Malathion-induced testicular toxicity is associated with spermatogenic apoptosis and alterations in testicular enzymes and hormone levels in male Wistar rats

Malathion has a broad range of toxicities while its reproductive effects have not been fully elucidated. In this study, we treated animals with malathion by gavage at doses of 0, 33.75, 54, and 108 mg/kg for 60 days and evaluated the alterations in histology, biochemistry and serology. Malathion caused the reduction in the sperm counts and motility. The reduced body and testis weights were coupled with mild to severe degenerative changes in seminiferous tubules. We found malathion at 54 mg/kg increased spermatogenic apoptosis rate which was confirmed by changes in protein expression of Bax and Bcl-2. The activities of testicular enzymes including ACP, LDH and γ-GT were significantly altered with the reduced level of reproductive hormones such as LH, FSH and T. These results indicate that malathion can elicit deleterious effects on reproductive system of rats. The abnormal levels of hormones and apoptotic proteins induced by malathion may play important roles

The Mechanism of Plasma Plume Termination for Pulse Excited Plasmas in a Quartz Tube

Although the formation and propagation of plasma plume for atmospheric pressure plasmas have been intensively studied, how does the plasma plume terminate is still little known. In this letter, helium plasma plumes are generated in a long quartz tube by pulsed voltages and a constant gas flow. The voltages have a variable pulse width (PW) from 0.5 μs to 200 μs. It is found that the plasma plume terminates right after the falling edge of each voltage pulse when PW \u3c 20 μs, whereas it terminates before the falling edge. When PW is larger than 30 μs, the duration of plasma plume starts to decrease, and the termination is found to occur at the current zero moment of the discharge current through the high-voltage electrode, which is much different from that through the ground electrode. This indicates that part of the discharge current is shunted by the plasma plume to its downstream gas region. An equivalent circuit model is developed, from which the surface charge deposited on the quartz tube is found crucial for accelerating the termination of a plasma plume when PW \u3e 30 μs

De novo sequencing and comparative transcriptome analysis of white petals and red labella in Phalaenopsis for discovery of genes related to flower color and floral differentation

Phalaenopsis is one of the world’s most popular and important epiphytic monopodial orchids. The extraordinary floral diversity of Phalaenopsis is a reflection of its evolutionary success. As a consequence of this diversity, and of the complexity of flower color development in Phalaenopsis, this species is a valuable research material for developmental biology studies. Nevertheless, research on the molecular mechanisms underlying flower color and floral organ formation in Phalaenopsis is still in the early phases. In this study, we generated large amounts of data from Phalaenopsis flowers by combining Illumina sequencing with differentially expressed gene (DEG) analysis. We obtained 37 723 and 34 020 unigenes from petals and labella, respectively. A total of 2736 DEGs were identified, and the functions of many DEGs were annotated by BLAST-searching against several public databases. We mapped 837 up-regulated DEGs (432 from petals and 405 from labella) to 102 Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathways. Almost all pathways were represented in both petals (102 pathways) and labella (99 pathways). DEGs involved in energy metabolism were significantly differentially distributed between labella and petals, and various DEGs related to flower color and floral differentiation were found in the two organs. Interestingly, we also identified genes encoding several key enzymes involved in carotenoid synthesis. These genes were differentially expressed between petals and labella, suggesting that carotenoids may influence Phalaenopsis flower color. We thus conclude that a combination of anthocyanins and/or carotenoids determine flower color formation in Phalaenopsis. These results broaden our understanding of the mechanisms controlling flower color and floral organ differentiation in Phalaenopsis and other orchids

De novo sequencing and comparative transcriptome analysis of white petals and red labella in Phalaenopsis for discovery of genes related to flower color and floral differentation

Phalaenopsis is one of the world’s most popular and important epiphytic monopodial orchids. The extraordinary floral diversity of Phalaenopsis is a reflection of its evolutionary success. As a consequence of this diversity, and of the complexity of flower color development in Phalaenopsis, this species is a valuable research material for developmental biology studies. Nevertheless, research on the molecular mechanisms underlying flower color and floral organ formation in Phalaenopsis is still in the early phases. In this study, we generated large amounts of data from Phalaenopsis flowers by combining Illumina sequencing with differentially expressed gene (DEG) analysis. We obtained 37 723 and 34 020 unigenes from petals and labella, respectively. A total of 2736 DEGs were identified, and the functions of many DEGs were annotated by BLAST-searching against several public databases. We mapped 837 up-regulated DEGs (432 from petals and 405 from labella) to 102 Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathways. Almost all pathways were represented in both petals (102 pathways) and labella (99 pathways). DEGs involved in energy metabolism were significantly differentially distributed between labella and petals, and various DEGs related to flower color and floral differentiation were found in the two organs. Interestingly, we also identified genes encoding several key enzymes involved in carotenoid synthesis. These genes were differentially expressed between petals and labella, suggesting that carotenoids may influence Phalaenopsis flower color. We thus conclude that a combination of anthocyanins and/or carotenoids determine flower color formation in Phalaenopsis. These results broaden our understanding of the mechanisms controlling flower color and floral organ differentiation in Phalaenopsis and other orchids

Intein-mediated backbone cyclization of entolimod confers enhanced radioprotective activity in mouse models

Background Entolimod is a Salmonella enterica flagellin derivate. Previous work has demonstrated that entolimod effectively protects mice and non-human primates from ionizing radiation. However, it caused a “flu-like” syndrome after radioprotective and anticancer clinical application, indicating some type of immunogenicity and toxicity. Cyclization is commonly used to improve the in vivo stability and activity of peptides and proteins. Methods We designed and constructed cyclic entolimod using split Nostoc punctiforme DnaE intein with almost 100% cyclization efficiency. We adopted different strategies to purify the linear and circular entolimod due to their different topologies. Both of linear and circular entolimod were first purified by Ni-chelating affinity chromatography, and then the linear and circular entolimod were purified by size-exclusion and ion-exchange chromatography, respectively. Results The circular entolimod showed significantly increased both the in vitro NF-κB signaling and in vivo radioprotective activity in mice. Conclusion Our data indicates that circular entolimod might be a good candidate for further clinical investigation