High-Quality Genome Resource of the Pathogen of Botryosphaeria dothidea Causing Kiwifruit Soft Rot

Kiwifruit soft rot caused by the fungal pathogen Botryosphaeria dothidea is a serious disease in kiwifruit-growing regions worldwide. In this study, we reported the high-quality genome sequence of the highly virulent B. dothidea strain PTZ1 using PacBio Sequel techniques. In total, 100.87 million clean reads with mean read length of 9,871 bp were obtained. De novo assembly resulted in 28 contigs with a total size of 44.45 Mb. The GC content of the genome was 54.59%. Furthermore, genes related to specific virulence of the strain were identified, including 259 fungal cytochrome P450s, 550 carbohydrate-active enzymes, 860 secretory proteins, and 1,182 pathogen–host interactions related proteins. The genome is a useful resource to serve as a reference to facilitate the analysis of B. dothidea isolates and comparative genomic studies of the necrotroph pathogens.[Graphic: see text] Copyright © 2021 The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license

Self-Assembled Graphene Film as Low Friction Solid Lubricant in Macroscale Contact

Promoted by the demand for solid lubricants, graphene has been proved to be a promising material for potential applications in reducing friction and wear. Here, a novel lubricating system where graphene sliding against graphene is developed to achieve low friction in macroscale contact. And the large area graphene film used here were prepared by a unique self-assembly technique based on Marangoni effect. Low friction coefficient of about 0.05 is obtained, and it is demonstrated that the film thickness, applied normal load and annealing process all have important influences on the tribological properties of graphene. The expedient fabrication procedure of large-area graphene film with excellent transferability and high-performance friction-reducing behaviors of the developed lubricating system both have a promising perspective in engineering applications

GPX2 Gene Affects Feed Efficiency of Pigs by Inhibiting Fat Deposition and Promoting Muscle Development

GPX2 has been recognized as a potential candidate gene for feed efficiency in pigs. This article aimed to elucidate polymorphism of GPX2 associated with feed efficiency and its related molecular mechanism. In this study, seven single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) of GPX2 were found among 383 Duroc pigs. In addition, seven SNPs and ALGA0043483 (PorcineSNP60 BeadChip data in 600 Duroc pigs), which are near the GPX2 gene, were identified in one haplotypes block. Furthermore, associated studies showed that the genotype of GPX2 has significant association with weaning weight and 100 kg BF in Duroc pigs. In addition, the AG had no effect when the backfat became thinner, and the FCR and RFI traits had a tendency to decrease in the G3 + TT combination genotype, accompanied by an increase of GPX2 expression in backfat and muscle tissues. At the cellular level, the adipocyte proliferation and ability of adipogenic differentiation were reduced, and the lipid degradation increased in 3T3-L1 when there was overexpression of GPX2. In contrast, overexpression of the GPX2 gene can promote the muscle cell proliferation and myogenic differentiation in C2C12 cells. In other words, GPX2 has the effect of reducing fat deposition and promoting muscle development, and it is a candidate gene for backfat and feed efficiency

Geographic differences and variation of functional components of brown rice in 690 mini-core collections from global germplasms

Objective: To understand the geographic differences and variations in the functional components of brown rice cores collected from global rice germplasms. Methods: Four functional components, γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), resistant starch (RS), total flavonoids, and alkaloids, in brown rice from 690 mini-core collections from 31 countries from five continents and the International Rice Research Institute, were analyzed using a spectrophotometry colorimetric method, and the results were statistically validated. Conclusion: The highest average amounts of functional components were obtained in Asian germplasms, except for GABA, and total flavonoids were highest in brown rice from Europe and Oceania, followed by Asia. The highest coefficient of variation for GABA was observed in Asia; that for RS and total flavonoids was observed in Africa, followed by Asia; and that for alkaloids was observed in America, followed by Asia. Overall, Asian countries were the most prominent and representative zones with the highest genotypic potential for functional components of brown rice. Forty-one rice accessions with enriched functional components originated mostly from biodiversity-rich areas in China, followed by those in the Philippines. Late sowing favored the enrichment of these components in brown rice. The current study provides a reference for rice breeding with enriched functional constituents, and guidelines for screening functional rice that could be used for human chronic disease research