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Sequences derived from a novel toursvirus were identified from pooled genomic short read data from U.S. populations of southern corn rootworm (SCR, Diabrotica undecimpunctata howardi Barber) and northern corn rootworm (NCR, Diabrotica barberi Smith & Lawrence). Most viral sequences were identified from the SCR genomic dataset. As proteins encoded by toursvirus sequences from SCR and NCR were almost identical, the contig sets from SCR and NCR were combined to generate 26 contigs. A total of 108,176 bp were assembled from these contigs, with 120 putative toursviral ORFs identified indicating that most of the viral genome had been recovered. These ORFs included all 40 genes that are common to members of the Ascoviridae . Two genes typically present in Ascoviridae ( ATP binding cassette transport system permeases and Baculovirus repeated open reading frame ), were not detected. There was evidence for transposon insertion in viral sequences at different sites in the two host species. Phylogenetic analyses based on a concatenated set of 45 translated protein sequences clustered toursviruses into a distinct clade. Based on the combined evidence, we propose taxonomic separation of toursviruses from Ascoviridae .

Introduction: To determine whether marital status combined with race serve as prognostic factors for survival in localized prostate cancer., Materials and Methods: Patients with localized prostate cancer were retrospectively extracted from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database. Chi-square test was used to investigate the association between marital status combined with race and other variables. Gray's test was used to compare the cumulative incidence function of different variables. Multivariable analysis was conducted to assess prognostic factors after adjusting for other variables., Results: A total of 207,219 patients with localized prostate cancer from the SEER database from 2010 to 2016 were eligible. We found that black or single patients had the highest risk of mortality (p < 0.001). When marital status and race were combined, single black patients had the worst prognosis after adjusting for other variables (hazard ratio = 1.93, 95% confidence interval: 1.58-2.35; p < 0.001). Married status had a prognostic advantage in all races. In the same marital groups, whites and Asians had lower risk of prostate cancer-specific mortality and other-cause mortality than blacks with married and single status (p < 0.001)., Conclusions: Marital status and race serve as prognostic factors for localized prostate cancer. Blacks or single individuals had higher risk of mortality when considered independently, and single black patients had the worst prognosis. Furthermore, married status was an advantage in the same race group, and whites and Asians had lower risk than blacks with married and single status. Accordingly, the interaction between race and marital status on prostate cancer prognosis in clinical practice should be assessed carefully.

Objective: Diabetes mellitus is a chronic progressive inflammatory metabolic disease with pancreatic β-cells dysfunction. The present study aimed to investigate whether miR-17-5p plays a protective effect on pancreatic β-cells function in diabetes mellitus (DM) mice and dissect the underlying mechanism. Methods: C57BL/6J mice were randomly divided into control, DM, DM + Lentivirus negative control (LV-NC), and DM + Lenti-OE™ miR-17-5p (LV-miR-17-5) groups. DM was established by feeding a high-fat diet and intraperitoneal injection with streptozotocin (STZ) in mice. Blood glucose and glucose tolerance in circulation were measured. Meanwhile, the activation of nod-like receptor protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome, pancreas pyroptosis, and the expression of miR-17-5p and thioredoxin-interacting protein (TXNIP) were detected in the pancreas of DM mice. Pancreatic β-cell line INS-1 subjected to different concentrations of glucose was used in in vitro experiments. Results: Compared with control mice, glucose tolerance deficit, elevated blood glucose level, and decreased pancreatic islet size, were presented in DM mice, which was associated with a downregulation of miR-17-5p. Importantly, exogenous miR-17-5p alleviated pancreas injury, and consequently improved glucose tolerance and decreased blood glucose in DM mice. In vitro experiments showed that high glucose decreased miR-17-5p expression and impaired insulin secretion in INS-1 cells. Mechanistically, miR-17-5p inhibited the expression of TXNIP and NLRP3 inflammasome activation, and thus decreased pancreatic β-cell pyroptosis. Conclusion: Our results demonstrated that miR-17-5p improves glucose tolerance, and pancreatic β-cell function and inhibits TXNIP/NLRP3 inflammasome pathway-related pyroptosis in DM mice., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Liu, Tang, Duan, Zeng, Gong, Chen and Tan.)

