Unfavorable environmental cues severely affect crop productivity resulting in significant economic losses to farmers. In plants, multiple regulatory genes, such as the WRKY transcription factor (TF) family, modulate t...Unfavorable environmental cues severely affect crop productivity resulting in significant economic losses to farmers. In plants, multiple regulatory genes, such as the WRKY transcription factor (TF) family, modulate the expression of defense genes. However, the role of the pineapple WRKY genes is poorly understood. Here, we studied the pineapple WRKY gene, AcWRKY28, by generating AcWRKY28 over-expressing transgenic pineapple plants. Overexpression of AcWRKY28 enhanced the salt stress resistance in transgenic pineapple lines. Comparative transcriptome analysis of transgenic and wild-type pineapple plants showed that “plant-pathogen interaction” pathway genes, including 9calcium-dependent protein kinases (CPKs), were up-regulated in AcWRKY28 over-expressing plants. Furthermore, chromatin immunoprecipitation and yeast one-hybrid assays revealed AcCPK12, AcCPK3, AcCPK8, AcCPK1, and AcCPK15 as direct targets of AcWRKY28. Consistently, the study of AcCPK12 over-expressing Arabidopsis lines showed that AcCPK12 enhances salt, drought, and disease resistance. This study shows that AcWRKY28 plays a crucial role in promoting salt stress resistance by activating the expression of AcCPK genes.展开更多
This study designs a microstrip patch antenna with an inverted T-type notch in the partial ground to detect tumorcells inside the human breast.The size of the current antenna is small enough(18mm×21mm×1.6mm)...This study designs a microstrip patch antenna with an inverted T-type notch in the partial ground to detect tumorcells inside the human breast.The size of the current antenna is small enough(18mm×21mm×1.6mm)todistribute around the breast phantom.The operating frequency has been observed from6–14GHzwith a minimumreturn loss of−61.18 dB and themaximumgain of current proposed antenna is 5.8 dBiwhich is flexiblewith respectto the size of antenna.After the distribution of eight antennas around the breast phantom,the return loss curveswere observed in the presence and absence of tumor cells inside the breast phantom,and these observations showa sharp difference between the presence and absence of tumor cells.The simulated results show that this proposedantenna is suitable for early detection of cancerous cells inside the breast.展开更多
Dental stem cells(DSCs)have attracted significant interest as autologous stem cells since they are easily accessible and give a minimal immune response.These properties and their ability to both maintain self-renewal ...Dental stem cells(DSCs)have attracted significant interest as autologous stem cells since they are easily accessible and give a minimal immune response.These properties and their ability to both maintain self-renewal and undergo multi-lineage differentiation establish them as key players in regenerative medicine.While many regulatory factors determine the differentiation trajectory of DSCs,prior research has predominantly been based on genetic,epigenetic,and molecular aspects.Recent evidence suggests that DSC differentiation can also be influenced by autophagy,a highly conserved cellular process responsible for maintaining cellular and tissue homeostasis under various stress conditions.This comprehensive review endeavors to elucidate the intricate regulatory mechanism and relationship between autophagy and DSC differentiation.To achieve this goal,we dissect the intricacies of autophagy and its mechanisms.Subsequently,we elucidate its pivotal roles in impacting DSC differentiation,including osteo/odontogenic,neurogenic,and angiogenic trajectories.Furthermore,we reveal the regulatory factors that govern autophagy in DSC lineage commitment,including scaffold materials,pharmaceutical cues,and the extrinsic milieu.The implications of this review are far-reaching,underpinning the potential to wield autophagy as a regulatory tool to expedite DSC-directed differentiation and thereby promote the application of DSCs within the realm of regenerative medicine.展开更多
Autophagy is a widespread biological process that controls cellular growth,survival,development,and death.Circadian rhythm is a recurring reaction of living organisms and behaviors to variations in surrounding brightn...Autophagy is a widespread biological process that controls cellular growth,survival,development,and death.Circadian rhythm is a recurring reaction of living organisms and behaviors to variations in surrounding brightness and obscurity.Most of the fundamental physiological processes in mammals,such as the sleep-wake pattern and the rhythm of nutrition and energy metabolism,are governed by circadian rhythms.Research has indicated that autophagy exhibits a specific circadian pattern in both normal and abnormal conditions.Autophagy can modulate circadian rhythms by breaking down proteins that regulate the circadian clock.The potential regulatory connection between the two has been a popular subject of clinical and fundamental research.Understanding the interaction between circadian rhythm and autophagy could potentially lead to the development of novel approaches for disease treatment in the future.The present analysis presented a summary of the molecular processes implicated in the interplay between autophagy and circadian rhythm,as well as the pathological importance of the disrupted regulatory association between these two phenomena.展开更多
Deconvolution is a commonly employed technique for enhancing image quality in optical imaging methods.Unfortu-nately,its application in optical coherence tomography(OCT)is often hindered by sensitivity to noise,which ...Deconvolution is a commonly employed technique for enhancing image quality in optical imaging methods.Unfortu-nately,its application in optical coherence tomography(OCT)is often hindered by sensitivity to noise,which leads to ad-ditive ringing artifacts.These artifacts considerably degrade the quality of deconvolved images,thereby limiting its effect-iveness in OCT imaging.In this study,we propose a framework that integrates numerical random phase masks into the deconvolution process,effectively eliminating these artifacts and enhancing image clarity.The optimized joint operation of an iterative Richardson-Lucy deconvolution and numerical synthesis of random phase masks(RPM),termed as De-conv-RPM,enables a 2.5-fold reduction in full width at half-maximum(FWHM).We demonstrate that the Deconv-RPM method significantly enhances image clarity,allowing for the discernment of previously unresolved cellular-level details in nonkeratinized epithelial cells ex vivo and moving blood cells in vivo.展开更多
