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The subgroup J avian leukosis virus (ALV-J), a retrovirus, uses its gp85 protein to bind to the receptor, the chicken sodium hydrogen exchanger isoform 1 (chNHE1), facilitating viral invasion. ALV-J is the main epidemic subgroup and shows noteworthy mutations within the receptor-binding domain (RBD) region of gp85, especially in ALV-J layer strains in China. However, the implications of these mutations on viral replication and transmission remain elusive. In this study, the ALV-J layer strain JL08CH3-1 exhibited a more robust replication ability than the prototype strain HPRS103, which is related to variations in the gp85 protein. Notably, the gp85 of JL08CH3-1 demonstrated a heightened binding capacity to chNHE1 compared to HPRS103-gp85 binding. Furthermore, we showed that the specific N123I mutation within gp85 contributed to the enhanced binding capacity of the gp85 protein to chNHE1. Structural analysis indicated that the N123I mutation primarily enhanced the stability of gp85, expanded the interaction interface, and increased the number of hydrogen bonds at the interaction interface to increase the binding capacity between gp85 and chNHE1. We found that the N123I mutation not only improved the viral replication ability of ALV-J but also promoted viral shedding in vivo. These comprehensive data underscore the notion that the N123I mutation increases receptor binding and intensifies viral replication. Author summary: Attachment is a critical initial step in retroviral infections. The RBD of gp85 in ALV-J is critical for binding to the cell membrane receptor, chNHE1. This investigation establishes a strong link between the heightened replication ability of the layer strain JL08CH3-1 and the enhanced binding capacity exhibited by gp85 toward chNHE1 compared to the prototype strain HPRS103. We found for the first time that the N123I mutation within the RBD region of gp85 increased the binding capacity between gp85 and chNHE1 and enhanced the replication ability of ALV-J. Our results provide important information on the implications of mutations within the RBD region of gp85 and highlight the importance of monitoring variations in the RBD region of ALV-J to prevent future outbreaks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The investigation of the coupling and coordination association between scientific and technological innovation and the eco-environmental system is of vital practical significance for promoting the high-quality economic development of China's Gansu province. The evaluation index system is constructed based on the explanation of the coupling and coordination mechanism of a "Binary system". Subsequently, a comprehensive evaluation model is developed using the entropy method, whereas the coupling coordination relationship between "Binary systems" is analyzed in the context of the coupling coordination degree model. The study findings indicate that the innovation drive has become the primary driving force that leads the high-quality economic development in Gansu province. Furthermore, the comprehensive development level and coupling and coordination degree of all systems in Gansu province demonstrate a sound trend of steadily rising. Additionally, there is an issue of uncoordinated development between scientific and technological innovation and eco-environment systems in Gansu province. Thus, this research study proposes certain policy suggestions, such as optimizing the environment of Sci-tech innovation, insisting on the priority of ecology, increasing the input of Sci-tech innovation, and building up a contingent of talents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Influenza A viruses effectively hijack the intracellular "resources" to complete transcription and replication, which involve extensive interactions between the viral and host proteins. Herein, we screened the host factors, which belong to DExD/H-box protein family members, RNA-binding proteins or mitochondrial anchoring proteins, to investigate their effects on polymerase activity. We observed DDX39B and DDX39A, DEAD-box RNA-Helicases, exert a dual effect on regulating polymerase activity and replication of influenza A viruses. We further revealed that DDX39B and DDX39A interact with viral NP and NS1 proteins. Interestingly, the viral NP proteins could reverse the inhibitory effect of excess DDX39B or DDX39A on polymerase activity. Mechanistically, the TREX complex subunits, THOC1, THOC4 and CIP29, were recruited to DDX39B-DDX39A-NP complex in an ATP-dependent manner, via the interaction with DDX39B or DDX39A, followed by excess TREX-NP complexes interfere with the normal oligomerization state of NP depending on the ratio between the viral and host proteins. On the other hand, the TREX complex, an evolutionarily conserved protein complex, is responsible for the integration of several mRNA processing steps to export viral mRNA. Knockdown of TREX complex subunits significantly