Transcriptome profiling reveals ethylene formation in rice seeds by trichloroisocyanuric acid.

KEY MESSAGE: Ethylene formation via methionine reacting with trichloroisocyanuric acid under FeSO4 condition in a non-enzymatical manner provides one economically and efficiently novel ethylene-forming approach in planta. Rice seed germination can be stimulated by trichloroisocyanuric acid (TCICA). However, the molecular basis of TCICA in stimulating rice seed germination remains unclear. In this study, the molecular mechanism on how TCICA stimulated rice seed germination was examined via comparative transcriptome. Results showed that clustering of transcripts of TCICA-treated seeds, water-treated seeds, and dry seeds was clearly separated. Twenty-two and three hundred differentially expressed genes were identified as TCICA treatment responsive genes and TCICA treatment potentially responsive genes, respectively. Two and one TCICA treatment responsive genes were involved in ethylene signal transduction and iron homeostasis, respectively. Seventeen of the three hundred TCICA treatment potentially responsive genes were significantly annotated to iron ion binding. Meanwhile, level of methionine (ethylene precursor) showed a 73.9% decrease in response to TCICA treatment. Ethylene was then proved to produce via methionine reacting with TCICA under FeSO4 condition in vitro. Revealing ethylene formation by TCICA not only may bring novel insights into crosstalk between ethylene and other phytohormones during rice seed germination, but also may provide one economically and efficiently novel approach to producing ethylene in planta independently of the ethylene biosynthesis in plants and thereby may broaden its applications in investigational and applied purposes.

Association between serum nickel and oral cancer incidence using propensity score matching and inverse probability of treatment weighting / 环境与职业医学

Background The association between serum nickel (Ni) and oral cancer incidence is unclear and most of the previous studies were observational studies that did not control for confounding factors between groups. Objective To assess the correlation of serum Ni with oral cancer incidence based on propensity score matching (PSM) and inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW). Methods A cohort of 456 newly diagnosed oral cancer patients was recruited from the First Hospital of Fujian Medical University during November 2011 to May 2019, and residents ordered their health check-up in hospitals or local community health centers over the same period were selected as a control group, which included a total of 1410 participants. Serum Ni was evaluated by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Case-control pairs were selected using a 1:1 PSM (caliper value of 0.02), and the study subjects in the case group and control group were weighted for subsequent analysis by IPTW. The general characteristics of the study subjects were tested for equilibrium before and after matching by chi-square test and standardized mean difference (SMD). This was followed by exploring the potential nonlinear dose-response relationship between serum Ni and oral cancer using restricted cubic splines as well as analyzing the association between serum Ni and oral cancer incidence by conditional logistic regression and weighted logistic regression. Results After controlling for between-group covariates by PSM and IPTW, the dose-response curves demonstrated that the risk of developing oral cancer tended to decline and then increase with the increasing serum Ni level. The outcome of the analysis using PSM demonstrated that as compared to the control group, the risk of developing oral cancer in the 0.09-16.80 μg·L−1 serum Ni group was negatively correlated with serum Ni level (OR=0.36, 95%CI: 0.24-0.54), whereas the risk of developing oral cancer in the >16.80 μg·L−1 serum Ni group was positively correlated with serum Ni level (OR=5.43, 95%CI: 2.76-10.68). After applying IPTW, a negative association was found between the risk of oral cancer and serum Ni concentration within a serum Ni window ranging from 0.09 to 20.55 μg·L−1 (OR=0.39, 95%CI: 0.29-0.52), while a positive association with an OR and 95%CI of 5.54 (3.62-8.49) for the Ni concentration > 20.55 μg·L−1. Conclusion In this study, a J-shaped relationship between serum Ni concentration and the risk of developing oral cancer is found, which shows that high serum Ni concentration (>20.55 μg·L−1) may be a risk factor for oral cancer.

Current understanding of the molecular players involved in resistance to rice planthoppers.

Rice planthoppers are the most widespread and destructive pest of rice. Planthopper control depends greatly on the understanding of molecular players involved in resistance to planthoppers. This paper summarizes the recent progress in the understanding of some molecular players involved in resistance to planthoppers and the mechanisms involved. Recent researches showed that host-plant resistance is the most promising sustainable approach for controlling planthoppers. Planthopper-resistant varieties with a host-plant resistance gene have been released for rice products. Integrated planthopper management is a proposed strategy to prolong the durability of host-plant resistance. Bacillus spp. and their gene products or insect pathogenic fungi have great potential for application in the biological control of planthoppers. Enhancement of the activity of the natural enemies of planthoppers would be more cost-effective and environmentally friendly. Various molecular processes regulate rice-planthopper interactions. Rice encounters planthopper attacks via transcription factors, secondary metabolites, and signaling networks in which phytohormones have central roles. Maintenance of cell wall integrity and lignification act as physical barriers. Indirect defenses of rice are regulated via chemical elicitors, honeydew-associated elicitor, amendment with silicon and biochar, and salivary protein of BPH as elicitor or effector. Further research directions on planthopper control and rice defense against planthoppers are also put forward. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry.

