Promoter replication of grape MYB transcription factor is associated with a new red flesh phenotype.

KEY MESSAGE: In our study, we discovered a fragment duplication autoregulation mechanism in 'ZS-HY', which may be the reason for the phenotype of red foliage and red flesh in grapes. In grapes, MYBA1 and MYBA2 are the main genetic factors responsible for skin coloration which are located at the color loci on chromosome 2, but the exact genes responsible for color have not been identified in the flesh. We used a new teinturier grape germplasm 'ZhongShan-HongYu' (ZS-HY) which accumulate anthocyanin both in skin and flesh as experimental materials. All tissues of 'ZS-HY' contained cyanidin 3-O-(6″-p-coumaroyl glucoside), and pelargonidins were detected in skin, flesh, and tendril. Through gene expression analysis at different stage of flesh, significant differences in the expression levels of VvMYBA1 were found. Gene amplification analysis showed that the VvMYBA1 promoter is composed of two alleles, VvMYBA1a and 'VvMYBA1c-like'. An insertion of a 408 bp repetitive fragment was detected in the allele 'VvMYBA1c-like'. In this process, we found the 408 bp repetitive fragment was co-segregated with red flesh and foliage phenotype. Our results revealed that the 408 bp fragment replication insertion in promoter of 'VvMYBA1c-like' was the target of its protein, and the number of repeat fragments was related to the increase of trans-activation of VvMYBA1 protein. The activation of promoter by VvMYBA1 was enhanced by the addition of VvMYC1. In addition, VvMYBA1 interacted with VvMYC1 to promote the expression of VvGT1 and VvGST4 genes in 'ZS-HY'. The discovery of this mutation event provides new insights into the regulation of VvMYBA1 on anthocyanin accumulation in red-fleshed grape, which is of great significance for molecular breeding of red-fleshed table grapes.

Technique for enhancing the accuracy of the Rayleigh-Sommerfeld convolutional diffraction through the utilization of independent spatial sampling: publisher's note.

This publisher's note contains a correction to Opt. Lett.49, 1385 (2024)10.1364/OL.509688.

Association between muscular tissue desaturation and acute kidney injury in older patients undergoing major abdominal surgery: a prospective cohort study.

PURPOSE: Present study was designed to investigate the association between muscular tissue desaturation and acute kidney injury (AKI) in older patients undergoing major abdominal surgery. METHOD: A total of 253 patients (≥ 65 years old) who underwent abdominal surgery with expected duration ≥ 2 h were enrolled. Muscular tissue oxygen saturation (SmtO2) was monitored at quadriceps and bilateral flanks during surgery. Muscular desaturation was defined as SmtO2 < 90% baseline lasting for > 60 s. The primary outcome was the incidence of AKI within postoperative 7 days. The association between muscular desaturation and AKI was analyzed by multivariable logistic regression model. The secondary outcomes indicated the other complications within postoperative 30 days. RESULTS: Among 236 patients, 44 (18.6%) of them developed AKI. The incidence of muscular desaturation at quadriceps was 28.8% (68/236). Patients with muscular desaturation had higher incidence of AKI than those without desaturation (27.9% [19/68], vs. 14.9% [25/168], P = 0.020). After adjustment of confounders, multivariable analysis showed that muscular desaturation at quadriceps was significantly associated with an increased risk of AKI (OR = 2.84, 95% CI 1.21-6.67, P = 0.016). Muscular desaturations at left and right flank were also associated with an increased risk of AKI (OR = 6.38, 95% CI 1.78-22.89, P = 0.004; OR = 8.90, 95% CI 1.42-45.63; P = 0.019, respectively). Furthermore, patients with muscular desaturation may have a higher risk of pulmonary complications, sepsis and stroke at 30-day follow-up. CONCLUSION: Muscular desaturation was associated with postoperative AKI in older patients undergoing major abdominal surgery which may serve as a predictor of AKI.

Effect of life cycle and venation pattern on the coordination between stomatal and vein densities of herbs.

