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Abstract Background Cotton serves as a primary source of natural fibers crucial for the textile industry. However, environmental elements such as drought have posed challenges to cotton cultivation, resulting in adverse impacts on both production and fiber quality. Improving cotton’s resilience to drought could mitigate yield losses and foster the expansion of cotton farming. Rab7 protein, widely present in organisms, controls the degradation and recycling of cargo, and has a potential role in biotic and abiotic tolerance. However, comprehensive exploration of the Rab7 gene family in Gossypium remains scarce. Results Herein, we identified a total of 10, 10, 20, and 20 Rab7 genes through genome-wide analysis in Gossypium arboreum, Gossypium raimondii, Gossypium hirsutum, and Gossypium barbadense, respectively. Collinearity analysis unveiled the pivotal role of whole genome or segmental duplication events in the expansion of GhRab7s. Study of gene architecture, conserved protein motifs, and domains suggested the conservation of structure and function throughout evolution. Exploration of cis-regulatory elements revealed the responsiveness of GhRab7 genes to abiotic stress, corroborated by transcriptome analysis under diverse environmental stresses. Notably, the greatly induced expression of GhRab7B3-A under drought treatment prompted us to investigate its function through virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) assays. Silencing GhRab7B3-A led to exacerbated dehydration and wilting compared with the control. Additionally, inhibition of stomatal closure, antioxidant enzyme activities and expression patterns of genes responsive to abiotic stress were observed in GhRab7B3-A silenced plants. Conclusions This study sheds light on Rab7 members in cotton, identifies a gene linked to drought stress, and paves the way for additional investigation of Rab7 genes associated with drought stress tolerance.

The design of secure mechanisms and failure recovery mechanisms for inter-satellite routing has become pivotal in maintaining dependable communication within the LEO satellite network.To address the potential security threats faced by satellite networks, the impact of different routing attack behaviors on a typical inter-satellite routing protocol was analyzed and differentiated packet security authentication mechanisms and link failure recovery mechanisms were designed.Additionally, a satellite network emulation platform based on virtualization technology was constructed, enabled the verification of the effectiveness of the designed inter-satellite routing security mechanisms through the emulation of various routing attack scenarios.Furthermore, performance metrics such as CPU utilization and packet processing time were also evaluated before and after the introduction of security mechanisms.Experimental results demonstrated that the proposed inter-satellite routing security mechanism effectively mitigated multiple security threats in the space network environment while reduced communication latency caused by sudden link failures, thereby ensured secure and reliable communication within the LEO satellite network.

In rice, there is a lack of comprehensive research on the functional aspects of the members of the serine hydroxymethyltransferase (SHMT) gene family. This study provides a comprehensive investigation of the SHMT gene family, covering phylogeny, gene structure, promoter analysis, expression analysis, subcellular localization, and protein interaction. Remarkably, we discovered a specific gene loss event occurred in the chloroplast-localized group IIa SHMTs in monocotyledons. However, OsSHMT3, which originally classified within cytoplasmic-localized group Ib, was found to be situated within chloroplasts in rice protoplasts. All five OsSHMTs are capable of forming homodimers, with OsSHMT3 being the only one able to form dimers with other OsSHMTs, except for OsSHMT1. It is proposed that OsSHMT3 functions as a mobile protein, collaborating with other OsSHMT proteins. Furthermore, the results of cis-acting element prediction and expression analysis suggested that members of the OsSHMT family could be involved in diverse stress responses and hormone regulation. Our study aims to provide novel insights for the future exploration of SHMTs.

Background Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) prescriptions have multiple bioactive properties. “Gui Zhi–Shao Yao” herb pair is widely used to treat chronic pain (CP), as well as anxiety and depression. However, its related targets and underlying mechanisms have not been deciphered. Methods In this study, the network pharmacology method was used to explore the bioactive components and targets of “Gui Zhi–Shao Yao” herb pair and further elucidate its potential biological mechanisms of action in the treatment of CP with comorbid anxiety disorder (AD) and mental depression (MD). Results Following a series of analyses, we identified 15 active compounds, hitting 130 potential targets. After the intersections the targets of this herb pair and CP, AD and MD – sorted by the value of degree – nine targets were identified as the vital ones: Akt1, IL6, TNF, PTGS2, JUN, CASP3, MAPK8, PPARγ and NOS3. Gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis results demonstrated 11 pathways, such as AGE-RAGE signalling pathway, IL-17 signalling pathway, TNF signalling pathway, which primarily participate in the pathological processes. Conclusions This study preliminarily predicted and verified the pharmacological and molecular mechanisms of “Gui Zhi–Shao Yao” herb pair for treating CP with comorbid AD and MD from a holistic perspective. In vivo and in vitro experiments will be required to further investigate the mechanisms.KEY MESSAGE A network pharmacology approach was applied to identify key targets and molecular mechanisms. Nine targets were regarded as the vital targets for chronic pain with comorbid anxiety and depression. Predicted 11 pathways were the potential therapy targets and pharmacological mechanism of “Gui Zhi–Shao Yao” herb pair.

Storage proteins are essential for seed germination and seedling growth, as they provide an indispensable nitrogen source and energy. Our previous report highlighted the defective endosperm development in the serine hydroxymethyltransferase 4 (OsSHMT4) gene mutant, floury endosperm20-1 (flo20-1). However, the alterations in storage protein content and distribution within the flo20-1 endosperm remained unclear. Here, the immunocytochemistry analyses revealed a deficiency in storage protein accumulation in flo20-1. Electron microscopic observation uncovered abnormal morphological structures in protein bodies (PBI and PBII) in flo20-1. Immunofluorescence labeling demonstrated that aberrant prolamin composition could lead to the subsequent formation and deposition of atypical structures in protein body I (PBI), and decreased levels of glutelins and globulin resulted in protein body II (PBII) malformation. Further RNA-seq data combined with qRT-PCR results indicated that altered transcription levels of storage protein structural genes were responsible for the abnormal synthesis and accumulation of storage protein, which further led to non-concentric ring structural PBIs and amorphous PBIIs. Collectively, our findings further underscored that OsSHMT4 is required for the synthesis and accumulation of storage proteins and storage organelle formation in endosperm cells.

Except for erosion and wear, the corrosion also significantly affects the service life of naval gun barrel in marine environment. In view of a lack of research on the corrosion of naval gun barrel at present, the corrosion forms of naval gun barrel under the interaction effects of gun bore launching environment and marine corrosion environment were analyzed systematically. In addition, the research viewpoint of whole service life corrosion of naval gun barrel was put forward. And based on such research viewpoint, the corrosion mechanisms of the naval gun barrel for the three stages of having a Cr coating without any cracks, having a Cr coating with cracks and spalls, and having a bare barrel substrate were summarized.