The Ability of Tetrahymena utriculariae (Ciliophora,Oligohymenophorea) to Colonize Traps of Different Species of Aquatic Carnivorous Utricularia

The host specificity of the recently described ciliate species Tetrahymena utriculariae was tested in a greenhouse growth experiment, which included 14 different species of aquatic Utricularia as potential host plants. We confirmed the high specificity of the interaction between U. reflexa and T. utriculariae, the former being the only tested host species able to maintain colonization for prolonged time periods. We conclude that this plant–microbe relationship is a unique and specialized form of digestive mutualism and the plant–microbe unit a suitable experimental system for future ecophysiological studies.     

Long‐term research avoids spurious and misleading trends in sustainability attributes of no‐till

Agricultural management recommendations based on short‐term studies can produce findings inconsistent with long‐term reality. Here, we test the long‐term environmental sustainability and profitability of continuous no‐till agriculture on yield, soil water availability, and N₂O fluxes. Using a moving window approach, we investigate the development and stability of several attributes of continuous no‐till as compared to conventional till agriculture over a 29‐year period at a site in the upper Midwest, US. Over a decade is needed to detect the consistent effects of no‐till. Both crop yield and soil water availability required 15 years or longer to generate patterns consistent with 29‐year trends. Only marginal trends for N₂O fluxes appeared in this period. Relative profitability analysis suggests that after initial implementation, 86% of periods between 10 and 29 years recuperated the initial expense of no‐till implementation, with the probability of higher relative profit increasing with longevity. Importantly, statistically significant but misleading short‐term trends appeared in more than 20% of the periods examined. Results underscore the importance of decadal and longer studies for revealing consistent dynamics and emergent outcomes of no‐till agriculture, shown to be beneficial in the long term.     

The Chimonanthus salicifolius genome provides insight into magnoliid evolution and flavonoid biosynthesis

Chimonanthus salicifolius, a member of the Calycanthaceae of magnoliids, is one of the most famous medicinal plants in Eastern China. Here, we report a chromosome‐level genome assembly of C. salicifolius, comprising 820.1 Mb of genomic sequence with a contig N50 of 2.3 Mb and containing 36 651 annotated protein‐coding genes. Phylogenetic analyses revealed that magnoliids were sister to the eudicots. Two rounds of ancient whole‐genome duplication were inferred in the C. salicifolious genome. One is shared by Calycanthaceae after its divergence with Lauraceae, and the other is in the ancestry of Magnoliales and Laurales. Notably, long genes with > 20 kb in length were much more prevalent in the magnoliid genomes compared with other angiosperms, which could be caused by the length expansion of introns inserted by transposon elements. Homologous genes within the flavonoid pathway for C. salicifolius were identified, and correlation of the gene expression and the contents of flavonoid metabolites revealed potential critical genes involved in flavonoids biosynthesis. This study not only provides an additional whole‐genome sequence from the magnoliids, but also opens the door to functional genomic research and molecular breeding of C. salicifolius.     

Genetic variation in an ephemeral mudflat species: The role of the soil seed bank and dispersal in river and secondary anthropogenic habitats

Many ephemeral mudflat species, which rely on a soil seed bank to build up the next generation, are endangered in their natural habitat due to the widespread regulation of rivers. The aim of the present study was to elucidate the role of the soil seed bank and dispersal for the maintenance of genetic diversity in populations of near‐natural river habitats and anthropogenic habitats created by traditional fish farming practices using Cyperus fuscus as a model. Using microsatellite markers, we found no difference in genetic diversity levels between soil seed bank and above‐ground population and only moderate differentiation between the two fractions. One possible interpretation is the difference in short‐term selection during germination under specific conditions (glasshouse versus field) resulting in an ecological filtering of genotypes out of the reservoir in the soil. River populations harbored significantly more genetic diversity than populations from the anthropogenic pond types. We suggest that altered levels and patterns of dispersal together with stronger selection pressures and historical bottlenecks in anthropogenic habitats are responsible for the observed reduction in genetic diversity. Dispersal is also supposed to largely prohibit genetic structure across Europe, although there is a gradient in private allelic richness from southern Europe (high values) to northern, especially north‐western, Europe (low values), which probably relates to postglacial expansion out of southern and/or eastern refugia.     

The role of EMT-related lncRNA in the process of triple-negative breast cancer metastasis

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is the most malignant and fatal subtype of breast cancer, which has characterized by negativity expression of ER, PR, and HER2. Metastasis is the main factor affecting the prognosis of TNBC, and the process of metastasis is related to abnormal activation of epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT). Recent studies have shown that long non-coding RNA (LncRNA) plays an important role in regulating the metastasis and invasion of TNBC. Therefore, based on the metastasis-related EMT signaling pathway, great efforts have confirmed that LncRNA is involved in the molecular mechanism of TNBC metastasis, which will provide new strategies to improve the treatment and prognosis of TNBC. In this review, we summarized many signal pathways related to EMT involved in the transfer process. The advances from the most recent studies of lncRNAs in the EMT-related signal pathways of TNBC metastasis. We also discussed the clinical research, application, and challenges of LncRNA in TNBC.     

