Dexamethasone does not ameliorate gliosis in a mouse model of neurodegenerative disease

Prolonged neuroinflammation is a driving force for neurodegenerative disease, and agents against inflammatory responses are regarded as potential treatment strategies. Here we aimed to evaluate the prevention effects on gliosis by dexamethasone (DEX), an anti-inflammation drug. We used DEX to treat the nicastrin conditional knockout (cKO) mouse, a neurodegenerative mouse model. DEX (10 mg/kg) was given to 2.5-month-old nicastrin cKO mice, which have not started to display neurodegeneration and gliosis, for 2 months. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) and Western blotting techniques were used to detect changes in neuroinflammatory responses. We found that activation of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) positive or ionized calcium binding adapter molecule1 (Iba1) positive cells was not inhibited in nicastrin cKO mice treated with DEX as compared to those treated with saline. These data suggest that DEX does not prevent or ameliorate gliosis in a neurodegenerative mouse model when given prior to neuronal or synaptic loss.     

S-Nitrosoglutathion Reductase Activity Modulates the Thermotolerance of Seeds Germination by Controlling ABI5 Stability under High Temperature

Seed germination or dormancy status is strictly controlled by endogenous phytohormone and exogenous environment signals. Abscisic acid (ABA) is the important phytohormone to suppress seed germination. Ambient high temperature (HT) also suppressed seed germination, or called as secondary seed dormancy, through upregulating ABI5, the essential component of ABA signal pathway. Previous result shows that appropriate nitric oxide (NO) breaks seed dormancy through triggering S-nitrosoglutathion reductase (GSNOR1)-dependent S-nitrosylation modification of ABI5 protein, subsequently inducing the degradation of ABI5. Here we found that HT induced the degradation of GSNOR1 protein and reduced its activity, thus accumulated more reactive nitrogen species (RNS) to damage seeds viability. Furthermore, HT increased the S-nitrosylation modification of GSNOR1 protein, and triggered the degradation of GSNOR1, therefore stabilizing ABI5 to suppress seed germination. Consistently, the ABI5 protein abundance was lower in the transgenic line overexpressing GSNOR1, but higher in the gsnor mutant after HT stress. Genetic analysis showed that GSNOR1 affected seeds germination through ABI5 under HT. Taken together, our data reveals a new mechanism by which HT triggers the degradation of GSNOR1, and thus stabilizing ABI5 to suppress seed germination, such mechanism provides the possibility to enhance seed germination tolerance to HT through genetic modification of GNSOR1.     

An undiscovered facet of hydraulic redistribution driven by evaporation—a study from a Populus tomentosa plantation

Maintaining the activity and function of the shallow root system of plants is essential for withstanding drought stress, but the associated mechanism is poorly understood. By investigating sap flow in 14 lateral roots (LRs) randomly selected from trees of a Chinese white poplar (Populus tomentosa) plantation receiving three levels of irrigation, an unknown root water transport mode of simultaneous daytime bi-directional water flow was discovered. This mode existed in five LRs confined to the surface soil without attached sinker roots. In the longer term, the bi-directional water flow was correlated with the soil water content. However, within the day, it was associated with transpiration. Our data demonstrated that bi-directional root sap flow occurred during the day, and was driven by evaporative demand, further suggesting the existence of circumferential water movement in the LR xylem. We named this phenomenon evaporation-driven hydraulic redistribution (EDHR). A soil-root water transport model was proposed to encapsulate this water movement mode. EDHR may be a crucial drought-tolerance mechanism that allows plants to maintain shallow root survival and activity by promoting root water recharge under extremely dry conditions.     

DNA barcoding of Oryza: conventional,specific, and super barcodes

Key message

We applied the phylogenomics to clarify the concept of rice species, aid in the identification and use of rice germplasms, and support rice biodiversity.

