Genetic Diversity and Population Structure of Fusarium commune Causing Strawberry Root Rot in Southcentral China.

Strawberry plants and fruits are vulnerable to infections by a broad range of pathogens and pests. However, knowledge about the epidemiology of pathogens causing strawberry diseases is limited. In this study, we analyzed Fusarium commune, a major fungal pathogen causing strawberry root rot, from diseased strawberry root tissues in southcentral China. A total of 354 isolates were obtained from 11 locations that spanned about 700 km from both south to north and east to west. Multilocus genotypes of all isolates were obtained using seven polymorphic simple sequence repeat markers developed in this study. Our analyses revealed significant genetic diversity within each of the 11 local populations of F. commune. STRUCTURE analysis revealed that the optimal number of genetic populations for the 354 strains was two, with most local geographic populations containing isolates in both genetic clusters. Interestingly, many isolates showed allelic ancestry to both genetic clusters, consistent with recent hybridization between the two genetic clusters. In addition, though alleles and genotypes were frequently shared among local populations, statistically significant genetic differentiations were found among the local populations. However, the observed F. commune population genetic distances were not correlated with geographic distances. Together, our analyses suggest that populations of F. commune causing strawberry root rot are likely endemic to southcentral China, with each local population containing shared and unique genetic elements. Though the observed gene flow among geographic regions was relatively low, human activities will likely accelerate pathogen dispersals, resulting in the generation of new genotypes through mating and recombination.

PtNi Alloy Coated in Porous Nitrogen-Doped Carbon as Highly Efficient Catalysts for Hydrogen Evolution Reactions.

The development of low platinum loading hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) catalysts with high activity and stability is of great significance to the practical application of hydrogen energy. This paper reports a simple method to synthesize a highly efficient HER catalyst through coating a highly dispersed PtNi alloy on porous nitrogen-doped carbon (MNC) derived from the zeolite imidazolate skeleton. The catalyst is characterized and analyzed by physical characterization methods, such as XRD, SEM, TEM, BET, XPS, and LSV, EIS, it, v-t, etc. The optimized sample exhibits an overpotential of only 26 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm-2, outperforming commercial 20 wt% Pt/C (33 mV). The synthesized catalyst shows a relatively fast HER kinetics as evidenced by the small Tafel slope of 21.5 mV dec-1 due to the small charge transfer resistance, the alloying effect between Pt and Ni, and the interaction between PtNi alloy and carrier.

Quantitation of serum pregnanediol-3-glucuronide level in different endocrine statuses by LC-MS/MS.

Pregnanediol-3-glucuronide (PdG) is the major terminal metabolite of progesterone, playing an important role in physiological processes, such as the female menstrual cycle, pregnancy (supports gestation), embryogenesis and maternal immune response of humans and other species. Hence, accurate measurement of PdG in serum/plasma is needed for the evaluation of progesterone production. However, such high-specificity determination of PdG is lacking in clinical sample detection. In this study, a highly sensitive and accurate LC-MS/MS method was firstly established for subsequent measurement of PdG in serum of three different female groups: thyroid cancer patients (TCs), healthy controls (HCs) and pregnant women. The factors affecting the sample preparation, MS/MS method, gradient elution program, selection of chromatographic column and internal standard (IS) have been optimized in this study. Compared with enzyme immunoassay (EIA) method, we used LC-MS/MS to shorten analysis time, increase sensitivity, raise specificity, simplify sample preparation, and reduce costs. As a result, the linear range of the method was from 0.38 to 100 ng/mL with a limit of quantification (LOD) of 0.01 ng/mL. Precision assays showed that relative standard deviation (RSD) was less than 10.6, accuracy was between 90.6 % and 110.4 %, and mean recovery was 103.4 %. In addition, the serum PdG/creatinine levels were significantly down-regulated in TCs and up-regulated in pregnant women versus HCs. Receive operating characteristic curve (ROC) analysis enabled to identify TC with a sensitivity of 83.3 %, specificity of 68.0 % and area under curve (AUC) of 0.781 (95 % CI: 0.684 to 0.879), and it enabled to identify pregnant women with a sensitivity of 94.7 %, specificity of 68.5 % and AUC of 0.811 (95 % CI: 0.732 to 0.890). Our results implied that an increase in female serum PdG/creatinine level might be associated with a risk of pregnancy, but serum PdG/creatinine decreasing might be related to a risk of TC.

