Antimicrobial Activity of Natural Plant Compound Carvacrol Against Soft Rot Disease Agent Dickeya zeae.

Dickeya zeae is a globally important bacterial pathogen that has been reported to cause severe soft rot diseases in several essential food crops, including bananas, rice, maize, and potatoes. Carvacrol, a hydrophobic terpene component, is found in aromatic plants of the Labiatae family and various essential oils. However, little work has been done on its antimicrobial potential against D. zeae. This study aimed to evaluate the antimicrobial activity and the functional mechanism of carvacrol against D. zeae. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) of carvacrol against D. zeae were 0.1 mg/mL and 0.2 mg/mL, respectively. Carvacrol affected the cell membrane of D. zeae, as revealed by decreased intracellular ATP concentration, nucleic acid leakage, and decreased membrane potential. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) micrographs confirmed that D. zeae cell membranes were damaged by carvacrol. Furthermore, a significant inhibition of D. zeae swimming motility and biofilm formation was observed following treatments with carvacrol at sub-inhibitory concentrations, indicating a significantly negative effect on these virulence factors. Accordingly, the tissue infection test revealed that carvacrol significantly reduced the pathogenicity of D. zeae. In a pot experiment, inoculated banana seedlings displayed remarkably lesser disease symptoms following treatment with carvacrol, and the control efficiency for banana soft rot was 32.0% at 14 days post-inoculation. To summarize, carvacrol exhibits strong antimicrobial activity against D. zeae and great potential applications in the control of D. zeae-associated crop diseases.

Physiological and Transcriptional Response of Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae to Berberine, an Emerging Chemical Control.

Berberine, a botanical drug, has great ability to inhibit the growth of Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae. However, the antibacterial mechanism of berberine against X. oryzae pv. oryzae remains poorly understood. In this study, we investigated the physiological and transcriptional response of X. oryzae pv. oryzae to berberine. When strain X. oryzae pv. oryzae GX13 was treated with berberine (10 µg/ml), the hypersensitive response in tobacco, virulence to rice, pathogen population in the rice xylem, production of extracellular polysaccharide (EPS), and activity of extracellular hydrolases decreased, but the levels of pyruvate and ATP increased. Moreover, biofilm formation was inhibited, and the cell membrane was damaged. Transcriptome sequencing analysis showed downregulated expression of gspD, gspE, and gspF, involved in the type II secretion system (T2SS); hrcC, hrcJ, hrcN, and others, involved in the type III secretion system (T3SS); gumB and gumC, associated with EPS; zapE, ftsQ, and zapA, associated with cell division; lpxH, lpxK, kdtA, and others, associated with the membrane; and pyk, pgk, and mdh, encoding pyruvate kinase, phosphoglycerate kinase, and malate dehydrogenase, respectively. Upregulated expression was observed for nuoA, nuoB, and nuoH, encoding the NADH dehydrogenase complex, and atpF, atpC, and atpB, encoding ATP synthase. An adenylate cyclase (CyaA) fusion assay showed that berberine affects type three effector protein secretion via the T3SS and reduces effector translocation in X. oryzae pv. oryzae. It is speculated that the negative growth and virulence phenotypes of berberine-treated X. oryzae pv. oryzae GX13 may involve differentially expressed genes associated with cytoarchitecture and energy metabolism, and these effects on primary cell function may further dampen virulence and result in differential expression of T3SS- and T2SS-related genes.

Different Sequevars of Ralstonia pseudosolanacearum Causing Bacterial Wilt of Bidens pilosa in China.

Bidens pilosa is an invasive weed that threatens the growth of crops and biodiversity in China. In 2017, suspected bacterial wilt of B. pilosa was discovered in Qinzhou and Beihai, Guangxi, China. A variety of weeds are considered as reservoirs harboring bacterial wilt pathogens, but most do not show obvious symptoms in the field. Identifying the classification status of the B. pilosa bacterial wilt pathogen and exploring its geographical origin might be helpful for clarifying the role of weeds in the circulation of the disease. Phylotyping, sequevar analysis, and cross inoculation of pathogens isolated from B. pilosa and nearby peanut (Arachis hypogaea), balsam gourd (Momordica charantia), and eucalyptus (Eucalyptus robusta) plants were carried out. Three isolates of B. pilosa (Bp01, Bp02, and Bp03) were identified as Ralstonia pseudosolanacearum, race 1, biovar 3, and phylotype I, and belonged to sequevars 17 and 44, and an unknown sequevar. The sequevars isolated from B. pilosa were not completely consistent with those of the nearby hosts, and the virulence of these isolates differed when cross inoculated. The Bp03 sequevar was different from peanut isolate sequevars in the same field and was not identical to any previously designated sequevars. The isolates from B. pilosa and other nearby hosts displayed low or no virulence toward their cross hosts (with wilt incidences less than 33.33%). An exception to this was the isolates from B. pilosa, which displayed high virulence toward eucalyptus (with a wilt incidence of 70.00 to 100.00%). This is the first report of different sequevars of R. pseudosolanacearum causing typical bacterial wilt symptoms in B. pilosa in the field.

