Successful application of microspore culture in pakchoi (Brassica campestris L. ssp. chinensis Makino var. communis Tsen et Lee) for hybrid breeding

Protoplasma - Microspore embryogenesis is an effective method of obtaining double haploid (DH) lines in only 1 year. However, the microspore embryogenesis protocol was not efficient in...     

人工辅助投食对滇金丝猴肠道微生物群落的影响

【背景】肠道菌群与宿主的消化吸收、免疫抵抗和行为等息息相关,并受宿主的饮食、生活环境等因素影响。【目的】人工辅助投食能增加野生动物的营养摄入,但对其肠道菌群影响的研究较少。【方法】以云南白马雪山国家级自然保护区内的野生和人工辅助投食滇金丝猴群的新鲜粪便为材料,通过高通量测序探究人工辅助投食对猴群肠道菌群的影响。【结果】人工辅助投食的猴群肠道菌群丰富度、均匀度及谱系多样性更高,并且个体间群落组成差异更小。通过多级物种差异判别分析(linear discriminant analysis effect size, LEfSe)分析发现,人工辅助投食对20种不同分类水平的细菌相对丰度有影响,包括提升了厚壁菌门(Firmicutes)等8种类群的相对丰度,降低了变形菌门(Proteobacteria)、拟杆菌门(Bacteroidetes)等12种类群的相对丰度。通过构建微生物相关网络发现,野生猴群肠道菌群网络结构更加复杂,鲁棒性更高。京都基因与基因组百科全书(Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes, KEGG)功能预测结果表明,人工辅助投食降低了猴群肠...     

二氢杨梅素对抗生素应激小鼠血清抗氧化性和肠道微生物多样性的影响

【背景】二氢杨梅素(dihydromyricetin, DMY)是一类存在于藤茶中的主要黄酮类化合物,具有抗氧化、抗炎等功能,其药用价值受到广泛关注,但其在生物体内的生物活性及肠道中的分解代谢机制尚不清楚。【目的】探究二氢杨梅素对抗生素应激下小鼠的血清抗氧化性和肠道微生物多样性的影响。【方法】将小鼠分为对照组、抗生素组、抗生素+二氢杨梅素组,检测各组小鼠血清中的抗氧化指标,利用高通量测序分析组间肠道微生物多样性的差异,通过实时荧光定量PCR(real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction, RT-qPCR)验证特定菌群组间的相对丰度差异。【结果】二氢杨梅素显著提高了抗生素应激小鼠血清中过氧化氢酶(catalase, CAT)、超氧化物歧化酶(superoxide dismutase, SOD)、谷胱甘肽过氧化物酶(glutataione peroxidase, GSH-PX)活性(P<0.05),显著降低丙二醛(malondialdehyde,MDA)含量(P<0.05),催化一氧化氮(nitric...     

Sphingopyxis sp. YF1吸附镉的特性及其机制

【背景】水中的重金属污染是一个严峻的环境问题,严重危害人体健康,利用微生物吸附剂修复重金属污染的水体是一种高效环保的方法。Sphingopyxis能够去除重金属,但是其去除水体中镉的研究很少,且其吸附镉的机理尚不清楚。【目的】以从水体中分离的Sphingopyxis sp. YF1为对象,探究该菌对镉的吸附特性和机制。【方法】分析在不同pH、接触时间及重金属初始浓度条件下YF1活菌和死菌对Cd²⁺的吸附效果,对其进行动力学模型和等温模型拟合,通过扫描电镜和能谱(scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, SEM-EDS)观察镉在活菌和死菌细胞表面的富集,并通过傅里叶变换红外光谱(Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, FTIR)和X射线光电子能谱(X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, XPS)分析确定YF1菌中参与吸附Cd²⁺的官能团,阐明YF1对镉的吸附机理。【结果】当pH值为3.0-5.0时,随着pH值的升高,活菌与死菌的镉吸附量都随着增加,pH值为5.0-7.0时,活菌与死菌的镉吸附量均无较大变化,吸附主要发生在前10 min,之后吸附速率逐渐降低,活菌和死菌吸附Cd²⁺的过程更符合准二级动力学模型,表明菌体对镉主要是以化学吸附的方式进行;活菌和死菌等温模型拟合都更符合Langmuir模型,说明YF1对Cd²⁺的吸附为均相吸附;活菌和死菌对Cd²⁺的吸附量分别达到36.20 mg/g和62.98 mg/g;吸附后的活菌和死菌的细胞表面均有Cd(II)沉积在菌体表面,活菌和死菌的-OH、C-(O,N)和-NO₂等基团参与了镉的吸附。【结论】Sphingopyxis sp. YF1菌具有较强的Cd²⁺去除能力,该菌株在去除水体Cd²⁺方面具有良好的应用前景。     

非洲猪瘟病毒I226R蛋白抑制cGAS-STING通路介导的天然免疫应答

本研究旨在探究非洲猪瘟病毒(African swine fever virus, ASFV) I226R蛋白(I226R protein, pI226R)抑制cGAS-STING信号通路的作用机制。利用双荧光素酶报告系统和实时荧光定量PCR (real-time quantitative PCR, qPCR)证明pI226R显著抑制cGAS-STING通路介导的I型干扰素及干扰素刺激相关基因的产生。免疫共沉淀及激光共聚焦显微镜试验发现pI226R与cGAS蛋白相互作用。免疫印迹分析证明pI226R通过自噬-溶酶体途径促进cGAS蛋白的降解。同时,pI226R阻碍了cGAS与E3泛素连接酶三基序蛋白56 (tripartite motif protein 56, TRIM56)的结合,导致cGAS的单泛素化减弱,从而抑制了cGAS的活化和cGAS-STING通路的激活。总之,本研究证明ASFV pI226R通过拮抗cGAS进而抑制宿主的抗病毒天然免疫反应,进一步增加了对研究ASFV免疫逃逸机制的理解,为疫苗的研发提供了理论基础。     

