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Seismic waves always suffer from amplitude dissipation and phase distortion and such attenuation-induced effects will degrade the quality of seismic data. Therefore, a slew of researches on attenuation compensation have been proposed to correct the attenuation effects and improve the resolution of original data. In recent years, geophysicists have paid more attention on prestack compensation because prestack data contains more information of subsurface medium. However, it is challenging to implement prestack compensation for which the traveltime of prestack data is hard to be determined unless an accurate velocity model is available. Furthermore, prestack data usually behaves lower signal to noise ratio (SNR), which is more prone to noise amplification during compensation. In order to improve the performance of prestack compensation, we propose a robust structure-oriented multichannel prestack compensation method. We incorporate additional adaptive structure regularization to stabilize the processing of compensation. We refer the proposed structure constrained multichannel prestack compensation method as SCMPC. With the help of adaptive structure regularization, the proposed method has a superior ability to suppress those artifacts caused by ambient noises and enhance the consistency of effective signals during compensation. Compared with classic single-channel prestack compensation methods (SPC), the proposed SCMPC method can provide a better result with higher accuracy and SNR. We adopt synthetic and field examples to further validate the well performance of the proposed method.

Mosaic viral diseases affect sugarcane productivity worldwide. Mining disease resistance-associated molecular markers or genes is a key component of disease resistance breeding programs. In the present study, 285 F1 progeny were produced from a cross between Yuetang 93-159, a moderately resistant variety, and ROC22, a highly susceptible variety. The mosaic disease symptoms of these progenies, with ROC22 as the control, were surveyed by natural infection under 11 different environmental conditions in the field and by artificial infections with a mixed sugarcane mosaic virus (SCMV) and sorghum mosaic virus (SrMV) inoculum. Analysis of consolidated survey data enabled the identification of 29 immune, 55 highly resistant, 70 moderately resistant, 62 susceptible, and 40 highly susceptible progenies. The disease response data and a high-quality SNP genetic map were used in quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping. The results showed that the correlation coefficients (0.26~0.91) between mosaic disease resistance and test environments were significant (p< 0.001), and that mosaic disease resistance was a highly heritable quantitative trait (H2 = 0.85). Seven mosaic resistance QTLs were located to the SNP genetic map, each QTL accounted for 3.57% ~ 17.10% of the phenotypic variation explained (PVE). Furthermore, 110 pathogen response genes and 69 transcription factors were identified in the QTLs interval. The expression levels of nine genes (Soffic.07G0015370-1P, Soffic.09G0015410-2T, Soffic.09G0016460-1T, Soffic.09G0016460-1P, Soffic.09G0017080-3C, Soffic.09G0018730-3P, Soffic.09G0018730-3C, Soffic.09G0019920-3C and Soffic.03G0019710-2C) were significantly different between resistant and susceptible progenies, indicating their key roles in sugarcane resistance to SCMV and SrMV infection. The seven QTLs and nine genes can provide a certain scientific reference to help sugarcane breeders develop varieties resistant to mosaic diseases.

Gretchen Hagen3 (

Choriocarcinoma (CC) is a rare and highly malignant epithelial tumour. However, the mechanism underlying its occurrence and development remains unknown. We aimed to reveal the biological significance and prognostic value of Claudin-6 (CLDN6) in gestational trophoblastic disease (GTD).We collected clinical GTD specimens from 2011 to 2019 and measured CLDN6 gene expression by immunohistochemistry (IHC). High-throughput mRNA sequencing (RNA-seq) revealed a GTD progression-associated gene. CCK-8, wound healing, and flow cytometry assays were used to assess the biological effects of CLDN6 overexpression and knockdown. The medical records of 118 GTD patients from 2011 to 2019 were retrospectively analysed to identify correlations between CLDN6 expression and GTD patient clinical-pathological parameters; these correlations were analysed using the chi-square test and one-way ANOVA. Univariate logistic regression was used to analyse various prognostic parameters of patients with post-molar GTN.CLDN6 had the second highest fold change in gene expression between GTN and normal samples. CLDN6 was highly expressed in GTN tissues and CC cell lines, and silencing CLDN6 inhibited the proliferation and migration and promoted the apoptosis of CC cells. CLDN6 overexpression was significantly correlated with uterine size (p = 0.01) and ovarian cysts 6 cm (p = 0.027), CLDN6 expression was significantly higher in HR-GTNs than in low-risk GTNs (LR-GTNs) (p = 0.008), and logistic regression analysis showed that CLDN6 expression in hydatidiform moles (HMs) was related to a high risk of developing post-molar GTN (OR = 2.393, p = 0.03).We propose that CLDN6 participates in the development of GTD and may become a new therapeutic target for CC.

