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Summary: Gene stacking is a developing trend in agricultural biotechnology. Unintended effects in stacked transgenic plants are safety issues considered by the public and researchers. Omics techniques provide useful tools to assess unintended effects. In this paper, stacked transgenic maize 12‐5×IE034 that contained insecticidal cry and glyphosate tolerance G10‐epsps genes was obtained by crossing of transgenic maize varieties 12‐5 and IE034. Transcriptome and metabolome analyses were performed for different maize varieties, including 12‐5×IE034, 12‐5, IE034, and conventional varieties collected from different provinces in China. The transcriptome results were as follows. The nine maize varieties had obvious differences in gene expression. There were 3561–5538 differentially expressed genes between 12‐5×IE034 and its parents and transgenic receptor, which were far fewer than the number of differentially expressed genes in different traditional maize varieties. Cluster analysis indicated that there were close relationships between 12‐5×IE034 and its parents. The metabolome results were as follows. For the nine detected maize varieties, the number of different metabolites ranged from 0 to 240. Compared with its parents, 12‐5 and IE034, the hybrid variety 12‐5×IE034 had 15 and 112 different metabolites, respectively. Hierarchical cluster analysis with Pearson's correlation analysis showed that the differences between 12‐5×IE034 and its parents were fewer than those between other maize varieties. Shikimate pathway‐related genes and metabolites analysis results showed that the effects of hybrid stacking are less than those from transformation and differing genotypes. Thus, the differences due to breeding stack were fewer than those due to natural variation among maize varieties. This paper provides scientific data for assessing unintended effects in stacked transgenic plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organophosphate esters(OPEs), as a substitute for brominated flame retardants, are widely used in production and life, and their environmental pollution and toxic effects have attracted widespread attention. In this study, the concentrations and distribution characteristics of OPEs in seven major drainage basins of China were sorted out. The average daily dose of OPEs in Chinese adults, adolescents, and children was calculated to assess the health risks, and the reliability of the results was evaluated using Monte Carlo simulation. The toxic effect concentrations of 12 OPEs on aquatic organisms were investigated, and the species sensitivity distribution(SSD) curve was constructed to assess the ecological risk. The results showed that the 5th percentile concentration of ΣOPEs in the seven drainage basins was 52.61 ng·L -1 under the low exposure scenario. The median concentration of ΣOPEs in the seven basins was 499.74 ng·L -1 , with trichloroethyl phosphate(TCEP), triethyl phosphate(TEP), and triethyl phosphate(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) esters(TDCP) as the main contaminants. Under the high exposure scenario, the 95th percentile concentration of ΣOPEs in the seven basins was 1904.4 ng·L -1 , 3.8 times that of the intermediate exposure scenario, and the Yangtze River Basin had the highest ΣOPEs concentration under the high exposure scenario. The health risk assessment showed that the non-carcinogenic risk of OPEs exposure through drinking water was within acceptable limits for different populations. Trimethyl phosphate(TMP), triisobutyl phosphate(TiBP), and TCEP were the main contributors to cancer risk. The results of ecological risk assessment showed that TCEP had medium ecological risk at the high exposure level, tributyl phosphate(TnBP) had medium ecological risk under the intermediate exposure scenario, and there was higher ecological risk under the high exposure scenario. Triphenyl phosphate(TPhP) had a risk quotient greater than 1 under the low, intermediate, and high exposure scenarios, and there was a high ecological risk, which requires special attention.

Gene stacking is a developing trend in agricultural biotechnology. Unintended effects in stacked transgenic plants are safety issues considered by the public and researchers. Omics techniques provide useful tools to assess unintended effects. In this paper, stacked transgenic maize 12-5×IE034 that contained insecticidal cry and glyphosate tolerance G10-epsps genes was obtained by crossing of transgenic maize varieties 12-5 and IE034. Transcriptome and metabolome analyses were performed for different maize varieties, including 12-5×IE034, 12-5, IE034, and conventional varieties collected from different provinces in China. The transcriptome results were as follows. The nine maize varieties had obvious differences in gene expression. There were 3561-5538 differentially expressed genes between 12-5×IE034 and its parents and transgenic receptor, which were far fewer than the number of differentially expressed genes in different traditional maize varieties. Cluster analysis indicated that there were close relationships between 12-5×IE034 and its parents. The metabolome results were as follows. For the nine detected maize varieties, the number of different metabolites ranged from 0 to 240. Compared with its parents, 12-5 and IE034, the hybrid variety 12-5×IE034 had 15 and 112 different metabolites, respectively. Hierarchical cluster analysis with Pearson's correlation analysis showed that the differences between 12-5×IE034 and its parents were fewer than those between other maize varieties. Shikimate pathway-related genes and metabolites analysis results showed that the effects of hybrid stacking are less than those from transformation and differing genotypes. Thus, the differences due to breeding stack were fewer than those due to natural variation among maize varieties. This paper provides scientific data for assessing unintended effects in stacked transgenic plants., (© 2018 The Authors The Plant Journal © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Because traditional method for tunable grating fabrication has harsh process condition, complex fabrication process, high costs and long cycle. Proposed a low-cost, simple process, can be prepared in large quantities gradient grating process method, based on self-assembly process using the rigid film/flexible substrate and oxygen plasma method prepared a micron scale gradient grating. Use of plasma free time controllability and excellent elastic of PDMS obtained the desired grating. First, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) was spin-coated layer of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) film on the thin film, two-layer film to be cured PDMS film after bending and treated with an oxygen plasma (plasma), in generating a rigid surface oxide layer, With flexible PET rigid layer applied uniform stress, when the stress exceeds the critical value, the PDMS substrate to form a self-assembled structure grating fold. Due to changes in prestressed bending, so the PDMS film formation period and height of the grating stepped fold, which is graded grating. Using visible light as the performance test light source for graded grating and selecting first-order diffracted as the detection target. The authors can see the grating has a good diffraction effects and achieves good spectral effect. Experiments show that graded grating has obvious diffraction grating, and the diffraction angle varies significantly, and can be widely used for stress measurement, the flexible gradient grating prepared by this method can also be used to detect changes in the stress strain as a miniature device, the future is expected for miniature spectrometer, scanners, optical communications and other fields.

Aim: To study the biological and clinical characteristics of transcription factor forkhead box protein 3 (FOXP3) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)., Methods: We analyzed the expression and localization of FOXP3 in HCC tissues and cell lines to evaluate its biological features. The relationship between FOXP3 staining and clinical risk factors of HCC was assessed to identify the clinical characteristics of FOXP3 in HCC., Results: The mRNA and protein expression of FOXP3 were found in some hepatoma cell lines. Immunohistochemical (IHC) analysis of HCC sections revealed that 48% of HCC displayed FOXP3 staining, but we did not find any FOXP3 staining in normal liver tissues and para-tumor tissues. IHC and Confocal analysis showed that the expressions of FOXP3 were mainly present in the nucleus and cytoplasm of tumor cells in tissues or cell lines. In HCC, the distribution of FOXP3 was similar to that of the cirrhosis, but not to the hepatitis B virus. Those findings implicate that FOXP3 staining seems to be associated with the high risk of HCC., Conclusion: The clinical characteristics of FOXP3 in HCC warrants further studies to explore its functions and roles in the cirrhosis and development of HCC.