The complete diallel cross design was employed to estimate the genetic parameters of the growth of Japanese flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus). A total of 60 full-sib families were cultivated and two growth-related t...The complete diallel cross design was employed to estimate the genetic parameters of the growth of Japanese flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus). A total of 60 full-sib families were cultivated and two growth-related traits, body weight (BW) and body length (BL), were examined at average 2, 3 and 8 months of age respectively, with 1 800 individuals measured in each age group (30 per family). Based on the additive-dominance-maternal-effect genetic analysis model, the restricted maximum likelihood approach was used to estimate various (co)variance components. The results showed that narrow-sense heritability estimates of BW and BL were respectively: 0.29 ± 0.01 and 0.22 ± 0.02 at 2 months of age, 0.32 ± 0.02 and 0.30 ± 0.04 at 3 months of age, 0.48 ± 0.04 and 0.40 ± 0.05 at 8 months of age; broad-sense heritability estimates were respectively: 0.44 ± 0.02 and 0.54 ± 0.04 at 2 months of age, 0.35 ± 0.01 and 0.36 ± 0.03 at 3 months of age, 0.49 ± 0.03 and 0.45 ± 0.04. All heritabilities were statistically significant (P 0.05). Additive genetic correlations between BW and BL at 2, 3 and 8 months of age were consistently positive and highly significant (P 0.01): 0.93 ± 0.02, 0.95 ± 0.03 and 0.92 ± 0.03 respectively. Maternal effect was significant (P 0.05) only at 2 months of age, and was not detected at 3 and 8 months of age. According to the heritability estimates, the mass selection strategy should be efficient for the breeding of Japanese flounder.展开更多
The use of multisensory cues to locate mates can increase an organism's success by acting as a back-up plan when one system fails, by providing additional information to the receiver, and by increasing their ability ...The use of multisensory cues to locate mates can increase an organism's success by acting as a back-up plan when one system fails, by providing additional information to the receiver, and by increasing their ability to detect mates using senses that have different ranges in a variable aquatic environment. In this contribution we review the sensory cues that male horseshoe crabs Lirnulus polyphemus are known to use when locating mates and then provide new data that shed light on this subject. Dur- ing the breeding season, females migrate into shore during high tides to spawn. Males attach to females as they approach the beach or are attracted to pairs already spawning. Vision is well established as an important cue in attracting males. Although chemoreception is well known in other marine arthropods, and horseshoe crabs have the anatomy available, there are few studies on chemical cues in this species. Experiments are presented here that provide evidence for chemical cue use. We show that the attraction, and retention, of attached and satellite males to actively spawning females and mating pairs involves multimodal cues展开更多
Nanomedicine has made great progress in the targeted therapy of cancer. Here, we established a novel drug-mate strategy by studying the formulation of nanodrugs at the molecular level. In the drug-mate combination, th...Nanomedicine has made great progress in the targeted therapy of cancer. Here, we established a novel drug-mate strategy by studying the formulation of nanodrugs at the molecular level. In the drug-mate combination, the drug is a hydrophobic drug that is poorly soluble in water, and the mate is an amphiphilic small molecule (SMA) that has both hydrophilic and lipophilic properties. We proposed that the hydrophobic drug could co-assemble with a suitable SMA on a nanoscale without additive agents. The proof-ofconcept methodology and results were presented to support our hypothesis. We selected five hydrophobic drugs and more than ten amphiphilic small molecules to construct a library. Through molecular dynamic simulation and quantum chemistry computation,we speculated that the formation of nanoassemblies was related to the binding energy of the drug-mate, and the drug-mate interaction must overcome drug-drug interaction.Furthermore, the obtained SF/VECOONa nanoassemblieswas selected as a model, which had an ultra-high drug loading content (46%), improved pharmacokinetics, increased bioavailability, and enhanced therapeutic efficacy. In summary, the drug-mate strategy is an essential resource to design exact SMA for many hydrophobic drugs and provides a reference for the design of a carrier-free drug delivery system.展开更多
Outcrossing rate in a natural population of Caldesia grandis was estimated by the dominant random amplified polymorphism DNA (RAPD) marker using 10 open-pollinated progeny arrays of 24 individuals. The multilocus ou...Outcrossing rate in a natural population of Caldesia grandis was estimated by the dominant random amplified polymorphism DNA (RAPD) marker using 10 open-pollinated progeny arrays of 24 individuals. The multilocus outcrossing rate estimated based on all 25 RAPD loci was 0.872 ±0.033 and the single-locus outcrossing rate was 0.795 ±0.032. Multilocus esti- mates did not differ significantly from the single-locus estimates. The fixation index, F, in the progeny estimated from RAPD data was -0.142 ±0.000. The estimates of multilocus outcrossing rates (tm) and single-locus outcrossing rates (ts) obtained from MLDT clearly indicate that outcrossing is predominant in the open-pollinated C. grandis population. An empirical analysis suggests that 15 should be the minimum number of dominant marker loci necessary to achieve robust estimates of tm.展开更多
Females actively seek extra-pair paternity(EPP)to acquire a fitness advantage for their offspring.The“contextdependence hypothesis”posits that female extra-pair mate choice has plasticity in response to environmenta...Females actively seek extra-pair paternity(EPP)to acquire a fitness advantage for their offspring.The“contextdependence hypothesis”posits that female extra-pair mate choice has plasticity in response to environmental conditions,and therefore magnitude of female genetic benefits from EPP depends on the environmental variation.Furthermore,chronic heavy metal pollution can cause adverse effects on fitness-related traits of wild birds.However,few studies were available on the interactions between heavy metal pollution and EPP.We selected an area that was contaminated by heavy metals for more than 60 years(Baiyin,BY),a relatively unpolluted area(Liujiaxia,LJX),and Tree Sparrows(Passer montanus)as study species to explore the response of female extrapair mate choice and genetic benefits from EPP to heavy metal pollution in socially monogamous birds.The relatedness between social mates and extra-pair mates was investigated.Additionally,we compared the body size and heterozygosity of extra-pair offspring(EPO),within-pair offspring(WPO),social males and extra-pair males from the two Tree Sparrow populations.We found that at BY,female Tree Sparrows tended to choose extra-pair males with larger body size and lower genetic similarity,thereby producing higher heterozygosity and larger body size of EPO compared with those of WPO.However,no similar phenomenon was observed in the Tree Sparrow population from LJX.In addition,there was a significant interaction between population and paternity in the analyses of the fitness-related traits,suggesting that environmental variation could affect female genetic benefits from EPP.This study confirmed the existence of presumed interactions between environmental pollution and EPP within the natural population of socially monogamous Tree Sparrows.Our findings shed lights on the possible effects of long-term environmental stress on mating system in wild birds.展开更多
