[Application progress on data-driven technologies in intelligent manufacturing of traditional Chinese medicine extraction].

The application of new-generation information technologies such as big data, the internet of things(IoT), and cloud computing in the traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)manufacturing industry is gradually deepening, driving the intelligent transformation and upgrading of the TCM industry. At the current stage, there are challenges in understanding the extraction process and its mechanisms in TCM. Online detection technology faces difficulties in making breakthroughs, and data throughout the entire production process is scattered, lacking valuable mining and utilization, which significantly hinders the intelligent upgrading of the TCM industry. Applying data-driven technologies in the process of TCM extraction can enhance the understanding of the extraction process, achieve precise control, and effectively improve the quality of TCM products. This article analyzed the technological bottlenecks in the production process of TCM extraction, summarized commonly used data-driven algorithms in the research and production control of extraction processes, and reviewed the progress in the application of data-driven technologies in the following five aspects: mechanism analysis of the extraction process, process development and optimization, online detection, process control, and production management. This article is expected to provide references for optimizing the extraction process and intelligent production of TCM.

Exogenous 1',4'-trans-Diol-ABA Induces Stress Tolerance by Affecting the Level of Gene Expression in Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.).

1',4'-trans-diol-ABA is a key precursor of the biosynthesis of abscisic acid (ABA) biosynthesis in fungi. We successfully obtained the pure compound from a mutant of Botrytis cinerea and explored its function and possible mechanism on plants by spraying 2 mg/L 1',4'-trans-diol-ABA on tobacco leaves. Our results showed that this compound enhanced the drought tolerance of tobacco seedlings. A comparative transcriptome analysis showed that a large number of genes responded to the compound, exhibiting 1523 genes that were differentially expressed at 12 h, which increased to 1993 at 24 h and 3074 at 48 h, respectively. The enrichment analysis demonstrated that the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were primarily enriched in pathways related to hormones and resistance. The DEGs of transcription factors were generally up-regulated and included the bHLH, bZIP, ERF, MYB, NAC, WRKY and HSF families. Moreover, the levels of expression of PYL/PYR, PP2C, SnRK2, and ABF at the ABA signaling pathway responded positively to exogenous 1',4'-trans-diol-ABA. Among them, seven ABF transcripts that were detected were significantly up-regulated. In addition, the genes involved in salicylic acid, ethylene and jasmonic acid pathways, reactive oxygen species scavenging system, and other resistance related genes were primarily induced by 1',4'-trans-diol-ABA. These findings indicated that treatment with 1',4'-trans-diol-ABA could improve tolerance to plant abiotic stress and potential biotic resistance by regulating gene expression, similar to the effects of exogenous ABA.

Identification of tRFs and phasiRNAs in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) and their responses to exogenous abscisic acid.

BACKGROUND: The non-coding small RNA tRFs (tRNA-derived fragments) and phasiRNAs (plant-specific) exert important roles in plant growth, development and stress resistances. However, whether the tRFs and phasiRNAs respond to the plant important stress hormone abscisic acid (ABA) remain enigma. RESULTS: Here, the RNA-sequencing was implemented to decipher the landscape of tRFs and phasiRNAs in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) leaves and their responses when foliar spraying exogenous ABA after 24 h. In total, 733 tRFs and 137 phasiRNAs were detected. The tRFs were mainly derived from the tRNAAla transporting alanine, which tended to be cleaved at the 5'terminal guanine site and D loop uracil site to produce tRFAla with length of 20 nt. Most of phasiRNAs originated from NBS-LRR resistance genes. Expression analysis revealed that 156 tRFs and 68 phasiRNAs expressed differentially, respectively. Generally, exogenous ABA mainly inhibited the expression of tRFs and phasiRNAs. Furthermore, integrating analysis of target gene prediction and transcriptome data presented that ABA significantly downregulated the abundance of phsaiRNAs associated with biological and abiotic resistances. Correspondingly, their target genes such as AP2/ERF, WRKY and NBS-LRR, STK and RLK, were mainly up-regulated. CONCLUSIONS: Combined with the previous analysis of ABA-response miRNAs, it was speculated that ABA can improve the plant resistances to various stresses by regulating the expression and interaction of small RNAs (such as miRNAs, tRFs, phasiRNAs) and their target genes. This study enriches the plant tRFs and phasiRNAs, providing a vital basis for further investigating ABA response-tRFs and phasiRNAs and their functions in biotic and abiotic stresses.

