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Levulinic acid, a hydrolysis product of lignocellulose, can be metabolized into important compounds in the field of medicine and pesticides by engineered strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Levulinic acid, as an intermediate product widely found in the conversion process of lignocellulosic biomass, has multiple applications. However, its toxicity to Saccharomyces cerevisiae reduces its conversion efficiency, so screening Saccharomyces cerevisiae genes that can tolerate levulinic acid becomes the key. By creating a whole-genome knockout library and bioinformatics analysis, this study used the phenotypic characteristics of cells as the basis for screening and found the HMX1 gene that is highly sensitive to levulinic acid in the oxidative stress pathway. After knocking out HMX1 and treating with levulinic acid, the omics data of the strain revealed that multiple affected pathways, especially the expression of 14 genes related to the cell wall and membrane system, were significantly downregulated. The levels of acetyl-CoA and riboflavin decreased by 1.02-fold and 1.44-fold, respectively, while the content of pantothenic acid increased. These findings indicate that the cell wall-membrane system, as well as the metabolism of acetyl-CoA and riboflavin, are important in improving the resistance of Saccharomyces cerevisiae to levulinic acid. They provide theoretical support for enhancing the tolerance of microorganisms to levulinic acid, which is significant for optimizing the conversion process of lignocellulosic biomass to levulinic acid.

This research introduces an innovative construction method based on magnesia expansive agent concrete for the seamless construction of hundred-meter scale super-length raft structures, corroborated by the on-site test. The basic principle of this construction method is to use the pre compression stress generated by magnesia expansive agent to offset temperature and shrinkage stress. A temperature-strain monitoring system was employed to gather data, affirming the technique’s applicability and safety. Through the examination of temperature and strain dispersion trends in super-length raft structure, recommendations for the configuration of temperature-strain sensors have been put forth. Through the scrutiny of the temporal evolution pattern of temperature, the specific temporal and spatial coordinates that warrant particular vigilance during the surveillance of the raft’s inner-surface temperature difference were identified. Upon evaluating the correlation between strain dispersion and strain-temperature differential in the raft’s thickness dimension, a novel temperature control index (the bottom-surface temperature difference) was introduced. The threshold for this metric was established at 30°C, derived from empirical test outcomes conducted on-site. Furthermore, the critical regions for monitoring the bottom-surface temperature difference were specified.

Engineering Saccharomyces cerevisiae for biodegradation and transformation of industrial toxic substances such as catechol (CA) has received widespread attention, but the low tolerance of S. cerevisiae to CA has limited its development. The exploration and modification of genes or pathways related to CA tolerance in S. cerevisiae is an effective way to further improve the utilization efficiency of CA. This study identified 36 genes associated with CA tolerance in S. cerevisiae through genome-wide identification and bioinformatics analysis and the ERG6 knockout strain (ERG6Δ) is the most sensitive to CA. Based on the omics analysis of ERG6Δ under CA stress, it was found that ERG6 knockout affects pathways such as intrinsic component of membrane and pentose phosphate pathway. In addition, the study revealed that 29 genes related to the cell wall-membrane system were up-regulated by more than twice, NADPH and NADP+ were increased by 2.48 and 4.41 times respectively, and spermidine and spermine were increased by 2.85 and 2.14 times, respectively, in ERG6Δ. Overall, the response of cell wall-membrane system, the accumulation of spermidine and NADPH, as well as the increased levels of metabolites in pentose phosphate pathway are important findings in improving the CA resistance. This study provides a theoretical basis for improving the tolerance of strains to CA and reducing the damage caused by CA to the ecological environment and human health.

Stratospheric intrusion (SI) is an important source of tropospheric ozone (O3). Here, we used the online coupled Weather Research and Forecasting-Chemistry (WRF-Chem) model to simulate a typical SI event that occurred over eastern China on 15–19 July 2016 and investigate the impacts of SI on near-surface O3 pollution. The results show that the large-scale circulation of SI was characterized by a deep trough over central China and South Asia high and Western Pacific Subtropical high located to the east and west of the deep trough, respectively. With the evolution of the deep trough, the strong downdrafts behind the trough lead to O3-rich air injected into the lower troposphere across eastern China. By using a tracer tagging method in WRF-Chem, we quantified the SI contributed up to 6.5 ppb to the surface O3 concentration. According to the integrated process rate analyses, which were employed to quantify the contribution of different physical/chemical processes to O3, the advection process dominated variations in troposphere O3 with positive contribution ranging from 0.1 to 13.8 ppb h−1. As altitude decreases, the contribution of advection diminishes as the intensity of the SI gradually weakens. Although the vertical advection contributed limited O3 that directly reached the ground, we revealed that the SI has significant impact on near-surface O3 over a large territory of eastern China through regional transport by horizontal advection process. Below 691 m, the positive contribution of horizontal advection to O3 ranges from 1.6 to 13.4 ppb h−1. This study highlights the natural effect of SI on summertime O3 pollution in eastern China and will help the development of a future O3 pollution alert system.