This study investigated the effects of yerba mate consumption, a South American beverage, on cardiac remodeling in rats. For this purpose, 24 male Wistar rats were divided into Control Group (CG) which received filter...This study investigated the effects of yerba mate consumption, a South American beverage, on cardiac remodeling in rats. For this purpose, 24 male Wistar rats were divided into Control Group (CG) which received filtered water and a standard diet, and Yerba Mate Group (YM), 6 g of Ilex paraguariensis in 100 ml water and the same diet, for 30 days. The YM group showed a reduction in final body weight and food consumption without altering weight gain. Regarding cardiac remodeling, the YM group exhibited a decrease in the right ventricle weight/final body weight ratio, suggesting cardiac atrophy, without affecting the atria and left ventricle. There was no change in cardiomyocyte area or nuclear fractal dimension in both groups. However, animals that consumed yerba mate showed increased collagen deposition and a smaller fractal dimension in the left ventricle. The consumption of yerba mate at room temperature for 30 days induced changes in cardiac remodeling, as evidenced by increased collagen deposition and alterations in fractal dimension in the left ventricle.展开更多
Lekking males aggregate to attract females and contribute solely to egg fer- tilization, without any further parental care. Evolutionary theory therefore predicts them to be nonchoosy toward their mates, because any l...Lekking males aggregate to attract females and contribute solely to egg fer- tilization, without any further parental care. Evolutionary theory therefore predicts them to be nonchoosy toward their mates, because any lost mating opportunities would out- weigh the benefits associated with such preferences. Nevertheless, due to time costs, the production of energetically costly sexual displays, and potential sperm limitation, the mat- ing effort of lekking males is often considerable. These factors, combined with the fact that many females of varying quality are likely to visit leks, could favor the evolution of male mate preferences. Here, we show that males of the lekking lesser wax moth, Achroia grisella, were indeed more likely to mate with heavier females in choice experiments, even at their virgin mating (i.e., when their reproductive resources have not yet been depleted by previous matings). This differential female mating success could not be attributed to female behavior as heavy and light females showed similar motivation to mate (i.e., la- tency to approach the males) and time to copulate. Males seem to benefit from mating with heavier females, as fecundity positively correlated with female mass. This new em- pirical evidence shows that male mate choice may have been tmderestimated in lekking species展开更多
Cicadas usually sing and mate in the higher parts of trees.Studies addressing the effects of different acoustic signals on mate choice in Cicadidae are very limited.We investigated the effects of both acoustical featu...Cicadas usually sing and mate in the higher parts of trees.Studies addressing the effects of different acoustic signals on mate choice in Cicadidae are very limited.We investigated the effects of both acoustical features and morphological traits on mate choice in an East Asian cicada Platypleura kaempferi.Males produce high-rate calling songs that attract females,then produce low-rate courtship songs to secure mating when a female is attracted.Higher calling song rate(CR),shorter single-pulse duration,and shorter pulse period of the calling song,together with lower courtship song rate and longer echeme period of the courtship song,are the most desirable traits used by females to choose a mate.These traits indicate that the more amale can raise the rate of song production,the higher the probability he is sexually selected by the female.No correlation was found between morphological traits and mating success.After mating,a minority of males started emitting calling songs again,but the CR was significantly lower than before mating and none of them attracted a new mate later.This promotes females mating with unmated males.We hypothesize that P.kaempferi may have the best of both worlds due to the unique song modulation and the mechanism of female mate choice:males change energetically,costly acoustic signals to achieve mates,while females choose a mate based on males’acoustic properties.Our results contribute to better understanding the diversity of mating preference and enrich the mechanism of mate choice in acoustic insects.展开更多
目的系统评介单孔腹腔镜阑尾切除术(SILA)与传统多孔腹腔镜阑尾切除术(CLA)用于治疗急性阑尾炎术后并发盆腔脓肿的比较分析。方法检索Pubmed、The Cochrane、Web of Science、Embase数据库中有关SILA和CLA治疗急性阑尾炎的随机试验研究...目的系统评介单孔腹腔镜阑尾切除术(SILA)与传统多孔腹腔镜阑尾切除术(CLA)用于治疗急性阑尾炎术后并发盆腔脓肿的比较分析。方法检索Pubmed、The Cochrane、Web of Science、Embase数据库中有关SILA和CLA治疗急性阑尾炎的随机试验研究,应用RevMan5.3软件行Meta分析,比较两种方法术后盆腔脓肿形成的影响。结果共纳入12篇文献,总样本量1692例,其中SILA组866例,CLA组826例,纳入研究中均为随机对照实验。SILA组与CLA组比较,术后盆腔脓肿形成概率无明显统计学意义(95%CI 0.56~1.32,P=0.86)。结论与CLA比较,SILA治疗急性阑尾炎不增加术后并发盆腔脓肿的概率。展开更多
Background Genomic selection involves choosing as parents those elite individuals with the higher genomic estimated breeding values(GEBV)to accelerate the speed of genetic improvement in domestic animals.But after mul...Background Genomic selection involves choosing as parents those elite individuals with the higher genomic estimated breeding values(GEBV)to accelerate the speed of genetic improvement in domestic animals.But after multi-generation selection,the rate of inbreeding and the occurrence of homozygous harmful alleles might increase,which would reduce performance and genetic diversity.To mitigate the above problems,we can utilize genomic mating(GM)based upon optimal mate allocation to construct the best genotypic combinations in the next generation.In this study,we used stochastic simulation to investigate the impact of various factors on the efficiencies of GM to optimize pairing combinations after genomic selection of candidates in a pig population.These factors included:the algorithm used to derive inbreeding coefficients;the trait heritability(0.1,0.3 or 0.5);the kind of GM scheme(focused average GEBV or inbreeding);the approach for computing the genomic relationship matrix(by SNP or runs of homozygosity(ROH)).The outcomes were compared to three traditional mating schemes(random,positive assortative or negative assortative matings).In addition,the performance of the GM approach was tested on real datasets obtained from a Large White pig breeding population.Results Genomic mating outperforms other approaches in limiting the inbreeding accumulation for the same expected genetic gain.The use of ROH-based genealogical relatedness in GM achieved faster genetic gains than using relatedness based on individual SNPs.The GROH-based GM schemes with the maximum genetic gain resulted in 0.9%-2.6%higher rates of genetic gainΔG,and 13%-83.3%lowerΔF than positive assortative mating regardless of heritability.The rates of inbreeding were always the fastest with positive assortative mating.Results from a purebred Large White pig population,confirmed that GM with ROH-based GRM was more efficient than traditional mating schemes.Conclusion Compared with traditional mating schemes,genomic mating can not only achieve sustainable genetic progress but also effectively control the rates of inbreeding accumulation in the population.Our findings demonstrated that breeders should consider using genomic mating for genetic improvement of pigs.展开更多