Sugarcane smut caused by Sporisorium scitamineum is one of the most severe fungal diseases worldwide. In this study, a cross was made between a smut-resistant variety YT93-159 and a smut-susceptible variety ROC22, and 312 progenies were obtained. Two bulks of progenies were then constructed, one consisted of 27 highly smut resistant progenies and the other 24 smut susceptible progenies. Total RNAs of the progenies of each bulk, were pooled and subject to bulked segregant RNA-sequence analysis (BSR-Seq). A total of 164.44 Gb clean data containing 2,341,449 SNPs and 64,999 genes were obtained, 7,295 of which were differentially expressed genes (DEGs). These DEGs were mainly enriched in stress-related metabolic pathways, including carbon metabolism, phenylalanine metabolism, plant hormone signal transduction, glutathione metabolism, and plant-pathogen interactions. Besides, 45,946 high-quality, credible SNPs, a 1.27 Mb region at Saccharum spontaneum chromosome Chr5B (68,904,827 to 70,172,982), and 129 candidate genes were identified to be associated with smut resistance. Among them, twenty-four genes, either encoding key enzymes involved in signaling pathways or being transcription factors, were found to be very closely associated with stress resistance. RT-qPCR analysis demonstrated that they played a positive role in smut resistance. Finally, a potential molecular mechanism of sugarcane and S. scitamineum interaction is depicted that activations of MAPK cascade signaling, ROS signaling, Ca2+ signaling, and PAL metabolic pathway and initiation of the glyoxalase system jointly promote the resistance to S. scitamineum in sugarcane. This study provides potential SNP markers and candidate gene resources for smut resistance breeding in sugarcane.

Background To evaluate the prognostic value of the systemic inflammatory score (SIS) in cervical cancer patients.Methods The optimal cutoff values for inflammatory biomarkers were calculated by X-tile software. The prognostic factors were investigated using univariate and multivariate Cox analyses. Time-dependent receiver operating characteristic (time-ROC) analysis and the concordance index (C-index) were used to compare the prognostic impact of factors. Results In total, 264 patients with cervical cancer were included in the study. The optimal cutoff value for lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio (LMR) was 4.1. In multivariate analysis, FIGO stage, lymphovascular invasion, lymph node metastasis, preoperative serum albumin (Alb), and LMR were independent prognostic factors (PConclusions The preoperative SIS is a simple and useful prognostic factor for postoperative survival in patients with cervical cancer. It might assist in the identification of high-risk patients among patients with the same FIGO stage.

Background Sugarcane mosaic disease (SMD) is a major viral disease of sugarcane (Saccharum spp.) worldwide. Sorghum mosaic virus (SrMV) is the dominant pathogen of SMD in the sugarcane planting areas of China. There is no report on miRNAs and their regulatory networks in sugarcane response to SrMV infection. Results In this study, small RNA sequencing (sRNA-seq) of samples from the leaves of SMD-susceptible variety ROC22 and -resistant variety FN39 infected by SrMV was performed. A total of 132 mature miRNAs (55 known miRNAs and 77 novel miRNAs) corresponding to 1,037 target genes were identified. After the SrMV attack, there were 30 differentially expressed miRNAs (17 up-regulated and 13 down-regulated) in FN39 and 19 in ROC22 (16 up-regulated and 3 down-regulated). Besides, there were 18 and 7 variety-specific differentially expressed miRNAs for FN39 and ROC22, respectively. KEGG enrichment analysis showed that the differentially expressed miRNAs targeted genes involved in several disease resistance-related pathways, such as mRNA surveillance, plant pathway interaction, sulfur metabolism, and regulation of autophagy. The reliability of sequencing data, and the expression patterns / regulation relationships between the selected differentially expressed miRNAs and their target genes in ROC22 and FN39 were confirmed by quantitative real-time PCR. A regulatory network diagram of differentially expressed miRNAs and their predicted target genes in sugarcane response to SrMV infection was sketched. In addition, precursor sequences of three candidate differentially expressed novel miRNAs (nov_3741, nov_22650 and nov_40875) were cloned from the ROC22 leaf infected by SrMV. Transient overexpression demonstrated that they could induce the accumulation of hydrogen peroxide and the expression level of hypersensitive response marker genes, salicylic acid-responsive genes and ethylene synthesis-depended genes in Nicotiana benthamiana. It is thus speculated that these three miRNAs may be involved in regulating the early immune response of sugarcane plants following SrMV infection. Conclusions This study lays a foundation for revealing the miRNA regulation mechanism in the interaction of sugarcane and SrMV, and also provides a resource for miRNAs and their predicted target genes for SrMV resistance improvement in sugarcane.

