Identification of QTLs and candidate genes for water-soluble protein content in soybean seeds.

Soybean represents a vital source of premium plant-based proteins for human nutrition. Importantly, the level of water-soluble protein (WSP) is crucial for determining the overall quality and nutritional value of such crops. Enhancing WSP levels in soybean plants is a high-priority goal in crop improvement. This study aimed to elucidate the genetic basis of WSP content in soybean seeds by identifying quantitative trait loci (QTLs) and set the foundation for subsequent gene cloning and functional analysis. Using 180 F10 recombinant inbred lines generated by crossing the high-protein soybean cultivar JiDou 12 with the wild variety Ye 9, our researcher team mapped the QTLs influencing protein levels, integrating Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis and gene expression profiling to identify candidate genes. During the 2020 and 2022 growing seasons, a standard bell-shaped distribution of protein content trait data was observed in these soybean lines. Eight QTLs affecting protein content were found across eight chromosomes, with LOD scores ranging from 2.59 to 7.30, explaining 4.15-11.74% of the phenotypic variance. Notably, two QTLs were newly discovered, one with a elite allele at qWSPC-15 from Ye 9. The major QTL, qWSPC-19, on chromosome 19 was stable across conditions and contained genes involved in nitrogen metabolism, amino acid biosynthesis, and signaling. Two genes from this QTL, Glyma.19G185700 and Glyma.19G186000, exhibited distinct expression patterns at maturity, highlighting the influence of these genes on protein content. This research revealed eight QTLs for WSP content in soybean seeds and proposed a gene for the key QTL qWSPC-19, laying groundwork for gene isolation and enhanced soybean breeding through the use of molecular markers. These insights are instrumental for developing protein-rich soybean cultivars.

Low Pneumoperitoneum Pressure Reduces Gas Embolism During Laparoscopic Liver Resection: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the effect of low and standard pneumoperitoneal pressure (PP) on the occurrence of gas embolism during laparoscopic liver resection (LLR). BACKGROUND: LLR has an increased risk of gas embolism. Although animal studies have shown that low PP reduces the occurrence of gas embolism, clinical evidence is lacking. METHODS: This parallel, dual-arm, double-blind, randomized controlled trial included 141 patients undergoing elective LLR. Patients were randomized into standard ("S," 15 mm Hg; n = 70) or low ("L," 10 mm Hg; n = 71) PP groups. Severe gas embolism (≥ grade 3, based on the Schmandra microbubble method) was detected using transesophageal echocardiography and recorded as the primary outcome. Intraoperative vital signs and postoperative recovery profiles were also evaluated. RESULTS: Fewer severe gas embolism cases (n = 29, 40.8% vs n = 47, 67.1%, P = 0.003), fewer abrupt decreases in end-tidal carbon dioxide partial pressure, shorter severe gas embolism duration, less peripheral oxygen saturation reduction, and fewer increases in heart rate and lactate during gas embolization episodes was found in group L than in group S. Moreover, a higher arterial partial pressure of oxygen and peripheral oxygen saturation were observed, and fewer fluids and vasoactive drugs were administered in group L than in group S. In both groups, the distensibility index of the inferior vena cava negatively correlated with central venous pressure throughout LLR, and a comparable quality of recovery was observed. CONCLUSIONS: Low PP reduced the incidence and duration of severe gas embolism and achieved steadier hemodynamics and vital signs during LLR. Therefore, a low PP strategy can be considered a valuable choice for the future LLR.

The FLOWERING LOCUS T 5b positively regulates photoperiodic flowering and improves the geographical adaptation of soybean.