Plant multidrug and toxic compound extrusion(MATE) genes play an important role in the process of detoxification, plant morphogenesis, and anthocyanin accumulation. However, whether the MATE gene family functions in p...Plant multidrug and toxic compound extrusion(MATE) genes play an important role in the process of detoxification, plant morphogenesis, and anthocyanin accumulation. However, whether the MATE gene family functions in pear peel coloration is still unknown. To evaluate and identify the MATE gene family members which are involving in anthocyanin accumulation and coloration in pear. In this study, 85 MATE genes were identified in the reference pear genome of ‘Dangshansuli’ through genome-wide identification. Based on gene structure and phylogenetic tree analysis, the MATE family was divided into five subfamilies. RNA sequencing and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction(qRTPCR) indicated that the expression patterns of PbrMATEs were tissue-specific. 28.24%(24) of PbrMATE genes were expressed in the fruits, and44.71%(38) of PbrMATE genes were expressed in the leaves. Additionally, we found that the expression levels of PbrMATE9, PbrMATE26,PbrMATE50, and PbrMATE69 in debagged fruits with red peel were significantly higher than those in bagged fruits without red peel, according to our bagging/debagging treatment of ‘Mantianhong’. The expression pattern of PbrMATE9 was consistent with the variation trend in anthocyanin content, suggesting that it might play an important role in anthocyanin accumulation in response to light exposure. Subcellular localization showed that PbrMATE9 was a membrane protein. More strikingly, the transient overexpression of PbrMATE9 promoted anthocyanin accumulation in the peel of pear, and the expression of structural genes(PbrCHI, PbrANS, PbrDFR, and PbrUFGT) in the anthocyanin biosynthesis pathway also increased significantly. Through co-expression network analysis, the transcription factors were identified, such as WRKY, COL,GATA, and BBX, which might be involved in the regulation of PbrMATE9. The study has enriched the genetic resources and improved the understanding of the regulation network of anthocyanin accumulation in pear.展开更多
The oriental fruit fly,Bactrocera dorsalis(Hendel),is a devastating pest of citrus fruits.After successful mating,adult females insert their eggs into the ripened fruit,resulting in moldy and rotten fruit and causing ...The oriental fruit fly,Bactrocera dorsalis(Hendel),is a devastating pest of citrus fruits.After successful mating,adult females insert their eggs into the ripened fruit,resulting in moldy and rotten fruit and causing great economic losses for the citrus industry.In the field,flies initiate copulatory behaviors as twilight approaches,and decreasing light intensity in this period is the normal stimulus for copulation.In this study,ten light intensities ranging from 0–30000 lux were set to identify the typical intensity that strongly regulates the copulation behavior of B.dorsalis.Three light intensities found to regulate the copulation behavior were then selected to verify their effects on adult male wing fanning and female chemotaxis towards 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine(TMP).At last,strong light and complete darkness were artificially combined in the lab to verify whether they could prevent copulation to inform behavioral manipulation of oriental flies in the future.The results indicated that adult flies generally initiated copulatory behaviors at low light intensity(<1000 lux).Stronger light significantly prevented copulation in proportion to intensity,with nearly no copulation events initiated when light intensity was above 20000 lux.Both male wing fanning and female chemotaxis towards TMP were attenuated as light intensity became stronger.However,at 10000 lux,males still fanned their wings to a certain extent while TMP completely lost its attractiveness to females.In the darkness,adults did not initiate any sexual behaviors,e.g.,copulation,wing fanning,or chemotaxis to TMP.One hour of strong light(10000 lux)combined with continuous darkness completely prevented mating.These results show that light condition is an essential factor for copulatory behaviors in the oriental fruit fly.Researchers could thus manipulate light conditions artificially or disrupt the molecular target in flies’light transduction pathway to develop environmentally-friendly techniques to control this pest.展开更多
In higher plants,the shoot apical meristem produces lateral organs in a regular spacing(phyllotaxy)and timing(plastochron).The molecular analysis of mutants associated with phyllotaxy and plastochron would increase ou...In higher plants,the shoot apical meristem produces lateral organs in a regular spacing(phyllotaxy)and timing(plastochron).The molecular analysis of mutants associated with phyllotaxy and plastochron would increase our understanding of the mechanism of shoot architecture formation.In this study,we identified mutant mnd8ynp5 that shows an increased rate of leaf emergence and a larger number of nodes in combination with a dwarfed growth habit from an EMS-treated population of the elite barley cultivar Yangnongpi 5.Using a map-based cloning strategy,the mnd8 gene was narrowed down to a 6.7-kb genomic interval on the long arm of chromosome 5H.Sequence analysis revealed that a C to T single-nucleotide mutation occurred at the first exon(position 953)of HORVU5Hr1G118820,leading to an alanine(Ala)to valine(Val)substitution at the 318th amino acid site.Next,HORVU5Hr1G118820 was defined as the candidate gene of MND8 encoding 514 amino acids and containing two multidrug and toxic compound extrusion(MATE)domains.It is highly homologous to maize Bige1and has a conserved function in the regulation of plant development by controlling the leaf initiation rate.Examination of modern barely varieties showed that Hap-1 was the dominant haplotype and was selected in barley breeding around the world.Collectively,our results indicated that mnd8ynp5 is a novel allele of the HORVU5Hr1G118820 gene that is possibly responsible for the shortened plastochron and many noded dwarf phenotype in barley.展开更多
