SHY2 as a node in the regulation of root meristem development by auxin,brassinosteroids, and cytokinin

In multicellular organisms, the balance between cell division and differentiation determines organ size, and represents a central unknown in developmental biology. In Arabidopsis roots, this balance is mediated between cytokinin and auxin through a regulatory circuit converging on the IAA3/SHORT HYPOCOTYL 2 (SHY2) gene. Here, we show that crosstalk between brassinosteroids (BRs) and auxin occurs in the vascular transition zone to promote root meristem development. We found that BR increases root meristem size by up‐regulating expression of the PINFORMED 7 (PIN7) gene and down‐regulating expression of the SHY2 gene. In addition, BES1 could directly bind to the promoter regions of both PIN7 and SHY2, indicating that PIN7 and SHY2 mediate the BR‐induced growth of the root meristem by serving as direct targets of BES1. Moreover, the PIN7 overexpression and loss‐of‐function SHY2 mutant were sensitive to the effects of BR and could partially suppress the short‐root phenotypes associated with deficient BR signaling. Interestingly, BRs could inhibit the accumulation of SHY2 protein in response to cytokinin. Taken together, these findings suggest that a complex equilibrium model exists in which regulatory interactions among BRs, auxin, and cytokinin regulate optimal root growth.     

A review on methods for diagnosis of breast cancer cells and tissues

Breast cancer has seriously been threatening physical and mental health of women in the world, and its morbidity and mortality also show clearly upward trend in China over time. Through inquiry, we find that survival rate of patients with early‐stage breast cancer is significantly higher than those with middle‐ and late‐stage breast cancer, hence, it is essential to conduct research to quickly diagnose breast cancer. Until now, many methods for diagnosing breast cancer have been developed, mainly based on imaging and molecular biotechnology examination. These methods have great contributions in screening and confirmation of breast cancer. In this review article, we introduce and elaborate the advances of these methods, and then conclude some gold standard diagnostic methods for certain breast cancer patients. We lastly discuss how to choose the most suitable diagnostic methods for breast cancer patients. In general, this article not only summarizes application and development of these diagnostic methods, but also provides the guidance for researchers who work on diagnosis of breast cancer.     

雏鸡源致病性粪肠球菌的分离鉴定及其耐药性分析

【背景】粪肠球菌(Enterococcus faecalis)是人和动物肠道正常菌群之一,也是一种条件性致病菌。近年来,粪肠球菌引起人和动物感染的报道越来越多。【目的】探明引起某养鸡场雏鸡发病死亡的病原及其致病性和有效治疗药物。【方法】结合临床症状和病理剖检,开展病原菌分离、生理生化特性检测和16S rRNA基因序列分析、致病性试验、耐药分析和对患病鸡群的药物治疗。【结果】患病鸡有昏睡、瘫痪或共济失调等临床症状;肝、脾肿大,肝脏发黄、少量出血点、质脆易碎,肠道粘膜增厚、出血,脑轻微水肿;从肝脏组织分离得到一株革兰氏阳性球菌,经纯化培养后命名为CJ517;依据该菌株形态特征、生理生化特性和16S rRNA基因序列分析鉴定为粪肠球菌;致病性试验显示CJ517菌株能致死小鼠,致死率为66.67%;该菌对头孢噻肟、磷霉素、丁胺卡那等药物敏感,对多西环素、卡那霉素、新霉素、氟苯尼考等药物耐药;经用敏感药物和提高免疫力结合治疗后,鸡群病情得到控制。【结论】研究结果可为临床诊断和治疗动物粪肠球菌感染提供参考。     

群落/生态系统功能多样性研究方法及展望

功能多样性是指影响群落/生态系统功能的物种性状值和范围,是解释和预测生态系统结构和功能的有效手段之一,可将植物个体尺度与群落尺度和生态系统尺度的相关生态学问题联系起来。虽已发展出多种功能多样性定量化研究方法,但不同方法结果差异较大,难以进行多研究间的比较研究。比较探讨各功能多样性研究方法的优缺点有利于拓展功能多样性内涵,也有助于功能生态学的应用与发展。回顾了当前10种功能多样性的定量化研究方法,并指出选取合适功能多样性方法的关键在于,应考虑选取群落/生态系统中的哪些物种、哪些功能性状、选取的功能性状数目、以及如何对功能性状权重等。对比发现,功能分散性指数和Rao二次熵系数的研究方法在众多方法中优势明显,具有较高的应用潜力;标准化功能多样性的研究方法在未来仍需进一步完善。利用功能多样性指数预测群落/生态系统过程和功能当前仍多侧重于理论研究,野外实证研究较为缺乏,是功能生态学未来研究的重点和难点之一。     

Toward subject-specific evaluation: methods of evaluating finite element brain models using experimental high-rate rotational brain motion

Biomechanics and Modeling in Mechanobiology - Computational models of the brain have become the gold standard in biomechanics to understand, predict, and mitigate traumatic brain injuries. Many...     

The Cotranslational Function of Ribosome-Associated Hsp70 in Eukaryotic Protein Homeostasis

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Highlights? Yeast Hsp70 SSB binds cotranslationally to a defined set of nascent polypeptides ? SSB shows specificity for substrates highly challenged in cotranslational folding ? The heterodimeric cochaperone RAC modulates cotranslational SSB specificity ? Loss of SSB function leads to widespread misfolding and aggregation     

Graphene oxide supported rhombic dodecahedral Cu2O nanocrystals for the detection of carcinoembryonic antigen

In this work, a simple electrochemical immunosensor was developed for the detection of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) based on rhombic dodecahedral Cu₂O nanocrystals–graphene oxide–gold nanoparticles (rCu₂O–GO–AuNPs). GO as the template and surfactant resulting in rCu₂O exhibit improved rhombic dodecahedral structure uniformity and excellent electrochemical performance. Moreover, GO was found to be able to effectively improve the long stability of rCu₂O on the electrode response. Under optimal conditions, the immunosensor showed a low limit of detection (0.004 ng ml⁻¹) and a large linear range (0.01–120 ng ml⁻¹). This work presents a potential alternative for the diagnostic applications of GO-supported special morphology materials in biomedicine and biosensors.     

First Report of Black Leaf Spot Caused by Alternaria alternata on Ramie in China

In 2012 and 2013, black leaf spot disease was observed on ramie plants in Hunan and Hubei Provinces, China. In the field, the symptoms of this disease included dark green to black big spots on leaves, often resulting in upwardly curled leaf margins. The pathogen isolates were identified as Alternaria alternata (Fr.) Keissler on the basis of morphology and sequence similarity of 99–100% to the published data for internal transcribed spacer (ITS), and glyceraldehyde‐3‐phosphate dehydrogenase (gdp). To our knowledge, this is the first report of Alternaria leaf spot of ramie in China.     

Synthesis of a novel family of diterpenes and their evaluation as anti-inflammatory agents

The synthesis and biological evaluation of a new family of diterpenes, represented by structures 2 and 3, is presented. These compounds constitute isomeric analogues of acanthoic acid (1) and were examined as potent anti-inflammatory agents. Among them, methyl ester 12 exhibited a low non-specific cytotoxicity, inhibited TNF-alpha synthesis and displayed good specificity in suppressing cytokine expression.