down-regulated viral titers and protein levels, accompanied by retention of viral mRNA in the nucleus. Taken together, screening the host factors that regulate the replication of influenza virus advances our understanding of viral pathogenesis and our findings point out a previously unclear mechanism of TREX complex function. Author summary: In this study, we investigated the regulation of polymerase activity by host factors associated with vRNPs (PB2627E, PB2627K, PB2627 domain del, PB2627 CON) and provided novel insights into regulatory mechanisms of DDX39B and DDX39A during viral replication. Our results demonstrated that DDX39B and its paralog DDX39A inhibited polymerase activity via forming TREX-NP complex with concomitant effects on the oligomeric state of NP proteins. Moreover, TREX complex is necessary for expression of viral proteins. Our findings provided potential therapeutic targets for dealing with IAV infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Medicago falcata is one of the leguminous forage crops, which grows well in arid and semiarid region. To fully investigate the mechanism of drought resistance response in M. falcata, we challenged the M. falcata plants with 30% PEG-6000, and performed physiological and transcriptome analyses. It was found that, the activities of antioxidant enzymes (eg. SOD, POD, and CAT) and soluble sugar content were all increased in the PEG-treated group, as compared to the control group. Transcriptome results showed that a total of 706 genes were differentially expressed in the PEG-treated plants in comparison with the control. Gene enrichment analyses on differentially expressed genes revealed that a number of genes in various pathway were significantly enriched, including the phenylpropanoid biosynthesis (ko00940) and glycolysis/gluconeogenesis (ko00010), indicating the involvement of these key pathways in drought response. Furthermore, the expression levels of seven differentially expressed genes were verified to be involved in drought response in M. falcata by qPCR. Taken together, these results will provide valuable information related to drought response in M. falcata and lay a foundation for molecular studies and genetic breeding of legume crops in future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Loss of hepatic fructose-1, 6-bisphosphate aldolase B (Aldob) leads to a paradoxical up-regulation of glucose metabolism to favor hepatocellular carcinogenesis (HCC), but the upstream signaling events remain poorly defined. Akt is highly activated in HCC, and targeting Akt is being explored as a potential therapy for HCC. Herein, we demonstrate that Aldob suppresses Akt activity and tumor growth through a protein complex containing Aldob, Akt, and protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A), leading to inhibition of cell viability, cell cycle progression, glucose uptake, and metabolism. Interestingly, Aldob directly interacts with phosphorylated Akt (p-Akt) and promotes the recruitment of PP2A to dephosphorylate p-Akt, and this scaffolding effect of Aldob is independent of its enzymatic activity. Loss of Aldob or disruption of Aldob/Akt interaction in Aldob R304A mutant restores Akt activity and tumor-promoting effects. Consistently, Aldob and p-Akt expression are inversely correlated in human HCC tissues, and Aldob down-regulation coupled with p-Akt up-regulation predicts a poor prognosis for HCC. We have further discovered that Akt inhibition or a specific small-molecule activator of PP2A (SMAP) efficiently attenuates HCC tumorigenesis in xenograft mouse models. Our work reveals a novel nonenzymatic role of Aldob in negative regulation of Akt activation, suggesting that directly inhibiting Akt activity or through reactivating PP2A may be a potential therapeutic approach for HCC treatment. Loss of hepatic fructose bisphosphate aldolase B (Aldob) leads to a paradoxical upregulation of glucose metabolism, favoring hepatocellular carcinogenesis, but the upstream signaling events are unclear. This study shows that Aldob inhibits the activity of the protein kinase Akt and tumor growth in hepatocellular carcinoma via a protein complex containing Aldob, Akt and protein phosphatase 2A. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anthocyanins and proanthocyanidins are two important plant secondary metabolites, and they contribute to plant survival and human health. In particular, proanthocyanidins could also prevent ruminants from the damage of pasture bloat. However, the improvement of proanthocyanidins content remain unsatisfied. In this study, we attempted to improve proanthocyanidins level by gene stacking in Arabidopsis thaliana as prove-of-concept. Two proanthocyanidin pathway genes from tea plant, CsF3'5'H and CsANR2, were co-expressed in the wild type and PAP1 over-expression Arabidopsis. Over-expression of CsF3'5'H slightly affected anthocyanins level in leaves and proanthocyanidins in mature seed when expressed alone in the pap1-D