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Simple Summary: Sheep diarrhea is one of the most common illnesses in sheep farming and diarrhea in sheep caused by E. coli occupies a significant proportion of them. E. coli F17 is one of the main members of E. coli causing diarrhea in sheep. This study is devoted to improving the resistance of sheep itself to E. coli F17. This study provides theoretical support for the solution of E. coli F17-caused diarrhea in sheep. Diarrhea is the most common issue in sheep farms, typically due to pathogenic Escherichia coli (E. coli) infections, such as E. coli F17. microRNA, a primary type of non-coding RNA, has been shown to be involved in diarrhea caused by pathogenic E. coli. To elucidate the profound mechanisms of miRNA in E. coli F17 infections, methods such as E. coli F17 adhesion assay, colony counting assay, relative quantification of bacterial E. coli fimbriae gene expression, indirect immune fluorescence (IF), Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8), 5-ethynyl-2′-deoxyuridine (EdU), Western blotting (WB), and scratch assay were conducted to investigate the effect of miR-329b-5p overexpression/knock-down on E. coli F17 susceptibility of sheep intestinal epithelial cells (IECs). The findings indicated that miR-329b-5p enhances the E. coli F17 resistance of sheep IECs to E.coli F17 by promoting adhesion between E. coli F17 and IEC, as well as IEC proliferation and migration. In summary, miR-329b-5p plays a crucial role in the defense of sheep IECs against E. coli F17 infection, providing valuable insights into its mechanism of action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hyperspectral image (HSI) classification plays a key role in the field of earth observation missions. Recently, transformer-based approaches have been widely used for HSI classification due to their ability to model long-range sequences. However, these methods face two main challenges. First, they treat HSI as linear vectors, disregarding their 3D attributes and spatial structure. Second, the repeated concatenation of encoders leads to information loss and gradient vanishing. To overcome these challenges, we propose a new solution called the multi-level feature extraction network (MLFEN). MLFEN consists of two sub-networks: the hybrid convolutional attention module (HCAM) and the enhanced dense vision transformer (EDVT). HCAM incorporates a band shift strategy to eliminate the edge effect of convolution and utilizes hybrid convolutional blocks to capture the 3D properties and spatial structure of HSI. Additionally, an attention module is introduced to identify strongly discriminative features. EDVT reconfigures the organization of original encoders by incorporating dense connections and adaptive feature fusion components, enabling faster propagation of information and mitigating the problem of gradient vanishing. Furthermore, we propose a novel sparse loss function to better fit the data distribution. Extensive experiments conducted on three public datasets demonstrate the significant advancements achieved by MLFEN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Screening for polymorphisms in the promoter region of a functional gene is an effective way to identify useful markers for improving sheep growth and development. Non-SMC condensin I complex subunit G (NCAPG) is a candidate gene linked with sheep growth and development. Its explicit role in muscle development is still unclear, and markers in NCAPG's promoter region have not been explored yet. The goal of this study was to investigate the direct role of NCAPG in regulating myogenic development and the differentiation of myoblasts and explore potential markers in its promoter region in relation to sheep growth and development traits. To achieve this goal, cell proliferation and differentiation after RNA interference with NCAPG were investigated in embryonic myoblasts. In addition, the genetic markers in the promoter region of NCAPG were scanned, and association analysis between the markers and sheep growth and development traits was carried out. The results suggest that interfering with NCAPG inhibits the proliferation and differentiation of myoblasts. Five variants detected in the promoter region of NCAPG were significantly (p < 0.05) associated with sheep growth and development traits. These results provide direct evidence of NCAPG regulating myogenesis and provide useful genetic markers to increase the efficacy of the selection of sheep growth and development traits. Previously, NCAPG was identified as a candidate gene associated with sheep growth traits. This study aimed to investigate the direct role of NCAPG in regulating myogenesis in embryonic myoblast cells and to investigate the association between single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in its promoter region and sheep growth traits. The function of NCAPG in myoblast proliferation and differentiation was detected after