As a key epigenetic modification, the methylation of histone H3 lysine 36 (H3K36) modulates chromatin structure and is involved in diverse biological processes. To better understand the language of H3K36 methylation in rice (Oryza sativa), we chose potential histone methylation enzymes for functional exploration. In particular, we characterized rice SET DOMAIN GROUP 708 (SDG708) as an H3K36-specific methyltransferase possessing the ability to deposit up to three methyl groups on H3K36. Compared with the wild-type, SDG708-knockdown rice mutants displayed a late-flowering phenotype under both long-day and short-day conditions because of the down-regulation of the key flowering regulatory genes Heading date 3a (Hd3a), RICE FLOWERING LOCUS T1 (RFT1), and Early heading date 1 (Ehd1). Chromatin immunoprecipitation experiments indicated that H3K36me1, H3K36me2, and H3K36me3 levels were reduced at these loci in SDG708-deficient plants. More importantly, SDG708 was able to directly target and effect H3K36 methylation on specific flowering genes. In fact, knockdown of SDG708 led to misexpression of a set of functional genes and a genome-wide decrease in H3K36me1/2/3 levels during the early growth stages of rice. SDG708 is a methyltransferase that catalyses genome-wide deposition of all three methyl groups on H3K36 and is involved in many biological processes in addition to flowering promotion.
Loquat (Eriobotrya japonica Lindl.) is an important non-climacteric fruit and rich in essential nutrients such as minerals and carotenoids. During fruit development and ripening, thousands of the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) from various metabolic pathways cause a series of physiological and biochemical changes. To better understand the underlying mechanism of fruit development, the Solexa/Illumina RNA-seq high-throughput sequencing was used to evaluate the global changes of gene transcription levels. More than 51,610,234 high quality reads from ten runs of fruit development were sequenced and assembled into 48,838 unigenes. Among 3256 DEGs, 2304 unigenes could be annotated to the Gene Ontology database. These DEGs were distributed into 119 pathways described in the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) database. A large number of DEGs were involved in carbohydrate metabolism, hormone signaling, and cell-wall degradation. The real-time reverse transcription (qRT)-PCR analyses revealed that several genes related to cell expansion, auxin signaling and ethylene response were differentially expressed during fruit development. Other members of transcription factor families were also identified. There were 952 DEGs considered as novel genes with no annotation in any databases. These unigenes will serve as an invaluable genetic resource for loquat molecular breeding and postharvest storage.
The study aims to analyze the phenolic compounds in Malus spp. and evaluate their antioxidant and pro-apoptotic effects in BGC-803 gastric cancer cells. The results showed that cyanidin-3-galactoside was the main polyphenol in Malus "Royalty" (MR), while catechin, epicatechin, and proanthocyanidin B1 and B2 contents were higher in Malus "Cinnabar" (MC) and Malus micromalus (MM) than in MR fruits. The total polyphenol content, total flavonoid content, and antioxidative properties of Malus spp. fruits followed an order of MR > MC > MM. Fruit extracts could inhibit BGC-803 cells growth and induce apoptosis, with IC50 values of 0.47, 0.36, and 0.31 mg/ml for MR, MC, and MM, respectively. Furthermore, fruit extracts induced cell apoptosis through increasing Bcl-2 and Bcl-xl (pro-apoptosis) expression and inhibiting Bax and Bak (anti-apoptosis) expression, thereby accelerating cell apoptosis. Taken together, these results demonstrate that red fruits (i.e., MR and MC) were more effective against cancer cells than green fruits (i.e., MM). Practical applications Fruits of Malus spp. are ≤5 cm in size, considerably smaller than apples. They are rich in various natural bioactive compounds that are often consumed as a dietary supplement or used as natural raw materials for function food. In the current study, it is comprehensively characterized profile and bioactivity of phenolic metabolites in Malus spp. fruits of different colors, and found that red fruits are more effective in reducing the free radicals and inducing cancer cells apoptosis than green fruits. These findings are valuable for food technologists and food manufacturers, especially those who produce crabapple supplement. The study investigated the molecular mechanism of how Malus spp. fruits exert anti-cancer functions. This lays a theoretical foundation for future research on developing anti-cancer function food and provides helpful guidance for fruit market management and fruit processing industry.
Two biochars made from corn-stover and sawdust were studied in chicken manure anaerobic digestion (AD), and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) removal was evaluated in this study. The results showed biochar added could effectively alleviate the volatile fatty acids (VFAs) and free ammonia (FA) inhibition during AD. The residual ARGs were positively correlated with intI1, soluble chemical oxygen demand (CODs), FA and VFAs concentrations. Microbial community analysis revealed the abundance of potential ARGs (except tetQ and tetT) hosts (e.g., Succinivibrio, Bacteroides, Methanobrevibacter and Methanocorpusculum) was decreased in AD supplemented with biochar. Moreover, the sawdust biochar added improved the macrolide ARGs and sulfonamide ARGs removal by increased intI1 removal, while the corn-stover biochar added enhanced the tetracycline ARGs removal by reducing the abundance of potential tetT and tetQ host (e.g., Fermentimonas). This study can provide theoretical basis for the application of biochar in AD engineering of chicken manure.
In this study, the structure and pro-inflammatory activities of water-soluble wheat bran polysaccharides (WBP) were evaluated. WBP were heteropolysaccharides consisting 60.34% arabinoxylan as the main component and 31.80% mannose residues characterized with the instrumental analyses. The result of cellular experiment displayed that WBP had significant pro-inflammatory activities by increasing the concentration of nitric oxide (NO) and up-regulating the inflammatory cytokine expressions of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α). WBP mediated macrophages RAW 264.7 pro-inflammatory response through phosphatidylinositol 3 hydroxykinase/protein kinase B (PI3K/Akt) signaling pathway by significantly promoting Akt and phosphoinositide-dependent kinase 1 (PDK1) phosphorylations. Meanwhile, the expression of related phosphorylated proteins JNK and ERK1/2 was significantly up-regulated which suggested that WBP played pro-inflammatory roles by activating mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) signaling pathway. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: In recent years, wheat bran generally has the phenomenon of high yield and low utilization rate. Wheat bran has rich nutritional value and contains a lot of effective biologically active substances. Based on our findings, the water-soluble polysaccharides extracted from wheat bran have significant effects on regulating immunity and can be utilized as sources of natural immune modulators. The research can develop new functions of wheat bran polysaccharides, and improve processing utilization rate and product added value.
The study aimed at investigating the influence of fermentation (primary and secondary) on aroma composition of blackberry wine. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was applied to quantify the compounds relevant to sparkling wine aroma. Investigation on this study revealed that a number of aroma components in raw material (55 in numbers), raw wine (54 in numbers), and aging wine (50 in numbers) were identified. In addition, 9 new aroma components such as octanoate, benzenepropanoic acid ethyl ester, ethyl benzoate, dodecyl ethyl, n -propanol, n -butanol, d -citronellol, benzaldehyde, and cedrol were detected in natural aging wine which appeared during secondary fermentation according to total peak areas of 4.69%. These findings reveal that natural aging is very important to aroma components formation of blackberry wine. Key words : Blackberry, gas chromatography, primary fermentation, secondary fermentation.
'/%3e%3cuse xlink:href='%23a' transform='rotate(23.036 .093 25.536)'/%3e%3cuse xlink:href='%23a' transform='rotate(45.87 1.273 16.18)'/%3e%3cuse xlink:href='%23a' transform='rotate(69.945 .996 12.078)'/%3e%3cuse xlink:href='%23a' transform='rotate(20.66 -19.689 31.932)'/%3e%3c/svg%3e)
