Hongsheng Zhang

Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Sheng, China

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Publications (24)68.11 Total impact

  • Article: Rare allele of OsPPKL1 associated with grain length causes extra-large grain and a significant yield increase in rice.
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    ABSTRACT: Grain size and shape are important components determining rice grain yield, and they are controlled by quantitative trait loci (QTLs). Here, we report the cloning and functional characterization of a major grain length QTL, qGL3, which encodes a putative protein phosphatase with Kelch-like repeat domain (OsPPKL1). We found a rare allele qgl3 that leads to a long grain phenotype by an aspartate-to-glutamate transition in a conserved AVLDT motif of the second Kelch domain in OsPPKL1. The rice genome has other two OsPPKL1 homologs, OsPPKL2 and OsPPKL3. Transgenic studies showed that OsPPKL1 and OsPPKL3 function as negative regulators of grain length, whereas OsPPKL2 as a positive regulator. The Kelch domains are essential for the OsPPKL1 biological function. Field trials showed that the application of the qgl3 allele could significantly increase grain yield in both inbred and hybrid rice varieties, due to its favorable effect on grain length, filling, and weight.
    Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 12/2012; · 9.68 Impact Factor
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    Article: Functional analysis of OsHSBP1 and OsHSBP2 revealed their involvement in the heat shock response in rice (Oryza sativa L.).
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    ABSTRACT: The heat shock response (HSR) induces the production of heat shock proteins (HSPs) through the activation of heat shock factors (HSF). HSF binding protein (HSBP) is reported to modulate the function of HSF by binding to their trimer and hence to regulate HSR. This report describes the role of OsHSBP1 and OsHSBP2 in the regulation of the HSR and seed development of rice. Both genes expressed ubiquitously in all tissues under normal growth conditions while their expression levels were significantly increased during recovery after heat shock treatment. Subcellular localization revealed the cytosol-nuclear localization of both OsHSBP1 and OsHSBP2 in onion epidermal cells. The yeast two-hybrid assay depicted the self-binding ability of both genes. Both genes were also important for seed development, as their knock-down lines were associated with significant seed abortion. The thermotolerance assay revealed that OsHSBP1 and OsHSBP2 are negative regulators of HSR and involved in acquired thermotolerance but not in basal thermotolerance since their over-expression transgenic lines pre-heated at sublethal temperature, showed significantly decreased seedling survival after heat shock treatment. Furthermore, antioxidant activity and gene expression of catalase and peroxidase was significantly increased in knock-down transgenic seedlings of OsHSBP1 and OsHSBP2 after heat stress compared with the wild type. The expression of heat specific HSPs was also increased significantly in knockdown line of both genes but in a specific manner, suggesting the involvement of HSBP genes in different pathways. Overall, the present study reveals the role of OsHSBP1 and OsHSBP2 in the regulation of the HSR and seed development of rice.
    Journal of Experimental Botany 09/2012; 63(16):6003-16. · 5.36 Impact Factor
  • Article: A TFIIIA-type zinc finger protein confers multiple abiotic stress tolerances in transgenic rice (Oryza sativa L.).
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    ABSTRACT: The TFIIIA-type zinc finger transcription factors are involved in plant development and abiotic stress responses. Most TFIIIA-type zinc finger proteins are transcription repressors due to existence of an EAR-motif in their amino acid sequences. In this work, we found that ZFP182, a TFIIIA-type zinc finger protein, forms a homodimer in the nucleus and exhibits trans-activation activity in yeast cells. The deletion analysis indicated that a Leu-rich region at C-terminus is required for the trans-activation. Overexpression of ZFP182 significantly enhanced multiple abiotic stress tolerances, including salt, cold and drought tolerances in transgenic rice. Overexpression of ZFP182 promotes accumulation of compatible osmolytes, such as free proline and soluble sugars, in transgenic rice. ZFP182 activates the expression of OsP5CS encoding pyrroline-5-carboxylate synthetase and OsLEA3 under stress conditions, while OsDREB1A and OsDREB1B were regulated by ZFP182 under both normal and stress conditions. Interestingly, site-directed mutagenesis assay showed that DRE-like elements in ZFP182 promoter are involved in dehydration-induced expression of ZFP182. The yeast two-hybrid assay revealed that ZFP182 interacted with several ribosomal proteins including ZIURP1, an ubiquitin fused to ribosomal protein L40. The in vivo and in vitro interactions of ZFP182 and ZIURP1 were further confirmed by bimolecular fluorescence complementation and His pull-down assays. Our studies provide new clues in the understanding of the mechanisms for TFIIIA-type zinc finger transcription factor mediated stress tolerance and a candidate gene for improving stress tolerance in crops.
