Transcriptome Analysis Reveals That FvPAP1 Genes Are Related to the Prolongation of Red-Leaf Period in Ficus virens.

Ficus virens is a deciduous tree that is highly valuable both economically and medicinally. Like other plants with 'red young leaves', the red-leaf period of most F. virens trees lasts only a few days, and the red leaves have little ornamental value. However, in recent years, some lines of F. virens with bright red young leaves and a prolonged red-leaf period have been utilized for urban greening. To explore the mechanism of the different lengths of the duration of F. virens leaves, we analyzed the physiology and changes in gene expression during the development of two varieties of leaves. The detection of anthocyanin in different developmental stages of the F. virens leaves showed that the changes in color of the red leaves of F. virens were primarily caused by the change in anthocyanin content. A transcriptome analysis showed that the expression of genes related to the biosynthesis of anthocyanin changed significantly during the development of leaves. A MYB gene FvPAP1, which was consistent with the change in anthocyanin content, was identified. A real-time quantitative reverse transcription PCR analysis and heterologous expression transgenic studies showed that FvPAP1 promoted the biosynthesis of anthocyanins. The difference in the expression of FvPAP1 in time and intensity in the young leaves may be the reason for the difference in the duration of the red-leaf period in different lines of F. virens. A sequence analysis showed that the cDNA sequence of FvPAP1 was polymorphic, and possible reasons were discussed. These results can provide insight for similar studies on the mechanism of the formation of red coloring in other woody plant leaves and provide molecular targets to breed new materials with more prolonged red-leaf periods in F. virens.

Endovascular Thrombectomy preceded by intravenous Alteplase versus endovascular Thrombectomy alone in Han Chinese patients treated for acute ischemic stroke with large vessel occlusion: a single-center retrospective analysis.

BACKGROUND: The American Heart Association/ American Stroke Association and the Chinese Stroke Association guidelines are recommending intravenous alteplase intervention before endovascular thrombectomy if patients are eligible to do so but the benefits of endovascular thrombectomy are different in Chinese patients with stroke than those of the white patients. The objective of the study was to compare outcomes of patients with acute ischemic stroke treated with endovascular thrombectomy with intravenous alteplase against those treated with endovascular thrombectomy alone. METHODS: A report is a retrospective analysis of comparing demographics, imaging, clinical and adverse outcomes in the Han Chinese patient who underwent mechanical thrombectomy for acute ischemic stroke with large vessel occlusion, with or without preceding intravenous alteplase administration. Patients with terminus and non-terminus intracranial occlusions and ≤ 2 points neurologic deficit underwent endovascular thrombectomy preceded by 0.9 mg/ kg intravenous alteplase (ET cohort, n = 184) and those who had contra-indication for intravenous alteplase were treated with endovascular thrombectomy alone (EA cohort, n = 141). RESULTS: The most common procedural complications were embolization into new territory (p = 0.866) and uneventful artery vasospasm (p = 0.712). Insignificant differences were reported for any procedural complications (p = 0.991), imaging outcomes, the modified Rankin scale score (p = 0.663), and death (28 vs. 24, p = 0.761) within 90 days between patients of both cohorts. At the discharge of the hospital, the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale scores of patients of the ET cohort were lower than those of the EA cohort (8.58 ± 3.79 vs. 10.23 ± 4.97, p = 0.003). The Barthel Index of survivors at 90 days after endovascular thrombectomy was higher for patients of the ET cohort than those of the EA cohort (87.47 ± 12.58 vs. 84.01 ± 13.47, p = 0.032). The most common adverse effect was asymptomatic intracranial hemorrhage (p = 0.297). Insignificant differences were reported for adverse effects after thrombectomy between survivors of both cohorts. CONCLUSIONS: Outcome measures in Han Chinese patients with acute ischemic stroke treated with endovascular thrombectomy alone were statistically the same as those treated with endovascular thrombectomy plus intravenous alteplase. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Iii TECHNICAL EFFICACY STAGE: 4.

A comparison of virus genome sequences with their host silkworm, Bombyx mori.

With the recent availability of the genomes of many viruses and the silkworm, Bombyx mori, as well as a variety of Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST) programs, a new opportunity to gain insight into the interaction of viruses with the silkworm is possible. This study aims to determine the possible existence of sequence identities between the genomes of viruses and the silkworm and attempts to explain this phenomenon. BLAST searches of the genomes of viruses against the silkworm genome were performed using the resources of the National Center for Biotechnology Information. All studied viruses contained variable numbers of short regions with sequence identity to the genome of the silkworm. The short regions of sequence identity in the genome of the silkworm may be derived from the genomes of viruses in the long history of silkworm-virus interaction. This study is the first to compare these genomes, and may contribute to research on the interaction between viruses and the silkworm.

Early responses of silkworm midgut to microsporidium infection--A Digital Gene Expression analysis.

Host-pathogen interactions are complex processes, which have been studied extensively in recent years. In insects, the midgut is a vital organ of digestion and nutrient absorption, and also serves as the first physiological and immune barrier against invading pathogenic microorganisms. Our focus is on Nosema bombycis, which is a pathogen of silkworm pebrine and causes great economic losses to the silk industry. A complete understanding of the host response to infection by N. bombycis and the interaction between them is necessary to prevent this disease. Silkworm midgut infected with N. bombycis is a good model to investigate the early host responses to microsporidia infection and the interaction between the silkworm and the microsporidium. Using Digital Gene Expression analysis, we investigated the midgut transcriptome profile of P50 silkworm larvae orally inoculated with N. bombycis. At 6, 12, 18, 24, 48, 72, and 96 h post-infection (hpi), 247, 95, 168, 450, 89, 80, and 773 DEGs were identified, respectively. KEGG pathway analysis showed the influence of N. bombycis infection on many biological processes including folate biosynthesis, spliceosome, nicotinate and nicotinamide metabolism, protein export, protein processing in endoplasmic reticulum, lysosome, biosynthesis of amino acids, ribosome, and RNA degradation. In addition, a number of differentially expressed genes involved in the immune response were identified. Overall, the results of this study provide an understanding of the strategy used by silkworm as a defense against the invasion by N. bombycis. Similar interactions between hosts and pathogens infection may exist in other species.

Detection of Nosema bombycis by FTA cards and loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP).

We successfully established a detection method which exhibited a markedly higher sensitivity than previously developed detection methods for Nosema bombycis by combining glass beads, FTA card, and LAMP. Spores of N. bombycis were first broken by acid-washed glass beads; the DNA was subsequently extracted and purified with the FTA card, and LAMP was performed using primers (LSU296) designed based on the sequence of the LSU rRNA of N. bombycis. The minimum detection concentration was 10 spores/mL. When this method was used to detect pebrine disease in silkworm egg, the detection rate for 500 silkworm eggs, in which only one egg was infected with N. bombycis, was 100 % under our optimized conditions. If the number of eggs in the sample increased to 800 or 1,000, the sample was divided into two equal portions, and the eggs were smashed with glass beads after the addition of 1 mL of TE buffer. The liquid in two tubes was later mixed and applied to the FTA card, and the detection rates were 100 %. Furthermore, the LAMP method established in our study could detect N. bombycis infection in silkworm 24 h earlier than microscopy.