Methylarginine efflux in nutrient-deprived yeast mitigates disruption of nitric oxide synthesis

Amino Acids - Protein arginine N-methyltransferases (PRMTs) have emerged as important actors in the eukaryotic stress response with implications in human disease, aging, and cell signaling....     

Investigations of interaction mechanism and conformational variation of serum albumin affected by artemisinin and dihydroartemisinin

In this work, binding interactions of artemisinin (ART) and dihydroartemisinin (DHA) with human serum albumin (HSA) and bovine serum albumin (BSA) were investigated thoroughly to illustrate the conformational variation of serum albumin. Experimental results indicated that ART and DHA bound strongly with the site I of serum albumins via hydrogen bond (H-bond) and van der Waals force and subsequently statically quenched the intrinsic fluorescence of serum albumins through concentration-dependent manner. The quenching abilities of two drugs on the intrinsic fluorescence of HSA were much higher than the quenching abilities of two drugs on the intrinsic fluorescence of BSA. Both ART and DHA, especially DHA, caused the conformational variation of serum albumins and reduced the α-helix structure content of serum albumins. DHA with hydrophilic hydroxyl group bound with HSA more strongly, suggesting the important roles of the chemical polarity and the hydrophilicity during the binding interactions of two drugs with serum albumins. These results reveal the molecular understanding of binding interactions between ART derivatives and serum albumins, providing vital information for the future application of ART derivatives in biological and clinical areas.     

Cross-trait prediction accuracy of summary statistics in genome-wide association studies

In the era of big data, univariate models have widely been used as a workhorse tool for quickly producing marginal estimators; and this is true even when in a high-dimensional dense setting, in which many features are “true,” but weak signals. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) epitomize this type of setting. Although the GWAS marginal estimator is popular, it has long been criticized for ignoring the correlation structure of genetic variants (i.e., the linkage disequilibrium [LD] pattern). In this paper, we study the effects of LD pattern on the GWAS marginal estimator and investigate whether or not additionally accounting for the LD can improve the prediction accuracy of complex traits. We consider a general high-dimensional dense setting for GWAS and study a class of ridge-type estimators, including the popular marginal estimator and the best linear unbiased prediction (BLUP) estimator as two special cases. We show that the performance of GWAS marginal estimator depends on the LD pattern through the first three moments of its eigenvalue distribution. Furthermore, we uncover that the relative performance of GWAS marginal and BLUP estimators highly depends on the ratio of GWAS sample size over the number of genetic variants. Particularly, our finding reveals that the marginal estimator can easily become near-optimal within this class when the sample size is relatively small, even though it ignores the LD pattern. On the other hand, BLUP estimator has substantially better performance than the marginal estimator as the sample size increases toward the number of genetic variants, which is typically in millions. Therefore, adjusting for the LD (such as in the BLUP) is most needed when GWAS sample size is large. We illustrate the importance of our results by using the simulated data and real GWAS.     

Rhizosphere effect of nanoscale zero-valent iron on mycorrhiza-dependent maize assimilation

Rhizosphere effect of nanoscale zero-valent iron (nZVI) is crucial but little reported. Maize seeds were dressed with four nZVI concentrations (0, 1.0, 1.5, 2 g kg⁻¹) and inoculated with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus (AMF) (Funneliformis mosseae). The SEM images illuminated that excessive nZVI particles (2 g kg⁻¹) were agglomerated on the surface of hyphae and spore, causing severe deformation and inactivation of AMF symbionts and thereafter inhibiting water uptake in maize seedlings. This restrained the scavenging effects of enzymatic (superoxide dismutase, peroxidase) and non-enzymatic compounds (proline & malondialdehyde) on ROS, and leaf photoreduction activity and gas exchange ability (p < 0.05). Interestingly, the inoculation with AMF effectively alleviated above negative effects. In contrast, appropriate dose of nZVI, that is, ≤1.5 g kg⁻¹, can be evenly distributed on the hyphae surface and form the ordered symbionts with AMF. This help massively to enhance hyphae growth and water and nutrient uptake. The enhanced mycorrhizal infection turned to promote rhizosphere symbiont activity and leaf Rubisco and Rubisco activase activity. Light compensation point was massively lowered, which increased photosynthetic carbon supply for AMF symbionts. Particularly, such priming effects were evidently enhanced by drought stress. Our findings provided a novel insight into functional role of nZVI in agriculture and AMF-led green production.     

