A new unique leafhopper genus of Erythroneurini from Thailand, with the description of one new species (Hemiptera, Cicadellidae, Typhlocybinae)

A new genus of the leafhopper tribe Erythroneurini (Cicadellidae, Typhlocybinae) from Thailand, Undulivena gen. n., and a new species Undulivena thaiensis sp. n., are described and illustrated. The new genus exhibits a unique feature of the forewing venation with CuA vein strongly sinuate

A new species and new record of the leafhopper genus Seriana Dworakowska (Hemiptera, Cicadellidae, Typhlocybinae) from China

Seriana menglaensis sp. n. (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae: Typhlocybinae: Erythroneurini) is described and illustrated from Southwest China. Seriana equata (Singh, 1969) is recorded for the first time from China

The effect of multiple genetic variants in predicting the risk of type 2 diabetes

While recently performed genome-wide association studies have advanced the identification of genetic variants predisposing to type 2 diabetes (T2D), the potential application of these novel findings for disease prediction and prevention has not been well studied. Diabetes prediction and prevention have become urgent issues owing to the rapidly increasing prevalence of diabetes and its associated mortality, morbidity, and health care cost. New prediction approaches using genetic markers could facilitate early identification of high risk sub-groups of the population so that appropriate prevention methods could be effectively applied to delay, or even prevent, disease onset

Genetic differentiation in Sichuan jay (Perisoreus internigrans) and its sibling species Siberian jay (P. infaustus)

The Pleistocene ice age and recent forest fragmentation have both played a significant role in shaping the population genetic variation of boreal coniferous species in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) and Eurasian coniferous forests. The Sichuan jay is one of the least know endemic bird species in QTP coniferous forests in western China while its sibling species, the Siberian Jay, is widespread within the coniferous forests in northern Eurasia. Here we used 11 microsatellite markers to assay genetic diversity across 58 Sichuan jay samples from China and 205 Siberian jay samples from Sweden and Russia. Results showed three distinct genetic clusters from the Sichuan jay sampling. Furthermore, the pair-wise F-ST values indicated high genetic differentiation not only among the two species but also between Swedish and Russian Siberian jay populations. What is more, a pattern of isolation by distance was found among the analyzed populations. Our study suggests that targeted habitat restoration in fragmented forests and more genetic work is urgently needed for conservation of the Sichuan jay

Fumigant activity and transcriptomic analysis of two plant essential oils against the tea green leafhopper, Empoasca onukii Matsuda

Introduction: The tea green leafhopper, Empoasca (Matsumurasca) onukii Matsuda, R., 1952 (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae), is currently one of the most devastating pests in the Chinese tea industry. The long-term use of chemical pesticides has a negative impact on human health, impeding the healthy and sustainable development of the tea industry in this region. Therefore, there is a need for non-chemical insecticides to control E. onukii in tea plants. The essential oils from plants have been identified for their potential insecticidal ability; however, there is a lack of knowledge regarding the effect of plant essential oils on E. onukii and its gene expression.Methods: In order to address these knowledge gaps, the components of Pogostemon cablin and Cinnamomum camphora essential oils were analyzed in the present study using gas chromatography‐mass spectrometry. The fumigation toxicity of two essential oils on E. onukii was tested using sealed conical flasks. In addition, We performed comparative transcriptome analyses of E. onukii treated with or without P. cablin essential oil.Results: The 36-h lethal concentration (LC50) values for E. onukii treated with P. cablin and C. camphora essential oils were 0.474 and 1.204 μL mL−1 respectively. Both essential oils exhibited the potential to control E. onukii, but the fumigation activity of P. cablin essential oil was more effective. A total of 2,309 differentially expressed genes were obtained by transcriptome sequencing of E. onukii treated with P. cablin essential oil.Conclusion: Many of differentially expressed genes were found to contain detoxifification genes, indicating that these families may have played an important role when E. onukii was exposed to essential oil stress. We also found differential expression of genes related to redox-related gene families, suggesting the upregulation of genes associated with possible development of drug and stress resistance. This work offers new insights for the prevention and management of E. onukii in the future

