The goose genome sequence leads to insights into the evolution of waterfowl and susceptibility to fatty liver

BACKGROUND: Geese were domesticated over 6,000 years ago, making them one of the first domesticated poultry. Geese are capable of rapid growth, disease resistance, and high liver lipid storage capacity, and can be easily fed coarse fodder. Here, we sequence and analyze the whole-genome sequence of an economically important goose breed in China and compare it with that of terrestrial bird species. RESULTS: A draft sequence of the whole-goose genome was obtained by shotgun sequencing, and 16,150 protein-coding genes were predicted. Comparative genomics indicate that significant differences occur between the goose genome and that of other terrestrial bird species, particularly regarding major histocompatibility complex, Myxovirus resistance, Retinoic acid-inducible gene I, and other genes related to disease resistance in geese. In addition, analysis of transcriptome data further reveals a potential molecular mechanism involved in the susceptibility of geese to fatty liver disease and its associated symptoms, including high levels of unsaturated fatty acids and low levels of cholesterol. The results of this study show that deletion of the goose lep gene might be the result of positive selection, thus allowing the liver to adopt energy storage mechanisms for long-distance migration. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first report describing the complete goose genome sequence and contributes to genomic resources available for studying aquatic birds. The findings in this study are useful not only for genetic breeding programs, but also for studying lipid metabolism disorders. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13059-015-0652-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Au-ZnO hybrid nanoflowers, nanomultipods and nanopyramids: one-pot reaction synthesis and photocatalytic properties

Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities of China [2011121003]; National Basic Research Program of China [2012CB933103]; National Outstanding Youth Science Foundation of China [50825101]; National Natural Science Foundation of China [51171157, 51171158]The preparation of noble metal-semiconductor hybrid nanocrystals with controlled morphologies has received intensive interest in recent years. In this study, facile one-pot reactions have been developed for the synthesis of Au-ZnO hybrid nanocrystals with different interesting morphologies, including petal-like and urchin-like nanoflowers, nanomultipods and nanopyramids. In the synthesis strategy, oleylamine-containing solution serves as the reaction medium, and the in situ generated Au seeds play an important role in the subsequently induced growth of ZnO nanocrystals. With the aid of several surfactants, hybrid nanocrystals with different morphologies that have considerable influences on their optical and photocatalytic activities are readily achieved. Through high-resolution transmission electron microscopy measurements, an observed common orientation relationship between ZnO and Au is that ZnO nanocrystals prefer to grow with their polar {001} facets on the {111} facets of Au nanocrystals, and well-defined interfaces are evident. Surface plasmon resonance bands of Au with different positions are observed in the UV-vis spectra, and the UV and visible emissions of ZnO are found to be dramatically reduced. Finally, the as-prepared Au-ZnO nanocrystals exhibit excellent photocatalytic activity for the photodegradation of rhodamine B compared with pure ZnO nanocrystals. The Au-ZnO hybrid nanopyramids show the highest catalytic efficiency, which is correlated with the exposed crystal facets, crystallinity and the formation of hybrid nanostructures. The as-prepared Au-ZnO hybrid nanocrystals are expected to find diverse potential applications in the fields such as photocatalysis, solar energy conversion, sensing and biological detection

Shape-related optical and catalytic properties of wurtzite-type CoO nanoplates and nanorods

National Basic Research Program of China [2012CB933103]; National Outstanding Youth Science Foundation of China [50825101]; National Natural Science Foundation of China [51171157, 51171158]In this paper, we report the anisotropic optical and catalytic properties of wurtzite-type hexagonal CoO (h-CoO) nanocrystals, an unusual nanosized indirect semiconductor material. h-CoO nanoplates and nanorods with a divided morphology have been synthesized via facile solution methods. The employment of flash-heating and surfactant tri-n-octylphosphine favors the formation of plate-like morphology, whereas the utilization of cobalt stearate as a precursor is critical for the synthesis of nanorods. Structural analyses indicate that the basal plane of the nanoplates is (001) face and the growth direction of the nanorods is along the c axis. Moreover, the UV-vis absorption spectra, the corresponding energy gap and the catalytic properties are found to vary with the crystal shape and the dimensions of the as-prepared h-CoO nanocrystals. Furthermore, remarkable catalytic activities for H-2 generation from the hydrolysis of alkaline NaBH4 solutions have been observed for the as-prepared h-CoO nanocrystals. The calculated Arrhenius activation energies show a decreasing trend with increasing extension degree along the direction, which is in agreement with the variation of the charge-transfer energy gap. Finally the maximum hydrogen generation rate of the h-CoO nanoplates exceeds most of the reported values of transition metal or noble metal containing catalysts performing in the same reaction system, which makes them a low-cost alternative to commonly used noble metal catalysts in H-2 generation from the hydrolysis of borohydrides, and might find potential applications in the field of green energy

A facile approach to fabrication of well-dispersed NiO-ZnO composite hollow microspheres

