Earth's early continental crust formed from wet and oxidizing arc magmas.

Formation of continental crust has shaped the surface and interior of our planet and generated the land and mineral resources on which we rely. However, how the early continental crust of Earth formed is still debated1-7. Modern continental crust is largely formed from wet and oxidizing arc magmas at subduction zones, in which oceanic lithosphere and water recycle into the mantle8-10. The magmatic H2O content and redox state of ancient rocks that constitute the early continental crust, however, are difficult to quantify owing to ubiquitous metamorphism. Here we combine two zircon oxybarometers11,12 to simultaneously determine magmatic oxygen fugacity (fO2) and H2O content of Archaean (4.0-2.5 billion years ago) granitoids that dominate the early continental crust. We show that most Archaean granitoid magmas were ≥1 log unit more oxidizing than Archaean ambient mantle-derived magmas13,14 and had high magmatic H2O contents (6-10 wt%) and high H2O/Ce ratios (>1,000), similar to modern arc magmas. We find that magmatic fO2, H2O contents and H2O/Ce ratios of Archaean granitoids positively correlate with depth of magma formation, requiring transport of large amounts of H2O to the lower crust and mantle. These observations can be readily explained by subduction but are difficult to reconcile with non-subduction models of crustal formation3-7. We note an increase in magmatic fO2 and H2O content between 4.0 and 3.6 billion years ago, probably indicating the onset of subduction during this period.

TSG-6-Mediated Extracellular Matrix Modifications Regulate Hypoxic-Ischemic Brain Injury.

Proteoglycans containing link domains modify the extracellular matrix (ECM) to regulate cellular homeostasis and can also sensitize tissues/organs to injury and stress. Hypoxic-ischemic (H-I) injury disrupts cellular homeostasis by activating inflammation and attenuating regeneration and repair pathways. In the brain, the main component of the ECM is the glycosaminoglycan hyaluronic acid (HA), but whether HA modifications of the ECM regulate cellular homeostasis and response to H-I injury is not known. In this report, employing both male and female mice, we demonstrate that link-domain-containing proteoglycan, TNFα-stimulated gene-6 (TSG-6), is active in the brain from birth onward and differentially modifies ECM HA during discrete neurodevelopmental windows. ECM HA modification by TSG-6 enables it to serve as a developmental switch to regulate the activity of the Hippo pathway effector protein, yes-associated protein 1 (YAP1), in the maturing brain and in response to H-I injury. Mice that lack TSG-6 expression display dysregulated expression of YAP1 targets, excitatory amino acid transporter 1 (EAAT1; glutamate-aspartate transporter) and 2 (EAAT2; glutamate transporter-1). Dysregulation of YAP1 activation in TSG-6-/- mice coincides with age- and sex-dependent sensitization of the brain to H-I injury such that 1-week-old neonates display an anti-inflammatory response in contrast to an enhanced proinflammatory injury reaction in 3-month-old adult males but not females. Our findings thus support that a key regulator of age- and sex-dependent H-I injury response in the mouse brain is modulation of the Hippo-YAP1 pathway by TSG-6-dependent ECM modifications.

Integrated transcriptome and microRNA analysis reveals molecular responses to high-temperature stress in the liver of American shad (Alosa sapidissima).