    Plant Molecular Biology 08/2012; 80(3):337-50. · 4.15 Impact Factor
  • Article: Identification of QTLs with main, epistatic and QTL × environment interaction effects for salt tolerance in rice seedlings under different salinity conditions.
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    ABSTRACT: Salt tolerance of rice (Oryza sativa L.) at the seedling stage is one of the major determinants of its stable establishment in saline soil. One population of recombinant inbred lines (RILs, F (2:9)) derived from a cross between the salt-tolerant variety Jiucaiqing and the salt-sensitive variety IR26 was used to determine the genetic mechanism of four salt tolerance indices, seedling height (SH), dry shoot weight (DSW), dry root weight (DRW) and Na/K ratios (Na/K) in roots after 10 days in three salt concentrations (0.0, 0.5 and 0.7 % NaCl). The main effect QTLs (M-QTLs) and epistatic QTLs (E-QTLs) were detected by QTL IciMapping program using single environment phenotypic values. Eleven M-QTLs and 11 E-QTLs were identified for the salt tolerance indices. There were six M-QTLs and two E-QTLs identified for SH, three M-QTLs and five E-QTLs identified for DSW, two M-QTLs and one E-QTL identified for DRW, and three E-QTLs identified for Na/K. The phenotypic variation explained by each M-QTL and E-QTL ranged from 7.8 to 23.9 % and 13.3 to 73.7 %, respectively. The QTL-by-environment interactions were detected by QTLNetwork program in the joint analyses of multi-environment phenotypic values. Six M-QTLs and five E-QTLs were identified. The phenotypic variation explained by each QTL and QTL × environment interaction ranged from 0.95 to 6.90 % and 0.02 to 0.50 %, respectively. By comparing chromosomal positions of these M-QTLs with those previously identified, five M-QTLs qSH1.3, qSH12.1, qSH12.2, qDSW12.1 and qDRW11 might represent novel salt tolerance genes. Five selected RILs with high salt tolerance had six to eight positive alleles of the M-QTLs, indicating that pyramiding by marker-assisted selection (MAS) of M-QTLs can be applied in rice salt tolerance breeding programs.
    Theoretical and Applied Genetics 06/2012; 125(4):807-15. · 3.30 Impact Factor
  • Article: Identification of quantitative trait loci for cold tolerance during the germination and seedling stages in rice (Oryza sativa L.)
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    ABSTRACT: Low temperature is a serious abiotic stress affecting rice production in subtropical and temperate areas. In this study, cold tolerance of rice at the germination and seedling stages were evaluated using one recombinant inbred line (RIL) population derived from a cross between Daguandao (japonica), with highly cold-tolerant at the seedling stage, and IR28 (indica), with more cold-tolerant at the germination stage, and the quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping was conducted using the multiple interval mapping (MIM) approach. Continuous segregation in low temperature germinability (LTG) and cold tolerance at the seedling stage (CTS) were observed among the RIL populations. Most RILs were moderately susceptible or tolerant at the germination stage, but were susceptible at the seedling stage. No significant relationship was found in cold tolerance between the germination and seedling stages. A total of seven QTLs were identified with limit of detection (LOD) >3.0 on chromosomes 3, 8, 11 and 12, and the amount of variation (R 2) explained by each QTL ranged from 5.5 to 22.4%. The rice LTG might be regulated by two minor QTLs, with the CTS controlled by one major QTL [qCTS8.1 (LOD=16.1, R 2=22.4%)] and several minor loci. Among these loci, one simultaneously controls LTG (qLTG11.1) and CTS (qCTS11.1). Several cold-tolerance-related QTLs identified in previous studies were found to be near the QTLs detected here, and three QTLs are novel alleles. The alleles from Daguandao at six QTLs increased cold tolerance and could be good sources of genes for cold tolerance. In addition, only one digenic interaction was detected for CTS, with a R 2 value of 6.4%. Those major or minor QTLs could be used to significantly improve cold tolerance by marker-assisted selection (MAS) in rice. KeywordsRice–Cold tolerance–Seed germination–Seedling establishment–Quantitative trait loci