Introduction: As the world is consistently driven by the infusion of new-generation information technology and the knowledge economy, college students are placed under mounting pressure in developing occupation-related competencies. Their employability has been receiving growing concerns from stakeholders such as higher education institutions, governments, employers, parents, and even student groups themselves as it plays a decisive role in occupational success, social stability, and economic prosperity. Under the theoretical guidance of social cognitive theory, this study set out to investigate the cognitive and psychological mechanisms through which innovation capability, social adaptability, and self-efficacy influence the employability of college students. It also attempts to analyze the mediating role of self-efficacy in the relations between innovation capability, social adaptability, and employability which has been rarely studied in academia.Methods: A quantitative approach was employed in this study. Data was collected from 726 undergraduates from 9 higher education institutions in the mainland of China by questionnaire survey method. The research model showed a good fit (χ2/df=4.46, RMSEA=0.069, SRMR=0.049, GFI=0.934, CFI=0.965, NFI=0.955, TLI=0.955). Structural equation modeling (SEM) was applied to this study for data analysis.Results: The findings showed that innovation capability, social adaptability, and self-efficacy significantly and positively correlates with undergraduates’ employability. University students with stronger innovation capability, social adaptability, and self-efficacy tend to be more employable in the job market. Model 4 of SPSS PROCESS Macro revealed that self-efficacy played a mediating role in the correlation between innovation capability, social adaptability, and employability.Discussion: Undergraduates with higher levels of innovation capability and social adaptability are more confident in their abilities to take specific actions and achieve expected goals, which in turn intensifies their employability. The study suggests the possibility of improving undergraduates’ employability through positive interference of innovation capability, social adaptability, and self-efficacy in the era of information technology and knowledge-based economy.

Pruning is an important strategy for increasing tea production. However, the effects of pruning on tea quality are not well understood. In this study, tea leaves were collected from Wuyi Mountain for both ionomic and metabolomic analyses. A total of 1962 and 1188 fresh tea leaves were respectively collected from pruned and unpruned tea plants sampled across 350 tea plantations. Ionomic profiles of fresh tea leaves varied significantly between pruned and unpruned sources. For tea plants, pruning was tied to decreases in the concentrations of mobile elements, such as nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K) and magnesium (Mg), and dramatic increases in the concentrations of the immobile ions calcium (Ca), aluminum (Al), manganese (Mn), boron (B) and cobalt (Co). Clustering and heatmap analysis showed that pruning also affected tea leaf metabolism. Among 85 metabolites that were significantly impacted by pruning, 30 were identified through random forest analysis as characteristic differential metabolites with a prediction rate of 86.21%. Redundancy analysis showed that pruning effects on mineral nutrient concentrations accounted for 25.54% of the variation in characteristic metabolites between treatments, with the highest contributions of 6.64% and 3.69% coming from Ca and Mg, respectively. In correlation network analysis, Ca and Mg both exhibited close, though opposing correlations with six key metabolites, including key quality indicators 1,3-dicaffeoylquinic acid and 2-O-caffeoyl arbutin. In summary, large scale sampling over hundreds of tea plantations demonstrated that pruning affects tea quality, mainly through influences on leaf mineral composition, with Ca and Mg playing large roles. These results may provide a solid scientific basis for improved management of high-quality tea plantations.

