Preparation and indoor virulence determination of a temperature-sensitive insecticide against Zeugodacus cucurbitae (Coquillett).

Zeugodacus cucurbitae (Coquillett) is an important fruit and vegetable pest, especially in high-temperature seasons. In our previous research, we developed a temperature-sensitive sustained-release attractant for Z. cucurbitae, that not only can control the release rate of cuelure according to the temperature change, but also shows an excellent trapping effect on Z. cucurbitae. To further enhance the killing effect of the temperature-sensitive attractant on Z. cucurbitae, this study proposed using it in combination with an insecticide to prepare a temperature-sensitive insecticide for Z. cucurbitae. Based on the controlled release technology of pesticides, a temperature-sensitive Z. cucurbitae insecticide was developed by using PNIPAM gel as a temperature-sensitive switch to carry both cuelure and insecticide at the same time. In addition, the lethal effect of different pesticides on Z. cucurbitae were tested by indoor toxicity test, and the best pesticide combination was screened out. The temperature-sensitive insecticide prepared in this study not only had excellent thermal response and controlled release ability, but also enhanced its toxicological effects on Z. cucurbitae because it contained insecticides. Among them, combining thiamethoxam and clothianidin with the temperature-sensitive attractants was the most effective, and their lethality reached more than 97% against Z. cucurbitae. This study is not only of great practical significance for the monitoring and controlling Z. cucurbitae, but also provides theoretical basis and reference value for the combination of temperature-sensitive attractant and insecticide.

Prediction of the potential distribution area of Spodoptera frugiperda and its parasitic wasp, Trichogramma pretiosum.

Spodoptera frugiperda is a migratory agricultural pest with fast-spreading speed, long migration distance, and wide host range, which seriously threatens the safety of economic crops. To predict the trends of S. frugiperda and its parasitoid wasp Trichogramma pretiosum in their habitats under current and future climatic conditions, based on MaxEnt model and geographic distribution data of their historical occurrence, we project the feasibility of introducing T. pretiosum to control S. frugiperda by evaluating on their potential global distribution. The results show that, under the current greenhouse gas concentration, the potential distribution area of S. frugiperda is concentrated in 50° N-30° S, with a total area of 1.74 × 106 km2 , and the potential distribution area of T. pretiosum in the whole world is 2.91 × 106 km2 . The suitable areas of T. pretiosum cover almost all the suitable areas of S. frugiperda, which indicates that T. pretiosum can be introduced to control S. frugiperda. The results of this study can provide a theoretical basis for the monitoring and early warning of S. frugiperda and the use of T. pretiosum to control S. frugiperda.

Metagenomics revealing molecular profiles of microbial community structure and metabolic capacity in Bamucuo lake, Tibet.

Microorganisms play critical ecological roles in the global biogeochemical cycles. However, extensive information on the microbial communities in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP), which is the highest plateau in the world, is still lacking, particularly in high elevation locations above 4500 m. Here, we performed a survey of th e soil and water microbial communities in Bamucuo Lake, Tibet, by using shotgun metagenomic methods. In the soil and water samples, we reconstructed 75 almost complete metagenomic assembly genomes, and 74 of the metagenomic assembly genomes from the water sample represented novel species. Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria were found to be the dominant bacterial phyla, while Euryarchaeota was the dominant archaeal phylum. The largest virus, Pandoravirus salinus, was found in the soil microbial community. We concluded that the microorganisms in Bamucuo Lake are most likely to fix carbon mainly through the 3-hydroxypropionic bi-cycle pathway. This study, for the first time, characterized the microbial community composition and metabolic capacity in QTP high-elevation locations with 4555 m, confirming that QTP is a vast and valuable resource pool, in which many microorganisms can be used to develop new bioactive substances and new antibiotics to which pathogenic microorganisms have not yet developed resistance.

DeepmRNALoc: A Novel Predictor of Eukaryotic mRNA Subcellular Localization Based on Deep Learning.