small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) knocked down the expression of NCAPG. Cell proliferation was detected using CCK-8 assay, EdU proliferation assay, and flow cytometry cell cycle analysis. Cell differentiation was detected via cell immunofluorescence and the quantification of myogenic regulatory factors (MRFs). SNPs in the promoter region were detected using Sanger sequencing and genotyped using the improved multiplex ligation detection reaction (iMLDR®) technique. As a result, a notable decrease (p < 0.01) in the percentage of EdU-positive cells in the siRNA-694-treated group was observed. A significant decrease (p < 0.01) in cell viability after treatment with siRNA-694 for 48 h and 72 h was detected using the CCK-8 method. The quantity of S-phase cells in the siRNA-694 treatment group was significantly decreased (p < 0.01). After interfering with NCAPG in myoblasts during induced differentiation, the relative expression levels of MRFs were markedly (p < 0.05 or p < 0.01) reduced compared with the control group on days 5–7. The myoblast differentiation in the siRNA-694 treatment group was obviously suppressed compared with the control group. SNP1, SNP2, SNP3, and SNP4 were significantly (p < 0.05) associated with all traits except body weight measured at birth and one month of age. SNP5 was significantly (p < 0.05) associated with body weight, body height, and body length in six-month-old sheep. In conclusion, interfering with NCAPG can inhibit the proliferation and differentiation of ovine embryonic myoblasts. SNPs in its promoter region can serve as potential useful markers for selecting sheep growth traits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Object detection methods are commonly employed in power safety monitoring systems to detect violations in surveillance scenes. However, traditional object detection methods are ineffective for small objects that are similar to the background information in the power monitoring scene, which consequently affects the performance of violation behavior detection. This paper proposed a small object detection algorithm named HS-YOLO, based on High-Resolution Network (HRNet) and sub-pixel convolution. First, to fully extract the microfeature information of the object, a small object feature extraction backbone network is proposed based on the HRNet structure. The feature maps of different scales are processed by multiple parallel branches and fused with each other in the network. Then, to fully retain the effective features of small objects, the sub-pixel convolution module is incorporated as the upsampling operator in the feature fusion network. The low-resolution feature map is upsampled to a higher resolution by reorganizing pixel values and performing padding operations in this module. On our self-constructed power operation dataset, the HS-YOLO algorithm achieved a mAP of 87.2%, which is a 3.5% improvement compared to YOLOv5. Particularly, the dataset's AP for detecting small objects such as cuffs, necklines, and safety belts is improved by 10.7%, 5.8%, and 4.4%, respectively. These results demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed method in detecting small objects in power operation scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Five new fusarin derivatives, steckfusarins A–E (1–5), and two known natural products (6, 7), were isolated and identified from the marine algicolous fungus Penicillium steckii SCSIO 41040. The new compounds, including absolute configurations, were determined by spectroscopic analyses and calculated electronic circular dichroism (ECD). All new compounds were evaluated for their antioxidant, antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, cytotoxic, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, cholesterol-lowering, acetyl cholinesterase (AChE) enzyme and 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase (PFKFB3) and phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K) inhibitory activities. The biological evaluation results revealed that compound 1 exhibited radical scavenging activity against 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazylhydrate (DPPH), with an IC50 value of 74.5 µg/mL. In addition, compound 1 also showed weak anti-inflammatory activity at a concentration of 20 µM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

