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Soil salinization and alkalinization are pervasive environmental issues that severely restrict plant growth and crop yield. Utilizing plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) is an effective strategy to enhance plant tolerance to saline–alkaline stress, though the regulatory mechanisms remain unclear. This study employed biochemical and RNA-Seq methods to uncover the critical growth-promoting effects of Trichoderma spp. on Salix linearistipularis under saline–alkaline stress. The results showed that, during saline–alkaline stress, inoculation with Trichoderma sp. M4 and M5 significantly increased the proline and soluble sugar contents in Salix linearistipularis, enhanced the activities of SOD, POD, CAT, and APX, and reduced lipid peroxidation levels, with M4 exhibiting more pronounced effects than M5. RNA-Seq analysis of revealed that 11,051 genes were upregulated after Trichoderma sp. M4 inoculation under stress conditions, with 3532 genes primarily involved in carbon metabolism, amino acid biosynthesis, and oxidative phosphorylation—processes that alleviate saline–alkaline stress. Additionally, 7519 genes were uniquely upregulated by M4 under stress, mainly enriched in secondary metabolite biosynthesis, amino acid metabolism, cyanamide metabolism, and phenylpropanoid biosynthesis. M4 mitigates saline–alkaline stress-induced damage in Salix linearistipularis seedlings by reducing oxidative damage, enhancing organic acid and amino acid metabolism, and activating phenylpropanoid biosynthesis pathways to eliminate harmful ROS. This enhances the seedlings' tolerance to saline–alkaline stress, providing a basis for studying fungi–plant interactions under such conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The in vitro immunomodulatory effect of lotus root residue polysaccharide (LRP) on primary peritoneal macrophages of BALB/C mice was investigated to explore the potential signaling pathway of LRP-induced immune response. The effects of different concentrations of LRP on cell viability were determined by the MTT method; the amount of the NO released from cells was detected by the Griess method after the stimulation with LRP at different concentration gradients, and at the same concentration but at different time points; Semi-quantitative PCR was used to detect the mRNAexpressions of TLR4 and TLR2 receptors as well as immune-related factors (TNF-α, IL-6, iNOS, 1L-1β, COX-2, Nfkbia) in cells;Western blotting was used to detect the phosphorylation of MAPK pathway-related factors (ERK1/2, JNK, p38) andAkt. The effect of LRP onAP-1 and NF-kB was also studied. the immunomodulatory activity of LRP towards mouse peritoneal macrophages and associated signaling mechanism were evaluated. The result showed that LRP has no toxic effect on mouse peritoneal macrophages, LRP at 25-50 μg/mL could promote the cell growth with the cell viability being 104.83% and 102.53% (p<0.05). The NO production increased significantly with an increase of LRP concentration (p<0.05). The cells stimulated by LRP at 200 μg/mL produced 36.47 μmol/L of NO. NO production increased with the prolongation of culture time after the treatment with LRP at 200 μg/mL (p<0.05), with the NO concentration reaching 44.18 μmol/L after 24 h. The studies on mRNA expressions showed that LRP regulated the expressions of TLR4 and TLR2 receptors, and modulated the expressions of immune-related genes. In addition, LRP promoted the translocation of c-Jun and p65 from outside the nucleus into the nucleus, enhanced the phosphorylation levels of ERK1/2, JNK, and p38 proteins, while having insignificant effect on the phosphorylation of Akt. Therefore, LRP can enhance the immune response of primary peritoneal macrophages in BALB/c mice through the MAPK/NF-kB pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, a ceramides-dominant mixture was isolated from Incarvillea compacta by silica gel column chromatography and identified by ultra performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry along with identification methods such as H/C nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The ceramides-dominant mixture had a total ceramide content of 81.53%, and its anti-inflammatory effect was preliminarily evaluated. Besides, the anti-inflammatory effect of the total ceramides from I. compacta on (LPS)-stimulated RAW264.7 cells were also investigated. The results of methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT) assay showed that the ceramides-dominant mixture from I. compacta (the ceramide preparation) at low concentrations (6.25~50 µg/mL) had no significant effect on the cell viability of RAW264.7 cells. The ceramide preparation significantly inhibited the lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced production of nitric oxide (NO), with the highest inhibition rate being 91.07%±0.11% when the concentration of the ceramide preparation was 100 µg/mL. The ceramide preparation effectively suppressed them RNA expressions of interleukin-1β (IL-1β), tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOs), as well as the protein expressions and phosphorylation of inhibitor-α of NF-κB (IκBα), pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase1 (PDK1), protein kinase B (AKT) in LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 cells. The results of this study showed that the ceramide preparation has significant anti-inflammatory activity, and can exert its anti-inflammatory effect through phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase / protein kinase B (PI3K/AKT) signaling pathway. The experimental results of thiswork can provide certain scientific and data support for the development of related health foods and rational utilization of plant resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) is the causative agent of bovine viral diarrhea-mucosal disease, which significantly affects the production performance of cattle, causing serious economic losses to the cattle industries worldwide. Up to now, some mechanisms involved in host–BVDV interaction are still not fully understood. The discovery