Endogenous Retrovirus ev21 Dose Not Recombine with ALV-J and Induces the Expression of ISGs in the Host

Avian leukosis virus subgroup J (ALV-J) infection can cause tumors and immunosuppression. Endogenous viruses integrate into host genomes and can recombine with exogenous avian leukosis virus (ALV). In this study, we analyzed the interaction of endogenous retrovirus 21 (ev21) with the ALV-J in late-feathering Chinese yellow chicken. Two ALV-J strains M180 and K243 were isolated from late-feathering and fast-feathering Chinese yellow chicken flocks, respectively. The env gene of the two strains showed 94.2-94.8% nucleotide identity with reference ALV-J strains. Compared with the env gene and the LTR of ev21 and M180, the nucleotide identity of LTR was 69.7% and env gene was 58.4%, respectively, especially the amino acid identity of env gene as low as 14.2%. Phylogenetic analysis of the nucleotide sequence of the env gene and the 3’LTR showed that M180 was closely related to ALV-J, and was located in a distinct group with ev21 in the phylogenetic tree. Using co-immunoprecipitation (co-IP), we next demonstrate that the envelope protein of ev21 does not interact with the M180 envelope protein. We further show that the envelope protein of ev21 cannot activate ALV-J LTR promoter activity using luciferase-reporter assays. qPCR and western blot analysis revealed that envelope protein of endogenous ev21 can facilitate the expression of PKR at 6h post ALV-J infection (hpi) and facilitate the expression of ISG12 and CH25H at 24 hpi. However, the expression of the env gene of M180 strain was not significantly at 6 hpi and 24 hpi. We conclude that there is no evidence of recombination between endogenous retrovirus ev21 and ALV-J strain M180 in late-feathering Chinese yellow chicken, and envelope protein of ev21 can affect the expression of host ISGs, but appears not to influence the replication of ALV-J strain M180. This is the first report of interaction among the endogenous retrovirus ev21, ALV-J and the late-feathering chicken

Cholesterol-25-hydroxylase Is a Chicken ISG That Restricts ALV-J Infection by Producing 25-hydroxycholesterol

The avian leukosis virus subgroup J (ALV-J) belongs to the chicken retrovirus that causes enormous economic losses in the poultry industry. Interferon-stimulated genes (ISGs) are critical for controlling virus infections. Here, we identified 897 type I ISGs induced by interferon-α (IFN-α) in chicken peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) by RNA-Seq. In addition, we further identified 152 potential anti-ALV-J chicken type I ISGs. Among these potential anti-ALV-J ISGs, chicken cholesterol 25-hydroxylase (chCH25H) was selected for further antiviral mechanism studies in chicken embryo fibroblast cell lines (DF1). The gene chCH25H is located on chromosome 6 and clustered in a distinct group with mammals CH25H in the phylogenetic tree. The core promoter region of chCH25H was located within −75/−1 sequence. We found that chCH25H was induced by chicken IFN-α and ALV-J in DF1 cells. The overexpression of chCH25H significantly inhibited ALV-J replication in DF1 cells at 48 h post infection (hpi). In addition, ALV-J replication was significantly enhanced in the chCH25H- knockout DF1 cells. Furthermore, we demonstrated that chCH25H restricted ALV-J infection through the production of 25-hydroxycholesterol (25HC), rather than type I and II interferon. Our results identified 152 potential anti-ALV-J chicken type I ISGs and revealed that 25HC, the product of chCH25H, could be used as a natural antiviral agent to control ALV-J infection

Molecular epidemiology and virulence characteristics of Staphylococcus aureus nasal colonization in medical laboratory staff: comparison between microbiological and non-microbiological laboratories

Abstract Background Medical laboratory staff are a high-risk population for colonization of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) due to direct and dense contact with the pathogens; however, there is limited information about this colonization. This study sought to determine the prevalence and molecular characteristics of nasal colonization by S. aureus in medical laboratory staff in Guangzhou, southern China, and to compare the differences between microbiological laboratory (MLS) and non-microbiological laboratory (NMLS) staff. Methods S. aureus colonization was assessed by nasal swab cultures from 434 subjects, including 130 MLSs and 304 NMLSs from 33 hospitals in Guangzhou. All S. aureus isolates underwent the antimicrobial susceptibility test, virulence gene detection and molecular typing. Results The overall prevalence of S. aureus carriage was 20.1% (87/434), which was higher in MLSs than in NMLSs (26.2% vs. 17.4%, P < 0.05), while the prevalence of Methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) was similar. Living with hospital staff was associated with S. aureus carriage. The majority of the isolates harboured various virulence genes, and those in MLSs appeared less resistant to antibiotics and more virulent than their counterparts. A total of 37 different spa types were detected; among these, t338, t437, t189 and t701 were the most frequently encountered types. T338 was the main spa type contributing to nasal colonization Methicillin-sensitive S. aureus (MSSA) (13.0%), and t437-SCCmec IV was predominant in MRSA isolates (40%). Conclusions These findings provide insight into the risk factors, molecular epidemiology and virulence gene profiles of S. aureus nasal carriage among the medical laboratory staff in Guangzhou

