Long noncoding RNA transcriptome analysis reveals novel lncRNAs in Morus alba 'Yu-711' response to drought stress.

Drought stress has been a key environmental factor affecting plant growth and development. The plant genome is capable of producing long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs). To better understand white mulberry (Morus alba L.

Tannin Supplementation Improves Oocyte Cytoplasmic Maturation and Subsequent Embryo Development in Pigs.

To investigate the effects of tannins (TA) on porcine oocyte maturation (IVM), different concentrations of TA (0, 1, 10 and 100 μg/mL) were supplemented with a maturation medium and the COCs and subsequent embryonic development were examined. The results showed that 10 µg/mL TA significantly improved the cumulus expansion index (CEI), cumulus-expansion-related genes (, , , and ) expression and blastocyst formation rates after parthenogenetic activation (PA), fertilization (IVF) and somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) compared to the control groups, but not oocyte nuclear maturation. Nevertheless, 10 µg/mL TA dramatically enhanced the mRNA expression of oocyte-development-related genes (, , and ), GSH, ATP, SOD1, PGC1α, BMP15, GDF9 and CDC2 levels and reduced intracellular ROS level in porcine oocytes.

The Anti-Inflammatory Effects of a Yin Zhi Huang Soup in an Experimental Autoimmune Prostatitis Rat Model.

The present study aimed to investigate the therapeutic effects of the Chinese herbal medicine Yin Zhi Huang soup (YZS) in an experimental autoimmune prostatitis (EAP) rat model. In total, 48 rats were randomly divided into the following four groups ( = 12/group): saline group, pathological model group, Qianlietai group, and YZS group. We determined the average wet weight of the prostate tissue, the ratio of the wet weight of the prostate tissue to body weight, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-) levels in the blood serum, the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) in the rats' prostate tissues, and the pathological changes in the prostate tissue using light microscopy.

Pilot study of large-scale production of mutant pigs by ENU mutagenesis.

N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea (ENU) mutagenesis is a powerful tool to generate mutants on a large scale efficiently, and to discover genes with novel functions at the whole-genome level in flies, zebrafish and mice, but it has never been tried in large model animals. We describe a successful systematic three-generation ENU mutagenesis screening in pigs with the establishment of the Chinese Swine Mutagenesis Consortium. A total of 6,770 G1 and 6,800 G3 pigs were screened, 36 dominant and 91 recessive novel pig families with various phenotypes were established.

Synthesis of in-plane and stacked graphene/hexagonal boron nitride heterostructures by combining with ion beam sputtering deposition and chemical vapor deposition.

Graphene/hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) heterostructures have attracted a great deal of attention in recent years due to their unique and complementary properties for use in a wide range of potential applications. However, it still remains a challenge to synthesize large-area high quality samples by a scalable growth method. In this work, we present the synthesis of both in-plane and stacked graphene/h-BN heterostructures on Cu foils by sequentially depositing h-BN via ion beam sputtering deposition (IBSD) and graphene with chemical vapor deposition (CVD).