Genome-Wide Identification, Characterization, Evolutionary Analysis, and Expression Pattern of the GPAT Gene Family in Barley and Functional Analysis of HvGPAT18 under Abiotic Stress.

Glycerol-3-phosphoacyltransferase (GPAT) is an important rate-limiting enzyme in the biosynthesis of triacylglycerol (TAG), which is of great significance for plant growth, development, and response to abiotic stress. Although the characteristics of GPAT have been studied in many model plants, little is known about its expression profile and function in barley, especially under abiotic stress. In this study, 22 GPAT genes were identified in the barley genome and divided into three groups (I, II, III), with the latter Group III subdivided further into three subgroups based on the phylogenetic analysis. The analyses of conserved motifs, gene structures, and the three-dimensional structure of HvGPAT proteins also support this classification. Through evolutionary analysis, we determined that HvGPATs in Group I were the earliest to diverge during 268.65 MYA, and the differentiation of other HvGPATs emerged during 86.83-169.84 MYA. The tissue expression profile showed that 22 HvGPAT genes were almost not expressed in INF1 (inflorescence 1). Many functional elements related to stress responses and hormones in cis-element analysis, as well as qRT-PCR results, confirm that these HvGPAT genes were involved in abiotic stress responses. The expression level of HvGPAT18 was significantly increased under abiotic stress and its subcellular localization indicated its function in the endoplasmic reticulum. Various physiological traits under abiotic stress were evaluated using transgenic Arabidopsis to gain further insight into the role of HvGPAT18, and it was found that transgenic seedlings have stronger resistance under abiotic stress than to the wild-type (WT) plants. Overall, our results provide new insights into the evolution and function of the barley GPAT gene family and enable us to explore the molecular mechanism of functional diversity behind the evolutionary history of these genes.

Transcriptomic analysis of rapeseed (Brassica napus. L.) seed development in Xiangride, Qinghai Plateau, reveals how its special eco-environment results in high yield in high-altitude areas.

As one of the most important oil crops, rapeseed (Brassica napus) is cultivated worldwide to produce vegetable oil, animal feed, and biodiesel. As the population grows and the need for renewable energy increases, the breeding and cultivation of high-yield rapeseed varieties have become top priorities. The formation of a high rapeseed yield is so complex because it is influenced not only by genetic mechanisms but also by many environmental conditions, such as climatic conditions and different farming practices. Interestingly, many high-yield areas are located in special eco-environments, for example, in the high-altitude Xiangride area of the Qinghai Plateau. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying the formation of high yields in such a special eco-environment area remain largely unknown. Here, we conducted field yield analysis and transcriptome analysis in the Xiangride area. Compared with the yield and environmental factors in the Xinning area (a low-yielding area), we found that the relatively longer daylight length is the key to high rapeseed yield in the Xiangride area, which leads up to a 52.1% increase in rapeseed yield, especially the increase in thousand seed weight and silique number (SN). Combined with transcriptome H-cluster analysis and Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) functional analyses, we can assume that the grain development of rapeseed in the Xiangride area is ahead of schedule and lasts for a long time, leading to the high-yield results in the Xiangride area, confirmed by the expression analysis by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) of yield-related genes. Our results provide valuable information for further exploring the molecular mechanism underlying high yield in special ecological environments and provide a helpful reference for studying seed development characteristics in special-producing regions for Brassica napus.

Genome-wide identification and expression profile under abiotic stress of the barley non-specific lipid transfer protein gene family and its Qingke Orthologues.

BACKGROUND: Plant non-specific lipid transfer proteins (nsLTPs), a group of small, basic ubiquitous proteins to participate in lipid transfer, cuticle formation and stress response, are involved in the regulation of plant growth and development. To date, although the nsLTP gene family of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) has been preliminarily identified, it is still unclear in the recently completed genome database of barley and Qingke, and its transcriptional profiling under abiotic stress has not been elucidated as well. RESULTS: We identified 40 barley nsLTP (HvLTP) genes through a strict screening strategy based on the latest barley genome and 35 Qingke nsLTP (HtLTP) orthologues using blastp, and these LTP genes were divided into four types (1, 2, D and G). At the same time, a comprehensive analysis of the physical and chemical characteristics, homology alignment, conserved motifs, gene structure and evolution of HvLTPs and HtLTPs further supported their similar nsLTP characteristics and classification. The genomic location of HvLTPs and HtLTPs showed that these genes were unevenly distributed, and obvious HvLTP and HtLTP gene clusters were found on the 7 chromosomes including six pairs of tandem repeats and one pair of segment repeats in the barley genome, indicating that these genes may be co-evolutionary and co-regulated. A spatial expression analysis showed that most HvLTPs and HtLTPs had different tissue-specific expression patterns. Moreover, the upstream cis-element analysis of HvLTPs and HtLTPs showed that there were many different stress-related transcriptional regulatory elements, and the expression pattern of HvLTPs and HtLTPs under abiotic stress also indicated that numerous HvLTP and HtLTP genes were related to the abiotic stress response. Taken together, these results may be due to the differences in promoters rather than by genes themselves resulting in different expression patterns under abiotic stress. CONCLUSION: Due to a stringent screening and comprehensive analysis of the nsLTP gene family in barley and Qingke and its expression profile under abiotic stress, this study can be considered a useful source for the future studies of nsLTP genes in either barley or Qingke or for comparisons of different plant species.

Constructing new Fe3O4@MnOx with 3D hollow structure for efficient recovery of uranium from simulated seawater.

