Superior japonica rice variety YJ144 with improved rice blast resistance,yield, and quality achieved using molecular design and multiple breeding strategies

Molecular Breeding - The stem color of young mung bean is a very useful tool in germplasm identification. Flowering time and plant height (PH) are known to be strongly correlated with crop adaption...     

Manipulation of host ecdysteroid hormone levels facilitates infection by the fungal insect pathogen,Metarhizium rileyi

Entomopathogenic fungi such as Metarhizium rileyi and Beauveria bassiana are widely used insect biological control agents. Little, however, is known concerning genetic or enzymatic factors that differentiate the mechanisms employed by these two fungal pathogens to infect target hosts. Infection by either of these organisms is known to increase levels of the growth and molting hormone, ecdysone, which also regulates the expression of a number of innate immune pathways. M. rileyi, but not B. bassiana, has apparently evolved an ecdysteroid-22-oxidase (MrE22O) that inactivate ecdysone. We show that deletion of MrE22O impaired virulence compared with the wild-type strain, with an increase in ecdysone titer seen in hosts that was coupled to an increase in the expression of antimicrobial genes. An M. rileyi strain engineered to overexpress MrE22O (MrE22O^OE), as well as trans-expression in B. bassiana (Bb::MrE220^OE) resulted, in strains displaying enhanced virulence and dampening of host immune responses compared with their respective wild-type parental strains. These results indicate that ecdysone plays an important role in mediating responses to fungal infection and that some insect pathogenic fungi have evolved mechanisms for targeting this hormone as a means for facilitating infection.     

A review of the botany,traditional uses,phytochemistry and pharmacology of Nepeta tenuifolia Briq.

Phytochemistry Reviews - Nepeta tenuifolia (N. tenuifolia) is a common aromatic herb that is widespread in East Asia. The aerial parts and spikes can be used as the traditional phytomedicines for...     

MiR-467a-5p aggravates myocardial infarction by modulating ZEB1 expression in mice

Journal of Molecular Histology - Myocardial infarction (MI) is a great threat to patients all over the word. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a group of non-coding RNAs and can regulate initiation and...     

2010-2020年中华穿山甲在中国的发现记录及保护现状

中国是中华穿山甲(Manis pentadactyla)历史分布区面积和野生种群数量最大的国家。中华穿山甲曾广泛见于我国长江以南各省, 但20世纪中期以来, 由于其甲片被作为贵重的中药材原料, 加之地下野味市场的需求, 大量非法捕猎使得我国野生穿山甲经历了剧烈的分布区缩减和种群下降。目前, 中华穿山甲已被列为我国一级重点保护野生动物, 在IUCN红色名录中被评估为极危(CR)等级。中华穿山甲分布范围广、种群密度低、活动隐秘、调查难度大, 摸清其野外分布现状是当前穿山甲研究与保护中的首要任务。为此, 本研究通过检索2010-2020年间全国范围内中华穿山甲的发现记录, 统计中华穿山甲的目击数量、空间分布以及后续状态, 制作物种分布地图, 并与历史分布情况进行对比, 以评估其野生种群的分布现状与分布区变化。2010-2020年共在11个省级行政区收集到中华穿山甲确认记录142条, 主要集中于大陆华东地区及台湾岛, 台湾、浙江、广东三省记录位点数占全部位点数的67.6%; 相较其历史分布区, 西南、华南地区近年来野外确认较为匮乏。近10年来我国的中华穿山甲记录呈逐渐增多趋势, 86%被发现的实体穿山甲得到救助、放归或未被干扰。本研究结果表明, 目前中华穿山甲在我国, 尤其是华东及台湾地区, 仍具有一定数量的野生种群分布, 且近年来民众对于穿山甲的认知和保护意识有了较大提高。 然而, 现有调查和资料仍不足以对该物种进行全面的现状评估, 亟需加强对我国野生穿山甲种群的调查、监测和保护。     

稀土元素铈对花生幼苗生长与抗氧化保护酶系统的影响

采用溶液培养方法,研究不同浓度硝酸铈对花生(Arachis hypogaea)幼苗生长、开花数目及抗氧化酶过氧化物酶(POD)、超氧化物歧化酶(SOD)活性与丙二醛(MDA)含量的影响。结果表明,与对照相比,铈浓度低于20.0 mg·L–1能促进花生幼苗生长及开花,其中以10.0 mg·L–1铈的效果最为明显,其生物量和开花数分别约为对照的1.3倍和2.8倍;但高于20.0 mg·L–1则抑制花生幼苗生长,降低花朵数目;同时,低于20.0 mg/L铈可抑制花生幼苗过氧化物酶(POD)活性和降低其丙二醛(MDA)含量,其中以10.0 mg·L–1铈的抑制效果最明显,其POD活性和MDA含量约为对照的47.51%和20.76%;而低于20.0 mg·L–1铈能提高花生幼苗的超氧化物歧化酶(SOD)活性,其中以5.0 mg·L–1铈的促进效果最明显,其SOD活性约为对照的2.0倍。     

Molecular properties and immune defense of two ferritin subunits from freshwater pearl mussel,Hyriopsis schlegelii

