Balance between maternal and paternal alleles sets the timing of resource accumulation in the maize endosperm

Key aspects of seed development in flowering plants are held to be under epigenetic control and to have evolved as a result of conflict between the interests of the male and female gametes (kinship theory). Attempts to identify the genes involved have focused on imprinted sequences, although imprinting is only one mechanism by which male or female parental alleles may be exclusively expressed immediately post-fertilization. We have studied the expression of a subset of endosperm gene classes immediately following interploidy crosses in maize and show that departure from the normal 2 : 1 ratio between female and male genomes exerts a dramatic effect on the timing of expression of some, but not all, genes investigated. Paternal genomic excess prolongs the expression of early genes and delays accumulation of reserves, while maternal genomic excess foreshortens the expression period of early genes and dramatically brings forward endosperm maturation. Our data point to a striking interdependence between the phases of endosperm development, and are consonant with previous work from maize showing progression from cell proliferation to endoreduplication is regulated by the balance between maternal and paternal genomes, and from Arabidopsis suggesting that this ‘phasing’ is regulated by maternally expressed imprinted genes. Our findings are discussed in context of the kinship theory.     

猪环状RNA IGF1R促进脂肪细胞分化

环状RNA(circular RNA, circRNA)作为竞争性内源RNA(competitive endogenous RNA, ceRNA)在细胞分化调控中发挥着重要作用。本研究旨在对猪环状RNA IGF1R(circular RNA insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor, circIGF1R)进行鉴定及分析,探明其表达规律,构建猪circIGF1R相关的ceRNA调控网络,并探究其异位表达对小鼠间充质干细胞(C3H10T1/2)成脂分化的调控作用。通过正反向引物PCR、Sanger测序、RNase R酶消化检测和qRT-PCR验证circIGF1R是胰岛素样生长因子1受体(insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor, IGF1R)第二外显子形成的circRNA,它在猪各组织中均有表达,且其表达量在脂肪组织中随日龄增加呈上升趋势;使用miRDB、TargetScan和miRWalk在线软件预测circIGF1R靶基因,运用RNAhybrid软件进行结合位点预测,使用DAVID生物信息功能分析软件对候选靶基因进行GO和KEGG富集分析,运用Cytoscape软件构建ceRNA网络,基于基因表达相关性和预测的靶标关系,绘制了GO和KEGG富集分析及构建了ceRNA网络;双荧光素酶报告基因分析证明circIGF1R及FABP4可与ssc (Sus scrofa chromosome) -miR-133a-5p结合;成功构建circIGF1R过表达载体,在间充质干细胞C3H10T1/2中异位表达,过表达circIGF1R后关键成脂调控因子CEBPα、CEBPβ、FABP4和PPARγ极显著升高(P＜0.01),脂滴数量显著增加。本研究结果证明,circIGF1R在猪脂肪组织中存在,并且可能通过ceRNA机制正调控C3H10T1/2细胞成脂分化,为进一步研究circIGF1R调控猪前体肌内脂肪细胞成脂分化奠定理论基础。     

Microbial metabolism and necromass mediated fertilization effect on soil organic carbon after long-term community incubation in different climates

Understanding the effects of changing climate and long-term human activities on soil organic carbon (SOC) and the mediating roles of microorganisms is critical to maintain soil C stability in agricultural ecosystem. Here, we took samples from a long-term soil transplantation experiment, in which large transects of Mollisol soil in a cold temperate region were translocated to warm temperate and mid-subtropical regions to simulate different climate conditions, with a fertilization treatment on top. This study aimed to understand fertilization effect on SOC and the role of soil microorganisms featured after long-term community incubation in warm climates. After 12 years of soil transplantation, fertilization led to less reduction of SOC, in which aromatic C increased and the consumption of O-alkyl C and carbonyl C decreased. Soil live microbes were analyzed using propidium monoazide to remove DNAs from dead cells, and their network modulization explained 60.4% of variations in soil labile C. Single-cell Raman spectroscopy combined with D₂O isotope labeling indicated a higher metabolic activity of live microbes to use easily degradable C after soil transplantation. Compared with non-fertilization, there was a significant decrease in soil α- and β-glucosidase and delay on microbial growth with fertilization in warmer climate. Moreover, fertilization significantly increased microbial necromass as indicated by amino sugar content, and its contribution to soil resistant C reached 22.3%. This study evidentially highlights the substantial contribution of soil microbial metabolism and necromass to refractory C of SOC with addition of nutrients in the long-term.Subject terms: Microbial ecology, Biodiversity     

