Up-regulation of miR-181a attenuates releases of CSE-induced pro-inflammatory factors and expression of collagen IV,fibronectin and α-SMA in human bronchial epithelial cells

AIM: To investigate the effect and potential mechanism of microRNA-181a (miR-181a) on cigarette smoke extract (CSE)-induced the productions of pro-inflammatory factors and the expression of collagen IV, fibronectin and α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) in human bronchial epithelial cells (HBECs). METHODS: CSE-induced miR-181a expression was detected by RT-qPCR in the HBECs. After tansfected with miR-181a mimic, the releases of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), IL-6 and transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) were measured by ELISA, the protein expression of collagen IV, fibronectin and α-SMA was determined by Western blot. The activation of NF-κB/TGF-β1/Smad3 pathway was also evaluated by Western blot. RESULTS: CSE increased the levels of TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6 and TGF-β1 and the expression of collagen IV, fibronectin and α-SMA, and decreased the expression of miR-181a in the HBECs (P<0.05). However, transfected with miR-181a mimic partially prevented the releases of TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6 and TGF-β1, and inhibited the expression of collagen IV, fibronectin and α-SMA (P<0.05). Additionally, the activation of NF-κB/TGF-β1/Smad3 evoked by CSE was attenuated after transfected with miR-181a mimic. CONCLUSION: Up-regulation of miR-181a prevents the releases of CSE-induced pro-inflammatory factors and expression of collagen IV, fibronectin and α-SMA in the HBECs, and its mechanism may be related to the inhibition of NF-κB/TGF-β1/Smad3 pathway.     

川黔等西南地区李子主要病虫害及防治技术

李适应性广,耐瘠薄干旱,是四川、重庆等西南山区的特色经济树种。李果实外观亮丽,脆甜爽口、营养丰富,是深受人们喜爱的特色水果之一。近年来四川、贵州、重庆地区青脆李、空心李、蜂糖李等地方品种有了迅速发展,促进了贫困山区脱贫致富和产业结构调整。但由于管理粗放和防治措施不当,致使李子生产区域病虫害发生严重,影响了果实的品质和经济效益。为了促进李子产业化发展,结合主要产区生产实际,总结出西南地区常见的病虫害及其防治措施,为李子生产提供技术参考。     

Development of a reverse-transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification assay to detect avian influenza viruses in clinical specimens

In recent years, the avian influenza has brought not only serious economic loss to the poultry industry in China but also a serious threat to human health because of the avian influenza virus(AIV) gene recombination and reassortment. Until now, traditional RT-PCR, fluorescence RT-PCR and virus isolation identification have been developed and utilized to detect AIV, but these methods require high-level instruments and experimental conditions, not suitable for the rapid detection in field and farms. In order to develop a rapid, sensitive and practical method to detect and identify AIV subtypes, 4 specific primers to the conserved region of AIV M gene were designed and a loop-mediated isothermal amplification(RT-LAMP) method was established. Using this method, the M gene of H1–H16 subtypes of AIV were amplified in 30 min with a water bath and all 16 H subtypes of AIV were able to be visually identified in presence of fluorescein, without cross reaction with other susceptible avian viruses. In addition, the detection limit of the common H1, H5, H7, and H9 AIV subtypes with the RT-LAMP method was 0.1 PFU(plaque-forming unit), which was 10 times more sensitive than that using the routine RT-PCR. Further comparative tests found that the positivity rate of RT-LAMP on detecting clinical samples was 4.18%(14/335) comparing with 3.58%(12/335) from real-time RT-PCR. All these results suggested that the RT-LAMP method can specifically detect and identify AIV with high sensitivity and can be considered as a fast, convenient and practical method for the clinic test and epidemiological investigation of AIV.     

Basal internode elongation of rice as affected by light intensity and leaf area

Short basal internodes are important for lodging resistance of rice(Oryza sativa L.).Several canopy indices affect the elongation of basal internodes,but uncertainty as to the key factors determining elongation of basal internodes persists.The objectives of this study were(1)to identify key factors affecting the elongation of basal internodes and(2)to establish a quantitative relationship between basal internode length and canopy indices.An inbred rice cultivar,Yinjingruanzhan,was grown in two split-plot field experiments with three N rates(0,75,and 150 kg N ha−1 in early season and 0,90,and 180 kg N ha−1 in late season)as main plots,three seedling densities(16.7,75.0,and 187.5 seedlings m−2)as subplots,and three replications in the 2015 early and late seasons in Guangzhou,China.Light intensity at base of canopy(Lb),light quality as determined from red/far-red light ratio(R/FR),light transmission ratio(LTR),leaf area index(LAI),leaf N concentration(NLV)and final length of second internode(counted from soil surface upward)(FIL)were recorded.Higher N rate and seedling density resulted in significantly longer FIL.FIL was negatively correlated with Lb,LTR,and R/FR(P<0.01)and positively correlated with LAI(P<0.01),but not correlated with NLV(P>0.05).Stepwise linear regression analysis showed that FIL was strongly associated with Lb and LAI(R2=0.82).Heavy N application to pot-grown rice at the beginning of first internode elongation did not change FIL.We conclude that FIL is determined mainly by Lb and LAI at jointing stage.NLV has no direct effect on the elongation of basal internodes.N application indirectly affects FIL by changing LAI and light conditions in the rice canopy.Reducing LAI and improving canopy light transmission at jointing stage can shorten the basal internodes and increase the lodging resistance of rice.     

