Evolution and diversity of axon guidance Robo receptor family genes

The diversity of axon guidance (AG) receptors reflects gains in complexity of the animal nervous system during evolution. Members of the Roundabout (Robo) family of receptors interact with Slit proteins and play important roles in many developmental processes, including AG and neural crest cell migration. There are four members of the Robo gene family. However, the evolutionary history of Robo family genes remain obscure. We analyzed the distribution of Robo family members in metazoan species ranging in complexity from hydras to humans. We undertook a phylogenetic analysis in metazoans, synteny analysis, and ancestral chromosome mapping in vertebrates, and detected selection pressure and functional divergence among four mammalian Robo paralogs. Based on our analysis, we proposed that the ancestral Robo gene could have undergone a tandem duplication in the vertebrate ancestor; then one round of whole genome duplication events occurred before the divergence of ancestral lamprey and gnathostome, generating four paralogs in early vertebrates. Robo4 paralog underwent segmental loss in the following evolutionary process. Our results showed that Robo3 paralog is under more powerful purifying selection pressure compared with other three paralogs, which could correlate with its unique expression pattern and function. Furthermore, we found four sites under positive selection pressure on the Ig1‐2 domains of Robo4 that might interfere with its binding to Slits ligand. Diverge analysis at the amino acid level showed that Robo4 paralog have relatively greater functional diversifications than other Robo paralogs. This coincides with the fact that Robo4 predominantly functions in vascular endothelial cells but not the nervous system.     

Structure of plant photosystem I−light harvesting complex I supercomplex at 2.4 Å resolution

Photosystem I (PSI) is one of the two photosystems in photosynthesis, and performs a series of electron transfer reactions leading to the reduction of ferredoxin. In higher plants, PSI is surrounded by four light-harvesting complex I (LHCI) subunits, which harvest and transfer energy efficiently to the PSI core. The crystal structure of PSI-LHCI supercomplex has been analyzed up to 2.6 Å resolution, providing much information on the arrangement of proteins and cofactors in this complicated supercomplex. Here we have optimized crystallization conditions, and analyzed the crystal structure of PSI-LHCI at 2.4 Å resolution. Our structure showed some shift of the LHCI, especially the Lhca4 subunit, away from the PSI core, suggesting the indirect connection and inefficiency of energy transfer from this Lhca subunit to the PSI core. We identified five new lipids in the structure, most of them are located in the gap region between the Lhca subunits and the PSI core. These lipid molecules may play important roles in binding of the Lhca subunits to the core, as well as in the assembly of the supercomplex. The present results thus provide novel information for the elucidation of the mechanisms for the light-energy harvesting, transfer and assembly of this supercomplex.     

家蝇Phormicin A多克隆抗体的制备及效价检测

家蝇Phormicin作为防御素家族的成员,是一类具有广普抗菌活性的抗菌肽.本研究采用原核表达法表达并纯化获得了家蝇PhormicinA蛋白.将家蝇Phormicin A原核表达蛋白与完全佐剂和不完全佐剂乳化混匀,先后免疫新西兰白兔获得其多克隆抗体.通过原核表达蛋白中和吸附实验,以及Western blot实验验证了抗体的特异性.进一步用金黄色葡萄球菌刺激家蝇三龄幼虫样品,进行内源性验证并测定抗体的效价.结果 显示,该多克隆抗体既可以识别家蝇Phormicin A原核表达蛋白,也可以识别金黄色葡萄球菌刺激家蝇三龄幼虫产生的内源性Phormicin A蛋白.本研究为进一步探索Phormicin在家蝇天然免疫和防御中的机制等后续工作打下基础.     

A practical guide to amplicon and metagenomic analysis of microbiome data

Advances in high-throughput sequencing(HTS)have fostered rapid developments in the field of microbiome research,and massive microbiome datasets are now being generated.However,the diversity of software tools and the complexity of analysis pipelines make it difficult to access this field.Here,we systematically summarize the advantages and limitations of micro-biome methods.Then,we recommend specific pipelines for amplicon and metagenomic analyses,and describe commonly-used software and databases,to help researchers select the appropriate tools.Furthermore,we introduce statistical and visualization methods suit-able for microbiome analysis,including alpha-and beta-diversity,taxonomic composition,difference compar-isons,correlation,networks,machine learning,evolu-tion,source tracing,and common visualization styles to help researchers make informed choices.Finally,a step-by-step reproducible analysis guide is introduced.We hope this review will allow researchers to carry out data analysis more effectively and to quickly select the appropriate tools in order to efficiently mine the bio-logical significance behind the data.     

Is oral microbiome of children able to maintain resistance and functional stability in response to short-term interference of ingesta?

Dear Editor, A series of studies had focused on the ecological stability of human microbiome (Lozupone et al.,2012;Faith et al.,2013;Moya and Ferrer,2016).Despite the continuous perturbation and the highly personalized composition within the human microbiome (Human Microbiome Project,2012),healthy adults stably maintain their microbial communities in terms of space and time (Faith et al.,2013;Moya and Ferrer,2016;Oh et al.,2016).This stability is proved to be critical for the well-being of human body (Lozupone et al.,2012).On the contrary,major shifts in microbial community composition are often related to diseases (Lynch and Pedersen,2016).     