Schistosomiasis, which infects more than 230 million people, is vectored by freshwater snails. We identified viral sequences in the transcriptomes of Biomphalaria pfeifferi (BP) and Bulinus globosus (BuG), two of the world's most important schistosomiasis vectors in Africa. Sequences from 26 snails generated using Illumina Hi-Seq or 454 sequencing were assembled using Trinity and CAP3 and putative virus sequences were identified using a bioinformatics pipeline. Phylogenetic analyses were performed using viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase and coat protein sequences to establish relatedness between virus sequences identified and those of known viruses. Viral sequences were identified from the entire snail holobiont, including symbionts, ingested material and organisms passively associated with the snails. Sequences derived from more than 17 different viruses were found including five near full-length genomes, most of which were small RNA viruses with positive sense RNA genomes ( i.e. , picorna-like viruses) and some of which are likely derived from adherent or ingested diatoms. Based on phylogenetic analysis, five of these viruses (including BPV2 and BuGV2) along with four Biomphalaria glabrata viruses reported previously, cluster with known invertebrate viruses and are putative viruses of snails. The presence of RNA sequences derived from four of these novel viruses in samples was confirmed. Identification of the genome sequences of candidate snail viruses provides a first step toward characterization of additional gastropod viruses, including from species of biomedical significance., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests., (© 2021 Liu et al.)

Background: Nicotine exerts direct effects on multiple cell types in the cardiovascular system by associating with its high-affinity nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAchRs). Lipid raft is a membrane microdomain that recruits various receptors and signaling molecules for coordinating cellular immune response and many others signaling processes. Here, we aim to identify the essential role of lipid raft in mediating nicotine-triggered inflammatory and nicotine-accelerated atherosclerosis, and to figure out the specific receptor of nicotine-induced Nod-like receptor protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome activation in macrophage., Methods and Results: ApoE -/- mice were fed with a high-fat diet to build atherosclerosis model. Methyl-β-cyclodextrin was used to interrupt intact lipid raft. We confirmed that nicotine triggered NLRP3 inflammasome activation and induced macrophage migration into atherosclerotic plaque, thus accelerated atherosclerosis in apoE -/- mice fed with a high-fat diet. Mechanically, nicotine increased the expression of α1-nAChR and stimulated the accumulation of α1-nAChR in lipid raft, leading to NLRP3 inflammasome activation in macrophage. Conversely, silencing of α1-nAChR in macrophage sufficiently blocked the pro-inflammasome activation effect of nicotine, indicating that α1-nAChR was the specific receptor for nicotine in triggering NLRP3 inflammasome in macrophage. Furthermore, both the destruction of lipid raft by methyl-β-cyclodextrin and the interference of lipid raft clustering by silencing acid sphingomyelinase reversed nicotine-induced NLRP3 inflammasome activation by reducing the accumulation of α1-nAChR in lipid raft in macrophage, suggesting lipid raft-mediated accumulation of α1-nAChR was the key event in regulating the pro-inflammatory effects of nicotine in macrophage. Importantly, nicotine-induced NLRP3 inflammasome activation and macrophage migration into atherosclerotic plaque were reversed by methyl-β-cyclodextrin, making a significant improvement for atherosclerosis in apoE -/- mice fed with a high-fat diet., Conclusion: α1-nAChR-mediated signaling through lipid raft is required for NLRP3 inflammasome activation and pro-atherosclerotic property of nicotine., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Duan, Zeng, Liu, Gong, Hu, Li and Tan.)

