Transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses reveal the flavor of bitterness in the tip shoots of Bambusa oldhamii Munro

Abstract The young bamboo shoot of Bambusa oldhamii (green bamboo) has a good taste and is rich in nutrition and widely used in traditional Chinese cuisines. But the shoots flavor of Bambusa oldhamii changed from deliciously sweet to a little bitter when the shoots grew from underground to aboveground. In this paper, we explored the bitterness chemicals of the green bamboo shoot when growing from underground to aboveground using transcriptome and metabolome techniques. Finally, several bitter chemicals were mined out counting for the flavor transformation, such as Solanidine, Amygdalin, Salicin, Arbutin, and others. The transcription factor family of AP2/ERF plays the main role in key bitter chemical regulation via correlation analysis. Moreover, the pathway of Biosynthesis of phenylpropanoids might be the key pathway in the formation of the bitter chemicals in green bamboo shoot development

Ectopic Expression of Litsea cubeba LcMADS20 Modifies Silique Architecture

Litsea cubeba (Lour.) Pers. (mountain pepper, Lauraceae) is an important woody essential oil crop that produces fragrant oils in its fruits, especially in its peels. Identification of genes involved in the regulation of fruits and peel architecture is of economic significance for L. cubeba industry. It has been well known that the MADS-box genes are essential transcription factors that control flowers and fruits development. Here, we obtained 33 MADS-box genes first from the RNA-seq data in L. cubeba, and 27 of these genes were of the MIKC-type. LcMADS20, an AGAMOUS-like gene, was highly expressed in the developing stages of fruits, particularly at 85 days after full bloom. The ectopic expression of LcMADS20 in Arabidopsis resulted in not only curved leaves, early flowering and early full-opened inflorescences, but also shorter siliques and decreased percentage of peel thickness. Moreover, in the LcMADS20 transgenic Arabidopsis, the expression modes of several intrinsic ABC model class genes were influenced, among which the expression of FUL was significantly reduced and AP3, AG, and STK were significantly increased. This study systematically analyzed the MADS-box genes in L. cubeba at the transcriptional level and showed that LcMADS20 plays important roles in the regulation of fruit architecture

Comparative proteomic analysis of cold responsive proteins in two wheat cultivars with different tolerance to spring radiation frost

Spring radiation frost (SRF) is a severe environmental stress which impairs wheat yield and productivity worldwide. To better understand the mechanism of wheat (Triticum aestivum) responding to SRF, a comparative proteomic analysis was performed to analyze the changes of the key proteins in two wheat cultivars Jimai22 and Luyuan301 with high and low tolerance to SRF respectively. A total of 43 differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) which mainly involved in carbohydrate metabolism, amino acid metabolism, resistance proteins and antioxidant enzymes, photosynthesis and cellular respiration proteins, cell-wall related proteins, protein translation/processing/degradation and signal transduction were isolated and identified by two-dimensional electrophoresis and MALDI-TOF-TOF MS. The results revealed that of the 21 DEPs in Jimai22 responding to the SRF, 13 DEPs were upregulated and 8 DEPs were downregulated, and that of the 22 DEPs in Luyuan301, 9 DEPs were upregulated and 13 DEPs were downregulated. These DEPs might be responsible for the stronger cold resistance of Jimai22 compared to Luyuan301. The expression pattern and function analysis of these DEPs were very significant to understanding the mechanism of the SRF responses in wheat

Response of Soil Net Nitrogen Mineralization to a Litter in Three Subalpine Forests

Forest litter accumulation can regulate the soil microclimate and alter nutrient distribution, but the effects of litter quality and seasonal differences on soil nitrogen (N) mineralization are still uncertain. The effects of litter change on the rates of net N mineralization, nitrification, and ammonification were studied through in situ incubation experiments in coniferous, mixed, and broad-leaved forests in the eastern Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau. Two litter treatments were established, one to allow the litter to enter the soil normally (remain litter) and the other to prevent the litter from entering the soil (remove litter). Soil samples were collected at the freezing (FS), thawing (TS), early growing (EGS), late growing (LGS), and early freezing (EFS) seasons during the 1.5-year incubation period. Compared to coniferous forests, the effects of litter removal on the net ammonification, nitrification, and N mineralization rates were more pronounced in broad-leaved forests, mainly during the growing and thawing seasons. Structural equation modeling indicated that microbial biomass N (MBN) was a common factor affecting the net ammonification, nitrification, and N mineralization rates in the three forest soils. The coniferous forest microbial biomass carbon (MBC), mixed forest soil moisture, broad-leaved forest soil N concentration, and C:N ratio were the unique influencing factors of the different forest types. The results showed that the effect of litter distribution on the soil net N mineralization mainly depended on forest type and season, suggesting that the litter composition and productivity in different seasons and forest types may alter the soil N cycling processes in subalpine forest ecosystems

