DIFFERENTIAL PROTEOME ANALYSIS OF THE MALE AND FEMALE ANTENNAE FROM Holotrichia parallela

To understand the olfactory mechanisms of Holotrichia parallela antennae in detecting volatile compounds in the environment, protein profiles of H. parallela antennae were analyzed using two‐dimensional electrophoresis followed by mass spectrometry and bioinformatics analyses. Approximately 1,100 protein spots in silver staining gel were detected. Quantitative image analysis revealed that in total 47 protein spots showed significant changes in different genders of adult antennae. Thirty‐five differentially expressed proteins were identified by Matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI‐TOF/TOF) tandem mass spectrometer, among which 65.7% are involved in carbohydrate and energy metabolism, antioxidant system, transport, and amino acid/nucleotide metabolism. Some proteins identified here have not been reported previously in insect antennae. Identified male‐biased proteins included odorant‐binding protein 4, pheromone‐binding protein‐related protein 2, odorant‐binding protein 14, prophenoloxidase‐I, acyl‐CoA dehydrogenase, aldo‐keto reductase‐like, carbamoyl phosphate synthetase, etc. whereas some proteins are female biased, such as antennae‐rich cytochrome P450, aldehyde dehydrogenase, and putative glutamine synthetase. Alterations in the levels of some proteins were further confirmed by real time polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR). The proteomic resources displayed here are valuable for the discovery of proteins from H. parallela antennae.     

VdSho1 Regulates Growth,Oxidant Adaptation and Virulence in Verticillium dahliae

Verticillium dahliae infection leads to Verticillium wilt in cotton and other dicotyledon crops. To reduce the loss of economic crops, more attention has been focused on the key genes involved in pathogenicity of this soil‐borne plant fungal pathogen. Sho1 encodes a conserved tetraspan transmembrane protein which is a key element of the two upstream branches of the HOG‐MAPK pathway in fungi. Sho1 is required for full virulence in a wide variety of pathogenic fungi. In this study, sho1 mutant in V. dahliae (designated ΔVdsho1) was generated by Agrobacterium tumefaciens‐mediated transformation. ΔVdsho1 strain was highly sensitive to menadione (at concentration of 120 μm ) and hydrogen peroxide (at concentration of 250 μm ), displayed delayed spore germination and reduced spore production compared with the wild type and the complemented strains. During infection of host cotton plants, ΔVdsho1 exhibited impaired ability of root attachment and invasive growth. Results from the present work suggest that VdSho1 controls external sensing, virulence and multiple growth‐related traits in V. dahliae and might serve as a potential target for control of Verticillium wilt.     

颈动脉斑块LRNC特征可诊断2型糖尿病患者急性脑梗死的风险

2型糖尿病可能加重颈动脉斑块的易损性并增加缺血性中风的风险,关于2型糖尿病患者伴有颈动脉斑块特征的急性中风亚型鲜有研究报道。本研究旨在探讨2型糖尿病患者颈动脉斑块特征与MRI确定的急性脑梗死病变特征之间的关系。本研究以颈内动脉区急性脑血管病患者为研究对象,所有患者分为2型糖尿病组和非2型糖尿病组,分别行颈动脉和脑部MRI扫描,测定同侧颈动脉斑块的形态和特征,以及颅内和颅外颈动脉狭窄。基于中风亚型和急性脑梗塞病变模式对患者进行评估。研究结果表明,与非2型糖尿病患者相比,2型糖尿病患者颈动脉型IV-VI病变的患病率更高,斑块负荷更大,以及富脂质坏死核(LRNC)更大。在有症状的颈动脉LRNC患者中,与非2型糖尿病组相比,2型糖尿病组颈内动脉区出现较多的伴有大穿孔动脉梗塞形态和较大的急性脑梗塞。LRNC%>23.5%的颈动脉斑块是2型糖尿病患者存在颈动脉狭窄的急性脑梗塞病变的独立危险因素。颈动脉斑块特征的量化,尤其是MRI诊断的富脂质坏死核对中风风险具有潜在应用价值。     

