A Novel Undulatory Propulsion Strategy for Underwater Robots

Stingrays can undulate their wide pectoral fins to thrust themselves and swim freely underwater.Many researchers have used bionics to directly imitate their und...     

亚热带天然常绿阔叶林林下9种灌木细根形态和C、N化学计量特征

林下灌木是亚热带常绿阔叶林重要的构成部分,但林下灌木细根功能性状变异规律及地下生态策略仍不清楚。以福建建瓯万木林自然保护区内9种灌木为研究对象,对细根直径、根长、比根长、组织密度、碳浓度和氮浓度6个细根性状进行研究,采用序级划分法,分析不同树种细根性状序级间的变化特征、常绿和落叶灌木细根性状之间的差异,不同序级细根性状之间的关系以及细根性状变异维度。结果表明:树种和序级对9种灌木细根形态和化学性质有显著影响。直径、根长、根组织密度随着序级的增加而逐渐增加,比根长和氮浓度逐渐减小,碳浓度在序级间的变化趋势不一,未表现出明显的规律。落叶灌木细根直径、根长和氮浓度均显著高于常绿灌木,碳浓度和组织密度显著低于常绿灌木,表明与常绿灌木相比落叶灌木更偏向于资源获取型生态策略,常绿灌木则更偏向于保守型策略。灌木细根在不同序级间的直径与比根长、组织密度,氮浓度与组织密度有较强的相关性,细根其他性状间的关系并不密切或因序级而异。主成分分析结果表明灌木细根性状变异沿一个主成分轴发生变异,该轴表示灌木细根的资源获取和保守的权衡策略。     

Two Magnaporthe appressoria‐specific (MAS) proteins,MoMas3 and MoMas5, are required for suppressing host innate immunity and promoting biotrophic growth in rice cells

In the devastating rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae, six Magnaporthe appressoria‐specific (MAS) proteins are encoded by MoGAS1, MoGAS2 and MoMAS3–MoMAS6. MoGAS1 and MoGAS2 were previously characterized as M. oryzae virulence factors; however, the roles of the other four genes are unknown. Here, we found that, although the loss of any MAS gene did not affect appressorial formation or vegetative growth, ∆Momas3 and ∆Momas5 mutant strains (but not the others) were reduced in virulence on susceptible CO‐39 rice seedlings. Focusing on ∆Momas3 and ∆Momas5 mutant strains, we found that they could penetrate host leaf surfaces and fill the first infected rice cell but did not spread readily to neighbouring cells, suggesting they were impaired for biotrophic growth. Live‐cell imaging of fluorescently labelled MoMas3 and MoMas5 proteins showed that during biotrophy, MoMas3 localized to the apoplastic compartment formed between fungal invasive hyphae and the plant‐derived extra‐invasive hyphal membrane while MoMas5 localized to the appressoria and the penetration peg. The loss of either MoMAS3 or MoMAS5 resulted in the accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in infected rice cells, resulting in the triggering of plant defences that inhibited mutant growth in planta. ∆Momas3 and ∆Momas5 biotrophic growth could be remediated by inhibiting host NADPH oxidases and suppressing ROS accumulation. Thus, MoMas3 and MoMas5 are novel virulence factors involved in suppressing host plant innate immunity to promote biotrophic growth.     

Engineering of enzymes using non-natural amino acids

In enzyme engineering, the main targets for enhancing properties are enzyme activity, stereoselective specificity, stability, substrate range, and the development of unique functions. With the advent of genetic code extension technology, non-natural amino acids (nnAAs) are able to be incorporated into proteins in a site-specific or residue-specific manner, which breaks the limit of 20 natural amino acids for protein engineering. Benefitting from this approach, numerous enzymes have been engineered with nnAAs for improved properties or extended functionality. In the present review, we focus on applications and strategies for using nnAAs in enzyme engineering. Notably, approaches to computational modelling of enzymes with nnAAs are also addressed. Finally, we discuss the bottlenecks that currently need to be addressed in order to realise the broader prospects of this genetic code extension technique.     

平滑肌22α蛋白在血管稳态和血管重构中的作用

有关血管稳态和重构的分子机制一直是近年来的研究热点,也被视为治疗血管损伤性疾病的突破点.大量研究证实,血管损伤修复及病理性重构过程与血管平滑肌细胞(vascular smooth muscle cells,VSMCs)的表型转化、异常增殖与迁移、细胞衰老关系密切.平滑肌22α(smooth muscle 22α,SM2...     

SARS-CoV-2 envelope protein causes acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS)-like pathological damages and constitutes an antiviral target

Cytokine storm and multi-organ failure are the main causes of SARS-CoV-2-related death. However, the origin of excessive damages caused by SARS-CoV-2 remains largely unknown. Here we show that the SARS-CoV-2 envelope (2-E) protein alone is able to cause acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS)-like damages in vitro and in vivo. 2-E proteins were found to form a type of pH-sensitive cation channels in bilayer lipid membranes. As observed in SARS-CoV-2-infected cells, heterologous expression of 2-E channels induced rapid cell death in various susceptible cell types and robust secretion of cytokines and chemokines in macrophages. Intravenous administration of purified 2-E protein into mice caused ARDS-like pathological damages in lung and spleen. A dominant negative mutation lowering 2-E channel activity attenuated cell death and SARS-CoV-2 production. Newly identified channel inhibitors exhibited potent anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity and excellent cell protective activity in vitro and these activities were positively correlated with inhibition of 2-E channel. Importantly, prophylactic and therapeutic administration of the channel inhibitor effectively reduced both the viral load and secretion of inflammation cytokines in lungs of SARS-CoV-2-infected transgenic mice expressing human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (hACE-2). Our study supports that 2-E is a promising drug target against SARS-CoV-2.Subject terms: Cell death, Molecular biology