Effect of volatile versus propofol anaesthesia on major complications and mortality after cardiac surgery: a multicentre randomised trial.

BACKGROUND: The comparative effectiveness of volatile anaesthesia and total intravenous anaesthesia (TIVA) in terms of patient outcomes after cardiac surgery remains a topic of debate. METHODS: Multicentre randomised trial in 16 tertiary hospitals in China. Adult patients undergoing elective cardiac surgery were randomised in a 1:1 ratio to receive volatile anaesthesia (sevoflurane or desflurane) or propofol-based TIVA. The primary outcome was a composite of predefined major complications during hospitalisation and mortality 30 days after surgery. RESULTS: Of the 3123 randomised patients, 3083 (98.7%; mean age 55 yr; 1419 [46.0%] women) were included in the modified intention-to-treat analysis. The composite primary outcome was met by a similar number of patients in both groups (volatile group: 517 of 1531 (33.8%) patients vs TIVA group: 515 of 1552 (33.2%) patients; relative risk 1.02 [0.92-1.12]; P=0.76; adjusted odds ratio 1.05 [0.90-1.22]; P=0.57). Secondary outcomes including 6-month and 1-yr mortality, duration of mechanical ventilation, length of ICU and hospital stay, and healthcare costs, were also similar for the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: Among adults undergoing cardiac surgery, we found no difference in the clinical effectiveness of volatile anaesthesia and propofol-based TIVA. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (ChiCTR-IOR-17013578).

Coordination of m6A mRNA Methylation and Gene Transcriptome in Sugarcane Response to Drought Stress.

The N6-methyladenosine (m6A) methylation of mRNA is involved in biological processes essential for plant growth. To explore the m6A modification of sugarcane and reveal its regulatory function, methylated RNA immunoprecipitation sequencing (MeRIP-seq) was used to construct the m6A map of sugarcane. In this study, m6A sites of sugarcane transcriptome were significantly enriched around the stop codon and within 3'-untranslated regions (3'UTR). Gene ontology (GO) analysis showed that the m6A modification genes are associated with metabolic biosynthesis. In addition, the m6A modification of drought-resistant transcript mRNA increased significantly under drought (DR) treatment, resulting in enhanced mRNA stability, which is involved in regulating sugarcane drought resistance. GO and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment results showed that differentially methylated peak (DMP) modification of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in DR were particularly associated with abscisic acid (ABA) biosynthesis. The upregulated genes were significantly enriched in the ABA metabolism, ethylene response, fatty acid metabolism, and negative regulation of the abscisic acid activation signaling pathway. These findings provide a basis and resource for sugarcane RNA epigenetic studies and further increase our knowledge of the functions of m6A modifications in RNA under abiotic stress.

Comparative transcriptomic analyses of two sugarcane Saccharum L. cultivars differing in drought tolerance.

Sugarcane (Saccharum spp.) is an important cash crop, and drought is an important factors limiting its yield. To study the drought resistance mechanism of sugarcane, the transcriptomes of two sugarcane varieties with different levels of drought resistance were compared under different water shortage levels. The results showed that the transcriptomes of the two varieties were significantly different. The differentially expressed genes were enriched in starch and sucrose metabolism, linoleic acid metabolism, glycolysis/gluconeogenesis, and glyoxylate and dicarboxylate metabolic pathways. Unique trend genes of the variety with strong drought resistance (F172) were significantly enriched in photosynthesis, mitogen-activated protein kinases signaling pathway, biosynthesis of various plant secondary metabolites, and cyanoamino acid metabolism pathways. Weighted correlation network analysis indicated that the blue4 and plum1 modules correlated with drought conditions, whereas the tan and salmon4 modules correlated with variety. The unique trend genes expressed in F172 and mapped to the blue4 module were enriched in photosynthesis, purine metabolism, starch and sucrose metabolism, beta-alanine metabolism, photosynthesis-antenna proteins, and plant hormone signal transduction pathways. The expression of genes involved in the photosynthesis-antenna protein and photosynthesis pathways decreased in response to water deficit, indicating that reducing photosynthesis might be a means for sugarcane to respond to drought stress. The results of this study provide insights into drought resistance mechanisms in plants, and the related genes and metabolic pathways identified may be helpful for sugarcane breeding in the future.

Effect of biochar with different particle sizes on the sorption-desorption characteristics of soil phosphorus.

The size of particles determines the adsorption reaction. In this study, three different particle sizes of biochar (0.25-1 mm, 0.075-0.25 mm, <0.075 mm) were produced from rapeseed straw (SBC) and chicken manure (MBC). The biochar was mixed with high phosphorus (P) soil and low P soil and then incubated for 30 days. We conducted isothermal P sorption and desorption experiments to evaluate the effects of biochar particle size on sorption-desorption characteristics of soil P, and analyzed soil properties associated with P sorption. The results showed that P sorption capacity of SBC and MBC in the water system was highest for the smallest particle size (<0.075 mm) (SBC: 43125 mg·kg-1, MBC: 20083 mg·kg-1), followed by the intermediate particle size (0.075-0.25 mm) (SBC: 37376 mg·kg-1, MBC: 13199 mg·kg-1) and the largest particle size (0.25-1 mm) (SBC: 27749 mg·kg-1, MBC: 12251 mg·kg-1). However, there was little difference in soil P sorption between the three particle sizes of the same biochar in the soil system. In comparison with no biochar treatment, the addition of SBC increased the Langmuir P sorption maximum (Smax) by 236.8%-755.7%, and decreased soil P desorption rate. The addition of MBC increased Smax, but the enhancement was less than that of SBC. Soil P desorption rate was increased by 7.2%-295.9%. Both SBC and MBC significantly increased the contents of soil total P, available P, and exchangeable calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg). The increases in Ca and Mg contents due to biochar addition was 64.0%-257.1% (SBC) and 39.1%-205.3% (MBC), respectively. The contents of soil exchangeable Ca and Mg were positively correlated with Smax. These results suggested that biochar particle size had little effect on soil P sorption, but the enrichment of Ca and Mg due to biochar addition played a critical role in regulating soil P sorption. The rapeseed straw biochar had a high adsorption capacity for soil P, making it suitable for improving the P fixation capacity of soil rich in P and reducing the loss of excess P. Chicken manure biochar could be used to improve the P availability of low P soils and increase the contents of available P.

