Soil redox status governs within-field spatial variation in microbial arsenic methylation and rice straighthead disease.

Microbial arsenic (As) methylation in paddy soil produces mainly dimethylarsenate (DMA), which can cause physiological straighthead disease in rice. The disease is often highly patchy in the field, but the reasons remain unknown. We investigated within-field spatial variations in straighthead disease severity, As species in rice husks and in soil porewater, microbial composition and abundance of arsM gene encoding arsenite S-adenosylmethionine methyltransferase in two paddy fields. The spatial pattern of disease severity matched those of soil redox potential, arsM gene abundance, porewater DMA concentration, and husk DMA concentration in both fields. Structural equation modelling identified soil redox potential as the key factor affecting arsM gene abundance, consequently impacting porewater DMA and husk DMA concentrations. Core amplicon variants that correlated positively with husk DMA concentration belonged mainly to the phyla of Chloroflexi, Bacillota, Acidobacteriota, Actinobacteriota, and Myxococcota. Meta-omics analyses of soil samples from the disease and non-disease patches identified 5129 arsM gene sequences, with 71% being transcribed. The arsM-carrying hosts were diverse and dominated by anaerobic bacteria. Between 96 and 115 arsM sequences were significantly more expressed in the soil samples from the disease than from the non-disease patch, which were distributed across 18 phyla, especially Acidobacteriota, Bacteroidota, Verrucomicrobiota, Chloroflexota, Pseudomonadota, and Actinomycetota. This study demonstrates that even a small variation in soil redox potential within the anoxic range can cause a large variation in the abundance of As-methylating microorganisms, thus resulting in within-field variation in rice straighthead disease. Raising soil redox potential could be an effective way to prevent straighthead disease.

Characterization of microbial contamination in agricultural soil: A public health perspective.

Soil is widely recognized as a reservoir of microbial contaminants including antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and human bacterial pathogens (HBPs), which are major public health concerns. Although the risks associated with soil safety in different soil habitats have been studied, the results are not comprehensive. In this study, dryland soils used for vegetable, corn, and soybean planting, and submerged soils used for rice planting and crab farming were collected and subjected to metagenomic sequencing to characterize HBPs, ARGs, and virulence factor genes (VFGs). The results showed that submerged soils had a higher abundance of HBP than dryland soils. In addition, the submerged soil microbiome acquired significantly higher levels of high-risk ARGs than the dryland soil microbiome and these ARGs were mainly assigned to bacA, sul1, and aadA genes submerged. Network analysis revealed that 11 HBPs, including Yersinia enterocolitica, Vibrio cholerae, Escherichia coli, and Leptospira interrogans, were high-risk because of their close association with ARGs, VFGs, and mobile genetic elements (MGEs). Procrustes and network analyses showed that HBPs and ARGs were more closely linked in submerged soil. This study confirms that submerged field has higher ecological environment risk and human health risk than dryland soil.

Chromosome-level Genome Assembly and Sex-specific Differential Transcriptome of the White-backed Planthopper, Sogatella furcifera.

Background: The white-backed planthopper (WBPH), Sogatella furcifera, causes great damage to many crops (mainly rice) by direct feeding or transmitting plant viruses. The previous genome assembly was generated by second-generation sequencing technologies, with a contig N50 of only 51.5 kb, and contained a lot of heterozygous sequences. Methods: We utilized third-generation sequencing technologies and Hi-C data to generate a high-quality chromosome-level assembly. We also provide a large amount of transcriptome data for full-length transcriptome analysis and gender differential expression analysis. Results: The final assembly comprised 56.38 Mb, with a contig N50 of 2.20 Mb and a scaffold N50 of 45.25 Mb. Fourteen autosomes and one X chromosome were identified. More than 99.5% of the assembled bases located on the 15 chromosomes. 95.9% of the complete BUSCO Hemiptera genes were detected in the final assembly and 16,880 genes were annotated. 722 genes were relatively highly expressed in males, while 60 in the females. Conclusion: The integrated genome, definite sex chromosomes, comprehensive transcriptome profiles, high efficiency of RNA interference and short life cycle substantially made WBPH an efficient research object for functional genomics.

