Variation in Efficacy of Isolates of the Fungus ARF Against the Soybean Cyst Nematode Heterodera glycines

An unnamed fungus, designated ARF, that parasitizes eggs and sedentary stages of cyst nematodes is a potential biological control agent of Heterodera glycines. The objectives of this study were to determine whether ARF isolates differ in their ability to suppress nematode numbers in soil and to compare the efficacy of ARF in heat-treated and native soil. The effectiveness of 11 ARF isolates was compared by introducing homogenized mycelium into heat-treated soil. Soybean seedlings were transplanted into pots containing fungus-infested soil and inoculated with H. glycines. After 30 or 60 days, the number of nematodes and the percentage of parasitized eggs were determined. Three isolates (907, 908, and TN14), which were previously reported to be weak egg parasites in vitro, consistently suppressed nematode numbers by 50% to 100%. Of the isolates previously reported to be aggressive egg parasites, four (903, BG2, MS3, and TN12) reduced nematode numbers by 56% to 69% in at least one experimental trial, but the other four had no effect on nematode numbers. When the efficacy of isolate TN14 was tested in heat-treated and native soil, nematode suppression was greater in the heat-treated soil in only one of two trials. In both soil treatments, nematode numbers were reduced by more than 60%. We conclude that virulence toward nematode eggs in vitro is a poor indicator of effectiveness of an ARF isolate in soil, and that the presence of soil microbes may reduce, but does not completely inhibit, activity of isolate TN14.     

紫外照射对DNA修复基因RAD24转录的影响

以酿酒酵母HY684为实验对象,用波长254nm紫外线分别在0,37,50和70J/m~2等强度下照射不同时间,提取总RNA,应用North-ern杂交方法检测RAD24基因转录水平的变化。结果显示37J/m~2、50J/m~2照射20分钟到120分钟明显提高RAD24基因转录水平,70J/m~2照射时,则恢复至正常水平,这说明低剂量紫外线照射可提高RAD24基因转录水平,该基因的表达具有损伤诱导性。     

Testing extraction and storage parameters for a fecal hormone method

Four experiments were conducted to test different aspects of a “field‐friendly” fecal hormone extraction method that utilizes methanol extraction in the field followed by storage on C18 solid‐phase extraction cartridges. Fecal samples were collected from geladas (Theropithecus gelada) housed at the Bronx Zoo, and the experiments were conducted in a laboratory setting to ensure maximum control. The experiments were designed to either simulate the conditions to which fecal samples are subjected during fieldwork or improve on an existing protocol. The experiments tested the relationship between fecal hormone metabolite preservation/recovery and: (1) the amount of time a sample is stored at ambient temperature; (2) the number of freeze/thaw cycles a sample undergoes; (3) the effectiveness of different extraction solutions; and (4) the effectiveness of different cartridge washes. For each experiment, samples were assayed by radioimmunoassay for fecal glucocorticoid (GC) and testosterone (T) metabolites. Results for each of the experiments were as follows. First, storage at ambient temperature did not affect hormone levels until 4 weeks of storage, with significant increases for both GC and T metabolites at 4 weeks. Second, hormone levels significantly decreased in samples after two freeze/thaw cycles for GCs and six freeze/thaws cycles for T. Third, for both GCs and T, hormone extraction using various methanol solutions was significantly higher than using 100% ethanol. Finally, using a 20% methanol solution to wash cartridges significantly increased GC levels but had no effect on T levels. These results suggest that, when utilizing C18 cartridges for fecal steroid storage, researchers should consider several methodological options to optimize hormone preservation and recovery from fecal samples. Am. J. Primatol. 72:934–941, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Volcanic explosive eruptions of the Vesuvio decrease tree-ring growth but not photosynthetic rates in the surrounding forests

