Alien DNA introgression and wheat DNA rearrangements in a stable wheat line derived from the early generation of distant hybridization

In general, it requires five or more generations to develop a stable line by the traditional breeding method of cultivar hybrids in self-pollinated crops, such as wheat, barley, and rice. No doubt, the breeding period will be shortened and thus the breeding effi-ciency will be improved if the hybrids can stabilize in early generation. The method of haploid breeding, that is, obtaining stable pure lines (DH lines) of cultivar hybrids with the aid of anther culture and then chro-mosome doubling,…     

小鸡早期记忆形成的神经机制

小鸡是研究早期记忆形成机制的理想动物模型.一日龄小鸡在一次性被动回避实验（one-trial-passive-avoidance-test）后,与记忆形成相关脑区的神经元在时间和空间上发生了一系列复杂的生理生化反应.综述了小鸡记忆形成过程的最新研究进展,分析了与记忆形成相关的神经回路、细胞和分子机制.     

Risk and protective factors for mental disorders beyond genetics: an evidence‐based atlas

Decades of research have revealed numerous risk factors for mental disorders beyond genetics, but their consistency and magnitude remain uncer­tain. We conducted a “meta‐umbrella” systematic synthesis of umbrella reviews, which are systematic reviews of meta‐analyses of individual studies, by searching international databases from inception to January 1, 2021. We included umbrella reviews on non‐purely genetic risk or protective factors for any ICD/DSM mental disorders, applying an established classification of the credibility of the evidence: class I (convincing), class II (highly suggestive), class III (suggestive), class IV (weak). Sensitivity analyses were conducted on prospective studies to test for temporality (reverse causation), TRANSD criteria were applied to test transdiagnosticity of factors, and A Measurement Tool to Assess Systematic Reviews (AMSTAR) was employed to address the quality of meta‐analyses. Fourteen eligible umbrella reviews were retrieved, summarizing 390 meta‐analyses and 1,180 associations between putative risk or protective factors and mental disorders. We included 176 class I to III evidence associations, relating to 142 risk/protective factors. The most robust risk factors (class I or II, from prospective designs) were 21. For dementia, they included type 2 diabetes mellitus (risk ratio, RR from 1.54 to 2.28), depression (RR from 1.65 to 1.99) and low frequency of social contacts (RR=1.57). For opioid use disorders, the most robust risk factor was tobacco smoking (odds ratio, OR=3.07). For non‐organic psychotic disorders, the most robust risk factors were clinical high risk state for psychosis (OR=9.32), cannabis use (OR=3.90), and childhood adversities (OR=2.80). For depressive disorders, they were widowhood (RR=5.59), sexual dysfunction (OR=2.71), three (OR=1.99) or four‐five (OR=2.06) metabolic factors, childhood physical (OR=1.98) and sexual (OR=2.42) abuse, job strain (OR=1.77), obesity (OR=1.35), and sleep disturbances (RR=1.92). For autism spectrum disorder, the most robust risk factor was maternal overweight pre/during pregnancy (RR=1.28). For attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), they were maternal pre‐pregnancy obesity (OR=1.63), maternal smoking during pregnancy (OR=1.60), and maternal overweight pre/during pregnancy (OR=1.28). Only one robust protective factor was detected: high physical activity (hazard ratio, HR=0.62) for Alzheimer’s disease. In all, 32.9% of the associations were of high quality, 48.9% of medium quality, and 18.2% of low quality. Transdiagnostic class I‐III risk/protective factors were mostly involved in the early neurodevelopmental period. The evidence‐based atlas of key risk and protective factors identified in this study represents a benchmark for advancing clinical characterization and research, and for expanding early intervention and preventive strategies for mental disorders.     

