Draft genome sequence of the mulberry tree Morus notabilis

Human utilization of the mulberry–silkworm interaction started at least 5,000 years ago and greatly influenced world history through the Silk Road. Complementing the silkworm genome sequence, here we describe the genome of a mulberry species Morus notabilis. In the 330-Mb genome assembly, we identify 128 Mb of repetitive sequences and 29,338 genes, 60.8% of which are supported by transcriptome sequencing. Mulberry gene sequences appear to evolve ~3 times faster than other Rosales, perhaps facilitating the species’ spread worldwide. The mulberry tree is among a few eudicots but several Rosales that have not preserved genome duplications in more than 100 million years; however, a neopolyploid series found in the mulberry tree and several others suggest that new duplications may confer benefits. Five predicted mulberry miRNAs are found in the haemolymph and silk glands of the silkworm, suggesting interactions at molecular levels in the plant–herbivore relationship. The identification and analyses of mulberry genes involved in diversifying selection, resistance and protease inhibitor expressed in the laticifers will accelerate the improvement of mulberry plants

Phenotypic and Transcriptomic Analyses of Autotetraploid and Diploid Mulberry (Morus alba L.)

Autopolyploid plants and their organs are often larger than their diploid counterparts, which makes them attractive to plant breeders. Mulberry (Morus alba L.) is an important commercial woody plant in many tropical and subtropical areas. In this study, we obtained a series of autotetraploid mulberry plants resulting from a colchicine treatment. To evaluate the effects of genome duplications in mulberry, we compared the phenotypes and transcriptomes of autotetraploid and diploid mulberry trees. In the autotetraploids, the height, breast-height diameter, leaf size, and fruit size were larger than those of diploids. Transcriptome data revealed that of 21,229 expressed genes only 609 (2.87%) were differentially expressed between diploids and autotetraploids. Among them, 30 genes were associated with the biosynthesis and signal transduction of plant hormones, including cytokinin, gibberellins, ethylene, and auxin. In addition, 41 differentially expressed genes were involved in photosynthesis. These results enhance our understanding of the variations that occur in mulberry autotetraploids and will benefit future breeding work

Poisoning Effects of Alkali and Alkaline Earth Metal Doping on Selective Catalytic Reduction of NO with NH₃ over the Nb-Ce/Zr-PILC Catalysts

The poisoning effects of alkali metals (K and Na) and alkaline earth metals (Ca and Mg) on catalytic performance of the 2Nb4Ce/Zr-PILC catalyst for the selective catalytic reduction of NOx with NH3 (NH3-SCR) were investigated, and physicochemical properties of the catalysts were characterized by means of the X-ray diffraction XRD (XRD), Brunner−Emmet−Teller (BET), hydrogen temperature-programmed reduction (H2-TPR), X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), ammonia temperature-programmed desorption (NH3-TPD), and in situ diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (in situ DRIFTS) techniques. Doping of M (M = K, Na, Ca, and Mg) deactivated the 2Nb4Ce/Zr-PILC catalyst according to the sequence of 0.8 K > 0.8 Na > 0.8 Ca > 0.8 Mg (M/Ce molar ratio = 0.8). The characterization results showed that the decreases in redox ability, NH3 adsorption, Ce3+/Ce4+ atomic ratio, and amount of the chemisorbed oxygen (Oβ) were the important factors influencing catalytic activities of the alkali metal-and alkaline earth metal-doped samples. Consequently, compared with the Mg- and Ca-doped samples, doping of K caused the 2Nb4Ce/Zr-PILC sample to possess the lowest redox ability, NH3 adsorption, and amount of the Oβ species, which resulted in an obvious deactivation effect

Extracellular vesicles hybrid plasmid-loaded lipid nanovesicles for synergistic cancer immunotherapy

Combination immunotherapy of cancer vaccines with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) represents a promising therapeutic strategy for immunosuppressed and cold tumors. However, this strategy still faces challenges, including the limited therapeutic efficacy of cancer vaccines and immune-related adverse events associated with systematic delivery of ICIs. Herein, we demonstrate the antitumor immune response induced by outer membrane vesicle from Akkermansia muciniphila (Akk-OMV), which exhibites a favorable safety profile, highlighting the potential application as a natural and biocompatible self-adjuvanting vesicle. Utilizing tumor cell-derived exosome as an antigen source and Akk-OMV as a natural adjuvant, we construct a cancer vaccine formulation of extracellular vesicles hybrid lipid nanovesicles (Lipo@HEV) for enhanced prophylactic and therapeutic vaccination by promoting dendritic cell (DC) maturation in lymph node and activating cytotoxic T cell (CTL) response. The Lipo@HEV is further loaded with plasmid to enable gene therapy-mediated PD-L1 blockade upon peritumoral injection. Meanwhile, it penetrates into lymph node to initiate DC maturation and CTL activation, synergistically inhibiting the established tumor. The fabrication of extracellular vesicles hybrid plasmid-loaded lipid nanovesicles reveals a promising gene therapy-guided and vesicle-based hybrid system for therapeutic cancer vaccination and synergistic immunotherapy strategy

Identification and validation of reference genes for qRT-PCR analysis in mulberry (Morus alba L.).