Plants can sense the photoperiod to flower at the right time. As a sensitive short-day crop, soybean (Glycine max) flowering varies greatly depending on photoperiods, affecting yields. Adaptive changes in soybeans rely on variable genetic loci such as E1 and FLOWERING LOCUS T orthologs. However, the precise coordination and control of these molecular components remain largely unknown. In this study, we demonstrate that GmFT5b functions as a crucial factor for soybean flowering. Overexpressed or mutated GmFT5b resulted in significantly early or later flowering, altering expression profiles for several downstream flowering-related genes under a long-day photoperiod. GmFT5b interacts with the transcription factor GmFDL15, suggesting transcriptional tuning of flowering time regulatory genes via the GmFT5b/GmFDL15 complex. Notably, GmFT5a partially compensated for GmFT5b function, as ft5a ft5b double mutants exhibited an enhanced late-flowering phenotype. Association mapping revealed that GmFT5b was associated with flowering time, maturity, and geographical distribution of soybean accessions, all associated with the E1 locus. Therefore, GmFT5b is a valuable target for enhancing regional adaptability. Natural variants or multiple mutants in this region can be utilized to generate optimized soybean varieties with precise flowering times.

Floral-promoting GmFT homologs trigger photoperiodic after-effects: An important mechanism for early-maturing soybean varieties to regulate reproductive development and adapt to high latitudes.

Soybean (Glycine max) is a typical short-day plant, but has been widely cultivated in high-latitude long-day (LD) regions because of the development of early-maturing genotypes which are photoperiod-insensitive. However, some early-maturing varieties exhibit significant responses to maturity under different daylengths but not for flowering, depicting an evident photoperiodic after-effect, a poorly understood mechanism. In this study, we investigated the postflowering responses of 11 early-maturing soybean varieties to various preflowering photoperiodic treatments. We confirmed that preflowering SD conditions greatly promoted maturity and other postflowering developmental stages. Soybean homologs of FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT), including GmFT2a, GmFT3a, GmFT3b and GmFT5a, were highly accumulated in leaves under preflowering SD treatment. More importantly, they maintained a high expression level after flowering even under LD conditions. E1 RNAi and GmFT2a overexpression lines showed extremely early maturity regardless of preflowering SD and LD treatments due to constitutively high levels of floral-promoting GmFT homolog expression throughout their life cycle. Collectively, our data indicate that high and stable expression of floral-promoting GmFT homologs play key roles in the maintenance of photoperiodic induction to promote postflowering reproductive development, which confers early-maturing varieties with appropriate vegetative growth and shortened reproductive growth periods for adaptation to high latitudes.

Target recognition and segmentation in turbid water using data from non-turbid conditions: a unified approach and experimental validation.

Semantic segmentation of targets in underwater images within turbid water environments presents significant challenges, hindered by factors such as environmental variability, difficulties in acquiring datasets, imprecise data annotation, and the poor robustness of conventional methods. This paper addresses this issue by proposing a novel joint method using deep learning to effectively perform semantic segmentation tasks in turbid environments, with the practical case of efficiently collecting polymetallic nodules in deep-sea while minimizing damage to the seabed environment. Our approach includes a novel data expansion technique and a modified U-net based model. Drawing on the underwater image formation model, we introduce noise to clear water images to simulate images captured under varying degrees of turbidity, thus providing an alternative to the required data. Furthermore, traditional U-net-based modified models have shown limitations in enhancing performance in such tasks. Based on the primary factors underlying image degradation, we propose a new model which incorporates an improved dual-channel encoder. Our method significantly advances the fine segmentation of underwater images in turbid media, and experimental validation demonstrates its effectiveness and superiority under different turbidity conditions. The study provides new technical means for deep-sea resource development, holding broad application prospects and scientific value.

Identification of candidate genes and genomic prediction of soybean fatty acid components in two soybean populations.

