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Background: Evidence from animal studies suggests that leptin metabolism is associated with zinc (Zn) status. However, research investigating this relationship in adolescents and young adults with anorexia nervosa (AN) is scarce; the present study aims to fill that gap.
Methods: Serum concentrations of leptin, the soluble leptin receptor (sOB-R) and the free leptin index (FLI) were obtained in healthy control subjects (n=19), acutely ill individuals (n=14) and recovered patients with AN (n=15). Serum Zn concentrations noted in previous research data were also incorporated for all groups.
Results: Leptin, FLI and Zn concentrations were higher in recovered subjects with AN when compared with acutely ill AN patients. Remitted patients showed higher sOB-R concentrations but no difference in FLI compared with the control group. Leptin and FLI were lower in the acutely ill patients compared with the control subjects, who showed no differences in Zn concentrations. Zn concentrations were not correlated with leptin, sOB-R or FLI concentrations in any of the three investigated subgroups.
Conclusions: The present investigation does not entirely support an association between Zn, Leptin and FLI concentrations in subjects with AN, possibly due to limited statistical power. Further research and replication of the present findings related to the interaction between leptin and Zn is warranted. However, with respect to serum leptin levels the data of the present investigation indicate that acutely ill and remitted patients with AN differ as regards serum leptin concentrations and FLI, which is in line with previous research.
Recent psychophysical research supports the notion that horizontal information of a face is primarily important for facial identity processes. Even though this has been demonstrated to be valid for young adults, the concept of horizontal information as primary informative source has not yet been applied to older adults’ ability to correctly identify faces. In the current paper, the role different filtering methods might play in an identity processing task is examined for young and old adults, both taken from student populations. Contrary to most findings in the field of developmental face perception, only a near-significant age effect is apparent in upright and un-manipulated presentation of stimuli, whereas a bigger difference between age groups can be observed for a condition which removes all but horizontal information of a face. It is concluded that a critical feature of human face perception, the preferential processing of horizontal information, is less efficient past the age of 60 and is involved in recognition processes that undergo age-related decline usually found in the literature.
The diet of feral cats Felis catus on Santa Luzia, Cape Verde Islands, was studied. A total of 147 prey items were identified during the analysis of 26 scat groups collected during the summer of 2010. House mouse Mus musculus was the most important prey, both in percentage of biomass and number of preys consumed (89.7% and n= 117, respectively). Reptiles were the second most important prey, represented by one skink species (Chioninia stangeri) and an unidentified gecko species. The remainder of the identified prey consisted of one bird species (Passer iagoensis) and one undetermined Tettigoniidae species (Insecta). No endangered species were identified in scats of this introduced predator, but future surveys must be carried out to further avoid threats to the island's biodiversity.
Background: Highly infectious diseases (HIDs) are defined as being transmissible from person to person, causing life-threatening illnesses and presenting a serious public health hazard. The sampling, handling and transport of specimens from patients with HIDs present specific bio-safety concerns. Findings The European Network for HID project aimed to record, in a cross-sectional study, the infection control capabilities of referral centers for HIDs across Europe and assesses the level of achievement to previously published guidelines. In this paper, we report the current diagnostic capabilities and bio-safety measures applied to diagnostic procedures in these referral centers. Overall, 48 isolation facilities in 16 European countries were evaluated. Although 81% of these referral centers are located near a biosafety level 3 laboratory, 11% and 31% of them still performed their microbiological and routine diagnostic analyses, respectively, without bio-safety measures.
Conclusions: The discrepancies among the referral centers surveyed between the level of practices and the European Network of Infectious Diseases (EUNID) recommendations have multiple reasons of which the interest of the individuals in charge and the investment they put in preparedness to emerging outbreaks. Despite the fact that the less prepared centers can improve by just updating their practice and policies any support to help them to achieve an acceptable level of biosecurity is welcome.
Development of single-port cholecystectomy : results of a case-control study matched to one surgeon
(2012)
Background: Single-port laparoscopic cholecystectomy is an evolving technique which is now widely established. Up until now, the safety of the procedure and a respective learning curve have not been adequately reported in most studies. The aim of this study was to demonstrate that single-port cholecystectomy is a safe procedure, with a positive learning curve from a case-control study matched to one surgeon.
