Functional disparity of four pheromone-binding proteins from the plum fruit moth Grapholita funebrana Treitscheke in detection of sex pheromone components.

Grapholita funebrana, also known as the plum fruit moth, is an oligophagous pest species that causes enormous economic losses of the fruits of Rosaceae. An eco-friendly method for the control of G. funebrana besides chemical control has not yet been developed. The sex pheromone communication system plays an important role in moth courtship and mating, in which pheromone-binding proteins (PBPs) are critical. In this research, we identified four PBPs, namely, GfunPBP1.1, GfunPBP1.2, GfunPBP2, and GfunPBP3, from the antennae of G. funebrana. The results of real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) showed that all four GfunPBPs were overwhelmingly expressed in the antennae and that GfunPBP1.2 and GfunPBP2 showed male-biased expression patterns, whereas GfunPBP1.1 and GfunPBP3 were equally expressed between sexes. The results of ligand-binding assays illustrated that although all four recombinant GfunPBPs (rGfunPBPs) had binding activity with the tested sex pheromone compounds, their preferred ligands were significantly different. rGfunPBP2 had the strongest binding affinity to Z8-12:Ac and Z8-12:OH; rGfunPBP1.1 preferred to bind Z8-14:Ac, Z10-14:Ac, and 12:OH more than to the other three GfunPBPs; and rGfunPBP1.2 exhibited stronger binding affinity to E8-12:Ac than to the other rGfunPBPs. Molecular docking results demonstrated that hydrophobic forces, especially van der Waals forces and hydrogen bonds, were the most important forces that maintained GfunPBP-pheromone ligand complexes. This study will improve our understanding of the sex pheromone recognition mechanisms of G. funebrana and promote the development of novel strategies for controlling G. funebrana.

Different Binding Affinities of Three General Odorant-Binding Proteins in Grapholita funebrana (Treitscheke) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) to Sex Pheromones, Host Plant Volatiles, and Insecticides.

Insect general odorant-binding proteins (GOBPs) play irreplaceable roles in filtering, binding, and transporting host odorants to olfactory receptors. Grapholita funebrana (Treitscheke) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae), an economically important pest of fruit crops, uses fruit volatiles as cues to locate host plants. However, the functions of GOBPs in G. funebrana are still unknown. Three GOBP genes, namely, GfunGOBP1, GfunGOBP2, and GfunGOBP3, were cloned, and their expression profiles in different tissues were detected by the method of real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR). The binding properties of recombinant GfunGOBPs (rGfunGOBPs) to various ligands were investigated via fluorescence binding assays. The three GfunGOBPs were mainly expressed in the antennae of both male and female moths. All these three rGfunGOBPs could bind to sex pheromones, while having varying affinities toward these pheromones. The three rGfunGOBPs also displayed a wide range of ligand-binding spectrums with tested host odorants. The rGfunGOBP1, rGfunGOBP2, and rGfunGOBP3 bound to 34, 33, and 30 out of the 41 tested odorants, respectively. Three rGfunGOBPs had overlapping binding activities to ß-myrcene, (-)-α-phellandrene, and ethyl isovalerate with the Ki less than 3.0 µM. The rGfunGOBP1 and rGfunGOBP3 could selectively bind to several insecticides, whereas rGfunGOBP2 could not. Three rGfunGOBPs had the dual functions of selectively binding to sex pheromones and host odorants. Moreover, the rGfunGOBP1 and rGfunGOBP3 can also serve as 'signal proteins' and bind to different insecticides. This study contributed to elucidating the potential molecular mechanism of the olfaction for G. funebrana, and thereby promotes the development of effective botanical attractants or pheromone synergists to control G. funebrana.

Does Resilience Help in Reducing Burnout Symptoms Among Chinese Students? A Meta-Analysis.

As society has evolved, student burnout has become a common problem in schools around the world, including in China. Therefore, the purpose of the current study is to explore whether resilience is related to student burnout in China and to examine the changing trend of resilience and student burnout. Moreover, we will assess gender differences and possible biases, including publication biases, small-study biases, gray literature biases, and decline effects. This meta-analysis included 34 studies, with a total of 81 effect sizes and a total sample size of 22,474. We found that resilience was negatively correlated with student burnout in the Chinese context. We also found evidence of gray literature bias in student burnout, which needs to be verified by subsequent studies. However, we found that there were decline effects in resilience, possibly because, as culture evolves, people become more focused on themselves; thus, their collective behaviors decline, leading to a decrease in their ability to adapt to the collective and the environment. We also found similar decline effects at the individual level; that is, resilience might decrease with individual age stages (from the primary to college stage), which might be related to the use of immature defense mechanisms against stress by students.

Magnaporthe oryzae systemic defense trigger 1 (MoSDT1)-mediated metabolites regulate defense response in Rice.

BACKGROUND: Some of the pathogenic effector proteins play an active role in stimulating the plant defense system to strengthen plant resistance. RESULTS: In this study, ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC/Q-TOF-MS) was implemented to identify altered metabolites in transgenic rice containing over-expressed M. oryzae Systemic Defense Trigger 1 (MoSDT1) that was infected at three-time points. The characterized dominating metabolites were organic acids and their derivatives, organic oxygen compounds, lipids, and lipid-like molecules. Among the identified metabolites, shikimate, galactinol, trehalose, D-mannose, linolenic acid, dopamine, tyramine, and L-glutamine are precursors for the synthesis of many secondary defense metabolites Carbohydrate, as well as amino acid metabolic, pathways were revealed to be involved in plant defense responses and resistance strengthening. CONCLUSION: The increasing salicylic acid (SA) and jasmonic acid (JA) content enhanced interactions between JA synthesis/signaling gene, SA synthesis/receptor gene, raffinose/fructose/sucrose synthase gene, and cell wall-related genes all contribute to defense response in rice. The symptoms of rice after M. oryzae infection were significantly alleviated when treated with six identified metabolites, i.e., galactol, tyramine, L-glutamine, L-tryptophan, α-terpinene, and dopamine for 72 h exogenously. Therefore, these metabolites could be utilized as an optimal metabolic marker for M. oryzae defense.

Application of jasmonic acid at the stage of visible brown necrotic spots in Magnaporthe oryzae infection as a novel and environment-friendly control strategy for rice blast disease.

Rice blast disease is one of the most common rice diseases worldwide. It is essential to improve disease resistance through environment-friendly methods, while maintaining yield and quality parameters. In this study, jasmonic acid (JA), a plant hormone with anti-fungal activity, was obtained, at both low (100 µmol/L) and high (400 µmol/L) concentrations in rice leaves, before, during, and after infection, respectively. JA could inhibit germination and appressorium formation of rice blast spores in a dose-dependent manner. A total of 400-µmol/L JA treatment significantly enhanced cell viability and endogenous JA level in rice leaves. Furthermore, rice leaves inoculated with Magnaporthe oryzae and sprayed with JA 72 h post-inoculation showed the maximum symptom relief and the highest endogenous JA production among all treatment approaches. The expressions of defense-related genes, OsPR10a and OsAOS2, were highly up-regulated in response to JA, whereas OsEDS1 was down-regulated. Hence, we revealed that exogenous JA could activate JA signaling to effectively control the symptoms of rice blast.

The Crosstalks Between Jasmonic Acid and Other Plant Hormone Signaling Highlight the Involvement of Jasmonic Acid as a Core Component in Plant Response to Biotic and Abiotic Stresses.

Plant hormones play central roles in plant growth, developmental processes, and plant response to biotic and abiotic stresses. On the one hand, plant hormones may allocate limited resources to the most serious stresses; on the other hand, the crosstalks among multiple plant hormone signaling regulate the balance between plant growth and defense. Many studies have reported the mechanism of crosstalks between jasmonic acid (JA) and other plant hormones in plant growth and stress responses. Based on these studies, this paper mainly reviews the crosstalks between JA and other plant hormone signaling in regulating the balance between plant growth and defense response. The suppressor proteins JASMONATE ZIM DOMAIN PROTEIN (JAZ) and MYC2 as the key components in the crosstalks are also highlighted in the review. We conclude that JA interacts with other hormone signaling pathways [such as auxin, ethylene (ET), abscisic acid (ABA), salicylic acid (SA), brassinosteroids (BRs), and gibberellin (GA)] to regulate plant growth, abiotic stress tolerance, and defense resistance against hemibiotrophic pathogens such as Magnaporthe oryzae and Pseudomonas syringae. Notably, JA may act as a core signal in the phytohormone signaling network.

Overexpression of Magnaporthe Oryzae Systemic Defense Trigger 1 (MoSDT1) Confers Improved Rice Blast Resistance in Rice.

The effector proteins secreted by a pathogen not only promote virulence and infection of the pathogen, but also trigger plant defense response. Therefore, these proteins could be used as important genetic resources for transgenic improvement of plant disease resistance. Magnaporthe oryzae systemic defense trigger 1 (MoSDT1) is an effector protein. In this study, we compared the agronomic traits and blast disease resistance between wild type (WT) and MoSDT1 overexpressing lines in rice. Under control conditions, MoSDT1 transgenic lines increased the number of tillers without affecting kernel morphology. In addition, MoSDT1 transgenic lines conferred improved blast resistance, with significant effects on the activation of callose deposition, reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation and cell death. On the one hand, overexpression of MoSDT1 could delay biotrophy-necrotrophy switch through regulating the expression of biotrophy-associated secreted protein 4 (BAS4) and Magnaporthe oryzaecell death inducing protein 1 (MoCDIP1), and activate plant defense response by regulating the expression of Bsr-d1, MYBS1, WRKY45, peroxidase (POD), heat shock protein 90 (HSP90), allenoxide synthase 2 (AOS2), phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL), pathogenesis-related protein 1a (PR1a) in rice. On the other hand, overexpression of MoSDT1 could increase the accumulation of some defense-related primary metabolites such as two aromatic amino acids (L-tyrosine and L-tryptohan), 1-aminocyclopropane carboxylic acid, which could be converted to ethylene, vanillic acid and L-saccharopine. Taken together, overexpression of MoSDT1 confers improved rice blast resistance in rice, through modulation of callose deposition, ROS accumulation, the expression of defense-related genes, and the accumulation of some primary metabolites.

Simultaneous reduction and alkylation of protein disulfides in a centrifugal ultrafiltration device prior to two-dimensional gel electrophoresis.

Reduction and alkylation of protein disulfides prior to IEF, when performed directly in a centrifugal ultrafiltration device, provides an effective means of terminating the alkylation reaction, concentrating the proteins for analysis, and removing ionic impurities that interfere with IEF. When cells were lysed in "buffers" that support the activity of enzymes such as lysozyme and benzonase, the conductivity of the resulting lysate was an order of magnitude higher than when lysis was induced by chaotropic urea detergent solutions. Following reduction and alkylation, the conductivity of both lysates was lowered by ultrafiltration to the 0.1-0.2 mS/cm range in preparation for IEF. The detergent 3-(4-heptyl)phenyl 3-hydroxypropyl dimethylammonio propanesulfonate (C7BzO), which favors the solubilization of proteins, but which interferes with SDS equilibration and second dimension PAGE, was effectively removed by ultrafiltration and exchanged with CHAPS without measurable loss of protein. Disparate protein patterns of Rhodopseudomonas palustris lysates were revealed by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis depending on which reagent was used to induce cell lysis.