line. Over-expression of CsANR2 led to an obvious decrease in anthocyanins in leaves of both wild type and pap1-D lines, but increase in proanthocyanidin level in mature seeds. Over-expression of CsANR2 in pap1-D lines lead to production of DMACA-reactive soluble proanthocyanidins in leaves, but not in wild type or pap1-D lines. Anthocyanins level was decreased in the leaves of CsF3'5'H, CsANR2 and pap1-D co-expression lines, but proanthocyanidins were increased remarkably in both leaves and mature seeds in the co-expression line. It is concluded that co-expression of CsANR2 and PAP1 in Arabidopsis produce soluble proanthocyanidins in leaves, and co-expression of CsF3'5'H, CsANR2 and PAP1 lead to a significant increase in proanthocyanidins in mature seeds. The transcript levels of endogenous CHS, DFR, ANS and ANR genes in Arabidopsis were up-regulated in the triple genes co-expression line. Based on these studies, it is possible to develop new plant germplasm with improved proanthocyanidins by co-expressing of multiple genes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cellular DNA sensor cGMP-AMP synthase (cGAS) detects cytosolic viral DNA via the stimulator of interferon genes (STING) to initiate innate antiviral response. Herpesviruses are known to target key immune signaling pathways to persist in an immune-competent host. Marek’s disease virus (MDV), a highly pathogenic and oncogenic herpesvirus of chickens, can antagonize host innate immune responses to achieve persistent infection. With a functional screen, we identified five MDV proteins that blocked beta interferon (IFN-β) induction downstream of the cGAS-STING pathway. Specifically, the MDV major oncoprotein Meq impeded the recruitment of TANK-binding kinase 1 and IFN regulatory factor 7 (IRF7) to the STING complex, thereby inhibiting IRF7 activation and IFN-β induction. Meq overexpression markedly reduced antiviral responses stimulated by cytosolic DNA, whereas knockdown of Meq heightened MDV-triggered induction of IFN-β and downstream antiviral genes. Moreover, Meq-deficient MDV induced more IFN-β production than wild-type MDV. Meq-deficient MDV also triggered a more robust CD8+ T cell response than wild-type MDV. As such, the Meq-deficient MDV was highly attenuated in replication and lymphoma induction compared to wild-type MDV. Taken together, these results revealed that MDV evades the cGAS-STING DNA sensing pathway, which underpins the efficient replication and oncogenesis. These findings improve our understanding of the virus-host interaction in MDV-induced lymphoma and may contribute to the development of novel vaccines against MDV infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flavonoids are one of the largest secondary metabolite groups, which are widely present in plants. Flavonoids include anthocyanins, proanthocyanidins, flavonols and isoflavones. In particular, proanthocyanidins possess beneficial effects for ruminant animals in preventing lethal pasture bloat. As a major legume forage, alfalfa (Medicago sativa) contains little proanthocyanidins in foliage to combat bloat. In an attempt to improve proanthocyanidin content in alfalfa foliage, we over-expressed two MYB transcription factors (CsMYB5-1 and CsMYB5-2) from tea plant that is rich in proanthocyanidins. We showed that, via targeted metabolite and transcript analyses, the transgenic alfalfa plants accumulated higher levels of flavonoids in stems/leaves than the control, in particular anthocyanins and proanthocyanidins. Over-expression of CsMYB5-1 and CsMYB5-2 induced the expression levels of genes involved in flavonoid pathway, especially anthocyanin/proanthocyanidin-specific pathway genes DFR, ANS and ANR in stems/leaves. Both anthocyanin/proanthocyanidin content and the expression levels of several genes were conversely decreased in flowers of the transgenic lines than in control. Our results indicated that CsMYB5-1 and CsMYB5-2 differently regulate anthocyanins/proanthocyanidins in stems/leaves and flowers. Our study provides a guide for increasing anthocyanin/proanthocyanidin accumulation in foliage of legume forage corps by genetic engineering. These results also suggest that it is feasible to cultivate new varieties for forage production to potentially solve pasture bloat, by introducing transcription factors from typical plants with high proanthocyanidin level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Four methods, including hot acid treatment, hot alkali treatment, calcination treatment and sulfhydrylation treatment, were applied to activate alum plasma in order to obtain new Pb2+ adsorbents. The corresponding adsorption isotherm satisfies the Langmuir equation, and the maximum adsorption of the alum plasma after hot acid treatment, hot alkali treatment and high-temperature calcination were 18.9, 57.3 and 10.9 mg·g−1, respectively, and in the range of 1.23–6.57 times greater than the adsorption capacity of the original alum plasma. The soil culture experiments indicated