In this study, we analyzed the transcriptome obtained from the pheromone gland isolated from two Israeli populations of the pink bollworm Pectinophora gossypiella to identify viral sequences. The lab population and the field samples carried the same viral sequences. We discovered four novel viruses: two positive-sense single-stranded RNA viruses, Pectinophora gossypiella virus 1 (PecgV1, a virus of Iflaviridae ) and Pectinophora gossypiella virus 4 (PecgV4, unclassified), and two negative-sense single-stranded RNA viruses, Pectinophora gossypiella virus 2 (PecgV2, a virus of Phasmaviridae ) and Pectinophora gossypiella virus 3 (PecgV3, a virus of Phenuiviridae ). In addition, sequences derived from two negative-sense single-stranded RNA viruses that belong to Mononegavirales were found in the data. Analysis of previous transcriptome sequencing data derived from the midgut of pink bollworm larvae of a USA population only identified PecgV1, but no other viruses. High viral sequence coverages of PecgV1 and PecgV4 were observed in both field and lab populations. This is the first report of viral sequences discovered from the pink bollworm. Results from this investigation suggest that the pink bollworm harbors multiple viruses. Further investigation of the viral pathogens may help to develop novel pest management strategies for control of the pink bollworm.

The gelation of the mixture of guar gum and borax in an aqueous solution was studied by diffusing-wave spectroscopy microrheology. The Winter and Chambon power-law domain was evidenced at high-frequency range. The time-cure superposition was applied to the mean square displacement of the probe particles and the critical power-law behavior of the shifting factors was revealed close to the percolation threshold. Morphological characterization revealed the emergence of ribbon-like structures at high borax concentrations. The Rubinstein and Semenov plateau was demonstrated. The correlations between the critical exponents that govern the gelation of the transient networks were reviewed with regard to the scaling laws of both permanent and transient networks. Unlike permanent networks, the relation n + = n - was assumed as the unique condition to establish the hyperscaling laws in transient networks. Whereas, the symmetry breakdown of the longest relaxation time was found to be a common feature of the flowable gels., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: KIAA genes identified in the Kazusa cDNA-sequencing project may play important roles in biological processes and are involved in carcinogenesis of many cancers. Genetic variants of KIAA genes are implicated in the abnormal expression of these genes and are linked to susceptibility of several human complex diseases., Methods: The differentially expressed KIAA genes were screened and identified in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database of breast cancer. A total of 48 variants located in the 28 KIAA genes were selected to investigate the associations between polymorphism and breast cancer in 1,032 cases and 1,063 cancer-free controls in a Chinese population., Results: Two coding variants, which included a SNP rs2306369 in KIAA1109 and a SNP rs1205434 in KIAA1755 , were identified to be associated with the incidences of breast cancer. Logistic regression analysis showed that the SNP rs2306369 G allele was associated with a decreased risk of breast cancer (additive model: OR =0.81, 95% CI: 0.66-0.99, P=0.038), whereas the SNP rs1205434 A allele was involved with a higher risk of breast cancer (additive model: OR =1.19, 95% CI: 1.02-1.38, P= 0.025). Further stratified analysis revealed that the SNP rs1205434 showed a significant difference for age at menarche strata (heterogeneity test P=0.009). Multiplicative interaction analysis indicated that there was positive multiplicative interaction between the SNP rs1205434 and menarche age (OR =1.09, 95% CI: 1.01-1.17, P=0.036). Additionally, expression quantitative trait loci analysis revealed that the SNP rs1205434 A allele could decrease the KIAA1755 expression in the Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx) database (P=0.002). The Kaplan-Meier plotter showed that breast cancer patients with high KIAA1755 expression have significantly better outcomes than those with low levels of expression (HR =0.84, 95% CI: 0.72-0.99, P=0.033)., Conclusions: The results indicate that the genetic variants (rs2306369 and rs1205434) in the coding region of KIAA1109 and KIAA1755 respectively may affect Chinese females' breast cancer susceptibility and act as potential predictive biomarkers for breast cancer., Competing Interests: Conflicts of Interest: All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form (available at http://dx.doi.org/10.21037/atm-20-6108). The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest regarding the publication of this paper., (2021 Annals of Translational Medicine. All rights reserved.)