CUT-like homeobox 1 (CUX1) has been proven to be a key regulator in sheep hair follicle development. In our previous study, CUX1 was identified as a differential expressed gene between Hu sheep lambskin with small wave patterns (SM) and straight wool patterns (ST); however, the exact molecular mechanism of CUX1 expression has been obscure. As DNA methylation can regulate the gene expression, the potential association between CUX1 core promotor region methylation and lambskin pattern in Hu sheep was explored in the present study. The results show that the core promoter region of CUX1 was present at (−1601–(−1) bp) upstream of the transcription start site. A repressive region (−1151–(−751) bp) was also detected, which had a strong inhibitory effect on CUX1 promoter activity. Bisulfite amplicon sequencing revealed that no significant difference was detected between the methylation levels of CUX1 core promoter region in SM tissues and ST tissues. Although the data demonstrated the differential expression of CUX1 between SM and ST probably has no association with DNA methylation, the identification of the core region and a potential repressive region of CUX1 promoter can enrich the role of CUX1 in Hu sheep hair follicle development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The accurate simulation of the dynamics of the anaerobic–anoxic–oxic (A2O) process in the biochemical reactions in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) is important for system prediction and optimization. Previous studies have used real-time monitoring data of WWTPs to develop data-driven predictive models, but these models cannot be used to provide mathematical analysis of A2O dynamic properties. In this study, we developed a new simulation and analysis method for determining A2O dynamics in biochemical reactions using deep learning and the Koopman operator to address the above problems. This method was validated through data from a real-world WWTP in east China and compared it with the traditional deep learning model. According to the results, the new method achieved high-accuracy prediction. Meanwhile, with the help of the Koopman operator, the new method was able to analyze the asymptotical stability and convergence behavior of the A2O process, which provides a brand-new perspective for the in-depth study of biochemical reactor dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electric power operation is necessary for the development of power grid companies, where the safety monitoring of electric power operation is difficult. Irregular deformable objects commonly used in electrical construction, such as safety belts and seines, have a dynamic geometric appearance which leads to the poor performance of traditional detection methods. This paper proposes an end-to-end instance segmentation method using the multi-instance relation weighting module for irregular deformable objects. To solve the problem of introducing redundant background information when using the horizontal rectangular box detector, the Mask Scoring R-CNN is used to perform pixel-level instance segmentation so that the bounding box can accurately surround the irregular objects. Considering that deformable objects in power operation workplaces often appear with construction personnel and the objects have an apparent correlation, a multi-instance relation weighting module is proposed to fuse the appearance features and geometric features of objects so that the relation features between objects are learned end-to-end to improve the segmentation effect of irregular objects. The segmentation mAP on the self-built dataset of irregular deformable objects for electric power operation workplaces reached up to 44.8%. With the same 100,000 training rounds, the bounding box mAP and segmentation mAP improved by 1.2% and 0.2%, respectively, compared with the MS R-CNN. Finally, in order to further verify the generalization performance and practicability of the proposed method, an intelligent monitoring system for the power operation scenes is designed to realize the actual deployment and application of the proposed method. Various tests show that the proposed method can segment irregular deformable objects well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inhibins suppress the FSH production in pituitary gonadotrope cells by robustly antagonizing activin signaling by competitively binding to activin type II receptors (ACTR II). The binding of inhibin A to ACTR II requires the presence of its co-receptor, namely, betaglycan. In humans, the critical binding site for betaglycan to inhibin A was identified on the inhibin α subunit. Through conservation analysis, we found that a core 13-amino-acid peptide sequence within the betaglycan-binding epitope on human inhibin α subunit is highly conserved across species. Based on the tandem sequence of such a conserved 13-amino-acid betaglycan-binding epitope (INHα13AA-T), we developed a novel inhibin vaccine and tested its efficacy in promoting female fertility using the female rat as a model. Compared with placebo-immunized controls, INHα13AA-T immunization induced a marked (p < 0.05) antibody generation, enhanced (p < 0.05) ovarian follicle development, and increased ovulation rate and litter sizes. Mechanistically, INHα13AA-T immunization promoted (p < 0.05) pituitary Fshb transcription and increased (p < 0.05) serum FSH and 17β-estradiol concentrations. In summary, active immunization against INHα13AA-T potently increased FSH levels, ovarian follicle development, ovulation rate and litter sizes, thus causing super-fertility in females. Therefore, immunization