that the effective Pb content in the soils treated with hot alkali ameliorated alum plasma was significantly lower (p < 0.05) than those treated with the other three types of alum plasma. For example, if the additive content is 5.0%, after a storage period of 16 weeks, the effective Pb content becomes 19.87 mg·kg−1, which corresponds to a reduction of 60.9% in comparison with the control sample. In addition, Specific surface area (BET), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FIR) were used to characterize the microstructure of alum plasma before and after amelioration. It was evident that hot alkali treatment of alum plasma resulted in smaller particles, a significantly higher specific area and lower mineral crystallinity, which improved the adsorption performance of Pb2+. In conclusion, hot alkali treatment of alum plasma indicates relatively good Pb2+ adsorption ability, and is a promising novel adsorbents that could ameliorate soils that have been polluted by heavy metal Pb. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tea plant (Camellia sinensis) accumulates abundant flavonoid glycosides that are the major bioactive ingredients in tea. Biosynthesis of flavonoid glycosides are catalyzed by UDP-glucosyltransferases (UGTs) that are widely present in plants. Among one hundred and seventy-eight UGTs genes that we have previously identified in tea plant, few of them have been functionally characterized. In the present study, we further identified UGT73A17 gene that is responsible for the biosynthesis of a broad range of flavonoid glycosides. Sequence analysis revealed that the deduced UGT73A17 protein showed high identity with 7-O-glycosyltransferases at amino acid level and it was clustered into the clade containing several 7-O-glycosyltransferases from other plant species. Enzymatic assays revealed that the recombinant UGT73A17 protein (rUGT73A17) exhibited activity toward flavonols (kaempferol, quercetin, and myricetin), flavones (apigenin, luteolin, and tricetin), flavanone (naringenin), isoflavones (genistein) and epicatechin gallate, yielding 7-O-glucosides as the major in vitro products. In particular, rUGT73A17 displayed higher activity at high temperatures (eg. 50°C) than at low temperatures, which was consistent with its relatively high expression level at high temperatures. Two amino acid substitutions at I296L and V466A improved the enzymatic activity of rUGT73A17. Our study demonstrated that UGT73A17 is responsible for the biosynthesis of a broad range of flavonoid glucosides, which is also involved in heat response and quality of tea plant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ability to predict what courses a student may enroll in the coming semester plays a pivotal role in the allocation of learning resources, which is a hot topic in the domain of educational data mining. In this study, we propose an innovative approach to characterize students’ cross-college course enrollments by leveraging a novel contextual graph. Specifically, different kinds of variables, such as students, courses, colleges and diplomas, as well as various types of variable relations, are utilized to depict the context of each variable, and then a representation learning algorithm node2vec is applied to extracting sophisticated graph-based features for the enrollment analysis. In this manner, the relations between any pair of variables can be measured quantitatively, which enables the variable type to transform from nominal to ratio. These graph-based features are examined by the random forest algorithm, and experiments on 24,663 students, 1,674 courses and 417,590 enrollment records demonstrate that the contextual graph can successfully improve analyzing the cross-college course enrollments, where three of the graph-based features have significantly stronger impacts on prediction accuracy than the others. Besides, the empirical results also indicate that the student’s course preference is the most important factor in predicting future course enrollments, which is consistent to the previous studies that acknowledge the course interest is a key point for course recommendations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mild hypothermia improves survival and neurological recovery after cardiac arrest (CA) and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). However, the mechanism underlying this phenomenon is not fully elucidated. The aim of this study was to determine whether mild hypothermia alleviates early blood–brain barrier (BBB) disruption. We investigated the effects of mild hypothermia on neurologic outcome, survival rate, brain water content, BBB permeability and changes in tight junctions (TJs) and adherens junctions (AJs) after CA and CPR. Pigs were subjected to 8 min of untreated ventricular fibrillation followed by CPR. Mild hypothermia (33°C) was intravascularly induced and maintained at this temperature for 12 h, followed by active rewarming. Mild hypothermia significantly