著者

大野 公裕

出版者

北海道大学大学院国際広報メディア・観光学院

雑誌

国際広報メディア・観光学ジャーナル

巻号頁・発行日

vol.19, pp.21-29, 2014-09-26

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The Minimalist Program (MP), which was advanced by Chomsky in 1993, is an attempt to explore the possibility that language is a perfect solution to interface conditions (Strong Minimalist Thesis, SMT). In this essay, I call attention to a significant change over the years in the characterization of “perfection of language” in SMT, i.e. a change from a methodological to an empirical characterization, and point out some of its important empirical consequences for the biological study of language. I also reconsider the methodological status of the MP in biolinguistics, illuminating the relation between two kinds of minimalism, methodological and substantive.

著者

Tatsuya SATO Taku SHIMOSAWA Yosuke HIMURA

出版者

The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers

雑誌

IEICE TRANSACTIONS on Communications (ISSN:09168516)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.E105-B, no.11, pp.1318-1331, 2022-11-01

被引用文献数

3

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Enterprises have paid attention to consortium blockchains like Hyperledger Fabric, which is one of the most promising platforms, for efficient decentralized transactions without depending on any particular organization. A consortium blockchain-based system will be typically built across multiple organizations. In such blockchain-based systems, system operations across multiple organizations in a decentralized manner are essential to maintain the value of introducing consortium blockchains. Decentralized system operations have recently been becoming realistic with the evolution of consortium blockchains. For instance, the release of Hyperledger Fabric v2.x, in which individual operational tasks for a blockchain network, such as command execution of configuration change of channels (Fabric's sub-networks) and upgrade of chaincodes (Fabric's smart contracts), can be partially executed in a decentralized manner. However, the operations workflows also include the preceding procedure of pre-sharing, coordinating, and pre-agreeing the operational information (e.g., configuration parameters) among organizations, after which operation executions can be conducted, and this preceding procedure relies on costly manual tasks. To realize efficient decentralized operations workflows for consortium blockchain-based systems in general, we propose a decentralized inter-organizational operations method that we call Operations Smart Contract (OpsSC), which defines an operations workflow as a smart contract. Furthermore, we design and implement OpsSC for blockchain network operations with Hyperledger Fabric v2.x. This paper presents OpsSC for operating channels and chaincodes, which are essential for managing the blockchain networks, through clarifying detailed workflows of those operations. A cost evaluation based on an estimation model shows that the total operational cost for executing a typical operational scenario to add an organization to a blockchain network having ten organizations could be reduced by 54 percent compared with a conventional script-based method. The implementation of OpsSC has been open-sourced and registered as one of Hyperledger Labs projects, which hosts experimental projects approved by Hyperledger.

著者

高島 愼助

出版者

四日市大学

雑誌

四日市大学論集 (ISSN:13405543)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.6, no.1, pp.105-112, 1993-09-01 (Released:2019-12-01)

著者

井上 一也 今泉 圭太 市毛 弘一 長尾 竜也 林 高弘

出版者

The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers

雑誌

電子情報通信学会論文誌 B (ISSN:13444697)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.J105-B, no.11, pp.872-879, 2022-11-01

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携帯電話に代表される移動体通信や室内無線通信の発展により,複雑化した電波伝搬環境を推定する技術の重要性が高まっている.移動通信システムにおける通信環境はマルチパス環境であり,さまざまな環境下における伝搬損失特性を推定できる電波伝搬モデルが不可欠である.著者らは以前に,空間画像データ及び数値パラメータを入力データとして,機械学習に基づく伝搬損失推定手法を提案した.この手法では,入力データには数値パラメータと画像データを使用していた.東京中心部で測定されたデータによって構成されたデータセットによるシミュレーションでは,全結合ニューラルネットワーク(FNN)と畳み込みニューラルネットワーク(CNN)を組み合わせたモデルにより,FNNのみを用いたモデルよりも高い精度で伝搬損失を予測できることを確認した.本論文では,入力データを適切に選択し,CNN・FNNモデル構造の再検討を行うことにより,高精度な伝搬損失推定を目的とする.また,AP研伝搬データベースのデータセットを使用して,提案手法の有効性を検証する.

