Shadow enhancers flanking the HoxB cluster direct dynamic Hox expression in early heart and endoderm development

The products of Hox genes function in assigning positional identity along the anterior–posterior body axis during animal development. In mouse embryos, Hox genes located at the 3′ end of HoxA and HoxB complexes are expressed in nested patterns in the progenitors of the secondary heart field during early cardiogenesis and the combined activities of both of these clusters are required for proper looping of the heart. Using Hox bacterial artificial chromosomes (BACs), transposon reporters, and transgenic analyses in mice, we present the identification of several novel enhancers flanking the HoxB complex which can work over a long range to mediate dynamic reporter expression in the endoderm and embryonic heart during development. These enhancers respond to exogenously added retinoic acid and we have identified two retinoic acid response elements (RAREs) within these control modules that play a role in potentiating their regulatory activity. Deletion analysis in HoxB BAC reporters reveals that these control modules, spread throughout the flanking intergenic region, have regulatory activities that overlap with other local enhancers. This suggests that they function as shadow enhancers to modulate the expression of genes from the HoxB complex during cardiac development. Regulatory analysis of the HoxA complex reveals that it also has enhancers in the 3′ flanking region which contain RAREs and have the potential to modulate expression in endoderm and heart tissues. Together, the similarities in their location, enhancer output, and dependence on retinoid signaling suggest that a conserved cis-regulatory cassette located in the 3′ proximal regions adjacent to the HoxA and HoxB complexes evolved to modulate Hox gene expression during mammalian cardiac and endoderm development. This suggests a common regulatory mechanism, whereby the conserved control modules act over a long range on multiple Hox genes to generate nested patterns of HoxA and HoxB expression during cardiogenesis.     

PnF3H,a flavanone 3-hydroxylase from the Antarctic moss <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pohlia nutans</Emphasis>, confers tolerance to salt stress and ABA treatment in transgenic <Emphasis Type="Italic">Arabidopsis</Emphasis>

In the condition of prolonged drought stress during the reproductive stage, we addressed the photosynthetic performance in flag leaves of the high-yield hybrid rice (Oryza sativa L.) LYPJ. The chlorophyll a fluorescence transient dynamics analysis indicated a timely and constant responsive pattern involving in both PSI and PSII. For PSII functionality, uncoupling of oxygen evolving complex at the donor side and inhibition of electron transport from Q_A to Q_B at the accepter side were both accounted for the decrease of quantum yield of primary photochemistry at early stage (before 21 days after the onset of drought stress). Likewise, increased size of functional antenna may be primarily responsible for early reaction centers inactivation in drought stressed plants, but transformation to non-Q_A-reducing centers for the later. The consequent redundant excitation energy was predominantly eliminated by the increasing thermal dissipation. Advanced accumulation of drought stress (from 21 to 35 days) showed preferential impact on the donor side of PSII and significant loss of RC/CS₀ was induced during this period. In brief, up-regulation of thermal dissipation and possible cyclic electron transport, as well as down-regulation of activated reaction centers and linear electron transport was crucial for rebalance the energy distribution between the two photosystems from deviant stoichiometry resulting from the uncoupling of oxygen evolving complex.     

Turning waste into wealth: nitrogen-doped carbon quantum dots derived from fruits wastes for sensing

Hydrothermal treatment of m-phenylenediamine and grape seed powder has been adopted to synthesize nitrogen-doped carbon quantum dots (N-CQDs). The prepared N-CQDs possessed outstanding optical properties and high quantum yield. Based on the combined effect of static quenching effect and inner filter effect of permanganate (MnO₄⁻) to N-CQDs and the redox reaction that occurred between MnO₄⁻ and l -ascorbic acid (l -AA), an ‘off–on’ fluorescence strategy with N-CQDs has been proposed for the detection of MnO₄⁻ and l -AA. The proposed fluorescent probe was fast, sensitive and selective to MnO₄⁻ and l -AA under mild conditions. In addition, the satisfactory results of the proposed strategy for the detection of MnO₄⁻ and l -AA in real samples indicated its practicability.     

Combined transcriptome and proteome analysis provides insights into anthocyanin accumulation in the leaves of red-leaved poplars

Plant Molecular Biology - Anthocyanin was highly accumulated in the leaves of red-leaved poplars; Many structural genes involved in anthocyanin synthesis were significantly up-regulated in...     

FGF21 ameliorates hepatic fibrosis by multiple mechanisms

Molecular Biology Reports - Previous study reports that fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) could ameliorate hepatic fibrosis, but its mechanisms have not been fully investigated. In this study,...     

