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Verticillium dahliae is a soilborne phytopathogenic fungus causing Verticillium wilt on hundreds of plant species. Several sequenced genomes of V. dahliae are available, but functional characterization of most genes has just begun. Based on our previous comparison of the transcriptome from the wild-type and ΔVdCf2 strains, a significant upregulation of the gene cassette, Vd276-280, in the ΔVdCf2 strain was observed. In this study, the functional characterization of the Vd276-280 gene cassette was performed. Agrobacterium-mediated knockout of this gene cassette in V. dahliae significantly inhibited conidiation, melanized microsclerotium formation in the mutant strains, and their virulence towards cotton. Furthermore, deletion of individual genes in the Vd276-280 gene cassette identified that the disruption of VDAG_07276 and VDAG_07280 delayed microsclerotium formation, inhibited conidiation, and reduced virulence towards cotton. Our data suggest that VDAG_07276 and VDAG_07280 in the Vd276-280 gene cassette mainly act as positive regulators of development and virulence in V. dahliae.
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To address the shortage of fossil energy, the development of affordable and efficient non-precious metal catalysts for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) from electrocatalytic water splitting is still a crucial challenge. Herein, the bimetallic NiFe metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are synthesized by hydrothermal and electro-deposition. Benefiting from the synergistic effect of Fe and Ni, the catalyst demonstrates extraordinary activity, which exhibits favorable OER catalytic activity in 1 M KOH solution with an overpotential of 206 mV at 10 mA cm-2. Meanwhile, the obtained NiFe-NDC presents promising stability in the 20 h test at 50 mA cm-2.
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The advancement of spatial transcriptomics (ST) technology contributes to a more profound comprehension of the spatial properties of gene expression within tissues. However, due to challenges of high dimensionality, pronounced noise and dynamic limitations in ST data, the integration of gene expression and spatial information to accurately identify spatial domains remains challenging. This paper proposes a SpaNCMG algorithm for the purpose of achieving precise spatial domain description and localization based on a neighborhood-complementary mixed-view graph convolutional network. The algorithm enables better adaptation to ST data at different resolutions by integrating the local information from KNN and the global structure from r-radius into a complementary neighborhood graph. It also introduces an attention mechanism to achieve adaptive fusion of different reconstructed expressions, and utilizes KPCA method for dimensionality reduction. The application of SpaNCMG on five datasets from four sequencing platforms demonstrates superior performance to eight existing advanced methods. Specifically, the algorithm achieved highest ARI accuracies of 0.63 and 0.52 on the datasets of the human dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and mouse somatosensory cortex, respectively. It accurately identified the spatial locations of marker genes in the mouse olfactory bulb tissue and inferred the biological functions of different regions. When handling larger datasets such as mouse embryos, the SpaNCMG not only identified the main tissue structures but also explored unlabeled domains. Overall, the good generalization ability and scalability of SpaNCMG make it an outstanding tool for understanding tissue structure and disease mechanisms. Our codes are available at https://github.com/ZhihaoSi/SpaNCMG.
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Algoritmos , Transcriptoma , Humanos , Animales , Ratones , Perfilación de la Expresión Génica/métodos , Redes Neurales de la Computación , Biología Computacional/métodos , Corteza Prefrontal/metabolismoRESUMEN
Feruloyl esterase (ferulic acid esterase, FAE) is an essential component of many biological processes in both eukaryotes and prokaryotes. This research aimed to investigate the role of FAE and its regulation mechanism in plant immunity. We identified a secreted feruloyl esterase VdFAE from the hemibiotrophic plant pathogen Verticillium dahliae. VdFAE acted as an important virulence factor during V. dahliae infection, and triggered plant defence responses, including cell death in Nicotiana benthamiana. Deletion of VdFAE led to a decrease in the degradation of ethyl ferulate. VdFAE interacted with Gossypium hirsutum protein dihydroflavanol 4-reductase (GhDFR), a positive regulator in plant innate immunity, and promoted the degradation of GhDFR. Furthermore, silencing of GhDFR led to reduced resistance of cotton plants against V. dahliae. The results suggested a fungal virulence strategy in which a fungal pathogen secretes FAE to interact with host DFR and interfere with plant immunity, thereby promoting infection.