Plants are capable of regulating their shoot architecture in response to diverse internal and external environments.The circadian clock is an adaptive mechanism that integrates information from internal and ambient co...Plants are capable of regulating their shoot architecture in response to diverse internal and external environments.The circadian clock is an adaptive mechanism that integrates information from internal and ambient conditions to help plants cope with recurring environmental fluctuations.Despite the current understanding of plant circadian clock and genetic framework underlying plant shoot architecture,the intricate connection between these two adaptive mechanisms remains largely unclear.In this study,we elucidated how the core clock gene LUX ARRHYTHMO(LUX)regulates shoot architecture in the model legume plant Medicago truncatula.We show that mtlux mutant displays increased main stem height,reduced lateral shoot length,and decreased the number of lateral branches and biomass yield.Gene expression analysis revealed that Mt LUX regulated shoot architecture by repressing the expression of strigolactone receptor MtD14 and MtTB1/MtTCP1A,a TCP gene that functions centrally in modulating shoot architecture.In vivo and in vitro experiments showed that Mt LUX directly binds to a cis-element in the promoter of MtTB1/MtTCP1A,suggesting that Mt LUX regulates branching by rhythmically suppressing MtTB1/MtTCP1A.This work demonstrates the regulatory effect of the circadian clock on shoot architecture,offering a new understanding underlying the genetic basis towards the flexibility of plant shoot architecture.展开更多
Somaclonal variation in tissue culture is a common phenomenon induced by various external or internal environmental conditions,resulting in heritable or non-heritable alterations in gene expression. One crucial mechan...Somaclonal variation in tissue culture is a common phenomenon induced by various external or internal environmental conditions,resulting in heritable or non-heritable alterations in gene expression. One crucial mechanism involved in plant growth and development is epigenetic regulation. A highly dynamic epigenome can respond to environmental changes by regulating gene expression. DNA methylation is one of these epigenetic modifications that can alter gene expression in tissue-cultured pineapple plants. The underlying mechanism of such somaclonal variations in pineapple and the epigenetic regulation involvement in somaclonal variations has not been studied. This study performed DNA methylome and transcriptome sequencing of wild-type(WT) and mutant pineapple plants(WS, HW, and TW). We observed altered DNA methylation patterns in chlorophyll development in the mutants. Specifically, we noticed that the methylation levels in the CHG and CHH contexts were lower in the gene body regions compared to the upstream and downstream regions. We identified several thousand differentially methylated regions(DMRs) located at the gene body regions, some of which overlapped with the differentially expressed genes(DEGs). Functional enrichment analyses suggested that these genes were involved in chlorophyll metabolism. Thus, our results revealed that the transcriptional regulation of many chlorophyll metabolic essential genes could be regulated by DNA methylation caused by somaclonal variations and provided insights into epigenetic mechanisms underlying the regulation of chlorosis in pineapple plants.展开更多
SWEET transporters are a unique class of sugar transporters that play vital roles in various developmental and physiological processes in plants.While the functions of SWEETs have been well established in model plants...SWEET transporters are a unique class of sugar transporters that play vital roles in various developmental and physiological processes in plants.While the functions of SWEETs have been well established in model plants such as Arabidopsis,their functions in economically important fruit crops like pineapple have not been well studied.Here we aimed to investigate the substrate specificity of pineapple SWEETs by comparing the protein sequences of known glucose and sucrose transporters in Arabidopsis with those in pineapple.Our genome-wide approach and 3D structure comparison showed that the Arabidopsis SWEET8 homolog in pineapple,AcSWEET10,shares similar sequences and protein properties responsible for glucose transport.To determine the functional conservation of AcSWEET10,we tested its ability to complement glucose transport mutants in yeast and analyzed its expression in stamens and impact on the microspore phenotype and seed set in transgenic Arabidopsis.The results showed that AcSWEET10 is functionally equivalent to AtSWEET8 and plays a critical role in regulating microspore formation through the regulation of the Callose synthase5(CalS5),which highlights the importance of SWEET transporters in pineapple.This information could have important implications for improving fruit crop yield and quality by manipulating SWEET transporter activity.展开更多
Soil salinity is a growing concern for global crop production and the sustainable development of humanity.Therefore,it is crucial to comprehend salt tolerance mechanisms and identify salt-tolerance genes to enhance cr...Soil salinity is a growing concern for global crop production and the sustainable development of humanity.Therefore,it is crucial to comprehend salt tolerance mechanisms and identify salt-tolerance genes to enhance crop tolerance to salt stress.Suaeda glauca,a halophyte species well adapted to the seawater environment,possesses a unique ability to absorb and retain high salt concentrations within its cells,particularly in its leaves,suggesting the presence of a distinct mechanism for salt tolerance.In this study,we performed de novo sequencing of the S.glauca genome.The genome has a size of 1.02 Gb(consisting of two sets of haplotypes)and contains 54761 annotated genes,including alleles and repeats.Comparative genomic analysis revealed a strong synteny between the genomes of S.glauca and Beta vulgaris.Of the S.glauca genome,70.56%comprises repeat sequences,with retroelements being the