BACKGROUND: Fish reproduction, development and growth are directly affected by temperature, investigating the regulatory mechanisms behind high temperature stress is helpful to construct a finer molecular network. In this study, we systematically analyzed the transcriptome and miRNA information of American shad (Alosa sapidissima) liver tissues at different cultivation temperatures of 24 â„ƒ (Low), 27 â„ƒ (Mid) and 30 â„ƒ (High) based on a high-throughput sequencing platform. RESULTS: The results showed that there were 1594 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and 660 differentially expressed miRNAs (DEMs) in the LowLi vs. MidLi comparison group, 473 DEGs and 84 DEMs in the MidLi vs. HighLi group, 914 DEGs and 442 DEMs in the LowLi vs. HighLi group. These included some important genes and miRNAs such as calr, hsp90b1, hsp70, ssa-miR-125a-3p, ssa-miR-92b-5p, dre-miR-15a-3p and novel-m1018-5p. The DEGs were mainly enriched in the protein folding, processing and export pathways of the endoplasmic reticulum; the target genes of the DEMs were mainly enriched in the focal adhesion pathway. Furthermore, the association analysis revealed that the key genes were mainly enriched in the metabolic pathway. Interestingly, we found a significant increase in the number of genes and miRNAs involved in the regulation of heat stress during the temperature change from 24 °C to 27 °C. In addition, we examined the tissue expression characteristics of some key genes and miRNAs by qPCR, and found that calr, hsp90b1 and dre-miR-125b-2-3p were significantly highly expressed in the liver at 27 â„ƒ, while novel-m0481-5p, ssa-miR-125a-3p, ssa-miR-92b-5p, dre-miR-15a-3p and novel-m1018-5p had the highest expression in the heart at 30℃. Finally, the quantitative expression trends of 10 randomly selected DEGs and 10 DEMs were consistent with the sequencing data, indicating the reliability of the results. CONCLUSIONS: In summary, this study provides some fundamental data for subsequent in-depth research into the molecular regulatory mechanisms of A. sapidissima response to heat stress, and for the selective breeding of high temperature tolerant varieties.

Electrochemical promotion of organic waste fermentation: Research advances and prospects.

The current methods of treating organic waste suffer from limited resource usage and low product value. Research and development of value-added products emerges as an unavoidable trend for future growth. Electro-fermentation (EF) is a technique employed to stimulate cell proliferation, expedite microbial metabolism, and enhance the production of value-added products by administering minute voltages or currents in the fermentation system. This method represents a novel research direction lying at the crossroads of electrochemistry and biology. This article documents the current progress of EF for a range of value-added products, including gaseous fuels, organic acids, and other organics. It also presents novel value-added products, such as 1,3-propanediol, 3-hydroxypropionic acid, succinic acid, acrylic acid, and lysine. The latest research trends suggest a focus on EF for cogeneration of value-added products, studying microbial community structure and electroactive bacteria, exploring electron transfer mechanisms in EF systems, developing effective methods for nutrient recovery of nitrogen and phosphorus, optimizing EF conditions, and utilizing biosensors and artificial neural networks in this area. In this paper, an analysis is conducted on the challenges that currently exist regarding the selection of conductive materials, optimization of electrode materials, and development of bioelectrochemical system (BES) coupling processes in EF systems. The aim is to provide a reference for the development of more efficient, advanced, and value-added EF technologies. Overall, this paper aims to provide references and ideas for the development of more efficient and advanced EF technology.

Proteomics and metabolomics analysis of American shad (Alosa sapidissima) liver responses to heat stress.

The dramatic changes in the global climate pose a major threat to the survival of many organisms, including fish. To date, the regulatory mechanisms behind the physiological responses of fish to temperature changes have been studied, and a comprehensive analysis of the regulatory mechanisms of temperature tolerance will help to propose effective strategies for fish to cope with global warming. In this study, we investigated the expression profiles of proteins and metabolites in liver tissues of American shad (Alosa sapidissima) corresponding to different water temperatures (24 °C, 27 °C and 30 °C) at various times (1-month intervals) under natural culture conditions. Proteomic analysis showed that the expression levels of the heat shock protein family (e.g. HSPE1, HSP70, HSPA5 and HSPA.1) increase significantly with temperature and that many differentially expressed proteins were highly enriched especially in pathways related to the endoplasmic reticulum, oxidative phosphorylation and glycolysis/gluconeogenesis processes. In addition, the results of conjoint metabolomics and proteomics analysis suggested that the contents of several important amino acids and chemical compounds, including L-serine, L-isoleucine, L-cystine, choline and betaine, changed significantly under high-temperature environmental stress, affecting the metabolic levels of starch, amino acid and glucose, which is thought to represent a possible energy conservation method for A. sapidissima to cope with rapid changes in external temperature. In summary, our findings demonstrate that living under high temperatures for a long period of time leads to different physiological defense responses in A. sapidissima, which provides some new ideas for analyzing the molecular regulatory patterns of adaptation to high temperature and also provides a theoretical basis for the subsequent improvement of fish culture in response to global warming.

