Structure evolution at the gate-tunable suspended graphene-water interface.

Graphitic electrode is commonly used in electrochemical reactions owing to its excellent in-plane conductivity, structural robustness and cost efficiency1,2. It serves as prime electrocatalyst support as well as a layered intercalation matrix2,3, with wide applications in energy conversion and storage1,4. Being the two-dimensional building block of graphite, graphene shares similar chemical properties with graphite1,2, and its unique physical and chemical properties offer more varieties and tunability for developing state-of-the-art graphitic devices5-7. Hence it serves as an ideal platform to investigate the microscopic structure and reaction kinetics at the graphitic-electrode interfaces. Unfortunately, graphene is susceptible to various extrinsic factors, such as substrate effect8-10, causing much confusion and controversy7,8,10,11. Hereby we have obtained centimetre-sized substrate-free monolayer graphene suspended on aqueous electrolyte surface with gate tunability. Using sum-frequency spectroscopy, here we show the structural evolution versus the gate voltage at the graphene-water interface. The hydrogen-bond network of water in the Stern layer is barely changed within the water-electrolysis window but undergoes notable change when switching on the electrochemical reactions. The dangling O-H bond protruding at the graphene-water interface disappears at the onset of the hydrogen evolution reaction, signifying a marked structural change on the topmost layer owing to excess intermediate species next to the electrode. The large-size suspended pristine graphene offers a new platform to unravel the microscopic processes at the graphitic-electrode interfaces.

Soybean steroids improve crop abiotic stress tolerance and increase yield.

Sterols have long been associated with diverse fields, such as cancer treatment, drug development, and plant growth; however, their underlying mechanisms and functions remain enigmatic. Here, we unveil a critical role played by a GmNF-YC9-mediated CCAAT-box transcription complex in modulating the steroid metabolism pathway within soybeans. Specifically, this complex directly activates squalene monooxygenase (GmSQE1), which is a rate-limiting enzyme in steroid synthesis. Our findings demonstrate that overexpression of either GmNF-YC9 or GmSQE1 significantly enhances soybean stress tolerance, while the inhibition of SQE weakens this tolerance. Field experiments conducted over two seasons further reveal increased yields per plant in both GmNF-YC9 and GmSQE1 overexpressing plants under drought stress conditions. This enhanced stress tolerance is attributed to the reduction of abiotic stress-induced cell oxidative damage. Transcriptome and metabolome analyses shed light on the upregulation of multiple sterol compounds, including fucosterol and soyasaponin II, in GmNF-YC9 and GmSQE1 overexpressing soybean plants under stress conditions. Intriguingly, the application of soybean steroids, including fucosterol and soyasaponin II, significantly improves drought tolerance in soybean, wheat, foxtail millet, and maize. These findings underscore the pivotal role of soybean steroids in countering oxidative stress in plants and offer a new research strategy for enhancing crop stress tolerance and quality from gene regulation to chemical intervention.

Thromboelastography (TEG) parameters as potential predictors of malignancy and tumor progression in colorectal cancer.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the use of thromboelastography (TEG) in patients with colorectal cancer and to examine whether the TEG parameters can be used as potential markers for disease screening and prediction of disease severity. METHODS: One-hundred fifteen healthy controls (HC), 43 patients with benign adenoma (BA), and 387 patients with colorectal cancers (CRC) were included in the study. TEG parameters (reaction time, R; clot kinetics, K; alpha angle, α-angle; maximum amplitude, MA), conventional laboratory parameters, and clinical information were collected and analyzed among the HC, BA, and CRC groups. Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) were used for differential analysis. The correlation between TEG parameters and pathological information of CRC (differentiation degree, vaso-nerve infiltration, TNM stage) was analyzed. The differences in TEG parameters at different stages of disease and pre-/post operation were compared. RESULTS: Shorter K and higher α-angle/MA were found in patients with CRC compared with HC and BA (P < 0.001). TEG parameters demonstrated moderate diagnostic value (distinguish CRC from HC + BA: K-AUC = 0.693, α-angle-AUC = 0.687, MA-AUC = 0.700) in CRC but did not outperform traditional laboratory parameters. TEG hypercoagulability was closely associated with tumor markers (carcinoma embryonic antigen and carbohydrate antigen 19-9) and pathological information (differentiation degree, vaso-nerve infiltration, and TNM stage) (P < 0.05). Trend analysis showed that K decreased, but α-angle/MA increased gradually as the tumor progressed (P < 0.001). K- and α-angle showed slightly better sensitivity in predicting advanced tumors compared to traditional laboratory parameters. In CRC patients, 3-6 months after tumor resection, K [from 1.8 (1.5, 2.3) to 1.9 (1.6, 2.6)], α-angle [from 65.3 (59.0, 68.6) to 63.7 (56.6, 68.5)], and MA [from 61.0 (58.2, 66.0) to 58.9 (55.8, 61.3)] exhibited modest improvements compared to their preoperative values (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: TEG parameters possess moderate diagnostic value in CRC diagnosis and predicting advanced tumors, and they are closely linked to surgical interventions. Although TEG parameters do not significantly outperform traditional laboratory parameters, they still hold promise as potential alternative indicators in CRC patients.