Correction to: Titanium Ions Inhibit the Bacteria in Vase Solutions of Freshly Cut Gerbera jamesonii and Extend the Flower Longevity.

We request that the following corrections be made in our article.

Titanium Ions Inhibit the Bacteria in Vase Solutions of Freshly Cut Gerbera jamesonii and Extend the Flower Longevity.

Titanium ions significantly promote plant growth, but the mechanism is still unclear. Cut flowers are ideal materials for the study of plant growth and senescence. In this study, freshly cut Gerbera jamesonii were used to study the effects of titanium ions (8 mg/L) on the flower longevity. Flowering observation showed that the gerbera vase life was significantly prolonged in the presence of titanium ions. Plate colony counts showed that the amounts of bacteria in the vase solution of the control group were approximately 1700 times more than that of titanium ion treatment group. High-throughput sequencing was used to determine the sequences of 16S rRNA gene V3-V4 variable regions of the vase solutions to analyze bacterial species, their average proportions, and absolute abundance. The results showed that the titanium ions reduced the entire bacterial counts as well as altered the absolute abundance of different bacterial species in the vase solution. The most prevalent bacteria were mainly Enterobacteriaceae, Pseudomonas veronii, Pseudomonas sp., Delftia sp., Agrobacterium sp., Sphingobacterium multivorum, Acinetobacter johnsonii, and Clostridiaceae. In combination with plate colony counts, we demonstrated that all the bacterial growths were significantly inhibited by titanium ions, regardless of their average proportions increased or decreased. These results showed that titanium ions could extend effectively the longevity of gerberas and possess the broad-spectrum antibacterial properties. This study provides a basis for further mechanism exploration of titanium ions action and its applications in cut flower preservation and agricultural production.

Frond transformation system mediated by Agrobacterium tumefaciens for Lemna minor.

The Lemnaceae, known as duckweed, the smallest flowering aquatic plant, shows promise as a plant bioreactor. For applying this potential plant bioreactor, establishing a stable and efficient genetic transformation system is necessary. The currently favored callus-based method for duckweed transformation is time consuming and genotype limited, as it requires callus culture and regeneration, which is inapplicable to many elite duckweed strains suitable for bioreactor exploitation. In this study, we attempted to establish a simple frond transformation system mediated by Agrobacterium tumefaciens for Lemna minor, one of the most widespread duckweed species in the world. To evaluate the feasibility of the new transformation system, the gene CYP710A11 was overexpressed to improve the yield of stigmasterol, which has multiple medicinal purposes. Three L. minor strains, ZH0055, D0158 and M0165, were transformed by both a conventional callus transformation system (CTS) and the simple frond transformation system (FTS). GUS staining, PCR, quantitative PCR and stigmasterol content detection showed that FTS can produce stable transgenic lines as well as CTS. Moreover, compared to CTS, FTS can avoid the genotype constraints of callus induction, thus saving at least half of the required processing time (CTS took 8-9 months while FTS took approximately 3 months in this study). Therefore, this transformation system is feasible in producing stable transgenic lines for a wide range of L. minor genotypes.

High flavonoid accompanied with high starch accumulation triggered by nutrient starvation in bioenergy crop duckweed (Landoltia punctata).