For various sexually mature insects,including the brown planthopper(BPH,Nilaparvata lugens),the abdominal vibration(AV)signal is the initiation of the mating process,and itiscritical to the successofmating.Currently,t...For various sexually mature insects,including the brown planthopper(BPH,Nilaparvata lugens),the abdominal vibration(AV)signal is the initiation of the mating process,and itiscritical to the successofmating.Currently,there are few studies on the genetic and molecular mechanisms of AV regulation.Ourprevious AV-related transcriptomic study in female BPH identified myoinhibitory peptide(NlMIP)as a gene that potentially affects AV statusinfemales,buthow NlMIP affects AV status remains unknown.In this study,we confirmed that NlMIP regulates AV production and mating behavior in female BPH.When the RNAi knockdown efficiency of NlMIP was 59.00%,the probability of females producing AV and the mating rate in 1 h decreased by 38.89 and 61.11%,respectively.In addition,six mature peptides of NlMIP were synthesized and they were able to regulate AV production and mating behavior in females,with NlMIP2having the strongest effect.The A-family neuropeptide GPCR 10(NlA10)was found to be a potential receptor for NlMIP based on a phylogenetic tree analysis and the fact that NlMIP mature peptides effectively activated NlA10.After NlA10was knocked down,the probability of females producing AV and the mating rate in 1 h had reductions of 28.89 and 43.33%,respectively.When activated by NlMIP2,NlA10 coupled the Gαi/q signalling pathways,thereby inhibiting the downstream AC/cAMP/PKA,activating the PLC/Ca^(2+)/PKC signalling pathways and then activating MEK1/2 in a cascade to mediate the phosphorylation of ERK1/2,and finally regulating the AV of females.These results provide a basis for the prevention and control of the brown planthopper pest by disrupting female AV.展开更多
Adaptive mate choice has been accepted as the leading theory to explain the colorful plumage of birds.This theory hypothesizes that conspicuous colors act as signals to advertise the qualities of the owners.However,a ...Adaptive mate choice has been accepted as the leading theory to explain the colorful plumage of birds.This theory hypothesizes that conspicuous colors act as signals to advertise the qualities of the owners.However,a dilemma arises in that conspicuous colors may not only attract mates,but also alert predators.The"private channels of communication"hypothesis proposes that some intraspecific signals may not be visible to heterospecific animals because of different visual systems.To better understand the evolution of plumage colors and sexual selection in birds,here we studied the chromatic difference and achromatic differences of melanin-and carotenoid-based plumage coloration in five minivet species(Pericrocotus spp.)under conspecific and predator visual systems.We found that either the chromatic or achromatic difference among male or female minivets’plumage was consistently higher under conspecific vision than under predator vision for all five studied species of minivets.This result indicated that individual differences in plumage colors of minivets were visible to the conspecific receivers and hidden from potential predators as a result of evolution under predation risk and conspecific communication.However,males were under a higher risk of predation because they were more conspicuous than females to the vision of a nocturnal predator.展开更多
Fog computing is a promising technology that has been emerged to handle the growth of smart devices as well as the popularity of latency-sensitive and location-awareness Internet of Things(IoT)services.After the emerg...Fog computing is a promising technology that has been emerged to handle the growth of smart devices as well as the popularity of latency-sensitive and location-awareness Internet of Things(IoT)services.After the emergence of IoT-based services,the industry of internet-based devices has grown.The number of these devices has raised from millions to billions,and it is expected to increase further in the near future.Thus,additional challenges will be added to the traditional centralized cloud-based architecture as it will not be able to handle that growth and to support all connected devices in real-time without affecting the user experience.Conventional data aggregation models for Fog enabled IoT environ-ments possess high computational complexity and communication cost.There-fore,in order to resolve the issues and improve the lifetime of the network,this study develops an effective hierarchical data aggregation with chaotic barnacles mating optimizer(HDAG-CBMO)technique.The HDAG-CBMO technique derives afitness function from many relational matrices,like residual energy,average distance to neighbors,and centroid degree of target area.Besides,a chaotic theory based population initialization technique is derived for the optimal initial position of barnacles.Moreover,a learning based data offloading method has been developed for reducing the response time to IoT user requests.A wide range of simulation analyses demonstrated that the HDAG-CBMO technique has resulted in balanced energy utilization and prolonged lifetime of the Fog assisted IoT networks.展开更多
Objective: To demonstrate whether the expression of silent mating type information regulation 2 homolog 1 (SIRT1) affects the level of TGF-β1 and Smad3 in HEK293 cells through regulating mTOR. Methods: First, recombi...Objective: To demonstrate whether the expression of silent mating type information regulation 2 homolog 1 (SIRT1) affects the level of TGF-β1 and Smad3 in HEK293 cells through regulating mTOR. Methods: First, recombinant plasmids DNA (rSIRT1) and siRNA targeting SIRT1 were constructed which were transfected into Human Embryonic Kidney 293 cell (HEK293) cells, respectively. Then, the generation of intracellular ROS in cells was examined by flow cytometry using the oxidation-sensitive probe. Last, the expressions of TGF-β1, smad3, P53, mTOR, p-mTOR, LC3-I and LC3-II in cells were detected to observe the effect of SIRT1 on TGF-β1 Pathway by western blot analysis. Results: We demonstrated that overexpressing of SIRT1 may decrease TGF-β1 and Smad3 expression in HEK293 cells through regulating mTOR. In addition, the result is the opposite when SIRT1 was silent in HEK293 cells. Conclusions: SIRT1 is closely related to TGF-β1/Smad3 pathway that correlates with the regulation of mTOR and ROS generation and causes diabetic nephropathy. The available evidence implies that SIRT1 has great potential as a clinical target for the prevention and treatment of renal fibrosis in the development of DN.展开更多
基金Special Fund for Agro-scientific Research in the Public Interest of China under contract No.200903046Research Foundation of Zhejiang Province,China under contract No.2009C12078+1 种基金National Sparking Plan Project of China under contract No.2010GA700010Taishan Scholar Project of Shandong Province,China