The contradictory roles of tightly bound and loosely bound extracellular polymeric substances of activated sludge in trimethoprim adsorption process.

Extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) of activated sludge are a mixture of high molecular weight polymers secreted by microorganisms, which have the double structure of tightly-bound EPS (TB-EPS) in inner layer and loosely-bound EPS (LB-EPS) in outer layer. The characteristic of LB- and TB-EPS were different, which would affect their adsorption of antibiotics. However, the adsorption process of antibiotics on LB- and TB-EPS was still unclear yet. Therefore, in this work, the roles of LB-EPS and TB-EPS in adsorption of a typical antibiotic-trimethoprim (TMP) at environmentally relevant concentration (25.0 µg/L) were investigated. The results showed the content of TB-EPS was higher than that of LB-EPS, which was 17.08 and 10.36 mg/g VSS, respectively. The adsorption capacity of raw, LB-EPS extracted and both LB- and TB-EPS extracted activated sludges for TMP were 5.31, 4.65 and 9.51 µg/g VSS, respectively, which indicated LB-EPS had positive effect on TMP removal, while TB-EPS had negative effect. The adsorption process can be well described by a pseudo-second-order kinetic model (R2 > 0.980). The ratio of different functional groups was calculated and the CO and C-O bond might be responsible for the adsorption capacity difference between LB- and TB-EPS. The fluorescence quenching results indicated that tryptophan protein-like substances in LB-EPS provided more binding sites (n = 0.36) than that of tryptophan amino acid in TB-EPS (n = 0.1). Furthermore, the extend DLVO results also demonstrated that LB-EPS promoted the adsorption of TMP, while TB-EPS inhibited the process. We hope the results of this study were helpful for understanding the fate of antibiotics in wastewater treatment systems.

Histone deacetylase AtSRT2 regulates salt tolerance during seed germination via repression of vesicle-associated membrane protein 714 (VAMP714) in Arabidopsis.

Salt tolerance during seed germination is essential for seedling establishment under salt stress. Sirtuin-like proteins, NAD+ -dependent histone deacetylases, are involved in plant responses to abiotic stresses; however, the regulatory mechanism remains unknown. We elucidated the mechanism underlying AtSRT2 (a sirtuin-like protein)-mediated regulation of salt tolerance during seed germination in Arabidopsis. The AtSRT2 mutant srt2 exhibited significantly reduced seed germination percentages under salt stress; its targets were identified via chromatin immunoprecipitation coupled with ultra-high-throughput parallel DNA sequencing (ChIP-Seq) assay. Epistasis analysis was performed to identify AtSRT2-related pathways. Overexpression of SRT2.7, an AtSRT2 splice variant, rescued the salt-sensitive phenotype of mutant srt2. AtSRT2 histone deacetylation activity was important for salt tolerance during seed germination. The acetylation level of histone H4K8 locus in srt2-1 increased significantly under salt treatment. Vesicle-associated membrane protein 714 (VAMP714), a negative regulator of hydrogen peroxide (H2 O2 )-containing vesicle trafficking in cells, was identified as a target of AtSRT2. AtSRT2 regulated histone acetylation in the promoter region of VAMP714 and inhibited VAMP714 transcription under salt treatment. Seed germination percentage of double-mutant srt2-1vamp714 was close to that of single-mutant vamp714, and higher than that of single-mutant srt2 under salt stress. Hydrogen peroxide content and DNA damage increased after salt treatment in srt2 during seed germination. AtSRT2 regulates salt tolerance during seed germination through VAMP714 in Arabidopsis.