Soybean, a source of plant-derived lipids, contains an array of fatty acids essential for health. A comprehensive understanding of the fatty acid profiles in soybean is crucial for enhancing soybean cultivars and augmenting their qualitative attributes. Here, 180 F10 generation recombinant inbred lines (RILs), derived from the cross-breeding of the cultivated soybean variety 'Jidou 12' and the wild soybean 'Y9,' were used as primary experimental subjects. Using inclusive composite interval mapping (ICIM), this study undertook a quantitative trait locus (QTL) analysis on five distinct fatty acid components in the RIL population from 2019 to 2021. Concurrently, a genome-wide association study (GWAS) was conducted on 290 samples from a genetically diverse natural population to scrutinize the five fatty acid components during the same timeframe, thereby aiming to identify loci closely associated with fatty acid profiles. In addition, haplotype analysis and the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway analysis were performed to predict candidate genes. The QTL analysis elucidated 23 stable QTLs intricately associated with the five fatty acid components, exhibiting phenotypic contribution rates ranging from 2.78% to 25.37%. In addition, GWAS of the natural population unveiled 102 significant loci associated with these fatty acid components. The haplotype analysis of the colocalized loci revealed that Glyma.06G221400 on chromosome 6 exhibited a significant correlation with stearic acid content, with Hap1 showing a markedly elevated stearic acid level compared with Hap2 and Hap3. Similarly, Glyma.12G075100 on chromosome 12 was significantly associated with the contents of oleic, linoleic, and linolenic acids, suggesting its involvement in fatty acid biosynthesis. In the natural population, candidate genes associated with the contents of palmitic and linolenic acids were predominantly from the fatty acid metabolic pathway, indicating their potential role as pivotal genes in the critical steps of fatty acid metabolism. Furthermore, genomic selection (GS) for fatty acid components was conducted using ridge regression best linear unbiased prediction based on both random single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and SNPs significantly associated with fatty acid components identified by GWAS. GS accuracy was contingent upon the SNP set used. Notably, GS efficiency was enhanced when using SNPs derived from QTL mapping analysis and GWAS compared with random SNPs, and reached a plateau when the number of SNP markers exceeded 3,000. This study thus indicates that Glyma.06G221400 and Glyma.12G075100 are genes integral to the synthesis and regulatory mechanisms of fatty acids. It provides insights into the complex biosynthesis and regulation of fatty acids, with significant implications for the directed improvement of soybean oil quality and the selection of superior soybean varieties. The SNP markers delineated in this study can be instrumental in establishing an efficacious pipeline for marker-assisted selection and GS aimed at improving soybean fatty acid components.

Epidemiological changes in respiratory pathogen transmission among children with acute respiratory infections during the COVID-19 pandemic in Kunming, China.

BACKGROUND: Acute respiratory infections are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in children. However, studies on the prevalence of respiratory viruses among children with acute respiratory infections in Kunming, China, are lacking. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the epidemiological characteristics of respiratory pathogens among children with acute respiratory infections in Kunming during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. METHODS: Nasopharyngeal swab samples were collected from 4956 children with acute respiratory infections at Yunnan Provincial First People's Hospital between January 2020 and December 2022, patients with COVID-19 were excluded from the study. Multiplex reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction was used to detect respiratory pathogens. RESULTS: The frequency of respiratory pathogens among children was significantly lower in 2020 than in 2021 and 2022. The following pathogens had the highest prevalence rates (in descending order) from 2020 to 2022: HRV > RSV > PIV > ADV > MP; HRV > RSV > HADV > PIV > MP and HRV > Mp > HADV > H3N2 > HMPV. The overall frequency of respiratory pathogens exhibited an inverted U-shape with increasing age among the children. Human bocavirus, human parainfluenza virus, and human respiratory syncytial virus were the dominant respiratory viruses in children aged ≤ 3 years, whereas Mycoplasma pneumoniae was the dominant respiratory pathogen in children aged > 3 years. HRV has the highest prevalence and is the main pathogen of mixed infection. The prevalence of the influenza A virus has decreased significantly, whereas HRSV and Mp are found to be seasonal. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings offer an objective evaluation of transmission dynamics and epidemiological shifts in respiratory pathogens during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic in Kunming, serving as a basis for informed decision-making, prevention, and treatment strategies.

Three-Stage Interpolation Method for Demosaicking Monochrome Polarization DoFP Images.