The subcellular localization of messenger RNA (mRNA) precisely controls where protein products are synthesized and where they function. However, obtaining an mRNA's subcellular localization through wet-lab experiments is time-consuming and expensive, and many existing mRNA subcellular localization prediction algorithms need to be improved. In this study, a deep neural network-based eukaryotic mRNA subcellular location prediction method, DeepmRNALoc, was proposed, utilizing a two-stage feature extraction strategy that featured bimodal information splitting and fusing for the first stage and a VGGNet-like CNN module for the second stage. The five-fold cross-validation accuracies of DeepmRNALoc in the cytoplasm, endoplasmic reticulum, extracellular region, mitochondria, and nucleus were 0.895, 0.594, 0.308, 0.944, and 0.865, respectively, demonstrating that it outperforms existing models and techniques.

Molecular evolutionary characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 emerging in the United States.

SARS-CoV-2 is a newly discovered beta coronavirus at the end of 2019, which is highly pathogenic and poses a serious threat to human health. In this paper, 1875 SARS-CoV-2 whole genome sequences and the sequence coding spike protein (S gene) sampled from the United States were used for bioinformatics analysis to study the molecular evolutionary characteristics of its genome and spike protein. The MCMC method was used to calculate the evolution rate of the whole genome sequence and the nucleotide mutation rate of the S gene. The results showed that the nucleotide mutation rate of the whole genome was 6.677 × 10-4 substitution per site per year, and the nucleotide mutation rate of the S gene was 8.066 × 10-4 substitution per site per year, which was at a medium level compared with other RNA viruses. Our findings confirmed the scientific hypothesis that the rate of evolution of the virus gradually decreases over time. We also found 13 statistically significant positive selection sites in the SARS-CoV-2 genome. In addition, the results showed that there were 101 nonsynonymous mutation sites in the amino acid sequence of S protein, including seven putative harmful mutation sites. This paper has preliminarily clarified the evolutionary characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 in the United States, providing a scientific basis for future surveillance and prevention of virus variants.

Dynamic expression analysis of Vitelloin-related genes in Zeugodacus cucurbitae (Coquillett) driven by short-term high-temperature stress.

Zeugodacus cucurbitae (Coquillett) is an important pest of fruit and vegetable crops in tropical and subtropical regions. Previous studies have shown that short-term high-temperature stress has a significant effect on the oviposition behavior of three successive generations (F1 -F3 ) of Z. cucurbitae (Coquillett). For the clarification of the molecular response of the oviposition behavior of Z. cucurbitae (Coquillett) to short-term high-temperature stress, three Vitellogenin (Vg) genes, namely, Vg-1, Vg-2, and Vg-3, and one Vitellogenin receptor (VgR) gene were selected; 25°C was used as the control treatment; and 33°C, 37°C, 41°C, and 45°C were set as the high-temperature treatments. Newly emerged adults of the F1 generation were treated for 1 h, and the expression dynamics of the target genes were analyzed 7 days after the emergence of three successive generations of adults. Results showed that the expression of the Vg gene in the 33°C and 37°C groups was upregulated compared with that in the control group, and the difference among the 41°C, 45°C, and control groups was small. VgR gene expression level gradually increased in each treatment group with the increase in the number of days and peaked on Days 6 and 7. Compared with the control group, the expression of VgR gene in the F1 generation was downregulated in the high-temperature treatment group over 7 days. On Day 7, the expression level of the VgR gene in the F2 and F3 generations in the 37°C and 45°C groups was significantly higher than that in the F2 and F3 generations in the control group. In conclusion, Vg and VgR are transformed and utilized differently after short-term high-temperature treatment.

Transcriptome profiling analysis of sex-based differentially expressed mRNAs and lncRNAs in the brains of mature zebrafish (Danio rerio).