Life cycle (annual vs perennial) and leaf venation pattern (parallel and reticular) are known to be related to water use strategies in herb species and critical adaptation to certain climatic conditions. However, the effect of these two traits and how they influence the coordination between vein density (vein length per area, VLA) and stomatal density (SD) remains unclear. In this study, we examined the leaves of 53 herb species from a subtropical botanical garden in Guangdong Province, China, including herbs with different life cycles and leaf venation patterns. We assessed 21 leaf water-related functional traits for all species, including leaf area (LA), major and minor VLA, major and minor vein diameter (VD), SD and stomatal length (SL). The results showed no significant differences in mean SD and SL between either functional group (parallel venation vs reticular venation and annual vs perennial). However, parallel vein herbs and perennial herbs displayed a significantly higher mean LA and minor VD, and lower minor VLA compared to reticular vein herbs and annual herbs, respectively. There was a linear correlation between total VLA and SD in perennial and reticular vein herbs, but this kind of correlation was not found in annual and parallel vein herbs. The major VLA and minor VD were significantly affected by the interaction between life cycle and leaf venation pattern. Our findings suggested that VLA, rather than SD, may serve as a more adaptable structure regulated by herbaceous plants to support the coordination between leaf water supply and demand in the context of different life cycles and leaf venation patterns. The results of the present study provide mechanistic understandings of functional advantages of different leaf types, which may involve in species fitness in community assembly and divergent responses to climate changes.

Technique for enhancing the accuracy of the Rayleigh-Sommerfeld convolutional diffraction through the utilization of independent spatial sampling.

The Rayleigh-Sommerfeld diffraction integral (RSD) is a rigorous solution that precisely satisfies both Maxwell's equations and Helmholtz's equations. It seamlessly integrates Huygens' principle, providing an accurate description of the coherent light propagation within the entire diffraction field. Therefore, the rapid and precise computation of the RSD is crucial for light transport simulation and optical technology applications based on it. However, the current FFT-based Rayleigh-Sommerfeld integral convolution algorithm (CRSD) exhibits poor performance in the near field, thereby limiting its applicability and impeding further development across various fields. The present study proposes, to our knowledge, a novel approach to enhance the accuracy of the Rayleigh-Sommerfeld convolution algorithm by employing independent sampling techniques in both spatial and frequency domains. The crux of this methodology involves segregating the spatial and frequency domains, followed by autonomous sampling within each domain. The proposed method significantly enhances the accuracy of RSD during the short distance while ensuring computational efficiency.

Integrated Transcriptomic and Proteomic Analysis Identifies Novel Regulatory Genes Associated with Plant Growth Regulator-Induced Astringency in Grape Berries.

Astringency influences the sensory characteristics and flavor quality of table grapes. We tested the astringency sensory attributes of berries and investigated the concentration of flavan-3-ols/proanthocyanidins (PAs) in skins after the application of the plant growth regulators CPPU and GA3 to the flowers and young berries of the "Summer Black" grape. Our results showed that CPPU and GA3 applications increase sensory astringency perception scores and flavan-3-ol/proanthocyanidin concentrations. Using integrated transcriptomic and proteomic analysis, differentially expressed transcripts and proteins associated with growth regulator treatment were identified, including those for flavonoid biosynthesis that contribute to the changes in sensory astringency levels. Transient overexpression of candidate astringency-related regulatory genes in grape leaves revealed that VvWRKY71, in combination with VvMYBPA1 and VvMYC1, could promote the biosynthesis of proanthocyanidins, while overexpression of VvNAC83 reduced the accumulation of proanthocyanidins. However, in transient promoter studies in Nicotiana benthamiana, VvWRKY71 repressed the promoter of VvMYBPA2, while VvNAC83 had no significant effect on the promoter activity of four PA-related genes, and VvMYBPA1 was shown to activate its own promoter. This study provides new insights into the molecular mechanisms of sensory astringency formation induced by plant growth regulators in grape berries.

Identification of One O-Methyltransferase Gene Involved in Methylated Flavonoid Biosynthesis Related to the UV-B Irradiation Response in Euphorbia lathyris.

