The effect of intrauterine inflammation on mTOR signaling in mouse fetal brain

Fetuses exposed to an inflammatory environment are predisposed to long‐term adverse neurological outcomes. However, the mechanism by which intrauterine inflammation (IUI) is responsible for abnormal fetal brain development is not fully understood. The mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathway is closely associated with fetal brain development. We hypothesized that mTOR signaling might be involved in fetal brain injury and malformation when fetuses are exposed to the IUI environment. A well‐established IUI model was utilized by intrauterine injection of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to explore the effect of IUI on mTOR signaling in mouse fetal brains. We found that microglia activation in LPS fetal brains was increased, as demonstrated by elevated Iba‐1 protein level and immunofluorescence density. LPS fetal brains also showed reduced neuronal cell counts, decreased cell proliferation demonstrated by low Ki67‐positive density, and elevated neuron apoptosis evidenced by high expression of cleaved Caspase 3. Furthermore, we found that mTOR signaling in LPS fetal brains was elevated at 2 hr after LPS treatment, declined at 6 hr and showed overall inhibition at 24 hr. In summary, our study revealed that LPS‐induced IUI leads to increased activation of microglia cells, neuronal damage, and dynamic alterations in mTOR signaling in the mouse fetal brain. Our findings indicate that abnormal changes in mTOR signaling may underlie the development of future neurological complications in offspring exposed to prenatal IUI.     

Mild manifestations of COVID-19 in healthcare workers

Medical staff treating Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients are at high risk for exposure to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), and many have been infected, which may cause panic among medical workers, their relatives, health professionals, and government leaders. We report the epidemiologic and clinical characteristics of healthcare workers and that the majority of infected medical staff had milder symptoms/conditions with a better prognosis than admitted patients. Timely improvement to medical staff’s working conditions such as allowing adequate rest and providing sufficient medical protection is extremely important.     

Arabidopsis RING E3 ubiquitin ligase JUL1 participates in ABA‐mediated microtubule depolymerization,stomatal closure,and tolerance response to drought stress

Ubiquitination is a critical post‐translational protein modification that has been implicated in diverse cellular processes, including abiotic stress responses, in plants. In the present study, we identified and characterized a T‐DNA insertion mutant in the At5g10650 locus. Compared to wild‐type Arabidopsis plants, at5g10650 progeny were hyposensitive to ABA at the germination stage. At5g10650 possessed a single C‐terminal C3HC4‐type Really Interesting New Gene (RING) motif, which was essential for ABA‐mediated germination and E3 ligase activity in vitro. At5g10650 was closely associated with microtubules and microtubule‐associated proteins in Arabidopsis and tobacco leaf cells. Localization of At5g10650 to the nucleus was frequently observed. Unexpectedly, At5g10650 was identified as JAV1‐ASSOCIATED UBIQUITIN LIGASE1 (JUL1), which was recently reported to participate in the jasmonate signaling pathway. The jul1 knockout plants exhibited impaired ABA‐promoted stomatal closure. In addition, stomatal closure could not be induced by hydrogen peroxide and calcium in jul1 plants. jul1 guard cells accumulated wild‐type levels of H₂O₂ after ABA treatment. These findings indicated that JUL1 acts downstream of H₂O₂ and calcium in the ABA‐mediated stomatal closure pathway. Typical radial arrays of microtubules were maintained in jul1 guard cells after exposure to ABA, H₂O₂, and calcium, which in turn resulted in ABA‐hyposensitive stomatal movements. Finally, jul1 plants were markedly more susceptible to drought stress than wild‐type plants. Overall, our results suggest that the Arabidopsis RING E3 ligase JUL1 plays a critical role in ABA‐mediated microtubule disorganization, stomatal closure, and tolerance to drought stress.     

耐盐碱促生菌的筛选及性能

盐分是影响作物生长最重要的因素,使用能促进植物生长的耐盐碱促生菌减轻盐胁迫引起的损害是一种农业上的有效方法。文中从盐碱地筛选得到7株耐盐细菌,并考察筛选菌株的产胞外聚合物(EPS)能力、降碱能力和产吲哚-3-乙酸(IAA)能力。经综合评价选出1株优势菌株DB01,菌株DB01产EPS能力为0.21 g/g,降碱能力为8.7%,产IAA的能力为8.97 mg/L。菌株经16S rRNA鉴定为海水盐单胞菌Halomonas aquamarina,并且有抑制香蕉枯萎病、番茄早疫病、大豆疫霉病、小麦纹枯病病原菌的能力,同时能够在盐胁迫下促进小麦幼苗的发芽率和根长。海水盐单胞菌Halomonas aquamarina DB01可为土壤微生物资源开发利用和盐碱地改良提供理论依据。     

