Turfgrass-dependent mycotrophic change enhances soil deterioration in dry, cold and high-alkali environments.

AIMS: Soil quality is undergoing severe degradation under anthropogenic effects. Different methods of land management have been implemented for soil reclamation, such as turfing. Although widely accepted to improve soil quality, turfing in specific environments may also culminate in soil deterioration. We aim to know how turfing impacts soils by changing mycobiomes. METHODS AND RESULTS: The soil physicochemical properties and ITS metabarcoding were used to investigate mycobiome diversity and eco-function differences between the eudicot Dianthus plumarius and the monocot Poa pratensis in dry, cold, and high-alkali soil. The effects of plantation and the rhizosphere (e.g. root exudates) were tested. We showed that the change in soil mycobiomes in different planted bulk soils and rhizospheres could mainly be attributed to species turnover, with minor nestedness. Unexpectedly, the soil deteriorates more following turfing. The increasing saprotrophs in planted bulk soil were more marked in the monocot than in the eudicot, even the rhizosphere effect alleviated saprotrophic risks in the rhizosphere. CONCLUSIONS: Turfing deteriorates the health of high-alkali soil by reducing nitrification, and upshift the soil saprotrophs in a dry and cold environment.

Physicochemical and Biotic Changes and the Phylogenetic Evenness of Microbial Community in Soil Subjected to Phytoreclamation.

Phytoreclamation is the intervention of plants to improve degraded soil quality, changing soil biotic and abiotic properties. Many studies have focused on microbial composition and bioactivity, but few explored the changes in phylogenetic assemblages of soil microbiota after phytoreclamation. This study compared microbiomes of bare land to those of planted soils and investigated how the rhizosphere environment affects microbial assemblages from monocot Poa pratensis and eudicot Dianthus plumarius plantings using 16S rRNA metabarcoding. The results showed that the biotic susceptibility of soil to the rhizosphere environment was higher than that of the abiotic. A noticeable change was in some soil physicochemical properties like Na, P, Zn, Cu, C, and sand-to-silt proportion before and after phytoreclamation, but not between the rhizosphere and bulk soil of plantings. Contrastingly, microbial composition and diversity were significantly affected by both turfing and rhizosphere effects and were more susceptible to differences in turfing or not than in planting species. In the turfgrass, the microbiome differences between plants were greater in the rhizosphere than in the surrounding bulk soil, indicating the proximal influence of root exudates. We also found that the main abiotic factors that influenced microbial composition were Na, Zn, NOx, N, and S; as for the phylogenetic assemblages, were by K levels and the increase of silt. Turfgrass decomposes soil aggregates and changes the physicochemical properties, thereby evens the phylogenetic clustering of the soil microbial community. We demonstrated that the deterministic process affects the microbial assemblage and acts as a selective agent of the soil microbiota in fundamental and realized niches. Phytoreclamation may lead to abiotic soil changes that reallocate resources to microbes. This could affect the phylogeny of the microbial assemblages and increase microbial richness.

SP1 mediates the link between methylation of the tumour suppressor miR-149 and outcome in colorectal cancer.

Although recent studies indicate that DNA methylation contributes to the down-regulation of microRNAs (miRNAs) in colorectal cancer (CRC), this field remains largely unexplored. To identify methylation-silenced miRNAs and clarify their role in CRC, we performed a microarray analysis and screened for miRNAs that were induced in CRC cells by 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine treatment or by the knockdown of DNA methyltransferases. The DNA methylation status of the candidate miRNA was analysed by bisulphite sequencing PCR and methylation-specific PCR. We found that miRNA-149 (miR-149) was epigenetically silenced in CRC and down-regulation of miR-149 was associated with hypermethylation of the neighbouring CpG island (CGI). Quantitative RT-PCR analysis demonstrated that the miR-149 level was markedly reduced in 51.6% of the CRC tissues compared with matched non-cancerous tissues. In addition, low expression of miR-149 was associated with a greater depth of invasion (p = 0.012), lower 5-year survival rate (p = 0.025), and was found to be an independent prognostic factor for overall survival (p = 0.016) in a multivariate analysis. Moreover, transfection of miR-149 inhibited cell growth and invasion of CRC cells in vitro. We also identified mRNA for Specificity Protein 1 (SP1, Sp1), a potential oncogenic protein, as a target of miR-149. Our data suggest that, as a methylation-sensitive miRNA, miR-149 may play an important role as a tumour suppressor in CRC, which has prognostic and therapeutic implications.

