Whole-genome methylation analysis reveals epigenetic variation between wild-type and nontransgenic cloned,ASMT transgenic cloned dairy goats generated by the somatic cell nuclear transfer

Background:SCNT(somatic cell nuclear transfer)is of great significance to biological research and also to the livestock breeding.However,the survival rate of the SCNT cloned animals is relatively low compared to other transgenic methods.This indicates the potential epigenetic variations between them.DNA methylation is a key marker of mammalian epigenetics and its alterations will lead to phenotypic differences.In this study,ASMT(acetylserotonin-Omethyltransferase)ovarian overexpression transgenic goat was produced by using SCNT.To investigate whether there are epigenetic differences between cloned and WT(wild type)goats,WGBS(whole-genome bisulfite sequencing)was used to measure the whole-genome methylation of these animals.Results:It is observed that the different m Cp G sites are mainly present in the intergenic and intronic regions between cloned and WT animals,and their CG-type methylation sites are strongly correlated.DMR(differentially methylated region)lengths are located around 1000 bp,mainly distributed in the exonic,intergenic and intronic functional domains.A total of 56 and 36 DMGs(differentially methylated genes)were identified by GO and KEGG databases,respectively.Functional annotation showed that DMGs were enriched in biological-process,cellularcomponent,molecular-function and other signaling pathways.A total of 10 identical genes related to growth and development were identified in GO and KEGG databases.Conclusion:The differences in methylation genes among the tested animals have been identified.A total of 10 DMGs associated with growth and development were identified between cloned and WT animals.The results indicate that the differential patterns of DNA methylation between the cloned and WT goats are probably caused by the SCNT.These novel observations will help us to further identify the unveiled mechanisms of somatic cell cloning technology,particularly in goats.

Autophagy receptor ZmNBR1 promotes the autophagic degradation of ZmBRI1a and enhances drought tolerance in maize

Drought stress is a crucial environmental factor that limits plant growth,development,and productivity.Autophagy of misfolded proteins can help alleviate the damage caused in plants experiencing drought.However,the mechanism of autophagy-mediated drought tolerance in plants remains largely unknown.Here,we cloned the gene for a maize(Zea mays)selective autophagy receptor,NEXT TO BRCA1GENE 1(ZmNBR1),and identified its role in the response to drought stress.We observed that drought stress increased the accumulation of autophagosomes.RNA sequencing and reverse transcriptionquantitative polymerase chain reaction showed that ZmNBR1 is markedly induced by drought stress.ZmNBR1 overexpression enhanced drought tolerance,while its knockdown reduced drought tolerance in maize.Our results established that ZmNBR1 mediates the increase in autophagosomes and autophagic activity under drought stress.ZmNBR1 also affects the expression of genes related to autophagy under drought stress.Moreover,we determined that BRASSINOSTEROID INSENSITIVE1A(ZmBRI1a),a brassinosteroid receptor of the BRI1-like family,interacts with ZmNBR1.Phenotype analysis showed that ZmBRI1a negatively regulates drought tolerance in maize,and genetic analysis indicated that ZmNBR1 acts upstream of ZmBRI1a in regulating drought tolerance.Furthermore,ZmNBR1facilitates the autophagic degradation of ZmBRI1a under drought stress.Taken together,our results reveal that ZmNBR1 regulates the expression of autophagy-related genes,thereby increasing autophagic activity and promoting the autophagic degradation of ZmBRI1a under drought stress,thus enhancing drought tolerance in maize.These findings provide new insights into the autophagy degradation of brassinosteroid signaling components by the autophagy receptor NBR1 under drought stress.

Design and simulation investigations on charge transport layers‑free in lead‑free three absorber layer all‑perovskite solar cells

The multiple absorber layer perovskite solar cells(PSCs)with charge transport layers-free(CTLs-free)have drawn widespread research interest due to their simplified architecture and promising photoelectric characteristics.Under the circumstances,the novel design of CTLs-free inversion PSCs with stable and nontoxic three absorber layers(triple Cs_(3)Bi_(2)I_(9),single MASnI_(3),double Cs_(2)TiBr_(6))as optical-harvester has been numerically simulated by utilizing wxAMPS simulation software and achieved high power conversion efficiency(PCE)of 14.8834%.This is owing to the innovative architecture of PSCs favors efficient transport and extraction of more holes and the slender band gap MASnI_(3)extends the absorption spectrum to the near-infrared periphery compared with the two absorber layers architecture of PSCs.Moreover,the performance of the device with p-type-Cs_(3)Bi_(2)I_(9)/p-type-MASnI_(3)/n-type-Cs_(2)TiBr_(6)architecture is superior to the one with the p-type-Cs_(3)Bi_(2)I_(9)/ntype-MASnI_(3)/n-type-Cs_(2)TiBr_(6)architecture due to less carrier recombination and higher carrier life time inside the absorber layers.The simulation results reveal that Cs_(2)TiF_(6)double perovskite material stands out as the best alternative.Additionally,an excellent PCE of 21.4530%can be obtained with the thicker MASnI_(3)absorber layer thickness(0.4μm).Lastly,the highestperformance photovoltaic devices(28.6193%)can be created with the optimized perovskite doping density of around E15 cm^(3)(Cs_(3)Bi_(2)I_(9)),E18 cm^(3)(MASnI_(3)),and 1.5E19 cm^(3)(Cs_(2)TiBr_(6)).This work manifests that the proposed CTLs-free PSCs with multi-absorber layers shall be a relevant reference for forward applications in electro-optical and optoelectronic devices.

区域土壤环境质量类生命体演化树理论及方法

Soil environmental quality(SEQ)refers to the soil's suitability within a definite period and spacial boundary and its adaptability to environmental factors.It serves as a measure of environmental conditions relevant to soil fertility,environmental quality,and health[1,2].However,due to human activities such as industrialization,urbanization,and agriculture,SEQ worldwide is threatened by physical,chemical,and biological characteristics.

Fluorination Intensifying Oxygen Evolution Reaction for High-Temperature Steam Electrolysis

Solid oxide electrolysis cells(SOECs)have emerged as one of the most potent techniques for hydrogen production.As the restricted step for SOEC,as well as the most predominant obstacle to the scaled application,oxygen evolution reaction(OER)should be urgently accelerated by developing potent electrocatalysts.Despite inferior electrochemical activity to cobalt-based materials,perovskite ferrites exhibit great potential in the future with regard to good intrinsic stability and durability,abundant reserves,and good compatibility with other SOEC components.In this work,fluorination is introduced to the typical perovskite ferrite to further intensify the OER process.Ab initio calculations combined with physical-chemical characterizations are performed to reveal the mechanism.The doped F^(−)leads to debilitating the strength of the metal-oxygen bond and then reduces the energy for oxygen vacancy formation and ion migration,which renders improvements to sub-processes of OER on the anode.The well-verified material,PrBaFe_(2)O_(5+δ)F_(0.1)(PBFOF),exhibited a low polarization resistance of 0.058Ωcm^(-2).Single cells based on PBFOF showed a high current density of 2.28 A cm^(-2) at 750°C under 1.3 V.This work provides a clear insight into the mechanism of fluorination on perovskites and high-activity anode material for SOEC.