著者

高島 愼助 高崎 力

出版者

四日市大学

雑誌

四日市大学論集 (ISSN:13405543)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.17, no.1, pp.45-76, 2004-09-01 (Released:2019-12-01)

著者

フラートン 著

出版者

岩波書店

巻号頁・発行日

1941

著者

Shenqiang Gao Guifen Ma Lina Zhou Shanhui Guan Jinjun Zhang

出版者

International Heart Journal Association

雑誌

International Heart Journal (ISSN:13492365)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.63, no.5, pp.837-842, 2022-09-30 (Released:2022-09-30)

参考文献数

23

被引用文献数

5

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To compare the effects of dexmedetomidine (DEX) pretreatment, posttreatment, and whole-course pumping on myocardial protection during cardiac valve replacement.One hundred and twenty patients undergoing cardiac valve replacement were randomly divided into the follow groups: DEX pretreatment (D1 group), DEX posttreatment (D2 group), DEX whole-course pumping (D3 group), and Control (C group). The concentrations of cardiac troponin I (cTnI), malondialdehyde (MDA), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), rate of spontaneous heart rebound after aortic opening, time to heart rebound, incidence of arrhythmia, and use of sufentanil and vasoactive drugs were recorded.Compared with group C, the concentrations of cTnI, MDA, and TNF-α in the D1, D2, and D3 groups were lower, especially in the latter. The time to heart rebound was prolonged in all three groups (P < 0.05). The rate of automatic rebound was increased (P < 0.05) while the incidence of arrhythmia was decreased (P < 0.05) in all groups compared with group C. Group D3 had the highest rate of automatic rebound and the lowest incidence of arrhythmia. Compared with groups C and D2, the use of sufentanil and dopamine was lower in groups D1 and D3 (P < 0.05), especially in the latter.During cardiac valve replacement, DEX pretreatment, posttreatment, and whole-course pumping could have myocardial protective effects. The latter showed better effects.

著者

山内 祥史 Shoshi YAMANOUCHI

雑誌

論集

巻号頁・発行日

vol.22, no.1, pp.45-61, 1975-09

著者

藤野 智史 別府 匡貴 村上 聡 早川 磨紀男

出版者

日本毒性学会

雑誌

日本毒性学会学術年会 第44回日本毒性学会学術年会

巻号頁・発行日

pp.P-178, 2017 (Released:2018-03-29)

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<背景> 細胞の脱分化・初期化は、老化した細胞や酸化的障害をうけた細胞を“正常化”する手段として期待される。我々は以前、胆汁酸をリガンドとする核内受容体 farnesoid x receptor (FXR) が分化を制御する転写因子 hepatocyte nuclear factor-4 alpha の発現を促進することを見出した。このことはFXRの制御は細胞の脱分化や初期化につながる可能性を示しており、老化細胞、障害細胞の“正常化”の観点から、詳細な検討が必要である。<結果> ヒト近位尿細管細胞HK-2をFXRの合成リガンドGW4064で処理し、細胞初期化マーカーOct3/4の発現レベルを調べた。その結果、Oct3/4レベルはGW4064により顕著に低下した。一方、コレステロール代謝制御においてFXRと共役する核内受容体である liver x receptor の合成リガンドGW3965でHK-2細胞を処理したところ、FXR リガンド処理時と同様に Oct3/4レベルは顕著に低下した。<考察> これらのことから、FXRとLXRはヒト近位尿細管細胞HK-2 の分化に関与する可能性がある。今後、両核内受容体の活性を負に制御した際に細胞の初期化がみられるかどうか検討を行う必要がある。また、両核内受容体による分化制御機構や共役の有無についても解明が待たれる。

著者

Kevin Odongo Ken-yu Hironao Yoko Yamashita Hitoshi Ashida

出版者

SOCIETY FOR FREE RADICAL RESEARCH JAPAN

雑誌

Journal of Clinical Biochemistry and Nutrition (ISSN:09120009)

巻号頁・発行日

pp.22-78, (Released:2022-11-01)

