Exposure to microplastics renders immunity of the thick-shell mussel more vulnerable to diarrhetic shellfish toxin-producing harmful algae.

Despite both microplastics (MPs) and harmful algae blooms (HABs) may pose a severe threat to the immunity of marine bivalves, the toxification mechanism underlying is far from being fully understood. In addition, owing to the prevalence and sudden occurrence characteristics of MPs and HABs, respectively, bivalves with MP-exposure experience may face acute challenge of harmful algae under realistic scenarios. However, little is known about the impacts and underlying mechanisms of MP-exposure experience on the susceptibility of immunity to HABs in bivalve mollusks. Taking polystyrene MPs and diarrhetic shellfish toxin-producing Prorocentrum lima as representatives, the impacts of MP-exposure on immunity vulnerability to HABs were investigated in the thick-shell mussel, Mytilus coruscus. Our results revealed evident immunotoxicity of MPs and P. lima to the mussel, as evidenced by significantly impaired total count, phagocytic activity, and cell viability of haemocytes, which may result from the induction of oxidative stress, aggravation of haemocyte apoptosis, and shortage in cellular energy supply. Moreover, marked disruptions of immunity, antioxidant system, apoptosis regulation, and metabolism upon MPs and P. lima exposure were illustrated by gene expression and comparative metabolomic analyses. Furthermore, the mussels that experienced MP-exposure were shown to be more vulnerable to P. lima, indicated by greater degree of deleterious effects on abovementioned parameters detected. In general, our findings emphasize the threat of MPs and HABs to bivalve species, which deserves close attention and more investigation.

Risk assessment of pesticide compounds: IPT and TCZ cause hepatotoxicity, activate stress pathway and affect the composition of intestinal flora in red swamp crayfish (Procambarusclarkii).

Isoprothiolane (IPT) and tricyclazole (TCZ) are widely used in rice farming and recently in combined rice-fish farming. However, co-cultured animals are affected by these pesticides. To investigate the organismal effects and toxicity of pesticides, crayfish were exposed to 0, 1, 10, or 100 ppt TCZ or IPT for 7 days. Pesticide bioaccumulation, survival rate, metabolic parameters, structure of intestinal flora, and antioxidant-, apoptosis-, and HSP-related gene expression were determined. Pesticide exposure caused bioaccumulation of IPT or TCZ in the hepatopancreas and muscles of crayfish; however, IPT bioaccumulation was higher than that of TCZ. Both groups showed significant changes in hepatopancreatic serum biochemical parameters. Mitochondrial damage and chromosomal agglutination were observed in hepatopancreatic cells exposed to 100 ppt IPT or TCZ. IPT induced more significant changes in serum biochemical parameters than TCZ. The results of intestinal flora showed that Vibro, Flavobacterium, Anaerorhabdus and Shewanella may have potential for use as a bacterial marker of TCZ and IPT. Antioxidant-, apoptosis-, and HSP-related gene expression was disrupted by pesticide exposure, and was more seriously affected by IPT. The results suggest that IPT or TCZ induce hepatopancreatic cell toxicity; however, IPT or TCZ content in dietary crayfish exposed to 1 ppt was below the food safety residue standard. The data indicated that IPT exposure may be more toxic than TCZ exposure in hepatopancreas and intestines and toxicity of organism are alleviated by activating the pathway of stress-response, providing an understanding of pesticide compounds in rice-fish farming and food safety.

Spatial heterogeneity and driving factors of land use change in the middle and upper reaches of Ganjiang River, southern China.