reduced cortical water content, decreased BBB permeability and attenuated TJ ultrastructural and basement membrane breakdown in brain cortical microvessels. Mild hypothermia also attenuated the CPR-induced decreases in TJ (occludin, claudin-5, ZO-1) and AJ (VE-cadherin) protein and mRNA expression. Furthermore, mild hypothermia decreased the CA- and CPR-induced increases in matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression and increased angiogenin-1 (Ang-1) expression. Our findings suggest that mild hypothermia attenuates the CA- and resuscitation-induced early brain oedema and BBB disruption, and this improvement might be at least partially associated with attenuation of the breakdown of TJ and AJ, suppression of MMP-9 and VEGF expression, and upregulation of Ang-1 expression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Community healthcare in mainland China is still at an early stage. The qualities of life (QOLs) of patients with psychotic disorders undergoing rehabilitation in hospitals or in the community, as well as those of their caregivers, may differ from each other. Objectives: The study was performed to evaluate the QOL of patients with psychotic disorders and assess the differences in the QOLs between patients receiving care in diverse settings (hospital vs. the community). Methods: This study was a descriptive study, in which all cases were collected from two psychiatric hospitals and five communities. Patients (n = 43) and caregivers (n = 40) in the psychiatric hospitals were grouped according to the length of illness and areas of residence and these criteria were also used to group patients (n = 55) and caregivers (n = 59) in the community. All participants were assessed using the WHOQOL-BREF (Chinese version). ANOVA was adopted to compare the QOL scores among the four groups (cases and caregivers in two settings), while confounding factors, such as age and marital status, were adjusted. Results: Among the four groups of participants, namely, hospitalised and community patients and their corresponding caregivers, community samples had a significantly lower QOL score. The QOL score for the social relationships domain of the hospitalised patients’ caregivers was significantly higher than that of the caregivers of community patients (P = 0.019). Conclusion: Community patients and their caregivers tend to have lower QOL scores than their hospitalised counterparts. The support of family members is urgently needed to provide better care for patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate the expression of Programmed death-1 (PD-1) on T lymphocytes in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and severe sepsis, we determined PD-1 expression on CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes of patients with T2DM, severe sepsis, and T2DM combined with severe sepsis. Research Design and Methods: This prospective and observational study included 50 healthy controls, 80 cases of T2DM without infection (T2DM group), 88 cases of severe sepsis without T2DM (SS group), and 77 cases of severe sepsis combined with T2DM (SS+T2DM group). Expression of peripheral blood PD-1+ CD4+ T cells and PD-1+ CD8+ T cells were compared between these 4 groups. Then, 28-day survival of the SS and SS+T2DM patients was assessed, and the expression of PD-1 on T cells was also compared between survivors and non-survivors. Results: Percentages of PD-1+ CD4+ T cells and PD-1+ CD8+ T cells were higher in the T2DM group than in the healthy control group, and were highest in the SS and SS+T2DM groups. However, the expression of PD-1 on T cells and the mortality showed no significant difference between the SS and SS+T2DM groups. The expression of PD-1 on T cells was higher in non-survivors than survivors, but within the survivor group or non-survivor group, no difference can be detected between those with T2DM and those without T2DM. Conclusion: The expression of PD-1 on T cells was increased in both T2DM and severe septic patients, but combining T2DM did not cause a further increase on the PD-1 expression in patients with severe sepsis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To assess the immunogenicity and safety of influenza vaccine in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Methods: Relevant articles were retrieved from electronic databases. Seroprotection rate, seroconversion rate and factors that increase antibody geometric mean titer (GMT) were used as indices to measure the immunogenicity. The safety of vaccine was assessed through monitoring adverse events, which included side effects and SLE exacerbations. We performed a meta-analysis of influenza vaccine seroprotection, seroconversion and adverse effects. SLE exacerbation after vaccination was comprehensively described. We used the Committee for Proprietary Medicinal Products (CPMP) guidelines to determine whether influenza can induce adequate immunogenicity in patients with SLE. Results: Eighteen studies with 1966 