Mulberry (Morus alba L.) is an important economic tree species in many countries. Quantitative real time PCR (qRT-PCR) has become a widely used method for gene expression studies in plants. A suitable reference gene is essential to ensure accurate and reliable results for qRT-PCR analyses. However, no reports describing the selection of reference genes have been published for mulberry. In this work, we evaluated the stability of twenty candidate reference genes in different plant tissues and under different stress conditions by qRT-PCR in mulberry using algorithms in two programs-geNorm and NormFinder. The results revealed that TUB2, UBI4, ACTIN3 and RPL4 were ranked as the most stable reference genes in the samples subsets, whereas EF1α4 and TUB3showed the least stability with both algorithms. To further validate the stability of the reference genes, the expression patterns of six genes of mulberry were analyzed by normalization with the selected reference genes. Our study will benefit future analyses of gene expression in mulberry

Rh-PIP2;1, a Rose Aquaporin Gene, Is Involved in Ethylene-Regulated Petal Expansion1[C][W][OA]

Aquaporins are water channel proteins that facilitate the passage of water through biological membranes and play a crucial role in plant growth. We showed that ethylene treatment significantly reduced petal size, inhibited expansion of petal abaxial subepidermal cells, and decreased petal water content in rose (Rosa hybrida ‘Samantha’). Here, we report the isolation of a plasma membrane aquaporin (PIP) gene, Rh-PIP2;1, and characterized its potential role in ethylene-inhibited petal expansion. Rh-PIP2;1 is mainly localized on the plasma membrane and belongs to the class 2 subfamily of PIP proteins. We show that Rh-PIP2;1 is an active water channel. The transcripts of Rh-PIP2;1 are highly abundant in petal epidermal cells, especially in the abaxial subepidermal cells. The expression of Rh-PIP2;1 is highly correlated with petal expansion and tightly down-regulated by ethylene. Furthermore, we demonstrate that in Rh-PIP2;1-silenced flowers, petal expansion was greatly inhibited and anatomical features of the petals were similar to those of ethylene-treated flowers. We argue that Rh-PIP2;1 plays an important role in petal cell expansion and that ethylene inhibits petal expansion of roses at least partially by suppressing Rh-PIP2;1 expression

Phenotypic and Genetic Variation in Morphophysiological Traits in Huanglongbing-Affected Mandarin Hybrid Populations

Huanglongbing (HLB) caused by ‘Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus’ (CLas) is the most costly disease for the global citrus industry. Currently, no effective tools have been found to control HLB. Most commercial citrus varieties are susceptible to HLB, though some citrus hybrid cultivars have reduced sensitivity to the disease. Citrus breeding populations contain a large diversity of germplasm, with thousands of unique genotypes exhibiting a broad range of phenotypes. Understanding phenotypic variation and genetic inheritance in HLB-affected mandarin hybrid populations are crucial for breeding tolerant citrus varieties. In this study, we assessed 448 diverse mandarin hybrids coming from 30 crosses, and 45 additional accessions. For HLB tolerance, we measured HLB severity visual score and CLas titers by qPCR. We also measured seven morphophysiological traits indirectly related to HLB tolerance with leaf area index (LAI), leaf area (LA), leaf mass per area (LMA), photosystem II parameters (Fv/Fo, Fv/Fm), and photochemical performance index (PIabs). By estimating the genetic variation in five half-sib families, we estimated the heritability of phenotypic traits and found a significant genetic effect on HLB visual score and photosynthesis parameters, which indicates opportunities for the genetic improvement of HLB tolerance. In addition, although it is easy to identify infected trees based on HLB symptomatic leaves, visually phenotyping whole trees can be difficult and inconsistent due to the interpersonal subjectivity of characterization. We investigated their relationships and found that LAI was highly correlated with HLB score, with correlation coefficients of r = 0.70 and r = 0.77 for the whole population and five half-sib families, respectively. Photochemical parameters showed significant correlation with HLB severity and responded differentially with the side of the canopy. Our study suggests that LAI and photochemical parameters could be used as a rapid and cost-effective method to evaluate HLB tolerance and inheritance in citrus breeding programs

Effect of plasma-activated lactic acid on microbiota composition and quality of puffer fish (Takifugu obscurus) fillets during chilled storage

Fresh puffer fish (Takifugu obscurus) are susceptible to microbial contamination and have a very short shelf-life of chilled storage. Hence, this study aimed to evaluate the effects of plasma-activated lactic acid (PALA) on microbiota composition and quality attributes of puffer fish fillets during chilled storage. The results showed that PALA treatment effectively reduced the growth of bacteria and attenuated changes in physicochemical indicators (total volatile basic nitrogen, pH value, K value, and biogenic amines) of puffer fish fillets. Additionally, insignificant changes were observed in lipid oxidation during the first 8 days (p > 0.05). Illumina-MiSeq high-throughput sequencing revealed that PALA effectively inhibited the growth of Pseudomonas in puffer fish fillets and maintained the diverse characteristics of the microbial community. In combination with sensory analysis, PALA extended the shelf life of puffer fish fillets for 4 days, suggesting that PALA could be considered a potential fish fillet preservation method