Sheng wu gong cheng xue bao = Chinese journal of biotechnology最新文献

Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) is a significant crop serving food, energy, feed, and industrial raw materials, featuring extensive growth adaptability and diverse utility values. Despite the achievements in sorghum breeding in the last decades, conventional breeding methods still confront challenges such as lengthy breeding cycles, low efficiency, and complex genetic backgrounds. With the rapid advancement of molecular biology, genetics, and bioinformatics, molecular breeding has carved new pathways for enhancing sorghum yield and quality. This article reviews the molecular basic research progress in the key agronomic and adaptive traits of sorghum, including grain yield, grain quality, flowering time, plant height, tillering, stress resistance, and male sterility, and discusses future research priorities, offering novel insights and approaches for sorghum breeding.

The xanthine dehydrogenase (XDH), a molybdenum-containing oxidoreductase belonging to the molybdenum hydroxylase flavoprotein family, has been identified in a variety of eukaryotes, bacteria, and archaea. XDH catalyzes the conversion of xanthine and hypoxanthine to uric acid, which then undergoes further reactions to form allantoin and allantoic acid. Studies have shown that XDH plays a role in various metabolic processes, including purine metabolism, nitrogen metabolism, hormone metabolism, reactive oxygen species metabolism, and responses to biotic and abiotic stresses. Here, we introduced the structural features, metabolic pathways, and biological functions of XDH. In addition, we summarized the research progress in XDH to give insights into the molecular mechanism of purine metabolism in plants and prospected the application of XDH, with the aim to facilitate future research on the growth, development, and stress resistance of crops.

The Toll and immune deficiency (IMD) signaling pathways in insects are highly conserved in evolution and regulate the expression of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) and other immune-related genes mainly through nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) transcription factors. However, the differences of NF-κB transcription factors Rels and Relish in the expression regulation of AMPs and other immune-related genes in silkworm (Bombyx mori) have not been systematically reported. In this study, the BmRelA, BmRelB and BmRelish1 genes were cloned and their eukaryotic cell overexpression vectors were constructed. After the recombinant vectors were transfected into BmE and BmN cells, the expression of AMPs and immune-related genes was detected by real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR. The results showed that the expression of AMP genes Defensin2 and Gloverin2 was mainly regulated by Relish, the expression of Moricin was mainly regulated by RelA and RelB, and the expression of other AMP genes was jointly regulated by both. In addition, the expression levels of peptidoglycan recognition proteins (PGRPs), β-1, 3-glucan recognition proteins (βGRPs), lysozymes (Lys) and lysozyme-like proteins (LLPs), and nitric oxide synthase (NOS) were up-regulated to varying degrees in different cell lines in response to RelA, RelB and Relish1, suggesting that the expression of these immune-molecules was also regulated by Toll or IMD pathways in silkworm. Compared with the regulatory specificity of transcription factors in Drosophila Toll and IMD signaling pathways on the expression of AMPs, this study found that the regulatory patterns of Rels and Relish1 on the expression of AMPs in silkworm are more complex, which provides an experimental basis for further analysis of the effect mechanism and feedback mechanism of Toll and IMD pathways in insects.