BACKGROUND: As the fastest growing plant, duckweed can thrive on anthropogenic wastewater. The purple-backed duckweed, Landoltia punctata, is rich in starch and flavonoids. However, the molecular biological basis of high flavonoid and low lignin content remains largely unknown, as does the best method to combine nutrients removed from sewage and the utilization value improvement of duckweed biomass. RESULTS: A combined omics study was performed to investigate the biosynthesis of flavonoid and the metabolic flux changes in L. punctata grown in different culture medium. Phenylalanine metabolism related transcripts were identified and carefully analyzed. Expression quantification results showed that most of the flavonoid biosynthetic transcripts were relatively highly expressed, while most lignin-related transcripts were poorly expressed or failed to be detected by iTRAQ based proteomic analyses. This explains why duckweed has a much lower lignin percentage and higher flavonoid content than most other plants. Growing in distilled water, expression of most flavonoid-related transcripts were increased, while most were decreased in uniconazole treated L. punctata (1/6 × Hoagland + 800 mg•L-1 uniconazole). When L. punctata was cultivated in full nutrient medium (1/6 × Hoagland), more than half of these transcripts were increased, however others were suppressed. Metabolome results showed that a total of 20 flavonoid compounds were separated by HPLC in L. punctata grown in uniconazole and full nutrient medium. The quantities of all 20 compounds were decreased by uniconazole, while 11 were increased and 6 decreased when grown in full nutrient medium. Nutrient starvation resulted in an obvious purple accumulation on the underside of each frond. CONCLUSIONS: The high flavonoid and low lignin content of L. punctata appears to be predominantly caused by the flavonoid-directed metabolic flux. Nutrient starvation is the best option to obtain high starch and flavonoid accumulation simultaneously in a short time for biofuels fermentation and natural products isolation.

Genomic profiling of exogenous abscisic acid-responsive microRNAs in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum).

BACKGROUND: Plant microRNAs (miRNAs) are involved in various biological pathways and stress responses as negative regulators at the posttranscriptional level. Abscisic acid (ABA) is a key signaling molecule that mediates plant stress response by activating many stress-related genes. Although some miRNAs in plants are previously identified to respond to ABA, a comprehensive profile of ABA-responsive miRNAs has not yet been elucidated. RESULTS: Here, we identified miRNAs responding to exogenous application of ABA, and their predicted target genes in the model plant organism tomato (Solanum lycopersicum). Deep sequencing of small RNAs from ABA-treated and untreated tomatoes revealed that miRNAs can be up- or down-regulated upon treatment with ABA. A total of 1067 miRNAs were detected (including 365 known and 702 candidate novel miRNAs), of those, 416 miRNAs which had an abundance over two TPM (transcripts per million) were selected for differential expression analysis. We identified 269 (180 known and 89 novel) miRNAs that respond to exogenous ABA treatment with a change in expression level of |log2FC|≥0.25. 136 of these miRNAs (90 known and 46 novel) were expressed at significantly different levels |log2FC|≥1 between treatments. Furthermore, stem-loop RT-PCR was applied to validate the RNA-seq data. Target prediction and analysis of the corresponding ABA-responsive transcriptome data uncovered that differentially expressed miRNAs are involved in condition stress and pathogen resistance, growth and development. Among them, approximately 90 miRNAs were predicted to target transcription factors and pathogen resistance genes. Some miRNAs had functional overlap in biotic and abiotic stress. Most of these miRNAs were down-regulated following exposure to exogenous ABA, while their related target genes were inversely up-regulated, which is consistent with their negative regulatory role in gene expression. CONCLUSIONS: Exogenous ABA application influences the composition and expression level of tomato miRNAs. ABA mainly down-regulates miRNAs that their target genes involve in abiotic stress adaption and disease resistance. ABA might increase expression of stress-related genes via miRNA-mediated posttranscriptional regulation, and our results indicate that ABA treatment has the potential to improve both abiotic stress tolerance and pathogen resistance. This study presents a comprehensive profile of ABA-regulated miRNAs in the tomato, and provides a robust database for further investigation of ABA regulatory mechanisms.

Antipsychotic polypharmacy and quality of life in patients with schizophrenia treated in primary care in China.

