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Triploids are rare in nature because of difficulties in meiotic and gametogenic processes, especially in vertebrates. The Carassius complex of cyprinid teleosts contains sexual tetraploid crucian carp/goldfish (C. auratus) and unisexual hexaploid gibel carp/Prussian carp (C. gibelio) lineages, providing a valuable model for studying the evolution and maintenance mechanism of unisexual polyploids in vertebrates. Here we sequence the genomes of the two species and assemble their haplotypes, which contain two subgenomes (A and B), to the chromosome level. Sequencing coverage analysis reveals that C. gibelio is an amphitriploid (AAABBB) with two triploid sets of chromosomes; each set is derived from a different ancestor. Resequencing data from different strains of C. gibelio show that unisexual reproduction has been maintained for over 0.82 million years. Comparative genomics show intensive expansion and alterations of meiotic cell cycle-related genes and an oocyte-specific histone variant. Cytological assays indicate that C. gibelio produces unreduced oocytes by an alternative ameiotic pathway; however, sporadic homologous recombination and a high rate of gene conversion also exist in C. gibelio. These genomic changes might have facilitated purging deleterious mutations and maintaining genome stability in this unisexual amphitriploid fish. Overall, the current results provide novel insights into the evolutionary mechanisms of the reproductive success in unisexual polyploid vertebrates.

Defense against ultraviolet (UV) radiation exposure is essential for survival, especially in high-elevation species. Although some specific genes involved in UV response have been reported, the full view of UV defense mechanisms remains largely unexplored. Herein, we used integrated approaches to analyze UV responses in the highest-elevation frog, Nanorana parkeri . We show less damage and more efficient antioxidant activity in skin of this frog than those of its lower-elevation relatives after UV exposure. We also reveal genes related to UV defense and a corresponding temporal expression pattern in N. parkeri . Genomic and metabolomic analysis along with large-scale transcriptomic profiling revealed a time-dependent coordinated defense mechanism in N. parkeri . We also identified several microRNAs that play important regulatory roles, especially in decreasing the expression levels of cell cycle genes. Moreover, multiple defense genes (i.e., TYR for melanogenesis) exhibit positive selection with function-enhancing substitutions. Thus, both expression shifts and gene mutations contribute to UV adaptation in N. parkeri . Our work demonstrates a genetic framework for evolution of UV defense in a natural environment.

The onset of various kidney diseases has been reported after severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) vaccination. However, detailed clinical and pathological features are lacking. We screened and analyzed patients with newly diagnosed kidney diseases after inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccination in Peking University First Hospital from January 2021 to August 2021, and compared them with the reported cases in the literature. We obtained samples of blood, urine and renal biopsy tissues. Clinical and laboratory information, as well as light microscopy, immunostaining and ultrastructural observations, were described. The SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and nucleoprotein were stained using the immunofluorescence technique in the kidney biopsy samples. SARS-CoV-2 specific antibodies were tested using magnetic particle chemiluminescence immunoassay. The study group included 17 patients with a range of conditions including immune-complex-mediated kidney diseases (IgA nephropathy, membranous nephropathy and lupus nephritis), podocytopathy (minimal change disease and focal segmental glomerulosclerosis) and others (antineutrophil-cytoplasmic-antibody-associated vasculitis, anti-glomerular basement membrane nephritis, acute tubulointerstitial nephritis and thrombotic microangiopathy). Seven patients (41.18%) developed renal disease after the first dose and ten (58.82%) after the second dose. The kidney disease spectrum as well as clinicopathological features are similar across different types of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines. We found no definitive evidence of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein or nucleoprotein deposition in the kidney biopsy samples. Seropositive markers implicated abnormal immune responses in predisposed individuals. Treatment and follow-up (median = 86 days) showed that biopsy diagnosis informed treatment and prognosis in all patients. In conclusion, we observed various kidney diseases following SARS-CoV-2 vaccine administration, which show a high consistency across different types of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines. Our findings provide evidence against direct vaccine protein deposition as the major pathomechanism, but implicate abnormal immune responses in predisposed individuals. These findings expand our understanding of SARS-CoV-2 vaccine renal safety.

