Indole analogues decreasing the virulence of Vibrio campbellii towards brine shrimp larvae

Indole signalling has been proposed as a potential target for the development of novel virulence inhibitors to control bacterial infections. However, the major structural features of indole analogues that govern antivirulence activity remain unexplored. Therefore, we investigated the impact of 26 indole analogues on indole-regulated virulence phenotypes in Vibrio campbellii and on the virulence of the bacterium in a gnotobiotic brine shrimp model. The results demonstrated that 10 indole analogues significantly increased the fluorescence of indole reporter strain Vibrio cholerae S9149, 21 of them decreased the swimming motility of V. campbellii, and 13 of them significantly decreased the biofilm formation of V. campbellii. Further, we found that 1-methylindole, indene, 2,3-benzofuran, thianaphthene, indole-3-acetonitrile, methyl indole-3-carboxylate, 3-methylindole, and indole-2-carboxaldehyde exhibited a significant protective effect on brine shrimp larvae against V. campbellii infection, resulting in survival rates of challenged brine shrimp above 80%. The highest survival of shrimp larvae (98%) was obtained with indole-3-acetonitrile, even at a relatively low concentration of 20 μM. Importantly, the indole analogues did not affect bacterial growth, both in vitro and in vivo. These results indicate the potential of indole analogues in applications aiming at the protection of shrimp from vibriosis.     

Realized niche shift associated with Galinsoga quadriradiata (Asteraceae) invasion in China

粗毛牛膝菊在中国的入侵与生态位漂移有关 在外来物种入侵和扩散过程中,生态位的漂移可能起到了重要作用。粗毛牛膝菊(Galinsoga quadriradiata) 在中国已造成了较为严重的入侵,占据了许多与其原产地不同的气候区。为此,本研究力图揭示粗毛牛膝菊入侵过程中的气候生态位漂移,分析其在该物种入 侵中国过程中可能发挥的作用。本研究结合粗毛牛膝菊原 产地和入侵地的分布点与气候数据, 采用Maxent模型预测了其在中国潜在的分布,并采用主成分分析的方法评估 了在入侵中国过程中粗毛牛膝菊气候生态位的漂移。模型结果显示,该物种原产地种群和入侵地种群之间只 有32.7%的生态位重叠,两个种群的生态位相似性较低(Schoener's D = 0.093, P < 0.005),这暗示了在其入侵过程中发生了生态位漂移。相比于其原产地种群,其在中国的入侵种群气候生态位的整体范围和中心都明 显地漂移向了温度更低、降水更少的区域;中国南方大部分区域属于粗毛牛膝菊的稳定适生区,而位于入侵 前沿的北方地区则存在局域适应和潜在拓殖区域。这些研究结果说明,粗毛牛膝菊在中国的入侵种群仍处于准平衡阶段,未来有可能继续向新的适生区扩散入侵,其生态位的变化有力地解释了为什么该物种在中国的入侵性强、危害范围大。     

Carbon and water fluxes in ecologically vulnerable areas in China

Ecologic vulnerable areas (EVAs) are the regions where ecosystems are fragile and vulnerable to suffer from degradation with external disturbances, e.g. environmental changes and human activities (Feng et al. 2022; Wang et al. 2019). EVAs in China are widely distributed and account for more than 55% China’s land area (Ministry of Ecology and Environment of the People’s Republic of China 2008). The ecosystem in EVAs, chartered with low stability, weak resistance and high vulnerability, has been experiencing significant degradation owing to the impacts of global climate change and human activities (Bai et al. 2018; Chen et al. 2021; Yu et al. 2022). The EVAs in China are not only the most serious areas of environmental degradation, but also the most poverty-stricken regions (Wang et al. 2019). Harsh environmental condition (drought, low temperature and strong radiation) and limited resource supply (water, soil nutrients, etc.) constrain the vegetation productivity and ecosystem services of EVAs (Li et al. 2021). Climate change adds new challenges with warmer temperatures, changing rainfall regime and increasing frequency of extreme events (drought, heat wave, storms, etc.), which make it is more difficult to predict the changes of ecosystem processes and functions in future scenarios (Piao et al. 2020; Reid et al. 2014). Carbon and water fluxes are the core ecosystem processes, which is linked to diverse ecosystem services (Lian et al. 2021). Therefore, clarifying the variations and controls of ecosystem carbon and water fluxes is an effective approach to clarifying how ecosystem respond to global change in EVAs (Baldocchi 2020). As the only technique can directly measure the carbon, water and energy fluxes between vegetation and atmosphere, eddy covariance technique has been considered as a standard method for flux observations (Chen et al. 2020). By integrating long-term, eddy covariance measurements over time and space, researches are able to assess ecosystem metabolism at different time scales (hours to decades) (Forzieri et al. 2020; Han et al. 2020; Jung et al. 2017). Eddy covariance measurements also produce information on how ecosystem respond to the changes in climate, which is useful for assessing ecosystem carbon sequestration (Hu et al. 2018), water and energy balance (Forzieri et al. 2020), resource use efficiency (Liu et al. 2019) and ecosystem feedback to climate change (Huang et al. 2019; Piao et al. 2020; Yue et al. 2020). Long-term flux measurements are also vital for detecting the responses of ecosystem functions to extreme events, optimizing and validating models on regional and global scales (Baldocchi 2020). Combining with remote sensing and ecosystem modeling techniques, scientists can upscale and evaluate the functional relations between carbon and water fluxes with environmental variables at high resolution and across diverse spatial/temporal scales (Niu et al. 2017; Xia et al. 2020).     