Here we report an ultra-effective and reliable pathway to reduce GO into graphene by an about 4 seconds flame-assisted microwave process. A holey graphene with a C/O atom ratio of 31.1, a pore volume of 6.0 cm3 g-1, and a specific surface area of 1050.0 m2 g-1 was synthesized.

Directly anchoring active materials on porous conductive substrates is considered an effective strategy to obtain a high-activity electrode since the direct contact between active materials and substrates benefits charge transfer, and the presence of porous structures provides more active sites. However, due to the presence of strong stress and weak adhesion, active materials loaded on the substrate are very easy to peel off during assembly and use, which can greatly shorten the lifetime of use. Herein, an ultrasonic corrosion strategy is proposed to regulate the surface of a metal substrate. We find that ultrasonic oxygen corrosion and interfacial water control play key roles in fabricating the complex electrode, which can help the surface of Cu foam to form special lamellar cross-linked CuO nanoarchitectures with strong adhesion and then overcome the defect of the deposited NiCo layered double hydroxides (NC LDH) on the stress and adhesion. The expected electrode shows more than 70% improvement in cycling stability at an ultra-high current density of 20 A g

Gretchen Hagen3 (GH3), one of the three major auxin-responsive gene families, is involved in hormone homeostasis in vivo by amino acid splicing with the free forms of salicylic acid (SA), jasmonic acid (JA) or indole-3-acetic acid (IAA). Until now, the functions of sugarcane GH3 (SsGH3) family genes in response to biotic stresses have been largely unknown. In this study, we performed a systematic identification of the SsGH3 gene family at the genome level and identified 41 members on 19 chromosomes in the wild sugarcane species, Saccharum spontaneum. Many of these genes were segmentally duplicated and polyploidization was the main contributor to the increased number of SsGH3 members. SsGH3 proteins can be divided into three major categories (SsGH3-I, SsGH3-II, and SsGH3-III) and most SsGH3 genes have relatively conserved exon-intron arrangements and motif compositions. Diverse cis-elements in the promoters of SsGH3 genes were predicted to be essential players in regulating SsGH3 expression patterns. Multiple transcriptome datasets demonstrated that many SsGH3 genes were responsive to biotic and abiotic stresses and possibly had important functions in the stress response. RNA sequencing and RT-qPCR analysis revealed that SsGH3 genes were differentially expressed in sugarcane tissues and under Sporisorium scitamineum stress. In addition, the SsGH3 homolog ScGH3-1 gene (GenBank accession number: OP429459) was cloned from the sugarcane cultivar (Saccharum hybrid) ROC22 and verified to encode a nuclear- and membrane-localization protein. ScGH3-1 was constitutively expressed in all tissues of sugarcane and the highest amount was observed in the stem pith. Interestingly, it was down-regulated after smut pathogen infection but up-regulated after MeJA and SA treatments. Furthermore, transiently overexpressed Nicotiana benthamiana, transduced with the ScGH3-1 gene, showed negative regulation in response to the infection of Ralstonia solanacearum and Fusarium solani var. coeruleum. Finally, a potential model for ScGH3-1-mediated regulation of resistance to pathogen infection in transgenic N. benthamiana plants was proposed. This study lays the foundation for a comprehensive understanding of the sequence characteristics, structural properties, evolutionary relationships, and expression of the GH3 gene family and thus provides a potential genetic resource for sugarcane disease-resistance breeding.