Effects of Song Experience and Song Quality on Immediate Early Gene Expression in Female Canaries (Serinus canaria)

Female songbirds are thought to make mate choices based on aspects of male song quality. Male canaries (Serinus canaria) produce songs with “special” syllables that have been shown to be highly salient to female listeners – eliciting high rates of sexual displays and enhanced immediate early gene (IEG) expression. Immunohistochemistry for the IEG ZENK was used to examine the effects of experience with these syllables on activity in the caudal mesopallium (CMM) and nidocaudal mesopallium (NCM), two auditory areas important in processing conspecific song. Photostimulated female canaries were housed in sound attenuated chambers and played pseudosongs containing either three special syllables or three non‐special syllables, an intro, and an outro sequence. Females that heard special syllable pseudosongs exhibited higher ZENK expression in CMM. To assess the effects of experience, photostimulated females were pair housed and exposed to playback of song with or without special syllables for 14 days. After transfer to individual housing, birds were played one of the aforementioned stimuli or silence. ZENK expression in CMM and NCM was equivalent for song with and without special syllables, but significantly lower for silence. Females who experienced song with special syllables had lower plasma estradiol concentrations after final song playback. This study indicates that CMM exhibits an IEG response bias to special syllables in limited acoustic contexts, but not in full song, which may contain additional biologically relevant information. Furthermore, estradiol concentrations may mediate changes in song responses, serving as a mechanism for modulating mate choice in differing song environments.     

Early life of fathers affects offspring fitness in a wild rodent

Intergenerational fitness effects on offspring due to the early life of the parent are well studied from the standpoint of the maternal environment, but intergenerational effects owing to the paternal early life environment are often overlooked. Nonetheless, recent laboratory studies in mammals and ecologically relevant studies in invertebrates predict that paternal effects can have a major impact on the offspring's phenotype. These nongenetic, environment‐dependent paternal effects provide a mechanism for fathers to transmit environmental information to their offspring and could allow rapid adaptation. We used the bank vole Myodes glareolus, a wild rodent species with no paternal care, to test the hypothesis that a high population density environment in the early life of fathers can affect traits associated with offspring fitness. We show that the protein content in the diet and/or social environment experienced during the father's early life (prenatal and weaning) influence the phenotype and survival of his offspring and may indicate adaptation to density‐dependent costs. Furthermore, we show that experiencing multiple environmental factors during the paternal early life can lead to a different outcome on the offspring phenotype than stimulated by experience of a single environmental factor, highlighting the need to study developmental experiences in tandem rather than independent of each other.     

Inner structural organization of the mandibular corpus in the late Early Pleistocene human specimens Tighenif 1 and Tighenif 2

The present study investigates the inner structural organization of the two mandible specimens Tighenif 1 and Tighenif 2 from the late early Pleistocene site of Tighenif, Algeria. Using (micro)tomographic scans, we built a new protocol to investigate the cortical bone topography at the post-canine level. We selected two cross-sectional slices placed between the P3/P4 and M1/M2 on the right and left sides and assessed the cortical bone thickness topography (CBT) on each slice. Our analyses demonstrate that the mandibles from Tighenif exhibit higher CBT and a different topographic distribution pattern at the molar level than in modern humans, resulting in a proportionally more robust inner structure, while a similar signal is observed between the fossil and extant specimens at the premolar level. Further studies need to be done in order to determine if this feature is related to functional constraints during mastication or paramasticatory activities; or if it is related to any independent evolutionary process.     

Genetic mutation analysis at early stages of cell line development using next generation sequencing