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Acremonium , Oxidorreductasas de Alcohol , Ascomicetos , Hidrolasas de Éster Carboxílico , Gossypium , VerticilliumRESUMEN
The Fscn2 (Fascin2) gene encodes an actin cross-linking protein that is involved in the formation of hair cell stereocilia and retina structure. Mutations in Fscn2 gene have been linked to hearing impairment and retinal degeneration in humans and mice. To understand the function of the Fscn2 gene, we generated the Fscn2 knockout mice, which showed progressive loss of hearing and hair cells. Our goal of the present study was to investigate the mechanism underlying cochlear cell death in the Fscn2 knockout mice. Microarray analysis revealed upregulation of expression of PARVB, a local adhesion protein, in the inner ears of Fscn2 knockout mice at 8 weeks of age. Further studies showed increased levels of PARVB together with cleaved-Caspase9 and decreased levels of ILK, p-ILK, p-AKT, and Bcl-2 in the inner ears of Fscn2 knockout mice of the same age. Knockdown of Fscn2 in HEI-OCI cells led to decreased cell proliferation ability and migration rate, along with increased levels of PARVB and decreased levels of ILK, p-ILK, p-AKT, Bcl-2 and activated Rac1 and Cdc42. Overexpression of Fscn2 or inhibition of Parvb expression in HEI-OC1 cells promoted cell proliferation and migration, with increased levels of ILK, p-ILK, p-AKT, and Bcl-2. Finally, FSCN2 binds with PPAR-γ to reduce its nuclear translocation in HEI-OC1 cells, and inhibition of PPAR-γ by GW9662 decreased the level of PARVB and increased the levels of p-AKT, p-ILK, and Bcl-2. Our results suggest that FSCN2 negatively regulates PARVB expression by inhibiting the entry of PPAR-γ into the cell nucleus, resulting in inhibition of ILK-AKT related pathways and of cochlear cell survival in Fscn2 knockout mice. Our findings provide new insights and ideas for the prevention and treatment of genetic hearing loss.
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Developing efficient and economical catalysts is essential for water splitting. The application of MOF catalysts in water splitting is limited by poor conductivity; however, the introduction of conductive TMS could enhance their activity. Herein, novel composite Fe9S10/Fe-MOF/NF-2 was constructed by introducing dendritic Fe9S10 onto the surface of a 2D ultrathin Fe-MOF. Composite catalysts elaborately utilize the structural and chemical advantages of MOF and TMS while improving the deficiencies of monomers through the combination. Owing to the optimal structure, the hybrid catalyst Fe9S10/Fe-MOF/NF-2 displayed better catalytic performance than bare Fe-MOFs and Fe9S10, with low overpotentials of 202 and 216 mV at 10 mA cm-2 in alkaline solution and simulated seawater, respectively. This work provides an innovative approach to modify MOFs as electrocatalysts for OER.
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SPX (SYG/PHO81/XPR1) domain genes have been reported to play vital roles in the Phosphorus (Pi) signaling network in Arabidopsis thaliana and rice. However, the functions of SPX proteins in wheat remain largely unknown. In this study, the full-length cDNA sequence of the TaSPX3 gene was cloned from the common wheat variety Zhengmai9023. The expression of TaSPX3 was up-regulated in eight different genotypes of wheat under low phosphorus (LP) stress, indicating that TaSPX3 responds to Pi limitation in multiple wheat genotypes. The transcription level of TaSPX3 was also detected in the absence of seven different elements, showing certain specificity for Pi deficiency in wheat. Over expressing TaSPX3 in Arabidopsis can alleviate Pi deficiency symptoms at the seedling stage and promote the growth of plant, and advance the flowering period at the adult stage. The expression of 7 genes associated with the Pi starvation signal pathways was analyzed using qRT-PCR. The results showed that TaSPX3, along with AtSPX1, AtRNS1, AtIPS1, AtPAP2, AtPAP17 and AtAT4, were all induced by Pi deficiency. This study reveals that the TaSPX3 gene in wheat is involved in the response to phosphorus stress and may affect shoot phosphorus levels through AT4 or PAPs-related pathways. Overall, our study provides new insights into the regulation of plant response under LP conditions and the molecular mechanism underlying the role of the wheat SPX gene in coping with LP stress.