Lutein inhibits tumor progression through the ATR/Chk1/p53 signaling pathway in non-small cell lung cancer.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death. In particular, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) accounts for approximately 85% of all lung cancer cases. Due to tumor resistance and the toxicity of chemotherapeutic agents, it is increasingly critical to discover novel, potent antitumorigenic drugs for treating NSCLC. Lutein, a carotenoid, has been reported to exert toxic effects on cells in several tumor types. However, the detailed functions and underlying mechanisms of lutein in NSCLC remain elusive. The present study showed that lutein significantly and dose-dependently inhibited cell proliferation, arrested the cell cycle at the G0/G1 phase, and induced apoptosis in NSCLC cells. RNA-sequencing analysis revealed that the p53 signaling pathway was the most significantly upregulated in lutein-treated A549 cells. Mechanistically, lutein exerted antitumorigenic effects by inducing DNA damage and subsequently activating the ATR/Chk1/p53 signaling pathway in A549 cells. In vivo, lutein impeded tumor growth in mice and prolonged their survival. In conclusion, our findings demonstrate the antitumorigenic potential of lutein and reveal its molecular mechanism of action, suggesting that lutein is a promising candidate for clinical NSCLC treatment.

Generic classification of Asian horned toads (Anura: Megophryidae: Megophryinae) and monograph of Chinese species.

The subfamily Megophryinae, as a representative batrachian group of the Oriental Realm and one of the most diverse groups of amphibians, has attracted considerable attention due to continued conjecture regarding its generic classification and failure to reach a satisfactory consensus. China boasts the richest diversity of Asian horned toads, containing some two thirds of the total species cataloged. However, most species have a complicated taxonomic history, resulting in multiple misidentifications. As such, an overall clarification of historical records and regional checklists is required. In the current investigation, we established the phylogeny of the Asian horned toads and performed detailed examinations with redefinitions of several important morphological traits. Based on the phylogenetic relationships and morphological differences, we propose a new ten-genus classification for the Asian horned toad subfamily Megophryinae: i.e., Brachytarsophrys, Atympanophrys, Grillitschia, Sarawakiphrys gen. nov., Jingophrys gen. nov., Xenophrys, Megophrys, Pelobatrachus, Ophryophryne, and Boulenophrys. Revisions on the diagnosability, distribution, and content of each genus are provided. Furthermore, we present a careful review of the taxonomic history of Asian horned toad species from China and provide a monograph of congeners, including six species of Brachytarsophrys, four species of Atympanophrys, five species of Jingophrys gen. nov., 10 species of Xenophrys, two species of Ophryophryne, and 60 species of Boulenophrys. Finally, we discuss the importance of traditional morphological traits based on multiple populations in taxonomic work as well as taxonomic inflation caused by the genetic species delimitation.

Clinical outcomes after coronary artery bypass grafting in patients with dialysis-dependent end-stage renal disease and an analysis of the related influencing factors.

Perioperative and short/mid-term survival rates of dialysis-dependent patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD), who undergo coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), and the factors influencing mortality are not well evaluated In China. We retrospectively analyzed the perioperative and postoperative 1-, 3-, and 5-year survival rates of 53 dialysis-dependent ESRD patients who underwent CABG, and compared the factors related to perioperative mortality and all-cause mortality during the postoperative follow-up. Survival rates were expressed as Kaplan-Meier survival curves, and factors influencing the follow-up survival rates were analyzed using the log rank (Mantel-Cox) test. There were eight perioperative deaths, resulting in 15.1% mortality. Intraoperative intra-aortic balloon pump use (P = 0.01), advanced age (P = 0.0027), and high EuroSCORE II score (P = 0.047) were associated with increased perioperative mortality. Forty-five discharged patients were followed from 2 months to 10 years (median, 4.2 years) postoperatively. There were 19 all-cause deaths, including 10 cardiac deaths (10/19, 52.6%). Comparisons between groups indicated that the presence of peripheral artery disease (PAD) increased mortality during follow-up (P = 0.025); 1-, 3-, and 5-year survival rates were 93.3, 79.5, and 66.8%, respectively. The results of the long-rank analysis indicated that the presence of PAD was a risk factor for postoperative survival (log rank χ2 = 4.543; P = 0.033). Dialysis-dependent patients with ESRD had high perioperative mortality and unsatisfactory short- and medium-term survival after CABG. PAD was a risk factor affecting patients' postoperative survival. Multidisciplinary teamwork is needed to enhance postoperative management and reduce complications, to improve postoperative survival in these patients.

