Historical mitochondrial genome introgression confounds species delimitation: evidence from phylogenetic inference in the Odorrana grahami species complex

Species delimitation is essential to informing conservation policy and understanding ecological and evolutionary processes.Most of our recent gains in knowledge on animal diversity rely on morphological characteristics and mitochondrial(mt)DNA variation.Concordant results based on both have led to an unprecedented acceleration in the identification of new species and enriched the field of taxonomy.However,discordances are also found commonly between morphological and mtDNA evidence.This confounds species delimitation,especially when gene flow or mt genome introgression has occurred.Here,we illustrate how mt genome introgression among species of the Odorrana grahami complex confounds species delimitation using the combined evidence of morphological characters,mt variation,and thousands of nuclear single-nucleotide polymorphisms(SNPs)from genotyping-by-sequencing(GBS).Fifty-eight samples across the distribution of the O.grahami complex were included.The mtDNA matrilineal genealogy indicated 2 clades,with O.grahami and Odorrana junlianensis clustered together.In contrast,all nuclear evidence including gene trees,species trees,and genetic structure analyses based on GBS data support 3 species with distinct genetic clusters.These 3 distinct genetic clusters also correspond to distinct morphological characters.They affirm the distinct taxonomic entities of both O.grahami and O.junlianensis,as well as a third clade distinct from either.Which species the third clade belongs to remains unclear and will require further testing.The nuclear genomic loci contradict the COI evidence,with indications of rampant historical mt genome introgression among the species of the O.grahami complex.These discordant signals previously confused species delimitation efforts in this group.Based on these findings,we recommend the integration of independent data,especially nuclear genomic evidence,in species delimitation so as to be robust against the pitfalls of mt introgression.

Thymosin Alpha-1 Inhibits Complete Freund’s Adjuvant-Induced Pain and Production of Microglia-Mediated Pro-inflammatory Cytokines in Spinal Cord

Activation of inflammatory responses regulates the transmission of pain pathways through an integrated network in the peripheral and central nervous systems.The immunopotentiator thymosin alpha-1(Tal)has recently been reported to have anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective functions in rodents.However,how Tα1 affects inflammatory pain remains unclear.In the present study,intraperitoneal injection of Tal attenuated complete Freund's adjuvant(CFA)-induced pain hypersensitivity,and decreased the up-regulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines(TNF-α,IL-1β,and IL-6)in inflamed skin and the spinal cord.We found that CFA-induced peripheral inflammation evoked strong microglial activation,but the effect was reversed by Tα1.Notably,Tα1 reversed the CFA-induced up-regulation of vesicular glutamate transporter(VGLUT)and down-regulated the vesicular γ-aminobutyric acid transporter(VGAT)in the spinal cord.Taken together,these results suggest that Tα1 plays a therapeutic role in inflammatory pain and in the modulation of microgliainduced pro-inflammatory cytokine production in addition to mediation of VGLUT and VGAT expression in the spinal cord.

Engineering surface oxygen vacancy of mesoporous CeO_(2) nanosheets assembled microspheres for boosting solar-driven photocatalytic performance

Surface oxygen vacancy defects of mesoporous CeO_(2)nanosheets assembled microspheres(D-CeO_(2))are engineered by polymer precipitation,hydrothermal and surface hydrogenation strategies.The resultant D-CeO_(2)with a main pore diameter of 9.3 nm has a large specific surface area(~102.3 m^(2)/g)and high thermal stability.The mesoporous nanosheets assembled microsphere structure prevents the nanosheets from aggregation,which is beneficial to effective mass transfer and shortens the migration distance of charge carriers.After surface hydrogenation,the photoresponse extends to long wavelength region,combing with the band gap from 2.63 eV reduced to 2.39 eV.Under AM 1.5 G radiation,the photocatalytic degradation rate of tetracycline(TC)can be up to 99.99%,which is three times as high as that of pristine CeO_(2)microspheres.The excellent solar-driven photocatalytic performance can be attributed to the efficient surface oxygen vacancy engineering and the mesoporous nanosheets assembled microsphere structure,which narrows the band gap,shortens the migration distance of carriers,promotes the spatial separation of photogenerated electron-hole pairs and favors mass transfer.The strategy provides new insights for fabricating other high-efficient oxide photocatalysts.