CEUS parameters in evaluation of muscle viability after ischemia-reperfusion in rabbit skeletal muscles / 中国医学影像技术

Objective: To investigate the feasibility of CEUS parameters in evaluation of muscle viability after ischemia-reperfusion in rabbit skeletal muscles. Methods Ischemia-reperfusion injury models of skeletal muscles (SMIRI) were established in rabbits. According to the "4C" sign of muscles in the most severely damaged area, the rabbits were then divided into muscle vitality group (n=10) and non-muscle vitality group (n=8). CEUS parameters of the most severely damaged area of the affected leg were compared between 2 groups before modeling (T0) and immediately (T1), 1 h (T2), 2 h (T3), 4 h (T4) after the rubber rings were removed. ROC curves were used to evaluate the diagnostic efficiency of CEUS parameters on viability of skeletal muscles after ischemia-reperfusion. Results: Absolute peak intensity (API) of T1 and T4 in muscle vitality group was higher than those in no-muscle vitality group (both P0.05). ROC curves results showed that the sensitivity and specificity of API on T1 (cut-off value 6.93 dB) for evaluating muscle viability after ischemia-reperfusion of skeletal muscles was 100% and 60%, AUC was 0.85 (95%CI [0.67, 1.00], P<0.05), while API on T4 (cut-off value 4.25 dB) were 100% and 70%, AUC was 0.89 (95%CI [0.75,1.00], P<0.05), respectively. Conclusion: CEUS parameters can reflect muscle viability after ischemia-reperfusion of skeletal muscles, and API can be used as an evaluation index in ischemia-reperfusion injury rabbit models.

Advances of relationship between protein O-GlcNAcylation and glucose metabolism in tumors / 中国药科大学学报

@#O-GlcNAcylation is the addition of a single N-acetylglucosamine(GlcNAc)moiety to the hydroxyl groups of serine or threonine residues of nuclear and cytoplasmic proteins. The transcription factors, kinases of the metabolic pathways and some cytoplasmic enzymes can be O-GlcNAcylated to affect cell transcription, signal transduction, cell metabolism and other biological functions. Abnormal glucose metabolism of tumors has been a hotspot in the research field of tumor pathogenesis and therapeutic targets recently. O-GlcNAclation regulates the glucose metabolism of tumor by affecting the activity of kinases in the metabolic pathway, which is closely associated with the abnormal glucose metabolism of tumor. The abnormal O-GlcNAcylation is one of the potential reasons of cancer. In this review, in order to provide a theoretical reference for developing anti-tumor targets and drugs targeting O-GlcNAc modification, we briefly summarized how O-GlcNAcylation regulated glucose metabolism on glucose metabolism, glucose uptake, glycolysis, pentose phosphate pathway and tricarboxylic acid cycle in cancer cell.

Genetic and biochemical mechanisms of rice resistance to planthopper.

KEY MESSAGE: This article presents a comprehensive review on the genetic and biochemical mechanisms governing rice-planthopper interactions, aiming to contribute substantial planthopper control and facilitate breeding for resistance to planthoppers in rice. The rice planthopper is the most destructive pest of rice and a substantial threat to rice production. The brown planthopper (BPH), white-backed planthopper (WBPH) and small brown planthopper (SBPH) are three species of delphacid planthoppers and important piercing-sucking pests of rice. Host-plant resistance has been recognized as the most practical, economical and environmentally friendly strategy to control planthoppers. Until now, at least 30, 14 and 34 major genes/quantitative trait loci for resistance to BPH, WBPH and SBPH have been identified, respectively. Recent inheritance and molecular mapping of gene analysis showed that some planthopper-resistance genes in rice derived from different donors aggregate in clusters, while resistance to these three species of planthoppers in a single donor is governed not by any one dominant gene but by multiple genes. Notably, Bph14, Bph26, Bph3 and Bph29 were successfully identified as BPH-resistance genes in rice. Biological and chemical studies on the feeding of planthoppers indicate that rice plants have acquired various forms of defence against planthoppers. Between the rice-planthopper interactions, rice plants defend against planthoppers through activation the salicylic acid-dependent systemic acquired resistance but not jasmonate-dependent hormone response pathways. Transgenic rice for the planthopper-resistance mechanism shows that jasmonate and its metabolites function diversely in rice's resistance to planthopper. Understanding the genetic and biochemical mechanisms underlying resistance in rice will contribute to the substantial control of such pests and facilitate breeding for rice's resistance to planthopper more efficiently.

Construction and evaluation of human Dp71 shRNA vector / 中南大学学报(医学版)

Objective: To construct effective short hairpin RNA (shRNA) recombinant plasmids targeting humanDystrophin Dp71 gene, and evaluate their interference effciency. Methods: hTree pairs of siRNA sequences targeting human Dp71 gene and one pair of control siRNA sequence were designed, synthesized, and then inserted into the pRNAT-U6.1/Neo vector. hTe shRNA recombinant vectors were evaluated by enzyme digestion and sequencing. Dp71-shRNA and control shRNA plasmids were transfected into human normal gastric epithelial cells (GES-1) and humanbronchial epithelium (HBE). Western blot was used to evaluate its interfering effciency. Results: Restriction enzyme digestion and sequencing showed that the Dp71-shRNA vectors were successfully constructed. Western blot displayed that Dp71 protein expression was reduced to a signiifcant degree atfer transfection with the 3 Dp71-shRNA plasmids, and Dp71-shRNA2 plasmid inhibit the Dp71 expression most effciently. Conclusion: Dp71-shRNA vectors have been successfully constructed. The 3 Dp71-shRNA plasmids can inhibit Dp71 expression in GES-1 and HBEC, with Dp71-shRNA2 plasmid displaying the highest inhibition effciency.