Integration-free reprogramming of human umbilical arterial endothelial cells into induced pluripotent stem cells IHSTMi001-A

Primary arterial endothelial cell (AEC) is an attractive source of tissue-engineered blood vessels for therapeutic transplantation in vascular disease. However, scarcity of donor tissue, inability of proliferation and undergo de-differentiation in culture remain major obstacles. We derived a stable induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) line possessed all the characteristics of pluripotent state from human umbilical arterial endothelial cells by transduction of four human transcription factors (Oct4, Sox2, Klf4, and c-Myc) using sendai virus vectors. It will likely facilitate to lineage differentiate and generate sufficient AECs for clinical use in cardiovascular disease based on epigenetic memory of the tissue of origin

Yield Response of Spring Maize to Inter-Row Subsoiling and Soil Water Deficit in Northern China.

Long-term tillage has been shown to induce water stress episode during crop growth period due to low water retention capacity. It is unclear whether integrated water conservation tillage systems, such asspringdeepinter-row subsoiling with annual or biennial repetitions, can be developed to alleviate this issue while improve crop productivity.Experimentswere carried out in a spring maize cropping system on Calcaric-fluvicCambisolsatJiaozuoexperimentstation, northern China, in 2009 to 2014. Effects of threesubsoiling depths (i.e., 30 cm, 40 cm, and 50 cm) in combination with annual and biennial repetitionswasdetermined in two single-years (i.e., 2012 and 2014)againstthe conventional tillage. The objectives were to investigateyield response to subsoiling depths and soil water deficit(SWD), and to identify the most effective subsoiling treatment using a systematic assessment.Annualsubsoiling to 50 cm (AS-50) increased soil water storage (SWS, mm) by an average of8% in 0-20 cm soil depth, 19% in 20-80 cm depth, and 10% in 80-120 cm depth, followed by AS-40 and BS-50, whereas AS-30 and BS-30 showed much less effects in increasing SWS across the 0-120 cm soil profile, compared to the CK. AS-50 significantly reduced soil water deficit (SWD, mm) by an average of123% during sowing to jointing, 318% during jointing to filling, and 221% during filling to maturity, compared to the CK, followed by AS-40 and BS-50. An integrated effect on increasing SWS and reducing SWD helped AS-50 boost grain yield by an average of 31% and biomass yield by 30%, compared to the CK. A power function for subsoiling depth and a negative linear function for SWD were used to fit the measured yields, showing the deepest subsoiling depth (50 cm) with the lowest SWD contributed to the highest yield. Systematic assessment showed that AS-50 received the highest evaluation index (0.69 out of 1.0) among all treatments.Deepinter-row subsoilingwith annual repetition significantly boosts yield by alleviating SWD in critical growth period and increasing SWS in 20-80 cm soil depth. The results allow us to conclude that AS-50 can be adopted as an effective approach to increase crop productivity, alleviate water stress, and improve soil water availability for spring maize in northern China

Spatial variations in soil water storage (SWS) in 0–120 cm soil layers at 20 cm interval.

<p><b>(A)</b> SWSin2012 and <b>(B)</b> SWSin2014. Bars indicate standard errors (SE) at <i>P</i>< 0.05.</p

Yield response of spring maize to subsoiling depth and soil water deficit.

<p><b>(A)</b> Relationship between grain yield and subsoiling and <b>(B)</b> between biomass yield and subsoiling depth was fitted to a modified power function (<i>P</i>< 0.01);<b>(C)</b> relationship between grain yield and soil water deficit (SWD) and <b>(D)</b> between biomass yield and SWD was fitted to a fitted to a negative linear correlation (<i>P</i>< 0.01). AS: annual subsoiling; BS: biennial subsoiling.</p

Comprehensive assessment for different tillage treatments using water- and yield-related data standardized in a range of 0 to 1 to compare treatment effects quantitatively.

<p>Comprehensive assessment for different tillage treatments using water- and yield-related data standardized in a range of 0 to 1 to compare treatment effects quantitatively.</p

Daily and cumulative precipitation (mm) from April to September in (A) 2012 and (B) 2014, at Jiaozuo Experiment Station, China.

<p>Vertical drop lines represent daily precipitation, and curve lines stand for cumulative precipitation.</p

Soil water deficit (SWD) for each treatment, separated by growth stages.

<p><b>(A)</b> SWD in 2012, and <b>(B)</b> SWD in2014. The horizontal lines across the Fig indicate soil water deficit = 0, while the bars indicate standard errors at <i>P</i>< 0.05 (SE).</p

Physical properties and taxonomic classification of the studied soils prior to the start of the experiment, at Jiaozuo experiment station, northern China.

<p>Physical properties and taxonomic classification of the studied soils prior to the start of the experiment, at Jiaozuo experiment station, northern China.</p

Seasonal schedule of crop growth stages, pre-planting irrigation and inter-row subsoiling for spring maize in the field experiment.

<p>The date in the figure was recorded when more than three quarters (>75%) of the crops developed into the particular growth stage.</p