Cooperative condensation of RNA-DIRECTED DNA METHYLATION 16 splicing isoforms enhances heat tolerance in Arabidopsis.

Dissecting the mechanisms underlying heat tolerance is important for understanding how plants acclimate to heat stress. Here, we identify a heat-responsive gene in Arabidopsis thaliana, RNA-DIRECTED DNA METHYLATION 16 (RDM16), which encodes a pre-mRNA splicing factor. Knockout mutants of RDM16 are hypersensitive to heat stress, which is associated with impaired splicing of the mRNAs of 18 out of 20 HEAT SHOCK TRANSCRIPTION FACTOR (HSF) genes.

Causality between gut microbiota, immune cells, and breast cancer: Mendelian randomization analysis.

The association between gut microbiota (GM) and breast cancer (BC) has been studied. Nevertheless, the causal relationship between them and the potential mediating factors have not been clearly defined. Therefore, in this study, Mendelian randomization analysis (MR) was employed to explore the causal relationship between 473 GM and BC, as well as the mediating effect of potential immune cells.

The plant terpenes DMNT and TMTT function as signaling compounds that attract Asian corn borer (Ostrinia furnacalis) to maize plants.

During their co-evolution with herbivorous insects, plants have developed multiple defense strategies that resist pests, such as releasing a blend of herbivory-induced plant volatiles (HIPVs) that repel pests or recruit their natural enemies. However, the responses of insects to HIPVs in maize (Zea mays L.) are not well understood.

Loss-of-function of LIGULELESS1 activates the jasmonate pathway and promotes maize resistance to corn leaf aphids.

Corn leaf aphids (Rhopalosiphum maidis) are highly destructive pests of maize (Zea mays) that threaten growth and seed yield, but resources for aphid resistance are scarce. Here, we identified an aphid-resistant maize mutant, resistance to aphids 1 (rta1), which is allelic to LIGULELESS1 (LG1). We confirmed LG1's role in aphid resistance using the independent allele lg1-2, allelism tests and LG1 overexpression lines.

Polymer-Based Room-Temperature Phosphorescence Materials Exhibiting Emission Lifetimes up to 4.6 s Under Ambient Conditions.

The long-emission-lifetime nature of room-temperature phosphorescence (RTP) materials lays the foundation of their applications in diverse areas. Despite the advantage of mechanical property, processability and solvent dispersity, the emission lifetimes of polymer-based room-temperature phosphorescence materials remain not particularly long because of the labile nature of organic triplet excited states under ambient conditions. Specifically, ambient phosphorescence lifetime (τ) longer than 2 s and even 4 s have rarely been reported in polymer systems.

SISTER OF FCA physically associates with SKB1 to regulate flowering time in Arabidopsis thaliana.

Background: Proper flowering time is important for the growth and development of plants, and both too early and too late flowering impose strong negative influences on plant adaptation and seed yield. Thus, it is vitally important to study the mechanism underlying flowering time control in plants. In a previous study by the authors, genome-wide association analysis was used to screen the candidate gene SISTER OF FCA (SSF) that regulates FLOWERING LOCUS C (FLC), a central gene encoding a flowering suppressor in Arabidopsis thaliana.

Reporting guidelines for traditional Chinese medicine could be improved: a cross-sectional study.

Objectives: The aim of this study is to identify available reporting guidelines for traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), delineate their fundamental characteristics, assess the scientific rigor of their development process, and evaluate their dissemination.

Study Design And Setting: A search was conducted in Medline (via PubMed), China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), SinoMed, WANFANG DATA, and the EQUATOR Network to identify TCM reporting guidelines. A preprepared Excel database was used to extract information on the basic characteristics, development process, and dissemination information.

Prolonged myelin deficits contribute to neuron loss and functional impairments after ischaemic stroke.