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Arabidopsis , Fósforo , Fósforo/metabolismo , Arabidopsis/metabolismo , Fosfatos/metabolismo , Proteínas de Plantas/genética , Proteínas de Plantas/metabolismo , Plantones/metabolismo , Regulación de la Expresión Génica de las Plantas , Raíces de Plantas/metabolismoRESUMEN
Background: Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnostic cancer in women worldwide. The main treatment for these patients is surgery. However, there is a high incidence of surgical site infection (SSI) in breast cancer patients. The aim of this study was to identify effective infection-related diagnostic markers for timely diagnosis and treatment of SSI. Methods: This retrospective study included 263 breast cancer patients who were treated between July 2018 and March 2023 at the Shandong Cancer Hospital and Institute. We analyzed differences between the SSI group and control group and differences before and during infection in the SSI group. Finally, we tested the distribution of pathogenic microorganisms and their susceptibility to antibiotics. Results: Compared with preoperative inflammatory indicators, white blood cells (WBC), neutrophils (NEU), absolute neutrophil count to the absolute lymphocyte count (NLR), D2 polymers (D-Dimer) and fibrinogen (FIB) were significantly increased, while lymphocytes (LYM), albumin (ALB) and prealbumin (PA) were significantly decreased in the SSI group. Compared with uninfected patients, WBC, NEU, NLR and FIB were significantly increased, ALB and PA were significantly decreased in SSI patients, while LYM and D-Dimer did not differ significantly. The distribution of infection bacteria in SSI patients showed that the proportion of patients with Staphylococcus aureus infection was as high as 70.41%; of those patients, 19.33% had methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection. The area under the curves (AUCs) of the receiver operating curves (ROCs) for WBC, NEU, NLR, FIB, ALB and PA were 0.807, 0.811, 0.730, 0.705, 0.663 and 0.796, respectively. The AUCs for other inflammatory indicators were not statistically significant. There was no significant difference in antibiotic resistance for Staphylococcus aureus when compared to that of gram-positive bacteria. The resistance of gram-positive bacteria to ceftriaxone (CRO), cefoxitin (FOX), chloramphenicol (CHL), minocycline (MNO) and tetracycline (TCY) was lower than that of gram-negative bacteria, while the resistance to gentamicin (GEN) was higher. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that WBC, NEU, NLR, FIB and PA have good predictive value for identifying patients at risk of SSI. The cut-off values of inflammatory indicators can be helpful in the prevention and diagnosis of SSI.
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Neoplasias de la Mama , Staphylococcus aureus Resistente a Meticilina , Infecciones Estafilocócicas , Humanos , Femenino , Infección de la Herida Quirúrgica/diagnóstico , Infección de la Herida Quirúrgica/etiología , Infección de la Herida Quirúrgica/prevención & control , Estudios Retrospectivos , Neoplasias de la Mama/cirugía , Neoplasias de la Mama/complicaciones , Neoplasias de la Mama/tratamiento farmacológico , Recuento de Leucocitos , Antibacterianos/uso terapéutico , Infecciones Estafilocócicas/tratamiento farmacológicoRESUMEN
Background and purpose: As one common feature of cerebral small vascular disease (cSVD), white matter lesions (WMLs) could lead to reduction in brain function. Using a convenient, cheap, and non-intrusive method to detect WMLs could substantially benefit to patient management in the community screening, especially in the settings of availability or contraindication of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Therefore, this study aimed to develop a useful model to incorporate clinical laboratory data and retinal images using deep learning models to predict the severity of WMLs. Methods: Two hundred fifty-nine patients with any kind of neurological diseases were enrolled in our study. Demographic data, retinal images, MRI, and laboratory data were collected for the patients. The patients were assigned to the absent/mild and moderate-severe WMLs groups according to Fazekas scoring system. Retinal images were acquired by fundus photography. A ResNet deep learning framework was used to analyze the retinal images. A clinical-laboratory signature was generated from laboratory data. Two prediction models, a combined model including demographic data, the clinical-laboratory signature, and the retinal images and a clinical model including only demographic data and the clinical-laboratory signature, were developed to predict the severity of WMLs. Results: Approximately one-quarter of the patients (25.6%) had moderate-severe WMLs. The left and right retinal images predicted moderate-severe WMLs with area under the curves (AUCs) of 0.73 and 0.94. The clinical-laboratory signature predicted moderate-severe WMLs with an AUC of 0.73. The combined model showed good performance in predicting moderate-severe WMLs with an AUC of 0.95, while the clinical model predicted moderate-severe WMLs with an AUC of 0.78. Conclusion: Combined with retinal images from conventional fundus photography and clinical laboratory data are reliable and convenient approach to predict the severity of WMLs and are helpful for the management and follow-up of WMLs patients.