First Report of Stagonosporopsis vannaccii Causing Leaf Spot on Crassocephalum crepidioides in China.

Crassocephalum crepidioides (Benth.) S. Moore, native to tropical Africa, is an important invasive weed in many countries, seriously threatening the safety of agricultural ecosystem. During December 2018, 100% of C. crepidioides plants exhibited leaf spots in the Kudzu (Pueraria lobata) garden in Tianlin County, Baise City, Guangxi, China (24°40'20.42″N, 106°11'33.51″E), but Kudzu was not affected by this disease. The leaf spots appeared as small brown spots surrounded by a yellow-green halo initially, enlarged to subrotund or irregular in shape, slightly sunken, then developed as a dark brown to dark spot with grey-white necrotic center (Supplementary Fig. 1 a,b), and exuded an orange droplet under high humidity conditions (Supplementary Fig. 1 c). Symptomatic leaf tissues were cut into small pieces (5 x 5 mm) from the junction of necrotic and healthy tissues, and small pieces were disinfected in 75% ethanol solution for 30 s and 0.1% mercury dichloride for 30 sec, then rinsed with sterile water 3 times. These tissues were plated onto potato dextrose agar (PDA) medium and incubated in a thermostatic incubator at 28°C under natural sunlight conditions. Four isolates with similar morphological features were obtained after purification. Colonies of these isolates exhibited creme-orange margins and aerial mycelium was sparse. The colonies formed concentric circles on the surface that were fusco-black, violet-slate and vinaceus-grey (from centre to edge), fusco-black on the reverse after 7 days (Supplementary Fig. 2 a,b), and then the pycnidia and conidia produced for about 30 days (Supplementary Fig. 2 c). Pycnidia of representative isolate YTH-12 were black, subglobose, and unilocular, 95.60-168.27 µm (average 128.32 µm) (n = 40) in diameter. The ostiole was single and central, slightly papillate to papillate and occasionally rostrate (Supplementary Fig. 2 d). Conidia were hyaline, oval to elliptical, aseptate, 2.30 to 5.83 × 1.42 to 3.50 µm (average, 4.36 × 2.03 µm) (n = 50) (Supplementary Fig. 2 e). These morphological characters are consistent with those described for Stagonosporopsis vannaccii (Crous et al. 2019). To further identify the isolate YTH-12, the rDNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region, 28s large subunit ribosomal RNA (LSU), RNA polymerase II second largest subunit (RPB2) gene and ß-tubulin (TUB2) gene were amplified by polymerase chain reaction using the primer pairs ITS1/ITS4 (White et al. 1990), LR0R (Rehner and Samuels 1994)/LR7 (Vilgalys and Hester 1990), Btub2Fd/Btub4Rd (Woudenberg et al. 2009) and RPB2-5F2 (Sung et al. 2007)/fRPB2-7cR (Liu et al. 1999), respectively. The PCR products were purified and sequenced by Sangon Biotech Co. Ltd. (Shanghai, China). The sequences were deposited in GenBank (accession nos. MN892355, MN893911, MN905510 and MN905511). The ITS (522 bp), LSU (1313 bp), TUB2 (380 bp) and RPB2 (1193 bp) nucleotide sequences showed 100% identity to S. vannaccii strain LFNO148 (accession nos. MK519453, MK519452, MK519454 and MN534891). Phylogenetic analysis based on the multi-locus sequences of ITS, LSU, RPB2 and TUB2 was performed in MEGA version 6.0 (Chen et al. 2015). The relative stability of the branches was evaluated by bootstrapping with 1000 replications. The isolate YTH-12 was placed in the same clade as S. vannaccii with 100% bootstrap support. Based on morphology and molecular analyses, this pathogen was identified as S. vannaccii. To satisfy Koch's postulates, the isolate YTH-12 was inoculated on leaves of C. crepidioides plants. Twenty punctured leaves and twenty unwounded leaves were inoculated with a 5-mm-diameter mycelial disc, respectively. Leaves inoculated with sterile PDA discs were used as blank controls. Plants were maintained in a growth chamber (25°C-28°C and relative humidity 80%-90%). Brown spots were observed on inoculated leaves (both punctured and unwounded) about 30 hours after inoculation and typical symptoms appeared about 55 hours after inoculation (Supplementary Fig. 1 d), and the diseased leaves produced black pycnidia and orange droplet 10 days after inoculation (Supplementary Fig. 1 e). All inoculated leaves developed symptoms similar to those on the naturally infected plants in the garden and the disease incidence reached 100%, whereas the control leaves remained symptomless (Supplementary Fig. 1 f). The same fungus was re-isolated from inoculated leaves. To our knowledge, this is the first report of S. vannaccii causing leaf spot on C. crepidioides in China. So far, Stagonosporopsis vannaccii has been reported as a plant pathogenic fungus only in Brazil, causing anthracnose symptoms on pods of soybean (Crous et al. 2019). Crassocephalum crepidioides is a widely distributed weed. If S. vannaccii has strong host specificity, it is possible to be used as a biocontrol fungus to control the weed. Conversely, if the fungus has a wider host range, C. crepidioides may act as a good bridge to spread the pathogen. This study helps to deepen the understanding of S. vannaccii and its associated plant diseases.