Flavonoids are ubiquitous polyphenolic compounds that play a vital role in plants' defense response and medicinal efficacy. UV-B radiation is a vital environmental regulator governing flavonoid biosynthesis in plants. Many plants rapidly biosynthesize flavonoids as a response to UV-B stress conditions. Here, we investigated the effects of flavonoid biosynthesis via UV-B irradiation in Euphorbia lathyris. We found that exposure of the E. lathyris callus to UV-B radiation sharply increased the level of one O-methyltransferase (ElOMT1) transcript and led to the biosynthesis of several methylated flavonoids. The methyltransferase ElOMT1 was expressed heterologously in E. coli, and we tested the catalytic activity of recombinant ElOMT1 with possible substrates, including caffeic acid, baicalin, and luteolin, in vitro. ElOMT1 could efficiently methylate when the hydroxyl groups were contained in the core nucleus of the flavonoid. This molecular characterization identifies a methyltransferase responsible for the chemical modification of the core flavonoid structure through methylation and helps reveal the mechanism of methylated flavonoid biosynthesis in Euphorbiaceae. This study identifies the O-methyltransferase that responds to UV-B irradiation and helps shed light on the mechanism of flavonoid biosynthesis in Euphorbia lathyris.

Blood clot and fibrin recognition method for serum images based on deep learning.

BACKGROUND: Detecting and identifying of clots and fibrins in serum is an important process in the analysis stage before laboratory analysis. Currently, visual examination is commonly employed in clinical laboratories for this purpose. However, this method is not only time-consuming but also highly subjective and may result in misjudgments. METHOD: A serum image blood clot and fibrin segmentation method based on improved UNeXt was proposed. The improved UNeXt segmentation network was used to train the self-built serum dataset, and the trained model was used for blood clot and fibrin segmentation in serum images. Whether the serum images contained blood clots and fibrins was identified according to the segmentation results. RESULTS: The average Dice coefficient of the serum image segmentation network output was 0.8707, which realized more accurate segmentation of blood clots and fibrins in serum images. In 13,230 clinical serum samples, the sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of blood clot and fibrins segmentation in serum images were 95.74%, 98.11% and 97.93%, respectively, which meet clinical test requirements. CONCLUSIONS: The improved UNeXt segmentation network rapidly and accurately segmented and recognized blood clots and fibrins in serum images, which provided an accurate basis for the sampling height of the sampling needle in the automated biochemical and immunological assembly line.

Identification and Functional Characterization of a Novel Sinapyl Alcohol Acyltransferase from Euphorbia lathyris L.

Methoxyeugenol is a phenylpropene compound derived from plants and has various bioactivities. The chemical synthesis of methoxyeugenol is accompanied by pollution issues, whereas extraction from plants is associated with problems such as low yield and high cost. The production of methoxyeugenol can be effectively addressed through an enzymatic approach. In this study, the acyltransferase genes of Euphorbia lathyris L. were screened by homologous alignment of the transcriptome data of E. lathyris in the late growth stage and the acyltransferase genes of the closely related plant species. The results showed that ElBAHD10 had the closest relationship with earlier reported ScCFAT and PhCFAT, which were found to catalyze the reaction of coniferyl alcohol to generate coniferyl acetate. The ElBAHD10 gene was successfully cloned from E. lathyris and subsequently expressed in Escherichia coli. The purified protein ElBAHD10 catalyzed the reaction of sinapyl alcohol with acetyl CoA and cinnamoyl CoA to form sinapyl acetate and sinapyl cinnamate, respectively. In contrast, the crude ElBAHD10 protein could catalyze sinapyl alcohol to directly generate methoxyeugenol. The recombinant E. coli strain expressing ElBAHD10 produced methoxyeugenol through whole-cell transformation. This study provides insights and lays the foundation for methoxyeugenol production through biosynthetic approaches.

Semi-embedded slot waveguide electro-optic modulator.