    Euphytica 04/2012; 181(3):405-413. · 1.55 Impact Factor
  • Article: Quantitative trait loci controlling rice seed germination under salt stress
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    ABSTRACT: Salt tolerance of rice (Oryza sativa L.) at the seed germination stage is one of the major determinants for the stable stand establishment in salinity soil. One population of recombinant inbred lines (RILs, F2:9), derived from a cross between a japonica rice landrace tolerant to salt stress and a sensitive indica rice variety, was used to determine the germination traits including imbibition rate and germination percentage under control (water) and salt stress (100mM NaCl) for 10days at 30 °C. The multiple interval mapping (MIM) were applied to conduct QTL for the traits. The results showed that seed germination was a quantitative trait controlled by several genes, and strongly affected by salt stress. A total of 16 QTLs were detected in this study, and each QTL could explain 4.6–43.7% of the total phenotypic variance. The expression of these QTLs might be developmentally regulated and growth stage-specific. In addition, only one digenic interaction was detected under salt stress, showing small effect on germination percentage with R2 2.7%. Among sixteen QTLs detected in this study, four were major QTLs with R2>30%, and some novel alleles of salt tolerance genes in rice. The results demonstrated that the japonica rice Jiucaiqing is a good source of gene(s) for salt tolerance and the major or minor QTLs identified could be used to improve the salt tolerance by marker-assisted selection (MAS) in rice. KeywordsRice–Germination–Quantitative trait locus–Salt tolerance
    Euphytica 04/2012; 178(3):297-307. · 1.55 Impact Factor
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    Article: Identification and molecular mapping of the rice bacterial blight resistance gene allelic to Xa7 from an elite restorer line Zhenhui 084
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    ABSTRACT: Rice bacterial blight (BB), caused by Xanthomonas oryzae pv. Oryzae (Xoo), is a serious disease in rice production worldwide. Rice cv. Zhenhui 084, a newly developed strong indica restorer line, exhibits high resistance to most of the Philippine races of BB and has been widely used in rice hybrids in China; however, the resistance gene has not yet been cloned. Here, we show that the resistance of Zhenhui 084 to Xoo strains is similar to that of IRBB7 containing Xa7, a durable and broad resistance dominant gene for BB. To map the resistance gene in Zhenhui 084, a F2 population with 331 highly susceptible individuals derived from a cross between Chenghui 448 and Zhenhui 084 was built. We finely mapped the target R gene to a region between two proximal markers RM20576 and MY4 in rice chromosome 6. A marker-based physical map of chromosome six was used to construct the contig covering the genomic region between two markers RM20576 and MY4. The target gene was assumed to be in an interval of approximate 200kb, in which 16 candidate genes were predicted. Our findings will greatly facilitate the isolation and characterisation of the target R gene allelic to Xa7. Additionally, two PCR-based markers, tightly linked to the target R gene locus, will be a useful tool for the marker-assisted selection of the target R gene allelic to Xa7 in breeding programmes.
    European Journal of Plant Pathology 04/2012; 125(2):235-244. · 1.41 Impact Factor
  • Article: QTL Analysis of Na(+) and K(+) Concentrations in Roots and Shoots under Different Levels of NaCl Stress in Rice (Oryza sativa L.).
