Publications by authors named "Annette Y P Wong"

Background: Soybean is a major legume crop with high nutritional and environmental values suitable for sustainable agriculture. Noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs), including microRNAs (miRNAs) and long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs), are important regulators of gene functions in eukaryotes. However, the interactions between these two types of ncRNAs in the context of plant physiology, especially in response to salinity stress, are poorly understood.

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Whole genome duplication (WGD) has occurred in relatively few sexually reproducing invertebrates. Consequently, the WGD that occurred in the common ancestor of horseshoe crabs ~135 million years ago provides a rare opportunity to decipher the evolutionary consequences of a duplicated invertebrate genome. Here, we present a high-quality genome assembly for the mangrove horseshoe crab Carcinoscorpius rotundicauda (1.

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The Myriapoda, composed of millipedes and centipedes, is a fascinating but poorly understood branch of life, including species with a highly unusual body plan and a range of unique adaptations to their environment. Here, we sequenced and assembled 2 chromosomal-level genomes of the millipedes Helicorthomorpha holstii (assembly size = 182 Mb; shortest scaffold/contig length needed to cover 50% of the genome [N50] = 18.11 Mb mainly on 8 pseudomolecules) and Trigoniulus corallinus (assembly size = 449 Mb, N50 = 26.

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Background: The mosquito Aedes albopictus is a vector of dengue and Zika viruses. Insecticide-resistant mosquito populations have evolved in recent decades, suggesting that new control strategies are needed. Hong Kong has a monsoon-influenced humid subtropical climate, which favours the spread of mosquitoes.

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A striking feature of micro-RNAs is that they are often clustered in the genomes of animals. The functional and evolutionary consequences of this clustering remain obscure. Here, we investigated a micro-RNA cluster miR-6/5/4/286/3/309 that is conserved across drosophilid lineages.

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Trees in the genus Aquilaria (Thymelaeaceae) are known as lign aloes, and are native to the forests of southeast Asia. Lign aloes produce agarwood as an antimicrobial defence. Agarwood has a long history of cultural and medicinal use, and is of considerable commercial value.

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Picobirnaviruses (PBVs) are mostly found in animal alimentary samples. In this study, among 576 respiratory specimens from 476 mammals and 100 chickens, genogroup I PBVs were detected in three cattle and three monkeys, and a genogroup II PBV-positive sample was collected from one cattle specimen. More than one PBV sequence type was observed in two and one genogroup I PBV-positive samples from cattle and monkeys, respectively.

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Our understanding of microRNA (miRNA) regulation of gene expression and protein translation, as a critical area of cellular regulation, has blossomed in the last two decades. Recently, it has become apparent that in plant-insect interactions, both plants and insects use miRNAs to regulate their biological processes, as well as co-opting each others' miRNA systems. In this review article, we discuss the current paradigms of miRNA-mediated cellular regulation and provide examples of plant-insect interactions that utilize this regulation.

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In a molecular epidemiology study using 791 fecal samples collected from different terrestrial and marine mammals in Hong Kong, genogroup I picobirnaviruses (PBVs) were positive by RT-PCR targeting the partial RdRp gene in specimens from five cattle, six monkeys, 17 horses, nine pigs, one rabbit, one dog, and 12 California sea lions, with 11, 9, 23, 17, 1, 1, and 15 sequence types in the positive specimens from the corresponding animals, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the PBV sequences from each kind of animal were widely distributed in the whole tree with high diversity, sharing 47.4-89.

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Recently, we reported the presence of Beilong virus in spleen and kidney samples of brown rats and black rats, suggesting that these rodents could be natural reservoirs of Beilong virus. In this study, four genomes of Beilong virus from brown rats and black rats were sequenced. Similar to the Beilong virus genome sequenced from kidney mesangial cell line culture, those of J-virus from house mouse and Tailam virus from Sikkim rats, these four genomes from naturally occurring Beilong virus also contain the eight genes (3'-N-P/V/C-M-F-SH-TM-G-L-5').

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Interpretation of 16S rRNA sequences is a difficult problem faced by clinical microbiologists and technicians. In this study, we evaluated the updated 16SpathDB 2.0 database, using 689 16S rRNA sequences from 689 complete genomes of medically important bacteria.

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Background: Penicillium marneffei is the most important thermal dimorphic fungus causing systemic mycosis in China and Southeast Asia. While miRNAs are increasingly recognized for their roles in post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression in animals and plants, miRNAs in fungi were less well studied and their potential roles in fungal dimorphism were largely unknown. Based on P.

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We describe the discovery and characterization of a novel paramyxovirus, porcine parainfluenza virus 1 (PPIV-1), from swine. The virus was detected in 12 (3.1 %) of 386 nasopharyngeal and two (0.

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We describe the discovery and isolation of a paramyxovirus, feline morbillivirus (FmoPV), from domestic cat (Felis catus). FmoPV RNA was detected in 56 (12.3%) of 457 stray cats (53 urine, four rectal swabs, and one blood sample) by RT-PCR.

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We discovered a novel paramyxovirus, Tailam virus, of subfamily Paramyxovirinae, in the kidneys and spleens of Sikkim rats. The coding potential of its genome (3'-N-P/V/C-M-F-SH-TM-G-L-5') is similar to those of Beilong virus and J virus, with putative proteins having 59.1 to 94.

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Although multilocus sequence typing (MLST) has been widely used for bacterial typing, the contribution of the gene loci to the discriminatory power of each MLST scheme is unknown. We analyzed the discriminatory powers of 36 MLST schemes using all combinations of the 7 loci and contributions of each locus to the schemes. In 10 schemes, sequencing 6 loci can achieve the discriminatory powers of 7 loci.

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Among 489 bats of 11 species in China, three novel paramyxoviruses [Tuhokovirus 1, 2 and 3 (ThkPV-1, ThkPV-2 and ThkPV-3)] were discovered in 15 Leschenault's rousettes. Phylogenetically, the three viruses are most closely related to Menangle and Tioman virus. Genome analysis showed that their 3'-leader sequences are unique by possessing GA instead of AG at the 5th and 6th positions.

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