The complex genome and adaptive evolution of polyploid Chinese pepper (Zanthoxylum armatum and Zanthoxylum bungeanum)

Zanthoxylum armatum and Zanthoxylum bungeanum, known as ‘Chinese pepper’, are distinguished by their extraordinary complex genomes, phenotypic innovation of adaptive evolution and species-special metabolites. Here, we report reference-grade genomes of Z. armatum and Z. bungeanum. Using high coverage sequence data and comprehensive assembly strategies, we derived 66 pseudochromosomes comprising 33 homologous phased groups of two subgenomes, including autotetraploid Z. armatum. The genomic rearrangements and two whole-genome duplications created large (~4.5 Gb) complex genomes with a high ratio of repetitive sequences (>82%) and high chromosome number (2n = 4x = 132). Further analysis of the high-quality genomes shed lights on the genomic basis of involutional reproduction, allomones biosynthesis and adaptive evolution in Chinese pepper, revealing a high consistent relationship between genomic evolution, environmental factors and phenotypic innovation. Our study provides genomic resources and new insights for investigating diversification and phenotypic innovation in Chinese pepper, with broader implications for the protection of plants under severe environmental changes.     

Upgrading the genome of an elite japonica rice variety Kongyu 131 for lodging resistance improvement

Developing a new rice variety requires tremendous efforts and years of input. To improve the defect traits of the excellent varieties becomes more cost and time efficient than breeding a completely new variety. Kongyu 131 is a high-performing japonica variety with early maturity, high yield, wide adaptability and cold resistance, but the poor-lodging resistance hinders the industrial production of Kongyu 131 in the Northeastern China. In this study, we attempted to improve the lodging resistance of Kongyu 131 from perspectives of both gene and trait. On the one hand, by QTL analysis and fine mapping we discovered the candidate gene loci. The following CRISPR/Cas9 and transgenic complementation study confirmed that Sd1 dominated the lodging resistance and favourable allele was mined for precise introduction and improvement. On the other hand, the Sd1 allelic variant was identified in Kongyu 131 by sequence alignment, then introduced another excellent allelic variation by backcrossing. Then, the two new resulting Kongyu 131 went through the field evaluation under different environments, planting densities and nitrogen fertilizer conditions. The results showed that the plant height of upgraded Kongyu 131 was 17%–26% lower than Kongyu 131 without penalty in yield. This study demonstrated a precise and targeted way to update the rice genome and upgrade the elite rice varieties by improving only a few gene defects from the perspective of breeding.     

GPD1L inhibits renal cell carcinoma progression by regulating PINK1/Parkin-mediated mitophagy

Few approaches have been conducted in the treatment of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) after nephrectomy, resulting in a high mortality rate in urological tumours. Mitophagy is a mechanism of mitochondrial quality control that enables selective degradation of damaged and unnecessary mitochondria. Previous studies have found that glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase 1-like (GPD1L) is associated with the progression of tumours such as lung cancer, colorectal cancer and oropharyngeal cancer, but the potential mechanism in RCC is still unclear. In this study, microarrays from tumour databases were analysed. The expression of GPD1L was confirmed by RT–qPCR and western blotting. The effect and mechanism of GPD1L were explored using cell counting kit 8, wound healing, invasion, flow cytometry and mitophagy-related experiments. The role of GPD1L was further confirmed in vivo. The results showed that GPD1L expression was downregulated and positively correlated with prognosis in RCC. Functional experiments revealed that GPD1L prevented proliferation, migration and invasion while promoting apoptosis and mitochondrial injury in vitro. The mechanistic results indicated that GPD1L interacted with PINK1, promoting PINK1/Parkin-mediated mitophagy. However, inhibition of PINK1 reversed GPD1L-mediated mitochondrial injury and mitophagy. Moreover, GPD1L prevented tumour growth and promoted mitophagy by activating the PINK1/Parkin pathway in vivo. Our study shows that GPD1L has a positive correlation with the prognosis of RCC. The potential mechanism involves interacting with PINK1 and regulating the PINK1/Parkin pathway. In conclusion, these results reveal that GPD1L can act as a biomarker and target for RCC diagnosis and therapy.     

从城市到城市群：京津冀物质代谢特征及影响因素

随着城市化进程和一体化战略的持续推进,城市管理者急需了解城市规律以消减生态-资源-环境挑战,并提供坚实物质基础。以京津冀城市群及其组成城市为研究对象,创新性地从城市群和城市两尺度核算并分析了2000—2017年物质消耗状况及变化趋势,识别并对比了主要贡献物质、贡献部门和影响因素。研究表明：(1)研究期间,京津冀城市群物质消耗量总体上升。从物质类型看,主要由非金属矿物(>34.2%)拉动;从产业结构看,受到工业部门(>58%)绝对影响。首要驱动因素为经济规模(>50%)。(2)各城市物质消耗量与城市群较为类似,总体也呈增长态势,几乎均受到非金属矿物和工业部门驱动,且经济规模起到正向促进作用,不同的是物质消耗强度作用类型多样,且产业结构效应在城市中贡献更为突出。研究结果在一定程度上明确了城市及城市群代谢的规律,能够为优化资源利用效率和资源配置结构奠定基础,为城市及城市群生态管理与调控提供切实可行的落力点。     