The middle and upper reaches of Ganjiang River is an important functional area for soil and water conservation in the southeastern hills of China. It is important to analyze the land use change and their driving forces at different spatial and temporal scales to maintain and optimize the local ecological functions. We analyzed the land use structure and land use dynamics in the middle and upper reaches of Ganjiang River from 1980-2018 based on 1 km spatial resolution land use data, and analyzed the spatial heterogeneity and driving factors of land use change using principal component analysis (PCA), ordinary least squares (OLS) and geographically weighted regression (GWR). From 1980-2018, the main land use types in the study area were forests (proportion 69.4%-71%) and cultivated land (proportion 20.8%-20.9%). Land use dynamic degree of build-up land and unused land were larger, and the comprehensive land use dynamic degree gradually increased, especially in 2010-2018. The GWR model had a better fitting effect on the analysis of land use change drivers, which was better in 98.6% of the area. Among the influencing factors of the spatial heterogeneity of land use change in the study area, the natural environment factors were the most obvious, with a restrictive role. The socio-economic factors were the secondary in importance, with a promoting role. The comprehensive influence of natural and social factors were weak and complex.

[Evaluation of comprehensive potential productivity and resource utilization efficiency of Camellia oleifera in Jiangxi Province, China]. / 江西省油茶综合生产潜力与资源利用效率评估.

As an area suitable for the plantation of Camellia oleifera, Jiangxi had a low degree of development and utilization. Evaluating its potential productivity and resource utilization efficiency could provide reference for optimizing C. oleifera planting division, increasing yield and rationally utilizing land resources. Natural production potential of C. oleifera in Jiangxi was estimated by stepwise revised potential attenuation method. The comprehensive potential productivity was estimated by combined with social efficiency coefficient, with the resource utilization efficiency being evaluated. There were three main results. 1) Potential productivity of C. oleifera in Jiangxi varied from 10229 to 17724 kg·km-2, which decreased from the south to the northwest, with an average potential of 12550 kg·km-2. After classification, the area with higher and highest potential productivity reached 51656 km2, accounting for 31.1% of the total area. Among the cities, Ganzhou had the highest potential productivity. 2) The changes of potential productivity of C. oleifera ranged from 2223 to 3857 kg·km-2, with small regional difference for various levels. The resource satisfaction rate ranged from 69.3% to 122.7%, with small regional difference. The resource utilization efficiency varied from 49.1% to 85%. Regional utilization rate at all levels differed obviously. 3) The estimated comprehensive potential productivity was in line with the real production of C. oleifera in Jiangxi, and the assessed resource utilization efficiency was consistent with natural and social conditions. These results could be used as a reference for related research and policy making.

Inhibitory effect of tenomodulin versus ranibizumab on in vitro angiogenesis.

AIM: To evaluate anti-angiogenic effect of tenomodulin (TNMD) and ranibizumab on cell proliferation and capillary-like morphogenesis of vascular endothelial cells under the stimulation of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in vitro. METHODS: The effects of TNMD and ranibizumab on VEGF-induced proliferation of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were evaluated by MTT assay, and the effects of TNMD and ranibizumab on capillary-like structures formed by HUVECs under the stimulation of VEGF were examined in culture. Capillary-like morphogenesis of HUVECs was quantitatively evaluated, and total lengths of tube-like structures per field were measured in a masked way. RESULTS: HUVECs with both ranibizumab and TNMD protein showed MTT reduction in VEGF-stimulated cell proliferation as expected, while MTT absorbance in the HUVECs with TNMD was significantly declined than that with ranibizumab (P<0.01). The capillary-like structures formed by HUVECs were markedly impaired by the presence of both TNMD and ranibizumab in the culture medium. The total length of the capillary-like structures per field was significantly shorter in the medium with TNMD than that of ranibizumab (P<0.01). The inhibitory effect of TNMD on tube formation in vitro angiogenesis was significantly stronger than that of ranibizumab. CONCLUSION: TNMD may have stronger inhibitory effect than ranibizumab on in vitro angiogenesis.

Expression of eag1 channel associated with the aggressive clinicopathological features and subtype of breast cancer.