most abundant.Leveraging the allele-aware assembly of the S.glauca genome,we investigated genome-wide allele-specific expression in the analyzed samples.The results indicated that the diversity in promoter sequences might contribute to consistent allele-specific expression.Moreover,a systematic analysis of the ABCE gene families shed light on the formation of S.glauca’s flower morphology,suggesting that dysfunction of A-class genes is responsible for the absence of petals in S.glauca.Gene family expansion analysis demonstrated significant enrichment of Gene Ontology(GO)terms associated with DNA repair,chromosome stability,DNA demethylation,cation binding,and red/far-red light signaling pathways in the co-expanded gene families of S.glauca and S.aralocaspica,in comparison with glycophytic species within the chenopodium family.Time-course transcriptome analysis under salt treatments revealed detailed responses of S.glauca to salt tolerance,and the enrichment of the transition-upregulated genes in the leaves associated with DNA repair and chromosome stability,lipid biosynthetic process,and isoprenoid metabolic process.Additionally,genome-wide analysis of transcription factors indicated a significant expansion of FAR1 gene family.However,further investigation is needed to determine the exact role of the FAR1 gene family in salt tolerance in S.glauca.展开更多
Drought stress is themajor abiotic factor that can seriously affect plant growth and crop production.The functions of flavin-containing monooxygenases(FMOs)are known in animals.They addmolecular oxygen to lipophilic c...Drought stress is themajor abiotic factor that can seriously affect plant growth and crop production.The functions of flavin-containing monooxygenases(FMOs)are known in animals.They addmolecular oxygen to lipophilic compounds or produce reactive oxygen species(ROS).However,little information on FMOs in plants is available.Here,we characterized a tomato drought-responsive gene that showed homology to FMO,and it was designated as FMO1.FMO1 was downregulated promptly by drought and ABA treatments.Transgenic functional analysis indicated that RNAi suppression of the expression of FMO1(FMO1-Ri)improved drought tolerance relative to wild-type(WT)plants,whereas overexpression of FMO1(FMO1-OE)reduced drought tolerance.The FMO1-Ri plants exhibited lower ABA accumulation,higher levels of antioxidant enzyme activities,and less ROS generation comparedwith theWTand FMO1-OE plants under drought stress.RNA-seq transcriptional analysis revealed the differential expression levels of many drought-responsive genes thatwere co-expressed with FMO1,including PP2Cs,PYLs,WRKY,and LEA.Using Y2H screening,we found that FMO1 physically interacted with catalase 2(CAT2),which is an antioxidant enzyme and confers drought resistance.Our findings suggest that tomato FMO1 negatively regulates tomato drought tolerance in the ABA-dependent pathway and modulates ROS homeostasis by directly binding to SlCAT2.展开更多
Objective:A protein-based leaking-proof theranostic nanoplatform for dual-modality imaging-guided tumor photodynamic therapy(PDT)has been designed.Impact Statement:A site-specific conjugation of chlorin e6(Ce6)to ferr...Objective:A protein-based leaking-proof theranostic nanoplatform for dual-modality imaging-guided tumor photodynamic therapy(PDT)has been designed.Impact Statement:A site-specific conjugation of chlorin e6(Ce6)to ferrimagnetic ferritin(MFtn-Ce6)has been constructed to address the challenge of unexpected leakage that often occurs during small-molecule drug delivery.Introduction:PDT is one of the most promising approaches for tumor treatment,while a delivery system is typically required for hydrophobic photosensitizers.However,the nonspecific distribution and leakage of photosensitizers could lead to insufficient drug accumulation in tumor sites.Methods:An engineered ferritin was generated for site-specific conjugation of Ce6 to obtain a leaking-proof delivery system,and a ferrimagnetic core was biomineralized in the cavity of ferritin,resulting in a fluorescent ferrimagnetic ferritin nanoplatform(MFtn-Ce6).The distribution and tumor targeting of MFtn-Ce6 can be detected by magnetic resonance imaging(MRI)and fluorescence imaging(FLI).Results:MFtn-Ce6 showed effective dual-modality MRI and FLI.A prolonged in vivo circulation and increased tumor accumulation and retention of photosensitizer was observed.The time-dependent distribution of MFtn-Ce6 can be precisely tracked in real time to find the optimal time window for PDT treatment.The colocalization of ferritin and the iron oxide core confirms the high stability of the nanoplatform in vivo.The results showed that mice treated with MFtn-Ce6 exhibited marked tumor-suppressive activity after laser irradiation.Conclusion:The ferritin-based leaking-proof nanoplatform can be used for the efficient delivery of the photosensitizer to achieve an enhanced therapeutic effect.This method established a general approach for the dual-modality imagingguided tumor delivery of PDT agents.展开更多
Objective:To investigate the effect of abnormal ovarian granulosa cell metabolism on in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer(IVF-ET)outcomes in obese polycystic ovary syndrome(PCOS)patients.Methods:Patients with PC...Objective:To investigate the effect of abnormal ovarian granulosa cell metabolism on in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer(IVF-ET)outcomes in obese polycystic ovary syndrome(PCOS)patients.Methods:Patients with PCOS who met the study criteria were screened according to the inclusion criteria.A total of 32 patients with obese PCOS were recruited into the study group,and 39 patients with non-obese PCOS were recruited into the control group.The general data(age,body mass index,and years of infertility),insulin resistance index(HOMA-IR),follicle-stimulating hormone(FSH),luteinizing hormone(LH),granulosa cell mitochondrial function,and IVF-ET outcome of patients in the study group and control group were retrospectively analyzed.Results:The differences in age and years of infertility between the study group and the control group were insignificant(P>0.05),and the body mass index(BMI)of the study group and control group was 30.5±1.24 kg/m2 and 22.3±1.12 kg/m2,respectively,in which the difference was statistically significant(P<0.05);the HOMA-IR of the study group was significantly higher than that of the control group(P<0.05);the reactive oxygen species(ROS)in the study group was significantly higher than that in the control group(P<0.05),and the ATP content in the study group was significantly lower than that in the control group(P<0.05);comparing the FSH and LH levels between the two groups,the difference was not statistically significant(P>0.05);the rate of IVF-ET failure was significantly higher in the study group than in the control group.Conclusion:PCOS is a complex endocrine disorder,and obesity is one of the independent risk factors for the development of PCOS.展开更多
