Urokinase-targeted recombinant bacterial protein toxins are a sort of rationally designed and engineered anticancer recombinant fusion proteins representing a novel class of agents for cancer therapy. Bacterial protein toxins have long been known as the primary virulence factor(s) for a variety of pathogenic bacteria and are the most powerful human poisons. On the other hand, it has been well documented that urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) and urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR), making up the uPA system, are overexpressed in a variety of human tumors and tumor cell lines. The expression of uPA system is highly correlated with tumor invasion and metastasis. To exploit these characteristics in the design of tumor cell-selective cytotoxins, two prominent bacterial protein toxins, i.e., the diphtheria toxin and anthrax toxin are deliberately engineered through placing a sequence targeted specifically by the uPA system to form anticancer recombinant fusion proteins. These uPA system-targeted bacterial protein toxins are activated selectively on the surface of uPA system-expressing tumor cells, thereby killing these cells. This article provides a review on the latest progress in the exploitation of these recombinant fusion proteins as potent tumoricidal agents. It is perceptible that the strategies for cancer therapy are being innovated by this novel therapeutic approach.

The genus Pythium, with slightly over 280 described species, has been classified traditionally with other filamentous, coenocytic, sporangia-producing fungi as “Phycomyetes”. However, with recent advances in chemical, ultrastructural and molecular studies, Pythium spp. are now considered as “fungus-like organisms” or “pseudo-fungi” and are placed in the Kingdom Chromista or Kingdom Straminopila, distinct from the true fungi of the Kingdom Fungi or Kingdom Mycota. They are widely distributed throughout the world as soil saprophytes or plant pathogens. Because of the warm moist maritime climate, Taiwan, China, is especially rich in Pythium species. To date, 48 species of Pythium have been reported from Taiwan, China, with the dominant species being Py. vexans, Py.spinosum, Py. splendens, Py. aphanidermatum, Py. dissotocum and Py. acanthicum. There is no definite geographical distribution of Pythium spp. in Taiwan, China. Twenty nine species of Pythium have proven to be plant pathogens attacking a wide variety of woody and herbaceous plants primarily causing pre- and post-emergence seedling damping-off, root rot, stem rot and rotting of fruits, tubers and ginger rhizomes, resulting in serious economic losses. The most important plant pathogenic species include Py. aphanidermatum and Py. Myriotylum, which are most active during the hot and wet summer months; whereas Py.splendens, Py. spinosum, Py. ultimum and Py. irregulare cause the greatest damage in the cool winter. Most Pythium spp. are non-specific pathogens, infecting mainly juvenile or succulent tissues. This review attempts to assess the taxonomic position of the genus Pythium and provide details of the historical development of the study of Pythium as pathogens in Taiwan, China, causing diseases of sugarcane, trees, vegetables, fruits, specialty crops and flowering plants, as well as measures to control these diseases. Of special note is the introduction of the S-H mixture which, when used as soil amendment, effectively controls many soil-borne Pythium diseases during the early stages of plant growth. The diversity of Pythium species in Taiwan, China, is discussed in comparison with the situation in the mainland of China and suggestions are made to fully utilize Pythium spp. as agents for biological control, in industry and medicine.

The accurate assessment of actual tree stem respiration and its relation with temperature plays a considerable role in investigating the forest carbon cycle. An increasing number of research reports have indicated that tree stem respiration determined with the commonly-applied chamber gas exchange measuring system does not follow expectations regarding temperature relationships. This method is based on the nowadays widely-accepted theory that the respired CO₂ in a tree stem would all diffuse outward into the atmosphere. However, it neglects partial CO₂ that is dissolved in the xylem sap and is carried away by the transpirational stream. Scientists have started to realize that the respired CO₂ measured with the chamber gas exchange method is only a portion of the total stem respiration (CO₂ efflux), while the other portion, which is sometimes very substantial in quantity (thought to occupy maybe 15%-75% of the total stem respiration), is transported to the upper part of the stem and to the canopy by sap flow. This suggests that the CO₂ produced by respiration is re-allocated within the stem. Accordingly, the change in CO₂ efflux could be reflected in the rates of sap flow in addition to its dependence on temperature. Proper methods and instruments are required to quantify the internal and external CO₂ fluxes in the trunk and their interaction with related environmental factors.