subjects met the inclusion criteria. At least 565 of the subjects were patients with low-to-moderate SLE Disease Activity Index (SLEDAI) score or stable SLE disease. Compared with the general population, seroprotection rate in SLE patients was significantly decreased in patients with H1N1 [odds ratio (OR) = 0.36, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.27–0.50] and H3N2 vaccination (OR = 0.48, 95% CI: 0.24–0.93), but not influenza B vaccination (OR = 0.55, 95% CI: 0.24–1.25). Seroconversion rate also significantly decreased in patients with H1N1 (OR = 0.39, 95% CI: 0.27–0.57) and influenza B (OR = 0.47, 95% CI: 0.29–0.76) vaccination, but not H3N2 vaccination (OR = 0.62, 95% CI: 0.21–1.79). However, the immunogenicity of influenza vaccine in SLE patients almost reached that of the CPMP guidelines. The OR for side effects (patients versus healthy controls) was 3.24 (95% CI: 0.62–16.76). Among 1966 patients with SLE, 32 experienced mild exacerbation of SLE and five had serious side effects for other reasons. Conclusion: Influenza vaccine has moderate effect on protecting patients with SLE. The side effects of influenza vaccine are not serious and are manageable. With consideration of a higher risk of SLE exacerbation and a more severe course of infection among SLE patients, influenza vaccination should be promoted among SLE patients with a low-to-moderate SLEDAI score or stable disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pacific white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) is the most extensively farmed crustacean species in the world. White spot syndrome virus (WSSV) is one of the major pathogens in the cultured shrimp. However, the molecular mechanisms of the host-virus interaction remain largely unknown. In this study, the impact of WSSV infection on host gene expression in the hepatopancreas of L. vannamei was investigated through the use of 454 pyrosequencing-based RNA-Seq of cDNA libraries developed from WSSV-challenged shrimp or normal controls. By comparing the two cDNA libraries, we show that 767 host genes are significantly up-regulated and 729 genes are significantly down-regulated by WSSV infection. KEGG analysis of the differentially expressed genes indicated that the distribution of gene pathways between the up- and down-regulated genes is quite different. Among the differentially expressed genes, several are found to be involved in various processes of animal defense against pathogens such as apoptosis, mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling, toll-like receptor (TLR) signaling, Wnt signaling and antigen processing and presentation pathways. The present study provides valuable information on differential expression of L. vannamei genes following WSSV infection and improves our current understanding of this host-virus interaction. In addition, the large number of transcripts obtained in this study provides a strong basis for future genomic research on shrimp. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rare wild species of snow lotus Saussurea involucrata is a commonly used medicinal herb with great pharmacological value for human health, resulting from its uniquely high level of phenylpropanoid compound production. To gain information on the phenylpropanid biosynthetic pathway genes in this critically important medicinal plant, global transcriptome sequencing was performed. It revealed that the phenylpropanoid pathway genes were well represented in S. involucrata. In addition, we introduced two key phenylpropanoid pathway inducing transcription factors (PAP1 and Lc) into this medicinal plant. Transgenic S. involucrata co-expressing PAP1 and Lc exhibited purple pigments due to a massive accumulation of anthocyanins. The over-expression of PAP1 and Lc largely activated most of the phenylpropanoid pathway genes, and increased accumulation of several phenylpropanoid compounds significantly, including chlorogenic acid, syringin, cyanrine and rutin. Both ABTS (2,2′-azinobis-3-ethylbenzotiazo-line-6-sulfonic acid) and FRAP (ferric reducing anti-oxidant power) assays revealed that the antioxidant capacity of transgenic S. involucrata lines was greatly enhanced over controls. In addition to providing a deeper understanding of the molecular basis of phenylpropanoid metabolism, our results potentially enable an alternation of bioactive compound production in S. involucrata through metabolic engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The Pacific white shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei, is a worldwide cultured crustacean species with important commercial value. Over the last two decades, Taura syndrome virus (TSV) has seriously threatened the shrimp aquaculture industry in the Western Hemisphere. To better understand the interaction between shrimp immune and TSV, we performed a transcriptome analysis in the hepatopancreas of L. vannamei challenged with TSV, using the 454 pyrosequencing (Roche) technology. Methodology/Principal