OBJECTIVE: In China, maintenance treatment for clinically stable patients with schizophrenia is usually provided by primary care physicians, but their prescribing patterns have not been studied. This study examined the frequency as well as demographic and clinical correlates of antipsychotic polypharmacy (APP) and its impact on quality of life (QOL) in patients with schizophrenia treated in primary care in China. METHOD: A total of 623 community-dwelling patients from 18 randomly selected primary care services were interviewed. Patients' socio-demographic and clinical characteristics, including number of hospitalizations, antipsychotic drug-induced side effects, and QOL were recorded using a standardized protocol and data collection procedure. RESULTS: The rate of APP prescription was 31% (193/623). Of the patients on APP, 89.6% received 2 antipsychotics, 10.4% received 3 or more antipsychotics. Clozapine (35.6%) was the most commonly prescribed second generation antipsychotic (SGA), while perphenazine (17.8%) was the most commonly prescribed first generation antipsychotic (FGA). Multiple logistic regression analyses revealed that patients on APP were more likely to receive SGAs and anticholinergics, had fewer hospitalizations, younger age of onset, and higher doses of antipsychotics. There were no significant differences between the two groups in any of the QOL domains. CONCLUSIONS: Approximately a third of Chinese patients with schizophrenia in primary care receive APP. Further examination of the rationale and appropriateness of APP and its alternatives is warranted.

Comorbid Moderate-Severe Depressive Symptoms and their Association with Quality of Life in Chinese Patients with Schizophrenia Treated in Primary Care.

This study described the prevalence and correlates of comorbid moderate-severe depressive symptoms (comorbid depression thereafter) and their association with quality of life (QOL) in schizophrenia patients treated in primary care. 623 schizophrenia patients were enrolled. Patients' socio-demographic and clinical characteristics including comorbid depression [defined as a total score of 18 or above on the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS)] were recorded. Depressive symptoms (defined as a total score of 9 or above on the MADRS) were present in 54.1 % of patients, while 17.7 % had comorbid depression. Analysis of covariance revealed that comorbid depression was significantly associated with lower mental QOL. Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that more severe positive and negative symptoms, anxiety symptoms, use of first-generation antipsychotics and antidepressants, were independently associated with comorbid depression. Given the negative association between comorbid depression and QOL, attempts to address comorbid depression in schizophrenia patients treated in primary care should be made.

Analysis of DNA methylation of perennial ryegrass under drought using the methylation-sensitive amplification polymorphism (MSAP) technique.

Perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne), an excellent grass for forage and turf, is widespread in temperate regions. Drought is an important factor that limits its growth, distribution, and yield. DNA methylation affects gene expression and plays an important role in adaptation to adverse environments. In this study, the DNA methylation changes in perennial ryegrass under drought stress were assessed using methylation-sensitive amplified polymorphism (MSAP). After 15 days of drought stress treatment, the plant height was less than half of the control, and the leaves were smaller and darker. Genome-wide, a total of 652 CCGG sites were detected by MSAP. The total methylation level was 57.67 and 47.39 % in the control and drought treatment, respectively, indicating a decrease of 10.28 % due to drought exposure. Fifteen differentially displayed DNA fragments in MSAP profiles were cloned for sequencing analysis. The results showed that most of the genes involved in stress responses. The relative expression levels revealed that three demethylated fragments were up-regulated. The expression of a predicted retrotransposon increased significantly, changing from hypermethylation to non-methylation. Although the extent of methylation in two other genes decreased, the sites of methylation remained, and the expression increased only slightly. All of these results suggested that drought stress decreased the total DNA methylation level in perennial ryegrass and demethylation up-regulated related gene expressions and that the extent of methylation was negatively correlated with expression. Overall, the induced epigenetic changes in genome probably are an important regulatory mechanism for acclimating perennial ryegrass to drought and possibly other environmental stresses.

Comparative transcriptome analysis of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) in response to exogenous abscisic acid.

