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Nitrogen fertilizer application and planting densities were key limiting factor for the physiological metabolism and growth of Avena sativa L. In the paper, it was set five nitrogen fertilizer application (including: N1:225 kg/hm2, N2:300 kg/hm2, N3:375 kg/hm2, N4:450 kg/hm2, N5:525 kg/hm2) and four planting densities (including M1:3 million plants/hm2, M2:3.5 million plants/hm2, M3:4 million plants/hm2, M4:4.5 million plants/hm2), and measure plant height, aboveground biomass, underground biomass, total biomass, stem biomass, leaf biomass, root biomass and ear biomass, and calculate stem/leaf ratio, root/crown ratio, stem contribution rate, leaf contribution rate, root contribution rate and spike contribution rate, to study the effect of density and nitrogen fertilizer on height, biomass and material distribution of Avena sativa L to provide scientific basis for water and fertilizer management of Avena sativa L in Horqin Sandy Land (Science and Technology Park of Inner Mongolia university for nationalities). The results showed, The main purpose was to harvest aboveground biomass such as oat stem and leaf, the optimal density and nitrogen fertilizer combination was M4 and N3, and aboveground biomass was 4254.96 g/m2 (2017) and 4226.21 g/m2 (2018). Under the same planting density, the height, aboveground biomass and underground biomass of Avena sativa L all showed first increased and then decreased with the rising of fertilizer application and the biggest height value appeared at N3. Under the same nitrogen fertilizer application, the height indicated increased gradually with the rising of density, and higher biomass was obtained under lower nitrogen fertilizer application and higher planting density conditions (such as:N1 conditions, the biggest value of underground biomass and total biomass was obtained under M1 condition), and under higher nitrogen fertilizer application conditions the higher value of biomass was obtained under lower planting density condition (M1 (2017) and M2 (2018) under the condition of N5 treatment, the aboveground biomass and total biomass were the highest, while M4 (2017) and M3 (2018) underground biomass was the highest.). Under same nitrogen fertilizer application conditions, the root/shoot ratio and stem/leaf ratio all showed increased first and then decreased with the rising of density. Under same density conditions, the root/shoot ratio and stem/leaf ratio indicated different variation laws with different nitrogen fertilizer application amount. The changes laws of root contribution rate, stem contribution rate, leaf contribution rate and ear contribution rate were different due to density and nitrogen fertilizer application.

Clinical management of Clostridium difficile infection is still far from satisfactory as bacterial spores are resistant to many chemical agents and physical treatments. Certain types of nanoparticles have been demonstrated to exhibit anti-microbial efficacy even in multi-drug resistance bacteria. However, most of these studies failed to show biocompatibility to the mammalian host cells and no study has revealed in vivo efficacy in C. difficile infection animal models. The spores treated with 500 µg/mL Fe3-δO4 nanoparticles for 20 minutes, 64% of the spores were inhibited from transforming into vegetative cells, which was close to the results of the sodium hypochlorite-treated positive control. By cryo-electron micro-tomography, we demonstrated that Fe3-δO4 nanoparticles bind on spore surfaces and reduce the dipicolinic acid (DPA) released by the spores. In a C. difficile infection animal model, the inflammatory level triple decreased in mice with colonic C. difficile spores treated with Fe3-δO4 nanoparticles. Histopathological analysis showed a decreased intense neutrophil accumulation in the colon tissue of the Fe3-δO4 nanoparticle-treated mice. Fe3-δO4 nanoparticles, which had no influence on gut microbiota and apparent side effects in vivo, were efficacious inhibitors of C. difficile spore germination by attacking its surface and might become clinically feasible for prophylaxis and therapy.