Surface ozone concentrations in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) region in China have shown a significant increase with the dramatic reduction of anthropogenic nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions since 2013. As the nonlinearity between ozone and its precursors (i.e., NOx and volatile organic compounds (VOCs)) varies greatly in time and space, we quantify the monthly changes of surface ozone with the co-control of NOx and VOCs anthropogenic emissions in the YRD region from May to October 2017 by using the GEOS-Chem model. Model evaluations show that the GEOS-Chem model exhibits good performance to simulate ozone concentrations in the region. For May–September 2017, most areas in the YRD region are under a transitional regime, but the regions with high anthropogenic emissions including Shanghai and southern Jiangsu are under a VOCs-limited regime. In October, basically, the entire YRD region is under a VOCs-limited regime. Generally, reducing VOCs emissions only is the most effective method for ozone control in the YRD. Nanjing is under a VOCs-limited regime in May, June, September, and October, and under a transition regime from July to August. The VOCs/NOx emission reduction ratio of 1:1 is effective for ozone mitigation in Nanjing (Shanghai) in May, June, and September (for May–September); the corresponding ratio is 2:1 in October. Hangzhou belongs to a transitional regime from May to September and is under a VOCs-limited regime in October. Reducing NOx emissions only would control ozone in Hangzhou from May to September, while the VOCs/NOx emission reduction ratio of 1:1 is favorable to reduce ozone concentrations in October. During high pollution days on July 22–27, 2017, the three cities belong to a transitional regime and reducing NOx emissions only is generally the most effective way to control high ozone pollution. GEOS-Chem tagged ozone simulation shows that ozone problem in the region is caused by the joint effect of local generation and regional and long-distance transport. Local generation (19.0–50.7%) is generally the largest contributor to monthly mean ozone concentrations in Jiangsu and Shanghai, Zhejiang, and central eastern China; the contribution of ozone from regions outside the YRD is larger in spring and autumn (42–76.0%) than in summer (23.3–51.8%). Since the annual VOCs (NOx) anthropogenic emissions in the region have shown a decline by 8% (11%) from 2017 to 2020 and would continue to reduce by 10% (10%) by 2025 according to the Chinese government requirement, the growth of ozone would be stopped in the YRD for May–September but likely to continue in October. Our study thus would provide a scientific base for guiding the effective emission reduction strategies to control ozone pollution in the YRD region.

We applied the global 3-D chemical transport model GEOS-Chem to examine the effects of changes in anthropogenic emissions over China on PM2.5 concentrations in South Korea and Japan over 2013–2017 during which the Chinese governmental “Action Plan on the Prevention and Control of Air Pollution” was implemented. The reductions in anthropogenic emissions in China alleviated PM2.5 concentrations in South Korea and Japan. The reductions in anthropogenic emissions in China alone led to reductions in annual mean PM2.5 concentrations by 13.7 (19.7%), 2.7 (7.7%), and 1.0 (7.9%) μg m−3 over 2013–2017 in eastern China, South Korea, and Japan, respectively. The reductions in anthropogenic emissions in China also changed the components of PM2.5 in South Korea and Japan. The concentrations of sulfate, ammonium, black carbon and organic carbon were simulated to decrease and those of nitrate were simulated to increase in both South Korea and Japan. With the changes in anthropogenic emissions and the changes in meteorology (BASE simulation), the proportions of sulfate, nitrate, and OC in PM2.5 in South Korea (Japan) were, respectively, 17.1, 44.4, and 15.8% (27.2, 30.5, and 20.0%) in 2013, and 14.3, 46.0, and 17.8% (23.7, 33.2, and 21.6%) in 2017. Model results shown here are helpful for understanding the temporal evolution in PM2.5 on different timescales in the downwind regions of China.

Surface ozone (O3) increased by ∼20% in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) region of China during 2014–2020, but the aggravating trend is highly variable on interannual time and city-level space scales. Here, we employed multiple air quality observations and numerical simulation to describe the increasing but variable trend of O3 and to reveal the main driving factors behind it. In 2014–2017, the governmental air pollution control action plan was mostly against PM2.5 (mainly to control the emissions of SO2, NOx, and primary PM2.5) and effectively reduced the PM2.5 concentration by 18%–45%. However, O3 pollution worsened in the same period with an increasing rate of 4.9 μg m−3 yr−1, especially in the Anhui province, where the growth rate even reached 14.7 μg m−3 yr−1. After 2018, owing to the coordinated prevention and control of both PM2.5 and O3, volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions in the YRD region has also been controlled with a great concern, and the O3 aggravating trend in the same period has been obviously alleviated (1.1 μg m−3 yr−1). We further combined the precursor concentration and the corresponding O3 formation regime to explain the observed trend of O3 in 2014–2020. The leading O3 formation regime in 2014–2017 is diagnosed as VOC-limited (21%) or mix-limited (58%), with the help of a simulated indicator HCHO/NOy. Under such condition, the decreasing NO2 (2.8% yr−1) and increasing VOCs (3.6% yr−1) in 2014–2017 led to a rapid increment of O3. With the continuous reduction in NOx emission and further in ambient NOx/VOCs, the O3 production regime along the Yangtze River has been shifting from VOC-limited to mix-limited, and after 2018, the mix-limited regime has become the dominant O3 formation regime for 55% of the YRD cities. Consequently, the decreases of both NOx (3.3% yr−1) and VOCs (7.7% yr−1) in 2018–2020 obviously slowed down the aggravating trend of O3. Our study argues that with the implementation of coordinated regional reduction of NOx and VOCs, an effective O3 control is emerging in the YRD region.