BACKGROUND: Similar to humans, the zebrafish brain plays a central role in regulating sexual reproduction, maturation and sexual behavior. However, systematic studies of the dimorphic patterns of gene expression in the brain of male and female zebrafish are lacking. RESULTS: In this study, the mRNA and lncRNA expression profiles were obtained from the brain tissue samples of the three male and three female zebrafish by high-throughput transcriptome sequencing. We identified a total of 108 mRNAs and 50 lncRNAs with sex-based differential expression. We randomly selected four differentially expressed genes for RT-qPCR verification and the results certified that the expression pattern showed a similar trend between RNA-seq and RT-qPCR results. Protein-protein interaction network analysis, Gene Ontology (GO) analysis, and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis were performed to obtain the biological significance of differentially expressed mRNA in the brain dimorphism of zebrafish. Finally, a Pearson correlation analysis was performed to construct the co-expression network of the mRNAs and lncRNAs. CONCLUSIONS: We found that 12 new lncRNAs not only have significant gender specificity in the brain of zebrafish, and this finding may provide a clue to further study of the functional difference between male and female zebrafish brain.

Comprehensive analysis of lncRNA-associated ceRNA network in colorectal cancer.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common malignancies and morbidity and mortality are increasing rapidly. Increasing evidence showed the close correlation between aberrant expression of certain RNAs and the occurrence and development of CRC. However, comprehensive analyses of differentially expressed profiles of linRNA in CRC based on large sample size have been lacking. In the present study, based on RNA-seq data obtained from the TCGA (The Cancer Genome Atlas) database, we identified 1176 lncRNAs, 245 miRNAs and 2083 mRNAs whichaberrantly expressed in the colorectal cancer tissues compared with the adjacent non-tumorous tissues. A Kaplan-Meier curve analysis was used to study the overall survival rate of the three RNA-related CRC patients. After constructing the ceRNA network, we performed the KEGG enrichment pathway analysis on ceRNA-related differentially expressed mRNAs and found that these mRNAs were remarkably enriched in the pathways associated with CRC. Combining the differentially expressed lncRNAs with clinical pathological variables of CRC patients, we also found that LINC00400 and LINC00355 not only contribute to the regulation of ceRNA network, but also show significantchanges in its expression in multiple CRC pathological stages, indicating that LINC00400 and LINC00355 can be considered as promising therapeutic targets for CRC.

Analysis of the erythropoietin of a Tibetan Plateau schizothoracine fish (Gymnocypris dobula) reveals enhanced cytoprotection function in hypoxic environments.

BACKGROUND: Erythropoietin (EPO) is a glycoprotein hormone that plays a principal regulatory role in erythropoiesis and initiates cell homeostatic responses to environmental challenges. The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is a natural laboratory for hypoxia adaptation. Gymnocypris dobula is a highly specialized plateau schizothoracine fish that is restricted to > 4500 m high-altitude freshwater rivers and ponds in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The role of EPO in the adaptation of schizothoracine fish to hypoxia is unknown. RESULTS: The EPO and EPO receptor genes from G. dobula and four other schizothoracine fish from various altitudinal habitats were characterized. Schizothoracine EPOs are predicted to possess 2-3 N-glycosylation (NGS) sites, 4-5 casein kinase II phosphorylation (CK2) sites, 1-2 protein kinase C (PKC) phosphorylation sites, and four conserved cysteine residues within four helical domains, with variations in the numbers of NGS and CK2 sites in G. dobula. PAML analysis indicated a d N/d S value (ω) = 1.112 in the G. dobula lineage, and a few amino acids potentially under lineage-specific positive selection were detected within the G. dobula EPO. Similarly, EPO receptors of the two high-altitude schizothoracines (G. dobula and Ptychobarbus kaznakovi), were found to be statistically on the border of positive selection using the branch-site model (P-value = 0.096), and some amino acids located in the ligand-binding domain and the fibronectin type III domain were identified as potentially positive selection sites. Tissue EPO expression profiling based on transcriptome sequencing of three schizothoracines (G. dobula, Schizothorax nukiangensis Tsao, and Schizothorax prenanti) showed significant upregulation of EPO expression in the brain and less significantly in the gill of G. dobula. The elevated expression together with the rapid evolution of the EPO gene in G. dobula suggested a possible role for EPO in adaptation to hypoxia. To test this hypothesis, Gd-EPO and Sp-EPO were cloned into an expression vector and transfected into the cultured cell line 293 T. Significantly higher cell viability was observed in cells transfected with Gd-EPO than cells harboring Sp-EPO when challenged by hypoxia. CONCLUSION: The deduced EPO proteins of the schizothoracine fish contain characteristic structures and important domains similar to EPOs from other taxa. The presence of potentially positive selection sites in both EPO and EPOR in G. dobula suggest possible adaptive evolution in the ligand-receptor binding activity of the EPO signaling cascade in G. dobula. Functional study indicated that the EPO from high-altitude schizothoracine species demonstrated features of hypoxic adaptation by reducing toxic effects or improving cell survival when expressed in cultured cells, providing evidence of molecular adaptation to hypoxic conditions in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

Evolutionary suppression of erythropoiesis via the modulation of TGF-ß signalling in an Antarctic icefish.

