Structural and Thermodynamic Analyses of the Complexation of Pr(III), Nd(III), and Eu(III) with Lactate for Simulating the TALSPEAK Process.

The complexation of Pr(III), Nd(III), and Eu(III) with lactic acid/lactate (HA/A) in aqueous solution was reinvestigated using spectroscopic and potentiometric titrations. In addition to the well-confirmed 1:1, 1:2, and 1:3 complexes (LnA, LnA , and LnA), more attention was given to the arguable 1:4 species (LnA ) previously reported. With spectroscopic methods, the LnA species was clearly identified in aqueous solutions, and the capability and limitation of the potentiometric method were evaluated and discussed.

Genome-wide association study reveals candidate genes for pollution excreta traits in pigs.

Excreta traits comprise a very important characteristic in breeding that have been neglected for a long time. With the growth of intensive pig farming, plenty of environment problems have been raised, and people have begun to pay attention to pig excreta behaviors from genetics and breeding perspectives. However, the genetic architecture of excreta traits remains unclear.

Comprehensive Analysis of the lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA Regulatory Network for Intramuscular Fat in Pigs.

Intramuscular fat (IMF) is an essential trait closely related to meat quality. The IMF trait is a complex quantitative trait that is regulated by multiple genes. In order to better understand the process of IMF and explore the key factors affecting IMF deposition, we identified differentially expressed mRNA, miRNA, and lncRNA in the muscle (LD) between Songliao Black (SL) pigs and Landrace pigs.

Structural basis for the helical filament formation of Escherichia coli glutamine synthetase.

Escherichia coli glutamine synthetase (EcGS) spontaneously forms a dodecamer that catalytically converts glutamate to glutamine. EcGS stacks with other dodecamers to create a filament-like polymer visible under transmission electron microscopy. Filamentous EcGS is induced by environmental metal ions.

Characterization of Embryonic Skin Transcriptome in at Three Feather Follicles Developmental Stages.

In order to enrich the genome and identify the gene expression profiles of primary and secondary feather follicles development, transcriptome assembly of skin tissues was established by analyzing three developmental stages at embryonic day 14, 18, and 28 (E14, E18, E28). Sequencing output generated 436,730,608 clean reads from nine libraries and assembled into 56,301 unigenes. There were 2,298, 9,423 and 12,559 unigenes showing differential expression in three stages respectively.

Transcriptome analysis of miRNA and mRNA in the livers of pigs with highly diverged backfat thickness.

Fat deposition is very important in pig production, and its mechanism is not clearly understood. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play critical roles in fat deposition and energy metabolism. In the current study, we investigated the mRNA and miRNA transcriptome in the livers of Landrace pigs with extreme backfat thickness to explore miRNA-mRNA regulatory networks related to lipid deposition and metabolism.

Comparative adipose transcriptome analysis digs out genes related to fat deposition in two pig breeds.

Fatness traits are important in pigs because of their implications for fattening efficiency, meat quality, reproductive performance and immunity. Songliao black pigs and Landrace pigs show important differences in production and meat quality traits, including fatness and muscle growth. Therefore, we used a high-throughput massively parallel RNA-seq approach to identify genes differentially expressed in backfat tissue between these two breeds (six pigs in each).

Transcriptome Analysis of Landrace Pig Subcutaneous Preadipocytes during Adipogenic Differentiation.

Fat deposition in pigs, which significantly contributes to meat quality, fattening efficiency, reproductive performance, and immunity, is critically affected by preadipocyte adipogenic differentiation. We elucidated adipogenesis in pigs using transcriptome analysis. Preadipocytes from subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) of Landrace piglets were differentiated into adipocytes in vitro.

De Novo Assembly and Comparative Transcriptome Profiling of and Geese Species' Embryonic Skin Feather Follicles.

Geese feather production and the quality of downy feathers are additional economically important traits in the geese industry. However, little information is available about the molecular mechanisms fundamental to feather formation and the quality of feathers in geese. This study conducted de novo transcriptome sequencing analysis of two related geese species using the Illumina 4000 platform to determine the genes involved in embryonic skin feather follicle development.

The atomic structures of shrimp nodaviruses reveal new dimeric spike structures and particle polymorphism.

Shrimp nodaviruses, including (PvNV) and nodaviruses (MrNV), cause white-tail disease in shrimps, with high mortality. The viral capsid structure determines viral assembly and host specificity during infections. Here, we show cryo-EM structures of  = 3 and  = 1 PvNV-like particles (PvNV-LPs), crystal structures of the protrusion-domains (P-domains) of PvNV and MrNV, and the crystal structure of the ∆N-ARM-PvNV shell-domain (S-domain) in  = 1 subviral particles.

Structural insights into the electron/proton transfer pathways in the quinol:fumarate reductase from Desulfovibrio gigas.

The membrane-embedded quinol:fumarate reductase (QFR) in anaerobic bacteria catalyzes the reduction of fumarate to succinate by quinol in the anaerobic respiratory chain. The electron/proton-transfer pathways in QFRs remain controversial. Here we report the crystal structure of QFR from the anaerobic sulphate-reducing bacterium Desulfovibrio gigas (D.

Differences in gut microbiota composition in finishing Landrace pigs with low and high feed conversion ratios.

