Gender differences in factors associated with depression in infertility patients.

AIMS: To clarify gender differences in the demographic variables and infertility problems associated with depression among men and women undergoing infertility treatment. DESIGN: A cross-sectional study. METHODS: We surveyed 380 women and 360 men undergoing infertility treatment at the reproductive medicine center of a hospital in China's Ningxia Province from March - September 2016. RESULTS: For women, ethnicity, the number of clinic visits, social concern, and sexual concern were factors linked with depression symptoms. For men, treatment cost pressure and social concern were significantly associated with depression symptoms. CONCLUSION: Psychological counseling and intervention programs should be integrated into in-vitro fertilization treatments and interventions should be targeted based on gender differences. IMPACT: The provision of treatment-related sexual knowledge by nurses is indispensable for infertile participants. Mental health policies should be developed to facilitate the implementation of psychological services. Psychological counseling and intervention programs should be integrated into in vitro fertilization treatment to help men and women with infertility cope with psychological distress.

Gene expression profiling of Sinapis alba leaves under drought stress and rewatering growth conditions with Illumina deep sequencing.

Sinapis alba has many desirable agronomic traits including tolerance to drought. In this investigation, we performed the genome-wide transcriptional profiling of S. alba leaves under drought stress and rewatering growth conditions in an attempt to identify candidate genes involved in drought tolerance, using the Illumina deep sequencing technology. The comparative analysis revealed numerous changes in gene expression level attributable to the drought stress, which resulted in the down-regulation of 309 genes and the up-regulation of 248 genes. Gene ontology analysis revealed that the differentially expressed genes were mainly involved in cell division and catalytic and metabolic processes. Our results provide useful information for further analyses of the drought stress tolerance in Sinapis, and will facilitate molecular breeding for Brassica crop plants.

Identification and characterization of a novel delta6-fatty acid desaturase gene from Rhizopus nigricans.

Fatty acid composition of fungi is analysed through the gas chromatography technique. With specific activity a novel enzyme Delta6-fatty acid desaturase was screened and isolated from Rhizopus nigricans. In this study R. nigricans was identified as a fungal species that produced plentiful gamma-linolenic acid. A 1,475 bp full-length cDNA, designated as RnD6D here, with high homology to fungal Delta6-fatty acid desaturase genes was isolated from R. nigricans using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and rapid amplification of cDNA ends methods. Sequence analysis indicated that this cDNA sequence had an open reading frame of 1,380 bp encoding a deduced polypeptide of 459 amino acids. Bioinformatics analysis characterized the putative RnD6D protein as a typical membrane-bound desaturase, including three conserved histidine-rich motifs, hydropathy profile and a cytochrome b5-like domain in the N-terminus. The corresponding genomic sequence of RnD6D was 1,689 bp with 4 introns, which was at least one intron more than other fungal Delta6-fatty acid desaturase genes. To elucidate the function of this novel putative desaturase, the coding sequence was expressed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain INVScl. A novel peak corresponding to gamma-linolenic acid methyl ester standards was detected with the same retention time, which was absent in the cell transformed with empty vector. The result demonstrated that the coding produced Delta6-fatty acid desaturase activity of RnD6D which led to the accumulation of gamma-linolenic acid. The functionally active RnD6D gene cloned here defined a novel Delta6-fatty acid desaturase from R. nigricans.

Cloning and molecular characterization of a functional flavonoid 3'-hydroxylase gene from Brassica napus.

A flavonoid 3'-hydroxylase (F3'H) gene, denoted BnF3'H-1, was cloned from oilseed rape (Brassica napus). The gene of 3038 base pairs (bp) contains 3 introns. The complementary DNA (cDNA) consists of 1820bp and has an open reading frame of 1536bp encoding a polypeptide of 511 amino acids with a molecular weight of 56.62kDa and an isoelectric point of 7.08. BnF3'H-1 shows high homology to known F3'H genes, especially F3'H from Arabidopsis thaliana. Untranslated regions (UTRs) may play important roles in regulating the expression of BnF3'H-1. Besides containing a Kozak sequence, the first 77-bp region is C-rich but G-poor, and the 26-bp 5'-UTR contains 3 sites of ACCACT-like sequences. Alternative polyadenylation in the 3'-UTR is adopted by this gene to generate heterogeneous transcripts. Conserved domain search and motif characterization identified BnF3'H-1 as a cytochrome P450. All F3'H-featured motifs, VVVAAS, GGEK and VDVKG, are unchanged in BnF3'H-1. The N-terminal signal peptide/anchor and 3 transmembrane helices were predicted in BnF3'H-1, and its subcellular localization is most probably at the endoplasmic reticulum. Since 16 phosphorylation sites could be predicted, phosphorylation may be a necessary post-translational modification of BnF3'H-1. The secondary structure is dominated by alpha-helices and random coils. Most helices are located in the middle region, while extended strands mainly intersperse in terminal regions. DNA gel blot analysis indicated that 2 different F3'H genes might exist in B. napus. Semi-quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and RNA gel blot analysis showed that flowers have the highest F3'H expression, followed by pericarp and seed, and lower levels in some other organs. This species-featured expression pattern is in obedience to multiple functional roles that F3'H gene(s) play(s) in various organs of B. napus. The BnF3'H-1 coding region was expressed in Escherichia coli, and enzyme activity of the His-tagged protein was demonstrated by monitoring the conversion of the substrate naringenin using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), suggesting that BnF3'H-1 is catalytically functional. RT-PCR analysis suggests that transcription level of the F3'H gene(s) is not the reason for the different seed colorations found in near-isogenic lines (black-seeded L1 and yellow-seeded L2) of B. napus.

