Abscisic acid (ABA) catabolism is one of the determinants of endogenous ABA levels affecting numerous aspects of plant growth and abiotic-stress responses. The major ABA catabolic pathway is ...triggered by ABA 8'-hydroxylation catalysed by ABA 8'-hydroxylase, the cytochrome P450 CYP707A family. In this study, the full-length cDNAs of AhCYP707A1 and AhCYP707A2 were cloned and characterized from peanut. Expression analyses showed that AhCYP707A1 and AhCYP707A2 were expressed ubiquitously in peanut roots, stems, and leaves with different transcript accumulation levels, including the higher expression of AhCYP707A1 in roots. The expression of AhCYP707A2 was significantly up-regulated by 20% PEG6000 or 250 mmol/L NaCl in peanut roots, stems, and leaves, whereas the up-regulation of AhCYP707A1 transcript level by PEG6000 or NaCl was observed only in roots instead of leaves and stems. Due to the osmotic and ionic stresses of high concentration of NaCl to plants simultaneously, low concentration of LiCl (30 mmol/L, at which concentration osmotic status of cells is not seriously affected, the toxicity of Li+ being higher than that of Na+) was used to examine whether the effect of NaCl might be related to osmotic or ionic stress. The results revealed visually the susceptibility to osmotic stress and the resistance to salt ions in peanut seedlings. The significant up-regulation of AhCYP707A1, AhCYP707A2 and AhNCED1 transcripts and endogenous ABA levels by PEG6000 or NaCl instead of LiCl, showed that the osmotic stress instead of ionic stress affected the expression of those genes and the biosynthesis of ABA in peanut. The functional expression of AhCYP707A1 cDNA in yeast showed that the microsomal fractions prepared from yeast cell expressing recombinant AhCYP707A1 protein exhibited the catalytic activity of ABA 8'-hydroxylase. These results demonstrate that the expressions of AhCYP707A1 and AhCYP707A2 play an important role in ABA catabolism in peanut, particularly in response to osmotic stress.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Two new nervogenic acid derivatives liparisnervosides Q (1) and R (5), as well as five known nervogenic acid derivatives (2–4, 6, 7) and four phenanthrenes (8–11) were isolated from the whole plant ...of Liparis nervosa (Thunb. ex A. Murray) Lindl.. Their structures were detremined using extensive spectroscopic techniques, including 1D, 2D NMR, and HR‐ESI‐MS, and acid hydrolysis. Furthermore, their antimicrobial and immunosuppressive activities were evaluated. Nervosine VII (3) exhibited antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus with an MIC of 62.5 μg/mL and inhibited the proliferation of human T cells with an IC50 value of 9.67±0.96 μM. These findings contribute to our understanding of the potential pharmacological properties of these compounds.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Direct ink writing technology is capable of using 2D MXene to construct 3D architectures for electrochemical energy storage (EES) devices that are normally difficult to achieve using conventional ...techniques. However, to meet specific rheological requirements for 3D printing, a large amount of MXene is needed in the ink, resulting in a severe self‐restacking structure after drying. Herein, a series of cellulose nanofibers (CNFs) with different morphologies and surface chemistries are applied to enhance the rheology of the MXene‐based inks with exceptional 3D printability. Various 3D architectures with superior shape fidelity and geometric accuracy are successfully printed using the optimized hybrid ink at a low solid content, generating self‐standing, hierarchically porous structures after being freeze‐dried, which improves surface area accessibility, ion transport efficiency, and ultimately, capacitive performance. A solid‐state interdigitated symmetrical supercapacitor is further 3D printed, which delivers an areal capacitance of 2.02 F cm−2 and an energy density of 101 μWh cm−2 at a power density of 0.299 mW cm−2, and maintains a capacitance retention rate of 85% after 5000 cycles. This work demonstrates the integration of 1D CNFs and 2D MXene in 3D printing technology to prepare customized, multiscale, and multidimensional architectures for the next generation of EES devices.
