镉胁迫对家蚕脂肪体脂质过氧化物含量及抗氧化酶活性和mRNA表达的影响

【目的】探讨鳞翅目模式昆虫家蚕Bombyx mori作为重金属污染的监测指示生物在镉胁迫下的酶反应及相关的基因表达。【方法】给家蚕幼虫期全龄添食镉(Cd²⁺), 调查不同性别家蚕5龄幼虫脂肪体中脂质过氧化物丙二醛（MDA）的含量, 超氧化物歧化酶（SOD）、 过氧化氢酶（CAT）和谷胱甘肽过氧化物酶（GSH-Px）的活性及其基因表达水平的变化。【结果】Cd²⁺胁迫对雌雄家蚕MDA 含量均具有浓度效应关系, MDA含量随Cd²⁺胁迫浓度的升高而增加。Cd²⁺胁迫下, SOD和CAT活性表现为先升后降的变化趋势, Pearson相关性分析显示SOD和CAT活性变化有显著相关性(雄: R=0.770, P=0.001; 雌: R=0.854, P=0.000）。雌性家蚕脂肪体中CAT活性变化和Cat mRNA水平的表达具有正相关性（R=0.712, P=0.003）。雄性家蚕脂肪体中GSH-Px活性随Cd²⁺胁迫浓度的升高而增加, 显示浓度 效应关系, 12.5~50 mg/kg Cd²⁺胁迫组GSH-Px活性与对照相比有显著差异（P<0.05）, 其活性和GSH-Px mRNA水平的表达具有正相关性（R=0.834, P=0.000）; 雌性家蚕脂肪体中GSH-Px活性表现为先升后降的变化趋势, 12.5 mg/kg Cd²⁺胁迫组GSH-Px活性与对照相比有显著增加（P<0.01）。【结论】结果表明, 急性镉胁迫对家蚕脂肪体有明显的毒性作用, 其作用机制与脂质过氧化加剧和抗氧化酶活性变化有关。家蚕对重金属镉的解毒机制有性别相关性。     

Processing of behaviorally relevant temporal parameters of acoustic stimuli by single neurons in the superior olivary nucleus of the leopard frog

Summary Response characteristics of 130 single neurons in the superior olivary nucleus of the northern leopard frog (Rana pipiens pipiens) were examined to determine their selectivity to various behaviorally relevant temporal parameters [rise-fall time, duration, and amplitude modulation (AM) rate of acoustic signals. Response functions were constructed with respect to each of these variables. Neurons with different temporal firing patterns such as tonic, phasic or phasic-burst firing patterns, participated in time domain analysis in specific manners. Phasic neurons manifested preferences for signals with short rise-fall times, thus possessing low-pass response functions with respect to this stimulus parameter; conversely, tonic and phasic-burst units were non-selective and possessed all-pass response functions. A distinction between temporal firing patterns was also observed for duration coding. Whereas phasic units showed no change in the mean spike count with a change in stimulus duration (i.e., all-pass duration response functions), tonic and phasic-burst units gave higher mean spike counts with an increase in stimulus duration (i.e., primary-like high-pass response functions). Phasic units manifested greater response selectivity for AM rate than did tonic or phasic-burst units, and many phasic units were tuned to a narrow range of modulation rates (i.e., band-pass). The results suggest that SON neurons play an important role in the processing of complex acoustic patterns; they perform extensive computations on AM rate as well as other temporal parameters of complex sounds. Moreover, the response selectivities for rise-fall time, duration, and AM rate could often be shown to contribute to the differential responses to complex synthetic and natural sounds.Abbreviations SON superior olivary nucleus - DMN dorsal medullary nucleus - TS torus semicircularis - FTC frequency threshold curve - BF best excitatory frequency - PAM pulsatile amplitude modulation - SAM sinusoidal amplitude modulation - SQAM square-wave amplitude modulation - MTF modulation transfer function - PSTH peri-stimulus time histogram     

The EPSPS gene flow from glyphosate-resistant Brassica napus to untransgene B. napus and wild relative species Orychophragmus violaceus

Gene flow from transgenic plants to compatible wild relatives is one of the major impediments to the development of the culture of genetically engineered crop plants. In this work, the flow of EPSPS (conferring resistance to glyphosate) gene of transgene Brassica napus toward the untransgene B. napus and wild relative species Orychophragmus violaceus in an open field (1 ha) was studied. The data related to only the 2004 and 2005 autumn season on one location of southwest of China. Pollen dispersal and fertilization of the target plants were favored and a detailed analysis of the hybrid offspring was performed. In field, the data studied show that the gene flow frequency was 0.16% between GM and non-GM B. napus at a distance of 1 m from the transgenic donor area. The crosspollination frequency was 0.05% between GM and non-GM B. napus at a distance of 5 m from the transgenic donor area. At a distance of 10 m, no crosspollination was observed. According to the results of this study, B. napus transgene flow was low. However, the wild relative species O. violaceus could not be fertilized by the transgenic pollen of B. napus, no matter what the distance was.     

Viral tegument proteins restrict cGAS-DNA phase separation to mediate immune evasion

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High-quality genome assembly of Huazhan and Tianfeng,the parents of an elite rice hybrid Tian-you-hua-zhan

High-quality rice reference genomes have accelerated the comprehensive identification of genome-wide variations and research on functional genomics and breeding. Tian-you-hua-zhan has been a leading hybrid in China over the past decade. Here, de novo genome assembly strategy optimization for the rice indica lines Huazhan (HZ) and Tianfeng (TF), including sequencing platforms, assembly pipelines and sequence depth, was carried out. The PacBio and Nanopore platforms for long-read sequencing were utilized, with the Canu, wtdbg2, SMARTdenovo, Flye, Canu-wtdbg2, Canu-SMARTdenovo and Canu-Flye assemblers. The combination of PacBio and Canu was optimal, considering the contig N50 length, contig number, assembled genome size and polishing process. The assembled contigs were scaffolded with Hi-C data, resulting in two “golden quality” rice reference genomes, and evaluated using the scaffold N50, BUSCO, and LTR assembly index. Furthermore, 42,625 and 41,815 non-transposable element genes were annotated for HZ and TF, respectively. Based on our assembly of HZ and TF, as well as Zhenshan97, Minghui63, Shuhui498 and 9311, comprehensive variations were identified using Nipponbare as a reference. The de novo assembly strategy for rice we optimized and the “golden quality” rice genomes we produced for HZ and TF will benefit rice genomics and breeding research, especially with respect to uncovering the genomic basis of the elite traits of HZ and TF.

     

Discovery and SAR analysis of phenylbenzo[d][1,3]dioxole-based proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 inhibitors

Proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) has emerged as a novel therapeutic target for the development of cholesterol-lowering drugs. In the discovery of PCSK9/LDLR (low-density lipoprotein receptor) protein-protein interaction (PPI) impairing small molecules, a total of 47 phenylbenzo[d][1,3] dioxole-based compounds were designed and synthesised. The result revealed that the 4-chlorobenzyl substitution in the amino group is important for the PPI disrupting activity. In the hepatocyte-based functional tests, active compounds such as A12, B1, B3, B4 and B14, restored the LDLR levels on the surface of hepatic HepG2 cells and increased extracellular LDL uptake in the presence of PCSK9. It is notable that molecule B14 exhibited good performance in all the evaluations. Collectively, novel structures targeting PCSK9/LDLR PPI have been developed with hypolipidemic potential. Further structural modification of derived active compounds is promising in the discovery of lead compounds with improved activity for the treatment of hyperlipidaemia-related disorders.