Exogenous Melatonin Improves Cold Tolerance of Strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa Duch.) through Modulation of DREB/CBF-COR Pathway and Antioxidant Defense System

The strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa Duch.) is an important fruit crop cultivated worldwide for its unique taste and nutritional properties. One of the major risks associated with strawberry production is cold damage. Recently, melatonin has emerged as a multifunctional signaling molecule that influences plant growth and development and reduces adverse consequences of cold stress. The present study was conducted to investigate the defensive role of melatonin and its potential interrelation with abscisic acid (ABA) in strawberry plants under cold stress. The results demonstrate that melatonin application conferred improved cold tolerance on strawberry seedlings by reducing malondialdehyde and hydrogen peroxide contents under cold stress. Conversely, pretreatment of strawberry plants with 100 μM melatonin increased soluble sugar contents and different antioxidant enzyme activities (ascorbate peroxidase, catalase, and peroxidase) and non-enzymatic antioxidant (ascorbate and glutathione) activities under cold stress. Furthermore, exogenous melatonin treatment stimulated the expression of the DREB/CBF—COR pathways’ downstream genes. Interestingly, ABA treatment did not change the expression of the DREB/CBF—COR pathway. These findings imply that the DREB/CBF-COR pathway confers cold tolerance on strawberry seedlings through exogenous melatonin application. Taken together, our results reveal that melatonin (100 μM) pretreatment protects strawberry plants from the damages induced by cold stress through enhanced antioxidant defense potential and modulating the DREB/CBF—COR pathway. View Full-Tex

Candidate genes associated with red colour formation revealed by comparative genomic variant analysis of red- and green-skinned fruits of Japanese apricot (Prunus mume)

The red-skinned fruit of Japanese apricot (Prunus mume Sieb. et Zucc) appeals to customers due to its eye-catching pigmentation, while the mechanism related to its colour formation is still unclear. In this study, genome re-sequencing of six Japanese apricot cultivars was carried out with approximately 92.2 Gb of clean bases using next-generation sequencing. A total of 32,004 unigenes were assembled with an average of 83.1% coverage rate relative to reference genome. A wide range of genetic variation was detected, including 7,387,057 single nucleotide polymorphisms, 456,222 insertions or deletions and 129,061 structural variations in all genomes. Comparative sequencing data revealed that 13 candidate genes were involved in biosynthesis of anthocyanin. Significantly higher expression patterns were observed in genes encoding three anthocyanin synthesis structural genes (4CL, F3H and UFGT), five transcription factors (MYB–bHLH–WD40 complexes and NAC) and five anthocyanin accumulation related genes (GST1, RT1, UGT85A2, ABC and MATE transporters) in red-skinned than in green-skinned Japanese apricots using reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Eight main kinds of anthocyanin s were detected by UPLC/MS, and cyanidin 3-glucoside was identified as the major anthocyanin (124.2 mg/kg) in red-skinned cultivars. The activity of UDP-glucose flavonoid-3-O-glycosyltransferase enzyme determined by UPLC was significantly higher in all red-skinned cultivars, suggesting that it is the potential vital regulatory gene for biosynthesis of anthocyanin in Japanese apricot

Apigenin, a natural flavonoid, promotes autophagy and ferroptosis in human endometrial carcinoma Ishikawa cells in vitro and in vivo

Apigenin, a natural flavonoid has been reported against a variety of cancer types. However, it is unclear whether apigenin can promote autophagy and ferroptosis in Ishikawa cells. There are few reports on the mechanism of apigenin on autophagy and ferroptosis of endometrial cancer Ishikawa cells. We found that iron accumulation, lipid peroxidation, glutathione consumption, p62, HMOX1, and ferritin were increased, while, solute carrier family 7 member 11 and glutathione peroxidase 4 were decreased. Ferrostatin-1, an iron-death inhibitor could reverse the effects of apigenin in Ishikawa cells. On the other hand, apigenin could promote autophagy via up-regulating Beclin 1, ULK1, ATG5, ATG13, and LC3B and down-regulating AMPK, mTOR, P70S6K, and ATG4. Furthermore, apigenin could inhibit tumor tissue proliferation and restrict tumor growth via ferroptosis in vivo

Identification of miRNAs and Their Target Genes in Peach (<i>Prunus persica</i> L.) Using High-Throughput Sequencing and Degradome Analysis

<div><p>MicroRNAs play critical roles in various biological and metabolic processes. The function of miRNAs has been widely studied in model plants such as Arabidopsis and rice. However, the number of identified miRNAs and related miRNA targets in peach (<i>Prunus persica</i>) is limited. To understand further the relationship between miRNAs and their target genes during tissue development in peach, a small RNA library and three degradome libraries were constructed from three tissues for deep sequencing. We identified 117 conserved miRNAs and 186 novel miRNA candidates in peach by deep sequencing and 19 conserved miRNAs and 13 novel miRNAs were further evaluated for their expression by RT-qPCR. The number of gene targets that were identified for 26 conserved miRNA families and 38 novel miRNA candidates, were 172 and 87, respectively. Some of the identified miRNA targets were abundantly represented as conserved miRNA targets in plant. However, some of them were first identified and showed important roles in peach development. Our study provides information concerning the regulatory network of miRNAs in peach and advances our understanding of miRNA functions during tissue development.</p></div

Development of a 32-element fibre optic hydrophone system

The structure and performance of an all polarization maintaining optical fibre hydrophone element is described and a sensitivity of -158+/-1.5dB is achieved. A 32-element, spatially multiplexed system is constructed with a noise-equivalent sound pressure of similar to3.58 X 10(-4) Pa/rootHz at 1kHz and the major results of sea trials indicate that the system is useful for research and industrial applications

Sequence length distribution of peach sRNAs.

<p>Sequence length distribution of peach sRNAs.</p

Member numbers of each identified conserved miRNA family in peach (A).

<p>The expression read of miRNA families in peach (B).</p

Conserved miRNA families from peach, designated as pmu on the first column, and their homologues in other plant species.

<p>Conserved miRNA families from peach, designated as pmu on the first column, and their homologues in other plant species.</p

The percentage of target gene categories in three tissues.

<p>The percentage of target gene categories in three tissues.</p