Tethering of cellulose synthase complex to the plasma membrane relies on the isoform of EXO70A1 in Arabidopsis.

In yeast and mammals, the EXO70 subunit of the exocyst complex plays a key role in mediating the tethering of exocytic vesicles to the plasma membrane (PM). In plants, however, the role of EXO70 in regulating vesicle tethering during exocytosis remains unclear. In land plants, EXO70 has undergone significant evolutionary expansion, resulting in multiple EXO70 paralogues that may allow the exocyst to form various isoforms with specific functions.

FRT4 alleviated obesity by modulating gut microbiota and liver metabolome in high-fat diet-induced obese mice.

Background: Obesity has become a global epidemic recognized by the World Health Organization. Probiotics supplementation has been shown to contribute to improve lipid metabolism. However, mechanisms of action of probiotics against obesity are still not clear.

Effects of straw return on bacterial communities in a wheat-maize rotation system in the North China Plain.

Straw return plays an important role in reducing the use of chemical fertilizer, promoting soil carbon sequestration, thus maintaining soil fertility and alleviating environmental pollution. To examine the effects of straw return on soil bacterial communities, quantitative PCR and high-throughput sequencing approaches were used to analyze the bacterial abundance and community structures at the depths of 5-25 cm and 25-45 cm in the soils under six-year continuous straw return and removal treatments in Langfang, Hebei, the North China Plain. As a result, straw return had no effects on soil chemical properties, bacterial abundance, richness or diversity at both soil depths.

Triboelectrostatic separation of polypropylene, polyurethane, and polyvinylchloride used in passenger vehicles.

Recycling and reuse of automotive plastics have elicited global attention due to the increasing number of end-of-life vehicles. Through the single-factor experiment, a high-voltage triboelectrostatic sorting device was developed to separate polypropylene (PP), polyurethane (PU), and polyvinylchloride (PVC) in a plastic mixture commonly used in exterior and interior parts of passenger vehicles. Products of PP, PU, and PVC were obtained after two-stage separation; their purity exceeded 95%, and their productivities were 74%, 94%, and 41%, respectively.

EXO70A1-mediated vesicle trafficking is critical for tracheary element development in Arabidopsis.

Exocysts are highly conserved octameric complexes that play an essential role in the tethering of Golgi-derived vesicles to target membranes in eukaryotic organisms. Genes encoding the EXO70 subunit are highly duplicated in plants. Based on expression analyses, we proposed previously that individual EXO70 members may provide the exocyst with functional specificity to regulate cell type- or cargo-specific exocytosis, although direct evidence is not available.

Contributions of individual amino acid residues to the endogenous CLV3 function in shoot apical meristem maintenance in Arabidopsis.

As a peptide hormone, CLV3 restricts the stem cell number in shoot apical meristem (SAM) by interacting with CLV1/CLV2/CRN/RPK2 receptor complexes. To elucidate how the function of the CLV3 peptide in SAM maintenance is established at the amino acid (AA) level, alanine substitutions were performed by introducing point mutations to individual residues in the peptide-coding region of CLV3 and its flanking sequences. Constructs carrying such substitutions, expressed under the control of CLV3 regulatory elements, were transformed to the clv3-2 null mutant to evaluate their efficiencies in complementing its defects in SAMs in vivo.

EMBRYONIC FACTOR 19 encodes a pentatricopeptide repeat protein that is essential for the initiation of zygotic embryogenesis in Arabidopsis.

Early embryogenesis is the most fundamental developmental process in biology. Screening of ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS)-mutagenized populations of Arabidopsis thaliana led to the identification of a zygote-lethal mutant embryonic factor 19 (fac19) in which embryo development was arrested at the elongated zygote to octant stage. The number of endosperm nuclei decreased significantly in fac19 embryos.

Expression and functional analyses of EXO70 genes in Arabidopsis implicate their roles in regulating cell type-specific exocytosis.

During exocytosis, Golgi-derived vesicles are tethered to the target plasma membrane by a conserved octameric complex called the exocyst. In contrast to a single gene in yeast and most animals, plants have greatly increased number of EXO70 genes in their genomes, with functions very much unknown. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reactions were performed on all 23 EXO70 genes in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) to examine their expression at the organ level.