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Lemna turionifera is native to North America and northern Asia, with significant potential for industrial wastewater remediation. The complete nucleotide sequence of the L. turionifera chloroplast genome (cpDNA) was determined. The cpDNA is a circular molecule of 166,606 bp and containing a pair of inverted repeats (IRs) measuting 31,663 bp each. These IRs are flanked by a small single-copy region of 13,542 bp and a large single-copy region of 89,738 bp. The chloroplast genome of L. turionifera consisted of 112 unique genes, including 78 protein-encoding genes, 30 tRNA genes, and four rRNA genes. The phylogenetic analysis utilizing cpDNA provided a well-supported resolution of the relationships among subfamilies within the Araceae family. Our findings indicated a close relationship between L. turionifera and a clade consisting of L. minor, L. japonica, and L. gibba. The availability of the complete chloroplast genome sequence of L. turionifera presents valuable data for future phylogenetic investigations within the Lemnaceae family. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information about wildlife diets is crucial for comprehending how species adapt to varying environments in fragmented habitats and for developing effective conservation strategies. White‐headed langurs (Trachypithecus leucocephalus) are exclusively found in fragmented limestone forests in southwestern China. To investigate the effects of habitat fragmentation on langurs' diets, we collected published dietary data and relevant environmental factors spanning from 1996 to 2021 at two regions with different degrees of fragmentation (Banli > Bapen), from 10 studies (three of Banli and seven of Bapen). The results demonstrated that the diets of white‐headed langurs were significantly influenced by environmental factors, including habitat fragmentation, annual rainfall, and mean annual temperature. Food item diversity index was significantly and positively affected by the fragmentation index, the higher fragmentation the langurs suffered, the more diverse food items they consumed. Besides, fruit consumption was negatively influenced by annual rainfall and the consumption of other items was influenced by mean annual temperature. Notably, although there are no significant differences in the feeding proportions of food items or food item diversity indices were observed between the Banli and Bapen groups, the Banli groups extensively consumed ground‐supported kudzu (Pueraria montana var. lobata), a plant rarely recorded in the dietary preferences of the Bapen groups, implying that the large plants likely lacking in the fragmented limestone forests. Our findings provide evidence of the major impact of habitat fragmentation on the dietary composition of white‐headed langurs, highlighting the need of considering the possibility that the habitats of the white‐headed langurs have all undergone extreme fragmentation, inferring the conservation efforts should prioritize protecting native vegetation and reducing human disturbance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

\nHighlightsExploring environmental determinants of the diet provides effective information to develop conservation for endangered species. Here, we collected dietary data of François’ langurs (Trachypithecus francoisi) to identify the environmental determinants of these langurs’ diets. Our results showed that the diets of François’ langurs were mainly dominated by leaves (69.9% ± 12.9%), followed by fruits (15.3% ± 6.6%), seeds (5.6% ± 4.7%), flowers (4.1% ± 2.8%), stems (1.2% ± 1.3%) and others (3.4% ± 3.2%). The model averaging results suggested that human interference and habitat fragmentation do not significantly affect the langurs’ dietary composition across geographical populations, which could be associated with the extreme habitat fragmentation and the intense anthropogenic disturbance within habitats. In addition, the results showed a significant negative effect of rainfall on the fruit consumption by langurs (β = - 0.45, Wip = 0.48), which may be related to the low fruit production in fragmented limestone forests. In addition, there was no significant geographical difference in the dietary composition of the langurs. Our results reveal the significant effects of habitat fragmentation on the diets of langurs and, as a response, the high flexibility in dietary composition in these langurs, providing insights into their adaptation to the fragmented limestone forest.Habitat fragmentation has significant effects on the diets of François’ langurs, and they show high flexibility in diets as a response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lemna turionifera is native to North America and northern Asia, with significant potential for industrial wastewater remediation. The complete nucleotide sequence of the L. turionifera chloroplast genome (cpDNA) was determined. The cpDNA is a circular molecule of 166,606 bp and containing a pair of inverted repeats (IRs) measuting 31,663 bp each. These IRs are flanked by a small single-copy region of 13,542 bp and a large single-copy region of 89,738 bp. The chloroplast genome of L. turionifera consisted of 112 unique genes, including 78 protein-encoding genes, 30 tRNA genes, and four rRNA genes. The phylogenetic analysis utilizing cpDNA provided a well-supported resolution of the relationships among subfamilies within the Araceae family. Our findings indicated a close relationship between L. turionifera and a clade consisting of L. minor , L. japonica , and L. gibba . The availability of the complete chloroplast genome sequence of L. turionifera presents valuable data for future phylogenetic investigations within the Lemnaceae family., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests., (© 2024 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.)

Objective: YKL-40, also known as chitinase-3-like-1 (CHI3L1), is a human cartilage glycoprotein-39, with its N-terminus consisting of tyrosine (Y), lysine (K), and leucine (L), hence the name YKL-40. In this study, we explored whether YKL-40 could promote the expression of inflammatory factors in type Ⅱ alveolar epithelial cells., Methods: A549 cells were cultured in vitro with interleukin (IL)-1β (20 ng/mL), IL-6 (20 ng/mL), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) (20 ng/mL), and interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) (20 ng/mL). The expression of YKL -40 transcription was determined by RT-qPCR. A549 cells were cultured with IL-1β at 5, 10, and 20 ng/mL and the expression of YKL-40 protein was determined by Western blot. A549 cells were cultured with recombinant YKL-40 protein at 0, 100, 500, and 1 000 ng/mL and the expression levels of IL-6 and IL-8 were measured by RT-qPCR. Three pairs of small interfering RNAs targeting YKL-40 (si- YKL -40-1/2/3) and the negative control (NC) were designed and used to transfect A549 cells, respectively, and the expression of YKL-40 was determined by RT-qPCR and Western blot. si- YKL -40-3 was screened out for subsequent experiments. In A549 cells, si- YKL -40-3 and si-NC were transfected and, then, IL-1β (20 ng/mL) was added in for culturing. The expression of YKL -40, IL -6, and IL- 8 was determined by RT-qPCR and the expression of multiple factors in the supernatant was measured with the QAH-INF-1 kit., Results: RT-qPCR results showed that IL-1β could up-regulate YKL-40 protein transcription level compared with that of the control group and the difference was statistically significant ( P <0.01), but IL-6, TNF-α, and IFN-γ could not up-regulate YKL-40 protein transcription level. Western blot results showed that IL-1β (20 ng/mL) could significantly promote the expression of YKL-40 and, compared with that of the control group, the differences showed by groups treated with different concentrations of IL-1β were all statistical significant ( P <0.01). After adding human recombinant YKL-40 protein to A549 cells, the results showed that the expression of inflammatory factors IL-6 and IL-8 was significantly increased and the difference was statistically significant compared with that of the control group ( P <0.05). After the expression of YKL-40 was decreased by si- YKL -40-3 transfection, the expression of IL-6 ( P <0.05), IL-8 ( P <0.05), and other inflammatory factors was inhibited compared with that of the control group., Conclusion: YKL-40 can promote the expression and secretion of IL-6, IL-8, and other acute inflammatory factors in A549 cell line, a type Ⅱ alveolar epithelial cell model, thus aggravating the inflammatory response. Targeted inhibition of YKL-40 expression may effectively inhibit inflammatory response., (Copyright© by Editorial Board of Journal of Sichuan University (Medical Sciences).)