Nonylphenol (NP) is a persistent environmental chemical that can disrupt the organism’s endocrine system, and is detected in the surface water and sea. In this study, we investigated whether NP can alter transcriptional expression of sexual differentiation-related genes. Three generations of zebrafish were exposed to 0, 2, 20 and 200 μg·L−1 of NP, and transcriptional expression of sexual differentiation genes were assessed in 10, 20 and 40 dpf in the F1 and F2 generations. Growth of zebrafish exposed to 200 μg·L−1 of NP was inhibited at 125 dpf in the F1 generation. 20 μg·L−1 of NP resulted in 80% females in the F1 generation, but had no effect on the F2 generation. In terms of the sexual differentiation genes, the transcriptional expression of cyp19a1a and esr1 genes were upregulated in 20 μg·L−1 of NP in the F1 generation. But expression of the sexual differentiation genes were not affected in the F2 generation. Overall, NP could affect sexual differentiation and gene transcriptional expression in the F1 generation. The tolerance of contaminant in the offsprings was improved at low concentration.

Efficient generation of plants carrying mutations in multiple genes remains a challenge. Using two or more orthogonal CRISPR/Cas systems can generate plants with multi-gene mutations, but assembly of these systems requires a robust, high-capacity toolkit. Here, we describe MISSA 2.0 (multiple-round in vivo site-specific assembly 2.0), an extensively updated toolkit for assembly of two or more CRISPR/Cas systems. We developed a novel suicide donor vector system based on plasmid RK2, which has much higher cloning capacity than the original, plasmid R6K-based system. We validated the utility of MISSA 2.0 by assembling multiple DNA fragments into the E. coli chromosome, and by creating transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana that constitutively or inducibly overexpress multiple genes. We then demonstrated that the higher cloning capacity of the RK2-derived MISSA 2.0 donor vectors facilitated the assembly of two orthogonal CRISPR/Cas systems including SpCas9 and SaCas9, and thus facilitated the creation of transgenic lines harboring these systems. We anticipate that MISSA 2.0 will enable substantial advancements in multiplex genome editing based on two or more orthogonal CRISPR/Cas9 systems, as well as in plant synthetic biology.

Interleukin-17A (IL-17A) is a principal driver of multiple inflammatory and immune disorders. Antibodies that neutralize IL-17A or its receptor (IL-17RA) deliver efficacy in autoimmune diseases, but no small-molecule IL-17A antagonists have yet progressed into clinical trials. Investigation of a series of linear peptide ligands to IL-17A and characterization of their binding site has enabled the design of novel macrocyclic ligands that are themselves potent IL-17A antagonists.

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection is a major cause of severe lower respiratory illness in infants and young children, but the underlying mechanisms responsible for viral pathogenesis have not been fully elucidated. To date, no drugs or vaccines have been employed to improve clinical outcomes for RSV-infected patients. In this paper, we report that angiotensin-converting enzyme-2 (ACE2) protected against severe lung injury induced by RSV infection in an experimental mouse model and in pediatric patients. Moreover, ACE2 deficiency aggravated RSV-associated disease pathogenesis, mainly by its action on the angiotensin II type 1 receptor (AT1R). Furthermore, administration of a recombinant ACE2 protein alleviated the severity of RSV-induced lung injury. These findings demonstrate that ACE2 plays a critical role in preventing RSV-induced lung injury and suggest that ACE2 is a promising potential therapeutic target in the management of RSV-induced lung disease.

Hypervariable loops of HIV-1 Env protein gp120 are speculated to play roles in the conformational transition of Env to the receptor binding-induced metastable state. Structural analysis of full-length Env-based immunogens, containing the entire V2 loop, displayed tighter association between gp120 subunits, resulting in a smaller trimeric diameter than constructs lacking V2. A prominent basal quaternary location of V2 and V3′ that challenges previous reports would facilitate gp41-independent gp120-gp120 interactions and suggests a quaternary mechanism of epitope occlusion facilitated by hypervariable loops. Deletion of V2 resulted in dramatic exposure of basal, membrane-proximal gp41 epitopes, consistent with its predicted basal location. The structural features of HIV-1 Env characterized here provide grounds for a paradigm shift in loop exposure and epitope occlusion, while providing substantive rationale for epitope display required for elicitation of broadly neutralizing antibodies, as well as substantiating previous pertinent literature disregarded in recent reports.