UHRF1 promotes cell growth and metastasis through repression of p16(ink4a) in colorectal cancer.

PURPOSE: To investigate whether ubiquitin-like with plant homeodomain and ring finger domains 1 (UHRF1) expression is upregulated in colorectal cancer (CRC), whether UHRF1 promotes CRC cell growth and migration and the underlying molecular mechanism. METHODS: UHRF1 protein expression was determined in 144 pairs of primary CRC and their corresponding adjacent nontumor tissues by immunohistochemistry with tissue microarrays. UHRF1 mRNA expression was assessed in 20 pairs of the above tissues and four colon cancer cell lines by quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. Associations of UHRF1 expression with demographic and clinicopathologic features were determined. Additionally, the effects of lentiviral-mediated RNA interference (RNAi) of UHRF1 on cell proliferation and migration, cell cycle and apoptosis, and the expression of p16(ink4a) and p21(waf1/cip1) were investigated in CRC cell lines. RESULTS: UHRF1 was overexpressed in CRC tissues and cell lines. UHRF1 protein expression levels correlated with the presence of lymph nodes (P = 0.005), distal metastasis (P = 0.030), poor Dukes staging (P = 0.001), and absence of p16(ink4a) expression (P = 0.002). RNAi of UHRF1 inhibited proliferation and migration, and induced apoptosis and cell cycle arrest at the G0/G1 phase. Furthermore, RNAi of UHRF1 enhanced the expression of p16(ink4a), but not p21(waf1/cip1), in CRC cells. CONCLUSIONS: UHRF1 expression is upregulated in CRC and is associated with the progression of CRC. Moreover, RNAi of UHRF1 decreases proliferation and migration but enhances apoptosis of CRC cells, with increased p16(ink4a) expression. UHRF1 promotes CRC growth and metastasis, likely by repressing p16(ink4a), and thus it may be used as a biomarker or even a therapeutic target for CRC.

Parallel adaptation prompted core-periphery divergence of Ammopiptanthus mongolicus.

Range expansion requires peripheral populations to shift adaptive optima to breach range boundaries. Opportunities for range expansion can be assessed by investigating the associations of core-periphery environmental and genetic differences. This study investigates differences in the core-periphery adaptation of Ammopiptanthus mongolicus, a broad-leaved evergreen shrub species in a relatively homogeneous temperate Asian desert environment, to explore the environmental factors that limit the expansion of desert plants. Temperate deserts are characterized by severe drought, a large diurnal temperature range, and seasonality. Long-standing adaptation to the harsh desert environment may confine the genetic diversity of A. mongolicus, despite its distribution over a wide range of longitude, latitude, and altitude. Since range edges defined by climate niches may have different genetic responses to environmental extremes, we compared genome-wide polymorphisms between nine environmental core populations and ten fragmented peripheral populations to determine the "adaptive peripheral" populations. At least four adaptive peripheral populations had similar genetic-environmental association patterns. High elevations, summer drought, and winter cold were the three main determinants of converging these four adaptive peripheral populations. Elevation mainly caused similar local climates among different geographic regions. Altitudinal adaptation resulting from integrated environmental-genetic responses was a breakthrough in breaching niche boundaries. These peripheral populations are also located in relatively humid and warmer environments. Relaxation of the drought and cold constraints facilitated the genetic divergence of these peripheral populations from the core population's adaptive legacy. We conclude that pleiotropic selection synchronized adaptative divergence to cold and drought vs. warm and humid environments between the core and peripheral populations. Such parallel adaptation of peripheral populations relies on selection under a background of abundant new variants derived from the core population's standing genetic variation, i.e., integration of genetic surfing and local adaptation.

Characterization of an antioxidant pectic polysaccharide from Platycodon grandiflorus.