The goal of this study was to evaluate the microbial communities in the gut and feces from female finishing Landrace pigs with high and low feed conversion ratio (FCR) by 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. Many potential biomarkers can distinguish between high and low FCR groups in the duodenum, ileum, cecum, colon, and rectum, according to linear discriminant analysis effect sizes. The relative abundance of microbes were tested by Mann-Whitney test between the high and low FCR groups in different organs: Campylobacter, Prevotella and Sphaerochaeta were different in the duodenum (P < 0.

Differentially expressed genes in the caecal and colonic mucosa of Landrace finishing pigs with high and low food conversion ratios.

The feed conversion ratio (FCR) is an essential economic trait for pig production, and is directly related to feed efficiency. Studies identifying the differential expression of functional genes involved in biological and molecular mechanisms in the intestine in relation to growth performance are rare. In this study, RNA-Seq was used to identify transcriptomes in caecal and colonic mucosal tissues in order to determine the differential expression of genes from two full-sibling pairs and two half-sibling pairs of Landrace finishing pigs with opposing FCR phenotypes.

Metagenomic Analysis of Cecal Microbiome Identified Microbiota and Functional Capacities Associated with Feed Efficiency in Landrace Finishing Pigs.

Feed efficiency (FE) appears to vary even within closely related pigs, and may be partly affected by the diversity in the composition and function of gut microbes. To investigate the components and functional differences of gut microbiota of low and high FE pigs, high throughput sequencing and metagenomics were performed on pig cecal contents. Pigs were selected in pairs with low and high feed conversion ratio.

Identification of genes for controlling swine adipose deposition by integrating transcriptome, whole-genome resequencing, and quantitative trait loci data.

Backfat thickness is strongly associated with meat quality, fattening efficiency, reproductive performance, and immunity in pigs. Fat storage and fatty acid synthesis mainly occur in adipose tissue. Therefore, we used a high-throughput massively parallel sequencing approach to identify transcriptomes in adipose tissue, and whole-genome differences from three full-sibling pairs of pigs with opposite (high and low) backfat thickness phenotypes.

Integration of transcriptome and whole genomic resequencing data to identify key genes affecting swine fat deposition.

Fat deposition is highly correlated with the growth, meat quality, reproductive performance and immunity of pigs. Fatty acid synthesis takes place mainly in the adipose tissue of pigs; therefore, in this study, a high-throughput massively parallel sequencing approach was used to generate adipose tissue transcriptomes from two groups of Songliao black pigs that had opposite backfat thickness phenotypes. The total number of paired-end reads produced for each sample was in the range of 39.

Genome-wide copy number variations inferred from SNP genotyping arrays using a Large White and Minzhu intercross population.

Copy number variations (CNVs) are one of the main contributors to genetic diversity in animals and are broadly distributed in the genomes of swine. Investigating the performance and evolutionary impacts of pig CNVs requires comprehensive knowledge of their structure and function within and between breeds. In the current study, 4 different programs (i.

Genome-wide association study of porcine hematological parameters in a Large White × Minzhu F2 resource population.

Hematological traits, which are important indicators of immune function in animals, have been commonly examined as biomarkers of disease and disease severity in humans and animals. Genome-wide significant quantitative trait loci (QTLs) provide important information for use in breeding programs of animals such as pigs. QTLs for hematological parameters (hematological traits) have been detected in pig chromosomes, although these are often mapped by linkage analysis to large intervals making identification of the underlying mutation problematic.

Genome-wide association analysis of meat quality traits in a porcine Large White × Minzhu intercross population.

Pork quality is an economically important trait and one of the main selection criteria for breeding in the swine industry. In this genome-wide association study (GWAS), 455 pigs from a porcine Large White × Minzhu intercross population were genotyped using the Illumina PorcineSNP60K Beadchip, and phenotyped for intramuscular fat content (IMF), marbling, moisture, color L*, color a*, color b* and color score in the longissimus muscle (LM). Association tests between each trait and the SNPs were performed via the Genome Wide Rapid Association using the Mixed Model and Regression-Genomic Control (GRAMMAR-GC) approach.

High-throughput identification of antibacterials against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and the transglycosylase.

To identify new transglycosylase inhibitors with potent anti-methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) activities, a high-throughput screening against Staphylococcus aureus was conducted to look for antibacterial cores in our 2M compound library that consists of natural products, proprietary collection, and synthetic molecules. About 3600 hits were identified from the primary screening and the subsequent confirmation resulted in a total of 252 compounds in 84 clusters which showed anti-MRSA activities with MIC values as low as 0.1 μg/ml.

Combinatorial approach toward synthesis of small molecule libraries as bacterial transglycosylase inhibitors.

The development of iminocyclitol-based small molecule libraries against a bacterial TGase is described. An iminocyclitol was conjugated with a pyrophosphate mimic using either a 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition or reductive amination reaction, which was then condensed with a variety of lipophilic carboxylic acids in an amide bond coupling to generate a desired molecular library. With assistance of microtiter plate-based combinatorial chemistry and in situ screening, a potential inhibitor, the first potent iminocyclitol-based inhibitor against bacterial TGases was efficiently developed.

Synthesis and evaluation of a new fluorescent transglycosylase substrate: lipid II-based molecule possessing a dansyl-C20 polyprenyl moiety.

The preparation of a novel fluorescent lipid II-based substrate for transglycosylases (TGases) is described. This substrate has characteristic structural features including a shorter lipid chain, a fluorophore tag at the end of the lipid chain rather than on the peptide chain, and no labeling with a radioactive atom. This fluorescent substrate is readily utilized in TGase activity assays to characterize TGases and also to evaluate the activities of TGase inhibitors.