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The brassinazole-resistant (BZR) transcription factors (TFs) are key components of brassinosteroid (BR) signaling, which play an important role in regulating plant growth and development as well as responding to abiotic stress. However, a functional study of BZR transcription factors in lotuses has not been reported. A total 10 BZR1 genes (four NnBZR1 and six NlBZR1) were identified from the genomes of two lotus species (Nelumbo nucifera and Nelumbo lutea). The construction of the phylogenetic tree showed that the 10 BZR1 genes of the lotus were divided into four groups; the NnBZR1s and NlBZR1s were unevenly distributed on three and four chromosomes, respectively. Gene structure analysis showed that motif 1 and motif 9 are highly conserved in the lotus BZR1 protein, which might be related to the conserved domain BES_N of BZR1. The analysis of promoter cis-acting elements showed that the promoters of most of the BZR1 genes in the lotus contained elements related to light-responsive, ABA-responsive and abiotic stress-responsive factors, indicating that the BZR1 gene of the lotus played an important role in its response to abiotic stress. The responses of BZR1 genes to BR, ABA and four abiotic stresses (Cold, PEG6000, Cd and NaCl) were analyzed by qRT-PCR. The qRT-PCR results further verified that the lotus BZR1 genes play an important role in responding to hormone signals and resisting abiotic stress. This study laid the foundation for further research on the function of lotus BZR1 genes and provided a theoretical basis for future breeding and horticultural applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

T-2 toxin and selenium deficiency are considered important etiologies of Kashin–Beck disease (KBD), although the exact mechanism is still unclear. To identify differentially expressed microRNAs (DE-miRNAs) in the articular cartilage of rats exposed to T-2 toxin and selenomethionine (SeMet) supplementation, thirty-six 4-week-old Sprague Dawley rats were divided into a control group (gavaged with 4% anhydrous ethanol), a T-2 group (gavaged with 100 ng/g·bw/day T-2 toxin), and a T-2 + SeMet group (gavaged with 100 ng/g·bw/day T-2 toxin and 0.5 mg/kg·bw/day SeMet), respectively. Toluidine blue staining was performed to detect the pathological changes of articular cartilage. Three rats per group were randomly selected for high-throughput sequencing of articular cartilage. Target genes of DE-miRNAs were predicted using miRanda and RNAhybrid databases, and the Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway were enriched. The network map of miRNA-target genes was constructed using Cytoscape software. The expression profiles of miRNAs associated with KBD were obtained from the Gene Expression Omnibus database. Additionally, the DE-miRNAs were selected for real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) verification. Toluidine blue staining demonstrated that T-2 toxin damaged articular cartilage and SeMet effectively alleviated articular cartilage lesions. A total of 50 DE-miRNAs (28 upregulated and 22 downregulated) in the T-2 group vs. the control group, 18 DE-miRNAs (6 upregulated and 12 downregulated) in the T-2 + SeMet group vs. the control group, and 25 DE-miRNAs (5 upregulated and 20 downregulated) in the T-2 + SeMet group vs. the T-2 group were identified. Enrichment analysis showed the target genes of DE-miRNAs were associated with apoptosis, and in the MAPK and TGF-β signaling pathways in the T-2 group vs. the control group. However, the pathway of apoptosis was not significant in the T-2 + SeMet group vs. the control group. These results indicated that T-2 toxin induced apoptosis, whereas SeMet supplementation antagonized apoptosis. Apoptosis and autophagy occurred simultaneously in the T-2 + SeMet group vs. T-2 group, and autophagy may inhibit apoptosis to protect cartilage. Compared with the GSE186593 dataset, the evidence of miR-133a-3p involved in apoptosis was more abundant. The results of RT-qPCR validation were consistent with RNA sequencing results. Our findings suggested that apoptosis was involved in articular cartilage lesions induced by T-2 toxin, whereas SeMet supplementation antagonized apoptosis, and that miR-133a-3p most probably played a central role in the apoptosis process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Tropical water lily is an aquatic plant with high ornamental value, but it cannot overwinter naturally at high latitudes. The temperature drop has become a key factor restricting the development and promotion of the industry. Results: The responses of Nymphaea lotus