In order to assess the antibiotic resistance of Escherichia coli and its transmission risk in a rice-frog coculture system in Zhejiang Province, this study collected E. coli from isolated soil, field water, and frog feces from the rice-frog coculture systems in four different areas of Zhejiang Province. The collected isolates were identified by 16S rRNA sequencing, while their antibiotic-resistant phenotypes were determined by Kirby-Bauer (K-B) method. PCR was used to identify the antibiotic-resistant genotypes and integrons, while conjugative transfer experiments were used to assess resistance transmission characteristics. The results showed a high prevalence of antibiotic resistance in the 82 strains of E. coli tested, primarily against tetracycline, sulfisoxazole, amoxicillin, and erythromycin. Most of these strains exhibited multidrug resistance, with the Fuyang area demonstrating the highest resistance rate compared to the other three areas. Further PCR analysis identified the sul1 gene as the most frequently detected resistance gene (63.41%), followed by bla_TEM, tetA, and tetB. Among the 16 antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) detected, the Fuyang isolates consistencly exhibited higher detection rate of 9 ARGs in comparison to the other regions. Additionally, the integrase gene intI1 displayed the highest detection rate, with 14 strains (34.15%) of integrase-positive bacteria carrying gene cassettes. Four different gene cassette compositions were observed, with dfrA1-aadA1 and dfrA17-aadA5 being the most common combinations. Conjugative transfer experiments demonstrated successful transfer of gene cassettes in 4 out of 14 donor bacteria, with conjugation transfer frequencies ranging from 4.32×10^-5 to 7.13×10^-4. These findings revealed the severity of resistance in the Fuyang area among the four regions. Integrons play a significant role in mediating the resistance to multiple antibiotics in E. coli, facilitating the potential spread of resistance gene cassettes between different bacteria. Overall, this study provides valuable insights into the resistance status and transmission characteristics of E. coli in the rice-frog coculture system in Zhejiang Province, providing a theoretical basis for ensuring the food safety of rice crops.

Nitrate (NO₃^--N) is a common inorganic nitrogen pollutant in water. Excessive NO₃^--N can lead to water eutrophication and threaten human health. Nanoscale zero-valent iron (nZVI) has attracted much attention in NO₃^--N removal due to its high specific surface and excellent electron donor properties. The combination of nZVI and denitrifying bacteria (DNB) demonstrates high efficiency in converting NO₃^--N into N₂. This approach not only substantially enhances the removal rate of NO₃^--N but also exhibits superior environmental sustainability compared with conventional chemical denitrification methods. Accordingly, it holds substantial promise for mitigating NO₃^--N pollution and warrants further exploration in the pollution control. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the interaction mechanism between nZVI and DNB for NO₃^--N removal. This paper details the factors affecting the removal of NO₃^--N by nZVI combined with DNB, reviews the latest research progress in this field, elaborates on the interaction mechanism between nZVI and DNB for NO₃^--N removal, and discusses the challenges and future research directions of NO₃^--N removal by nZVI combined with DNB. This review aims to provide a theoretical basis for the development of efficient approaches for the remediation of NO₃^--N pollution.

Plant endophytes spend at least part of their life cycle in plants without causing diseases in the hosts, being the microbial resources with rich species and diverse functions. With the advancement in sequencing technology, the microbiological study of endophytes has become increasingly intensive. Being praised for the targeted validation and low cost, Sanger sequencing has been preferred by researchers. However, Sanger sequencing is no longer suitable for deeper genomic study of endophytes due to the low throughput. In this paper, we briefly summarize the research history of endophytes, review the applications of next-generation sequencing characterized by high throughput and third-generation sequencing (single-molecule real-time sequencing) in the research on endophytes, and summarize the research results of different sequencing technologies. Furthermore, we summarize the advantages and limitations of different sequencing technologies and discuss how to choose the appropriate sequencing technology according to the research needs. This review provides a reference for researchers to further explore the potential value of plant endophytes.

Camellia oleifera is an important woody oil crop in China, and its seed oil has a high economic value. Anthracnose, one of the main diseases in C. oleifera, occurs in a wide range in the production areas, limiting the growth and development of plants and causing serious losses of oil production. With the rapid development of the C. oleifera industry in recent years, great progress has been achieved in the research on anthracnose in C. oleifera. This paper summarized the resistance mechanisms, the mining of resistance genes, and the evaluation of resistant germplasm resources, aiming to provide a theoretical basis for the prevention and control of anthracnose and the breeding of C. oleifera germplasm with resistance to anthracnose.