Allelopathic effects of the revegetation species Juniperus sabina L. in semiarid areas of China

Landscape and Ecological Engineering - Juniperus sabina L. is a native evergreen conifer of the Mu Us Sandy Land. It has prostrating stems that can prevent sand shifting and is an important...     

Smoking increases oral mucosa susceptibility to Candida albicans infection via the Nrf2 pathway: In vitro and animal studies

Smoking and Candida albicans (C. albicans) infection are risk factors for many oral diseases. Several studies have reported a close relationship between smoking and the occurrence of C. albicans infection. However, the exact underlying mechanism of this relationship remains unclear. We established a rat infection model and a C. albicans-Leuk1 epithelial cell co-culture model with and without smoke exposure to investigate the mechanism by which smoking contributes to C. albicans infection. Oral mucosa samples from healthy individuals and patients with oral leucoplakia were also analysed according to their smoking status. Our results indicated that smoking induced oxidative stress and redox dysfunction in the oral mucosa. Smoking-induced Nrf2 negatively regulated the NLRP3 inflammasome, impaired the oral mucosal defence response and increased the oral mucosa susceptibility to C. albicans. The results suggest that the Nrf2 pathway could be involved in the pathogenesis of oral diseases by mediating an antioxidative response to cigarette smoke exposure and suppressing host immunity against C. albicans.     

Knockout of a highly GC-rich gene in Burkholderia pyrrocinia by recombineering with freeze-thawing transformation

Genetic transformation is a valuable and essential method that provides powerful insights into the gene function of microorganisms and contributes to the construction of engineered bacteria. Here, we developed a novel genetic transformation system to easily knock out a highly GC-rich gene (74.71% GC) from Burkholderia pyrrocinia JK-SH007, a biocontrol strain of poplar canker disease. This system revealed a reliable selectable marker (trimethoprim resistance gene, Tmp) and a simplified, efficient transformation method (6,363.64 CFU/μg, pHKT2) that was developed via freeze-thawing. The knockout recombineering of B. pyrrocinia JK-SH007 was achieved through a suicide plasmid with a three-fragment mutagenesis construct. The three-fragment cassette for mutagenesis was generated by overlap extension and touchdown PCRs and composed of Tmp flanked by GC-rich upstream and downstream fragments from B. pyrrocinia JK-SH007. The mutant strain (ΔBpEG), which was verified by PCR, lost 93.3% of its ability to degrade carboxymethyl cellulose over 40 days. Overall, this system may contribute to future research on B. pyrrocinia traits.     

IL-37 overexpression enhances the therapeutic effect of endometrial regenerative cells in concanavalin A-induced hepatitis

Background aimsMesenchymal stromal cells and immunosuppressive factor IL-37 can both suppress concanavalin A (Con A)-induced hepatitis in mice. Endometrial regenerative cells (ERCs), novel types of mesenchymal-like stromal cells, possess powerful immunomodulatory effects and are effective in treating various diseases. The aim of this study was to explore the effects of ERCs in suppressing Con A-induced hepatitis and determine whether IL-37 overexpression could enhance the therapeutic effect of ERCs in this process.MethodsERCs were extracted from the menstrual blood of healthy female volunteer donors. The IL-37 gene was transferred into ERCs, and the expression of IL-37 in cells was detected by western blot and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Hepatitis was induced by Con A in C57BL/6 mice that were randomly divided into groups treated with phosphate-buffered saline, ERCs, IL-37 or ERCs transfected with the IL-37 gene (IL-37-ERCs). Cell tracking, liver function, histopathological and immunohistological changes, immune cell proportions and levels of cytokines were measured 24 h after Con A administration.ResultsCompared with ERC or IL-37 treatment, IL-37-ERCs further reduced levels of liver enzymes (alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase) and improved histopathological changes in the liver. In addition, IL-37-ERC treatment further reduced the proportions of M1 macrophages and CD4⁺ T cells and increased the proportion of regulatory T cells. Moreover, IL-37-ERC treatment resulted in lower levels of IL-12 and interferon gamma, and higher level of transforming growth factor beta.ConclusionsThe results of this study suggest that ERCs can effectively alleviate Con A-induced hepatitis. Furthermore, IL-37 overexpression can significantly enhance the therapeutic efficacy of ERCs by augmenting the immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory properties of ERCs. This study may provide a promising strategy for treatment of T-cell-dependent hepatitis.     

Sparstolonin B exerts beneficial effects on prostate cancer by acting on the reactive oxygen species-mediated PI3K/AKT pathway

Prostate cancer is a major health concern in males worldwide, owing to its high incidence. Sparstolonin B (SsnB), a component of the Chinese herbal medicine Sparganium stoloniferum, is used to treat many diseases. However, the effects and mechanisms of action of SsnB in prostate cancer have not yet been reported. In this study, we evaluated the effects of SsnB on cellular processes and tumour growth. In particular, we verified that SsnB could inhibit the proliferation, migration and invasion of prostate cancer cells and induce apoptosis by activating G2/M phase arrest in vitro based on a series of cytological experiments. In vivo, we found that SsnB could inhibit tumour growth in nude mouse xenograft models. We further confirmed that SsnB could repress the PI3K/AKT pathway by increasing reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation and oxidative stress. Collectively, SsnB inhibits tumour growth and induces apoptosis in prostate cancer via the suppression of the ROS-mediated PI3K/AKT pathway and may be a new alternative to adjuvant therapy for prostate cancer.