Characterization of the mechanical properties for cranial bones of 8-week-old piglets: the effect of strain rate and region

Biomechanics and Modeling in Mechanobiology - Due to ethical reasons, piglets have often been employed as surrogates for children in biomechanics studies. To our knowledge, no public data detailing...     

Synergistic Engineering of Defects and Architecture in Binary Metal Chalcogenide toward Fast and Reliable Lithium–Sulfur Batteries

Lithium–sulfur (Li–S) batteries have great promise to support the next‐generation energy storage if their sluggish redox kinetics and polysulfide shuttling can be addressed. The rational design of sulfur electrodes plays key roles in tacking these problems and achieving high‐efficiency sulfur electrochemistry. Herein, a synergetic defect and architecture engineering strategy to design highly disordered spinel Ni–Co oxide double‐shelled microspheres (NCO‐HS), which consist of defective spinel NiCo₂O_4–x (x = 0.9 if all nickel is Ni²⁺ and cobalt is Co^2.13+), as the multifunctional sulfur host material is reported. The in situ constructed cation and anion defects endow the NCO‐HS with significantly enhanced electronic conductivity and superior polysulfide adsorbability. Meanwhile, the delicate nanoconstruction offers abundant active interfaces and reduced ion diffusion pathways for efficient Li–S chemistry. Attributed to these synergistic features, the sulfur composite electrode achieves excellent rate performance up to 5 C, remarkable cycling stability over 800 cycles and good areal capacity of 6.3 mAh cm^?2 under high sulfur loading. This proposed strategy based on synergy engineering could also inform material engineering in related energy storage and conversion fields.     

RSBP15 interacts with and stabilizes dRSPH3 during sperm axoneme assembly in Drosophila

Flagellum in sperm is composed of over 200 different proteins and is essential for sperm motility. In particular, defects in the assembly of the radial spoke in the flagellum result in male infertility due to loss of sperm motility. However, mechanisms regulating radial spoke assembly remain unclear in metazoans.Here, we identified a novel Drosophila protein radial spoke binding protein 15(RSBP15) which plays an important role in regulating radial spoke assembly. Loss of RSBP15 results in complete lack of mature sperms in seminal vesicles(SVs), asynchronous individualization complex(IC) and defective "9 + 2"structure in flagella. RSBP15 is colocalized with dRSPH3 in sperm flagella, and interacts with dRSPH3 through its DD_R_PKA superfamily domain which is important for the stabilization of dRSPH3. Moreover,loss of dRSPH3, as well as dRSPH1, dRSPH4 a and dRSPH9, showed similar phenotypes to rsbp15 KO mutant. Together, our results suggest that RSBP15 acts in stabilizing the radial spoke protein complex to anchor and strengthen the radial spoke structures in sperm flagella.     

DELAYED HEADING DATE1 interacts with OsHAP5C/D,delays flowering time and enhances yield in rice

Heading date is an important agronomic trait affecting crop yield. The GRAS protein family is a plant‐specific super family extensively involved in plant growth and signal transduction. However, GRAS proteins are rarely reported have a role in regulating rice heading date. Here, we report a GRAS protein DHD1 (Delayed Heading Date1) delays heading and enhances yield in rice. Biochemical assays showed DHD1 physically interacts with OsHAP5C/D both in vitro and in vivo. DHD1 and OsHAP5C/D located in the nucleus and showed that rhythmic expression. Both DHD1 and OsHAP5C/D affect heading date by regulating expression of Ehd1. We propose that DHD1 interacts with OsHAP5C/D to delay heading date by inhibiting expression of Ehd1.     

The OsmiR396–OsGRF8–OsF3H‐flavonoid pathway mediates resistance to the brown planthopper in rice (Oryza sativa)

Multi‐functional microRNAs (miRNAs) are emerging as key modulators of plant–pathogen interactions. Although the involvement of some miRNAs in plant–insect interactions has been revealed, the underlying mechanisms are still elusive. The brown planthopper (BPH) is the most notorious rice (Oryza sativa)‐specific insect that causes severe yield losses each year and requires urgent biological control. To reveal the miRNAs involved in rice–BPH interactions, we performed miRNA sequencing and identified BPH‐responsive OsmiR396. Sequestering OsmiR396 by overexpressing target mimicry (MIM396) in three genetic backgrounds indicated that OsmiR396 negatively regulated BPH resistance. Overexpression of one BPH‐responsive target gene of OsmiR396, growth regulating factor 8 (OsGRF8), showed resistance to BPH. Furthermore, the flavonoid contents increased in both the OsmiR396‐sequestered and the OsGRF8 overexpressing plants. By analysing 39 natural rice varieties, the elevated flavonoid contents were found to correlate with enhanced BPH resistance. Artificial applications of flavonoids to wild type (WT) plants also increased resistance to BPH. A BPH‐responsive flavanone 3‐hydroxylase (OsF3H) gene in the flavonoid biosynthetic pathway was proved to be directly regulated by OsGRF8. A genetic functional analysis of OsF3H revealed its positive role in mediating both the flavonoid contents and BPH resistance. And analysis of the genetic correlation between OsmiR396 and OsF3H showed that down‐regulation of OsF3H complemented the BPH resistance characteristic and simultaneously decreased the flavonoid contents of the MIM396 plants. Thus, we revealed a new BPH resistance mechanism mediated by the OsmiR396–OsGRF8–OsF3H–flavonoid pathway. Our study suggests potential applications of miRNAs in BPH resistance breeding.     

