Applying meta-data of soybean grain in origin trace and quarantine inspection.

Soybean and derived products are among the most important food for both humans and animals. China is the world's largest importer of soybeans, with more than 100 million tons of annual imports, mainly from the United States of America (US), Brazil, and Argentina. However, there have been limited studies on the microbiota associated with imported soybean grains. Here, we reveal the soybean microbiota using amplicon sequencing based on samples from four countries on three continents of North America (US), South America (Argentina, Brazil), and Asia (China). Our results showed that the soybean-associated microbiota from different continents significantly separated, presenting strong geographic variations. The core microbial taxa and geographically specified taxa were defined, with Alternaria, Enterobacter, Plectosphaerella, Stenotrophomanas, and Xeromyces defined as the core microbiota for soybean from Asia; Amanita, Aspergillus, Fusarium, Nigrospora, Herbiconiux, Pseudomonas, Saccharopolyspora, and Schumannella from North America; and Bradyrhizobium, Colletotrichum, Filobasidium, Phialosimplex, Mycosphaerella, Septoria, Sphingomonas, and Weissalla, from South America. In addition, we build the Random Forest (RF) model to predict the source of imported soybean grains. We could accurately predict the original countries of imported soybean grains within the RF prediction models, with accuracies greater than 95 %. We constructed a database of soybean-related quarantine pathogens using full-length sequences of fungal ITS region and bacterial 16S rDNA region. Two phytopathogenic fungi, Diaporthe caulivora and Cladosporium cucumerinum, listed in the Chinese quarantine catalog, were intercepted through metabarcoding sequencing. The former was further confirmed using an available national standard protocol of qPCR diagnosis. In summary, our NGS-based approach revealed the microbiota associated with soybeans. It could provide comprehensive information and valuable method on the trace the origin of soybean and detection of quarantine pathogens at Customs and departments of inspection and quarantine.

Gender disparity in hepatocellular carcinoma recurrence after curative hepatectomy.

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: Whether there is gender disparity in the recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has been not fully addressed. This study aimed to investigate the impact of gender on HCC recurrence following curative hepatectomy. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This retrospective cohort study included 1087 patients with HCC (917 males, 170 females) who underwent curative hepatectomy. Cox regression models were constructed to estimate the hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) of the risk parameters associated with HCC recurrence. In the sensitivity analysis, subgroup analysis, and propensity score matching (PSM) analysis were used. Logistic regression models were used to assess the odds ratio (OR) and 95% CI of the risk parameters related to early and late recurrence. RESULTS: Male patients showed significantly higher risk for HCC recurrence than females, in both multivariate Cox regression analysis (HR [95% CI] = 1.480 [1.084-2.020], P = 0.014) and PSM analysis (HR [95% CI] = 1.589 [1.093-2.312], P = 0.015). Higher risk of HCC recurrence was again found in males in the subgroup analysis, but the effect of male versus female gender on HCC recurrence did not depend on any selected subgroups (all P for interaction > 0.05). Gender was an independent risk factor for early recurrence (OR [95% CI] = 1.864 [1.215-2.936], P = 0.006), but not for late recurrence. CONCLUSIONS: There is gender disparity in the recurrence of patients with HCC after curative hepatectomy: males had a higher risk for HCC recurrence than females.

Combined characterization of a new member of Marivita cryptomonadis strain LZ-15-2 isolated from cultivable phycosphere microbiota of highly toxic HAB dinoflagellate Alexandrium catenella LZT09.

During our conveying the microbial structures of phycosphere microbiota (PM) derived from diverse marine harmful algal bloom (HAB) dinoflagellates, a new rod-sharped, white-colored cultivable bacterial strain, designated as LZ-15-2, was isolated from the PM of highly toxic Alexandrium catenella LZT09. Phylogenetic analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequence indicated that strain LZ-15-2 belonged to the genus Marivita within the family Rhodobacteraceae, and demonstrated the highest gene similarity of 99.2% to M. cryptomonadis CL-SK44T, and less than 98.65% with other type strains of Marivita. Phylogenomic calculations on average nucleotide identity (ANI) and digital DNA-DNA hybridization (dDDH) values between the new isolate and M. cryptomonadis CL-SK44T were 99.86% and 99.88%, respectively. Genomic comparison of strain LZ-15-2 with available genomes of Marivita species further verified its taxonomic position within the genus of Marivita. Moreover, comparative genomics analysis showed a proximal similarity of strain LZ-15-2 with M. cryptomonadis CL-SK44T, and it also revealed an open pan-genome status based on constructed gene accumulation curves among Marivita members with 9,361 and 1,712 genes for the pan- and core-genome analysis, respectively. Based on combined polyphasic taxonomic characteristics, strain LZ-15-2 represents a new member of M. cryptomonadis, and proposed as a potential candidate for further exploration of the detailed mechanisms governing the dynamic cross-kingdom algae-bacteria interactions (ABI) between PM and their algal host LZT09.

