The avian eggshell is formed in the uterus. Changes in uterine function may have a significant effect on eggshell quality. To identify the vital genes impacting uterine functional maintenance in the ...chicken, uteri in three different periods (22W, 31W, 51W) were selected for RNA sequencing and bioinformatics analysis. In our study, 520, 706 and 736 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were respectively detected in the W31 vs W22 group, W51 vs W31 group and W51 vs W22 group. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis indicated DEGs were enriched in the extracellular matrix, extracellular region part, extracellular region, extracellular matrix structural constituent, ECM receptor interaction, collagen-containing extracellular matrix and collagen trimer in the uterus (P < 0.05). Protein-protein interaction analysis revealed that FN1, LOX, THBS2, COL1A1, COL1A2, COL5A1, COL5A2, POSTN, MMP13, VANGL2, RAD54B, SPP1, SDC1, BTC, ANGPTL3 might be key candidate genes for uterine functional maintenance in chicken. This study discovered dominant genes and pathways which enhanced our knowledge of chicken uterine functional maintenance.
A novel, highly sensitive and selective dual-readout (colorimetric and fluorometric) sensor based on fluorescent carbon dots (CDs) and unmodified gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) for the detection of ...thiocyanate (SCN(-)) was proposed. Amino-functionalized CDs could be readily adsorbed onto the surface of citrate-stabilized AuNPs through Au-N interactions, leading to the aggregation of AuNPs and the nonfluorescent off-state of CDs arising from potential fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET). However, SCN(-) had a stronger affinity toward AuNPs and could compete with CDs to bind onto the surface of AuNPs in priority, which prevented the aggregation of AuNPs and fluorescence quenching of CDs. Correspondingly, both the colorimetric and fluorometric signals remained "light-on". The color of the sensing solution remained red and the fluorescence remained unquenched. A distinguishable change in the color was observed at a SCN(-) concentration of 1 μM by the naked eye and a detection limit as low as 0.036 μM was obtained by virtue of fluorescence spectroscopy. Both colorimetric and fluorometric sensors exhibited excellent selectivity toward SCN(-) over other common metallic ions and anions. In addition, such a sensing assay featured simplicity, rapidity, cost-effectiveness and ease of operation without further modification. The accuracy and precision were evaluated based on the quantitative detection of SCN(-) in tap water and saliva samples with satisfactory results.
To investigate the long-term stability of surrounding rock in tunnels in cold regions, the gneiss in the Huibai tunnel of Jilin Province in China was selected for the triaxial creep test after ...subjecting it to freeze–thaw (F–T) cycles. Furthermore, the influence of F–T cycles on the creep properties of saturated gneiss was analyzed and discussed. The experimental results showed that the increase in the number of F–T cycles increased the creep deformation of gneiss gradually, while the creep failure stress, creep duration, and long-term strength decreased significantly. Additionally, based on the experimental results, a variable-parameter creep damage model was proposed considering the effect of F–T cycles on gneiss. The creep damage model was composed of three components: a Hooke body, a Kelvin body (parallel viscoelastic components), and a new nonlinear viscoplastic damage component. The creep damage model can not only describe the three typical creep stages (primary creep, secondary creep, and tertiary creep), but also reflect the effect of F–T damage on the creep failure stress. The comparison between the creep test curve and fitting curve of the theoretical model verified the accuracy and applicability of the model. The result of this study can provide a reference value for the support design and anti-freeze damage design for geotechnical engineering in cold areas.
The development of low-cost, high-efficiency, and stable bifunctional electrocatalysts toward the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is of paramount importance for ...large-scale water splitting. Here, we develop a new strategy for the first design and synthesis of a NiO@Ni decorated WS2 nanosheet array on carbon cloth (NiO@Ni/WS2/CC) composite. This composite serves as a unique three-dimensional (3D) synergistic electrocatalyst that not only combines the intrinsic properties of individual NiO@Ni and WS2, but also exhibits significantly improved HER and OER activities when compared to that of pure NiO@Ni and WS2. This electrocatalyst possesses Pt-like activity for HER and exhibits better OER performance than that for commercial RuO2, as well as demonstrating superior long-term durability in alkaline media. Furthermore, it enables an alkaline electrolyzer with a current density of 10 mA cm–2 at a cell voltage as 1.42 V, which is the lowest one among all reported values to date. The excellent performance is mainly attributed to the unique 3D configuration and multicomponent synergies among NiO, Ni, and WS2. Our findings provide a new idea to design advanced bifunctional catalysts for water splitting.