参考文献数

34

被引用文献数

2

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Certain nutrients stimulate glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) secretion from the intestinal enteroendocrine L-cells, but due to rapid degradation by the DPP-4 enzyme, >90% is converted to inactive metabolite before reaching the target organs via circulation. Plants are a source of potent bioactive compounds that promote endogenous secretion of GLP-1 from L-cells. To search for the effective bioactive compound from a vast library of natural compounds, a reliable and low-cost assay is required considering the high cost of commercial assays. We developed a low-cost sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (s-‍ELISAs) for detecting ‘total’, ‘sensitive active’, and ‘wide-range active’ GLP-1. The s-ELISAs exhibited high sensitivity with measurement ranges between 0.94~240, 0.98~62.5, and 4.8~4,480 pmol/L, respectively. High precision was observed; i.e., CVs within 5% and 20% for intra- and inter-assay variations, respectively, and excellent recovery of exogenous GLP-1 from assay buffer. The developed s-ELISAs had the same performance as the commercial kits and approximately 80% cheaper cost. For their application, cinnamtannin A2-induced GLP-1 secretion was confirmed in STC-1 cells consistent with our previous findings. The s-ELISAs were further validated by measuring plasma GLP-1 level in mice after oral administration of black soy bean seed coat extract containing cinnamtannin A2.

著者

池 鮎人 佐藤 浩一郎 寺内 文雄

出版者

一般社団法人 日本デザイン学会

雑誌

日本デザイン学会研究発表大会概要集 日本デザイン学会 第67回春季研究発表大会

巻号頁・発行日

pp.384, 2020 (Released:2020-08-27)

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飲料を飲む際に用いられるグラスやカップなどの容器は、その形状の違いによって美味しさや飲みやすさといった飲み心地に影響を及ぼす。そのため様々な形状の容器が存在する。一方で、同じく飲料を飲む際に用いられるストローの形状は一般的に円筒形である。そこで本研究では、ストローを様々な形状に変化させ、美味しさや飲みやすさといった飲み心地に影響を及ぼすか検討した。;塩化ビニルチューブや熱収縮性チューブを加工して様々な形状のストローを制作したところ、テーパー形状である、太くなる箇所がある、もしくは飲み口の形状が楕円形であることによって飲み心地が変化する可能性が示唆された。それらを検証するために3Dプリンターで制作したストローを用いて印象評価実験を行った結果、ストローの形状の違いが炭酸飲料の飲み心地に変化を与えることが明らかになった。特に、テーパー形状であると飲み心地はより向上すると考えられた。また、ストローの素材が飲み心地に大きな影響を与えると考えた。それらの考察を踏まえて、より炭酸飲料の飲み心地を向上させるテーパー形状のストローをアルミパイプを加工して提案した。

著者

Reika Hasegawa Tomoki Arakawa Kenjiro Fujita Yuichiro Tanaka Zen Ookawa Shingo Sakamoto Hironori Takasaki Miho Ikeda Ayumi Yamagami Nobutaka Mitsuda Takeshi Nakano Masaru Ohme-Takagi

出版者

Japanese Society for Plant Biotechnology

雑誌

Plant Biotechnology (ISSN:13424580)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.39, no.2, pp.209-214, 2022-06-25 (Released:2022-06-25)

参考文献数

51

被引用文献数

1

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Brassinosteroid (BR) is a phytohormone that acts as important regulator of plant growth. To identify novel transcription factors that may be involved in unknown mechanisms of BR signaling, we screened the chimeric repressor expressing plants (CRES-T), in which transcription factors were converted into chimeric repressors by the fusion of SRDX plant-specific repression domain, to identify those that affect the expression of BR inducible genes. Here, we identified a homeobox-leucine zipper type transcription factor, BRASSINOSTEROID-RELATED-HOMEOBOX 3 (BHB3), of which a chimeric repressor expressing plants (BHB3-sx) significantly downregulated the expression of BAS1 and SAUR-AC1 that are BR inducible genes. Interestingly, ectopic expression of BHB3 (BHB3-ox) also repressed the BR inducible genes and shorten hypocotyl that would be similar to a BR-deficient phenotype. Interestingly, both BHB3-sx and BHB3-ox showed pale green phenotype, in which the expression of genes related photosynthesis and chlorophyll contents were significantly decreased. We found that BHB3 contains three motifs similar to the conserved EAR-repression domain, suggesting that BHB3 may act as a transcriptional repressor. These results indicate that BHB3 might play an important role not only to the BR signaling but also the regulation of greenings.

