A novel 3-oxoacyl-ACP reductase (FabG3) is involved in the xanthomonadin biosynthesis of Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris

Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris (Xcc), the causal agent of black rot in crucifers, produces a membrane-bound yellow pigment called xanthomonadin to protect against photobiological and peroxidative damage, and uses a quorum-sensing mechanism mediated by the diffusible signal factor (DSF) family signals to regulate virulence factors production. The Xcc gene XCC4003, annotated as Xcc fabG3, is located in the pig cluster, which may be responsible for xanthomonadin synthesis. We report that fabG3 expression restored the growth of the Escherichia coli fabG temperature-sensitive mutant CL104 under non-permissive conditions. In vitro assays demonstrated that FabG3 catalyses the reduction of 3-oxoacyl-acyl carrier protein (ACP) intermediates in fatty acid synthetic reactions, although FabG3 had a lower activity than FabG1. Moreover, the fabG3 deletion did not affect growth or fatty acid composition. These results indicate that Xcc fabG3 encodes a 3-oxoacyl-ACP reductase, but is not essential for growth or fatty acid synthesis. However, the Xcc fabG3 knock-out mutant abolished xanthomonadin production, which could be only restored by wild-type fabG3, but not by other 3-oxoacyl-ACP reductase-encoding genes, indicating that Xcc FabG3 is specifically involved in xanthomonadin biosynthesis. Additionally, our study also shows that the Xcc fabG3-disrupted mutant affects Xcc virulence in host plants.     

中国自然保护地空间重叠分析与保护地体系优化整合对策

自然保护地体系的构建是国际社会高度重视的生物多样性保护策略。近年来, 中国已关注到自然保护地空间重叠交叉的问题, 并出台了《关于建立以国家公园为主体的自然保护地体系的指导意见》。为落实这一战略, 需要对现有保护地的彼此关系与空间分布进行系统研究。为此, 本研究收集了8,572个不同类型和级别自然保护地的坐标、生态系统类型、行政区域及边界等信息, 筛选出1,532个具有空间重叠、管理部门交叉的自然保护地, 计算地理集中指数并采用ArcGIS软件进行了核密度分析, 得出空间重叠保护地分布的生态地理区、生态系统类型、交叉管理部门、所在省份等空间分布特点。研究结果显示: (1)鲁中山区、太行山、大别山、天目山-怀玉山、皖江等生态功能区的自然保护地重叠最为严重(核密度Mean > 6, Max > 8), 其中太行山区、大别山区、天目山-怀玉山区为重叠保护地密度高的生物多样性优先保护区, 目前10个国家公园试点区域中仅大熊猫国家公园体制试点区、湖南南山国家公园体制试点区、钱江源国家公园体制试点区三处位于保护地重叠高密度区; (2)原主管部门中, 原国家林业局与住房和城乡建设部的交叉管理保护地数量最多, 为294个; (3)黑龙江、安徽、山东、河南、湖北、湖南等省范围内的自然保护地空间重叠状况明显高于其他省区, 而晋冀豫与皖鄂赣这两处三省交界处重叠程度更高, 其他多处三省交界区域也存在保护地的中度重叠。故上述生态地理区、原主管部门与行政区应作为中国自然保护地体系优先普查区域与优化整合重点对象。基于重叠保护地核密度热点区、生物多样性保护优先区与生态系统文化服务的分析框架, 本研究按照国家公园、自然保护区、自然公园三类, 对不同生态功能区自然保护地优化整合优先性与类型提出了初步建议, 以期为当前中国自然保护地体系改革的紧迫需求提供参考。     

关于贯彻落实“建立以国家公园为主体的自然保护地体系”的六项建议

<正>自2013年11月十八届三中全会提出"建立国家公园体制"以来,中国在不到5年时间中,以国家公园体制建设为契机,在全面深化自然保护地体制改革方面取得了里程碑式的重大进展,为实现生态文明和美丽中国国家战略奠定了坚实基础。为了更好地贯彻落实十九大报告提出的"建立以国家公     

Distinguishing structural features between Crohn's disease and gastrointestinal luminal tuberculosis using Mueller matrix derived parameters

Recently, the incidence of inflammatory bowel diseases, especially the Crohn's disease (CD) and gastrointestinal luminal tuberculosis (ITB), has grown rapidly worldwide. Currently there is no general gold standard to distinguish between CD and ITB tissues, which both have tuberculosis and surrounding fibrous structures. Mueller matrix imaging technique is suitable for describing the location, density and distribution behavior of such fibrous structures. In this study, we apply the Mueller matrix microscopic imaging to the CD and ITB tissue samples. The 2D Mueller matrix images of the CD and ITB tissue slices are measured using the Mueller matrix microscope developed in our previous study, then the Mueller matrix polar decomposition and Mueller matrix transformation parameters are calculated. To evaluate the distribution features of the fibrous structures surrounding the tuberculosis areas more quantitatively and precisely, we analyze the retardance related Mueller matrix derived parameters, which show clear different distribution behaviors between the CD and ITB tissues, using the Tamura image processing method. It is demonstrated that the Mueller matrix derived parameters can reveal the structural features of tuberculosis areas and be used as quantitative indicators to distinguish between CD and ITB tissues, which may be useful for the clinical diagnosis.      

