Project description:Popular rice mega varieties lack sufficient key micronutrients (e.g., Fe, Zn), vitamins and a balanced amino acid composition that are essential for a healthy diet. The major bottleneck for improving the nutritional quality of popular rice varieties through conventional breeding or gene technology is our lack of an integrated understanding of the biochemical and molecular processes that occur during rice grain filling (and their determining genes or loci). In this project, we will perform molecular expression profiling on specific tissue layers of the rice grain. To perform this experiment, the material will be developing rice seeds from plants grown hydroponically under controlled greenhouse conditions. Then, the laser microdissection approach will be applied to dissect different parts of the grain (i.e, vascular trace, aleurone, nucellar epidermis, etc). Total RNA will be extracted from these dissected parts and RNA sequencing will be performed. In this project, we will learn how the synthesis and deposition of grain nutrients is regulated, particularly, during grain filling.
Project description:In this study, we provide a global overview of genome-wide OsHOX24 binding sites in rice under control and desiccation stress conditions in wild-type and OsHOx24 overexpressing rice plants (H49 line) via chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing (ChIP-sequencing) approach. We identified numerous downstream targets of OsHOX24 under desiccation stress and control by analyzing the comprehensive binding site map of OsHOX24 at whole genome level in rice.
Project description:Background and study aims
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most commoncancers among humans worldwide. Recent studies demonstrated that the composition of the bacterial community in the human gut, as well as inflammation occurring in the gut, are some of the factors that modify the risk of an individual to develop CRC. The human gut is home to more than 1000 bacterial species, including health-promoting species and disease-causing species.
The consumption of rice bran, a by-product of rice milling, was previously shown to positively modify bacterial composition in the gut among healthy adults. The protective effect of a long-term rice bran consumption against CRC among individuals known to have higher risk of CRC, such as older individuals who are regular smokers and having a family history of CRC, needs to be established.
This study aims to investigate whether the implementation of a 24-week dietary programme involving rice bran consumption among adults at high risk of CRC is feasible, and whether it has any effect in inducing a health-promoting modification of the bacterial community, as well as a reduction of inflammation, in the gut of these individuals.
Who can participate?
Chinese adults of either gender, who are aged 50 or above and are categorised to be in the high risk CRC group by the Asian-Pacific Colorectal Screening tool, in which classification is based on age, smoking status and family history of CRC.
What does the study involve?
After the recruited subjects were screened for eligibility of study participation and written informed consent had been obtained from them, they were randomly assigned into either Group A or Group B. Participants in Group A were given packets of rice bran and were asked to consume 30 grams of the rice bran at 24-hour intervals for 24 weeks. Participants in Group B were given packets of rice powder that has similar appearance and colour as the rice bran, and were asked to consume 30 grams of the rice powder, also at 24-hour intervals for 24 weeks. All participants were asked to provide a stool sample and blood sample at various time points during the study, namely just before rice bran consumption, as well as 6 weeks, 12 weeks and 24 weeks after the start of rice bran consumption. Laboratory tests were conducted on these samples. All participants were also instructed to complete a log book, detailing the date and time of rice bran or rice powder intake each day, and the amount consumed. The participants also completed a faecal diary where they documented the frequency of egestion, and the shape and amount of stool egested each day, as well as the occurrence of any abdominal discomfort or pain.
Project description:miRNAs can regulate target gene expression by mRNA cleavage. Rice degradome sequencing was employed to validate mRNA targets of rice miRNAs.
Project description:In this project we are investigating the mechanism of drought tolerance in rice at early vegetative stage by looking into expression profile of DEGs and uniquely expressed genes
Project description:We report the application of single-molecule-based sequencing technology for high-throughput profiling of histone H3 trimethylation in rice endosperm. By obtaining about four hundred million bases of sequence from rice chromatin immunoprecipitated DNA, we generated genome-wide chromatin-state maps of rice endosperm. We find that the presence of H3K27me3 in either upstream or downstream of a gene is predominately associated with repression of the gene, while its absence is mainly associated with high gene expression. Examination of Histone H3 lysine 27 trimethylation in rice endosperm.
Project description:The lack of MIRNA set and genome sequence of O. rufipogon (the ancestor of the cultivated rice) has limited to answer the role of MIRNA genes in rice domestication. In this study, a genome, three small RNA populations and a degradome of O.rufipogon were sequenced by Illumina platform and miRNA expression were investigated by miRNA chips. A de novo genome was assembled using ~55x coverage of raw sequencing data and a total of 387 MIRNAs were identified in the O. rufipogon genome based on ~5.2 million unique small RNA reads from three different tissues of O. rufipogon. Of these O. rufipogon MIRNAs, 259 were not found in the cultivated rice, suggesting loss of these MIRNAs in the cultivated rice. We also found that 48 MIRNAs were novel in the cultivated rice, suggesting that they were potential targets of domestication selection. Some miRNAs showed significant expression difference in the wild and cultivated rice, suggesting that expression of miRNA could also be a target of domestication, as demonstrated for the miR164 family. Our results illustrated MIRNA genes, like protein-coding genes, were significantly shaped during rice domestication and could be one of the driven forces contributed to rice domestication.