BACKGROUND: Abscisic acid (ABA) can regulate the expressions of many stress-responsive genes in plants. However, in defense responses to pathogens, mounting evidence suggests that ABA plays variable roles. Little information exists about genome-wide gene expression in ABA responses in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.), a model fruit crop plant. RESULTS: Global transcriptome profiles of tomato leaf responses to exogenous ABA were generated using Illumina RNA-sequencing. More than 173 million base pair reads were mapped onto the tomato reference genome and the expression pattern differences between treated and control leaves were assessed. In total, 50,616 transcripts were generated. Among them, 42,583 were functionally annotated in the NCBI non-redundant database and 47,877 in the tomato genome reference. Additionally, 31,107 transcripts were categorized into 57 functional groups based on Gene Ontology terms, and 14,371 were assigned to 310 Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathways. In both the ABA treatment and control samples, 39,671 transcripts were available to analyze their expressions, of which 21,712 (54.73%) responded to exogenous ABA. Of these transcripts, 2,787 were significantly differently expressed genes (DEGs). Many known and novel ABA-induced and -repressed genes were found. Exogenous ABA can influence the ABA signaling pathway with PYR/PYL/RCARs-PP2Cs-SnRK2s as the center. Eighteen PYL genes were detected. A large number of genes related to various transcription factors, heat shock proteins, pathogen resistance, and the salicylic acid, jasmonic acid, and ethylene signaling pathways were up-regulated by exogenous ABA. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicated that ABA has the potential to improve pathogen-resistance and abiotic stress tolerance in tomato. This study presents the global expression analysis of ABA-regulated transcripts in tomato and provides a robust database for investigating the functions of genes induced by ABA.

Soil Microbial Communities Altered by Titanium Ions in Different Agroecosystems of Pitaya and Grape.

Titanium (Ti) is an element beneficial to plant growth. Application of titanium to roots or leaves at low concentrations can improve crop yield and performance. However, the effect of titanium ions on the bulk soil microbial community of planted crops remains unclear. This study aimed to explore the effects of titanium on soil bacterial and fungal communities. Field surveys were conducted to determine the effect of titanium ions on bulk soil microbial communities in pitaya and grape plantations of Panzhihua and Xichang areas, respectively. Full-length 16S rRNA and internal transcribed spacer (ITS) amplicon sequencing were performed using PacBio Sequel to further explore the composition and structure of soil microbiota. The application of titanium ions significantly altered the composition and structure of soil microbiota. Root irrigation with titanium ions in pitaya gardens reduced the diversity of soil fungi and bacteria. However, the decline in bacterial diversity was not statistically significant. Meanwhile, foliar spray of titanium ions on grapes greatly reduced the soil microbial diversity. The bulk soil microbiota had a core of conserved taxa, and titanium ions significantly altered their relative abundances. Furthermore, the application of titanium increased the interaction network of soil fungi and bacteria compared with the control group. Thus, titanium ions potentially improve the stability of the soil microbial community. IMPORTANCE Pitaya and grape are important cash crops in the Panzhihua and Xichang areas, respectively, where they are well adapted. Titanium is a plant growth-promoting element, but the interaction between titanium and soil microorganisms is poorly understood. Titanium ions are still not widely used for growing pitaya and grape in the two regions. Thus, we investigated the effects of titanium ions on soil microbial communities of the two fruit crops in these two regions. Microbial diversity decreased, and the community structure changed; however, the addition of titanium ions enhanced cooccurrence relationships and improved the stability of the community. This study provides a basis for the importance of titanium ion application in crop cultivation.

Flexible response and rapid recovery strategies of the plateau forage Poa crymophila to cold and drought.