Ultrasound-assisted ethanol/K2HPO4 aqueous two-phase extraction of polysaccharides from Plantago asiatica L. seeds: Process optimization, physicochemical properties, and antioxidant activity.

INTRODUCTION: The seeds of Plantago asiatica L., a folk herb, are rich in polysaccharides that possess antioxidant, antidiabetic, and anti-inflammatory properties. Polysaccharides with lower molecular weights generally exhibit higher biological activity, so a method to efficiently extract low-molecular-weight polysaccharides from P. asiatica L. seeds (PLPs) is needed. OBJECTIVES: The aim was to establish an efficient method for extracting polysaccharides from P. asiatica L. seeds while preserving their activity. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Response surface methodology was applied to determine the optimal polysaccharide extraction conditions. Subsequently, the extracted polysaccharides were characterized to determine their monosaccharide composition, physicochemical properties, and molecular weight. Their antioxidant activity was evaluated by measuring their ability to scavenge DPPH and ABTS free radicals. RESULTS: An extraction yield of 9.17% was achieved under an ethanol concentration of 18.0% (w/w), a K2HPO4 concentration of 27.8% (w/w), a solvent-to-material ratio of 30:1 (mL/g), an ultrasound power of 203 W, and an extraction time of 39 min. Structural analyses indicated that this method might cause physicochemical changes in the conformation of PLPs and induce the degradation of PLP side chains but not the backbone. The antioxidant assay results showed that the DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging rates of PLPs were 48.3% and 49.2%, respectively, while in the control group the radical scavenging rates were 35.5% and 37.1%, respectively. CONCLUSION: The established method for extracting polysaccharides from P. asiatica L. seeds is efficient and reliable. The polysaccharides could be used as an important resource with antioxidant activity.

Molecular characterization and function of hif1a and fih1 in response to acute thermal stress in American shad (Alosa sapidissima).

In order to evaluate the function of hypoxia-inducible factor-1 alpha (hif1α) and factor inhibiting hif1α (fih1) in response to thermal stress, we first conducted a functional analysis of A. sapidissima hif1α and fih1, and determined hif1α and fih1 expressions in different tissues in response to thermal stress based on identified housekeeping genes (HKGs). The results showed that hif1α and fih1 were mainly located in the nucleus and cytoplasm. The full length cDNA sequence of hif1α and fih1 was 4073 bp and 2759 bp, respectively. The cDNA sequence of hif1α includes 15 exons encoding 750 amino acid residues, and the full length cDNA sequence of fih1 contains 9 exons encoding 354 amino acid residues. During the acute thermal stress transferring from 16 ± 0.5 °C (control) to 20 ± 0.5 °C, 25 ± 0.5 °C, and 30 ± 0.5 °C for 15 min, it was found that the expression trends of hif1α and fih1 showed an inhibitory regulation in the heart, while they consistently expressed in brain, intestine, muscle, gill, kidney and liver. In conclusion, this is the first study to identify the tissue-specific HKGs in A. sapidissima and found that ef1α and ß-actin are the most suitable HKGs. Hif1α and Fih1 are mainly the nuclear and cytoplasmic proteins, respectively, having high levels in the heart and brain. Alosa sapidissima countered a temperature increase from 16 to 25 ℃ by regulating the expressions of hif1α and fih1, but their physiological regulatory functions were unable to cope with acute thermal stress when the temperature difference was 14 ℃ (from 16 to 30 ℃).

Sex Difference in Capillary Reperfusion After Transient Middle Cerebral Artery Occlusion in Diabetic Mice.