Methods: One hundred single-port cholecystectomies performed by one surgeon (AB) were retrospectively matched to 100 patients who underwent conventional laparoscopic cholecystectomy carried out by the same surgeon. The two groups were matched in respect of surgical indication, gender, age, and body mass index. The groups were compared with respect to operation time, use of additional trocars, analgesics required in the post anesthesia care unit, postoperative complications, and duration of hospital stay.
Results: No significant difference was found between the two groups with respect to postoperative complications and stay in hospital. The operation time increased slightly in the single-port group. Directly after the operation, the analgesic use required in the post anesthesia care unit was higher in the single-port group. Consumption of analgesics on the surgical ward was very similar in each group. In respect to the learning curve, the operation time and use of additional trocars showed a positive trend, starting with the thirtieth operation.
Conclusion: Single-port cholecystectomy is a feasible and safe procedure in a specialist setting. The procedure can be done under the same safety rules as those for conventional laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Considering the learning curve, starting with the thirtieth operation, a positive trend was seen. Long-term studies will be needed to establish the incidence and rate of incisional hernias.
In the first part of this work, the development of a novel two-dimensional native gel electrophoretic system (2-D BN/hrCNE) is described. This new system simplifies proteomics and biochemical analysis of mega protein complexes that are dissociated into the constituent complexes during 2-D electrophoresis, thereby reducing the complexity of the system considerably. This technique is exceptionally well suited for the in-gel detection of fluorescence-labeled proteins and the identification of individual enzymes and protein complexes by specific in-gel assays on native gels.
In the second part, a new technique for the native immunoblotting of blue native gels (NIBN) was developed. This new technique allows for the identification of conformation-specific antibodies and the discrimination of antibodies recognizing linear epitopes of denatured proteins. Identification of conformation-specific antibodies is becoming increasingly important not only for the electron microscopic identification of native proteins but also for structural investigations in general. For this purpose, a commonly used protocol for Western blotting of blue native gels was modified in such a way that the native state of proteins and protein complexes was retained throughout the complete protocol. Instead of using the denaturing methanol in Western blotting protocols, mild detergents such as Tween 20, digitonin and Brij 35 were used for the obligatory removal of protein bound Coomassie-dye.
The detection of respiratory complex I by activity staining on the blot membrane demonstrated that all three non-ionic detergents preserved the native state of complex I. The native state of the enzyme on the blot membrane was also monitored and confirmed with the help of a set of conformation-specific antibodies. NIBN can be used as a simple alternative method to the demanding native ELISA to screen for conformation-specific antibodies for structural studies. Unlike the time consuming native ELISA, NIBN does not require introduction of appropriate affinity tags and purification of the target protein by chromatography. Thus, the NIBN technique is especially useful for microscale projects and for proteins not easily accessible to genetic manipulation.
The third part aimed at identification of the immediate protein interaction partners of Cox26, a hydrophobic protein that has been identified by our group as a novel component of yeast respiratory supercomplex. Multi-dimensional electrophoretic techniques were applied to identify non-covalent and covalent protein-protein interactions of Cox26. Three-dimensional electrophoresis (BNE/BNE/SDS-PAGE) gave both qualitative and quantitative information on covalent and non-covalent interactions of Cox26 and subunits of cytochrome c oxidase (complex IV), and showed that most of the Cox26 protein was non-covalently bound to the complex IV moiety of the respirasomes. Four-dimensional electrophoresis (BNE/BNE/SDS/SDS-PAGE) applying reducing and non-reducing conditions revealed that a minor fraction of Cox26 used a single cysteine residue in the center of a predicted transmembrane helix to form a disulfide bond with the Cox2 subunit of complex IV. A structural role of Cox26 protein in the assembly/stability of respiratory strings or patches has been suggested.
The last part of this work focused on the isolation and characterization of native and morphologically intact nucleoids from bovine heart mitochondria, since only a few studies on nucleoid organization and composition have been carried out on mammalian tissues. The nucleoids appeared as distinct bands (apparent mass around 30-36 MDa) in blue native-PAGE on large pore gels. The moderate variation in particle size seems to reflect variations in the binding of loosely nucleoid-associated components like respiratory chain complexes. The estimated 30-36 MDa mass of nucleoids on native gels suggested that each nucleoid contains one mtDNA molecule provided that nucleoids contains equal amounts of DNA, protein and RNA (Miyakawa et al., 1987).