文摘The complete diallel cross design was employed to estimate the genetic parameters of the growth of Japanese flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus). A total of 60 full-sib families were cultivated and two growth-related traits, body weight (BW) and body length (BL), were examined at average 2, 3 and 8 months of age respectively, with 1 800 individuals measured in each age group (30 per family). Based on the additive-dominance-maternal-effect genetic analysis model, the restricted maximum likelihood approach was used to estimate various (co)variance components. The results showed that narrow-sense heritability estimates of BW and BL were respectively: 0.29 ± 0.01 and 0.22 ± 0.02 at 2 months of age, 0.32 ± 0.02 and 0.30 ± 0.04 at 3 months of age, 0.48 ± 0.04 and 0.40 ± 0.05 at 8 months of age; broad-sense heritability estimates were respectively: 0.44 ± 0.02 and 0.54 ± 0.04 at 2 months of age, 0.35 ± 0.01 and 0.36 ± 0.03 at 3 months of age, 0.49 ± 0.03 and 0.45 ± 0.04. All heritabilities were statistically significant (P 0.05). Additive genetic correlations between BW and BL at 2, 3 and 8 months of age were consistently positive and highly significant (P 0.01): 0.93 ± 0.02, 0.95 ± 0.03 and 0.92 ± 0.03 respectively. Maternal effect was significant (P 0.05) only at 2 months of age, and was not detected at 3 and 8 months of age. According to the heritability estimates, the mass selection strategy should be efficient for the breeding of Japanese flounder.
基金supported by the National Science Foundation IOB-0641750
文摘The use of multisensory cues to locate mates can increase an organism's success by acting as a back-up plan when one system fails, by providing additional information to the receiver, and by increasing their ability to detect mates using senses that have different ranges in a variable aquatic environment. In this contribution we review the sensory cues that male horseshoe crabs Lirnulus polyphemus are known to use when locating mates and then provide new data that shed light on this subject. Dur- ing the breeding season, females migrate into shore during high tides to spawn. Males attach to females as they approach the beach or are attracted to pairs already spawning. Vision is well established as an important cue in attracting males. Although chemoreception is well known in other marine arthropods, and horseshoe crabs have the anatomy available, there are few studies on chemical cues in this species. Experiments are presented here that provide evidence for chemical cue use. We show that the attraction, and retention, of attached and satellite males to actively spawning females and mating pairs involves multimodal cues
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant numbers:81974498)Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province (grant numbers:ZR2019BH079)。
文摘Nanomedicine has made great progress in the targeted therapy of cancer. Here, we established a novel drug-mate strategy by studying the formulation of nanodrugs at the molecular level. In the drug-mate combination, the drug is a hydrophobic drug that is poorly soluble in water, and the mate is an amphiphilic small molecule (SMA) that has both hydrophilic and lipophilic properties. We proposed that the hydrophobic drug could co-assemble with a suitable SMA on a nanoscale without additive agents. The proof-ofconcept methodology and results were presented to support our hypothesis. We selected five hydrophobic drugs and more than ten amphiphilic small molecules to construct a library. Through molecular dynamic simulation and quantum chemistry computation,we speculated that the formation of nanoassemblies was related to the binding energy of the drug-mate, and the drug-mate interaction must overcome drug-drug interaction.Furthermore, the obtained SF/VECOONa nanoassemblieswas selected as a model, which had an ultra-high drug loading content (46%), improved pharmacokinetics, increased bioavailability, and enhanced therapeutic efficacy. In summary, the drug-mate strategy is an essential resource to design exact SMA for many hydrophobic drugs and provides a reference for the design of a carrier-free drug delivery system.
基金Supported by the State Key Basic Research and Develop-ment Plan (G2000046805)the National Natural Science Foundation of China (30370098, 30570111)
文摘Outcrossing rate in a natural population of Caldesia grandis was estimated by the dominant random amplified polymorphism DNA (RAPD) marker using 10 open-pollinated progeny arrays of 24 individuals. The multilocus outcrossing rate estimated based on all 25 RAPD loci was 0.872 ±0.033 and the single-locus outcrossing rate was 0.795 ±0.032. Multilocus esti- mates did not differ significantly from the single-locus estimates. The fixation index, F, in the progeny estimated from RAPD data was -0.142 ±0.000. The estimates of multilocus outcrossing rates (tm) and single-locus outcrossing rates (ts) obtained from MLDT clearly indicate that outcrossing is predominant in the open-pollinated C. grandis population. An empirical analysis suggests that 15 should be the minimum number of dominant marker loci necessary to achieve robust estimates of tm.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.32370508)the Foundation for Excellent Doctoral Student of Science and Technology Program of Gansu Province(No.23JRRA1125)。
文摘Females actively seek extra-pair paternity(EPP)to acquire a fitness advantage for their offspring.The“contextdependence hypothesis”posits that female extra-pair mate choice has plasticity in response to environmental conditions,and therefore magnitude of female genetic benefits from EPP depends on the environmental variation.Furthermore,chronic heavy metal pollution can cause adverse effects on fitness-related traits of wild birds.However,few studies were available on the interactions between heavy metal pollution and EPP.We selected an area that was contaminated by heavy metals for more than 60 years(Baiyin,BY),a relatively unpolluted area(Liujiaxia,LJX),and Tree Sparrows(Passer montanus)as study species to explore the response of female extrapair mate choice and genetic benefits from EPP to heavy metal pollution in socially monogamous birds.The relatedness between social mates and extra-pair mates was investigated.Additionally,we compared the body size and heterozygosity of extra-pair offspring(EPO),within-pair offspring(WPO),social males and extra-pair males from the two Tree Sparrow populations.We found that at BY,female Tree Sparrows tended to choose extra-pair males with larger body size and lower genetic similarity,thereby producing higher heterozygosity and larger body size of EPO compared with those of WPO.However,no similar phenomenon was observed in the Tree Sparrow population from LJX.In addition,there was a significant interaction between population and paternity in the analyses of the fitness-related traits,suggesting that environmental variation could affect female genetic benefits from EPP.This study confirmed the existence of presumed interactions between environmental pollution and EPP within the natural population of socially monogamous Tree Sparrows.Our findings shed lights on the possible effects of long-term environmental stress on mating system in wild birds.