著者

Darunmas Sankhuan Meiqiao Ji Sota Takanashi Yuto Imamura Shoichi Sato Kanyaratt Supaibulwatana Masahiro Otani Masaru Nakano

出版者

Japanese Society for Plant Biotechnology

雑誌

Plant Biotechnology (ISSN:13424580)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.39, no.2, pp.205-208, 2022-06-25 (Released:2022-06-25)

参考文献数

14

被引用文献数

2

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LEAFY (LFY), which encodes a plant-specific transcription factor, plays an important role in the transition from vegetative to reproductive development. Ectopic expression of LFY has been reported to induce dwarfism and early flowering in some model plants. In order to examine the possibility of using LFY for molecular breeding of ornamental plants, we produced and characterized transgenic plants ectopically expressing LFY from Arabidopsis thaliana (AtLFY) in the liliaceous ornamental plant Tricyrtis sp. Nine independent transgenic plants have been obtained, and all of them exhibited dwarf phenotypes compared with the vector control. These transgenic plants could be classified into three types according to the degree of dwarfism: one showed an extreamly dwarf phenotype with smaller leaves (Type I); two showed moderately dwarf phenotypes (Type II); and six showed slightly dwarf phenotypes (Type III). All of Type I, Type II and Type III transgenic plants produced flower buds 1–3 weeks earlier than the vector control. Vector control and Type III transgenic plants produced 1–4 apical flower buds, whereas Type I and Type II transgenic plants produced only a single apical flower bud. Type I and Type II transgenic plants often produced non-fully-opened flowers. Quantitative real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction analysis showed that the AtLFY expression level generally correlated with the degree of dwarfism. These results indicate that morphological alterations observed in the transgenic plants was induced by ectopic expression of AtLFY. Lower levels of ectopic expression of LFY may be valuable for producing dwarf and early flowering ornamental plants.

著者

Reika Hasegawa Kenjiro Fujita Yuichiro Tanaka Hironori Takasaki Miho Ikeda Ayumi Yamagami Nobutaka Mitsuda Takeshi Nakano Masaru Ohme-Takagi

出版者

Japanese Society for Plant Biotechnology

雑誌

Plant Biotechnology (ISSN:13424580)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.39, no.2, pp.185-189, 2022-06-25 (Released:2022-06-25)

参考文献数

27

被引用文献数

2

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The brassinosteroid (BR) phytohormone is an important regulator of plant growth. To identify novel transcription factors that regulate BR responses, we screened chimeric repressor gene silencing technology (CRES-T) plants, in which transcription factors were converted into chimeric repressors by the fusion of SRDX plant-specific repression domain, with brassinazole (Brz), an inhibitor of BR biosynthesis. We identified that a line that expressed the chimeric repressor for zinc finger homeobox transcription factor, BRASSINOSTEORID-RELATED-HOMEOBOX-2 (BHB2-sx), exhibited Brz-hypersensitive phenotype with shorter hypocotyl under dark, dwarf and round and dark green leaves similar to BR-deficient phenotype. Similar to BHB2-sx plants, bhb2 knockout mutant also exhibited Brz hypersensitive phenotype. In contrast, ectopic expression of BHB2 (BHB2-ox) showed hypocotyl elongation phenotype (BR excessive), showing decrease to Brz sensitivity. The expression of the DWF4 and CPD BR biosynthesis genes was repressed in BHB2-sx plants, whereas it was enhanced in BHB2-ox plants. The BR deficient-like phenotype of BHB2-sx plants was partially restored by treatment with brassinolide (BL), indicating that the BR deficient phenotype of BHB2-sx plant may be due to suppression of BR biosynthesis. Our results indicate that BHB2 is a positive regulator of BR response may be due to the promotion of BR biosynthesis genes.

著者

Yuki Yanagawa Yuma Suenaga Yusuke Iijima Akitoshi Okino Ichiro Mitsuhara

出版者

Japanese Society for Plant Biotechnology

雑誌

Plant Biotechnology (ISSN:13424580)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.39, no.2, pp.179-183, 2022-06-25 (Released:2022-06-25)