The emergence of polarization image sensors presents both opportunities and challenges for real-time full-polarization reconstruction in scene imaging. This paper presents an innovative three-stage interpolation method specifically tailored for monochrome polarization image demosaicking, emphasizing both precision and processing speed. The method introduces a novel linear interpolation model based on polarization channel difference priors in the initial two stages. To enhance results through bidirectional interpolation, a continuous adaptive edge detection method based on variance differences is employed for weighted averaging. In the third stage, a total intensity map, derived from the previous two stages, is integrated into a residual interpolation process, thereby further elevating estimation precision. The proposed method undergoes validation using publicly available advanced datasets, showcasing superior performance in both global parameter evaluations and local visual details when compared with existing state-of-the-art techniques.

Elimination of perineuronal nets in CA1 disrupts GABA release and long-term contextual fear memory retention.

Perineuronal nets (PNNs) which mostly surround the parvalbumin (PV) neurons, have been shown to play critical roles in neural plasticity. Recently, PNNs have been shown to regulate fear-associated memory, but the molecular mechanism is still unclear. In this study, we found that removal of PNNs in vivo using chondroitinase ABC (ChABC) injection resulted in reduced firing rate of PV neurons and decreased inhibitory synaptic transmission in both PV neurons and excitatory neurons in the CA1 hippocampus. Interestingly, altered synaptic transmission appears to be mediated by presynaptic changes. Furthermore, ChABC treatment disrupts long-term contextual fear memory retention. These results suggest PNNs might alter fear memory by reducing the presynaptic GABA release.

Distinctive effects of NMDA receptor modulators on cerebral microcirculation in a schizophrenia mouse model.

Substantial evidence demonstrates that schizophrenia patients have altered cerebral microcirculation. However, little is known regarding how cerebral microcirculatory blood flow (microCBF) changes in schizophrenia. Here, using time-lapse two-photon imaging of individual capillaries, we demonstrated a substantial decrease in cerebral microcirculation in a mouse model of schizophrenia. The involvement of NMDA receptor (NMDAR) functions was investigated to understand further the mechanism of microcirculation reduction in this animal model. Administration of D-serine, a selective full agonist at the glycine site of NMDAR, significantly increased the microCBF in the schizophrenia mouse. Interestingly, administration of GNE-8324, a GluN2A-selective positive allosteric modulator that selectively enhances NMDAR-mediated synaptic responses in inhibitory but not excitatory neurons, had no effect on the microCBF of the schizophrenia mice. Together, these data indicated that NMDAR participated in the regulation of microcirculation in schizophrenia using a mechanism dependent on the tonic NMDAR signaling and the selective modulation of inhibitory neuron activity. Further studies are warranted to establish NMDAR's role in modulating microcirculation in schizophrenia.

Fast image visibility enhancement based on active polarization and color constancy for operation in turbid water.

Vehicles operating in a water medium sometimes encounter harsh conditions with high turbidity and low scene illumination, making it challenging to obtain reliable target information through optical devices. Although many post-processing solutions were proposed, they are not applicable to continuous vehicle operations. Inspired by the advanced polarimetric hardware technology, a joint fast algorithm was developed in this study to address the above problems. Backscatter attenuation and direct signal attenuation were solved separately by utilizing the revised underwater polarimetric image formation model. A fast local adaptive Wiener filtering method was used to improve the backscatter estimation by reducing the additive noise. Further, the image was recovered using the fast local space average color method. By using a low-pass filter guided by the color constancy theory, the problems of nonuniform illumination caused by artificial light and direct signal attenuation were both addressed. The results of testing on images from laboratory experiments showed improved visibility and realistic chromatic rendition.

HP1c regulates development and gut homeostasis by suppressing Notch signaling through Su(H).

Notch signaling and epigenetic factors are known to play critical roles in regulating tissue homeostasis in most multicellular organisms, but how Notch signaling coordinates with epigenetic modulators to control differentiation remains poorly understood. Here, we identify heterochromatin protein 1c (HP1c) as an essential epigenetic regulator of gut homeostasis in Drosophila. Specifically, we observe that HP1c loss-of-function phenotypes resemble those observed after Notch signaling perturbation and that HP1c interacts genetically with components of the Notch pathway. HP1c represses the transcription of Notch target genes by directly interacting with Suppressor of Hairless (Su(H)), the key transcription factor of Notch signaling. Moreover, phenotypes caused by depletion of HP1c in Drosophila can be rescued by expressing human HP1γ, suggesting that HP1γ functions similar to HP1c in Drosophila. Taken together, our findings reveal an essential role of HP1c in normal development and gut homeostasis by suppressing Notch signaling.

