Japanese pear (Pyrus pyrifolia Nakai) has a gametophytic self-incompatibility (GSI) mechanism controlled by a single S-locus with multiple S-haplotypes, each of which contains separate genes that determine the allelic identity of pistil and pollen. The pistil S gene is the S-ribonuclease (S-RNase) gene, whereas good candidates for the pollen S gene are the F-box protein genes. A self-compatible (SC) cultivar, 'Osa-Nijisseiki', which is a bud mutant of 'Nijisseiki' (S (2) S (4)), has a stylar-part mutant S(4)sm-haplotype, which lacks the S (4)-RNase gene but retains the pollen S gene. To delineate the deletion breakpoint in the S(4)sm-haplotype, we constructed a bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) library from an S (4)-homozygote, and assembled a BAC contig of 570 kb around the S (4)-RNase. Genomic PCR of DNA from S (4)- and S(4)sm-homozygotes and the DNA sequence of the BAC contig allowed the identification of a deletion of 236 kb spanning from 48 kb upstream to 188 kb downstream of S (4)-RNase. The S(4)sm-haplotype lacks 34 predicted open reading frames (ORFs) including the S (4)-RNase and a pollen-specific F-box protein gene (termed as S (4) F-box0). Genomic PCR with a primer pair designed from the deletion junctions yielded a product specific for the S(4)sm-haplotype. The product could be useful as a maker for early selection of SC cultivars harboring the S(4)sm-haplotype.

Autoantibodies against tumor antigens represent one type of biomarker that may be assayed in serum for detection of cancer and monitoring of disease progression. In the present study, we used a proteomics-based approach to identify novel tumor antigens in nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC). By combining two-dimensional electrophoresis, western blotting, mass spectrometry and enzymelinked immunosorbent assay technology, we detected autoantibodies against α α α α-enolase in a subset of NSCLC patients' sera. When 'Mean OD healthy control sera + 3 SD healthy control sera ' was used as the cut-off point, the prevalence of this autoantibody was 27.

In response to environmental variation, angiosperm trees bend their stems by forming tension wood, which consists of a cellulose-rich G (gelatinous)-layer in the walls of fiber cells and generates abnormal tensile stress in the secondary xylem. We produced transgenic poplar plants overexpressing several endoglycanases to reduce each specific polysaccharide in the cell wall, as the secondary xylem consists of primary and secondary wall layers. When placed horizontally, the basal regions of stems of transgenic poplars overexpressing xyloglucanase alone could not bend upward due to low strain in the tension side of the xylem. In the wild-type plants, xyloglucan was found in the inner surface of G-layers during multiple layering. In situ xyloglucan endotransglucosylase (XET) activity showed that the incorporation of whole xyloglucan, potentially for wall tightening, began at the inner surface layers S1 and S2 and was retained throughout G-layer development, while the incorporation of xyloglucan heptasaccharide (XXXG) for wall loosening occurred in the primary wall of the expanding zone. We propose that the xyloglucan network is reinforced by XET to form a further connection between wall-bound and secreted xyloglucans in order to withstand the tensile stress created within the cellulose G-layer microfibrils.

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