By rationally controlling the dimension and surface chemistry of cellulose nanofibers (CNFs), CNFs are successfully applied as rheology modifiers to formulate viscoelastic, 3D printable MXene‐based ink at a low solid concentration of 8 wt%. The freestanding, hierarchically porous MXene‐based electrode architectures can be achieved by 3D printing and freeze‐drying, which holds great potential in electrochemical energy storage devices.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Based on the successful establishment of a rat model of chronic restraint stress, we used multiple algorithms to quantify the morphological changes of rat hypothalamic microglia from various ...perspectives, providing a pathomorphological basis for the subsequent study of molecular mechanisms of hypothalamic stress injury, such as neuroinflammation. To verify the successful establishment of the chronic stress model, an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was performed to detect serum glucocorticoid levels. Microglia labeled with Iba1 in frozen sections of rat hypothalamus were scanned and photographed at multiple levels using confocal microscopy. Subsequently, images were processed for external contouring and skeletonization, and morphological indices of microglia were calculated and analyzed using fractal, skeleton, and Sholl analysis. In addition, the co-expression of CD68 (a marker that can reflect phagocytic activity) and Iba1 was observed by immunofluorescence technique. Compared with the control group, microglia in the chronic stress group displayed reduced fractal dimension and lacunarity, increased density and circularity, enlarged soma areas, and shortened and reduced branches. Sholl analysis confirmed the reduced complexity of microglia following chronic stress. Meanwhile, microglia CD68 increased significantly, indicating that the microglia in the chronic stress group have greater phagocytosis activity. In summary, chronic restraint stress promoted the conversion of microglia in the rat hypothalamus to a less complex form, manifested as larger soma, shorter and fewer branches, more uniform and dense texture, and increased circularity; indeed, the shape of these microglia resembled that of amoeba and they displayed strong phagocytosis activity.
•The spatial complexity of microglia in the hypothalamus of rats decreased after chronic stress.•The branches of microglia decreased and shortened after chronic stress, and the area of cell soma enlarged.•The phagocytosis of microglia in hypothalamus of rats was enhanced after chronic stress.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Summary
Plant microbiomes are essential to host health and productivity but the ecological processes that govern crop microbiome assembly are not fully known.
Here we examined bacterial communities ...across 684 samples from soils (rhizosphere and bulk soil) and multiple compartment niches (rhizoplane, root endosphere, phylloplane, and leaf endosphere) in maize (Zea mays)‐wheat (Triticum aestivum)/barley (Hordeum vulgare) rotation system under different fertilization practices at two contrasting sites.
Our results demonstrate that microbiome assembly along the soil‐plant continuum is shaped predominantly by compartment niche and host species rather than by site or fertilization practice. From soils to epiphytes to endophytes, host selection pressure sequentially increased and bacterial diversity and network complexity consequently reduced, with the strongest host effect in leaf endosphere. Source tracking indicates that crop microbiome is mainly derived from soils and gradually enriched and filtered at different plant compartment niches. Moreover, crop microbiomes were dominated by a few dominant taxa (c. 0.5% of bacterial phylotypes), with bacilli identified as the important biomarker taxa for wheat and barley and Methylobacteriaceae for maize.
Our work provides comprehensive empirical evidence on host selection, potential sources and enrichment processes for crop microbiome assembly, and has important implications for future crop management and manipulation of crop microbiome for sustainable agriculture.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
How do trees support their upright massive bodies? The support comes from the incredibly strong and stiff, and highly crystalline nanoscale fibrils of extended cellulose chains, called cellulose ...nanofibers. Cellulose nanofibers and their crystalline parts—cellulose nanocrystals, collectively nanocelluloses, are therefore the recent hot materials to incorporate in man‐made sustainable, environmentally sound, and mechanically strong materials. Nanocelluloses are generally obtained through a top‐down process, during or after which the original surface chemistry and interface interactions can be dramatically changed. Therefore, surface and interface engineering are extremely important when nanocellulosic materials with a bottom‐up process are fabricated. Herein, the main focus is on promising chemical modification and nonmodification approaches, aiming to prospect this hot topic from novel aspects, including nanocellulose‐, chemistry‐, and process‐oriented surface and interface engineering for advanced nanocellulosic materials. The reinforcement of nanocelluloses in some functional materials, such as structural materials, films, filaments, aerogels, and foams, is discussed, relating to tailored surface and/or interface engineering. Although some of the nanocellulosic products have already reached the industrial arena, it is hoped that more and more nanocellulose‐based products will become available in everyday life in the next few years.