As a well-known copper-containing oxidase, tyrosinase has been anticipated to serve as the biomarker of skin diseases. We describe here an exquisite label-free fluorescent and colorimetric ...dual-readout assay of its activity, inspired by the specific oxidation ability of monophenolamine substrates to catecholamines and a unique fluorogenic reaction between resorcinol and catecholamines. By employing commercially available tyramine as the model substrate (dopamine as the product), it is found that the tyrosinase-incubated tyramine solution exhibits obvious pale yellow with intense blue fluorescence in the presence of resorcinol and O2, where the absorbance and fluorescence intensity are directly related to the concentration of added tyrosinase (i.e., the amount of conversion of tyramine to dopamine). The overall process of sensing tyrosinase activity takes less than 100 min at ambient temperature and pressure conditions with exceedingly simple operation procedure, explicit response mechanism, and formation of fluorophore with high quantum yield from scratch. Furthermore, such a convenient, rapid, cost-effective, and highly sensitive dual-readout assay exhibits promising prospect for the tyrosinase activity in extensive bioassays and clinic research as well as in screening potential tyrosinase inhibitors.
The cecal microbiota plays a critical role in energy harvest and nutrient digestion, influencing intestinal health and the performance of chickens. Feed efficiency (FE) is essential for improving ...economic efficiency and saving social resources in chicken production and may be affected by the cecal microbiota. Therefore, to investigate the composition and functional capacity of cecum microbes related to FE in Xiayan chicken, an indigenous breed in Guangxi province, metagenome sequencing was performed on chicken cecal contents. 173 male and 167 female chickens were divided into high and low FE groups according to the residual feed intake. The cecal microbial genome was extracted and sequenced. The results showed that the genera Bacteroides, Prevotella, and Alistipes were the 3 most abundant in each cecal microbiome. The linear discriminant analysis effect size revealed 6 potential biomarkers in male and 14 in female chickens. Notably, the relative abundance of Lactobacillus in the high FE group was higher than that of the low FE group both in the male and female chickens, and the species Limosilactobacillus oris has a higher score in the high FE group of male chickens. In contrast, some potentially pathogenic microorganisms such as Campylobacter avium in females and Helicobacter pullorum in males were enriched in the low FE group. Predictive functional analysis showed that the high FE group in male chickens had a greater ability of xenobiotics biodegradation and metabolism and signaling molecules and interaction. In addition, the host sex was found to exert effects on the cecal microbial composition and function associated with FE. These results increased our understanding of the cecal microbial composition and identified many potential biomarkers related to FE, which may be used to improve the FE of the chickens.
Stimuli‐responsive designs with exogenous stimuli enable remote and reversible control of DNA nanostructures, which break many limitations of static nanostructures and inspired development of dynamic ...DNA nanotechnology. Moreover, the introduction of various types of organic molecules, polymers, chemical bonds, and chemical reactions with stimuli‐responsive properties development has greatly expand the application scope of dynamic DNA nanotechnology. Here, DNA assembly‐based stimuli‐responsive systems are reviewed, with the focus on response units and mechanisms that depend on different exogenous stimuli (DNA strand, pH, light, temperature, electricity, metal ions, etc.), and their applications in fields of nanofabrication (DNA architectures, hybrid architectures, nanomachines, and constitutional dynamic networks) and biomedical research (biosensing, bioimaging, therapeutics, and theranostics) are discussed. Finally, the opportunities and challenges for DNA assembly‐based stimuli‐responsive systems are overviewed and discussed.
Various DNA assembly‐based stimuli‐responsive systems can be designed and fabricated based on different exogenous stimuli, including DNA strand, pH, light, temperature, electricity, metal ions, etc. The response mechanisms of DNA assembly‐based stimuli‐responsive systems as well as their application in nanofabrication and biomedical research are summarized. The current challenges and future potential are also discussed.