Circular RNA circFBXO7 attenuates non-small cell lung cancer tumorigenesis by sponging miR-296-3p to facilitate KLF15-mediated transcriptional activation of CDKN1A.

BACKGROUND: Accumulating evidence indicates that circular RNAs (circRNAs) play important roles in various cancers. Hsa_circ_0008832 (circFBXO7) is a circRNA generated from the second exon of the human F-box only protein 7 (FBXO7). Mouse circFbxo7 is a circRNA generated from the second exon of mouse F-box only protein 7 (Fbxo7). The role of human circFBXO7 and mouse circFbxo7 in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has not been reported. METHODS: The expression of circFBXO7 was measured by quantitative real-time PCR. Survival analysis was performed to explore the association between the expression of circFBXO7 and the prognosis of patients with NSCLC. Lung cancer cell lines were transfected with plasmids. Cell proliferation, cell cycle, and tumorigenesis were evaluated to assess the effects of circFBXO7. Fluorescence in situ hybridization assay was used to identify the location of circFBXO7 and circFbxo7 in human and mouse lung cancer cells. Luciferase reporter assay was conducted to confirm the relationship between circFBXO7 and microRNA. RESULTS: In this study, we found that circFBXO7 was downregulated in NSCLC tissues and cell lines. NSCLC patients with high circFBXO7 expression had prolonged overall survival. Overexpression of circFBXO7 inhibited cell proliferation both in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, we demonstrated that circFBXO7 upregulated the expression of miR-296-3p target gene Krüppel-like factor 15 (KLF15) and KLF15 transactivated the expression of CDKN1A. CONCLUSIONS: CircFBXO7 acts as a tumor suppressor by a novel circFBXO7/miR-296-3p/KLF15/CDKN1A axis, which may serve as a potential biomarker and therapeutic target for NSCLC.

Multi-group biodiversity distributions and drivers of metacommunity organization along a glacial-fluvial-limnic pathway on the Tibetan plateau.

Extensive global glacial retreats are threatening cryosphere ecosystem functioning and the associated biota in glacier-fed water systems. Understanding multi-group biodiversity distributions and compositional variation across diverse but hydrologically linked habitats under varying glacial influences will help explain the mechanisms underlying glacial community organization and ecosystem processes. However, such data are generally lacking due to the difficulty of obtaining biodiversity information across wide taxonomic ranges. Here, we used a multi-marker environmental DNA metabarcoding approach to simultaneously investigate the spatial patterns of community compositions and assembly mechanisms of four taxonomic groups (cyanobacteria, diatoms, invertebrates, and vertebrates) along the flowpaths of a tributary of Lake Nam Co on the Tibetan Plateau-from its glacier headwaters, through its downstream river and wetlands, to its estuary. We detected 869 operational taxonomic units: 119 cyanobacterial, 395 diatom, 269 invertebrate, and 86 vertebrate. Taxonomic richnesses consistently increased from upstream to downstream, and although all groups showed community similarity distance decay patterns, the trend for vertebrates was the weakest. Cyanobacteria, diatom, and invertebrate community compositions were significantly correlated with several environmental factors, while the vertebrate community was only correlated with waterway width. Variation partitioning analysis indicated that varying extents of environmental conditions and spatial factors affected community organizations for different groups. Furthermore, stochastic processes contributed prominently to the microorganisms' community assembly (Sloan's neutral model R2 = 0.77 for cyanobacteria and 0.73 for diatoms) but were less important for macroorganisms (R2 = 0.21 for invertebrates and 0.15 for vertebrates). That trend was further substantiated by modified stochasticity ratio analyses. This study provides the first holistic picture of the diverse biotic communities residing in a series of hydrologically connected glacier-influenced habitats. Our results both uncovered the distinct mechanisms that underlie the metacommunity organizations of different glacial organisms and helped comprehensively predict the ecological impacts of the world's melting glaciers.

