WRKYs are important regulators in plant development and stress responses. However, knowledge of this superfamily in soybean is limited. In this study, we characterized the drought- and salt-induced ...gene
based on RNA-Seq and qRT-PCR.
, which is 714 bp in length, encoded 237 amino acids and grouped into WRKY II. The promoter region of
included ABER4, MYB, MYC, GT-1, W-box and DPBF
-elements, which possibly participate in abscisic acid (ABA), drought and salt stress responses.
was minimally expressed in different tissues under normal conditions but highly expressed under drought and salt treatments. As a nucleus protein,
was responsive to drought, salt, ABA and salicylic acid (SA) stresses. Using a transgenic hairy root assay, we further characterized the roles of
in abiotic stress tolerance. Compared with control (Williams 82), overexpression of
enhanced drought and salt tolerance, increased proline (Pro) content and decreased malondialdehyde (MDA) content under drought and salt treatment in transgenic soybean seedlings. These results may provide a basis to understand the functions of
in abiotic stress responses in soybean.
The bZIP transcription factor (TF) family plays an important role in the abscisic acid (ABA) signaling pathway of abiotic stress in plants. We here report the cloning and characterization of ...OsbZIP71, which encodes a rice bZIP TF. Functional analysis showed that OsbZIP71 is a nuclear-localized protein that specifically binds to the G-box motif, but has no transcriptional activity both in yeast and rice protoplasts. In yeast two-hybrid assays, OsbZIP71 can form both homodimers and heterodimers with Group C members of the bZIP gene family. Expression of OsbZIP71 was strongly induced by drought, polyethylene glycol (PEG), and ABA treatments, but repressed by salt treatment. OsbZIP71 overexpressing (p35S::OsbZIP71) rice significantly improved tolerance to drought, salt and PEG osmotic stresses. In contrast, RNAi knockdown transgenic lines were much more sensitive to salt, PEG osmotic stresses, and also ABA treatment. Inducible expression (RD29A::OsbZIP71) lines were significantly improved their tolerance to PEG osmotic stresses, but hypersensitivity to salt, and insensitivity to ABA. Real-time PCR analysis revealed that the abiotic stress-related genes, OsVHA-B, OsNHX1, COR413-TM1, and OsMyb4, were up-regulated in overexpressing lines, while these same genes were down-regulated in RNAi lines. Chromatin immunoprecipitation analysis confirmed that OsbZIP71 directly binds the promoters of OsNHX1 and COR413-TM1 in vivo. These results suggest that OsbZIP71 may play an important role in ABA-mediated drought and salt tolerance in rice.
Agriculture is expanding into regions that are affected by salinity. This review considers the energetic costs of salinity tolerance in crop plants and provides a framework for a quantitative ...assessment of costs. Different sources of energy, and modifications of root system architecture that would maximize water vs ion up take are addressed. Energy requirements for transport of salt (NaCl) to leaf vacuoles for osmotic adjustment could be small if there are no substantial leaks back across plasma membrane and tonoplast in root and leaf. The coupling ratio of the H⁺ -ATPase also is a critical component. One proposed leak, that of Na⁺ influx across the plasma membrane through certain aquaporin channels, might be coupled to water flow, thus conserving energy. For the tonoplast, control of two types of cation channels is required for energy efficiency. Transporters controlling the Na⁺ and Cl⁻ concentrations in mitochondria and chloroplasts are largely unknown and could be a major energy cost. The complexity of the system will require a sophisticated modelling approach to identify critical transporters, apoplastic barriers and root structures. This modelling approach will inform experimentation and allow a quantitative assess ment of the energy costs of Na Cl tolerance to guide breeding and engineering of molecular components.
Type 1 diabetes is a chronic autoimmune disease that leads to destruction of insulin-producing beta cells and dependence on exogenous insulin for survival. Some interventions have delayed the loss of ...insulin production in patients with type 1 diabetes, but interventions that might affect clinical progression before diagnosis are needed.
We conducted a phase 2, randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial of teplizumab (an Fc receptor-nonbinding anti-CD3 monoclonal antibody) involving relatives of patients with type 1 diabetes who did not have diabetes but were at high risk for development of clinical disease. Patients were randomly assigned to a single 14-day course of teplizumab or placebo, and follow-up for progression to clinical type 1 diabetes was performed with the use of oral glucose-tolerance tests at 6-month intervals.
A total of 76 participants (55 72% of whom were ≤18 years of age) underwent randomization - 44 to the teplizumab group and 32 to the placebo group. The median time to the diagnosis of type 1 diabetes was 48.4 months in the teplizumab group and 24.4 months in the placebo group; the disease was diagnosed in 19 (43%) of the participants who received teplizumab and in 23 (72%) of those who received placebo. The hazard ratio for the diagnosis of type 1 diabetes (teplizumab vs. placebo) was 0.41 (95% confidence interval, 0.22 to 0.78; P = 0.006 by adjusted Cox proportional-hazards model). The annualized rates of diagnosis of diabetes were 14.9% per year in the teplizumab group and 35.9% per year in the placebo group. There were expected adverse events of rash and transient lymphopenia. KLRG1+TIGIT+CD8+ T cells were more common in the teplizumab group than in the placebo group. Among the participants who were HLA-DR3-negative, HLA-DR4-positive, or anti-zinc transporter 8 antibody-negative, fewer participants in the teplizumab group than in the placebo group had diabetes diagnosed.
