The contribution of cis-regulatory elements to head-to-head gene pairs' co-expression pattern

Transcription regulation is one of the most critical pipelines in biological process,in which cis-elements play the role as gene expression regulators.We attempt to deduce the principles underlying the co-expression of "head-to-head" gene pairs by analyzing activities or behaviors of the shared cis-elements.A network component analysis was performed to estimate the impact of cis-elements on gene promoters and their activities under different conditions.Our discoveries reveal how biological system uses those regulatory elements to control the expression pattern of "head-to-head" gene pairs and the whole transcription regulation system.

Engineering of multiferroic BiFeO grain boundaries with head-to-head polarization configurations

Confined low dimensional charges with high density such as two-dimensional electron gas(2 DEG)at interfaces and charged domain walls in ferroelectrics show great potential to serve as functional elements in future nanoelectronics.However,stabilization and control of low dimensional charges is challenging,as they are usually subject to enormous depolarization fields.Here,we demonstrate a method to fabricate tunable charged interfaces with~77°,86°and 94°head-to-head polarization configurations in multiferroic Bi Fe O_(3) thin films by grain boundary engineering.The adjacent grains are cohesively bonded and the boundary is about 1 nm in width and devoid of any amorphous region.Remarkably,the polarization remains almost unchanged near the grain boundaries,indicating the polarization charges are well compensated,i.e.,there should be two-dimensional charge gas confined at grain boundaries.Adjusting the tilt angle of the grain boundaries enables tuning the angle of polarization configurations from 71°to 109°,which in turn allows the control of charge density at the grain boundaries.This general and feasible method opens new doors for the application of charged interfaces in next generation nanoelectronics.

Identification and characterization of adult alpha-and beta-globin genes and their genomic arrangement in Pseudosciaena crocea

The α- and β-globin genes from Pseudosciaena crocea were cloned by rapid amplification of cDNA 3 ＇-end （ 3 ＇-RACE）. The cDNA of the α-globin is 595 bp with the ATG start codon located at Position 37, the TAA stop codon at Position 469 and the AATAAA polyadenylation signal at Position 560, which codifies 145 amino acids. The entire open reading frame of the β-globin gene is 447 bp long, which encodes 148 amino acids. Amino acid identity of the α- globin or β-globin gene compared with those reported in other fish species, ranged from 31.9% to 76.4%. When comparing with human α- and β-globins, three important alterations in the structural regions can be noted： ct39 Thr→Gln, α113 His→Tyr and β117 His→Lys. The α-globin has a unique inserted amino acid residue in the 47th position. To understand the process of globin gene duplication and identify the regulatory elements present in the intergenic and intragenic regions of globin genes, the genomic arrangement of α- and β-globin genes was investigated. The results showed that the orientation of the two genes was head-to-head relative to each other. The intergenic region between the translation initiation codons of the linked α- and β-globin genes contains classical promoter elements and the length of it is much shorter than that reported in other fish.

Fabrication of Conductive Domain Walls in x-cut Congruent Thin-film Lithium Niobate Using an Electrical-field Poling Technique(Invited)

Conductive ferroelectric domain walls have attracted increasing research interest in the field of nanoelectronics,and the fabrication technique for such domain walls is vital.In this study,we investigated in detail the fabrication of conductive domain walls in x-cut congruent thin-film lithium niobate(TFLN)using an electrical-field poling technique.The ferroelectric domain structures can be controlled through the applied electrical field and applied pulse numbers,and the domain inversion process is related to the conduction characteristics of the domain walls.The domain structures in TFLN are revealed using confocal second-harmonic microscopy and piezoresponse force microscopy.The results provide further directions for the development and application of conductive domain walls in TFLN.