丁基苯酞对心力衰竭大鼠心房颤动的影响及作用机制

为探讨丁基苯酞(DL-3-N-butylphthalide,NBP)对心肌梗死诱导的心力衰竭(heart failure,HF)大鼠心房结构重塑和心房颤动形成的影响,本研究将心力衰竭模型大鼠随机分为丁基苯酞组(NBP)、模型组(Model)和假手术组(Sham)。将丁基苯酞用大豆油溶解,制成10 mg/mL的丁基苯酞溶液。丁基苯酞组按照80 mg/kg体重对SD大鼠进行灌胃,模型组和假手术组用等量的大豆油灌胃。假手术组大鼠接受相同手术但未结扎左前降支冠状动脉。分别检测大鼠的超声心动图、心房颤动诱导性试验及心房纤维化,并检测TNF-α、TGF-β1、NF-κB、Nrf2和HO-1的蛋白表达。研究显示,应用丁基苯酞治疗4周后,NBP组大鼠心功能显著改善(p<0.05);NBP组大鼠心房颤动诱导能力和持续时间显著降低(p<0.05);NBP组大鼠心房纤维化程度显著减轻(p<0.05)。丁基苯酞显著抑制TNF-α,NF-κB和TGF-β1的蛋白表达,并上调Nrf2和HO-1的蛋白表达。并且,NBP对TNF-α/NF-κB/TGF-β1和纤维化的抑制作用可能与Nrf2/HO-1信号通路的激活有关。因此,丁基苯酞有望成为预防房颤的上游治疗中的有效药物。     

Generation of virus‐resistant potato plants by RNA genome targeting

CRISPR/Cas systems provide bacteria and archaea with molecular immunity against invading phages and foreign plasmids. The class 2 type VI CRISPR/Cas effector Cas13a is an RNA‐targeting CRISPR effector that provides protection against RNA phages. Here we report the repurposing of CRISPR/Cas13a to protect potato plants from a eukaryotic virus, Potato virus Y (PVY). Transgenic potato lines expressing Cas13a/sgRNA (small guide RNA) constructs showed suppressed PVY accumulation and disease symptoms. The levels of viral resistance correlated with the expression levels of the Cas13a/sgRNA construct in the plants. Our data further demonstrate that appropriately designed sgRNAs can specifically interfere with multiple PVY strains, while having no effect on unrelated viruses such as PVA or Potato virus S. Our findings provide a novel and highly efficient strategy for engineering crops with resistances to viral diseases.     

Autotrophic Bacterial Community and Microbial CO2 Fixation Respond to Vegetation Restoration of Eroded Agricultural Land

Ecosystems - Vegetation restoration can dramatically affect soil carbon (C), nitrogen (N) pools and microbial communities. Yet, it is uncertain what effects of vegetation restoration have on...     

Polymorphic Microsatellite Markers for Solen grandis and Their Cross-Species Amplification in Three Other Species

The grand jackknife clam Solen grandis is a commercially important mollusk species, but has been suffering from severe population decline due to over-exploitation and habitat destruction in China. To promote a conservation program for this species, it is necessary to evaluate its genetic diversity and population genetics. In this study, 10 novel polymorphic microsatellite makers were developed and characterized from the S. grandis through high throughput sequencing. The number of alleles at each locus ranged from 10 to 34 with an average of 20.8 alleles per locus. The observed and expected heterozygosities varied from 0.433 to 1.000 and from 0.696 to 0.976, with an average of 0.793 and 0.884, respectively. The polymorphism information content (PIC) value ranged from 0.633 (Sg43838) to 0.958 (Sg3754), with an average of 0.858. The cross-species amplification transferability of 10 loci to three closely related species ranged from 4.17 to 62.5%. These microsatellite loci will be useful for further investigation of population structure and conversation genetics of this species.     

Integrative taxonomy recognized a new cryptic species within Stipa grandis from Loess Plateau of China

Stipa shanxiensis, a cryptic species within Stipa grandis that originated from central and western China, is described based on morphological, genomic, and ecological data from field and common garden experiments. Stipa shanxiensis morphologically resembles S. grandis, although phylogenetically it is closely related to the less morphologically similar Stipa baicalensis and Stipa krylovii. Of the eight significant morphological differences between S. shanxiensis and S. grandis, the two, cauline ligules longer than 2 cm with a filiform apex, and hairs shorter than 0.2 mm on the adaxial surface of the cauline uppermost leaves can be used to distinguish the species. Results from a common garden experiment verified that the two diagnostic characteristics were relatively stable and less morphologically plastic in response to environmental variation. Furthermore, a significant ecological divergence was found between S. shanxiensis and S. grandis, such that the former preferred warmer and more humid climates, and their predicted distribution was generally separated. Taken together, our results highlight that the integrative taxonomic approach was valuable for recognizing a new cryptic species in Stipa. In particular, we find that common garden experiments involving the effects of growth stage and characteristic position helped to morphologically diagnose cryptic species. These findings may also facilitate our understandings of ecological adaption and phenotypic plasticity in response to environmental change.     

Erratum to: MYH7B variants cause hypertrophic cardiomyopathy by activating the CaMK-signaling pathway

Science China Life Sciences -     

四川贡嘎山国家级自然保护区鸟兽多样性

四川贡嘎山国家级自然保护区位于全球生物多样性热点地区之一的横断山区, 是我国生物多样性保护优先区。本文利用红外相机影像和已发表文献对该保护区的大中型兽类和地面活动鸟类进行编目并提出未来监测建议。2011-2018年在97个1 km × 1 km的网格安放红外相机, 累计39,881个相机日, 获得独立有效照片20,932张, 其中野生兽类16,244张, 鸟类2,775张, 牲畜1,737张, 人176张。鉴定出野生兽类30种, 另有文献报道4种和观察3种, 分属于5目15科; 鸟类78种, 分属于9目22科; 牲畜6种。包括12种国家I级和28种国家II级重点保护野生动物; 被CITES附录I收录的有11种, 附录II收录的有12种。被IUCN红色名录评估为濒危(EN)和易危(VU)等级的分别有3种和8种。被《中国脊椎动物红色名录》评估为极危(CR)、濒危和易危等级的分别有5、5和11种。相对多度指数(relative abundance index, RAI)排名前三的兽类是毛冠鹿(Elaphodus cephalophus, 147.39)、水鹿(Rusa unicolor, 66.10)、野猪(Sus scrofa, 36.03); 鸟类是血雉(Ithaginis cruentus, 14.64)、白马鸡(Crossoptilon crossoptilon, 10.43)、大噪鹛(Garrulax maximus, 8.05)。阔叶林、针阔混交林、高山灌丛草甸和高山流石滩是调查薄弱生境, 后期应开展重点调查, 以厘清本区域大中型兽类资源。