Phenotypic plasticity and genetic variation of cotton yield and its related traits under water-limited conditions

Global warming is limiting availability of water resources in arid and semi-arid regions,and so understanding water use efficiency(WUE)is increasingly important for agricultural production in those areas.As China is the largest cotton producing area,the problem of balancing WUE and efficient cotton production is a major issue.In this study,we used a natural population of 517 Upland cotton accessions to conduct a water-controlled trial in south and north of Xinjiang over two years.A total of 18 traits including agronomic traits,fiber yield indices and fiber quality indices,were investigated for broad-sense heritability and coefficient of variation.Appropriate water limitation was found to promote the establishment of favorable agronomic traits in cotton,associated with an increased cotton yield of 8.46%in Xinjiang,at the expense of a certain degree of fiber quality,such as decreased fiber length and an over-higher micronaire value.We detected 33 QTL related to response to water limitation using a drought resistance coefficient(DRC),and 6 QTL were found using a comprehensive indicator of CIDT(comprehensive index of drought tolerance)at the genetic level by integrating resequencing data.Two novel QTL-hotspots including six differentially expressed genes(DEGs)were further identified related to the drought response of cotton.These findings not only suggested a new approach to irrigation of cotton fields in Xinjiang,but also provided abundant genetic evidence for genetic breeders to study drought improvement of crops.

Cellular vesicles expressing PD-1-blocking scFv reinvigorate T cell immunity against cancer

Cancer cells aberrantly express immunosuppressive checkpoint ligands and produce certain metabolites that lead to T cell exhaustion.Immune checkpoint blockade(ICB)therapy that reinvigorates exhausted T cells have achieved impressive response in clinical cancer treatment.However,the limited clinical response rate and off-tumor toxicities restrict ICB therapy.Herein,cellular vesicles displaying anti-programmed cell death-1(PD-1)single-chain variable fragment antibody(aPD-1-scFv)were prepared to reinvigorate T cell immunity to counteract cancer.The nanovesicles displaying aPD-1-scFv(aPD-1-scFv NVs)could enhance the anti-tumor activation of T cells through PD-1 blockade.Furthermore,NVs loading the A_(2a)adenosine receptor(A_(2a)R)antagonist CPI-444 assisted T cells to antagonize adenosine,an immunosuppressive metabolite produced by cancer cells.Hence,CPI-444 loaded aPD-1-scFv NVs could intensively increase the density and activity of tumor infiltrating T cells,directly restraining tumor progress and metastasis.