Respiratory syncytial virus infection induces higher Toll-like receptor-3 expression and TNF-α production than human metapneumovirus infection

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Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Crystallization studies of the murine c-di-GMP sensor protein STING

The innate immune response is the first defence system against pathogenic microorganisms, and cytosolic detection of pathogen-derived DNA is believed to be one of the major mechanisms of interferon production. Recently, the mammalian ER membrane protein STING (stimulator of IFN genes; also known as MITA, ERIS, MPYS and TMEM173) has been found to be the master regulator linking the detection of cytosolic DNA to TANK-binding kinase 1 (TBK1) and its downstream transcription factor IFN regulatory factor 3 (IRF3). In addition, STING itself was soon discovered to be a direct sensor of bacterial cyclic dinucleotides such as c-di-GMP or c-di-AMP. However, structural studies of apo STING and its complexes with these cyclic dinucleotides and with other cognate binding proteins are essential in order to fully understand the roles played by STING in these crucial signalling pathways. In this manuscript, the successful crystallization of the C-terminal domain of murine STING (STING-CTD; residues 138-344) is reported. Native and SeMet-labelled crystals were obtained and diffracted to moderate resolutions of 2.39 and 2.2 Å, respectively.Published versio

Comparative Analysis of Italian Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L. var. ramose) Transcriptome Profiles Reveals the Molecular Mechanism on Exogenous Melatonin Preventing Cadmium Toxicity

Cadmium (Cd) accumulation in lettuce causes a large amount of yield loss during industry. Although many studies report that exogenous melatonin helps to alleviate the Cd stress of lettuce, the molecular mechanism for how plant tissue responds to Cd treatment is unclear. Herein, we applied both PacBio and Illumina techniques for Italian lettuce under different designed treatments of Cd and melatonin, aiming to reveal the potential molecular pathway of the response to Cd stress as well as the how the pre-application of exogenous melatonin affect this process. This result reveals that the root has the biggest expression pattern shift and is a more essential tissue to respond to both Cd and melatonin treatments than leaves. We reveal the molecular background of the Cd stress response in prospects of antioxidant and hormone signal transduction pathways, and we found that their functions are diverged and specifically expressed in tissues. We also found that candidate genes related to melatonin detoxify during Cd stress. Our study sheds new light for future research on how melatonin improves the cadmium resistance of lettuce and also provide valuable data for lettuce breeding

DataSheet_1_Grafting promoted antioxidant capacity and carbon and nitrogen metabolism of bitter gourd seedlings under heat stress.pdf

IntroductionHeat stress can limit vegetable growth, and this can lead to constraints on agricultural production. Grafting technologies, however, can be used to alleviate various plant stresses.MethodsIn this study, the differences in the heat stress impacts and recovery abilities of pumpkin and luffa rootstocks for bitter gourd were analyzed in terms of their antioxidant activity and carbon and nitrogen metabolism.ResultsCompared with the un-grafted and self-grafted bitter gourd, which suffered from heat stress at 40°C for 24 h, heterologously grafted bitter gourd showed higher heat stability of the cell membrane (relative conductivity and malondialdehyde content were reduced), reduced oxidative stress (antioxidant enzyme activity was increased and the reactive oxygen species content reduced), and increased enzyme activity (sucrose phosphate synthase, sucrose synthase, neutral invertase, and acid invertase) and sugar content (soluble sugar, sucrose, fructose, and glucose) in carbon metabolism. The enzyme activity (nitrate reductase, nitrite reductase, and glutamine synthetase) and product content (nitrate and nitrite) of nitrogen metabolism were also found to be increased, and this inhibited the accumulation of ammonium ions. After the seedlings were placed at 25°C for 24 h, the heterogeneous rootstocks could rapidly restore the growth of the bitter gourd seedlings by promoting the antioxidant and carbon and nitrogen metabolism systems. When luffa was used as rootstock, its performance on the indexes was better than that of pumpkin. The correlation between the various indicators was demonstrated using a principal component and correlation analysis.DiscussionThe luffa rootstock was found to be more conducive to reducing cell damage and energy loss in bitter gourd seedlings caused by heat induction through the maintenance of intracellular redox homeostasis and the promotion of carbon and nitrogen metabolism.</p

An analysis of uncertainty in structural design

Available from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:D71398/87 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreSIGLEGBUnited Kingdo