BACKGROUND: Type 2 diabetes (DM2) exacerbates stroke injury, reduces efficacy of endovascular therapy, and worsens long-term functional outcome. Sex differences exist in stroke incidence, response to therapy, poststroke microvascular dysfunction, and functional recovery. In this study, we tested the hypotheses that poor outcome after stroke in the setting of DM2 is linked to impaired microvascular tissue reperfusion and that male and female DM2 mice exhibit different microvascular reperfusion response after transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO). METHODS: Transient MCAO was induced for 60 minutes using an intraluminal filament in young adult DM2 and nondiabetic control male and female mice. Capillary flux in deep cortical layers was assessed using optical coherence tomography-based optical microangiography (OMAG), and associated regional brain infarct size was evaluated by hematoxylin and eosin staining. RESULTS: Compared to baseline, MCAO reduced absolute capillary red blood cell flux by 84% at 24 hours post-MCAO in male DM2 (P<0.001) but not male control mice. When normalized to pre-MCAO baseline, red blood cell flux 24 hours after stroke was 64% lower in male DM2 mice than male nondiabetic controls (P<0.01). In females, MCAO decreased capillary flux by 48% at 24 hours post-MCAO compared with baseline in DM2 (P<0.05) but not in control mice. Red blood cell flux of female DM2 mice did not differ from that of nondiabetic controls either before or 24 hours after MCAO. Furthermore, normalized capillary flux 24 hours after MCAO failed to differ between female DM2 mice and nondiabetic controls. Concomitantly, male but not female DM2 mice experienced 25% larger infarct in caudate-putamen versus respective nondiabetic controls (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: DM2 impairs capillary perfusion and exacerbates ischemic deep brain injury in male but not female young adult mice. Premenopausal females appear to be protected against DM2-related capillary dysfunction and brain injury.

microRNA regulation of skin pigmentation in golden-back mutant of crucian carp from a rice-fish integrated farming system.

BACKGROUND: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are endogenous small non-coding RNAs (21-25 nucleotides) that act as essential components of several biological processes. Golden-back crucian carp (GBCrC, Carassius auratus) is a naturally mutant species of carp that has two distinct body skin color types (golden and greenish-grey), making it an excellent model for research on the genetic basis of pigmentation. Here, we performed small RNA (sRNA) analysis on the two different skin colors via Illumina sequencing. RESULTS: A total of 679 known miRNAs and 254 novel miRNAs were identified, of which 32 were detected as miRNAs with significant differential expression (DEMs). 23,577 genes were projected to be the targets of 32 DEMs, primarily those involved in melanogenesis, adrenergic signaling in cardiomyocytes, MAPK signaling pathway and wnt signaling pathway by functional enrichment. Furthermore, we built an interaction module of mRNAs, proteins and miRNAs based on 10 up-regulated and 13 down-regulated miRNAs in golden skin. In addition to transcriptional destabilization and translational suppression, we discovered that miRNAs and their target genes were expressed in the same trend at both the transcriptional and translational levels. Finally, we discovered that miR-196d could be indirectly implicated in regulating melanocyte synthesis and motility in the skin by targeting to myh7 (myosin-7) gene through the luciferase reporter assay, antagomir silencing in vivo and qRT-PCR techniques. CONCLUSIONS: Our study gives a systematic examination of the miRNA profiles expressed in the skin of GBCrC, assisting in the comprehension of the intricate molecular regulation of body color polymorphism and providing insights for C. auratus breeding research.

Anaerobic fermentation of organic solid waste: Recent updates in substrates, products, and the process with multiple products co-production.

The effective conversion and recycling of organic solid waste contribute to the resolution of widespread issues such as global environmental pollution, energy scarcity and resource depletion. The anaerobic fermentation technology provides for the effective treatment of organic solid waste and the generation of various products. The analysis, which is based on bibliometrics, concentrates on the valorisation of affordable and easily accessible raw materials with high organic matter content as well as the production of clean energy substances and high value-added platform products. The processing and application status of fermentation raw materials such as waste activated sludge, food waste, microalgae and crude glycerol are investigated. To analyse the status of the preparation and engineering applications of the products, the fermentation products biohydrogen, VFAs, biogas, ethanol, succinic acid, lactic acid, and butanol are employed as representatives. Simultaneously, the anaerobic biorefinery process with multiple product co-production is sorted out. Product co-production can reduce waste discharge, enhance resource recovery efficiency, and serve as a model for improving anaerobic fermentation economics.

The cross-sectional area ratio of a specific part of the flexor pollicis longus tendon- a stable sonographic measurement for trigger thumb: a cross-sectional trial.

