Autographa californica multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus ac66 is required for the efficient egress of nucleocapsids from the nucleus, general synthesis of preoccluded virions and occlusion body formation

AbstractAlthough orf66 (ac66) of Autographa californica multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus (AcMNPV) is conserved in all sequenced lepidopteran baculovirus genomes, its function is not known. This paper describes generation of an ac66 knockout AcMNPV bacmid mutant and analyses of the influence of ac66 deletion on the virus replication in Sf-9 cells so as to determine the role of ac66 in the viral life cycle. Results indicated that budded virus (BV) yields were reduced over 99% in ac66-null mutant infected cells in comparison to that in wild-type virus infected cells. Optical microscopy revealed that occlusion body synthesis was significantly reduced in the ac66 knockout bacmid-transfected cells. In addition, ac66 deletion interrupted preoccluded virion synthesis. The mutant phenotype was rescued by an ac66 repair bacmid. On the other hand, real-time PCR analysis indicated that ac66 deletion did not affect the levels of viral DNA replication. Electron microscopy revealed that ac66 is not essential for nucleocapsid assembly, but for the efficient transport of nucleocapsids from the nucleus to the cytoplasm. These results suggested that ac66 plays an important role for the efficient exit of nucleocapsids from the nucleus to the cytoplasm for BV synthesis as well as for preoccluded virion and occlusion synthesis

Comparison of dynamic changes of endogenous hormones between calli derived from mature and immature embryos of maize

Mature and immature embryos of maize inbred lines 87-1 and 137 were used as explants to induce callus on improved N6 medium. The contents of endogenous hormones abscisic acid (ABA), indoleacetic acid (IAA), gibberellic acid (GA3) and cytokinins (ZR) of immature, mature embryos and their corresponding calli were detected by method of enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay (ELISA). At the beginning of culture, IAA and GA3 levels decreased rapidly and reached their lowest levels at day 7, indicating that large amounts of IAA and GA3 are needed for germination. Levels of IAA and GA3 were highest at the beginning of embryonic callus formation from immature embryos, suggesting high levels of IAA and GA3 were beneficial to induction of embryonic callus from immature embryos (CIME). The IAA, GA3 and ABA contents and ration of IAA to ABA (IAA/ABA), GA3 to ABA (GA3/ABA) in callus of mature embryos (CME) were higher than those of CIME after the 14th day from culture initiation and the changes of ratios IAA/ABA and GA3/ABA increased rapidly in CME while they remained low in CIME during the whole experimental period. This inferred that high levels of IAA, GA3 or ABA and large increases in IAA/ABA and GA3/ABA might hinder the induction and maintenance of embryonic calli from mature embryos

Taking PISA Seriously : How Accurate are Low Stakes Exams?

doi: 10.3386/w24930PISA is seen as the gold standard for evaluating educational outcomes worldwide. Yet, as it is a low-stakes exam, students may not take it seriously resulting in downward biased scores and inaccurate rankings. This paper provides a method to identify and account for non-serious behavior by leveraging information in computer-based assessments in PISA 2015. The authors show that this bias is large: a country can rise up to 15 places in rankings if its students took the exam seriously. The researchers ask where the bias is coming from and show that around half of it comes from the proportion of non-serious students, while 36% comes from their ability, with the remaining coming from the extent of non-seriousnes

Mitochondrial dysfunctions induce PANoptosis and ferroptosis in cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury: from pathology to therapeutic potential

Ischemic stroke (IS) accounts for more than 80% of the total stroke, which represents the leading cause of mortality and disability worldwide. Cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury (CI/RI) is a cascade of pathophysiological events following the restoration of blood flow and reoxygenation, which not only directly damages brain tissue, but also enhances a series of pathological signaling cascades, contributing to inflammation, further aggravate the damage of brain tissue. Paradoxically, there are still no effective methods to prevent CI/RI, since the detailed underlying mechanisms remain vague. Mitochondrial dysfunctions, which are characterized by mitochondrial oxidative stress, Ca2+ overload, iron dyshomeostasis, mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) defects and mitochondrial quality control (MQC) disruption, are closely relevant to the pathological process of CI/RI. There is increasing evidence that mitochondrial dysfunctions play vital roles in the regulation of programmed cell deaths (PCDs) such as ferroptosis and PANoptosis, a newly proposed conception of cell deaths characterized by a unique form of innate immune inflammatory cell death that regulated by multifaceted PANoptosome complexes. In the present review, we highlight the mechanisms underlying mitochondrial dysfunctions and how this key event contributes to inflammatory response as well as cell death modes during CI/RI. Neuroprotective agents targeting mitochondrial dysfunctions may serve as a promising treatment strategy to alleviate serious secondary brain injuries. A comprehensive insight into mitochondrial dysfunctions-mediated PCDs can help provide more effective strategies to guide therapies of CI/RI in IS

Analysis of small RNAs revealed differential expressions during pollen and embryo sac development in autotetraploid rice

Protein-protein interaction of meiosis-related genes with the targets predicted by the DEM associated with meiosis. Table S18. 21 nt-phasiRNAs triggered by the miR2118. Table S19. 24 nt-phasiRNAs triggered by the miR2275. Table S20. Overview of 24 nt TEs-siRNAs during pollen and embryo sac development of 02428-4x and 02428-2x. Table S21. Distribution of 24 nt TEs-siRNAs in autotetraploid and diploid rice. Table S22. Differentially expressed 24 nt TEs-siRNAs during pollen and embryo sac development of autotetraploid rice. Table S23. Anther length during pollen development stages in autotetraploid and diploid rice. Table S24. The stem–loop RT primers used in the present study. (XLSX 1012 kb