Purpose: To compare the effectiveness of transcatheter arterial chemoembolization combined with microwave ablation (TACE-MWA) versus repeated hepatic resection (RHR) among patients with recurrent small hepatocellular carcinoma (sHCC) after primary resection. Materials and Methods: A total of 59 patients with recurrent sHCC (size ≤ 3cm) treated by TACE-MWA or RHR were collected from two centers between June 2015 and October 2021. Patients who were treated by either TACE-MWA or RHR were matched by propensity score at 1:1 ratio. Disease-free survival (DFS), overall survival (OS) and complications were compared between groups. Results: A total of 38 patients were enrolled in this study after matching, with 19 patients in each group. Before matching, the corresponding 1-, 3-, and 5-year DFS rates were 68.1%, 46.6%, and 23.3% for the TACE-MWA group, and 84.6%, 47.3%, and 47.3% for the RHR group. The 1-, 3-, and 5-year OS rates were 100.0%, 83.7%, and 47.8% for the TACE-MWA group, and 100.0%, 95.0%, and 45.2% for the RHR group, respectively. After matching, the corresponding 1-, 3-, and 5-year DFS rates were 78.0%, 48.3%, and 24.1% for the TACE-MWA group, and 77.5%, 38.7%, and 38.7% for the RHR group. The 1-, 3-, and 5-year OS rates were 100.0%, 88.9%, and 54.9% for the TACE-MWA group, and 100.0%, 93.3%, and 44.4% for the RHR group, respectively. No statistically significant difference was found in either DFS rates or OS rates between groups before matching (P=0.825 and P=0.625) and after matching (P=0.834 and P=0.490). Conclusions: Compared with RHR, TACE-MWA could provide equivalent effectiveness for recurrent sHCC.

Determining the functional consequences of karyotypic changes is invariably challenging because evolution tends to obscure many of its own footprints, such as accumulated mutations, recombination events, and demographic perturbations. Here, we describe the assembly of a chromosome-level reference genome of the gayal (Bos frontalis) thereby revealing the structure, at base-pair-level resolution, of a telo/acrocentric-to-telo/acrocentric Robertsonian translocation (2;28) (T/A-to-T/A rob[2;28]). The absence of any reduction in the recombination rate or genetic introgression within the fusion region of gayal served to challenge the long-standing view of a role for fusion-induced meiotic dysfunction in speciation. The disproportionate increase noted in the distant interactions across pro-chr2 and pro-chr28, and the change in open-chromatin accessibility following rob(2;28), may, however, have led to the various gene expression irregularities observed in the gayal. Indeed, we found that many muscle-related genes, located synthetically on pro-chr2 and pro-chr28, exhibited significant changes in expression. This, combined with genome-scale structural variants and expression alterations in genes involved in myofibril composition, may have driven the rapid sarcomere adaptation of gayal to its rugged mountain habitat. Our findings not only suggest that large-scale chromosomal changes can lead to alterations in genome-level expression, thereby promoting both adaptation and speciation, but also illuminate novel avenues for studying the relationship between karyotype evolution and speciation.

C13H14FeN4O10, orthorhombic, Pcca (no. 54), a = 13.2154(4) Å, b = 16.9075(6) Å, c = 13.9347(5) Å, V = 3113.56(18) Å3, Z = 8, R gt (F) = 0.0362, wR ref (F 2) = 0.0971, T = 293(2) K.

C14H18MnN12O12, monoclinic, P21/c (no. 14), a = 9.333(7) Å, b = 19.038(13) Å, c = 7.042(5) Å, β = 111.989(10)°, V = 1160.2(14) Å3, Z = 2, Rgt (F) = 0.0301, wRref (F 2) = 0.0809, T = 293(2) K.

To explore the clinical significance of the perioperative counts of circulating tumor cells (CTCs), mesenchymal CTCs (MCTCs), and CTC- white blood cells (WBCs) in renal cell carcinoma patients. A total of 131 patients with renal cancer who underwent operation excision from our hospital were enrolled. In addition, 20 patients with benign renal diseases were recruited as a control. Blood samples were collected from the 131 patients, before operation and 3 months after surgery. Samples were also obtained simultaneously from the control group. CanPatrol CTC detection technique was used to enrich and identify CTCs, MCTCs, and CTC-WBCs. All enrolled patients were T1-3N0M0. From these, 52 patients with renal cancer underwent radical resection, while other 79 patients underwent nephron-sparing surgery. The positive rate of CTC, MCTC, and CTC-WBC before surgery were 95.4% (125/131), 61.1% (80/131), and 11.5% (15/131), respectively. Preoperative total CTCs, MCTCs, or CTC-WBCs were poorly correlated with patients’ parameters. Preoperative CTC, MCTC, or CTC-WBC showed no association with progression-free survival (PFS). In contrast, postoperative total CTCs (≥6), positive MCTCs, and positive CTC-WBCs significantly correlated with recurrence and metastasis. These results remained independent indicators for worse PFS. In addition, the increased CTC and MCTC count after surgery also correlated with unfavorable PFS. The detection of six or more total CTCs, MCTC, or CTC-WBCs in peripheral blood after surgery might help to identify a subset of patients that have higher recurrent risk than the overall population of patients with at different stages of renal cancer.