Actinidia (Actinidiaceae) is of economic importance for its edible fruits. Traditional taxonomy divided the genus into four sections, Leiocarpae Dunn, Maculatae Dunn, Strigosae Li, and Stellatae Li. However, phylogenetic studies based on morphology and molecular markers have posed challenges to the four-section scheme. It appears that the natural classification of the genus points to the existence of two groups, one comprising Leiocarpae, and the other Maculatae, Strigosae, and Stellatae. Single- or low-copy genes would probably be useful in untangling the perplexity and the reticulate evolution of the genus. However, any phylogenetic studies must be firmly based on sound taxonomy and identification. Population sampling throughout the distribution range of the taxa should be carried out in order to study the variation pattern of the morphology and, ultimately, to clarify the confusion existing in some taxa. A combination of morphometrics and molecular data is highly desirable for resolving the uncertainty in Actinidia taxonomy.

The majority of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) found in the coding region (cSNPs) are single base substitutions that may or may not lead to amino acid substitutions, most of which are related to diseases. Some cSNPs may prove useful for their potential links to functional cSNPs via linkage disequilibrium mapping. We have selected 48 cSNPs located in the coding regions of 25 genes to construct the cSNP chip. These genes are harbored in the high frequency loss regions of the chromosome 1p and 8p and related with apoptosis, cell cycles, signal transduction, oncogene, tumor suppressor genes and so on. All of the cSNPs can lead to amino acid substitutions except TP73 (rs1801174). The PCR products amplified from 31 hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) specimens were labeled with Dig-dUTP and then hybridized with the cSNP chips. The results showed that there was no hybridization signal when there was more than one site of mutation in the amplification sequence, indicating that the cSNP chip had a high sensitivity. The statistic data of the SNP (MT, homozygous and HT, heterozygous) in the HCC patients with different phenotypes (HBV +/-,differentiation stage, family history positive or negative, tumor size) indicated that the number of MT was distinctly different between patients with positive HBV and negative HBV. The MT and HT numbers of all the 48 cSNPs were significantly different between low differentiation and high differentiation HCC patients. The numbers of MT and HT were not different between positived and negative family history groups and between tumor size > 3 cm and ≤ 3 cm groups. The study results provided useful information for understanding the molecular mechanisms of HCC development.

The present investigation on fungal diversity shows that there were rich fungal resources of up to 196 species, belonging to 41 families and 90 genera, in the Qinling Mountainous Range of central China. The dominant families were Polyporaceae, Russulaceae, Tricholomatacea and Lycoperdaceae, which comprised 107 species, 54.59% of the total species. The dominant genera were Russula, Lactarius, Trametes, Phellinus, Coprinus, Lycoperdon, Suillu, and Calvatia, which consisted of 59 species, 30.09% of the total species. According to the geographical characteristics, the genera were grouped into: cosmopolitan element (74.98%), pantropical element (3.57%), tropical element (1.02%) and north temperate element (21.43%), with the cosmopolitan element constituting the majority. Among these, the cosmopolitan and North Temperate Zone were characteristic of this region. Based on relevant literature review, the primary pharmaceutical action of the medicinal fungi in Qinling Mountain can be classified as follows: anti-cancer, anti-bacteria, anti-inflammation, relief of muscle rigidity and activation of collaterals, hemostasis, immunological regulation, as well as nourishing the stomach and tonification which means enhancing the body system.

The approaches to enlarge the protected areas are deeply embedded in the conservation planning. In practice, however, even in some sites of top conservation priority, there exist problems of inefficient conservation for lack of funding, to say nothing of assisting all species under threat from the viewpoint of conservationists. Identifying priority sites for conservation and establishing networks of minimum priority sites (NOMPS) are helpful for promoting the transition from number and size oriented, to quality and effectiveness oriented practices of biological conservation, and for realizing the target of biodiversity conservation with the most benefits for the least costs. Based on heuristic algorithm and integer linear programming (ILP), we propose a refined method of heuristic integer linear programming (HILP) for quantitative identification of the NOMPS to protect rare and endangered plant species (REPS) in Guangdong Province, China. The results indicate that there are 19 priority sites which are essential for protecting all of the 107 REPS distributed in 83 sites in Guangdong. These should be the paramount targets of financing and management. Compared with the ILP, which uses minimum number of sites as the only constraint, HILP takes into consideration of the effect of species richness, and is thus more suitable for conservation practices though with a little more number of priority sites selected. It is suggested that ILP and HILP are both effective quantitative methods for identifying NOMPS and can yield important information for decision making, especially when economic factors are constraints for biological conservation.