Predicting Plant Invasions Following China's Water Diversion Project.

China's South to North Water Diversion (SNWD) project connects portions of the Yangtze River in the south to the Yellow River system in the north, overcoming biogeographic barriers to water movement. The diversion will supply potable water to over 110 million people and provide multiple other socioeconomic benefits. However, an inadvertent negative impact of this connection includes creation of conduits for species invasions. Alligator weed (Alternanthera philoxeroides), water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes), and water lettuce (Pistia stratiotes) are the only aquatic plant species on China's shortlists for special control. These species are mainly invasive in the Yangtze River basin. If these species are able to invade the SNWD and further spread via the SNWD, they have the potential to alter water supply, including water quantity and quality, as well as local ecology and agriculture, threatening the goals of the diversion. Understanding the full potential for these species to invade northern China is critical to early management decisions to avoid costly negative impacts. We used Maxent modeling to evaluate the probability that each of these species might become invasive in the receiving water regions. The models predict that all three species will be able to expand their ranges northward, with alligator weed and water hyacinth having the greatest potential for range expansion. These results suggest the need for prevention, monitoring, and management strategies for these species to reduce the risk and costs of impacts.

Comprehensive analyses of potential key genes in active tuberculosis: A systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Tuberculosis (TB) is a global health problem that brings us numerous difficulties. Diverse genetic factors play a significant role in the progress of TB disease. However, still no key genes for TB susceptibility have been reported. This study aimed to identify the key genes of TB through comprehensive bioinformatics analysis. METHODS: The series microarray datasets from the gene expression omnibus (GEO) database were analyzed. We used the online tool GEO2R to filtrate differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between TB and health control. Database for annotation can complete gene ontology function analysis as well as Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway enrichment analysis. Protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks of DEGs were established by STRING online tool and visualized by Cytoscape software. Molecular Complex Detection can complete the analysis of modules in the PPI networks. Finally, the significant hub genes were confirmed by plug-in Genemania of Cytoscape, and verified by the verification cohort and protein test. RESULTS: There are a total of 143 genes were confirmed as DEGs, containing 48 up-regulated genes and 50 down-regulated genes. The gene ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analysis show that upregulated DEGs were associated with cancer and phylogenetic, whereas downregulated DEGs mainly concentrate on inflammatory immunity. PPI networks show that signal transducer and activator of transcription 1 (STAT1), guanylate binding protein 5 (GBP5), 2'-5'-oligoadenylate synthetase 1 (OAS1), catenin beta 1 (CTNNB1), and guanylate binding protein 1 (GBP1) were identified as significantly different hub genes. CONCLUSION: We conclude that these genes, including TAT1, GBP5, OAS1, CTNNB1, GBP1 are a candidate as potential core genes in TB and treatment of TB in the future.