and Nymphaea rubra to cold stress were analyzed from the perspective of physiology and transcriptomics. Under the cold stress, Nymphaea rubra had obvious leaf edge curling and chlorosis. The degree of peroxidation of its membrane was higher than that of Nymphaea lotus, and the content of photosynthetic pigments also decreased more than that of Nymphaea lotus. The soluble sugar content, SOD enzyme activity and CAT enzyme activity of Nymphaea lotus were higher than those of Nymphaea rubra. This indicated that there were significant differences in the cold sensitivity of the two varieties. GO enrichment and KEGG pathway analysis showed that many stress response genes and pathways were affected and enriched to varying degrees under the cold stress, especially plant hormone signal transduction, metabolic pathways and some transcription factor genes were from ZAT gene family or WKRY gene family. The key transcription factor ZAT12 protein in the cold stress response process has a C2H2 conserved domain, and the protein is localized in the nucleus. Under the cold stress, overexpression of the NlZAT12 gene in Arabidopsis thaliana increased the expression of some cold-responsive protein genes. The content of reactive oxygen species and MDA in transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana was lower, and the content of soluble sugar was higher, indicating that overexpression of NlZAT12 can improve the cold tolerance of Arabidopsis thaliana. Conclusion: We demonstrate that ethylene signalling and reactive oxygen species signalling play critical roles in the response of the two cultivars to cold stress. The key gene NlZAT12 for improving cold tolerance was identified. Our study provides a theoretical basis for revealing the molecular mechanism of tropical water lily in response to cold stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a common chronic inflammatory skin disease. Bisdemethoxycurcumin (BDMC) is an ingredient from the rhizome of the traditional Chinese herbal medicine turmeric. BDMC has been reported to have important pharmacological properties, such as anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antitumor and antiproliferative activities. However, its effect on atopic dermatitis has not been reported. The purpose of our study was to demonstrate the effectiveness of BDMC on TNF-α/IFNγ-stimulated HaCaT cells and on 2,4-dinitrochlorobenzene (DNCB)-induced AD mice. Our studies showed in vitro that BDMC was able to significantly inhibit the mRNA expression of chemokines and cytokines in TNF-α/IFN-γ-stimulated HaCaT cells and alleviate their inflammatory response. Our studies found in vivo that BDMC was able to significantly improve the symptoms of DNCB-induced AD skin lesions, decrease the number of scratches, ear thickness, and spleen index, improve inflammatory cells and mast cell infiltration and decrease skin thickness. Moreover, it was also able to inhibit the mRNA expression levels of chemokines and inflammatory cytokines and the activation of the MAPK and NF-κB signaling pathways. Thus, the results indicated that BDMC can improve atopic dermatitis in mice and that further clinical studies are warranted on its treatment of AD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Human colon inflammation is associated with changes in the diverse and abundant microorganisms in the gut. As important beneficial microbes, Lactobacillus contributes to the immune responses and intestinal integrity that may alleviate experimental colitis. However, the mechanisms underlying probiotic benefits have not been fully elucidated. Methods: Dextran sodium sulfate or rapamycin-challenged mice were used as model for colon inflammation evaluation. Histological scores of the colon, levels of colonic myeloperoxidase, serum tumor necrosis factor-α and interleukin-6 were assessed as inflammatory markers and the gut microbiota profiles of each mouse were studied. Results: We found that Lactobacillus casei Zhang (LCZ) can prevent experimental colitis and rapamycin-induced inflammation in intestinal mucosa by improving histological scores, decreasing host inflammatory cytokines, modulating gut-dominated bacteria, enhancing cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) expression and downregulating the expression of p-STAT3 (phosphorylated signal transducer and activator of transcription 3) or Akt/NF-κB (AKT serine/threonine kinase and nuclear factor kappa B). Conclusion: Our results suggest that LCZ may provide effective prevention against colitis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Paeonia ostii , an important ornamental and medicinal plant, grows normally