Findings: We obtained 126919 and 102181 high-quality reads from TSV-infected and non-infected (control) L. vannamei cDNA libraries, respectively. The overall de novo assembly of cDNA sequence data generated 15004 unigenes, with an average length of 507 bp. Based on BLASTX search (E-value <10−5) against NR, Swissprot, GO, COG and KEGG databases, 10425 unigenes (69.50% of all unigenes) were annotated with gene descriptions, gene ontology terms, or metabolic pathways. In addition, we identified 770 microsatellites and designed 497 sets of primers. Comparative genomic analysis revealed that 1311 genes differentially expressed in the infected shrimp compared to the controls, including 559 up- and 752 down- regulated genes. Among the differentially expressed genes, several are involved in various animal immune functions, such as antiviral, antimicrobial, proteases, protease inhibitors, signal transduction, transcriptional control, cell death and cell adhesion. Conclusions/Significance: This study provides valuable information on shrimp gene activities against TSV infection. Results can contribute to the in-depth study of candidate genes in shrimp immunity, and improves our current understanding of this host-virus interaction. In addition, the large amount of transcripts reported in this study provide a rich source for identification of novel genes in shrimp. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small noncoding RNA molecules that serve as important post-transcriptional gene expression regulators by targeting messenger RNAs for post-transcriptional endonucleolytic cleavage or translational inhibition. miRNAs play important roles in many biological processes. Extensive high-throughput sequencing studies of miRNAs have been performed in several animal models. However, little is known about the diversity of these regulatory RNAs in goat (Capra hircus), which is one of the most important agricultural animals and the oldest domesticated species raised worldwide. Goats have long been used for their milk, meat, hair (including cashmere), and skins throughout much of the world. Results: In this study, two small RNA libraries were constructed based on dry period and peak lactation dairy goat mammary gland tissues and sequenced using the Illumina-Solexa high-throughput sequencing technology. A total of 346 conserved and 95 novel miRNAs were identified in the dairy goat. miRNAs expression was confirmed by qRT-PCR in nine tissues and in the mammary gland during different stages of lactation. In addition, several candidate miRNAs that may be involved in mammary gland development and lactation were found by comparing the miRNA expression profiles in different tissues and developmental stages of the mammary gland. Conclusions: This study reveals the first miRNAs profile related to the biology of the mammary gland in the dairy goat. The characterization of these miRNAs could contribute to a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms of lactation physiology and mammary gland development in the dairy goat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polo-like kinases play an essential role in the ordered execution of mitotic events and 4 mammalian PLK family members have been identified. Accumulating evidence indicates that PLK1 is an attractive target for anticancer drugs. In this paper, a series of beta-carboline derivatives were synthesized and three compounds, DH281, DH285 and DH287, were identified as potent new PLK inhibitors. We employed various biochemical and cellular approaches to determine the effects of these compounds on the activity of PLK1 and other mitotic kinases and on cell cycle progression. We found that these three compounds could selectively inhibit the kinase activity of purified PLK1, PLK2 and PLK3 in vitro. They show strong antitumor activity against a number of cancer cell lines with relatively low micromolar IC50s, but are relatively less toxic to non-cancer cells (MRC5). Moreover, these compounds could induce obvious accumulation of HeLa cells in G2/M and S phases and trigger apoptosis. Although MRC5 cells show clear S-phase arrest after treatment with these compounds, the G2/M arrest and apoptosis are less insignificant, indicating the distinct sensitivity between normal and cancer cells. We also found that HeLa cells treated with these drugs exhibit monopolar spindles and increased Wee1 protein levels, the characteristics of cells treated with PLK1 inhibitors. Together, these results demonstrate that DH281, DH285 and DH287 beta-carboline compounds are new PLK inhibitors with potential for cancer treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Internal transcribed spacer of nuclear ribosomal DNA (nrDNA) is already one of the most popular phylogenetic and DNA barcoding markers. However, the existence of its multiple copies has complicated such usage and a detailed characterization of intra-genomic variations is critical to address such concerns. Methodology/Principal Findings: In