To develop an effective genome editing tool for blueberry breeding, CRISPR-Cas9 and CRISPR-Cas12a were evaluated for their editing efficiencies of a marker gene, beta-glucuronidase (gusA), which was previously introduced into two blueberry cultivars each a single-copy transgene. Four expression vectors were built, with CRISPR-Cas9 and CRISPR-Cas12a each driven by a 35S promoter or AtUbi promoter. Each vector contained two editing sites in the gusA. These four vectors were respectively transformed into the leaf explants of transgenic gusA blueberry and the resulting transgenic calli were induced under hygromycin selection. GUS staining showed that some small proportions of the hygromycin-resistant calli had non-GUS stained sectors, suggesting some possible occurrences of gusA editing. We sequenced GUS amplicons spanning the two editing sites in three blueberry tissues and found about 5.5% amplicons having editing features from the calli transformed with the 35S-Cas9 vector. Further, we conducted a second round of shoot regeneration from leaf explants derived from the initial Cas9- and Cas12a-containing calli (T0) and analyzed amplicons of the target editing region. Of the newly induced shoots, 15.5% for the 35S-Cas9 and 5.3% for the AtUbi-Cas9 showed non-GUS staining, whereas all of the shoots containing the Cas12a vectors showed blue staining. Sanger sequencing confirmed the editing-induced mutations in two representative non-GUS staining lines. Clearly, the second round of regeneration had enriched editing events and enhanced the production of edited shoots. The results and protocol described will be helpful to facilitating high-precision breeding of blueberries using CRISPR Cas technologies.
The significance of actin-related protein 2/3 complex subunit 4 (ARPC4) expression in bladder cancer, and its potential role in the invasion and migration of bladder cancer cells, has yet to be determined. This study was to identify the correlation between ARPC4 and lymph node metastasis, and to determine the role of ARPC4 in the invasive migration of T24 bladder cancer cells. One hundred and ninety-eight bladder cancer tissues and 40 normal bladder and lymph node tissues were examined. Tissue microarrays were constructed and subjected to immunohistochemical stating for ARPC4. Multiple logistic analysis was used to determine risk factors associated with bladder cancer metastasis. ARPC4 expression in T24 bladder cancer cells was suppressed using small interfering RNA and changes in protein levels were determined by Western blot analysis. The proliferation of bladder cancer cells after knocking down of ARPC4 was determined by cell counting kit-8. The effects of ARPC4 knockdown on T24 cell invasion and migration was determined using transwell and wound healing assays. Immunofluorescence analysis was performed to examine changes in pseudopodia formation and actin cytoskeleton structure. The expression of ARPC4 was elevated in bladder cancer tissues than normal tissues (84.3% vs 27.5%, P < 0.001). The multivariate logistic analysis demonstrated that the level of ARPC4, as a risk factor, was correlated with lymphatic metastasis (P < 0.05). ARPC4 knockdown attenuated proliferation, migration, invasion, and pseudopodia formation in T24 cells. ARPC4 expression, as a risk factor, is associated with lymphatic metastasis and is upregulated in bladder cancer tissues in comparison with normal tissues. Inhibition of ARPC4 expression significantly attenuates the proliferation, migration, and invasion of bladder cancer cell, possibly due to defects in pseudopodia formation. 相似文献
Precipitation and nitrogen (N) deposition are predicted to increase in northern China. The present paper aimed to better understand how different dominant species in semi-arid grasslands in this region vary in their litter decomposition and nutrient release responses to increases in precipitation and N deposition.
Methods
Above-ground litter of three dominant species (two grasses, Agropyron cristatum and Stipa krylovii, and one forb, Artemisia frigida) was collected from areas without experimental treatments in a semi-arid grassland in Inner Mongolia. Litter decomposition was studied over three years to determine the effects of water and N addition on litter decomposition rate and nutrient dynamics.
Results
Litter mass loss and nutrient release were faster for the forb species than for the two grasses during decomposition. Both water and N addition increased litter mass loss of the grass A. cristatum, while the treatments showed no impacts on that of the forb A. frigida. Supplemental N had time-dependent, positive effects on litter mass loss of the grass S. krylovii. During the three-year decomposition study, the release of N from litter was inhibited by N addition for the three species, and it was promoted by water addition for the two grasses. Across all treatments, N and potassium (K) were released from the litter of all three species, whereas calcium (Ca) was accumulated. Phosphorus (P) and magnesium (Mg) were released from the forb litter but accumulated in the grass litter after three years of decomposition.
Conclusions
Our findings revealed that the litter decomposition response to water and N supplementation differed among dominant plant species in a semi-arid grassland, indicating that changes in dominant plant species induced by projected increases in precipitation and N deposition are likely to affect litter decomposition, nutrient cycling, and further biogeochemical cycles in this grassland. The asynchronous nutrient release of different species’ litter found in the present study highlights the complexity of nutrient replenishment from litter decomposition in the temperate steppe under scenarios of enhancing precipitation and N deposition.
The present paper reports in vitro strategies for assembly of minicellulosomes with two miniscaffoldins on the Saccharomyces cerevisiae cell surface. It was carried out through incubation of the yeast cells displaying scaffoldins with Escherichia coli lysates containing recombinant cellulases, or using a four-population yeast consortium. The results showed that the display level of miniscaffoldin II was distinctly increased by moving the cellulases production into E. coli or other yeast cells, indicating that the metabolic burden of the yeast host was decreased. The yeast consortium did not show any cellulolytic activity, while the E. coli lysates-treated yeast, whose anchoring miniscaffoldin length was optimized, was able to produce ~1138 mg/L ethanol from microcrystalline cellulose within 4 days. We also confirmed that the yeast-associated minicellulosome moreover showed both higher thermal stability and lower protease accessibility than free minicellulosome. This research promotes the application of S. cerevisiae as a consolidated bioprocessing (CBP) microorganism in cellulosic bioethanol production. 相似文献
In this study, the effect of maternal deprivation (MD) and chronic unpredictable stress (CUS) in inducing depressive behaviors and associated molecular mechanism were investigated in rats.
Methods
Maternal deprivation was established by separating pups from their mothers for 6 hours daily from postnatal day 1 to day 14. Chronic unpredictable stress was established by water deprivation, elevated open platform, food deprivation, restraint stress and electric foot shock. The depressive behaviors were determined by use of sucrose preference test and forced swim test.
Results
Rats in MD/CUS group exhibited lower sucrose preference rate, longer immobility time, and lighter body weights than rats in other groups (MD/control, non-MD/CUS and non-MD/control group). Meanwhile, higher miR-504 expression and lower dopamine receptor D1 (DRD1) and D2 (DRD2) expression were observed in the nucleus accumbens of rats in the MD/CUS group than in the other three groups. MiR-504 expression correlated negatively with DRD1 gene expression and sucrose preference rate in the sucrose preference test, but correlated positively with immobility time in forced swim test. Both DRD2 mRNA and protein expression correlated negatively with immobility time in forced swim test.
Conclusion
These results suggest that MD enhances behavioral vulnerability to stress during adulthood, which is associated with the upregulation of miR-504 and downregulation of DRD2 expression in the nucleus accumbens. 相似文献