Electron microscopic analysis of native nucleoids, which was performed by Dr. Karen Davies from the Max-Planck-Institute of Biophysics, Department of Structural Biology, Frankfurt, showed homogenous pool of particles with dimensions in 85x100 nm (in negative stain) and 100x150 nm (in cryo-tomography). Some of the nucleoids showed dumbbell-shape indicating dimerization of nucleoids. Recent EM and high-resolution light microscopy analysis of mammalian nucleoids have reported that nucleoids have a size of 70 nm in average. We also observed the same size of 70 nm in cryo-tomogramms when we applied harsher treatment of the native nucleoid particles with dimensions 100x150 nm. This observation is in agreement with published nucleoid sizes from both EM and high-resolution light microscopy, if we assume that native nucleoids have been dissociated under harsher treatment.
The protein composition of bovine heart mt-nucleoids was analyzed by a number of complementary approaches to identify low and highly abundant, easily dissociating and tightly bound proteins, and to rank the 90 most abundant mt-nucleoid proteins. Native and denaturing gel electrophoresis techniques were coupled to LC-MS/MS to achieve a comprehensive protein component analysis. Qualitative MS analysis of highly purified nucleoids identified more than 400 proteins, including well known nucleoid proteins such as mitochondrial transcription factor and mtDNA-binding protein (TFAM), mitochondrial single-stranded DNA-binding protein (mtSSB), mitochondrial DNA polymerase subunit gamma-2 (POLG2) and mitochondrial helicase C26H10ORF2 protein (Twinkle). These proteins were ranked according to Mascot scores, and sorted according to presumed functional properties. A large group of proteins involved in protein synthesis comprised an almost complete set of subunits of mitochondrial ribosomes suggesting that the nucleoids contained significant amounts of mitochondrial ribosomes. Identification of sixty six proteins from the oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) system comprising around 100 proteins in total suggested that OXPHOS proteins are also associated with mt-nucleoids.
Interestingly, TFAM, described as a main mtDNA packaging factor in human and other mammalian cells, was not confirmed here as a major nucleoid component from bovine heart mitochondria. Fluorescence staining of protein spots on 2-D IEF/SDS gels clearly identified TFAM, but according to the stain intensity, this protein did not rank in the list of the 90 most abundant nucleoid proteins. Western blot analysis of sucrose gradient fractions revealed an enrichment of putative TFAM isoform in nucleoid fractions. Unexpectedly, the uncharacterized mitochondrial protein Es1 was identified as the most abundant nucleoid protein in bovine heart nucleoids instead. This implicates that nucleoid organization may differ between species and tissues. A functional characterization of Es1 is required to clarify its role in mammalian nucleoids.
The magnetic compass of a migratory bird, the European robin (Erithacus rubecula), was shown to be lateralized in favour of the right eye/left brain hemisphere. However, this seems to be a property of the avian magnetic compass that is not present from the beginning, but develops only as the birds grow older. During first migration in autumn, juvenile robins can orient by their magnetic compass with their right as well as with their left eye. In the following spring, however, the magnetic compass is already lateralized, but this lateralization is still flexible: it could be removed by covering the right eye for 6 h. During the following autumn migration, the lateralization becomes more strongly fixed, with a 6 h occlusion of the right eye no longer having an effect. This change from a bilateral to a lateralized magnetic compass appears to be a maturation process, the first such case known so far in birds. Because both eyes mediate identical information about the geomagnetic field, brain asymmetry for the magnetic compass could increase efficiency by setting the other hemisphere free for other processes.
