Differential Roles of Arabidopsis Dynamin-Related Proteins DRP3A,DRP3B,and DRP5B in Organelle Division

Dynamin-related proteins (DRPs) are key components of the organelle division machineries, functioning as molecular scissors during the fission process. In Arabidopsis, DRP3A and DRP3B are shared by peroxisomal and mitochondrial division, whereas the structurally-distinct DRP5B (ARC5) protein is involved in the division of chloroplasts and peroxisomes. Here, we further investigated the roles of DRP3A, DRP3B, and DRP5B in organelle division and plant development. Despite DRP5B's lack of stable association with mitochondria, drp5B mutants show defects in mitochondrial division. The drp3A-2 drp3B-2 drp5B-2 triple mutant exhibits enhanced mitochondrial division phenotypes over drp3A-2 drp3B-2, but its peroxisomal morphology and plant growth phenotypes resemble those of the double mutant. We further demonstrated that DRP3A and DRP3B form a supercomplex in vivo, in which DRP3A is the major component, yet DRP5B is not a constituent of this complex. We thus conclude that DRP5B participates in the division of three types of organelles in Arabidopsis, acting independently of the DRP3 complex. Our findings will help elucidate the precise composition of the DRP3 complex at organelle division sites, and will be instrumental to studies aimed at understanding how the same protein mediates the morphogenesis of distinct organelles that are linked by metabolism.     

林睡鼠幼鼠的活动规律和行为初步观察

本文通过红外线照相的方法,对发育期的林睡鼠幼鼠进行室内活动规律及行为观察,为充分了解林睡鼠越冬前的能量储备形式提供饲养参考。将鼠密度监测仪固定在饲养笼具上方,24h连续拍照,采集和分析6-9月年龄在10周内的幼鼠各种活动数据。结果显示：幼鼠一天中超过70%的时间都在窝内度过,大部分时间都蜷缩成一团少有动作;在窝外活动时间多在玩耍,如攀爬笼架。用于进食和饮水的时间不超过全天的2%。林睡鼠幼鼠主要活动时间在21:00-07:00,活动高峰在21:00-03:00之间。幼鼠出生3周后开始出窝活动,哺乳期30d后开始采食,5周后幼鼠有交配玩耍行为。随着日龄的增长,活动高峰从23：00提前到21：00,活动时间也逐渐延长,但9周龄后活动时间逐渐缩短,幼鼠的饮水进食时间与其活动的时间长短较为一致。10周体重可达成年体重的70%。研究表明,林睡鼠在夏秋季节基本是昼伏夜出动物。光照是影响其在外活动的重要因素之一。幼鼠6周后所需的饲料和水量大于成年林睡鼠,在此期间要注意饲料和水的补充。     

Characterizing robustness and sensitivity of convolutional neural networks for quantitative analysis of mitochondrial morphology

Background: Quantitative analysis of mitochondrial morphology plays important roles in studies of mitochondrial biology. The analysis depends critically on segmentation of mitochondria, the image analysis process of extracting mitochondrial morphology from images. The main goal of this study is to characterize the performance of convolutional neural networks (CNNs) in segmentation of mitochondria from fluorescence microscopy images. Recently, CNNs have achieved remarkable success in challenging image segmentation tasks in several disciplines. So far, however, our knowledge of their performance in segmenting biological images remains limited. In particular, we know little about their robustness, which defines their capability of segmenting biological images of different conditions, and their sensitivity, which defines their capability of detecting subtle morphological changes of biological objects. Methods: We have developed a method that uses realistic synthetic images of different conditions to characterize the robustness and sensitivity of CNNs in segmentation of mitochondria. Using this method, we compared performance of two widely adopted CNNs: the fully convolutional network (FCN) and the U-Net. We further compared the two networks against the adaptive active-mask (AAM) algorithm, a representative of high-performance conventional segmentation algorithms. Results: The FCN and the U-Net consistently outperformed the AAM in accuracy, robustness, and sensitivity, often by a significant margin. The U-Net provided overall the best performance. Conclusions: Our study demonstrates superior performance of the U-Net and the FCN in segmentation of mitochondria. It also provides quantitative measurements of the robustness and sensitivity of these networks that are essential to their applications in quantitative analysis of mitochondrial morphology.     

Hypsodonty of Dipodidae (Rodentia) in Correlation with Diet Preferences and Habitats

The evolution of molar teeth from low-crowned (brachyodont) to high-crowned (hypsodont) has traditionally been recognized as a response to increasing tooth wear due to endogenous (e.g., fiber, silica) and/ or exogenous (e.g., dust, grit) properties of ingested food. Recent work indicates that the mean hypsodonty level of large herbivorous land mammalian communities is a strong predictor of precipitation in their habitats. For small mammals, however, the research is still in an early stage. This study performed comparative studies of hypsodonty on 26 extant dipodid species with and without consideration of phylogeny. The results confirm the role of diet in shaping the cheek tooth crown height in Dipodidae. The significant relationship of investigated environmental variables with hypsodonty may be partly due to phylogenetic effects. Nonetheless, the mean hypsodonty of dipodid communities has significant relationship with regional climatic variables. Hence, the hypsodonty of dipodids also has great potential to be a regional climate proxy.     

Integrative analysis of signaling pathways and diseases associated with the miR-106b/25 cluster and their function study in berberine-induced multiple myeloma cells

Berberine (BBR), a traditional Chinese herbal medicine compound, has emerged as a novel class of anti-tumor agent. Our previous microRNA (miRNA) microarray demonstrated that miR-106b/25 was significantly down-regulated in BBR-treated multiple myeloma (MM) cells. Here, systematic integration showed that miR-106b/25 cluster is involved in multiple cancer-related signaling pathways and tumorigenesis. MiREnvironment database revealed that multiple environmental factors (drug, ionizing radiation, hypoxia) affected the miR-106b/25 cluster expression. By targeting the seed region in the miRNA, tiny anti-mir106b/25 cluster (t-anti-mir106b/25 cluster) significantly induced suppression in cell viability and colony formation. Western blot validated that t-anti-miR-106b/25 cluster effectively inhibited the expression of P38 MAPK and phospho-P38 MAPK in MM cells. These findings indicated the miR-106b/25 cluster functioned as oncogene and might provide a novel molecular insight into MM.     

Remodeling of ER‐exit sites initiates a membrane supply pathway for autophagosome biogenesis

Autophagosomes are double‐membrane vesicles generated during autophagy. Biogenesis of the autophagosome requires membrane acquisition from intracellular compartments, the mechanisms of which are unclear. We previously found that a relocation of COPII machinery to the ER–Golgi intermediate compartment (ERGIC) generates ERGIC‐derived COPII vesicles which serve as a membrane precursor for the lipidation of LC3, a key membrane component of the autophagosome. Here we employed super‐resolution microscopy to show that starvation induces the enlargement of ER‐exit sites (ERES) positive for the COPII activator, SEC12, and the remodeled ERES patches along the ERGIC. A SEC12 binding protein, CTAGE5, is required for the enlargement of ERES, SEC12 relocation to the ERGIC, and modulates autophagosome biogenesis. Moreover, FIP200, a subunit of the ULK protein kinase complex, facilitates the starvation‐induced enlargement of ERES independent of the other subunits of this complex and associates via its C‐terminal domain with SEC12. Our data indicate a pathway wherein FIP200 and CTAGE5 facilitate starvation‐induced remodeling of the ERES, a prerequisite for the production of COPII vesicles budded from the ERGIC that contribute to autophagosome formation.