大丽轮枝菌甘油-3-磷酸脱氢酶的功能分析

大丽轮枝菌可侵染棉花、马铃薯、番茄等660余种寄主植物,引致黄萎病,造成严重的经济损失。为了深入了解大丽轮枝菌的致病机制,本研究在前期棉花提取物诱导大丽轮枝菌转录组分析的基础上,选择上调差异表达的线粒体甘油-3-磷酸脱氢酶基因VdGut2(VD592＿6958＿Chr4)和非差异表达的胞质甘油-3-磷酸脱氢酶基因VdGpd(VD592＿10256＿Chr2),进行了功能分析。结果表明,两个VdGut2敲除突变体菌株的产孢量较野生型菌株分别下降了32%和41%,病情指数分别下降了70%和51%,菌落生长速率也显著下降;VdGpd过表达菌株产孢量和病情指数较野生型菌株显著下降,但在甘油为唯一碳源的培养基上其菌落生长速率显著上升。因此,VdGut2促进了大丽轮枝菌分生孢子的形成、碳源的利用以及对寄主植物的致病过程,VdGpd抑制了大丽轮枝菌分生孢子的形成和对寄主植物的致病力,却促进了甘油的代谢。     

Depression compromises antiviral innate immunity via the AVP-AHI1-Tyk2 axis

Depression is a serious public-health issue. Recent reports have suggested higher susceptibility to viral infections in depressive patients. However, how depression affects antiviral innate immune signaling remains unknown. Here, we revealed a reduction in expression of Abelson helper integration site 1 (AHI1) in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and macrophages from the patients with major depressive disorder (MDD), which leads to attenuated antiviral immune response. We found that depression-related arginine vasopressin (AVP) induces reduction of AHI1 in macrophages. Further studies demonstrated that AHI1 is a critical stabilizer of basal type-I-interferon (IFN-I) signaling. Mechanistically, AHI1 recruits OTUD1 to deubiquitinate and stabilize Tyk2, while AHI1 reduction downregulates Tyk2 and IFN-I signaling activity in macrophages from both MDD patients and depression model mice. Interestingly, we identified a clinical analgesic meptazinol that effectively stimulates AHI1 expression, thus enhancing IFN-I antiviral defense in depression model mice. Our study promotes the understanding of the signaling mechanisms of depression-mediated antiviral immune dysfunction, and reveals meptazinol as an enhancer of antiviral innate immunity in depressive patients.Subject terms: Innate immunity, Ubiquitylation, Cell signalling     

Segmental Kinematic Coupling of the Human Spinal Column during Locomotion

As one of the most important daily motor activities, human locomotion has been investigated intensively in recent decades. The locomotor functions and mechanics of human lower limbs have become relatively well understood. However, so far our understanding of the motions and functional contributions of the human spine during locomotion is still very poor and simultaneous in-vivo limb and spinal column motion data are scarce. The objective of this study is to investigate the delicate in-vivo kinematic coupling between different functional regions of the human spinal column during locomotion as a stepping stone to explore the locomotor function of the human spine complex. A novel infrared reflective marker cluster system was constrncted using stereophotogrammetry techniques to record the 3D in-vivo geometric shape of the spinal column and the segmental position and orientation of each functional spinal region simultaneously. Gait measurements of normal walking were conducted. The preliminary results show that the spinal column shape changes periodically in the frontal plane during locomotion. The segmental motions of different spinal functional regions appear to be strongly coupled, indicating some synergistic strategy may be employed by the human spinal column to facilitate locomotion. In contrast to traditional medical imaging-based methods, the proposed technique can be used to investigate the dynamic characteristics of the spinal column, hence providing more insight into the functional biomechanics of the human spine.     

DCD不同施用时间对小麦生长期N2O排放的影响

通过田间试验,采用静态箱法研究相同施肥条件下,DCD不同施用时间(基肥配施,追肥配施,基追肥按比例配施)对麦季N2O排放的影响.结果表明,小麦生长期施肥配施DCD减少麦季N2O排放.从小麦整个生长季来看,与尿素处理相比,基肥配施减少N2O排放21％,追肥配施减少N2O排放26％,基追肥按比例配施减少N2O排放35％,方差分析均达显著水平(P＜0.05),其中基肥配施主要减少小麦播种-返青期N2O排放,追肥配施主要减少小麦返青-成熟期N2O排放,而基追肥按比例配施DCD减少整个小麦生长季N2O排放.在小麦的整个生长阶段,施加DCD处理的土壤NH+4-N浓度和表观硝化率均高于未施加DCD的处理,且土壤NH+4-N浓度随时间的延长而降低.在小麦播种-返青期,基肥配施处理和基追肥按比例配施处理土壤NH+4-N浓度和表观硝化率高于追肥配施处理和对照处理;在小麦的返青-成熟期,追肥配施处理和基追肥按比例配施处理土壤NH+4-N浓度和表观硝化率高于基肥配施处理和对照处理.从小麦产量来看,与尿素处理相比,基肥配施和基追肥按比例配施显著增加小麦产量,而追肥配施处理小麦产量无显著性差异.基追肥按比例配施DCD在提高小麦产量的同时显著减少N2O排放,具有大田推广的现实意义;基肥与追肥配施DCD对N2O减排效果除了与施用时间有关外,还应将降雨或灌溉量的年际变化考虑在内.     