Altered phenotypic and metabolic characteristics of FOXP3+CD3+CD56+ natural killer T (NKT)-like cells in human malignant pleural effusion.

Malignant pleural effusion (MPE) is a functional 'cold' tumor microenvironment in which the antitumor activity of CD8+ T cells and natural killer T (NKT)-like cells is suppressed and the function of regulatory T (Treg) cells is enhanced. Using flow cytometry and immunofluorescence staining, we detected a distinct subset of NKT-like cells expressing FOXP3 in MPE. Through single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) analysis, we found that the glycolysis pathway and pyruvate metabolism were highly activated in FOXP3+ NKT-like cells. Similar to Treg cells, FOXP3+ NKT-like cells highly expressed monocarboxylate transporter 1 (MCT1) and lactate dehydrogenase B to uptake and utilize lactate, thereby maintaining their immunosuppressive function and hyperlactylation in MPE. Furthermore, we found that MCT1 small molecule inhibitor 7ACC2 significantly reduced FOXP3 expression and histone lactylation levels in NKT-like cells in vitro. In conclusion, we reveal for the first time the altered phenotypic and metabolic features of FOXP3+ NKT-like cells in human MPE.

The nitrate uptake and growth of wheat were more inhibited under single-layer graphene oxide stress compared to multi-layer graphene oxide.

Although the phytotoxicity of graphene-based materials has been investigated extensively, the effects of different graphene-based materials on nutrient uptake in plants remain unclear. Here, we analyzed the differences in phytotoxicity between single-layer graphene oxide (sGO) and multi-layer graphene oxide (mGO) by analyzing the growth status and nitrate (NO3-) accumulation in wheat plants at 0, 100, 200, 400, and 800 mg L-1 graphene oxide supply. Both sGO and mGO displayed concentration-dependent inhibitory effects on biomass, root length, number of lateral roots, and nitrogen (N) nutrient status. Treatment with 400 mg L-1 sGO caused 0.9-, 1.3-, and 1-fold higher reductions in NO3--N, assimilated N, and total N concentrations in roots, respectively, than mGO treatment. Analysis of root oxidative stress and in situ NO3- uptake revealed that sGO caused more significant damage to the root tip and a lower NO3- net influx rate than mGO. In addition, the expression of NO3- transporter (NRT) genes in roots, including NRT1.5, NRT2.1, NRT2.2, NRT2.3, and NRT2.4, under sGO treatment were lower than those under mGO treatment. Overall, sGO treatment induced a more severe inhibitory effect on root growth and NO3- uptake and accumulation than mGO treatment, accompanied by significant suppression of the expression of NRTs in sGO-treated roots. This study provides a physiological and molecular basis for studying the phytotoxic effects of various sizes of graphene oxide.

Hydrogen Sulfide Attenuates Neuroinflammation by Inhibiting the NLRP3/Caspase-1/GSDMD Pathway in Retina or Brain Neuron following Rat Ischemia/Reperfusion.