Calcium-dependent protein kinases (CDPKs/CPKs) are members of the Ca²⁺-sensitive Ser/Thr protein kinase family and play a crucial role in plant growth and development and responses to abiotic stress. CDPKs are capable of rapidly sensing changes in intracellular Ca²⁺ signals and recognizing and phosphorylating specific substrates, thereby transmitting and amplifying Ca²⁺ signal cascades downstream. They are involved in plant responses to stress conditions such as drought, saline-alkali stress, and injuries and regulate plant growth and development, gene expression, ion channel activity, and stomatal movement. The autophosphorylation of CDPKs can affect their activities and substrate specificity. CDPKs have the ability to bind to and phosphorylate multiple substrates. In addition to participating in respiratory burst oxidase homolog (RBOH), mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), and plant hormone signaling pathways, CDPKs can also bind to 14-3-3 proteins, which enables the regulation of plant responses to stress and promotes plant growth and development. This paper summarized the research findings on the discovery, structure, classification, and roles of CDPKs in plant responses to stress and proposed the future research directions, aiming to provide the genetic resources and a theoretical basis for improving the stress tolerance of crops.

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is a major food crop and increasing rice yield is the primary objective of rice research. Photosynthesis and nitrogen utilization efficiency directly affect the tiller number of rice, which affects the yield of rice. In this study, a stable yellow leaf and less tillering rice mutant yllt10 (yellow leaf and less tillering 10) was obtained by heavy-ion beam mutagenesis of rice variety 'Ke-fu-geng 7'. Compared with the wild type, yllt10 showed reduced chlorophyll content, decreased photosynthesis rate, and abnormal chloroplast structure. The genetic analysis indicated that the phenotype of yllt10 was controlled by a single recessive nuclear gene. Map-based cloning localized YLLT10 between two molecular markers J4 and J5 on chromosome 10. The sequencing of candidate genes within this interval revealed that YLLT10 was an allelic mutation of CAO1/PGL with a single base deletion in the first exon resulting in the frame shift mutation of CAO1/PGL, and YLLT10 was a new allelic variation of CAO1/PGL. The mutant yllt10 was insensitive to changes in nitrogen concentration when being incubated with different nitrogen concentrations. YLLT10 controls leaf color and tiller number and affects photosynthesis and yield of rice. The study of this gene provides a theoretical basis for molecular breeding of rice.

The extraction of rare earth elements (REEs) through in-situ leaching with ammonium sulphate [(NH₄)₂SO₄] had resulted in the production of a large volume of ammonium-rich wastewater, causing severe environmental pollution. This study aimed to assess the ability of an indigenous microalga Chlamydomonas sp. YC, isolated from REEs wastewater, to directly treat real REEs wastewater under outdoor conditions in 50 L airlift photobioreactors (AL-PBRs) and 5.0 m³ open race-way photobioreactors (ORWPs). Additionally, the harvested Chlamydomonas sp. YC biomasses from these two pilot photobioreactors were comprehensively analyzed to evaluate the nutritional values. The results showed that Chlamydomonas sp. YC in AL-PBRs exhibited higher biomass production (1.1 g/L), greater removal efficiencies in NH₄⁺-N (24.9%) and total nitrogen (20.4%), as well as higher CO₂ fixation rate (125.0 mg/(L·d)), compared to those of ORWPs. Moreover, the Chlamydomonas sp. YC biomasses obtained from the two pilot photobioreactors contained 44.5% and 49.4% protein, 9.1% and 14.3% lipids. Moreover, Chlamydomonas sp. YC in the two pilot photobioreactors displayed essential amino acid indexes (EAAI) of 0.900, which was higher than that of soybean protein (0.657), indicating superior nutritional values. In conclusion, the implementation of the process involving Chlamydomonas sp. YC in AL-PBRs under outdoor conditions holds promise as a coupled microalgal biotechnology for the simultaneous removal of NH₄⁺-N from REEs wastewater, and the capture of CO₂ for the production of valuable biomass.