Integrated application of transcriptomics and metabolomics provides insight into the mechanism of Eimeria tenella resistance to maduramycin.

Avian coccidiosis, caused by Eimeria parasites, continues to devastate the poultry industry and results in significant economic losses. Ionophore coccidiostats, such as maduramycin and monensin, are widely used for prophylaxis of coccidiosis in poultry. Nevertheless, their efficacy has been challenged by widespread drug resistance. However, the underlying mechanisms have not been revealed. Understanding the targets and resistance mechanisms to anticoccidials is critical to combat this major parasitic disease. In the present study, maduramycin-resistant (MRR) and drug-sensitive (DS) sporozoites of Eimeria tenella were purified for transcriptomic and metabolomic analysis. The transcriptome analysis revealed 5016 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in MRR compared to DS, and KEGG pathway enrichment analysis indicated that DEGs were involved in spliceosome, carbon metabolism, glycolysis, and biosynthesis of amino acids. In the untargeted metabolomics assay, 297 differentially expressed metabolites (DEMs) were identified in MRR compared to DS, and KEGG pathway enrichment analysis indicated that these DEMs were involved in 10 pathways, including fructose and mannose metabolism, cysteine and methionine metabolism, arginine and proline metabolism, and glutathione metabolism. Targeted metabolomic analysis revealed 14 DEMs in MRR compared to DS, and KEGG pathway analysis indicated that these DEMs were involved in 20 pathways, including fructose and mannose metabolism, glycolysis/gluconeogenesis, and carbon metabolism. Compared to DS, energy homeostasis and amino acid metabolism were differentially regulated in MRR. Our results provide gene and metabolite expression landscapes of E. tenella following maduramycin induction. This study is the first work involving integrated transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses to identify the key pathways to understand the molecular and metabolic mechanisms underlying drug resistance to polyether ionophores in coccidia.

Formation Mechanism of Well-Ordered Densely Packed Nanoparticle Superlattices Deposited from Gas Phase on Template-Free Surfaces.

Superlattices of nanoparticles are generally produced based on solution chemistry processes. In this paper, we demonstrate that self-assembled monolayer structures of nanoparticles with superlattice periodicities can also be produced on template-free surfaces in the gas-phase cluster beam deposition process. It is found that the packing of Fe nanoparticles corresponds to an average of two-dimensional densely packed lattice with a hexagonal summary. By controlling the nanoparticle coverage, the two-dimensional densely packed monolayer morphology can spread to the whole substrate surface being deposited. A formation mechanism of the ordered monolayers is proposed. The densely packed morphologies are formed by the balance between the diffusion rate of the nanoparticles and their filling speed on the substrate surface determined by the deposition rate, and the ordering of the nanoparticle arrays is driven by the inter-particle attractive interactions. The model is strongly supported by a series of carefully designed cluster deposition experiments.

Role of microRNA and long non-coding RNA in Marek's disease tumorigenesis in chicken.

Marek's disease virus (MDV), the causative agent of Marek's disease (MD), results in highly infectious phymatosis, lymphatic tissue hyperplasia, and neoplasia. MD is associated with high morbidity and mortality rate. Non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) entails long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) and microRNA (miRNA). Numerous studies have reported that specific miRNAs and lncRNAs participate in multiple cellular processes, such as proliferation, migration, and tumor cell invasion. Specialized miRNAs and lncRNAs militate a similar role in MD tumor oncogenesis. Despite its growing popularity, only a few reviews are available on ncRNA in MDV tumor oncogenes. Herein, we summarized the role of the miRNAs and lncRNAs in MD tumorigenesis. Altogether, we brought forth the research issues, such as MD prevention, screening, regulatory network formation, novel miRNAs, and lncRNAs analysis in MD that needs to be explored further. This review provides a theoretical platform for the further analysis of miRNAs and lncRNAs functions and the prevention and control of MD and malignancies in domestic animals.

Photocatalytic H2 Evolution from Ammonia Borane: Improvement of Charge Separation and Directional Charge Transmission.

Co/MII Fe layered double hydroxide (LDH) LDH photocatalysts have been designed from the aspect of employing stable half-filled Fe3+ to trap photogenerated electrons, adjusting the MII -O-Fe oxo-bridged structure to optimize the short-range directional charge transmission and intercalating oxometallate anions into the LDH to further improve light absorption along with electron-hole separation and non-noble metal Co NP loading and reduction to form a heterojunction. These LDH-based photocatalysts are employed for photocatalytic H2 evolution from ammonia borane in aqueous solution under visible light at 298 K. The photocatalytic H2 evolution activity is greatly improved through adjustment of the MII -O-Fe oxo-bridged structure and molybdate intercalation into the LDH. Turnover frequencies of up to 113.2 min-1 are achieved with Co/CoFe-Mo. Alongside the experimental results and materials characterization, capture experiments and in situ DRIFTS analysis are carried out to study the photocatalytic hydrogen production mechanism.

Photoelectrochemical response of Ag-graphene heterostructures: insight into the localized surface plasmon enhanced photocurrent generation process.

We present Ag-graphene heterostructures by combining few layer graphene (FLG) with plasmonic silver nanoparticle (AgNP) arrays to boost the photoelectrochemical (PEC) efficiency of graphene-based nanostructures. AgNP arrays with controlled coverage and size distribution were fabricated on the graphene surface by means of gas phase cluster beam deposition. The photocurrent generation process in the FLG-based nanostructures was analyzed with a PEC amperometric measurement. A significant photocurrent enhancement was observed in the AgNPs-FLG heterostructures compared with bare FLG. It was found that the PEC performance was strongly related to the wavelength and power of the incident light, as well as the density and size of the AgNPs. The enhancement of the PEC response was attributed to the effect of the surface plasmon local fields of the AgNPs, which induce efficient generation and quick separation of the electron-hole pairs in FLG.