The Antarctic icefish, a family (Channichthyidae) of teleosts within the perciform suborder Notothenioidei, are the only known vertebrates without oxygen-transporting haemoglobins and that are largely devoid of circulating erythrocytes. To elucidate the evo-devo mechanisms underpinning the suppressed erythropoiesis in the icefish, we conducted comparative studies on the transcriptomes and microRNAomes of the primary haematopoietic tissues between an icefish (Chionodraco hamatus) and two red-blooded notothenioids (Trematomus bernacchii and Gymnodraco acuticeps). We identified substantial remodelling of the haematopoietic programs in the icefish through which erythropoiesis is selectively suppressed. Experimental verification showed that erythropoietic suppression in the icefish may be attributable to the upregulation of TGF-ß signalling, which coincides with reductions in multiple transcription factors essential for erythropoiesis and the upregulation of hundreds of microRNAs, the majority (> 80%) of which potentially target erythropoiesis regulating factors. Of the six microRNAs selected for verification, three miRNAs (miR-152, miR-1388 and miR-16b) demonstrated suppressive functions on GATA1 and ALAS2, which are two factors important for erythroid differentiation, resulting in reduced numbers of erythroids in microinjected zebra fish embryos. Codon substitution analyses of the genes of the TGF-ß superfamily revealed signs of positive selection in TGF-ß1 and endoglin in the lineages leading to Antarctic notothenioids. Both genes are previously known to function in erythropoietic suppression. These findings implied a general trend of erythropoietic suppression in the cold-adapted notothenioid lineages through evolutionary modulation of the multi-functional TGF-ß signalling pathway. This trend is more pronounced in the haemoglobin-less icefish, which may pre-emptively hinder the otherwise defective erythroids from production.

A novel urine peptide biomarker-based algorithm for the prognosis of necrotising enterocolitis in human infants.

OBJECTIVE: Necrotising enterocolitis (NEC) is a major source of neonatal morbidity and mortality. The management of infants with NEC is currently complicated by our inability to accurately identify those at risk for progression of disease prior to the development of irreversible intestinal necrosis. We hypothesised that integrated analysis of clinical parameters in combination with urine peptide biomarkers would lead to improved prognostic accuracy in the NEC population. DESIGN: Infants under suspicion of having NEC (n=550) were prospectively enrolled from a consortium consisting of eight university-based paediatric teaching hospitals. Twenty-seven clinical parameters were used to construct a multivariate predictor of NEC progression. Liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry was used to profile the urine peptidomes from a subset of this population (n=65) to discover novel biomarkers of NEC progression. An ensemble model for the prediction of disease progression was then created using clinical and biomarker data. RESULTS: The use of clinical parameters alone resulted in a receiver-operator characteristic curve with an area under the curve of 0.817 and left 40.1% of all patients in an 'indeterminate' risk group. Three validated urine peptide biomarkers (fibrinogen peptides: FGA1826, FGA1883 and FGA2659) produced a receiver-operator characteristic area under the curve of 0.856. The integration of clinical parameters with urine biomarkers in an ensemble model resulted in the correct prediction of NEC outcomes in all cases tested. CONCLUSIONS: Ensemble modelling combining clinical parameters with biomarker analysis dramatically improves our ability to identify the population at risk for developing progressive NEC.

Urine protein biomarkers for the diagnosis and prognosis of necrotizing enterocolitis in infants.