BACKGROUND: Trigger thumb is a pathologic condition of the digital pulleys and flexor tendons. To find a cutoff value of the cross-sectional area ratio of specific parts of the flexor pollicis longus tendon to diagnosis trigger thumb in the high-frequency ultrasound examination. METHODS: We evaluated 271 healthy volunteers and 57 patients with clinical diagnosis of trigger thumb. The cross-sectional area of the metacarpophalangeal joint of flexor pollicis longus tendon (C1) and the cross-sectional area of the midpoint of the first metacarpal of flexor pollicis longus tendon (C2) were analyzed. RESULTS: There is no difference between gender, age and left and right hands in the ratio of C1 to C2 (C1/ C2). The mean of C1/ C2 in the healthy thumb was 0.983 ± 0.103, which was significantly smaller in comparison to the diseased thumb (P < 0.05). Based on the receiver operating characteristic curve, we chose the diagnostic cut-off value for the C1/ C2 to be 1.362 and 1.153 in order to differ a trigger thumb from children and adults. CONCLUSIONS: The C1/ C2 of the healthy thumb was relatively stable, with a mean value of 0.983 ± 0.103. The cutoff value of C1/C2 to distinguish healthy thumb from diseased thumb in children and adults were 1.362 and 1.153, respectively.

Nonintrusive wind blade fault detection using a deep learning approach by exploring acoustic information.

Various physical characteristics, including ultrasonic waves, active acoustic emissions, vibrations, and thermal imaging, have been used for blade fault detection. In this work, we propose using the sound produced by spinning wind blades to identify faults. To the best of our knowledge, passive acoustic information has not yet been explored for this task. In particular, we develop three networks targeting different scenarios. The main contributions of this work are threefold. First, when normal and aberrant data are available for supervised learning, an attention-convolutional recurrent neural network is designed to show the feasibility of using passive sound information to conduct fault detection. Second, in the absence of abnormal training data, we build a normal-encoder network to learn the distributions of normal data through semisupervised learning, which avoids the requirement of abnormal training data. Third, when multiple devices are used to collect the data, due to different properties of devices, there is a domain mismatch issue. To overcome this, we create an adversarial domain adaptive network to close the gap between the source and target domains. Acoustic signal datasets of actual wind turbine operations are collected to evaluate our fault detection systems. The findings demonstrate that the proposed systems offer high classification accuracy and indicate the feasibility of passive acoustic signal-based wind turbine blade fault detection with one step close to automatic detection.

Phase Deflectometry for Defect Detection of High Reflection Objects.

A method for detecting the surface defects of high reflection objects using phase deflection is proposed. The abrupt change in the surface gradient at the defect leads to the change in the fringe phase. Therefore, Gray code combined with a four-step phase-shift method was employed to obtain the surface gradients to characterize the defects. Then, through the double surface illumination model, the relationship between illumination intensity and phase was established. The causes of periodic error interference were analyzed, and the method of adjusting the fringe width to eliminate it was proposed. Finally, experimental results showed the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Analysis of Return-to-Zero Error after the First Load of Load Cell.

The return-to-zero error of the resistance strain load cell is most obvious in the first zero-return process during loading and unloading. To improve the accuracy of the load cell, it is necessary to figure out the cause of the error. The influence of the temperature, material, and weld cup were analyzed in this paper. It was concluded that the hysteresis is the main factor affecting the return-to-zero error after the first load. The relationship between hysteresis and zero-return error after first load was obtained by a data fitting algorithm. A method to improve the return-to-zero error after the first load was proposed.

Comparative analysis of the gut microbiota in bighead carp under different culture patterns.