Biological soil crusts(BSCs) play an important role in the early succession of vegetation restoration in the Loess Plateau, China. To evaluate the effects of artificially cultivated BSCs on the soil surface micro-envi...Biological soil crusts(BSCs) play an important role in the early succession of vegetation restoration in the Loess Plateau, China. To evaluate the effects of artificially cultivated BSCs on the soil surface micro-environment, we obtained natural moss crusts and moss-lichen crusts from the Loess Plateau of Shaanxi province, and subsequently inoculated and cultivated on horizontal and sloping surfaces of loess soil in a greenhouse. The chemical and biological properties of the subsoil under cultivated BSCs were determined after 10 weeks of cultivation. The results indicated that BSCs coverage was more than 65% after 10 weeks of cultivation. Moss crust coverage reached 40% after 5 weeks of cultivation. Compared with the control, soil organic matter and available nitrogen contents in moss crust with the horizontal treatments increased by 100.87% and 48.23%, respectively; increased by 67.56% and 52.17% with the sloping treatments, respectively; they also increased in moss-lichen crust with horizontal and sloping treatments, but there was no significant difference. Available phosphorus in cultivated BSCs was reduced, soil pH was lower and cationic exchange capacity was higher in cultivated BSCs than in the control. Alkaline phosphatase, urease and invertase activities were increased in artificially cultivated BSCs, and alkaline phosphatase activity in all cultivated BSCs was obviously higher than that in the control. Numbers of soil bacteria, fungi and actinomycetes were increased in the formation process of cultivated BSCs. These results indicate that BSCs could be formed rapidly in short-term cultivation and improve the micro-environment of soil surface, which provides a scientific reference for vegetation restoration and ecological reconstruction in the Loess Plateau, China.展开更多
Compared with other secondary batteries,lithium-sulfur batteries(LSBs)have unparalleled advantages such as high energy density,low cost,etc.In liquid LSB systems,it is extremely easy to cause severe‘‘shuttle effecto...Compared with other secondary batteries,lithium-sulfur batteries(LSBs)have unparalleled advantages such as high energy density,low cost,etc.In liquid LSB systems,it is extremely easy to cause severe‘‘shuttle effecto and safety issues.Hence,the development of solid-state LSBs(SSLSBs)has been attracting much more attention.As the most essential part of the SSLSBs,the solid-state electrolyte(SSE)has received significant attention from researchers.In this review,we concentrate on discussing the core of SSLSBs,which is the SSE.Moreover,we also highlight the differences in the properties of the different SSEs,which are polymer-based electrolytes and ceramic-based electrolytes.In addition,the challenges and advances in different types of SSEs are also compared and described systematically.Furthermore,the prospects for new SSE systems and the design of effective SSE structures to achieve highperformance SSLSBs are also discussed.Thus,this review is expected to give readers a comprehensive and systematic understanding of SSEs for SSLSBs.展开更多
This paper presents a new 2D holographic microwave imaging array (HMIA) technique for medical imaging applications. The HMIA technique has been applied to early stage breast cancer detection and brain stroke detection...This paper presents a new 2D holographic microwave imaging array (HMIA) technique for medical imaging applications. The HMIA technique has been applied to early stage breast cancer detection and brain stroke detection. Computer models are developed to demonstrate the feasibility of detecting and localizing small brain strokes within a 2D numerical head model and breast tumours within a 3D numerical breast model using the HMIA technique. Experimental validation of the HMIA simulation model using a breast phantom has been undertaken and demonstrated a good agreement between experimental and simulated images. Simulation and experimental results showed that the proposed HMIA technique has the potential to become a powerful medical screening and diagnostic tool.展开更多
基金supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Guangxi (Grant No.2022GXNSFBA035523)the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (Grant No.2022MD713731)+1 种基金the Science and Technology Major Project of Guangxi Gui Ke (Grant No.AA22067096)the project of Guangxi featured fruit innovation team on pineapple breeding and cultivation post under national modern agricultural industry technology system (Grant No.nycytxgxcxtd-17-05)。
文摘Unfavorable environmental cues severely affect crop productivity resulting in significant economic losses to farmers. In plants, multiple regulatory genes, such as the WRKY transcription factor (TF) family, modulate the expression of defense genes. However, the role of the pineapple WRKY genes is poorly understood. Here, we studied the pineapple WRKY gene, AcWRKY28, by generating AcWRKY28 over-expressing transgenic pineapple plants. Overexpression of AcWRKY28 enhanced the salt stress resistance in transgenic pineapple lines. Comparative transcriptome analysis of transgenic and wild-type pineapple plants showed that “plant-pathogen interaction” pathway genes, including 9calcium-dependent protein kinases (CPKs), were up-regulated in AcWRKY28 over-expressing plants. Furthermore, chromatin immunoprecipitation and yeast one-hybrid assays revealed AcCPK12, AcCPK3, AcCPK8, AcCPK1, and AcCPK15 as direct targets of AcWRKY28. Consistently, the study of AcCPK12 over-expressing Arabidopsis lines showed that AcCPK12 enhances salt, drought, and disease resistance. This study shows that AcWRKY28 plays a crucial role in promoting salt stress resistance by activating the expression of AcCPK genes.