Abstract

Rice (genus Oryza) is one of the most important crops in the world, supporting half of the world’s population. Breeding of high-yielding and quality cultivars relies on genetic resources from both cultivated and wild species, which are collected and maintained in seed banks. Unfortunately, numerous seeds are mislabeled due to taxonomic issues or misidentifications. Here, we applied the phylogenomics of 58 complete chloroplast genomes and two hypervariable nuclear genes to determine species identity in rice seeds. Twenty-one Oryza species were identified. Conspecific relationships were determined between O. glaberrima and O. barthii, O. glumipatula and O. longistaminata, O. grandiglumis and O. alta, O. meyeriana and O. granulata, O. minuta and O. malampuzhaensis, O. nivara and O. sativa subsp. indica, and O. sativa subsp. japonica and O. rufipogon. D and L genome types were not found and the H genome type was extinct. Importantly, we evaluated the performance of four conventional plant DNA barcodes (matK, rbcL, psbA-trnH, and ITS), six rice-specific chloroplast DNA barcodes (psaJ-rpl33, trnC-rpoB, rps16-trnQ, rpl22-rps19, trnK-matK, and ndhC-trnV), two rice-specific nuclear DNA barcodes (NP78 and R22), and a chloroplast genome super DNA barcode. The latter was the most reliable marker. The six rice-specific chloroplast barcodes revealed that 17% of the 53 seed accessions from rice seed banks or field collections were mislabeled. These results are expected to clarify the concept of rice species, aid in the identification and use of rice germplasms, and support rice biodiversity.

     

Transcriptomic analyses reveal potential mechanisms of premature senescence in hexaploid Populus

Plant Cell, Tissue and Organ Culture (PCTOC) - The important role of polyploidy in plant evolution is widely recognized. However, many questions concerning how polyploidy affects the plant...     

Assessment of risk factors for postoperative cognitive dysfunction after coronary artery bypass surgery: a single-center retrospective cohort study

Aim: To find out risk factors for postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), and to provide basis for clinical prevention of POCD. A total of 88 patients who underwent CABG were surveyed with Telephone Questionnaire (TICS-M) for their cognitive impairment after 3, 7, 21, 90, 180 days post-surgery. The occurrence of POCD was diagnosed by Neuropsychological Battery which included Vocabular Learning Test (VLT), Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST), Trail Making Test (TMT) and Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT). The preoperative, intraoperative and postoperative risk factors were assessed by the χ² or t test. Multivariate analysis was used to study the correlation between the risk factors and the occurrence of POCD. Age, aortic plaque, carotid artery stenosis, cerebrovascular disease, anesthesia time, the rate of decline in intraoperative hemoglobin concentration (ΔHb) and systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) score on postoperative day 2 had statistically significant (P<0.05) influence on the occurrence of POCD. Aortic plaque, carotid artery stenosis, anesthesia time and SIRS score (odds ratio (OR) value > 1, P<0.05) are the risk factors for POCD. The incidence of day-21 and -180 POCD was approximately 26.1 and 22.7%, respectively.     

Combined gene family characterization and RNA-Seq to study the response of β-ketoacyl-CoA synthase to abiotic stress in rice (Oryza sativa L.)

Plant Growth Regulation - β-ketoacyl-CoA synthase is a key enzyme in the biosynthesis of over-long-chain fattty acids; thus, it plays a crucial role in plant resistance to stress. Herein, 33...     

肺部微生物组通过炎症反应介导慢性阻塞性肺疾病转化为肺癌的研究进展

肺部微生物组存在于呼吸道和实质组织中,通过菌群紊乱、代谢产物、炎症反应、免疫反应、基因毒性等方面介导肺部损伤。随着肺部微生物组的深入研究,发现肺部微生物组的相关活动与慢性阻塞性肺疾病(chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, COPD)和肺癌息息相关,能够促使COPD向肺癌的转变。本文主要介绍了肺部微生物组稳态及其通过炎症反应导致COPD和肺癌,重点探讨了肺部微生物组如何通过炎症反应介导COPD转化为肺癌,以期为COPD和肺癌的临床预防、优化治疗以及新型药物设计提供新的理论依据。     

Growth densities regulate the response to elevated CO2 in a farmed seaweed Pyropia haitanensis (Bangiales,Rhodophyta)

Journal of Applied Phycology - Atmospheric CO2 concentration is predicted to nearly double by the end of this century. There are a large number of reports on the effects of elevated atmospheric CO2...