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The design of an efficient OER catalyst is significant for water splitting. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are emerging as promising electrocatalysts due to their diversity of structure and tunability of function. In this paper, 2D FexCo1-x-MOF1/NF with an extended ligand (biphenyl-4,4'-dicarboxylic acid, BPDC) is constructed on nickel foam by a solvothermal method. Compared with the MOF2 synthesized by using BDC (1,4-bezenedicarboxylate), MOF1 shows excellent performance. Among MOF1, Fe0.5Co0.5-MOF1/NF exhibits outstanding performance with a low overpotential (217 mV) and a small Tafel slope (31.16 mV Dec-1) at 10 mA cm-2 and performs well at a high current density. In addition, the catalyst is remarkable in terms of durability both in alkaline solution and simulated seawater. The synergetic effect between Fe and Co and more active sites exposed play an important role in improving the OER activity. This work provides an effective strategy for the rational design of MOFs as inexpensive electrocatalysts.
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Solar-driven water splitting offers a leading-edge approach to storing abundant and intermittent solar energy and producing hydrogen as a clean and sustainable energy carrier. More importantly, constructing well-designed photocatalysts is a promising approach to develop clean hydrogen energy. In this paper, flower spherical UiO-66-(SCH3)2/ZnIn2S4 (UiOSC/ZIS) photocatalysts are successfully synthesized by a simple two-step hydrothermal method, and they exhibit high hydrogen production activity in light-driven water splitting. The optimized 30-UiOSC/ZIS (the content of UiOSC was 30 mg) composite exhibits optimal hydrogen production activity with a hydrogen production of 3433 µmol g-1 h-1, which is 5 and 235 times higher than that of pure ZIS and UiOSC, respectively. In addition, a long-cycling stability test has shown that the UiOSC/ZIS composite has good stability and recyclability. Experimental and characterization results show the formation of a type-II heterojunction between UiOSC and ZIS. This effectively suppresses the recombination of electrons-holes and promotes the carrier transfer, thus significantly improving the hydrogen production performance. This research further promotes the application of UiO-66-(SCH3)2 in the field of photocatalytic hydrogen production and provides a reference for the rational design of UiO-66-based composite photocatalysts.
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Seeds play a critical role in the production of American ginseng. Seeds are also one of the most important media for the long-distant dissemination and the crucial way for pathogen survival. Figuring out the pathogens carried by seeds is the basis for effective management of seedborne diseases. In this paper, we tested the fungi carried by the seeds of American ginseng from the main production areas of China using incubation and highly throughput sequencing methods. The seed-carried rates of fungi in Liuba, Fusong, Rongcheng, and Wendeng were 100, 93.8, 75.2, and 45.7%, respectively. Sixty-seven fungal species, which belonged to 28 genera, were isolated from the seeds. Eleven pathogens were identified from the seed samples. Among the pathogens, Fusarium spp. were found in all of the seed samples. The relative abundance of Fusarium spp. in the kernel was higher than that in the shell. Alpha index showed that the fungal diversity between seed shell and kernel differed significantly. Nonmetric multidimensional scaling analysis revealed that the samples from different provinces and between seed shell and kernel were distinctly separated. The inhibition rates of four fungicides to seed-carried fungi of American ginseng were 71.83% for Tebuconazole SC, 46.67% for Azoxystrobin SC, 46.08% for Fludioxonil WP, and 11.11% for Phenamacril SC. Fludioxonil, a conventional seed treatment agent, showed a low inhibitory effect on seed-carried fungi of American ginseng.