A central goal for most biopharmaceutical companies is to reduce the development timeline to reach clinical proof of concept. This objective requires the development of tools that ensure the quality of biotherapeutic material destined for the clinic. Recent advances in high throughput protein analytics provide confidence in our ability to assess productivity and product quality attributes at early stages of cell line development. However, one quality attribute has, until recently, been absent from the standard battery of analytical tests facilitating informed choices early in cell line selection: genetic sequence confirmation. Techniques historically used for mutation analysis, such as detailed mass spectrometry, have limitations on the sample number and turnaround times making it less attractive at early stages. Thus, we explored the utility of Next‐Generation Sequencing (NGS) as a solution to address these limitations. Amplicon sequencing is one such NGS technique that is robust, rapid, sensitive, and amenable to multiplexing, all of which are essential attributes for our purposes. Here we report a NGS method based upon amplicon sequencing that has been successfully incorporated into our cell line development workflow alongside other high‐throughput protein analytical assays. The NGS method has demonstrated its value by identifying at least one Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) clone expressing a variant form of the biotherapeutic in each of the four clinical programs in which it has been utilized. We believe this sequence confirmation method is essential to safely accelerating the time to clinical proof of concept of biotherapeutics, and guard against delays related to sequence mutations. © 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 32:813–817, 2016     

Dose-dependent effects of developmental mercury exposure on C-start escape responses of larval zebrafish Danio rerio

Zebrafish Danio rerio embryos were exposed to 0, 25, 50 or 75 ppb Hg²⁺ from 0 to 24 h post‐fertilization (hpf) then placed into Hg²⁺‐free water. Inductively coupled plasma‐mass spectrophotometer analysis of whole embryo Hg²⁺ content at 24 hpf showed a positive correlation with exposure regime (Pearson's one‐tailed, r²= 0·698, P < 0·01); at 5 days post‐hatch (dph), whole larval Hg²⁺ content was not detectable. Hg²⁺‐induced behavioural deficits in larvae were, therefore, due to changes during embryogenesis and not to residual Hg²⁺ in the larvae. At 5 dph, larvae were tested for responses to different frequencies but equal intensities of vibrational stimuli generated by a remotely controlled plastic hammer. Data were recorded by high‐speed videography and computer‐analysed for latency of response (ms), amplitude of the response as measured by maximum initial velocity [normalized as body (standard) lengths s^?1; V_max] and duration of behaviour from initial head movement to cessation of caudal tail movement (ms). A single mechanical stimulus resulted in behavioural outcomes that were related to embryonic Hg²⁺ uptake. Response latency increased with exposure level and displayed an increase of ×1·5–2·5 over control values (ANOVA, P < 0·01). The V_max decreased with exposure level to a low of 71% of control at the highest Hg²⁺ concentration (ANOVA, P < 0·01). Duration of behaviour displayed a biphasic response pattern in which exposure to 0, 50 or 75 ppb Hg²⁺ did not result in a significantly different response yet exposure to 25 ppb Hg²⁺ caused a significantly longer time of active response (ANOVA, P < 0·01). Repeated stimulation (1, 2 or 4 hits s^?1) resulted in a concentration‐dependent increase in response failures. Regardless of stimulation frequency, larvae exposed to 0 or 25 ppb Hg²⁺ as embryos maintained higher V_max levels for longer intervals during the testing period than those exposed as embryos to either 50 or 75 ppb Hg²⁺.     

Ti2448合金种植体表面不同纳米管径生物活性膜对成骨细胞早期黏附的影响

观察Ti2448合金表面不同纳米管径生物活性膜对成骨细胞早期黏附的影响,筛选出能够抵抗细菌在种植体表面黏附和定植的最适管径,为研制开发具有抗菌性能的种植体提供实验基础。采用阳极氧化法,设定不同氧化电压,在Ti2448合金表面生成具有不同纳米管径的生物活性膜。通过MTT实验检测不同管径纳米管表面在不同时间点黏附的MG-63细胞数量差异;通过免疫荧光法观察接种24h后不同管径纳米管表面黏附细胞形态学差异。结果显示,细胞接种3h和24h后,30nm组的OD值显著高于对照组及其他实验组(P0.05);随着纳米管径的增加,细胞骨架蛋白的铺展范围逐渐减小,细胞由多角形渐变为梭形、椭圆形、圆形。研究结果表明,30nm管径生物活性膜更有利于成骨细胞的早期黏附,可能更能抵抗细菌在钛种植体上的黏附与定植。