516 research outputs found
Widespread Presence of Glycolaldehyde and Ethylene Glycol Around Sagittarius B2
We report the detection of widespread CHOHCHO and HOCHCHOH
emission in Galactic center giant molecular cloud Sagittarius B2 using the
Shanghai Tianma 65m Radio Telescope. Our observations show for the first time
that the spatial distribution of these two important prebiotic molecules
extends over 15 arc-minutes, corresponding to a linear size of approximately 36
pc. These two molecules are not just distributed in or near the hot cores. The
abundance of these two molecules seems to decrease from the cold outer region
to the central region associated with star-formation activity. Results present
here suggest that these two molecules are likely to form through a low
temperature process. Recent theoretical and experimental studies demonstrated
that prebiotic molecules can be efficiently formed in icy grain mantles through
several pathways. However, these complex ice features cannot be directly
observed, and most constraints on the ice compositions come from millimeter
observations of desorbed ice chemistry products. These results, combined with
laboratory studies, strongly support the existence of abundant prebiotic
molecules in ices.Comment: 20 pages, 7 figures, accepted by Ap
De novo intestine-specific transcriptome of the brown planthopper Nilaparvata lugens revealed potential functions in digestion, detoxification and immune response
AbstractThe brown planthopper (Nilaparvata lugens, BPH) is the most serious rice plant pests in Asia. In this study, we performed transcriptome-wide analysis on BPH intestine. We obtained more than 26 million sequencing reads that were then assembled into 53,553 unigenes with a mean size of 388bp. Based on similarity search with the nucleotide sequences available at NCBI, BPH intestine-specific transcriptome analysis identified 21,405 sequences. Assembled sequences were annotated with gene description, gene ontology and clusters of orthologous group terms. The digestion-, defense- and xenobiotic metabolism-related genes were abundantly detected in the transcripts from BPH intestine. Many novel genes including 33 digestion-related genes, 25 immune responsive genes and 27 detoxification-related genes are first reported here. We investigated the gene expression patterns at the transcript levels in different tissues by quantitative real-time PCR analysis, which revealed that some genes had intestine-specific expression, implicating their potential significance for BPH management
Carbon-Chain Molecules in Molecular Outflows and Lupus I Region--New Producing Region and New Forming Mechanism
Using the new equipment of the Shanghai Tian Ma Radio Telescope, we have
searched for carbon-chain molecules (CCMs) towards five outflow sources and six
Lupus I starless dust cores, including one region known to be characterized by
warm carbon-chain chemistry (WCCC), Lupus I-1 (IRAS 15398-3359), and one TMC-1
like cloud, Lupus I-6 (Lupus-1A). Lines of HC3N J=2-1, HC5N J=6-5, HC7N
J=14-13, 15-14, 16-15 and C3S J=3-2 were detected in all the targets except in
the outflow source L1660 and the starless dust core Lupus I-3/4. The column
densities of nitrogen-bearing species range from 10 to 10
cm and those of CS are about 10 cm. Two outflow
sources, I20582+7724 and L1221, could be identified as new
carbon-chain--producing regions. Four of the Lupus I dust cores are newly
identified as early quiescent and dark carbon-chain--producing regions similar
to Lup I-6, which together with the WCCC source, Lup I-1, indicate that
carbon-chain-producing regions are popular in Lupus I which can be regard as a
Taurus like molecular cloud complex in our Galaxy. The column densities of C3S
are larger than those of HC7N in the three outflow sources I20582, L1221 and
L1251A. Shocked carbon-chain chemistry (SCCC) is proposed to explain the
abnormal high abundances of C3S compared with those of nitrogen-bearing CCMs.