This thesis will first introduce in more detail the Bayesian theory and its use in integrating multiple information sources. I will briefly talk about models and their relation to the dynamics of an environment, and how to combine multiple alternative models. Following that I will discuss the experimental findings on multisensory integration in humans and animals. I start with psychophysical results on various forms of tasks and setups, that show that the brain uses and combines information from multiple cues. Specifically, the discussion will focus on the finding that humans integrate this information in a way that is close to the theoretical optimal performance. Special emphasis will be put on results about the developmental aspects of cue integration, highlighting experiments that could show that children do not perform similar to the Bayesian predictions. This section also includes a short summary of experiments on how subjects handle multiple alternative environmental dynamics. I will also talk about neurobiological findings of cells receiving input from multiple receptors both in dedicated brain areas but also primary sensory areas. I will proceed with an overview of existing theories and computational models of multisensory integration. This will be followed by a discussion on reinforcement learning (RL). First I will talk about the original theory including the two different main approaches model-free and model-based reinforcement learning. The important variables will be introduced as well as different algorithmic implementations. Secondly, a short review on the mapping of those theories onto brain and behaviour will be given. I mention the most in uential papers that showed correlations between the activity in certain brain regions with RL variables, most prominently between dopaminergic neurons and temporal difference errors. I will try to motivate, why I think that this theory can help to explain the development of near-optimal cue integration in humans. The next main chapter will introduce our model that learns to solve the task of audio-visual orienting. Many of the results in this section have been published in [Weisswange et al. 2009b,Weisswange et al. 2011]. The model agent starts without any knowledge of the environment and acts based on predictions of rewards, which will be adapted according to the reward signaling the quality of the performed action. I will show that after training this model performs similarly to the prediction of a Bayesian observer. The model can also deal with more complex environments in which it has to deal with multiple possible underlying generating models (perform causal inference). In these experiments I use di#erent formulations of Bayesian observers for comparison with our model, and find that it is most similar to the fully optimal observer doing model averaging. Additional experiments using various alterations to the environment show the ability of the model to react to changes in the input statistics without explicitly representing probability distributions. I will close the chapter with a discussion on the benefits and shortcomings of the model. The thesis continues whith a report on an application of the learning algorithm introduced before to two real world cue integration tasks on a robotic head. For these tasks our system outperforms a commonly used approximation to Bayesian inference, reliability weighted averaging. The approximation is handy because of its computational simplicity, because it relies on certain assumptions that are usually controlled for in a laboratory setting, but these are often not true for real world data. This chapter is based on the paper [Karaoguz et al. 2011]. Our second modeling approach tries to address the neuronal substrates of the learning process for cue integration. I again use a reward based training scheme, but this time implemented as a modulation of synaptic plasticity mechanisms in a recurrent network of binary threshold neurons. I start the chapter with an additional introduction section to discuss recurrent networks and especially the various forms of neuronal plasticity that I will use in the model. The performance on a task similar to that of chapter 3 will be presented together with an analysis of the in uence of different plasticity mechanisms on it. Again benefits and shortcomings and the general potential of the method will be discussed. I will close the thesis with a general conclusion and some ideas about possible future work.
To compare the development of the auditory system in hearing and completely acoustically deprived animals, naive congenitally deaf white cats (CDCs) and hearing controls (HCs) were investigated at different developmental stages from birth till adulthood. The CDCs had no hearing experience before the acute experiment. In both groups of animals, responses to cochlear implant stimulation were acutely assessed. Electrically evoked auditory brainstem responses (E-ABRs) were recorded with monopolar stimulation at different current levels. CDCs demonstrated extensive development of E-ABRs, from first signs of responses at postnatal (p.n.) day 3 through appearance of all waves of brainstem response at day 8 p.n. to mature responses around day 90 p.n.. Wave I of E-ABRs could not be distinguished from the artifact in majority of CDCs, whereas in HCs, it was clearly separated from the stimulus artifact. Waves II, III, and IV demonstrated higher thresholds in CDCs, whereas this difference was not found for wave V. Amplitudes of wave III were significantly higher in HCs, whereas wave V amplitudes were significantly higher in CDCs. No differences in latencies were observed between the animal groups. These data demonstrate significant postnatal subcortical development in absence of hearing, and also divergent effects of deafness on early waves II–IV and wave V of the E-ABR.