against INHα13AA is a promising alternative to the conventional approach of multiple ovulation and super-fertility in mammals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Escherichia coli (E. coli) F17 is one of the major pathogenic bacteria responsible for diarrhea in farm animals; however, little is known about the biological mechanism underlying E. coli F17 infection. The aim of our study was to reveal the interplay between intestinal genes, metabolites and bacteria in E. coli F17 infected sheep. Our results confirm that the intestinal differ significantly in sheep with different E. coli F17 susceptibility, and integrated omics analyses reveal subsets of potential biomarkers for E. coli F17 infection (i.e., GlcADG 18:0-18:2, ethylmalonic acid and FBLIM1). Our results can help in the development of new insight for the treatment of farm animals infected by E. coli F17. Escherichia coli (E. coli) F17 is one of the most common pathogens causing diarrhea in farm livestock. In the previous study, we accessed the transcriptomic and microbiomic profile of E. coli F17-antagonism (AN) and -sensitive (SE) lambs; however, the biological mechanism underlying E. coli F17 infection has not been fully elucidated. Therefore, the present study first analyzed the metabolite data obtained with UHPLC-MS/MS. A total of 1957 metabolites were profiled in the present study, and 11 differential metabolites were identified between E. coli F17 AN and SE lambs (i.e., FAHFAs and propionylcarnitine). Functional enrichment analyses showed that most of the identified metabolites were related to the lipid metabolism. Then, we presented a machine-learning approach (Random Forest) to integrate the microbiome, metabolome and transcriptome data, which identified subsets of potential biomarkers for E. coli F17 infection (i.e., GlcADG 18:0-18:2, ethylmalonic acid and FBLIM1); furthermore, the PCCs were calculated and the interaction network was constructed to gain insight into the crosstalk between the genes, metabolites and bacteria in E. coli F17 AN/SE lambs. By combing classic statistical approaches and a machine-learning approach, our results revealed subsets of metabolites, genes and bacteria that could be potentially developed as candidate biomarkers for E. coli F17 infection in lambs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dysfunctions of the ovaries and adrenal glands are both evidenced to cause aberrant adipose tissue (AT) remodeling and resultant metabolic disorders, but their distinct and common roles are poorly understood. In this study, through biochemical, histological and RNA-seq analyses, we comprehensively explored the mechanisms underpinning subcutaneous (SAT) and visceral adipose tissue (VAT) remodeling, in response to ovariectomy (OVX) versus adrenalectomy (ADX) in female mice. OVX promoted adipocyte differentiation and fat accumulation in both SAT and VAT, by potentiating the Pparg signaling, while ADX universally prevented the cell proliferation and extracellular matrix organization in both SAT and VAT, likely by inactivating the Nr3c1 signaling, thus causing lipoatrophy in females. ADX, but not OVX, exerted great effects on the intrinsic difference between SAT and VAT. Specifically, ADX reversed a large cluster of genes differentially expressed between SAT and VAT, by activating 12 key transcription factors, and thereby caused senescent cell accumulation, massive B cell infiltration and the development of selective inflammatory response in SAT. Commonly, both OVX and ADX enhance circadian rhythmicity in VAT, and impair cell proliferation, neurogenesis, tissue morphogenesis, as well as extracellular matrix organization in SAT, thus causing dysfunction of adipose tissues and concomitant metabolic disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Escherichia coli (E. coli) F17 is one of the major pathogenic bacteria responsible for diarrhea in farm animals; however, little is known about the effect of E. coli F17 infection on the intestinal microbiota. The aim of this study was to investigate the intestinal microbiota in lambs with different susceptibilities to E. coli F17. By conducting an E. coli F17 challenge experiment, lambs sensitive/resistant (SE/AN) to E. coli F17 were identified, and 16S rRNA gene sequencing was performed to evaluate the intestinal microbiota in SE/AN lambs. The results showed that a relatively higher level of richness and diversity were characterized in the bacterial communities in the AN lambs than in the SE lambs, while the abundance of Lactococcus and Megasphaera elsdenii was found to be significantly different between the AN and SE lambs. Furthermore, our results indicated that the Bacteroidetes:Firmicutes ratio can serve as a promising bacterial biomarker for E. coli F17 infection. Our results can help in the development of new insights for the treatment of farm animals infected by E. coli F17. Diarrhea is one of the most commonly reported diseases in young farm animals. Escherichia coli (E. coli) F17 is one of the major pathogenic bacteria responsible for diarrhea. However, the pathogenicity of diarrhea in lambs involving E. coli F17 strains and how E. coli F17 infection modifies lambs' intestinal microbiota are largely unknown. To evaluate diarrhea in newborn lambs with an infection of E. coli F17, 50 lambs were selected for challenge experiments and divided into four groups, namely, a high-dose challenge group, low-dose challenge group, positive control group, and negative control group. The E. coli F17 challenge experiments caused diarrhea and increased mortality in the experimental lamb population, with a higher prevalence (90%), mortality (35%), and rapid onset time (4–12 h) being observed in the high-dose challenge group than the results observed in the low-dose challenge group (75%, 10%, 6–24 h, respectively). After the challenge experiment, healthy lambs in the high-dose challenge group and severely diarrheic lamb in the low-dose challenge group were identified as lambs sensitive/resistant to E. coli F17 (E. coli F17 -resistant/-sensitive candidate, AN/SE) according to the histopathological detection. Results of intestinal contents bacteria plate counting revealed that the number of bacteria in the intestinal contents of SE lambs was 102~3-fold greater than that of the AN lambs, especially in the jejunum. Then, 16S rRNA sequencing was conducted to profile the intestinal microbiota using the jejunal contents, and the results showed that SE lambs had higher Lactococcus and a lower Bacteroidetes:Firmicutes ratio and intestinal microbiota diversity in the jejunum than AN lambs. Notably, high abundance of Megasphaera elsdenii was revealed in AN lambs, which indicated that Megasphaera elsdenii may serve as a potential probiotic for E. coli F17 infection. Our study provides an alternative challenge model for the identification of E. coli F17-sensitive/-resistant lambs and contributes to the basic understandings of intestinal microbiota in lambs with different susceptibilities to E. coli F17. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) is widely used in the assisted reproduction and a synthetic peptide corresponding to a receptor binding region of the human (h) FSH-β-(34–37) (TRDL) modulated reproduction. Furthermore, a 13-amino acid sequence corresponding to hFSH-β-(37–49) (LVYKDPARPKIQK) was recently identified as the receptor binding site. We hypothesized that the synthetic peptides corresponding to hFSH-β-(37–49) and hFSH-β-(34–49), created by merging hFSH-β-(34–37) and hFSH-β-(37–49), modulate the reproductive functions, with the longer peptide being more biologically active. In male or female prepubertal mice, a single injection of 200 μg/g BW ip of hFSH-β-(37–49) or hFSH-β-(34–49) hastened (p < 0.05) puberty, whereas the same treatments given daily for 4 d promoted (p < 0.05) the gonadal steroidogenesis and gamete formation. In addition of either peptide to the in vitro cell cultures, promoted (p < 0.05) the proliferation of primary murine granulosa cells and the estradiol production by upregulating the expression of Ccnd2 and Cyp19a1, respectively. In adult female mice, 200 μg/g BW ip of either peptide during diestrus antagonized the FSH-stimulated estradiol increase and uterine weight gain during proestrus. Furthermore, hFSH-β-(34–49) was a more potent (p < 0.05) reproductive modulator than hFSH-β-(37–49), both in vivo and in vitro. We concluded that hFSH-β-(37–49) and especially hFSH-β-(34–49), have the potential for reproductive modulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The timing of fault activity is a concern for geologists. This study used zircon U-Pb and apatite fission-track dating of fault breccia to determine the upper and lower limits for the time of faulting. The Guangsan fault in South China was taken as an example, and zircon U-Pb and apatite fission-track thermochronology were applied to the surrounding rock and fault breccia. The surrounding rock and fault breccia demonstrated 74.9–91.8 Ma and 73.9–93.5 Ma zircon U-Pb dates, respectively, indicating that the breccia formed after 73.9 Ma. They also demonstrated 71.6 ± 7.3 Ma and 85.9 ± 8.2–65.5 ± 6.5 Ma fission-track dates, implying that the fault breccia samples likely formed before ~70 Ma. Their thermal histories were highly consistent: both showed rapid cooling during 70–65 Ma and slow cooling during 65–0 Ma, implying that the fault was likely still active during 70–65 Ma, resulting in the rapid exhumation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Diarrhea and vomiting caused by Escherichia coli (E. coli) F17 are considered significant threats to animal farming. In the present study, RNA-Seq was performed to investigate the potential circRNA and miRNA biomarkers for E. coli F17-antagonism (AN) and -sensitive (SE) lambs. The results indicated that circRNA and miRNA expression is closely associated with the susceptibility of E. coli F17 in lambs. Numbers of circRNAs and miRNAs may serve as