文摘This study investigated the effects of yerba mate consumption, a South American beverage, on cardiac remodeling in rats. For this purpose, 24 male Wistar rats were divided into Control Group (CG) which received filtered water and a standard diet, and Yerba Mate Group (YM), 6 g of Ilex paraguariensis in 100 ml water and the same diet, for 30 days. The YM group showed a reduction in final body weight and food consumption without altering weight gain. Regarding cardiac remodeling, the YM group exhibited a decrease in the right ventricle weight/final body weight ratio, suggesting cardiac atrophy, without affecting the atria and left ventricle. There was no change in cardiomyocyte area or nuclear fractal dimension in both groups. However, animals that consumed yerba mate showed increased collagen deposition and a smaller fractal dimension in the left ventricle. The consumption of yerba mate at room temperature for 30 days induced changes in cardiac remodeling, as evidenced by increased collagen deposition and alterations in fractal dimension in the left ventricle.
文摘Lekking males aggregate to attract females and contribute solely to egg fer- tilization, without any further parental care. Evolutionary theory therefore predicts them to be nonchoosy toward their mates, because any lost mating opportunities would out- weigh the benefits associated with such preferences. Nevertheless, due to time costs, the production of energetically costly sexual displays, and potential sperm limitation, the mat- ing effort of lekking males is often considerable. These factors, combined with the fact that many females of varying quality are likely to visit leks, could favor the evolution of male mate preferences. Here, we show that males of the lekking lesser wax moth, Achroia grisella, were indeed more likely to mate with heavier females in choice experiments, even at their virgin mating (i.e., when their reproductive resources have not yet been depleted by previous matings). This differential female mating success could not be attributed to female behavior as heavy and light females showed similar motivation to mate (i.e., la- tency to approach the males) and time to copulate. Males seem to benefit from mating with heavier females, as fecundity positively correlated with female mass. This new em- pirical evidence shows that male mate choice may have been tmderestimated in lekking species
基金This study was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant numbers 31772505 and 32070476).
文摘Cicadas usually sing and mate in the higher parts of trees.Studies addressing the effects of different acoustic signals on mate choice in Cicadidae are very limited.We investigated the effects of both acoustical features and morphological traits on mate choice in an East Asian cicada Platypleura kaempferi.Males produce high-rate calling songs that attract females,then produce low-rate courtship songs to secure mating when a female is attracted.Higher calling song rate(CR),shorter single-pulse duration,and shorter pulse period of the calling song,together with lower courtship song rate and longer echeme period of the courtship song,are the most desirable traits used by females to choose a mate.These traits indicate that the more amale can raise the rate of song production,the higher the probability he is sexually selected by the female.No correlation was found between morphological traits and mating success.After mating,a minority of males started emitting calling songs again,but the CR was significantly lower than before mating and none of them attracted a new mate later.This promotes females mating with unmated males.We hypothesize that P.kaempferi may have the best of both worlds due to the unique song modulation and the mechanism of female mate choice:males change energetically,costly acoustic signals to achieve mates,while females choose a mate based on males’acoustic properties.Our results contribute to better understanding the diversity of mating preference and enrich the mechanism of mate choice in acoustic insects.