茚虫威亚致死浓度对茚虫威敏感性降低的棉铃虫生物学参数及解毒酶活性的影响

【目的】本研究旨在明确茚虫威亚致死浓度对茚虫威敏感性降低的棉铃虫Helicoverpa armigera生物学参数及解毒酶活性的影响,以科学有效防治这一害虫,避免其对茚虫威的抗性快速发展。【方法】采用浸叶法测定了茚虫威对棉铃虫茚虫威抗性汰选种群(TP)及其同源对照种群(CP)3龄幼虫的毒力;用两性生命表分析LC₂₀浓度茚虫威对TP种群当代(F₀)生命表参数的影响,并测定了LC₂₀浓度茚虫威处理48 h后CP和TP种群棉铃虫3龄幼虫体内解毒酶［多功能氧化酶(MFO)、羧酸酯酶(CarE)和谷胱甘肽-S-转移酶(GST)］及乙酰胆碱酯酶(AChE)的活性。【结果】茚虫威对棉铃虫CP种群和TP种群3龄幼虫的LC₂₀分别为2.27和9.91 mg/L。LC₂₀茚虫威处理TP种群后,48 h的生长量、化蛹率、羽化率和成虫畸形率均显著低于未用药对照,而特定年龄生命期望值e_xj高于未用药对照;TP种群棉铃虫3龄幼虫体内GST和MFO活性与CP种群相比显著升高,CarE活性显著降低。【结论】本研究结果表明棉铃虫TP种群在LC₂₀浓度茚虫威胁迫下存在明显的生长与繁殖不利性,同时对其也产生了适应能力。LC₂₀浓度茚虫威处理后,棉铃虫TP种群的GST和MFO活性被显著诱导,说明这两种酶可能与棉铃虫对茚虫威产生抗药性密切相关;而CarE活性被显著抑制,说明该酶可能参与了茚虫威转化成N-脱甲氧羰基代谢物(DCJW)的活化过程。     

Morphological,molecular and MALDI-TOF MS identification of ticks and tick-associated pathogens in Vietnam

Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) has been reported as a promising and reliable tool for arthropod identification, including the identification of alcohol-preserved ticks based on extracted leg protein spectra. In this study, the legs of 361 ticks collected in Vietnam, including 251 Rhiphicephalus sanguineus s.l, 99 Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus, two Amblyomma varanensis, seven Dermacentor auratus, one Dermacentor compactus and one Amblyomma sp. were submitted for MALDI-TOF MS analyses. Spectral analysis showed intra-species reproducibility and inter-species specificity and the spectra of 329 (91%) specimens were of excellent quality. The blind test of 310 spectra remaining after updating the database with 19 spectra revealed that all were correctly identified with log score values (LSV) ranging from 1.7 to 2.396 with a mean of 1.982 ± 0.142 and a median of 1.971. The DNA of several microorganisms including Anaplasma platys, Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Anaplasma marginale, Ehrlichia rustica, Babesia vogeli, Theileria sinensis, and Theileria orientalis were detected in 25 ticks. Co-infection by A. phagocytophilum and T. sinensis was found in one Rh. (B) microplus.     