AIMS: To investigate the phylogenetic composition and functional potential of bighead carp (Hypophthalmichthys nobilis) gut microbiome in two rearing patterns (bighead carp polycultured with Oreochromis niloticus in pond A and bighead carp polycultured with Cyprinus carpio in pond B, respectively), as well as the changes of plankton in the cultured water at four different time points. METHODS AND RESULTS: The intestinal contents were sequenced using Illumina HiSeq of bacterial 16S rRNA. Cyanophyta and Chlorophyta were the prevalent phytoplankton in the water, whereas Rotifers and Protozoa were the predominant zooplankton. In all, 779,563 quality-filtered sequences and 8870 amplicon sequence variants were obtained from 24 samples that numbered T1A1 to T4A3 and T1B1 to T4B3, resulting in 35 phyla, with Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Fusobacteria and Cyanobacteria dominating. According to alpha diversity and beta diversity measurements, the bacterial communities were diverse, Chao1 richness and Pielou's evenness were significantly lower in the T2B and T4B groups. The gut bacterial communities of T1A, T1B, T2A and T2B groups differed from those of other samples, which formed distinctly clusters with principal coordinate analysis and non-metric multidimensional scaling analysis. PICRUSt2 predictive function analysis revealed that different culture patterns influenced the gut microbiota metabolic capacity. CONCLUSIONS: Intestinal bacteria belonging to the phyla Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Cyanobacteria and Fusobacteria are better suited to inhabit in various environments and perform specific functions. Furthermore, contact with the external environment and nutrient intake also stimulate the variety of intestinal microbiotas in polycultured bighead carp. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: This is the first comprehensive, high-throughput investigation of gut microbiota diversity in bighead carp during various seasons in two polycultured patterns and provide preliminary information on gut microbiome composition and changes, laying a crucial foundation for future research on fish culture patterns in various environments.

Molecular and functional analysis of the microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (mitf) gene duplicates in red tilapia.

In vertebrates, the microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (mitf) is at the hub of the melanin synthesis regulation network. However, little information is known about its molecular characterization, expression, location, or function in skin color differentiation and variation of red tilapia. The full-length cDNA sequences (1977 bp and 1999 bp) of mitfa and mitfb, encoding polypeptides of 491 and 514 amino acids, were effectively identified from red tilapia in this study. The Mitfa and Mitfb sequences of red tilapia clustered first with O. aureus, then with other teleost fish, according to phylogenetic analysis. Mitfa and mitfb mRNA were highly expressed in the brain, dorsal skin and eye tissues using quantitative real-time PCR. The mRNA expressions of mitfa and mitfb were the highest in the cleavage stage during the early development of red tilapia. Among three different colors of red tilapia, the expression levels of mitfa and mitfb were highest in the PB (pink with scattered black spots) dorsal skin. After overwintering, the mitfa and mitfb mRNA expressions were high in the dorsal skin of PB (color changed from pink to black). Mitfa and mitfb were mostly found in the epidermal layer of the dorsal skin, according to in situ hybridization (ISH) analysis. After injecting mitf-dsRNA duplicates along the tail vein of red tilapia, the activity of tyrosinase and the level of melanin in the dorsal skin both decreased significantly. The mRNA expressions of mitfa and its downstream genes (tyrb, tyrp1a and dct) decreased, whereas the mRNA expression of mitfb increased after mitfa-dsRNA injection. The mRNA expressions of mitfb, tyrb, tyrp1a and dct decreased, whereas the mRNA expression of mitfa increased after injecting mitfb-dsRNA. These findings suggest that mitf gene duplicates may play an important role in red tilapia skin color differentiation and variation via the melanogenesis pathway.

Risk factors for postoperative complications in children with proximal hypospadias with severe chordee who underwent urethral plate transection.

OBJECTIVES: To identify the risk factors associated with developing complications after transection of the urethral plate for proximal hypospadias with severe chordee. METHODS: We used a prospective database to identify patients with proximal hypospadias and severe chordee who underwent transection of the urethral plate and primary hypospadias repair in 2011 and 2021. All patients underwent urethroplasty with a follow-up period of >12 months. The association between variables (age, surgical technique, length of urethral defect, and surgeon volume) and postoperative complications (fistulas, urethral strictures, diverticula and glans dehiscence) was analyzed. RESULTS: Altogether, 493 patients were included, of whom 133 (26.9%) had postoperative complications. Univariate and multivariate analyses revealed that the preoperative proximal meatal position, one-stage repair, longer urethral defect length, and low surgeon volume were significant risk factors for postoperative complications with proximal hypospadias with severe chordee who underwent transection of the urethral plate. A urethral defect length of ≥4.55 cm was considered the best cutoff value for predicting postoperative complications. CONCLUSIONS: Preoperative proximal meatal location, one-stage repair, longer urethral defect length, and low surgeon volume were associated with postoperative complications in patients with proximal hypospadias with severe chordee who underwent transection of the urethral plate. A urethral defect length of ≥4.55 cm was significantly associated with the development of complications.