Escherichia coli nitrate reductase A (NarGHI) is a membrane-bound enzyme that couples quinol oxidation at a periplasmically oriented Q-site (Q(D)) to proton release into the periplasm during anaerobic respiration. To elucidate the molecular mechanism underlying such a coupling, endogenous menasemiquinone-8 intermediates stabilized at the Q(D) site (MSQ(D)) of NarGHI have been studied by high-resolution pulsed EPR methods in combination with (1)H2O/2H2O exchange experiments. One of the two non-exchangeable proton hyperfine couplings resolved in hyperfine sublevel correlation (HYSCORE) spectra of the radical displays characteristics typical from quinone methyl protons. However, its unusually small isotropic value reflects a singularly low spin density on the quinone carbon α carrying the methyl group, which is ascribed to a strong asymmetry of the MSQ(D) binding mode and consistent with single-sided hydrogen bonding to the quinone oxygen O1. Furthermore, a single exchangeable proton hyperfine coupling is resolved, both by comparing the HYSCORE spectra of the radical in 1H2O and 2H2O samples and by selective detection of the exchanged deuterons using Q-band 2H Mims electron nuclear double resonance (ENDOR) spectroscopy. Spectral analysis reveals its peculiar characteristics, i.e. a large anisotropic hyperfine coupling together with an almost zero isotropic contribution. It is assigned to a proton involved in a short ∼1.6 Å in-plane hydrogen bond between the quinone O1 oxygen and the Nδ of the His-66 residue, an axial ligand of the distal heme b(D). Structural and mechanistic implications of these results for the electron-coupled proton translocation mechanism at the Q(D) site are discussed, in light of the unusually high thermodynamic stability of MSQ(D).
From its very inception, detective fiction has enjoyed a great popularity among the young and the old, the learned and the not so learned. By some unfortunate stroke of irony, its respect has not kept pace with its enormous popularity. For over half a century now, it has remained the bane of creative writing. In strict intellectual circles, it is very rare to find people talk defensively and interestingly about the genre. Yet Asong has chosen to do just that. He has stoutly defended the weak by putting up a good case for its continued existence. He has also shown how irresistible key elements of the genre are to even the best respected novelists. Finally he has demonstrated for the first time, how the genre has been domesticated by African writers of very great repute such as Ngugi, Sembene and Lessing. That he has been able to prove that these writers have used techniques of detective fiction is a significant broadening of the horizons for appreciating creative writing in Africa.
We present a non-parametric and computationally efficient method that detects spatiotemporal firing patterns and pattern sequences in parallel spike trains and tests whether the observed numbers of repeating patterns and sequences on a given timescale are significantly different from those expected by chance. The method is generally applicable and uncovers coordinated activity with arbitrary precision by comparing it to appropriate surrogate data. The analysis of coherent patterns of spatially and temporally distributed spiking activity on various timescales enables the immediate tracking of diverse qualities of coordinated firing related to neuronal state changes and information processing. We apply the method to simulated data and multineuronal recordings from rat visual cortex and show that it reliably discriminates between data sets with random pattern occurrences and with additional exactly repeating spatiotemporal patterns and pattern sequences. Multineuronal cortical spiking activity appears to be precisely coordinated and exhibits a sequential organization beyond the cell assembly concept.
Pasolini was simultaneously a revolutionary Marxist and a man forever influenced by his religious childhood. So his question was: do the revolutionary becoming of history and political negativity represent a destruction of the tragic beauty of the Greek myths and of the peaceful promise of Christianity? Or do we have to speak of a subtraction where an affirmative reconciliation of beauty and peace becomes possible in a new egalitarian world?
Dual- or multi-target ligands have gained increased attention in the past years due to several advantages, including more simple pharmacokinetic and phamarcodynamic properties compared to a combined application of several drugs. Furthermore multi-target ligands often possess improved efficacy. We present a new approach for the discovery of dual-target ligands using aligned pharmacophore models combined with a shape-based scoring. Starting with two sets of known active compounds for each target, a number of different pharmacophore models is generated and subjected to pairwise graph-based alignment using the Kabsch-Algorithm. Since a compound may be able to bind to different targets in different conformations, the algorithm aligns pairs of pharmacophore models sharing the same features which are not necessarily at the exactly same spatial distance. Using the aligned models, a pharmacophore search on a multi-conformation-database is performed to find compounds matching both models. The potentially “dual” ligands are scored by a shape-based comparison with the known active molecules using ShaEP.
Using this approach, we performed a prospective fragment-based virtual screening for dual 5-LO/sEH inhibitors. Both enzymes play an important role in the arachidonic acid cascade and are involved in inflammatory processes, pain, cardiovascular diseases and allergic reactions. Beside several new selective inhibitors we were able to find a compound inhibiting both enzymes in low micromolar concentrations. The results indicate that the idea of aligned pharmacophore models can be successfully employed for the discovery of dual-target ligands.