基金the International Science and Technology Cooperation Project of the Shenzhen Science and Technology Commission(GJHZ20200731095804014).
文摘This study designs a microstrip patch antenna with an inverted T-type notch in the partial ground to detect tumorcells inside the human breast.The size of the current antenna is small enough(18mm×21mm×1.6mm)todistribute around the breast phantom.The operating frequency has been observed from6–14GHzwith a minimumreturn loss of−61.18 dB and themaximumgain of current proposed antenna is 5.8 dBiwhich is flexiblewith respectto the size of antenna.After the distribution of eight antennas around the breast phantom,the return loss curveswere observed in the presence and absence of tumor cells inside the breast phantom,and these observations showa sharp difference between the presence and absence of tumor cells.The simulated results show that this proposedantenna is suitable for early detection of cancerous cells inside the breast.
基金funded by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.81771095,82071235)Key R&D Program of Shaanxi Province(2017SF-103,2021KWZ-26,2023-JC-ZD-56)State Key Laboratory of Military Stomatology(2020ZA01).
文摘Dental stem cells(DSCs)have attracted significant interest as autologous stem cells since they are easily accessible and give a minimal immune response.These properties and their ability to both maintain self-renewal and undergo multi-lineage differentiation establish them as key players in regenerative medicine.While many regulatory factors determine the differentiation trajectory of DSCs,prior research has predominantly been based on genetic,epigenetic,and molecular aspects.Recent evidence suggests that DSC differentiation can also be influenced by autophagy,a highly conserved cellular process responsible for maintaining cellular and tissue homeostasis under various stress conditions.This comprehensive review endeavors to elucidate the intricate regulatory mechanism and relationship between autophagy and DSC differentiation.To achieve this goal,we dissect the intricacies of autophagy and its mechanisms.Subsequently,we elucidate its pivotal roles in impacting DSC differentiation,including osteo/odontogenic,neurogenic,and angiogenic trajectories.Furthermore,we reveal the regulatory factors that govern autophagy in DSC lineage commitment,including scaffold materials,pharmaceutical cues,and the extrinsic milieu.The implications of this review are far-reaching,underpinning the potential to wield autophagy as a regulatory tool to expedite DSC-directed differentiation and thereby promote the application of DSCs within the realm of regenerative medicine.
基金funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Code No.82100954/81800924)Natural Science Foundation of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region(Code No.2023QN08026)+3 种基金Key Research and Development Projects of Shaanxi Province(Code No.2022KW-12)The Basic and Natural Science Research Program of Shaanxi Province(Code No.2022JQ-915)Key Research and Development Program of Tibet Autonomous Region(XZ202001ZY0059G)New Technology and New Business Project of the Third Affiliated Hospital of Air Force Military Medical University(Code No.LX2021-416).
文摘Autophagy is a widespread biological process that controls cellular growth,survival,development,and death.Circadian rhythm is a recurring reaction of living organisms and behaviors to variations in surrounding brightness and obscurity.Most of the fundamental physiological processes in mammals,such as the sleep-wake pattern and the rhythm of nutrition and energy metabolism,are governed by circadian rhythms.Research has indicated that autophagy exhibits a specific circadian pattern in both normal and abnormal conditions.Autophagy can modulate circadian rhythms by breaking down proteins that regulate the circadian clock.The potential regulatory connection between the two has been a popular subject of clinical and fundamental research.Understanding the interaction between circadian rhythm and autophagy could potentially lead to the development of novel approaches for disease treatment in the future.The present analysis presented a summary of the molecular processes implicated in the interplay between autophagy and circadian rhythm,as well as the pathological importance of the disrupted regulatory association between these two phenomena.
基金supported by the Guangdong Natural Science Fund General Program (2023A1515011289)Singapore Ministry of Health's National Medical Research Council under its Open Fund Individual Research Grant (MOH-OFIRG19may-0009)+2 种基金Ministry of Education Singapore under its Academic Research Fund Tier 1 (RG35/22)Academic Research Funding Tier 2 (MOE-T2EP30120-0001)China-Singapore International Joint Research Institute (203-A022001).
文摘Deconvolution is a commonly employed technique for enhancing image quality in optical imaging methods.Unfortu-nately,its application in optical coherence tomography(OCT)is often hindered by sensitivity to noise,which leads to ad-ditive ringing artifacts.These artifacts considerably degrade the quality of deconvolved images,thereby limiting its effect-iveness in OCT imaging.In this study,we propose a framework that integrates numerical random phase masks into the deconvolution process,effectively eliminating these artifacts and enhancing image clarity.The optimized joint operation of an iterative Richardson-Lucy deconvolution and numerical synthesis of random phase masks(RPM),termed as De-conv-RPM,enables a 2.5-fold reduction in full width at half-maximum(FWHM).We demonstrate that the Deconv-RPM method significantly enhances image clarity,allowing for the discernment of previously unresolved cellular-level details in nonkeratinized epithelial cells ex vivo and moving blood cells in vivo.
