A pervasive phosphorylation cascade modulation of plant transcription factors in response to abiotic stress.

MAIN CONCLUSION: Transcriptional regulation of stress-responsive genes is a crucial step in establishing the mechanisms behind plant abiotic stress tolerance. A sensitive method of regulating transcription factors activity, stability, protein interaction, and subcellular localization is through phosphorylation. This review highlights a widespread regulation mechanism that involves phosphorylation of plant TFs in response to abiotic stress. Abiotic stress is one of the main components limiting crop yield and sustainability on a global scale. It greatly reduces the land area that is planted and lowers crop production globally. In all living organisms, transcription factors (TFs) play a crucial role in regulating gene expression. They participate in cell signaling, cell cycle, development, and plant stress response. Plant resilience to diverse abiotic stressors is largely influenced by TFs. Transcription factors modulate gene expression by binding to their target gene's cis-elements, which are impacted by genomic characteristics, DNA structure, and TF interconnections. In this review, we focus on the six major TFs implicated in abiotic stress tolerance, namely, DREB, bZIP, WRKY, ABF, MYB, and NAC, and the cruciality of phosphorylation of these transcription factors in abiotic stress signaling, as protein phosphorylation has emerged as one of the key post-translational modifications, playing a critical role in cell signaling, DNA amplification, gene expression and differentiation, and modification of other biological configurations. These TFs have been discovered after extensive study as stress-responsive transcription factors which may be major targets for crop development and important contributors to stress tolerance and crop production.

A Novel mechanisms of the signaling cascade associated with the SAPK10-bZIP20-NHX1 synergistic interaction to enhance tolerance of plant to abiotic stress in rice (Oryza sativa L.).

The bzip transcription factors can modulate the transcriptional expressions of target genes by binding specifically to cis-regulatory elements in the promoter region of stress-related genes, hence regulating plant stress resistance. Here, we investigated a stress-responsive transcription factor Osbzip20 under abiotic stresses. The OsbZIP20-GFP fusion protein predominantly aggregated in the nucleus, in accordance with our subcellular localization. OsbZIP20 transcript was observed in all vegetative tissues with highest levels being detected in the seed. Transcription of Osbzip20 was induced by salinity, exsiccation, and abscisic acid. Overexpression of OsbZIP20 in transgenic rice considerably improved tolerance to salt and drought stresses, as well as increased sensitivity to ABA. Furthermore, abiotic stress responsive genes transcript were found to be remarkably elevated in transgenic rice overexpressing OsbZIP20 than in wild-type plants. SAPK10 was discovered to directly interact with and phosphorylate OsbZIP20. Yeast one-hybrid and luciferase assay revealed that OsbZIP20 acted as a transcriptional stimulator. Interestingly, gel shift assay showed that phosphorylated bZIP20 augmented its DNA-binding affinity to the ABRE element of the NHX1 promoter and induced its transcription. In sum, our findings establish a novel signaling pathway associated with the SAPK10-bZIP20-NHX1 synergistic interaction, as well as a new strategy for enhancing rice drought and salt tolerance.

A novel SAPK10-WRKY87-ABF1 biological pathway synergistically enhance abiotic stress tolerance in transgenic rice (Oryza sativa).

WRKY transcription factors play a role in a variety of biological processes. Several studies have revealed that abiotic stress regulates the transcription of a large number of WRKY genes. In this study, we report the identification of a novel 'SAPK10-WRKY87-ABF1' biological pathway, through which they harmoniously enhance drought and salinity tolerance. We generated OsWRKY87-overexpressing transgenic rice and found that the transgenic seedlings exhibited significantly improved drought and salinity stress tolerance. Subcellular localization in rice seedling protoplast revealed that OsWRKY87-GFP fusion protein mostly accumulated in the nucleus, suggesting that OsWRKY87 is a nucleus-localized protein, in line with the predicted function of OsWRKY87 as a transcription factor. In vivo interaction between SAPK10 and WRKY87 was demonstrated by Yeast two-hybrid-assay. In addition, phosphorylation assays showed that SAPK10 exhibits autophosphorylation activity on the 177th serine, enabling it to phosphorylate WRKY87. OsWRKY87 functioned as a transcriptional initiator, according to a yeast one-hybrid assay and a luciferase assay. Remarkably, gel mobility shift assay showed that phosphorylated WRKY87 enhances its DNA-binding ability to the W-box cis-element of ABF1 promoter and activated its transcription, thereby elevating the ABF1 transcription and improving drought and salinity tolerance. Overall, our findings revealed a novel 'SAPK10- WRKY87-ABF1' module, which synergistically interacts to improve drought and salt tolerance in rice (Oryza sativa).

Relationship between leptin, lipid metabolic disorder and gestational diabetes mellitus / 实用医学杂志

Objective To discuss the relationship between and value of Leptin with disorder of lipid metabolism in gestational diabetes mellitus. Method Research objects are divided into three groups including GDM group, normal glucose tolerance group (NGT group), normal non-pregnant group. Blood lipid, fasting blood glucose, fasting insulin, serum leptin and placental leptin levels were detected and HOMA-IR was calculated. Result (1) Serum leptin, TC, TG, placental leptin and HOMA-IR in GDM group were higher than those of NGT group and TC, serum leptin and HOMA-IR of NGT group were higher than those of control group. There were statistical significances (P<0.05). (2)Serum leptin levels were positively correlated with BMI, HOMA-IR, TC and TG respectively (r = 0.593, 0.688, 0.722, 0.492 respectively, P < 0.05). Conclusion Leptin may cause lipid metabolism disorders, and together they participate in the pathogenesis of GDM. Maternal serum leptin level is expected to become an observation index of GDM.

Correlation of quantitative examination of urinary sediment bacteria and urine culture / 国际检验医学杂志

Objective To evaluate quantitative examination of urinary sediment bacteria as a basic feasibility of screening indicators for urinary tract infection .Methods 191 outpatients and inpatient specimens were gathered firstly to implement a urine culture ,and then the rest of the urine were used for sediment bacteria quantitative testing .Meanwhile ,bacterial culture was conducted as the standard .According to the results of bacterial culture ,receiver operating characteristic(ROC) was drawn ,the threshold values of leukocyte and bacteria counts for diagnosis of urinary tract infection were found out and its sensitivity ,specificity ,positive / negative predictive value ,false positive/false negative rate and accuracy were calculated .Results The positive rate of urine culture was 39 .7% ,and the most common pathogen was Escherichia coli .The threshold value of bacteria and leukocyte counts for diagnosis of urinary tract infection was 1 024 .5/μL and 135 .8/μL respectively .When combined leukocyte and bacteria counts for urinary tract infection ,the optimum sensitivity was 62 .5% ,specificity was 98 .1% ,positive predictive value was 95 .7% ,negative predictive value was 79 .6% ,false positive rate was 1 .9% ,false negative rate was 37 .5% ,and accuracy was 83 .8% .Conclusion With UF‐1000i urinary sediment analyzer ,the combined determination of leukocyte and bacteria counts can remove the great mass of negative results ,Especially the results of bacterial culture positive predictability is higher ,but still can not replace of quantitative bacterial culture .