The genus Candobrasilopsis gen. nov. is here described, with C. rochai gen. nov. sp. nov. as type species, from the alluvial valley of the Upper Paraná River. The enigmatic Candonopsis brasiliensis Sars, 1901 is here redescribed and transferred to this new genus, the new combination being Candobrasilopsis brasiliensis (Sars, 1901). The new candonid genus belongs to the tribe Candonopsini, because of the absence of the proximal seta on the caudal ramus. It is closely related to Latinopsis Karanovic & Datry, 2009, because of the relatively short terminal segment of the mandibular palp (length less than 1.5 times the basal width, while this segment is longer than three times the basal width in Candonopsis) and the large and stout b-seta on the T1. However, it differs markedly from Latinopsis in the size and shape of the calcified inner lamellae of both valves and in the type of hemipenis. We also discuss the doubtful allocation of several other genera to the Candonopsini, raise Abcandonopsis Karanovic, 2004 to generic status and reassess the uncertain position of Candonopsis anisitsi Daday, 1905 within Latinopsis.
Introduction: Acute kidney injury (AKI) after cardiac surgery increases length of hospital stay and in-hospital mortality. A significant number of patients undergoing cardiac surgical procedures require perioperative intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP) support. Use of an IABP has been linked to an increased incidence of perioperative renal dysfunction and death. This might be due to dislodgement of atherosclerotic material in the descending thoracic aorta (DTA). Therefore, we retrospectively studied the correlation between DTA atheroma, AKI and in-hospital mortality.
Methods: A total of 454 patients were retrospectively matched to one of four groups: -IABP/-DTA atheroma, +IABP/-DTA atheroma, -IABP/+DTA atheroma, +IABP/+DTA atheroma. Patients were then matched according to presence/absence of DTA atheroma, presence/absence of IABP, performed surgical procedure, age, gender and left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF). DTA atheroma was assessed through standard transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) imaging studies of the descending thoracic aorta.
Results: Basic patient characteristics, except for age and gender, did not differ between groups. Perioperative AKI in patients with -DTA atheroma/+IABP was 5.1% versus 1.7% in patients with -DTA atheroma/-IABP. In patients with +DTA atheroma/+IABP the incidence of AKI was 12.6% versus 5.1% in patients with +DTA atheroma/-IABP. In-hospital mortality in patients with +DTA atheroma/-IABP was 3.4% versus 8.4% with +DTA atheroma/+IABP. In patients with +DTA atheroma/+IABP in hospital mortality was 20.2% versus 6.4% with +DTA atheroma/-IABP. Multivariate logistic regression identified DTA atheroma > 1 mm (P = *0.002, odds ratio (OR) = 4.13, confidence interval (CI) = 1.66 to 10.30), as well as IABP support (P = *0.015, OR = 3.04, CI = 1.24 to 7.45) as independent predictors of perioperative AKI and increased in-hospital mortality. DTA atheroma in conjunction with IABP significantly increased the risk of developing acute kidney injury (P = 0.0016) and in-hospital mortality (P = 0.0001) when compared to control subjects without IABP and without DTA atheroma.
Conclusions: Perioperative IABP and DTA atheroma are independent predictors of perioperative AKI and in-hospital mortality. Whether adding an IABP in patients with severe DTA calcification increases their risk of developing AKI and mortality postoperatively cannot be clearly answered in this study. Nevertheless, when IABP and DTA are combined, patients are more likely to develop AKI and to die postoperatively in comparison to patients without IABP and DTA atheroma.
Sucrose is known to repress the translation of Arabidopsis thaliana AtbZIP11 transcript which encodes a protein belonging to the group of S (S - stands for small) basic region-leucine zipper (bZIP)-type transcription factor. This repression is called sucrose-induced repression of translation (SIRT). It is mediated through the sucrose-controlled upstream open reading frame (SC-uORF) found in the AtbZIP11 transcript. The SIRT is reported for 4 other genes belonging to the group of S bZIP in Arabidopsis. Tobacco tbz17 is phylogenetically closely related to AtbZIP11 and carries a putative SC-uORF in its 5′-leader region. Here we demonstrate that tbz17 exhibits SIRT mediated by its SC-uORF in a manner similar to genes belonging to the S bZIP group of the Arabidopsis genus. Furthermore, constitutive transgenic expression of tbz17 lacking its 5′-leader region containing the SC-uORF leads to production of tobacco plants with thicker leaves composed of enlarged cells with 3–4 times higher sucrose content compared to wild type plants. Our finding provides a novel strategy to generate plants with high sucrose content.