Here we demonstrate the scalable modulation of reduced graphene oxide (RGO) properties by regulating graphite oxide (GtO) precursors. Our findings show the thickness and loose degree of GtO precursors act as key roles in flame activation process. Interestingly, the looser GtO transforms into RGO with a lower specific surface area (SSA); RGO from the thinner GtO paper shows a higher SSA. By regulating GtO precursors, SSA from 1030.5 to 335.3 m2 g−1, defect degree, oxidation degree, and pore volume from 4.61 to 1.36 cm3 g−1 can be tuned. The corresponding structural properties are translated into unique supercapacitor (SC) performances such as high specific capacitance (the highest value of 576 F g−1) and coulombic efficiency. Additionally, this method indicates great potential to prepare RGO-based metal oxide composites with good homogeneity and good SC behaviors.

Gestational trophoblastic disease (GTD) is a group of interrelated but distinct diseases and has a serious impact on the reproductive health of women. To analyze the expression of Nanog in GTD and to evaluate its potential to predict the development of gestational trophoblastic neoplasia (GTN).The study included 41 normal first-trimester placentas matched by gestational age to 53 regressed-hydatidiform-moles (rHMs), 56 malignant-HMs (mHMs) and 17 choriocarcinomas (CCAs) and evaluated the Nanog expression by immunohistochemistry. The chi-square test, ANOVA, Fisher's exact test and logistic regression were performed to assess the Nanog expression and clinical prognostic factors in GTD.Compared to normal placenta levels, the Nanog expression was increased in GTD samples (Nanog is an independent predictor of clinical outcomes. It can also be a reliable predictor for GTN development from GTD.

This letter proposes a time-variant shoot-through pulsewidth modulation strategy for the traditional modulation techniques used in quasi-Z-source inverters. By introducing the proposed strategy into the traditional modulation techniques, like the simple boost modulation, the bus voltage amplitude can be reduced at the nonpeak areas, and the switching loss can be greatly saved to improve system efficiency. Because the output voltage gain can still be guaranteed, the waveform quality is not influenced. At the same time, for the traditional zero states in the proposed strategy are fully used as the shoot-through zero states, the switching times can be evidently reduced and the system efficiency can be further increased. Theoretical analysis and experimental results are presented to verify the real performance.

The ratoon stunting disease (RSD), caused by the bacterium Leifsonia xyli subsp. xyli (Lxx), is one of the most economically devastating diseases impacting sugarcane. RSD causes significant yield losses and variety degradation. Diagnosis of RSD is challenging because it does not exhibit any discernible internal and external symptoms. Moreover, the Lxx bacteria are very small and difficult to isolate, cultivate, and detect. In this study, conventional polymerase chain reaction (PCR), real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR), and Lxx-loop-mediated isothermal amplification (Lxx-LAMP) were utilized to specifically detect the presence of Lxx pathogens in the juice from Lxx-infected sugarcane stalks and an Lxx-pMD18-T recombinant plasmid. The results showed that Lxx was a highly specific causal pathogen for RSD. All three techniques provided great reproducibility, while Lxx-LAMP had the highest sensitivity. When the DNA extract from Lxx-infected sugarcane juice was used as a template, Lxx-LAMP was 10 and 100 times more sensitive than RT-qPCR and conventional PCR, respectively. When the Lxx-pMD18-T recombinant plasmid was used as a template, Lxx-LAMP was as sensitive as RT-qPCR but was 10 times more sensitive than conventional PCR. Based on the Lxx-LAMP detection system established, adding 0.4 μM loop primers (LF/LP) can accelerate the reaction and reduce the total time required. In addition, the optimal amount of Bst DNA polymerase for Lxx-LAMP reactions was determined to be 6.0 U. The results provide technical support for the detection of RSD Lxx pathogen that will help manage sugarcane RSD.

Gestational trophoblastic disease (GTD) is a group of conditions that originate from the abnormal proliferation of trophoblastic cells. GTDs encompass hydatidiform moles (HMs) and gestational trophoblastic neoplasia (GTN). GTNs are a group of malignant diseases that require chemotherapy, or more aggressive treatment. There is a requirement for more tumor markers to predict the development of GTN from HMs. The current study evaluated the expression of maspin and tumor protein p53 (p53) in GTD, and their role in predicting the development of GTN. Expression of maspin and mutant p53 (m-p53) was detected by immunohistochemistry in 48 normal first trimester placentas, matched for gestational age to 49 HMs that regressed, 39 malignant HMs and 11 invasive moles or choriocarcinomas. Spearman's rank correlation analysis and logistic regression were performed on the expression patterns of maspin and m-p53, and on the clinical prognostic factors in GTD. Compared with normal placenta levels, the expression levels of maspin were decreased, whereas the expression levels of m-p53 were increased in GTDs (P0.05). In HMs, maspin expression was inversely correlated with serum β human chorionic gonadotropin, uterine size and diameter of theca-lutein cysts; however, m-p53 expression demonstrated a positive correlation with these factors (all P