Electro-optic modulators are essential devices on silicon photonic chips in modern optical communication networks. This paper presents a compact, low-loss electro-optic modulator. The modulation efficiency is greatly improved by embedding the lower half of the slot waveguide into the buried oxide layer and inserting graphene at the junction. The interaction of graphene with an optical field in a waveguide is studied using the finite element method. The functions of phase modulation and absorption modulation are realized by changing the gate voltage to change the chemical potential of graphene. The semi-embedded slot waveguide optical modulator has a length of 50 µm. After simulation verification, it can be used as an electro-absorption modulator and can achieve a modulation depth of 26.38 dB and an insertion loss of 0.60 dB. When used as an electro-refractive modulator, it can be realized with a linear change of phase from zero to π; the total insertion loss is only 0.59 dB. The modulator has a modulation bandwidth of 79.6 GHz, and the energy consumption as electro-absorption and electro-refraction modulation are 0.51 and 1.92 pj/bit, respectively. Compared with common electro-optic modulators, the electro-optic modulator designed in this paper has a higher modulation effect and also takes into account the advantages of low insertion loss and low energy consumption. This research is helpful for the design of higher-performance optical communication network devices.

An Enzymatic Strategy for the Selective Methylation of High-Value-Added Tetrahydroprotoberberine Alkaloids.

Tetrahydroprotoberberines (THPBs) are plant-specific alkaloids with significant medicinal value. They are present in trace amounts in plants and are difficult to chemically synthesize due to stereoselectivity and an unfavorable environment. In this study, a selective methylation strategy was developed for the biocatalysis of seven high-value-added THPB compounds using 4'-O-methyltransferase (Cj4'OMT), norcoclaurine 6-O-methyltransferase (Cj6OMT), and (S)-scoulerine 9-O-methyltransferase (SiSOMT and PsSOMT) in engineered E. coli. The methyltransferases Cj4'OMT, Cj6OMT, PsSOMT, and SiSOMT were expressed heterologously in E. coli. Compound 1 (10-methoxy-2,3,9-tetrahydroxyberbine) was synthesized using the recombinant E. coli strain Cj4'OMT and the substrate 2,3,9,10-tetrahydroxyberbine. Compound 2 (9-methoxy-2,3,10-tetrahydroxyberbine) was produced in the recombinant Escherichia coli (E. coli) strain PsSOMT, and compounds 2 and 3 (discretamine) were produced in the recombinant E. coli strain SiSOMT. Compounds 4 (9,10-methoxy-2,3-tetrahydroxyberbine) and 5 (corypalmine) were obtained by co-culturing the recombinant strains Cj4'OMT and SiSOMT with substrate. Compounds 6 (scoulerine) and 7 (isoscoulerine) were produced by co-culturing the substrate with the recombinant strains Cj4'OMT and Cj6OMT. To increase the yield of novel compound 2, the flask culture conditions of the engineered SiSOMT strain were optimized, resulting in the production of 165.74 mg/L of this compound. This study thus presents an enzymatic approach to the synthesis of high-value-added THPBs with minimum environmental wastage.

Nested micro-ring refractive index sensor based on a subwavelength grating waveguide and the Vernier effect.

In this paper, a nested micro-ring refractive index sensor based on a subwavelength grating waveguide and the Vernier effect is proposed. In this scheme, the nested micro-ring structure is combined with a subwavelength grating structure to enhance the contact area between the optical field and the analyte, and the wavelength offset is doubled through the Vernier effect. The proposed sensor can effectively increase sensing sensitivity, taking into account the improvement of the free spectral range. This structure enables the device to reach a sensitivity of 8030 nm/RIU near 1550 nm wavelength in a deionized water environment, with a detection limit of 5.659×10-5 RIU and free spectral range of 41.956 nm. The device suggested in this study has a greater reduced footprint than the conventional micro-ring resonant sensor, measuring just 35µm×25µm. Due to its high integration, high sensitivity, and large free spectral range compared to conventional micro-ring resonant sensors, such structures are of great value in biosensing and environmental monitoring.

Multidimensional tunable graphene chiral metasurface based on coherent control.

The deep application of chiral metasurfaces requires higher flexibility. Herein, we propose a multidimensional tunable chiral graphene metasurface, which uses coherent control to obtain more than 0.8 circular conversion dichroism (CCD) at 2.4 THz as a transmission structure. Its operating frequency can be changed in the 1.3-2.4 THz range, while the amplitude has almost perfect modulation depth in the range of 0-0.8. The mechanism of differential absorption was analyzed through numerical simulation. The device designed is easy to obtain reverse CCD, which is used for unit layout and proves its advantages in near-field imaging. Our work has broadened the path for the development of chiral metasurfaces towards higher degrees of freedom.