Colonization of endophyte Acremonium sp. D212 in Panax notoginseng and rice mediated by auxin and jasmonic acid.

Endophytic fungi can be beneficial to plant growth. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying colonization of Acremonium spp. remain unclear. In this study, a novel endophytic Acremonium strain was isolated from the buds of Panax notoginseng and named Acremonium sp. D212. The Acremonium sp. D212 could colonize the roots of P. notoginseng, enhance the resistance of P. notoginseng to root rot disease, and promote root growth and saponin biosynthesis in P. notoginseng. Acremonium sp. D212 could secrete indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) and jasmonic acid (JA), and inoculation with the fungus increased the endogenous levels of IAA and JA in P. notoginseng. Colonization of the Acremonium sp. D212 in the roots of the rice line Nipponbare was dependent on the concentration of methyl jasmonate (MeJA) (2-15 µmol/L) and 1-naphthalenacetic acid (NAA) (10-20 µmol/L). Moreover, the roots of the JA signaling-defective coi1-18 mutant were colonized by Acremonium sp. D212 to a lesser degree than those of the wild-type Nipponbare and miR393b-overexpressing lines, and the colonization was rescued by MeJA but not by NAA. It suggests that the cross-talk between JA signaling and the auxin biosynthetic pathway plays a crucial role in the colonization of Acremonium sp. D212 in host plants.

Identification of ß-hydroxybutyrate as a potential biomarker for female papillary thyroid cancer.

Aim: ß-Hydroxybutyrate (BHB) was proved to be a differential metabolite of papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) by semiquantitative analysis, while whether BHB could be used as a potential biomarker for female PTC still needed to be validated. Materials & methods: An LC-MS/MS method with surrogate matrix was established to validate serum BHB in specified PTC patients. Conclusion: Serum BHB levels in PTCs were significantly higher than those in HCs. For both serum BHB with a cut-off value of 312.5 ng/ml and serum BHB/creatinine of 33.5 µmol/mmol, a promising prediction rate to distinguish low-grade PTCs from HCs with satisfactory sensitivity and specificity was achieved, indicating that serum BHB might be proved as a useful biomarker for low-grade female PTC.

Profiling of carboxyl-containing metabolites in smokers and non-smokers by stable isotope labeling combined with LC-MS/MS.

Profiling of carboxyl-containing metabolites in smokers and non-smokers provides insight into the smoking-related biological events and causal relationships between exposure and adverse events. However, more comprehensive analysis of carboxyl-containing metabolites in bio-matrices with high sensitivity and accuracy is challenging. In this work, stable isotope labeling in combination with liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry was used for untargeted profiling and relative quantification of carboxyl-containing metabolites in plasma of smokers and non-smokers. A pair of isotope labeling reagents, N, N-dimethylethylenediamine (DMED) and d4-DMED was used to label carboxyl-containing metabolites. Since the isotope labeled dimethylamino moieties of DMED and d4-DMED are easily fragmented and lost as characteristic neutral fragments of 45 and 49 Da, respectively, double neutral loss scans can be used to profiling of carboxyl-containing metabolites. Subsequently, based on the ion pair parameters obtained from double neutral loss scans, relative quantification method was developed. As a result, 269 carboxyl-containing metabolite candidates were discovered, and 88 metabolite candidates were found to have significant alterations between smokers and non-smokers. 7Z, 10Z-hexadecadienoic acid, myristic acid and 3ß-hydroxy-5-cholestenoic acid with significant differences confirmed by standard comparison are linked to smoking related inflammation, abnormal bile acid synthesis and cholesterol metabolism.