FKBP4 integrates FKBP4/Hsp90/IKK with FKBP4/Hsp70/RelA complex to promote lung adenocarcinoma progression via IKK/NF-κB signaling

Abstract FKBP4 belongs to the family of immunophilins, which serve as a regulator for steroid receptor activity. Thus, FKBP4 has been recognized to play a critical role in several hormone-dependent cancers, including breast and prostate cancer. However, there is still no research to address the role of FKBP4 on lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) progression. We found that FKBP4 expression was elevated in LUAD samples and predicted significantly shorter overall survival based on TCGA and our cohort of LUAD patients. Furthermore, FKBP4 robustly increased the proliferation, metastasis, and invasion of LUAD in vitro and vivo. Mechanistic studies revealed the interaction between FKBP4 and IKK kinase complex. We found that FKBP4 potentiated IKK kinase activity by interacting with Hsp90 and IKK subunits and promoting Hsp90/IKK association. Also, FKBP4 promotes the binding of IKKγ to IKKβ, which supported the facilitation role in IKK complex assembly. We further identified that FKBP4 TPR domains are essential for FKBP4/IKK interaction since its association with Hsp90 is required. In addition, FKBP4 PPIase domains are involved in FKBP4/IKKγ interaction. Interestingly, the association between FKBP4 and Hsp70/RelA favors the transport of RelA toward the nucleus. Collectively, FKBP4 integrates FKBP4/Hsp90/IKK with FKBP4/Hsp70/RelA complex to potentiate the transcriptional activity and nuclear translocation of NF-κB, thereby promoting LUAD progression. Our findings suggest that FKBP4 may function as a prognostic biomarker of LUAD and provide a newly mechanistic insight into modulating IKK/NF-κB signaling

Additional file 1 of Response of microRNAs to cold treatment in the young spikes of common wheat

Table S1. Nucleotide sequences of primers for qRT-PCR of miRNAs and their targets. Table S2. Small RNA statistics and genome mapping information referred to the Chinese Spring genome. Table S3. Expression level of miRNAs in the control and cold-treated libraries. Table S4. Novel miRNA information, including mature, star, and precursor sequences, referred to the Chinese Spring genome. Table S5. Fold change of differentially expressed miRNAs and their targets by qRT-PCR. Table S6. Overlapped miRNAs in response to cold stress among wheat, Brachypodium, Medicago, Populus, and Arabidopsis. Table S7. Predicted targets of conserved miRNAs by the TargetFinder program. Table S8. Predicted targets of novel miRNAs by the TargetFinder program. Table S9. Targets of known miRNAs validated by degradome sequencing in the control and cold stress libraries. Table S10. Targets of novel miRNAs validated by degradome sequencing in the control and cold stress libraries. Table S11. Gene Ontology enrichment, including biological process, molecular function, and cellular components for the target genes of differentially expressed miRNAs after cold stress, referred as Chinese Spring. (ZIP 643 kb

Chronic ethanol feeding impairs AMPK and MEF2 expression and is associated with GLUT4 decrease in rat myocardium

Chronic and heavy alcohol consumption is one of the causes of heart diseases. However, the effects of ethanol on insulin sensitivity in myocardium has been unclear. To investigate the effects of ethanol on the expression of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), myocyte enhancer factor 2 (MEF2) and glucose transporter 4 (GLUT4), all of which are involved in the regulation of insulin sensitivity, in the myocardium, we performed three parts of experiments in vivo and in vitro. I: Rats were injected with 5-amino-4-imidazolecarboxamide ribonucleotide (AICAR, 0.8 mg·kg-1) for 2 h. II: Rats received different dose (0.5, 2.5 or 5 g·kg-1·d-1) of ethanol for 22-week. III: Primary neonatal rat cardiomyocytes were isolated and treated with or without 100 mM ethanol or 1 mM AICAR for 4 h. The cardiac protein and mRNA expression of AMPKα subunits, MEF2 and GLUT4 were observed by western-blotting and RT-PCR, respectively. Serum TNFα levels were assessed by ELISA. The results showed chronic ethanol exposure induced insulin resistance. Ethanol decreased the mRNA levels of AMPKα1 and α2, the protein levels of total- and phospho-AMPKα in cardiomyocytes. Similarly, ethanol showed inhibitory effects on both the mRNA and protein levels of MEF2A and 2D, and GLUT4 in a dose-response-like fashion. Correlation analysis implied an association between phospho-AMPKα and MEF2A or MEF2D, and between the levels of MEF2 protein and GLUT4 transcription. In addition, ethanol elevated serum TNFα level. Taken together, chronic ethanol exposure decreases the expression of AMPKα and MEF2, and is associated with GLUT4 decline in rat myocardium