Trends towards revealing the genetic architecture of sheep tail patterning: Promising genes and investigatory pathways

Different sheep breeds have evolved after initial domestication, generating various tail phenotypic patterns. The phenotypic diversity of sheep tail patterns offers ideal materials for comparative analysis of its genetic basis. Evolutionary biologists, animal geneticists, breeders, and producers have been curious to clearly understand the underlying genetics behind phenotypic differences in sheep tails. Understanding the causal gene(s) and mutation(s) underlying these differences will help probe an evolutionary riddle, improve animal production performance, promote animal welfare, and provide lessons that help comprehend human diseases related to fat deposition (i.e., obesity). Historically, fat tails have served as an adaptive response to aridification and climate change. However, the fat tail is currently associated with compromised mating and animal locomotion, fat distribution in the animal body, increased raising costs, reduced consumer preference, and other animal welfare issues such as tail docking. The developing genomic approaches provide unprecedented opportunities to determine causal variants underlying phenotypic differences among populations. In the last decade, researchers have performed several genomic investigations to assess the genomic causality underlying phenotypic variations in sheep tails. Various genes have been suggested with the prominence of several potentially significant causatives, including the BMP2 and PDGFD genes associated with the fat tail phenotype and the TBXT gene linked with the caudal vertebrae number and tail length. Although the potential genes related to sheep tail characteristics have been revealed, the causal variant(s) and mutation(s) of these high-ranking candidate genes are still elusive and need further investigation. The review discusses the potential genes, sheds light on a knowledge gap, and provides possible investigative approaches that could help determine the specific genomic causatives of sheep tail patterns. Besides, characterizing and revealing the genetic determinism of sheep tails will help solve issues compromising sheep breeding and welfare in the future.

Research Progress on Accumulated Degree Days for PMI Estimation

Abstract

Among many factors that affect postmortem interval （PMI）, temperature is undoubtedly the most important factor, but simply considering temperature in estimation of PMI has limitations. Accumulated degree days （ADD） is an important indicator related to biological growth and development, which considers two major variables, environmental temperature and elapsed time. Therefore, the establishment of mathematical model of ADD and some evaluation indicators to estimate PMI, is obviously better than single temperature variable. This article briefly describes the research history of ADD, its application in PMI estimation, and the problems it faces, to provide reference for the further development of ADD to improve the accuracy of PMI estimation.

[Investigation on noise exposure level and health status of workers in transportation equipment manufacturing industry]

Objective: To explore the noise exposure level and the health status of workers in transportation equipment manufacturing industry, and provide a scientific basis for guidance and implementation of intervention measures. Methods: From January to December in 2019, a total of 2088 noise workers from a large enterprise were selected by cluster sampling method in railway transportation equipment manufacturing, automobile manufacturing and aerospace aircraft manufacturing enterprises. The worker's noise exposure level was detected. Occupational health checkups were performed on the noise workers including electrical audiometry, blood pressure and electrocardiogram. χ(2) test and trend χ(2) test were used to analyze the data. Results: The noise exposure level of 66.9% (1396/2088) workers exceeded 85 dB (A) , and the median noise level was 87.9 (84.3-90.3) dB (A) . Among them, workers of railway transportation equipment manufacturing enterprises had the highest noise exposure level[89.9 (87.8-91.6) dB (A) ]. The detection rate of high-frequency hearing loss, abnormal blood pressure and abnormal electrocardiogram of noise workers were 15.7% (327/2088) , 18.1% (378/2088) and 6.1% (128/2088) , respectively. The differences in the detection rates of high-frequency hearing loss, abnormal blood pressure, and abnormal electrocardiogram in workers of railway transportation equipment manufacturing enterprises, automobile manufacturing enterprises, and aerospace manufacturing enterprises were statistically significant (P<0.05) . Workers of railway transportation equipment manufacturing enterprises had higher detection rates of high-frequency hearing loss (17.6%, 186/1056) . Workers of aerospace manufacturing enterprises had higher detection rates of abnormal blood pressure and abnormal electrocardiogram (26.3%, 169/642; 10.0%, 64/642) . The differences in the detection rates of high-frequency hearing loss, abnormal blood pressure and abnormal electrocardiogram of noise workers were statistically significant in different age and working age groups, and gradually increased with age and working age (P<0.05) . The difference in the detection rate of high-frequency hearing loss of noise workers was statistically significant in different noise intensity groups, and the overall trend was increasing (P<0.05) . Conclusion: The transportation equipment manufacturing industry has serious noise hazards, especially the railway transportation equipment manufacturing industry. Long-term occupational noise exposure can adversely affect workers' hearing and cardiovascular system. Enterprises should strengthen occupational health inspections, and at the same time, take personal protective measures to protect the health of workers.

