Insights into Land Plant Evolution Garnered from the Marchantia polymorpha Genome.

The evolution of land flora transformed the terrestrial environment. Land plants evolved from an ancestral charophycean alga from which they inherited developmental, biochemical, and cell biological attributes. Additional biochemical and physiological adaptations to land, and a life cycle with an alternation between multicellular haploid and diploid generations that facilitated efficient dispersal of desiccation tolerant spores, evolved in the ancestral land plant. We analyzed the genome of the liverwort Marchantia polymorpha, a member of a basal land plant lineage. Relative to charophycean algae, land plant genomes are characterized by genes encoding novel biochemical pathways, new phytohormone signaling pathways (notably auxin), expanded repertoires of signaling pathways, and increased diversity in some transcription factor families. Compared with other sequenced land plants, M. polymorpha exhibits low genetic redundancy in most regulatory pathways, with this portion of its genome resembling that predicted for the ancestral land plant. PAPERCLIP

Serotonin neurons in the median raphe nucleus bidirectionally regulate somatic signs of nicotine withdrawal in mice

In chronic smokers, nicotine withdrawal symptoms during tobacco cessation can lead to smoking relapse. In rodent models, chronic exposure to nicotine elicited physical dependence, whereas acute antagonism of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) immediately precipitated withdrawal symptoms. Although the central serotonergic system plays an important role in nicotine withdrawal, the exact serotonergic raphe nuclei regulating these symptoms remain unknown. We used transgenic mice expressing archaerhodopsinTP009 or channelrhodopsin-2[C128S] exclusively in the central serotonergic neurons to selectively manipulate serotonergic neurons in each raphe nucleus. Nicotine withdrawal symptoms were precipitated by an acute injection of mecamylamine, a nonspecific nAChR antagonist, following chronic nicotine consumption. Somatic signs were used as measures of nicotine withdrawal symptoms. Acute mecamylamine administration significantly increased ptosis occurrence in nicotine drinking mice compared with that in control-drinking mice. Optogenetic inhibition of the serotonergic neurons in the median raphe nucleus (MRN), but not of those in the dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN), mimicked the symptoms observed during mecamylamine-precipitated nicotine withdrawal even in nicotine-na & iuml;ve mice following the administration of acute mecamylamine injection. Optogenetic activation of the serotonergic neurons in the MRN nearly abolished the occurrence of ptosis in nicotine drinking mice. The serotonergic neurons in the MRN, but not those in the DRN, are necessary for the occurrence of somatic signs, a nicotine withdrawal symptom, and the activation of these neurons may act as a potential therapeutic strategy for preventing the somatic manifestations of nicotine withdrawal. (c) 2021 Delhi Orthopedic Association. All rights reserved

3-(4-Hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)propionic Acid Produced from 4-Hydroxy-3-methoxycinnamic Acid by Gut Microbiota Improves Host Metabolic Condition in Diet-Induced Obese Mice

4-Hydroxy-3-methoxycinnamic acid (HMCA), a hydroxycinnamic acid derivative, is abundant in fruits and vegetables, including oranges, carrots, rice bran, and coffee beans. Several beneficial effects of HMCA have been reported, including improvement of metabolic abnormalities in animal models and human studies. However, its mitigating effects on high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity, and the mechanism underlying these effects, remain to be elucidated. In this study, we demonstrated that dietary HMCA was efficacious against HFD-induced weight gain and hepatic steatosis, and that it improved insulin sensitivity. These metabolic benefits of HMCA were ascribable to 3-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)propionic acid (HMPA) produced by gut microbiota. Moreover, conversion of HMCA into HMPA was attributable to a wide variety of microbes belonging to the phylum Bacteroidetes. We further showed that HMPA modulated gut microbes associated with host metabolic homeostasis by increasing the abundance of organisms belonging to the phylum Bacteroidetes and reducing the abundance of the phylum Firmicutes. Collectively, these results suggest that HMPA derived from HMCA is metabolically beneficial, and regulates hepatic lipid metabolism, insulin sensitivity, and the gut microbial community. Our results provide insights for the development of functional foods and preventive medicines, based on the microbiota of the intestinal environment, for the prevention of metabolic disorders