Volcanic eruptions impact the global and the hemispheric climate, but it is still unknown how and to what degree they force the climate system and in particular the global carbon cycle. In this paper, the relationships between individual eruptions (reconstructed for the past using written records), tree primary productivity (estimated using ring widths), photosynthetic rate and stomatal conductance (assessed by carbon and oxygen isotope data) are investigated, to understand the impact of volcanic eruptions on net primary production. Data from a mixed stand of Fagus sylvatica L. and Acer pseudoplatanus L. located in the area of the Vesuvio volcanic complex (Southern Italy) showed a significant decrease in ring width following each eruption. Isotope analyses indicate a change in climatic conditions after such events. Specifically, the lower oxygen isotope ratio in the tree‐ring cellulose strongly suggests an increase in relative humidity and a decrease in temperature, with the latter resulting in a strong limitation to tree‐ring growth. The carbon isotope ratio was only moderately but not significantly reduced in the years of volcanic eruption, suggesting no major changes in C fixation rates. This work is a case study on the effects of volcanic eruptions resulting in strong climatic changes on the local scale. This is an opportunity to explore the process and causal relationships between climatic changes and the response of the vegetation. Thus, we propose here a realistic model scenario, from which we can extrapolate to global scales and improve our interpretations of results of global studies.     

氢火焰气相色谱仪内标法测定反式脂肪酸的条件的建立及验证

目的:研究氢火焰气相色谱仪(GC112A)内标法测定反式脂肪酸的实验室最佳条件。方法:采用气相色谱内标-标准曲线法,通过测定反式脂肪酸标准品工作液的标准曲线、重现性和分离度来确定和验证GC112A的最佳色谱条件。结果:实验室最佳色谱条件:毛细管柱,PC-88(100 m×0.25 mm×0.2μm);进样口温度:260℃;载气:高纯N2,压力220 k Pa,流速41.0 m L/min;检测器(FID)温度:290℃,氢气压力100 k Pa,流速21.0 m L/min;空气压力160 k Pa,流速215.0 m L/min;检测器(FID)灵敏度:1010;手动进样,进样量:1.0μL。结论:该方法避免了外标法(国标方法)的国产仪器局限性和操作者人工进样的不确定性,具有受仪器参数变化的影响较小的特点,适合在基层食品检验机构推广。     

MiR-18b-5p对人滋养细胞系HTR-8细胞迁移功能的影响

目的:通过研究子痫前期胎盘组织中低表达的miR-18b-5p(微小RNA18b-5p)对人滋养细胞系HTR-8迁移能力的影响,进一步探讨miR-18b-5p在子痫前期发病过程中的作用。方法:将化学合成的miR-18b-5p inhibitor、miR-18b-5p inhibitor NC,采用瞬时转染的方法将miR-18b-5p inhibitor转入人滋养细胞系HTR-8中设为实验组;miR-18b-5p inhibitor NC转入HTR-8细胞中设为阴性对照组;空白转染组为空白对照组。应用Realtime RT-PCR技术检测各组miR-18b-5p在mRNA水平的表达,同时采用微孔滤膜培养小室及双室联合培养系统(Transwell实验)检测实验组与对照组细胞迁移能力的变化。结果:Realtime RT-PCR结果显示:转染miR-18b-5p inhibitor后miR-18b-5p的表达量分别与阴性对照组和空白对照组相比明显降低,差异具有统计学意义(P0.05)。Transwell实验结果显示miR-18b-5p inhibitor组与两对照组相比细胞的迁移能力明显降低,差异具有统计学意义(P0.05)。结论:在HTR-8细胞中降调节miR-18b-5p可以显著的降低细胞的迁移能力,推测病理性低表达的miR-18b-5p有可能通过降低滋养细胞的迁移能力,使妊娠早期细胞滋养细胞从固体绒毛顶端迁出减少,导致覆盖合体滋养细胞进而形成具有增殖能力的细胞簇减少,最终造成滋养层浅表植入,从而引起子痫前期的发生。     

Considering external information to improve the phylogenetic comparison of microbial communities: a new approach based on constrained Double Principal Coordinates Analysis (cDPCoA)

The use of next‐generation sequencing technologies is revolutionizing microbial ecology by allowing a deep phylogenetic coverage of tens to thousands of samples simultaneously. Double Principal Coordinates Analysis (DPCoA) is a multivariate method, developed in community ecology, able to integrate a distance matrix describing differences among species (e.g. phylogenetic distances) in the analysis of a species abundance matrix. This ordination technique has been used recently to describe microbial communities taking into account phylogenetic relatedness. In this work, we extend DPCoA to integrate the information of external variables measured on communities. The constrained Double Principal Coordinates Analysis (cDPCoA) is able to enforce a priori classifications to retrieve subtle differences and (or) remove the effect of confounding factors. We describe the main principles of this new approach and demonstrate its usefulness by providing application examples based on published 16S rRNA gene data sets.     