Mitogen-activated protein kinase TaMPK3 suppresses ABA response by destabilising TaPYL4 receptor in wheat.

Abscisic acid (ABA) receptors are considered as the targeted manipulation of ABA sensitivity and water productivity in plants. Regulation of their stability or activity will directly affect ABA signalling. Mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascades link multiple environmental and plant developmental cues. However, the molecular mechanism of ABA signalling and MAPK cascade interaction remains largely elusive. TaMPK3 overexpression decreases drought tolerance and wheat sensitivity to ABA, significantly weakening ABA's inhibitory effects on growth. Under drought stress, overexpression lines show lower survival rates, shoot fresh weight and proline content, but higher malondialdehyde levels at seedling stage, as well as decreased grain width and 1000 grain weight in both glasshouse and field conditions at the adult stage. TaMPK3-RNAi increases drought tolerance. TaMPK3 interaction with TaPYL4 leads to decreased TaPYL4 levels by promoting its ubiquitin-mediated degradation, whereas ABA treatment diminishes TaMPK3-TaPYL interactions. In addition, the expression of ABA signalling proteins is impaired in TaMPK3-overexpressing wheat plants under ABA treatment. The MPK3-PYL interaction module was found to be conserved across monocots and dicots. Our results suggest that the MPK3-PYL module could serve as a negative regulatory mechanism for balancing appropriate drought stress response with normal plant growth signalling in wheat.

Community structure and co-occurrence network analysis of bacteria and fungi in wheat fields vs fruit orchards.

Soil microorganisms play a vital role in biogeochemical processes and nutrient turnover in agricultural ecosystems. However, the information on how the structure and co-occurrence patterns of microbial communities response to the change of planting methods is still limited. In this study, a total of 34 soil samples were collected from 17 different fields of 2 planting types (wheat and orchards) along the Taige Canal in Yangtze River Delta. The structure of bacterial and fungal communities in soil were determined by 16S rRNA gene and ITS gene, respectively. The dominated bacteria were Proteobacteria, Acidobacteriota, Actinobacteriota, Chloroflexi, Bacteroidota, and Firmicutes. The relative abundances of Actinobacteriota and Firmicutes were higher in the orchards, while Chloroflexi and Nitrospirota were more abundant in wheat fields. Ascomycota, Mortierellomycota, and Basidiomycota were the predominant fungus in both soil types. Diversity of bacterial and fungal communities were greater in the wheat fields than in orchards. Statistical analyses showed that pH was the main factor shaping the community structure, and parameters of water content (WC), total organic carbon (TOC) and total nitrogen (TN) had great influences on community structure. Moreover, high co-occurrence patterns of bacterial and fungal were confirmed in both wheat fields and orchards. Network analyses showed that both wheat fields and orchards occurred modular structure, including nodes of Acidobacteriota, Chloroflexi, Gemmatimonadota, Nitrospirota and Ascomycota. In summary, our work showed the co-occurrence network and the convergence/divergence of microbial community structure in wheat fields and orchards, giving a comprehensive understanding of the microbe-microbe interaction during planting methods' changes.

Insight into the role of different extracellular polymeric substances components on trimethoprim adsorption by activated sludge.

