The Defense Effect of ABA against Turnip crinkle virus (TCV)

[ Objective ] The paper was to understand whether abscisic acid （ABA） participates the defense effect of hosts against Turnip crinkle virus （TCV）. [ Method] By external application of ABA and using the corresponding mutants, TCV coat protein levels of various plants were detected by western-blot, and the expression of defense-related genes was analyzed by RT-PCR. [Result] After external application of SA, JA, ET and ABA, only SA and ABA could significantly inhibit TCV accumulation. In arabidopsis-TCV interaction system, SA and ABA had antagonistic effect with each other, the defense effect against TCV induced by ABA was independent on SA pathway. [ Conclusion] The plants could activate distinct signal pathways to adjust the defense of hosts against virus.

The protein phosphatase qGL3/OsPPKL1 selfregulates its degradation to orchestrate brassinosteroid signaling in rice

Brassinosteroids(BRs)are a class of phytohormones that regulate plant growth and development.In previous studies,we cloned and identified PROTEIN PHOSPHATASE WITH KELCH-LIKE1(OsPPKL1)as the causal gene for the quantitative trait locus GRAIN LENGTH3(qGL3)in rice(Oryza sativa).We also showed that qGL3/OsPPKL1 is mainly located in the cytoplasm and nucleus and negatively regulates BR signaling and grain length.Because qGL3 is a negative regulator of BR signaling,its turnover is critical for rapid response to changes in BRs.Here,we demonstrate that qGL3 interacts with the WD40-domain-containing protein WD40-REPEAT PROTEIN48(OsWDR48),which contains a nuclear export signal(NES).The NES signal is crucial for the cytosolic localization of OsWDR48 and also functions in the self-turnover of qGL3.We show that OsWDR48 physically interacts with and genetically acts through qGL3 to modulate BR signaling.Moreover,qGL3 may indirectly promote the phosphorylation of OsWDR48 at the Ser-379 and Ser-386 sites.Substitutions of both phosphorylation sites in OsWDR48 to non-phosphorylatable alanine enhanced the strength of the OsWDR48-qGL3 interaction.Furthermore,we found that brassinolide can promote the accumulation of non-phosphorylated OsWDR48,leading to strong interaction intensity between qGL3 and OsWDR48.Taken together,our results show that OsWDR48 facilitates qGL3 retention and induces degradation of qGL3 in the cytoplasm.These findings suggest that qGL3 self-modulates its turnover by binding to OsWDR48 to regulate its cytoplasmic localization and stability,leading to efficient orchestration of BR signal transduction in rice.

Identification and characterization of putative CIPK genes in maize

Calcium （Ca） plays a crucial role as a second messenger in intracellular signaling elicited by developmental and environmental cues. Calcineurin B-like proteins （CBLs） and their target proteins, CBL-interacting protein kinases （CIPKs） have emerged as a key Ca^2＋-mediated signaling network in response to stresses in plants. Bioinformatic analysis was used to identify 43 putative ZmC1PK （Zea mays CIPK） genes in the genome of maize inbred line B73. Based on gene structures, these ZmCIPKs were divided into intron-rich and intron-poor groups. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that the ZmCIPK family had a high evolutionary relationship with the rice CIPK family of 30 members. Microarray data and RT-PCR assay showed that ZrnCIPK genes transcriptionally responded to abiotic stresses, and that 24, 31, 20 and 19 ZmCIPK genes were up-regulated by salt, drought, heat and cold stresses, respectively. There were different expression patterns of ZmCIPKs between cold-tolerant inbred line B73 and cold-sensitive inbred line Mo17 under cold stress. Our findings will aid further molecular dissection of biological functions of the CIPKs in maize, and provide new insight into the CBL--CIPK signaling network in plants.

