Phylogenetic and ion-response analyses reveal a relationship between gene expansion and functional divergence in the Ca2+/cation antiporter family in Angiosperms.

KEY MESSAGE: Plant CaCA superfamily genes with higher tendency to retain after WGD are more gene expression and function differentiated in ion-response. Plants and animals face different environmental stresses but share conserved Ca2+ signaling pathways, such as Ca2+/Cation transport. The Ca2+/cation antiporters superfamily (CaCAs) is an ancient and widespread family of ion-coupled cation transporters found in all kingdoms of life. We analyzed the molecular evolution progress of the family through comparative genomics and phylogenetics of CaCAs genes from plants and animals, grouping these genes into several families and clades, and identified multiple gene duplication retention events, particularly in the CAX (H+/cation exchanger), CCX (cation/Ca2+ exchanger), and NCL (Na+/Ca2+ exchanger-like) families. The tendency of duplication retention differs between families and gene clades. The gene duplication events were probably the result of whole-genome duplication (WGD) in plants and might have led to functional divergence. Tissue and ion-response expression analyses revealed that CaCAs genes with more highly differentiated expression patterns are more likely to be retained as duplicates than those with more conserved expression profiles. Phenotype of Arabidopsis thaliana mutants showed that loss of genes with a greater tendency to be retained after duplication resulted in more severe growth deficiency. CaCAs genes in salt-tolerant species tended to inherit the expression characteristics of their most recent common ancestral genes, with conservative ion-response expression. This study indicates a possible evolutionary scheme for cation transport and illustrates distinct fates and a mechanism for the evolution of gene duplicates. The increased copy numbers of genes and divergences in expression might have contributed to the divergent functions of CaCAs protein, allowing plants to cope with environmental stresses and adapt to a larger number of ecological niches.

Regulation of P300 and HDAC1 on endoplasmic reticulum stress in isoniazid-induced HL-7702 hepatocyte injury.

P300 and HDAC1 can be involved in the development of various liver diseases by regulating gene transcription. Endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS) is one of the main pathways of apoptosis and is activated during inflammatory responses, but the roles of P300 and HDAC1 in ERS in antituberculosis drug-induced liver injury (ADLI) are not clear. This study confirms that isoniazid can change the states of P300 and HDAC1 in HL-7702 hepatocyte metabolism and induce ERS, causing hepatocyte injury and apoptosis. When combined with C646, however, P300 can be reduced. HL-7702 cells were flattened, and the cytoplasm became crinkled. To a certain extent, ERS was relieved, but hepatocytes suffered worse damage, and the rate of cell apoptosis markedly increased. When MS-275 was applied, HDAC1 level was increased, cell fusion appeared, and fluorescence intensity of endoplasmic reticulum was weakened. In addition, ERS was aggravated, but liver injury was relieved, and the apoptosis rate significantly decreased. Therefore, alteration of P300 and HDAC1 status and ERS are involved in ADLI, and changes in P300 and HDAC1 can regulate ERS and then affect cell damage.

K(+) accumulation in the cytoplasm and nucleus of the salt gland cells of Limonium bicolor accompanies increased rates of salt secretion under NaCl treatment using NanoSIMS.

Recretohalophytes with specialized salt-secreting structures (salt glands) can secrete excess salts from plant, while discriminating between Na(+) and K(+). K(+)/Na(+) ratio plays an important role in plant salt tolerance, but the distribution and role of K(+) in the salt gland cells is poorly understood. In this article, the in situ subcellular localization of K and Na in the salt gland of the recretohalophyte Limonium bicolor Kuntze is described. Samples were prepared by high-pressure freezing (HPF), freeze substitution (FS) and analyzed using NanoSIMS. The salt gland of L. bicolor consists of sixteen cells. Higher signal strength of Na(+) was located in the apoplast of salt gland cells. Compared with control, 200 mM NaCl treatment led to higher signal strength of K(+) and Na(+) in both cytoplasm and nucleus of salt gland cells although K(+)/Na(+) ratio in both cytoplasm and nucleus were slightly reduced by NaCl. Moreover, the rate of Na(+) secretion per salt gland of L. bicolor treated with 200 mM NaCl was five times that of controls. These results suggest that K(+) accumulation both in the cytoplasm and nucleus of salt gland cells under salinity may play an important role in salt secretion, although the exact mechanism is unknown.

Stepwise ordering of imidazolium-based cationic surfactants during cooling-induced crystallization.