Adsorption is the primary mechanism of antibiotic removal in wastewater treatment plants, wherein the extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) of the activated sludge play an important role. Due to their complex characteristics, the effect of EPS components on antibiotic adsorption is unknown. Therefore, in this study, the role of main components of EPS in antibiotic adsorption was explored using enzymatic treatment. The results revealed that proteinase K and α-amylase can efficiently hydrolyse the proteins and polysaccharides of EPS. The protein content of EPS reduced from 31.25 mg/g VSS to 21.53, 18.75, and 10.76 mg/g VSS, after treatment with proteinase K, α-amylase and their combination, respectively; the polysaccharides content also observed a similar decrease from 15.20 mg/g VSS to 8.22, 7.83, and 6.03 mg/g VSS, respectively. The humic substance in EPS was stable during enzymatic treatment. The equilibrium adsorption capacity of activated sludge treated by enzyme for trimethoprim (TMP)- a typical antibiotic, was significantly increased from 2.19 µg/g VSS to 4.68, 5.34, and 8.36 µg/g VSS after treatment with proteinase K, α-amylase and their mixture. The adsorption process was adequately described by pseudo-second-order kinetic model. A multivariable linear regression model was subsequently used to quantify the adsorption capacity of activated sludge for TMP considering the concentration of EPS components. The modelling and validated results showed that the model could satisfactorily predict the TMP adsorption capacity. The results of this study can provide new insights into the role of EPS on antibiotic transformation in biological wastewater treatment systems.

The NF-Y-PYR module integrates the abscisic acid signal pathway to regulate plant stress tolerance.

Drought and salt stresses impose major constraints on soybean production worldwide. However, improving agronomically valuable soybean traits under drought conditions can be challenging due to trait complexity and multiple factors that influence yield. Here, we identified a nuclear factor Y C subunit (NF-YC) family transcription factor member, GmNF-YC14, which formed a heterotrimer with GmNF-YA16 and GmNF-YB2 to activate the GmPYR1-mediated abscisic acid (ABA) signalling pathway to regulate stress tolerance in soybean. Notably, we found that CRISPR/Cas9-generated GmNF-YC14 knockout mutants were more sensitive to drought than wild-type soybean plants. Furthermore, field trials showed that overexpression of GmNF-YC14 or GmPYR1 could increase yield per plant, grain plumpness, and stem base circumference, thus indicating improved adaptation of soybean plants to drought conditions. Taken together, our findings expand the known functional scope of the NF-Y transcription factor functions and raise important questions about the integration of ABA signalling pathways in plants. Moreover, GmNF-YC14 and GmPYR1 have potential for application in the improvement of drought tolerance in soybean plants.

Chemistry-specific responses due to rice-microbe interactions in the rhizosphere to counteract mefenacet stress.

The widespread use of herbicides has raised considerable concern with regard to their harmful consequences on plant growth, crop yield and the soil ecological environment. It has been well documented that colonization of rhizobacteria in the plant root system has a positive effect on activation of plant defenses to protect the plant from damage. Using the platform of high-throughput analysis with tandem mass spectrometry and Illumina sequencing, we identified the specific activated rhizobacteria, the key growth stimulating substances and the metabolic pathways involved in seedling stage tolerance to mefenacet stress in rice. The relative abundance of beneficial rhizospheremicrobes such as Acidobacteria and Firmicutes increased with mefenacet treatment, indicating that the rhizosphere recruited some beneficial microbes to resist mefenacet stress. Mefenacet treatment induced alterations in several interlinked metabolic pathways, many of which were related to activation of defense response signaling, especially the indole-3-pyruvate pathway. Indole-3-acetaldehyde and indole-3-ethanol from this pathway may act as flexible storage pools for indole-3-acetic acid (IAA). Our findings also suggest that a significant increase of IAA produced by the enrichment of beneficial rhizospheremicrobes, for example genus Bacillus, alleviated the dwarfing phenomenon observed in hydroponic medium following mefenacet exposure, which may be a key signaling molecule primarily for phytostimulation and phytotolerance in microbe-plant interactions.

Development of Broadband High-Frequency Piezoelectric Micromachined Ultrasonic Transducer Array.

Piezoelectric micromachined ultrasonic transducers (PMUT) are promising elements to fabricate a two-dimensional (2D) array with a pitch small enough (approximately half wavelength) to form and receive arbitrary acoustic beams for medical imaging. However, PMUT arrays have so far failed to combine the wide, high-frequency bandwidth needed to achieve a high axial resolution. In this paper, a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) backing structure is introduced into the PMUTs to improve the device bandwidth while keeping a sub-wavelength (λ) pitch. We implement this backing on a 16 × 8 array with 75 µm pitch (3λ/4) with a 15 MHz working frequency. Adding the backing nearly doubles the bandwidth to 92% (-6 dB) and has little influence on the impulse response sensitivity. By widening the transducer bandwidth, this backing may enable using PMUT ultrasonic arrays for high-resolution 3D imaging.

