Induced formation of primordial germ cells from zebrafish blastomeres by germplasm factors.

The combination of genome editing and primordial germ cell (PGC) transplantation has enormous significance in the study of developmental biology and genetic breeding, despite its low efficiency due to limited number of donor PGCs. Here, we employ a combination of germplasm factors to convert blastoderm cells into induced PGCs (iPGCs) in zebrafish and obtain functional gametes either through iPGC transplantation or via the single blastomere overexpression of germplasm factors. Zebrafish-derived germplasm factors convert blastula cells of Gobiocypris rarus into iPGCs, and Gobiocypris rarus spermatozoa can be produced by iPGC-transplanted zebrafish.

Bioinspired Single-Atom Sites Enable Efficient Oxygen Activation for Switching Anodic/Cathodic Electrochemiluminescence.

Exploring advanced co-reaction accelerators with superior oxygen reduction activity that generate rich reactive oxygen species (ROS) has attracted great attention in boosting luminol-O electrochemiluminescence (ECL). However, tuning accelerators for efficient and selective catalytic O activation to switch anodic/cathodic ECL is very challenging. Herein, we report that enzyme-inspired Fe-based single-atom catalysts with axial N/C coordination structures (FeN , FeN © SACs) can generate specific ROS for cathodic/anodic ECL conversion.

A conserved brassinosteroid-mediated BES1-CERP-EXPA3 signaling cascade controls plant cell elongation.

Continuous plant growth is achieved by cell division and cell elongation. Brassinosteroids control cell elongation and differentiation throughout plant life. However, signaling cascades underlying BR-mediated cell elongation are unknown.

Cilia regulate meiotic recombination in zebrafish.

Meiosis is essential for evolution and genetic diversity in almost all sexual eukaryotic organisms. The mechanisms of meiotic recombination, such as synapsis, have been extensively investigated. However, it is still unclear whether signals from the cytoplasm or even from outside of the cell can regulate the meiosis process.

Single-Atom Iron Enables Strong Low-Triggering-Potential Luminol Cathodic Electrochemiluminescence.

The conventional cathodic electrochemiluminescence (ECL) always requires a more negative potential to trigger strong emission, which inevitably damages the bioactivity of targets and decreases the sensitivity and specificity. In this work, iron single-atom catalysts (Fe-N-C SACs) were employed as an efficient co-reaction accelerator for the first time to achieve the impressively cathodic emission of a luminol-HO ECL system at an ultralow potential. Benefiting from the distinct electronic structure, Fe-N-C SACs exhibit remarkable properties for the activation of HO to produce massive reactive oxygen species (ROS) under a negative scanning potential from 0 to -0.

Peroxymonosulfate Activation on Synergistically Enhanced Single-Atom Co/Co@C for Boosted Chemiluminescence of Tris(bipyridine) Ruthenium(II) Derivative.

Tris(bipyridine) ruthenium(II)-based luminophores have been well developed in the area of electrochemiluminescence, while their applications in chemiluminescence (CL) are rarely studied due to the poor luminous efficiency and complicated CL reaction. Herein, a novel tris(bipyridine) ruthenium(II)-based ternary CL system is proposed by introducing cobalt single atoms integrated with graphene-encapsulated cobalt nanoparticles (Co SAs/Co@C) and peroxymonosulfate (PMS) as advanced coreaction accelerator and promising coreactant, respectively. On the basis of the experimental results and density functional theory calculations, it is concluded that Co@C can synergistically modulate the adsorption behavior of PMS on Co SAs and then efficiently activate PMS to produce massive singlet oxygen for remarkable CL emission.

Iron Single-Atom Catalysts Boost Photoelectrochemical Detection by Integrating Interfacial Oxygen Reduction and Enzyme-Mimicking Activity.

The investigations on the generation, separation, and interfacial-redox-reaction processes of the photoinduced carriers are of paramount importance for realizing efficient photoelectrochemical (PEC) detection. However, the sluggish interfacial reactions of the photogenerated carriers, combined with the need for appropriate photoactive layers for sensing, remain challenges for the construction of advanced PEC platforms. Here, as a proof of concept, well-defined Fe single-atom catalysts (Fe SACs) were integrated on the surface of semiconductors, which amplified the PEC signals boosting oxygen reduction reaction.

Surrogate production of genome-edited sperm from a different subfamily by spermatogonial stem cell transplantation.