β-Cyclodextrin-Based Nitrosoglutathione Improves the Storage Quality of Peach by Regulating the Metabolism of Endogenous Nitric Oxide,Hydrogen Sulfide,and Phenylpropane

Nitrosoglutathione (GSNO) and β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) exhibit positive roles in regulating fruit quality. However, there are few reports about the effects of GSNO and β-CD on enhancing storability and boosting nitric oxide (NO), hydrogen sulfide (H₂S), and phenylpropane metabolism in fruits during storage. “Xintaihong” peach were treated with 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 mmol L⁻¹ GSNO in 0.5% (w/v) β-CD solution (GSNO/β-CD). The effects of GSNO/β-CD on endogenous NO, H₂S, and phenylpropane metabolism were investigated. Treatment with GSNO/β-CD increased the color difference of peach and inhibited the increase of respiratory intensity, weight loss, and relative conductivity. Treatment with 1.0 mmol L⁻¹ GSNO/β-CD increased the nitric oxide synthase (NOS-like) activity and L-arginine content, thereby promoting the accumulation of endogenous NO. By improving the activities of L-cysteine desulfhydrylase (L-CD), O-acetylserine sulfur lyase (OAS-TL), serine acetyltransferase (SAT), GSNO/β-CD increased the content of endogenous H₂S in peach. Treatment with GSNO/β-CD increased the activities of phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL), 4-coumarate-CoA ligase (4CL), and cinnamic acid-4-hydroxylase (C4H), promoted the increase of total phenols, flavonoids, and lignin in peach. These results indicated that GSNO/β-CD treatment better maintained the quality of peach by improving the metabolism of endogenous NO, H₂S, and phenylpropane during storage.     

我国巢鼠属分类和分子系统学分析

本研究对2018至2021年采集的9号巢鼠(Micromys minutus)标本、22号红耳巢鼠(M. erythrotis)标本和19号待厘定的巢鼠属标本,进行形态分类和分子系统学分析,进一步揭示我国巢鼠属的分类和系统分化问题。待厘定的巢鼠属标本形态特征为：标本体背毛黑棕,体腹毛基灰色,毛尖灰白,体侧毛色具明显区分,尾背部毛色黑棕,尾腹部毛色灰棕色;尾长长于头体长的120%;头骨背面观可见颧弓明显弯曲;颅全长[(18.59 ± 0.48)mm]和颅基长[(17.43 ± 0.48 mm)]较长,腭长[(9.35 ± 0.11)mm]较长,脑颅高[(7.43 ± 0.06)mm]较高。待厘定的巢鼠属标本形态特征与巢鼠和红耳巢鼠均存在差异。待厘定巢鼠属标本与巢鼠和红耳巢鼠之间的遗传距离分别为0.115和0.136,接近于巢鼠与红耳巢鼠之间的遗传距离(0.126)。利用Cyt b基因全序列和核基因IRBP1、RAG1和RAG2序列分别构建的巢鼠属系统发生树均以较高的置信度分化成3个进化支,即巢鼠、红耳巢鼠和待厘定的巢鼠属样本的进化支。形态学和分子系统学分析结果均支持待厘定的巢鼠属标本为独立物种分类单元,对应于文献记载的巢鼠川西亚种(M. m. pygmaeus)。根据产地、遗传距离和形态分化,建议将巢鼠川西亚种提升为种,命名为川西巢鼠(M. pygmaeus comb. nov.)。利用Cyt b基因全序列构建的巢鼠系统发生树分化成6个进化谱系：日韩谱系、欧洲谱系、俄罗斯新西伯利亚谱系、中国东北和俄罗斯远东谱系、中国安徽谱系和中国台湾谱系。     

别藻蓝蛋白藻蓝胆素发色团分子构象研究

主要研究了蓝绿藻污棕席藻(Phormidium luridum)别藻蓝蛋白在不同 pH值条件下的吸收光谱和共振拉曼光谱.发现低聚化的结果导致了三聚体别藻蓝蛋白 650nm 特征吸收峰的消失和一些共振拉曼带强度和位置的移动.结果表明在低 pH 值作用下的低聚化的别藻蓝蛋白中藻蓝胆素发色团分子的构象和自由胆素分子类似,比三聚体的别藻蓝蛋白的发色团分子更趋于卷曲,折叠的构象态.而三聚体的别藻蓝蛋白,主要的拉曼带 1645cm^-1是其发色团分子构象处于更线性延展的标志,其光谱行为和吸收光谱 A_vis/A_uv所表征的发色团分子构象的结果相一致.     

亚油酸体系脂质过氧化引起的DNA损伤研究

用含两个双键的不饱和脂肪酸-亚油酸作为模型化合物,分析其过氧化程度,同时检测了由于脂质过氧化而引起的DNA损伤,结果表明:在脂质过氧化过程中,DNA与亚油酸过氧化产物反应生成一种荧光物质、其最大激发波长315nm最大发射波长410nm并随着氧化时间增加而增加,与此同时,双链DNA百分含量明显下降,DNA-溴乙锭复合物荧光显著降低,反映了DNA二级结构受到破坏.上述结果揭示了脂质过氧化产物在自由基引起DNA的损伤中可能起重要作用