Search

Nuclear factor κB (NF‐κB) plays a crucial role in various cellular processes, including inflammatory and immune responses. Its activation is tightly regulated by the IKK (IκB kinase) complex. Upon severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) infection, the virus is initially recognized by the innate immune system and typically activates the NF‐κB pathway, leading to a severe inflammatory response. However, the influence of viral proteins upon pro‐inflammatory pathway is complicated. Here, we demonstrated that the viral protein nsp3 of SARS‐CoV‐2 exhibits an unusual function, which attenuated the NF‐κB‐mediated inflammatory response against SARS‐CoV‐2 infection in a unique manner. nsp3 interacted with the essential NF‐κB modulator NEMO/IKKγ and promoted its polyubiquitylation via the E3 ubiquitin ligase CBL (Cbl Proto‐Oncogene). Consequently, polyubiquitylated NEMO undergoes proteasome‐dependent degradation, which disrupts NF‐κB activation. Moreover, we found that the SARS unique domain (SUD) in nsp3 of SARS‐CoV‐2 is essential for inducing NEMO degradation, whereas this function is absent in SUD of SARS‐CoV. The reduced activation of pro‐inflammatory response at an early stage could mask the host immune response and faciliate excessive viral replication. Conversely, this finding may partially explain why SARS‐CoV‐2 causes a less inflammatory reaction than SARS‐CoV, resulting in more mild or moderate COVID‐19 cases and greater transmissibility. Given that NEMO is important for NF‐κB activation, we propose that inhibiting polyubiquitylation and degradation of NEMO upon SARS‐CoV‐2 infection is a novel strategy to modulate the host inflammatory response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fujian province, an important tea-producing area in China, has abundant tea cultivars. To investigate the genetic relationships of tea plant cultivars in Fujian province and the characteristics of the tea plant varieties, a total of 70 tea cultivars from Fujian and other 12 provinces in China were subjected to restriction site-associated DNA sequencing (RAD-seq). A total of 60,258,975 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) sites were obtained. These 70 tea plant cultivars were divided into three groups based on analyzing the phylogenetic tree, principal component, and population structure. Selection pressure analysis indicated that nucleotide diversity was high in Southern China and genetically distinct from cultivars of Fujian tea plant cultivars, according to selection pressure analysis. The selected genes have significant enrichment in pathways associated with metabolism, photosynthesis, and respiration. There were ten characteristic volatiles screened by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) coupled with multivariate statistical methods, among which the differences in the contents of methyl salicylate, 3-carene, cis-3-hexen-1-ol, (E)-4-hexen-1-ol, and 3-methylbutyraldehyde can be used as reference indicators of the geographical distribution of tea plants. Furthermore, a metabolome genome-wide association study (mGWAS) revealed that 438 candidate genes were related to the aroma metabolic pathway. Further analysis showed that 31 genes of all the selected genes were screened and revealed the reasons for the genetic differences in aroma among tea plant cultivars in Fujian and Southern China. These results reveal the genetic diversity in the Fujian tea plants as well as a theoretical basis for the conservation, development, and utilization of the Fujian highly aromatic tea plant cultivars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

NUDIX hydrolase belongs to pyrophosphatase, which plays an important role in information transmission, plant growth coordination and responses to adversity stresses. In this study, 43 NUDIX family genes were identified based on the tea (Camellia sinensis) genome, and analyzed by bioinformatics and fluorescence quantitative PCR. The results show that the protein molecular weight of 43 CsNUDXs rang from 11.8~89.2 kDa, with 102 to 342 amino acids. The theoretical isoelectric point was from 4.49 to 9.26, and 18.6% of them were stable proteins. According to the evolutionary relationship, CsNUDXs is divided into six subfamilies. Cis-acting element analysis of promoter shows that CsNUDXs have many functional elements related to hormone response, adversity stress, growth and development. The expression patterns of CsNUDXs in different organs were analyzed. It was found that the expression levels of CsNUDX3 and CsNUDX7 were high in fruits, while the expression levels of CsNUDX22 and CsNUDX25 were extremely low in fruits, and the expression level of CsNUDX30 was extremely low in old leaves. In addition, the results of real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR show that the expression levels of CsNUDXs, such as CsNUDX1, CsNUDX2 and CsNUDX33 increased first, then decreased and then increased under the treatment of 1 mmol⋅L-1 MeJA. However, under the treatment of 1 mmol⋅L-1 SA, the expression levels of CsNUDX4, CsNUDX12 and CsNUDX22 decreased first, then increased and then decreased. While under the treatment of 300 mmol⋅L-1 NaCl, the expression levels of CsNUDX2, CsNUDX4 and CsNUDX22 increased first and then decreased. In summary, the basic characteristics and functions of CsNUDXs were preliminarily analyzed by bioinformatics technology, and it was found that CsNUDXs could respond to high salt stress, MeJA and SA treatments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research investigates the mechanism (Face‐saving consciousness versus status/success‐gaining intention) underlying the effect of financial deprivation on prosocial behaviour among participants in China. A total of three studies were conducted. Findings across the three studies reveal that individuals who were financially deprived (versus privileged) acted in a more prosocial manner. Findings in Studies 1–2 indicate that Face‐saving consciousness, but not status/success‐gaining intention, suitably accounted for the impact of financial deprivation on prosocial behaviour. Furthermore, such an increase in prosocial behaviour was found in a public context, but diminished in a private context, in Study 3. These findings demonstrate the importance of Face‐saving consciousness in the effect of financial deprivation among Chinese. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tungsten ditelluride (WTe2) has attracted extensive interest because of promising magnetic, electrical, and thermal properties, such as non-saturable large magnetoresistance, pressure-induced superconductivity, and low thermal conductivity, owing to the heavy atomic mass and low Debye temperature. Here, we report the thickness dependence of anisotropic in-plane Raman modes under different temperatures in supported few-layer WTe2. With angle-resolved Raman spectroscopy, supported few-layer WTe2 reveals a temperature-related anisotropy in Raman modes, and the highest degree of anisotropy is obtained between zigzag and armchair directions, which could be resulted from the different phonon group velocities along these directions. In addition, as the thickness of the WTe2 nanosheet decreases from bulk to 10 nm, the anisotropic ratio (χzigzag/χarmchair) increases from 1.09 to 1.45. Such enhancement in the anisotropic ratio could result from the thickness-dependent surface scattering in supported few-layer WTe2. Our study provides guidance to regulate the anisotropy ratio in thermoelectrical and optoelectronic devices, which might inspire the innovation of functional two-dimensional devices in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tungsten ditelluride (WTe2) has attracted extensive interest because of promising magnetic, electrical, and thermal properties, such as non-saturable large magnetoresistance, pressure-induced superconductivity, and low thermal conductivity, owing to the heavy atomic mass and low Debye temperature. Here, we report the thickness dependence of anisotropic in-plane Raman modes under different temperatures in supported few-layer WTe2. With angle-resolved Raman spectroscopy, supported few-layer WTe2 reveals a temperature-related anisotropy in Raman modes, and the highest degree of anisotropy is obtained between zigzag and armchair directions, which could be resulted from the different phonon group velocities along these directions. In addition, as the thickness of the WTe2 nanosheet decreases from bulk to 10 nm, the anisotropic ratio (χzigzag/χarmchair) increases from 1.09 to 1.45. Such enhancement in the anisotropic ratio could result from the thickness-dependent surface scattering in supported few-layer WTe2. Our study provides guidance to regulate the anisotropy ratio in thermoelectrical and optoelectronic devices, which might inspire the innovation of functional two-dimensional devices in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]