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Presbycusis is a form of age-related hearing loss (AHL). Many studies have shown that the degeneration of various structures in the cochlea of the inner ear is related to AHL, and DNA damage is an important factor leading to the above process. As an E2 ubiquitin-conjugated enzyme, RAD6B plays an important role in DNA damage repair (DDR) through histone ubiquitination. However, the molecular mechanism is still unclear. In this study, we investigated the role of RAD6B in the morphological changes and DDR mechanisms in aging-related degeneration of the cochlea of mice. We observed that the hair cells, stria vascularis and spiral ganglion in the cochlea of the RAD6B knockout mice showed significant degenerative changes and abnormal expression of proteins associated with DDR mechanisms compared with those of the littermate wild-type mice. In conclusion, our results suggest that the deletion of RAD6B may lead to abnormalities in DDR, thereby accelerating the degeneration of various structures in the cochlea and senescence and apoptosis of cochlea cells. • RAD6B deficiency accelerates degeneration in the cochlea. • RAD6B deficiency impairs DNA damage repair in cochlea cells. • RAD6B deficiency induces senescence and apoptosis in cochlea cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Propagation and cultivation results showed that grafting southern highbush blueberry cultivar ʽSharpblueʼ taking Wufanshu ( Vaccinium bracteatum Thunb.) as rootstock has much high survival rate, and inlaid bud-grafting and one-bud cut-grafting were both suitable for application. The grafted blueberry saplings integrated the excellent biological traits of rootstock species and scion cultivar, growth vigor was markedly stronger than that of the same-aged none-grafted blueberry in field planting. Further more, early bearing and productivity and fruit quality of grafted blueberry were also significantly improved. Grafting is a practical and efficient technology innovation in blueberry production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]