不同熟化措施对黑土母质发育的新成土壤有机碳库的影响

基于8年田间定位试验,采用土壤团聚体分组和闭蓄态微团聚体分离技术,将土壤有机质分为总粗颗粒有机质(活性碳库)、总细颗粒有机质(慢性碳库)和总粉黏粒(惰性碳库) 3个组分,探讨不同熟化措施对黑土母质发育而成的新成土壤总有机碳库及不同活性有机碳库的影响,为黑土严重侵蚀地区母质表露后土壤肥力的快速恢复提供依据。试验设置自然恢复(NatF)、苜蓿种植(Alfa)、无肥(F0C0)、化肥(F1C0)、低量有机肥与化肥配施(F1C1)、高量有机肥与化肥配施(F1C2)等6个熟化处理。结果表明:黑土母质经过8年不同熟化处理后,土壤总有机碳和各组分有机碳含量均显著提高;与NatF相比,有机肥与化肥配施(F1C2和F1C1)对土壤总有机碳的提升作用最为明显,增幅分别为60.7%和41.2%;Alfa其次,增幅18. 2%;F0C0或F1C0处理土壤总有机碳与NatF间无显著差异;F1C2和F1C1处理土壤3个组分有机碳含量均显著高于其他熟化处理,与F1C1相比,F1C2处理对各组分有机碳提升作用更为明显;与NatF相比,Alfa处理土壤有机碳的增加主要表现为粉黏粒结合有机碳的增加;F1C0和F0C0处理土壤总细颗粒有机质和总粉黏粒中有机碳与NatF间无显著差异,总粗颗粒有机质中有机碳含量低于NatF。研究表明,在米豆轮作和传统耕作体系下,农田生态系统高量有机物料投入配施化肥能够加速黑土母质的熟化进程,快速提高土壤中活性碳库和惰性碳库的容量,是严重退化黑土有机质快速提升的有效措施。     

基于白刺个体大小的生态化学计量模型

生态化学计量的提出为认识C、N、P耦合循环特征、驱动力及机制等提供了新方法,但植物在生长过程中的生态化学计量变化尚缺乏相关报道。本研究以唐古特白刺为对象,通过对白刺分株2017年当年生枝、2年生枝、大于2年生枝、叶、根和压条生物量及营养元素的测定,拟合了基于构件大小的元素总量,并推导了白刺各构件及整株依赖于个体大小的生态化学计量模型。结果表明: 推导模型能够反映植物在生长过程中的生态化学计量动态,老枝和压条均具有较高的N∶P与C∶P,叶、当年生枝和根均具有较低的N∶P与C∶P,白刺整株3种元素含量在生长过程中的累积速率为P>N>C。本研究结果符合现有的生长速率假说和异速生长理论,同时也可从侧面印证养分重吸收现象,该方法可作为分析植物生长过程中元素计量动态特征的一种有效途径。     

Human recombinant IL-10 reduces xenogenic cytotoxicity via macrophage M2 polarization

Xenotransplantation has been considered an alternative to the moderate shortage of donor organs for transplantation. To achieve successful xenotransplatation, there is the need to overcome immune rejection. Although, hyperacute rejection has been overcome by α1,3-galactosyltransferase knockout pig, cellular immune rejection remains as a subsequent barrier. Interleukin-10 (IL-10) is known as an anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory cytokine which has been shown to limit inflammatory responses by inhibiting macrophage activation in several animal experiments. To study the effect of human IL-10 (hIL-10) on pig-to-human xenotransplantation, porcine kidney epithelial cell line (PK(15)) expressing hIL-10 was established. The cytotoxicity of macrophages decreased by hIL-10 from transgenic cells. Furthermore, there is a decreased production of pro-inflammatory cytokines, tumor necrosis factor-α and interleukin-23, and increased anti-inflammatory cytokines like IL-10, but not transforming growth factor beta, in the presence of hIL-10. Also, macrophage polarization toward M2-like phenotype were induced by hIL-10 from transgenic PK(15) cells. Finally, we suggest that the cytotoxicity of human macrophages was reduced by hIL-10 from transgenic cells, inducing M2-like macrophage polarization. Therefore, these results show that hIL-10 transgenic pig can be used as a model to overcome acute immune rejection in pig-to-human xenotransplantation.     

Whole‐genome resequencing reveals the pleistocene temporal dynamics of Branchiostoma belcheri and Branchiostoma floridae populations

Global climatic fluctuations governed the ancestral demographic histories of species and contributed to place the current population status into a more extensive ecological and evolutionary context. Genetic variations will leave unambiguous signatures in the patterns of intraspecific genetic variation in extant species since the genome of each individual is an imperfect mosaic of the ancestral genomes. Here, we report the genome sequences of 20 Branchiostoma individuals by whole‐genome resequencing strategy. We detected over 140 million genomic variations for each Branchiostoma individual. In particular, we applied the pairwise sequentially Markovian coalescent (PSMC) method to estimate the trajectories of changes in the effective population size (N_e) of Branchiostoma population during the Pleistocene. We evaluated the threshold of sequencing depth for proper inference of demographic histories using PSMC was ≥25×. The PSMC results highlight the role of historical global climatic fluctuations in the long‐term population dynamics of Branchiostoma. The inferred ancestral N_e of the Branchiostoma belcheri populations from Zhanjiang and Xiamen (China) seawaters was different in amplitude before the first (mutation rate = 3 × 10^?9) or third glaciation (mutation rate = 9 × 10^?9) of the Pleistocene, indicating that the two populations most probably started to evolve in isolation in their respective seas after the first or third glaciation of the Pleistocene. A pronounced population bottleneck coinciding with the last glacial maximum was observed in all Branchiostoma individuals, followed by a population expansion occurred during the late Pleistocene. Species that have experienced long‐term declines may be especially vulnerable to recent anthropogenic activities. Recently, the industrial pollution and the exploitation of sea sand have destroyed the harmonious living environment of amphioxus species. In the future, we need to protect the habitat of Branchiostoma and make full use of these detected genetic variations to facilitate the functional study of Branchiostoma for adaptation to local environments.