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Fungicidas Industriales , Fusarium , Panax , Endófitos/genética , Fusarium/genética , Fungicidas Industriales/farmacología , Semillas/microbiología , Panax/microbiologíaRESUMEN
Verticillium dahliae is a soilborne plant fungal pathogen that causes Verticillium wilt, a disease that reduces the yields of many economically important crops. Despite its worldwide distribution and harmful impacts, much remains unknown regarding how the numerous effectors of V. dahliae modulate plant immunity. Here, we identified the intracellular effector VdCE11 that induces cell death and defense responses in Nicotiana benthamiana to counter leaf pathogens such as Sclerotinia sclerotiorum and Botrytis cinerea. VdCE11 also contributes to the virulence of V. dahliae in cotton and Arabidopsis. Yeast two-hybrid library screening and immunoprecipitation revealed that VdCE11 interacts physically with the cotton aspartic protease GhAP1. GhAP1 and its Arabidopsis homolog AtAP1 are negative regulators of plant immunity, since disruption of either increased the resistance of cotton or Arabidopsis to V. dahliae. Further, VdCE11 plays a role in promoting the accumulation of the AP1 proteins and increasing its hydrolase activity. Taken together, these results indicate a novel mechanism regulating virulence whereby the secreted effector VdCE11 increases cotton susceptibility to V. dahliae by promoting the accumulation and activity of GhAP1. IMPORTANCE Verticclium dahliae is a plant fungal pathogen that causes a destructive vascular disease on a large number of plant hosts, resulting in great threat to agricultural production. In this study, we identified a V. dahliae effector VdCE11 that induces cell death and defense responses in Nicotiana benthamiana. Meanwhile, VdCE11 contributes to the virulence of V. dahliae in cotton and Arabidopsis. Yeast two-hybrid library screening and immunoprecipitation revealed that VdCE11 interacts physically with the cotton aspartic protease GhAP1. GhAP1 and its Arabidopsis homolog AtAP1 are negative regulators of plant immunity since disruption of either increased the resistance of cotton or Arabidopsis to V. dahliae. Further research showed that VdCE11 plays a role in promoting the accumulation of the AP1 proteins and increasing its hydrolase activity. These results suggested that a novel mechanism regulating virulence whereby VdCE11 increases susceptibility to V. dahliae by promoting the accumulation and activity of GhAP1 in the host.
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Arabidopsis , Humanos , Arabidopsis/microbiología , Resistencia a la Enfermedad , Péptido Hidrolasas , Enfermedades de las Plantas/microbiología , Saccharomyces cerevisiae , Virulencia , GossypiumRESUMEN
Type 2C protein phosphatases regulate various biological processes in eukaryotes. However, their functions in Verticillium dahliae have not been characterized. In this study, homologs VdPtc1, VdPtc3, VdPtc5, VdPtc6, and VdPtc7 were identified in V. dahliae on the basis of homologous comparison with those in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. VdPtc2 and VdPtc4 are missing in the genome of the V. dahliae XJ592 strain. VdPtc3 is the homolog of Ptc2, Ptc3, and Ptc4 proteins in S. cerevisiae, implying that VdPtc3 may play versatile functions in V. dahliae. VdPtc3 promoted conidium development, melanin, and microsclerotium formation in V. dahliae. The ΔVdPtc3 strains showed increased sensitivity to NaCl and sorbitol and augmented the phosphorylation of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase homolog Hog1 induced by osmotic stress. Besides, the ΔVdPtc3 strains also showed milder Verticillium wilt symptom on cotton. Furthermore, VdPtc3 interacts with VdAtg1, which modulates melanin and microsclerotium formation, as well as pathogenicity.
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Ascomicetos , Verticillium , Virulencia , Saccharomyces cerevisiae , Melaninas/genética , Melaninas/metabolismo , Monoéster Fosfórico Hidrolasas/metabolismo , Enfermedades de las Plantas , Proteínas Fúngicas/genética , Proteínas Fúngicas/metabolismoRESUMEN
Verticillium wilt is primarily caused by the fungus Verticillium dahliae and represents one of the most important worldwide soilborne plant diseases. The causal agent can be spread by microsclerotia and conidia attached to seeds during national/international trade or in soil between fields. Consequently, accurate, sensitive, and rapid detection of V. dahliae from complex samples is critical for restricting entry of the pathogen to a new region/environment and enforcing early management of Verticillium wilt. Based on CRISPR/Cas12a and recombinant polymerase amplification (RPA) technologies, we developed an accurate, sensitive, and rapid detection method for V. dahliae with paper-based lateral flow strips. A highly efficient and specific CRISPR RNA (crRNA) was designed for the GAPDH gene of V. dahliae and was validated using several closely related Verticillium spp. Excluding the time required for the DNA extraction from the complex samples, a minimum of 40 min was required for the detection time. The RPA-CRISPR/Cas12a detection system had a lower detection limit of â¼10 copies of genomic DNA per reaction and was able to successfully detect as little as one microsclerotium per gram of soil. In addition, field samples displaying symptoms suggestive of V. dahliae were able to be positively identified for the presence of V. dahliae. Taken together, this study broadens the applications of CRISPR/Cas12a nucleic acid detection to soilborne crop diseases and will contribute to the future development of field-deployable diagnostic tools.