Characterization of a new pathovar of Agrobacterium vitis causing banana leaf blight in China.

A new banana leaf blight was found in Nanning city, China, during a 7-year survey (2003-2009) of the bacterial diseases on banana plants. Eight bacterial strains were isolated from affected banana leaves, and identified as an intraspecific taxon of Agrobacterium vitis based on their 16S rDNA sequence similarities with those of 37 randomly selected bacterial strains registered in GenBank database. The representative strain Ag-1 was virulent on banana leaves and shared similar growth and biochemical reactions with the reference strain IAM14140 of A. vitis. The strains causing banana leaf blight were denominated as A. vitis pv. musae. The traditional A. vitis strains virulent to grapevines were proposed to be revised as A. vitis pv. vitis. This is the first record of a new type of A. vitis causing banana leaf blight in China.

Isolation of Methyl Gallate from Toxicodendron sylvestre and Its Effect on Tomato Bacterial Wilt.

We determined that the methanol extract of Toxicodendron sylvestre could significantly inhibit Ralstonia solanacearum in vitro and in planta. One compound responsible for the antibacterial activity was isolated from the ethyl ether extract and identified as methyl gallate (MG) based on its 1H and 13C nuclear magnetic resonance data as well as mass spectroscopy. MG displayed broad-spectrum activity against plant-pathogenic bacteria, and strong inhibitory effects on the growth of plant-pathogenic oomycetes. The half inhibition concentration of MG on R. solanacearum was 8.3 mg/liter, which was tested by the agar dilution method. Disease control trials in planta showed that both natural and synthetic MG could effectively reduce the incidence of tomato bacterial wilt, and there was no significant difference between them in control efficacy. This is the first report on the use of MG for the control of a plant bacterial disease. Because of its broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity and significant control efficacy on tomato bacterial wilt in planta, MG shows potential to be used as a bactericide to control plant bacterial wilt.

[Field resistance of Phytophthora melonis to metalaxyl in South China].