Gasdermin D-executing pyroptosis mediated by NLRP3 inflammasomes has been recognized as a key pathogenesis during stroke. Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) could protect CNS against ischemia/reperfusion (I/R)-induced neuroinflammation, while the underlying mechanism remains unclear. The study applied the middle cerebral artery occlusion/reperfusion (MCAO/R) model to investigate how the brain and the retinal injuries were alleviated in sodium hydrogen sulfide (NaHS)-treated rats. The rats were assigned to four groups and received an intraperitoneal injection of 50 µmol/kg NaHS or NaCl 15 min after surgery. Neurological deficits were evaluated using the modified neurologic severity score. The quantification of pro-inflammatory cytokines, NLRP3, caspase-1, and GSDMD were determined by ELISA and Western blot. Cortical and retinal neurodegeneration and cell pyroptosis were determined by histopathologic examination. Results showed that NaHS rescued post-stroke neurological deficits and infarct progression, improved retina injury, and attenuated neuroinflammation in the brain cortexes and the retinae. NaHS administration inhibits inflammation by blocking the NLRP3/caspase-1/GSDMD pathway and further suppressing neuronal pyroptosis. This is supported by the fact that it reversed the high-level of NLRP3, caspase-1, and GSDMD following I/R. Our findings suggest that compounds with the ability to donate H2S could constitute a novel therapeutic strategy for ischemic stroke.

Promoting the formation of Pi-stacking interaction to improve CTL cells activation between modified peptide and HLA.

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to investigate the use of single residue substitution to promote the formation of pi-stacking interactions between peptides and Human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-A*2402 molecules to improve the affinity of peptides and HLA molecules, as well as the level of cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) cells activated by peptides-HLA (p-HLA) complex. METHODS: Molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulation were used to simulate and analyze the interactions and binding free energies between HLA-A*2402-restricted antigen peptides and HLA molecules, before and after the single residue substitution. HLA-A*2402 restricted antigen peptides before and after the single residue replacement were loaded into dendritic cells (DCs) in vitro, and further Enzyme-Linked ImmunoSpot (ELispot) test was carried out to evaluate the effect of modified antigen peptides on the immune activation of CTL cells. RESULT: After replacing the antigen peptides with a single residue, some of them could promote the formation of pi-stacking interaction. The binding free energy between the modified antigen peptides and HLA-A*2402, as well as the level of immune activation of CTL cells were mostly higher than before, especially after the replacement of the 9th residue of the polypeptide, such as C9F and C9W. There was a significant negative correlation between the level of activated CTL cells by modified antigen peptides and the total interaction amount of hydrogen bonds and salt bridges. CONCLUSION: Promoting the formation of pi-stacking interaction between antigen peptides and HLA-A*2402 molecules could increase the total binding free energy of p-HLA complex and the level of CTL cells activation. In addition, the amount of hydrogen bonds and salt bridges between peptides and HLA could reduce the level of immune activation. All the characteristics above can improve the immunogenicities of the weak antigens.

Fishing for fish environmental DNA: Ecological applications, methodological considerations, surveying designs, and ways forward.

Vast global declines of freshwater and marine fish diversity and population abundance pose serious threats to both ecosystem sustainability and human livelihoods. Environmental DNA (eDNA)-based biomonitoring provides robust, efficient, and cost-effective assessment of species occurrences and population trends in diverse aquatic environments. Thus, it holds great potential for improving conventional surveillance frameworks to facilitate fish conservation and fisheries management. However, the many technical considerations and rapid developments underway in the eDNA arena can overwhelm researchers and practitioners new to the field. Here, we systematically analysed 416 fish eDNA studies to summarize research trends in terms of investigated targets, research aims, and study systems, and reviewed the applications, rationales, methodological considerations, and limitations of eDNA methods with an emphasis on fish and fisheries research. We highlighted how eDNA technology may advance our knowledge of fish behaviour, species distributions, population genetics, community structures, and ecological interactions. We also synthesized the current knowledge of several important methodological concerns, including the qualitative and quantitative power eDNA has to recover fish biodiversity and abundance, and the spatial and temporal representations of eDNA with respect to its sources. To facilitate ecological applications implementing fish eDNA techniques, recent literature was summarized to generate guidelines for effective sampling in lentic, lotic, and marine habitats. Finally, we identified current gaps and limitations, and pointed out newly emerging research avenues for fish eDNA. As methodological optimization and standardization improve, eDNA technology should revolutionize fish monitoring and promote biodiversity conservation and fisheries management that transcends geographic and temporal boundaries.