The TSIS-1 Hybrid Solar Reference Spectrum

We present a new solar irradiance reference spectrum representative of solar minimum conditions between solar cycles 24 and 25. The Total and Spectral Solar Irradiance Sensor-1 (TSIS-1) Hybrid Solar Reference Spectrum (HSRS) is developed by applying a modified spectral ratio method to normalize very high spectral resolution solar line data to the absolute irradiance scale of the TSIS-1 Spectral Irradiance Monitor (SIM) and the CubeSat Compact SIM (CSIM). The high spectral resolution solar line data are the Air Force Geophysical Laboratory ultraviolet solar irradiance balloon observations, the ground-based Quality Assurance of Spectral Ultraviolet Measurements In Europe Fourier transform spectrometer solar irradiance observations, the Kitt Peak National Observatory solar transmittance atlas, and the semi-empirical Solar Pseudo-Transmittance Spectrum atlas. The TSIS-1 HSRS spans 202-2730 nm at 0.01 to ∼0.001 nm spectral resolution with uncertainties of 0.3% between 460 and 2365 nm and 1.3% at wavelengths outside that range.

[Study on increase of average life expectancy of residents in Tianjin from 1999 to 2018]

Objective: To assess the trend and the factors responsible for the increase of life expectancy of residents in Tianjin over the past two decades. Methods: Abridged Life Table and Arriaga's decomposition method was applied to quantify the influence of the age structure and the leading causes of death on the increase of life expectancy of residents in Tianjin from 1999 to 2018. Results: In the past 20 years, the life expectancy of residents in Tianjin increased by 4.97 years, the life expectancy of men and women increased by 4.11 years and 5.86 years, respectively. The decrease of mortality rate in 0-year-old group contributed 19.17% to the increase of the life expectancy, while the decrease of mortality rate in residents aged ≥55 years contributed more to the increase of life expectancy, with the cumulative contribution rate of 67.38%. The major contribution to the increase of life expectancy was the mortality reduction of cerebrovascular disease, respiratory disease, cardiovascular disease, perinatal diseases, congenital malformations and injury, with the contribution percentage of 27.27%, 21.37%, 15.76%, 12.22%, 6.44% and 4.86%, respectively. The increase of mortality of malignant tumor, injury and poisoning, diabetes and nervous system diseases and others had a negative effect on the increase of life expectancy of people aged ≥75 years. From 1999 to 2018, the life expectancy increased from 76.72 years to 81.46 years (t=9.11, P<0.001), the annual percent change (APC) was 0.58%. From 2011 to 2018, it was stable, ranging from 81.46 years to 81.69 years (t=0.89, P=0.387, APC=0.13%). Conclusion: From 1999 to 2018, the increase of life expectancy was attributed to the decrease of mortalities in infants and the elderly and the decrease of mortalities of cerebro-cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, perinatal disease, congenital malformations and injury. However, these positive contributions were partly offset by the negative contribution of malignant tumor, injury, diabetes and nervous system disease in those aged ≥75 years. Comprehensive prevention and control of key diseases should be strengthened in key population in order to further improve the life expectancy of the population.

Sequential Changes of Total Adenine Nucleotide and Adenylic-Acid Energy Charge in Muscles of Rats after Death

Abstract

Objective To determine the purine adenylate [adenosine triphosphate （ATP）, adenosine diphosphate （ADP）, adenosine monophosphate （AMP）] content in the muscles of both hind limbs of rats at different postmortem interval （PMI）, calculate the changes in the total adenine nucleotide （TAN） content and the adenylic-acid energy charge （AEC）, and explore their relationship with PMI. Methods Healthy rats were sacrificed by cervical dislocation and kept at 20 ℃. The muscles of their hind limbs were extracted at 0, 24, 48, 72, 96, 120, 144, and 168 h after death. Reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography was used to determine the content of purine adenylates, the TAN and AEC of the muscles of the both hind limbs were calculated, and the related regression equations of their relationship with PMI were established. Results Within 168 h of death of rats, the trend of ATP change was different from ADP, and the content of AMP continuously increased. The TAN value gradually increased with the extension of PMI, and the AEC showed a downward trend within 168 h after death. Among them, the patterns of AEC changes with PMI were obvious, the correlation coefficient was high （ R²=0.903）, and the curve fitting relationship was good; the fitting relationship between ATP, ADP, AMP, TAN and PMI was poor （ R²=0.198-0.754）. Conclusion The postmortem change patterns of AEC provide new research ideas for PMI estimation in the forensic field.

