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Background Functional mutations or polymorphisms affecting FOXP3 could lead to abnormal FOXP3 gene expression and/or defective Treg cells generation, thus resulting in autoimmune disease and inflammation disorders, including type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and its complications, chronic and low-grade inflammatory disorders associated with long-term immune system imbalance. This study aimed to investigate the association of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and type 2 diabetes nephropathy (T2DN) susceptibility with FOXP3 polymorphisms in the Han Chinese populations. Methods Polymorphisms of rs3761548C/A and rs2294021C/T were examined in 400 patients (including an equal number of T2DM and T2DN groups) and 200 healthy controls using PCR-HRM and sequence analysis. Conclusions Significant differences between the two SNPs in terms of genotype, allelic frequencies of T2DM, and progression of diabetes developing to T2DN. The further gender-based evaluation showed that, as for female subjects, rs3761548C/A was associated with around 3-fold higher hazards for T2DM and 4.5-fold for T2DN, respectively, while no noticeable association with rs2294021C/T; as for males, the promoter polymorphism showed an increased risk of 5.4-fold and 3.4-fold predisposition to T2DM and T2DN, respectively, and another polymorphism could impart a nearly 2-fold risk of developing T2DN. Additional analysis of combined genotypes revealed that CC-CC and CC-CT could be considered protective combinations in the predisposition towards T2DN among males with diabetes, while AA-CC and AA-TT did the opposite effect. Results This study provides the first evidence for the genetic association of rs3761548C/A and rs2294021C/T polymorphisms with the susceptibility to diabetes and diabetic nephropathy in the Han Chinese population, as well as assessing gender differences.

Glycosylated secondary metabolites constitute a large proportion of nutrients or ingredients in consumed plants and related products. The glycosyl decoration largely depends on the activity of plant UDP-glycosyltransferases (UGTs). Mechanisms underlying the substrate selectivity and specificity of these reactions remain elusive. Here we report the cloning and functional characterization of a UGT, UGT78H2 in blackberry fruits. In vitro enzyme substrate specificity analysis and enzymatic kinetics evidenced that UGT78H2 glycosylate exclusively quercetin using uridine-5' diphosphate glucuronic acid (UDP-glucuronic acid) and uridine-5' diphosphate galactose (UDP-galactose). Site-directed mutagenesis was introduced into two residuals (N340P, K360N) previously unexplored. The mutation enhanced the protein catalyzing efficiency, especially toward UDP-galactose (23% higher), and expanded the sugar donor selectivity, which can use UDP-glucose as well. Molecular modeling and biochemical analysis results enable identification of the 23rd residue (360th in UGT78H2) of the PSPG (plant secondary product glycosyltransferase) motif as a key residue in defining this sugar selecting spectrum. Additionally, promoter of UGT78H2 was obtained. Transgenic analysis using the UGT78H2pro::GUS reporter system demonstrated that transcripts controlled by the promoter predominantly expressed in younger tissues. Subcellular localization study revealed that UGT78H2 was a soluble protein in the nucleus and cytoplasm. These results clarified the bio-function of UGT78H2 and provided a valid approach for substrate selectivity modification in horticultural plants, particularly for sugar donor selectivity.

Blue light is an important signal that regulates the flowering of strawberry plants. To reveal the mechanism of early flowering under blue light treatment at the transcriptional regulation level, seedlings of cultivated strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa Duch.) “Benihoppe” were subjected to a white light treatment (WL) and blue light treatment (BL) until their flowering. To detect the expression patterns of genes in response to BL, a transcriptome analysis was performed based on RNA-Seq. The results identified a total of 6875 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) that responded to BL, consisting of 3138 (45.64%) downregulated ones and 3737 (54.36%) upregulated ones. These DEGs were significantly enriched into 98 GO terms and 71 KEGG pathways based on gene function annotation. Among the DEGs, the expression levels of genes that might participate in light signaling (PhyB, PIFs, and HY5) and circadian rhythm (FKF1, CCA1, LHY, and CO) in plants were altered under BL. The BBX transcription factors which responded to BL were also identified. The result showed that the FaBBX29, one of strawberry’s BBX family genes, may play an important role in flowering regulation. Our results provide a timely, comprehensive view and a reliable reference data resource for further study of flowering regulation under different light qualities.

