Regulation of the intestinal microbiota: An emerging therapeutic strategy for inflammatory bowel disease

The rapid development of metagenomics,metabolomics,and metatranscriptomics provides novel insights into the intestinal microbiota factors linked to inflammatory bowel disease(IBD).Multiple microorganisms play a role in intestinal health;these include bacteria,fungi,and viruses that exist in a dynamic balance to maintain mucosal homeostasis.Perturbations in the intestinal microbiota disrupt mucosal homeostasis and are closely related to IBD in humans and colitis in mice.Therefore,preventing or correcting the imbalance of microbiota may serve as a novel prevention or treatment strategy for IBD.We review the most recent evidence for direct or indirect interventions targeting intestinal microbiota for treatment of IBD in order to overcome the current limitations of IBD therapies and shed light on personalized treatment options.

Genome-wide analysis of Panonychus citrimicro RNAs witha focus on potential insecticidal activity of 4 micro RNAs toeggs and nymphs

Panonychus citriMcGregor(Acari:Tetranychidae),a destructive citrus pest,causes considerable annual economic losses due to its short lifespan and rapid resistancedevelopment.MicroRNA(miRNA)-induced RNA interference is a promising approachfor pest control because of endogenous regulation of pest growth and development.Tosearch for miRNAs with potential insecticidal activity inP.citri,genome-wide analysis ofmiRNAs at different developmental stages was conducted,resulting in the identificationof 136 miRNAs,including 73 known and 63 novel miRNAs.A total of 17 isomiRNAsand 12 duplicated miRNAs were characterized.MiR-1 and miR-252-5p were identified asreference miRNAs forP.citriandTetranychus urticae.Based on differential expressionanalysis,treatments with miR-let-7a and miR-315 mimics and the miR-let-7a antagomirsignificantly reduced the egg hatch rate and resulted in abnormal egg development.Over-expression or downregulation of miR-34-5p and miR-305-5p through feeding significantlydecreased the adult eclosion rate and caused molting defects.The 4 miRNAs,miR-let-7a,miR-315,miR-34-5p,and miR-305-5p,had important regulatory functions and insectici-dal properties in egg hatching and adult eclosion.In general,these data advance our un-derstanding of miRNAs in mite biology,which can assist future studies on insect-specificmiRNA-based green pest control technology.

The dynamic changes of genes revealed that persistently overexpressed genes drive the evolution of cyflumetofen resistance in Tetranychus cinnabarinus

Changes in gene expression are associated with the evolution of pesticide resis-tance in arthropods.In this study,transcriptome sequencing was performed in 3 different resistance levels(low,L;medium,M;and high,H)of cyflumetofen-resistant strain(YN-CyR).A total of 1685 genes,including 97 detoxification enzyme genes,were upregulated in all 3 stages,of which 192 genes,including 11 detoxification enzyme genes,showed a continuous increase in expression level with resistance development(L to H).RNA in-terference experiments showed that overexpression of 7 genes(CYP392A1,TcGSTd05,CCE06,CYP389A1,TcGSTz01,CCE59,and CYP389C2)is involved in the development of cyflumetofen resistance in Tetranychus cinnabarinus.The recombinant CYP392A1 can effectively metabolize cyflumetofen,while CCE06 can bind and sequester cyflumetofen in vitro.We compared 2 methods for rapid screening of resistance molecular markers,in-cluding short-term induction and 1-time high-dose selection.Two detoxification enzyme genes were upregulated in the field susceptible strain(YN-S)by induction with 20%lethal concentration(LC2o)of cyflumetofen.However,16 detoxification enzyme genes were up-regulated by 1-time selection with LCso of cyflumetofen.Interestingly,the 16 genes were overexpressed in all 3 resistance stages.These results indicated that 1685 genes that were upregulated at the L stage constituted the basis of cyflumetofen resistance,of which 192 genes in which upregulation continued to increase were the main driving force for the de-velopment of resistance.Moreover,the 1-time high-dose selection is an efficient way to rapidly obtain the resistance-related genes that can aid in the development of resistance markers and resistance management in mites.

Muon flux measurement at China Jinping Underground Laboratory

China Jinping Underground Laboratory(CJPL)is ideal for studying solar,geo-,and supernova neutrinos.A precise measurement of the cosmic-ray background is essential in proceeding with R&D research for these MeV-scale neutrino experiments.Using a 1-ton prototype detector for the Jinping Neutrino Experiment(JNE),we detected 264 high-energy muon events from a 645.2-day dataset from the first phase of CJPL(CJPL-I),reconstructed their directions,and measured the cosmic-ray muon flux to be (3.53±0.22_stat.±0.07_sys.)×-10^(-10)cm^(-2).The observed angular distributions indicate the leakage of cosmic-ray muon background and agree with simulation data accounting for Jinping mountain's terrain.A survey of muon fluxes at different laboratory locations,considering both those situated under mountains and those down mine shafts,indicates that the flux at the former is generally a factor of (4±2) larger than at the latter,with the same vertical overburden.This study provides a convenient back-of-the-envelope estimation for the muon flux of an underground experiment.

Knockdown of specific cuticular proteins analogous to peritrophin 3 genes disrupt larval and ovarian development in Bactrocera dorsalis(Diptera:Tephritidae)

Cuticular proteins(CPs)are critical components of the insect cuticle and play important roles in maintaining normal insect development and defense against various environmental stresses.The oriental fruit fly(Bactrocera dorsalis)is one of the most destructive pests worldwide,and its eight CPs analogous to peritrophin 3(BdCPAP3)family genes have been identified in our prev ious study.In the present study,we further explored the possible roles of CPAP3 genes in B.dorsalis development.Each sequence of BdCPAP3 genes contained three conserved ChtBD2(chitin-binding)domains.Spatial and temporal expression patterns revealed that the four BdCPAP3 genes(BdCPAP3-AI,B,E,and E2)might play important roles in larval pupariation of B.dorsalis.Moreover,treatment with a juvenile hormone analog(methoprene)significantly restricted expression of these four CPAP3 genes,whereas treatment with 20-hydroxy-ecdysone induced expression.The RNA interference(RNAi)results revealed that down-regulated CPAP3 genes led to signif-icant delay of pupariation,and injection of dsBdCPAP3-E into 5-d-old B.dorsalis larvae caused approximately 40%mortality.Interestingly,we also confirmed that BdCPAP3-D2 was involved in B.dorsalis ovarian development.This study showed that some specific CP4P3 genes had crucial roles in B.dorsalis development,and these CP genes could be used as potential targets to control this pest via RNAi.

Measurement of muon-induced neutron yield at the China Jinping Underground Laboratory

Solar,terrestrial,and supernova neutrino experiments are subject to muon-induced radioactive background.The China Jinping Underground Laboratory(CJPL),with its unique advantage of a 2400 m rock coverage and long distance from nuclear power plants,is ideal for MeV-scale neutrino experiments.Using a 1-ton prototype detector of the Jinping Neutrino Experiment(JNE),we detected 3 43 high-energy cosmic-ray muons and(7.86±3.97)muon-induced neutrons from an 820.28-day dataset at the first phase of CJPL(CJPL-I).Based on the muon-induced neutrons,we measured the corresponding muon-induced neutron yield in a liquid scintillator to be(3.44±1.86_(stat.)±0.76_(syst.))×10^(-4) μ^(-1)g^(-1)cm^(2) at an average muon energy of 340 GeV.We provided the first study for such neutron background at CJPL.A global fit including this measurement shows a power-law coefficient of(0.75±0.02) for the dependence of the neutron yield at the liquid scintillator on muon energy.