Reactive MnO_(2) template-assisted synthesis of double-shelled PPy hollow nanotubes to boost microwave absorption

Microwave absorbing materials(MAMs)with wide effective absorption bandwidth(EAB)and low filling ratio are highly desirable for practical applications.Rational design in components and structures is one of the effective strategies to achieve MAMs with high performance.Herein,double-shelled hollow(DSH)polypyrrole(PPy)nanotubes were synthesized with hydrochloric acid(HCl)and sodium pstyrene sulfonate(SS)co-doping polymerization process using manganese dioxide(MnO_(2))nanorods as a self-sacrifice template.With the increase of HCl concentration,the 1D MnO_(2) core diminishes gradually to form the MnO_(2)@PPy coaxial nanostructures and finally the DSH PPy nanotube,which tunes the microwave absorption performance.Importantly,the DSH PPy nanotubes exhibit excellent microwave absorption of an optimal reflection loss of–50.4 dB and a wide EAB of 7.7 GHz with a low filling ratio of 5 wt%in a paraffin wax matrix.The excellent microwave absorption is believed to be mainly attributed to the enhanced synergistic effects of interfacial polarization and conduction loss arising from the unique DSH structure and the co-doping polymerization.

Hybrid superhydrophilic-superhydrophobic micro/nanostructures fabricated by femtosecond laserinduced forward transfer for sub-femtomolar Raman detection

Raman spectroscopy plays a crucial role in biochemical analysis.Recently,superhydrophobic surface-enhanced Raman scattering(SERS)substrates have enhanced detection limits by concentrating target molecules into small areas.However,due to the wet transition phenomenon,further reduction of the droplet contact area is prevented,and the detection limit is restricted.This paper proposes a simple method involving femtosecond laser-induced forward transfer for preparing a hybrid superhydrophilic–superhydrophobic SERS(HS-SERS)substrate by introducing a superhydrophilic pattern to promote the target molecules to concentrate on it for ultratrace detection.Furthermore,the HS-SERS substrate is heated to promote a smaller concentrated area.The water vapor film formed by the contact of the solution with the substrate overcomes droplet collapse,and the target molecules are completely concentrated into the superhydrophilic region without loss during evaporation.Finally,the concentrated region is successfully reduced,and the detection limit is enhanced.The HS-SERS substrate achieved a final contact area of 0.013mm2,a 12.1-fold decrease from the unheated case.The reduction of the contact area led to a detection limit concentration as low as 10−16 M for a Rhodamine 6G solution.In addition,the HS-SERS substrate accurately controlled the size of the concentrated areas through the superhydrophilic pattern,which can be attributed to the favorable repeatability of the droplet concentration results.In addition,the preparation method is flexible and has the potential for fluid mixing,fluid transport,and biochemical sensors,etc.

Low-Dose Unfractionated Heparin with Sequential Enoxaparin in Patients with Diabetes Mellitus and Complex Coronary Artery Disease during Elective Percutaneous Coronary Intervention

Background： Despite its limitations, unfractionated heparin （UFH） has been the standard anticoagulant used during percutaneous coronary intervention （PCl）. This study compared the safety of low-dose UFH with sequential enoxaparin with that of UFH in patients with diabetes mellitus （DM） and complex coronary artery disease receiving elective PCl. Methods： In this retrospective study, 514 consecutive patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases and type 2 DM were admitted to the hospital and received selective PCI, from January 2013 to December 2015. All patients with PCl received low-dose UFH with enoxaparin （intraductal 50 U/kg UFH and 0.75 mg/kg enoxaparin, n = 254; UFH-Enox group） or UFH only （intraductal 100 U/kg UFH, n = 260; UFH group）. The study endpoints were major adverse cardiac events （MACEs）, namely death, myocardial infarction （MI）, stroke, target-vessel immediate revascularization （TVR）, and thrombolysis in MI （TIMI） major bleeding, within 30 days and 1 year after PCI. Any catheter thrombosis during the procedure was recorded. Results： Only one patient had an intraductal thrombus in the UFH group. At the 30-day follow-up, no MACE occurred in any group; seven and five cases of recurrent angina and/or rehospitalization were reported in the UFH-Enox and UFH groups, respectively; there was no significant difference between the two groups （χ^2= 0.11, P = 0.77）. There was no TIMI major bleeding in the groups. With respect to the 1-year endpoint, two cases of recurrent MI and two of TVRs were reported in the UFH-Enox group, whereas in the UFH group, one case of recurrent MI and three of TVRs were reported; no significant difference existed between the two groups （χ^2 0, P= 0.99）. There were 30 and 25 recurrent angina and/or rehospitalizations in the UFH-Enox and UFH groups, respectively; there was no significant difl＇erence between the two groups （χ^2 = 0.37, P= 0.57）. Conclusion： In elective PCI, low-dose UFH with sequential enoxaparin has similar effects and safety to the UFH-only method.