Optimizing aphid biocontrol with the predator Aphidoletes aphidimyza,based on biology and ecology

Aphidoletes aphidimyza is one of the most important predators used in the augmentative biological control of aphids, key pests of many crops worldwide. Adult females are very efficient in locating aphid infestations over a relatively long range, up to 45 m, and deposit eggs near or within aphid colonies. The predatory larvae are aphid generalists preying on several agriculturally important aphid species. The successful use of this biocontrol agent in agricultural systems depends on several biotic and abiotic factors. Among biotic factors, aphid species, plant structure, interspecific competition and intraguild predation may significantly impact the predator´s population dynamics. Key abiotic conditions include day lengths (above a critical threshold to prevent diapause), availability of mating sites in the crop, temperature (above 15 °C to enable egg laying), air relative humidity (above 70%) and availability of pupation sites. Although several successes have been reported in open field crops with naturally occurring or released populations, commercial releases are primarily used in protected crops. Optimized emergence boxes combining provisioning of food sources for the adults, integration with the technological advances that occurred in the greenhouse environment lately, insights into the nutritional ecology in open field crops and exploration of the genetic variability are proposed as future directions to improve adoption and efficacy of A. aphidimyza in crop protection. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry     

Isolation and Characterization of GhLEA3 Gene from Upland Cotton and Its Expression in Response to Low Temperature Stress

[Objective] Based on the analysis of cotton GhLEA3 gene structure and its expression model in chilling stress, we investigated the resistance function of GhLEA3 in response to cold stress. [Method] We cloned GhLEA3 from upland cotton by homologous sequence cloning way. We analyzed the properties of the GhLEA3, and constructed phylogenetic tree by bioinformatics analysis. We constructed the transient expression vector 35S∷GhLEA3-GFP by In-Fusion connection technology and studied the subcellular localization of GhLEA3. The expression of GhLEA3 gene in leaves of TM-1 at three-leaf stage under low temperature stress treatments (4 ℃, 24 h) was performed. Agrobacterium tumefaciens mediated floral dipping method was used to transform the gene with expression vector 35S∷GhLEA3-GFP into Arabidopsis thaliana wild type. Low temperature germination experiment at 4 ℃ was conducted to verify germination ability of the transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana T₃ seed. The transgenic Arabidopsis seedlings were treated at 4 ℃(low temperature), and all the leaves were taken to measure their electrical conductivity. [Result] The coding sequence of GhLEA3 gene is 1 218 bp, which encodes 405 amino acids. GhLEA3 protein includes 4 functional domains of PF02987. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the similarity of amino acid sequences between upland cotton GhLEA3 and Arabidopsis thaliana AtLEA3 was 52.6%. GhLEA3 might be mainly localized in vacuoles and small vesicles. GhLEA3 was up-regulated in leaves after low temperature treatment. The germination rate of transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana of T₃ generation at low temperature was significantly higher than that of wild type, and its electrical conductivity of leaves after low temperature treatment was significantly lower than that of wild type. [Conclusion] GhLEA3 belonged to the member of LEA3 family. Phylogenetic analysis showed that GhLEA3 had the closest relationship with AtLEA3. GhLEA3 was induced by low temperature stress and may play an important role in improving cold resistance.     

利用基因拆分技术培育耐草甘膦转基因水稻的研究

耐除草剂转基因水稻基因飘流可能产生的环境安全问题是人们关注的焦点之一,并已成为耐除草剂转基因水稻能否在我国生产上发挥效益的限制因素。基因拆分技术能够有效地控制转基因目标性状飘流,为培育耐除草剂转基因水稻提供新的途径和思路。本研究将耐除草剂基因G2-aroA拆分成N端(EPSPSn,1～295aa)和C端(EPSPSc,296～435aa),分别与SspDnaE蛋白内含肽的N端(Intein-N)和C端(Intein-C)连接形成融合基因EPSPSn-In与Ic-EPSPSc,并分别通过农杆菌介导法转入受体材料中花11。Southern杂交证明转基因水稻En-12和Ec-22中外源基因为单拷贝插入。侧翼序列分析证明转基因水稻En-12和Ec-22中外源基因分别插入第2和第6染色体。利用四引物法筛选出转基因水稻En-12和Ec-22的纯合系,并通过有性杂交获得同时含有EPSPSn-In与Ic-EPSPSc的转基因水稻En×Ec。草甘膦抗性分析发现,单独含有1个基因片段的转基因水稻En-12和Ec-22不具有耐受草甘膦特性,而同时含有2个基因片段的转基因水稻En×Ec具有耐受草甘膦的特性,说明拆分后的2个蛋白片段在intein的介导下重新组装成完整有功能蛋白,并赋予转基因水稻耐受草甘膦的特性。转基因水稻En×Ec与含有完整G2-aroA转基因水稻G2-6相比,其耐受草甘膦的能力有所下降,但能够满足生产需求。本研究结果为利用基因拆分技术培育转基因耐草甘膦水稻提供了科学依据,同时也为利用基因工程手段培育转基因杂交稻提供了新的技术平台。