Platycodonis Radix is widely used as homology of medicine and food in China; polysaccharides are thought to be one of its functional constituents. In this study, a pectic polysaccharide, PGP-I-I, was obtained from the root of the traditional medicine plant Platycodon grandiflorus through ion exchange chromatography and gel filtration. This was characterized being mainly composed of 1,5-α-L-arabinan and both arabinogalactan type I (AG-I) and II chains linked to rhamnogalacturonan I (RG-I) backbone linked to longer galacturonan chains. In vitro bioactivity study showed that PGP-I-I could restore the intestinal cellular antioxidant defense under the condition of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) treatment through promoting the expressions of cellular antioxidant genes and protect against oxidative damages.

A chromosome-scale genome assembly of a diploid alfalfa, the progenitor of autotetraploid alfalfa.

Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) is one of the most important and widely cultivated forage crops. It is commonly used as a vegetable and medicinal herb because of its excellent nutritional quality and significant economic value. Based on Illumina, Nanopore and Hi-C data, we assembled a chromosome-scale assembly of Medicago sativa spp. caerulea (voucher PI464715), the direct diploid progenitor of autotetraploid alfalfa. The assembled genome comprises 793.2 Mb of genomic sequence and 47,202 annotated protein-coding genes. The contig N50 length is 3.86 Mb. This genome is almost twofold larger and contains more annotated protein-coding genes than that of its close relative, Medicago truncatula (420 Mb and 44,623 genes). The more expanded gene families compared with those in M. truncatula and the expansion of repetitive elements rather than whole-genome duplication (i.e., the two species share the ancestral Papilionoideae whole-genome duplication event) may have contributed to the large genome size of M. sativa spp. caerulea. Comparative and evolutionary analyses revealed that M. sativa spp. caerulea diverged from M. truncatula ~5.2 million years ago, and the chromosomal fissions and fusions detected between the two genomes occurred during the divergence of the two species. In addition, we identified 489 resistance (R) genes and 82 and 85 candidate genes involved in the lignin and cellulose biosynthesis pathways, respectively. The near-complete and accurate diploid alfalfa reference genome obtained herein serves as an important complement to the recently assembled autotetraploid alfalfa genome and will provide valuable genomic resources for investigating the genomic architecture of autotetraploid alfalfa as well as for improving breeding strategies in alfalfa.

Isolation-by-environment as a driver of genetic differentiation among populations of the only broad-leaved evergreen shrub Ammopiptanthus mongolicus in Asian temperate deserts.

Whether the effect of migration-selection-drift equilibrium on population structure is governed by spatial or environmental differences is usually elucidated by isolation-by-distance (IBD), isolation-by-environment (IBE), and isolation-by-resistance (IBR) tests. The population structure of Ammopiptanthus mongolicus, a broad-leaved evergreen psammophyte in eastern Central Asia, was previously thought to follow an isolation by distance pattern. However, recent studies have emphasized the effects of environmental factors on its growth and distribution, suggesting an important influence of local adaptation on the genetic structure of the species. Using inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR) markers, we verified the previously inferred low intra-population variation and high inter-population differentiation. However, in contrast to previous studies, the results of partial Mantel tests and a maximum likelihood population effects mixed model (MLPE) suggested that local climate differences, rather than geographic distances or resistance distances, are the main factor affecting population differentiation. Further analysis with removal of multicollinear climatic variables and univariate MLPE found that summer and winter precipitation were crucial for shaping the current population genetic structure. Since local precipitation is related to the regeneration, colonization, and overwintering survival of A. mongolicus, its influence on demographic change may explain its effect on the population genetic structure. In addition, precipitation is related to terrain despite westward decreases, which explains the independence of genetic difference and geographic distance. The identified role of IBE suggests that collecting germplasm resources from genetically differentiated populations could be a more effective strategy to preserve the overall genetic diversity of the species than the establishment of corridors to enhance gene flow among populations.