shRNA‑mediated knockdown of KNTC1 inhibits non-small-cell lung cancer through regulating PSMB8

In view of the important roles played by Kinetochore proteins in mitosis, we believed that they may contribute to the development and progression of human cancers, which has been reported recently elsewhere. Kinetochore-associated 1 (KNTC1) participates in the segregation of sister chromatids during mitosis, the effects of which on non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remain unclear. Here, we sought to identify the biological significance of KNTC1 in NSCLC. KNTC1 protein expression in NSCLC tissues was investigated by immunohistochemistry. Lentivirus delivered short hairpin RNA (shRNA) was utilized to establish KNTC1 silence NSCLC cell lines. The effects of KNTC1 depletion on NSCLC cell proliferation, migration, apoptosis, and tumor formation were analyzed by MTT assay, wound-healing assay, transwell assay, flow cytometry assay, and in nude mouse models in vivo. After KNTC1 reduction, NSCLC cell viability, proliferation, migration, and invasion were restrained. A xenograft tumor model was also provided to demonstrate the inhibited tumorigenesis in NSCLC. In addition, the downstream mechanism analysis indicated that KNTC1 depletion was positively associated with PSMB8. The findings of the present study suggested that KNTC1 may have a pivotal role in mediating NSCLC progression and may act as a novel therapeutic target for NSCLC.Subject terms: Non-small-cell lung cancer, Cell migration     

夜间变暖提高荫香叶片的光合能力

研究了不同氮供应的条件下夜间变暖对荫香叶片光合能力的影响。当植株生长在相同的日间温度(25℃),而夜间温度从18℃增至20℃时,叶片的光合速率增高(p<0.05)。高氮供应的植株,夜间变暖下其叶片光合速率较低氮供应的高,氮供应增高能促进夜间变暖提高叶片光合速率的效应。在低氮供给和夜间变暖下,植株叶片的光下呼吸和暗呼吸的增高显著(p<0.05)。无论在高氮或低氮供应下,生长在夜间变暖下的植物,其叶片的R ub isco最大羧化速率(Vcm ax)和光合电子传递最大速率(Jm ax)增高(p<0.05),氮供应能增强夜间变暖对Vcm ax和Jm ax的正向效应。夜间变暖降低植株叶片的比叶重,而增加单位叶干重的氮含量(Nm),单位叶面积的氮含量(Na)没发生明显变化。随着全球气候变化,夜间趋暖将有利于树木叶片光合能力的提高,结合高氮供给将会明显地增高植物的碳固定。     

137Cs示踪技术研究坡耕地黑土侵蚀和沉积特征

准确地测定研究区137Cs背景值,建立137Cs流失量与土壤再分布速率之间的定量模型是137Cs示踪技术的关键。通过野外选择参照样地和利用热核爆炸源137Cs背景值模型来确定研究区137Cs的背景值,在此基础上用体现耕作迁移的质量平衡模型估算黑土坡耕地不同地貌部位的土壤再分布速率,并对主要参数进行敏感性分析。结果表明(1)研究区实测的137Cs背景值为2376.81±108.46Bq/m2,模型预测值为2318.4Bq/m2,模型预测远离西北核试验基地的地区较为准确。(2)研究区中坡位(坡肩和坡背)137Cs含量最低,侵蚀最为强烈,平均侵蚀速率为33.56t/(hm2·a)和21.67t/(hm2·a);坡麓和坡足则明显表现沉积,平均沉积速率为-4.93t/(hm2·a)和-24.61t/(hm2·a)。(3)模型预测的侵蚀速率与耕层质量深度(d)、张驰深度(H)正相关,而与137Cs年沉降易被迁移的比例(γ)和颗粒校正因子(P)反相关。并且,模型对参数d、p的敏感性分别高于参数H和γ。