Over 30 Years of Misidentification: A New Nothospecies Lycoris × jinzheniae (Amaryllidaceae) in Eastern China, Based on Molecular, Morphological, and Karyotypic Evidence.

Based on the complete chloroplast genome, morphology, and karyotype evidence, we identified a new nothospecies, Lycoris × jinzheniae S.Y. Zhang, P.C. Zhang & J.W. Shao, in eastern China. This new nothospecies has been inappropriately named Lycoris × albiflora in the previous literature for more than 30 years. However, the new nothospecies resulted from the hybridization of L. sprengeri and L. chinensis and had the following characteristics: the karyotype was 2n = 19 = 3V + 16I, the leaves emerged in the spring, the ratio of filament to corolla length was approximately 1.2, tepals were slightly undulated and curved, and it was distributed throughout eastern China. These characteristics are quite different from those of L. × albiflora; thus, in this study, we named it and provided a detailed morphological description and diagnosis.

Two new stilbenoid diglycosides from the stems of Dendrobium 'Sonia'.

Two undescribed stilbenoid diglycosides, dendrosonside A and dendrosonside B (1 and 2), were isolated from the stems of Dendrobium 'Sonia'. Their structures were elucidated based on 1 D/2D NMR and HRESIMS. The glycosyls contained in the two isolates were determined as D-glucose by acid hydrolysis and GC-MS analyses. In addition, 1 and 2 were further tested for the inhibition of nitric oxide production.

ROCker Models for Reliable Detection and Typing of Short-Read Sequences Carrying ß-Lactamase Genes.

Identification of genes encoding ß-lactamases (BLs) from short-read sequences remains challenging due to the high frequency of shared amino acid functional domains and motifs in proteins encoded by BL genes and related non-BL gene sequences. Divergent BL homologs can be frequently missed during similarity searches, which has important practical consequences for monitoring antibiotic resistance. To address this limitation, we built ROCker models that targeted broad classes (e.g., class A, B, C, and D) and individual families (e.g., TEM) of BLs and challenged them with mock 150-bp- and 250-bp-read data sets of known composition. ROCker identifies most-discriminant bit score thresholds in sliding windows along the sequence of the target protein sequence and hence can account for nondiscriminative domains shared by unrelated proteins. BL ROCker models showed a 0% false-positive rate (FPR), a 0% to 4% false-negative rate (FNR), and an up-to-50-fold-higher F1 score [2 × precision × recall/(precision + recall)] compared to alternative methods, such as similarity searches using BLASTx with various e-value thresholds and BL hidden Markov models, or tools like DeepARG, ShortBRED, and AMRFinder. The ROCker models and the underlying protein sequence reference data sets and phylogenetic trees for read placement are freely available through http://enve-omics.ce.gatech.edu/data/rocker-bla. Application of these BL ROCker models to metagenomics, metatranscriptomics, and high-throughput PCR gene amplicon data should facilitate the reliable detection and quantification of BL variants encoded by environmental or clinical isolates and microbiomes and more accurate assessment of the associated public health risk, compared to the current practice. IMPORTANCE Resistance genes encoding ß-lactamases (BLs) confer resistance to the widely prescribed antibiotic class ß-lactams. Therefore, it is important to assess the prevalence of BL genes in clinical or environmental samples for monitoring the spreading of these genes into pathogens and estimating public health risk. However, detecting BLs in short-read sequence data is technically challenging. Our ROCker model-based bioinformatics approach showcases the reliable detection and typing of BLs in complex data sets and thus contributes toward solving an important problem in antibiotic resistance surveillance. The ROCker models developed substantially expand the toolbox for monitoring antibiotic resistance in clinical or environmental settings.

A Hybrid PAPR Reduction Scheme in OFDM-IM Using Phase Rotation Factors and Dither Signals on Partial Sub-Carriers.

