Strong plastid degradation is consistent within section Chondrophyllae,the most speciose lineage of Gentiana

Recovering phylogenetic relationships in lineages experiencing intense diversification has always been a persistent challenge in evolutionary studies, including in Gentiana section Chondrophyllae sensu lato (s.l.). Indeed, this subcosmopolitan taxon encompasses more than 180 mostly annual species distributed around the world. We sequenced and assembled 22 new plastomes representing 21 species in section Chondrophyllae s.l. In addition to previously released plastome data, our study includes all main lineages within the section. We reconstructed their phylogenetic relationships based on protein‐coding genes and recombinant DNA (rDNA) cistron sequences, and then investigated plastome structural evolution as well as divergence time. Despite an admittedly humble species cover overall, we recovered a well‐supported phylogenetic tree based on plastome data, and found significant discordance between phylogenetic relationships and taxonomic treatments. Our results show that G. capitata and G. leucomelaena diverged early within the section, which is then further divided into two clades. The divergence time estimation showed that section Chondrophyllae s.l. evolved in the second half of the Oligocene. We found that section Chondrophyllae s.l. had the smallest average plastome size (128 KB) in tribe Gentianeae (Gentianaceae), with frequent gene and sequence losses such as the ndh complex and its flanking regions. In addition, we detected both expansion and contraction of the inverted repeat (IR) regions. Our study suggests that plastome degradation parallels the diversification of this group, and illustrates the strong discordance between phylogenetic relationships and taxonomic treatments, which now need to be carefully revised.     

ALKBH5/MAP3K8 axis regulates PD-L1+ macrophage infiltration and promotes hepatocellular carcinoma progression

Hepatocellular carcinoma is one of the most common malignant tumors.M6A is a novel epigenetic modification that have been emerged as vital regulators for the progression of HCC. However, the regulatory role, clinical significance and the details of the modification, such as the impact on the local tumor environment, remain largely unclear. Our study showed that ALKBH5 was highly expressed in HCC and high ALKBH5 expression predicted a worse prognosis of HCC patients. Prediction of ALKBH5 function by tissue samples and single cell sequencing Gene Set Variation Analysis. Primary CD3 + T lymphocytes and bone marrow-derived macrophages were used to evaluate the effect of ALKBH5 on immune microenvironment. The results indicated that ALKBH5 promote HCC cell proliferation, metastasis and PD-L1+macrophage recruitment. Mechanistically the results showed that ALKBH5 regulates MAP3K8 expression in a m6A dependent manner which mediates the proliferation and metastasis of HCC cells. ALKBH5 also promotes the activation of JNK and ERK pathways through upregulating MAP3K8, thus regulating the expression of IL-8 and promoting macrophage recruitment. Taken together, these data show that ALKBH5 promotes HCC growth, metastasis and macrophage recruitment through ALKBH5/MAP3K8 axis and it may serve as a potential diagnostic marker and target for treatment of HCC patients.     

基于高通量测序的闽楠幼林根际土壤丛枝菌根真菌群落变化

[背景]闽楠是珍贵用材树种.阐明闽楠根际土壤微生物特征,对科学经营闽楠人工林有指导作用.[目的]明确闽楠人工林恢复过程中根际土壤丛枝菌根群落随林龄的变化特征.[方法]采用高通量Illumina MiSeq测序的方法,评估不同林龄闽楠幼林根际土壤丛枝菌根真菌(Arbuscular Mycorrhiza Fungi,AMF...     

城市建成区自生草本植物群落的物种多样性与功能多样性——以深圳市为例

城市自生草本植物的物种多样性和功能多样性直接影响城市生态系统的功能和稳定性,但目前相关研究依然很缺乏。以深圳市为例,基于建成区600个1hm²样地的现场调查数据,分析自生草本植物的群落结构、物种多样性、群落功能特征及功能多样性。结果显示:①调查共记录自生草本植物61科178属273种,其中多年生草本占54.6%,乡土植物占65.6%。②占明显优势的功能特征有中小型叶(91.85%)、草质叶(42.59%)、纸质叶(32.96%)、叶片无毛或近无毛(56.67%)、中等密度绒毛(40.37%)、叶面较粗糙(52.59%)、花期4-6个月(50.78%)、果期4-6个月(49.22%)、干果(86.03%)。③群落类型间功能丰富度FDp、功能离散度Rao二次熵差异极显著(P ＜ 0.01)、功能均匀度FEve差异显著(P ＜ 0.05)。④公园绿地的物种多样性指数明显高于其他三类绿地;不同绿地类型间的功能丰富度和功能离散度在滞尘、降噪、降温增湿及生物多样性保护方面都有极显著差异(P ＜ 0.01),功能均匀度只在滞尘及生物多样性保护方面差异极显著(P ＜ 0.01)。⑤各功能多样性指数均与Margalef指数、Simpson指数及Shannon-Wiener指数呈极显著正相关关系(P ＜ 0.01)。研究结论和方法为维护城市生态系统稳定性、建设生态宜居城市、促进城市可持续发展提供理论依据。     

