Comparative Analysis of Endogenous Hormones and Metabolite Profiles in Early-Spring Flowering Plants and Unflowered Plants Revealing the Strategy of Blossom

Journal of Plant Growth Regulation - Early-spring plants are a special type of plant that complete their life cycle promptly in cold, early spring. Very little effort has been made into researching...     

LEP and LEPR are possibly a double-edged sword for wound healing

Wound healing is a complex and error-prone process. Wound healing in adults often leads to the formation of scars, a type of fibrotic tissue that lacks skin appendages. Hypertrophic scars and keloids can also form when the wound-healing process goes wrong. Leptin (Lep) and leptin receptors (LepRs) have recently been shown to affect multiple stages of wound healing. This effect, however, is paradoxical for scarless wound healing. On the one hand, Lep exerts pro-inflammatory and profibrotic effects; on the other hand, Lep can regulate hair follicle growth. This paper summarises the role of Lep and LepRs on cells in different stages of wound healing, briefly introduces the process of wound healing and Lep and LepRs, and examines the possibility of promoting scarless wound healing through spatiotemporal, systemic, and local regulation of Lep levels and the binding of Lep and LepRs.     

Opportunistic bacteria use quorum sensing to disturb coral symbiotic communities and mediate the occurrence of coral bleaching

Coral associated microorganisms, especially some opportunistic pathogens can utilize quorum-sensing (QS) signals to affect population structure and host health. However, direct evidence about the link between coral bleaching and dysbiotic microbiomes under QS regulation was lacking. Here, using 11 opportunistic bacteria and their QS products (AHLs, acyl-homoserine-lactones), we exposed Pocillopora damicornis to three different treatments: test groups (A and B: mixture of AHLs-producing bacteria and cocktail of AHLs signals respectively); control groups (C and D: group A and B with furanone added respectively); and a blank control (group E: only seawater) for 21 days. The results showed that remarkable bleaching phenomenon was observed in groups A and B. The operational taxonomic units-sequencing analysis shown that the bacterial network interactions and communities composition were significantly changed, becoming especially enhanced in the relative abundances of Vibrio, Edwardsiella, Enterobacter, Pseudomonas, and Aeromonas. Interestingly, the control groups (C and D) were found to have a limited influence upon host microbial composition and reduced bleaching susceptibility of P. damicornis. These results indicate bleaching's initiation and progression may be caused by opportunistic bacteria of resident microbes in a process under regulation by AHLs. These findings add a new dimension to our understanding of the complexity of bleaching mechanisms from a chemoecological perspective.     

Molecular mechanisms of An-Chuan Granule for the treatment of asthma based on a network pharmacology approach and experimental validation

An-Chuan Granule (ACG), a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) formula, is an effective treatment for asthma but its pharmacological mechanism remains poorly understood. In the present study, network pharmacology was applied to explore the potential mechanism of ACG in the treatment of asthma. The tumor necrosis factor (TNF), Toll-like receptor (TLR), and Th17 cell differentiation-related, nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain (NOD)-like receptor, and NF-kappaB pathways were identified as the most significant signaling pathways involved in the therapeutic effect of ACG on asthma. A mouse asthma model was established using ovalbumin (OVA) to verify the effect of ACG and the underlying mechanism. The results showed that ACG treatment not only attenuated the clinical symptoms, but also reduced inflammatory cell infiltration, mucus secretion and MUC5AC production in lung tissue of asthmatic mice. In addition, ACG treatment notably decreased the inflammatory cell numbers in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) and the levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines (including IL-6, IL-17, IL-23, TNF-alpha, IL-1beta and TGF-beta) in lung tissue of asthmatic mice. In addition, ACG treatment remarkably down-regulated the expression of TLR4, p-P65, NLRP3, Caspase-1 and adenosquamous carcinoma (ASC) in lung tissue. Further, ACG treatment decreased the expression of receptor-related orphan receptor (RORγt) in lung tissue but increased that of Forkhead box (Foxp3). In conclusion, the above results demonstrate that ACG alleviates the severity of asthma in a ´multi-compound and multi-target’ manner, which provides a basis for better understanding of the application of ACG in the treatment of asthma.     

一氧化氮参与盐胁迫下长春花酚类代谢的调控研究

为研究外源一氧化氮(NO)调控盐胁迫下长春花中酚类化合物的响应,采用液相色谱—质谱联用(LCMS)技术靶向分析梯度浓度硝普纳(SNP)处理对盐胁迫下长春花幼苗根、茎、花、叶4个部位中酚类化合物组分及含量水平的变化。结果共鉴定出L-苯丙氨酸和18种酚类物质,C6C1类5种、C6C3类5种、C6C3C6类8种,其中原儿茶酸、绿原酸、槲皮素在长春花根、茎、花、叶4个部位中均存在;不同浓度SNP处理后长春花不同部位酚类化合物响应积累明显不同,其中C6C1和C6C3小分子酚酸类化合物主要积累在根和茎中,C3C6C3类主要富集在花和叶中;L-苯丙氨酸在茎、叶中相对含量较高,盐胁迫下茎中含量显著升高,且随外源NO浓度增大呈下降趋势。外源NO影响盐胁迫下植物器官中酚类化合物的积累和变化,其中根和茎响应敏感,从种类和相对含量的角度,茎和叶更适合检测酚类化合物。     

The conceptual approach to quantitative modeling of guard cells

Much of the 70% of global water usage associated with agriculture passes through stomatal pores of plant leaves. The guard cells, which regulate these pores, thus have a profound influence on photosynthetic carbon assimilation and water use efficiency of plants. We recently demonstrated how quantitative mathematical modeling of guard cells with the OnGuard modeling software yields detail sufficient to guide phenotypic and mutational analysis. This advance represents an all-important step toward applications in directing “reverse-engineering” of guard cell function for improved water use efficiency and carbon assimilation. OnGuard is nonetheless challenging for those unfamiliar with a modeler’s way of thinking. In practice, each model construct represents a hypothesis under test, to be discarded, validated or refined by comparisons between model predictions and experimental results. The few guidelines set out here summarize the standard and logical starting points for users of the OnGuard software.     