基金supported by Laboratory of Lingnan Modern Agriculture Project(NZ2021001)State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Subtropical Agrobioresources(SKICUSA-a202007)Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province(2022A1515011027,2019A1515012009)。
文摘Plants are capable of regulating their shoot architecture in response to diverse internal and external environments.The circadian clock is an adaptive mechanism that integrates information from internal and ambient conditions to help plants cope with recurring environmental fluctuations.Despite the current understanding of plant circadian clock and genetic framework underlying plant shoot architecture,the intricate connection between these two adaptive mechanisms remains largely unclear.In this study,we elucidated how the core clock gene LUX ARRHYTHMO(LUX)regulates shoot architecture in the model legume plant Medicago truncatula.We show that mtlux mutant displays increased main stem height,reduced lateral shoot length,and decreased the number of lateral branches and biomass yield.Gene expression analysis revealed that Mt LUX regulated shoot architecture by repressing the expression of strigolactone receptor MtD14 and MtTB1/MtTCP1A,a TCP gene that functions centrally in modulating shoot architecture.In vivo and in vitro experiments showed that Mt LUX directly binds to a cis-element in the promoter of MtTB1/MtTCP1A,suggesting that Mt LUX regulates branching by rhythmically suppressing MtTB1/MtTCP1A.This work demonstrates the regulatory effect of the circadian clock on shoot architecture,offering a new understanding underlying the genetic basis towards the flexibility of plant shoot architecture.
基金supported by the Science and Technology Major Project of Guangxi (Grant No. Guike AA22068096)Guangxi Distinguished Experts Fellowship to YQ, Science and Technology Major Project of Guangxi (Grant No. Guike 2018-266-Z01)+4 种基金Project of Guangxi featured fruit innovation team on pineapple breeding and cultivation post under national modern agricultural industry technology system (Grant No. nycytxgxcxtd-17-05)Science and Technology Program of Fujian Province (Grant No. 2019N5008)Science and technology innovation project of Pingtan Science and Technology Research Institute (Grant Nos. PT2021007, PT2021003)China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (Grant No. 2018M632564)the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31970333, U1605212)。
文摘Somaclonal variation in tissue culture is a common phenomenon induced by various external or internal environmental conditions,resulting in heritable or non-heritable alterations in gene expression. One crucial mechanism involved in plant growth and development is epigenetic regulation. A highly dynamic epigenome can respond to environmental changes by regulating gene expression. DNA methylation is one of these epigenetic modifications that can alter gene expression in tissue-cultured pineapple plants. The underlying mechanism of such somaclonal variations in pineapple and the epigenetic regulation involvement in somaclonal variations has not been studied. This study performed DNA methylome and transcriptome sequencing of wild-type(WT) and mutant pineapple plants(WS, HW, and TW). We observed altered DNA methylation patterns in chlorophyll development in the mutants. Specifically, we noticed that the methylation levels in the CHG and CHH contexts were lower in the gene body regions compared to the upstream and downstream regions. We identified several thousand differentially methylated regions(DMRs) located at the gene body regions, some of which overlapped with the differentially expressed genes(DEGs). Functional enrichment analyses suggested that these genes were involved in chlorophyll metabolism. Thus, our results revealed that the transcriptional regulation of many chlorophyll metabolic essential genes could be regulated by DNA methylation caused by somaclonal variations and provided insights into epigenetic mechanisms underlying the regulation of chlorosis in pineapple plants.
基金We especially thank Dr Binghua Wu(Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University,China)for kindly providing the yeast mutant strain EBY.VW4000 and Prof.Zhong-Nan Yang(Shanghai Normal University,China)for sharing Atsweet8 seeds.This work was supported by the Science and Technology Major Project of Guangxi(Gui Ke AA22068096)the Science and Technology Innovation Project of Pingtan Science and Technology Research Institute(PT2021007,PT2021003)+2 种基金the General Project of Fujian Natural Science Foundation(2020 J01594)the Project of Guangxi Featured Fruit Innovation Team on Pineapple Breeding and Cultivation Post under the National Modern Agricultural Industry Technology System(nycytxgxcxtd-17-05)the Guangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences Basic Research Project(Gui Nong Ke 2021YT046).The funding bodies played no role in the design of the study and collection,analysis and interpretation of the data,and writing the manuscript.
文摘SWEET transporters are a unique class of sugar transporters that play vital roles in various developmental and physiological processes in plants.While the functions of SWEETs have been well established in model plants such as Arabidopsis,their functions in economically important fruit crops like pineapple have not been well studied.Here we aimed to investigate the substrate specificity of pineapple SWEETs by comparing the protein sequences of known glucose and sucrose transporters in Arabidopsis with those in pineapple.Our genome-wide approach and 3D structure comparison showed that the Arabidopsis SWEET8 homolog in pineapple,AcSWEET10,shares similar sequences and protein properties responsible for glucose transport.To determine the functional conservation of AcSWEET10,we tested its ability to complement glucose transport mutants in yeast and analyzed its expression in stamens and impact on the microspore phenotype and seed set in transgenic Arabidopsis.The results showed that AcSWEET10 is functionally equivalent to AtSWEET8 and plays a critical role in regulating microspore formation through the regulation of the Callose synthase5(CalS5),which highlights the importance of SWEET transporters in pineapple.This information could have important implications for improving fruit crop yield and quality by manipulating SWEET transporter activity.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(32170380)the Science and Technology Innovation Project of Pingtan Institute of Science and Technology(PT2021001)the Postdoctoral Foundation of China(2018 M642550).