of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) has provided a new perspective on gene regulation in diverse biological contexts, particularly in viral infection and host immune responses. However, little is known about the profiles and functions of lncRNAs in host cells in response to BVDV infection. Here, we utilized Illumina sequencing to explore lncRNAs profiles in cytopathic (CP) biotype BVDV-infected MDBK cells to further reveal the potential roles of lncRNAs in BVDV infection and host–BVDV interaction with integrated analysis of lncRNAs and mRNA expression profiles. A total of 1747 significantly differentially expressed genes, DEGs (156 lncRNAs and 1591 mRNAs) were obtained via RNA-seq in BVDV-infected MDBK cells compared to mock-infected cells. Next, these DE lncRNAs and mRNAs were subjected to construct lncRNAs-mRNAs co-expression network followed by the prediction of potential functions of the DE lncRNAs. Co-expression network analysis elucidated that DE lncRNAs were significant enrichment in NOD-like receptor, TNF, NF-ĸB, ErbB, Ras, apoptosis, and fatty acid biosynthesis pathways, indicating that DE lncRNAs play important roles in host–BVDV interactions. Our data give an overview of changes in transcriptome and potential roles of lncRNAs, providing molecular biology basis for further exploring the mechanisms of host–BVDV interaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to investigate the underlying hepatoprotective effects of yeast culture (YC) against carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)‐induced hepatic damage in Pseudobagrus ussuriensis. The fish were randomly divided into three experimental groups (Control, CCl4 and YC+CCl4) with three replicates of 30 fish in each replicate. Firstly, the Control and CCl4 groups were fed basal diet without yeast culture, and the YC+CCl4 group was fed diet with 20 g/kg YC for 8 weeks. After the end of feeding experiment, Control group was intraperitoneally injected olive oil with 0.05 ml/15 g fish body weight, while CCl4 and YC+CCl4 groups were intraperitoneally injected CCl4 olive oil solution (CCl4: olive oil = 3:7) with 0.05 ml/15 g fish body weight for 48 h. The results indicated that fish fed with 20 g/kg yeast culture not only ameliorated injured hepatic cell, as evidenced by well‐preserved liver architecture, but also significantly decreased plasma AST activity in the CCl4‐induced hepatic injury model. Next, we found that dietary 20 g/kg YC supplementation could improve hepatic antioxidant activity and inhibit lipid peroxidation induced by CCl4. Fish fed 20 g/kg YC could suppress the decrease of plasma IgM and plasma ACH50 content caused by CCl4 (p <.05). In addition, we also found that fish treated with CCl4 up‐regulated the expression of immune‐related genes (TLR2, MyD88 and NF‐κBp65), proinflammatory cytokines (IL‐1β and IL‐8) and Hsp70 mRNA expression in liver compared with the Control group; meanwhile, fish fed with 20 g/kg YC down‐regulated the above‐mentioned genes expressions in liver compared with CCl4 group. In general, the results mentioned above suggested that the dietary yeast culture could relieve the oxidative stress, immune damage and liver injury induced by CCl4 and could also suppress CCl4‐induced inflammation through inhibiting the TLR2/NF‐κB signalling pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interferons have attracted considerable attention due to their vital roles in the host immune response and low induction of antibiotic resistance. In this study, total RNA was extracted from spleen cells of chicken embryos inoculated with Newcastle disease vaccine, and the full-length chicken interferon-γ ( ChIFN-γ) gene was amplified by RT-PCR. The full complementary DNA sequence of the ChIFN-γ gene was 495 bp long and was cloned into the prokaryotic expression vector pProEX™HTb. The plasmid was transformed into Escherichia coli DH5α and the expression of ChIFN-γ was induced by isopropyl β-D-1-thiogalactopyranoside. Sodium dodecyl sulfate - polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and Western blot results showed the expressed fusion protein had a molecular weight of approximately 18 kDa and was recognized by an anti-His mAb. Moreover, ChIFN-γ was found to demonstrate anti-viral activity in vitro. To test the in vivo function of ChIFN-γ in broilers under heat stress, a total of 100 broilers were randomly assigned to either a control group or a treated group, in which they were hypodermically injected with recombinant ChIFN-γ. Results demonstrated ChIFN-γ affects the messenger RNA expression levels of heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) in the heart and lung tissues, and decreases the concentration of HSP70 in serum. Therefore, we conclude recombinant ChIFN-γ can reduce heat stress to some extent in vivo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The major antigenic protein of infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus (IHNV) is the surface glycoprotein G, which contains neutralizing epitopes that induce the production of immune neutralizing antibodies. In this study, the IHNV G gene sequence was truncated according to bioinformatics principles and then recombinantly expressed via an E. coli expression system. We then assessed the specific antibody immunoglobin M (IgM) levels of rainbow trout immunized with recombinant truncated G protein (emulsified with Freund's incomplete adjuvant), and showed that antibody IgM levels of immunized fish were significantly higher than in the control group (p < 0.01). The mRNA expression levels of interferon 1 (IFN1) and interleukin-8 (IL-8) were also up-regulated significantly (p < 0.01) in head kidneys and spleens of rainbow trout immunized with recombinant truncated G protein. Also, after challenge with wild-type IHNV HLJ-09 virus on Day 28, rainbow trout immunized with recombinant truncated G protein showed cumulative survival rates of 60%. These results indicate that the truncated G protein of IHNV expressed by the E. coli prokaryotic expression system can be used as a candidate immunogen for an IHNV subunit vaccine, which lays a theoretical foundation for the study of further potential IHNV subunit vaccines.