As a multi-carrier modulation technique, a high peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) is a common issue suffered by orthogonal frequency division multiplexing with index modulation (OFDM-IM) due to its system structure. High PAPR may cause signal distortion, which affects correct symbol transmission. This paper tries to inject dither signals to the inactive (idle) sub-carriers, which is a unique transmission structure of OFDM-IM, to reduce PAPR. Unlike the previous works, which utilize all idle sub-carriers, the proposed PAPR reduction scheme utilizes selected partial sub-carriers. This method performs well in terms of bit error rate (BER) performance and energy efficiency, which are obvious drawbacks of the previous PAPR reduction works due to the introduction of dither signals. In addition, in this paper, phase rotation factors are combined with the dither signals to compensate for the PAPR reduction performance degradation due to the insufficient use of partial idle sub-carriers. Moreover, an energy detection scheme is designed and proposed in this paper in order to distinguish the index of phase rotation factor used for transmission. It is shown by extensive simulation results that the proposed hybrid PAPR reduction scheme is able to implement an impressive PAPR reduction performance among existing dither signa-based schemes as well as classical distortion-less PAPR reduction schemes. In addition, the proposed method obtains better error performance and energy efficiency than that of the previous works. At the error probability 10-4, the proposed method can achieve around 5 dB gain compared to the conventional dither signal-based schemes.

miR-181b-5p Promotes the Progression of Cholangiocarcinoma by Targeting PARK2 via PTEN/PI3K/AKT Signaling Pathway.

This study combined with bioinformatics analysis and investigated the expression pattern of miR-181b-5p, as well as explored its role and mechanism in cholangiocarcinoma (CCA or CHOL). Several bioinformatics databases were used to analyze the expression of miR-181b and the enrichment of miR-181b in biological activities and biological pathways in CCA. The RT-qPCR analysis was used to examine the expression levels of miR-181b-5p. A receiver operation characteristics (ROC) curve analysis and the Kaplan-Meier survival assay were conducted to validate the diagnostic and prognostic implication of miR-181b-5p. Cell experiments were used to explore the possible functional role of miR-181b-5p in CCA progression. The bioinformatics assay was used to predict the target gene of miR-181b-5p and Western blot was used to confirm the related signaling pathway. The bioinformatics analysis results suggest that miR-181b-5p was highly expressed in cholangiocarcinoma and its expression was negatively related to PARK2 expression in CCA tissues. miR-181b-5p expression in the serum and tissues was upregulated and associated with lymph node metastasis and TNM stage. Increased expression of miR-181b-5p had relatively high diagnostic accuracy and showed poor prognosis in CCA patients. In addition, miR-181b-5p overexpression enhanced cell proliferation, migration, and invasion by targeting PARK2. Overexpression of miR-181b-5p activated the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway, while knockdown of miR-181b-5p suppressed the signaling pathway. Increased expression of miR-181b-5p in CCA may be a potential diagnostic or/and prognostic indicator for CCA patients. The present data indicated miR-181b-5p acted as an oncogene in CCA through promoting tumor cell proliferation, migration, and invasion of CCA via the PTEN/PI3K/AKT signaling pathway by targeting PARK2, which might be a promising therapeutic target or biomarker for CCA.

Lycorisinsularis (Amaryllidaceae), a new species from eastern China revealed by morphological and molecular evidence.

Lycorisinsularis S.Y.Zhang & J.W.Shao, a new fertile diploid species from coastal provinces in eastern China is described. This new species is most similar to L.sprengeri in morphology and has been misidentified as the latter for a long time. However, it can be distinguished from the latter by the relatively longer perianth tube (1.5‒2.5 cm vs. less than 1.3 cm), a characteristic that was overlooked before. Phylogenetic analysis, based on complete plastid genome, showed that L.insularis is not genetically related to L.sprengeri in the genus. The former was a sister group of L.sanguinea, while the latter was closely related to L.longituba and L.chinensis and they were respectively located on different clades that were separated at the base of the phylogenetic tree. The chromosome number of L.insularis is 2n = 22. At present, as the new species is relatively widely distributed and the wild population can normally reproduce by seeds, we evaluate it as LC (Least Concern) according to criteria of the IUCN Red List.