The stage-specific long non-coding RNAs and mRNAs identification and analysis during early development of common carp, Cyprinus carpio.

Cyprinus carpio is considered an alternative vertebrate fish model to zebrafish. However, systemic times-series research on the lncRNAs and mRNAs during early development of C. carpio has not been reported yet. This study provides the first long non-coding RNA (lncRNA)-mRNA expression profiles during six main early development stages (2 h post-fertilization hpf, 6 hpf, 12 hpf, 20 hpf, 64 hpf and 1 day post-hatching). A total of 51,979 lncRNAs were identified. We screened the top 10 abundance lncRNAs and mRNAs and stage-specific lncRNAs and mRNAs (specificity measure SPM > 0.9). We identified significant differentially expressed lncRNAs and mRNAs (|log2 (fold change)| ≥ 1 and false discovery rate FDR of <0.05). Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis identified numerous signaling pathways. Additionally, the lncRNA-mRNA co-regulated network analysis of two lncRNAs (lncrps25 and malat1) and two mRNAs (mitf and troponin T) were investigated. Our results provide new insight into the role of lncRNAs and mRNAs, and would advance the understanding of lncRNA-mediated mechanisms in early development of fish.

Transcriptome analysis of skin color variation during and after overwintering of Malaysian red tilapia.

The commercial value of red tilapia is hampered by variations in skin color during overwintering. In this study, three types of skin of red tilapia, including the skin remained pink color during and after overwintering (P), the skin changed from pink color to black color during overwintering and remained black color after overwintering (P-B), and the skin changed from pink color to black color during overwintering but recovered to pink color when the temperature rose after overwintering (P-B-P), were used to analyze their molecular mechanisms of color variation. The transcriptome results revealed that the P, P-B, and P-B-P libraries had 43, 42, and 43 million clean reads, respectively. The top 10 abundance mRNAs and specific mRNAs (specificity measure SPM > 0.9) were screened. After comparing intergroup gene expression levels, there were 2528, 1924, and 1939 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between P-B-P and P-B, P-B-P and P, and P-B and P, respectively. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analyses of color-related mRNAs showed that a number of DEGs, including tyrp1, tyr, pmel, mitf, mc1r, asip, tat, hpdb, and foxd3, might play a potential role in pigmentation. Additionally, the co-expression patterns of genes were detected within the pigment-related pathways by the PPI network from P-B vs. P group. Furthermore, DEGs from the apoptosis and autophagy pathways, such as baxα, beclin1, and atg7, might be involved in the fading of red tilapia melanocytes. The findings will aid in understanding the molecular mechanism underlying skin color variation in red tilapia during and after overwintering as well as lay a foundation for future research aimed at improving red tilapia skin color characteristics.

Meta-analysis: Interleukin 6 gene -174G/C polymorphism associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus and interleukin 6 changes.

The gene coding interleukin 6 (IL-6) is a promising candidate in predisposition to type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). This study aimed to meta-analytically examine the association of IL-6 gene -174G/C polymorphism with T2DM and circulating IL-6 changes across -174G/C genotypes. Odds ratio (OR) and standard mean difference (SMD) with 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated. Twenty-five articles were meta-analysed, with 20 articles for T2DM risk and 9 articles for circulating IL-6 changes. Overall, there was no detectable significance for the association between -174G/C polymorphism and T2DM, and this association was relatively obvious under dominant model (OR: 0.82, 95% CI: 0.56-1.21). Improved heterogeneity was seen in some subgroups, with statistical significance found in studies involving subjects of mixed races (OR: 0.63, 95% CI: 0.46-0.86). Begg's and filled funnel plots, along with Egger's tests revealed week evidence of publication bias. In genotype-phenotype analyses, carriers of -174CC and -174CG genotypes separately had 0.10 and 0.03 lower concentrations (pg/mL) of circulating IL-6 than -174GG carriers. Albeit no detectable significance for the association of -174G/C with T2DM, our findings provided suggestive evidence on a dose-dependent relation between -174G/C mutant alleles and circulating IL-6 concentrations, indicating possible implication of this polymorphism in the pathogenesis of T2DM.