Draft genome sequence of the endophytic fungus Phoma sp. strain YAFEF320, isolated from Gerbera jamesonii.

Here, we report a draft genome sequence of endophytic fungus Phoma sp. strain YAFEF320, isolated from the roots of Gerbera jamesonii. The genome size of Phoma sp. YAFEF320 was 32,542,820 bp with 52.08% GC content. The genome resource will support future research into potential secondary metabolite diversity of this fungus.

Whole genome sequencing and annotation of Scleroderma yunnanense, the only edible Scleroderma species.

Scleroderma yunnanense, an ectomycorrhizal fungus, is a popular edible mushroom within the Yunnan Province of Southwest China that holds great ecological and economic implications. However, despite its significance, there remains limited information about this species. Therefore, we sequenced S. yunnanense genome to identify the functional genes of S. yunnanense involved in secondary metabolite and carbohydrate production pathways. First, we present the 40.43 Mb high-quality reference genome for S. yunnanense, distributed across 35 contigs; moreover, the N50 contig size was found to reach 3.31 Mb and contained 8877 functional genes. Finally, genome annotation was conducted to compare the functional genes of S. yunnanense with protein sequences from different publicly available databases. Taken together, we identified 12 biosynthetic gene clusters across 10 contigs; among these were 13 key mevalonate (MVA) pathway enzymes, a key tyrosinase enzyme in the 3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (DOPA) pathway that is responsible for producing DOPA melanins, and 16 enzymes involved in uridine diphosphate glucose biosynthesis. Overall, this study presents the first genome assembly and annotation of S. yunnanense; ultimately, this information will be important in the elucidation of the biological activities and artificial domestication of this fungus.

Insights into identifying resistance genes for cold and disease stresses through chromosome-level reference genome analyses of Poncirus polyandra.

Poncirus polyandra, a plant species with extremely small populations in China, has become extinct in the wild. This study aimed to identify functional genes that improve tolerance to abiotic and biotic stresses. Here, we present a high-quality chromosome-scale reference genome of P. polyandra. The reference genome is 315.78 Mb in size, with an N50 scaffold size of 32.07 Mb, and contains nine chromosomes with 20,815 protein-coding genes, covering 97.82% of the estimated gene space. We identified 17 rapidly evolving nucleotide-binding-site (NBS) genes, three C-repeat-binding factors (CBF) genes, 19 citrus greening disease (Huanglongbing, HLB) tolerance genes, 11 citrus tristeza virus (CTV) genes, and one citrus nematode resistance gene. A divergence time of 1.96 million years ago was estimated between P. polyandra and P. trifoliata. This is the first genome-scale assembly and annotation of P. polyandra, which will be useful for genetic, genomic, and molecular research and provide guidance for the development of conservation strategies.

Clinical features and factors leading to early recurrence of intussusception after saline reduction.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the clinical characteristics of early recurrent intussusception after ultrasound-guided saline reduction, and to explore the factors leading to early recurrence. METHODS: The retrospective observational case-control study was conducted at Weifang People's Hospital, Shandong, China, and comprised data from January 2015 to December 2017 related to paediatric intussusception patients aged 0-12 years who underwent ultrasound-guided saline enema reduction. The patients were divided into two recurrent and non-recurrent groups. Clinical characteristics of the patients with early recurrence were analysed. Factors compared between the groups were gender, age, onset season, onset-to-treatment time interval, blood in stool, fever, diarrhoea, abdominal pain and vomiting, weight and pathology. Data was analysed using SPSS 22. RESULTS: Of the 672 subjects, 86(13%) were patient with early recurrence while 586(87%) had no early recurrence and acted as controls. Among the patients, 70(81.4%) were aged 6-36 months. In 52(60.5%) patients, recurrence was once, and in 23(26.7%) twice. There were 141 episodes of intussusception; 24(17%) occurring in <12 hours, 85(60.2%) in 12-24 hours. Also, 5(6%) patients required surgery for reduction. Compared to the controls, the second quarter, heavier body weight and pathology were the factors leading to early recurrence of intussusceptions (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The second quarter, heavier body weight and pathological leading points were found to be factors leading to early recurrent intussusception.

Circ_0071662, a novel tumor biomarker, suppresses bladder cancer cell proliferation and invasion by sponging miR-146b-3p.