Electroconductive and injectable hydrogels are attracting increasing attention owing to the needs of electrically induced regulation of cell behavior, tissue engineering of electroactive tissues, and achieving minimum invasiveness during tissue repair. In this study, a novel in situ formed 3D conductive and cell-laden hydrogel is developed, which can be broadly used in bioprinting, tissue engineering, neuroengineering etc. An instantaneous, uniform spatial distribution and encapsulation of cells can be achieved as a result of hydrogen bonding induced hydrogel formation. Particularly, the cell-laden hydrogel can be easily obtained by simply mixing and shaking the polydopamine (PDA) functionalized rGO (rGO-PDA) with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) solution containing cells. Graphene oxide is reduced and functionalized by dopamine to restore the electrical conductivity, while simultaneously enhancing both hydrophilicity and biocompatibility of reduced graphene oxide. In vitro culture of PC12 cells within the cell-laden hydrogel demonstrates its biocompatibility, noncytotoxicity as well as the ability to support long-term cell growth and proliferation. Enhanced neuronal differentiation is also observed, both with and without electrical stimulation. Overall, this 3D conductive, cell-laden hydrogel holds great promise as potential platform for tissue engineering of electroactive tissues., (© 2021 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Hybrid double network (DN) hydrogels have been fabricated by combining a physically cross-linked κ-carrageenan network, where various cations were used as cross-linker, with a covalently cross-linked polyacrylamide (PAAm) network. Compared to monovalent K + and divalent Ca 2+ cations, the presence of K + /Ca 2+ mixture cations produced a well interconnected porous structure due to the synergistic effect, which simultaneously improved the strength and toughness of the resulting DN hydrogel. A model has been proposed considering the dissociation asynchronism of double-helical aggregates, which well interpret the fracture process and toughening mechanism of the K + /Ca 2+ -cross-linked κ-carrageenan/PAAm DN hydrogel. Moreover, the synergistic effect of K + /Ca 2+ mixture cations also improved the recovery efficiency at room temperature and self-healing ability of DN hydrogel. The strategy of synergistic interaction presented here provides an alternative view for the fabrication of hybrid DN hydrogels with desirable mechanical performance and functional property., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The phytophagous stink bug, Nezara viridula (L.) infests multiple plant species and impacts agricultural production worldwide. We analyzed the transcriptomes of N. viridula accessory salivary gland (ASG), principal salivary gland (PSG) and gut, with a focus on putative digestive proteases and nucleases that present a primary obstacle for the stability of protein- or nucleic acid-based stink bug control approaches. We performed high throughput Illumina sequencing followed by de novo transcriptome assemblies. We identified the sequences of 141 unique proteases and 134 nucleases from the N. viridula transcriptomes. Analysis of relative transcript abundance in conjunction with previously reported proteome data (Lomate and Bonning, 2016) supports high levels of serine protease expression in the salivary glands and high cysteine protease expression in the gut. Specifically, trypsin and chymotrypsin transcripts were abundant in the PSG, and cathepsin L-like cysteine protease transcripts were abundant in the gut. Nuclease transcript levels were generally lower than those of the proteases, the exception being abundant transcripts of ribonuclease-C20 in the PSG. The abundance of chymotrypsin, trypsin, and some carboxypeptidase transcripts suggests a significant role for the PSG in production of digestive enzymes. This result is at odds with the premise that the ASG produces watery saliva, which is high in enzymatic activity, while the PSG produces only sheath saliva. We have generated a comprehensive transcriptome sequence dataset from the digestive organs of N. viridula, identified major protease and nuclease genes and confirmed expression of the most abundant enzymes thereby providing greater insight into the digestive physiology of N. viridula., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) is a significant public health issue in China and an accurate prediction of epidemic can improve the effectiveness of HFMD control. This study aims to develop a weather-based forecasting model for HFMD using the information on climatic variables and HFMD surveillance in Nanjing, China. Daily data on HFMD cases and meteorological variables between 2010 and 2015 were acquired from the Nanjing Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and China Meteorological Data Sharing Service System, respectively. A multivariate seasonal autoregressive integrated moving average (SARIMA) model was developed and validated by dividing HFMD infection data into two datasets: the data from 2010 to 2013 were used to construct a model and those from 2014 to 2015 were used to validate it. Moreover, we used weekly prediction for the data between 1 January 2014 and 31 December 2015 and leave-1-week-out prediction was used to validate the performance of model prediction. SARIMA (2,0,0) 52 associated with the average temperature at lag of 1 week appeared to be the best model (R 2  = 0.936, BIC = 8.465), which also showed non-significant autocorrelations in the residuals of the model. In the validation of the constructed model, the predicted values matched the observed values reasonably well between 2014 and 2015. There was a high agreement rate between the predicted values and the observed values (sensitivity 80%, specificity 96.63%). This study suggests that the SARIMA model with average temperature could be used as an important tool for early detection and prediction of HFMD outbreaks in Nanjing, China.