An Engineered Arginase FC Protein Inhibits Tumor Growth In Vitro

Arginine is a semiessential amino acid required for the growth of melanoma and hepatocellular carcinoma, and the enzymatic removal of arginine by pegylated arginine deiminase (ADI) or arginase is being tested clinically. Here, we report a genetically engineered arginase FC fusion protein exhibiting a prolonged half-life and enhanced efficacy. The use of this enzyme to treat different tumor lines both inhibited cell proliferation and impaired cellular migration in vitro and in vivo. Our data reinforce the hypothesis that nutritional depletion is a key strategy for cancer treatment

SVSI: Fast and Powerful Set-Valued System Identification Approach to Identifying Rare Variants in Sequencing Studies for Ordered Categorical Traits: SVSIfor Genetic Association Studies

For genetic association studies that involve an ordered categorical phenotype, we usually either regroup multiple categories of the phenotype into two categories (“cases” and “controls”) and then apply the standard logistic regression (LG), or apply ordered logistic (oLG) or ordered probit (oPRB) regression which accounts for the ordinal nature of the phenotype. However, these approaches may lose statistical power or may not control type I error rate due to their model assumption and/or instable parameter estimation algorithm when the genetic variant is rare or sample size is limited. Here to solve this problem, we propose a set-valued (SV) system model, which assumes that an underlying continuous phenotype follows a normal distribution, to identify genetic variants associated with an ordinal categorical phenotype. We couple this model with a set-valued system identification algorithm to identify all the key system parameters. Simulations and two real data analyses show that SV and LG accurately controlled the Type I error rate even at a significance level of 10−6 but not oLG and oPRB in some cases. LG had significantly smaller power than the other three methods due to disregarding of the ordinal nature of the phenotype, and SV had similar or greater power than oLG and oPRB. For instance, in a simulation with data generated from an additive SV model with odds ratio of 7.4 for a phenotype with three categories, a single nucleotide polymorphism with minor allele frequency of 0.75% and sample size of 999 (333 per category), the power of SV, oLG and LG models were 70%, 40% and <1%, respectively, at a significance level of 10−6. Thus, SV should be employed in genetic association studies for ordered categorical phenotype

Cell Membrane Is Impaired, Accompanied by Enhanced Type III Secretion System Expression in Yersinia pestis Deficient in RovA Regulator

BACKGROUND: In the enteropathogenic Yersinia species, RovA regulates the expression of invasin, which is important for enteropathogenic pathogenesis but is inactivated in Yersinia pestis. Investigation of the RovA regulon in Y. pestis at 26 °C has revealed that RovA is a global regulator that contributes to virulence in part by the direct regulation of psaEFABC. However, the regulatory roles of RovA in Y. pestis at 37 °C, which allows most virulence factors in mammalian hosts to be expressed, are still poorly understood. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The transcriptional profile of an in-frame rovA mutant of Y. pestis biovar Microtus strain 201 was analyzed under type III secretion system (T3SS) induction conditions using microarray techniques, and it was revealed that many cell-envelope and transport/binding proteins were differentially expressed in the ΔrovA mutant. Most noticeably, many of the T3SS genes, including operons encoding the translocon, needle and Yop (Yersinia outer protein) effectors, were significantly up-regulated. Analysis of Yop proteins confirmed that YopE and YopJ were also expressed in greater amounts in the mutant. However, electrophoresis mobility shift assay results demonstrated that the His-RovA protein could not bind to the promoter sequences of the T3SS genes, suggesting that an indirect regulatory mechanism is involved. Transmission electron microscopy analysis indicated that there are small loose electron dense particle-like structures that surround the outer membrane of the mutant cells. The bacterial membrane permeability to CFSE (carboxyfluorescein diacetate succinimidyl ester) was significantly decreased in the ΔrovA mutant compared to the wild-type strain. Taken together, these results revealed the improper construction and dysfunction of the membrane in the ΔrovA mutant. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: We demonstrated that the RovA regulator plays critical roles in the construction and functioning of the bacterial membrane, which sheds considerable light on the regulatory functions of RovA in antibiotic resistance and environmental adaptation. The expression of T3SS was upregulated in the ΔrovA mutant through an indirect regulatory mechanism, which is possibly related to the altered membrane construction in the mutant