LncRNA HANR aggravates the malignant progression of glioma via targeting miRNA-335

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to uncover the role of lncRNA HANR in the progression of glioma and the underlying mechanism.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

HANR expression level in 36 matched glioma tissues and adjacent non-tumoral tissues was determined by qRT-PCR. The relationship between HANR expression and pathological indexes of the glioma patients was analyzed. The Kaplan-Meier method was introduced to investigate the survival of glioma patients. After the knockdown of HANR, the proliferative, migratory, and invasive changes of U251 and SHG44 cells were determined. Bioinformatics and Dual-Luciferase Reporter Gene Assay were applied to predict and verify the downstream target of HANR, respectively. Furthermore, the rescue experiments were conducted to clarify the role of HANR/miRNA-335 regulatory loop in the progression of glioma.

RESULTS

HANR was significantly upregulated in glioma tissues and cell lines. Glioma patients with a high expression level of HANR presented remarkably higher rates of lymphatic metastasis and distant metastasis, as well as worse prognosis. The silence of HANR remarkably attenuated the proliferative, migratory, and invasive capacities of U251 and SHG44 cells. MiRNA-335 was the direct target of HANR and was significantly downregulated in glioma tissues. Meanwhile, the miRNA-335 level was negatively regulated by HANR. In addition, the knockdown of miRNA-335 partially reversed the regulatory effects of HANR on cellular behaviors of glioma.

CONCLUSIONS

LncRNA HANR is upregulated in glioma, which is closely correlated with metastasis and poor prognosis of glioma patients. In addition, HANR aggravates the progression of glioma by negatively regulating miRNA-335.

Inoculation of Bacillus megaterium strain A14 alleviates cadmium accumulation in peanut: effects and underlying mechanisms

AIMS

A cadmium (Cd)-tolerant Bacillus megaterium strain A14 was used to investigate the effects and mechanisms of bacterial inoculation on peanut growth, Cd accumulation in grains and Cd fixation in Cd-contaminated soil.

METHODS AND RESULTS

Spectroscopic analysis showed that A14 has many functional groups (-OH, -NH2 and -COO et al.) distributed on its surface. The pot experiment indicated that compared to the Cd-contaminated soil alone treatment, inoculation with strain A14 increased shoot and root biomass by 59·93 and 58·31% respectively. The accumulation of Cd in grains decreased by 48·14%, while the proportion of exchangeable Cd in soil decreased from 40 to 26% in A14 inoculated soil.

CONCLUSIONS

Inoculation with B. megaterium A14 improved peanut plant growth via (i) adsorbing Cd²⁺ through functional groups on cell surface, (ii) immobilization of Cd in soil through extracellular secretions, (iii) scavenging the reactive oxygen species through production of antioxidant enzymes, and (iv) by reducing the phytoavailable Cd through regulation of Cd transport gene expression.

SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY

This study provided a new sight on microbial approach for the chemical composition transformation of soil Cd and associated food safety production, which pointed out an efficient way to improve peanut cultivation.

