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Abstract Background Over time, the amount of germs resistant to antibacterial medications has been steadily rising because of their prolonged and indiscriminate use. The increase in drug resistance significantly threatens to human health and has become a globally recognized issue of concern. Therefore, identifying new antibacterial drugs is urgently needed. Forward Polysaccharides are natural macromolecular substances that exist in plants, microorganisms, and animals, They have an immense amount of use in the food and medical industries. Polysaccharides can be categorized as plant, animal, or microbial based on the sources of the polysaccharides. Conclusion Polysaccharides are natural compounds with antibacterial properties that exerts antibacterial activity by disrupting bacterial cell walls and cell membranes. They show potential as candidates for the creation and application of novel antibiotics. This article reviews the classification of polysaccharides, their isolation and purification, mechanisms of action, and antibacterial activity. The primary objective of this study is to lay down an empirical groundwork for examining the antibacterial properties of polysaccharides.

Abstract Background Testa color is an important trait of peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) which is closely related with the nutritional and commercial value. Pink and red are main color of peanut testa. However, the genetic mechanism of testa color regulation in peanut is not fully understood. To elucidate a clear picture of peanut testa regulatory model, samples of pink cultivar (Y9102), red cultivar (ZH12), and two RNA pools (bulk red and bulk pink) constructed from F4 lines of Y9102 x ZH12 were compared through a bulk RNA-seq approach. Results A total of 2992 differential expressed genes (DEGs) were identified among which 317 and 1334 were up-regulated and 225 and 1116 were down-regulated in the bulk red-vs-bulk pink RNA pools and Y9102-vs-ZH12, respectively. KEGG analysis indicates that these genes were divided into significantly enriched metabolic pathways including phenylpropanoid, flavonoid/anthocyanin, isoflavonoid and lignin biosynthetic pathways. Notably, the expression of the anthocyanin upstream regulatory genes PAL, CHS, and CHI was upregulated in pink and red testa peanuts, indicating that their regulation may occur before to the advent of testa pigmentation. However, the differential expression of down-stream regulatory genes including F3H, DFR, and ANS revealed that deepening of testa color not only depends on their gene expression bias, but also linked with FLS inhibition. In addition, the down-regulation of HCT, IFS, HID, 7-IOMT, and I2’H genes provided an alternative mechanism for promoting anthocyanin accumulation via perturbation of lignin and isoflavone pathways. Furthermore, the co-expression module of MYB, bHLH, and WRKY transcription factors also suggested a fascinating transcriptional activation complex, where MYB-bHLH could utilize WRKY as a co-option during the testa color regulation by augmenting anthocyanin biosynthesis in peanut. Conclusions These findings reveal candidate functional genes and potential strategies for the manipulation of anthocyanin biosynthesis to improve peanut varieties with desirable testa color.

Abstract Background MicroRNAs are important gene expression regulators in plants immune system. Aspergillus flavus is the most common causal agents of aflatoxin contamination in peanuts, but information on the function of miRNA in peanut-A. flavus interaction is lacking. In this study, the resistant cultivar (GT-C20) and susceptible cultivar (Tifrunner) were used to investigate regulatory roles of miRNAs in response to A. flavus growth. Results A total of 30 miRNAs, 447 genes and 21 potential miRNA/mRNA pairs were differentially expressed significantly when treated with A. flavus. A total of 62 miRNAs, 451 genes and 44 potential miRNA/mRNA pairs exhibited differential expression profiles between two peanut varieties. Gene Ontology (GO) analysis showed that metabolic-process related GO terms were enriched. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analyses further supported the GO results, in which many enriched pathways were related with biosynthesis and metabolism, such as biosynthesis of secondary metabolites and metabolic pathways. Correlation analysis of small RNA, transcriptome and degradome indicated that miR156/SPL pairs might regulate the accumulation of flavonoids in resistant and susceptible genotypes. The miR482/2118 family might regulate NBS-LRR gene which had the higher expression level in resistant genotype. These results provided useful information for further understanding the roles of miR156/157/SPL and miR482/2118/NBS-LRR pairs. Conclusions Integration analysis of the transcriptome, miRNAome and degradome of resistant and susceptible peanut varieties were performed in this study. The knowledge gained will help to understand the roles of miRNAs of peanut in response to A. flavus.

