Developmental pleiotropy of SDP1 from seedling to mature stages in B. napus.

Rapeseed, an important oil crop, relies on robust seedling emergence for optimal yields. Seedling emergence in the field is vulnerable to various factors, among which inadequate self-supply of energy is crucial to limiting seedling growth in early stage. SUGAR-DEPENDENT1 (SDP1) initiates triacylglycerol (TAG) degradation, yet its detailed function has not been determined in B. napus. Here, we focused on the effects of plant growth during whole growth stages and energy mobilization during seedling establishment by mutation in BnSDP1. Protein sequence alignment and haplotypic analysis revealed the conservation of SDP1 among species, with a favorable haplotype enhancing oil content. Investigation of agronomic traits indicated bnsdp1 had a minor impact on vegetative growth and no obvious developmental defects when compared with wild type (WT) across growth stages. The seed oil content was improved by 2.0-2.37% in bnsdp1 lines, with slight reductions in silique length and seed number per silique. Furthermore, bnsdp1 resulted in lower seedling emergence, characterized by a shrunken hypocotyl and poor photosynthetic capacity in the early stages. Additionally, impaired seedling growth, especially in yellow seedlings, was not fully rescued in medium supplemented with exogenous sucrose. The limited lipid turnover in bnsdp1 was accompanied by induced amino acid degradation and PPDK-dependent gluconeogenesis pathway. Analysis of the metabolites in cotyledons revealed active amino acid metabolism and suppressed lipid degradation, consistent with the RNA-seq results. Finally, we proposed strategies for applying BnSDP1 in molecular breeding. Our study provides theoretical guidance for understanding trade-off between oil accumulation and seedling energy mobilization in B. napus.

Construction of Prognostic Model and miRNA-mRNA Regulatory Network for Lung Squamous Cell Carcinoma.

The purpose of this paper was to construct a prognostic model, miRNA-mRNA regulatory network and protein-protein interaction (PPI) network for lung squamous cell carcinoma (LUSC) used data from the cancer genome atlas (TCGA) database. In this study, we first downloaded and sorted out the expression matrix containing 19962 mRNA transcripts (including 502 LUSC and 51 normal control (NC) samples) and the expression matrix containing 2205 miRNA transcripts (including 478 LUSC and 45 NC samples) from the TCGA database. We obtained 389 differentially expressed miRNAs (DE-miRNAs), of which 305 were upregulated and 84 down-regulated DE-miRNAs. Next, a total of 7 prognosis-related DE-miRNAs (PDE-miRNAs) were identified by Cox regression analysis, and the prognosis model consisting of three PDE-miRNAs (hsa-miR-4746-5p, hsa-miR-556-3p and hsa-miR-489-3p) was optimized. Then, we drew the survival curves and found that the survival rates of the three PDE-miRNA high and low expression groups and the survival rates of the high-risk and low-risk patients in the prognosis model had significant statistical differences. In addition, the receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve analysis and independent prognostic analysis confirmed that the prognostic model we built has a relatively accurate ability to predict the grouping and prognosis of LUSC patients. Finally, Cox regression analysis were used to construct the miRNA-mRNA regulatory network, which showed the regulatory relationship between PDE-miRNAs and targeted mRNAs. Moreover, we constructed the PPI network composed of 145 targeted mRNAs and the subnetwork composed of 10 hub-targeted mRNAs (FCGR3A, IL13, CCR2, PPARGC1A, FCGR3B, ACSL1, PLXNA4, LPL, KAT2B and AOC3), which showed the interaction between targeted mRNAs. The above results indicated that the prognosis model we built can predict LUSC patients relatively accurately. The miRNA-mRNA regulatory network and the PPI network of targeted mRNAs illustrated the regulatory mechanisms and interactions between RNAs, which were of certain reference significance for us to further understand the molecular pathogenesis of LUSC and for clinical early diagnosis and treatment.

Kinase CIPK9 integrates glucose and abscisic acid signaling to regulate seed oil metabolism in rapeseed.

