Flower color polymorphism of a wild Iris on the Qinghai-Tibet plateau.

BACKGROUND: Flower color plays a crucial role in attracting pollinators and facilitating environmental adaptation. Investigating the causes of flower color polymorphism and understanding their potential effects on both ecology and genetics can enhance our understanding of flower color polymorphism in wild plant. RESULTS: In this study, we examined the differences of potential male and female fitness between purple- and yellow- flower individuals in Iris potaninii on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and screened key genes and positively selective genes involved in flower color change. Our results showed that yellow flower exhibited a higher pollen-to-ovule ratio. Yellow flowers were derived from purple flowers due to the loss of anthocyanins, and F3H could be an essential gene affecting flower color variation though expression regulation and sequence polymorphism in this species. Furthermore, our findings suggest that genes positively selected in yellow-flowered I. potaninii might be involved in nucleotide excision repair and plant-pathogen interactions. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that F3H induces the flower color variation of Iris potaninii, and the subsequent ecological and additive positive selection on yellow flowers may further enhance plant adaptations to alpine environments.

Emerging novel targets for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease treatment: Evidence from recent basic studies.

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), a leading chronic disease worldwide, affects approximately a quarter of the global population. Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is an advanced form of NAFLD and is more likely to progress to liver fibrosis than simple steatosis. NASH is also identified as the most rapidly growing cause of hepatocellular carcinoma. Although in the past decade, several phase II/III clinical trials have shown promising results in the use of novel drugs targeting lipid synthase, farnesoid X receptor signaling, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor signaling, hepatocellular injury, and inflammatory signaling, proven pharmaceutical agents to treat NASH are still lacking. Thus, continuous exploration of the mechanism underlying the pathogenesis of NAFLD and the identification of novel therapeutic targets remain urgent tasks in the field. In the current review, we summarize studies reported in recent years that not only provide new insights into the mechanisms of NAFLD development but also explore the possibility of treating NAFLD by targeting newly identified signaling pathways. We also discuss evidence focusing on the intrahepatic targets involved in the pathogenesis of NAFLD as well as extrahepatic targets affecting liver metabolism and function.

The efficacy and safety of minocycline as adjuvant therapy in refractory mycoplasma pneumonia in Chinese children: a meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: To explore the efficacy and safety of minocycline as adjuvant therapy for refractory mycoplasma pneumonia in Chinese children. METHODS: PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, CNKI, Wanfang database and VIP database were systematically searched. Studies where minocycline was used as adjuvant therapy for refractory mycoplasma pneumonia in Chinese children were included. The effect of numeration data and the measurement data were represented by odds ratios (OR) and weighted mean differences (MD), respectively. Review Manager version 5.3 was used to compare the treatment efficacy, time for the cough to subside, defervescence time, hospitalisation time, adverse events and other indicators. RESULTS: Ten studies involving 857 patients were included in the final analysis. Compared with the conventional treatment of refractory mycoplasma pneumonia in children, the addition of minocycline as adjuvant therapy was found to improve the treatment efficacy (OR: 5.45; 95% CI: 3.46, 8.57, p < 0.001); shorten the duration of cough (MD: -3.61; 95%CI: -4.25, -2.97, p < 0.001), fever time (MD: -4.77; 95% CI: -6.30, -3.23, p < 0.001) and hospitalisation time (MD: -5.53 (95% CI: -7.19, -3.88, p < 0.001); and decrease the concentration of C-reactive protein (MD: -13.95; 95%CI: -18.61, -9.29; p < 0.001) and the erythrocyte sedimentation rate (MD: -10.88; 95% CI: -14.05, -7.72, p < 0.001). The use of minocycline did not lead to significant adverse events (OR = 0.63; 95% CI: 0.39, 1.01, p = 0.05). CONCLUSION: The use of minocycline as adjuvant treatment of refractory mycoplasma pneumonia in Chinese children has good efficacy and safety and may be promoted in clinical practice.

Comparison of IOL-Master 700 and IOL-Master 500 biometers in ocular biological parameters of adolescents.

AIM: To compare the differences and consistency of IOL-Master 700 biometers applying swept optical coherence tomography with the conventional IOL-Master 500 applying partial coherence interference in terms of the ocular biological parameters in adolescents with ametropia. METHODS: A total of 110 adolescents (110 eyes) with ametropia were collected, including 55 males and 55 females; age 10.69±2.81y. Ocular biological measurements were taken by IOL-Master 700 and IOL-Master 500 respectively to obtain biological parameters including axial length (AL), mean corneal anterior surface keratometry (Km), anterior chamber depth (ACD), and horizontal corneal diameter (WTW). Paired t-test was used to compare the differences between the two instruments. The intra-group correlation coefficient (ICC) and the Bland-Altman analysis were used to evaluate the consistency of parameter measurements between the two instruments for the four biological parameters. RESULTS: Statistical analysis showed that there was no significant difference in the Km value measured by IOL-Master 700 and IOL-Master 500 (t=-1.644, P=0.116). The average differences of the AL, ACD, and WTW distances between the two instruments are 0.028, 0.101 and 0.064 mm respectively, and the differences are statistically significant (t=2.644, 12.505, 3.911, P<0.001). The consistency study results indicated high correlation in the measurement of AL, Km, ACD and WTW between the two instruments (ICC=0.994, 0.873, 0.927, 0.912). CONCLUSION: The novel biometric instrument IOL-Master 700 makes no difference with IOL-Master 500 in the measurement of Km. There are some differences in the values of AL, ACD, and WTW. However, the two instruments show good consistency in these four biological measurements. The measured values of Km are interchangeable between the instruments. These two types of biometrics can be used as mutual reference in consideration of that the differences in AL, ACD, and WTW measurements are not sufficient to produce clinically meaningful differences.