African wild suids consist of several endemic species that represent ancient members of the family Suidae and have colonized diverse habitats on the African continent. However, limited genomic resources for African wild suids hinder our understanding of their evolution and genetic diversity. In this study, we assembled high-quality genomes of a common warthog (Phacochoerus africanus), a red river hog (Potamochoerus porcus), as well as an East Asian Diannan small-ear pig (Sus scrofa). Phylogenetic analysis showed that common warthog and red river hog diverged from their common ancestor around the Miocene/Pliocene boundary, putatively predating their entry into Africa. We detected species-specific selective signals associated with sensory perception and interferon signaling pathways in common warthog and red river hog, respectively, which contributed to their local adaptation to savannah and tropical rainforest environments, respectively. The structural variation and evolving signals in genes involved in T-cell immunity, viral infection, and lymphoid development were identified in their ancestral lineage. Our results provide new insights into the evolutionary histories and divergent genetic adaptations of African suids.

Antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in soil pose a major challenge to global environment and health. The development of effective technologies to reduce their negative effects has implications for maintaining soil health and human health. Biochar would be a suitable control material due to its characteristics of high carbon content, large surface area, excellent adsorption capacity, and economic advantages. There are three mechanisms underlying its negative effects on the abundance of ARGs: 1) adsorption of certain pollutants (土壤中抗生素抗性基因(ARGs)污染是全世界面临的重大环境和健康挑战,开发有效技术以减少其负面影响对维护土壤和人类健康至关重要。生物炭具有高碳含量、大表面积、良好的吸附性能和经济优势,可能是一种非常合适的阻控材料。其对ARGs的阻控作用可能归因于以下3种机制: 1) 吸附某些污染物,如抗生素和重金属,减弱ARGs的共选择性压力;2) 通过改变土壤理化特性影响微生物种群结构,从而限制细菌之间ARGs的水平转移;3) 通过吸附或破坏质粒、转座子、整合子等水平转移载体,直接减弱基因水平转移能力。但生物炭对ARGs的阻控效果取决于生物炭的物料来源、热解工艺和添加水平等。此外,生物炭的老化可能会降低其阻控ARGs的效果。生物炭的内源性污染物,如多环芳烃和重金属,也可能导致环境中特定抗生素抗性细菌的富集或诱导水平基因转移。在后续研究中,应根据土壤环境选择合适的生物炭种类,并采取生物炭老化控制措施,以进一步提高生物炭对ARGs的阻控作用。.