Rapeseed (Brassica napus), an important oil crop worldwide, provides large amounts of lipids for human requirements. Calcineurin B-like (CBL)-interacting protein kinase 9 (CIPK9) was reported to regulate seed oil content in the plant. Here, we generated gene-silenced lines through RNA interference biotechnology and loss-of-function mutant bnacipk9 using CRISPR/Cas9 to further study BnaCIPK9 functions in the seed oil metabolism of rapeseeds. We discovered that compared with wild-type (WT) lines, gene-silenced and bnacipk9 lines had substantially different oil contents and fatty acid compositions: seed oil content was improved by 3%-5% and 1%-6% in bnacipk9 lines and gene-silenced lines, respectively; both lines were with increased levels of monounsaturated fatty acids and decreased levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids. Additionally, hormone and glucose content analyses revealed that compared with WT lines the bnacipk9 lines showed significant differences: in bnacipk9 seeds, indoleacetic acid and abscisic acid (ABA) levels were higher; glucose and sucrose contents were higher with a higher hexose-to-sucrose ratio in bnacipk9 mid-to-late maturation development seeds. Furthermore, the bnacipk9 was less sensitive to glucose and ABA than the WT according to stomatal aperture regulation assays and the expression levels of genes involved in glucose and ABA regulating pathways in rapeseeds. Notably, in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), exogenous ABA and glucose imposed on developing seeds revealed the effects of ABA and glucose signaling on seed oil accumulation. Altogether, our results strongly suggest a role of CIPK9 in mediating the interaction between glucose flux and ABA hormone signaling to regulate seed oil metabolism in rapeseed.

The preattentive change detection in preschool children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: a mismatch negativity study.

To investigate the preattentive change detection in preschool children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), we compared the mismatch negativity (MMN) and P3a of event-related potentials (ERPs) between preschool ADHD and normal children using three-stimulus oddball paradigm. Analyzing MMN and P3a components, we found that MMN elicited by deviants and P3a elicited by novelty were significantly reduced in patients than in controls. In addition, the P3a amplitude was positive correlated to IQ and negatively correlated to hyperactivity, antagonistic defiance and conduct problems in Swanson, Nolan, and Pelham IV Rating Scale, parent version. These data provided new neurophysiological evidence for the dysfunction of preattentive change detection and attentional shift in ADHD children.

Gender differences in pre-attentive change detection for visual but not auditory stimuli.

OBJECTIVE: Despite ongoing debate about gender differences in pre-attention processes, little is known about gender effects on change detection for auditory and visual stimuli. We explored gender differences in change detection while processing duration information in auditory and visual modalities. METHOD: We investigated pre-attentive processing of duration information using a deviant-standard reverse oddball paradigm (50 ms/150 ms) for auditory and visual mismatch negativity (aMMN and vMMN) in males and females (n=21/group). RESULT: In the auditory modality, decrement and increment aMMN were observed at 150-250 ms after the stimulus onset, and there was no significant gender effect on MMN amplitudes in temporal or fronto-central areas. In contrast, in the visual modality, only increment vMMN was observed at 180-260 ms after the onset of stimulus, and it was higher in males than in females. CONCLUSION: No gender effect was found in change detection for auditory stimuli, but change detection was facilitated for visual stimuli in males. SIGNIFICANCE: Gender effects should be considered in clinical studies of pre-attention for visual stimuli.

Tribenuron-Methyl Induces Male Sterility through Anther-Specific Inhibition of Acetolactate Synthase Leading to Autophagic Cell Death.

Tribenuron-methyl (TM) is a powerful sulfonylurea herbicide that inhibits branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) biosynthesis by targeting the catalytic subunit (CSR1) of acetolactate synthase (ALS). Selective induction of male sterility by foliar spraying of TM at low doses has been widely used for hybrid seed production in rapeseed (Brassica napus); however, the underlying mechanism remains unknown. Here, we report greater TM accumulation and subsequent stronger ALS inhibition and BCAA starvation in anthers than in leaves and stems after TM application. Constitutive or anther-specific expression of csr1-1D (a CSR1 mutant) eliminated anther-selective ALS inhibition and reversed the TM-induced male sterile phenotype in both rapeseed and Arabidopsis. The results of TM daub-stem experiments, combined with the observations of little TM accumulation in anthers and reversion of TM-induced male sterility by targeted expression of the TM metabolism gene Bel in either the mesophyll or phloem, suggested that foliar-sprayed TM was polar-transported to anthers mainly through the mesophyll and phloem. Microscopy and immunoblotting revealed that autophagy, a bulk degradation process induced during cell death, was elevated in TM-induced male sterile anthers and by anther-specific knockdown of ALS. Moreover, TM-induced pollen abortion was significantly inhibited by the autophagy inhibitor 3-MA. These data suggested that TM was polar-transported to anthers, resulting in BCAA starvation via anther-specific ALS inhibition and, ultimately, autophagic cell death in anthers.

