Jujube witches’ broom phytoplasmas inhibit ZjBRC1-mediated abscisic acid metabolism to induce shoot proliferation

Jujube witches’broom(JWB)phytoplasmas parasitize the sieve tubes of diseased phloem and cause an excessive proliferation of axillary shoots from dormant lateral buds to favour their transmission.In previous research,two JWB effectors,SJP1 and SJP2,were identified to induce lateral bud outgrowth by disrupting ZjBRC1-mediated auxin flux.However,the pathogenesis of JWB disease remains largely unknown.Here,tissue-specific transcriptional reprogramming was examined to gain insight into the genetic mechanisms acting inside jujube lateral buds under JWB phytoplasma infection.JWB phytoplasmas modulated a series of plant signalling networks involved in lateral bud development and defence,including auxin,abscisic acid(ABA),ethylene,jasmonic acid,and salicylic acid.JWB-induced bud outgrowth was accompanied by downregulation of ABA synthesis within lateral buds.ABA application rescued the bushy appearances of transgenic Arabidopsis overexpressing SJP1 and SJP2 in Col-0 and ZjBRC1 in the brc1-2 mutant.Furthermore,the expression of ZjBRC1 and ABA-related genes ZjHB40 and ZjNCED3 was negatively correlated with lateral main bud outgrowth in decapitated healthy jujube.Molecular evidence showed that ZjBRC1 interacted with ZjBRC2 via its N-terminus to activate ZjHB40 and ZjNCED3 expression and ABA accumulation in transgenic jujube calli.In addition,ZjBRC1 widely regulated differentially expressed genes related to ABA homeostasis and ABA signalling,especially by binding to and suppressing ABA receptors.Therefore,these results suggest that JWB phytoplasmas hijack the ZjBRC1-mediated ABA pathways to stimulate lateral bud outgrowth and expansion,providing a strategy to engineer plants resistant to JWB phytoplasma disease and regulate woody plant architecture to promote crop yield and quality.

Comparative transcriptome analysis between rhesus macaques(Macaca mulatta) and crab-eating macaques(M. fascicularis)

Understanding gene expression variations between species is pivotal for deciphering the evolutionary diversity in phenotypes. Rhesus macaques(Macaca mulatta, MMU)and crab-eating macaques(M. fascicularis, MFA) serve as crucial nonhuman primate biomedical models with different phenotypes. To date, however, large-scale comparative transcriptome research between these two species has not yet been fully explored. Here, we conducted systematic comparisons utilizing newly sequenced RNA-seq data from84 samples(41 MFA samples and 43 MMU samples)encompassing 14 common tissues. Our findings revealed a small fraction of genes(3.7%) with differential expression between the two species, as well as 36.5% of genes with tissue-specific expression in both macaques. Comparison of gene expression between macaques and humans indicated that 22.6% of orthologous genes displayed differential expression in at least two tissues. Moreover,19.41% of genes that overlapped with macaque-specific structural variants showed differential expression between humans and macaques. Of these, the FAM220A gene exhibited elevated expression in humans compared to macaques due to lineage-specific duplication. In summary,this study presents a large-scale transcriptomic comparison between MMU and MFA and between macaques and humans. The discovery of gene expression variations not only enhances the biomedical utility of macaque models but also contributes to the wider field of primate genomics.

Development and performance evaluation of a culture-independent nanopore amplicon-based sequencing method for accurate typing and antimicrobial resistance profiling in Neisseria gonorrhoeae

Dear Editor,Bacterial antimicrobial resistance(AMR)poses a serious threat to global human health(Antimicrobial Resistance Collaborators,2022).Comprehensive profiling of AMR and accurate molecular typing are important for tracking and controlling the emergence and dissemination of antibiotic-resistant bacteria(Yahara et al.,2021).We previously developed a multiplex amplicon sequencing-based method for directly sequencing AMR-related loci in N.gonorrhoeae from clinical samples(Zhang et al.,2021).

原位Raman光谱揭示中性条件下硫化钼结构变化对其电催化析氢反应的促进作用（英文）

硫化钼是析氢反应(HER)有前途的电催化剂.S-或Mo物种均被认为是形成吸附氢触发HER反应的活性位,但Mo中心和S配体间相互作用的本质仍不清楚.另外,采用中性的水作为质子源用于产氢,来开发低成本的水裂解催化剂体系为研究者高度关注,但人们很少研究中性水条件下HER反应的机理.本文采用原位电化学Raman光谱对所合成的硫化钼中Mo–Mo和S–S物种在中性条件下的结构变化进行了监测.结果显示,归属于端位S–S物种的谱带随着和Mo–S振动谱带频率而同步变化,表明Mo–Mo键与端位S–S键起着协同作用,从而有利于氢气的生成.这可能是通过三核物种的内部重组而确认的.本文所揭示的HER反应中金属-配体相互作用的本质与作用表明了一个不同的反应机理,而以往的机理认为,S或Mo活性位独立起作用而促进HER反应的进行.