Teplizumab delayed progression to clinical type 1 diabetes in high-risk participants. (Funded by the National Institutes of Health and others; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01030861.).
Climate change is putting the fate of ectothermic animals at stake because their body temperature closely tracks environmental temperatures. The ability to adjust thermal limits and preference ...through acclimation (i.e. acclimation capacity) may compensate for temperature changes. However, although necessary for forecasting the future of ectotherms in a changing climate, knowledge on the factors modulating these plastic responses is fragmentary. For instance, the influence of an animal's sex in driving acclimation capacity has been underappreciated.
Here, we present the first systematic review and meta‐analysis on sex differences in thermal acclimation capacity. Using 239 effect sizes from 37 studies and 44 species, we revealed that males and females did not differ significantly in their overall capacity to acclimate their thermal limits and preference. However, in some instances, females expressed significantly greater plastic responses than males.
In wild animals, females had a greater heat tolerance plasticity than males. In addition, females had a greater cold tolerance plasticity in terrestrial habitats, but the strength and direction of this sexual dimorphism was associated with the duration of acclimation. We also found a negative correlation between body mass and plasticity. Finally, we demonstrated that the capacity for each sex to adjust their thermal tolerance and preference was remarkably limited.
It is important to acknowledge that the above effects were weak and heterogeneous. Hence, in the species we investigated, minor differences in acclimation capacity may not translate into major ecological mismatch between sexes with climate change.
Our systematic review also revealed that over 75% of the studies we identified either did not report or confounded the sex of the animals. This under‐reporting may cause to overlook ecologically relevant sex differences in plasticity in ectothermic taxa. We stress the need for further research on sex‐based responses to temperatures.
Our synthesis provides additional evidence that the capacity for ectotherms to acclimate to temperatures is limited, and likely insufficient to compensate for the impacts of climate change.
A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.
Résumé
Le changement climatique met en péril le sort des animaux ectothermes car leur température corporelle suit de près les températures environnementales. La capacité de ces animaux à ajuster leurs limites et préférences thermiques (i.e. capacité d'acclimatation) peut éventuellement compenser les changements de température. Cependant, bien que nécessaire pour prévoir l'avenir des ectothermes dans un climat changeant, les connaissances sur les facteurs modulant ces réponses plastiques sont fragmentaires. Notamment, l'influence du sexe d'un animal sur sa capacité d'acclimatation a été sous‐estimée.
Nous présentons ici la première revue systématique et méta‐analyse sur les différences sexuelles en termes de capacité d'acclimatation thermique. En synthétisant 239 points de données provenant de 37 études et 44 espèces, nous avons révélé que mâles et femelles ne diffèrent pas significativement dans leur capacité globale à ajuster leurs préférences et limites thermiques. Cependant, dans certains cas, les femelles expriment une plasticité significativement plus importante que les mâles.
Chez les animaux récemment prélevés de leur milieu naturel, les femelles ont une plus grande capacité à ajuster leur tolérance à la chaleur que les mâles. De plus, la tolérance au froid est plus plastique chez les femelles provenant d'habitats terrestres, bien que l'intensité et la direction du dimorphisme sexuel soient associés avec la durée d'acclimatation. Nous avons également trouvé une négative corrélation entre la masse corporelle et la capacité d'acclimatation. Finalement, nous avons démontré que la capacité d'acclimatation thermique de chaque sexe est extrêmement limitée.
Il est important de reconnaître que les effets ci‐dessus sont faibles et hétérogènes. Par conséquent, chez les espèces que nous avons étudiées, ces mineures différences sexuelles ne produiront probablement pas de conséquences écologiques majeures dans un climat changeant.
Notre revue systématique a également révélé que plus de 75% des études compilées n'indiquaient pas, ou confondaient le sexe des animaux testés. Ce manque d'information peut conduire à une sous‐estimation des différences de plasticité entre mâles et femelles. Nous soulignons la nécessité de poursuivre les recherches sur les réponses aux températures de chaque sexe.
Notre synthèse supporte que la capacité d'acclimatation thermique des ectothermes est limitée, et probablement insuffisante pour compenser les impacts du changement climatique.
A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.
Targeting autophagy in cancer cells and in the tumor microenvironment are current goals of cancer therapy. However, components of canonical autophagy play roles in other biological processes, adding ...complexity to this goal. One such alternative function of autophagy proteins is LC3-associated phagocytosis (LAP), which functions in phagosome maturation and subsequent signaling events. Here, we show that impairment of LAP in the myeloid compartment, rather than canonical autophagy, induces control of tumor growth by tumor-associated macrophages (TAM) upon phagocytosis of dying tumor cells. Single-cell RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) analysis revealed that defects in LAP induce pro-inflammatory gene expression and trigger STING-mediated type I interferon responses in TAM. We found that the anti-tumor effects of LAP impairment require tumor-infiltrating T cells, dependent upon STING and the type I interferon response. Therefore, autophagy proteins in the myeloid cells of the tumor microenvironment contribute to immune suppression of T lymphocytes by effecting LAP.