A single nucleotide mutation in GID1c disrupts its interaction with DELLA1 and causes a GA‐insensitive dwarf phenotype in peach

Plant stature is one important factor that affects the productivity of peach orchards. However, little is known about the molecular mechanism(s) underlying the dwarf phenotype of peach tree. Here, we report a dwarfing mechanism in the peach cv. FenHuaShouXingTao (FHSXT). The dwarf phenotype of ‘FHSXT’ was caused by shorter cell length compared to the standard cv. QiuMiHong (QMH). ‘FHSXT’ contained higher endogenous GA levels than did ‘QMH’ and did not response to exogenous GA treatment (internode elongation). These results indicated that ‘FHSXT’ is a GA‐insensitive dwarf mutant. A dwarf phenotype‐related single nucleotide mutation in the gibberellic acid receptor GID1 was identified in ‘FHSXT’ (GID1c^S191F), which was also cosegregated with dwarf phenotype in 30 tested cultivars. GID1c^S191F was unable to interact with the growth‐repressor DELLA1 even in the presence of GA. ‘FHSXT’ accumulated a higher level of DELLA1, the degradation of which is normally induced by its interaction with GID1. The DELLA1 protein level was almost undetectable in ‘QMH’, but not reduced in ‘FHSXT’ after GA₃ treatment. Our results suggested that a nonsynonymous single nucleotide mutation in GID1c disrupts its interaction with DELLA1 resulting in a GA‐insensitive dwarf phenotype in peach.     

Discovery of genomic regions and candidate genes controlling shelling percentage using QTL‐seq approach in cultivated peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.)

Cultivated peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) is an important grain legume providing high‐quality cooking oil, rich proteins and other nutrients. Shelling percentage (SP) is the 2nd most important agronomic trait after pod yield and this trait significantly affects the economic value of peanut in the market. Deployment of diagnostic markers through genomics‐assisted breeding (GAB) can accelerate the process of developing improved varieties with enhanced SP. In this context, we deployed the QTL‐seq approach to identify genomic regions and candidate genes controlling SP in a recombinant inbred line population (Yuanza 9102 × Xuzhou 68‐4). Four libraries (two parents and two extreme bulks) were constructed and sequenced, generating 456.89–790.32 million reads and achieving 91.85%–93.18% genome coverage and 14.04–21.37 mean read depth. Comprehensive analysis of two sets of data (Yuanza 9102/two bulks and Xuzhou 68‐4/two bulks) using the QTL‐seq pipeline resulted in discovery of two overlapped genomic regions (2.75 Mb on A09 and 1.1 Mb on B02). Nine candidate genes affected by 10 SNPs with non‐synonymous effects or in UTRs were identified in these regions for SP. Cost‐effective KASP (Kompetitive Allele‐Specific PCR) markers were developed for one SNP from A09 and three SNPs from B02 chromosome. Genotyping of the mapping population with these newly developed KASP markers confirmed the major control and stable expressions of these genomic regions across five environments. The identified candidate genomic regions and genes for SP further provide opportunity for gene cloning and deployment of diagnostic markers in molecular breeding for achieving high SP in improved varieties.     

Development of Beet necrotic yellow vein virus‐based vectors for multiple‐gene expression and guide RNA delivery in plant genome editing

Many plant viruses with monopartite or bipartite genomes have been developed as efficient expression vectors of foreign recombinant proteins. Nonetheless, due to lack of multiple insertion sites in these plant viruses, it is still a big challenge to simultaneously express multiple foreign proteins in single cells. The genome of Beet necrotic yellow vein virus (BNYVV) offers an attractive system for expression of multiple foreign proteins owning to a multipartite genome composed of five positive‐stranded RNAs. Here, we have established a BNYVV full‐length infectious cDNA clone under the control of the Cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter. We further developed a set of BNYVV‐based vectors that permit efficient expression of four recombinant proteins, including some large proteins with lengths up to 880 amino acids in the model plant Nicotiana benthamiana and native host sugar beet plants. These vectors can be used to investigate the subcellular co‐localization of multiple proteins in leaf, root and stem tissues of systemically infected plants. Moreover, the BNYVV‐based vectors were used to deliver NbPDS guide RNAs for genome editing in transgenic plants expressing Cas9, which induced a photobleached phenotype in systemically infected leaves. Collectively, the BNYVV‐based vectors will facilitate genomic research and expression of multiple proteins, in sugar beet and related crop plants.