Surfactants bearing imidazolium cations represent a new class of building blocks in molecular self-assembly. These imidazolium-based cationic surfactants can exhibit various morphologies during phase transformations. In this work, we studied the self-assembly and phase behavior of 1-hexadecyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride (C(16)mimCl) aqueous dispersions (0.5-10 wt %) by using isothermal titration calorimetry, differential scanning calorimetry, synchrotron small- and wide-angle X-ray scattering, freeze-fracture electron microscopy, optical microscopy, electrical conductance, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. It was found that C(16)mimCl in aqueous solutions can form two different crystalline phases. At higher C(16)mimCl concentrations (>6 wt %), the initial spherical micelles convert directly to the stable crystalline phase upon cooling. At lower concentrations (0.5 or 1 wt %), the micelles first convert to a metastable crystalline phase upon cooling and then transform to the stable crystalline phase upon further incubation at low temperature. The electrical conductance measurement reveals that the two crystalline phases have similar surface charge densities and surface curvatures. Besides, the microscopic and spectroscopic investigations of the two crystalline phases suggest that the metastable crystalline phase has preassembled morphology and a preordered submolecular packing state that contribute to the final stable crystalline structure. The formation of a preordered structure prior to the final crystalline state deepens our understanding of the crystallization mechanisms of common surfactants and amphiphilic ionic liquids and should thus be widely recognized and explored.

Crystallization from the micellar phase of imidazolium-based cationic surfactants.

The self-assembly and phase behavior of the aqueous dispersions consisting of the cationic surfactant, 1-hexadecyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride (C(16)mimCl), were studied by differential scanning calorimetry, synchrotron small- and wide-angle X-ray scattering, freeze-fracture electron microscopy, polarizing optical microscopy, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. We found that the crystallization of C(16)mimCl upon cooling is strongly concentration-dependent. At low concentrations (10-25 wt%), the samples change directly from a spherical micellar solution to a lamellar crystalline phase. While at high concentrations (50-67 wt%), the initial cylindrical micelles first convert to the lamellar gel phase and then to the lamellar crystalline phase. Particular efforts have been devoted to unveiling the submolecular mechanisms of the phase transition processes. The transformation from the initial micellar phase to the final crystalline phase upon cooling involves both an ordering rearrangement in the alkyl tails and a dehydrating process in the head region. At high concentrations, the transformation is divided into two steps, i.e., the gelation and subsequent crystallization processes, both involving evident rearrangements of the surfactant tails. Moreover, a significant dehydration of the surfactant head part takes place in the gelation step and a partial rehydration occurs in the crystallization step.

Ionic structures of nanobased FeCl3/[C4mim]Cl ionic liquids.

We synthesized a series of FeCl(3)/[C(4)mim]Cl (iron(III) chloride with 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride) ionic liquids. The temperature dependence of the Raman spectra of the FeCl(3)/[C(4)mim]Cl ionic liquids was measured for the first time to analyze their ionic species. In addition, the infrared spectra, thermodynamic properties, and freeze-fracture transmission electron microscopy were combined together with the Raman spectra to reveal the microscopic information of the FeCl(3)/[C(4)mim]Cl ionic liquids. When the mole ratio of FeCl(3)/[C(4)mim]Cl is less than 1, the Raman scattering identifies the presence of [FeCl(4)](-) in the ionic liquid. When FeCl(3) is in excess, [Fe(2)Cl(7)](-) begins to appear. Besides, we found that the relative intensity of the two symmetry vibrations of [Fe(2)Cl(7)](-) is changing as the temperature is varied. The strength of the interionic interactions in FeCl(3)/[C(4)mim]Cl ionic liquids follows the order 1/1.5 > 1.5/1 > 1/1 due to the formation of [FeCl(4)](-) and [Fe(2)Cl(7)](-). The nanostructures in FeCl(3)/[C(4)mim]Cl ionic liquids were observed for the first time by using biological imaging. The sizes of the local domains are found to be tens of nanometers.

Comparative studies on the crystalline to fluid phase transitions of two equimolar cationic/anionic surfactant mixtures containing dodecylsulfonate and dodecylsulfate.

In this work, a cationic surfactant, dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide (DTAB), and an anionic surfactant, sodium dodecylsulfonate (SDSO(3)) or sodium dodecylsulfate (SDSO(4)), were mixed in an equimolar ratio to prepare SDSO(3)-DTAB and SDSO(4)-DTAB binary mixtures. The phase behavior, structure, and morphology of these two surfactant mixtures were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry, synchrotron X-ray scattering, freeze-fracture electron microscopy, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. It was found that upon heating, both of the two systems transform from multilamellar crystalline phase to liquid crystalline (or fluid) phase. It is interesting to find that, although SDSO(3) has a lower molecular weight, the crystalline phase of SDSO(3)-DTAB shows much higher thermostability as compared with that of SDSO(4)-DTAB. Other than this, we observed a large difference in the repeat distances of the two crystalline phases. More interestingly, at 60 °C in the fluid phases, cylindrical micelles formed in the SDSO(3)-DTAB system, while spherical micelles were observed in the SDSO(4)-DTAB system. Our present work demonstrates that a subtle difference in the headgroup structure of the anionic component markedly affects the thermostability, packing structure, and morphology of the surfactant mixtures, which suggests the importance of the match of the head-head and tail-tail interactions between the cationic and anionic surfactants.