This corrects the article DOI: 10.1038/ncomms15451.

Biomphalaria snails are instrumental in transmission of the human blood fluke Schistosoma mansoni. With the World Health Organization's goal to eliminate schistosomiasis as a global health problem by 2025, there is now renewed emphasis on snail control. Here, we characterize the genome of Biomphalaria glabrata, a lophotrochozoan protostome, and provide timely and important information on snail biology. We describe aspects of phero-perception, stress responses, immune function and regulation of gene expression that support the persistence of B. glabrata in the field and may define this species as a suitable snail host for S. mansoni. We identify several potential targets for developing novel control measures aimed at reducing snail-mediated transmission of schistosomiasis.

This work aims to study how three kinds of nanofillers: graphene oxide (GO), ammonia functionalized graphene oxide (AGO), and triethoxylpropylaminosilane functionalized silica, can affect stability and mechanical strength of sodium alginate (SA) composite films. The filler/sodium alginate (SA) solutions were first studied by rheology to reveal effects of various fillers on zero shear viscosity η 0 . SA composite films were then prepared by a solution mixing-evaporation method. The structure, morphology and properties of SA composite films were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffractometry (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), contact angle and mechanical testing. Compared to GO and silica, the presence of AGO significantly improved the interaction between AGO and SA, which led to the increase in stability and mechanical strength of the resulting SA composite films. The tensile strength and elongation at break of AGO/SA composite film at 3wt% AGO loading were increased by 114.9% and 194.4%, respectively, in contrast to pure SA film. Furthermore, the stability of AGO/SA composite films at high temperatures and in a wet environment were better than that of silica/SA and GO/SA composite films., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The gelation of alginate in aqueous solution was studied as a function of Ca(2+) concentration. At each given concentration of alginate, a critical gel concentration [Formula: see text] , was successfully determined for the first time using the Winter-Chambon criterion. The critical gel concentration [Formula: see text] was found to increase linearly with alginate concentration. At the same time, the critical relaxation exponent n decreased and the critical gel strength Sg increased linearly with alginate concentration. An improved egg-box model was proposed to describe the change in gel junction and gel network. In the stable gel state, the plateau modulus Ge of alginate gel depended on Ca(2+) concentration according to a power-law scaling, Ge=kɛ(1.5), where ɛ is the relative distance of a gelling variable (Ca(2+) concentration in this case) from the gel point ( [Formula: see text] ). The FESEM images verified the microstructure of alginate gel in which alginate chains associated into fibrils in the presence of Ca(2+) ions. The fibrillar diameter and network density increased with increasing Ca(2+) ion concentration while alginate concentration had a weak influence on fibrillar diameter., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Advances in protein therapy are hindered by the poor stability, inadequate pharmacokinetic (PK) profiles, and immunogenicity of many therapeutic proteins. Polyethylene glycol conjugation (PEGylation) is the most successful strategy to date to overcome these shortcomings, and more than 10 PEGylated proteins have been brought to market. However, anti-PEG antibodies induced by treatment raise serious concerns about the future of PEGylated therapeutics. Here, we demonstrate a zwitterionic polymer network encapsulation technology that effectively enhances protein stability and PK while mitigating the immune response. Uricase modified with a comprehensive zwitterionic polycarboxybetaine (PCB) network exhibited exceptional stability and a greatly prolonged circulation half-life. More importantly, the PK behavior was unchanged, and neither anti-uricase nor anti-PCB antibodies were detected after three weekly injections in a rat model. This technology is applicable to a variety of proteins and unlocks the possibility of adopting highly immunogenic proteins for therapeutic or protective applications.

