Grain-filling strategies of wheat of contrasting grain sizes under various planting patterns and irrigation levels

In a study comparing grain filling and yield in a large-and a small-grain-size wheat cultivar under two planting patterns and two irrigation regimes,plastic-covered ridge and furrow planting with sprinkler irrigation increased grain filling and yield in both cultivars.The largest contributors to grain yield were an extended active grain-filling period in Shuangda 1 and an increased mean grain-filling rate in XN538.

Antimicrobial resistance characteristics and phylogenetic relationships of pleuromutilin-resistant Enterococcus isolates from different environmental samples along a laying hen production chain

Antimicrobial resistance in the laying hen production industry has become a serious public health problem.The antimicrobial resistance and phylogenetic relationships of the common conditional pathogen Enterococcus along the laying hen production chain have not been systematically clarified.105 Enterococcus isolates were obtained from 115 environmental samples (air,dust,feces,fies,sewage,and soil) collected along the laying hen production chain (breeding chicken,chick,young chicken,and commercial laying hen).These Enterococcus isolates exhibited resistance to some clinically relevant antibiotics,such as tetracycline (92.4%),streptomycin (92.4%),and erythromycin (91.4%),and all strains had multidrug resistance phenotypes.Whole genome sequencing characterized 29 acquired antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) that conferred resistance to 11 classes of antibiotics in 51pleuromutilin-resistant Enterococcus isolates,and lsa(E),which mediates resistance to pleuromutilins,always co-occurred with lnu(B).Alignments with the Mobile Genetic Elements database identified four transposons (Tn554,Tn558,Tn6261,and Tn6674) with several ARGs(erm(A),ant(9)-la,fex(A),and optrA) that mediated resistance to many clinically important antibiotics.Moreover,we identified two new transposons that carried ARGs in the Tn554 family designated as Tn7508 and Tn7492.A complementary approach based on conventional multi-locus sequence typing and whole genome single nucleotide polymorphism analysis showed that phylogenetically related pleuromutilin-resistant Enterococcus isolates were widely distributed in various environments on different production farms.Our results indicate that environmental contamination by antimicrobial-resistant Enterococcus requires greater attention,and they highlight the risk of pleuromutilin-resistant Enterococcus and ARGs disseminating along the laying hen production chain,thereby warranting effective disinfection.

Downregulation of circ-ZNF609 Promotes Heart Repair by Modulating RNA N^(6)-Methyladenosine-Modified Yap Expression

Circular RNAs take crucial roles in several pathophysiological processes.The regulatory role and its underlying mechanisms of circ-ZNF609 in the heart remains largely unknown.Here,we report that circ-ZNF609 is upregulated during myocardial ischemia/reperfusion(I/R)remodeling.Knockdown of circ-ZNF609 protects against acute I/R injury and attenuates left ventricle dysfunction after I/R remodeling in vivo.In vitro,circ-ZNF609 regulates cardiomyocyte survival and proliferation via modulating the crosstalk between Hippo-YAP and Akt signaling.Mechanically,N6-methyladenosine-modification is involved in the regulatory role of circ-ZNF609 on YAP.An in-depth study indicates that knockdown of circ-ZNF609 decreases the expression of YTHDF3 and further fine-tuned the accessibility of Yap mRNA to YTHDF1 and YTHDF2 to regulate YAP expression.circ-ZNF609 knockdown represents a promising therapeutic strategy to combat the pathological process of myocardial I/R injury.

Exploring the abundance and influencing factors of antimicrobial resistance genes in manure plasmidome from swine farms

Plasmids play a critical role in the dissemination of antimicrobial resistance genes(ARGs),however,a systematical understanding of ARGs originated from plasmids in swine production is currently lacking.Herein,quantitative polymerase chain reaction was applied to determine the prevalence of ten ARGs and the class1 integron gene intI1 of plasmid source in swinemanure from 44 farms in Sichuan,Hubei and Hebei provinces,China.All assayed ARGs were observed in plasmid DNA samples,and the average absolute abundance of aac(6’)-Ib-cr,blaNDM,blaCTX-M,optrA,ermB,floR,mcr-1,qnrS,tetM,sul1 and intI1 were 7.09,2.90,4.67,6.62,7.55,7.14,4.08,4.85,7.16,7.11 and 8.07 of 10 log copies/gram,respectively.IntI1 showed a high correlation(r>0.8,P<0.01)with the abundance of aac(6’)-Ib-cr and sul1 in swine manure.Moreover,the farm scale(i.e.,herd population)and geographical location were not found to be critical factors influencing the absolute abundance of ARGs of plasmid DNA in swine farms.However,the concentrations of florfenicol,Cu,Zn,Fe,total phosphorus(TP)and total potassium(TK)demonstrated a significant correlation with the abundance of several ARGs.Particularly,Cu and Zn had high correlations with optrA and blaCTX-M,respectively.Our results demonstrated that antibiotics,heavy metals and environmental nutrients are likely jointly contributing to the long-term persistence of ARGs in swine production.This study provides insights into the abundance and influencing factors of ARGs from swine manure,which is of significance for assessing and reducing the public health risks in livestock production.