Abstract Background Plant height, mainly decided by main stem height, is the major agronomic trait and closely correlated to crop yield. A number of studies had been conducted on model plants and crops to understand the molecular and genetic basis of plant height. However, little is known on the molecular mechanisms of peanut main stem height. Results In this study, a semi-dwarf peanut mutant was identified from 60Co γ-ray induced mutant population and designated as semi-dwarf mutant 2 (sdm2). The height of sdm2 was only 59.3% of its wild line Fenghua 1 (FH1) at the mature stage. The sdm2 has less internode number and short internode length to compare with FH1. Gene expression profiles of stem and leaf from both sdm2 and FH1 were analyzed using high throughput RNA sequencing. The differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were involved in hormone biosynthesis and signaling pathways, cell wall synthetic and metabolic pathways. BR, GA and IAA biosynthesis and signal transduction pathways were significantly enriched. The expression of several genes in BR biosynthesis and signaling were found to be significantly down-regulated in sdm2 as compared to FH1. Many transcription factors encoding genes were identified as DEGs. Conclusions A large number of genes were found differentially expressed between sdm2 and FH1. These results provide useful information for uncovering the molecular mechanism regulating peanut stem height. It could facilitate identification of causal genes for breeding peanut varieties with semi-dwarf phenotype.

Abstract Background Fatigue is the most common symptom in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) patients. Many fatigue instruments have been used in SLE, with Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS) mostly adopted. However, fatigue instruments haven’t been tested in the Chinese SLE population. The aim of our study was to test the psychometric properties of FSS in Chinese SLE patients. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted. 201 patients diagnosed with SLE were enrolled in the study with convenience sampling. Fatigue score, depression score and vitality subscale score of SF-36 were collected. Floor and ceiling effects were tested. Factor analysis was conducted. Reliability and validity of FSS were also tested. Results Floor (4.50%) and ceiling (4.00%) effects were minimal. One factor was extracted, explaining 61.80% of total variance. When item1 and item 2 were deleted, one factor explained 69.54% of variance, and Cronbach’s Alpha increased from 0.92 to 0.93. Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was 0.94. Fatigue correlated with both depression (r = 0.52, P

Abstract Background Early peanut pod development is an important process of peanut reproductive development. Modes of DNA methylation during early peanut pod development are still unclear, possibly because its allotetraploid genome may cause difficulty for the methylome analysis. Results To investigate the functions of the dynamic DNA methylation during the early development of the peanut pod, global methylome and gene expression analyses were carried out by Illumina high throughput sequencing. A novel mapping strategy of reads was developed and used for methylome and gene expression analysis. Differentially methylated genes, such as nodulin, cell number regulator-like protein, and senescence-associated genes, were identified during the early developmental stages of the peanut pod. The expression levels of gibberellin-related genes changed during this period of pod development. From the stage one (S1) gynophore to the stage two (S2) gynophore, the expression levels of two key methyltransferase genes, DRM2 and MET1, were up-regulated, which may lead to global DNA methylation changes between these two stages. The differentially methylated and expressed genes identified in the S1, S2, and stage 3 (S3) gynophore are involved in different biological processes such as stem cell fate determination, response to red, blue, and UV light, post-embryonic morphogenesis, and auxin biosynthesis. The expression levels of many genes were co-related by their DNA methylation levels. In addition, our results showed that the abundance of some 24-nucleotide siRNAs and miRNAs were positively associated with DNA methylation levels of their target loci in peanut pods. Conclusion A novel mapping strategy of reads was described and verified in this study. Our results suggest that the methylated modes of the S1, S2, and S3 gynophore are different. The methylation changes that were identified during early peanut pod development provide useful information for understanding the roles of epigenetic regulation in peanut pod development.

Abstract Background The referral service is a significant component of healthcare reform in China, and the measurement of patient satisfaction with the referral service process will help to improve the quality of referral medical delivery. Furthermore, the referral service in China includes inter-institutional collaborations between hospitals at different levels and multi-nodes throughout the referral process. It is therefore necessary to identify the key nodes that affect patient satisfaction during the referral service process. Methods This study conducted a questionnaire survey of 110 patients to collect data regarding patient satisfaction at the following healthcare nodes: primary-level hospital, referral appointment registration, claim of appointment number in the outpatient department, examination service, admission service, and overall satisfaction during the referral service process. Correlation analysis and logistic regression methods were used to establish a mathematical model of patient satisfaction between five nodes and overall satisfaction. Additionally, a peak-end model was formed to identify the peak node impacting overall patient satisfaction during the referral service based on the sample data. Results Over 80% of referral patients rated the overall referral service as ‘good’. The correlation analysis revealed that there was a significant correlation between the satisfaction of each node and the overall satisfaction (P