文摘目的系统评介单孔腹腔镜阑尾切除术(SILA)与传统多孔腹腔镜阑尾切除术(CLA)用于治疗急性阑尾炎术后并发盆腔脓肿的比较分析。方法检索Pubmed、The Cochrane、Web of Science、Embase数据库中有关SILA和CLA治疗急性阑尾炎的随机试验研究,应用RevMan5.3软件行Meta分析,比较两种方法术后盆腔脓肿形成的影响。结果共纳入12篇文献,总样本量1692例,其中SILA组866例,CLA组826例,纳入研究中均为随机对照实验。SILA组与CLA组比较,术后盆腔脓肿形成概率无明显统计学意义(95%CI 0.56~1.32,P=0.86)。结论与CLA比较,SILA治疗急性阑尾炎不增加术后并发盆腔脓肿的概率。
基金funded by the Natural Science Foundations of China(No.32172702)National Key Research and Development Program of China(2021YFD1301101)Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Program(ASTIP-IAS02)。
文摘Background Genomic selection involves choosing as parents those elite individuals with the higher genomic estimated breeding values(GEBV)to accelerate the speed of genetic improvement in domestic animals.But after multi-generation selection,the rate of inbreeding and the occurrence of homozygous harmful alleles might increase,which would reduce performance and genetic diversity.To mitigate the above problems,we can utilize genomic mating(GM)based upon optimal mate allocation to construct the best genotypic combinations in the next generation.In this study,we used stochastic simulation to investigate the impact of various factors on the efficiencies of GM to optimize pairing combinations after genomic selection of candidates in a pig population.These factors included:the algorithm used to derive inbreeding coefficients;the trait heritability(0.1,0.3 or 0.5);the kind of GM scheme(focused average GEBV or inbreeding);the approach for computing the genomic relationship matrix(by SNP or runs of homozygosity(ROH)).The outcomes were compared to three traditional mating schemes(random,positive assortative or negative assortative matings).In addition,the performance of the GM approach was tested on real datasets obtained from a Large White pig breeding population.Results Genomic mating outperforms other approaches in limiting the inbreeding accumulation for the same expected genetic gain.The use of ROH-based genealogical relatedness in GM achieved faster genetic gains than using relatedness based on individual SNPs.The GROH-based GM schemes with the maximum genetic gain resulted in 0.9%-2.6%higher rates of genetic gainΔG,and 13%-83.3%lowerΔF than positive assortative mating regardless of heritability.The rates of inbreeding were always the fastest with positive assortative mating.Results from a purebred Large White pig population,confirmed that GM with ROH-based GRM was more efficient than traditional mating schemes.Conclusion Compared with traditional mating schemes,genomic mating can not only achieve sustainable genetic progress but also effectively control the rates of inbreeding accumulation in the population.Our findings demonstrated that breeders should consider using genomic mating for genetic improvement of pigs.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 31820103012)the Earmarked Fund for China Agriculture Research System (Grant No. CARS-28)the Earmarked Fund for Jiangsu Agricultural Industry Technology System [Grant No. JATS (2022)454]。
文摘Plant multidrug and toxic compound extrusion(MATE) genes play an important role in the process of detoxification, plant morphogenesis, and anthocyanin accumulation. However, whether the MATE gene family functions in pear peel coloration is still unknown. To evaluate and identify the MATE gene family members which are involving in anthocyanin accumulation and coloration in pear. In this study, 85 MATE genes were identified in the reference pear genome of ‘Dangshansuli’ through genome-wide identification. Based on gene structure and phylogenetic tree analysis, the MATE family was divided into five subfamilies. RNA sequencing and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction(qRTPCR) indicated that the expression patterns of PbrMATEs were tissue-specific. 28.24%(24) of PbrMATE genes were expressed in the fruits, and44.71%(38) of PbrMATE genes were expressed in the leaves. Additionally, we found that the expression levels of PbrMATE9, PbrMATE26,PbrMATE50, and PbrMATE69 in debagged fruits with red peel were significantly higher than those in bagged fruits without red peel, according to our bagging/debagging treatment of ‘Mantianhong’. The expression pattern of PbrMATE9 was consistent with the variation trend in anthocyanin content, suggesting that it might play an important role in anthocyanin accumulation in response to light exposure. Subcellular localization showed that PbrMATE9 was a membrane protein. More strikingly, the transient overexpression of PbrMATE9 promoted anthocyanin accumulation in the peel of pear, and the expression of structural genes(PbrCHI, PbrANS, PbrDFR, and PbrUFGT) in the anthocyanin biosynthesis pathway also increased significantly. Through co-expression network analysis, the transcription factors were identified, such as WRKY, COL,GATA, and BBX, which might be involved in the regulation of PbrMATE9. The study has enriched the genetic resources and improved the understanding of the regulation network of anthocyanin accumulation in pear.
基金supported by the Shenzhen Science and Technology Program,China(KQTD20180411143628272)the Special Funds for Science Technology Innovation and Industrial Development of Shenzhen Dapeng New District,China(PT202101-02).
文摘The oriental fruit fly,Bactrocera dorsalis(Hendel),is a devastating pest of citrus fruits.After successful mating,adult females insert their eggs into the ripened fruit,resulting in moldy and rotten fruit and causing great economic losses for the citrus industry.In the field,flies initiate copulatory behaviors as twilight approaches,and decreasing light intensity in this period is the normal stimulus for copulation.In this study,ten light intensities ranging from 0–30000 lux were set to identify the typical intensity that strongly regulates the copulation behavior of B.dorsalis.Three light intensities found to regulate the copulation behavior were then selected to verify their effects on adult male wing fanning and female chemotaxis towards 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine(TMP).At last,strong light and complete darkness were artificially combined in the lab to verify whether they could prevent copulation to inform behavioral manipulation of oriental flies in the future.The results indicated that adult flies generally initiated copulatory behaviors at low light intensity(<1000 lux).Stronger light significantly prevented copulation in proportion to intensity,with nearly no copulation events initiated when light intensity was above 20000 lux.Both male wing fanning and female chemotaxis towards TMP were attenuated as light intensity became stronger.However,at 10000 lux,males still fanned their wings to a certain extent while TMP completely lost its attractiveness to females.In the darkness,adults did not initiate any sexual behaviors,e.g.,copulation,wing fanning,or chemotaxis to TMP.One hour of strong light(10000 lux)combined with continuous darkness completely prevented mating.These results show that light condition is an essential factor for copulatory behaviors in the oriental fruit fly.Researchers could thus manipulate light conditions artificially or disrupt the molecular target in flies’light transduction pathway to develop environmentally-friendly techniques to control this pest.
基金funded by the Open Project Program of State Key Laboratory of Barley and Yak Germplasm Resources and Genetic Improvement,China(XZNKY2021-C-014-K01)the Natural Science Foundation of the Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions of China(19KJA560005)+1 种基金the China Agriculture Research System(CARS-05)a Project Funded by the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions,China。
文摘In higher plants,the shoot apical meristem produces lateral organs in a regular spacing(phyllotaxy)and timing(plastochron).The molecular analysis of mutants associated with phyllotaxy and plastochron would increase our understanding of the mechanism of shoot architecture formation.In this study,we identified mutant mnd8ynp5 that shows an increased rate of leaf emergence and a larger number of nodes in combination with a dwarfed growth habit from an EMS-treated population of the elite barley cultivar Yangnongpi 5.Using a map-based cloning strategy,the mnd8 gene was narrowed down to a 6.7-kb genomic interval on the long arm of chromosome 5H.Sequence analysis revealed that a C to T single-nucleotide mutation occurred at the first exon(position 953)of HORVU5Hr1G118820,leading to an alanine(Ala)to valine(Val)substitution at the 318th amino acid site.Next,HORVU5Hr1G118820 was defined as the candidate gene of MND8 encoding 514 amino acids and containing two multidrug and toxic compound extrusion(MATE)domains.It is highly homologous to maize Bige1and has a conserved function in the regulation of plant development by controlling the leaf initiation rate.Examination of modern barely varieties showed that Hap-1 was the dominant haplotype and was selected in barley breeding around the world.Collectively,our results indicated that mnd8ynp5 is a novel allele of the HORVU5Hr1G118820 gene that is possibly responsible for the shortened plastochron and many noded dwarf phenotype in barley.