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    ABSTRACT: The key to plant survival under NaCl salt stress is maintaining a low Na(+) level or Na(+)/K(+) ratio in the cells. A population of recombinant inbred lines (RILs, F(2∶9)) derived from a cross between the salt-tolerant japonica rice variety Jiucaiqing and the salt-sensitive indica variety IR26, was used to determine Na(+) and K(+) concentrations in the roots and shoots under three different NaCl stress conditions (0, 100 and 120 mM NaCl). A total of nine additive QTLs were identified by QTL Cartographer program using single-environment phenotypic values, whereas eight additive QTLs were identified by QTL IciMapping program. Among these additive QTLs, five were identified by both programs. Epistatic QTLs and QTL-by-environment interactions were detected by QTLNetwork program in the joint analyses of multi-environment phenotypic values, and one additive QTL and nine epistatic QTLs were identified. There were three epistatic QTLs identified for Na(+) in roots (RNC), three additive QTLs and two epistatic QTLs identified for Na(+) in shoots (SNC), four additive QTLs identified for K(+) in roots (RKC), four additive QTLs and three epistatic QTLs identified for K(+) in shoots (SKC) and one additive QTL and one epistatic QTL for salt tolerance rating (STR). The phenotypic variation explained by each additive, epistatic QTL and QTL×environment interaction ranged from 8.5 to 18.9%, 0.5 to 5.3% and 0.7 to 7.5%, respectively. By comparing the chromosomal positions of these additive QTLs with those previously identified, five additive QTLs, qSNC9, qSKC1, qSKC9, qRKC4 and qSTR7, might represent novel salt tolerance loci. The identification of salt tolerance in selected RILs showed that a major QTL qSNC11 played a significant role in rice salt tolerance, and could be used to improve salt tolerance of commercial rice varieties with marker-assisted selection (MAS) approach.
    PLoS ONE 01/2012; 7(12):e51202. · 4.09 Impact Factor
  • Article: Enhanced seed oil production in canola by conditional expression of Brassica napus LEAFY COTYLEDON1 and LEC1-LIKE in developing seeds.
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    ABSTRACT: The seed oil content in oilseed crops is a major selection trait to breeders. In Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), LEAFY COTYLEDON1 (LEC1) and LEC1-LIKE (L1L) are key regulators of fatty acid biosynthesis. Overexpression of AtLEC1 and its orthologs in canola (Brassica napus), BnLEC1 and BnL1L, causes an increased fatty acid level in transgenic Arabidopsis plants, which, however, also show severe developmental abnormalities. Here, we use truncated napin A promoters, which retain the seed-specific expression pattern but with a reduced expression level, to drive the expression of BnLEC1 and BnL1L in transgenic canola. Conditional expression of BnLEC1 and BnL1L increases the seed oil content by 2% to 20% and has no detrimental effects on major agronomic traits. In the transgenic canola, expression of a subset of genes involved in fatty acid biosynthesis and glycolysis is up-regulated in developing seeds. Moreover, the BnLEC1 transgene enhances the expression of several genes involved in Suc synthesis and transport in developing seeds and the silique wall. Consistently, the accumulation of Suc and Fru is increased in developing seeds of the transgenic rapeseed, suggesting the increased carbon flux to fatty acid biosynthesis. These results demonstrate that BnLEC1 and BnL1L are reliable targets for genetic improvement of rapeseed in seed oil production.
    Plant physiology 05/2011; 156(3):1577-88. · 6.53 Impact Factor
  • Article: Identification and characterization of putative CIPK genes in maize.
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    ABSTRACT: Calcium (Ca) plays a crucial role as a second messenger in intracellular signaling elicited by developmental and environmental cues. Calcineurin B-like proteins (CBLs) and their target proteins, CBL-interacting protein kinases (CIPKs) have emerged as a key Ca(2+)-mediated signaling network in response to stresses in plants. Bioinformatic analysis was used to identify 43 putative ZmCIPK (Zea mays CIPK) genes in the genome of maize inbred line B73. Based on gene structures, these ZmCIPKs were divided into intron-rich and intron-poor groups. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that the ZmCIPK family had a high evolutionary relationship with the rice CIPK family of 30 members. Microarray data and RT-PCR assay showed that ZmCIPK genes transcriptionally responded to abiotic stresses, and that 24, 31, 20 and 19 ZmCIPK genes were up-regulated by salt, drought, heat and cold stresses, respectively. There were different expression patterns of ZmCIPKs between cold-tolerant inbred line B73 and cold-sensitive inbred line Mo17 under cold stress. Our findings will aid further molecular dissection of biological functions of the CIPKs in maize, and provide new insight into the CBL-CIPK signaling network in plants.
    Journal of Genetics and Genomics 02/2011; 38(2):77-87. · 1.88 Impact Factor
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    Article: Substoichiometrically different mitotypes coexist in mitochondrial genomes of Brassica napus L.