Comparative Transcriptome Analysis of Two Sugarcane Cultivars in Response to Paclobutrazol Treatment.

Sugarcane is an important crop across the globe, and the rapid multiplication of excellent cultivars is an important object of the sugarcane industry. As one of the plant growth regulators, paclobutrazol (PBZ) has been frequently used in the tissue culture of sugarcane seedlings. However, little is known about the molecular mechanisms of response to PBZ in this crop. Here, we performed a comparative transcriptome analysis between sensitive (LC05-136) and non-sensitive (GGZ001) sugarcane cultivars treated by PBZ at three time points (0 d, 10 d, and 30 d) using RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq). The results showed that approximately 70.36 Mb of clean data for each sample were generated and assembled into 239,212 unigenes. A total of 6108 and 4404 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified within the sensitive and non-sensitive sugarcane cultivars, respectively. Among them, DEGs in LC05-136 were most significantly enriched in the photosynthesis and valine, leucine and isoleucine degradation pathways, while in GGZ001, DEGs associated with ion channels and plant-pathogen interaction were mainly observed. Notably, many interesting genes, including those encoding putative regulators, key components of photosynthesis, amino acids degradation and glutamatergic synapse, were identified, revealing their importance in the response of sugarcane to PBZ. Furthermore, the expressions of sixteen selected DEGs were tested by quantitative reverse transcription PCR (RT-qPCR), confirming the reliability of the RNA-seq data used in this study. These results provide valuable information regarding the transcriptome changes in sugarcane treated by PBZ and provide an insight into understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying the resistance to PBZ in sugarcane.

Comprehensive transcriptome analysis reveals genes in response to water deficit in the leaves of Saccharum narenga (Nees ex Steud.) hack.

BACKGROUND: Sugarcane is an important sugar and energy crop that is widely planted in the world. Among the environmental stresses, the water-deficit stress is the most limiting to plant productivity. Some groups have used PCR-based and microarray technologies to investigate the gene expression changes of multiple sugarcane cultivars under water stress. Our knowledge about sugarcane genes in response to water deficit is still poor. RESULTS: A wild sugarcane type, Saccharum narenga, was selected and treated with drought stress for 22 days. Leaves from drought treated (DTS) and control (CK) plants were obtained for deep sequencing. Paired-end sequencing enabled us to assemble 104,644 genes (N50 = 1605 bp), of which 38,721 were aligned to other databases, such as UniProt, NR, GO, KEGG and Pfam. Single-end and paired-end sequencing identified 30,297 genes (> 5 TPM) in all samples. Compared to CK, 3389 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified in DTS samples, comprising 1772 up-regulated and 1617 down-regulated genes. Functional analysis showed that the DEGs were involved in biological pathways like response to blue light, metabolic pathways and plant hormone signal transduction. We further observed the expression patterns of several important gene families, including aquaporins, late embryogenesis abundant proteins, auxin related proteins, transcription factors (TFs), heat shock proteins, light harvesting chlorophyll a-b binding proteins, disease resistance proteins, and ribosomal proteins. Interestingly, the regulation of genes varied among different subfamilies of aquaporin and ribosomal proteins. In addition, DIVARICATA and heat stress TFs were first reported in sugarcane leaves in response to water deficit. Further, we showed potential miRNAs that might be involved in the regulation of gene changes in sugarcane leaves under the water-deficit stress. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first transcriptome study of Saccharum narenga and the assembled genes are a valuable resource for future research. Our findings will improve the understanding of the mechanism of gene regulation in sugarcane leaves under the water-deficit stress. The output of this study will also contribute to the sugarcane breeding program.

[Potential allelopathic effects of Piper nigrum, Mangifera indica and Clausena lansium].

With Piper nigrum, Mangifera indica and Clausena lansium as the donators, this paper studied their potential allelopathic effects on the germination and growth of Zea mays, Glycine max, Cucurbita moschata, Arachis hypogaea, Raphanus sativus, Echinochloa crusgalli, Digitaria sanguinalis and Stylosanthes guianensis. The results showed that the aqueous extracts of these donators could inhibit the germination and growth of Z. mays, G. max, C. moschata, E. crus-galli and D. sanguinalis at high concentration, but stimulate them at low concentration. In rhizosphere soil of P. nigrum and M. indica, the germination and growth of Z. mays L was stimulated, while A. hypogaea was inhibited. The aqueous extracts of the donators were extracted by ethyl acetate and n-butanol, respectively, and the inhibitory activity of both aqueous and n-butanol fractions from P. nigrum and M. indica on Z. mays, R. sativus and S. guianensis was stronger than that of ethyl acetate fraction, indicating that P. nigrum and M. indica contained the allelochemicals with high polarity.