Low miR-1273a expression predicts poor prognosis of colon cancer and facilitates tumor cell proliferation, migration, and invasion.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have been indicated to be frequently dysregulated in various cancers and promising biomarkers for colon cancer. The present study aimed to assess the prognostic significance and biological function of miR-1273a in colon cancer. The expression levels of miR-1273a was estimated using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Kaplan-Meier survival curves and Cox regression analysis were used to evaluate the prognostic value of miR-1273a in patients of colon cancer. The effects of miR-1273a on cell proliferation, migration, and invasion were investigated by cell experiments. The expression of miR-1273a was downregulated in colon cancer tissues and tumor cell lines compared with the normal controls (all P<0.001). The aberrant expression of miR-1273a was associated with vascular invasion (P=0.005), differentiation (P=0.023), lymph node metastasis (P=0.021), and TNM stage (P=0.004). The patients with low miR-1273a expression had low overall survival compared with the patients with high miR-1273a expression (log-rank P=0.002). miR-1273a was detected to be an independent prognostic biomarker for patients. Furthermore, the results of cell experiments revealed that miR-1273a downregulation promoted, while miR-1273a upregulation suppressed the cell proliferation, migration, and invasion. In conclusion, all data indicated that a downregulated expression of miR-1273a predicted poor prognosis for colon cancer and enhanced tumor cell proliferation, migration, and invasion. Thus, we suggest that methods to promote miR-1273a expression may serve as novel therapeutic strategies in colon cancer.

Natural Defect of a Plant Rhabdovirus Glycoprotein Gene: A Case Study of Virus-Plant Coevolution.

Seven isolates of a putative cytorhabdovirus (family Rhabdoviridae, order Mononegavirales) designated as citrus-associated rhabdovirus (CiaRV) were identified in citrus, passion fruit, and paper bush from the same geographical area in China. CiaRV, bean-associated cytorhabdovirus (Brazil), and papaya virus E (Ecuador) should be taxonomically classified in the species Papaya cytorhabdovirus. Due to natural mutations, the glycoprotein (G) and P4 genes were impaired in citrus-infecting isolates of CiaRV, resulting in an atypical rhabdovirus genome organization of 3' leader-N-P-P3-M-L-5' trailer. The P3 protein of CiaRV shared a common origin with begomoviral movement proteins (family Geminiviridae). Secondary structure analysis and trans-complementation of movement-deficient tomato mosaic virus and potato virus X mutants by CiaRV P3 supported its function in viral cell-to-cell trafficking. The wide geographical dispersal of CiaRV and related viruses suggests an efficient transmission mechanism, as well as an underlying risk to global agriculture. Both the natural phenomenon and experimental analyses demonstrated presence of the "degraded" type of CiaRV in citrus, in parallel to "undegraded" types in other host plant species. This case study shows a plant virus losing the function of an important but nonessential gene, likely due to host shift and adaption, which deepened our understanding of course of natural viral diversification.

Low miR-1273a expression predicts poor prognosis of colon cancer and facilitates tumor cell proliferation, migration, and invasion

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have been indicated to be frequently dysregulated in various cancers and promising biomarkers for colon cancer. The present study aimed to assess the prognostic significance and biological function of miR-1273a in colon cancer. The expression levels of miR-1273a was estimated using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Kaplan-Meier survival curves and Cox regression analysis were used to evaluate the prognostic value of miR-1273a in patients of colon cancer. The effects of miR-1273a on cell proliferation, migration, and invasion were investigated by cell experiments. The expression of miR-1273a was downregulated in colon cancer tissues and tumor cell lines compared with the normal controls (all P<0.001). The aberrant expression of miR-1273a was associated with vascular invasion (P=0.005), differentiation (P=0.023), lymph node metastasis (P=0.021), and TNM stage (P=0.004). The patients with low miR-1273a expression had low overall survival compared with the patients with high miR-1273a expression (log-rank P=0.002). miR-1273a was detected to be an independent prognostic biomarker for patients. Furthermore, the results of cell experiments revealed that miR-1273a downregulation promoted, while miR-1273a upregulation suppressed the cell proliferation, migration, and invasion. In conclusion, all data indicated that a downregulated expression of miR-1273a predicted poor prognosis for colon cancer and enhanced tumor cell proliferation, migration, and invasion. Thus, we suggest that methods to promote miR-1273a expression may serve as novel therapeutic strategies in colon cancer.

Service readiness of health facilities in Bangladesh, Haiti, Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, Nepal, Rwanda, Senegal, Uganda and the United Republic of Tanzania.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the service readiness of health facilities in Bangladesh, Haiti, Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, Nepal, Rwanda, Senegal, Uganda and the United Republic of Tanzania. METHODS: Using existing data from service provision assessments of the health systems of the 10 study countries, we calculated a service readiness index for each of 8443 health facilities. This index represents the percentage availability of 50 items that the World Health Organization considers essential for providing health care. For our analysis we used 37-49 of the items on the list. We used linear regression to assess the independent explanatory power of four national and four facility-level characteristics on reported service readiness. FINDINGS: The mean values for the service readiness index were 77% for the 636 hospitals and 52% for the 7807 health centres/clinics. Deficiencies in medications and diagnostic capacity were particularly common. The readiness index varied more between hospitals and health centres/clinics in the same country than between them. There was weak correlation between national factors related to health financing and the readiness index. CONCLUSION: Most health facilities in our study countries were insufficiently equipped to provide basic clinical care. If countries are to bolster health-system capacity towards achieving universal coverage, more attention needs to be given to within-country inequities.