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    ABSTRACT: Cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) has been identified in numerous plant species. Brassica napus CMS plants, such as Polima (pol), MI, and Shaan 2A, have been identified independently by different researchers with different materials in conventional breeding processes. How this kind of CMS emerges is unclear. Here, we report the mitochondrial genome sequence of the prevalent mitotype in the most widely used pol-CMS line, which has a length of 223,412 bp and encodes 34 proteins, 3 ribosomal RNAs, and 18 tRNAs, including two near identical copies of trnH. Of these 55 genes, 48 were found to be identical to their equivalents in the "nap" cytoplasm. The nap mitotype carries only one copy of trnH, and the sequences of five of the six remaining genes are highly similar to their equivalents in the pol mitotype. Forty-four open reading frames (ORFs) with unknown function were detected, including two unique to the pol mitotype (orf122 and orf132). At least five rearrangement events are required to account for the structural differences between the pol and nap sequences. The CMS-related orf224 neighboring region (∼5 kb) rearranged twice. PCR profiling based on mitotype-specific primer pairs showed that both mitotypes are present in B. napus cultivars. Quantitative PCR showed that the pol cytoplasm consists mainly of the pol mitotype, and the nap mitotype is the main genome of nap cytoplasm. Large variation in the copy number ratio of mitotypes was found, even among cultivars sharing the same cytoplasm. The coexistence of mitochondrial mitotypes and substoichiometric shifting can explain the emergence of CMS in B. napus.
    PLoS ONE 01/2011; 6(3):e17662. · 4.09 Impact Factor
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    Article: Identification of the quantitative trait loci in japonica rice landrace Heikezijing responsible for broad-spectrum resistance to rice blast.
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    ABSTRACT: Rice blast is one of the most devastating diseases affecting rice production worldwide. One japonica landrace, Heikezijing, from the Taihu Lake area in China, has been reported to be highly resistant to most of the rice blast isolates collected from China and Japan. To effectively dissect the inheritance of its resistance, a population of recombinant inbred lines (RILs) (F(2:8)) was constructed from a cross between Heikezijing and Suyunuo, a blast-susceptible cultivar. Nineteen blast isolates from China and Japan were inoculated into 166 RILs and their parents, and 22 quantitative trait loci (QTLs) conferring resistance to these isolates were identified and mapped onto rice chromosomes 1, 7, 9, 11, and 12. Most of the QTLs conferred race-specific resistance to blast. Some QTLs, such as qtl11-5-5, conferred resistance to two or more isolates. One blast-resistant gene cluster, including qtl11-2-2, qtl11-3-1, qtl11-4-1, qtl11-5-5, qtl11-6-1, qtl11-7-5, qtl11-8-2, qtl11-9-2, qtl11-10-4, and qtl11-11-1, was found on the long arm of chromosome 11 in the japonica landrace. These loci offered effective resistance toward as many as 17 isolates, including 16 isolates from seven Chinese race groups and 1 isolate from Japan. The results from this study suggest that the Heikezijing landrace involves a number of genes that are associated with broad-spectrum resistance to rice blast.
    Phytopathology 08/2010; 100(8):822-9. · 2.80 Impact Factor
  • Article: Increased tolerance of rice to cold, drought and oxidative stresses mediated by the overexpression of a gene that encodes the zinc finger protein ZFP245.
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    ABSTRACT: ZFP245 is a cold- and drought-responsive gene that encodes a zinc finger protein in rice. The ZFP245 protein localizes in the nucleus and exhibits trans-activation activity. Transgenic rice plants overexpressing ZFP245 were generated and found to display high tolerance to cold and drought stresses. The transgenic plants did not exhibit growth retardation, but showed growth sensitivity against exogenous abscisic acid, increased free proline levels and elevated expression of rice pyrroline-5-carboxylatesynthetase and proline transporter genes under stress conditions. Overproduction of ZFP245 enhanced the activities of reactive oxygen species-scavenging enzymes under stress conditions and increased the tolerance of rice seedlings to oxidative stress. Our data suggest that ZFP245 may contribute to the tolerance of rice plants to cold and drought stresses by regulating proline levels and reactive oxygen species-scavenging activities, and therefore may be useful for developing transgenic crops with enhanced tolerance to abiotic stress.
    Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications 09/2009; 389(3):556-61. · 2.48 Impact Factor
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    Article: Assessment of genetic diversity in broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum L.) using SSR markers.
    Xingyu Hu, Jianfei Wang, Ping Lu, Hongsheng Zhang
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    ABSTRACT: The genetic diversity of 118 accessions of broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum L.), collected from various ecological areas, was analyzed. Using 46 SSR (Simple Sequence Repeat) polymorphic markers from rice, wheat, oat and barley, a total of 226 alleles were found, which exhibited moderate level of diversity. The number of alleles per primer ranged from two to nine, with an average of 4.91. The range of polymorphism information content (PIC) was 0.284-0.980 (average, 0.793). The expected heterozygosity (He) varied from 0.346 to 0.989, with an average of 0.834. The average coefficient of the genetic similarity of SSR markers among the 118 accessions was 0.609, and it ranged from 0.461 to 0.851. The UPGMA (Unweight Pair Group Method with Arithmetic Mean) clustering analysis at the genetic similarity value of 0.609 grouped the 118 accessions into five groups. Mantel test meant that geographical origin and genetic distance presented positive correlation. The clustering results were consistent with known information on ecological growing areas. The genetic similarity coefficient of the accessions in the Loess Plateau ecotype was significantly lower than those in the other ecotypes. It indicates that the highest level of genetic diversity occurred in the Loess Plateau, which is probably the original site of Panicum miliaceum.
    Journal of Genetics and Genomics 09/2009; 36(8):491-500. · 1.88 Impact Factor
  • Conference Proceeding: Cloning, Characterization and Expression Analysis of a Stearoyl-ACP Desaturase Gene from Arachis Hypogaea.
    Shanlin Yu, Mingna Chen, Qingli Yang, Hongsheng Zhang
    Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on BioMedical Engineering and Informatics, BMEI 2009, October 17-19, 2009, Tianjin, China; 01/2009
  • Article: Comparison of the Delta(12) fatty acid desaturase gene between high-oleic and normal-oleic peanut genotypes.
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    ABSTRACT: Delta(12) fatty acid desaturase gene has been targeted as a logical candidate controlling the high oleate trait in peanut seeds. By RT-PCR method, the full-length cDNAs of Delta(12) fatty acid desaturase gene were isolated from peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) genotypes with normal and high ratio of oleic to linoleic acid, which were designated AhFAD2B and AhFAD2B', respectively. Sequence alignment of their coding regions revealed that an extra A was inserted at the position +442 bp of AhFAD2B' sequence of high oleic acid genotypes, which resulted in the shift of open reading frame and a truncated protein AhFAD2B', with the loss of one histidine box involved in metal ion complex required for the reduction of oxygen. Analysis of transcript level showed that the expression of Delta(12) fatty acid desaturase gene in high oleic acid genotype was slightly lower than that in normal genotype. The enzyme activity experiment of yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) cell transformed with AhFAD2B or AhFAD2B' proved that only AhFAD2B gene product showed significant Delta(12) fatty acid desaturase activity, but AhFAD2B' gene product did not. These results suggested that the change of AhFAD2B' gene sequence resulted in lower activity or deactivation of Delta(12) fatty acid desaturase in high oleic acid genotype.
    Journal of Genetics and Genomics 12/2008; 35(11):679-85. · 1.88 Impact Factor
  • Article: Assessment of genetic variation in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) inbred lines using SSR molecular markers.
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    ABSTRACT: A study was conducted to determine the genetic diversity of 39 determinate and indeterminate tomato inbred lines collected from China, Japan, S. Korea, and USA. Using 35 SSR polymorphic markers, a total of 150 alleles were found with moderate levels of diversity, and a high number of unique alleles existing in these tomato lines. The mean number of alleles per locus was 4.3 and the average polymorphism information content (PIC) was 0.31. Unweighted Pair Group Method with Arithmetic Mean (UPGMA) clustering at genetic similarity value of 0.85 grouped the inbred lines into four groups, where one USA cultivar formed a separate and more distant cluster. The most similar inbred lines are from USA, both with determinate type, whereas the most different lines are from USA (Us-16) and Japan (Ja-2) with determinate and indeterminate growth habit, respectively. Clustering was consistent with the known information regarding geographical location and growth habit. The genetic distance information reported in this study might be used by breeders when planning future crosses among these inbred lines.