[Particle impaction bone graft and plate internal fixation for the treatment of proximal femoral bone tumor or tumor lesion].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the clinical feasibility of particle impaction bone graft and plate internal fixation for the treatment of proximal femoral bone tumors or tumor disease. METHODS: From January 2013 to January 2016 a total of 26 cases of the proximal femur bone tumors or tumor lesions, neither pathological fracture, were retrospectively analyzed, including 12 males and 14 females with an average age of 34.2 years old ranging from 8 to 62 years old. The pathologic result involved fibrous dysplasia in 11 cases, bone isolation bone cyst in 7 cases, giant cell tumors of bone in 3 cases, aneurysm sample bone cyst in 3 cases, non ossifying fibroma in 1 case, benign fibrous histiocytoma in 1 case. No biopsy of the lesion was performed before the operation. Postoperative lesions were sent to pathology. The operation was treated by particle impaction bone graft and plate internal fixation. RESULTS: All patients were followed up to resume normal life for 8 to 42 months with an average of 25 months. The function assessment referenced to the bone and soft tissue tumor association (MSTS). At the end of the last examination, the positive and lateral X-ray films of the femur showed no low density shadow in the margin of bone graft and bone graft, and the bone healing in the bone graft area was good. No recurrence or metastasis was found in all patients, and no loosening or deformation of the internal fixator occurred. The hip function was well restored and no fracture or deformity progressed in all patients. CONCLUSIONS: The tumor recurrence in the proximal femur is related to curettage and bone grafting. After the curettage, the residual tumor cells were treated by chemical and physical methods. By this method, the disease can be cured for a long time, and it can reduce the recurrence and resume the function of the hip joint.

Combined probiotic bacteria promotes intestinal epithelial barrier function in interleukin-10-gene-deficient mice.

AIM: To investigate the protective effects of combinations of probiotic (Bifico) on interleukin (IL)-10-gene-deficient (IL-10 KO) mice and Caco-2 cell monolayers. METHODS: IL-10 KO mice were used to assess the benefits of Bifico in vivo. IL-10 KO and control mice received approximately 1.5 × 10(8) cfu/d of Bifico for 4 wk. Colons were then removed and analyzed for epithelial barrier function by Ussing Chamber, while an ELISA was used to evaluate proinflammatory cytokines. The colon epithelial cell line, Caco-2, was used to test the benefit of Bifico in vitro. Enteroinvasive Escherichia coli (EIEC) and the probiotic mixture Bifico, or single probiotic strains, were applied to cultured Caco-2 monolayers. Barrier function was determined by measuring transepithelial electrical resistance and tight junction protein expression. RESULTS: Treatment of IL-10 KO mice with Bifico partially restored body weight, colon length, and epithelial barrier integrity to wild-type levels. In addition, IL-10 KO mice receiving Bifico treatment had reduced mucosal secretion of tumor necrosis factor-α and interferon-γ, and attenuated colonic disease. Moreover, treatment of Caco-2 monolayers with Bifico or single-strain probiotics in vitro inhibited EIEC invasion and reduced the secretion of proinflammatory cytokines. CONCLUSION: Bifico reduced colon inflammation in IL-10 KO mice, and promoted and improved epithelial-barrier function, enhanced resistance to EIEC invasion, and decreased proinflammatory cytokine secretion.

[Comparison of three analgesic methods for postoperative pain relief and their effects on plasma interleukin-6 concentration following radical surgery for gastric carcinoma].

OBJECTIVE: To compare the efficacy of preemptive epidural analgesia combined with postoperative epidural analgesia, postoperative epidural analgesia alone and intravenous analgesia for postoperative pain relief and their effects on plasma interleukin-6 (IL-6) concentration following radical surgery for gastric carcinoma. METHODS: Sixty-six patients with gastric carcinoma scheduled for gastrectomy were randomly divided into 3 groups, namely group P (n=22), group E (n=22) and group V (n=22), to receive preemptive epidural analgesia combined with postoperative epidural analgesia, exclusive postoperative epidural analgesia, and exclusive postoperative intravenous analgesia, respectively. Hemodynamic data were recorded for all the patients during the operation, and visual analogue scale (VAS) was used to assess the pain intensity at 4, 8, 16, 24, 48 and 72 h after surgery. Plasma IL-6 concentration was determined before surgery and at 24, 48, 72 h after surgery. RESULTS: No significant changes occurred in the hemodynamics during the preoperative periods. VAS and IL-6 were lower in group P than in group E and V, and group E had lower measurement than group V (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Preemptive epidural analgesia combined with postoperative epidural analgesia provides more satisfactory pain relief and more effectively prevents IL-6 increment than exclusive epidural analgesia or intravenous analgesia after gastrectomy for gastric carcinoma.