OBJECTIVE: Phytophthora melonis is the casual agent of wax gourd and cucumber Phytophthora blight which becomes a constraint for sustainable production of the related crops. Metalaxyl is one of the principal fungicides for controlling the disease now. The objectives of the present study were: (1) to investigate the baseline sensitivity and field resistance of P. melonis to metalaxyl in South China; (2) to test the occurrence of metalaxyl-resistant mutants from metalaxyl-sensitive wild type strains exposed to the fungicide; and (3) to monitor the development of metalaxyl resistance in P. melonis population. METHODS: Over 400 samples of wax gourd and cucumber Phytophthora blight were collected from Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Guangdong province during 2007-2010, and 193 strains of P. melonis were isolated and purified. The sensitivity of the isolated strains to metalaxyl was tested using mycelial growth rate method in vitro and floating-leaf-disk method in vivo, respectively. The metalaxyl-sensitive strains were induced on PDA plates containing 10 microg/mL metalaxyl. RESULTS: The sensitive, moderately resistant and resistant strains were recorded as 29.0% , 18.1% and 52.8%, respectively, among 193 tested strains. The frequency and level of resistance of P. melonis from Guangdong were higher than that from Guangxi. The strains from cucumber was generally more resistant to metalaxyl than those from wax gourd. The metalaxyl-resistant strains were frequently detected as predominant populations in most of the sampling sites and the highest resistance index (4226.9) was confirmed. Metalaxyl-resistant (M1r) mutants could be isolated from approximately 60% of the sensitive wild-type strains. The resistance level of the M mutants was 189-407 times higher than that of their sensitive parental strains. The EC50 values of 9 sensitive strains from a sampling site without a record of phenylamide fungicide application ranged from 0.0429 to 0.5461 microg/mL. Their mean EC50 value (0.3200 +/- 0.1617 microg/mL) was considered as the baseline sensitivity of P. melonis to metalaxyl in South China. CONCLUSION: Metalaxyl-resistant strains universally occur in South China, especially in the vegetable-growing areas with a longer history of metalaxyl application. The establishment of the baseline sensitivity of P. melonis to metalaxyl will provide a science-based guide for evaluating and further monitoring resistance of the pathogen to the fungicide.

A yceI Gene Involves in the Adaptation of Ralstonia solanacearum to Methyl Gallate and Other Stresses.

Ralstonia solanacearum is a plant-pathogenic bacterium causing plant bacterial wilt, and can be strongly inhibited by methyl gallate (MG). Our previous transcriptome sequencing of MG-treated R. solanacearum showed that the yceI gene AVT05_RS03545 of Rs-T02 was up-regulated significantly under MG stress. In this study, a deletion mutant (named DM3545) and an over-expression strain (named OE3545) for yceI were constructed to confirm this hypothesis. No significant difference was observed among the growth of wild-type strain, DM3545 and OE3545 strains without MG treatment. Mutant DM3545 showed a lower growth ability than that of the wild type and OE3545 strains under MG treatment, non-optimal temperature, or 1% NaCl. The ability of DM3545 for rhizosphere colonization was lower than that of the wild-type and OE3545 strains. The DM3545 strain showed substantially reduced virulence toward tomato plants than its wild-type and OE3545 counterpart. Moreover, DM3545 was more sensitive to MG in plants than the wild-type and OE3545 strains. These results suggest that YceI is involved in the adaptability of R. solanacearum to the presence of MG and the effect of other tested abiotic stresses. This protein is also possibly engaged in the virulence potential of R. solanacearum.

[Characterization of a bacterial biocontrol strain 1404 and its efficacy in controlling postharvest citrus anthracnose].

OBJECTIVE: Anthracnose caused by Colletotrichum gloeosporioides (Penz.) Sacc. is a main disease in citrus production. To develop an effective biocontrol measure against citrus postharvest anthracnose, we screened antagonistic microbes and obtained a bacterial strain 1404 from the rhizospheric soil of chili plants in Nanning city, Guangxi, China. The objectives of the present study were to: (1) identify and characterize the antagonistic bacterium; and (2) to evaluate the efficacy of the antagonistic strain in controlling citrus postharvest anthracnose disease. METHODS: Strain 1404 was identified by comparing its 16S rDNA sequence with related bacteria from GenBank database, as well as analyzing its morphological, physiological and biochemical characters. The antagonistic stability of the strain 1404 was determined by continuously transferring it on artificial media. The effect of the strain on suppressing citrus anthracnose at postharvest stage was tested by stab inoculation method. RESULTS: The 16S rDNA of strain 1404 was amplified with primers PF1 (5'-AGAGTTTGATCATGGCTCAG-3') and PR1 (5'-TACGGTTACCTTGTTACGACTT-3') and its sequence submitted to GenBank (accession number: GU361113). Strain 1404 clustered with the GenBank-derived Brevibacillus brevis strains in the 16S-rDNA-sequence-based phylogenetic tree at 100% bootstrap level. The morphological traits, physiological and biochemical characters of strain 1404 agreed with that of Brevibacillus brevis. Less change in the suppressive ability of antagonist against growth of Colletotrichum gloeosporioides was observed during four continuous transfers on artificial media. The average control efficacy of the strain was 64. 9 % against the disease 20 days after the antagonist application. CONCLUSION: Strain 1404 was identified as Brevibacillus brevis based on its morphological traits, phyiological and biochemical characters as well as 16S rDNA sequence analysis. The antagonist was approved to be a promising biocontrol agent. This is the first report of Brevibacillus brevis as an effective antagonist against citrus postharvest anthracnose disease.