Genome-Wide Analysis of the Soybean Calmodulin-Binding Protein 60 Family and Identification of GmCBP60A-1 Responses to Drought and Salt Stresses.

Calmodulin-binding protein 60 (CBP60) members constitute a plant-specific protein family that plays an important role in plant growth and development. In the soybean genome, nineteen CBP60 members were identified and analyzed for their corresponding sequences and structures to explore their functions. Among GmCBP60A-1, which primarily locates in the cytomembrane, was significantly induced by drought and salt stresses. The overexpression of GmCBP60A-1 enhanced drought and salt tolerance in Arabidopsis, which showed better state in the germination of seeds and the root growth of seedlings. In the soybean hairy roots experiment, the overexpression of GmCBP60A-1 increased proline content, lowered water loss rate and malondialdehyde (MDA) content, all of which likely enhanced the drought and salt tolerance of soybean seedlings. Under stress conditions, drought and salt response-related genes showed significant differences in expression in hairy root soybean plants of GmCBP60A-1-overexpressing and hairy root soybean plants of RNAi. The present study identified GmCBP60A-1 as an important gene in response to salt and drought stresses based on the functional analysis of this gene and its potential underlying mechanisms in soybean stress-tolerance.

Overexpression of GmNFYA5 confers drought tolerance to transgenic Arabidopsis and soybean plants.

BACKGROUND: Crop productivity is challenged by abiotic stresses, among which drought stress is the most common. NF-Y genes, especially NF-YA genes, regulate tolerance to abiotic stress. RESULTS: Soybean NF-Y gene GmNFYA5 was identified to have the highest transcript level among all 21 NF-YA genes in soybean (Glycine max L.) under drought stress. Drought-induced transcript of GmNFYA5 was suppressed by the ABA synthesis inhibitor naproxen (NAP). GmNFYA5 transcript was detected in various tissues at vegetative and reproductive growth stages with higher levels in roots and leaves than in other tissues, which was consist with the GmNFYA5 promoter: GUS fusion assay. Overexpression of GmNFYA5 in transgenic Arabidopsis plants caused enhanced drought tolerance in seedlings by decreasing stomatal aperture and water loss from leaves. Overexpression and suppression of GmNFYA5 in soybean resulted in increased and decreased drought tolerance, respectively, relative to plants with an empty vector (EV). Transcript levels of ABA-dependent genes (ABI2, ABI3, NCED3, LEA3, RD29A, P5CS1, GmWRKY46, GmNCED2 and GmbZIP1) and ABA-independent genes (DREB1A, DREB2A, DREB2B, GmDREB1, GmDREB2 and GmDREB3) in transgenic plants overexpressing GmNFYA5 were higher than those of wild-type plants under drought stress; suppression of GmNFYA5 transcript produced opposite results. GmNFYA5 probably regulated the transcript abundance of GmDREB2 and GmbZIP1 by binding to the promoters in vivo. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggested that overexpression of GmNFYA5 improved drought tolerance in soybean via both ABA-dependent and ABA-independent pathways.

BES/BZR Transcription Factor TaBZR2 Positively Regulates Drought Responses by Activation of TaGST1.

BRI1-EMS suppressor (BES)/brassinazole-resistant (BZR) family transcription factors are involved in a variety of physiological processes, but the biological functions of some BES/BZR transcription factors remain unknown; moreover, it is not clear if any of these proteins function in the regulation of plant stress responses. Here, wheat (Triticum aestivum) brassinazole-resistant 2 (TaBZR2)-overexpressing plants exhibited drought tolerant phenotypes, whereas downregulation of TaBZR2 in wheat by RNA interference resulted in elevated drought sensitivity. electrophoretic mobility shift assay and luciferase reporter analysis illustrate that TaBZR2 directly interacts with the gene promoter to activate the expression of T. aestivum glutathione s-transferase-1 (TaGST1), which functions positively in scavenging drought-induced superoxide anions (O2 -). Moreover, TaBZR2 acts as a positive regulator in brassinosteroid (BR) signaling. Exogenous BR treatment enhanced TaBZR2-mediated O2 - scavenging and antioxidant enzyme gene expression. Taken together, we demonstrate that a BES/BZR family transcription factor, TaBZR2, functions positively in drought responses by activating TaGST1 and mediates the crosstalk between BR and drought signaling pathways. Our results thus provide new insights into the mechanisms underlying how BES/BZR family transcription factors contribute to drought tolerance in wheat.