potential biomarkers for intestinal inflammatory response against E. coli F17 infection. Our study can provide a preliminary understanding of the underlying mechanisms of intestinal immunity. It has long been recognized that enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) is the major pathogen responsible for vomiting and diarrhea. E. coli F17, a main subtype of ETEC, is characterized by high morbidity and mortality in young livestock. However, the transcriptomic basis underlying E. coli F17 infection has not been fully understood. In this study, RNA sequencing was performed to explore the expression profiles of circRNAs and miRNAs in the jejunum of E. coli F17-antagonism (AN) and -sensitive (SE) lambs. A total of 16,534 circRNAs and 271 miRNAs (125 novel miRNAs and 146 annotated miRNAs) were screened, and 214 differentially expressed (DE) circRNAs and 53 DE miRNAs were detected between the AN and SE lambs (i.e., novel_circ_0025840, novel_circ_0022779, novel_miR_107, miR-10b). Functional enrichment analyses showed that source genes of DE circRNAs were mainly involved in metabolic-related pathways, while target genes of DE miRNAs were mainly enriched in the immune response pathways. Then, a two-step machine learning approach combining Random Forest (RF) and XGBoost (candidates were first selected by RF and further assessed by XGBoost) was performed, which identified 44 circRNAs and 39 miRNAs as potential biomarkers (i.e., novel_circ_0000180, novel_circ_0000365, novel_miR_192, oar-miR-496-3p) for E. coli infection. Furthermore, circRNA-related and lncRNA-related ceRNA networks were constructed, containing 46 circRNA-miRNA-mRNA competing triplets and 630 lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA competing triplets, respectively. By conducting a serious of bioinformatic analyses, our results revealed important circRNAs and miRNAs that could be potentially developed as candidate biomarkers for intestinal inflammatory response against E. coli F17 infection; our study can provide novel insights into the underlying mechanisms of intestinal immunity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Five undescribed butenolides including two pairs of enantiomers, (+)-asperteretal G (1a), (−)-asperteretal G (1b), (+)-asperteretal H (2a), (−)-asperteretal H (2b), asperteretal I (3), and para-hydroxybenzaldehyde derivative, (S)-3-(2,3-dihydroxy-3-methylbutyl)-4-hydroxybenzaldehyde (14), were isolated together with ten previously reported butenolides 4–13, from the coral-derived fungus Aspergillus terreus SCSIO41404. Enantiomers 1a/1b and 2a/2b were successfully purified by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) using a chiral column, and the enantiomers 1a and 1b were new natural products. Structures of the unreported compounds, including the absolute configurations, were elucidated by NMR and MS data, optical rotation, experimental and calculated electronic circular dichroism, induced circular dichroism, and X-ray crystal data. The isolated butenolides were evaluated for antibacterial, cytotoxic, and enzyme inhibitory activities. Compounds 7 and 12 displayed weak antibacterial activity, against Enterococcus faecalis (IC50 = 25 μg/mL) and Klebsiella pneumoniae (IC50 = 50 μg/mL), respectively, whereas 6 showed weak inhibitory effect on acetylcholinesterase. Nevertheless, most of the butenolides showed inhibition against pancreatic lipase (PL) with an inhibition rate of 21.2–73.0% at a concentration of 50 μg/mL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oligosaccharides have been used for an environmentally friendly insect control in the agricultural industry. In order to discover novel eco-friendly pesticides, a series of partially acetylated oligorhamnoses mezzettiasides, 2-8, and their analogues, 9-14, with biosurfactant characteristics were designed and synthesized, some of which exhibited comparable to or even stronger aphicidal activity than pymetrozine. Preliminary SAR studies demonstrated that the aphicidal activity of mezzettiasides analogs is highly dependent on their structures, including both the sugar length and the substitutes on the sugar. Among them, trirhamnolipid 9 displayed the strongest aphicidal activity, with an LC50 of 0.019 mmol/L, indicating that the biosurfactant 9 may have potential for use as an environmentally friendly agricultural pesticide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hair follicle development is closely associated with wool curvature. Current studies reveal the crucial role of microRNAs (miRNAs) in hair follicle growth and development. However, few studies are known regarding their role in wool curvature. To reveal the potential roles of miRNAs in Hu sheep lambskin with different patterns, a total of 37 differentially expressed (DE) miRNAs were identified in hair follicles between small waves (SM) and straight wool (ST) groups using RNA-seq. Through functional enrichment and miRNA-mRNA co-expression analysis, some key miRNAs (oar-miR-143, oar-miR-200b, oar-miR-10a, oar-miR-181a, oar-miR-10b, oar-miR-125b, etc.) and miRNA-mRNA pairs (miR-125b target CD34, miR-181a target FGF12, LMO3, miR-200b target ZNF536, etc.) were identified. Though direct or indirect ways affecting hair follicle development, these miRNAs and mRNAs may have possible effects on wool curvature, and this study thus provides valuable insight on potential pattern formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: This study was conducted to explore the antibacterial ability of sheep β-defensin 2 (SBD-2) against E. coli F17 infection in ovine intestinal epithelial cells (OIECs). Our data revealed that E. coli F17 induces SBD-2 expression in OIECs in vitro, which appears to be mediated through the activation of the signaling pathways NF-κB and MAPK. Our results provide a novel insight for the functionality of SBD-2, which could be useful for developing anti-infective drugs and/or breeding for E. coli diarrhea disease-resistant sheep. Escherichia coli (E. coli) F17 is a member of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli, which can cause massive diarrhea and high mortality in newborn lambs. β-defensin is mainly produced by the epithelial tissue of the gastrointestinal tract in response to microbial infection. However, the molecular mechanism of sheep β-defensin 2 (SBD-2) against E. coli F17 remains unclear. This study aims to reveal the antibacterial ability of SBD-2 against E. coli F17 infection in sheep. Firstly, we established the culture system of ovine intestinal epithelial cells (OIECs) in vitro, treated with different concentrations of E. coli F17 for an indicated time. Secondly, we performed RNA interference and overexpression to investigate the effect of SBD-2 expression on E. coli F17 adhesion to OIECs. Finally, inhibitors of NF-κB and MAPK pathways were pre-treated to explore the possible relationship involving in E. coli F17 infection regulating SBD-2 expression. The results showed that E. coli F17 markedly (p < 0.01) upregulated the expression levels of SBD-2 mRNA and protein in a concentration- and time-dependent manner. Overexpression of SBD-2 contributed to enhancing E. coli F17 resistance in OIECs, while silencing SBD-2 dramatically improved the adhesion of E. coli F17 to OIECs (p < 0.05 or p < 0.01). Furthermore, E. coli F17 stimulated SBD-2 expression was obviously decreased by pre-treatment with NF-κB inhibitor PDTC, p38 MAPK inhibitor SB202190 and ERK1/2 MAPK inhibitor PD98095 (p < 0.05 or p < 0.01). Interestingly, adhesion of E. coli F17 to OIECs were highly enhanced by pre-treated with PDTC, SB202190 and PD98095. Our data suggested that SBD-2 could inhibit E. coli F17 infection in OIECs, possibly through NF-κB and MAPK signaling pathways. Our results provide useful theoretical basis on developing anti-infective drug and breeding for E. coli diarrhea disease-resistant sheep. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three novel cyclic hexapeptides, sclerotides C–E (1–3), and a new lipodepsipeptide, scopularide I (4), together with a known cyclic hexapeptide sclerotide A (5), were isolated from fermented rice cultures of a soft coral-derived fungus: Aspergillus sclerotiorum SCSIO 41031. The structures of the new peptides were determined by 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopic analysis, Marfey's method, ESIMS/MS analysis, and single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. Scopularide I (4) exhibited acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activity with an IC50 value of 15.6 μM, and weak cytotoxicity against the human nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell line HONE-EBV with IC50 value of 10.1 μM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An α-galactosidase-producing strain named Anoxybacillus vitaminiphilus WMF1, which catalyzed the reverse hydrolysis of d-galactose and glycerol to produce isofloridoside, was isolated from soil. The α-galactosidase (galV) gene was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli. The galV was classified into the GH36 family with a molecular mass of 80 kDa. The optimum pH and temperature of galV was pH 7.5 and 60 °C, respectively, and it was highly stable at alkaline pH (6.0–9.0) and temperature below 65 °C. The specificity for p-nitrophenyl α-d-galactopyranoside was 70 U/mg, much higher than that for raffinose and stachyose. Among the metals and reagents tested, galV showed tolerance in the presence of various organic solvents. The kinetic parameters of the enzyme towards p-nitrophenyl α-d-galactopyranoside were obtained as Km (0.12 mM), Vmax (1.10 × 10−3 mM s−1), and Kcat/Km (763.92 mM−1 s−1). During the reaction of reverse hydrolysis, the enzyme exhibited high specificity towards the glycosyl donor galactose and acceptors glycerol, ethanol and ethylene glycol. Finally, the isofloridoside was synthesized using galactose as the donor and glycerol as the acceptor with a 26.6% conversion rate of galactose. This study indicated that