The evolutionary and functional features of RNA editing are well studied in mammals, cephalopods, and insects, but not in birds. Here, we integrated transcriptomic and whole-genomic analyses to exhaustively characterize the expansive repertoire of adenosine-to-inosine (A-to-I) RNA editing sites (RESs) in the chicken. In addition, we investigated the evolutionary status of the chicken editome as a potential mechanism of domestication. We detected the lowest editing level in the liver of chickens, compared to muscles in humans, and found higher editing activity and specificity in the brain than in non-neural tissues, consistent with the brain's functional complexity. To a certain extent, specific editing activity may account for the specific functions of tissues. Our results also revealed that sequences critical to RES secondary structures remained conserved within avian evolution. Furthermore, the RNA editome was shaped by purifying selection during chicken domestication and most RESs may have served as a selection pool for a few functional RESs involved in chicken domestication, including evolution of nervous and immune systems. Regulation of RNA editing in chickens by adenosine deaminase acting on RNA (ADAR) enzymes may be affected by non-ADAR factors whose expression levels changed widely after目前有关RNA编辑在哺乳动物、头足类动物和昆虫等中的进化和功能研究已有了很好的进展，但在鸟类中仍存在很大空白。该研究中，通过整合转录组学和全基因组学分析，我们详细地描绘了鸡中腺嘌呤核苷转为次黄嘌呤核苷（Adenosine-to-inosine, A-to-I）的RNA编辑模式的位点（RNA editing sites, RESs）图谱。此外，我们还研究了RNA编辑在家鸡驯化过程中可能的作用机制。我们发现，鸡肝脏的编辑水平最低，这与已报道的人的肌肉编辑水平最低的结论不同。而鸡大脑的编辑活性和特异性均显著高于非神经组织，这与大脑的功能复杂性一致，因为在一定程度上，组织特异的编辑活性或许可以为其特定的功能作出解释。同时，我们的研究结果还显示，影响RESs二级结构形成的关键序列在鸟类进化过程中是保守的，并在家鸡的驯化过程中受到负选择。大多数RESs可能构成一个选择池，用以筛选出在驯化过程起功能性作用的少数RESs，譬如参与神经系统和免疫系统的进化等。最后，我们的结果也揭示，在鸡里，RNA编辑酶ADARs对RNA编辑的调控可能受到非ADAR（non-ADAR）因子的影响，这些因子的表达水平在ADAR基因被敲除后发生了显著的变化。总而言之，我们提供了鸡RESs和non-ADAR编辑调控因子的综合列表，它们或将促进我们对RNA编辑在动物功能和进化中的可能作用的理解。.

Lorises are a group of globally threatened strepsirrhine primates that exhibit many unusual physiological and behavioral features, including a low metabolic rate, slow movement, and hibernation. Here, we assembled a chromosome-level genome sequence of the pygmy loris ( Xanthonycticebus pygmaeus ) and resequenced whole genomes from 50 pygmy lorises and 6 Bengal slow lorises ( Nycticebus bengalensis ). We found that many gene families involved in detoxification have been specifically expanded in the pygmy loris, including the GSTA gene family, with many newly derived copies functioning specifically in the liver. We detected many genes displaying evolutionary convergence between pygmy loris and koala, including PITRM1. Significant decreases in PITRM1 enzymatic activity in these two species may have contributed to their characteristic low rate of metabolism. We also detected many evolutionarily convergent genes and positively selected genes in the pygmy loris that are involved in muscle development. Functional assays demonstrated the decreased ability of one positively selected gene, MYOF, to up-regulate the fast-type muscle fiber, consistent with the lower proportion of fast-twitch muscle fibers in the pygmy loris. The protein product of another positively selected gene in the pygmy loris, PER2 , exhibited weaker binding to the key circadian core protein CRY, a finding that may be related to this species’ unusual circadian rhythm. Finally, population genomics analysis revealed that these two extant loris species, which coexist in the same habitat, have exhibited an inverse relationship in terms of their demography over the past 1 million years, implying strong interspecies competition after speciation.

We established 340-year chronologies of total ring width, early wood width, and late wood width with tree-ring samples of利用浙江北部西天目山高海拔黄山松树轮样品,建立了340年的整轮、早材和晚材宽度年表,根据子样本信号强度大于0.8的标准,确定年表的可靠时段为1810—2019年,通过对年表与气候要素进行相关分析,研究了树轮生长对气候的响应。结果表明: 黄山松径向生长对气温的响应远高于对降水的响应。综合考虑原始序列和一阶差序列相关分析结果,发现早材宽度与上年生长季前期平均气温、平均最高气温显著相关,晚材宽度与上年5月和当年9月平均气温、平均最高气温显著相关。整轮响应时段与早材较为一致,但相关性较低。最优相关组合为早材宽度与上年4—7月平均气温。基于这一关系,重建了华东天目山地区1809—2018年4—7月平均气温,方差解释量达61.5%,原始序列和一阶差序列均通过分段检验。重建气温序列中的偏冷时段为1834—1964年,偏暖时段为1809—1833和1965—2018年。20世纪60年代以来,气温进入快速上升阶段,从低频趋势上看,20世纪80年代之后气温达到过去210年来的最高水平。空间相关分析表明,重建序列较好地代表了华东地区气温的变化情况,与华东地区的区域重建序列对比也具有较好的一致性。黄山松在华东地区古气候重建方面具有较大潜力。.