The surrogate reproduction technique, such as inter-specific spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) transplantation (SSCT), provides a powerful tool for production of gametes derived from endangered species or those with desirable traits. However, generation of genome-edited gametes from a different species or production of gametes from a phylogenetically distant species such as from a different subfamily, by SSCT, has not succeeded. Here, using two small cyprinid fishes from different subfamilies, Chinese rare minnow (gobiocypris rarus, for brief: Gr) and zebrafish (danio rerio), we successfully obtained Gr-derived genome-edited sperm in zebrafish by an optimized SSCT procedure.

Modulating Oxygen Reduction Behaviors on Nickel Single-Atom Catalysts to Probe the Electrochemiluminescence Mechanism at the Atomic Level.

Luminol-dissolved O electrochemiluminescence (ECL)-sensing platforms have been widely developed for sensitive and reliable detection, while their actual ECL mechanisms are still in controversy due to the involved multiple reactive oxygen species (ROS). Different from the structural complexity of nanomaterials, well-defined single-atom catalysts (SACs) as coreaction accelerators will provide great prospects for investigating the ECL mechanism at the atomic level. Herein, two carbon-supported nickel SACs with the active centers of Ni-N (Ni-N/C) and Ni-NO (Ni-NO/C) were synthesized as efficient coreaction accelerators to enhance the ECL signals of a luminol-dissolved O system.

FeC-Assisted Single Atomic Fe Sites for Sensitive Electrochemical Biosensing.

The rational construction of advanced sensing platforms to sensitively detect HO produced by living cells is one of the challenges in both physiological and pathological fields. Owing to the extraordinary catalytic performances and similar metal coordination to natural metalloenzymes, single atomic site catalysts (SASCs) with intrinsic peroxidase (POD)-like activity have shown great promise for HO detection. However, there still exists an obvious gap between them and natural enzymes because of the great challenge in rationally modulating the electronic and geometrical structures of central atoms.

Abundance of Early Embryonic Primordial Germ Cells Promotes Zebrafish Female Differentiation as Revealed by Lifetime Labeling of Germline.

Teleost sex differentiation largely depends on the number of undifferentiated germ cells. Here, we describe the generation and characterization of a novel transgenic zebrafish line, Tg(piwil1:egfp-UTRnanos3), which specifically labels the whole lifetime of germ cells, i.e.

The PIN gene family in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum): genome-wide identification and gene expression analyses during root development and abiotic stress responses.

Background: Cell elongation and expansion are significant contributors to plant growth and morphogenesis, and are often regulated by environmental cues and endogenous hormones. Auxin is one of the most important phytohormones involved in the regulation of plant growth and development and plays key roles in plant cell expansion and elongation. Cotton fiber cells are a model system for studying cell elongation due to their large size.

Night Shift Work and Breast Cancer Incidence: Three Prospective Studies and Meta-analysis of Published Studies.

Background: It has been proposed that night shift work could increase breast cancer incidence. A 2007 World Health Organization review concluded, mainly from animal evidence, that shift work involving circadian disruption is probably carcinogenic to humans. We therefore aimed to generate prospective epidemiological evidence on night shift work and breast cancer incidence.

Global surveillance of cancer survival 1995-2009: analysis of individual data for 25,676,887 patients from 279 population-based registries in 67 countries (CONCORD-2).

Background: Worldwide data for cancer survival are scarce. We aimed to initiate worldwide surveillance of cancer survival by central analysis of population-based registry data, as a metric of the effectiveness of health systems, and to inform global policy on cancer control.

Methods: Individual tumour records were submitted by 279 population-based cancer registries in 67 countries for 25·7 million adults (age 15-99 years) and 75,000 children (age 0-14 years) diagnosed with cancer during 1995-2009 and followed up to Dec 31, 2009, or later.

First-morning urinary melatonin and breast cancer risk in the Guernsey Study.

It has been hypothesized that suppressed nocturnal melatonin production is associated with an increased risk of breast cancer, but results from several small prospective studies of the association have been inconclusive. We examined the association between nocturnal melatonin and breast cancer risk in a case-control study nested within the Guernsey III Study, a British prospective cohort study (1977-2009). Concentrations of 6-sulfatoxymelatonin were measured in prediagnostic first-morning urine samples from 251 breast cancer cases and 727 matched controls.

Characteristics of the Million Women Study participants who have and have not worked at night.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to compare the characteristics of women who had and had not worked at night in terms of their risk factors for common disease, indicators of general health, social activities, employment, and sleep behavior.

Methods: The Million Women Study is a large prospective cohort study of women's health in the United Kingdom with 1.3 million women recruited during 1996-2001 (aged 50-64 years) through 66 National Health Service breast screening centers.