参考文献数

14

被引用文献数

2

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Previously, we developed a method that uses temperature-controlled atmospheric-pressure plasma to induce protein uptake in plant cells. In the present work, we examined the mechanism underlying such uptake of a fluorescent-tagged protein in tobacco leaf cells. Intact leaf tissue was irradiated with N2 plasma generated by a multi-gas plasma jet and then exposed to the test protein (histidine-tagged superfolder green fluorescence protein fused to adenylate cyclase); fluorescence intensity was then monitored over time as an index of protein uptake. Confocal microscopy revealed that protein uptake potential was retained in the leaf tissue for at least 3 h after plasma treatment. Further examination indicated that the introduced protein reached a similar amount to that after overnight incubation at approximately 5 h after irradiation. Inhibitor experiments revealed that protein uptake was significantly suppressed compared with negative controls by pretreatment with sodium azide (inhibitor of adenosine triphosphate hydrolysis) or sucrose or brefeldin A (inhibitors of clathrin-mediated endocytosis) but not by pretreatment with genistein (inhibitor of caveolae/raft-mediated endocytosis) or cytochalasin D (inhibitor of micropinocytosis/phagocytosis), indicating that the N2 plasma treatment induced protein transportation across the plant plasma membrane via clathrin-mediated endocytosis.

著者

Yuko Maki Hiroshi Soejima Tamizi Sugiyama Takeo Sato Junji Yamaguchi Masaaki K. Watahiki

出版者

Japanese Society for Plant Biotechnology

雑誌

Plant Biotechnology (ISSN:13424580)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.39, no.2, pp.173-177, 2022-06-25 (Released:2022-06-25)

参考文献数

23

被引用文献数

3

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3-Phenyllactic acid (PLA) is a common secondary product of Lactobacillus sp. and promotes adventitious-root formation in Azuki beans (Vigna angularis). Root promotion activity of PLA is synergistically enhanced by tryptophan (Trp). In this study, stereoisomers of PLA and Trp amide conjugates and their alkyl esters were synthesized to investigate the structure–activity relationships on root-promotion activity. The rooting activity of D-PLA-L-Trp conjugate shows more than 40 times higher than that of the mixture of D-PLA and L-Trp. Modification of PLA-Trp with ethyl ester showed the highest activity at 3,400 times of a mixture of D-PLA and L-Trp. However, L-or D-PLA-D-Trp conjugate and the isopropyl ester of PLA-Trp conjugates, both lost the root promotion activity and implicated that a requirement for steric structure for PLA related root promotion mechanism. Unlike auxin substances, which are commonly used as rooting agents that displayed high activity in low concentrations, PLA-Trp ethyl ester exhibited far less phytotoxicity at high concentration of 1 mM, despite its high rooting activity. Innovation of PLA-Trp ethyl ester may be expected for agricultural aspects with low environmental impact.

著者

Ana Maria Huerta-Olalde Alejandra Hernández-García Rodolfo López-Gómez Sylvia Patricia Fernández-Pavía María Guadalupe Zavala-Páramo Rafael Salgado-Garciglia

出版者

Japanese Society for Plant Biotechnology

雑誌

Plant Biotechnology (ISSN:13424580)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.39, no.2, pp.165-171, 2022-06-25 (Released:2022-06-25)

参考文献数

49

被引用文献数

1

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Blackberry is an economically important crop in Mexico, and its yield is substantially reduced by gray mold, a disease caused by Botrytis cinerea. One of the means to obtain B. cinerea-resistant plants is gamma irradiation. Shoot tips of in vitro-micropropagated blackberry plants (Rubus fruticosus ‘Tupy’) were irradiated with five doses of Cobalt-60 gamma radiation (0, 15, 30, 45, and 60 Gy) and cultured on Murashige and Skoog basal medium containing 1.0 mg l−1 benzylaminopurine and 0.06 mg l−1 indole-3-butyric acid (MSB medium). After 28 days of culture, survival was evaluated to determine mean lethal dose (LD50), and 200 shoots were further irradiated at the determined LD50 (30.8 Gy). After 28 days, the surviving shoots were micropropagated on MSB medium for 60 days. Non-irradiated shoots were screened for the in vitro selection of resistant B. cinerea, exposing them to different concentrations of sterile culture filtrate of B. cinerea (0, 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 g l−1) for 28 days to determine mean lethal concentration (LC50), and the irradiated surviving shoots were further exposed to the determined LC50 (4.6 g l−1). Three surviving lines (rfgum5, rfgum6, and rfgum17) that did not present changes compared with the control shoots were micropropagated to obtain plantlets, which were further subjected to in vitro resistance assays using detached leaves inoculated with B. cinerea (1×103 spores ml−1). Plants of rfgum5 and rfgum6 mutant lines were highly resistant and presented similar growth to control plants. Therefore, this methodology is useful to obtain B. cinerea-resistant blackberry plants.

