Genome sequencing and comparison of two nonhuman primate animal models, the cynomolgus and Chinese rhesus macaques

The nonhuman primates most commonly used in medical research are from the genus Macaca. To better understand the genetic differences between these animal models, we present high-quality draft genome sequences from two macaque species, the cynomolgus/crab-eating macaque and the Chinese rhesus macaque. Comparison with the previously sequenced Indian rhesus macaque reveals that all three macaques maintain abundant genetic heterogeneity, including millions of single-nucleotide substitutions and many insertions, deletions and gross chromosomal rearrangements. By assessing genetic regions with reduced variability, we identify genes in each macaque species that may have experienced positive selection. Genetic divergence patterns suggest that the cynomolgus macaque genome has been shaped by introgression after hybridization with the Chinese rhesus macaque. Macaque genes display a high degree of sequence similarity with human disease gene orthologs and drug targets. However, we identify several putatively dysfunctional genetic differences between the three macaque species, which may explain functional differences between them previously observed in clinical studies.     

Emergy evaluation of the impact of waste exchanges on the sustainability of industrial systems

Emergy evaluation provided global performance indicators that were used to assess the impact of waste exchanges on the sustainability of a sulfuric acid production system (SAPS) and a titanium dioxide production system (TDPS) in Pan-zhi-hua City, China. Impact of emissions was quantified in terms of emergy and integrated into the classic emergy-based indicators. Results show that waste exchanges improve the sustainability of the two systems, although the SAPS benefits more from the waste exchanges than the TDPS from an economic perspective however, the impact of emissions reduces their sustainability to some degree. This study creates awareness and brings new insight to the gains achieved with resource recovery from waste in the interrelated industrial systems, which is derived from the mutualism relationship existing in natural ecosystems. Finally, this paper puts forward some corresponding suggestions.     

土壤盐渍化对尿素与磷酸脲氨挥发的影响

氨挥发是肥料氮素损失的重要途径之一,肥料类型、土壤类型、肥料用量以及土壤全盐量均影响氨挥发损失率及挥发特征。本文采用通气法测定了磷酸脲和尿素两种肥料六个施肥量处理分别施入六个不同盐渍化程度（1.7、9.9、16.4、23.2、29.1、37.9 g/kg）的土壤后氨挥发累积状况和动力学特性,以及土壤氨挥发累积量与土壤电导值之间的相关性。结果表明：（1）在土壤总盐介于1.66 -37.9 g/kg的范围内,随着土壤含盐量增加,尿素与磷酸脲处理的氨挥发累积量显著增加;土壤含盐量对氨挥发速率有显著的促进作用。（2）各处理二次线性函数拟合的二项式系数a均为负值,表明：在不同盐渍化条件下肥料的挥发速率是随着时间增长而降低的;一次线性函数和Elovich 方程的斜率a随土壤含盐量增加而增大,表明：土壤盐渍化将加剧土壤的氨挥发速率。（3）土壤氨挥发累积量与电导值拟合结果符合logistic方程（︱R︱分别为0.9732,0.9815,0.965,0.9182,0.9817,0.9971︱R︱>r0.01=0.9172, n=6）,氨挥发累积量随土壤电导值呈“S”型增长。     

Hyperactivation of Mammalian Target of Rapamycin Complex 1 (mTORC1) Promotes Breast Cancer Progression through Enhancing Glucose Starvation-induced Autophagy and Akt Signaling

The mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) is a master regulator of cell growth and proliferation. Recent studies have suggested that constitutive activation of mTORC1 in normal cells could lead to malignant tumor development in several tissues. However, the mechanisms of mTORC1 hyperactivation to promote the growth and metastasis of breast or other cancers are still not well characterized. Here, using a new inducible deletion system, we show that deletion of Tsc1 in mouse primary mammary tumor cells, either before or after their transplantation, significantly increased their growth in vivo. The increase in tumor growth was completely rescued by rapamycin treatment, suggesting a major contribution from mTORC1 hyperactivation. Interestingly, glucose starvation-induced autophagy, but not amino acid starvation-induced autophagy, was increased significantly in Tsc1-null tumor cells. Further analysis of these cells also showed an increased Akt activation but no significant changes in Erk signaling. Together, these results provide insights into the mechanism by which hyperactivation of mTORC1 promotes breast cancer progression through increasing autophagy and Akt activation in vivo.     