Gender effect on pre-attentive change detection in major depressive disorder patients revealed by auditory MMN.

Gender differences in rates of major depressive disorder (MDD) are well established, but gender differences in cognitive function have been little studied. Auditory mismatch negativity (MMN) was used to investigate gender differences in pre-attentive information processing in first episode MDD. In the deviant-standard reverse oddball paradigm, duration auditory MMN was obtained in 30 patients (15 males) and 30 age-/education-matched controls. Over frontal-central areas, mean amplitude of increment MMN (to a 150-ms deviant tone) was smaller in female than male patients; there was no sex difference in decrement MMN (to a 50-ms deviant tone). Neither increment nor decrement MMN differed between female and male patients over temporal areas. Frontal-central MMN and temporal MMN did not differ between male and female controls in any condition. Over frontal-central areas, mean amplitude of increment MMN was smaller in female patients than female controls; there was no difference in decrement MMN. Neither increment nor decrement MMN differed between female patients and female controls over temporal areas. Frontal-central MMN and temporal MMN did not differ between male patients and male controls. Mean amplitude of increment MMN in female patients did not correlate with symptoms, suggesting this sex-specific deficit is a trait- not a state-dependent phenomenon.

Impaired pre-attentive change detection in major depressive disorder patients revealed by auditory mismatch negativity.

Patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) show deficits in cognitive functions. However, the neural mechanisms underlying the pre-attentive information processing in MDD patients are poorly understood. The present study investigated whether MDD patients have impairments in pre-attentive information processing indexed by auditory mismatch negativity (MMN). The deviant-standard reverse oddball paradigm was used to obtain the memory-comparison-based duration auditory MMN in 24 MDD patients and 24 healthy control subjects. Over the frontal-central area, MDD patients exhibited decreased MMN amplitudes only for the increment condition (150-ms MMN), whereas the temporal MMN did not differ between MDD patients and healthy subjects, regardless of the increment or decrement (50-ms MMN) condition. The MMN amplitudes were not correlated with depression symptoms. In addition, the peak latency of MMN amplitudes was longer in the MDD patients than the control subjects. These data indicate that pre-attentive information processing is impaired in MDD patients. This dysfunction may represent a trait of MDD patients rather than a state-dependent phenomenon.

[Effects of acupuncture at Shenmen (HT7) or Taiyuan (LU9) on P3a and P3b of event-related potentials in healthy young adults].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of manual acupuncture at Shenmen (HT7) or Taiyuan (LU9) on the attention function of the brain, and to lay an experimental foundation for researching brain function and integration mechanisms of the human brain in relation to acupuncture stimulation. METHODS: Ten healthy young college students were selected as experimental subjects. P3a and P3b potentials were induced by novel stimulation and target stimulation with vision and were observed using Neuroscan event-related potentials system at time windows of ms 330-430 or 400-600 ms for observing the change of intensity distribution of P300 after manual acupuncture at HT7 or LU9. RESULTS: The amplitude of P3a and P3b decreased significantly after manual acupuncture at HT7 or LU9, but the degree of decreases affected by the acupoints was different. The decrease of the amplitude of P3a due to acupuncture at HT7 was more significant than acupuncture at LU9 (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: The attention function of the brain is affected by manual acupuncture at HT7 or LU9 and manual acupuncture at HT7 has a greater influence on the attention function of the brain.

Event-related potential correlates of the expectancy violation effect during emotional prosody processing.

The present study investigated the expectancy violation effects evoked by deviation in sentential emotional prosody (EP), and their association with the deviation patterns. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded for mismatching EPs with different patterns of deviation and for matching control EPs while subjects performed emotional congruousness judgment in Experiment 1 and visual probe detection tasks in Experiment 2. In the control experiment, EPs and acoustically matched non-emotional materials were presented and ERPs were recorded while participants judged the sound intensity congruousness. It was found that an early negativity, whose peak latency varied with deviation pattern, was elicited by mismatching EPs relative to matching ones, irrespective of task-relevance. A late positivity was specifically induced by mismatching EPs, and was modulated by both deviation pattern and task-relevance. Moreover, these effects cannot be simply attributed to the change in non-emotional acoustic properties. These findings suggest that the brain detects the EP deviation rapidly, and then integrates it with context for comprehension, during which the emotionality plays a role of speeding up the perception and enhancing vigilance.