OBJECTIVES: To test the hypothesis that an exploratory proteomics analysis of urine proteins with subsequent development of validated urine biomarker panels would produce molecular classifiers for both the diagnosis and prognosis of infants with necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC). STUDY DESIGN: Urine samples were collected from 119 premature infants (85 NEC, 17 sepsis, 17 control) at the time of initial clinical concern for disease. The urine from 59 infants was used for candidate biomarker discovery by liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry. The remaining 60 samples were subject to enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for quantitative biomarker validation. RESULTS: A panel of 7 biomarkers (alpha-2-macroglobulin-like protein 1, cluster of differentiation protein 14, cystatin 3, fibrinogen alpha chain, pigment epithelium-derived factor, retinol binding protein 4, and vasolin) was identified by liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry and subsequently validated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. These proteins were consistently found to be either up- or down-regulated depending on the presence, absence, or severity of disease. Biomarker panel validation resulted in a receiver-operator characteristic area under the curve of 98.2% for NEC vs sepsis and an area under the curve of 98.4% for medical NEC vs surgical NEC. CONCLUSIONS: We identified 7 urine proteins capable of providing highly accurate diagnostic and prognostic information for infants with suspected NEC. This work represents a novel approach to improving the efficiency with which we diagnose early NEC and identify those at risk for developing severe, or surgical, disease.

Point-of-care differentiation of Kawasaki disease from other febrile illnesses.

OBJECTIVE: To test whether statistical learning on clinical and laboratory test patterns would lead to an algorithm for Kawasaki disease (KD) diagnosis that could aid clinicians. STUDY DESIGN: Demographic, clinical, and laboratory data were prospectively collected for subjects with KD and febrile controls (FCs) using a standardized data collection form. RESULTS: Our multivariate models were trained with a cohort of 276 patients with KD and 243 FCs (who shared some features of KD) and validated with a cohort of 136 patients with KD and 121 FCs using either clinical data, laboratory test results, or their combination. Our KD scoring method stratified the subjects into subgroups with low (FC diagnosis, negative predictive value >95%), intermediate, and high (KD diagnosis, positive predictive value >95%) scores. Combining both clinical and laboratory test results, the algorithm diagnosed 81.2% of all training and 74.3% of all testing of patients with KD in the high score group and 67.5% of all training and 62.8% of all testing FCs in the low score group. CONCLUSIONS: Our KD scoring metric and the associated data system with online (http://translationalmedicine.stanford.edu/cgi-bin/KD/kd.pl) and smartphone applications are easily accessible, inexpensive tools to improve the differentiation of most children with KD from FCs with other pediatric illnesses.

TCF7L2 gene polymorphisms and type 2 diabetes risk: a comprehensive and updated meta-analysis involving 121,174 subjects.

Recently, many new loci associated with type 2 diabetes have been uncovered by genetic association studies and genome-wide association studies. As more reports are made, particularly with respect to varying ethnicities, there is a need to determine more precisely the effect sizes in each major racial group. In addition, some reports have claimed ethnic-specific associations with alternative single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), and to that end there has been a degree of confusion. We conducted a meta-analysis using an additive genetic model. Eight polymorphisms in 155 studies with 121174 subjects (53385 cases and 67789 controls) were addressed in this meta-analysis. Significant associations were found between type 2 diabetes and rs7903146, rs12255372, rs11196205, rs7901695, rs7895340 and rs4506565, with summary odds ratios (ORs) (95% confidence interval) of 1.39 (1.34-1.45), 1.33 (1.27-1.40), 1.20 (1.14-1.26), 1.32 (1.25-1.39), 1.21 (1.13-1.29) and 1.39 (1.29-1.49), respectively. In addition, no significant associations were found between the two polymorphisms (rs290487 and rs11196218) and type 2 diabetes. The summary ORs for the six statistically significant associations (P < 0.05) were further evaluated by estimating the false-positive report probability, with results indicating that all of the six significant associations were considered noteworthy, and may plausibly be true associations. Significant associations were found between the six polymorphisms (rs7903146, rs12255372, rs11196205, rs7901695, rs7895340 and rs4506565) in the TCF7L2 gene and type 2 diabetes risk, and the other two polymorphisms (rs11196218 and rs290487) were not found to be significantly associated with type 2 diabetes. Subgroups analyses show that significant associations are not found between the six SNPs (rs7903146, rs12255372, rs11196205, rs7901695, rs7895340, and rs4506565) and the type 2 diabetes in some ethnic populations.