Predictive and Prognostic Value of High-density Lipoprotein Cholesterol in Young Male Patients with Acute Myocardial Infarction

Background： The level of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol （HDL-C） is an important risk indicator and used in risk factor counting and quantitative risk assessment; however, the effect of HDL-C in young male patients with acute myocardial infarction （AMI） is unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of HDL-C in young male patients. Methods： We recruited 267 consecutive young male patients （≤44 years） diagnosed with AMI. Other 247 participants free from coronary heart disease were enrolled as controls. HDL-C levels of AMI patients and controls were evaluated to analyze the predictive value on AMI. According to the cutoff point of 1.04 mmol/L HDL-C, patients of AMI were divided into two subgroups （normal HDL-C group and low HDL-C group） and were followed up for 2 years. Clinical end points included all major adverse coronary events （MACEs）： the main cause of death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, readmissions for acute coronary syndrome, arrhythmias, or revascularization. The prognostic value of HDL-C was evaluated using Cox regression according to MACE. Results： Patients of AMI had decreased proportion in normal HDL-C group compared to controls （47.2% vs. 57.9%; P = 0.017）. Logistic regression analysis showed that there was an inverse relationship between HDL-C and AMI in young males. In the low HDL-C subgroup of AMI patients （n = 141）, 34 （24.1%） patients experienced a MACE during the 2-year follow-up, compared with 15 （11.9%） patients in normal HDL-C subgroup （n = 126）. The Cox regression analysis showed that HDL-C was an independent predictor of a MACE during the follow-up period （hazard ratio = 0.354, P = 0.006）. Conclusion： HDL-C was an important parameter for predicting the risk and the clinical outcomes of AMI in young male patients.

OsIDD2, a zinc finger and INDETERMINATE DOMAIN protein, regulates secondary cell wall formation

Previously, we found 123 transcription factors（TFs） as candidate regulators of secondary cell wall（SCW）formation in rice by using phylogenetic and co-expression network analyses. Among them, we examined in this work the role of OsIDD_2, a zinc finger and indeterminate domain（IDD） family TF. Its overexpressors showed dwarfism, fragile leaves, and decreased lignin content, which are typical phenotypes of plants defective in SCW formation, whereas its knockout plants showed slightly increased lignin content.The RNA-seq and quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction analyses confirmed that some lignin biosynthetic genes were downregulated in the OsIDD_2-overexpressing plants, and revealed the same case for other genes involved in cellulose synthesis and sucrose metabolism. The transient expression assay using rice protoplasts revealed that OsIDD_2 negatively regulates the transcription of genes involved in lignin biosynthesis, cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase 2 and 3（CAD_2 and 3）, and sucrose metabolism, sucrose synthase 5（SUS_5）, whereas an Alpha Screen assay, which can detect the interaction between TFs and their target DNA sequences, directly confirmed the interaction between OsIDD_2 and the target sequences located in the promoter regions of CAD_2 and CAD_3. Based on these observations, we conclude that OsIDD_2 is negatively involved in SCW formation and other biological events by downregulating its target genes.

Low-density Lipoprotein Cholesterol/High-density Lipoprotein Cholesterol Ratio as Predictor of First Acute Myocardial Infarction and Major Adverse Cardiovascular Event after Intervention in Young Males

To the Editor： Acute myocardial infarction （AMI） is an unstable ischemic syndrome induced event of myocardial necrosis. Although it is well known that lipid abnormalities are linked to AMI risk, the optimal lipid parameter for risk prediction is unclear. Analyses from the INTERHEART study demonstrated the role of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol （LDL-C）/high-density lipoprotein cholesterol （HDL-C） ratio and triglycerides （TG）/HDL-C ratio in AMI, in addition to that of LDL-C and HDL-C absolute values, prompting the search for optimal and reliable markers for AMI. Furthermore, lipid abnormalities are affected by ethnicity, age, and gender. However, limited data are available for young Chinese males. The present study aimed to evaluate the characteristics of plasma lipids and their association with the risk and clinical outcome of a first AMI in this population.