Localization of the gene for human heart fatty acid binding protein to chromosome 1p32-1p33

Among 639 spontaneous abortions between the 8th and 14th week of gestation 342 (53.5%) revealed an abnormal karyotype. While the rate of trisomies distinctly increased with advancing maternal age, a decrease in the rate of 45,X conceptuses and polyploidies was observed among abortions from older women. The overall relation of XXXXXXYY among the tetraploidies was 1411 and that of XXXXXYXYY among the triploidies was 26 361. However, when the latter was related to maternal age, a reversal of the XXXXXY ratio of 12 in the younger to 21 in the older age groups became evident. Furthermore a decrease in the rate of paternally derived partial hydatidiform moles was found among the triploid abortion specimens from older women. From these observations we conclude that digyny plays a major role in the origin of triploidy in the increased maternal age groups, while diandry related to immaturity of oocytes and impairment of oocyte cortical function is more frequent in triploid abortions from younger women.     

肺癌患者胸水游离氨基酸分析

本文对11例肺癌患者胸水13种游离氨基酸作了分析,并与28例正常人血浆游离氨基酸水平作了对照,结果表明:肺癌患者胸水的必需及非必需氨基酸普遍高于正常人血浆游离氨基酸,但其胸水谷氨酰胺水平则明显低于正常人血浆水平。     

Complete ammonia oxidization in agricultural soils: High ammonia fertilizer loss but low N2O production

The contribution of agriculture to the sustainable development goals requires climate-smart and profitable farm innovations. Increasing the ammonia fertilizer applications to meet the global food demands results in high agricultural costs, environmental quality deterioration, and global warming, without a significant increase in crop yield. Here, we reported that a third microbial ammonia oxidation process, complete ammonia oxidation (comammox), is contributing to a significant ammonia fertilizer loss (41.9 ± 4.8%) at the rate of 3.53 ± 0.55 mg N kg⁻¹ day⁻¹ in agricultural soils around the world. The contribution of comammox to ammonia fertilizer loss, occurring mainly in surface agricultural soil profiles (0–0.2 m), was equivalent to that of bacterial ammonia oxidation (48.6 ± 4.5%); both processes were significantly more important than archaeal ammonia oxidation (9.5 ± 3.6%). In contrast, comammox produced less N₂O (0.98 ± 0.44 μg N kg⁻¹ day⁻¹, 11.7 ± 3.1%), comparable to that produced by archaeal ammonia oxidation (16.4 ± 4.4%) but significantly lower than that of bacterial ammonia oxidation (72.0 ± 5.1%). The efficiency of ammonia conversion to N₂O by comammox (0.02 ± 0.01%) was evidently lower than that of bacterial (0.24 ± 0.06%) and archaeal (0.16 ± 0.04%) ammonia oxidation. The comammox rate increased with increasing soil pH values, which is the only physicochemical characteristic that significantly influenced both comammox bacterial abundance and rates. Ammonia fertilizer loss, dominated by comammox and bacterial ammonia oxidation, was more intense in soils with pH >6.5 than in soils with pH <6.5. Our results revealed that comammox plays a vital role in ammonia fertilizer loss and sustainable development in agroecosystems that have been previously overlooked for a long term.     

RNF7 promotes glioma growth via the PI3K/AKT signalling axis

RNF7 has been reported to play critical roles in various cancers. However, the underlying mechanisms of RNF7 in glioma development remain largely unknown. Herein, the expression level of RNF7 was examined in tissues by quantitative real-time PCR, Western blotting and immunohistochemistry. The effect of RNF7 on glioma progression was measured by performing CCK-8 and apoptosis assays, cell cycle-related experiments and animal experiments. The effect of RNF7 on PI3K/AKT signalling pathway was tested by Western blotting. First, we found that RNF7 was upregulated in tumour tissue compared with normal brain tissue, especially in high-grade glioma, and the high expression of RNF7 was significantly related to tumour size, Karnofsky Performance Scale score and a poor prognosis. Second, RNF7 overexpression facilitated tumour cell cycle progression and cell proliferation and suppressed apoptosis. Conversely, RNF7 knockdown suppressed tumour cell cycle progression and cell proliferation and facilitated apoptosis. Furthermore, follow-up mechanistic studies indicated that RNF7 could facilitate glioma cell proliferation and cell cycle progression and inhibit apoptosis by activating the PI3K/AKT signalling pathway. This study shows that RNF7 can clearly promote glioma cell proliferation by facilitating cell cycle progression and inhibiting apoptosis by activating the PI3K/AKT signalling pathway. Targeting the RNF7/PI3K/AKT axis may provide a new perspective on the prevention or treatment of glioma.     