Risk Assessment of Debris Flows Along the Karakoram Highway (Kashgar‑Khunjerab Section) in the Context of Climate Change

The Karakoram highway(KKH)is renowned for its complex natural environment and geological conditions.The climate changes drastically and directly infuences the frequency and magnitude of debris fows in this region,resulting in signifcant casualties and economic losses.However,the risk assessment of debris fows along the KKH in the context of climate change has been rarely explored.Therefore,in this study we used the debris fow data,historical meteorological data and future climate prediction data to assess the debris fow risk of the study region during the baseline period(2009–2018),2025s(2021–2030),2035s(2031–2040)and 2045s(2041–2050)under the Representative Concentration Pathway 8.5 scenario.The results show that the risk of debris fows increases with climate change,with the highest risk level in the 2025s.Among diferent parts of this highway,the upper reaches of the Ghez River and the second half of Tashkorgan-Khunjerab are the sections with the highest risk.These fndings are helpful for debris fow prevention and can ofer coping strategies for the existing line of the KKH.They also provide some reference for the renovation,improvement,operation,and maintenance of the KKH.

Silica supported potassium oxide catalyst for dehydration of 2-picolinamide to form 2-cyanopyridine

The dehydration of 2-picolinamide to produce 2-cyanopyridine was investigated thoroughly using silica supported potassium oxide as a heterogeneous catalyst. Both large specific surface area and pore size of SiO_2 (B) contributed to the favorable catalytic performance for the synthesis of 2-CP. In addition, the yield of 2-CP showed the linear relationship with the amounts of medium basicity of the catalysts,demonstrating that medium basic sites were the active sites of silica supported potassium oxide catalysts. The catalysts were further characterized by XRD and FT-IR to clarify the active species. The results indicated the Si—O—K group produced by the reaction of K_2CO_3 with Si—OH was the active species, which was further evidenced by the adjustment of the amount of Si—OH by silylation and hydroxylation procedure.

基于亮度模型融合的改进暗通道先验图像去雾算法

针对暗通道先验在天空区域的失效问题,提出了一种基于亮度模型融合的改进暗通道先验图像去雾算法。首先通过Canny算子分割得到天空区域与非天空区域;其次,利用亮度模拟景深,重构亮度透射率,并通过与暗通道透射率的融合构成天空区域透射率,最后的透射率图经由快速引导滤波进行精细化处理;大气光值选择抗干扰能力更强的天空区域中像素强度值前0.1%的像素中值;最后,经由大气散射模型恢复出无雾图像。实验结果表明,该算法针对含雾图像能够有效地恢复出图像的细节并抑制光晕现象,明亮度适宜,颜色自然。

Determining antimicrobial resistance profiles and identifying novel mutations of Neisseria gonorrhoeae genomes obtained by multiplexed MinION sequencing

Gonorrhea is one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases worldwide. To cure infection and prevent transmission,timely and appropriate antimicrobial therapy is necessary. Unfortunately, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, the etiological agent of gonorrhea, has acquired nearly all known mechanisms of antimicrobial resistance(AMR), thereby compromising the efficacy of antimicrobial therapy. Treatment failure resulting from AMR has become a global public health concern. Whole-genome sequencing is an effective method to determine the AMR characteristics of N. gonorrhoeae. Compared with next-generation sequencing, the MinION sequencer(Oxford Nanopore Technologies(ONT)) has the advantages of long read length and portability. Based on a pilot study using MinION to sequence the genome of N. gonorrhoeae, we optimized the workflow of sequencing and data analysis in the current study. Here we sequenced nine isolates within one flow cell using a multiplexed sequencing strategy. After hybrid assembly with Illumina reads, nine integral circular chromosomes were obtained. By using the online tool Pathogenwatch and a BLAST-based workflow, we acquired complete AMR profiles related to seven classes of antibiotics. We also evaluated the performance of ONT-only assemblies. Most AMR determinants identified by ONT-only assemblies were the same as those identified by hybrid assemblies. Moreover, one of the nine assemblies indicated a potentially novel antimicrobial-related mutation located in mtrR which results in a frame-shift, premature stop codon, and truncated peptide.In addition, this is the first study using the MinION sequencer to obtain complete genome sequences of N. gonorrhoeae strains which are epidemic in China. This study shows that complete genome sequences and antimicrobial characteristics of N.gonorrhoeae can be obtained using the MinION sequencer in a simple and cost-effective manner, with hardly any knowledge of bioinformatics required. More importantly, this strategy provides us with a potential approach to discover new AMR determinants.