On-Demand Quantum Storage of Photonic Qubits in an On-Chip Waveguide.

Photonic quantum memory is the core element in quantum information processing (QIP). For the scalable and convenient practical applications, great efforts have been devoted to the integrated quantum memory based on various waveguides fabricated in solids. However, on-demand storage of qubits, which is an essential requirement for QIP, is still challenging to be implemented using such integrated quantum memory. Here we report the on-demand storage of time-bin qubits in an on-chip waveguide memory fabricated on the surface of a ^{151}Eu^{3+}:Y_{2}SiO_{5} crystal, utilizing the Stark-modulated atomic frequency comb protocol. A qubit storage fidelity of 99.3%±0.2% is obtained with single-photon-level coherent pulses, far beyond the highest fidelity achievable using the classical measure-and-prepare strategy. The developed integrated quantum memory with the on-demand retrieval capability represents an important step toward practical applications of integrated quantum nodes in quantum networks.

Chiral Derivatives of 2-Aminotribenzotriquinacene: Synthesis and Optical Resolution.

Starting from a hitherto unknown 2-aminotribenzotriquinacene, several 2-amino-3-X-substituted TBTQ derivatives, all bearing a single ortho-difunctionalized indane wing, were synthesized as rigid and chiral building blocks for the potential construction of complex supramolecular architectures. Efficient access to two pairs of enantiomeric TBTQ derivatives, namely, the peripheral ortho-nitroaniline (X = NO2) and the related anthranilic acid (X = CO2H), was developed using chiral auxiliaries as the resolving reagents. The structure of the intermediate diastereomers was confirmed by 1H and 13C NMR spectroscopy, high-resolution mass spectroscopy (HRMS), and polarimetry. The absolute configuration of the optically active derivatives was confirmed by quantum chemical time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) calculations of the theoretical electronic circular dichroism (ECD) spectra and by single-crystal X-ray structure analysis of a synthesis intermediate.

Expression Analyses of Soybean VOZ Transcription Factors and the Role of GmVOZ1G in Drought and Salt Stress Tolerance.

Vascular plant one-zinc-finger (VOZ) transcription factor, a plant specific one-zinc-finger-type transcriptional activator, is involved in regulating numerous biological processes such as floral induction and development, defense against pathogens, and response to multiple types of abiotic stress. Six VOZ transcription factor-encoding genes (GmVOZs) have been reported to exist in the soybean (Glycine max) genome. In spite of this, little information is currently available regarding GmVOZs. In this study, GmVOZs were cloned and characterized. GmVOZ genes encode proteins possessing transcriptional activation activity in yeast cells. GmVOZ1E, GmVOZ2B, and GmVOZ2D gene products were widely dispersed in the cytosol, while GmVOZ1G was primarily located in the nucleus. GmVOZs displayed a differential expression profile under dehydration, salt, and salicylic acid (SA) stress conditions. Among them, GmVOZ1G showed a significantly induced expression in response to all stress treatments. Overexpression of GmVOZ1G in soybean hairy roots resulted in a greater tolerance to drought and salt stress. In contrast, RNA interference (RNAi) soybean hairy roots suppressing GmVOZ1G were more sensitive to both of these stresses. Under drought treatment, soybean composite plants with an overexpression of hairy roots had higher relative water content (RWC). In response to drought and salt stress, lower malondialdehyde (MDA) accumulation and higher peroxidase (POD) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities were observed in soybean composite seedlings with an overexpression of hairy roots. The opposite results for each physiological parameter were obtained in RNAi lines. In conclusion, GmVOZ1G positively regulates drought and salt stress tolerance in soybean hairy roots. Our results will be valuable for the functional characterization of soybean VOZ transcription factors under abiotic stress.

