[Research progress in autophagy in the development of pulp inflammation and dental pulp injury reparation and regeneration].

Pulpitis is an infectious disease characterized by persistent inflammation of dental pulp and severe pain of patients, root canal treatment increases the risk of tooth fracture, discoloration and reinfection. Therefore, pulp injury repair and pulp regeneration become the new targets of pulpitis treatment. Autophagy is considered as an important defense and protective mechanism, thus plays an important role in preventing the host from excessive inflammatory reaction. There are few reports on the regulative mechanisms and therapeutic strategies of autophagy on pulp inflammation progression, therefore, this paper reviewed the role of autophagy on the progression of pulpitis, also reviewed the research progress of autophagy on dental pulp injury repair and regeneration, aiming to provide theoretical support for further research and clinical application.

Relationship between NAT2 polymorphisms and onset risk of acute leukemia: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: This meta-analysis aims to clarify the correlation between N-acetyltransferases 2 (NAT2) polymorphisms and susceptibility of acute leukemia. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Articles reporting the correlation between NAT2 polymorphisms and susceptibility of acute leukemia were searched from PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane. Citations in eligible articles were manually reviewed. Only cohort studies and case-control studies which provided odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) of the correlation between NAT2 polymorphisms and susceptibility of acute leukemia up to December 1st, 2018 were enrolled. The included data were weighted by an inverse variance and analyzed using the fixed-effects or random-effects model. The data acquisition and the heterogeneity test were conducted. STATA 12.0 was used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: This meta-analysis enrolled 10 independent case-control studies with 1,874 leukemia patients and 2,789 healthy volunteers. No significant difference was found between the fast-acetylator incidence of NAT2 haplotype and the onset risk of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL, OR=0.70, 95% CI=0.45-1.08) or acute myeloid leukemia (AML, OR=0.79, 95% CI=0.46-1.47). The subgroup analysis was conducted based on the sources of controls (SOCs). We did not find statistical difference in population-based (PB) group (OR=0.82, 95% CI=0.47-1.42) and hospital-based (HB) group (OR=0.54, 95% CI=0.27-1.08). In addition, the fast-acetylator incidence of NAT2 haplotype was only observed to be higher in ALL patients compared with HB group (OR=0.52, 95% CI=0.33-0.83), rather than the PB group (OR=0.82, 95% CI=0.47-1.44). CONCLUSIONS: Except for ALL patients and those hospital-based controls, no evidence has shown the relationship between NAT2 polymorphisms and the susceptibility of acute leukemia. This conclusion still needs to be further verified in multi-center hospital with a large sample size.

Applying DNA barcodes for identification of economically important species in Brassicaceae.

Brassicaceae is a large plant family of special interest; it includes many economically important crops, herbs, and ornamentals, as well as model organisms. The taxonomy of the Brassicaceae has long been controversial because of the poorly delimited generic boundaries and artificially circumscribed tribes. Despite great effort to delimitate species and reconstruct the phylogeny of Brassicaceae, little research has been carried out to investigate the applicability and effectiveness of different DNA regions as barcodes - a recent aid for taxonomic identification - to identify economically important species in Brassicaceae. In this study, we evaluated the feasibility of five intensively recommended regions [rbcL, matK, trnH-psbA, internal transcribed spacer (ITS), ITS2] as candidate DNA barcodes to discriminate economic species of Brassicaceae in China and try to establish a new digital identification method for economic plants of Brassicaceae. All sequences of 58 samples from 27 economic species (Brassicaceae) in China were assessed in the success rates of PCR amplifications, intra- and inter-specific divergence, DNA barcoding gaps, and efficiency of identification. Compared with other markers, ITS showed superiority in species discrimination with an accurate identification of 67.2% at the species level. Consequently, as one of the most popular phylogenetic markers, our study indicated that ITS was a powerful but not perfect barcode for Brassicaceae identification. We further discuss the discrimination power of different loci due to inheritance pattern, polyploidization and hybridization in species-specific evolution. Further screening of other nuclear genes related to species isolation as plant barcode candidates is also proposed.

Isolation and characterization of polymorphic microsatellite loci from aerial yam (Dioscorea bulbifera L.).

Dioscorea bulbifera L. is widely distributed in pantropical regions along the equator. The taxonomic treatment of this species is ambiguous due to its extreme polymorphic morphological characters. In order to provide tools to facilitate the study of genetic diversity, population structure, patterns of gene flow, and the mating system of this species, and to assess intraspecific variability and relationships in D. bulbifera, 14 novel polymorphic microsatellite loci were developed using the dual-suppression PCR technique. The number of alleles per locus ranged from 4 to 17, with an average of 9.93. The mean observed heterozygosities were 0.7327 and 0.7223, and the mean Shannon-Wiener indices were 1.6431 and 1.811 in the Nanjing and Nanchong populations, respectively. All novel microsatellite loci showed high levels of polymorphism, indicating that these markers offer great potential significance and profound influence for future studies of this species.

Isolation and characterization of microsatellite DNA loci for wild Brassica juncea (Brassicaceae).

Wild Brassica juncea is a widespread weed in China with increasingly great impact on the yield of many crops. This study aimed to develop microsatellite markers for assessing the genetic diversity and population genetic structure of B. juncea, and to provide basic information for biological and chemical control of the weed. The compound microsatellite marker technique was used to develop markers for investigating population genetics of wild B. juncea. Twelve loci were obtained, each of which showed high polymorphisms when tested in two populations in Sichuan and Jiangsu Provinces. The number of alleles per locus ranged from 4 to 27, with an average of 15.2 alleles per locus. The newly developed microsatellite loci will be informative for further investigations of the population genetics and evolutionary patterns of wild B. juncea.

Development of polymorphic microsatellite markers for Dioscorea zingiberensis and cross-amplification in other Dioscorea species.

Dioscorea zingiberensis C.H. Wright (Dioscoreaceae) is an endemic species in central and southwestern China. In order to study the genetic diversity and population structure of this species, 19 novel polymorphic microsatellite loci were developed using a dual-suppression PCR technique. The number of alleles per locus ranged from 3 to 21, with an average of 9.53. All the markers showed high transferability in cross-species amplification in other species of sect. Stenophora.

Cronobacter species (formerly known as Enterobacter sakazakii) in powdered infant formula: a review of our current understanding of the biology of this bacterium.

Cronobacter species (formerly known as Enterobacter sakazakii) are opportunistic pathogens that can cause necrotizing enterocolitis, bacteraemia and meningitis, predominantly in neonates. Infection in these vulnerable infants has been linked to the consumption of contaminated powdered infant formula (PIF). Considerable research has been undertaken on this organism in the past number of years which has enhanced our understanding of this neonatal pathogen leading to improvements in its control within the PIF production environment. The taxonomy of the organism resulted in the recognition of a new genus, Cronobacter, which consists of seven species. This paper presents an up-to-date review of our current knowledge of Cronobacter species. Taxonomy, genome sequencing, current detection protocols and epidemiology are all discussed. In addition, consideration is given to the control of this organism in the manufacturing environment, as a first step towards reducing the occurrence of this pathogen in PIF.