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Ascomicetos , Sistemas CRISPR-Cas , Comercio , Internacionalidad , Suelo , TecnologíaRESUMEN
OBJECTIVES: Bloodstream infection (BSI) is one of the major causes of death in pediatric tumor patients. Blood samples are relatively easy to obtain and thus provide a ready source of infection-related biological markers for the prompt evaluation of infection risk. METHODS: A total of 259 pediatric tumor patients were included from May 2019 to March 2022. Patients were divided into BSI group (n=70) and control group (n=189). Clinical and biological data were collected using electronic medical records. Differences in biological markers between BSI group and control group and differences before and during infection in BSI group were analyzed. RESULTS: The infected group showed higher levels of procalcitonin (PCT) and hypersensitive C-reactive-protein (hsCRP), and lower prealbumin (PA) than the uninfected group. Area under the receiver-operating curve (ROC) curves (AUC) of PCT, hsCRP and NLR (absolute neutrophil count to the absolute lymphocyte count) were 0.756, 0.617 and 0.612. The AUC of other biomarkers was ≤0.6. In addition, PCT, hsCRP, NLR and fibrinogen (Fg) were significantly increased during infection, while PA and lymphocyte (LYM) were significantly decreased. Antibiotic resistant of Gram-positive bacteria to CHL, SXT, OXA and PEN was lower than that of Coagulase-negative Staphylococcus. Resistant of Gram-positive bacteria to CHL was lower, while to SXT was higher than that of Gram-negative bacteria. CONCLUSIONS: This study explored the utility of biomarkers to assist in diagnosis and found that the PCT had the greatest predictive value for infection in pediatric tumor patients with BSI. Additionally, the PCT, hsCRP, NLR, PA, LYM and Fg were changed by BSI.
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Bacteriemia , Neoplasias , Sepsis , Niño , Humanos , Polipéptido alfa Relacionado con Calcitonina , Proteína C-Reactiva/análisis , Neutrófilos/metabolismo , Curva ROC , Bacteriemia/diagnóstico , Estudios Retrospectivos , Sepsis/diagnóstico , Linfocitos/metabolismo , Biomarcadores , Neoplasias/complicaciones , Neoplasias/diagnósticoRESUMEN
Transcription factors (TFs) bind to the promoters of target genes to regulate gene expression in response to different stimuli. The functions and regulatory mechanisms of transcription factors (TFs) in Verticillium dahliae are, however, still largely unclear. This study showed that a C2H2-type zinc finger TF, VdCf2 (V. dahliae chorion transcription factor 2), plays key roles in V. dahliae growth, melanin production, and virulence. Transcriptome sequencing analysis showed that VdCf2 was involved in the regulation of expression of genes encoding secreted proteins, pathogen-host interaction (PHI) homologs, TFs, and G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). Furthermore, VdCf2 positively regulated the expression of VdPevD1 (VDAG_02735), a previously reported virulence factor. VdCf2 thus regulates the expression of several pathogenicity-related genes that also contribute to virulence in V. dahliae. VdCf2 also inhibited the transcription of the Vd276-280 gene cluster and interacted with two members encoding proteins (VDAG_07276 and VDAG_07278) in the gene cluster. IMPORTANCE Verticillium dahliae is an important soilborne phytopathogen which can ruinously attack numerous host plants and cause significant economic losses. Transcription factors (TFs) were reported to be involved in various biological processes, such as hyphal growth and virulence of pathogenic fungi. However, the functions and regulatory mechanisms of TFs in V. dahliae remain largely unclear. In this study, we identified a new transcription factor, VdCf2 (V. dahliae chorion transcription factor 2), based on previous transcriptome data, which participates in growth, melanin production, and virulence of V. dahliae. We provide evidence that VdCf2 regulates the expression of the pathogenicity-related gene VdPevD1 (VDAG_02735) and Vd276-280 gene cluster. VdCf2 also interacts with VDAG_07276 and VDAG_07278 in this gene cluster based on a yeast two-hybrid and bimolecular fluorescence complementation assay. These results revealed the regulatory mechanisms of a pivotal pathogenicity-related transcription factor, VdCf2 in V. dahliae.
