Systematic selection of suitable reference genes for quantitative real-time PCR normalization studies of gene expression in Lutjanus erythropterus.

Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) has been widely employed for the study of gene expression in fish, and accurate normalization is crucial. In this study, we aimed to identify the most stably expressed genes in various tissues, different developmental stages, and within astaxanthin treatment groups in Lutjanus erythropterus. Twelve candidate genes (EEF1A, CYB5R3, DLD, IDH3A, MRPL17, MRPL43, NDUFS7, PABPC1, PAGR1, PFDN2, PSMC3, and RAB10) were examined via qRT-PCR. We employed geNorm and NormFinder to assess their stability. The results revealed that RAB10 and PFDN2 exhibited relatively stable expression patterns across different tissue and astaxanthin treatment groups, while NDUFS7 and MRPL17 proved to be the most reliable reference gene combinations across various developmental stages. The stability of these selected genes was further validated by assessing the expression of two target genes, CRADD and CAPNS1, across developmental stages, reinforcing the reliability of NDUFS7 as it closely aligned with transcriptome-wide expression patterns at these stages. The present results will help researchers to obtain more accurate results in future qRT-PCR analysis in L. erythropterus.

The First High-Quality Chromosome-Level Genome of the Lutjanus erythropterus (Bloch, 1790) Using Single-Tube Long Fragment Reads and Hi-C Technologies.

Lutjanus erythropterus (Bloch, 1790), a Perciformes from the Lutjanidae family, is a commercially important species because of its taste and abundance. Despite the increase in genome resources in recent years, few genome assemblies are available within this fish family for comparative and functional studies. In this study, we determined the chromosomal genome of Crimson snapper using high-throughput Single-Tube Long Fragment Reads sequencing technology and Hi-C data. The final assembly size was 973.04 Mb with contig and scaffold N50 values of 1.51 and 40.65 Mb, respectively. We successfully scaffolded 95.84% of the genome sequence onto 24 chromosomes ranging in length from 19.37 to 49.48 Mb. A total of 22,663 genes and 13,877 gene families were identified in the genome, with 29 gene families being L. erythropterus-specific. A phylogenetic analysis using single-copy gene families showed that L. erythropterus and Larimichthys crocea had the closest genetic relationship with a divergence time of ∼47.7 Ma. This new genomic resource will facilitate comparative genomic studies as well as genetic breeding programs for L. erythropterus.

Non-Contact Heartbeat Detection Based on Ballistocardiogram Using UNet and Bidirectional Long Short-Term Memory.

Benefiting from non-invasive sensing tech- nologies, heartbeat detection from ballistocardiogram (BCG) signals is of great significance for home-care applications, such as risk prediction of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and sleep staging, etc. In this paper, we propose an effective deep learning model for automatic heartbeat detection from BCG signals based on UNet and bidirectional long short-term memory (Bi-LSTM). The developed deep learning model provides an effective solution to the existing challenges in BCG-aided heartbeat detection, especially for BCG in low signal-to-noise ratio, in which the waveforms in BCG signals are irregular due to measured postures, rhythm and artifact motion. For validations, performance of the proposed detection is evaluated by BCG recordings from 43 subjects with different measured postures and heart rate ranges. The accuracy of the detected heartbeat intervals measured in different postures and signal qualities, in comparison with the R-R interval of ECG, is promising in terms of mean absolute error and mean relative error, respectively, which is superior to the state-of-the-art methods. Numerical results demonstrate that the proposed UNet-BiLSTM model performs robust to noise and perturbations (e.g. respiratory effort and artifact motion) in BCG signals, and provides a reliable solution to long term heart rate monitoring.

Analysis of opsin gene family of Crimson snapper (Lutjanus erythropterus).

Opsin is a fellow of the G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) superfamily. It can be divided into visual and non-visual opsin according to whether it is directly involved in visual imaging. Opsin plays an important role in visual image formation and the regulation of non-image forming functions such as circadian entrainment in the growth, development and evolution of fish. Crimson snapper belongs to Perciforme mainly found in the Indo-West Pacific and the South China Sea. It is one of the most influential economic fishes in the South China Sea. In order to study the existence and expression of opsin gene in Crimson snapper, we sequenced the genome and tissue sample transcriptome of Crimson snapper. In this study, 32 opsin genes were identified from the genome of Crimson snapper. The length of these genes ranged from 1061 bp to 86203 bp and were distributed on 15 different chromosomes. The analysis of opsin gene family of Crimson snapper showed that the sws2 had two extra copies as compared with that of Zebrafish. Domain and motif analysis revealed that all the 32 opsin genes have seven-(pass)-transmembrane domain receptors (7TM receptors) each, and the opsin family contained 10 common motifs. The expression level of opsin gene, confirmed by RT-qPCR, was analyzed by using nine tissues transcriptome databases of Crimson snapper. The results showed that almost all opsin genes were highly expressed in the retina and brain, except opn7a and opn7b which were expressed in intestine and red skin, and almost no expression in other tissues. Our results provide a comprehensive basic knowledge for the opsin gene family of Crimson snapper, which has significance for the study of the function of opsin in Lutjanidaes.

Nanozymes used for antimicrobials and their applications.

Bacterial infection-related diseases have been growing year-by-year rapidly and raising health problems globally. The exploitation of novel, high efficiency, and bacteria-binding antibacterial agents are extremely need. As far as now, the most extensive treatment is restricted to antibiotics, which may be overused and misused, leading to increased multidrug resistance. Antibiotics abuse, as well as antibiotic-resistance of bacteria, is a global challenge in the current situation. It is highly recommended and necessary to develop novel bactericide to kill the bacteria effectively without causing further resistance development and biosafety issues. Nanozymes, inorganic nanostructures with intrinsic enzymatic activities, have attracted more and more interest from the researchers owing to their exceptional advantages. Compared to natural enzymes, nanozymes can destroy many Gram-positive, Gram-negative bacteria, which builds an important bridge between biology and nanotechnology. As the potent nanoantibiotics, nanozymes have exciting broad-spectrum antimicrobial properties and negligible biotoxicities. And we summarized and highlighted the recent advances on nanozymes including its antibacterial mechanism and applications. Finally, challenges and limitations for the further improvement of the antibacterial activity are covered to provide future directions for the use of engineered nanozymes with enhanced antibacterial function.

Light-printable epoxy oligomer wrinkle-forming surface for rewritable information storage.

Smart surfaces with controlled topography show broad and fantastic applications in optics, biology and information science. Herein, we report a simple visible-light-illumination approach to fabricate a smart wrinkle-forming surface with photo-controllable hierarchical surface patterns as well as rewritable high-resolution patterns of information by using an azobenzene-containing epoxy-based oligomer. The epoxy oligomer was synthesized via the ring-opening polymerization of bisphenol AF diglycidyl ether (BADFGE) with p-aminoazobenzene (AAB) and characterized using FTIR, 1H NMR and 19F NMR spectroscopies. When the epoxy oligomer film was deposited on an elastic substrate, the formation of surface wrinkles was triggered via a circulation of heating/cooling and photo-tailored due to photo-softening together with the release of stress induced by cycles of photoisomerization of azobenzene in the oligomer. The wrinkles in selectively light-exposed regions could be photo-erased within tens of seconds, yielding a different pattern of information. The high-resolution photo-printed images were shown to be rewritable for multiple cycles and legible for over 3 months in dark ambient conditions. The as-formed epoxy oligomer wrinkle-forming surface was found to be inexpensive and its fabrication was easily amenable to scale up, indicating its great potential as ink-free light printable media for rewritable information storage.