BACKGROUNDS: Expression of eag1 channel (Eag1) is associated with cell malignant transformation, tumor cell metastasis and poor prognosis of the patient. This study aimed at examining whether expression of the Eag1 associated with aggressive clinicopathological feature and the molecular subtype of breast cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 109 patients who received breast cancer operation during January 2009 to December 2010 in Chinese-Japanese Friendship Hospital of Jilin University were recruited. We investigated the association of the Eag1 with clinicopathological features and molecular subtype of in triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) by univariate or multivariate analysis in a cross-section study. RESULTS: The positive rate of Eag1 was 18.5% higher in TNBC compared with non-triple negative breast cancer (Non-TNBC) (P = 0.012, OR = 2.83, 95% CI = 2.16-3.47). Compared with the Eag1 negative group, the expression of Eag1 was linked to the larger tumor size (P = 0.002), advanced TNM stage (P = 0.029), high proportion of positive lymph node (87.6% vs. 65%, P = 0.014) and invasive ductal carcinoma (91% vs. 75%, P = 0.046). CONCLUSIONS: The expression of Eag1 may be partially explained the aggressive behavior of TNBC in the breast cancer tissue.

An exploratory study of the association between KCNB1 rs1051295 and type 2 diabetes and its related traits in Chinese Han population.

Since the KCNB1 encoding Kv2.1 channel accounts for the majority of Kv currents modulating insulin secretion by pancreatic islet beta-cells, we postulated that KCNB1 is a plausible candidate gene for genetic variation contributing to the variable compensatory secretory function of beta-cells in type-2 diabetes (T2D). We conducted two studies, a case-control study and a cross-section study, to investigate the association of common single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in KCNB1 with T2D and its linking traits. In the case-control study, we first examined the association of 20 tag SNPs of KCNB1 with T2D in a population with 226 T2D patients and non-diabetic subjects (screening study). We then identified the association in an enlarged population of 412 T2D patients and non-diabetic subjects (replication study). In the cross-sectional study, we investigated the linkage between the candidate SNP rs1051295 and T2D by comparing beta-cell function and insulin sensitivity among rs1051295 genotypes in a general population of 1051 subjects at fasting and after glucose loading (oral glucose tolerance tests, OGTT) in 84 fasting glucose impaired subjects, and several T2D-related traits. We found that among the 19 available tag SNPs, only the KCNB1 rs1051295 was associated with T2D (P = 0.027), with the rs1051295 TT genotype associated with an increased risk of T2D compared with genotypes CC (P = 0.009). At fasting, rs1051295 genotype TT was associated with a 9.8% reduction in insulin sensitivity compared to CC (P = 0.008); along with increased plasma triglycerides (TG) levels (TT/CC: P = 0.046) and increased waist/hip (W/H) ratio (TT/CC: P = 0.013; TT/TC: P = 0.002). OGTT confirmed that genotype TT exhibited reduced insulin sensitivity by 16.3% (P = 0.030) compared with genotype TC+CC in a fasting glucose impaired population. The KCNB1 rs1051295 genotype TT in the Chinese Han population is associated with decreased insulin sensitivity and increased plasma TG and W/H ratio, which together contribute to an increased risk for T2D.

[Sequencing of mitochondrial DNA CO II gene in carrion-breeding flies and larvae in Zhengzhou].

OBJECTIVE: Using CO II sequences to identify common species of carrion-breeding flies and larvae. METHODS: flies and larvae were collected on the corpses of rats in Zhengzhou district, DNA was extracted, CO II sequences were amplified and sequenced. Clustalx and MEGA 4.0 software were used to analyze the gene sequences and to construct the phylogenetic trees. RESULTS: There was no significant gene difference between adults and larvae. COII gene sequences could be used to identify Boettcherisca peregrina, Aldrichina grahami and Lucilia illustris but they could not distinguish Lucilia cuprina from the Lucilia sericata because of their close evolutionary distance and single nucleotide polymorphisms in aldrichina grahami and Lucilia illustris populations were found. CONCLUSION: CO II sequence of mtDNA in Zhengzhou district can be used effectively to identify some common species of carrion-breeding fly. The method is simple and accurate.