Plant microbiota are of great importance for host nutrition and health. As a C4 plant species with a high carbon fixation capacity, sugarcane also associates with beneficial microbes, though mechanisms underlying sugarcane root-associated community development remain unclear. Here, we identify microbes that are specifically enriched around sugarcane roots and report results of functional testing of potentially beneficial microbes propagating with sugarcane plants. First, we analyzed recruitment of microbes through analysis of 16S rDNA enrichment in greenhouse cultured sugarcane seedlings growing in field soil. Then, plant-associated microbes were isolated and assayed for beneficial activity, first in greenhouse experiments, followed by field trials for selected microbial strains. The promising beneficial microbe SRB-109, which quickly colonized both roots and shoots of sugarcane plants, significantly promoted sugarcane growth in field trials, nitrogen and potassium acquisition increasing by 35.68 and 28.35%, respectively. Taken together, this report demonstrates successful identification and utilization of beneficial plant-associated microbes in sugarcane production. Further development might facilitate incorporation of such growth-promoting microbial applications in large-scale sugarcane production, which may not only increase yields but also reduce fertilizer costs and runoff.

Background: The most severe insect damage to bamboo shoots is the bamboo-snout beetle (Cyrtotrachelus buqueti). Bamboo is a perennial plant that has significant economic value. C. buqueti also plays a vital role in the degradation of bamboo lignocellulose and causing damage. The genome sequencing and functional gene annotation of C. buqueti are of great significance to reveal the molecular mechanism of its efficient degradation of bamboo fiber and the development of the bamboo industry.Results: The size of C. buqueti genome was close to 600.92 Mb by building a one paired-end (PE) library and k-mer analysis. Then, we developed nine 20-kb SMRTbell libraries for genome sequencing and got a total of 51.12 Gb of the original PacBio sequel reads. Furthermore, after filtering with a coverage depth of 85.06×, clean reads with 48.71 Gb were obtained. The final size of C. buqueti genome is 633.85 Mb after being assembled and measured, and the contig N50 of C. buqueti genome is 27.93 Mb. The value of contig N50 shows that the assembly quality of C. buqueti genome exceeds that of most published insect genomes. The size of the gene sequence located on chromosomes reaches 630.86 Mb, accounting for 99.53% of the genome sequence. A 1,063 conserved genes were collected at this assembled genome, comprising 99.72% of the overall genes with 1,066 using the Benchmark Uniform Single-Copy Orthology (BUSCO). Moreover, 63.78% of the C. buqueti genome is repetitive, and 57.15% is redundant with long-term elements. A 12,569 protein-coding genes distributed on 12 chromosomes were acquired after function annotation, of which 96.18% were functional genes. The comparative genomic analysis results revealed that C. buqueti was similar to D. ponderosae. Moreover, the comparative analysis of specific genes in C. buqueti genome showed that it had 244 unique lignocellulose degradation genes and 240 genes related to energy production and conversion. At the same time, 73 P450 genes and 30 GST genes were identified, respectively, in the C. buqueti genome.Conclusion: The high-quality C. buqueti genome has been obtained in the present study. The assembly level of this insect’s genome is higher than that of other most reported insects’ genomes. The phylogenetic analysis of P450 and GST gene family showed that C. buqueti had a vital detoxification function to plant chemical components.

BackgroundThe mechanisms by which moderate tidal volume ventilation (MTV) exacerbates preexisting lung injury are unclear. We hypothesized that systemic endotoxemia via the gut-lung axis would lead to non-canonical and canonical inflammasome activation and pyroptosis in a two-hit model involving polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid (Poly(I:C)), a synthetic analog of dsRNA and MTV and that this would associate with acute lung injury (ALI).MethodsAnesthetized mice were administered Poly(I:C) intratracheally and then 6 h later, they were mechanically ventilated for 4 h with otherwise non-injurious MTV (10ml/kg). Changes in intestinal and alveolar capillary permeability were measured. Further documentation of ALI was assessed by evans blue albumin permeability, protein and IL-1 family concentration in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) or plasma, and histopathology in cohorts of wildtype (WT), whole body genetically ablated caspase-11 (caspase-11-/-), caspase-1/caspase-11 double knockout (caspase-1/11-/-), gasdermin D (GSDMD)-/-, nucleotide-binding domain leucine-rich repeat-containing protein 3 (NLRP3)-/- and advanced glycosylation end product-specific receptor (RAGE) -/- mice.ResultsNon-injurious MTV exacerbated the mild lung injury associated with Poly(I:C) administration. This included the disruption of alveolar-capillary barrier and increased levels of interleukin (IL)-6, high mobility group proteins 1 (HMGB-1), IL-1β in BALF and IL-18 in plasma. Combined (Poly(I:C)-MTV) injury was associated with increase in gastrointestinal permeability and endotoxin in plasma and BALF. Poly(I:C)-MTV injury was sensitive to caspase-11 deletion with no further contribution of caspase-1 except for maturation and release of IL-18 (that itself was sensitive to deletion of NLRP3). Combined injury led to large increases in caspase-1 and caspase-11. Genetic ablation of GSDMD attenuated alveolar-capillary disruption and release of cytokines in combined injury model.ConclusionsThe previously noted exacerbation of mild Poly(I:C)-induced ALI by otherwise non-injurious MTV is associated with an increase in gut permeability resulting in systemic endotoxemia. The gut-lung axis resulted in activation of pulmonary non-canonical (cytosolic mediated caspase-11 activation) and canonical (caspase-1) inflammasome (NLRP3) mediated ALI in this two-hit model resulting in GSDMD sensitive alveolar capillary barrier disruption, pyroptosis (alveolar macrophages) and cytokine maturation and release (IL-1β; IL-18). Pharmacologic strategies aimed at disrupting communication between gut and lung, inhibition of inflammasomes or GSDMD in pyroptosis may be useful in ALI.

