Genetic Analysis of Rice Restorer Line Yazhan

Plant Molecular Biology Reporter - Yazhan is a restorer rice line bred by Jiangxi Tianya Seed Industry Co., LTD, and its hybrid combination has a high yield, excellent rice quality, and strong...     

Toward Higher Voltage Solid‐State Batteries by Metastability and Kinetic Stability Design

The energy density of battery systems is limited largely by the electrochemical window of the electrolyte. Herein, the combined thermodynamic and kinetic effects of mechanically induced metastability are shown to greatly widen the operational voltage window of solid‐state batteries based on ceramic‐sulfide electrolytes. Solid electrolyte voltage stability up to 10 V is achieved with minimal degradation, far beyond the capability of organic liquid electrolytes. Furthermore, combined experiment, ab initio computation, and theoretical modeling identify the nature of mechanically constrained Li₁₀GeP₂S₁₂ decomposition both within the bulk and at interfaces with cathode materials at very high voltages. Previously unclear kinetic processes are identified that, when properly implemented, can potentially allow solid‐state full cells with remarkably high operational voltages.     

Change in Hepatitis B Virus Large Surface Antigen Variant Prevalence 13 Years after Implementation of a Universal Vaccination Program in China

A nationwide hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccination program was implemented in China starting in 1992. To study the change in HBV variant prevalence with massive immunization, large HBV surface protein (LHBs) genes from HBV surface antigen (HBsAg)-positive sera were amplified and sequenced. The prevalences of LHBs mutants were compared between the 1992 and 2005 surveys in child and adult groups. The prevalence of “α” determinant mutants in the children increased from 6.5% in 1992 to 14.8% in 2005, where the G145R mutant occurred most frequently. In contrast, mutation frequencies showed little difference between 1992 (9.4%) and 2005 (9.9%) in adults. Moreover, compared to the 1992 survey, the child group surface (S) protein mutation frequency specifically increased (P = 0.005) in the 2005 survey, but the pre-S region mutation frequency did not show a significant difference (P > 0.05). However, the mutation frequency in the adult group increased in both the pre-S and S regions. Furthermore, the frequencies of the disease-related pre-S2 deletion and start codon mutations were significantly higher in the adult groups than in the child groups in both the 1992 and 2005 surveys (P < 0.01). Massive immunization enhances the HBV S protein mutation; the prevalence of LHBs mutants, particularly disease-related mutants, tends to increase with patient age.     

Effects of nitrogen fertilization and root interaction on the agronomic traits of intercropped maize, and the quantity of microorganisms and activity of enzymes in the rhizosphere

Aims

To elucidate the mechanisms of the beneficial effects of below-ground root interactions in maize plus legume intercropping system,

Methods

A pot experiment was conducted using root separation techniques.

Results

It is shown that root interaction and nitrogen fertilization increased chlorophyll content and improved plant characteristics of maize, and the effect of root interaction was significant (p<0.05). Compared to a full root separation treatment, no root separation increased the leaf and grain nitrogen contents, and economic and biological yields per maize plant by 9.3? %, 6.0? %, 14.0? %, and 6.5? %, respectively. Root interaction and nitrogen fertilization enhanced the numbers of bacteria, fungi, actinomycetes and Azotobacteria and the activities of urease, invertase, acid-phosphatase and protease in soil. Correlation analyses revealed that the quantity of microorganisms and the activity of the aforementioned enzymes were all positively or significantly (p<0.05) positively correlated with chlorophyll content, plant height and economic and biological yields per maize plant.

Conclusions

The findings demonstrate that root interactions are important in improving the soil micro-ecological environment, increasing microbial quantity and enzyme activity in soil, and enhancing crop yield.     

Association between MDR1 C3435T polymorphism and risk of breast cancer

The C3435T (rs1045642) polymorphism, located in multi-drug resistance gene 1 (MDR1), has demonstrated its role in decreasing the P-gp activity level which is related to the carcinogenesis. Many published studies have evaluated the association between the MDR1 C3435T polymorphism and breast cancer risk. However, the results remain conflicting rather than conclusive. To derive a more precise estimation of the association between MDR1 C3435T polymorphism and risk of breast cancer, we performed a meta-analysis comprised of 10 case–control studies, including 5282 breast cancer cases and 7703 controls. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to evaluate the strength of the association. The overall results indicated that the variant genotypes were associated with a significantly increased risk of breast cancer (TT versus CC: OR = 1.45, 95% CI = 1.14–1.30, TT versus CT/CC: OR = 1.13, 95% CI = 1.04–1.23, TT/CT versus CC: OR = 1.22, 95% CI = 1.02–1.46). Our results suggest that the MDR1 C3435T polymorphism may contribute to individual susceptibility to breast cancer.     

Identification of pathways and genes associated with cerebral palsy

Cerebral palsy (CP) is a non-progressive neurological disease, of which susceptibility is linked to genetic and environmental risk factors. More and more studies have shown that CP might be caused by multiple genetic factors, similar to other neurodevelopmental disorders. Due to the high genetic heterogeneity of CP, we focused on investigating related molecular pathways. Ten children with CP were collected for whole-exome sequencing by next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology. Customized processes were used to identify potential pathogenic pathways and variants. Three pathways (axon guidance, transmission across chemical synapses, protein–protein interactions at synapses) with twenty-three genes were identified to be highly correlated with CP. This study showed that the three pathways associated with CP might be the molecular mechanism of pathogenesis. These findings could provide useful clues for developing pathway-based pharmacotherapies. Further studies are required to confirm potential roles for these pathways in the pathogenesis of CP.     

Effect of oleic acid on induction of steatosis and cytotoxicity in BRL 3A cells

Recent studies have shown that monounsaturated oleic acid induces steatosis in cultured hepatocyte steatosis in the form of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease models in vitro. However, the underlying mechanism of steatosis development is not completely understood. Therefore, we investigated the molecular mechanism of steatosis and the role of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)/toll-like receptor 4-related protein (TLR4) expression in this study. Rat hepatocyte cells were subjected to oleic acid in different concentrations (1.2-2.4 mM) for 24 hours. The cell morphological injury index and the changes in the MAPK/TLR4 signaling pathway-related proteins were evaluated. We found that the microstructure of the cells in the oleic acid treatment group was damaged, and higher phosphorylation levels of the MAPK pathway-related proteins were detected than those in the control group. In addition, the protein expression of TLR4, sterol regulatory element-binding protein-1, and fatty acid synthase were increased in the oleic acid treatment group. Our findings demonstrate that oleic acid causes toxic damage to rat hepatocyte cells, and the MAPK/TLR4 signaling pathway plays a significant role in lipid storage.