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Despite growing evidence that has declared the importance of circRNAs in neurodegenerative diseases, the clinical significance of circRNAs in dopaminergic (DA) neuronal degeneration in the pathogenesis of Parkinson disease (PD) remains unclear. Here, we performed rRNA-depleted RNA sequencing and detected more than 10,000 circRNAs in the plasma samples of PD patients. In consideration of ROC and the correlation between Hohen-Yahr stage (H-Y stage) and Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale-motor score (UPDRS) of 40 PD patients, circEPS15 was selected for further research. Low expression of circEPS15 was found in PD patients and there was a negative positive correlation between the circEPS15 level and severity of PD motor symptoms, while overexpression of circEPS15 protected DA neurons against neurotoxin-induced PD-like neurodegeneration in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, circEPS15 acted as a MIR24-3p sponge to promote the stable expression of target gene PINK1, thus enhancing PINK1-PRKN-dependent mitophagy to eliminate damaged mitochondria and maintain mitochondrial homeostasis. Thus, circEPS15 rescued DA neuronal degeneration through the MIR24-3p-PINK1 axis-mediated improvement of mitochondrial function. This study reveals that circEPS15 exerts a critical role in participating in PD pathogenesis, and may give us an insight into the novel avenue to develop potential biomarkers and therapeutic targets for PD. Abbreviations: AAV: adeno-associated virus; DA: dopaminergic; FISH: fluorescence in situ hybridizations; HPLC: high-performance liquid chromatography; H-Y stage: Hohen-Yahr stage; LDH: lactate dehydrogenase; MMP: mitochondrial membrane potential; MPTP/p: 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine/probenecid; NC: negative control; PD: Parkinson disease; PINK1: PTEN induced kinase 1; PBS: phosphate-buffered saline; ROS: reactive oxygen species; SNpc: substantia nigra pars compacta; TEM: transmission electron microscopy; UPDRS: Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale-motor score

Rose (Rosa hybrida L.) is one of the major cut flowers in the world. Studying the molecular mechanism of auxin regulation in growth is of great significance for enhancing the understanding of the growth and development processes in rose and informing accurate exogenous auxin application in rose production. However, the response mechanism of rose to miRNA-mediated auxin signal transduction is unclear. In this study, rose plants were treated with IAA, and 75 known miRNAs and 168 novel miRNAs were identified by small RNA sequencing. Among them, 19 known miRNAs and 42 miRNAs were differentially expressed. Many differential miRNAs demonstrated staged responses to auxin treatment. The targeted relationship between miRNA and key transcription factors regulated by auxin in rose was analysed, and the target genes in the ARF family and AUX/IAA family were screened. By using quantitative real-time PCR(qRT-PCR) to verify the expression patterns of the miRNA regulating the auxin signal transduction pathway and its target gene, we found that miR156a, miR160a, miR164a, miR167d, miR396b-3p, novel_miR_189, novel_miR_74, novel_miR_8, and novel_miR_207 were anti-correlated with the ARF family, and miR390a-3p and novel_miR_101 were anti-correlated with the AUX/IAA family. These results provide a theoretical basis for further studies on the auxin regulatory mechanisms in rose.