基金funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(31730073)。
文摘For various sexually mature insects,including the brown planthopper(BPH,Nilaparvata lugens),the abdominal vibration(AV)signal is the initiation of the mating process,and itiscritical to the successofmating.Currently,there are few studies on the genetic and molecular mechanisms of AV regulation.Ourprevious AV-related transcriptomic study in female BPH identified myoinhibitory peptide(NlMIP)as a gene that potentially affects AV statusinfemales,buthow NlMIP affects AV status remains unknown.In this study,we confirmed that NlMIP regulates AV production and mating behavior in female BPH.When the RNAi knockdown efficiency of NlMIP was 59.00%,the probability of females producing AV and the mating rate in 1 h decreased by 38.89 and 61.11%,respectively.In addition,six mature peptides of NlMIP were synthesized and they were able to regulate AV production and mating behavior in females,with NlMIP2having the strongest effect.The A-family neuropeptide GPCR 10(NlA10)was found to be a potential receptor for NlMIP based on a phylogenetic tree analysis and the fact that NlMIP mature peptides effectively activated NlA10.After NlA10was knocked down,the probability of females producing AV and the mating rate in 1 h had reductions of 28.89 and 43.33%,respectively.When activated by NlMIP2,NlA10 coupled the Gαi/q signalling pathways,thereby inhibiting the downstream AC/cAMP/PKA,activating the PLC/Ca^(2+)/PKC signalling pathways and then activating MEK1/2 in a cascade to mediate the phosphorylation of ERK1/2,and finally regulating the AV of females.These results provide a basis for the prevention and control of the brown planthopper pest by disrupting female AV.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(32260127)the Education Department of Hainan Province(HnjgY2022-12)+1 种基金the Hainan Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China(320CXTD437)the Hainan Provincial Innovative Research Program for Graduates(Qhys2022-241)。
文摘Adaptive mate choice has been accepted as the leading theory to explain the colorful plumage of birds.This theory hypothesizes that conspicuous colors act as signals to advertise the qualities of the owners.However,a dilemma arises in that conspicuous colors may not only attract mates,but also alert predators.The"private channels of communication"hypothesis proposes that some intraspecific signals may not be visible to heterospecific animals because of different visual systems.To better understand the evolution of plumage colors and sexual selection in birds,here we studied the chromatic difference and achromatic differences of melanin-and carotenoid-based plumage coloration in five minivet species(Pericrocotus spp.)under conspecific and predator visual systems.We found that either the chromatic or achromatic difference among male or female minivets’plumage was consistently higher under conspecific vision than under predator vision for all five studied species of minivets.This result indicated that individual differences in plumage colors of minivets were visible to the conspecific receivers and hidden from potential predators as a result of evolution under predation risk and conspecific communication.However,males were under a higher risk of predation because they were more conspicuous than females to the vision of a nocturnal predator.
文摘Fog computing is a promising technology that has been emerged to handle the growth of smart devices as well as the popularity of latency-sensitive and location-awareness Internet of Things(IoT)services.After the emergence of IoT-based services,the industry of internet-based devices has grown.The number of these devices has raised from millions to billions,and it is expected to increase further in the near future.Thus,additional challenges will be added to the traditional centralized cloud-based architecture as it will not be able to handle that growth and to support all connected devices in real-time without affecting the user experience.Conventional data aggregation models for Fog enabled IoT environ-ments possess high computational complexity and communication cost.There-fore,in order to resolve the issues and improve the lifetime of the network,this study develops an effective hierarchical data aggregation with chaotic barnacles mating optimizer(HDAG-CBMO)technique.The HDAG-CBMO technique derives afitness function from many relational matrices,like residual energy,average distance to neighbors,and centroid degree of target area.Besides,a chaotic theory based population initialization technique is derived for the optimal initial position of barnacles.Moreover,a learning based data offloading method has been developed for reducing the response time to IoT user requests.A wide range of simulation analyses demonstrated that the HDAG-CBMO technique has resulted in balanced energy utilization and prolonged lifetime of the Fog assisted IoT networks.
文摘Objective: To demonstrate whether the expression of silent mating type information regulation 2 homolog 1 (SIRT1) affects the level of TGF-β1 and Smad3 in HEK293 cells through regulating mTOR. Methods: First, recombinant plasmids DNA (rSIRT1) and siRNA targeting SIRT1 were constructed which were transfected into Human Embryonic Kidney 293 cell (HEK293) cells, respectively. Then, the generation of intracellular ROS in cells was examined by flow cytometry using the oxidation-sensitive probe. Last, the expressions of TGF-β1, smad3, P53, mTOR, p-mTOR, LC3-I and LC3-II in cells were detected to observe the effect of SIRT1 on TGF-β1 Pathway by western blot analysis. Results: We demonstrated that overexpressing of SIRT1 may decrease TGF-β1 and Smad3 expression in HEK293 cells through regulating mTOR. In addition, the result is the opposite when SIRT1 was silent in HEK293 cells. Conclusions: SIRT1 is closely related to TGF-β1/Smad3 pathway that correlates with the regulation of mTOR and ROS generation and causes diabetic nephropathy. The available evidence implies that SIRT1 has great potential as a clinical target for the prevention and treatment of renal fibrosis in the development of DN.