This study analyzed the effectiveness of temporary emission control measures on air quality of Nanjing, China during the Jiangsu Development Summit (JDS). We employed a regional chemistry model WRF-Chem to simulate air pollutants in Nanjing and compared the results to surface observations and satellite retrievals. During the JDS, air pollutant emissions from industry and transportation sectors largely decreased by 50–67% due to the short-term emission control measures such as reducing coal combustions, shutting down factories, and partially limiting traffic. Benefiting from the emission control, the simulated concentrations of PM2.5, NO2, SO2, CO and VOCs in Nanjing decreased by 17%, 20%, 20%, 19%, and 15% respectively, consistent with the surface and satellite observations. However, both the observed and simulated O3 increased by 3–48% during the JDS, which was mainly due to the remarkable NOx emission reduction (26%) in the downtown of Nanjing where the O3 production regime was mainly VOC-controlled. In addition, the atmospheric oxidation capacity and further the sulfur oxidation ratio, were facilitated by the elevated O3, which led to variable mitigation efficiencies of different secondary PM2.5 compositions. Our study offers an opportunity for understanding the coordinated control of PM2.5 and O3 in typical city clusters, and can provide implications for future mitigation actions.

Purpose18F labelled PSMA-1007 presents promising results in detecting prostate cancer (PC), while some pitfalls exists meanwhile. An intra-individual comparison of 18F-FDG and 18F-PSMA-1007 in patients with prostate cancer were aimed to be performed in the present study. Then, the pitfalls of 18F-PSMA-1007 PET/CT in imaging of patients with prostate cancer were analyzed.Methods and Material21 prostate cancer patients underwent 18F-PSMA-1007 PET/CT as well as 18F-FDG PET/CT before treatment. All positive lesions were noticed in both 18F-PSMA-1007 PET/CT and 18F-FDG PET/CT, then differentiated PC metastasis from benign lesions. the SUVmax, SUVmean and TBR of lesions, up to 10 metastases and 10 benign lesions per patients were recorded (5 for bone, 5 for soft tissue metastasis ). The distribution of positive lesions were analyzed for two imaging. Detection rates, SUVmax, SUVmean and TBR in 18F-PSMA-1007 PET/CT and 18F-FDG PET/CT were compared, respectively. The optimal cut-off values of SUVmax, SUVmean for metastases vs. benign lesions was found through areas under ROC in 18F-PSMA-1007.ResultsThe detection rates of primary lesions in 18F-PSMA-1007 PET/CT was higher than that of 18F-FDG PET/CT(100% (21/21) vs. 67%(14/21)). For extra- prostatic lesions, 18F-PSMA-1007 PET/CT revealed 124 positive lesions, 49(49/124, 40%) attributed to a benign origin; 18F-FDG PET/CT revealed 68 positive lesions, 14(14/68, 21%) attributed to a benign origin. The SUVmax, SUVmean, TBR of primary tumor in 18F-PSMA-1007 PET/CT was higher than that in 18F-FDG PET/CT (15.20 vs. 4.20 for SUVmax; 8.70 vs. 2.80 for SUVmean; 24.92 vs. 4.82 for TBR, respectively); The SUVmax, SUVmean, TBR of metastases in 18F-PSMA-1007 PET/CT was higher than that in 18F-FDG PET/CT (10.72 vs. 4.42 for SUVmax; 6.67 vs. 2.59 for SUVmean; The TBR of metastases was 13.3 vs. 7.91). For 18F-FDG PET/CT, the SUVmax, SUVmean in metastases was higher than that in benign lesions (4.42 vs. 3.04 for SUVmax, 2.59 vs. 1.75 for SUVmean, respectively). Similarly, for 18F-PSMA-1007 PET/CT, the SUVmax, SUVmean in metastases was significantly higher than that in benign lesions(10.72 vs. 3.14 for SUVmax, 6.67 vs. 1.91 for SUVmean, respectively), ROC suggested that SUVmax=7.71, SUVmean=5.35 might be the optimal cut-off values for metastases vs. benign lesions.ConclusionThe pilot study suggested that 18F-PSMA-1007 showed superiority over 18F-FDG because its high detecting rate of PC lesions and excellent tumor uptake. While non-tumor uptake in 18F-PSMA-1007 may lead to misdiagnosis, recognizing these pitfalls and careful analysis can improve the accuracy of diagnosis.

