Transcriptome profiling reveals the genes involved in tuberous root expansion in Pueraria (Pueraria montana var. thomsonii).

BACKGROUND: Pueraria is a dry root commonly used in Traditional Chinese Medicine or as food and fodder, and tuberous root expansion is an important agronomic characteristic that influences its yield. However, no specific genes regulating tuberous root expansion in Pueraria have been identified. Therefore, we aimed to explore the expansion mechanism of Pueraria at six developmental stages (P1-P6), by profiling the tuberous roots of an annual local variety "Gange No.1" harvested at 105, 135, 165, 195, 225, and 255 days after transplanting. RESULTS: Observations of the tuberous root phenotype and cell microstructural morphology revealed that the P3 stage was a critical boundary point in the expansion process, which was preceded by a thickening diameter and yield gain rapidly of the tuberous roots, and followed by longitudinal elongation at both ends. A total of 17,441 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified by comparing the P1 stage (unexpanded) against the P2-P6 stages (expanded) using transcriptome sequencing; 386 differential genes were shared across the six developmental stages. KEGG pathway enrichment analysis showed that the DEGs shared by P1 and P2-P6 stages were mainly involved in pathways related to the "cell wall and cell cycle", "plant hormone signal transduction", "sucrose and starch metabolism", and "transcription factor (TF)". The finding is consistent with the physiological data collected on changes in sugar, starch, and hormone contents. In addition, TFs including bHLHs, AP2s, ERFs, MYBs, WRKYs, and bZIPs were involved in cell differentiation, division, and expansion, which may relate to tuberous root expansion. The combination of KEGG and trend analyses revealed six essential candidate genes involved in tuberous root expansion; of them, CDC48, ARF, and EXP genes were significantly upregulated during tuberous root expansion while INV, EXT, and XTH genes were significantly downregulated. CONCLUSION: Our findings provide new insights into the complex mechanisms of tuberous root expansion in Pueraria and candidate target genes, which can aid in increasing Pueraria yield.

The effects of Mediterranean diet on cardiovascular risk factors in patients with type 2 diabetes: a Meta-analysis / 中国实用护理杂志

Objective:To investigate the effect of Mediterranean diet on blood glucose control and cardiovascular risk factors in patients with type 2 diabetes.Methods:As to December 2021, the PubMed, Cochrance Central Register of Controlled Trials and Cochrance Database, Cochranc Library, Embase, China National Knowledge Infrastructure and Wanfang Medical Network system were searched for clinical randomized controlled trials(RCTs) of Mediterranean diet in patients with type 2 diabetes to conduct Meta-analysis The main observation index were cardiovascular risk factors, and the mean difference and its 95% confidence interval were used to estimate the effect size.Results:There were six RCTs, and 1181 patients met the inclusion criteria and entered the Meta-analysis. Compared with the control group, the intervention group can significantly reduce the level of systolic blood pressure ( MD=-1.20, 95% CI-2.21 to -0.19) and diastolic blood pressure ( MD=-4.17, 95% CI-7.12 to -1.22) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus, but there were no significant difference in the level of TC ( MD=2.92, 95% CI-0.84 to-6.67), HDL ( MD=2.33, 95% CI-0.27 to -4.92) and LDL ( MD=-2.34, 95% CI-5.67 to -0.99) between the two groups (all P>0.05). Conclusions:The meta-analysis provided evidence the Mediterranean diet showed the beneficial improvements in blood pressure glycemic control, but the effect of Mediterranean diet on lipid profile was not significant, which needed further verification.

Effect of Cd on autophagy-related genes of celery / 生物工程学报

Autophagy is one of the most common protective mechanisms during plant stress response. We studied the effect of exogenous Cd on autophagy in celery, by using transcriptome sequencing technique to analyze the differentially expressed genes under different Cd concentrations (0, 2, 4 and 8 mg/L). Eight differentially expressed autophagy-related genes were screened and identified by qRT-PCR. Cd had obvious toxic effect on celery, in a dose-dependent manner. Eight differentially expressed autophagy-related genes were screened, among which ATG8a, ATG8f, ATG13, AMPK-1 and AMPK-2 were up-regulated, whereas ATG12, VPS30 and VPS34 were first up-regulated and then decreased. The up-regulated expression of differential genes may resist Cd toxicity by increasing autophagosome structures; however, 8 mg/L Cd exceeded the autophagosome tolerance limit of celery, resulting in decreased expression of multiple autophagy-related genes. The above results can provide help for subsequent functional study of autophagy-related genes, and provide a reference for further exploring the tolerance mechanism of celery to Cd toxicity.