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Arsenic is a poisonous semi-metal (metalloid) and has been identified as a human carcinogen. Arsenic poisoning can cause a variety of health damage to the human body. Arsenic can exist in both inorganic and organic forms. It is generally considered that inorganic arsenic is more toxic than organic arsenic. Arsenolipids are organic arsenic and widely exist in tissues of marine organisms. Arseniolipids have been previously thought to be extremely low toxic. With the progress and development of science and technology in recent years, intensive research has been conducted on arsenolipids, and the speciation analysis and toxicity evaluation of arsenolipids have gradually become a hot spot. At present, there are three known species of arsenolipids, namely arsenic-containing fatty acids (AsFAs), arsenic-containing hydrocarbons (AsHCs) and arsenic-containing phospholipids (AsPLs), which differ in their toxicity. However, due to the complex speciation pattern, low bioavailability and low content of arsenolipids, and the difficulty to extract and detect them, the mechanism of arsenolipid toxicity remain unclear. Therefore, this paper reviews the latest progress in the methods for speciation analysis and toxicity evaluation of arsenolipids in marine organisms, with the aim to provide an inspiration for further elucidating the speciation, toxicity, and human health risk of arsenolipids.

Different anatomical locations of the body skin show differences in their gene expression patterns depending on different origins, and the inherent heterogeneous information can be maintained in adults. However, highly resolvable cellular specialization is less well characterized in different anatomical regions of the skin. Pig is regarded as an excellent model animal for human skin research in view of its similar physiology to human. In this study, single-cell RNA sequencing was performed on pig skin tissues from six different anatomical regions of Chenghua (CH) pigs, with a superior skin thickness trait, and the back site of large white (LW) pigs. We obtained 233,715 cells, representing seven cell types, among which we primarily characterized the heterogeneity of the top three cell types, including smooth muscle cells (SMCs), endothelial cells (ECs), and fibroblasts (FBs). Then, we further identified several subtypes of SMCs, ECs, and FBs, and discovered the expression patterns of site-specific genes involved in some important pathways such as the immune response and extracellular matrix (ECM) synthesis in different anatomical regions. By comparing differentially expressed genes of skin FBs among different anatomical regions, we considered TNN, COL11A1, and INHBA as candidate genes for facilitating ECM accumulation. These findings of heterogeneity in the main skin cell types from different anatomical sites will contribute to a better understanding of inherent skin information and place the potential focus on skin generation, transmission, and transplantation, paving the foundation for human skin priming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Pigs, an ideal biomedical model for human diseases, suffer from about 50% early embryonic and fetal death, a major cause of fertility loss worldwide. However, identifying the causal variant remains a huge challenge. This study aimed to detect single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and candidate genes for the number of mummified (NM) piglets using the imputed whole-genome sequence (WGS) and validate the potential candidate genes. Methods: The imputed WGS was introduced from genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) using a multi-breed reference population. We performed genome-wide association studies (GWAS) for NM piglets at birth from a Landrace pig populatiGWAS peak located on SSC11: 0.10 to 7.11 Mbp (Top SNP, SSC11:1,889,658 bp; p = 9.98E-13) was identified in cyclin dependent kinase on. A total of 300 Landrace pigs were genotyped by GBS. The whole-genome variants were imputed, and 4,252,858 SNPs were obtained. Various molecular experiments were conducted to determine how the genes affected NM in pigs. Results: A strong GWAS peak located on SSC11: 0.10 to 7.11 Mbp (Top SNP, SSC11:1,889,658 bp; p = 9.98E-13) was identified in cyclin dependent kinase 8 (CDK8) gene, which plays a crucial role in embryonic retardation and lethality. Based on the molecular experiments, we found that Y-box binding protein 1 (YBX1) was a crucial transcription factor for CDK8, which mediated the effect of CDK8 in the proliferation of porcine ovarian granulosa cells via transforming growth factor beta/small mother against decapentaplegic signaling pathway, and, as a consequence, affected embryo quality, indicating that this pathway may be contributing to mummified fetal in pigs. Conclusion: A powerful imputation-based association study was performed to identify genes associated with NM in pigs. CDK8 was suggested as a functional gene for the proliferation of porcine ovarian granulosa cells, but further studies are required to determine causative mutations and the effect of loci on NM in pigs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This work was to determine coat inheritance and evaluate production performance for crossbred pigs from Berkshire×Chenghua (BC) compared with Chinese indigenous Chenghua (CH) pigs. Methods: The coat color phenotypes were recorded for more than 