Allometric models for aboveground biomass of ten tree species in northeast China

China contains 119 million hectares of natural forest, much of whichis secondary forest. An accurate estimation of the biomass of these forests is imperative because many studies conducted in northeast China have only used primary forest and this may have resulted in biased estimates. This study analyzed secondary forest in the area using information from a forest inventory to develop allometric models of the aboveground biomass (AGB). The parameter values of the diameter at breast height (DBH), tree height (H), and crown length (CL) were derived from a forest inventory of 2,733 trees in a 3.5 ha plot. The wood-specific gravity (WSG) was determined for 109 trees belonging to ten species. A partial sampling method was also used to determine the biomass of branches (including stem, bark and foliage) in 120 trees, which substantially ease the field works. The mean AGB was110,729 kg ha–1. We developed four allometric models from the investigation and evaluated the utility of other 19 published ones for AGB in the ten tree species. Incorporation of full range of variables with WSG-DBH-H-CL, significantly improved the precision of the models. Some of models were chosen that best fitted each tree species with high precision (R2 ≥ 0.939, SEE 0.167). At the latitude level, the estimated AGB of secondary forest was lower than that in mature primary forests, but higher than that in primary broadleaf forest and the average level in other types of forest likewise

Type One Protein Phosphatase 1 and Its Regulatory Protein Inhibitor 2 Negatively Regulate ABA Signaling

The phytohormone abscisic acid (ABA) regulates plant growth, development and responses to biotic and abiotic stresses. The core ABA signaling pathway consists of three major components: ABA receptor (PYR1/PYLs), type 2C Protein Phosphatase (PP2C) and SNF1-related protein kinase 2 (SnRK2). Nevertheless, the complexity of ABA signaling remains to be explored. To uncover new components of ABA signal transduction pathways, we performed a yeast two-hybrid screen for SnRK2-interacting proteins. We found that Type One Protein Phosphatase 1 (TOPP1) and its regulatory protein, At Inhibitor-2 (AtI-2), physically interact with SnRK2s and also with PYLs. TOPP1 inhibited the kinase activity of SnRK2.6, and this inhibition could be enhanced by AtI-2. Transactivation assays showed that TOPP1 and AtI-2 negatively regulated the SnRK2.2/3/6-mediated activation of the ABA responsive reporter gene RD29B, supporting a negative role of TOPP1 and AtI-2 in ABA signaling. Consistent with these findings, topp1 and ati-2 mutant plants displayed hypersensitivities to ABA and salt treatments, and transcriptome analysis of TOPP1 and AtI-2 knockout plants revealed an increased expression of multiple ABA-responsive genes in the mutants. Taken together, our results uncover TOPP1 and AtI-2 as negative regulators of ABA signaling. © 2016 Hou et al

Complete genome sequence of methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus containing a heterogeneic staphylococcal cassette chromosome element

Staphylococcus aureus is a common human bacterium that sometimes becomes pathogenic, causing serious infections. A key feature of S. aureus is its ability to acquire resistance to antibiotics. The presence of the staphylococcal cassette chromosome (SCC) element in serotypes of S. aureus has been confirmed using multiplex PCR assays. The SCC element is the only vector known to carry the mecA gene, which encodes methicillin resistance in S. aureus infections. Here, we report the genome sequence of a novel methicillin-sensitive S. aureus (MSSA) strain: SCC-like MSSA463. This strain was originally erroneously serotyped as methicillin-resistant S. aureus in a clinical laboratory using multiplex PCR methods. We sequenced the genome of SCC-like MSSA463 using pyrosequencing techniques and compared it with known genome sequences of other S. aureus isolates. An open reading frame (CZ049; AB037671) was identified downstream of attL and attR inverted repeat sequences. Our results suggest that a lateral gene transfer occurred between S. aureus and other organisms, partially changing S. aureus infectivity. We propose that attL and attR inverted repeats in S. aureus serve as frequent insertion sites for exogenous genes.http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000316747000011&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=8e1609b174ce4e31116a60747a720701BiologySCI(E)PubMed0ARTICLE3268-2745

Transcript analyses reveal a comprehensive role of abscisic acid in modulating fruit ripening in Chinese jujube

Abstract Background Chinese jujube (Ziziphus jujuba Mill.) is a non-climacteric fruit; however, the underlying mechanism of ripening and the role of abscisic acid involved in this process are not yet understood for this species. Results In the present study, a positive correlation between dynamic changes in endogenous ABA and the onset of jujube ripening was determined. Transcript analyses suggested that the expression balance among genes encoding nine-cis-epoxycarotenoid dioxygenase (ZjNCED3), ABA-8′-hydroxylase (ZjCYP707A2), and beta-glucosidase (ZjBG4, ZjBG5, ZjBG8, and ZjBG9) has an important role in maintaining ABA accumulation, while the expression of a receptor (ZjPYL8), protein phosphatase 2C (ZjPP2C4–8), and sucrose nonfermenting 1-related protein kinase 2 (ZjSnRK2–2 and ZjSnRK2–5) is important in regulating fruit sensitivity to ABA applications. In addition, white mature ‘Dongzao’ fruit were harvested and treated with 50 mg L− 1 ABA or 50 mg L− 1 nordihydroguaiaretic acid (NDGA) to explore the role of ABA in jujube fruit ripening. By comparative transcriptome analyses, 1103 and 505 genes were differentially expressed in response to ABA and NDGA applications on the 1st day after treatment, respectively. These DEGs were associated with photosynthesis, secondary, lipid, cell wall, and starch and sugar metabolic processes, suggesting the involvement of ABA in modulating jujube fruit ripening. Moreover, ABA also exhibited crosstalk with other phytohormones and transcription factors, indicating a regulatory network for jujube fruit ripening. Conclusions Our study further elucidated ABA-associated metabolic and regulatory processes. These findings are helpful for improving strategies for jujube fruit storage and for gaining insights into understand complex non-climacteric fruit ripening processes

miR-377 Inhibits Proliferation and Differentiation of Bovine Skeletal Muscle Satellite Cells by Targeting FHL2

Non-coding RNAs, especially microRNAs (miRNAs), play an important role in skeletal muscle growth and development. miR-377 regulates many basic biological processes and plays a key role in tumor cell proliferation, migration and apoptosis. Nevertheless, the function of miR-377 during skeletal muscle development and how it regulates skeletal muscle satellite cells (SMSCs) remains unclear. In the present study, we proposed to elucidate the regulatory mechanism of miR-377 in the proliferation and differentiation of bovine primary SMSCs. Our results showed that miR-377 can significantly inhibit the proliferation of SMSCs. In addition, we found that miR-377 can reduce myotube formation and restrain skeletal myogenic differentiation. Moreover, the results obtained from the biosynthesis and dual luciferase experiments showed that FHL2 was the target gene of miR-377. We further probed the function of FHL2 in muscle development and found that FHL2 silencing significantly suppressed the proliferation and differentiation of SMSCS, which is contrary to the role of miR-377. Furthermore, FHL2 interacts with Dishevelled-2 (Dvl2) to enable Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway, consequently regulating skeletal muscle development. miR-377 negatively regulates the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway by targeting FHL2-mediated Dvl2. Overall, these findings demonstrated that miR-377 regulates the bovine SMSCs proliferation and differentiation by targeting FHL2 and attenuating the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway