Detection of Favorable Alleles for Quality- and Yield-related Traits in Wheat Using a Backcross Population

Development of wheat varieties with high yield and good quality has been a major objective in wheat breeding.A BC 1 F 2-3 population was used to detect QTLs for wheat quality related traits: SDS-sedimentation value (Ssd),grain protein content (GPC),grain hardness (GH) and 11 mixograph parameters,as well as five agronomic traits: spike length (SL),spikelet number per spike (SPN),grain number per spike (GN),thousand-grain weight (TGW),and plant height (PH).A total of 44 putative QTLs were detected in the present study,31 for quality parameters and 13 for important agronomic traits,including three important major QTLs.One major QTL for Ssd QSsd.saas-1B.1,linked to barc137,explained on average 21.1% of the phenotypic variation in three environments.The allele increasing Ssd at this locus also significantly increased GN.The second locus on chromosome 1B with the linked marker Barc 61 was a major locus for mixograph parameters.It explained 21.3%-32.5%,24.3%-30.6%,30.6%-37% and 20.1%-22.7% of phenotypic variation for mixing tolerance (MT),weakening slope (WS),midline peak time (MPTi) and midline time x =8 value (MTxW),respectively.The third major QTL,explaining above 40% of plant height variation,close to Rht-B 1 on the short arm of chromosome 4BS,co-located with QTL for quality and yield-related traits.

Melatonin decreases GSDME mediated mesothelial cell pyroptosis and prevents peritoneal fibrosis and ultrafiltration failure

Peritoneal fibrosis together with increased capillaries is the primary cause of peritoneal dialysis failure.Mesothelial cell loss is an initiating event for peritoneal fibrosis.We find that the elevated glucose concentrations in peritoneal dialysate drive mesothelial cell pyroptosis in a manner dependent on caspase-3 and Gasdermin E,driving downstream inflammatory responses,including the activation of macrophages.Moreover,pyroptosis is associated with elevated vascular endothelial growth factor A and C,two key factors in vascular angiogenesis and lymphatic vessel formation.GSDME deficiency mice are protected from high glucose induced peritoneal fibrosis and ultrafiltration failure.Application of melatonin abrogates mesothelial cell pyroptosis through a MT1R-mediated action,and successfully reduces peritoneal fibrosis and angiogenesis in an animal model while preserving dialysis efficacy.Mechanistically,melatonin treatment maintains mitochondrial integrity in mesothelial cells,meanwhile activating m TOR signaling through an increase in the glycolysis product dihydroxyacetone phosphate.These effects together with quenching free radicals by melatonin help mesothelial cells maintain a relatively stable internal environment in the face of high-glucose stress.Thus,Melatonin treatment holds some promise in preserving mesothelium integrity and in decreasing angiogenesis to protect peritoneum function in patients undergoing peritoneal dialysis.

Impact of Liver Functions by Repurposed Drugs for COVID-19 Treatment

Liver injury is an important complication that may arise in patients suffering from coronavirus disease 2019(COV-ID-19)and is accompanied by a transient increase of transaminases and/or other liver enzymes.Liver function test(LFT)abnormalities generally disappear when the COV-ID-19 resolves or hepatotoxic drugs are discontinued.The LFT abnormalities are associated with drug-induced liver in-jury(DILI),due to the overuse of antimalarials,antivirals,and antimicrobials.Studies have reported varying levels of these liver injuries in COVID-19 patients;however,most in-volve elevated serum aminotransferases.Hepatic dysfunc-tion is significantly high in patients with severe illness and has poor outcome.Normally,the liver is involved in the me-tabolism of many drugs,including nucleoside analogs and protease inhibitors,which are currently repurposed to treat COVID-19.In addition to the manifestation of COVID-19,drugs implemented in its treatment may aggravate liver in-juries.Thus,DILI should be considered especially in those COVID-19 patients with underlying liver disease.It was unclear whether the elevated liver enzymes have originat-ed from the underlying disease or DILI in this population.Furthermore,it is difficult to establish a direct relationship between a specific drug and liver injury.Another possible effect of liver damage may due to inflammatory cytokine storm in severe COVID-19.Liver injury can change metabo-lism,excretion,dosing,and expected concentrations of the drugs,which may make it difficult to achieve a therapeutic dose of the drug or increase the risk of adverse effects.These repurposed drugs have shown limited efficacy against the virus and the disease itself;however,they still pose risk of adverse effects.Careful and close monitoring of LFTs in COVID-19 patients can provide early diagnosis of liver in-jury,and the risk of DILI could be reduced.Also,drug inter-actions in liver-transplanted patients should always be kept in mind for certain immunosuppressive therapies and their known signs of DILI.Altogether,abnormal LFTs should not be regarded as a contraindication to use COVID-19 experi-mental therapies if needed under emergent status.

Health risk assessments of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and chlorinated/brominated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in urban air particles in a haze frequent area in China

The potential threats of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons(PAHs)and chlorinated/brominated PAHs(Cl/Br-PAHs)to human health from particulate matter in the urban ambient air were studied using human health risk assessments.The risk to human health caused by exposure to PAHs was evaluated in Shijiazhuang,China,from January to December 2018.The PAHs concentration range was 16.02e475.21 ng/m3 and the toxic equivalent was 13.605 ng/m3.For adults,the average carcinogenic risk caused by respiratory exposure was 5.163×10^-6 and the resulting loss of life expectancy was 32.10 min.The human health risks of respiratory exposure to Cl/Br-PAHs in atmospheric samples from the Haidian District,Beijing,China,were evaluated from November 2017 to July 2018.The concentration ranges for the Cl-and Br-PAHs were 60.38e482.17 pg/m3 and 1.32e25.35 pg/m3,respectively.The average carcinogenic equivalent concentrations were 0.3274 pg/m3 and 0.0061 pg/m3 for the Cl-and Br-PAHs,respectively.For adults the average carcinogenic risks caused by respiratory exposure were 1.243×10^-10 and 2.316×10^-12 for the Cl-and Br-PAHs,respectively.The resulting loss of life expectancy values were 0.001 min(Cl-PAHs)and 0.00 min(Br-PAHs).The pollution concentrations and toxic equivalents of the Cl/Br-PAHs in Beijing and of the PAHs in Shijiazhuang both showed toxicity was high in the winter.The average carcinogenic risk for exposure of adults to PAHs in Shijiazhuang was low with certain potential hazards.The concentration of Cl-PAHs in Beijing was higher than that of Br-PAHs,and the average carcinogenic risk for exposure of adults to Cl/Br-PAHs was very low with slight harm.