文摘Soil salinity is a growing concern for global crop production and the sustainable development of humanity.Therefore,it is crucial to comprehend salt tolerance mechanisms and identify salt-tolerance genes to enhance crop tolerance to salt stress.Suaeda glauca,a halophyte species well adapted to the seawater environment,possesses a unique ability to absorb and retain high salt concentrations within its cells,particularly in its leaves,suggesting the presence of a distinct mechanism for salt tolerance.In this study,we performed de novo sequencing of the S.glauca genome.The genome has a size of 1.02 Gb(consisting of two sets of haplotypes)and contains 54761 annotated genes,including alleles and repeats.Comparative genomic analysis revealed a strong synteny between the genomes of S.glauca and Beta vulgaris.Of the S.glauca genome,70.56%comprises repeat sequences,with retroelements being the most abundant.Leveraging the allele-aware assembly of the S.glauca genome,we investigated genome-wide allele-specific expression in the analyzed samples.The results indicated that the diversity in promoter sequences might contribute to consistent allele-specific expression.Moreover,a systematic analysis of the ABCE gene families shed light on the formation of S.glauca’s flower morphology,suggesting that dysfunction of A-class genes is responsible for the absence of petals in S.glauca.Gene family expansion analysis demonstrated significant enrichment of Gene Ontology(GO)terms associated with DNA repair,chromosome stability,DNA demethylation,cation binding,and red/far-red light signaling pathways in the co-expanded gene families of S.glauca and S.aralocaspica,in comparison with glycophytic species within the chenopodium family.Time-course transcriptome analysis under salt treatments revealed detailed responses of S.glauca to salt tolerance,and the enrichment of the transition-upregulated genes in the leaves associated with DNA repair and chromosome stability,lipid biosynthetic process,and isoprenoid metabolic process.Additionally,genome-wide analysis of transcription factors indicated a significant expansion of FAR1 gene family.However,further investigation is needed to determine the exact role of the FAR1 gene family in salt tolerance in S.glauca.
基金supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.31872123)Natural Science Foundation of Chongqing,China(No.cstc2019jcyj-msxmX0333)the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities(No.XDJK2020B060).
文摘Drought stress is themajor abiotic factor that can seriously affect plant growth and crop production.The functions of flavin-containing monooxygenases(FMOs)are known in animals.They addmolecular oxygen to lipophilic compounds or produce reactive oxygen species(ROS).However,little information on FMOs in plants is available.Here,we characterized a tomato drought-responsive gene that showed homology to FMO,and it was designated as FMO1.FMO1 was downregulated promptly by drought and ABA treatments.Transgenic functional analysis indicated that RNAi suppression of the expression of FMO1(FMO1-Ri)improved drought tolerance relative to wild-type(WT)plants,whereas overexpression of FMO1(FMO1-OE)reduced drought tolerance.The FMO1-Ri plants exhibited lower ABA accumulation,higher levels of antioxidant enzyme activities,and less ROS generation comparedwith theWTand FMO1-OE plants under drought stress.RNA-seq transcriptional analysis revealed the differential expression levels of many drought-responsive genes thatwere co-expressed with FMO1,including PP2Cs,PYLs,WRKY,and LEA.Using Y2H screening,we found that FMO1 physically interacted with catalase 2(CAT2),which is an antioxidant enzyme and confers drought resistance.Our findings suggest that tomato FMO1 negatively regulates tomato drought tolerance in the ABA-dependent pathway and modulates ROS homeostasis by directly binding to SlCAT2.
基金This work was supported by the National Key R&D Program of China(2020YFA0710700 and 2017YFA0505400)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(52021002,21877103,22177109,and 32101121)+2 种基金Users with Excellence Program of Hefei Science Center CAS(2020HSC-UE016)the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities(WK3450000007)Suzhou Scientific and Technological Project(SYG202017).
文摘Objective:A protein-based leaking-proof theranostic nanoplatform for dual-modality imaging-guided tumor photodynamic therapy(PDT)has been designed.Impact Statement:A site-specific conjugation of chlorin e6(Ce6)to ferrimagnetic ferritin(MFtn-Ce6)has been constructed to address the challenge of unexpected leakage that often occurs during small-molecule drug delivery.Introduction:PDT is one of the most promising approaches for tumor treatment,while a delivery system is typically required for hydrophobic photosensitizers.However,the nonspecific distribution and leakage of photosensitizers could lead to insufficient drug accumulation in tumor sites.Methods:An engineered ferritin was generated for site-specific conjugation of Ce6 to obtain a leaking-proof delivery system,and a ferrimagnetic core was biomineralized in the cavity of ferritin,resulting in a fluorescent ferrimagnetic ferritin nanoplatform(MFtn-Ce6).The distribution and tumor targeting of MFtn-Ce6 can be detected by magnetic resonance imaging(MRI)and fluorescence imaging(FLI).Results:MFtn-Ce6 showed effective dual-modality MRI and FLI.A prolonged in vivo circulation and increased tumor accumulation and retention of photosensitizer was observed.The time-dependent distribution of MFtn-Ce6 can be precisely tracked in real time to find the optimal time window for PDT treatment.The colocalization of ferritin and the iron oxide core confirms the high stability of the nanoplatform in vivo.The results showed that mice treated with MFtn-Ce6 exhibited marked tumor-suppressive activity after laser irradiation.Conclusion:The ferritin-based leaking-proof nanoplatform can be used for the efficient delivery of the photosensitizer to achieve an enhanced therapeutic effect.This method established a general approach for the dual-modality imagingguided tumor delivery of PDT agents.
