Copy number variation of B1 controls awn length in wheat

Wheat awns contribute to photosynthesis and grain production.In this study,an F2population and F2:3families from a cross between the awned line 7D12 and the Chinese awnless variety Shiyou 20(SY20)were used to identify loci associated with awn length.Bulked-segregant RNA sequencing and linkage mapping identified a single dominant locus in a 0.3 cM interval on chromosome 5AL.Five genes were in the interval,including the recently cloned awn inhibitor B1.Although a single copy of the B1 gene was detected in 7D12,SY20 carried five copies of the gene.Increased copy number of B1 in SY20enhanced gene expression.Based on sequence variation among the promoter regions of five B1 gene copies in SY20,two dominant markers were developed and found to cosegregate with B1 in a population of 931 wheat accessions.All 77 awnless accessions harbored sequence variations in the B1 promoter regions similar to those of SY20 and thus carried multiple copies of the gene,whereas 15 randomly selected awned wheats carried only one copy.These results suggest that an increase in copy number of the B1 gene is associated with inhibition of awn length.

Single cell transcriptomic analysis identifies novel vascular smooth muscle subsets under high hydrostatic pressure

Although some co-risk factors and hemodynamic alterations are involved in hypertension progression,their direct biomechanical effects are unclear.Here,we constructed a high-hydrostatic-pressure cell-culture system to imitate constant hypertension and identified novel molecular classifications of human aortic smooth muscle cells(HASMCs)by single-cell transcriptome analysis.Under 100-mmHg(analogous to healthy human blood pressure)or 200-mmHg(analogous to hypertension)hydrostatic pressure for 48 h,HASMCs showed six distinct vascular SMC(VSMC)clusters according to differential gene expression and gene ontology enrichment analysis.Especially,two novel HASMC subsets were identified,named the inflammatory subset,with CXCL2,CXCL3 and CCL2 as markers,and the endothelial-function inhibitory subset,with AKR1C2,AKR1C3,SERPINF1 as markers.The inflammatory subset promoted CXCL2&3 and CCL2 chemokine expression and secretion,triggering monocyte migration;the endothelial-function inhibitory subset secreted SERPINF1 and accelerated prostaglandin F2αgeneration to inhibit angiogenesis.The expression of the two VSMC subsets was greatly increased in arterial media from patients with hypertension and experimental animal models of hypertension.Collectively,we identified high hydrostatic pressure directly driving VSMCs into two new subsets,promoting or exacerbating endothelial dysfunction,thereby contributing to the pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases.

Phenolic Profile, Antioxidant Activity and Anti-proliferative Activity of Crabapple Fruits

To explore the potential of crabapples as functional food, polyphenols in crabapples and ‘Fuji’ apples were extracted, and the phenolic profile,total polyphenols, antioxidant activity and anti-proliferative activity against several human cancer cells were determined. The results indicated that crabapple extracts have more abundant phenols and higher total polyphenols(from 4.46 to 46.63 mg GAE·g-1 DW) compared to ‘Fuji’ apples.Crabapple extracts possessed higher antioxidant activity than apple by DPPH and ABTS analysis. All fruit extracts exhibited inhibitory effects on proliferation in different cancer cells;however, crabapple extracts performed significantly better, with half inhibitory concentration(IC50)values varied from 48.34 μg·m L-1 to 974.81 μg·m L-1 for colon cancer cells SW480, 64.67–1 466.35 μg·m L-1 for stomach cancer cells BGC-803,78.88–910.64 μg·m L-1 for esophageal cancer cells CaEs-17. Besides, the red crabapples had higher antioxidant activity and anti-proliferative activity than yellow fruits. These results showed that crabapples, especially red crabapples, have great potential as a healthy food, as they are rich in phenolic compounds with high antioxidant and anti-proliferative activities to cancer cells.