Transcriptome mapping related genes encoding PR1 protein involved in necrotic symptoms to soybean mosaic virus infection.

Necrosis caused by soybean mosaic virus (SMV) has not been specifically distinguished from susceptible symptoms. The molecular mechanism for the occurrence of necrosis is largely overlooked in soybean genetic research. Field evaluation reveals that SMV disease seriously influences soybean production as indicated by decreasing 22.4% ~ 77.0% and 8.8% ~ 17.0% of yield and quality production, respectively. To expand molecular mechanism behind necrotic reactions, transcriptomic data obtained from the asymptomatic, mosaic, and necrotic pools were assessed. Compared between asymptomatic and mosaic plants, 1689 and 1752 up- and down-regulated differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were specifically found in necrotic plants. Interestingly, the top five enriched pathways with up-regulated DEGs were highly related to the process of the stress response, whereas the top three enriched pathways with down-regulated DEGs were highly related to the process of photosynthesis, demonstrating that defense systems are extensively activated, while the photosynthesis systems were severely destroyed. Further, results of the phylogenetic tree based on gene expression pattern and an amino acid sequence and validation experiments discovered three PR1 genes, Glyma.15G062400, Glyma.15G062500, and Glyma.15G062700, which were especially expressed in necrotic leaves. Meanwhile, exogenous salicylic acid (SA) but not methyl jasmonate (MeJA) could induce the three PR1 gene expressions on healthy leaves. Contrastingly, exogenous SA obviously decreased the expression level of Glyma.15G062400, Glyma.15G062500, and concentration of SMV, but increased Glyma.15G062700 expression in necrotic leaves. These results showed that GmPR1 is associated with the development of SMV-induced necrotic symptoms in soybean. Glyma.15G062400, Glyma.15G062500, and Glyma.15G062700 is up-regulated in necrotic leaves at the transcriptional levels, which will greatly facilitate a better understanding of the mechanism behind necrosis caused by SMV disease. Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11032-022-01351-3.

Meglumine cyclic adenylate improves cardiovascular hemodynamics and motor-function in a rat model of acute T4 thoracic spinal cord injury.

STUDY DESIGN: Animal experimental study. OBJECTIVES: Spinal cord injury (SCI) at or above the T6 level causes cardiovascular dysfunction. Maintaining cAMP levels with cAMP analogs can facilitate neurological recovery. In the present study, the effects of meglumine cyclic adenylate (MCA), a cAMP analog and approved cardiovascular drug, on cardiovascular and neurological recovery in acute T4-SCI in rats were investigated. SETTING: Hospital in Kunming, China. METHODS: Eighty rats were randomly allocated to five groups, and groups A-D received SCI: (A) a group administered MCA at 2 mg/kg/d iv qd, (B) a group administered dopamine at 2.5 to 5 µg/kg/min iv to maintain mean arterial pressure above 85 mm Hg, (C) a group administered atropine at 1 mg/kg iv bid, (D) a group receiving an equal volume of saline iv qd for 3 weeks after SCI and (E) a group undergoing laminectomy only. The cardiovascular and behavioral parameters of the rats were examined, and spinal cord tissues were processed for hematoxylin and eosin staining, Nissl staining, electron microscopy, and analysis of cAMP levels. RESULTS: Compared with dopamine or atropine, MCA significantly reversed the decrease in cAMP levels in both myocardial cells and the injured spinal cord; improved hypotension, bradycardia and behavioral parameters at 6 weeks; and improved spinal cord blood flow and histological structure at 7 days post-SCI. The regression analysis suggested spinal cord motor-function improved as decreased heart rate and mean arterial pressure were stopped post-SCI. CONCLUSIONS: MCA may be an effective treatment for acute SCI by sustaining cAMP-dependent reparative processes and improving post-SCI cardiovascular dysfunction. SPONSORSHIP: N/A.