LncRNA AWPPH as a prognostic predictor in human cancers in Chinese population: evidence from meta-analysis

Background: Long non-coding RNA associated with poor prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (AWPPH) is dysregulated in a variety of human cancers. However, the prognostic value of AWPPH in various cancers remains unclear.Methods: Comprehensive literature search was performed in PubMed, Web of Science, CNKI and Wangfang databases, and eligible studies were obtained according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The pooled hazard ratios (HRs) and odds ratios (ORs) were applied to assess the clinical value of AWPPH expression for overall survival (OS) and clinicopathological features.Results: A total of 19 articles including 1699 cancer patients were included in the study. The pooled results demonstrated that evaluated AWPPH expression was positively related to a poorer overall survival of patients with cancers (HR = 1.79, 95%CI: 1.44–2.14, P<0.001). Subgroup analysis revealed that tumor type and sample size affect the predictive value of AWPPH on OS, whereas cut-off value and HR estimation method have no impact on it. In addition, the pooled data also showed that AWPPH was positively linked to advanced TNM stage (OR = 2.50, 95%CI: 1.94–3.22, P<0.001), bigger tumor size (OR = 2.64, 95%CI: 1.47–4.73, P=0.001), macro-vascular invasion (OR = 2.08, 95%CI: 1.04–4.16, P=0.04) and lymph node metastasis (OR = 2.68, 95%CI: 1.82–3.96, P<0.001). Moreover, the results of the trim and fill analysis confirmed the reliability of our finding.Conclusions: Up-regulation of AWPPH was associated with advanced TNM stage, bigger tumor size, worse lymph node metastasis, macro-vascular invasion and shorter overall survival, suggesting that AWPPH may serve as a biomarker for prognosis and clinicopathological characteristics in human cancers among the Chinese population.     

用于白蚁防治的联苯菊酯微胶囊的制备及性能研究

针对白蚁防治药剂联苯菊酯传统加工剂型存在的安全性差、持效期短等缺点,采用溶剂蒸发法制备联苯菊酯微胶囊.通过粒径大小、外观形貌、包封率以及载药量筛选出最佳芯壁比、乳化剂用量和剪切时间,并对微胶囊理化特性及释放性能进行表征,同时考察微胶囊对白蚁的杀灭效果和持效性.研究结果表明,芯壁比为1:1.5,乳化剂用量为7％,剪切时间为6 min时制备的联苯菊酯微胶囊粒径适中(97.6μm),包封率高达70.5％,缓释性能良好,与市售乳油相比,对白蚁的杀灭效果相当,但持效性能优异.该研究获得的联苯菊酯微胶囊为安全、高效防治白蚁提供了技术手段.     

长链非编码RNA表征及其在结直肠癌发生发展中的作用和临床意义

长非编码RNA（long non-coding RNAs, lncRNAs）是一类转录本长度大于200个核苷酸,不具有蛋白质编码功能的非编码RNA（non-coding RNA, ncRNA）。人类基因组中,ncRNA基因占比超过90%,数量远大于蛋白质编码基因。作为生物大分子,lncRNA具有特定的初级和高级结构,在基因表达调控等生物学进程中发挥着特有的功能。lncRNA数量多,结构各异,因此鉴定和表征新的lncRNA,探索其结构和功能,是当前基因研究领域的热点之一。在临床疾病机制研究中,大量结果表明,lncRNA与临床疾病发生发展,特别是肿瘤的发生发展具有密切的相关性。伴随着后基因组学时代基因鉴定和功能探索方法的不断进步,探索lncRNA在疾病发生中的功能及表达变化,深入解锁lncRNA在疾病发生中涉及的分子机制,将为疾病早期预防、诊断和预后提供有效参考。基于以上的研究大背景,本文对lncRNA的定义、基因鉴定的策略和方法,高级结构检测及其对应的生物学功能,以及lncRNA的分类进行了阐述;另一方面,基于lncRNA与肿瘤发生发展的密切关系,本文以经典抑癌基因p53为切入点,对多种p53相关的lncRNA在结直肠癌（colorectal cancer, CRC）发生发展中的作用进行了归纳小结,阐述了lncRNA在结直肠癌中的表达变化、涉及的分子互作机制和信号通路,对其作为分子标志物在临床中的应用潜力进行了评估。我们乐观地认为,作为生物分子标志物,lncRNA将为包括癌症在内的疾病治疗提供全新、精准和个性化的分子靶点。