this study, we used sequence- tagged pyrosequencing and genome-wide analyses to characterize intra-genomic variations of internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) regions from 178 plant species. We discovered that mutation of ITS2 is frequent, with a mean of 35 variants per species. And on average, three of the most abundant variants make up 91% of all ITS2 copies. Moreover, we found different congeneric species share identical variants in 13 genera. Interestingly, different species across different genera also share identical variants. In particular, one minor variant of ITS2 in Eleutherococcus giraldii was found identical to the ITS2 major variant of Panaxginseng, both from Araliaceae family. In addition, DNA barcoding gap analysis showed that the intra-genomic distances were markedly smaller than those of the intra-specific or inter-specific variants. When each of 5543 variants were examined for its species discrimination efficiency, a 97% success rate was obtained at the species level. Conclusions: Identification of identical ITS2 variants across intra-generic or inter-generic species revealed complex species evolutionary history, possibly, horizontal gene transfer and ancestral hybridization. Although intra-genomic multiple variants are frequently found within each genome, the usage of the major variants alone is sufficient for phylogeny construction and species determination in most cases. Furthermore, the inclusion of minor variants further improves the resolution of species identification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Viral hepatitis is a serious health burden worldwide. To date, few reports have addressed the prevalence of hepatitis A, B, C, and E in China. Therefore, the general epidemiological parameters of viral hepatitis remain unknown. Principal Findings: In this cross-sectional study, we performed a serological prevalence analysis of viral hepatitis A, B, C, and E in 8,762 randomly selected Chinese subjects, which represented six areas of China. The overall prevalence of anti-Hepatitis C virus antibody (anti-HCV) was 0.58%, which was much lower than was estimated by WHO. The prevalences of Hepatitis B virus surface antigen (HBsAg), anti-Hepatitis B virus surface protein antibody (HBsAb), and anti-Hepatitis B virus core protein antibody (HBcAb) were 5.84%, 41.31%, and 35.92%, respectively, whereas in the group of subjects less than 5 years old, these prevalences were 1.16%, 46.77%, and 8.69% respectively, which suggests that the Hepatitis B virus (HBV)-carrier population is decreasing, and the nationwide HBV vaccine program has contributed to the lowered HBV prevalence in the younger generation in China. Meanwhile, a large deficit remains in coverage provided by the national HBV immune program. In addition, our data suggested the possibility that HBsAb may not last long enough to protect people from HBV infection throughout life. The overall prevalence of anti-Hepatitis A virus antibody (anti-HAV) and anti-Hepatitis E virus antibody (anti-HEV) were as high as 72.87% and 17.66%, respectively. The indices increased with age, which suggests that a large proportion of Chinese adults are protected by latent infection. Furthermore, the pattern of HEV infection was significantly different among ethnic groups in China. Conclusions: Our study provided much important information concerning hepatitis A, B, C, and E prevalence in China and will contribute to worldwide oversight of viral hepatitis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rare wild species of snow lotus Saussurea involucrata is a commonly used medicinal herb with great pharmacological value for human health, resulting from its uniquely high level of phenylpropanoid compound production. To gain information on the phenylpropanid biosynthetic pathway genes in this critically important medicinal plant, global transcriptome sequencing was performed. It revealed that the phenylpropanoid pathway genes were well represented in S. involucrata. In addition, we introduced two key phenylpropanoid pathway inducing transcription factors (PAP1 and Lc) into this medicinal plant. Transgenic S. involucrata co-expressing PAP1 and Lc exhibited purple pigments due to a massive accumulation of anthocyanins. The over-expression of PAP1 and Lc largely activated most of the phenylpropanoid pathway genes, and increased accumulation of several phenylpropanoid compounds significantly, including chlorogenic acid, syringin, cyanrine and rutin. Both ABTS (2,2′-azinobis-3-ethylbenzotiazo-line-6-sulfonic acid) and FRAP (ferric reducing anti-oxidant power) assays revealed that the antioxidant capacity of transgenic S. involucrata lines was greatly enhanced over controls. In addition to providing a deeper understanding of the molecular basis of phenylpropanoid metabolism, our results potentially enable an alternation of bioactive compound production in S. involucrata through metabolic engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]