Comparison of droplet digital PCR to real-time PCR for quantification of hepatitis B virus DNA

Quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) has been widely implemented for clinical hepatitis B viral load testing, but a lack of standardization and relatively poor precision hinder its usefulness. Droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) is a promising tool that offers high precision and direct quantification. In this study, we compared the ddPCR QX100 platform by Bio-Rad with the CFX384 Touch Real-Time PCR Detection System (Bio-Rad, USA) to detect serial plasmid DNA dilutions of known concentrations as well as HBV DNA extracted from patient serum samples. Both methods showed a high degree of linearity and quantitative correlation. However, ddPCR assays generated more reproducible results and detected lower copy numbers than qPCR assays. Patient sample quantifications by ddPCR and qPCR were highly agreeable based on the Bland–Altman analysis. Collectively, our findings demonstrate that ddPCR offers improved analytical sensitivity and specificity for HBV measurements and is suitable for clinical HBV detection.     

Polyphenols of Leaf,Litter and Soil of Pinus bungeana across China and Their Responses to Ecological Factors

The importance of phenolic compounds for responding to various environmental conditions has been widely emphasized. However, the role of interactions between polyphenols and ecological factors, especially C, N, and P stoichiometry was little studied. Here, 15 sites across five provinces of Pinus bungeana in temperate regions of China were studied. The results showed that the higher values of total phenolic contents (TPC) of leaf and litter were distributed among the north distribution area of P. bungeana, lower values were in the south, whereas soil TPC were contrary to leaf and litter TPC. The stepwise regression, path analysis and decision index of path analysis for leaf TPC and ecological factors showed that altitude had the most direct impact on leaf TPC. Moreover, the principal determinants of leaf, litter and soil TPC were soil C/P ratios, longitude, and soil N/P ratios, respectively. In addition, the leaf, litter and soil TPC of P. bungeana were limited by soil C/N ratios, mean annual temperature, and soil P, respectively. Overall, our study provided evidence that ecological factors affected strongly the leaf, litter and soil TPC of P. bungeana.     

ACOT12-Dependent Alteration of Acetyl-CoA Drives Hepatocellular Carcinoma Metastasis by Epigenetic Induction of Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition

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Insights into the regulatory characteristics of silkworm fibroin gene promoters using a modified Gal4/UAS system

Transgenic Research - The silkworm Bombyx mori is a valuable insect that synthesizes bulk amounts of fibroin protein in its posterior silk gland (PSG) and weaves these proteins into silk cocoons....     

Leveraging GWAS data to identify metabolic pathways and networks involved in maize lipid biosynthesis

Maize (Zea mays mays) oil is a rich source of polyunsaturated fatty acids (FAs) and energy, making it a valuable resource for human food, animal feed, and bio‐energy. Although this trait has been studied via conventional genome‐wide association study (GWAS), the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)‐trait associations generated by GWAS may miss the underlying associations when traits are based on many genes, each with small effects that can be overshadowed by genetic background and environmental variation. Detecting these SNPs statistically is also limited by the levels set for false discovery rate. A complementary pathways analysis that emphasizes the cumulative aspects of SNP‐trait associations, rather than just the significance of single SNPs, was performed to understand the balance of lipid metabolism, conversion, and catabolism in this study. This pathway analysis indicated that acyl‐lipid pathways, including biosynthesis of wax esters, sphingolipids, phospholipids and flavonoids, along with FA and triacylglycerol (TAG) biosynthesis, were important for increasing oil and FA content. The allelic variation found among the genes involved in many degradation pathways, and many biosynthesis pathways leading from FAs and carbon partitioning pathways, was critical for determining final FA content, changing FA ratios and, ultimately, to final oil content. The pathways and pathway networks identified in this study, and especially the acyl‐lipid associated pathways identified beyond what had been found with GWAS alone, provide a real opportunity to precisely and efficiently manipulate high‐oil maize genetic improvement.