Ischaemic stroke causes neuron loss and long-term functional deficits. Unfortunately, effective approaches to preserving neurons and promoting functional recovery remain unavailable. Oligodendrocytes, the myelinating cells in the CNS, are susceptible to oxygen and nutrition deprivation and undergo degeneration after ischaemic stroke.

Dynamic Virtual Fixture Generation Based on Intra-Operative 3D Image Feedback in Robot-Assisted Minimally Invasive Thoracic Surgery.

This paper proposes a method for generating dynamic virtual fixtures with real-time 3D image feedback to facilitate human-robot collaboration in medical robotics. Seamless shared control in a dynamic environment, like that of a surgical field, remains challenging despite extensive research on collaborative control and planning. To address this problem, our method dynamically creates virtual fixtures to guide the manipulation of a trocar-placing robot arm using the force field generated by point cloud data from an RGB-D camera.

The reporting checklist for Chinese patent medicine guidelines: RIGHT for CPM.

Existing reporting checklists lack the necessary level of detail and comprehensiveness to be used in guidelines on Chinese patent medicines (CPM). This study aims to develop a reporting guidance for CPM guidelines based on the Reporting Items of Practice Guidelines in Healthcare (RIGHT) statement. We extracted information from CPM guidelines, existing reporting standards for traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), and the RIGHT statement and its extensions to form the initial pool of reporting items for CPM guidelines.

Visualizing temperature inhomogeneity using thermo-responsive smart materials.

Despite the substantial progress made, the responsiveness of thermo-responsive materials upon various thermal fields is still restricted to monochromatic visualization with single-wavelength light emission. This stems from a poor understanding of the photophysical processes within the materials and the unvarying optical performance of luminescent centers' response to various ambient temperatures. Conventional techniques to assess the inhomogeneities of thermal fields can be time-consuming, require specialized equipment and suffer from inaccuracy due to the inevitable interference from background signals, especially at high temperature.

Optical magnetic combination method for suppressing the Rb polarization-induced magnetic gradient in Rb-Xe NMR co-magnetometers.

The Rb polarization-induced magnetic field gradient affects the Xe nuclear spin relaxation properties and degrades the long-term stability of the NMR co-magnetometers. This paper proposes a combination suppressing scheme, which uses the second-order magnetic field gradient coils to compensate for the Rb polarization-induced magnetic gradient under counter-propagating pump beams. Based on the theoretical simulation, we find that the spatial distribution of the Rb polarization-induced magnetic gradient and the magnetic field distribution generated by gradient coils are complementary.

The P-body component DECAPPING5 and the floral repressor SISTER OF FCA regulate FLOWERING LOCUS C transcription in Arabidopsis.

Flowering is the transition from vegetative to reproductive growth and is critical for plant adaptation and reproduction. FLOWERING LOCUS C (FLC) plays a central role in flowering time control, and dissecting its regulation mechanism provides essential information for crop improvement. Here, we report that DECAPPING5 (DCP5), a component of processing bodies (P-bodies), regulates FLC transcription and flowering time in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana).

Structural modification of (3E)-4,8-dimethyl-1,3,7-nontriene enhances its ability to kill Plutella xylostella insect pests.

Background: Plant secondary metabolites and their modified derivatives play an important role in the discovery and development of novel insecticides. The natural plant product (3E)-4,8-dimethyl-1,3,7-nontriene (DMNT) has been proven to be able to effectively repel and kill the lepidopteran insect pest Plutella xylostella.

Results: In this study, four oxygenated derivatives of DMNT were synthesized by allylic hydroxylation and subsequent etherification or esterification.

Combining quantitative trait locus mapping with multiomics profiling reveals genetic control of corn leaf aphid (Rhopalosiphum maidis) resistance in maize.

The corn leaf aphid (Rhopalosiphum maidis) is a major maize pest that frequently causes substantial yield losses. Exploring the genetic basis of resistance to aphids is important for improving maize yield and quality. Here, we used a maize recombinant inbred line population derived from two parents with different susceptibility to aphids, B73 (susceptible) and Abe2 (resistant), and performed quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping using aphid resistance scores as an indicator.