Background Sugarcane smut, which is caused by Sporisorium scitamineum, is a severe fungal disease affecting sugarcane. However, the major pathways involved in the interaction between sugarcane and S. scitamineum remains unclear. Results In the present study, suppression subtractive hybridization (SSH) library construction, together with reverse northern blotting, was conducted on the most prevalent sugarcane genotype ROC22 challenged with S. scitamineum. After alignment and homologous expressed sequence tag (EST) assembly, a total of 155 differentially expressed unigenes were identified from SSH libraries. Totally, 26 of 155 differentially expressed unigenes were analyzed by qRT-PCR in sugarcane smut-resistant genotype YC05-179 and susceptible genotype ROC22. Genes encoded two unknown protein (Q1 and Q11), serine/threonine kinase (Q2), fiber protein (Q3), eukaryotic translation initiation factor 5A (Q23), and Sc14-3-3-like protein (Q24) were induced in sugarcane smut-resistant genotype YC05-179 but inhibited in susceptible genotype ROC22. Based on the differential expression data achieved from SSH libraries and qRT-PCR, we found that, serine/threonine kinases, Ca2+ sensors, mitogen-activated protein genes and some NBS-LRR genes may involve in the signal recognition and transduction of smut fungus infection in sugarcane. While in the plant hormone signaling pathways, the genes related to auxin, abscisic acid, salicylic acid and ethylene were more apparently in response to smut fungus invasion. The hypersensitive response, protein metabolism, polyamine synthesis, and cell wall formation may play an important role in sugarcane defense against smut fungus colonization. Additionally, the Sc14-3-3 might serve as a molecular modulator in sugarcane being immune to smut disease by interacting with proteins like ScGAPN (Q10), which have been further verified by BiFC assay. Conclusions The findings of the present study could provide a general view about gene pathways involving in sugarcane defense against smut disease and facilitate a better understanding of the molecular mechanism underlying sugarcane-S. scitamineum interaction.

Sugarcane smut, caused by the fungus Sporisorium scitamineum, is one of the main diseases that affect sugarcane worldwide. In the present study, the cDNA-SRAP technique was used to identify genes that are likely to be involved in the response of sugarcane to S. scitamineum infection. In total, 21 bands with significant differential expression during cDNA-SRAP analysis were cloned and sequenced. Real-time qPCR confirmation demonstrated that expression of 19 of these 21 differential bands was consistent with the expression observed during cDNA-SRAP analysis, with a deduced false positive rate of 9.5%. Sequence alignment indicated that 18 of 19 differentially expressed genes showed homologies from 19% to 100% to certain genes in GenBank, including the following genes: topoisomerase (EU048780), ethylene insensitive (EU048778), and tetraspanin (EU048770). A real-time qPCR assay showed that during 0-72 h after pathogen infection, expression of the topoisomerase and the ethylene insensitive genes was upregulated, whereas expression of the tetraspanin gene was downregulated, identical to the expression patterns observed under salicylic acid treatment. Therefore, all three genes are thought to play a role during S. scitamineum challenge, but with different functions. To our knowledge, this is the first report on the application of cDNA-SRAP in differential gene expression analysis of sugarcane during a sugarcane-S. scitamineum interaction. The results obtained also contribute to a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms associated with sugarcane-S. scitamineum interactions.

