Yi Sun

Shanxi Academy of Agricultural Science · Biotechnology Research Center

Hydrogen gas (H2) is a newly discovered signaling molecule involved in stress response of plants. This study investigated physiological and molecular mechanisms of hydrogen-rich water (HRW)-mediated beneficial effects on maize roots exposed to saline stress. The results showed that growth of maize seedlings treated with 150 mM NaCl was greatly redu...

BACKGROUND Armyworm (Mythimna separata) is a destructive herbivore for maize. Balsas teosinte (Zea mays ssp. parviglumis), the direct wild ancestor of cultivated maize, has shown great potential to defend against herbivory. Here, based on armyworm bioassay, we compared responses of teosinte and B73 maize inbred during armyworm attack in their trans...

Plant genetic transformation has arguably been the core of plant improvement in recent decades. Efforts have been made to develop in planta transformation systems due to the limitations present in the tissue-culture-based methods. Herein, we report an improved in planta transformation system, and provide the evidence of reporter gene expression in...

Despite the relatively small contribution to metabolisable energy that volatile fatty acids (VFAs) provide in chickens, these organic acids have been reported to play beneficial roles in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) of birds, for example, inhibition of the growth of some pathogenic bacteria. However, information regarding the dynamics of these...

We investigated the performance of a transgenic maize (Zea mays L) line with an exotic betaine aldehyde dehydrogenase (BADH) gene and its untransformed counterpart under drought and normal water conditions. Membrane permeability, osmoprotectant contents, and antioxidant enzyme activities of the maize lines as well as plant height and biomass were c...

Maize (Zea mays L.) kernel width is one of the most important traits that is related to yield and appearance. To understand its genetic mechanisms more clearly, a recombinant inbred line (RIL) segregation population consisting of 239 RILs was used for quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping for kernel width. We found four QTLs on chromosomes 3 (one)...

Two germinating seed transformation methods i.e., scarifying and puncturing methods, were used to transfer the bar gene into an inbred maize line. We generated transgenic glufosinate-tolerant maize plants, and conducted a comparison of the two transformation methods. We used the plasmid pCAMBAR.CHI.11 as the donor and germinating maize seeds as the...

To explore the wheat seedling development and physiological responses under copper contami-nation and enhanced ultraviolet-B (UV-B) irradiation, 10 mg·L −1 CuCl 2 solution was irrigated to Tri-ticum aestivum L. cv. Linyuan 2069 one day after germination with or without ultraviolet-B (10.08 kJ m −2 ·d −1) light exposure, respectively. The results sh...

Various studies have been conducted to evaluate the effect of Bt crops on animals. Insect-resistant bioassays have revealed that the chitinase-BmkIT combination could be used as a new pest-resistant gene source and might be a complementary alien gene source to Bt toxin gene. So it is necessary to assay the effects of chitinase-BmkIT plants on anima...

Maize (Zea mays L.) is one of the most important crops in the world. In this study, 13 agronomic traits of a recombinant inbred line population that was derived from the cross between Mo17 and Huangzao4 were investigated in maize: ear diameter, ear length, ear axis diameter, ear weight, plant height, ear height, days to pollen shed (DPS), days to s...

Maize (Zea mays L.) is among the crops with the greatest worldwide economic importance. Ear height is a very important trait that is considered necessary in maize and is related to morphology, lodging, and yield. To realize its genetic basis, an F9 recombinant inbred line population and a genetic map consisting of 101 simple sequence repeat markers...

Gene medicine is making breakthroughs in health questions that have baffled humanity for centuries. To understand and utilize gene medicine, it is necessary to realize its action against targets at the molecular level. Currently, many methods can be used to discover drug targets; among these, genomic and proteomic methods are the two most important...

In order to obtain transgenic maize plants tolerant to salt stress, maize inbred Zheng 58 was transformed with BADH gene using pollen-mediated method. The results of Km-resistant screening, PCR detection and Southern blot analysis proved that BADH gene was introduced into maize plants and integrated into the maize genome. Effects of various concent...

The aim of this work was to explore the potential toxicological effects on rabbits of transgenic poplar (Populus cathayana Rehd.) leaves with binary insect-resistance genes used as feed. Fifty-four 40-d-old weaned New Zealand White Rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) (live weight 0.98±0.1 kg) were fed for 70 consecutive days with a common pelleted diet...

The nutrition assessment of transgenic food is an important part of safety evaluation. The amino acids and vitamins composition of genetically modified antidwarf mosaic maize were comprehensively evaluated to assess the safety assessment of transgenic food. The results showed that the most components of transgenic corn had no significant difference...

We explored the use of exogenous nitric oxide (NO) on alleviating effects of UV-B light on winter wheat development. Triticum aestivum L. cv. Linyou 7287 seeds were irradiated with UV-B (10.08 kJ·m –2 ·d –1 ) (enhanced UV-B) and watered with either water or 100 µmol·L –1 SNP solution. Plants were also watered with the SNP alone. The results showed...

Genetically modified food safety has become a hot issue of food safety assessment since its birth. Genetically modified antidwarf mosaic maize were selected to research the change of mineral elements as a part of genetically modified food safety. The results showed that concentrations of thirteen kinds of mineral elements descend in genetically mod...