Inactivation of RPX1 in Arabidopsis confers resistance to Plutella xylostella through the accumulation of the homoterpene DMNT.

The lepidopteran crop pest Plutella xylostella causes severe constraints on Brassica cultivation. Here, we report a novel role for RPX1 (resistance to P. xylostella) in resistance to this pest in Arabidopsis thaliana.

Linkage mapping combined with GWAS revealed the genetic structural relationship and candidate genes of maize flowering time-related traits.

Background: Flowering time is an important agronomic trait of crops and significantly affects plant adaptation and seed production. Flowering time varies greatly among maize (Zea mays) inbred lines, but the genetic basis of this variation is not well understood. Here, we report the comprehensive genetic architecture of six flowering time-related traits using a recombinant inbred line (RIL) population obtained from a cross between two maize genotypes, B73 and Abe2, and combined with genome-wide association studies to identify candidate genes that affect flowering time.

A facile approach for hierarchical architectures of an enzyme-metal-organic framework biocatalyst with high activity and stability.

Enzyme-incorporated composites with hierarchical porous structures can lead to improved performance of hybrid biocatalysts. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have recently emerged as excellent biomineralizable materials for forming hybrid biocatalysts, offering superior performance for biocatalytic reactions. However, the small nanopores of MOFs significantly reduce the diffusion rates of small substrate molecules, hindering the contact between the inner active sites of an enzyme and the molecules, lowering the biocatalytic efficiency.

Preference Test of Larvae upon DMNT Treatment.

We describe a method to test the preference of insects in response to (3E)-4,8-dimethyl-1,3,7-nonatriene (DMNT). We use a device that includes a horizontal glass tube, two grooves (with activated carbon), air flow, rubber stoppers/tubes, transparent glass containers (optional), and a holder for the glass tube (optional). Equal amounts of activated carbon in the groove (removable) are placed at both ends to avoid air contamination.

Integrating GWAS, linkage mapping and gene expression analyses reveals the genetic control of growth period traits in rapeseed ( L.).

Background: is one of the most important oilseed crops, and also an important biofuel plant due to its low air pollution and renewability. Growth period are important traits that affect yield and are crucial for its adaptation to different environments in .

Results: To elucidate the genetic basis of growth period traits, genome-wide association analysis (GWAS) and linkage mapping were employed to detect the quantitative trait loci (QTL) for days to initial flowering (DIF), days to final flowering (DFF), flowering period (FP), maturity time (MT), and whole growth period (GP).

Genetic Mapping Combined with a Transcriptome Analysis to Screen for Candidate Genes Responsive to Abscisic Acid Treatment in Embryos During Seed Germination.

embryos contain precursor tissues for the leaves, stem, and root, as well as the cotyledons, and these precursor tissues play key roles in seed germination, seedling survival, and subsequent seedling growth. Abscisic acid (ABA) plays a prominent role in the inhibition of seed germination. The underlying molecular mechanisms of the embryo responses to ABA stress followed by inhibited seed germination have not been reported in to date.

Genome-wide exploration and characterization of miR172/euAP2 genes in Brassica napus L. for likely role in flower organ development.

Background: APETALA2-like genes encode plant-specific transcription factors, some of which possess one microRNA172 (miR172) binding site. The miR172 and its target euAP2 genes are involved in the process of phase transformation and flower organ development in many plants. However, the roles of miR172 and its target AP2 genes remain largely unknown in Brassica napus (B.

Genome-Wide Identification of the LAC Gene Family and Its Expression Analysis Under Stress in .

Lignin is an important biological polymer in plants that is necessary for plant secondary cell wall ontogenesis. The laccase () gene family catalyzes lignification and has been suggested to play a vital role in the plant kingdom. In this study, we identified 45 genes from the genome (), 25 genes from the genome () and 8 genes from the genome ().