Wilkes University

About: Wilkes University is a education organization based out in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Pharmacy. The organization has 616 authors who have published 1032 publications receiving 21050 citations. The organization is also known as: Wilkes & Wilkes College.

Genomic basis for light control of plant development.

Abstract: Light is one of the key environmental signals regulating plant growth and development. Therefore, understanding the mechanisms by which light controls plant development has long been of great interest to plant biologists. Traditional genetic and molecular approaches have successfully identified key regulatory factors in light signaling, but recent genomic studies have revealed massive reprogramming of plant transcriptomes by light, identified binding sites across the entire genome of several pivotal transcription factors in light signaling, and discovered the involvement of epigenetic regulation in light-regulated gene expression. This review summarizes the key genomic work conducted in the last decade which provides new insights into light control of plant development.

DEFORMED FLORAL ORGAN1 (DFO1) regulates floral organ identity by epigenetically repressing the expression of OsMADS58 in rice (Oryza sativa).

Abstract: Floral organ identity in plants is controlled by floral homeotic A/B/C/D/E-class genes. In Arabidopsis thaliana, several epigenetic repressors that regulate these floral organ identity genes have been characterized. However, the roles of epigenetic factors in rice floral development have not been explored in detail. Here, we report the identification and functional characterization of a rice epigenetic repressor, DEFORMED FLORAL ORGAN1 (DFO1) gene, which causes abnormal floral morphology when mutated. We isolated dfo1 by mapping, and confirmed its function by rescue experiments, combined with genetic, cytological and molecular biological analysis. We showed that DFO1 is constitutively expressed and encodes a nuclear-localized protein. Mutation of DFO1 causes the ectopic expression of C-class genes in the dfo1-1 mutant, and overexpression of OsMADS58, a C-class gene, phenocopies the dfo1 mutants. In vitro and in vivo experiments demonstrated that DFO1 interacts with the rice polycomb group (PcG) proteins (OsMSI1 and OsiEZ1). Remarkably, trimethylation of histone H3 lysine 27, a mark of epigenetic repression, is significantly reduced on OsMADS58 chromatin in the dfo1-1 mutant. Our results suggest that DFO1 functions in maintaining rice floral organ identity by cooperating with PcG proteins to regulate the H3K27me3-mediated epigenetic repression on OsMADS58.

TSV, a putative plastidic oxidoreductase, protects rice chloroplasts from cold stress during development by interacting with plastidic thioredoxin Z.

Abstract: Rice is vulnerable to cold stress. Seedlings are very sensitive to cold stress and this harms global rice production. The effects of cold on chloroplast development are well known, but little is known about the underlying molecular mechanisms. Here, we isolated a temperature-sensitive virescent (tsv) mutant that is extremely sensitive to cold stress. It displayed defective chloroplasts, decreased chlorophyll and zero survivorship under cold stress. We isolated and identified TSV by map-based cloning and rescue experiments, combined with genetic, cytological and molecular biological analyses. We found that TSV, a putative plastidic oxidoreductase, is a new type of virescent protein. A mutation in tsv causes premature termination of the gene product. The activity of plastid-encoded RNA polymerase (PEP) and the expression of genes participating in chlorophyll synthesis were severely reduced in the tsv mutant under cold stress, but not at normal temperatures. TSV expression was induced by low temperatures. Strikingly, TSV interacted with OsTrxZ (a subunit of PEP in chloroplasts) and enhanced OsTrxZ stability under low temperatures. We demonstrated that TSV protects rice chloroplasts from cold stress by interacting with OsTrxZ. These results provide novel insights into ways in which rice chloroplast development and chlorophyll synthesis are protected by TSV under cold stress.

User Acceptance of Mobile Technology: A Campus-Wide Implementation of Blackboard's Mobile™ Learn Application:

Abstract: Mobile learning is a fast growing trend in higher education. This study examined how an extended technology acceptance model (TAM) could evaluate and predict the use of a mobile application in lear...

Chemoprevention of prostate cancer by major dietary phytochemicals.

Abstract: Prostate cancer continues to be one of the most commonly diagnosed diseases and the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths among men in the United States. Options exist to treat localized disease, including surgery, radiation therapy, and hormonal therapy, but clinical management of advanced prostate cancer is challenging. In the past few decades, chemoprevention involving naturally-occurring compounds has emerged as a promising and cost-effective approach to reduce incidence and morbidity of prostate cancer by inhibiting the precancerous events before the occurrence of clinical disease. The present review focuses on summarizing the recent advances in studies of major dietary phytochemicals and their role in prostate cancer development.