galV might provide a potential enzyme source in producing isofloridoside because of its high thermal stability and activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ten polyketide derivatives (1–10), including a new natural product named (E)-2,4-dihydroxy-3-methyl-6-(2-oxopent-3-en-1-yl) benzaldehyde (1), and five known diketopiperazines (11–15), were isolated from the mangrove-sediment-derived fungus Aspergillus sp. SCSIO41407. The structures of 1–15 were determined via NMR and MS spectroscopic analysis. In a variety of bioactivity screening, 3 showed weak cytotoxicity against the A549 cell line, and 2 exhibited weak antibacterial activity against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Compounds 3, 5, and 6 showed inhibition against acetylcholinesterase (AChE) with IC50 values of 23.9, 39.9, and 18.6 μM. Compounds 11, 12, and 14 exhibited obvious inhibitory activities of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) with IC50 values of 19.2, 20.9, and 8.7 μM, and they also suppressed RANKL-induced osteoclast differentiation in bone marrow macrophages cells (BMMCs), with the concentration of 5 μM. In silico molecular docking with AChE and NF-κB p65 protein were also performed to understand the inhibitory activities, and 1, 11–14 showed obvious protein/ligand-binding effects to the NF-κB p65 protein. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Lambskin trait is one of the important economic traits of Hu sheep, and its quality depends on the pattern type of lambskin, which is affected by hair follicle growth and development. In our study, RNA-seq was used to detect the expression profiles of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) between straight wool and small waves of the hair follicle in Hu sheep lambskin. The results showed that a total of 75 differentially expressed lncRNAs, and 25 differentially expressed mRNAs were screened between small waves group and straight wool group. Functional annotation of differentially expressed mRNAs showed that FGF12 and ATP1B4 were enriched in MAPK, PI3K-Akt, and Ras signaling pathways, which had a certain influence on hair follicle growth and development. Interestingly, TCONS_00279168 was predicted to target FGF12 and its source gene ATP1B4. Thus, TCONS_00279168, FGF12, and ATP1B4 can be used for follow-up research and provide a new idea for the molecular mechanism in Hu sheep hair follicle growth and development. Lambskin of the Hu sheep exhibits high economic value due to its water-wave pattern. Wool curvature is the key factor of the pattern types and quality of lambskin, and it is formed by the interaction between dermal papilla cells and hair matrix cells in the hair follicle, which is regulated by various genes and signaling pathways. Herein, three full-sibling pairs of two-day-old healthy lambs (n = 6) were divided into a straight wool group (ST) and small waves group (SM) with three repetitions. RNA-seq was applied to determine the expression profile of mRNAs and lncRNAs in Hu sheep hair follicles. 25 differentially expressed mRNAs and 75 differentially expressed lncRNAs were found between SM and ST. FGF12, ATP1B4, and TCONS_00279168 were probably associated with hair follicle development. Then, Gene Ontology (GO) and KEGG enrichment analysis were implemented for the functional annotation of target genes of differentially expressed lncRNAs. The results showed that many genes, such as FGF12 and ATP1B4, were found enriched in PI3K-Akt signaling, MAPK signaling, and Ras signaling pathway associated with hair follicle growth and development. In addition, the interaction network of differentially expressed lncRNAs and mRNAs showed that a total of 6 differentially expressed lncRNAs were associated with 12 differentially expressed mRNAs, which may be as candidate mRNAs and lncRNAs. TCONS_00279168 may target ATP1B4 and FGF12 to regulate MAPK, PI3K-Akt, Ras signaling pathways involved in the sheep hair follicle development process. These results will provide the basis for exploring hair follicle development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oligosaccharides have been used for an environmentally friendly insect control in the agricultural industry. In order to discover novel eco-friendly pesticides, a series of partially acetylated oligorhamnoses mezzettiasides, 2 - 8 , and their analogues, 9 - 14 , with biosurfactant characteristics were designed and synthesized, some of which exhibited comparable to or even stronger aphicidal activity than pymetrozine. Preliminary SAR studies demonstrated that the aphicidal activity of mezzettiasides analogs is highly dependent on their structures, including both the sugar length and the substitutes on the sugar. Among them, trirhamnolipid 9 displayed the strongest aphicidal activity, with an LC 50 of 0.019 mmol/L, indicating that the biosurfactant 9 may have potential for use as an environmentally friendly agricultural pesticide., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.