Fitness of F1 hybrids between 10 maternal wild soybean populations and transgenic soybean

Transgenic Research - The releasing of transgenic soybeans (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) into farming systems raises concerns that transgenes might escape from the soybeans via pollen into...     

On computation of semiparametric maximum likelihood estimators with shape constraints

Large sample theory of semiparametric models based on maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) with shape constraint on the nonparametric component is well studied. Relatively less attention has been paid to the computational aspect of semiparametric MLE. The computation of semiparametric MLE based on existing approaches such as the expectation‐maximization (EM) algorithm can be computationally prohibitive when the missing rate is high. In this paper, we propose a computational framework for semiparametric MLE based on an inexact block coordinate ascent (BCA) algorithm. We show theoretically that the proposed algorithm converges. This computational framework can be applied to a wide range of data with different structures, such as panel count data, interval‐censored data, and degradation data, among others. Simulation studies demonstrate favorable performance compared with existing algorithms in terms of accuracy and speed. Two data sets are used to illustrate the proposed computational method. We further implement the proposed computational method in R package BCA1SG , available at CRAN.     

African Swine Fever Virus Protein E199L Promotes Cell Autophagy through the Interaction of PYCR2

African swine fever virus(ASFV), as a member of the large DNA viruses, may regulate autophagy and apoptosis by inhibiting programmed cell death. However, the function of ASFV proteins has not been fully elucidated, especially the role of autophagy in ASFV infection. One of three Pyrroline-5-carboxylate reductases(PYCR), is primarily involved in conversion of glutamate to proline. Previous studies have shown that depletion of PYCR2 was related to the induction of autophagy. In the present study, we found for the first time that ASFV E199 L protein induced a complete autophagy process in Vero and HEK-293 T cells. Through co-immunoprecipitation coupled with mass spectrometry(CoIP-MS)analysis, we firstly identified that E199 L interact with PYCR2 in vitro. Importantly, our work provides evidence that E199 L down-regulated the expression of PYCR2, resulting in autophagy activation. Overall, our results demonstrate that ASFV E199 L protein induces complete autophagy through interaction with PYCR2 and down-regulate the expression level of PYCR2, which provide a valuable reference for the role of autophagy during ASFV infection and contribute to the functional clues of PYCR2.     

The Efficacy of a Live Attenuated TW I-Type Infectious Bronchitis Virus Vaccine Candidate

Virologica Sinica - Infectious bronchitis (IB) is a highly contagious avian disease caused by infection with infectious bronchitis virus (IBV), which seriously affects the development of the global...     

高通量转录组RNA-seq研究成年牛下丘脑-垂体-卵巢

肉牛的性成熟受下丘脑-垂体-卵巢(HPO)轴的调节,但其具体作用机制尚不清楚.为了探讨HPO轴繁殖相关基因和调控机制,采用高通量转录组RNA-seq技术,研究了成年安格斯牛(30个月大)的下丘脑、垂体和卵巢.结果表明,HPO共有18 179个基因在GO(基因本体论)中注释,37 158个基因在KEGG(京都基因百科全书和基因组)中注释,36 645个基因在KOG(KEGG同源数据库)中注释.GO分析表明,HPO富集了8种生殖相关功能,主要是受精、单个组织生殖过程、子宫胚胎发育和雌激素反应.KEGG分析发现,HPO富集300条信号通路(SP),主要是癌症SP和磷脂酰肌醇3激酶蛋白激酶(PI3K-Akt)SP.与生殖有关的SPs共有16条,主要是Notch SP、神经营养素SP、哺乳动物雷帕霉素(mTOR)SP和血管内皮生长因子(VEG F)SP.为今后肉牛繁殖性能的提高、分子育种和同行参考提供了科学依据.