Acer rubrum L., a widely used ornamental colored-leaf tree species, has great utility in both residential and urban landscaping. However, unsuitable environmental conditions tend to reduce the intensity of color change, greatly reducing the ornamental value of this species. Here, we investigated the discoloration of A. rubrum leaves from red to green during maturation. We first quantified leaf-color change in the L*, a*, b* color space, and found the most noticeable difference in the a* value, which changed from positive (more red) to negative (more green). In green leaves, photosynthetic pigment content was four-fold greater than that in red leaves, and anthocyanin content was significantly lowed (a 78.33% decrease). Consistent with this, levels of superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), and catalase (CAT), as well as non-photochemical quenching, were significantly higher in red leaves. The activity levels of phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL), an initial enzyme in the anthocyanin synthesis pathway, were significantly positively correlated with anthocyanin accumulation. In contrast, polyphenol oxidase (PPO) enzyme activity was not correlated with any with other indicators. Transcriptome sequencing identified 2,161 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between the red leaves and the green leaves (1,253 upregulated). Some of these DEGs (e.g., 4-coumarate: coenzyme A ligase (4CL), anthocyanidin synthase (ANS), phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL), flavonol synthase (FLS), chalcone synthase (CHS), dihydroflavonol 4-reductase (DFR), and flavanone 3-hydroxylase (F3H)) encoded important enzymes in the anthocyanin metabolic pathway, while others (e.g., MYB111 (EZV62_000212), MYB12 (EZV62_010323), and bHLH3 (EZV62_023045)) regulated anthocyanin accumulation. Our results have led to a clearer understanding of the physiological and genetic mechanisms underlying leaf-color change in A. rubrum, and provide a basis from which to improve the ornamental properties of colored-leaf tree species.

Yanni Shi,1 Kezhong Zhang,2 Ming Ye3 1School of Stomatology, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210029, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Neurosurgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210029, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Neurosurgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Suzhou University, Suzhou, 215000, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Kezhong Zhang; Ming Ye Email zhangkezhong9@126.com; yeming@suda.edu.cnIntroduction: The relationship between the risk of Parkinson disease and well-water consumption has been extensively studied, but the results have been contradictory. Therefore, we conducted a meta-analysis of observational studies to systematically assess the relationship between well-water consumption and Parkinson disease risk.Methods: We followed the PRISMA checklist in completing the meta-analysis. We searched two electronic databases (PubMed, EBSCO, EMBASE and Cochrane) from establishment to October, 2021, to identify relevant studies linking well-water drinking to Parkinson risk. We used a random-effects model to calculate the overall odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI). To reduce intragroup heterogeneity, we conducted subgroup analyses according to the research design and geographic area.Results: After careful review, a total of 15 case–control-designed studies included data suitable for our meta-analysis. The total number of cases and total controls that contribute to the combined OR were 2182 and 2456. The combined OR for ever well-water drinkers versus non-drinkers was 1.16 (95% CI: 0.97– 1.39, I2 = 44.52%). In subgroup analysis by geographic area, a significant association was observed in studies conducted in Asia (OR 1.29, 95% CI: 1.05– 1.58, I2 = 0.0%, p for heterogeneity = 0.460) but not in studies conducted in America (OR 0.97, 95% CI: 0.76– 1.24, I2 = 41.2%, p for heterogeneity = 0.164). In subgroup analysis by study design, a borderline significant association emerged in hospital-based case–control studies (OR 1.31, 95% CI: 1.04– 1.65, I2 = 40.9%, p for heterogeneity = 0.118) but not in population-based case–control studies (OR 0.96, 95% CI: 0.73– 1.26, I2 = 41.1%, p for heterogeneity = 0.165).Discussion: Our results indicate that there is no significant correlation between well-water consumption and PD risk.Keywords: Parkinson’s disease, well-water consumption, meta-analysis, risk factor

Gene-derived simple sequence repeats (genic SSRs), also known as functional markers, are generally superior to random markers because they are located in genes and therefore may affect gene expression or function. However, extremely limited genic SSRs are available for tree peony. We used the functional gene sequences available from Paeonia to develop genic SSRs. A total of 132 SSR loci were identified from 35 cDNA sequences, of which trinucleotide (58, 43.9%) and hexanucleotide repeat (37, 28.0%) were dominant. Moreover, 121 primer pairs were successfully designed and synthesized, of which 49 primer pairs (40.5%) provided efficient and reliable amplification. By screening 16 tree peony varieties, we developed eight polymorphic genic SSRs with 37 alleles, ranging from 2 to 11 for each marker. Transferability analysis indicated that 100% of the genic SSRs could be amplified in eight other Paeonia samples. Based on eight polymorphic genic SSRs and 12 polymorphic EST-SSRs developed by predecessors, the molecular identity of 190 tree peony cultivars was constructed by capillary electrophoresis. The results showed that 146 alleles and 338 genotypes were detected, with 2–13 alleles and 3–36 genotypes for each marker. All cultivars were completely identified and exhibited unique DNA identity. In addition, the identification efficiency of different primers combinations was analyzed, and 190 germplasms were identified using 6 core primers. This study provides valuable genic SSR resources for marker-assisted selection breeding of the genus Paeonia. The DNA identity of cultivars is of great significance for the protection, utilization and management of tree peony resources.