Event-related potential based evidence of cognitive dysfunction in patients during the first episode of depression using a novelty oddball task.

Studies using event-related potentials (ERP) to investigate cognitive dysfunction associated with depression have generated variable findings. The differences among reported results are typically attributed to the disparity of the samples. To eliminate the effects of factors such as medication and comorbidity with other psychiatric disorders, first-episode unmedicated patients suffering from depression were recruited in this study. Both depressed patients and matched controls performed an auditory novelty oddball task and ERPs were recorded. The depression group exhibited an increased P2 to standard tones. For the target tones, depressed subjects showed reduced N2 at anterior regions and reduced target P3 in the right hemisphere. In response to novel stimuli, there was a reduced amplitude of the novelty P3 component at the fronto-central region in depressed patients. Our findings suggest that patients with depression in the initial stages show an impaired ability in voluntary and involuntary attention and exhibit frontal lobe and right-hemisphere dysfunctions.

The influence of Mozart's sonata K.448 on visual attention: an ERPs study.

In the present study, the effects of Mozart's sonata K.448 on voluntary and involuntary attention were investigated by recording and analyzing behavioral and event-related potentials (ERPs) data in a three-stimulus visual oddball task. P3a (related to involuntary attention) and P3b (related to voluntary attention) were analyzed. The "Mozart effect" was showed on ERP but not on behavioral data. This study replicated the previous results of Mozart effect on voluntary attention: the P3b latency was influenced by Mozart's sonata K.448. But no change of P3a latency was induced by this music. At the same time, decreased P3a and P3b amplitudes in music condition were found. We interpret this change as positive "Mozart effect" on involuntary attention (P3a) and negative "Mozart effect" on voluntary attention (P3b). We conclude that Mozart's sonata K.448 has shown certain effects on both involuntary attention and voluntary attention in our study, but their effects work on different mechanisms.

[Effect of extremely low frequency magnetic field on the focal brain injury in rats].

OBJECTIVE: To examine the effect of extremely low frequency magnetic field (ELMF) on the brain trauma in rats. METHOD: Using the focal left-brain cortex contusion model, rats were divided into two groups, ELMF group (3 d and 8 d) and control group (3 d and 8 d), ELMF stimulations were given after the brain trauma provided by a coil (phi 10 cm) which was driven by 15 Hz sinusoidal signals so that ELMF strength of 18 mT at the midpoint was obtained. The morphologic changes were observed in these groups. RESULT: As compared with the control group, the extent of the inflammatory reaction and the neuronal damage was apparently lighter in magnetic field group, especially in 8 d group. At the far away region from the injured brain area, the neuronal shape was changed, and the amount of this special neurocyte was larger in magnetic field group than that in control group, especially in 8 d group. CONCLUSION: ELMF stimulation in the present study may alleviate the brain injury reaction. Attention should be paid to the role of the special neurocyte during the brain injury.

[Two types of event-related brain slow potentials in auditory location discrimination (correction of dicrimination) task].

Objective. To study the difference between two types of event-related brain potentials (ERPs) in auditory location discrimination task. Method. Event-related potentials (ERPs) in auditory location discrimination task were recorded in 14 normal subjects and were compared with head-down tilt (HDT) and head-up tilt (HUT) conditions. Result. 1) The subjects could be divided into group I (n=7) and group II (n =7) according to the feature of the target ERPs component (P3). The difference between the two groups was mainly that there was a negative slow wave after 150 ms in the ERPs of group II subjects, and that the reaction time and error rate in II group was higher than in I group. These data indicated that the psychological load on group II was larger than that on group I. 2) The reduction of mean slow potential amplitude during HDT was more significant in group II than in group I. Conclusion. The slow potential amplitude of ERPs may reflect the psychological load and the brain function state. Attention should be paid to the feature of auditory ERPs in space medical practice.