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Verticillium , Virulencia/genética , Verticillium/genética , Factores de Transcripción/genética , Factores de Transcripción/metabolismo , Metabolismo Secundario , Proteínas Fúngicas/genética , Proteínas Fúngicas/metabolismo , Melaninas/genética , Factores de Virulencia/genética , Factores de Virulencia/metabolismo , Familia de Multigenes , Interacciones Huésped-Patógeno , Enfermedades de las Plantas/microbiologíaRESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Citrate Synthase (Cs) gene mutation (locus ahL4) has been found to play an important role in progressive hearing loss of A/J mice. HEI-OC1 cells have been widely used as an in vitro system to study cellular and molecular mechanisms related to hearing lose. We previously reported the increased apoptosis and the accumulation of reactive oxygen species in shRNACs-1429 cells, a Cs low-expressed cell model from HEI-OCI. The details of the mechanism of ROS production and apoptosis mediated by the abnormal expression of Cs needed to research furtherly. METHODS: iTRAQ proteomics was utilized to detect the differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) caused by low expression of Cs. The GO and KEGG pathways analysis were performed for annotation of the differentially expressed proteins. Protein-protein interaction network was constructed by STRING online database. Immunoblotting was utilized to confirm the protein levels of the the differentially expressed proteins. RESULTS: The differentially expressed proteins were significantly enriched in various signaling pathways mainly related to mitochondrial dysfunction diseases including Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, Huntington's disease, et al. Most noteworthy, the oxidative phosphorylation pathway was most significantly suppressed in the shRNACs-1429 cells,, in which a total of 10 differentially expressed proteins were enriched and were all downregulated by the abnormal expression of Cs. The downregulations of Ndufb5, Ndufv1 and Uqcrb were confirmed by immunoblotting. Meanwhile, the ATP levels of shRNACs-1429 cells were also reduced. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that low level expression of Cs induces the inhibition of oxidative phosphorylation pathway, which is responsible for the high level production of reactive oxygen species and low level of ATP, leading to the apoptosis of cochlear cells. This study may provide new theories for understanding and therapy of progressive hearing loss.
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A/J mouse is a typical animal model of age-related deafness. Previous studies have shown that the mice suffer from progressive hearing loss and degeneration of cochlear cells, and a variation of H55 N in citrate synthase (CS) causes about 40% the hearing loss. CS is a key enzyme in the tricarboxylic acid cycle, which is transported from cytoplasm to mitochondria after synthesis, sorted by the mitochondrial targeting sequence (MTS). To explore the mechanism of CS (H55 N) variation in affecting its function, HEI-OC1 cells were infected with lentivirus particles to express CS-Flag or CS(H55 N)-Flag. The results showed that H55 N variation in CS, as purified by co-immunoprecipitation, decreased the enzyme activity by about 50%. Confocal microscope co-localization indicated that the CS (H55 N) variation led to a decrement in its mitochondrial content. Western blot also showed the amount of CS(H55 N)-Flag was more than that of CS(WT)-Flag in the cytosol. The results suggest H55 N variation in CS lead to decrement of its enzyme activity and targeting transport to mitochondria. We therefore conclude that decrement in CS activity and mitochondrial delivery contributes to the degeneration of cochlear cells and thus the hearing loss in A/J mice.
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Pérdida Auditiva , Mitocondrias , Animales , Citrato (si)-Sintasa , Cóclea , RatonesRESUMEN
The development of chemotherapy resistance is the most vital obstacle to clinical efficacy in gastric cancer (GC). The dysregulation of the Wnt/beta-catenin signaling pathway is critically associated with GC development and chemotherapy resistance. Ferroptosis is a form of regulated cell death, induced by an iron-dependent accumulation of lipid peroxides during chemotherapy. However, whether the Wnt/beta-catenin signaling directly controls resistance to cell death, remains unclear. Here, we show that the activation of the Wnt/beta-catenin signaling attenuates cellular lipid ROS production and subsequently inhibits ferroptosis in GC cells. The beta-catenin/TCF4 transcription complex directly binds to the promoter region of GPX4 and induces its expression, resulting in the suppression of ferroptotic cell death. Concordantly, TCF4 deficiency promotes cisplatin-induced ferroptosis in vitro and in vivo. Thus, we demonstrate that the aberrant activation of the Wnt/beta-catenin signaling confers ferroptosis resistance and suggests a potential therapeutic strategy to enhance chemo-sensitivity for advanced GC patients.