Diagnostic Value of Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound Features for WHO/ISUP Grading in Renal Cell Carcinoma.

OBJECTIVES: By analyzing the differences of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) features between low- and high-grade of WHO/ISUP grading, to explore the diagnostic value of CEUS in evaluating the prognosis of renal cell carcinoma (RCC). METHODS: The qualitative and quantitative features of CEUS in 69 patients with RCC confirmed by surgical pathology in the Lanzhou University Second Hospital from March to October 2021 were retrospectively analyzed. Patients were categorized into two groups: low-grade group (n = 22) and high-grade group (n = 47), with surgical pathology as reference standard. The diagnostic performance of statistically significant CEUS features was evaluated by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. RESULTS: There were statistically significant differences in enhancement degree (P = .032) and quantitative features such as slopelesion (P = .034), the differences between lesion and cortex in arrive time (∆AT = ATlesion - ATcortex , P = .013), peak intensity(∆PI = [PIlesion - PIcortex ]/PIcortex , P = .003), area under the curve (∆Area = Arealesion - Areacortex , P = .008) in two groups, and the sensitivity was 70.2% and specificity was 71.4% of ∆PI, which has a high diagnostic performance in the differentiation of low-grade group from high-grade group (P = .005). CONCLUSIONS: CEUS features such as ∆PI, may help differentiate low-grade RCC from high-grade RCC. CEUS has a promising application prospect in preoperative evaluation of the prognosis of RCC.

Hypertension in pregnancy as a risk factor for placenta accreta spectrum: a systematic review incorporating a network meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: A meta-analysis was performed to evaluate the potential effects of hypertension in pregnancy on the placenta accreta spectrum. METHODS: A systematic literature search in OVID, Embase, Cochrane Library, PubMed, and Google Scholar up to May 2021 was done, and six studies were found including 126,224 pregnant women; 7164 of them had hypertension in pregnancy and 816 had placenta accreta spectrum. They were reporting relationships between the potential effects of hypertension in pregnancy on the placenta accreta spectrum. The odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) was calculated to assess the potential effects of hypertension in pregnancy on the placenta accreta spectrum using the dichotomous with a random- or fixed-effect model. RESULTS: Pregnancy-induced hypertension was significantly related to lower prevalence of placenta accreta spectrum (OR 0.56; 95% CI 0.37-0.84, p = 0.005) with no heterogeneity (I2 = 0%) compared to control (no hypertension in pregnancy). When looking at the result comparing the prevalence of hypertension in pregnancy in women with placenta accrete compared to control (no placenta accrete), we found that the placenta accreta spectrum was significantly related to lower prevalence of hypertension in pregnancy (OR 0.65; 95% CI 0.43-0.98, p = 0.04) compared to control. CONCLUSIONS: Hypertension in pregnancy may have a lower prevalence of placenta accrete. Further studies are required to validate these findings.

Site-Specific and Enzymatic Cross-Linking of sgRNA Enables Wavelength-Selectable Photoactivated Control of CRISPR Gene Editing.

Chemical cross-linking enables rapid identification of RNA-protein and RNA-nucleic acid inter- and intramolecular interactions. However, no method exists to site-specifically and covalently cross-link two user-defined sites within an RNA. Here, we develop RNA-CLAMP, which enables site-specific and enzymatic cross-linking (clamping) of two selected guanine residues within an RNA. Intramolecular clamping can disrupt normal RNA function, whereas subsequent photocleavage of the cross-linker restores activity. We used RNA-CLAMP to clamp two stem loops within the single-guide RNA (sgRNA) of the CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing system via a photocleavable cross-linker, completely inhibiting gene editing. Visible light irradiation cleaved the cross-linker and restored gene editing with high spatiotemporal resolution. Design of two photocleavable linkers responsive to different wavelengths of light allowed multiplexed photoactivation of gene editing in mammalian cells. This photoactivated CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing platform benefits from undetectable background activity, provides a choice of activation wavelengths, and has multiplexing capabilities.