Identification of metastasis-associated genes in colorectal cancer through an integrated genomic and transcriptomic analysis.

OBJECTIVE: Identification of colorectal cancer (CRC) metastasis genes is one of the most important issues in CRC research. For the purpose of mining CRC metastasis-associated genes, an integrated analysis of microarray data was presented, by combined with evidence acquired from comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) data. METHODS: Gene expression profile data of CRC samples were obtained at Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) website. The 15 important chromosomal aberration sites detected by using CGH technology were used for integrated genomic and transcriptomic analysis. Significant Analysis of Microarray (SAM) was used to detect significantly differentially expressed genes across the whole genome. The overlapping genes were selected in their corresponding chromosomal aberration regions, and analyzed by using the Database for Annotation, Visualization and Integrated Discovery (DAVID). Finally, SVM-T-RFE gene selection algorithm was applied to identify metastasis-associated genes in CRC. RESULTS: A minimum gene set was obtained with the minimum number [14] of genes, and the highest classification accuracy (100%) in both PRI and META datasets. A fraction of selected genes are associated with CRC or its metastasis. CONCLUSIONS: Our results demonstrated that integration analysis is an effective strategy for mining cancer-associated genes.

SVM-T-RFE: a novel gene selection algorithm for identifying metastasis-related genes in colorectal cancer using gene expression profiles.

Although metastasis is the principal cause of death cause for colorectal cancer (CRC) patients, the molecular mechanisms underlying CRC metastasis are still not fully understood. In an attempt to identify metastasis-related genes in CRC, we obtained gene expression profiles of 55 early stage primary CRCs, 56 late stage primary CRCs, and 34 metastatic CRCs from the expression project in Oncology (http://www.intgen.org/expo/). We developed a novel gene selection algorithm (SVM-T-RFE), which extends support vector machine recursive feature elimination (SVM-RFE) algorithm by incorporating T-statistic. We achieved highest classification accuracy (100%) with smaller gene subsets (10 and 6, respectively), when classifying between early and late stage primary CRCs, as well as between metastatic CRCs and late stage primary CRCs. We also compared the performance of SVM-T-RFE and SVM-RFE gene selection algorithms on another large-scale CRC dataset and the five public microarray datasets. SVM-T-RFE bestowed SVM-RFE algorithm in identifying more differentially expressed genes, and achieving highest prediction accuracy using equal or smaller number of selected genes. A fraction of selected genes have been reported to be associated with CRC development or metastasis.

Correlation analyses of clinical and molecular findings identify candidate biological pathways in systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis.

BACKGROUND: Clinicians have long appreciated the distinct phenotype of systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis (SJIA) compared to polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis (POLY). We hypothesized that gene expression profiles of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from children with each disease would reveal distinct biological pathways when analyzed for significant associations with elevations in two markers of JIA activity, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and number of affected joints (joint count, JC). METHODS: PBMC RNA from SJIA and POLY patients was profiled by kinetic PCR to analyze expression of 181 genes, selected for relevance to immune response pathways. Pearson correlation and Student's t-test analyses were performed to identify transcripts significantly associated with clinical parameters (ESR and JC) in SJIA or POLY samples. These transcripts were used to find related biological pathways. RESULTS: Combining Pearson and t-test analyses, we found 91 ESR-related and 92 JC-related genes in SJIA. For POLY, 20 ESR-related and 0 JC-related genes were found. Using Ingenuity Systems Pathways Analysis, we identified SJIA ESR-related and JC-related pathways. The two sets of pathways are strongly correlated. In contrast, there is a weaker correlation between SJIA and POLY ESR-related pathways. Notably, distinct biological processes were found to correlate with JC in samples from the earlier systemic plus arthritic phase (SAF) of SJIA compared to samples from the later arthritis-predominant phase (AF). Within the SJIA SAF group, IL-10 expression was related to JC, whereas lack of IL-4 appeared to characterize the chronic arthritis (AF) subgroup. CONCLUSIONS: The strong correlation between pathways implicated in elevations of both ESR and JC in SJIA argues that the systemic and arthritic components of the disease are related mechanistically. Inflammatory pathways in SJIA are distinct from those in POLY course JIA, consistent with differences in clinically appreciated target organs. The limited number of ESR-related SJIA genes that also are associated with elevations of ESR in POLY implies that the SJIA associations are specific for SJIA, at least to some degree. The distinct pathways associated with arthritis in early and late SJIA raise the possibility that different immunobiology underlies arthritis over the course of SJIA.