Fat deposition is a vital factor affecting the economics of poultry production. Numerous studies on fat deposition have been done. However, the molecular regulatory mechanism is still unclear. In the ...present study, the whole-transcriptome RNA sequencing in abdominal fat, back skin, and liver both high- and low-abdominal fat groups was used to uncover the competitive endogenous RNA (ceRNA) regulation network related to chicken fat deposition. The results showed that differentially expressed (DE) genes in abdominal fat, back skin, liver were 1207(784 mRNAs, 330 lncRNAs, 41 circRNAs, 52 miRNAs), 860 (607 mRNAs, 166 lncRNAs, 26 circRNAs, 61 miRNAs), and 923 (501 mRNAs, 262 lncRNAs, 15 circRNAs, 145 miRNAs), respectively. The ceRNA regulatory network analysis indicated that the fatty acid metabolic process, monocarboxylic acid metabolic process, carboxylic acid metabolic process, glycerolipid metabolism, fatty acid metabolism, and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) signaling pathway took part in chicken fat deposition. Meanwhile, we scan the important genes, FADS2, HSD17B12, ELOVL5, AKR1E2, DGKQ, GPAM, PLIN2, which were regulated by gga-miR-460b-5p, gga-miR-199-5p, gga-miR-7470-3p, gga-miR-6595-5p, gga-miR-101-2-5p. While these miRNAs were competitive combined by lncRNAs including MSTRG.18043, MSTRG.7738, MSTRG.21310, MSTRG.19577, and circRNAs including novel_circ_PTPN2, novel_circ_CTNNA1, novel_circ_PTPRD. This finding provides new insights into the regulatory mechanism of mRNA, miRNA, lncRNA, and circRNA in chicken fat deposition.
A simple, green method was developed for the synthesis of gold and silver nanoparticles by using polysaccharides as reducing/stabilizing agents.
A simple, green method was developed for the synthesis ...of gold and silver nanoparticles by using polysaccharides as reducing/stabilizing agents. The obtained positively charged chitosan-stabilized gold nanoparticles and negatively charged heparin-stabilized silver nanoparticles were characterized with UV-vis spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The results illustrated the formation of gold and silver nanoparticles inside the nanoscopic polysaccharide templates. Moreover, the morphology and size distribution of prepared gold and silver nanoparticles varied with the concentration of both the polysaccharides and the precursor metal salts
Sperm storage capacity (SSC) determines the duration of fertility in hens and is an important reproduction trait that cannot be ignored in production. Currently, the genetic mechanism of SSC is still ...unclear in hens. Therefore, to explore the genetic basis of SSC, we analyzed the uterus-vagina junction (UVJ) of hens with different SSC at different times after insemination by RNA-seq and Ribo-seq. Our results showed that 589, 596, and 527 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), 730, 783, and 324 differentially translated genes (DTGs), and 804, 625, and 467 differential translation efficiency genes (DTEGs) were detected on the 5th, 10th, and 15th days after insemination, respectively. In transcription levels, we found that the differences of SSC at different times after insemination were mainly reflected in the transmission of information between cells, the composition of intercellular adhesion complexes, the regulation of ion channels, the regulation of cellular physiological activities, the composition of cells, and the composition of cell membranes. In translation efficiency (TE) levels, the differences of SSC were mainly related to the physiological and metabolic activities in the cell, the composition of the organelle membrane, the physiological activities of oxidation, cell components, and cell growth processes. According to pathway analysis, SSC was related to neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction, histidine metabolism, and PPAR signaling pathway at the transcriptional level and glutathione metabolism, oxidative phosphorylation, calcium signaling pathway, cell adhesion molecules, galactose metabolism, and Wnt signaling pathway at the TE level. We screened candidate genes affecting SSC at transcriptional levels (COL4A4, MUC6, MCHR2, TACR1, AVPR1A, COL1A1, HK2, RB1, VIPR2, HMGCS2) and TE levels(COL4A4, MUC6, CYCS, NDUFA13, CYTB, RRM2, CAMK4, HRH2, LCT, GCK, GALT). Among them, COL4A4 and MUC6 were the key candidate genes differing in transcription, translation, and translation efficiency. Our study used the combined analysis of RNA-seq and Ribo-seq for the first time to investigate the SSC and reveal the physiological processes associated with SSC. The key candidate genes affecting SSC were screened, and the theoretical basis was provided for the analysis of the molecular regulation mechanism of SSC.
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