling of rice genes was performed in leaves exposed for 1, 12, and 24 h using rice DNA microarray chip. A total of 1535 nonredundant genes showed altered expression of more than 5-fold over the control, representing 8 main functional categories. Genes involved in information storage and processing (10%) and cellular processing and signaling categories (24%) were highly represented within 1 h of O(3) treatment; transcriptional factor and signal transduction, respectively, were the main subcategories. Genes categorized into information storage and processing (17, 23%), cellular processing and signaling (20, 16%) and metabolism (18, 19%) were mainly regulated at 12 and 24 h; their main subcategories were ribosomal protein, post-translational modification, and signal transduction and secondary metabolites biosynthesis, respectively. Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis-based proteomics analyses in combination with tandem mass spectrometer identified 23 differentially expressed protein spots (21 nonredundant proteins) in leaves exposed to O(3) for 24 h compared to respective control. Identified proteins were found to be involved in cellular processing and signaling (32%), photosynthesis (19%), and defense (14%). Capillary electrophoresis-mass spectrometry-based metabolomic profiling revealed accumulation of amino acids, gamma-aminobutyric acid, and glutathione in O(3) exposed leaves until 24 h over control. This systematic survey showed that O(3) triggers a chain reaction of altered gene, protein and metabolite expressions involved in multiple cellular processes in rice.

No abstract

No abstract

In the summer of 2012, 1 year after the nuclear accident in March 2011 at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, we examined the effects of gamma radiation on rice at a highly contaminated field of Iitate village in Fukushima, Japan. We investigated the morphological and molecular changes on healthy rice seedlings exposed to continuous low-dose gamma radiation up to 4 µSv h(-1), about 80 times higher than natural background level. After exposure to gamma rays, expression profiles of selected genes involved in DNA replication/repair, oxidative stress, photosynthesis, and defense/stress functions were examined by RT-PCR, which revealed their differential expression in leaves in a time-dependent manner over 3 days (6, 12, 24, 48, and 72 h). For example, OsPCNA mRNA rapidly increased at 6, 12, and 24 h, suggesting that rice cells responded to radiation stress by activating a gene involved in DNA repair mechanisms. At 72 h, genes related to the phenylpropanoid pathway (OsPAL2) and cell death (OsPR1oa) were strongly induced, indicating activation of defense/stress responses. We next profiled the transcriptome using a customized rice whole-genome 4×44K DNA microarray at early (6h) and late (72 h) time periods. Low-level gamma radiation differentially regulated rice leaf gene expression (induced 4481 and suppressed 3740 at 6 h and induced 2291 and suppressed 1474 genes at 72 h) by at least 2-fold. Using the highly upregulated and downregulated gene list, MapMan bioinformatics tool generated diagrams of early and late pathways operating in cells responding to gamma ray exposure. An inventory of a large number of gamma radiation-responsive genes provides new information on novel regulatory processes in rice.

SummaryCardiorenal anemia syndrome has recently been receiving greater attention; however, data regarding the relationship between chronic kidney disease (CKD)/anemia on presentation and in-hospital outcome in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) are still limited in Japan.A total of 1,447 primary PCI-treated AMI patients were classified into 4 groups according to the presence of CKD and/or anemia on hospital admission (with CKD/with anemia n = 222, with CKD/without anemia n = 299, without CKD/with anemia n = 151, without CKD/without anemia n = 775). Angiographic acute results of primary PCI were similar among the 4 groups. The patients with CKD had a significantly higher in-hospital overall mortality rate than the patients without CKD, and in the presence or absence of CKD, patients with anemia tended to have a higher in-hospital mortality rate than the patients without anemia. According to a multivariate analysis, anemia on admission was found to be an independent predictor of in-hospital mortality, whereas admission CKD and admission eGFR were statistically not independent predictors. Moreover, the multivariable adjusted odds ratio of in-hospital death in AMI patients with CKD alone was 1.855 (95% CI 0.929-3.706), and that in AMI patients with CKD/with anemia was 3.384 (95% CI 1.697-6.748).These results suggest that among real-world, unselected Japanese AMI patients undergoing primary PCI, the combination of CKD and anemia on admission confers significant adverse effects on in-hospital mortality. (Int Heart J 2014; 55: 301-306)