Rapid and sustained restoration of astrocytic functions by ketamine in depression model mice.

Molecules with fast-acting antidepressant effects have potentials to become new antidepressants. Here we report the fast-acting (1hr) antidepressant effects of ketamine (10 mg/kg, i.p.) in chronic adreno-cortico-tropic-hormone (ACTH)-induced and chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS)-induced depression mouse models. These behavioral anti-depressant effects are associated with normalized expression of glutamate transporter-1(GLT-1), glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and eukaryotic elongation factor 2 phosphorylation (p-eEF2) in the prelimbic prefrontal cortex (PrL-PFC). Excitatory neurons in PrL also showed reduced ambient glutamate responses to synaptic stimulation, and reduced ambient NMDA receptor responses after ketamine injection. Interestingly, ketamine induced biochemical and electrophysiological changes still occurred with GLT-1 knockdown in PrL, suggesting that elevated GLT-1 level is not required for ketamine to exert its antidepressant effect. At the same time, ketamine did not elevate GLT-1 level in the isolated astrocytes, suggesting distinct contributions from neurons and astrocytes to ketamine-induced changes.

Transcription factor MoMsn2 targets the putative 3-methylglutaconyl-CoA hydratase-encoding gene MoAUH1 to govern infectious growth via mitochondrial fusion/fission balance in Magnaporthe oryzae.

Mitochondrial quality and quantity are essential for a cell to maintain normal cellular functions. Our previous study revealed that the transcription factor MoMsn2 plays important roles in the development and virulence of Magnaporthe oryzae. However, to date, no study has reported its underlying regulatory mechanism in phytopathogens. Here, we explored the downstream target genes of MoMsn2 using a chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing (ChIP-Seq) approach. In total, 332 target genes and five putative MoMsn2-binding sites were identified. The 332 genes exhibited a diverse array of functions and the highly represented were genes involved in metabolic and catalytic processes. Based on the ChIP-Seq data, we found that MoMsn2 plays a role in maintaining mitochondrial morphology, likely by targeting a number of mitochondria-related genes. Further investigation revealed that MoMsn2 targets the putative 3-methylglutaconyl-CoA hydratase-encoding gene (MoAUH1) to control mitochondrial morphology and mitophagy, which are critical for the infectious growth of the pathogen. Meanwhile, the deletion of MoAUH1 resulted in phenotypes similar to the ΔMomsn2 mutant in mitochondrial morphology, mitophagy and virulence. Overall, our results provide evidence for the regulatory mechanisms of MoMsn2, which targets MoAUH1 to modulate its transcript levels, thereby disturbing the mitochondrial fusion/fission balance. This ultimately affects the development and virulence of M. oryzae.

Cotyledons facilitate the adaptation of early-maturing soybean varieties to high-latitude long-day environments.

Soybean (Glycine max), a typical short-day plant (SDP) domesticated in temperate regions, has expanded to high latitudes where daylengths are long from soybean emergence to bloom, but rapidly decrease from seed filling to maturity. Cotyledons are well known as the major storage organs in seeds, but it is unclear whether developing cotyledons store flowering substances at filling stage in SD for upcoming seedlings, or instead respond to photoperiod for floral induction after emergence of matured seeds in long-day (LD). Here, we report that cotyledons accelerate flowering of early-maturing varieties not resulting from stored floral stimuli but by perceiving photoperiod after emergence. We found that light signal is indispensable to activate cotyledons for floral induction, and flowering promoting gene GmFT2a is required for cotyledon-dependent floral induction via upregulation of floral identity gene GmAP1. Interestingly, cotyledons are competent to support the entire life cycle of a cotyledon-only plant to produce seeds, underlying a new photoperiod study system in soybean and other dicots. Taken together, these results demonstrate a substantial role for cotyledons in flowering process, whereby we propose a 'cotyledon-based self-reliance' model highlighting floral induction from emergence as a key ecological adaptation for rapid flowering of SDPs grown in LD environments at high latitudes.