16,000 pigs, and the genotypes of melanocortin 1 receptor (MCIR) gene were identified by sequencing. The reproductive performance of 927 crossbred BC F4 gilts and 320 purebred CH gilts was recorded. Sixty pigs of each breed were randomly selected at approximately 60 days of age to determine growth performance during fattening period, which lasted for 150 days for BC pigs and 240 days for CH pigs. At the end of the fattening period, 30 pigs of each breed were slaughtered to determine carcass composition and meat quality. Results: The coat color of BC pigs exhibits a “dominant black” hereditary pattern, and all piglets derived from boars or sows genotyped ED1ED1 homozygous for MC1R gene showed a uniform black coat phenotype. The BC F4 gilts displayed a good reproductive performance, showing a higher litter and tear size and were heavier at farrowing litter and at weaning litter than the CH gilts, but they reached puberty later than the CH gilts. BC F4 pigs exhibited improved growth and carcass characteristics with a higher average daily live weight gain, lower feed-to-gain ratio, and higher carcass lean meat rate than CH pigs. Like CH pigs, BC F4 pigs produced superior meat-quality characteristics, showing ideal pH and meat-color values, high intramuscular fat content and water-holding capacity, and acceptable musclefiber parameters. C18:1, C16:0, C18:0, and C18:2 were the main fatty acids in M. longissimus lumborum in the two breeds, and a remarkably high polyunsaturated/saturated fatty acid ratio of ~0.39 was observed in the BC F4 pigs. Conclusion: The BC F4 pigs exhibit a uniform black coat pattern and acceptable total production performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Miniature inverted-repeat transposable elements (MITEs) are widely distributed in the plant genome and can be methylated. However, whether DNA methylation of MITEs is associated with induced allelic expression and drought tolerance is unclear. Here, we identified the drought-inducible MdRFNR1 (root-type ferredoxin-NADP+ oxidoreductase) gene in apple (Malus domestica). MdRFNR1 plays a positive role in drought tolerance by regulating the redox system, including increasing NADP+ accumulation and catalase and peroxidase activities and decreasing NADPH levels. Sequence analysis identified a MITE insertion (MITE-MdRF1) in the promoter of MdRFNR1-1 but not the MdRFNR1-2 allele. MdRFNR1-1 but not MdRFNR1-2 expression was significantly induced by drought stress, which was positively associated with the MITE-MdRF1 insertion and its DNA methylation. The methylated MITE-MdRF1 is recognized by the transcriptional anti-silencing factors MdSUVH1 and MdSUVH3, which recruit the DNAJ domain-containing proteins MdDNAJ1, MdDNAJ2, and MdDNAJ5, thereby activating MdRFNR1-1 expression under drought stress. Finally, we showed that MdSUVH1 and MdDNAJ1 are positive regulators of drought tolerance. These findings illustrate the molecular roles of methylated MITE-MdRF1 (which is recognized by the MdSUVH-MdDNAJ complex) in induced MdRFNR1-1 expression as well as the drought response of apple and shed light on the molecular mechanisms of natural variation in perennial trees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces a mechanochemical process for the clean production of phosphoric slow-release fertilizer and soluble phosphate powders directly from apatite (Ca5(P04)3(0H, F)) by just milling with sulfuric acid (H2S04, 98wt%) and ammonium sulfate ((H2S04) at room temperature. It was found that, at certain molar ratios of the additives, water soluble ammonium hydro-phosphate was simply produced from apatite and the ratio of the water-soluble one to the insoluble part (soluble in 2% citrate acid taken as slow release fertilizer) could be regulated by changing the added molar ratio of sulfuric acid. The less the (H2S04-H2S04 addition was, the higherthe proportion of obtained phosphoric slow-release fertilizer to the soluble phosphates would be. 25% addition of the required stoichiometric ratio of H2S04-H2S04 for a complete transformation, for example, gave the product with 50% slow release composition as well as 30% soluble phosphate. The obtained fine solid powders after milling operation may serve directly as fertilizers. Besides its simplicity and easy regulation in product compositions, one significant advantage of the proposed mechanochemical process is the no emission of gaseous and aqueous wastes from the current production line, offering a truly environment-friendly approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the solid-particleerosion behaviorof carbidic austempered ductile iron (CADI) containing different amounts of ceria nanoparticles was investigated. Attempt was made to correlate the erosion resistance of the material to its microstructure and mechanical properties. It was demonstrated that the erosion resistance of CADI was improved by adding ceria nanoparticles. The maximum erosion rate of unmodified CADI occurred at the impact angle of 60-75°, which slightly shifted to lower angles when ceria nanoparticles were added, corresponding to more ductile characteristic. During erosion tests, the retained austenite in CADI partially transformed to martensite although the transformation was suppressed by the addition of ceria nanoparticles. The ceria-modified CADI showed a considerably increased erosion resistance at various impact angles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]