Highly specialized myrmecophagy (ant- and termite-eating) has independently evolved multiple times in species of various mammalian orders and represents a textbook example of phenotypic evolutionary convergence. We explored the mechanisms involved in this unique dietary adaptation and convergence through multi-omic analyses, including analyses of host genomes and transcriptomes, as well as gut metagenomes, in combination with validating assays of key enzymes’ activities, in the species of three mammalian orders (anteaters, echidnas and pangolins of the orders Xenarthra, Monotremata and Pholidota, respectively) and their relatives. We demonstrate the complex and diverse interactions between hosts and their symbiotic microbiota that have provided adaptive solutions for nutritional and detoxification challenges associated with high levels of protein and lipid metabolisms, trehalose degradation, and toxic substance detoxification. Interestingly, we also reveal their spatially complementary cooperation involved in degradation of ants’ and termites’ chitin exoskeletons. This study contributes new insights into the dietary evolution of mammals and the mechanisms involved in the coordination of physiological functions by animal hosts and their gut commensals.

The Muscovy duck (Cairina moschata) is an economically important poultry species, which is susceptible to fatty liver. Thus, the Muscovy duck may serve as an excellent candidate animal model of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. However, the mechanisms underlying fatty liver development in this species are poorly understood. In this study, we report a chromosome-level genome assembly of the Muscovy duck, with a contig N50 of 11.8 Mb and scaffold N50 of 83.16 Mb. The susceptibility of Muscovy duck to fatty liver was mainly attributed to weak lipid catabolism capabilities (fatty acid β-oxidation and lipolysis). Furthermore, conserved noncoding elements (CNEs) showing accelerated evolution contributed to fatty liver formation by down-regulating the expression of genes involved in hepatic lipid catabolism. We propose that the susceptibility of Muscovy duck to fatty liver is an evolutionary by-product. In conclusion, this study revealed the potential mechanisms underlying the susceptibility of Muscovy duck to fatty liver.

Evolutionary biologists are always interested in deciphering the geographic context of diversification, therefore they introduced the concept of comparative phylogeography, which helps to identify common mechanisms that contribute to shared genetic structures among organisms from the same region. Here, we used multi-locus genetic data along with environmental data to investigate shared phylogeographic patterns among three Asian-endemic newt genera,复杂地理环境对物种多样性地理格局的影响是进化生物学家研究的热点问题之一，基于多类群的比较系统地理学研究有助于理解来自同一地区的不同生物类群间遗传结构形成的驱动机制。亚洲蝾螈类的三个属（

To investigate the toxicity and related mechanism of miltirone to human acute myeloid leukemia THP-1 cells. To be specific, the active components and targets of miltirone were retrieved from Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Database and Analysis Platform(TCMSP), and the target proteins were converted into standard gene names with UniProt. Acute leukemia-rela-ted target genes were screened from GeneCards and DisGeNET. Venn diagram was constructed with Venny 2.1 to yield the common targets of the disease and the drug. The protein-protein interaction(PPI) network was constructed by STRING and Cytoscape 3.8.2. THP-1 cells in the logarithmic growth phase were treated with dimethyl sulfoxide(DMSO), and 2.5, 5, 10, 15, and 20 μmol·L~(-1) miltirone for 24 h, respectively. The proliferation rate of cells was analyzed by carboxyfluorescein diacetate succinimidyl ester(CFSE), apoptosis rate by flow cytometry with Annexin V-PE/7 AAD staining, and cell morphology by acridine orange staining. Real-time quantitative PCR(qPCR) was employed to detect the mRNA levels of nuclear receptor coactivator 2(NCOA2), poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase-1(PARP1), B-cell lymphoma-2(Bcl-2)-associated X protein(Bax), Bcl-2, and cysteine aspartyl protease-3(caspase-3). The effect of miltirone on apoptosis was detected in presence of caspase inhibitor Z-VAD-FMK. A total of 26 targets of miltirone, 1 046 genes related to acute leukemia, and 6 common targets of the two were screened out. Flow cytometry result showed miltirone at 10 μmol·L~(-1) can inhibit proliferation and promote apoptosis of THP-1 cells. The typical manifestations of apoptosis, such as cell shrinkage, nuclear rupture, and chromatin agglomerate were displayed by acridine orange staining. The decreased mRNA levels of NCOA2 and PARP1 and increased Bax/Bcl-2 ratio and the activity of pro-apoptotic protein caspase-3 were observed. Z-VAD-FMK can attenuate the apoptosis-inducing effect of miltirone. This study indicates that miltirone can inhibit the proliferation and promote the apoptosis of THP-1 cells, by down-regulating NCOA2 and PARP1, raising Bax/Bcl-2 ratio, and activating caspase-3.