In vivo monitoring of thrombosis in mice by optical coherence tomography

The objective of this study is to establish a novel method for continuously monitoring thrombus progression with various outcome measures and to assess the efficacy of antithrombotic drugs in murine thrombosis model in mice. In the study, thrombus was induced in the femoral vein of mice by FeCl₃ and monitored over time by spectral‐domain optical coherence tomography (OCT). Three‐dimensional images of thrombi with or without heparin as an antithrombotic agent were obtained from OCT angiography. In addition, several parameters of thrombi were analyzed and compared between control and anticoagulant groups. By using OCT, we were able to trace thrombus generation in the same mouse in real time. We found that in our model heparin reduced thrombus size by ~60% and thrombus cross‐sectional area by 50%. OCT results also show that both time to thrombus size (>0.02mm³) and time to occlusion (>30%) were significantly reduced after heparin addition. This study demonstrates that OCT reliably monitors thrombus generation and progression from various aspects including thrombus size. This enables us to measure the kinetic of thrombosis more accurately, and effectively evaluate the efficacy and activities of antithrombotic drugs. This model may represent a useful tool in antithrombotic drug discoveries in preclinical studies.      

Quantitative assessment of optical clearing methods in various intact mouse organs

Various tissue optical clearing techniques have sprung up for large volume imaging. However, there are few methods showed clearing and imaging data on different organs while most of them were focused on mouse brain, and as a result, it is difficult to select the suitable method for organs in practical applications due to lack of quantitative evaluation and comprehensive comparison. Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate and compare the performances of clearing methods for different organs. In this paper, several typical optical clearing methods were applied, including 3DISCO, uDISCO, SeeDB, FRUIT, CUBIC, ScaleS and PACT to clear intact brain, heart, kidney, liver, spleen, stomach, lung, small intestine, skin and muscle. The clearing efficiency, sample deformation, fluorescence preservation and imaging depth of these methods were quantitatively evaluated. Finally, based on the systemic evaluation of various parameters described above, the appropriate clearing method for specific organ including kidney or intestine was screened out. This paper will provide important references for selection of appropriate clearing methods in related researches.      

Meeting Report on the Conference on Fathers’ Role in Children’s Weight‐Related Behaviors and Outcomes

On September 22, 2017, “Engaging the Forgotten Parent: Conference of Experts on Fathers’ Role in Children’s Weight‐Related Behaviours and Outcomes” brought researchers, students, health professionals, community stakeholders, and knowledge users from Canada, Australia, and the United States together to Toronto, Ontario, for a 1‐day gathering focused on furthering scientific understanding of effective strategies to recruit, engage, and retain fathers in family‐based obesity research. Furthermore this conference focused on identifying key knowledge gaps and opportunities for collaborative research to further our understanding of fathers’ roles in the development of their children’s behaviors and weight outcomes. The following four themes emerged from the conference: (1) underrepresentation of fathers in family‐based obesity research, (2) fathers’ engagement in children’s weight‐related behaviors and desire to participate in research, (3) best practices in recruiting, engaging, and retaining fathers in research, and (4) key lessons learned from fatherhood research in developmental science.     

Landscape genetic structure of Scirpus mariqueter reveals a putatively adaptive differentiation under strong gene flow in estuaries

Estuarine organisms grow in highly heterogeneous habitats, and their genetic differentiation is driven by selective and neutral processes as well as population colonization history. However, the relative importance of the processes that underlie genetic structure is still puzzling. Scirpus mariqueter is a perennial grass almost limited in the Changjiang River estuary and its adjacent Qiantang River estuary. Here, using amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP), a moderate‐high level of genetic differentiation among populations (range F_ST: 0.0310–0.3325) was showed despite large ongoing dispersal. FLOCK assigned all individuals to 13 clusters and revealed a complex genetic structure. Some genetic clusters were limited in peripheries compared with very mixing constitution in center populations, suggesting local adaptation was more likely to occur in peripheral populations. 21 candidate outliers under positive selection were detected, and further, the differentiation patterns correlated with geographic distance, salinity difference, and colonization history were analyzed with or without the outliers. Combined results of AMOVA and IBD based on different dataset, it was found that the effects of geographic distance and population colonization history on isolation seemed to be promoted by divergent selection. However, none‐liner IBE pattern indicates the effects of salinity were overwhelmed by spatial distance or other ecological processes in certain areas and also suggests that salinity was not the only selective factor driving population differentiation. These results together indicate that geographic distance, salinity difference, and colonization history co‐contributed in shaping the genetic structure of S. mariqueter and that their relative importance was correlated with spatial scale and environment gradient.