The Soybean bZIP Transcription Factor Gene GmbZIP2 Confers Drought and Salt Resistances in Transgenic Plants.

Abiotic stresses, such as drought and salt, are major environmental stresses, affecting plant growth and crop productivity. Plant bZIP transcription factors (bZIPs) confer stress resistances in harsh environments and play important roles in each phase of plant growth processes. In this research, 15 soybean bZIP family members were identified from drought-induced de novo transcriptomic sequences of soybean, which were unevenly distributed across 12 soybean chromosomes. Promoter analysis showed that these 15 genes were rich in ABRE, MYB and MYC cis-acting elements which were reported to be involved in abiotic stress responses. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) analysis indicated that 15 GmbZIP genes could be induced by drought and salt stress. GmbZIP2 was significantly upregulated under stress conditions and thus was selected for further study. Subcellular localization analysis revealed that the GmbZIP2 protein was located in the cell nucleus. qRT-PCR results show that GmbZIP2 can be induced by multiple stresses. The overexpression of GmbZIP2 in Arabidopsis and soybean hairy roots could improve plant resistance to drought and salt stresses. The result of differential expression gene analysis shows that the overexpression of GmbZIP2 in soybean hairy roots could enhance the expression of the stress responsive genes GmMYB48, GmWD40, GmDHN15, GmGST1 and GmLEA. These results indicate that soybean bZIPs played pivotal roles in plant resistance to abiotic stresses.

Effect of in ovo feeding of ß-hydroxy-ß-methylbutyrate on hatchability, muscle growth and performance in prenatal and posthatch broilers.

BACKGROUND: ß-Hydroxy-ß-methylbutyrate (HMB) is the metabolite of leucine that plays an important role in muscle protein metabolism. The objective of the present study was to determine the effects of in ovo feeding (IOF) of HMB at 7 days of incubation (DOI) via air cell or 18 DOI via amnion on hatchability, muscle growth and performance in prenatal and posthatch broilers. RESULTS: IOF of HMB via air cell at 7 DOI increased hatchability by 4.34% compared with the control (89.67% versus 85.33%). Birds in IOF groups exhibited higher body weight, average daily body weight gain and pectoral muscle percentage. Furthermore, IOF of HMB significantly increased the level of plasma growth hormone, insulin and insulin-like growth factor-1. Chicks hatched from IOF treatment had larger diameters of muscle fiber and higher mitotic activity of satellite cells at early posthatch age. IOF of HMB activated satellite cells by upregulation of mRNA expression of myogenic transcription factors, myogenic differentiation one (MyoD) and myogenin. Chicks hatched from air cell injection group had higher pectoral muscle percentage at 5 d posthatch and greater satellite cell mitotic activity at 7 d posthatch than counterparts from amnion injection group. CONCLUSIONS: IOF of HMB via amnion at 18 DOI or especially via air cell at 7 DOI could be used as an effective approach to enhance hatchability, productive performance and breast muscle yield in broilers. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry.

Growth performance, carcass characteristics, meat quality and serum profile of broiler chicks fed on housefly maggot meal as a replacement of soybean meal.

A study was conducted to invesstigate the housefly maggot meal (HMM) as an alternative protein source to replace the soybean meal in broiler chick's diet. A total of 720 1-day-old male broiler chicks were divided into three groups and fed diets formulated with HMM to replace soybean meal at the rate of 0%, 4% and 8%. The study lasted for 42 days in two phases. Results showed that HMM addition did not markedly affect body weight, average daily body weight gain and average daily feed intake of the broiler chicks. Feed conversion ratio increased linearly (1-21 days) in starter or quadratically (22-42 days) in the grower phase. HMM non-significantly increased the feed intake and body weight during the grower phase. Slight changes were observed for decrease of blood biochemical indices in the platelets (day 21), and alkaline phosphatase and lysozyme (day 42), and increase for red blood cells, packed cell volume, total protein and uric acid on day 42; however, the fluctuations were within the physiological range. Non-significant effects were observed for carcass composition and meat quality, except that HMM numerically reduced the shear force of breast muscle (linear, p = .058). These results are the strong evidence that HMM can be used as an alternative protein source at 8% in broiler chick's diet without any adverse effect on chick's performance.