[Cloning and expression of a delta6-fatty acid desaturase gene from Rhizopus stolonifer in Saccharomyces cervisiae].

Fatty acid composition of fungi is analysed through the gas chromatography( GC) technique. With specific activity a novel enzyme delta6-fatty acid desaturase was screened and isolated from Rhizopus stolonifer. In this study R. stolonifer was identified as a fungal species that produced plentiful gamma-linolenic acid. A 1475bp full-length cDNA, designated as RnD6D here, with high homology to fungal delta6-fatty acid desaturase genes was isolated from R. stolonifer using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and rapid amplification of cDNA ends methods. Sequence analysis indicated that this cDNA sequence had an open reading frame of 1380bp encoding a deduced polypeptide of 459 amino acids. Bioinformatics analysis characterized the putative RnD6D protein as a typical membrane-bound desaturase, including three conserved histidine-rich motifs, hydropathy profile and a cytochrome b5-like domain in the N-terminus. To elucidate the function of this novel putative desaturase, the coding sequence was expressed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain INVScl. A novel peak corresponding to gamma-linolenic acid(GLA) methyl ester standards was detected with the same retention time, which was absent in the cell transformed with empty vector. The percentage of this new GLA was 12.25% of total fatty acids. The result demonstrated that the coding produced delta6-fatty acid desaturase activity of RnD6D which led to the accumulation of gamma-linolenic acid.

QTL mapping of seed coat color for yellow seeded Brassica napus.

The development of yellow-seeded varieties of Brassica napus for improving the oilseed quality characteristics of lower fiber content and higher protein and oil content has been a major focus of breeding researches worldwide in recent years. With the black-seeded 'Youyan 2' as male and the yellow-seeded GH06 as female parents respectively, F2 population of 132 individuals were obtained. A linkage map was constructed with 164 markers including 125 AFLP, 37 SSR, 1 RAPD and 1 SCAR markers distributed over 19 linkage groups covering approximately 2 549.8 cM with an average spacing of 15.55 cM. Two loci located on the 5th and 19th group were detected for the trait of seed coat color based on the linkage group using multiple interval mapping method and explained 46% and 30.9% of the phenotypic variation, respectively.

Graphene oxide modulates root growth of Brassica napus L. and regulates ABA and IAA concentration.

Researchers have proven that nanomaterials have a significant effect on plant growth and development. To better understand the effects of nanomaterials on plants, Zhongshuang 11 was treated with different concentrations of graphene oxide. The results indicated that 25-100mg/l graphene oxide treatment resulted in shorter seminal root length compared with the control samples. The fresh root weight decreased when treated with 50-100mg/l graphene oxide. The graphene oxide treatment had no significant effect on the Malondialdehyde (MDA) content. Treatment with 50mg/l graphene oxide increased the transcript abundance of genes involved in ABA biosynthesis (NCED, AAO, and ZEP) and some genes involved in IAA biosynthesis (ARF2, ARF8, IAA2, and IAA3), but inhibited the transcript levels of IAA4 and IAA7. The graphene oxide treatment also resulted in a higher ABA content, but a lower IAA content compared with the control samples. The results indicated that graphene oxide modulated the root growth of Brassica napus L. and affected ABA and IAA biosynthesis and concentration.

Enhancement of CD4(+) T cell response and survival via coexpressed OX40/OX40L in Graves' disease.

OX40/OX40L pathway plays a very important role in the antigen priming T cells and effector T cells. In the present study, we aimed to examine the involvement of OX40/OX40L pathway in the activation of autoreactive T cells in patients with Grave's disease (GD). We found that OX40 and OX40L were constitutively coexpressed on peripheral CD4(+) T cells from GD patients using flow cytometry analysis. The levels of OX40 and OX40L coexpression on CD4(+) T cells were shown to be correlated with TRAbs. Cell proliferation assay showed that blocking OX40/OX40L signal inhibited T cell proliferation and survival, which suggested that OX40/OX40L could enhance CD4(+) T cell proliferation and maintain their long-term survival in GD by self-enhancing loop of T cell activation independent of APCs. Confocal microscopy and coimmunoprecipitation analysis further revealed that OX40 and OX40L formed a functional complex, which may facilitate signal transduction from OX40L to OX40 and contribute to the pathogenesis of GD.