Unearthing Optimal Symbiotic Rhizobia Partners from the Main Production Area of Phaseolus vulgaris in Yunnan.

Phaseolus vulgaris is a globally important legume cash crop, which can carry out symbiotic nitrogen fixation with rhizobia. The presence of suitable rhizobia in cultivating soils is crucial for legume cropping, especially in areas beyond the plant-host native range, where soils may lack efficient symbiotic partners. We analyzed the distribution patterns and traits of native rhizobia associated with P. vulgaris in soils of Yunnan, where the common bean experienced a recent expansion. A total of 608 rhizobial isolates were tracked from soils of fifteen sampling sites using two local varieties of P. vulgaris. The isolates were discriminated into 43 genotypes as defined by IGS PCR-RFLP. Multiple locus sequence analysis based on recA, atpD and rpoB of representative strains placed them into 11 rhizobial species of Rhizobium involving Rhizobium sophorae, Rhizobium acidisoli, Rhizobium ecuadorense, Rhizobium hidalgonense, Rhizobium vallis, Rhizobium sophoriradicis, Rhizobium croatiense, Rhizobium anhuiense, Rhizobium phaseoli, Rhizobium chutanense and Rhizobium etli, and five unknown Rhizobium species; Rhizobium genosp. I~V. R. phaseoli and R. anhuiense were the dominant species (28.0% and 28.8%) most widely distributed, followed by R. croatiense (14.8%). The other rhizobial species were less numerous or site-specific. Phylogenies of nodC and nifH markers, were divided into two specific symbiovars, sv. phaseoli regardless of the species affiliation and sv. viciae associated with R. vallis. Through symbiotic effect assessment, all the tested strains nodulated both P. vulgaris varieties, often resulting with a significant greenness index (91-98%). However, about half of them exhibited better plant biomass performance, at least on one common bean variety, and two isolates (CYAH-6 and BLYH-15) showed a better symbiotic efficiency score. Representative strains revealed diverse abiotic stress tolerance to NaCl, acidity, alkalinity, temperature, drought and glyphosate. One strain efficient on both varieties and exhibiting stress abiotic tolerance (BLYH-15) belonged to R. genosp. IV sv. phaseoli, a species first found as a legume symbiont.

Risk factors and survival analysis of human leukocyte antigen loss in relapsed acute myeloid leukaemia/myelodysplastic syndrome patients after allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

To investigate the clinical characteristics and risk factors of specific human leukocyte antigen loss (HLA loss) in relapsed acute myeloid leukaemia (AML)/myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) patients after allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT), and compare the responses of patients with HLA loss relapse with those without HLA loss (non-HLA loss) to different treatment regimens. Clinical data of traceable patients with AML/MDS after myeloablative allo-HSCT in our centre between January 2010 and June 2021, who experienced disease relapse after the transplantation, were collected. The patients were divided into the HLA loss relapse group and the non-HLA loss relapsed group based on HLA loss gene test findings by next-generation sequencing. The patients' median overall survival (OS) after the relapse were compared, and univariate and multivariate analyses were performed using the Kaplan-Meier survival curve and Cox proportional hazard model to explore the responses to different treatments after relapse. A total of 2359 patients were selected. Retrospective HLA gene loss gene detection was performed for the deoxyribonucleic acid in 179 relapsed patients, including 47 patients in the HLA loss group (27.2%), 126 patients in the non-HLA loss group (72.8%) and 6 patients were excluded due to a lack of confirmed results. There was no significant statistical difference in the baseline characteristics of patients between the two groups, but as to transplantation-related characteristics, the donor-recipient relationship and HLA mismatched loci were statistically different between the two groups (both p < 0.001). Multivariate Cox analysis showed that more HLA mismatched loci ≥3 (HR = 3.66; 95% CI: 1.61-8.31; p = 0.002), time (≤6 months) from HSCT to relapse (HR = 7.92; 95% CI: 3.35-18.74; p < 0.001) and donor chimerism (CD3) in bone marrow at relapse (HR = 1.02; 95% CI: 1.00-1.03; p = 0.036) were independent factors affecting HLA loss relapse. The ratio of negative conversion of FLT3-ITD or CEBPA mutation was significantly lower in patients with post-transplantation HLA loss relapse than in the non-HLA loss group (0.0% vs. 45.5%, p = 0.003; 0.0% vs. 80.0%, p = 0.035), with none of the patients with FLT3-ITD or CEBPA mutation turned negative in the HLA loss group. The number of gene mutations turned negative when relapse in the non-HLA loss group was remarkably higher than that in the HLA loss group (p = 0.001). Using donor lymphocyte infusion (DLI) could not prolong OS for the HLA loss group (p = 0.42). Nevertheless, second transplantation had a significant positive impact on OS in the HLA loss group (p = 0.017), although only five patients in the HLA loss group underwent second transplantation. However, patients in the non-HLA loss group using DLI had a relatively longer OS time than those without DLI (p = 0.017). Second transplantation could also prolong OS in the non-HLA loss group, but the effect was not as significant as in the HLA loss group (p = 0.053). In summary, HLA loss detection is essential for patients with recurrence after transplantation, especially for those with more HLA mismatched loci and non-sibling donor. Furthermore, the detection of HLA loss has a guiding role in choosing subsequent therapy when relapsed, as secondary transplantation is more suitable than DLI for those with HLA loss.

The Phylogenetic Relationship of Lamiinae (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) Using Mitochondrial Genomes.

Lamiinae is the largest subfamily of the Cerambycidae (longhorn beetles), with approximately 21,863 described species. Previous phylogenetic studies of Lamiinae showed that this subfamily was monophyletic, but the relationship between the tribes of Lamiinae is still controversial. Partial molecular data and species morphological characteristics are not sufficient to resolve species phylogenetic studies perfectly. At the same time, the full mitochondrial genome contains more comprehensive genetic data. Benefiting from the development of next-generation sequencing (NGS), mitochondrial genomes can be easily acquired and used as reliable molecular markers to investigate phylogenetic relationships within Cerambycidae. Using NGS technology, we obtained 11 mitochondrial genome sequences of Lamiinae species. Based on this newly generated mitochondrial genome dataset matrix, we reconstructed the phylogeny of Lamiinae. The Bayesian Inference and Maximum Likelihood analyses strongly support the monophyly of four tribes (Lamiini, Batocerini, Mesosini, and Saperdini), whereas the tribe Acanthocinini was identified as paraphyletic. Other mitochondrial structural features were also observed: the start codon in the nad1 gene of all 11 mitochondrial genomes is TTG; 17-22 bp intergenic spacers (IGS) with a 'TACTA' motif were found between trnS2 and nad1. Moreover, two long IGS were found in Mesosa myops and Batocera sp. Tandem repeats were found in the IGS of Batocera sp.