Butanol Extract of Acanthopanax senticosus (Rupr. et Maxim.) Harms Alleviates Atherosclerosis in Apolipoprotein E-Deficient Mice Fed a High-Fat Diet

This study investigated the effect of butanol extract of AS (ASBUE) on atherosclerosis in apolipoprotein E-deficient (ApoE^−/−) mice. The mice were administered ASBUE (390 or 130 mg/kg/day) or rosuvastatin (RSV) via oral gavage for eight weeks. In ApoE^−/− mice, ASBUE suppressed the abnormal body weight gain and improved serum and liver biochemical indicators. ASBUE remarkably reduced the aortic plaque area, improved liver pathological conditions, and lipid metabolism abnormalities, and altered the intestinal microbiota structure in ApoE^−/− mice. In the vascular tissue of ASBUE-treated mice, P-IKKβ, P-NFκB, and P-IκBα levels tended to decrease, while IκB-α increased in high fat-diet-fed atherosclerotic mice. These findings demonstrated the anti-atherosclerotic potential of ASBUE, which is mediated by the interaction between the gut microbiota and lipid metabolism and regulated via the Nuclear Factor-kappa B (NF-κB) pathway. This work paves the groundwork for subsequent studies to develop innovative drugs to treat atherosclerosis.     

Engeletin alleviates cerebral ischemia reperfusion-induced neuroinflammation via the HMGB1/TLR4/NF-κB network

High-mobility group box1 (HMGB1) induces inflammatory injury, and emerging reports suggest that it is critical for brain ischemia reperfusion. Engeletin, a natural Smilax glabra rhizomilax derivative, is reported to possess anti-inflammatory activity. Herein, we examined the mechanism of engeletin-mediated neuroprotection in rats having transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (tMCAO) against cerebral ischemia reperfusion injury. Male SD rats were induced using a 1.5 h tMCAO, following by reperfusion for 22.5 h. Engeletin (15, 30 or 60 mg/kg) was intravenously administered immediately following 0.5 h of ischemia. Based on our results, engeletin, in a dose-dependent fashion, reduced neurological deficits, infarct size, histopathological alterations, brain edema and inflammatory factors, namely, circulating IL-1β, TNF-α, IL-6 and IFN-γ. Furthermore, engeletin treatment markedly reduced neuronal apoptosis, which, in turn, elevated Bcl-2 protein levels, while suppressing Bax and Cleaved Caspase-3 protein levels. Meanwhile, engeletin significantly reduces overall expressions of HMGB1, TLR4, and NF-κB and attenuated nuclear transfer of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) p65 in ischemic cortical tissue. In conclusion, engeletin strongly prevents focal cerebral ischemia via suppression of the HMGB1/TLR4/NF-κB inflammatory network.     

BmCaspase-8-like regulates autophagy by suppressing BmDREDD-mediated cleavage of BmATG6

Autophagy plays an important role in tissue remodeling during insect development. The interplay between autophagy-related (ATG) proteins and caspases regulates the autophagic activity of ATGs, thereby modulating the process of autophagy. Our previous study characterized BmCaspase-8-like (BmCasp8L) as a caspase suppressor that inhibits apoptosis and immune signaling by suppressing the activation of death-related ced-3/Nedd2-like caspase (DREDD), a caspase-8 homolog in silkworm. In this study, we explored the regulatory role of BmCasp8L in autophagy. We found that the expression of Bmcasp8l increased from the late spinning stage to the pupa stage in the posterior silk gland (PSG), correlating with the expression patterns of Bmatg8 and Bmatg6. RNA interference-mediated downregulation of BmCasp8L expression significantly decreased starvation-induced autophagic influx as determined by the levels of BmATG8–phosphatidylethanolamine and the percentage of cells displaying punctate enhanced green fluorescent protein-BmATG8. Conversely, the overexpression of BmCasp8L significantly increased autophagic influx. We also found that BmCasp8L underwent autophagic degradation induced by starvation and that it was colocalized with BmATG8. Lastly, we demonstrated that BmDREDD attenuated autophagy and BmCasp8L suppressed BmDREDD-mediated cleavage of BmATG6. Taken together, our results demonstrated that BmCasp8L is a novel proautophagic molecule which suppresses BmDREDD-mediated cleavage of BmATG6 and is a target for autophagy.     

Larval development of Crangon hakodatei Rathbun (Decapoda: Crangonidae) reared in the laboratory

Complete larval development of Crangon hakodatei Rathbun isdescribed, based on material hatched in the laboratory fromovigerous females. The species has six zoeal stages and onepostlarval stage. The morphological characters of the larvaland postlarval stages are described with illustrative figuresand compared with those of two congeneric species. The zoealstages of C. hakodatei can be distinguished from those of otherCrangon species in the number of segments of the antennule peduncle,the number of setae on the antennal scale and basis of the maxillipeds,and the stages of appearance of pereiopods. The first zoealstage in the seven species of Crangon are compared and an annotatedkey for distinguishing them is also provided.