Bacterial ClpP Protease Is a Potential Target for Methyl Gallate.

Methyl gallate (MG) is an effective microbicide with great potential application in the integrated management of plant diseases and an important potential drug for clinical application. However, its target remains unknown. This study conducted a transposon sequencing (Tn-seq) under MG treatment in plant pathogenic bacterium Ralstonia solanacearum. Tn-seq identified that the mutation of caseinolytic protease proteolytic subunit gene clpP significantly increased the resistance of R. solanacearum to MG, which was validated by the in-frame gene deletion. iTRAQ (isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation) proteomics analysis revealed that chemotaxis and flagella associated proteins were the major substrates degraded by ClpP under the tested condition. Moreover, sulfur metabolism-associated proteins were potential substrates of ClpP and were upregulated by MG treatment in wild-type R. solanacearum but not in clpP mutant. Furthermore, molecular docking confirmed the possible interaction between MG and ClpP. Collectively, this study revealed that MG might target bacterial ClpP, inhibit the activity of ClpP, and consequently disturb bacterial proteostasis, providing a theoretical basis for the application of MG.

The essential genome of Ralstonia solanacearum.

Ralstonia solanacearum is a scientifically/economically important plant pathogenic bacterium. The plant disease caused by R. solanacearum causes huge economic losses, and efficient control measures for the disease remain limited. To gain a better system-level understanding of R. solanacearum, we generated a near-saturated transposon insertion library of R. solanacearum GMI1000 with approximately 240,000 individual insertion mutants. Transposon sequencing (Tn-seq) allowed the mapping of 70.44%-80.96% of all potential insertion sites of the mariner C9 transposase in the genome of R. solanacearum and the identification of 465 genes essential for the growth of R. solanacearum in rich medium. Functional and comparative analyses of essential genes revealed that many basic physiological and biochemical processes such as transcription differ between R. solanacearum and other bacteria. A comparative analysis of essential genes also suggested that 34 genes might be essential only for Ralstonia group bacteria, whereas another 16 essential genes are unique to Ralstonia, providing high-priority candidate targets for developing R. solanacearum-specific drugs.

Neonatal inflammation induces reorganization in dendritic morphology of retinal ganglion cells but not their retinogeniculate projection in mice.

Perinatal inflammatory insult in preterm babies is associated with vision impairment, but the underlying cellular mechanism is still unknown. In this study, we set out to explore whether systemic inflammatory stress affects the development of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs). Neonatal inflammation was induced by single and systemic injection of lipopolysaccharide (LPS, 1 mg/kg) at postnatal day 4 (P4). Morphological changes of RGCs were investigated by using 3D neuron reconstruction technique in Thy-1 YFPH transgenic mice at P21, of which a fraction of RGCs selectively expresses the yellow fluorescent protein (YFP). Three types (Type I, II, III) of RGCs were distinguished and classified according to the characteristic features in their dendritic field area and dendrite density. Neonatal exposure to LPS did not alter the composition of the three RGC types but induced a reorganization of dendritic architecture in the RGC Type I and II (but not Type III). The average diameter, surface area and volume of dendrites in both RGC Type I and II were increased after systemic inflammation compared with those in the control group. However, soma sizes of all three RGC types were not affected by neonatal inflammation. Meanwhile, using anterograde labeling of the retinal cells, we found that neonatal exposure to LPS also did not affect the pattern of RGC projections in the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus of the thalamus (dLGN). These results indicate that RGC dendrite reorganization induced by neonatal inflammation may contribute to the retinal cell dysfunctions associated with systemic inflammation in premature babies.

Light deprivation produces distinct morphological orchestrations on RGCs and cortical cells in a depressive-like YFP-H mouse model.