Developing high yielding cultivars with outstanding quality traits are perpetual objectives throughout crop breeding operations. Confoundingly, both of these breeding objectives typically involve working with complex quantitative traits that can be affected by genetic and environmental factors. Establishing correlations of these complex traits with more easily identifiable and highly heritable traits can simplify breeding processes. In this study, two parental soybean genotypes contrasting in seed hilum size, yield, and seed quality, as well as 175 F9 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) derived from these parents, were grown in 3 years. The h2b of four hilum size, two quality and two yield traits, ranged from 0.72 to 0.87. The four observed hilum size traits exhibited significant correlation (P < 0.05) with most of seed yield and quality traits, as indicated by correlation coefficients varying from -0.35 to 0.42, which suggests that hilum size could be considered as a proxy trait for soybean yield and quality. Interestingly, among 53 significant quantitative trait loci (QTLs) with logarithm of odds (LOD) values ranging from 2.51 to 6.69 and accounting for 6.40–16.10% of genetic variation, three loci encoding hilum size, qSH6.2, qSH8, and qSH10, colocated with QTLs for seed yield and quality traits, demonstrating that genes impacting seed hilum size colocalize in part with genes acting on soybean yield and quality. As a result of the breeding efforts and field observations described in this work, it is reasonable to conclude that optimizing hilum size through selection focused on a few QTLs may be useful for breeding new high yielding soybean varieties with favorable quality characteristics.

The importance of hypoxia in the pathophysiology of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is increasingly being realized; also, hypoxia seems to be an important accelerator of brain inflammation, as has been reported by our group and others. IBD is a chronic intestinal disorder that leads to the development of inflammation, which is related to brain dysfunction. However, no studies have reported whether hypoxia is associated with IBD-induced neuroinflammation. Therefore, the objective of the present study was to determine whether hypoxia augments cerebral inflammation in a DSS-induced colitis mouse model. The mouse model was developed using 3% DSS for five days combined with exposure to hypoxic conditions (6,000 m) for two days. Mice were randomly divided into four groups: control group, DSS group, hypoxia group, and DSS plus hypoxia group. The results demonstrated that DSS combined with hypoxia resulted in up-regulation of colonic and plasmatic proinflammatory cytokines. Meanwhile, DSS plus hypoxia increased expression of Iba1, which is a marker of activated microglia, accompanied by increased expression of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), and interleukin-6 (IL-6) in the brain. Moreover, the expression of tight junction proteins, such as zonula occludens-1 (ZO-1), occludin, and claudin-5, was markedly downregulated. The current study provides new insight into how hypoxia exposure induces excessive inflammatory responses andpathophysiological consequences in the brain in a DSS-induced colitis model.

Rhizosphere microorganisms play important roles in plant health and nutrition, and interactions among plants and microorganisms are important for establishment of root microbiomes. As yet, plant-microbe and microbe-microbe interactions in the rhizosphere remain largely mysterious. In this study, rhizosphere fungal community structure was first studied in a field experiment with two soybean cultivars contrasting in nodulation grown in two rhizobium inoculation treatments. Following this, recombinant inbred lines (RILs) contrasting in markers across three QTLs for biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) were evaluated for effects of genotype and rhizobium inoculation to the rhizosphere fungal community as assessed using ITS1 amplicon sequencing. The soybean plants tested herein not only hosted rhizosphere fungal communities that were distinct from bulk soils, but also specifically recruited and enriched Cladosporium from bulk soils. The resulting rhizosphere fungal communities varied among soybean genotypes, as well as, between rhizobium inoculation treatments. Besides, Cladosporium were mostly enriched in the rhizospheres of soybean genotypes carrying two or three favorable BNF QTLs, suggesting a close association between soybean traits associated with nodulation and those affecting the rhizosphere fungal community. This inference was bolstered by the observation that introduction of exogenous rhizobia significantly altered rhizosphere fungal communities to the point that these communities could be distinguished based on the combination of soybean genotype and whether exogenous rhizobia was applied. Interestingly, grouping of host plants by BNF QTLs also distinguished fungal community responses to rhizobium inoculation. Taken together, these results reveal that complex cross-kingdom interactions exist among host plants, symbiotic N2 fixing bacteria and fungal communities in the soybean rhizosphere.