Genome-wide analysis of Cushion willow provides insights into alpine plant divergence in a biodiversity hotspot.

The Hengduan Mountains (HDM) biodiversity hotspot exhibits exceptional alpine plant diversity. Here, we investigate factors driving intraspecific divergence within a HDM alpine species Salix brachista (Cushion willow), a common component of subnival assemblages. We produce a high-quality genome assembly for this species and characterize its genetic diversity, population structure and pattern of evolution by resequencing individuals collected across its distribution. We detect population divergence that has been shaped by a landscape of isolated sky island-like habitats displaying strong environmental heterogeneity across elevational gradients, combined with population size fluctuations that have occurred since approximately the late Miocene. These factors are likely important drivers of intraspecific divergence within Cushion willow and possibly other alpine plants with a similar distribution. Since intraspecific divergence is often the first step toward speciation, the same factors can be important contributors to the high alpine species diversity in the HDM.

Cell-specific plasticity associated with integrative memory of triple sensory signals in the barrel cortex.

Neuronal plasticity occurs in associative memory. Associative memory cells are recruited for the integration and storage of associated signals. The coordinated refinements and interactions of associative memory cells including glutamatergic and GABAergic neurons remain elusive, which we have examined in a mouse model of associative learning. Paired olfaction, tail and whisker stimulations lead to odorant-induced and tail-induced whisker motions alongside whisker-induced whisker motion. In mice that show this cross-modal associative memory, barrel cortical glutamatergic and GABAergic neurons are recruited to encode the newly learned odor and tail signals alongside the innate whisker signal. These glutamatergic neurons are functionally upregulated, and GABAergic neurons are refined in a homeostatic manner. The mutual innervations between these glutamatergic and GABAergic neurons are upregulated. Therefore, the co-activations of sensory cortices by pairing the input signals recruit their glutamatergic and GABAergic neurons to be associative memory cells, which undergo coordinated refinement among glutamatergic and GABAergic neurons as well as homeostatic plasticity among subcellular compartments in order to drive these cells toward the optimal state for the integrative storage of associated signals.

Chromosome number and genome size variation in Colocasia (Araceae) from China.

Chromosome number and genome size are important cytological characters that significantly influence various organismal traits. We investigated chromosome number and genome size variation in 73 accessions belonging to four Colocasia species from China. Five different chromosome counts (2n = 26, 28, 38, 42, and 56) were found, the largest one representing a new record in Colocasia. The basic chromosome numbers are x = 13, 14, and 19, corresponding to 2x, 3x, and 4x cytotypes. Yunnan Province, China is considered the center of Colocasia polyploid origin. The 2C values in our accessions ranged from 3.29 pg in C. gigantea to 12.51 pg in C. esculenta. All species exhibit inter- and intraspecific chromosomal variation. Differences in DNA content among the Colocasia species seem to have occurred by chromosomal gain under similar habitats. Polyploidization also obviously contributes to 2C value variation.

Glucocorticoid Induces Incoordination between Glutamatergic and GABAergic Neurons in the Amygdala.

BACKGROUND: Stressful life leads to mood disorders. Chronic mild stress is presumably major etiology for depression, and acute severe stress leads to anxiety. These stressful situations may impair hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis and in turn induce synapse dysfunction. However, it remains elusive how the stress hormones mess up subcellular compartments and interactions between excitatory and inhibitory neurons, which we have investigated in mouse amygdala, a structure related to emotional states. METHODS AND RESULTS: Dexamethasone was chronically given by intraperitoneal injection once a day for one week or was acutely washed into the brain slices. The neuronal spikes and synaptic transmission were recorded by whole-cell patching in amygdala neurons of brain slices. The chronic or acute administration of dexamethasone downregulates glutamate release as well as upregulates GABA release and GABAergic neuron spiking. The chronic administration of dexamethasone also enhances the responsiveness of GABA receptors. CONCLUSION: The upregulation of GABAergic neurons and the downregulation of glutamatergic neurons by glucocorticoid impair their balance in the amygdala, which leads to emotional disorders during stress.

Karyological analyses of 33 species of the tribe Ophiopogoneae (Liliaceae) from Southwest China.

Chromosome numbers and karyotypes of 26 Ophiopogon species, 2 Liriope species and 5 Peliosanthes species of the family Liliaceae from Southwest China, were investigated. The study revealed a detailed picture of chromosome features and their pattern of karyotype variation in Ophiopogoneae. Karyotype asymmetry in different species and different populations of the same species varied greatly due to different locality conditions. Our analyses may support the separately monophyly of Ophiopogon, Liriope and Peliosanthes.