Lrp6 Dynamic Expression in Tooth Development and Mutations in Oligodontia

Genes associated with the WNT pathway play an important role in the etiology of tooth agenesis. Low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein 6 encoding gene (LRP6) is a recently defined gene that is associated with autosomal dominant inherited tooth agenesis. Here, we aimed to identify novel LRP6 mutations in patients with tooth agenesis and investigate the significance of Lrp6 during tooth development. Using whole-exome sequencing, we identified 4 novel LRP6 heterozygous mutations (c.2292G>A, c.195dup, c.1095dup, and c.1681C>T) in 4 of 77 oligodontia patients. Notably, a patient who carried a nonsense LRP6 mutation (c.2292G>A; p.W764*) presented a hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia phenotype. Preliminary functional studies, including bioinformatics analysis and TOP-/FOP-flash reporter assays, demonstrated that the activation of WNT/β-catenin signaling was compromised as a consequence of LRP6 mutations. RNAscope in situ hybridization revealed dynamic and special changes of Lrp6 expression during murine tooth development from E11.5 to E16.5. It was noteworthy that Lrp6 was specifically expressed in the epithelium at E11.5 to E13.5 but was expressed in both dental epithelium and dental papilla from E14.5 and persisted in both tissues at later stages. Our study broadens the mutation spectrum of human tooth agenesis and is the first to identify a LRP6 mutation in patients with hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia and reveal the dynamic expression pattern of Lrp6 during tooth development. Information from this study is conducive to understanding the functional significance of Lrp6 on the biological process of tooth development.

Research Progress on the Determination of Electrical Conductivity in Forensic Science

Abstract

Electrical conductivity （EC） is an important physical and chemical index in electrochemical analysis. In recent years, with the penetration and reference of transformation medicine and interdisciplinary theory and technology in the forensic field, new applications of EC in the field of forensic science have been developed. This paper reviews three aspects of the application of EC, the determination of biological tissue freshness, postmortem interval estimation and the application in forensic taphonomy, in order to provide reference for relevant scientific research and related practices.

Pulmonary arterial hypertension in families with hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia: a 13-year follow-up study

Background

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) can occur in families with hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT), but it has not been well-characterized.

Purpose

This study sought to characterize the genetic defects, clinical and hemodynamic features, and outcomes of PAH patients in HHT families.

Methods

All HHT families with at least one case of PAH investigated in our center from January 2006 to December 2018 were enrolled in the study. We did whole-exome sequencing (WES) or whole-genome sequencing (WGS) to every proband and available family members. The clinical data, hemodynamic features and outcomes of PAH patients were reviewed.

Results

A total of 64 PAH patients in 57 families were enrolled. Only 7 (12.3%) families had more than one case of PAH. Activin-receptor-like kinase 1 (ALK-1) mutation and Endoglin (ENG) mutation were confirmed in 49 (86.0%) and 3 (5.3%) families and other 5 (8.8%) had no known mutation associated with HHT or PAH. The median age when PAH diagnosis was 22 [9–33] years and female was dominant (70.3%). Most patients (84.4%) had signs of HHT and anemia was recorded in 14 (21.9%) patients. Remarkably, these patients showed severely compromised hemodynamics with elevated mean pulmonary artery pressure (62 [51, 77] mm Hg) and pulmonary vascular resistance index (17.0 [11.2, 22.8] Wood units*m2). Also, impaired exercise capacity was recorded at diagnosis with decreased six-minute walking distance (410 [342–485] meters) and over half (54.7%) were in WHO functional class III or IV. The 1-, 3-, 5- and 10-year transplantation-free survival for the overall PAH patients was 95.0%, 75.9%, 67.1% and 36.4%, respectively. Anemia (HR: 4.24 [1.32–13.65], p=0.016) and CI &lt;2.5 l/min/m2 (HR: 4.39 [1.20–16.09], p=0.026) were independent risk factors for mortality.

Conclusions

PAH in HHT families is a devastating condition characterized by a young age at PAH diagnosis, poor clinical status and outcomes mainly underlying ALK-1 mutation, which emphasizes the importance to pay attention to this group of patients.

Transplantation-free survival

Funding Acknowledgement

Type of funding source: Foundation. Main funding source(s): The Beijing Natural Science Foundation (7181009), the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2016YFC0901502)

Effects of feeding a Lactobacillus plantarum JL01 diet on caecal bacteria and metabolites of weaned piglets