The significantly differentially expressed known miRNAs in the RT/RCK. (DOC 70Â kb)

KEGG analysis of predicted target genes of novel miRNAs in RT/RCK. (DOC 57Â kb)

The significantly differentially expressed known miRNAs in the RT/RCK. (DOC 70Â kb)

KEGG analysis of predicted target genes of novel miRNAs in YAT/YACK. (DOC 58Â kb)

The matching results of sRNAs among non-coding RNAs in the four libraries by Genbank search. (DOC 30Â kb)

KEGG analysis of predicted target genes of known miRNAs in RT/RCK. (DOC 58Â kb)

The primers of qRT-PCR performed to validate 23 selected miRNA target genes. (DOC 41Â kb)

The statistics of types and total number of repetitive sequence of the sRNAs in the four libraries. (DOC 69Â kb)

The significantly differentially expressed novel miRNAs in the YAT/YACK. (DOC 32Â kb)

The filtering results of high-through sequencing data in the four libraries. (DOC 40Â kb)

Prediction of target genes of known and novel miRNAs. (DOC 30Â kb)

The statistics of types and total number of repetitive sequence of the sRNAs in the four libraries. (DOC 69Â kb)

The significantly differentially expressed novel miRNAs in the RT/RCK. (DOC 42Â kb)

The matching results of sRNAs among non-coding RNAs in the four libraries by Rfam search. (DOC 31Â kb)

The matching results of sRNAs among non-coding RNAs in the four libraries by Genbank search. (DOC 30Â kb)

The significantly differentially expressed known miRNAs in the YAT/YACK. (DOC 37Â kb)

The forward primers of qRT-PCR performed to validate the 20 selected differentially expressed miRNAs. (DOCX 20Â kb)

KEGG analysis of predicted target genes of known miRNAs in YAT/YACK. (DOC 34Â kb)

The primers of qRT-PCR performed to validate 23 selected miRNA target genes. (DOC 41Â kb)

The filtering results of high-through sequencing data in the four libraries. (DOC 40Â kb)

The matching results of sRNAs among non-coding RNAs in the four libraries by Rfam search. (DOC 31Â kb)

KEGG analysis of predicted target genes of novel miRNAs in YAT/YACK. (DOC 58Â kb)

The forward primers of qRT-PCR performed to validate the 20 selected differentially expressed miRNAs. (DOCX 20Â kb)

The prediction results for partial target genes of differentially expressed miRNAs. (DOC 41Â kb)

The Mediator complex, is an essential component of the RNA polymerase II general transcriptional machinery in eukaryotes. Mediator subunit 7 (MED7), a key subunit in the central module of this complex, plays an important role in gene transcriptional regulation. The present study isolated the full-length cDNA of the MED7 gene of sugarcane, hereby designated as ScMED7, which was characterized to harbor a 525-bp open reading frame that is predicted to encode a 174-amino acid protein with a molecular mass of 19.9 kDa and was localized to the nucleus and cytoplasm. ScMED7 contains one typical conserved domain of MED7 proteins and shares 98% homology with that from Sorghum bicolor (XP_002447862.1). ScMED7 was constitutively expressed, yet significantly higher in bud tissues. ScMED7 transcription was obviously induced by heavy metal (CdCl2), low temperature (4 °C), and hormone (SA and MeJA) treatments, while inhibited by osmotic stresses of NaCl and PEG. The role of ScMED7 in plant immunity was demonstrated by transient overexpression in tobacco, which in turn induces the expression of six out of nine defense-related marker genes, including all the three hypersensitive response genes. The responses of defense-related marker genes in the mock and in the ScMED7 transiently overexpressed leaves challenged by pathogenic Pseudomonas solanacearum and Fusarium solani var. coeruleum suggest that ScMED7 acts as a negative regulator during pathogen infections, whereas only fungal infection was clearly phenotypically expressed. In sum, ScMED7 plays an important role in modulating sugarcane responses to biotic and abiotic stresses, and may have dual roles in hypersensitive responses and basal defense against pathogens.