基金Baoding Science and Technology Program Project(Grant No.2241ZF120)Hebei Health Care Commission Scientific Research Funding Project(Grant No.20170827)+1 种基金Funding Project of Affiliated Hospital of Hebei University(Grant No.2016Q016)Funding Project of Affiliated Hospital of Hebei University(No.2022QC66).
文摘Objective:To investigate the effect of abnormal ovarian granulosa cell metabolism on in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer(IVF-ET)outcomes in obese polycystic ovary syndrome(PCOS)patients.Methods:Patients with PCOS who met the study criteria were screened according to the inclusion criteria.A total of 32 patients with obese PCOS were recruited into the study group,and 39 patients with non-obese PCOS were recruited into the control group.The general data(age,body mass index,and years of infertility),insulin resistance index(HOMA-IR),follicle-stimulating hormone(FSH),luteinizing hormone(LH),granulosa cell mitochondrial function,and IVF-ET outcome of patients in the study group and control group were retrospectively analyzed.Results:The differences in age and years of infertility between the study group and the control group were insignificant(P>0.05),and the body mass index(BMI)of the study group and control group was 30.5±1.24 kg/m2 and 22.3±1.12 kg/m2,respectively,in which the difference was statistically significant(P<0.05);the HOMA-IR of the study group was significantly higher than that of the control group(P<0.05);the reactive oxygen species(ROS)in the study group was significantly higher than that in the control group(P<0.05),and the ATP content in the study group was significantly lower than that in the control group(P<0.05);comparing the FSH and LH levels between the two groups,the difference was not statistically significant(P>0.05);the rate of IVF-ET failure was significantly higher in the study group than in the control group.Conclusion:PCOS is a complex endocrine disorder,and obesity is one of the independent risk factors for the development of PCOS.
基金funded by Forestry Industry Research Special Funds for Public Welfare Projects (201104002-2)the National Science&Technology Pillar Program during the Twelfth Five-year Plan Period (2011BAD38b06)
文摘Biological soil crusts(BSCs) play an important role in the early succession of vegetation restoration in the Loess Plateau, China. To evaluate the effects of artificially cultivated BSCs on the soil surface micro-environment, we obtained natural moss crusts and moss-lichen crusts from the Loess Plateau of Shaanxi province, and subsequently inoculated and cultivated on horizontal and sloping surfaces of loess soil in a greenhouse. The chemical and biological properties of the subsoil under cultivated BSCs were determined after 10 weeks of cultivation. The results indicated that BSCs coverage was more than 65% after 10 weeks of cultivation. Moss crust coverage reached 40% after 5 weeks of cultivation. Compared with the control, soil organic matter and available nitrogen contents in moss crust with the horizontal treatments increased by 100.87% and 48.23%, respectively; increased by 67.56% and 52.17% with the sloping treatments, respectively; they also increased in moss-lichen crust with horizontal and sloping treatments, but there was no significant difference. Available phosphorus in cultivated BSCs was reduced, soil pH was lower and cationic exchange capacity was higher in cultivated BSCs than in the control. Alkaline phosphatase, urease and invertase activities were increased in artificially cultivated BSCs, and alkaline phosphatase activity in all cultivated BSCs was obviously higher than that in the control. Numbers of soil bacteria, fungi and actinomycetes were increased in the formation process of cultivated BSCs. These results indicate that BSCs could be formed rapidly in short-term cultivation and improve the micro-environment of soil surface, which provides a scientific reference for vegetation restoration and ecological reconstruction in the Loess Plateau, China.
基金Financial support provided by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(21606065,52072105,21676067,51972093,U1910210,and U1810204)the Anhui Provincial Natural Science Foundation(1708085QE98 and 1908085QE178)+3 种基金the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities(PA2021KCPY0028,PA2021GDGP0059,JZ2018HGBZ0138,JZ2020YYPY0109,and PA2020GDJQ0026)the Australian Research Council(ARC)Discovery Project(DP180101453)the Key Technologies Research and Development Program of Anhui Province(202104a05020044)the Major Science and Technology Projects in Anhui Province(2021e03020001 and 202003a05020014)。
文摘Compared with other secondary batteries,lithium-sulfur batteries(LSBs)have unparalleled advantages such as high energy density,low cost,etc.In liquid LSB systems,it is extremely easy to cause severe‘‘shuttle effecto and safety issues.Hence,the development of solid-state LSBs(SSLSBs)has been attracting much more attention.As the most essential part of the SSLSBs,the solid-state electrolyte(SSE)has received significant attention from researchers.In this review,we concentrate on discussing the core of SSLSBs,which is the SSE.Moreover,we also highlight the differences in the properties of the different SSEs,which are polymer-based electrolytes and ceramic-based electrolytes.In addition,the challenges and advances in different types of SSEs are also compared and described systematically.Furthermore,the prospects for new SSE systems and the design of effective SSE structures to achieve highperformance SSLSBs are also discussed.Thus,this review is expected to give readers a comprehensive and systematic understanding of SSEs for SSLSBs.
文摘This paper presents a new 2D holographic microwave imaging array (HMIA) technique for medical imaging applications. The HMIA technique has been applied to early stage breast cancer detection and brain stroke detection. Computer models are developed to demonstrate the feasibility of detecting and localizing small brain strokes within a 2D numerical head model and breast tumours within a 3D numerical breast model using the HMIA technique. Experimental validation of the HMIA simulation model using a breast phantom has been undertaken and demonstrated a good agreement between experimental and simulated images. Simulation and experimental results showed that the proposed HMIA technique has the potential to become a powerful medical screening and diagnostic tool.