长链非编码RNA LINC00885在人食管癌细胞中的作用研究

探讨长链非编码RNA LINC00885对人食管癌细胞EC109增殖、迁移与侵袭的影响。构建LINC00885基因过表达质粒（pcDNA3.1-LINC00885）和shRNA敲低质粒（pLKO.1-LINC00885）。分别采用集落形成实验检测EC109细胞增殖能力;划痕实验检测EC109细胞横向迁移能力;Transwell实验检测EC109细胞纵向迁移能力及侵袭能力;流式实验检测LINC00885对于细胞周期的调控;实时定量PCR方法检测LINC00885 mRNA转录水平;Western blot检测BMP7及上皮间充质转化（epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition,EMT）通路相关蛋白（VIMENTIN、β-catenim和ZO-1）表达水平。在过表达LINC00885的EC109细胞中,细胞的增殖能力、迁移能力及侵袭能力均显著增强,BMP7蛋白表达升高;而在敲低表达LINC00885的EC109细胞中,细胞的增殖能力、迁移能力与侵袭能力均显著降低,BMP7蛋白表达也随之降低。另外,在过表达LINC00885的EC109细胞中,EMT通路蛋白VIMENTIN、β-catenim表达水平显著升高,而ZO-1表达水平显著降低。通过探究LINC00885对食管癌细胞增殖、迁移能力的影响,旨在验证LINC00885在食管癌中的功能,以期为临床治疗食管癌奠定理论基础。     

ACC deaminase from plant growth-promoting bacteria affects crown gall development

In addition to the well-known roles of indoleacetic acid and cytokinin in crown gall formation, the plant hormone ethylene also plays an important role in this process. Many plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) encode the enzyme 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate (ACC) deaminase, which can degrade ACC, the immediate precursor of ethylene in plants, to alpha-ketobutyrate and ammonia and thereby lower plant ethylene levels. To study the effect of ACC deaminase on crown gall development, an ACC deaminase gene from the PGPB Pseudomonas putida UW4 was introduced into Agrobacterium tumefaciens C58, so that the effect of ACC deaminase activity on tumour formation in tomato and castor bean plants could be assessed. Plants were also coinoculated with A. tumefaciens C58 and P. putida UW4 or P. putida UW4-acdS- (an ACC deaminase minus mutant strain). In both types of experiments, it was observed that the presence of ACC deaminase generally inhibited tumour development on both tomato and castor bean plants.     

Interleukin-1 (IL-1)-induced TAK1-dependent Versus MEKK3-dependent NFkappaB activation pathways bifurcate at IL-1 receptor-associated kinase modification

Interleukin-1 (IL-1) receptor-associated kinase (IRAK) is phosphorylated after it is recruited to the receptor, subsequently ubiquitinated, and eventually degraded upon IL-1 stimulation. Although a point mutation changing lysine 134 to arginine (K134R) in IRAK abolished IL-1-induced IRAK ubiquitination and degradation, mutations of serines and threonines adjacent to lysine 134 to alanines ((S/T)A (131-144)) reduced IL-1-induced IRAK phosphorylation and abolished IRAK ubiquitination. Through the study of these IRAK modification mutants, we uncovered two parallel IL-1-mediated signaling pathways for NFkappaB activation, TAK1-dependent and MEKK3-dependent, respectively. These two pathways bifurcate at the level of IRAK modification. The TAK1-dependent pathway leads to IKKalpha/beta phosphorylation and IKKbeta activation, resulting in classical NFkappaB activation through IkappaBalpha phosphorylation and degradation. The TAK1-independent MEKK3-dependent pathway involves IKKgamma phosphorylation and IKKalpha activation, resulting in NFkappaB activation through IkappaBalpha phosphorylation and subsequent dissociation from NFkappaB but without IkappaBalpha degradation. These results provide significant insight to our further understanding of NFkappaB activation pathways.