Arrest of cell cycle progression of HeLa cells in the early G1 phase in K+-depleted conditions and its recovery upon addition of insulin and LDL

Cell cycle progression of synchronized HeLa cells was studied by measuring labeling of the nuclei with [³H]thymidine. The progression was arrested in a chemically defined medium in which K⁺ was replaced by Rb⁺ (Rb-CDM) but was restored upon addition of insulin and/or low density lipoprotein (LDL). Cells started DNA synthesis 12 hr after addition of insulin and/or LDL, regardless of the time of arrest, suggesting their arrest early in the G1 phase. After incubation of cells in Rb-CDM containing insulin or LDL singly for 3, 6, or 9 hr, replacement of the medium by that without an addition resulted in marked delay in entry of cells into the S phase, but in its replacement by medium containing both agents, the delay was insignificant. Synthesis of bulk protein, estimated as increase in the cell volume, was not strongly inhibited. From these results we conclude that cell cycle progression of HeLa cells in K^?-depleted CDM is arrested early in the G1 phase and that the arrest is due to lack of some protein(s) required for entry into the S phase that is synthesized in the early G1 phase.     

Transgenic modifications of silkworms as a means to obtain therapeutic biomolecules and protein fibers with exceptional properties

Transgenic modification of Bombyx mori silkworms is a benign approach for the production of silk fibers with extraordinary properties and also to generate therapeutic proteins and other biomolecules for various applications. Silk fibers with fluorescence lasting more than a year, natural protein fibers with strength and toughness exceeding that of spider silk, proteins and therapeutic biomolecules with exceptional properties have been developed using transgenic technology. The transgenic modifications have been done primarily by modifying the silk sericin and fibroin genes and also the silk producing glands. Although the genetic modifications were typically performed using the sericin 1 and other genes, newer techniques such as CRISPR/Cas9 have enabled successful modifications of both the fibroin H-chain and L-chain. Such modifications have led to the production of therapeutic proteins and other biomolecules in reasonable quantities at affordable costs for tissue engineering and other medical applications. Transgenically modified silkworms also have distinct and long-lasting fluorescence useful for bioimaging applications. This review presents an overview of the transgenic techniques for modifications of B. mori silkworms and the properties obtained due to such modifications with particular focus on production of growth factors, fluorescent proteins, and high performance protein fibers.     

Reduced Application of Nitrogen Fertilizer Affects the Carbon Metabolism of Leaves and Maintains the Number of Flowers in Coreopsis tinctoria

This study examined the effects of nitrogen (N) fertilizer reduction on the carbon (C) metabolism and yield of Coreopsis tinctoria. A two-year (2020–2021) hydroponic experiment was conducted in accordance with a randomized complete group design with five N levels [0.875 mM Ca(NO₃)₂ (N1), 1.750 mM Ca(NO₃)₂ (N2), 3.500 mM Ca(NO₃)₂ (N3), 7.000 mM Ca(NO₃)₂ (N4), and 14.000 mM Ca(NO₃)₂ (N5)] and three replications. The results showed that low N significantly affected the functional leaf weight, C metabolism, and flower bud (or flower) numbers of C. tinctoria at harvest. Lower-N levels, especially those of the N2 treatment, significantly increased Rubisco, sucrose synthase (SS), sucrose phosphate synthase (SPS), soluble acid invertase (SAI), glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH), and 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase (6PGDH) activity and maintained the flower number of C. tinctoria. In addition, the balance of carbohydrates (sucrose, starch, glucose, and fructose) and ATP contents was more efficiently maintained under relatively low-N levels. These findings might suggest that reduced application of N fertilizer affects the C metabolism of leaves and maintains the number of flowers in Coreopsis tinctoria. Applying relatively low-N fertilizer levels is also a promising cultivation strategy for C. tinctoria.

     

Terpenoids and Their Possible Role in Defense Against a Fungal Pathogen Alternaria tenuissima in Chrysanthemum morifolium Cultivars

Journal of Plant Growth Regulation - Terpenoids are a class of structurally diverse natural products involved in various plant biological processes. Their primary function is believed to provide...