杨梅根结线虫病及其病原鉴定

本文报道对杨梅根结线虫病的研究及病原鉴定结果。该病症状为:病树根部形成大小不一的根结,内有乳白色囊状雌虫及棕色卵囊;后期根结腐烂,病树叶片黄化脱落,梢枯乃至死亡。病原鉴定确认,引起该病的根结线虫有3个种:爪哇根结线虫(Meloidogyne javanica)、南方根结线虫(M.incognita)和北方根结线虫(M. hapla)。爪哇根结线虫为优势种。     

TET‐catalyzed oxidation of intragenic 5‐methylcytosine regulates CTCF‐dependent alternative splicing

Intragenic 5‐methylcytosine and CTCF mediate opposing effects on pre‐mRNA splicing: CTCF promotes inclusion of weak upstream exons through RNA polymerase II pausing, whereas 5‐methylcytosine evicts CTCF, leading to exon exclusion. However, the mechanisms governing dynamic DNA methylation at CTCF‐binding sites were unclear. Here, we reveal the methylcytosine dioxygenases TET1 and TET2 as active regulators of CTCF‐mediated alternative splicing through conversion of 5‐methylcytosine to its oxidation derivatives. 5‐hydroxymethylcytosine and 5‐carboxylcytosine are enriched at an intragenic CTCF‐binding sites in the CD45 model gene and are associated with alternative exon inclusion. Reduced TET levels culminate in increased 5‐methylcytosine, resulting in CTCF eviction and exon exclusion. In vitro analyses establish the oxidation derivatives are not sufficient to stimulate splicing, but efficiently promote CTCF association. We further show genomewide that reciprocal exchange of 5‐hydroxymethylcytosine and 5‐methylcytosine at downstream CTCF‐binding sites is a general feature of alternative splicing in naïve and activated CD4⁺ T cells. These findings significantly expand our current concept of the pre‐mRNA “splicing code” to include dynamic intragenic DNA methylation catalyzed by the TET proteins.     

Simulating nitrogen response of irrigated rice

A dynamic model to simulate the growth and yield of irrigated, transplanted rice in relation to daily solar radiation, mean temperature and shoot nitrogen concentration was applied to rice crops in western Java, Indonesia.Observations of shoot nitrogen concentration throughout the life-cycles of experimental crops were used as input to the simulation. The experiments consisted of 23 treatments representing different forms of nitrogen fertilizer, and different rates, times and methods of application. The model accurately fitted the growth and yield of 12 of these treatments and was successfully tested on the 11 treatments which were not involved in the filting.The parts of the model dealing with nitrogen simulate daily growth as a non-linear function of nitrogen concentration of non-grain shoot tissue relative to upper and lower limits. During the grain-filling phase the model simulates the competition for plant nitrogen between grain and assimilating tissue.The model was used to simulate the effects of increases in nitrogen status of a rice crop in the environmental conditions of western Java. Simulations with the model suggest an interaction between the timing and amount of nitrogen accumulation in plant tissue, with little effect of timing on yield for small increases in nitrogen status, but an advantage for early over late application for large increases in nitrogen status.     

Firstborn sex defines early childhood growth of subsequent siblings

Animal studies have shown that maternal resource allocation can be sex-biased in order to maximize reproductive success, yet this basic concept has not been investigated in humans. In this study, we explored relationships between maternal factors, offspring sex and prenatal and postnatal weight gain. Sex-specific regression models not only indicated that maternal ethnicity impacted male (n = 2456) and female (n = 1871) childrens postnatal weight gain differently but also that parity and mode of feeding influenced weight velocity of female (β ± s.e. = −0.31 ± 0.11 kg, p = 0.005; β ± s.e. = −0.37 ± 0.11 kg, p < 0.001) but not male offspring. Collectively, our findings imply that maternal resource allocation to consecutive offspring increases after a male firstborn. The absence of this finding in formula fed children suggests that this observation could be mediated by breast milk. Our results warrant further mechanistic and epidemiological studies to elucidate the role of breastfeeding on the programming of infant growth as well as of metabolic and cardiovascular diseases, with potential implications for tailoring infant formulae according to sex and birth order.