Monocropping decouples plant–bacteria interaction and strengthens phytopathogenic fungi colonization in the rhizosphere of a perennial plant species

Plant and Soil - Whether Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) influence community composition by changing plant adaptation to resource limitation remains unclear. This study examined how AMF affect...     

Neuropeptide W regulates proliferation and differentiation of ATDC5: Possible involvement of GPR7 activation,PKA and PKC‐dependent signalling cascades

Various neuropeptides related to the energy equilibrium affect bone growth in humans and animals. Neuropeptides W (NPW) are identical in the internal ligands of the two G‐protein receptors (GPRs) included in subtypes 7 and 8. Neuropeptides W inhibits proliferation in the cultivated rat calvarial osteoblast‐like (ROB) cells. This study examines the expression of NPW and GPR7 in murine chondrocyte and their function. An immunohistochemical analysis showed that NPW and GPR7 were expressed in the proliferative chondrocytes of the growth plates in the hind limbs of mice. The NPW mRNA quickly elevated in the early differentiation (7‐14 days) of ATDC5 cells, while NPW and GPR7 mRNA were reduced during the late stage (14‐21 days) of differentiation. Neuropeptide W‐23 (NPW‐23) promoted the proliferation of ATDC5 cells, which was attenuated by inhibiting the GPR7, protein kinase A (PKA), protein kinase C (PKC) and ERK1/2 pathways. Neuropeptide W‐23 enhanced the early cell differentiation, as evaluated by collagen type II and the aggrecan gene expression, which was unaffected by inhibiting the ERK1/2 pathway, but significantly decreased by inhibiting the PKA, PKC and p38 MAPK pathways. In contrast, NPW‐23 was not involved in the terminal differentiation of the chondrocytes, as evaluated by the mineralization of the chondrocytes and the activity of the alkaline phosphatase. Neuropeptides W stimulated the PKA, PKC, p38 MAPK and ERK1/2 activities in a dose‐ and time‐dependent manner in the ATDC5 cells. These results show that NPW promotes the proliferation and early differentiation of murine chondrocyte via GPR7 activation, as well as PKA and PKC‐dependent signalling cascades, which may be involved in endochondral bone formation.     

A comparison between continuous and batch processes to produce phosphatidylserine in the efficient and green aqueous-solid system

The efficient and environmentally friendly aqueous-solid systems employed Triton-X-100-modified silica as the “artificial interface” to adsorb phosphatidylcholine (PC) in purely aqueous solutions and silica-adsorbed PC was successfully used for phospholipase D (PLD)-mediated transphosphatidylation. Three kinds of silicas with different sizes were employed to investigate advantages and disadvantages of batch and continuous technologies for PLD-catalyzed transphosphatidylation in aqueous-solid systems. The highest yields of product were obtained in the batch technology, but the continuous production had the simplest operational process and highest space–time yield. After transphosphatidylation, the product adsorbed on carriers were eluted by coconut oil and used to manufacture relevant hard, soft, and micro-capsules. Special attention has been paid to the preparation of microcapsules. Toxic solvents were completely avoided in the whole technological process including production and product packaging. © 2019 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 35: e2777, 2019.     

The effect of Pokemon on bladder cancer epithelial–mesenchymal transition

Objective

This study aimed at detecting Pokemon expression in bladder cancer cell and investigating the relationship between Pokemon and epithelial–mesenchymal transition. Furthermore, we investigated the functions of Pokemon in the carcinogenesis and development of bladder cancer. This study was also designed to observe the inhibitory effects of siRNA expression vector on Pokemon in bladder cancer cell.

Methods

The siRNA expression vectors which were constructed to express a short hairpin RNA against Pokemon were transfected to the bladder cancer cells T24 with a liposome. Levels of Pokemon, E-cadherin and β-catenin mRNA and protein were examined by real-time quantitative-fluorescent PCR and Western blot analysis, respectively. The effects of Pokemon silencing on epithelial–mesenchymal transition of T24 cells were evaluated with wound-healing assay.