Here, we characterized a new circRNA, named circ_0071662, which was downregulated in human bladder cancer tissues and cell lines, compared with matched adjacent normal tissues and normal bladder epithelial cells. Lower circ_0071662 level was observed in patients with advanced bladder cancer and was positively associated with poorer prognosis, including higher degrees of lymph node invasion and distal metastasis, and lower survival rate. Gain- and loss-of-functions showed that circ_0071662 suppressed cell proliferation and invasion in human bladder cell lines T-24 and J82. Bioinformatics analysis revealed that there are six binding sites of miR-146b-3p on circ_0071662 sequence, and pull-down assays demonstrated miR-146b-3p directly bound with circ_0071662. Moreover, circ_0071662 negatively regulated miR-146b-3p expression and positively regulated expression of miR-146b-3p target genes HPGD and NF2. Furthermore, miR-146b-3p could rescue the inhibition of cell proliferation and invasion caused by circ_0071662 overexpression. In conclusion, circ_0071662 suppresses bladder cancer cell proliferation and invasion by sponging miR-146b-3p.

RETRACTED: Silence of long non-coding RNA UCA1 inhibits hemangioma cells growth, migration and invasion by up-regulation of miR-200c.

This article has been retracted: please see Elsevier Policy on Article Withdrawal (https://www.elsevier.com/about/our-business/policies/article-withdrawal). This article has been retracted at the request of the Editor-in-Chief as panels from Figure 7F appear similar to each other. Given the additional comments of Dr Elisabeth Bik regarding this article "This paper belongs to a set of over 400 papers (as per February 2020) that share very similar Western blots with tadpole-like shaped bands, the same background pattern, and striking similarities in title structures, paper layout, bar graph design, and - in a subset - flow cytometry panels", the journal requested the authors to provide the raw data. However, the authors were not able to fulfil this request and therefore the Editor decided to retract the article.

Risk factors for short-term recurrent intussusception and reduction failure after ultrasound-guided saline enema.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the safety and effectiveness of ultrasound-guided saline enema to treat intussusception and to analyze the risk factors affecting short-term recurrence and reduction failure. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We selected patients who had undergone intussusception reduction via ultrasound-guided saline enema from January 2010 to December 2017. The overall success rate, overall pathologic intussusception rate, and pathologic intussusception rate were calculated in each group. All the patients were divided into two groups: the successfully reduced group and the failed reduction group. Then, the successfully reduced patients were divided into two groups: the short-term recurrence group and the short-term non-recurrence group. The differences between each of the two sets of groups were analyzed, and the risk factors affecting short-term recurrence and failure of intussusception were analyzed. RESULTS: During the 8-year study period, a total of 1793 patients with intussusception were treated with ultrasound-guided saline enema reduction in our hospital. Among these patients, 1743 (97.2%) experienced successful reduction, 29 (1.6%) had pathologic intussusception, and 1 experienced perforation. After applying the univariate analysis and logistic regressive multivariate analysis, we found that age above 2 years and the absence of fever were risk factors for the early recurrence of intussusception. Pathologic intussusception was a risk factor for reduction failure. CONCLUSION: The overall success rate of ultrasound-guided saline enemas was 97.2%, and the pathologic intussusception rate was 1.6%. Age above 2 years and the absence of fever were risk factors for short-term recurrence, and pathologic intussusception was a risk factor for the failure of reduction.

Suppression of RRM2 inhibits cell proliferation, causes cell cycle arrest and promotes the apoptosis of human neuroblastoma cells and in human neuroblastoma RRM2 is suppressed following chemotherapy.

Ribonucleotide reductase regulatory subunit M2 (RRM2) is a rate­limiting enzyme for DNA synthesis and repair. RRM2 has vital roles in controlling the progression of cancer. In the present study, we investigated the RRM2 level in neuroblastoma tissues, analyzed its relationship with clinicopathological characteristics of neuroblastoma patients, and explored the effect of RRM2 on the biological functions of neuroblastoma cells. RRM2 levels in 67 pairs of neuroblastoma and matched adjacent non­cancerous tissues were detected by qRT­PCR, and its association with patient clinicopathological features was assessed. Using RRM2 siRNA, the role of RRM2 in cell viability was detected by CCK­8 assay, and the effects on cell cycle distribution and cell apoptosis were detected by flow cytometry. Hoechst 33342 staining was also performed. For RRM2 protein detection in cells and tissues, western blot analyses were employed. Our results revealed that RRM2 expression was significant higher in neuroblastoma tissues than that noted in adjacent non­cancerous tissues at both the mRNA and protein levels. The increased RRM2 level was significantly associated with clinical stage. RRM2 levels were suppressed in stage III and IV tumors in the chemotherapy subgroup, compared with levels noted in tumors in the preoperative non­chemotherapy subgroup. RRM2 siRNA significantly inhibited cell viability in the SH­5Y5Y cells, induced cell arrest in the G0/G1 phase, and enhanced cell apoptosis. Taken together, overexpression of RRM2 is associated with the genesis and progression of neuroblastoma, and may be a potential chemotherapeutic target.