Two β-1,3-glucanase genes from sugarcane were cloned and characterized. They were all located in apoplast and involves in different expression patterns in biotic and abiotic stress. Smut caused by Sporisorium scitamineum is a serious disease in the sugarcane industry. β-1,3-Glucanase, a typical pathogenesis-related protein, has been shown to express during plant–pathogen interaction and involves in sugarcane defense response. In this study, β-1,3-glucanase enzyme activity in the resistant variety increased faster and lasted longer than that of the susceptible one when inoculated with S. scitamineum, along with a positive correlation between the activity of the β-1,3-glucanase and smut resistance. Furthermore, two β-1,3-glucanase genes from S. scitamineum infected sugarcane, ScGluA1 (GenBank Accession No. KC848050) and ScGluD1 (GenBank Accession No. KC848051) were cloned and characterized. Phylogenetic analysis suggested that ScGluA1 and ScGluD1 clustered within subfamily A and subfamily D, respectively. Subcellular localization analysis demonstrated that both gene products were targeted to apoplast. Escherichia coli Rosetta (DE3) cells expressing ScGluA1 and ScGluD1 showed varying degrees of tolerance to NaCl, CdCl2, PEG, CuCl2 and ZnSO4. Q-PCR analysis showed up-regulation of ScGluA1 and slight down-regulation of ScGluD1 in response to S. scitamineum infection. It suggested that ScGluA1 may be involved in the defense reaction of the sugarcane to the smut, while it is likely that ScGluD1 was inhibited. The gene expression patterns of ScGluA1 and ScGluD1, in response to abiotic stresses, were similar to sugarcane response against smut infection. Together, β-1,3-glucanase may function in sugarcane defense mechanism for S. scitamineum. The positive responses of ScGluA1 and the negative responses of ScGluD1 to biotic and abiotic stresses indicate they play different roles in interaction between sugarcane and biotic or abiotic stresses.

Background Sugarcane smut caused by Sporisorium scitamineum leads to a significant reduction in cane yield and sucrose content. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play an important role in regulating plant responses to biotic stress. The present study was the first to use two sugarcane genotypes, YA05-179 (smut-resistant) and ROC22 (smut-susceptible), to identify differentially expressed miRNAs in sugarcane challenged with S. scitamineum by using high-throughput sequencing. Results The predicted target gene number corresponding to known differentially expressed miRNAs in YA05-179 was less than that in ROC22, however most of them were in common. Expression of differential miRNAs under S. scitamineum challenge was mostly downregulated, with similar trends in the two varieties. Gene ontology (GO) analysis showed that the target gene classification of known miRNAs was similar to that of the newly identified miRNAs. These were mainly associated with cellular processes and metabolic processes in the biological process category, as well as combination and catalytic activity in the molecular function category. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis revealed that these predicted target genes involved in a series of physiological and biochemical pathways or disease resistance-related physiological metabolism and signal transduction pathways, suggesting that the molecular interaction mechanism between sugarcane and S. scitamineum was a complex network system. These findings also showed certain predicted target genes of miR5671, miR5054, miR5783, miR5221, and miR6478 play roles in the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway, plant hormone signal transduction, and plant-pathogen interaction. Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) analysis showed that majority of the known miRNAs and its predicted target genes followed a negatively regulated mode. Seven out of eight predicted target genes showed identical expression after 12 h treatment and reached the highest degree of matching at 48 h, indicating that the regulatory role of miRNAs on the target genes in sugarcane was maximized at 48 h after S. scitamineum challenge. Conclusions Taken together, our findings serve as evidence for the association of miRNA expression with the molecular mechanism underlying the pathogenesis of sugarcane smut, particularly on the significance of miRNA levels in relation to the cultivation of smut-resistant sugarcane varieties. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12864-017-3716-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Glyoxalase I belongs to the glyoxalase system that detoxifies methylglyoxal (MG), a cytotoxic by-product produced mainly from triose phosphates. The concentration of MG increases rapidly under stress conditions. In this study, a novel glyoxalase I gene, designated asSoGloIwas identified from sugarcane.SoGloIhad a size of 1,091 bp with one open reading frame (ORF) of 885 bp encoding a protein of 294 amino acids. SoGloI was predicted as a Ni2+-dependent GLOI protein with two typical glyoxalase domains at positions 28–149 and 159–283, respectively.SoGloIwas cloned into an expression plasmid vector, and the Trx-His-S-tag SoGloI protein produced inEscherichia coliwas about 51 kDa. The recombinantE. colicells expressingSoGloIcompared to the control grew faster and tolerated higher concentrations of NaCl, CuCl2, CdCl2, or ZnSO4.SoGloIubiquitously expressed in various sugarcane tissues. The expression was up-regulated under the treatments of NaCl, CuCl2, CdCl2, ZnSO4and abscisic acid (ABA), or under simulated biotic stress conditions upon exposure to salicylic acid (SA) and methyl jasmonate (MeJA). SoGloI activity steadily increased when sugarcane was subjected to NaCl, CuCl2, CdCl2, or ZnSO4treatments. Sub-cellular observations indicated that the SoGloI protein was located in both cytosol and nucleus. These results suggest that theSoGloIgene may play an important role in sugarcane’s response to various biotic and abiotic stresses.