Complete mitochondrial genome of the recently discovered multivoltine Graphium (Pazala) confucius Hu, Duan & Cotton, 2018 (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae).

Graphium (Pazala) confucius Hu, Duan & Cotton, 2018 is a recently discovered, wide ranging, multivoltine swordtail butterfly in China and Vietnam. The present study reports the complete mitochondrial genome of this butterfly, which is the fifth mitochondrial genome record for subgenus Pazala Moore, 1888. The mitochondrial genome of G. (P.) confucius is circular and 15,212 bp in length, and consists of 37 genes, including 13 PCGs, 22 tRNAs, and two rRNAs. The Bayesian phylogenetic tree containing the focal species and 33 other Papilioninae members clusters G. (P.) confucius with other Pazala taxa inside tribe Leptocircini, which agrees with its taxonomic position. The findings of this study added data to the complex subgenus Pazala and are beneficial to future understanding and conservation planning of butterfly diversity.

Quality grade classification of China commercial moxa floss using electronic nose: A supervised learning approach.

Moxa floss is the primary material used in moxibustion, an important traditional Chinese medicine therapy that uses ignited moxa floss to apply heat to the body for disease treatment. Till date, there is no available data regarding quality control of different grades of moxa floss. The objectives of this study were to explore the probative value of the electronic nose (e-nose) in differentiating different quality grades of commercial moxa floss sold in China, and to investigate if data mining techniques could be used to optimize the sensor array while retaining classification accuracy of the samples. The e-nose with 12 metal oxide semiconductor type sensors was used to analyze the odor profiles of 15 commercial moxa floss samples of different quality grades. Feature selection algorithms using principal component analysis (PCA) and BestFirst (BC) coupled with correlation-based feature subset selection (CfsSubsetEval) method were used to obtain the most efficient feature subsets. Results for the BC feature selection method identified 3 optimized sensors (S2, S6, and S11), suggesting that aromatic compounds relate more to the identification of the samples. Radial basis function (RBF), multilayer perceptron (MLP), and random forests (RF) performed well in discriminating the samples, retaining prediction accuracies above 85%, which achieved cost-effectiveness and operational simplicity, while retaining prediction accuracy. The e-nose could be a rapid and nondestructive method for objective preliminary classification of quality grades of moxa floss and may be used for future studies related to moxa products safety and quality.

[Fate of Antibiotic Resistance Genes and Virulence Genes in Enterococci During Anaerobic Digestion Process of Thermal Hydrolyzed Sludge].

Municipal sludge contains large amounts of enterococci, which can harbor antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and virulence genes (VGs). ARG- and VG-containing enterococci therefore present potential resistance and virulence and, as a consequence, represent a significant health risk to humans. Therefore, the resistance phenotype of enterococci and the prevalence of ARGs and VGs in the enterococci isolated from the mesophilic (40℃) and thermophilic (55℃) anaerobic digestion of thermal hydrolyzed sludge was investigated. Results showed that the enterococci isolated from thermal hydrolyzed sludge showed significantly higher resistance to azithromycin than that to spiramycin and tetracycline. Thermophilic anaerobic digestion resulted in a greater reduction of enterococci abundance (by two orders of magnitude and one order of magnitude, respectively), and a greater reduction in the antibiotic resistance rates of the enterococci. However, thermophilic digestion can promote the expression of tetracycline resistance genes in the enterococci. Furthermore, both mesophilic and thermophilic digestion can facilitate horizontal genes transfer (HGT) between enterococci, which might result in an increase in the occurrence of double- or multiple-resistance. Mesophilic digestion reduced the prevalence of co-occurring ARGs and VGs in enterococci, while thermophilic digestion had the opposite effect. This research improves understanding of the occurrence and fate of ARGs and VGs in potential pathogens during the treatment of municipal sludge.

The ATP-binding cassette transporter OsABCG15 is required for anther development and pollen fertility in rice.