Determination of zeranol and its metabolites in bovine muscle and liver by a chemiluminescence enzyme immunoassay: compared to an ultraperformance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectroscopy method

A chemiluminescent enzyme immunoassay (CLEIA) was compared to an ultraperformance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectroscopy (UPLC‐MS/MS) procedure for the analysis of zeranol and its metabolites in bovine tissue samples. Apparent recoveries from fortified samples by both methods were comparable at 0.5–4.0 µg/kg and a significant correlation was obtained. For CLEIA analysis, hapten mimicking the analyte was first synthesized and conjugated with the carrier protein bovine serum albumin as the immunogen to produce monoclonal antibody. The obtained antibody showed extensive cross‐reactivity toward zeranol metabolites (zearalanone). The limit of detection of CLEIA and UPLC‐MS/MS was 0.05 µg/kg and 0.5 µg/kg, respectively. Recoveries of both methods for fortified samples were higher than 75.0% with the coefficient of variation less than 15%. These results indicated that the combination of screening with CLEIA and confirmation with UPLC‐MS/MS for zeranol and its metabolites would be a reliable method for a large number of bovine samples. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Purification and characterization of a fibrinolytic enzyme of Bacillus subtilis DC33, isolated from Chinese traditional Douchi

Bacillus subtilis DC33 producing a novel fibrinolytic enzyme was isolated from Ba-bao Douchi, a traditional soybean-fermented food in China. The strong fibrin-specific enzyme subtilisin FS33 was purified to electrophoretic homogeneity using the combination of various chromatographic steps. The optimum temperature, pH value, and pI of subtilisin FS33 were 55°C, 8.0, and 8.7, respectively. The molecular weight was 30 kDa measured by SDS–PAGE under both reducing and non-reducing conditions. The enzyme showed a level of fibrinolytic activity that was about six times higher than that of subtilisin Carlsberg. The first 15 amino acid residues of N-terminal sequence of the enzyme were A-Q-S-V-P-Y-G-I-P-Q-I-K-A-P-A, which are different from that of other known fibrinolytic enzymes. The amidolytic activities of subtilisin FS33 were inhibited completely by 5 mM phenylmethanesulfonyl fluoride (PMSF) and 1 mM soybean trypsin inhibitor (SBTI), but 1,4-dithiothreitol (DTT), β-mercaptoethanol, and p-hydroxymercuribenzoate (PHMB) did not affect the enzyme activity; serine and tryptophan are thus essential in the active site of the enzyme. The highest affinity of subtilisin FS33 was towards N-Succ-Ala-Ala-Pro-Phe-pNA. Therefore, the enzyme was considered to be a subtilisin-like serine protease. The fibrinolytic enzyme had a high degrading activity for the Bβ-chains and Aα-chain of fibrin(ogen), and also acted on thrombotic and fibrinolytic factors of blood, such as plasminogen, urokinase, thrombin, and kallikrein. So subtilisin FS33 was able to degrade fibrin clots in two ways, i.e., (a) by forming active plasmin from plasminogen and (b) by direct fibrinolysis.     