表观遗传的化学干预对金龟子绿僵菌次生代谢产物影响的研究

[背景] 表观遗传酶类化学抑制剂对真菌的影响研究主要集中在新次生代谢产物挖掘方面,而对大量已知次生代谢物含量的变化却关注较少。金龟子绿僵菌是一种常用杀虫真菌,能代谢出多种已知生物活性物质,其含量可能会影响到该菌与环境间关系及利用潜力。[目的] 评估组蛋白去乙酰化酶和DNA甲基转移酶的化学抑制剂对金龟子绿僵菌代谢物安全性和可利用性的影响。[方法] 在金龟子绿僵菌培养基中添加表观遗传酶类化学抑制剂,培养一定时间后用高分辨液质联用及标准品对照方法分析次生代谢产物变化。根据差异代谢物的生物活性评估化学抑制剂的影响。[结果] 高分辨液质联用分析结果表明当抑制剂浓度达500μmol/L时,金龟子绿僵菌有16种主要次生代谢产物出现明显量的变化,包括destruxin A、A1、A2、B、B1、B2、E、E2、Ed、didesmethyldestruxin C、dihydrodestruxin A、desmethyldestruxin B、12-hydroxyovalicin、subglutinol C、fungerin和ustilagic Acid C。其中,丁酸钠处理可使15种主要代谢物含量升高。苯甲酰胺可使12种主要代谢物含量升高。伏立诺他虽然仅能使10种主要代谢物含量升高,但部分代谢物的升高幅度明显高于前两者。2种DNA甲基转移酶抑制剂可使金龟子绿僵菌代谢物中绿僵菌素类代谢物含量普遍下降。[结论] 组蛋白去乙酰化酶抑制剂可引起金龟子绿僵菌主要代谢物含量普遍升高,而DNA甲基转移酶抑制剂使金龟子绿僵菌的绿僵菌素含量普遍下降。由于变化的代谢物都具有显著的杀虫、免疫抑制或抗菌抗癌等生物活性,因此上述化学抑制剂可增强或降低金龟子绿僵菌对环境中昆虫毒性,同时也增加或降低其代谢物利用潜力。另外,subglutinol C、fungerin和ustilagic Acid C是首次在金龟子绿僵菌中被发现。     

根际微生态调控白菜根肿病发生的机制研究进展

白菜根肿病是由芸薹根肿菌(Plasmodiophora brassicae Woron)引起的一种常见土传病害,主要危害白菜的根部。根际是土壤-植物-微生物相互作用最活跃的关键微域,根际微生态系统中的微生物失衡是导致土传病害的重要因素,深入探究根际微生态与土传病害互作机制,有利于从根际微生物、抑病物质和功能代谢等方面挖掘防控土传病害安全高效的方法。本文综述了根际微生态与白菜根肿病的发生机制关系,从该病害的危害、发生的根际微生态机制及生防菌防治研究等方面综合分析了根际微生物调控白菜根肿病发生的机制,以期为白菜根肿病防控、促进土壤健康和维持根际微生态系统稳定提供理论依据。     

IGF2BP2 serves as a core m6A regulator in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

Methylation of N6 adenosine (m6A) plays a crucial role in the development and progression of cancers. Its modification is regulated by three types of m6A-related regulators (methyltransferases (writers), demethylases (erasers), and RNA-binding proteins (readers)). Till now, the functions and roles of these regulators in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSC) remain largely unexplored. Therefore, we utilized the open HNSC dataset in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), four different cell lines, and our HNSC patient samples (n=40) to explore the clinical significance of 19 m6A regulators, and selected the most significant prognosis-related regulator. Authentic analyses based on online websites were also used in the study (Oncomine, UALCAN, Kaplan–Meier plotter, Human Protein Atlas (HPA), cBioPortal, LinkedOmics, String, etc.). From the results, general overexpression of m6A regulators was observed in pan-cancer, especially in HNSC. IGF2BP2 was recognized as the hub m6A regulator, which was an independent, unfavorable prognostic factor in HNSC. Its mRNA and protein expression in HNSC were significantly up-regulated. Gene mutation types of IGF2BP2 in HNSC (32%) were mainly mRNA High or Amplification, which represented the high expression of IGF2BP2. And these mutations were associated with a poor prognosis. In functional analysis, IGF2BP2 was negatively correlated to tumor immune infiltration in HNSC. Finally, HMGA2 might interact with the IGF2BP2 in HNSC. In conclusion, IGF2BP2 serves as a core m6A regulator among all regulators in HNSC, which has a high expression and predicts the poor prognosis of HNSC patients independently. IGF2BP2 might bring a new direction for HNSC treatment in the future.     

Biochemical and structural characterization of hepatitis A virus 2C reveals an unusual ribonuclease activity on single-stranded RNA

The HAV nonstructural protein 2C is essential for virus replication; however, its precise function remains elusive. Although HAV 2C shares 24–27% sequence identity with other 2Cs, key motifs are conserved. Here, we demonstrate that HAV 2C is an ATPase but lacking helicase activity. We identified an ATPase-independent nuclease activity of HAV 2C with a preference for polyuridylic single-stranded RNAs. We determined the crystal structure of an HAV 2C fragment to 2.2 Å resolution, containing an ATPase domain, a region equivalent to enterovirus 2C zinc-finger (ZFER) and a C-terminal amphipathic helix (PBD). The PBD of HAV 2C occupies a hydrophobic pocket (Pocket) in the adjacent 2C, and we show the PBD–Pocket interaction is vital for 2C functions. We identified acidic residues that are essential for the ribonuclease activity and demonstrated mutations at these sites abrogate virus replication. We built a hexameric-ring model of HAV 2C, revealing the ribonuclease-essential residues clustering around the central pore of the ring, whereas the ATPase active sites line up at the gaps between adjacent 2Cs. Finally, we show the ribonuclease activity is shared by other picornavirus 2Cs. Our findings identified a previously unfound activity of picornavirus 2C, providing novel insights into the mechanisms of virus replication.