转UGPase基因喜树木材化学成分与生长速率研究

分析了田间栽培条件下2年生转UGPase基因喜树与对照株的木材化学成分与生长速率。结果表明,转UGPase基因喜树综纤维素含量达到78.87%,比对照株相比提高了2.23%;纤维素含量为36.34%,与对照株相比没有明显提高;木质素含量为15.05%,较对照株降低了1.75%;两者的灰分含量均较低且无显著差异;冷、热水抽提物含量为7.62%与10.17%,分别提高了2.04%与2.13%;1% NaOH抽提物含量为27.13%,提高了1.27%。因此,就综纤维素、木质素、灰分含量而言,转UGPase基因喜树为优质纸浆材,水抽提物和1% NaOH抽提物的含量略高,在纸浆生产中需加以重视。本文还对转UGPase基因喜树与对照株的株高、基径、生物量进行了动态监测,结果表明,从5月25日到11月10日的生长季中,其株高平均增加121 cm,对照株平均仅67.8 cm,株高生长速率提高了78.47%;基径平均增加1 792 cm,对照株平均仅0.532 8 cm,提高了236.37%;地上部分生物量的积累与对照相比提高了322.61%,即转入UGPase基因使喜树生长速率显著提高。因此,虽然转UGPase基因喜树的综纤维素和纤维素含量没有明显提高,但其生长速率快,生物量增长显著,间接提高了纤维素与喜树碱的产量。因此,转基因喜树较普通喜树更符合纸浆材速生、纤维素含量高和产量高、木质素含量低的基本要求,可在生产中进一步推广。     

玉米根细胞中类整合素蛋白与α-微管蛋白的共定位及其可能的相互作用

采用间接免疫荧光标记法对玉米根细胞中的类整合素蛋白和细胞骨架主要组分之一的α-微管蛋白进行了荧光定位。结果表明：类整合素蛋白主要分布在质膜上。与对照相比,用与类整合素蛋白特异结合的5肽GRGDS处理后,质膜上类整合素的分布更为均匀,微管的排列密度降低,而用不与类整合素蛋白特异结合的GRGDS类似物SDGRG处理则对类整合素蛋白分布和微管蛋白的排列均无明显影响。微管蛋白解聚剂或稳定剂处理改变类整合素在质膜上的分布。这些结果表明类整合素蛋白与微管蛋白间有复杂的相互作用。     

海洋微生物铁载体的研究进展

铁是影响初级生产力的主要限制性因子之一,其在海洋环境中的分布具有空间异质性。由于铁在海洋中主要以溶解度较低、易沉降的三价态（Fe³⁺）形式存在,因此溶解铁对海洋生物而言是一种稀缺资源。为了获得生命代谢所需的铁,微生物进化出多种铁摄取的策略来满足需求,其中铁载体（siderophores）是最典型的代表。铁载体作为重要的代谢辅因子,除了铁循环以外,也强烈影响着其他元素的循环。基于铁载体的重要性,深入理解它的合成、转运和调控机制是系统认识海洋铁循环和生命过程的重要环节之一。本文以近20年的研究为重点,总结了铁载体的最新进展,包括其类型、合成/运输系统、获取途径、调控机制以及铁载体的功能与应用,旨在更好地认识铁载体在海洋微生物生态学过程中的作用,加深对海洋铁循环动力学机制的理解。     

小角X射线散射实验中蛋白质溶液的辐照损伤及防护方法

随着同步辐射光源（尤其是目前快速发展的第四代同步辐射光源）技术的进步,可用于实验的辐射通量越来越高,实验样品（特别是蛋白质等生物大分子样品）受到的辐照损伤也越来越严重。在全球现有的同步辐射装置上,蛋白质等生物大分子溶液专用小角X射线散射（SAXS）实验站的光子通量基本上都在10¹³ cps量级。在如此高的通量下,蛋白质等生物大分子溶液样品在实验测量中受到的辐照损伤极其严重。如果没有有效的辐照防护措施,蛋白质溶液样品在毫秒级辐照时间内便会辐照损伤,导致不能获取有效的实验数据。辐照损伤严重制约了SAXS实验技术在蛋白质溶液样品方面的应用。因而,认识蛋白质溶液样品辐照损伤的产生机理、影响因素、判断标准,以及有效降低辐照损伤程度、延缓辐照损伤产生时间的方法,对于蛋白质等生物大分子溶液的散射实验具有重要的指导意义。本文在简要概述生物大分子溶液样品辐照损伤产生机理、影响因素、辐照剂量等基本概念的基础上,重点综述了同步辐射SAXS实验中辐照损伤的判断标准和防护措施。此外,本文还对比了各种防护措施的优缺点,讨论了在建HEPS新光源中SAXS束线可用的散射数据采集时间,指出辐照损伤防护剂是有价值的研究方向。