Plant male reproductive development is a complex biological process, but the underlying mechanism is not well understood. Here, we characterized a rice (Oryza sativa L.) male sterile mutant. Based on map-based cloning and sequence analysis, we identified a 1,459-bp deletion in an adenosine triphosphate (ATP)-binding cassette (ABC) transporter gene, OsABCG15, causing abnormal anthers and male sterility. Therefore, we named this mutant osabcg15. Expression analysis showed that OsABCG15 is expressed specifically in developmental anthers from stage 8 (meiosis II stage) to stage 10 (late microspore stage). Two genes CYP704B2 and WDA1, involved in the biosynthesis of very-long-chain fatty acids for the establishment of the anther cuticle and pollen exine, were downregulated in osabcg15 mutant, suggesting that OsABCG15 may play a key function in the processes related to sporopollenin biosynthesis or sporopollenin transfer from tapetal cells to anther locules. Consistently, histological analysis showed that osabcg15 mutants developed obvious abnormality in postmeiotic tapetum degeneration, leading to rapid degredation of young microspores. The results suggest that OsABCG15 plays a critical role in exine formation and pollen development, similar to the homologous gene of AtABCG26 in Arabidopsis. This work is helpful to understand the regulatory network in rice anther development.

Increased apoptosis and expression of FasL, Bax and caspase-3 in human lupus nephritis class II and IV.

BACKGROUND: Apoptosis is involved in glomerular injuries leading to glomerulonephritis. However, the role of renal cellular apoptosis in the pathogenesis and progression of human lupus nephritis (LN) is controversial, and studies on the expression of apoptosis-related proteins, such as FasL, Bax and caspase-3, in different classifications of human LN renal tissues are limited. METHODS: Thirty-two samples of LN tissues, including 10 cases of class II and 22 cases of class IV LN, and 5 cases of human normal renal tissues were obtained. Expression of FasL, Bax and caspase-3 proteins in LN tissues was examined by immunohistochemical staining. Apoptotic cells were evaluated by the terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) assay. RESULTS: Expression of FasL, Bax and caspase-3 and TUNEL-positive cells in glomerular parenchymal cells, renal tubular epithelial cells and interstitial inflammatory cells were higher in LN tissues compared with controls. Expression of Bax and caspase-3, but not FasL, was significantly higher in glomeruli of class IV LN than those of class II LN. The apoptotic cell count per glomerulus was significantly higher in class IV LN than class II LN (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Increased apoptosis and the expression of FasL, Bax and caspase-3 in human LN suggest that apoptosis might be induced through pathways of these proteins in the pathogenesis process and play an important role in LN progression through Bax and caspase-3, but not FasL.

[Relation between angiogenesis, fibrinolysis and invasion/metastasis in breast cancer].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relation between angiogensis, fibrinolysis and invasion/metastasis in breast cancer. METHODS: The expression of urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) and microvascular density (MVD) was immunohistochemically studied in 110 patients with primary breast cancer. RESULTS: High uPA expression was found in 59 patients (53.6%), and weak expression in 51 patients (46.4%). Strong MVD expression was found in 53 patients (48.2%), and weak expression in 57 patients (51.8%). The correlation between uPA expression and tumor size, lymph node status, TNM stage was statistically significant. Expression of MVD was also significantly associated with tumor size and TNM stage. Neither age related to GDDP, menopausal status nor PR ER status was significantly with uPA and MVD expression. Patients with strong expression of uPA and/or MVD had a significantly shorter relapse-free survival than those with weak expression of uPA and/or MVD. Especially, patients with strong expression of both uPA and MVD were likely to develop recurrence and metastasis. Multivariate analysis showed that uPA and MVD were two independent prognostic factors affecting the relapse-free survival. CONCLUSION: Angiogensis and fibrinolysis were closely associated with invasion and metastasis of breast cancer. uPA and MVD may be two strong and independent biologic markers in predicting postoperative relapse and metastasis of breast cancer.