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Female infertility represents a major challenge for improving the production efficiency in the dairy industry. Historically, fertility has declined whereas milk yield has increased tremendously due to intensive genetic selection. In vivo evidence reveals about 60% pregnancy loss takes place during the first month following fertilization. Meanwhile, early embryo development is significant for somatic cell nuclear transfer in cattle as a large proportion of cloned embryos fail to develop beyond peri-implantation stage. Oocyte quality is of utmost importance for the early embryo to develop to term for both fertilized and cloned embryos. Epigenetic reprogramming is a key process occurring after fertilization and critical roles of epigenetic modifiers during preimplantation development are now clear. Incomplete epigenetic reprogramming is believed to be a major limitation to cloning efficiency. Treatment of cloned embryos with epigenetic modifying drugs (e.g., Trichostatin A) could greatly improve cloning efficiency in both mice and cattle. Recently, the rapid progress in high-throughput sequencing technologies has enabled detailed deciphering of the molecular mechanisms underlying these events. The robust efficiency of genomic editing tools also presents an alternative approach to the functional annotation of genes critical to early development.

Combined elemental deficiencies are more complex and insidious physiological metabolic responses than single elemental stresses. To determine the effects of phosphorus (P), iron (Fe), zinc (Zn), and their deficient combinations on photosynthetic characteristics of rice seedlings, we investigated their effects on dry weight, chlorophyll (Chl) content, rapid photosynthetic carbon assimilation CO2 responses, and Chl fluorescence in four-week-old rice (CB9 and BJ1 cultivars) seedlings. The results showed that the dry matter, maximum carboxylation efficiency (Vc,max), and maximum electron transfer efficiency (Jmax) of seedlings were all reduced to different degrees under the element deficiency treatments. JIP-test analysis showed that the decrease in the concentration of active PSII reaction centers (RC/ABS) under -Zn treatment was the main reason for the inhibition of performance index PIABS. The -P treatment reduced RC/ABS and inhibited electron transfer (ψEo). Primary photochemical reactions (φPo) of -P-Zn treated seedlings were also inhibited compared to the -P treatment. The -Fe and -Fe-Zn treatments inhibited photosynthesis most severely, which not only reduced RC/ABS but also severely inhibited φPo and ψEo. Notably, the -P-Fe and -P-Fe-Zn treatments of the CB9 improved the RC/ABS, alleviating the limitation of Fe deficiency. These results help enhance the understanding of the complex relationship between nutrient balance and photosynthesis, especially for P, Fe, Zn, and their combined deficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A naked-eye colorimetric chemosensor DK based on benzothiazole could recognize CN - effectively. When DK interacted with CN - in the aqueous solution, the obvious color change of the solution was directly observed by the naked eye. Other anions did not cause any interference. It is interesting that DK could also discriminate Ni 2+ from other cations, and the possible interaction mode between them was verified based on the Job's plot, 1 H nuclear magnetic resonance titration, infrared , electrospray ionization mass spectrometry, scanning electron microscopy analysis, and density functional theory calculation methods. As a result, it is clear that the mode of action between DK and CN - was different from that between DK and Ni 2+ . Meanwhile, the limit of detection of DK toward CN - and Ni 2+ was calculated to be 1.7 × 10 -8 or 7.4 × 10 -9 M, respectively. In addition, CN - was recognized qualitatively by a test paper and silica gel plates made from DK . DK was able to detect CN - in tap water quantitatively, rapidly, and on-site by the use of a smartphone APP. All results implied that DK has certain prospects for practical application to identify CN - in water., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest., (Copyright © 2020 American Chemical Society.)