Enrichment of uranium from seawater is a promising method for addressing the energy crisis. Current technologies are generally not effective for enriching uranium from seawater because its concentration in seawater is low. In this study, new Fe3O4@MnOx with 3D hollow structure, which is capable of enriching low concentration uranium, was prepared via a novel redox etching method. The physicochemical characteristics of Fe3O4@MnOx were studied with TEM, HRTEM, SEAD, FTIR, XRD, and N2 adsorption-desorption analysis. Dynamic kinetic studies of different initial U(VI) concentrations revealed that the pseudo-second-order model fit the sorption process better, and the sorption rates of Fe3O4@MnOx in 1, 10, and 25 mg/L U(VI) solution were 0.0124, 0.00298, and 0.000867 g/mg·min, respectively. Isothermal studies showed that the maximum sorption amounts were 50.09, 56.27, and 64.62 mg/g for 1, 10, and 25 mg/L U(VI), respectively, at pH 5.0 and 313 K, suggesting that Fe3O4@MnOx could effectively enrich low concentration U(VI) from water. The sorption amount of U(VI) did not significantly decrease in the presence of Na+, Mg2+, and Ca2+. HRTEM, FTIR, and XPS results demonstrated that Fe(II) and Mn/Fe-O-H active sites in Fe3O4@MnOx were accounted for the high and specific enrichment efficiency. A column experiment was conducted to evaluate the U(VI) sorption efficiency of Fe3O4@MnOx in simulated seawater. The U(VI) sorption efficiency remained above 80% in 28 days run. Our findings demonstrate that Fe3O4@MnOx has extraordinary potential for the enrichment of uranium from simulated seawater.

The complete chloroplast genome of Salsola abrotanoides (Chenopodiaceae), a desert halophyte shrub in China.

Salsola abrotanoides, one of the dominant plant species of desert vegetation, adapts well to the arid, saline, and alkaline environment in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Here, we reported the complete chloroplast sequence and characters of S. abrotanoides based on the Illumina NovaSeq Platform. The chloroplast genome is 151,622 bp in length, containing a pair of inverted repeated (IR) regions of 23,701 bp, a large single copy (LSC) region of 84,658 bp, and a small single copy (SSC) region of 19,562 bp. And the chloroplast genome sequence encodes 130 genes totally, including 85 mRNA genes, 37 tRNA genes, and 8 rRNA genes. S. abrotanoides is the first species of Genus Salsola and the chloroplast sequence will provide a valuable resource for the phylogenetic studies of Chenopodiaceae.

Genome-wide characterization and expression profiling of the relation of the HD-Zip gene family to abiotic stress in barley (Hordeum vulgare L.).

The homeodomain-leucine zipper (HD-Zip) gene family plays an important role in plant growth and environmental responses. At present, research on the HD-Zip gene family of barley is incomplete. In this study, 32 HD-Zip genes (HvHD-Zip 1-32) were identified from the barley genome and were subsequently divided into four subfamilies according to conserved structure and motif analysis. Whole genome replication events in barley and Arabidopsis, rice, and wheat HD-Zip gene families were analyzed, yielding 3, 14 and 25 gene pairs, respectively, but no segmental or tandem duplication events were identified in the barley HD-Zip gene family. Subsequently, quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) analysis revealed that the HvHD-Zip gene is sensitive to drought stress and that members of the HD-Zip I and HD-Zip IV subfamilies are generally more sensitive to abiotic stresses. Our results suggest a relationship between barley resistance and the potential key HvHD-Zip gene, which lay the foundation for further functional studies.

Molecular Mechanisms Underlying Hull-Caryopsis Adhesion/Separation Revealed by Comparative Transcriptomic Analysis of Covered/Naked Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.).

The covered/naked caryopsis trait of barley is an important agronomic trait because it is directly linked to dietary use. The formation of covered/naked caryopsis is controlled by an NUD transcription factor, which is involved in pericarp cuticle development. However, the molecular mechanism underlying this trait remains so far largely unknown. In this study, comparative transcriptomes of grains three weeks after anthesis of Tibetan Hulless barley landrace Dulihuang and covered barley Morex were analyzed using RNA-seq technique. A total of 4031 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified. The Nud gene was overexpressed in Morex, with trace expression in Dulihuang. Among seventeen cuticle related DEGs, sixteen were down regulated and one up regulated in Morex. These results suggest that the Nud gene in covered caryopsis might down regulate cuticle related genes, which may cause a permeable cuticle over pericarp, leading to a hull-caryopsis organ fusion. A functional cuticle covering the pericarp of naked caryopsis might be the result of deletion or low expression level of the Nud gene. The functional cuticle defines a perfect boundary to separate the caryopsis from the hull in naked barley.

A new norsesquiterpenoid from Ligularia virgaurea.

A new eremophilane norsesquiterpenoid (1), together with a known eremophilane sesquiterpenoid (2), was isolated from the leaves of Ligularia virgaurea. The structure of 1 was elucidated by a combination of spectroscopic analysis (IR, 1D NMR, 2D NMR, and HR-ESI-MS), and its absolute configuration was determined by a single-crystal X-ray diffraction experiment (with copper radiation). The known compound 2 was identified by comparison of its physical and spectral data with those reported in the literature. Compound 1 was assayed for its cytotoxic activities against human cervical carcinoma cell (HeLa) and human small cell lung cancer cell (NCI-446) lines.

[Repetition of teaching contents between genetics and relative courses in agricultural and forestry colleges and approaches to solving the problem].

Genetics is one of the main courses in agricultural and forestry colleges. However, there is large repetition of teaching contents and joining problems between genetics and the relative courses. The negative effects of above problems are discussed in this paper. In order to relieve the conflict between the increase of genetics contents and the decrease of teaching hours in genetics teaching of undergraduates and provide reference for future textbook compilation, some approaches on solving repetition of teaching content and suggestions on joining problems are put forward.