Cold and drought stress are the two most severe abiotic stresses in alpine regions. Poa crymophila is widely grown in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau with strong tolerance. Here, by profiling gene expression patterns and metabolomics-associated transcriptomics co-expression network, the acclimation of Poa crymophila to the two stresses was characterized. (1) The genes and metabolites with stress tolerance were induced by cold and drought, while those related with growth were inhibited, and most of them were restored faster after stresses disappeared. In particular, the genes for the photosynthesis system had strong resilience. (2) Additionally, cold and drought activated hypoxia and UV-B adaptation genes, indicating long-term life on the plateau could produce special adaptations. (3) Phenolamines, polyamines, and amino acids, especially N',N″,N'″-p-coumaroyl-cinnamoyl-caffeoyl spermidine, putrescine, and arginine, play key roles in harsh environments. Flexible response and quick recovery are strategies for adaptation to drought and cold in P. crymophila, accounting for its robust tolerance and resilience. In this study, we presented a comprehensive stress response profile of P. crymophila and provided many candidate genes or metabolites for future forage improvement.

Characterization of cold atmospheric plasma-modified dentin collagen.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the crosslinking effect of the radio-frequency atmospheric-pressure glow discharge (RF-APGD) plasma jet treatment on dentin collagen. The dentin collagen was treated by an RF-APGD plasma jet with the gas temperature of 4°C under different treatment times, while the control was a non-treatment group. The dentin collagen was characterized in terms of atomic force microscopy-based nanoindentation, differential scanning calorimeter, Raman analysis and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurement. The crosslinking effect of the plasma-treated dentin collagen was found compared to that of the control group. The elastic modulus and denaturation temperature of the dentin collagen after plasma treatment for 30 s were significantly higher than those in the control group (p<0.05). The RF-APGD plasma jet treatment can promote the crosslinking of the dentin collagen, which is of great significance to improve its mechanical and thermal stabilities.

The Regulation of Adaptation to Cold and Drought Stresses in Poa crymophila Keng Revealed by Integrative Transcriptomics and Metabolomics Analysis.

Poa crymophila Keng is highly adaptable to long-term low temperature and drought conditions, making it a desirable foraging grass of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Here, the widely targeted metabolomics and comparative transcriptome analyses were utilized for the discovery of metabolites and genes in P. crymophila in response to cold and drought stresses. P. crymophila were exposed to -5°C for 24 h and recovered to 22°C for 48 h, as well as drought for 10 days followed by re-watering for 1 day. In total, 779 metabolic features were assigned to metabolites and 167,845 unigenes were generated. Seventeen compounds showed significant up-regulation (variable importance in project >1) under both stresses in the metabolic profiling, mainly annotated as carbohydrates, flavones, and phenylpropanoids. The genes which were positively correlated with these metabolites were assigned to pathways (sucrose-starch, raffinose, phenylpropanoid, and flavone metabolism) using the Mapman software package. Alpha-amylase, beta-fructofuranosidase, and sugar transport genes degraded the glucose and starch to small molecule sugars for the purpose of osmotic adjustment and to provide more energy for the growth of P. crymophila in an adverse environment. The induction of cinnamoyl-CoA reductase (CCR) and the MYB gene as well as the sharp increase in schizandrin, a kind of lignan, showed that this likely has the closest connection with the tolerance to both stresses. Four significantly induced flavone compounds are probably involved in reducing oxidative damage. Our results indicated that activation of the phenlypropanoid pathway plays the primary role in P. crymophila adapting to harsh environments. This study showed the mechanism of P. crymophila responding to both cold and drought stresses and showed the discovery of a new biological regulator against stresses.

The differences and overlaps in the seed-resident microbiome of four Leguminous and three Gramineous forages.