A novel, facile and template-free approach was developed for the fabrication of amorphous zinc-nickel citrate hollow microspheres and crystalline well-dispersed NiO-ZnO composite hollow microspheres. In this approach, amorphous zinc-nickel citrate hollow microspheres were prepared through a simple chemical reaction and with room temperature ageing at nickel nitrate solution. The zinc-nickel citrate hollow microspheres have an average size of about 1.4 μm. The average thickness of the shell is about 300 nm. The content of Ni in the zinc-nickel citrate can be simply adjusted by changing the ageing time. The well-dispersed NiO-ZnO composite hollow microspheres can be prepared via the perfect morphology inheritance of the zinc-nickel citrate hollow microspheres, by calcination at 500 °C for 2 h. The optical absorption of the samples can extend into the visible region after the loading of NiO. The NiO-ZnO composite hollow microspheres with the high content of NiO exhibit the highest photocatalytic activity for the degradation of different organic dyes including Rhodamine-B, methylene blue and methyl orange under UV irradiation, which might be ascribed to their highest separation efficiency of photogenerated electron-hole pairs. In addition, these NiO-ZnO composite photocatalysts can be used repeatedly without a significant decrease of the photocatalytic activity under UV irradiation. ? 2013 The Royal Society of Chemistry

Injection synthesis of Ni-Cu@Au-Cu nanowires with tunable magnetic and plasmonic properties

National Basic Research Program of China [2012CB933103]; National Outstanding Youth Science Foundation of China [50825101]; National Natural Science Foundation of China [51171157, 51171158]A facile nonaqueous injection method has been developed for the construction of one-dimensional nanostructure consisting of a magnetic alloy (Ni-Cu) core and a plasmonic alloy (Au-Cu) shell. The obtained Ni-Cu@Au-Cu nanowires exhibit tunable optical and magnetic properties

The potential mechanism of Aidi injection against neuroblastoma—an investigation based on network pharmacology analysis

Background: Aidi injection, a classic traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) formula, has been used on a broader scale in treating a variety of cancers. In this study, we aimed to explore the potential anti-tumor effects of Aidi injection in the treatment of neuroblastoma (NB) using network pharmacology (NP).Methods: To elucidate the anti-NB mechanism of Aidi injection, an NP-based approach and molecular docking validation were employed. The compounds and target genes were collected from the Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology (TCMSP) database and Bioinformatics Analysis Tool for Molecular mechANism of Traditional Chinese Medicine (BATMAN-TCM) database. The protein–protein interaction network was constructed using the STRING database. clusterProfiler (R package) was utilized to annotate the bioinformatics of hub target genes. The gene survival analysis was performed on R2, a web-based genomic analysis application. iGEMDOCK was used for molecular docking validation, and GROMACS was utilized to validate molecular docking results. Furthermore, we investigated the anticancer effects of gomisin B and ginsenoside Rh2 on human NB cells using a cell viability assay. The Western blot assay was used to validate the protein levels of target genes in gomisin B- and ginsenoside Rh2-treated NB cells.Results: A total of 2 critical compounds with 16 hub target genes were identified for treating NB. All 16 hub genes could potentially influence the survival of NB patients. The top three genes (EGFR, ESR1, and MAPK1) were considered the central hub genes from the drug–compound–hub target gene–pathway network. The endocrine resistance and estrogen signaling pathways were identified as the therapeutic pathways using the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis. Gomisin B and ginsenoside Rh2 showed a good binding ability to the target protein in molecular docking. The results of cell experiments showed the anti-NB effect of gomisin B and ginsenoside Rh2. In addition, the administration of gomisin B over-regulated the expression of ESR1 protein in MYCN-amplified NB cells.Conclusion: In the present study, we investigated the potential pharmacological mechanisms of Aidi against NB and revealed the anti-NB effect of gomisin B, providing clinical evidence of Aidi in treating NB and establishing baselines for further research

Circular RNA ame_circ_2015 Function as microRNA Sponges in Regulating Egg-Laying of Honeybees (<i>Apis mellifera</i>)

Honeybees (Apis mellifera) are critical to maintaining ecological balance and are important pollinators. The oviposition behavior in honeybees is important and complex. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are found to form circRNA-miRNA crosstalk and play important roles in reproduction processes. Here, dual luciferase reporter was used to confirm the crosstalk between ame_circ_2015 and ame_miR-14-3p. Functional experiments in vitro and in vivo were performed to investigate the biological functions of ame_circ_2015 in egg-laying of queens. The results showed that ame_circ_2015 directly target ame_miR-14-3p, and the expression of ame_circ_2015 was negatively correlated with ame_miR-14-3p expression. Overexpression results showed that ame_circ_2015 promoted the number of eggs laid and knockdown of ame_circ_2015 suppressed the number of eggs laid. It demonstrates that up-regulated ame_circ_2015 promotes the number of eggs laid by sponging ame_miR-14-3p. The study will provide information towards a better understanding of circRNA-miRNA crosstalk in egg-laying in honeybees