Comparative Genomic-Based Study of Reproduction-Related Genes in Three Fruit Fly Species.

Zeugodacus cucurbitae (Coquillett), Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel), and Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann) are important pests of fruit and vegetable crops and are difficult to control because of their rapid reproduction rate and egg production. To investigate the key genes regulating reproduction in three fruit fly species, we selected genomic information of three fruit fly species, screened specific genes and single-copy homolog genes, and performed KEGG and GO enrichment analysis on specific genes and single-copy homolog genes of the strong positive select (SP); the results showed that Z. cucurbitae (Coquillett), B. dorsalis (Hendel), and C. capitata (Wiedemann) had seven, 11, and one Vitellogenin-related genes, respectively; Z. cucurbitae (Coquillett) had 84 specific genes enriched in immune system-related pathways; B. dorsalis (Hendel) had 1,121 specific genes enriched in signaling pathways related to cell growth and differentiation; C. capitata (Wiedemann) had 42 specific genes enriched in the degradation and metabolism pathways of exogenous organisms; Z. cucurbitae (Coquillett) may have a stronger immune system; B. dorsalis (Hendel) has a faster developmental and reproductive rate; and C. capitata (Wiedemann) has a higher detoxification capacity. Only one SP single-copy homolog gene (gene name: very long-chain specific acyl-CoA dehydrogenase, mitochondrial) is enriched in the fatty acid metabolic pathway in both Z. cucurbitae (Coquillett) and B. dorsalis (Hendel) as well as in Z. cucurbitae (Coquillett) and C. capitata (Wiedemann). This study provides a molecular basis for studying the reproductive mechanisms of three fruit fly species and provides a scientific basis for developing effective control strategies for fruit flies.

Identification of male and female pupal characteristics of Zeugodacus cucurbitae (Coquillett) via machine vision.

Images of original pupae of Zeugodacus cucurbitae (Coquillett) were normalized, grayed, and segmented to identify male and female pupae of this species via machine vision. The image of each pupa was divided into 25 small areas. The differences in surface texture features in each small area within 11 days were compared. The texture characteristics of both male and female pupae were screened by combining the eclosion of both sexes of Z. cucurbitae (Coquillett). Results indicated that the pectinate setae on the abdominal backplane could be used as a basis for the identification of the male and female pupa of Z. cucurbitae (Coquillett). Moreover, machine vision correctly identified these characteristics with an accuracy of 96.0%. This study lays a foundation for the identification of male and female pupae using machine vision and also for the comprehensive control of Z. cucurbitae (Coquillett).

Technology for Rapid Detection of Cyromazine Residues in Fruits and Vegetables: Molecularly Imprinted Electrochemical Sensors.

Cyromazine is an insect growth regulator insecticide with high selectivity and is widely used in the production and cultivation of fruits and vegetables. In recent years, incidents of excessive cyromazine residues in food have occurred frequently, and it is urgent to establish an accurate, fast, and convenient method for the detection of cyromazine residues to ensure the safety of edible agricultural products. To achieve rapid detection of cyromazine residues, we prepared a molecularly imprinted electrochemical sensor for the detection of cyromazine residues in agricultural products. Samples of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Miller), cowpea (Vigna unguiculata), and water were tested for the recovery rate of cyromazine. The results showed that the concentration of cyromazine showed a good linear relationship with the peak response current of the sensor developed in this study. The lower limit of detection for cyromazine was 0.5 µmol/L, and the sensor also had good reproducibility and interference resistance. This paper can be used as a basis for the study of methods for the detection of cyromazine residues in edible agricultural products.