Results

Pokemon was strongly inhibited by siRNA treatment, especially siRNA3 treatment group, as it was reflected by Western blot and real-time PCR. The gene and protein of E-cadherin expression level showed increased markedly after Pokemon was inhibited by RNA interference. While there were no differences in the levels of gene and protein of β-catenin among five groups. The bladder cancer cell after Pokemon siRNA interference showed a significantly reduced wound-closing efficiency at 6, 12 and 24 h.

Conclusions

Our findings suggest Pokemon may inhibit the expression of E-cadherin. The low expression of E-cadherin lead to increasing the phenotype and apical-base polarity of epithelial cells. These changes of cells may result in the recurrence and progression of bladder cancer at last.     

THE EVOLUTION OF BIPEDALISM IN JERBOAS (RODENTIA: DIPODOIDEA): ORIGIN IN HUMID AND FORESTED ENVIRONMENTS

Mammalian bipedalism has long been thought to have arisen in response to arid and open environments. Here, we tested whether bipedalism coevolved with environmental changes using molecular and paleontological data from the rodent superfamily Dipodoidea and statistical methods for reconstructing ancestral characteristics and past climates. Our results show that the post‐Late Miocene aridification exerted selective pressures on tooth shape, but not on leg length of bipedal jerboas. Cheek tooth crown height has increased since the Late Miocene, but the hind limb/head‐body length ratios remained stable and high despite the environmental change from humid and forested to arid and open conditions, rather than increasing from low to high as predicted by the arid‐bipedalism hypothesis. The decoupling of locomotor and dental character evolution indicates that bipedalism evolved under selective pressure different from that of dental hypsodonty in jerboas. We reconstructed the habitats of early jerboas using floral and faunal data, and the results show that the environments in which bipedalism evolved were forested. Our results suggest that bipedalism evolved as an adaptation to humid woodlands or forests for vertical jumping. Running at high speeds is likely a by‐product of selection for jumping, which became advantageous in open environments later on.     

Activation of Systemic Resistance to Magnaporthe oryzae in Rice by Substances Produced by Fusarium solani Isolated from Soil

Of 70 micro‐organisms (fungi, bacteria and actinomycetes) isolated from soil using vegetable tissue baits, 16 produced substances in culture fluids capable of preventing the development of blast caused by Magnaporthe oryzae on rice leaves with little or no inhibitory effect on the conidial germination of the pathogen. Isolate KS‐F14, which secreted substances capable of activating resistance in untreated leaves, was selected and identified as Fusarium solani. The resistance‐inducing substances were effective at pH values ranging from 5 to 10 and were stable under high temperatures, maintaining approximately the same level of activity even after autoclaving for 20 min. After application, the activated resistance in rice leaves persisted for 14 days. The polar solvent extracts of freeze‐dried KS‐F14 secretions were effective in activating resistance against M. oryzae in rice plants. The non‐polar solvent extracts were also effective, albeit not as effective as the polar solvent extracts, indicating that although the majority of the secreted resistance‐inducing compounds are hydrophilic, some of the compounds are hydrophobic. Treating secretions with cation or anion exchange resins only partially reduced their resistance‐inducing ability, suggesting that the resistance‐inducing components include both charged and non‐charged compounds. The resistance‐inducing compounds produced by F. solani have the potential to be developed into a commercial product for the control of rice blast and possibly other plant diseases.     

Male-driven evolution

The strength of male-driven evolution - that is, the magnitude of the sex ratio of mutation rate - has been a controversial issue, particularly in primates. While earlier studies estimated the male-to-female ratio (alpha) of mutation rate to be about 4-6 in higher primates, two recent studies claimed that alpha is only about 2 in humans. However, a more recent comparison of mutation rates between a noncoding fragment on Y and a homologous region on chromosome 3 gave an estimate of alpha = 5.3, reinstating strong male-driven evolution in hominoids. Several studies investigated variation in mutation rates among genomic regions that may not be related to sex differences and found strong evidence for such variation. The causes for regional variation in mutation rate are not clear but GC content and recombination are two possible causes. Thus, while the strong male-driven evolution in higher primates suggests that errors during DNA replication in the germ cells are the major source of mutation, the contribution of some replication-independent factors such as recombination may also be important.