生长抑素受体2的小鼠时空组织表达谱

生长抑素(somatostatin, SST)作为一种抑制性多肽激素,在多种生物过程中发挥重要的功能。生长抑素受体2 (somatostatin receptor 2, SSTR2)作为生长抑素表达最广泛的受体在多种组织中表达,但其表达的具体细胞类型尚不清楚。本研究在小鼠不同发育阶段的多种组织中鉴定了SSTR2蛋白表达的细胞类型。通过多色免疫荧光在小鼠胚胎期15.5 d、出生后1 d、7 d、15 d、3个月和6个月的脑、骨、肺、肠道、皮肤、胃、脾和肾等组织中检测了Sstr2基因的表达。结果发现Sstr2在不同发育阶段的多种组织的特定细胞类型中表达,包括脑神经元和星形胶质细胞,骨的间充质基质细胞、造血细胞和B细胞,肺的巨噬细胞、Ⅱ型肺泡上皮细胞和气道纤毛细胞,肠道的上皮细胞和神经元,皮肤的毛囊细胞,胃体的上皮细胞,脾的造血干细胞、造血祖细胞和神经纤维,肾的肾小管上皮细胞等。本研究确定了小鼠多组织不同发育阶段Sstr2表达的细胞类型,为生长抑素与生长抑素受体2的生理功能研究提供了新的线索。     

壳聚糖酶结构与功能的研究进展

壳聚糖酶是一类对壳聚糖具有较高催化活性而几乎不水解几丁质的糖苷水解酶,其可将高分子量的壳聚糖转化为低分子量的功能性壳寡糖。近年来,对壳聚糖酶的相关研究取得了显著进展,因此,本文对其生化性质、晶体结构、催化机制和蛋白质工程改造进行总结和探讨,并对酶法制备壳寡糖纯品进行展望,这将加深研究者对壳聚糖酶作用机制的认识,推动壳聚糖酶的工业应用。     

近20年黄土高原生态系统服务研究进展

生态系统服务是自然生态系统及其物种提供的供给和维持人类生存的条件和过程,是人类通过生态系统的功能直接或间接得到的产品或服务,具有典型的区域性特征。黄土高原是黄河流域重要生态安全屏障,生态建设规模大、历时长,是我国生态系统服务研究的重要案例区。已有研究针对黄土高原生态系统服务进行物质量与价值量估算、权衡与协同关系识别和供需关系评估,但不同结论之间缺少归纳和对比。研究对近20年来黄土高原地区生态系统服务研究的文献总体特征和主要研究发现分析表明：相关中英文论文数量和被引频次整体呈上升趋势,研究内容上主要关注黄土高原生态系统服务的定量估算,近年来逐渐向生态系统服务权衡分析和供需关系评估拓展;黄土高原地区自退耕还林以来,各项生态系统服务总量呈上升趋势,呈现出东南增量较多、西北增量较少的空间格局;黄土高原地区供给服务和调节服务存在较明显的权衡关系,但在不同尺度上强度分异明显;区域内生态系统服务供给量和需求量均呈增加趋势,供需匹配状况具有明显时空差异。面向当前研究中物质量评估种类不足、价值量估算高度不确定、权衡与协同现象缺乏归因、空间流动性体现不足等问题,未来黄土高原生态系统服务研究有待加强面向生态...     

Effects of Ultrasonic Seed Treatment on Rice Performances under the Seawater Irrigation

Irrigation with desalinated seawater is an effective way to use ocean resources and save freshwater resources. However, seawater irrigation would cause yield loss of rice. In order to explore the effects of ultrasonic seed treatment on rice performances under seawater irrigation, the present study was conducted with three irrigation treatments (fresh water (SW0), ten times diluted seawater (SW1%, 0.34% salinity), and five times diluted seawater (SW2%, 0.68% salinity)) and two seed treatments (ultrasonic treated seeds (UT) and untreated seeds (CK)). Compared with SW0 + CK treatment, SW1 + CK and SW2 + CK treatments significantly decreased grain yield by 56.19% and 66.69%, spikelets per panicle by 30.11% and 55.80%, seed-setting rate by 23.05% and 18.87%, and 1000-grain weight by 4.55% and 14.50%, respectively. Seawater irrigation also significantly increased malonaldehyde (MDA) and proline contents and the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and peroxidase (POD). Ultrasonic seed treatment significantly increased the grain number per panicle, seed-setting rate, and grain yield of rice under seawater irrigation. Compared with CK, UT treatment substantially reduced MDA content, SOD activity, and POD activity in SW1 and SW2 conditions. Furthermore, UT treatment significantly increased proline content and down-regulated proline dehydrogenase activity under seawater irrigation. We deduced that ultrasonic seed treatment enhanced the salinity tolerance of rice by inducing the proline accmulation. Our findings indicated that ultrasonic seed treatment could an effective strategy to promote rice productivity under seawater irrigation.