著者

Shannon L. LADEAU Barbara A. HAN

出版者

日本野生動物医学会

雑誌

日本野生動物医学会誌 (ISSN:13426133)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.21, no.3, pp.53-58, 2016-04-30 (Released:2018-05-04)

参考文献数

32

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ここ数十年間,ヒトや家畜,野生動物において新たに確認される疾病の数は増加している。これらの疾病の多くは,環境条件が変化した結果,生物種間の接触頻度が変わることで“emerge現れる”のである。従来の疾病生物学あるいは疫学研究は,対象となる1つの生物種におけるアウトブレイクパターンを理解しようとするものである。しかしながら,疾病管理対策には,野生動物,ヒト,家畜,そして潜在的な媒介動物集団にまたがる生態学的相互作用について,より包括的な理解が必要であることが,ますます明らかになってきている。本論文では,生態系における病原体動態の根底にある生態学的原則について紹介し,“disease ecology”分野の最前線の研究について取り上げる。病原体や寄生虫は,生態系に固有のものであるというよりはむしろ生態系を乱すものと考えられがちであるが,“disease ecology”の基本原理は,個体群および群集生態学の古典論に由来するものである。

著者

Akari Harada Nanami Tsuji Nozomi Fujimoto Mia Matsuo Miha Saito Nobuyuki Kanzawa

出版者

Japanese Society for Plant Biotechnology

雑誌

Plant Biotechnology (ISSN:13424580)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.39, no.2, pp.155-163, 2022-06-25 (Released:2022-06-25)

参考文献数

59

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Flowering locus T (FT) is known to promote flowering in response to photoperiodic conditions and has recently been shown to contribute to other phenomenon, such as diurnal stomatal movement. In legumes, FTs are classified into three subtypes, though the role of each subtype is not well defined. It has been reported that when FT of Lotus japonicus (LjFT) is heterologously expressed in Arabidopsis, LjFT functions as a mobile florigen to promote flowering, similar to Arabidopsis FT (AtFT). In this study, we expressed AtFT in L. japonicus using the SUC2 promoter and showed that heterologous expression of AtFT was able to promote flowering in the plant. We also showed that AtFT expression does not affect stomatal closing nor nyctinastic leaf movement. These findings contribute to our understanding of flower development and have potential application to breeding or plant biotechnology.

著者

Aili Ailizati Isura Sumeda Priyadarshana Nagahage Atsuko Miyagi Toshiki Ishikawa Maki Kawai-Yamada Taku Demura Masatoshi Yamaguchi

出版者

Japanese Society for Plant Biotechnology

雑誌

Plant Biotechnology (ISSN:13424580)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.39, no.2, pp.147-153, 2022-06-25 (Released:2022-06-25)

参考文献数

29

被引用文献数

1

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An Arabidopsis NAC domain transcription factor VND-INTERACTING2 (VNI2) was originally isolated as an interacting protein with another NAC domain transcription factor, VASCULAR-RELATED NAC-DOMAIN7 (VND7), a master regulator of xylem vessel element differentiation. VNI2 inhibits transcriptional activation activity of VND7 by forming a protein complex. Here, to obtain insights into how VNI2 regulates VND7, we tried to identify the amino acid region of VNI2 required for inhibition of VND7. VNI2 has an amino acid sequence similar to the ETHYLENE-RESPONSIVE ELEMENT BINDING FACTOR (ERF)-associated amphiphilic repression (EAR) motif, conserved in transcriptional repressors, at the C-terminus. A transient expression assay showed that the EAR-like motif of VNI2 was not required for inhibition of VND7. The C-terminal deletion series of VNI2 revealed that 10 amino acid residues, highly conserved in the VNI2 orthologs contributed to effective repression of the transcriptional activation activity of VND7. Observation of transgenic plants ectopically expressing VNI2 showed that the identified 10 amino acid sequence strongly affected xylem vessel formation and plant growth. These data indicated that the 10 amino acid sequence of VNI2 has an important role in its transcriptional repression activity and negative regulation of xylem vessel formation.