Natural variation in Fatty Acid 9 is a determinant of fatty acid and protein content.

Soybean is one of the most economically important crops worldwide and an important source of unsaturated fatty acids and protein for the human diet. Consumer demand for healthy fats and oils is increasing, and the global demand for vegetable oil is expected to double by 2050. Identification of key genes that regulate seed fatty acid content can facilitate molecular breeding of high-quality soybean varieties with enhanced fatty acid profiles. Here, we analysed the genetic architecture underlying variations in soybean seed fatty acid content using 547 accessions, including mainly landraces and cultivars from northeastern China. Through fatty acid profiling, genome re-sequencing, population genomics analyses, and GWAS, we identified a SEIPIN homologue at the FA9 locus as an important contributor to seed fatty acid content. Transgenic and multiomics analyses confirmed that FA9 was a key regulator of seed fatty acid content with pleiotropic effects on seed protein and seed size. We identified two major FA9 haplotypes in 1295 resequenced soybean accessions and assessed their phenotypic effects in a field planting of 424 accessions. Soybean accessions carrying FA9H2 had significantly higher total fatty acid contents and lower protein contents than those carrying FA9H1 . FA9H2 was absent in wild soybeans but present in 13% of landraces and 26% of cultivars, suggesting that it may have been selected during soybean post-domestication improvement. FA9 therefore represents a useful genetic resource for molecular breeding of high-quality soybean varieties with specific seed storage profiles.

Enhanced production of seed oil with improved fatty acid composition by overexpressing NAD+ -dependent glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase in soybean.

There is growing interest in expanding the production of soybean oils (mainly triacylglycerol, or TAG) to meet rising feed demand and address global energy concerns. We report that a plastid-localized glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GPDH), encoded by GmGPDHp1 gene, catalyzes the formation of glycerol-3-phosphate (G3P), an obligate substrate required for TAG biosynthesis. Overexpression of GmGPDHp1 increases soybean seed oil content with high levels of unsaturated fatty acids (FAs), especially oleic acid (C18:1), without detectably affecting growth or seed protein content or seed weight. Based on the lipidomic analyses, we found that the increase in G3P content led to an elevated diacylglycerol (DAG) pool, in which the Kennedy pathway-derived DAG was mostly increased, followed by PC-derived DAG, thereby promoting the synthesis of TAG containing relatively high proportion of C18:1. The increased G3P levels induced several transcriptional alterations of genes involved in the glycerolipid pathways. In particular, genes encoding the enzymes responsible for de novo glycerolipid synthesis were largely upregulated in the transgenic lines, in-line with the identified biochemical phenotype. These results reveal a key role for GmGPDHp1-mediated G3P metabolism in enhancing TAG synthesis and demonstrate a strategy to modify the FA compositions of soybean oils for improved nutrition and biofuel.

Lower-Limb Sensorimotor Deprivation-Related Brain Activation in Patients With Chronic Complete Spinal Cord Injury.

This study aims to investigate functional brain reorganization brought about by the loss of physical movement and sensory feedback in lower limbs in chronic spinal cord injury (SCI). Eleven paraplegia patients with SCI and 13 healthy controls (HCs) were recruited. The experimental task used was a visuomotor imagery task requiring subjects to engage in visualization of repetitive tapping movements of the upper or lower limbs. Blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) responses were captured during the experimental task, along with the accuracy rate and the response time. The SCI patients performed worse in the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT) and the Trail Making Test. SCI patients had a larger BOLD signal in the left lingual gyrus and right external globus pallidus (GPe) when imagining lower-limb movements. For the upper-limb task, SCI patients showed stronger BOLD responses than the HCs in extensive areas over the brain, including the bilateral precentral gyrus (preCG), bilateral inferior parietal gyrus, right GPe, right thalamus, left postcentral gyrus, and right superior temporal gyrus. In contrast, the HCs displayed stronger BOLD responses in the medial frontal gyrus and anterior cingulate gyrus for both upper- and lower-limb tasks than the SCI patients. In the SCI group, for the upper-limb condition, the amplitudes of BOLD responses in the left preCG were negatively correlated with the time since injury (r = -0.72, p = 0.012). For the lower-limb condition, the amplitudes of BOLD responses in the left lingual gyrus were negatively correlated with the scores on the Short Delay task of the RAVLT (r = -0.73, p = 0.011). Our study provided imaging evidence for abnormal changes in brain function and worsened cognitive test performance in SCI patients. These findings suggested possible compensatory strategies adopted by the SCI patients for the loss of sensorimotor function from the lower limbs when performing a limb imagery task.

Antagonistic effects of Lycium barbarum polysaccharides on the impaired reproductive system of male rats induced by local subchronic exposure to 60Co-γ irradiation.

Lycium barbarum, a famous Chinese medicinal herb, has a long history of use in traditional medicine as an antioxidant and to promote sexual fertility. Polysaccharides are the most important functional constituents in L. barbarum fruits. In this study, male rats were exposed to subchronic (60)Co-γ irradiation to investigate the effects of LBP on sperm quantity and motility, sexual ability, serum hormone levels, oxidative status and testicular tissue DNA damage on days 1, 7 and 14 of treatment. It was found that LBP significantly increased the sperm quantity and motility, shortened the erection, capture and ejaculation latencies, increased the number of captures and ejaculations, and improved the sexual ability of male rats. LBP also played a significant role in the recovery of serum testosterone levels, increased superoxide dismutase activity, decreased malondialdehyde levels, promoted oxidative balance and rescued testicular DNA damage. In conclusion, LBP has significant protective effects against damage induced by local subchronic exposure to (60)Co-γ irradiation, allowing rats to achieve near-complete recovery with LBP treatment.

[Study on protective action of lycium barbarum polysaccharides on DNA imparments of testicle cells in mice].

To investigate the protective effect of lycium barbarum polysaccharides (LBP) on DNA oxidative damage of testicle cells induced by hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). The single cell gel electrophoresis(SCGE) was used to detect the breakage of DNA strand and analyze LBP protection against oxidation damage in testicle cells treated by different concentrations of LBP for 1 hour firstly, and then cultured with 100 mumol/L H2O2 for 25 min. The results showed that a certain moment action by H2O2 could induce the breakage of DNA strand. The pretreatment of LBP (50, 100, 200, 400 micrograms/ml) significantly decreased the frequencies of cells with tail moment and the tail length of testicle cells treated by H2O2. It is suggested that LBP itself could not cause the oxidation damage, but it could clean out the free-radical and restrain the DNA damage of testicle cells caused by the oxidative stress.