Gas-grain chemical models support the idea that shocks can fuel the environment
of those sources with enough thus driving the generation of S-bearing
CCMs.Comment: 7 figures, 8 tables, accepted by MNRA
A Subset of CXCR5+CD8+ T Cells in the Germinal Centers From Human Tonsils and Lymph Nodes Help B Cells Produce Immunoglobulins
Recent studies indicated that CXCR5+CD8+ T cells in lymph nodes could eradicate virus-infected target cells. However, in the current study we found that a subset of CXCR5+CD8+ T cells in the germinal centers from human tonsils or lymph nodes are predominately memory cells that express CD45RO and CD27. The involvement of CXCR5+CD8+ T cells in humoral immune responses is suggested by their localization in B cell follicles and by the concomitant expression of costimulatory molecules, including CD40L and ICOS after activation. In addition, CXCR5+CD8+ memory T cells produced significantly higher levels of IL-21, IFN-γ, and IL-4 at mRNA and protein levels compared to CXCR5−CD8+ memory T cells, but IL-21-expressing CXCR5+CD8+ T cells did not express Granzyme B and perforin. When cocultured with sorted B cells, sorted CXCR5+CD8+ T cells promoted the production of antibodies compared to sorted CXCR5−CD8+ T cells. However, fixed CD8+ T cells failed to help B cells and the neutralyzing antibodies against IL-21 or CD40L inhibited the promoting effects of sorted CXCR5+CD8+ T cells on B cells for the production of antibodies. Finally, we found that in the germinal centers of lymph nodes from HIV-infected patients contained more CXCR5+CD8+ T cells compared to normal lymph nodes. Due to their versatile functional capacities, CXCR5+CD8+ T cells are promising candidate cells for immune therapies, particularly when CD4+ T cell help are limited
Development of iFOX-hunting as a functional genomic tool and demonstration of its use to identify early senescence-related genes in the polyploid \u3ci\u3eBrassica napus\u3c/i\u3e
Functional genomic studies of many polyploid crops, including rapeseed (Brassica napus), are constrained by limited tool sets. Here we report development of a gain-of-function platform, termed ‘iFOX (inducible Full-length cDNA OvereXpressor gene)-Hunting’, for inducible expression of B. napus seed cDNAs in Arabidopsis. A Gateway-compatible plant gene expression vector containing a methoxyfenozide-inducible constitutive promoter for transgene expression was developed. This vector was used for cloning of random cDNAs from developing B. napus seeds and subsequent Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of Arabidopsis. The inducible promoter of this vector enabled identification of genes upon induction that are otherwise lethal when constitutively overexpressed and to control developmental timing of transgene expression. Evaluation of a subset of the resulting ~6000 Arabidopsis transformants revealed a high percentage of lines with full-length B. napus transgene insertions. Upon induction, numerous iFOX lines with visible phenotypes were identified, including one that displayed early leaf senescence. Phenotypic analysis of this line (rsl-1327) after methoxyfenozide induction indicated high degree of leaf chlorosis. The integrated B. napus cDNA was identified as a homolog of an Arabidopsis acyl-CoA binding protein (ACBP) gene designated BnACBP1-like. The early senescence phenotype conferred by BnACBP1-like was confirmed by constitutive expression of this gene in Arabidopsis and B. napus. Use of the inducible promoter in the iFOX line coupled with RNA-Seq analyses allowed mechanistic clues and a working model for the phenotype associated with BnACBP1-like expression. Our results demonstrate the utility of iFOX-Hunting as a tool for gene discovery and functional characterization of Brassica napus genome
Molecular Mechanisms of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Related to Aflatoxins: An Update
Hepatocellular carcinoma (hepatocarcinoma) is a major type of primary liver cancer and one of the most frequent human malignant neoplasms. Aflatoxins are I-type chemical carcinogen for hepatocarcinoma. Increasing evidence has shown that hepatocarcinoma induced by aflatoxins is the result of interaction between aflatoxins and hereditary factor. Aflatoxins can induce DNA damage including DNA strand break, adducts formation, oxidative DNA damage, and gene mutation and determine which susceptible individuals feature cancer. Inheritance such as alterations may result in the activation of proto-oncogenes and the inactivation of tumor suppressor genes and determine individual susceptibility to cancer. Interaction between aflatoxins and genetic susceptible factors commonly involve in almost all pathologic sequence of hepatocarcinoma: chronic liver injury, cirrhosis, atypical hyperplastic nodules, and hepatocarcinoma of early stages. In this review, we discuss the biogenesis, toxification, and epidemiology of aflatoxins and signal pathways of aflatoxin-induced hepatocarcinoma. We also discuss the roles of some important genes related to cell apoptosis, DNA repair, drug metabolism, and tumor metastasis in hepatocarcinogenesis related to aflatoxins
Bacterial community structure of mangrove sediments in relation to environmental variables accessed by 16S rRNA gene-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis fingerprinting
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