    Journal of Genetics and Genomics 07/2008; 35(6):373-9. · 1.88 Impact Factor
  • Article: Expression analysis of the calcineurin B-like gene family in rice (Oryza sativa L.) under environmental stresses.
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    ABSTRACT: Calcium plays a crucial role as a second messenger in mediating various defense responses under environmental stresses. Calcineurin B-like (CBL) proteins have been implicated as important Ca2+ sensors in plant-specific calcium signaling. Based on the similarity of sequence, ten CBL genes were identified by searching the rice japonica genome database, which were randomly distribute on chromosomes 1, 2, 3, 5, 10 and 12. By semi-quantitative RT-PCR approach the expression pattern of each gene was detected in various organs at the adult stage and seedlings treated with NaCl, PEG and cold stresses or exogenous ABA. The results showed that the induction of each rice CBL gene was not only responsive to different stress conditions, but also organ specific. In vivo targeting experiment revealed that OsCBL8 localized to the plasma membrane, which was consistent with OsCBL4 and SOS3 previously reported. To elucidate the putative function of OsCBL8 gene, transgenic rice plants overexpressing OsCBL8 gene were generated by the Agrobacterium-mediated approach. The OsCBL8 transgenic rice seedlings showed more tolerance to salt stress than non-transgenic seedlings.
    Gene 06/2008; 415(1-2):1-12. · 2.34 Impact Factor
  • Article: Cloning and expression analysis of three cDNAs encoding omega-3 fatty acid desaturases from Descurainia sophia.
    Sanyuan Tang, Rongzhan Guan, Hongsheng Zhang, Ji Huang
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    ABSTRACT: Three cDNAs of DsFAD3, DsFAD7 and DsFAD8, encoding omega-3 fatty acid desaturases, which are the key enzymes for the conversion of linoleic to alpha-linolenic acid (18:3n-3), were isolated from Descurainia sophia using RACE-PCR. Tissue-specific expression analysis revealed that DsFAD3 and DsFAD7 genes were expressed in all tissues and at a high level in stems, leaves and young siliques, whereas DsFAD8 was moderately expressed in photosynthetic tissues including stems, leaves and young siliques. All three genes were significantly induced by wounding stress and DsFAD3 and DsFAD7 transcript levels were down-regulated by cold, whereas DsFAD8 was increased upon cold stress.
    Biotechnology Letters 10/2007; 29(9):1417-24. · 1.68 Impact Factor
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    Article: Rice ZFP15 gene encoding for a novel C2H2-type zinc finger protein lacking DLN box, is regulated by spike development but not by abiotic stresses.
    Ji Huang, Jianfei Wang, Hongsheng Zhang
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    ABSTRACT: A novel C2H2-type zinc finger protein gene, ZFP 15, was cloned from rice by RT-PCR approach. The ZFP 15 gene encodes a protein of 144 amino acid residues with a predicted molecular mass of 15 kDa. The ZFP 15 protein comprises two C2H2-type zinc finger domains, a putative nuclear localization signal (NLS) at its N-terminus but the DLN-box identified in all reported plant C2H2-type zinc finger proteins was not found. A homology search revealed that ZFP 15 gene was localized within a cluster of C2H2-type zinc finger genes in BAC clone OJ1754_E06 mapped on chromosome 3. All three members in the cluster encoded proteins showed high identities in amino acids and might contribute to a co-regulation. The RT-PCR assay revealed that ZFP 15 mRNA was not regulated by cold, salt, drought and ABA stresses, though CRT/DRE and ABRE elements were found in the promoter region of ZFP 15 gene. The expression profiling also showed that ZFP 15 mRNA was expressed with a lower level in leaves and roots, but not detected in stems. Besides, ZFP15 was shown to accumulate much more in flowering spike than in immature spike. Thus, ZFP15, as the first characterized C2H2-type zinc finger protein in rice, might play a regulatory role on rice spike development.
    Molecular Biology Reports 10/2005; 32(3):177-83. · 2.93 Impact Factor