A simple and convenient method to synthesize N-[(2-hydroxyl)-propyl-3-trimethylammonium] chitosan chloride in an ionic liquid.

N-[(2-Hydroxyl)-propyl-3-trimethyl ammonium] chitosan chloride (HTCC) was synthesized through nucleophilic substitution of 2,3-epoxypropyltrimethyl ammonium chloride (EPTAC) onto chitosan using ionic liquid of 1-allyl-3-methylimidazole chloride (AmimCl) as a homogeneous and green reaction media. The chemical structure of HTCC was confirmed by FTIR, (1)H NMR and (13)C NMR. The FTIR peak intensity of amino group at 1595 cm(-1) decreased and that of [Formula: see text] at 1475 cm(-1) increased with the increase of reaction time, confirming the substitution of EPTAC on CS. The degree of substitutions (DS) were calculated from the integral area of (1)H NMR, and the optimum reaction condition was obtained, namely, reaction time of 8h, temperature of 80°C and [Formula: see text] of 3/1. The degree of crystallinity and thermal properties of HTCC were characterized by XRD, TG, DSC, and DMA methods. Data from XRD, TG, DSC and DMA show that the degree of crystallinity, thermal stability, as well as glass transition temperature of HTCC decreased with the increase of DS. The reaction mechanism of chitosan with EPTAC in AmimCl was elucidated by performing density functional theory (DFT) calculations.

Unusual physiology of scale-less carp, Gymnocypris przewalskii, in Lake Qinghai: a high altitude alkaline saline lake.

The scale-less carp (Gymnocypris przewalskii) inhabits Lake Qinghai located on the Qinghai-Tibet plateau (elevation, 3200 m) in western China. The lake waters are alkaline (pH 9.4, titratable alkalinity=30 mmol l(-1)), Mg(2+)-rich (18.7 mmol l(-1)), Ca(2+)-poor (0.30 mmol l(-1)) and saline (9 per thousand ). These fish make annual spawning migrations into freshwater rivers. We investigated the physiology of nitrogen excretion and ionoregulation of fish from the lake and river. Fish from both waters were ammonotelic, although ammonia-N excretion rates were lower in lake fish (175 vs. 344 micromol kg(-1) h(-1), P<0.05) resulting in unusually high levels of ammonia in blood plasma (2.23 vs. 0.32 mmol l(-1)), bile, liver, muscle and brain. Exposure to 0.4 mmol l(-1) total ammonia in lake water ([NH(3)]=0.16 mmol l(-1)) killed fish within 8 h. River fish survived exposure to 1.0 mmol l(-1) total ammonia in river water at pH 8.0 ([NH(3)]=0.023 mmol l(-1)) for 24 h suggesting high ammonia tolerance in lake fish. High glutamate dehydrogenase and glutamine synthetase activities in tissues probably allow the fish to alleviate ammonia toxicity by amino acid accumulation. Neither lake nor river fish relied on urea excretion to remove excess N. Urea-N excretion rates were below 20 micromol kg(-1) h(-1) for both groups, and levels of urea in plasma and tissues were moderate. When exposed to elevated ammonia, urea-N excretion increased slightly (approximately 50 micromol kg(-1) h(-1)) and liver and muscle urea levels increased in the river fish. Plasma ion levels were within the range typical of cyprinids, but river fish had significantly higher plasma [Na(+)] and [Cl(-)] and lower [K(+)] than fish from the lake. During 48-h lake-to-river water transfer, plasma Na(+) and Cl(-) levels rose significantly. Significantly higher Na(+)/K(+)-ATPase activity in the gills of river fish may be related to the higher plasma ion levels. Plasma [Mg(2+)] and [Ca(2+)] were tightly regulated despite the great differences in the lake and river water levels.