Pb‐Reduced CsPb0.9Zn0.1I2Br Thin Films for Efficient Perovskite Solar Cells

Fabrication of efficient Pb reduced inorganic CsPbI₂Br perovskite solar cells (PSC) are an important part of environment‐friendly perovskite technology. In this work, 10% Pb reduction in CsPb_0.9Zn_0.1I₂Br promotes the efficiency of PSCs to 13.6% (AM1.5, 1sun), much higher than the 11.8% of the pure CsPbI₂Br solar cell. Zn²⁺ has stronger interaction with the anions to manipulate crystal growth, resulting in size‐enlarged crystallite with enhanced growth orientation. Moreover, the grain boundaries (GBs) are passivated by the Cs‐Zn‐I/Br compound. The high quality CsPb_0.9Zn_0.1I₂Br greatly diminishes the GB trap states and facilitates the charge transport. Furthermore, the Zn4s‐I5p states slightly reduce the energy bandgap, accounting for the wider solar spectrum absorption. Both the crystalline morphology and energy state change benefit the device performance. This work highlights a nontoxic and stable Pb reduction method to achieve efficient inorganic PSCs.     

Bringing Conducting Polymers to High Order: Toward Conductivities beyond 105 S cm−1 and Thermoelectric Power Factors of 2 mW m−1 K−2

Here, an effective design strategy of polymer thermoelectric materials based on structural control in doped polymer semiconductors is presented. The strategy is illustrated for two archetypical polythiophenes, e.g., poly(2,5‐bis(3‐dodecyl‐2‐thienyl)thieno[3,2‐b]thiophene) (C₁₂‐PBTTT) and regioregular poly(3‐hexylthiophene) (P3HT). FeCl₃ doping of aligned films results in charge conductivities up to 2 × 10⁵ S cm^?1 and metallic‐like thermopowers similar to iodine‐doped polyacetylene. The films are almost optically transparent and show strongly polarized near‐infrared polaronic bands (dichroic ratio >10). The comparative study of structure–property correlations in P3HT and C₁₂‐PBTTT identifies three conditions to obtain conductivities beyond 10⁵ S cm^?1: i) achieve high in‐plane orientation of conjugated polymers with high persistence length; ii) ensure uniform chain oxidation of the polymer backbones by regular intercalation of dopant molecules in the polymer structure without disrupting alignment of π‐stacked layers; and iii) maintain a percolating nanomorphology along the chain direction. The highly anisotropic conducting polymer films are ideal model systems to investigate the correlations between thermopower S and charge conductivity σ. A scaling law S ∝ σ^?1/4 prevails along the chain direction, but a different S ∝ ?ln(σ) relation is observed perpendicular to the chains, suggesting different charge transport mechanisms. The simultaneous increase of charge conductivity and thermopower along the chain direction results in a substantial improvement of thermoelectric power factors up to 2 mW m^?1 K^?2 in C₁₂‐PBTTT.     

The first chromosome‐level genome for a marine mammal as a resource to study ecology and evolution

Marine mammals are important models for studying convergent evolution and aquatic adaption, and thus reference genomes of marine mammals can provide evolutionary insights. Here, we present the first chromosome‐level marine mammal genome assembly based on the data generated by the BGISEQ‐500 platform, for a stranded female sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus). Using this reference genome, we performed chromosome evolution analysis of the sperm whale, including constructing ancestral chromosomes, identifying chromosome rearrangement events and comparing with cattle chromosomes, which provides a resource for exploring marine mammal adaptation and speciation. We detected a high proportion of long interspersed nuclear elements and expanded gene families, and contraction of major histocompatibility complex region genes which were specific to sperm whale. Using comparisons with sheep and cattle, we analysed positively selected genes to identify gene pathways that may be related to adaptation to the marine environment. Further, we identified possible convergent evolution in aquatic mammals by testing for positively selected genes across three orders of marine mammals. In addition, we used publicly available resequencing data to confirm a rapid decline in global population size in the Pliocene to Pleistocene transition. This study sheds light on the chromosome evolution and genetic mechanisms underpinning sperm whale adaptations, providing valuable resources for future comparative genomics.