Characterization of a Weak Allele of Zebrafish cloche Mutant

Hematopoiesis is a complicated and dynamic process about which the molecular mechanisms remain poorly understood. Danio rerio (zebrafish) is an excellent vertebrate system for studying hematopoiesis and developmental mechanisms. In the previous study, we isolated and identified a cloche172 (clo172) mutant, a novel allele compared to the original cloche (clo) mutant, through using complementation test and initial mapping. Here, according to whole mount in-situ hybridization, we report that the endothelial cells in clo172 mutant embryos, although initially developed, failed to form the functional vascular system eventually. In addition, further characterization indicates that the clo172 mutant exhibited weaker defects instead of completely lost in primitive erythroid cells and definitive hematopoietic cells compared with the clos5 mutant. In contrast, primitive myeloid cells were totally lost in clo172 mutant. Furthermore, these reappeared definitive myeloid cells were demonstrated to initiate from the remaining hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) in clo172 mutant, confirmed by the dramatic decrease of lyc in clo172runx1w84x double mutant. Collectively, the clo172 mutant is a weak allele compared to the clos5 mutant, therefore providing a model for studying the early development of hematopoietic and vascular system, as well as an opportunity to further understand the function of the cloche gene

Competing Weak Localization and Weak Antilocalization in Ultrathin Topological Insulators

We demonstrate evidence of a surface gap opening in topological insulator (TI) thin films of (Bi_(0.57)Sb_(0.43))_(2)Te_3 below six quintuple layers through transport and scanning tunneling spectroscopy measurements. By effective tuning the Fermi level via gate-voltage control, we unveil a striking competition between weak localization and weak antilocalization at low magnetic fields in nonmagnetic ultrathin films, possibly owing to the change of the net Berry phase. Furthermore, when the Fermi level is swept into the surface gap of ultrathin samples, the overall unitary behaviors are revealed at higher magnetic fields, which are in contrast to the pure WAL signals obtained in thicker films. Our findings show an exotic phenomenon characterizing the gapped TI surface states and point to the future realization of quantum spin Hall effect and dissipationless TI-based applications

Targeting mitophagy for depression amelioration: a novel therapeutic strategy

Major depressive disorder is a global psychiatric condition characterized by persistent low mood and anhedonia, which seriously jeopardizes the physical and mental well-being of affected individuals. While various hypotheses have been proposed to explicate the etiology of depression, the precise pathogenesis and effective treatment of this disorder remain elusive. Mitochondria, as the primary organelles responsible for cellular energy production, possess the ability to meet the essential energy demands of the brain. Research indicated that the accumulation of damaged mitochondria is associated with the onset of depression. Mitophagy, a type of cellular autophagy, specifically targets and removes excess or damaged mitochondria. Emerging evidence demonstrated that mitophagy dysfunction was involved in the progression of depression, and several pharmacological interventions that stimulating mitophagy exerted excellent antidepressant actions. We provided an overview of updated advancements on the regulatory mechanism of mitophagy and the mitophagy abnormality in depressed patients and animals, as well as in cell models of depression. Meanwhile, various therapeutic strategies to restore mitophagy for depression alleviation were also discussed in this review

The complete chloroplast genome sequence of Cornus Alba L. (Cornaceae)

Cornus alba has been used as antiphlogistic, hemostatic and diuretic treatments in Korea, and which is one of the most important ornamental shrubs in China. Here, we reported the complete chloroplast genome sequence of C. alba. The size of the chloroplast genome is 158,451 bp in length, including a large single copy region (LSC) of 87,778 bp, a small single copy region (SSC) of 18,927 bp, and a pair of inverted repeated regions of 25,873 bp. The C. alba chloroplast genome encodes 132 genes, including 85 protein coding genes, 38 tRNA genes, and 8 rRNA genes. Phylogenetic tree showed that C. alba with the species of C. macrophylla and C. sanguinea formed a strongly supported clade

Characterization of the complete chloroplast genome of Lonicera tatarica L. (Caprifoliaceae)