Face masking in current COVID-19 pandemic seems to be a deceivingly simple decision-making problem due to its multifaceted nature. Questions arising from masking span biomedicine, epidemiology, physics, and human behaviors. While science has shown masks work generally, human behaviors (particularly under influences of politics) complicate the problem significantly given science generally assumes rationality and our minds are not always rational and/or honest. Minding minds, a legitimate concern, can also make masking legitimately confusing. To disentangle the potential confusions, particularly, the ramifications of irrationality and dishonesty, here we resort to evolutionary game theory. Specifically, we formulate and analyze the masking problem with a fictitious pair of young lovers, Alice and Bob, as a Sir Philip Sydney (SPS) evolutionary game, inspired by the handicap principle in evolutionary biology and cryptography figures in computer science. With the proposed ABD (Alice and Bob’s dating dilemma) as an asymmetric four-by-four strategic-form game, 16 strategic interactions were identified, and six of which may reach equilibriums with different characteristics such as separating, pooling, and polymorphic hybrid, being Nash, evolutionarily stable or neutrally stable. The six equilibrium types seem to mirror the diverse behaviors of mask believers, skeptics, converted, universal masking, voluntarily masking, coexisted and/or divided world of believers and skeptics. We suggest that the apparently simple ABD game is sufficiently general not only for studying masking policies for populations (via replicator dynamics), but also for investigating other complex decision-making problems with COVID-19 pandemic including lockdown vs. reopening, herd immunity vs. quarantines, and aggressive tracing vs. privacy protection.

Speciation plays a central role in evolutionary studies, and particularly how reproductive isolation (RI) evolves. The origins and persistence of RI are distinct processes that require separate evaluations. Treating them separately clarifies the drivers of speciation and then it is possible to link the processes to understand large-scale patterns of diversity. Recent genomic studies have focused predominantly on how species or RI originate. However, we know little about how species persist in face of gene flow. Here, we evaluate a contact zone of two closely related toad-headed lizards (Phrynocephalus) using a chromosome-level genome assembly and population genomics. To some extent, recent asymmetric introgression from Phrynocephalus putjatai to P. vlangalii reduces their genomic differences. However, their highly divergent regions (HDRs) have heterogeneous distributions across the genomes. Functional gene annotation indicates that many genes within HDRs are involved in reproduction and RI. Compared with allopatric populations, contact areas exhibit recent divergent selection on the HDRs and a lower population recombination rate. Taken together, this implies that divergent selection and low genetic recombination help maintain RI. This study provides insights into the genomic mechanisms that drive RI and two species persistence in the face of gene flow during the late stage of speciation.

Defense against increasing ultraviolet radiation (UV) exposure is essential for survival, especially in high-elevation species. Although some specific genes involved in UV response have been reported, the full view of UV-defense mechanisms remains largely unexplored. Herein, we analyzed UV responses in the highest-elevation frog, Nanorana parkeri, using integrated approaches. We show less damage and more efficient antioxidant activity in skin of this frog than those of its lower-elevation relatives after UV exposure. Our study revealed new UV-defense systems. Genomic and metabolomic analysis along with large-scale transcriptomic and microRNA profiling revealed a time-dependent coordinated defense mechanism in N. parkeri. Both gene mutations and expression shifts contribute to such UV adaptation. We found that microRNAs play important regulatory roles, especially in decreasing the expression levels of cell-cycle genes. Moreover, multiple defense genes (i.e., TYR for melanogenesis) exhibit positive selection with function-enhancing substitutions. Our work demonstrates a genetic framework for evolution of UV-defense in a natural environment.

Significance To adapt to arboreal lifestyles, treefrogs have evolved a suite of complex traits that support vertical movement and gliding, thus presenting a unique case for studying the genetic basis for traits causally linked to vertical niche expansion. Here, based on two de novo-assembled Asian treefrog genomes, we determined that genes involved in limb development and keratin cytoskeleton likely played a role in the evolution of their climbing systems. Behavioral and morphological evaluation and time-ordered gene coexpression network analysis revealed the developmental patterns and regulatory pathways of the webbed feet used for gliding in Rhacophorus kio .