Currently, knowledge is limited concerning the impact of a Lactobacillus plantarum JL01 diet for weaned piglets on caecal bacteria and metabolite profiles. In our experiments, 24 weaned piglets were randomly divided into two groups; each piglet in the treatment groups (Cec-Lac) was fed a basic diet and administered 10 ml of L. plantarum JL01 (1·0 × 10⁹  CFU per ml) every day. The control group (Cec-Con) was fed a basic diet. After feeding for 28 days, we analysed the parameters of the caecal digesta of weaned piglets. We used 16S rDNA gene sequencing and mass spectrometry (MS)-based metabolomics techniques to investigate the effect of a L. plantarum JL01 diet on intestinal microbial composition and its metabolite profiles in the caecum contents of weaned piglets. The results showed that the richness estimators (ACE and Chao indices) in the caecal bacteria increased in the Cec-Lac group. Prevotella_2 and Desulfovibrio decreased significantly, while Pantoea and Rectale_group increased in the caecum of weaned piglets in the Cec-Lac group. Furthermore, Pearson's correlation analysis revealed that the genus Rectale_group was positively correlated with indole-3-acetic acid (P < 0·05), and the genus Pantoea had the same correlation with 1-palmitoyl lysophosphatidic acid. The metabolomics analysis revealed that the L. plantarum JL01 diet supplementation had significant effects on tryptophan metabolism and fat digestion and absorption. The results indicated that the L. plantarum JL01 dietary supplementation not only altered the microbial composition but also mediated tryptophan metabolism and fat digestion and absorption in the caecum, factors that may further affect the health of the host.

LncRNA NR027113 promotes malignant progression of gastric carcinoma via EMT signaling pathway

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to explore the characteristics of long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) NR027113 in gastric carcinoma, and to further investigate whether it could promote the development of gastric carcinoma via epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT) signaling pathway.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Quantitative Real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was performed to analyze the expression of NR027113 in 68 paired of gastric carcinoma and para-carcinoma tissues. Subsequently, the relationship between NR027113 expression and clinical indexes of gastric carcinoma as well as the prognosis of patients was analyzed. NR027113 expression in gastric carcinoma cells was detected by qRT-PCR as well. NR027113 knockdown model was constructed by lentivirus transfection in gastric carcinoma cells (including AGS and SGC-7901). Meanwhile, the effects of NR027113 on the biological functions of gastric carcinoma cells were analyzed by cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8), wound healing, transwell invasion and migration assay, respectively. Furthermore, the correlation between NR027113 and EMT signaling pathways was studied.

RESULTS

QRT-PCR results showed that the expression level of NR027113 in gastric carcinoma tissues was significantly higher than that of para-carcinoma tissues. Compared with patients with low expression of NR027113, the incidence of lymph node metastasis and distant metastasis was significantly higher in patients with high NR027113 expression. Meanwhile, the survival rate of patients with low NR027113 expression was significantly lower. Compared with control group, the invasion and migration abilities of cells in NR027113 knockdown group were significantly decreased. Subsequent qRT-PCR results demonstrated that the expression of EMT signaling pathway-related proteins was significantly changed after transfection of sh-NR027113. The above finding indicated that NR027113 could inhibit the malignant progression of gastric carcinoma. Moreover, the addition of transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) cytokines synergistically promoted the malignant progression of gastric carcinoma with NR027113.

CONCLUSIONS

NR027113 expression was significantly increased in gastric carcinoma. Meanwhile, it was positively correlated with lymph node metastasis, distant metastasis and poor prognosis of gastric carcinoma patients. Furthermore, NR027113 could accelerate the invasion and migration abilities of gastric carcinoma cells via EMT signaling pathway.

Determinants of SARS-CoV-2 receptor gene expression in upper and lower airways

The recent outbreak of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), which causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), has led to a worldwide pandemic. One week after initial symptoms develop, a subset of patients progresses to severe disease, with high mortality and limited treatment options. To design novel interventions aimed at preventing spread of the virus and reducing progression to severe disease, detailed knowledge of the cell types and regulating factors driving cellular entry is urgently needed. Here we assess the expression patterns in genes required for COVID-19 entry into cells and replication, and their regulation by genetic, epigenetic and environmental factors, throughout the respiratory tract using samples collected from the upper (nasal) and lower airways (bronchi). Matched samples from the upper and lower airways show a clear increased expression of these genes in the nose compared to the bronchi and parenchyma. Cellular deconvolution indicates a clear association of these genes with the proportion of secretory epithelial cells. Smoking status was found to increase the majority of COVID-19 related genes including ACE2 and TMPRSS2 but only in the lower airways, which was associated with a significant increase in the predicted proportion of goblet cells in bronchial samples of current smokers. Both acute and second hand smoke were found to increase ACE2 expression in the bronchus. Inhaled corticosteroids decrease ACE2 expression in the lower airways. No significant effect of genetics on ACE2 expression was observed, but a strong association of DNA- methylation with ACE2 and TMPRSS2- mRNA expression was identified in the bronchus.