Background Both stroke and depression are multi-factorial diseases, with both genetic and environmental factors likely to participate in their pathogenesis. Post stroke depression (PSD) is a common complication after stroke leading to poor functional outcome, increased physical disability and mortality. Although several genes have been associated with PSD, the genetic basis of PSD remains poorly understood. Method A 2-stage candidate gene study by targeted sequencing was conducted involving stroke patients with or without depression and health controls. In the discovery stage (121 PSD, 131 non-PSD and 639 HC), logistic regression was used to test associations respectively in PSD and non-PSD groups. In the replication stage (200 PSD, 218 non-PSD and 983 HC), 54 selected SNPs were again genotyped in an independent cohort. Fixed-effects inverse variance-weighted meta-analysis was used in the combined samples. Results The study identified 2 novel genes associated with PSD [HTR3D (rs55674402, p = 0.002512, odds ratio (OR) = 0.7431); NEUROG3 (rs144643855, p = 0.00325, OR = 0.6523)] and 3 risk SNPs in one risk gene associated with non-PSD [PIK3C2B (rs17406271, p = 0.0006801, OR = 1.446; rs2271419, p = 0.0005836, OR = 1.497; rs2271420, p = 0.001031, OR = 1.431)] in the Chinese sample. NEUROG3 shows highest expression level in hippocampus. Functional enrichment analysis shows that susceptibility genes for PSD are mostly enriched in chemical synaptic transmission and regulation of lipid synthetic process. Limitations The sample size was not sufficient to reach a genome-wide p value level. To overcome this shortage, some unique strategies were applied during the selection of SNPs for replication. Secondly, the age, gender composition and depressive severity between two stages were not well-matched. Different sample sources should be blamed, and to minimizing the influence, gender was corrected as co-variant in logistic regression. Conclusion This study identified that HTR3D and NEUROG3 were linked with the susceptibility of PSD and PIK3C2B with stroke in the Chinese Han population. Further replication of these findings in a larger and better matched sample is warranted. Functional analysis suggests that the pathogenesis of PSD may be implicated in 5-HT synaptic transmission, neural plasticity and lipid metabolism, and therapeutic interventions targeting these pathways may be effective approaches for PSD treatment.

In this study, five growth stages of Oriental lily ‘Justina’ leaves (10 d, 25 d, 50 d, 75 d and 100 d), and seven different parts of styles, anthers, petals, leaves, stems, bulbs and roots in 100 day growth were used as test materials to measure the content of carotenoid and chlorophyll in Lilium by organic solvent method. The semi-quantitative expression analysis of 12 key enzyme genes ( PSY , PDS , Z-ISO , ZDS , CRTISO , LCYB , LCYE , HYB , VDE , ZEP , CCS and NCED ) of Lilium carotenoid metabolic pathway was carried out according to the sequencing results of transcriptome library. The study cloned the open reading frame (ORF) sequence of Lilium LCYB gene and carried out related bioinformatics analysis. The results showed that carotenoid and chlorophyll content were significantly different in the five different stages of Lilium leaf growth and seven different parts of Lilium ripening stage. The expression levels of 12 key enzyme genes were variant in different growth stages and parts. The complete ORF of the LCYB gene was cloned with the whole length of 1,503 bp, encoding 500 amino acids, which had typical conserved region characteristics of Carotene Cycl super family. It showed the closest relationship with Musa acuminata among the known genome-wide plants. This study might provide a solid theoretical basis for further study of Lilium carotenoid metabolic pathways and further understanding of the molecular mechanism of Lilium color and leaf color synthesis.