p190RhoGAP can act to inhibit PDGF-induced gliomas in mice: a putative tumor suppressor encoded on human Chromosome 19q13.3

p190RhoGAP and Rho are key regulators of oligodendrocyte differentiation. The gene encoding p190RhoGAP is located at 19q13.3 of the human chromosome, a locus that is deleted in 50%–80% of oligodendrogliomas. Here we provide evidence that p190RhoGAP may suppress gliomagenesis by inducing a differentiated glial phenotype. Using a cell culture model of autocrine loop PDGF stimulation, we show that reduced Rho activity via p190RhoGAP overexpression or Rho kinase inhibition induced cellular process extension, a block in proliferation, and reduced expression of the neural precursor marker nestin. In vivo infection of mice with retrovirus expressing PDGF and the p190 GAP domain caused a decreased incidence of oligodendrogliomas compared with that observed with PDGF alone. Independent experiments revealed that the retroviral vector insertion site in 3 of 50 PDGF-induced gliomas was within the p190RhoGAP gene. This evidence strongly suggests that p190 regulates critical components of PDGF oncogenesis and can act as a tumor suppressor in PDGF-induced gliomas by down-regulating Rho activity

The systematic exploration of cadmium-accumulation characteristics of maize kernel in acidic soil with different pollution levels in China

Cadmium is a toxic element with a half-life of more than a few decades that can be absorbed by crops and threaten human health. The problem of food security caused by cadmium through soil-crop systems has received great attention in China. Maize is a staple food widely cultivated throughout the world. However, the lack of systematic study makes it difficult to draw an accurate conclusion on its exact characteristics of cadmium accumulation and the corresponding health risk assessment. The availability of cadmium increased with the decrease of soil pH in acidic soil, enhancing the uptake of cadmium by crops and thus posing a major threat to food safety. In this study, the performance of kernel cadmium accumulation in abundant maize inbred and important hybrid lines were analyzed on acidic fields with different pollution levels in China. It was found that the kernel cadmium concentration both in inbred and hybrid lines showed left skewed distribution and concentrated significantly in a low interval under different soil cadmium gradients with good correlation. The classification of cadmium risk level in maize germplasm and cultivars and the analysis of soil cadmium threshold for maize safe planting can provide references to utilize the crop more feasibly and effectively. Maize may be an important staple crop to reduce human exposure to cadmium in agricultural soil. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Additional file 1: Table S1. of Serotype distribution and antibiotic resistance of Streptococcus pneumoniae isolates collected at a Chinese hospital from 2011 to 2013

List of primers used for S. pneumonia serotype deduction ( http://www.cdc.gov/streplab/pcr.html ). Table S2. Distribution of serotypes in different specimens. Table S3. Distribution of different serotypes in different age groups. Table S4. The serotypes distribution and coverage rates of vaccines of the 94 isolates of S.pneumoniae. Table S5. The serotype distribution and coverage rates of vaccines of S.pneumoniae isolates from children and elderly patients. Table S6. The antibiotic susceptibility of 94 strains of S.pneumoniae. (PDF 140 kb

ANFIS and ANN models for the estimation of wind and wave-induced current velocities at Joeutsu-Ogata coast

In this study, the adaptive network-based fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) and artificial neural network (ANN) were employed to estimate the wind- and wave-induced coastal current velocities. The collected data at the Joeutsu-Ogata coast of the Japan Sea were used to develop the models. In the models, significant wave height, wave period, wind direction, water depth, incident wave angle, and wind speed were considered as the input variables; and longshore and cross-shore current velocities as the output variables. The comparison of the models showed that the ANN model outperforms the ANFIS model. In addition, evaluation of the models versus the multiple linear regression and multiple nonlinear regression with power functions models indicated their acceptable accuracy. A sensitivity test proved the stronger effects of wind speed and wind direction on longshore current velocities. In addition, this test showed great effects of significant wave height on cross-shore currents' velocities. It was concluded that the angle of incident wave, water depth, and significant wave period had weaker influences on the velocity of coastal currents