Berbamine Inhibits the Biological Activities of Prostate Cancer Cells by Modulating the ROS/NF-κB Axis.

Background/Introduction: Prostate cancer ranks as the second leading cause of cancer death. No effective pharmacological agent is available for prostate cancer treatment. Berbamine is an alkaloid extracted from the Chinese herb berberis, which exerts an effect on inhibiting cancer cell proliferation. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to explore the mechanism of berbamine in inhibiting prostate cancer. METHODS: Prostate cancer cell lines PC-3 and DU145 cells were used to evaluate the effects of berbamine. Cell viability was determined using cell-counting kit 8. The intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels were measured using a ROS assay kit. Cell apoptosis rate was examined using flow cytometry. The protein levels associated with cell proliferation, NF-κB pathway, and apoptosis were determined using western blot. RESULTS: It was found that berbamine induced cell cycle arrest in the S phase and inhibited prostate cancer cell growth and proliferation. Berbamine inhibited prostate cancer cells by inhibiting the activation of the NF-κB pathway in vitro. Berbamine increased ROS as an upstream molecule that inhibited the NF-κB pathway. CONCLUSION: Our results demonstrated that berbamine can effectively reduce the proliferation of prostate cancer cells. The ROS/NF-κB axis plays a crucial role in berbamine-mediated anti-prostate cancer cell proliferation.

Effect of leaf phenology and morphology on the coordination between stomatal and minor vein densities.

Leaf phenology (evergreen vs. deciduous) and morphology (simple vs. compound) are known to be related to water use strategies in tree species and critical adaptation to certain climatic conditions. However, the effect of these two traits and their interactions on the coordination between minor vein density (MVD) and stomatal density (SD) remains unclear. In this study, we examined the leaves of 108 tree species from plots in a primary subtropical forest in southern China, including tree species with different leaf morphologies and phenologies. We assessed nine leaf water-related functional traits for all species, including MVD, SD, leaf area (LA), minor vein thickness (MVT), and stomatal length (SL). The results showed no significant differences in mean LA and SD between either functional group (simple vs. compound and evergreen vs. deciduous). However, deciduous trees displayed a significantly higher mean MVD compared to evergreen trees. Similarly, compound-leaved trees have a higher (marginally significant) MVD than simple-leaved trees. Furthermore, we found that leaf morphology and phenology have significantly interactive effects on SL, and the compound-leafed deciduous trees exhibited the largest average SL among the four groups. There were significant correlations between the MVD and SD in all different tree groups; however, the slopes and interceptions differed within both morphology and phenology. Our results indicate that MVD, rather than SD, may be the more flexible structure for supporting the coordination between leaf water supply and demand in different leaf morphologies and phenologies. The results of the present study provide mechanistic understandings of the functional advantages of different leaf types, which may involve species fitness in community assembly and divergent responses to climate changes.

Terahertz broadband tunable chiral metamirror based on VO2-metal hybrid structure.

Aiming at the problems of narrow working bandwidth, low efficiency, and complex structure of existing terahertz chiral absorption, we propose a chiral metamirror composed of C-shaped metal split ring and L-shaped vanadium dioxide (VO2). This chiral metamirror is composed of three layers of structure, a gold substrate at the bottom, the first polyethylene cyclic olefin copolymer (Topas) dielectric layer and VO2-metal hybrid structure as the top. Our theoretical results led us to show that this chiral metamirror has a circular dichroism (CD) value greater than 0.9 at 5.70 to 8.55 THz and has a maximum value of 0.942 at f = 7.18 THz. In addition, by adjusting the conductivity of VO2, the CD value can be continuously adjustable from 0 to 0.942, which means that the proposed chiral metamirror supports the free switching of the CD response between the on and off states, and the CD modulation depth exceeds 0.99 in the range of 3 to 10 THz. Moreover, we discuss the influence of structural parameters and the change of incident angle on the performance of the metamirror. Finally, we believe that the proposed chiral metamirror has important reference value in the terahertz range for constructing chiral light detectors, CD metamirrors, switchable chiral absorbers and spin-related systems. This work will provide a new idea for improving the terahertz chiral metamirror operating bandwidth and promote the development of terahertz broadband tunable chiral optical devices.