Lonicera tatarica L. is an excellent landscaping shrub with high ornamental value. Here, we report the complete chloroplast genome sequence of L. tatarica. The size of the chloroplast genome is 154,675 bp in length, including a large single copy region (LSC) of 88,361 bp, a small single copy region (SSC) of 18,750 bp, and a pair of inverted repeated regions of 23,782 bp. The L. tatarica chloroplast genome encodes 131 genes, including 85 protein-coding, 38 tRNA, and 8 rRNA genes. Phylogenetic analysis fully resolved L. tatarica in a clade with L. japonica, L. confusa, and L. maximowiczii. These data provide a useful resource when studying the genetic diversity of L. tatarica

The complete chloroplast genome of Achyranthes bidentata Blume

Achyranthes bidentata is a popular Chinese medicine, that has its place in the treatment of spasm, osteodynia of the lumbar region and knees. The complete chloroplast (cp) genome of A. bidentata was determined. The complete cp genome is 151,543 bp in length and includes a large single-copy (LSC) region of 83,922 bp, a small single-copy (SSC) region of 17,251 bp, and a pair of inverted repeat regions (IRs) of 25,185 bp. It encodes 131 genes, including 86 protein-coding genes, eight rRNAs, and 37 tRNAs. Phylogenetic analysis indicates that four samples of A. bidentata formed a clade with a 100% bootstrap value

Error-bounded and Number-bounded Approximate Spatial Query for Interactive Visualization

In the big data era, an enormous amount of spatial and spatiotemporal data are generated every day. However, spatial query result sets that satisfy a query condition are very large, sometimes over hundreds or thousands of terabytes. Interactive visualization of big geospatial data calls for continuous query requests, and large query results prevent visual efficiency. Furthermore, traditional methods based on random sampling or line simplification are not suitable for spatial data visualization with bounded errors and bound vertex numbers. In this paper, we propose a vertex sampling method—the Balanced Douglas Peucker (B-DP) algorithm—to build hierarchical structures, where the order and weights of vertices are preserved in binary trees. Then, we develop query processing algorithms with bounded errors and bounded numbers, where the vertices are retrieved by binary trees’ breadth-first-searching (BFS) with a maximum-error-first (MEF) queue. Finally, we conduct an experimental study with OpenStreetMap (OSM) data to determine the effectiveness of our query method in interactive visualization. The results show that the proposed approach can markedly reduce the query results’ size and maintain high accuracy, and its performance is robust against the data volume

The complete chloroplast genome of Verbascum chinense (L.) Santapau

Verbascum chinense is a perennial plant in the Scrophulariaceae family that is traditionally used as sedative, astringent, febrifuge, and for skin eruptions. Here, we determined the complete chloroplast(cp) genome sequence for V. chinense using genome skimming sequencing. The cp genome was 153,618 bp and consisted of a large single copy (LSC) region (84,834 bp), a small single copy (SSC) region (17,884 bp), and two inverted repeats (IRs) (25,450 bp). It encodes 114 unique genes, including 80 protein-coding genes, four rRNAs, and 30 tRNAs. Phylogenetic analysis indicates that V. chinense exhibits a closer relationship with V. phoeniceum rather than Scrophularia

The First Genetic Map in Sweet Osmanthus (Osmanthus fragrans Lour.) Using Specific Locus Amplified Fragment Sequencing

Osmanthus fragrans is an ornamental plant of substantial commercial value, and no genetic linkage maps of this species have previously been reported. Specific-locus amplified fragment sequencing (SLAF-seq) is a recently developed technology that allows massive single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) to be identified and high-resolution genotyping. In our current research, we generated the first genetic map of O. fragrans using SLAF-seq, which is composed with 206.92 M paired-end reads and 173,537 SLAF markers. Among total 90,715 polymorphic SLAF markers, 15,317 polymorphic SLAFs could be used for genetic map construction. The integrated map contained 14,189 high quality SLAFs that were grouped in 23 genetic linkage groups, with a total length of 2962.46 cM and an average distance of 0.21 cM between two adjacent markers. In addition, 23,664 SNPs were identified from the mapped markers. As far as we know, this is the first of the genetic map of O. fragrans. Our results are further demonstrate that SLAF-seq is a very effective method for developing markers and constructing high-density linkage maps. The SNP markers and the genetic map reported in this study should be valuable resource in future research