Seasonal and Spatial Variations of Bulk Nitrogen Deposition and the Impacts on the Carbon Cycle in the Arid/Semiarid Grassland of Inner Mongolia,China

Atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition is an important component that affects the structure and function of different terrestrial ecosystem worldwide. However, much uncertainty still remains concerning the magnitude of N deposition on grassland ecosystem in China. To study the spatial and temporal patterns of bulk N deposition, the levels of N (NH₄ ⁺-N and NO₃ ^--N) concentration in rainfall were measured at 12 sites across a 1200 km grassland transect in Inner Mongolia, China, and the respective N deposition rates were estimated. The inorganic N deposition rates ranged from 4.53 kg N ha^-1 to 12.21 kg N ha^-1 with a mean value of 8.07 kg N ha^-1 during the entire growing season, decreasing steadily from the eastern to the western regions. Inorganic N deposition occurred mainly in July and August across meadow steppe, typical steppe, and desert steppe, which corresponded to the seasonal distribution of mean annual precipitation. A positive relationship was found between inorganic N deposition and mean annual precipitation (R² = 0.54 ~ 0.72, P < 0.0001) across the grassland transect. Annual estimation of inorganic N deposition was 0.67 Pg yr^-1 in Inner Mongolia, China based on the correlation between N deposition rates and precipitation. N deposition was an important factor controlling aboveground biomass and ecosystem respiration, but has no effect on root biomass and soil respiration. We must clarify that we used the bulk deposition samplers during the entire sampling process and estimated the dissolved NH₄ ⁺-N and NO₃ ^--N deposition rates during the entire growing season. Long-term N deposition monitoring networks should be constructed to study the patterns of N deposition and its potential effect on grassland ecosystem, considering various N species, i.e., gaseous N, particle N, and wet N deposition.     

Microtubule-assisted mechanism for toxisome assembly in Fusarium graminearum

In Fusarium graminearum, a trichothecene biosynthetic complex known as the toxisome forms ovoid and spherical structures in the remodelled endoplasmic reticulum (ER) under mycotoxin-inducing conditions. Previous studies also demonstrated that disruption of actin and tubulin results in a significant decrease in deoxynivalenol (DON) biosynthesis in F. graminearum. However, the functional association between the toxisome and microtubule components has not been clearly defined. In this study we tested the hypothesis that the microtubule network provides key support for toxisome assembly and thus facilitates DON biosynthesis. Through fluorescent live cell imaging, knockout mutant generation, and protein–protein interaction assays, we determined that two of the four F. graminearum tubulins, α₁ and β₂ tubulins, are indispensable for DON production. We also showed that these two tubulins are directly associated. When the α₁–β₂ tubulin heterodimer is disrupted, the metabolic activity of the toxisome is significantly suppressed, which leads to significant DON biosynthesis impairment. Similar phenotypic outcomes were shown when F. graminearum wild type was treated with carbendazim, a fungicide that binds to microtubules and disrupts spindle formation. Based on our results, we propose a model where α₁–β₂ tubulin heterodimer serves as the scaffold for functional toxisome assembly in F. graminearum.     

Strigolactone mimic 2-nitrodebranone is highly active in Arabidopsis growth and development

Strigolactones play crucial roles in regulating plant architecture and development, as endogenous hormones, and orchestrating symbiotic interactions with fungi and parasitic plants, as components of root exudates. rac-GR24 is currently the most widely used strigolactone analog and serves as a reference compound in investigating the action of strigolactones. In this study, we evaluated a suite of debranones and found that 2-nitrodebranone (2NOD) exhibited higher biological activity than rac-GR24 in various aspects of plant growth and development in Arabidopsis, including hypocotyl elongation inhibition, root hair promotion and senescence acceleration. The enhanced activity of 2NOD in promoting AtD14–SMXL7 and AtD14–MAX2 interactions indicates that the molecular structure of 2NOD is a better match for the ligand perception site pocket of D14. Moreover, 2NOD showed lower activity than rac-GR24 in promoting Orobanche cumana seed germination, suggesting its higher ability to control plant architecture than parasitic interactions. In combination with the improved stability of 2NOD, these results demonstrate that 2NOD is a strigolactone analog that can specifically mimic the activity of strigolactones and that 2NOD exhibits strong potential as a tool for studying the strigolactone signaling pathway in plants.