Brain development and function are governed by precisely regulated protein expressions in different regions. To date, multiregional brain proteomes have been systematically analyzed only for adult human and mouse brains. To understand the underpinnings of brain development and function, we generated proteomes from six regions of the postnatal brain at three developmental stages of domestic dogs (Canis familiaris), which are special among animals in terms of their remarkable human-like social cognitive abilities. Quantitative analysis of the spatiotemporal proteomes identified region-enriched synapse types at different developmental stages and differential myelination progression in different brain regions. Through integrative analysis of inter-regional expression patterns of orthologous proteins and genome-wide cis-regulatory element frequencies, we found that proteins related with myelination and hippocampus were highly correlated between dog and human but not between mouse and human, although mouse is phylogenetically closer to human. Moreover, the global expression patterns of neurodegenerative disease and autism spectrum disorder-associated proteins in dog brain more resemble human brain than in mouse brain. The high similarity of myelination and hippocampus-related pathways in dog and human at both proteomic and genetic levels may contribute to their shared social cognitive abilities. The inter-regional expression patterns of disease-associated proteins in the brain of different species provide important information to guide mechanistic and translational study using appropriate animal models.

To study the characteristics of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in waste residue-soil-vegetable in an e-waste dismantling area and the potential health risks to humans, three samples of e-waste residue were collected, and 10 and 18 samples were taken from farmland soil and vegetables (six lettuce, six green bean, and six cabbage samples), respectively, next to the waste residue. High-resolution gas chromatography-mass spectrometry was used to detect the content of PCBs in waste residue, soil, and vegetables. The results showed that the total PCBs levels were as follows:waste residue (11938 ng·g

As one of the most common tumors, gastric cancer (GC) has a high mortality rate, since current examination approaches cannot achieve early diagnosis.To determine whether salivary Fn could be a biomarker to diagnose GC and explore the influence of Fn on GC cells.The abundance of Fn in saliva was quantified by droplet digital polymerase chain reaction in 120 GC patients, 31 atrophic gastritis (AG) patients, 35 non-AG (NAG) patients, 26 gastric polyp (GP) patients, and 20 normal controls (NC) from Qilu Hospital of Shandong University from January 2019 to December 2020. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was performed to evaluate the diagnostic value of Fn as well as traditional serum tumor markers, including carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), carbohydrate antigen (CA) 19-9, and CA72-4. Transwell assay and wound-healing assay were conducted to assess the influence of Fn infection on GC cells. The expression of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) markers was detected using western blot assay.We found that the level of salivary Fn in GC patients was significantly increased compared with those in AG, NAG, and GP patients and NC (Fn abundance in saliva could be used as a promising biomarker to diagnose GC, and Fn infection could promote GC metastasis by accelerating the EMT process.

In the spread of SARS-CoV-2, there have been multiple waves of replacement between strains, each of which having a distinct set of mutations. The first wave is a group of four mutations (C241T, C3037T, C14408T and A23403G [this being the amino acid change D614G]; all designated 0 to 1 below). This DG (D614G) group, fixed at the start of the pandemic, is the foundation of all subsequent waves of strains. Curiously, the DG group is absent in early Asian samples but present (and likely common) in Europe from the beginning. European data show that the high fitness of DG1111 requires the synergistic effect of all four mutations. However, the European strains would have had no time to evolve the four DG mutations (0 to 1), had they come directly from the early Asian DG0000 strain. Very likely, the European DG1111 strain had acquired the highly adaptive DG mutations in pre-pandemic Europe and had been spreading in parallel with the Asian strains. Two recent reports further support this twin-beginning interpretation. There was a period of two-way spread between Asia and Europe but, by May 2020, the European strains had supplanted the Asian strains globally. This large-scale replacement of one set of mutations for another has since been replayed many times as COVID-19 progresses.

A solid state terahertz interferometer has been developed on the recent commissioned HL-2M tokamak. It can work in a wide frequency region of 220–325 GHz, and the terahertz wave is generated from a low frequency phase locked voltage controlled oscillator with the frequency multiplying technique. A phase processor based on field programmable gate array (FPGA) technology is designed for the heterodyne interferometer, and it contributes to real-time display of electron density. To extract phase information, a novel numerical algorithm related to fast Fourier transform is written on the FPGA chip and enables one to obtain phase shift without being affected by amplitude variation induced by plasma absorption or frequency modulation from the outer electromagnetic environment. The interferometer achieves minimum measurable electron density in the order of 1016 m−3. With the plasma diagnosis, electron density and low frequency tearing mode have been measured during the first experimental campaign.