Nanocelluloses, the natural reinforcement for plants, are incredibly strong and stiff, and are therefore under great scrutiny for incorporation in sustainable, ecofriendly, and strong man‐made materials. Nanocelluloses enable dramatic tailoring of surface chemistry, interface interactions, and functionalities via chemical and/or physical surface and interface engineering that permit assembly of diverse nanocellulosic materials. Some of the promising progress in this area is reviewed.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
During the last few decades, whole-cell biosensors have attracted increasing attention for their enormous potential in monitoring bioavailable heavy metal contaminations in the ecosystem. Visual and ...measurable output signals by employing natural pigments have been demonstrated to offer another potential choice to indicate the existence of bioavailable heavy metals in recent years. The biosynthesis of the blue pigment indigoidine has been achieved in
E. coli
following heterologous expression of both BpsA (a single-module non-ribosomal peptide synthetase) and PcpS (a PPTase to activate
apo
-BpsA). Moreover, we demonstrated herein the development of the indigoidine-based whole-cell biosensors to detect bioavailable Hg(II) and Pb(II) in water samples by employing metal-responsive transcriptional regulator MerR and PbrR as the sensory elements, and the indigoidine biosynthesis gene cluster as a reporter element. The resulting indigoidine-based biosensors presented a good selectivity and high sensitivity to target metal ions. High concentration of target metal exposure could be clearly recognized by the naked eye due to the color change by the secretion of indigoidine, and quantified by measuring the absorbance of the culture supernatants at 600 nm. Dose–response relationships existed between the exposure concentrations of target heavy metals and the production of indigoidine. Although fairly good linear relationships were obtained in a relatively limited concentration range of the concentrations of heavy metal ions, these findings suggest that genetically controlled indigoidine biosynthesis triggered by the MerR family transcriptional regulator can enable a sensitive, visual, and qualitative whole-cell biosensor for bioindicating the presence of bioaccessible heavy metal in environmental water samples.
Key points
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Biosynthesis pathway of indigoidine reconstructed in a high copy number plasmid in E. coli.
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Visual and colorimetric detection of Hg(II) and Pb(II) by manipulation of indigoidine biosynthesis through MerR family metalloregulator.
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Enhanced detection sensitivity toward Hg(II) and Pb(II) achieved using novel pigment-based whole-cell biosensors.
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CEKLJ, DOBA, EMUNI, FZAB, GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, IZUM, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
Diabetes, a disease characterized by hyperglycemia, has a serious impact on the lives and families of patients as well as on society. Diabetes is a group of highly heterogeneous metabolic diseases ...that can be classified as type 1 diabetes (T1D), type 2 diabetes (T2D), gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), or other according to the etiology. The clinical manifestations are more or less similar among the different types of diabetes, and each type is highly heterogeneous due to different pathogenic factors. Therefore, distinguishing between various types of diabetes and defining their subtypes are major challenges hindering the precise treatment of the disease. T2D is the main type of diabetes in humans as well as the most heterogeneous. Fortunately, some studies have shown that variants of certain genes involved in monogenic diabetes also increase the risk of T2D. We hope this finding will enable breakthroughs regarding the pathogenesis of T2D and facilitate personalized treatment of the disease by exploring the function of the signal genes involved. Hepatocyte nuclear factor 1 homeobox A (HNF1α) is widely expressed in pancreatic β cells, the liver, the intestines, and other organs. HNF1α is highly polymorphic, but lacks a mutation hot spot. Mutations can be found at any site of the gene. Some single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) cause maturity-onset diabetes of the young type 3 (MODY3) while some others do not cause MODY3 but increase the susceptibility to T2D or GDM. The phenotypes of MODY3 caused by different SNPs also differ. MODY3 is among the most common types of MODY, which is a form of monogenic diabetes mellitus caused by a single gene mutation. Both T2D and GDM are multifactorial diseases caused by both genetic and environmental factors. Different types of diabetes mellitus have different clinical phenotypes and treatments. This review focuses on HNF1α gene polymorphisms, HNF1A-MODY3, HNF1A-associated T2D and GDM, and the related pathogenesis and treatment methods. We hope this review will provide a valuable reference for the precise and individualized treatment of diabetes caused by abnormal HNF1α by summarizing the clinical heterogeneity of blood glucose abnormalities caused by HNF1α mutation.
Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) and microRNAs (miRNAs) are noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) that occupy over 90% of the human genome, and their main function is to directly or indirectly regulate messenger RNA ...(mRNA) expression and participate in the tumorigenesis and progression of malignances. In particular, some lncRNAs can interact with miRNAs as competing endogenous RNAs (ceRNAs) to modulate mRNA expression. Accordingly, these RNA molecules are interrelated and coordinate to form a dynamic lncRNA-mediated ceRNA regulatory network. Mounting evidence has revealed that lncRNAs that act as ceRNAs are closely related to tumorigenesis. To date, numerous studies have established many different regulatory networks in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and perturbations in these ceRNA interactions may result in the initiation and progression of HCC. Herein, we emphasize recent advances concerning the biological function of lncRNAs as ceRNAs in HCC, with the aim of elucidating the molecular mechanism underlying these HCC-related RNA molecules and providing novel insights into the diagnosis and treatment of HCC.
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