We explored the use of He-Ne laser on alleviating the effects of ultraviolet-B (UV-B) light on winter wheat development. Triticum aestivum L. cv. Linyuan 077038 seeds were irradiated with either UV-B (10.08 kJ m(-2) d(-1)) (enhanced UV-B) or a combination of UV-B light and the He-Ne laser (5.43 mW mm(-2)). Plants also were exposed to the He-Ne lase...

Chitin synthases are crucial enzymes responsible for chitin biosynthesis in fungi, nematodes and arthropods. We characterized two alternative splicing-derived variants of chitin synthase 1 gene (LmCHS1) from the oriental migratory locust, Locusta migratoria manilensis (Meyen). Each cDNA of the two variants (LmCHS1A and LmCHS1B) consists of 5116 nuc...

Transgenic poplar shoots were obtained using Agrobacterium-mediated in situ bud transformation. The method is demonstrated for the first time for poplar. Buds of Populus cathayana Rehd were co-cultivated with an Agrobacterium strain LBA4404 harbouring the binary vector pBI101-Bmk-chi. With the procedure described here, transformation efficiencies o...

The objective of this study was to disclose the origin and evolution of the A, B, and D genomes in common wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) with evidence on ribosomal DNA (rDNA) internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequences. Specific primers were used to amplify the rDNA ITS sequences from common wheat, and 3 types of the amplification fragment were obtai...

Sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] is one of the most important crops in the semiarid regions of the world. A methylation genetic linkage map of sorghum was constructed using a F2 population derived from a cross of B(2)V(4) x 1383-2 based on methylation-sensitive amplified polymorphism (MSAP) and simple sequence repeats (SSR) markers. The map in...

An Buthus martensii Karsch Insect Toxin (BmK IT) gene was inserted into the genome of Autographa californica multicapsid nucleopolyhedrovirus (AcMNPV) to construct a recombinant baculovirus, AcMNPV-BmK IT. The expression of BmK IT was confirmed using RT-PCR, dot blot and SDS-PAGE analysis. Dose-lethal time responses to Spodoptera exigua larvae were...

A synthetic scorpion Hector Insect Toxin (AaHIT) gene, under the control of a CaMV35S promoter, was cloned into cotton via Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation. Southern blot analyses indicated that integration of the transgene varied from one to more than three estimated copies per genome; seven homozygous transgenic lines with one co...

Glycine betaine is an osmoprotectant that plays an important role and accumulates rapidly in many plants during salinity or drought stress. Choline monooxygenase (CMO) is a major catalyst in the synthesis of glycine betaine. In our previous study, a CMO gene (AhCMO) cloned from Atriplex hortensis was introduced into cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) v...

A novel plant genetic transformation method for maize (Zea mays) is reported. Using a scalpel, germinating seeds were wounded in the meristem and co-cultivated with an Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain harbouring a Ti plasmid. Seedlings produced from the treatment were screened by hygromycin selection. Fertile transgenic T(0) and T(1) plants were ob...

Transgenic plants with introduced pest-resistant gene offer an efficient alternative insect control. The novel insect-resistant gene combination, chitinase(chi) and BmkIT(Bmk), containing an insect-specific chitinase gene and a scorpion insect toxin gene was introduced into Brassica napus cultivar via Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. Fifty-se...

The chitinase gene of Manduca sexta was cloned into the expression vector, pET-28a, and expressed in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3) host cells. The protein product was expressed in inclusion bodies. After denaturation and renaturation procedures using a Ni2+-NTA affinity chromatography column, soluble chitinase was obtained. The authenticity of the re...

The genetic transformation was achieved by pollen-mediated approach on maize (Zea nays L.) inbred lines Tai 9101 and Zong 31. Plasmid DNA of pGL II-RC-1 was mixed with fresh pollen of maize inbreds in sucrose solution. The pollens were treated by ultrasonication and collected, pollinated on silks of maize ears. Transformants were confirmed by dot b...

The phylogenetic relationships of the genus Sorghum and related genera were studied by sequencing the nuclear ribosomal DNA (rDNA) internal transcribed spacer region (ITS). DNA was extracted from 15 Sorghum accessions, including one accession from each of the sections Chaetosorghum and Heterosorghum, four accessions from Parasorghum, two accessions...

Autotetraploid plants of S. versicolor (Anderss.) (2n=10) were induced by colchicine treatment. Seedling treatment with 0.01% colchicine solution for 6hr led to 8.3% tetraploid plant induction, and seed germination with 0.01% colchicine solution for 5 days led to 6.6% tetraploid plant induction. These were considered the most effective and convenie...

To explore widely related gene pools for cultivated sorghum and to study the phylogenic relations within the genus Sorghum, reciprocal crosses and style pollination were tested to study the pollen tube reaction in the interspecific pollination of Sorghum bicolor (2n = 20) and Sorghum versicolor (2n = 10). Fluorescence of pollen tube callose was use...

The ability to move genes between species by transformation methods is very useful for basic research to evaluate the role of a gene in explaining the phenotypic differences between species and for applied research to introduce a desirable gene into a crop plant. However, some people have expressed concern that transformation experiments are unnatu...