This study was aimed to find out the law of hybridization breeding between triploid OT lily and diploid O lily, and breed interspecific hybrids. The conventional compression method was used to analyze maternal chromosome karyotypes. The cut style and normal stigma pollination methods were applied in cross hybridization between OT×O. The direct ovule inoculation method was used for embryo rescue at different time after pollination. In this study, 6 OT lilies as female parents were all triploids. The normal stigma pollination method was obviously better than the cut style method, the former fruit and seed setting rates were both evidently higher than the latter. In 24 OT(♀)×O(♂) hybridized combinations, 16 combinations could bear fruits accounting for 66.67%. Most of 16 combinations could generate plump seeds and the seed set rate was from 2.49% to 16.78%. 4 O(♀)×OT(♂) back-cross and 6 OT(♀)×OT(♂) self-cross combinations had no fruits. It was the most effective to do embryo rescue on the 60 d after pollination and the ovule germinating speed was the fastest with the emergence rate of 5.45%~18.56%. This study preliminarily revealed the law of hybridization breeding between triploid OT lily (♀) and diploid O lily (♂), which would lay the foundation for creating aneuploid variation and cultivating new breeds of interspecific hybrid.

Due to the arrival randomness of the ship to port, the disorderly power supply will further increase Peak-Valley difference of load in the distribution when the ship is powered by shore power, which is not conducive to the stability and economy of the grid operation. In order to solve the above problems, a distribution network dispatching architecture with distributed generation(DG) and shore power supply is proposed in this paper; in view of the distribution network scheduling system with ship power supply, a two-layer ordered power supply dispatching method is proposed, The power distribution index of the grid layer is optimal for the integrated load index to ensure the stability and economical efficiency of the power system when the ship is connected, the goal of the user layer station system is the fitness of power supply load to dispatching order, which aims to the orderly scheduling of marine power supply; At last, the power supply method is verified by the actual load data of a certain area in Liaoning, and the error of the power supply scheduling plan and the actual power supply load is less than 3%, which proves the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Phylogenetic relationship of lilium plants was studied by means of trnH-psbA DNA barcode technique. The result demonstrated that trnH-psbA sequence length varied in different lilium plants. The entire length of trnH-psbA sequence was 460 bp after multiple alignments. The number of conserved sites was 415 and that of variable sites was 45. A total of 63 tested materials were clustered into five groups. Lilium davidii , 7 Asiatic cultivars, one cross progeny between Asiatic cultivar and wild parental species, were clustered into one subgroup (the Ⅰa subgroups). Lilium speciosum var. gloriosoides, 10 Oriental cultivars and 2 intra-section Archelirion cross progenes were gathered into one subgroup (the Ⅰb subgroup ). Majority of the tested wild species were clustered into the Ⅱ group which showed the characteristics of intra-species and geography. To some extent, the phylogenetic relationship of wild lilies in Ⅱ group via trnH-psbA barcode was inconsistent with the result obtained from traditional morphological classification method. The other 4 Asiatic cultivars and one cross progeny between one Asiatic cultivar and wild parental species were clustered into the Ⅲ group. Therefore, the Asiatic cultivars in Ⅰb subgroup and those in the Ⅲ group were originated from different lilies in the section Sinomartagon .

An ab inito computation of reorganization energy for the electron transfer (ET) reactions between metal–benzene and metal ion–benzene complexes is presented. The geometry optimization of the metal–benzene complexes was performed. The metal atoms (or metal ions)– benzene molecule separation distances computed using an ab initio method were found to agree with earlier reported results. Values of reorganization energies using George-Griffith Marcus (GGM) method (the contribution from only diagonal elements of force constant matrix) and Hessian matrix method (including the contribution from both diagonal and off-diagonal elements) were computed. Results of reorganization energy show that the GGM method gives much lower values compared to those obtained using the Hessian method, suggesting that the coupling interactions between different vibrational modes are important to the inner-sphere reorganization energy for the ET reactions in gaseous phase.