Given the important roles that seed-borne endophytes can play on their plant hosts, comprehensive studies of the bacterial and fungal communities of seeds are of great importance. In this study, we assessed the seed endophytes of three gramineous (Avena sativa, Elymus sibiricus and Elymus dahuricus) and four leguminous (Vicia villosa, Trifolium repens, Trifolium pretense and Medicago sativa) forages using high-throughput sequencing. In total, 1013 distinct bacterial operational taxonomic units (OTUs) and 922 fungal OTUs were detected, with bacteria and fungi per sample ranging from 240 to 425 and 261 to 463 respectively. These seven forages shared a high number of potentially beneficial taxa, including Bacillus, Pantoea, Candida and Helotiales, but the relative proportion of these taxa was different in each seed. Fungal communities were clustered more distinctively by host genotypes than bacterial. Some bacterial taxa may be involved in the recruitment of genera from the same phylum. Three Pantoea sp. and five Bacillus sp. were isolated from seeds, and all showed positive effects on Medicago sativa germination rate under salt stress, and of these, Bacillus subtilis Es-1 and Pantoea agglomerans Ed-3 performed best, but their influence was affected by the seed's microbiome. Rather than simply promoting host plant growth directly, some taxa may also participate in organizing the assembly of plant microbiomes which will influence seed response to biological factors. This study uses a new, high-throughput sequencing based strategy to identify beneficial strains and analyse the interactions between microorganisms and plants to maximize microbial functions in long-term agricultural practices.

Nicotine dependence in community-dwelling Chinese patients with schizophrenia.

BACKGROUND: Smoking is a serious public health problem. Patients with schizophrenia usually have a higher prevalence of smoking than the general population, but the level of nicotine dependence is seldom studied, especially for patients living in the communities. AIMS: This study aimed to examine the level of nicotine dependence in Chinese community-dwelling patients with schizophrenia and explored its associated sociodemographic and clinical factors. METHODS: A total of 621 patients with schizophrenia treated in the primary care centres of Guangzhou were consecutively recruited. The level of nicotine dependence was assessed with the Chinese version of the Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND). RESULTS: 148 patients with schizophrenia were current smokers, and the mean (SD) score of FTND was 5.06 (2.55) for all the current smokers. The prevalence of nicotine addiction was 48.0% (95% CI: 40.0%-56.0%) in patients with current smoking. The patients with schizophrenia had a significantly higher level of nicotine dependence than the Chinese general population. Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that male gender, being unemployed, having a family history of psychiatric disorders, having major medical conditions, first illness episode and less severe positive symptoms were significantly associated with a higher level of nicotine dependence. CONCLUSION: Community-dwelling patients with schizophrenia in China, especially male patients, had a higher level of nicotine dependence than the general population.

Cloning and characterization of farnesyl pyphosphate synthase gene from the ABA-producing fungi Botrytis cinerea.

Farnesyl pyphosphate synthase (FPPS) catalyzes the systhesis of farnesyl pyphosphate and appears to be a promising regulation site of Abscisic acid (ABA) biosynthesis pathway in fungi. Here we reported the isolation and characterization of Botrytis cinerea (FPPS) gene. The cloned FPPS gene carries an open reading frame of 1044-bp encoding a deduced protein of 347 amino acids with a molecular weight of 39.83 kDa, and the coding region is interrupted with a 63-bp intron. Comparison analysis showed that the deduced amino acids sequence share high similarity with other known FPPS gene. Southern blot revealed a single copy of FPPS gene in the genomic DNA. The result of transcription analysis indicated that the cloned FPPS gene expressed constitutively and was not induced in ABA accumulation phase.

The Prevalence of Sleep Disturbance and Its Socio-demographic and Clinical Correlates in First-episode Individuals With Schizophrenia in Rural China.

PURPOSE: This study aimed to determine the prevalence and the socio-demographic and clinical correlates of sleep disturbance in first-episode individuals with schizophrenia in rural China and the factors that impact sleep among individuals with schizophrenia. DESIGN AND METHODS: A total of 104 first-episode individuals with schizophrenia were randomly selected in rural areas in Ningxia, China, in 2015 as the study sample. FINDINGS: In first-episode individuals with schizophrenia, the prevalence of sleep disturbance was 78.8% (82/104). Sleep disturbance was significantly associated with economic status, living situation, educational level, depressive symptoms, and anxiety symptoms. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Sleep disturbance is common in first-episode individuals with schizophrenia in rural China and more attention should be paid in clinical practice to improve the sleep quality for individuals with schizophrenia.