Neural physiological functions and synaptic changes underlying the pathogenesis of depression have obtained great achievements. However, neuronal morphological changes under a depressive state have not been well understood yet. Here a depressive-like YFP-H transgenic mouse model was produced by light deprivation (LD), and morphological changes of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) and primary visual and auditory cortical layer 5 pyramidal cells (L5PCs) were investigated. Three distinct RGC subtypes were identified based on soma- and dendritic field (DF) size. RGA cells were highlighted by large soma and medium-sized to large DF. RGB cells were characterized by small- to medium-sized soma and small- to medium-sized DF. RGC cells were typical of small- to medium-sized soma and large DF. LD showed cell-type-specific morphological orchestrations on RGCs and predominantly promoted the dendritic growth of RGA cells, leaving no significant effect on RGB and RGC cells. LD produced a consistently suppressed effect on the morphology of primary visual and auditory cortical L5PCs. LD enhanced the dendritic spine density of primary visual cortical L5PCs, implying a compensation mechanism underlying morphological changes in individual cortical L5PCs. The increased morphological complexity of RGA cells and the simplified morphology of cortical L5PCs suggest a broad range of neuronal morphological "cross-modal plasticity" among different brain areas. Our observations in morphological changes of RGCs and cortical L5PCs under a depressive-like state will provide some insights into the pathogenesis of depression at a single neuronal morphological level.

Alterations of motor cortical microcircuit in a depressive-like mouse model produced by light deprivation.

Depression is one of the most prevalent and life-threatening forms of mental illness. The heavy social burden imposed by this disorder calls for a better understanding of its pathogenesis. Light deficiency is an important factor potentially leading to depression. However, how the light deficiency affects neural microcircuit underlying depression remains largely unknown. This study investigated the properties of morphology, electrophysiology, and synaptology of layer V pyramidal cells (L5PCs) in the motor cortex of a mouse model with depressive behavioral phenotype that was produced by light deprivation (LD). The depressive behavioral phenotype was characterized by increased immobility and decreased locomotor activity in behavioral tests. LD decreased burst firing neurons and suppressed the intrinsic excitability of L5PCs, and also reduced the neuronal morphological complexity as evidenced by simplified basal and apical dendrites. Moreover, LD reduced the synaptic connecting probability of L5PCs. These alterations of the simplified morphology, the suppressed excitability, and the reduced connecting probability of L5PCs together could well explain the depression-like behaviors of the mouse model. However, it was surprising to find that the excitatory postsynaptic potentials (EPSPs) of single L5PC connections were significantly enhanced and the paired pulse ratio (EPSP2/EPSP1) was significantly increased. These synaptological results indicate that the absolute synaptic strength of single L5PC connections was enhanced and the transmitter release probability was increased although the connections between L5PCs became sparse. Therefore, a compensation mechanism accompanied the negative changes that were consistent with the depressive behavioral phenotype. Our findings from the motor cortex of depression-like behavior mice may underlie the neural microcircuit mechanism of depression, providing insights into the pathogenesis of depression at a level of single neurons and synaptic connections.

Draft Genome Sequence of Ralstonia solanacearum Strain Rs-T02, Which Represents the Most Prevalent Phylotype in Guangxi, China.

Ralstonia solanacearumstrain Rs-T02 was originally isolated from a bacterial wilt of tomato plant in Nanning City of Guangxi Province, China. It represents the most prevalent phylotype in Guangxi. Here, we present the draft genome sequence of this strain, which comprises 5,225 genes and 5,976,011 nucleotides with an average G+C content of 66.79%. There are 968 different genes between this isolate and the previously reported genome sequence ofRalstonia solanacearumGMl l000 (race l, biovar 3, phylotype I), and the genome sequence information of this isolate may be useful for comparative genomic studies to determine the genetic diversity in this species.

Differential alterations in the morphology and electrophysiology of layer II pyramidal cells in the primary visual cortex of a mouse model prenatally exposed to LPS.

Maternal inflammation is a known risk factor for schizophrenia and autism. Since the visual processing has shown abnormalities in these disorders, we explored whether neuropathologic changes can be caused in the primary visual cortex in offsprings due to the maternal inflammation induced by a single lipopolysaccharide (LPS) injection in pregnant mouse dams. The morphology and electrophysiological properties of layer II pyramidal cells (L2PC) in the primary visual cortex were investigated with whole-cell patch-clamping recording and 3D neuron reconstruction techniques. Although the composition of two L2PC types was unchanged, a reorganization of the dendritic architecture was found in both L2PC_A and L2PC_B types, predominantly in the L2PC_A type, of the mice prenatally exposed to LPS. Moreover, prenatal LPS exposure differentially altered intrinsic electrophysiological properties of the two L2PC types. L2PC_A neurons showed reduced excitability as featured by a hyperpolarization of the resting membrane potential, whereas L2PC_B neurons showed enhanced excitability as featured by a decrease in cellular input resistance at resting membrane potential. These significant changes in neuronal morphological and electrophysiological properties might contribute to the dysfunctions of pyramidal neurons after maternal inflammation.