Soybean is an important economic and green manure crop that is widely used in intercropping and rotation systems due to its high biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) capacity and the resulting reduction in N fertilization. However, the genetic mechanisms underlying soybean BNF are largely unknown. Here, two soybean parent genotypes contrasting in BNF traits and 168 F9:11 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) were evaluated under four conditions in the field. The parent FC1 always produced more big nodules, yet fewer nodules in total than the parent FC2 in the field. Furthermore, nodulation in FC1 was more responsive to environmental changes than that in FC2. Broad-sense heritability (h2b) for all BNF traits varied from 0.48 to 0.87, which suggests that variation in the observed BNF traits was primarily determined by genotype. Moreover, two new QTLs for BNF traits, qBNF-16 and qBNF-17, were identified in this study. The qBNF-16 locus was detected under all of the four tested conditions, where it explained 15.9–59.0% of phenotypic variation with LOD values of 6.31–32.5. Meanwhile qBNF-17 explained 12.6–18.6% of observed variation with LOD values of 4.93–7.51. Genotype group analysis indicated that the FC1 genotype of qBNF-16 primarily affected nodule size (NS), while the FC2 genotype of qBNF-16 promoted nodule number (NN). On the other hand, the FC1 genotype of qBNF-17 influenced NN and the FC2 genotype of qBNF-17 impacted NS. The results on the whole suggest that these two QTLs might be valuable markers for breeding elite soybean varieties with high BNF capacities.

Proton (H+) and aluminum (Al) rhizotoxicity are two major factors limiting crop production in acid soils. Orthologs of the zinc-finger transcription factor, Sensitive To Proton Rhizotoxicity1 (STOP1), have been found to play an essential role in the tolerance to both stresses by regulating the transcription of multiple H+ and Al tolerant genes. In the present study, color three GmSTOP1 homologs were identified in the soybean genome. All three GmSTOP1 exhibited similar properties as reflected by the harboring of four potential zinc finger domains, localizing in the nucleus, and having transactivation activity. Expression profiling showed that H+ stress slightly modulated transcription of all three GmSTOP1s, while Al significantly up-regulated GmSTOP1-1 and GmSTOP1-3 in root apexes and GmSTOP1-3 in basal root regions. Furthermore, complementation assays in an Arabidopsis Atstop1 mutant line overexpressing these GmSTOP1s demonstrated that all three GmSTOP1s largely reverse the H+ sensitivity of the Atstop1 mutant and restore the expression of genes involved in H+ tolerance. In contrast, only GmSTOP1-1 and GmSTOP1-3 could partially recover Al tolerance in the Atstop1 mutant. These results suggest that the function of three GmSTOP1s is evolutionarily conserved in H+ tolerance, but not in Al tolerance.

Soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr] is an important legume crop and its yield largely depends on root architecture (RA) and biological nitrogen fixation (BNF). However, the relationship between RA and BNF, and its genetics behind remain unclear. Here, two soybean genotypes contrasting in RA and their 175 F9:11 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) were evaluated in field. The shallow-root parent, JD12, had better nodulation and higher yield than the deep-root parent, NF58. Strong correlations between shoot dry weight (SDW) and RA or BNF traits existed in the RILs, and the shallow-root group had more and heavier nodules, as well as higher SDW. After inoculating with rhizobia, roots became shallower and bigger, showing strong synergistic interactions between RA and BNF. In total, 70 QTLs were identified for the 21 tested traits. Among them, qBNF-RA-C2, qBNF-RA-O, and qBNF-RA-B1, were newly identified QTLs for BNF and/or RA traits in soybean, which co-located with the QTLs for SDW detected presently, and with the QTLs for yield identified previously. The results together suggest that there are synergistic interactions between RA and BNF, and the QTLs identified here could be used for breeding new soybean varieties with higher yields through optimization of RA traits and BNF capacity.