Electron heating and ion acceleration in sheaths from ultra-high intensity laser-solid interactions

The behaviour of high power laser-plasma interaction from solid targets, and the resultant ion generation, at the extreme intensities available at state-of-the-art laser facilities is an important topic for realising potential applications. We will present experimental data investigating electron heating and proton acceleration in a sheath field using the ultra-high intensity, high contrast J- KAREN-P laser. Using a 10 J, 40 fs pulse focused to an intensity ~5x1021 Wcm-2 resulted in generation of protons up to 40 MeV at 0.1 Hz from a 5 μm steel tape target. The high repetition rate of the tape target allowed large statistically relevant investigations into the scaling of the electron and proton beam with laser energy, pulse length and spot size.We demonstrate that the laser accelerated electron temperature depends not only on laser intensity but also on focal-spot size, in which the restriction of the transverse acceleration distance causes saturation of the electron temperature at increasingly small foci. However, the accelerated electron beam profile becomes more collimated and asymmetric with small focal spots. Measurements of the proton beam show only limited benefit to using increasingly small focal spot sizes, and the best scaling for achieving higher maximum proton energies from sheath acceleration is achieved with increasing the pulse energy, rather than reducing the spot size or pulse length.Imperial College London Plasma Physics Group Semina

Experimental investigation of electron heating and proton acceleration scaling to ultra-high intensity pulses

The behaviour of high power laser-plasma interaction from solid targets, and the resultant ion generation, at the extreme intensities available at state-of-the-art laser facilities is an important topic for realising potential applications. We will present experimental data investigating electron heating and proton acceleration in a sheath field using the ultra-high intensity, high contrast J- KAREN-P laser. Using a 10 J, 40 fs pulse focused to an intensity ~5x1021 Wcm-2 resulted in generation of protons up to 40 MeV at 0.1 Hz from a 5 μm steel tape target. The high repetition rate of the tape target allowed large statistically relevant investigations into the scaling of the electron and proton beam with laser energy, pulse length and spot size.We demonstrate that the laser accelerated electron temperature depends not only on laser intensity but also on focal-spot size, in which the restriction of the transverse acceleration distance causes saturation of the electron temperature at increasingly small foci. However, the accelerated electron beam profile becomes more collimated and asymmetric with small focal spots. Measurements of the proton beam show only limited benefit to using increasingly small focal spot sizes, and the best scaling for achieving higher maximum proton energies from sheath acceleration is achieved with increasing the pulse energy, rather than reducing the spot size or pulse length.HEDS 201

Experimental investigation of sheath- driven proton acceleration scaling to the ultra-short pulse, ultra-high intensity regime

The behaviour of high power laser-plasma interaction from solid targets, and the resultant ion generation, at the extreme intensities available at state-of-the-art laser facilities is an important topic for realising potential applications. We will present experimental data investigating electron heating and proton acceleration in a sheath field using the ultra-high intensity, high contrast J- KAREN-P laser. Using a 10 J, 40 fs pulse focused to an intensity ~5x1021 Wcm-2 resulted in generation of protons up to 40 MeV at 0.1 Hz from a 5 μm steel tape target. The high repetition rate of the tape target allowed large statistically relevant investigations into the scaling of the electron and proton beam with laser energy, pulse length and spot size.We demonstrate that the laser accelerated electron temperature depends not only on laser intensity but also on focal-spot size, in which the restriction of the transverse acceleration distance causes saturation of the electron temperature at increasingly small foci. However, the accelerated electron beam profile becomes more collimated and asymmetric with small focal spots. Measurements of the proton beam show only limited benefit to using increasingly small focal spot sizes, and the best scaling for achieving higher maximum proton energies from sheath acceleration is achieved with increasing the pulse energy, rather than reducing the spot size or pulse length.JPS butsuri gakka