Nearly a decade‐long repeatable seasonal diversity patterns of bacterioplankton communities in the eutrophic Lake Donghu (Wuhan,China)

Uncovering which environmental factors govern community diversity patterns and how ecological processes drive community turnover are key questions related to understand the community assembly. However, the ecological mechanisms regulating long‐term variations of bacterioplankton communities in lake ecosystems remain poorly understood. Here we present nearly a decade‐long study of bacterioplankton communities from the eutrophic Lake Donghu (Wuhan, China) using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing with MiSeq platform. We found strong repeatable seasonal diversity patterns in terms of both common (detected in more than 50% samples) and dominant (relative abundance >1%) bacterial taxa turnover. Moreover, community composition tracked the seasonal temperature gradient, indicating that temperature is a key environmental factor controlling observed diversity patterns. Total phosphorus also contributed significantly to the seasonal shifts in bacterioplankton composition. However, any spatial pattern of bacterioplankton communities across the main lake areas within season was overwhelmed by their temporal variabilities. Phylogenetic analysis further indicated that 75%–82% of community turnover was governed by homogeneous selection due to consistent environmental conditions within seasons, suggesting that the microbial communities in Lake Donghu are mainly controlled by niche‐based processes. Therefore, dominant niches available within seasons might be occupied by similar combinations of bacterial taxa with modest dispersal rates throughout different lake areas.     

金黄色葡萄球菌滤液制剂中肠毒素的检测研究

使用反向被动血凝试验(RPHA),对金黄色葡萄球菌滤液制剂中的肠毒素(SET)进行了检测研究.证明已生产和临床应用近10 a的金黄色葡萄球菌滤液制剂中检测到SET存在.其型别系属SET中的C型.按原生产工艺所生产的金黄色葡萄球菌滤液制剂原液中SET的含量在12.5～50 mg/L.生产时欲提高SET含量的条件试验中证实,使用葡萄球菌产毒的胰酪胨综合培养基,以摇瓶方式培养24～36 h,可使SET含量比用生产培养基培养提高16倍.金黄色萄萄球菌滤液制剂中SET的成分是极其稳定的,室温存放2 a未见该成分降低.其半衰期可达4 a.在采用RPHA和RPLA检测SET比较试验中证明:RPLA试剂的敏感性高于RPHA的4倍.但对于检测金黄色葡萄球菌滤液制剂中SET的实际含量几乎是相等的.     

The Elongation Performance of Spirulina-templated Silver Micro Springs Embedded in the Polydimethylsiloxane

Helical conductive particles have attracted much attention in preparing stretchable conductive materials because of their structural flexibility and uniform strain distribution under deformation.In this paper,Spirulina-templated silver micro springs were fabricated using electroless deposition of silver onto Spirulina surface.To investigate their potential application as conductive fillers for stretchable materials,they were mixed into polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) uniformly,and then the mixture was spin coated on a polyfluortetraethylene (PTFE) plate to form a thin film,during which,micro springs tended to align its major axis along the radial direction of the plate.The tensile tests of micro springs were carried out using the film along the alignment direction of micro springs on the custom-made setup.Under the optimal condition of coating thickness of 0.67 μtm,helical pitch of 29 μm and annealing temperature of 300 ℃,the average elongation of micro springs can reach up to ～106.9％,which indicates that the as-prepared Spirulina-templated silver micro springs are promising flexible conductive fillers for fabricating stretchable conductive materials.     

控水与补水条件下连续热浪对闽楠光合特性和生长速率的影响

全球变暖背景下,亚热带地区极端气候热浪事件发生频率持续增加。高频热浪及其伴随的高温和干旱复合胁迫将严重影响植物的光合特性,抑制植物的生长,甚至造成死亡。然而,目前亚热带树木光合特性及生长对高频热浪及复合胁迫的响应仍不明确。以亚热带阔叶树种闽楠苗木为研究对象进行了热浪模拟实验,关注了补水和控水处理不同水分环境下连续热浪对闽楠光合特性及生长速率的影响。结果表明,补水处理下闽楠净光合速率(Pn)在单次热浪影响下显著下降了34%,同时水分利用效率显著(WUE)下降,但蒸腾速率(Tr)、气孔导度(Gs)和叶片水汽压亏缺(Leaf_vpd)显著上升(P<0.05)。表明水分充沛的高温环境中闽楠可通过增加蒸腾耗水加速水分蒸散来调节叶片的温度,增强植株光合特性对热浪的抗性。而控水处理下单次热浪处理组Tr和Gs未显著上升,以及Tr与Leaf_vpd在干湿环境下线性拟合的不同斜率,说明水分胁迫会降低叶片降温的效率,加剧热浪对闽楠光合特性的影响。水分和高温的复合胁迫还延长了闽楠光合特性在热浪后的恢复过程,高温胁迫下闽楠Pn在15 d后恢复至未干扰水平,但复合胁迫...