CD106 Identifies a Subpopulation of Mesenchymal Stem Cells with Unique Immunomodulatory Properties

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) reside in almost all of the body tissues, where they undergo self-renewal and multi-lineage differentiation. MSCs derived from different tissues share many similarities but also show some differences in term of biological properties. We aim to search for significant differences among various sources of MSCs and to explore their implications in physiopathology and clinical translation. We compared the phenotype and biological properties among different MSCs isolated from human term placental chorionic villi (CV), umbilical cord (UC), adult bone marrow (BM) and adipose (AD). We found that CD106 (VCAM-1) was expressed highest on the CV-MSCs, moderately on BM-MSCs, lightly on UC-MSCs and absent on AD-MSCs. CV-MSCs also showed unique immune-associated gene expression and immunomodulation. We thus separated CD106⁺cells and CD106⁻cells from CV-MSCs and compared their biological activities. Both two subpopulations were capable of osteogenic and adipogenic differentiation while CD106⁺CV-MSCs were more effective to modulate T helper subsets but possessed decreased colony formation capacity. In addition, CD106⁺CV-MSCs expressed more cytokines than CD106⁻CV-MSCs. These data demonstrate that CD106 identifies a subpopulation of CV-MSCs with unique immunoregulatory activity and reveal a previously unrecognized mechanism underlying immunomodulation of MSCs.     

粘型小麦雄性不育系减数分裂特征及育性恢复研究

调查了粘型1B／1R和非1B／1R小麦雄性不育系,保持系及其F2的花粉母细胞减数分裂中期Ⅰ染色体联会情况、后期Ⅰ出现落后染色体的细胞频率以及末期Ⅱ含有微核的四分体的频率,结果表明：（1）粘果山羊细胞质对1B／1R型不育系减数分裂染色体配对水平具有特异性降低作用;（2）粘型1B／1R不育系减数分裂中期Ⅰ出现单价体细胞频率与后期Ⅰ出现落后染色体细胞的频率呈正相关,也与含微核的四分体频率呈正相关,而对应保持系则没有相关性;（3）粘果山羊草细胞质对非1B／1R不育系减数分裂过程影响不大,5个1B／1R不育系减数分裂过程中,3个时期染色体行为变异率的差异是特定的1B／1R核型与粘果山羊草细胞质互作的结果;（4）粘型1B／1R不育系杂交R2单株减数分裂3个时期染色体行为变异率与其恢复度成反比,这类不育系减数分裂中染色体行为不同步是其恢复不高且变异较大的一重要原因。     

ROI-Based Compression Strategy of 3D MRI Brain Datasets for Wireless Communications

ObjectivesBecause of the large amount of medical imaging data, the transmission process becomes complicated in telemedicine applications. Thus, in order to adapt the data bit streams to the constraints related to the limitation of the bandwidths a reduction of the size of the data by compression of the images is essential. Despite the improvements in the field of compression, the transmission itself can also introduce errors. For this reason, it is important to develop an adequate strategy which will help reduce this volume of data without having to introduce some distortion and resist the errors introduced by the channel noise during transmission. Thus, in this paper, we propose a ROI-based coding strategy and unequal bit stream protection to meet this dual constraint.Material and methodsThe proposed ROI-based compression strategy with unequal bit stream protection is composed of three parts: the first one allows the extraction of the ROI region, the second one consists of a ROI-based coding and the third one allows an unequal protection of the ROI bit stream.First, the Regions Of Interest (ROI) are extracted by hierarchical segmentation of these regions according to a segmentation method based on the technique of Marker-based-watershed combined with the technique of active contours by level set. The resulting regions are selectively encoded by a 3D coder based on a shape adaptive discrete wavelet transform 3D-BISK, where the compression ratio of each region depends on its relevance in diagnosis. These obtained regions of interest are protected with an error-correcting code of Reed-Solomon type with a code rate that varies according to the relevance of the region by an unequal protection strategy (UEP).ResultsThe performance of the proposed compression scheme is evaluated in several ways. First, tests are performed to study the impact of errors on the different bit streams. In the first place, these tests are carried out in order to study the effect of the variation of the compression rates on the different bit streams. Secondly, different Reed Solomon error-correcting codes of different code rates are tested at different compression rates on a BSC channel. Finally, the performances of this coding strategy are compared with those of SPIHT 3D in the case of transmission on a BSC channel.ConclusionThe obtained results show that the proposed method is quite efficient in transmission time reduction. Therefore, our proposed scheme will reduce the volume of data without having to introduce some distortion and resist the errors introduced by the channel noise in the case of telemedicine.