Sucrose synthase (SUS) plays an important role in sucrose metabolism and plant development. The SUS gene family has been identified in many plants, however, there is no definitive study of SUS gene in Brassica juncea. In this study, 14 SUS family genes were identified and comprehensively analyzed using bioinformatics tools. The analyzed parameters included their family member characteristics, chromosomal locations, gene structures and phylogenetic as well as transcript expression profiles. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the 14 members could be allocated into three groups: SUS I, SUS II and SUS III. Comparisons of the exon/intron structure of the mustard SUS gene indicated that its structure is highly conserved. The conserved structure is attributed to purification selection during evolution. Expansion of the SUS gene family is associated with fragment and tandem duplications of the mustard SUS gene family. Collinearity analysis among species revealed that the SUS gene family could be lost or mutated to varying degrees after the genome was doubled, or when Brassica rapa and Brassica nigra hybridized to form Brassica juncea. The expression patterns of BjuSUSs vary among different stages of mustard stem swelling. Transcriptomics revealed that the BjuSUS01-04 expression levels were the most elevated. It has been hypothesized that they play an important role in sucrose metabolism during stem development. The expression levels of some BjuSUSs were significantly up-regulated when they were treated with plant hormones. However, when subjected to abiotic stress factors, their expression levels were suppressed. This study establishes SUS gene functions during mustard stem development and stress.

This study presents a systematic analysis of the functional differences between two genes that encode phytoene desaturase (PDS) in Chinese kale. The promoter sequences of both BaPDS1 and BaPDS2 were amplified and cloned, and their lengths were 2005 bp and 2000 bp, respectively. The mining of cis -acting elements in the promoters showed that the two BaPDS genes are mainly associated with light and phytohormone responsiveness. Light quality, light intensity and plant hormone treatments were conducted in seedlings of Chinese kale, and the results indicated that the response of the two genes to different factors differed. Among them, BaPDSs collectively respond to the treatment with salicylic acid and abscisic acid. With regard to response differences, BaPDS1 is sensitive to red and blue light, blue light, and strong light, while BaPDS2 responds to blue light, weak light, darkness, gibberellin and methyl jasmonate. In addition, both BaPDS1 and BaPDS2 are likely targeted to the chloroplast. Furthermore, single and double mutants of BaPDSs were generated via CRISPR/Cas9 technology. Phenotypic analysis showed that the double mutant with edited PDS1 and PDS2 was a pure albino, while the single mutants with edited PDS1 or PDS2 were partly whitened. In summary, BaPDS1 and BaPDS2 genes played different and indispensable roles in Chinese kale, and their functions were partially complementary.

This review focuses on current knowledge of traditional Chinese herbs on prevention and treatment of viral respiratory infections, especially caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndromes (SARS) virus, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and influenza viruses.The data used in this review were obtained from PubMed and CNKI up to May 2013. Terms of Chinese herbs and infections of respiratory tract were used in the search.Articles related that Chinese herbs preventing and treating infections in respiratory tract were retrieved and reviewed. The risk of bias of included studies was assessed by the method in the "Cochrane Handbook of Systematic Reveiws of Interventionsand studies" with high risk of bias were excluded. Four criteria for selections were set as following: randomized controlled trial, particular effective compound or derivative, reproducible result and animal test.Infectious respiratory tract diseases cause most mortality among infectious illnesses around the world. As traditional medicines, Chinese herbs have been widely used to deal with diseases for centuries and have been proved effective in practice. The administration of some Chinese herbs stimulates, suppresses or regulates the activity of immune system, thus protecting the respiratory tract or relieving infections of pathogens. Many herbs have remarkable antiviral effects, therefore they are used as substitutes of antimicrobial drugs. Based on the theory of traditional Chinese medicine, mix-using herbs provide a synergistic benefit on preventing and healing respiratory tract infections. Many commercial herbal medicines containing one or more compounds have been successfully applied to prevent and treat viral infections of respiratory tract clinically.Traditional Chinese herbs could directly inhibit pathogens infecting respiratory tract, or coordinate the activity of immune system to avoid or relieve infections. With the emergence of antidrug pathogens or new variants, Chinese herbs give strong evidence to protect human health.

Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH) catalyzes the first and rate-limiting step of the oxidative pentose phosphate pathway, existing in both cytosolic and plastidic compartments of higher plants. Its main function is to provide reducing power (NADPH) and pentose phosphates for reductive biosynthesis and maintenance of the redox state of the cell. In addition, the expression of this enzyme is related to different biotic and abiotic stresses. In this review, we analyzed the isoenzyme, regulation and biological function of G6PDH. Meanwhile, we summarized the progress work of G6PDH involved in stress resistance, gene cloning, enzyme-deficiency and cluster analysis. Problems should be solved were also discussed.