Genome-wide identification of nitrate-responsive microRNAs by small RNA sequencing in the rice restorer cultivar Nanhui 511

Rice productivity relies heavily on nitrogen fertilization, and improving nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) is important for hybrid rice breeding. Reducing nitrogen inputs is the key to achieving sustainable rice production and reducing environmental problems. Here, we analyzed the genome-wide transcriptomic changes in microRNAs (miRNAs) in the indica rice restorer cultivar Nanhui 511 (NH511) under high (HN) and low nitrogen (LN) conditions. The results showed that NH511 is sensitive to nitrogen supplies and HN conditions promoted the growth its lateral roots at the seedling stage. Furthermore, we identified 483 known miRNAs and 128 novel miRNAs by small RNA sequencing in response to nitrogen in NH511. We also detected 100 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), including 75 upregulated and 25 downregulated DEGs, under HN conditions. Among these DEGs, 43 miRNAs that exhibited a 2-fold change in their expression were identified in response to HN conditions, including 28 upregulated and 15 downregulated genes. Additionally, some differentially expressed miRNAs were further validated by qPCR analysis, which showed that miR443, miR1861b, and miR166k-3p were upregulated, whereas miR395v and miR444b.1 were downregulated under HN conditions. Moreover, the degradomes of possible target genes for miR166k-3p and miR444b.1 and expression variations were analyzed by qPCR at different time points under HN conditions. Our findings revealed comprehensive expression profiles of miRNAs responsive to HN treatments in an indica rice restorer cultivar, which advances our understanding of the regulation of nitrogen signaling mediated by miRNAs and provides novel data for high-NUE hybrid rice cultivation

Evolution of the Miocene megalake in the western Qaidam Basin, northwestern China

Thick Miocene lacustrine deposits have been identified across the Qaidam Basin on the northeast Tibetan Plateau, indicative of a relatively unified megalake then. How this megalake evolved at its final stage and associated controlling factors, e.g., global climate or tectonic uplift, remain largely elusive. Here we use the KC-1 well, drilled at the depo-center of the western Qaidam Basin, to investigate the megalake evolution over the mid- and late Miocene. A set of lipid biomarker indices, namely beta-carotane/n-C-36, gammacerane index, terrigenous/aquatic ratio and long-chain saturated ketone content, altogether indicate substantial lake level fluctuations, with lower lake level at the intervals of similar to 18-17 Ma, 13.5-11.5 Ma, 10.5-8 Ma and 7-6 Ma, and higher level at the intervals of similar to 7-13.5 Ma, 11.5-10.5 Ma, 8-7 Ma and 6-5 Ma, superimposed on the long-term shrinking trend. Direct comparison with existing regional and global temperature records suggests that such lake dynamics was largely associated with global climatic conditions, i.e., shrinking under relatively cool conditions and vice versa, for both its long-term evolution and secondary fluctuations. It thus appears that global climatic conditions had controlled the megalake status during the mid- and late Miocene, whereas tectonic activities then might have also contributed to its long-term gradual demise

Development of Cell-SELEX Technology and Its Application in Cancer Diagnosis and Therapy

SELEX (systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment) is a process involving the progressive isolation of high selective ssDNA/RNA from a combinatorial single-stranded oligonucleotide library through repeated rounds of binding, partitioning and amplification. SELEX-derived single-stranded DNA/RNA molecules, called aptamers, are selected against a wide range of targets, including purified proteins, live cells, tissues, microorganisms, small molecules and so on. With the development of SELEX technology over the last two decades, various modified SELEX processes have been arisen. A majority of aptamers are selected against purified proteins through traditional SELEX. Unfortunately, more and more evidence showed aptamers selected against purified membrane proteins failed to recognize their targets in live cells. Cell-SELEX could develop aptamers against a particular target cell line to discriminate this cell line from others. Therefore, cell-SELEX has been widely used to select aptamers for the application of both diagnosis and therapy of various diseases, especially for cancer. In this review, the advantages and limitations of cell-SELEX and SELEX against purified protein will be compared. Various modified cell-SELEX techniques will be summarized, and application of cell-SELEX in cancer diagnosis and therapy will be discussed

Tetra- and Octapyrroles Synthesized from Confusion and Fusion Approaches

By oxidation of an alternately N-confused bilane in CH₂Cl₂, a C–N fused tetrapyrrin was synthesized that bears a 5.5.5-tricyclic ring generated from an intramolecular C–N linkage. When CH₃CN was used as the reaction medium, a multiply C–N-fused octapyrrolic dimer was also obtained that contained two 5.5.5.7.5-pentacyclic moieties and a bipyrrole unit generated from the intramolecular C–N linkage and intermolecular C–C linkage, respectively. This could be coordinated with Ni­(acac)₂ to afford a mixed-ligand complex

Transcriptomic and Physiological Analyses of Two Rice Restorer Lines under Different Nitrogen Supplies Provide Novel Insights into Hybrid Rice Breeding

Improving plant nitrogen-use efficiency (NUE) has great significance for various crops, particularly in hybrid breeding. Reducing nitrogen inputs is key to achieving sustainable rice production and mitigating environmental problems. In this study, we analyzed the transcriptomic and physiological changes in two indica restorer lines (Nanhui511 [NH511] and Minghui23 [MH23]) under high nitrogen (HN) and low nitrogen (LN) conditions. Compared to MH23, NH511 was more sensitive to different nitrogen supplies and exhibited higher nitrogen uptake and NUE under HN conditions by increasing lateral root and tiller numbers in the seedling and maturation stages, respectively. NH511 also exhibited a lower survival rate than MH23 when planted in a chlorate-containing hydroponic solution, indicating its HN uptake ability under different nitrogen-supply conditions. Transcriptomic analysis showed that NH511 has 2456 differentially expressed genes, whereas MH23 had only 266. Furthermore, these genes related to nitrogen utilization showed differential expression in NH511 under HN conditions, while the opposite was observed in MH23. Our findings revealed that NH511 could be regarded as elite rice and used for breeding high-NUE restorer lines by regulating and integrating nitrogen-utilization genes, which provides novel insights for the cultivation of high-NUE hybrid rice

CCDC 1499916: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

An entry from the Cambridge Structural Database, the world’s repository for small molecule crystal structures. The entry contains experimental data from a crystal diffraction study. The deposited dataset for this entry is freely available from the CCDC and typically includes 3D coordinates, cell parameters, space group, experimental conditions and quality measures

CCDC 1499917: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

An entry from the Cambridge Structural Database, the world’s repository for small molecule crystal structures. The entry contains experimental data from a crystal diffraction study. The deposited dataset for this entry is freely available from the CCDC and typically includes 3D coordinates, cell parameters, space group, experimental conditions and quality measures

CCDC 1499918: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

An entry from the Cambridge Structural Database, the world’s repository for small molecule crystal structures. The entry contains experimental data from a crystal diffraction study. The deposited dataset for this entry is freely available from the CCDC and typically includes 3D coordinates, cell parameters, space group, experimental conditions and quality measures