Epigenetic changes are involved in learning and memory, and histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors are considered potential therapeutic agents for Alzheimer's disease (AD). We previously reported that (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) acts as an HDAC inhibitor. Here, we demonstrate that EGCG reduced β-amyloid (Aβ) accumulation in vitro and rescued cognitive deterioration in senescence-accelerated mice P8 (SAMP8) via intragastric administration of low- and high-dose EGCG (5 and 15 mg/kg, respectively) for 60 days. The AD brain has decreased levels of the rate-limiting degradation enzyme of Aβ, neprilysin (NEP). We found an association between EGCG-induced reduction in Aβ accumulation and elevated NEP expression. Further, NEP silencing prevented the EGCG-induced Aβ downregulation. Our findings suggest that EGCG might be effective for treating AD., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The advent of next generation sequencing (NGS) technology has allowed for significant advances in insect RNA virus discovery, particularly for identification of covert viruses and for identification of previously undescribed virus groups. Recent research has revealed the complexity and diversity both of viral populations within an insect, and of different virus groups infecting insects. While appropriate verification of the ability of a given virus to infect a putative host is essential, this is frequently challenging for newly discovered viruses. In this chapter, we describe recently discovered RNA viruses of insects, optimization of NGS data analysis for virus discovery, and challenges associated with virus nomenclature., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The biomedical applications of current self-healing materials are largely impeded by their healing conditions, which usually require heating, UV exposure or harsh pH environments. At the same time, for very few existing spontaneously self-healing materials, healing can only be achieved immediately after rupture occurs. Here, we developed a spontaneously healing material, driven by a new mechanism, "zwitterionic fusion", which is repairable independent of time after damage under physiological conditions. We also tested the anti-fatigue property of this zwitterionic hydrogel. Furthermore, we utilized this zwitterionic fusion to link different cell-hydrogel constructs together., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Plasma lipid abnormalities are implicated in the pathogenic process of type 2 diabetes. The IDE-KIF11-HHEX gene cluster on chromosome 10q23.33 has been identified as a susceptibility locus for type 2 diabetes. We hypothesized that genetic variants at 10q23.33 may be associated with plasma lipid concentrations. Seven tagging single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs: rs7923837, rs2488075, rs947591, rs11187146, rs5015480, rs4646957 and rs1111875) at 10q23.33 were genotyped in 3,281 subjects from a Han Chinese population, using the TaqMan OpenArray and Sequenom MassARRAY platforms. Multiple linear regression analyses showed that SNP rs7923837 in the 3'-flanking region of HHEX was significantly associated with triglyceride levels (P = 0.019, 0.031 mmol/L average decrease per minor G allele) and that rs2488075 and rs947591 in the downstream region of HHEX were significantly associated with total cholesterol levels (P = 0.041, 0.058 mmol/L average decrease per minor C allele and P = 0.018, 0.063 mmol/L average decrease per minor A allele, respectively). However, the other four SNPs (rs11187146, rs5015480, rs4646957 and rs1111875) were not significantly associated with any plasma lipid concentrations in this Chinese population. Our data suggest that genetic variants in the IDE-KIF11-HHEX gene cluster at 10q23.33 may partially explain the variation of plasma lipid levels in the Han Chinese population. Further studies are required to confirm these findings in other populations.