Ferritin is a conserved iron-binding protein involved in cellular iron metabolism and host defense. In the present study, two distinct cDNAs for ferritins in the freshwater pearl mussel Hyriopsis schlegelii were identified (designated as HsFer-1 and HsFer-2) by SMART RACE approach and expressed sequence tag (EST) analysis. The full-length cDNAs of HsFer-1 and HsFer-2 were of 760 and 877 bp, respectively. Both of the two cDNAs contained an open reading frame (ORF) of 522 bp encoding for 174 amino acid residues. Sequence characterization and homology alignment indicated that HsFer-1 and HsFer-2 had higher similarity to H-type subunit of vertebrate ferritins than L-type subunit. Analysis of the HsFer-1 and HsFer-2 untranslated regions (UTR) showed that both of them had an iron response element (IRE) in the 5′-UTR, which was considered to be the binding site for iron regulatory protein (IRP). Quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) assays were employed to examine the mRNA expression profiles. Under normal physiological conditions, the expression level of both HsFer-1 and HsFer-2 mRNA were the highest in hepatopancreas, moderate in gonad, axe foot, intestine, kidney, heart, gill, adductor muscle and mantle, the lowest in hemocytes. After stimulation with bacteria Aeromonas hydrophila, HsFer-1 mRNA experienced a different degree of increase in the tissues of hepatopancreas, gonad and hemocytes, the peak level was 2.47-fold, 9.59-fold and 1.37-fold, respectively. Comparatively, HsFer-2 showed up-regulation in gonad but down-regulation in hepatopancreas and hemocytes. Varying expression patterns indicate that two types of ferritins in H. schlegelii might play different roles in response to bacterial challenge. Further bacteriostatic analysis showed that both the purified recombinant ferritins inhibited the growth of A. hydrophila to a certain degree. Collectively, our results suggest that HsFer-1 and HsFer-2 are likely to be functional proteins involved in immune defense against bacterial infection.     

Association of the SNP rs1800925(C/T) in the Interleukin-13 Gene Promoter with Pulmonary Function in Chinese Han Patients with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis

The present report studied potential association of the rs1800925(C/T) single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) of the Interleukin (IL)-13 gene promoter with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) in patients of Chinese Han ethnicity. Seventy patients with IPF were enrolled and divided into three subgroups: group A (61–79 % pred. D_LCO; n = 22), group B (51–60 % pred. D_LCO; n = 20), and group C (≤50 % pred. D_LCO; n = 28). Control group consisted of 80 healthy individuals of Chinese Han ethnicity. The SNP rs1800925(C/T) was genotyped by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR–RFLP) analysis. The IL-13 CC genotype was present in 28/70 (40.0 %), homozygous TT in 6/70 (8.6 %) and heterozygous CT in 36/70 (51.4 %) patients with IPF. In control group, these genotypes were present in 30/80 (37.5 %), 11/80 (13.75 %), 39/80 (48.75 %), respectively, indicating that the distribution of the above three genotypes was not significantly different between patients with IPF and healthy controls. When the patients were stratified according to their D_LCO and D_LCO/VA, the frequencies of genotypes CT and TT in the groups A, B, and C were, respectively, 40.9 % (9/22), 50 % (10/20), and 82.1 % (23/28). Thus, significant differences in the distribution of alleles at ?1112 region of IL-13 gene were observed among the study groups A, B, and C, with the highest frequency in group C (p < 0.05). In conclusion, the rs1800925 T allele of the IL-13 gene is associated with worse pulmonary function in patients with IPF of Chinese Han ethnicity.     

Human umbilical cord-derived MSC culture: the replacement of animal sera with human cord blood plasma

Human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hUC-MSCs) hold great potential for their therapeutic use in various clinical diseases. Many publications have reported on human blood-derived alternatives to animal serum for culturing mesenchymal stem cells, such as human serum, allogenic umbilical cord blood serum, and human platelet derivatives. However, it is not clear whether human umbilical cord blood plasma (UCBP), as the surplusage of umbilical cord blood mesenchymal stem cell extraction, could be used. In this study, in order to make the best of umbilical cord blood, the human UCBP was dialyzed to replace fetal bovine serum (FBS) in the culture medium. hUC-MSCs were cultured in the new medium. Cell growth rate, specific biomarkers, and differentiation properties were detected to characterize the cell proliferation and MSC-specific properties. The hUC-MSCs cultured in such derived medium were verified with proliferation rate, cluster differentiation markers, cell cycle, as well as differentiation capabilities. Such dialyzed human UCBP is fully comparable with, if not superior to, FBS in deriving and culturing hUC-MSCs.     

Silencing of FABP3 Inhibits Proliferation and Promotes Apoptosis in Embryonic Carcinoma Cells

Fatty acid–binding protein 3 (FABP3) facilitates the movement of fatty acids in cardiac muscle. Previously, we reported that FABP3 is highly upregulated in the myocardium of ventricular septal defect patients and overexpression of FABP3 inhibited proliferation and promoted apoptosis in embryonic carcinoma cells (P19 cells). In this study, we aimed to investigate the effect of FABP3 gene silencing on P19 cell differentiation, proliferation and apoptosis. We used RNA interference and a lentiviral-based vector system to create a stable FABP3-silenced P19 cell line; knockdown of FABP3 was confirmed by quantitative real-time PCR. Expression analysis of specific differentiation marker genes using quantitative real-time PCR and observation of morphological changes using an inverted microscope revealed that knockdown of FABP3 did not significantly affect the differentiation of P19 cells into cardiomyocytes. CCK-8 proliferation assays and cell cycle analysis demonstrated that FABP3 gene silencing significantly inhibited P19 cell proliferation. Furthermore, Annexin V-FITC/propidium iodide staining and the caspase-3 activity assay revealed that FABP3 gene silencing significantly promoted serum starvation–induced apoptosis in P19 cells. In agreement with our previous research, these results demonstrate that FABP3 may play an important role during embryonic heart development, and that either overexpression or silencing of FABP3 will lead to an imbalance between proliferation and apoptosis, which may result in embryonic cardiac malformations.