on copper (Cu) mines with widespread Cu contamination of soils, and it has the ability to lower Cu contents in the Cu-contaminated soils. However, very little molecular information concerned with Cu resistance of P. ostii is available. In this study, high-throughput de novo transcriptome sequencing was carried out for P. ostii with and without Cu treatment using Illumina HiSeq™ 2000 platform. A total of 77,704 All-unigenes were obtained with a mean length of 710 bp. Of these unigenes, 47,461 were annotated with public databases based on sequence similarities. Comparative transcript profiling allowed the discovery of 4324 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), with 2207 up-regulated and 2117 down-regulated unigenes in Cu-treated library as compared to the control counterpart. Based on these DEGs, Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment analysis indicated Cu stress-relevant terms, such as ‘membrane’ and ‘antioxidant activity’. Meanwhile, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis uncovered some important pathways, including ‘biosynthesis of secondary metabolites’ and ‘metabolic pathways’. In addition, expression patterns of 12 selected DEGs derived from quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) were consistent with their transcript abundance changes obtained by transcriptomic analyses, suggesting that all the 12 genes were authentically involved in Cu tolerance in P. ostii . This is the first report to identify genes related to Cu stress responses in P. ostii , which could offer valuable information on the molecular mechanisms of Cu resistance, and provide a basis for further genomics research on this and related ornamental species for phytoremediation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play important roles in plant responses to environmental stress. In this work, we used high-throughput sequencing to analyze transcriptome and small RNAs (sRNAs) in Typha angustifolia under cadmium (Cd) stress. 57,608,230 raw reads were obtained from deep sequencing of a pooled cDNA library. Sequence assembly and analysis yielded 102,473 unigenes. We subsequently sequenced two sRNA libraries from T. angustifolia with or without Cd exposure respectively. Based on transcriptome data of T. angustifolia, we catalogued and analyzed the sRNAs, resulting in the identification of 114 conserved miRNAs and 41 novel candidate miRNAs in both small RNA libraries. In silico analysis revealed 764 targets for 89 conserved miRNAs and 21 novel miRNAs. Statistical analysis on sequencing reads abundance and experimental validation revealed that 4 conserved and 6 novel miRNAs showed specific expression. Combined with function of target genes, these results suggested that miRNAs might play a role in plant Cd stress response. This study provided the first transcriptome-based analysis of miRNAs and their targets responsive to Cd stress in T. angustifolia, which provide a framework for further analysis of miRNAs and their role in regulating plant responses to Cd stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of circular RNA (circRNA) microarrays has facilitated studies on the role of circRNAs in regulating gene expression through a circRNA-miRNA-mRNA network. In our study, a microarray was used to detect the expression profiles of circRNAs in mouse bone marrow stromal cell (MSCs) after total body irradiation (TBI) in an X-ray field. Forty mice were randomly distributed into two groups, the control group and the TBI group, with 20 mice in each. Using circRNA microarray data, we compared the circRNA expression profiles in the MSCs between the two groups. Randomly chosen differentially expressed circRNAs were validated as potential TBI biomarkers. Overall, 148 circRNAs were significantly upregulated while the other 133 were downregulated between the TBI group and the sham group. Among them, two upregulated circRNAs (mmu_circRNA_011235 and mmu_circRNA_016901) and three downregulated circRNAs (mmu_circRNA_008488, mmu_circRNA_000551 and mmu_circRNA_005365) exhibited trends comparable to microarray data in the validation experiments. The miRNA support vector regression method was used to predict potential target miRNAs for the circRNAs while ClueGO was used for functional analysis of predicted miRNA target genes. This is the first study to investigate the differential circRNA expression profile in TBI and the associated functions. Significantly upregulated or downregulated circRNAs may represent novel biomarkers and novel therapeutic targets for the clinical management of radiation injury with TBI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]