The NRAMP (natural resistance-associated macrophage protein) family of genes has been widely characterized in organisms ranging from bacteria to yeast, plants, mice, and humans. This gene family plays vital roles in divalent metal ion transport across cellular membranes. As yet, comprehensive analysis of NRAMP family genes has not been reported for soybean. In this study, bioinformatics analysis was conducted to identify 13 soybean NRAMP genes, along with their gene structures, phylogenetic relationships, and transmembrane domains. Expression analysis suggests that GmNRAMP genes function in numerous tissues and development stages. Moreover, soybean NRAMP genes were differentially regulated by deficiencies of N, P, K, Fe, and S, along with toxicities of Fe, Cu, Cd, and Mn. These results indicate that GmNRAMP genes function in many nutrient stress pathways, and might be involved in crosstalk among nutrient stress pathways. Subcellular localization analysis in Arabidopsis protoplasts confirmed the tonoplast or plasma membrane localization of selected soybean NRMAP proteins. Protein-protein interaction analysis found that the networks of three GmNRAMP proteins which putatively interact with nodulin-like proteins, almost distinct from the network that is common to the other 10 soybean NRAMP proteins. Subsequent qRT-PCR results confirmed that these three GmNRMAP genes exhibited enhanced expression in soybean nodules, suggesting potential functions in the transport of Fe or other metal ions in soybean nodules. Overall, the systematic analysis of the GmNRAMP gene family reported herein provides valuable information for further studies on the biological roles of GmNRAMPs in divalent metal ion transport in various soybean tissues under numerous nutrient stresses and soybean-rhizobia symbiosis.

Soybean/maize intercropping has remarkable advantages in increasing crop yield and nitrogen (N) efficiency. However, little is known about the contributions of rhizobia or arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) to yield increases and N acquisition in the intercropping system. Plus, the mechanisms controlling carbon (C) and N allocation in intercropping systems remain unsettled. In the present study, a greenhouse experiment combined with 15N and 13C labeling was conducted using various inoculation and nutrient treatments. The results showed that co-inoculation with AMF and rhizobia dramatically increased biomass and N content of soybean and maize, and moderate application of N and phosphorus largely amplified the effect of co-inoculation. Maize had a competitive advantage over soybean only under co-inoculation and moderate nutrient availability conditions, indicating that the effects of AMF and rhizobia in intercropping systems are closely related to nutrient status. Results from 15N labeling showed that the amount of N transferred from soybean to maize in co-inoculations was 54% higher than that with AMF inoculation alone, with this increased N transfer partly resulting from symbiotic N fixation. The results from 13C labeling showed that 13C content increased in maize shoots and decreased in soybean roots with AMF inoculation compared to uninoculated controls. Yet, with co-inoculation, 13C content increased in soybean. These results indicate that photosynthate assimilation is stimulated by AM symbiosis in maize and rhizobial symbiosis in soybean, but AMF inoculation leads to soybean investing more carbon than maize into common mycorrhizal networks (CMNs). Overall, the results herein demonstrate that the growth advantage of maize when intercropped with soybean is due to acquisition of N by maize via CMNs while this crop contributes less C into CMNs than soybean under co-inoculation conditions.

Type III interferon (IFN-λ), a new member of the IFN family, was initially considered to possess antiviral functions similar to those of type I interferon, both of which are induced via the JAK/STAT pathway. Nevertheless, recent findings demonstrated that IFN-λ exerts a nonredundant antiviral function at the mucosal surface, preferentially produced in epithelial cells in contrast to type I interferon, and its function cannot be replaced by type I interferon. This review summarizes recent studies showing that IFN-λ inhibits the spread of viruses from the cell surface to the body. Further studies have found that the role of IFN-λ is not only limited to the abovementioned functions, but it can also can exert direct and/or indirect effects on immune cells in virus-induced inflammation. This review focuses on the antiviral activity of IFN-λ in the mucosal epithelial cells and its action on immune cells and summarizes the pathways by which IFN-λ exerts its action and differentiates it from other interferons in terms of mechanism. Finally, we conclude that IFN-λ is a potent epidermal antiviral factor that enhances the respiratory mucosal immune response and has excellent therapeutic potential in combating respiratory viral infections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stress may trigger sleep disorders and are also risk factors for depression. The study explored the melatonin-related mechanisms of stress-associated sleep disorders on a mouse model of chronic stress by exploring the alteration in sleep architecture, melatonin, and related small molecule levels, transcription and expression of melatonin-related genes as well as proteins. Mice undergoing chronic restraint stress modeling for 28 days showed body weight loss and reduced locomotor activity. Sleep fragmentation, circadian rhythm disorders, and insomnia exhibited in CRS-treated mice formed sleep disorders. Tryptophan and 5-hydroxytryptamine levels were increased in the hypothalamus, while melatonin level was decreased. The transcription and expression of melatonin receptors were reduced, and circadian rhythm related genes were altered. Expression of downstream effectors to melatonin receptors was also affected. These results identified sleep disorders in a mice model of chronic stress. The alteration of melatonin-related pathways was shown to trigger sleep disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]