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•LAP occurs as dead cells are engulfed in the tumor microenvironment•TAM lacking LAP display M1 characteristics and compromise tumors•TAM lacking LAP engage STING-dependent type I IFN production•TAM lacking LAP promote anti-tumor T cell responses
Impairment of LC3-associated phagocytosis in myeloid cells of the tumor microenvironment has anti-tumor effects.
Numerous reports have highlighted the central role of regulatory T cells in long‐term allograft tolerance, but few studies have investigated the B‐cell aspect. We analyzed the B‐cell response in a ...rat model of long‐term cardiac allograft tolerance induced by a short‐term immunosuppression. We observed that tolerated allografts are infiltrated by numerous B cells organized in germinal centers that are strongly regulated in their IgG alloantibody response. Moreover, alloantibodies from tolerant recipients exhibit a deviation toward a Th2 isotype and do not activate in vitro donor‐type endothelial cells in a pro‐inflammatory way but maintained expression of cytoprotective molecules. Interestingly, this inhibition of the B‐cell response is characterized by the progressive accumulation in the graft and in the blood of B cells blocked at the IgM to IgG switch recombination process and overexpressing BANK‐1 and the inhibitory receptor Fcgr2b. Importantly, B cells from tolerant recipients are able to transfer allograft tolerance. Taken together, these results demonstrate a strong regulation of the alloantibody response in tolerant recipients and the accumulation of B cells exhibiting an inhibited and regulatory profile. These mechanisms of regulation of the B‐cell response could be instrumental to develop new strategies to promote tolerance.
The authors show, in a rat model of cardiac allograft tolerance, that the B cell response is strongly regulated, and characterized by a deviation of the alloantibody response, B cell accumulation in the graft, and accumulation of peripheral blood B cells blocked at the switch recombination process that overexpress inhibitory molecules and can transfer tolerance. See editorial by Newell and Chong on page 420.
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•Excellent de-NOx catalysts based on Mn-Ce mixed-oxide were developed.•The Mn-Ce mixed-oxide catalyst exhibited unusual positive effects of SO2.•The interaction between SO2 and Ce ...enhanced NO adsorption and oxidization.
A high-performance denitration catalyst based on Mn-Ce mixed-oxide derived from a specific Mn/Ce precursorwas fabricated by solvothermal method. It exhibited outstanding low-temperature activity, which achieved above 90% NOx conversion in the temperature of 150–310 °C. Remarkably, Mn-Ce mixed-oxide demonstrated a much better SO2 tolerance, in which the NOx conversion increased from 92.6% to 97.8% at 150 °C after introducing 200 ppm SO2. The synthesized Mn-Ce mixed-oxide has a porous structure with abundant chemisorbed oxygen spices and exposed active sites. In addition, the increased acidity and redox capacity enhanced the catalytic activity after introducing SO2. Meanwhile, the injection of SO2 separates NH3 adsorption sites from oxidation agents, inhibiting the unwanted oxidization of ammonia to nitrogen oxides. Furthermore, the reaction pathway on Mn-Ce mixed-oxide proved to be the L-H mechanism based on in situ DRIFTS. Thus, the synthesized Mn-Ce mixed oxide demonstrated an excellent denitration performance and the especially high SO2 tolerance, showing great potential for low-temperature NH3-SCR.
One application of plant physiological heat tolerance measurements is the assessment of vulnerability to increasing environmental temperatures under climatic change. A thermal safety margin (TSM), ...the difference between physiological tolerance and environmental temperature, is a common metric for the assessment of plant thermal vulnerability. However, there are biological and methodological aspects to consider when evaluating thermal vulnerability that have the potential to substantially alter the assessments. Two such aspects include the leaf to air temperature relationship and the scale at which air temperature data are collected.
We grew plants of a desert species, Myoporum montanum, in situ under water‐stressed and well‐watered conditions, and measured their leaf temperatures and photosynthetic heat tolerance (T50 threshold) every third day over 12 days in summer. Thermal safety margins were calculated based on leaf temperatures and compared to those calculated with local and regional air temperatures.
We found that heat tolerance and the thermal vulnerability assessment of a plant changed with water status. When water was readily available, plants maintained wide leaf temperature safety margins and displayed partial homeothermy. When cooling via transpiration was limited, increasing leaf temperature corresponded with occurrences of leaf poikilo‐ and megathermy, higher heat tolerance and narrower safety margins.
Our study shows high physiological heat thresholds are not necessarily reflective of wide safety margins, but instead can indicate a greater vulnerability and increased risk of heat stress exposure. Calculating TSMs using air temperatures can also substantially alter margin widths. Where possible, the use of leaf temperatures in assessments of thermal vulnerability will lead to more meaningful vulnerability assessments. We recommend considering the source and temporal pairing of temperature measurements as well as plant water status, when measuring and interpreting plant TSMs.
A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.
A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.
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