C-reactive protein (CRP), an inflammatory marker that statistically predicts future cardiovascular risk, has been reported to be associated with plasma lipid level changes. Whether CRP genetic variants affect lipid metabolism is of importance to investigate. A community-based study population including 2,731 adult subjects aged 18-62 years was used to evaluate the association of CRP gene with dyslipidemia and five tagging SNPs (tagSNPs) were genotyped. Multiple logistic regression was applied to further evaluate relationships between the SNPs and lipid metabolism abnormality and general linear model was applied to compare plasma lipid levels between genotypes. Association analyses indicated that recessive model of SNPs rs876537 and rs4285692 had significant association with elevated HDL after adjustment for covariates. Odds ratio (OR) of rs876537 were 0.60 for HDL > 1.54 versus 1.04-1.54 mmol/L (P = 0.011), as well as, ORs were 0.617 for HDL > 1.83 versus ≤1.35 mmol/L (P = 0.002) and 0.724 for HDL = 1.59-1.83 versus ≤1.35 mmol/L (P = 0.028) respectively. OR of rs4285692 was 0.634 for HDL > 1.83 versus ≤1.35 mmol/L (P = 0.027). Further stratification analysis found significant associations of rs10737175 with elevated HDL (>1.54 vs. 1.04-1.54 mmol/L, OR 0.629 and P = 0.027) and elevated TG (≥1.70 vs. <1.70 mmol/L, ORs of additive and dominant models were 0.628, 0.545 and P values were 0.006, 0.003 respectively) in female. rs4285692 was significantly associated with elevated LDL (≥3.37 vs. <3.37 mmol/L), ORs equaled to 1.532, 2.281 for additive model and recessive model and P values were 0.028, 0.024 respectively in male. Furthermore, quantitative trait analysis indicated the variation T to C of rs876537 significantly affect decreased plasma HDL level (P = 0.014). Our findings suggest that CRP genetic polymorphisms independently had positive association with the risk of HDL, LDL and TG elevating and further replication in other large population and biological function research would be warranted.

Although transgenic crops expressing Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) toxins have been used successfully for management of lepidopteran and coleopteran pest species, the sap-sucking insects (Hemiptera) are not particularly susceptible to Bt toxins. To overcome this limitation, we demonstrate that addition of a short peptide sequence selected for binding to the gut of the targeted pest species serves to increase toxicity against said pest. Insertion of a 12-aa pea aphid gut-binding peptide by adding to or replacing amino acids in one of three loops of the Bt cytolytic toxin, Cyt2Aa, resulted in enhanced binding and toxicity against both the pea aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum, and the green peach aphid, Myzus persicae. This strategy may allow for transgenic plant-mediated suppression of other hemipteran pests, which include some of the most important pests of global agriculture.

Development of ways to block virus transmission by aphids could lead to novel and broad-spectrum means of controlling plant viruses. Viruses in the Luteoviridae enhanced are obligately transmitted by aphids in a persistent manner that requires virion accumulation in the aphid hemocoel. To enter the hemocoel, the virion must bind and traverse the aphid gut epithelium. By screening a phage display library, we identified a 12-residue gut binding peptide (GBP3.1) that binds to the midgut and hindgut of the pea aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum. Binding was confirmed by labeling the aphid gut with a GBP3.1-green fluorescent protein fusion. GBP3.1 reduced uptake of Pea enation mosaic virus (Luteoviridae) from the pea aphid gut into the hemocoel. GBP3.1 also bound to the gut epithelia of the green peach aphid and the soybean aphid. These results suggest a novel strategy for inhibiting plant virus transmission by at least three major aphid pest species.

A fraction of the coat protein (CP) subunits in virions of members of the family Luteoviridae contain a C-terminal extension called the readthrough domain (RTD). The RTD is necessary for persistent aphid transmission, but its role is unknown. It has been reported to be required for virion stability in the hemolymph. Here, we tested whether this was the case for pea enation mosaic virus (PEMV) virions in the pea aphid (Acyrthosiphon pisum) using RNA1Delta, a natural deletion mutant lacking the middle portion of the RTD ORF, and CPDeltaRTD, in which the entire RTD ORF was deleted. In infected plants, RNA1Delta virions were as abundant and stable as wild-type (WT) virions, while CPDeltaRTD virions were unstable. No RTD of any size was translated from artificial subgenomic mRNA of CPDeltaRTD or RNA1Delta in vitro. Thus, only the major CP was present in the mutant virions. Using real-time RT-PCR to detect virion RNA, no significant differences in the concentration or stability of WT and RNA1Delta virions were detected in the aphid hemolymph at much longer times than are necessary for virus transmission. Thus, the RTD is not necessary for stability of PEMV RNA in the aphid hemolymph, and it must play another role in aphid transmission.