Supramolecular interaction of 18‐crown‐6 ether with mesalazine and spectrofluorimetric determination of mesalazine in pharmaceutical formulations

The supramolecular interaction of protonated mesalazine (MSZ) and 18‐crown‐6 ether (18C6) has been examined by Ultraviolet–visible, FT‐IR and fluorescence spectroscopy. The formation of the inclusion complex has been confirmed based on the changes of the spectral properties. The MSZ–18C6 host–guest complex formed in (1:1) stoichiometry and the inclusion constant (K = 1.411 × 10² L mol^–1) was ascertained by the typical double reciprocal plots. Furthermore, the thermodynamic parameters (ΔG°, ΔH° and ΔS°) of (MSZ‐18C6) were obtained. Based on the remarkable enhancement of the fluorescence intensity of MSZ produced through complex formation, a simple, accurate, rapid and highly sensitive spectrofluorometric method for the determination of MSZ in aqueous solution in the presence of 18C6 was developed. The measurement of relative fluorescence intensity was carried with excitation at 298 nm, emission 410 nm. All variables affecting the reactions were studied and optimized. Beer's law was obeyed in the concentration range of 0.1–0.9 µg/mL. The absorbance was found to increase linearly with increasing concentration of MSZ. The molar absorptivity, Sandell sensitivity, limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) were calculated. The validity of the described method was assessed, and the method was successfully applied to the determination of MSZ in its pharmaceutical formulation. In addition, a solid inclusion complex was synthesized by the coprecipitation method. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Modification of BECN1 by ISG15 plays a crucial role in autophagy regulation by type I IFN/interferon

ISG15 (ISG15 ubiquitin-like modifier), a ubiquitin-like protein, is one of the major type I IFN (interferon) effector systems. ISG15 can be conjugated to target proteins (ISGylation) via the stepwise action of E1, E2, and E3 enzymes. Conjugated ISG15 can be removed (deISGylated) from target proteins by USP18 (ubiquitin-specific peptidase 18). Here we investigated the role of deISGylation by USP18 in regulating autophagy and EGFR degradation in cells treated with type I IFNs. We show that type I IFN induced expression of ISG15 leads to ISGylation of BECN1 at Lys117, as well as Lys263, Lys265, and Lys266 which competes with Lys63 ubiquitination of BECN1. We demonstrate that ISGylation of BECN1 at Lys117, as well as Lys263, Lys265, and Lys266 serve an important role in negative regulation of intracellular processes including autophagy and EGFR degradation that are critically dependent upon the activity of class III PtdIns 3-kinase. Our studies provide fundamental new mechanistic insights into the innate immunity response implemented by type I IFNs.     

Phospholipase D δ knock-out mutants are tolerant to severe drought stress

Phospholipase D (PLD) is involved in different plant processes, ranging from responses to abiotic and biotic stress to plant development. Phospholipase Dδ (PLDδ) is activated in dehydration and salt stress, producing the lipid second messenger phosphatidic acid. In this work we show that pldδ Arabidopsis mutants were more tolerant to severe drought than wild-type plants. PLDδ has been shown to be required for ABA regulation of stomatal closure of isolated epidermal peels. However, there was no significant difference in stomatal conductance at the whole plant level between wild-type and pldδ mutants. Since PLD hydrolyses structural phospholipids, then we looked at membrane integrity. Ion leakage measurements showed that during dehydration of leaf discs pldδ mutant has less membrane degradation compared to the wild-type. We further analyzed the mutants and showed that pldδ have higher mRNA levels of RAB18 and RD29A compared to wild-type plants under normal growth conditions. Transient expression of AtPLDδ in Nicotiana benthamiana plants induced a wilting phenotype. These findings suggest that, in wt plants PLDδ disrupt membranes in severe drought stress and, in the absence of the protein (PLDδ knock-out) might drought-prime the plants, making them more tolerant to severe drought stress. The results are discussed in relation to PLDδ role in guard cell signaling and drought tolerance.