A comprehensive analysis of the WRKY family in soybean and functional analysis of GmWRKY164-GmGSL7c in resistance to soybean mosaic virus.

BACKGROUND: Soybean mosaic disease caused by soybean mosaic virus (SMV) is one of the most devastating and widespread diseases in soybean producing areas worldwide. The WRKY transcription factors (TFs) are widely involved in plant development and stress responses. However, the roles of the GmWRKY TFs in resistance to SMV are largely unclear. RESULTS: Here, 185 GmWRKYs were characterized in soybean (Glycine max), among which 60 GmWRKY genes were differentially expressed during SMV infection according to the transcriptome data. The transcriptome data and RT-qPCR results showed that the expression of GmWRKY164 decreased after imidazole treatment and had higher expression levels in the incompatible combination between soybean cultivar variety Jidou 7 and SMV strain N3. Remarkably, the silencing of GmWRKY164 reduced callose deposition and enhanced virus spread during SMV infection. In addition, the transcript levels of the GmGSL7c were dramatically lower upon the silencing of GmWRKY164. Furthermore, EMSA and ChIP-qPCR revealed that GmWRKY164 can directly bind to the promoter of GmGSL7c, which contains the W-box element. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that GmWRKY164 plays a positive role in resistance to SMV infection by regulating the expression of GmGSL7c, resulting in the deposition of callose and the inhibition of viral movement, which provides guidance for future studies in understanding virus-resistance mechanisms in soybean.

Synergistic Inactivation of African Swine Fever Virus by a Highly Complexed Iodine Combined with Compound Organic Acids.

African swine fever (ASF) is a highly contagious disease of domestic pigs and wild boar with high morbidity and mortality caused by African swine fever virus (ASFV). Due to the lack of commercial vaccines and treatments for ASF, cleaning and disinfection remain one of the most effective biosecurity measures to control ASF. Our previous studies have shown that ASFV can be inactivated by 0.25 to 5% highly complexed iodine (HPCI) in 5 to 30 min. This study evaluated the synergistic inactivation effects of HPCI combined with compound organic acids (COAs) against ASFV. The results showed that the inactivation rates of HPCI, COAs, and HPCI+COAs on the reporter ASFV expressing the green fluorescent protein increased in dose- and time-dependent manners. The best inactivation effects were obtained when the compatibility ratio of HPCI and COAs was 5:1, and the ideal temperature was 25°C. Furthermore, there were no significant differences when comparing the efficacy of HPCI combined with COAs (HPCI+COAs) in inactivating wild-type ASFV and the reporter ASFV (P > 0.05). ASFV of 104.0 50% tissue culture infective dose (TCID50)/mL was completely inactivated by 0.13% HPCI (0.0065% effective iodine), 0.06% COAs, or 0.13% HPCI+COAs (approximately 0.0054% effective iodine), respectively, while 106.0 TCID50/mL ASFV was completely inactivated by 1.00% HPCI (0.05% effective iodine), 0.50% COAs, or 1.00% HPCI+COAs (0.042% effective iodine), respectively. It was found that the combination index (CI) of HPCI and COAs was less than 1 under different conditions. This study demonstrated that HPCI+COAs could synergistically inactivate ASFV and represent an effective compound disinfectant for the control of ASF. IMPORTANCE African swine fever (ASF) is a highly contagious disease of swine with high morbidity and mortality caused by African swine fever virus (ASFV). Due to the lack of commercial vaccines and treatment available for ASF, effective disinfectants and the proper use of them are essential to inactivate ASFV. The significance of this research is in searching for an ideal disinfectant that has the advantages of low toxicity and nonpollution and can inactivate ASFV efficiently. In this study, we demonstrated that HPCI+COAs had synergistic effects on inactivating ASFV. Thus, HPCI+COAs could be used as an effective disinfectant for the control of ASF.

Quantitative risk assessment of storm surge using GIS techniques and open data: A case study of Daya Bay Zone, China.

Storm surge is a natural disaster, often causing economic damage and loss of human life in the coastal communities. In recent decades, with more people attracted to coastal areas, the potential economic losses resulted from storm surges are increasing. Therefore, it is important to make risk assessments to identify areas at risk and design risk reduction strategies. However, the quantitative risk assessment of storm surge for coastal cities in China is often difficult due to the lack of adequate data regarding the building footprint and vulnerability curves. This paper aims to provide a methodology for conducting the quantitative risk assessment of storm surge, estimating direct tangible damage, by using Geographical Information System (GIS) techniques and open data. The proposed methodology was applied to a coastal area with a high concentration of petroleum industries in the Daya Bay zone. At first, five individual typhoon scenarios with different return periods (1000, 100, 50, 20, and 10 years) were defined. Then, the Advanced Circulation model and the Simulating Waves Nearshore model were utilized to simulate storm surge. The model outputs were imported into GIS software, transformed into inundation area and inundation depth. Subsequently, the building footprint data were extracted by the use of GIS techniques, including spatial analysis and image analysis. The layer containing building footprints was superimposed on the inundation area layer to identify and quantify the exposed elements to storm surge hazard. Combining the exposed elements with their related depth-damage functions, the quantitative risk assessment translates the spatial extent and depth of storm surge into the estimation of economic losses. The quantitative risk assessment and zonation maps for sub-zones in the study area can help local decision-makers to prioritize the sub-zones that are more likely to be affected by storm surge, make risk mitigation strategies, and develop long-term urban plans.

Efficient inactivation of African swine fever virus by a highly complexed iodine.

African swine fever (ASF) is a highly lethal contagious disease of swine caused by African swine fever virus (ASFV). Cleaning and disinfection remain one of the most effective tools to prevent the ASFV spread in pig holdings. This study evaluated the inactivation effect of a highly complexed iodine (HPCI) disinfectant against ASFV. A commercially available povidone-iodine (PVP-I) was used as reference for comparison. The results showed that 5% HPCI and 5% PVP-I did not exhibit cytotoxicity in primary porcine alveolar macrophages, and 107.0 and 105.0 TCID50/mL ASFV were completely inactivated by 5% and 0.25% HPCI, respectively, in 5 min via either immersion or spray disinfection. However, 5% PVP-I required at least 15 min to completely inactivate 107.0 TCID50/mL ASFV, whereas 0.25% PVP-I failed to completely inactivate 105.0 TCID50/mL ASFV. This study demonstrated that HPCI could rapidly and efficiently inactivate ASFV, representing an effective disinfectant for ASF control.