Adjustable strong circular dichroism based on a tricircular arc metasurface.

Circular dichroism has promising applications in biology, molecular chemistry, and other fields. The key to obtaining strong circular dichroism is to introduce symmetry breaking into the structure, which leads to a great difference in the response to different circularly polarized waves. Here, we propose a metasurface structure based on three circular arcs, which produces strong circular dichroism. The metasurface structure combines the split ring with the three circular arcs and increases the structural asymmetry by changing the relative torsional angle. The causes of the strong circular dichroism are analyzed in this paper, and the influence of metasurface parameters on it is discussed. According to the simulation data, the response of the proposed metasurface to different circularly polarized waves varies greatly, with absorption of up to 0.99 at 5.095 THz for a left-handed circularly polarized wave and a maximum circular dichroism of over 0.93. In addition, the incorporation of the phase change material vanadium dioxide on the structure allows flexible modulation of circular dichroism and modulation depths of up to 98.6%. The change of angle within a certain range has little effect on the structural performance. We believe that this flexible and angle robust chiral metasurface structure is suitable for complex reality, and large modulation depth is more practical.

Synthesis of CoP@B,N,P co-doped porous carbon by a supramolecular gel self-assembly method for lithium-sulfur battery separator modification.

Lithium-sulfur batteries (LSBs) are regarded as promising next-generation batteries due to their high abundance and high theoretical energy density. However, the commercial application of LSBs is hindered by the shuttle effect of soluble lithium polysulfides (LiPSs). Hence, we synthesised B, N, P co-doped three-dimensional hierarchical porous carbon materials, uniformly dispersed with CoP nanoparticles, and utilized them as the coating material for the PE separator. The catalytic and adsorption capacity of the composite material was significantly enhanced by CoP. Both experimental and theoretical calculations show that the LiPS adsorption capacity of the composite material is significantly enhanced after the introduction of B atoms. As a result, the assembled LSBs with the CoP@BNPC/PE separator show excellent long-term stability (940.8 mA h g-1 after 500 cycles at 1.0 C, and only a 0.026% decay rate per cycle) and superior rate performance (613.6 mA h g-1 at 5.0 C). Our work further proves that a modified separator is an effective strategy to promote the commercialization of LSBs.

Genomic profiling of WRKY transcription factors and functional analysis of CcWRKY7, CcWRKY29, and CcWRKY32 related to protoberberine alkaloids biosynthesis in Coptis chinensis Franch.

Coptis chinensis Franch. (Huanglian in Chinese) is an important economic crop with medicinal value. Its rhizome has been used as a traditional herbal medicine for thousands of years in Asia. Protoberberine alkaloids, as the main bioactive component of Coptis chinensis, have a series of pharmacological activities. However, the protoberberine alkaloids content of C. chinensis is relatively low. Understanding the molecular mechanisms affecting the transcriptional regulation of protoberberine alkaloids would be crucial to increase their production via metabolic engineering. WRKY, one of the largest plant-specific gene families, regulates plant defense responses via the biosynthesis of specialized metabolites such as alkaloids. Totally, 41 WRKY transcription factors (TFs) related to protoberberine alkaloid biosynthesis were identified in the C. chinensis genome and classified into three groups based on phylogenetic and conserved motif analyses. Three WRKY genes (CcWRKY7, CcWRKY29, and CcWRKY32) may regulate protoberberine alkaloid biosynthesis, as suggested by gene-specific expression patterns, metabolic pathways, phylogenetic, and dual-luciferase analysis. Furthermore, the CcWRKY7, CcWRKY29, and CcWRKY32 proteins were specifically detected in the nucleus via subcellular localization. This study provides a basis for understanding the regulatory mechanisms of protoberberine alkaloid biosynthesis and valuable information for breeding C. chinensis varieties.