Propylea japonica (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) is a natural enemy insect with a wide range of predation in Chinese mainland and is commonly used in pest management.  However, its genetic pattern (i.e., genetic variation, genetic structure, and historical population dynamics) is still unclear, impeding the development of biological control of insect pests.  Population genetic research has the potential to optimize strategies at different stages of the biological control processes.  This study used 23 nuclear microsatellite sites and mitochondrial COI genes to investigate the population genetics of Propylea japonica based on 462 specimens collected from 30 sampling sites in China.  The microsatellite dataset showed a moderate level of genetic diversity, but the mitochondrial genes showed a high level of genetic diversity.  Populations from the Yellow River basin were more genetically diverse than those in the Yangtze River basin.  Propylea japonica has not yet formed a significant genealogical structure in China, but there was a population structure signal to some extent, which may be caused by frequent gene flow between populations.  The species has experienced population expansion after a bottleneck, potentially thanks to the tri-trophic plant–insect–natural enemy relationship.  Knowledge of population genetics is of importance in using predators to control pests.  Our study complements existing knowledge of an important natural predator in agroecosystems through estimating its genetic diversity and population differentiation and speculating about historical dynamics.

Sucrose phosphate synthase (SPS) is a rate-limiting enzyme that works in conjunction with sucrose-6-phosphate phosphatase (SPP) for sucrose synthesis, and it plays an essential role in energy provisioning during growth and development in plants as well as improving fruit quality.  However, studies on the systematic analysis and evolutionary pattern of the SPS gene family in apple are still lacking.  In the present study, a total of seven MdSPS and four MdSPP genes were identified from the Malus domestica genome GDDH13 v1.1.  The gene structures and their promoter cis-elements, protein conserved motifs, subcellular localizations, physiological functions and biochemical properties were analyzed.  A chromosomal location and gene-duplication analysis demonstrated that whole-genome duplication (WGD) and segmental duplication played vital roles in MdSPS gene family expansion.  The Ka/Ks ratio of pairwise MdSPS genes indicated that the members of this family have undergone strong purifying selection during domestication.  Furthermore, three SPS gene subfamilies were classified based on phylogenetic relationships, and old gene duplications and significantly divergent evolutionary rates were observed among the SPS gene subfamilies.  In addition, a major gene related to sucrose accumulation (MdSPSA2.3) was identified according to the highly consistent trends in the changes of its expression in four apple varieties (‘Golden Delicious’, ‘Fuji’, ‘Qinguan’ and ‘Honeycrisp’) and the correlation between gene expression and soluble sugar content during fruit development.  Furthermore, the virus-induced silencing of MdSPSA2.3 confirmed its function in sucrose accumulation in apple fruit.  The present study lays a theoretical foundation for better clarifying the biological functions of the MdSPS genes during apple fruit development.

Botanical herbicide has been a hot topic in the research and development of novel pesticides.  The herbicidal activity and biochemical characteristics of the botanical compound drupacine were studied by evaluating its effects on seed germination, seedling growth, morphological and physiological characteristics of Amaranthus retroflexus.  Drupacine inhibited seed germination and seedling growth, and had a median inhibition concentration (IC₅₀) value of 38.99 mg L⁻¹ against A. retroflexus root.  The α-amylase activity and soluble sugar content in treated plants were significantly lower than that of the control.  The expression of α-amylase gene was dosage-dependently inhibited compared to the untreated control.  This suggested that inhibition of α-amylase activity was a mode of action on seed germination.  The root hairs were significantly decreased and part of the root cap fell off after treatment with drupacine.  The ultrastructure observation showed that cell damage of root tips increased with the treatment time.  Drupacine also increased the relative conductivity and malondialdehyde (MDA) content.  Peroxidase (POD), catalase (CAT), and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities were significantly enhanced in the treatment compared to the control.  These findings indicated that the physiological and biochemical reaction changes leading to morphological and membrane injuries were the main effects of drupacine on the inhibition of seedling growth.  Drupacine can be developed as a botanical herbicide. 

Osteoblasts are considered as a major factor contributing to bone development and mineralization, however, few studies have been done to establish and evaluate the primary cultured tibial osteoblast model of broiler chicks.  Therefore, in the present study, two experiments were conducted to establish and evaluate the primary cultured tibial osteoblast model of broiler chicks.  In experiment 1, osteoblasts were isolated from the tibia of one-day-old Arbor Acre male broiler chicks using the explant method and identified through the cell morphology, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and alizarin red staining.  Experiment 2 was carried out to evaluate the vitality and mineralization of primary cultured tibial osteoblasts of broilers on days 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24, 28 and 32 after incubation, respectively.  The results from experiment 1 demonstrated that primary cultured tibial osteoblasts of broilers showed a spindle-shaped, triangular or polygonal morphology.  More than 95% of the cells were stained blue-black after ALP staining, and mineralized nodules were formed after 4 days of continuous incubation.  in experiment 2, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity stayed at a relatively stabilized level although incubation time affected (P=0.0012) it during the whole culture period.  Additionally, incubation time affected (P≤0.0001) the number and proportion of the area of mineralized nodules.  They increased linearly and quadratically (P<0.04) with the increase of incubation time, and remained at a stabilized level from 24 to 32 days of incubation.  The estimates of the optimal incubation time were 17 and 26 days based on the best fitted broken-line or quadratic models (P<0.0001) of the number and proportion of the area of mineralized nodules, respectively.  These results indicate that the primary cultured tibial osteoblast model of broilers has been established successfully by the explant method, and it showed typical osteoblast morphology and characteristics of ALP activity and mineralization, and could maintain a relatively stabilized vitality from 4 to 32 days of incubation; and the optimal incubation time of primary tibial osteoblasts was 17 to 26 days.  Therefore, it could be used to further study the underlying mechanisms of bone development and mineralization of broiler chicks.

Psathyrostachys huashanica Keng (2n=2x=14, NsNs) is regarded as a valuable wild relative species for common wheat cultivar improvement because of its abundant beneficial agronomic traits.  However, although the development of many wheat–P. huashanica-derived lines provides a germplasm base for the transfer of excellent traits, the lag in the identification of P. huashanica chromosomes in the wheat background has limited the study of these lines.  In this study, three novel nondenaturing fluorescence in situ hybridization (ND-FISH)-positive oligo probes were developed.  Among them, HS-TZ3 and HS-TZ4 could specifically hybridize with P. huashanica chromosomes, mainly in the telomere area, and HS-CHTZ5 could hybridize with the chromosomal centromere area.  We sequentially constructed a P. huashanica FISH karyotype and idiogram that helped identify the homologous groups of introduced P. huashanica chromosomes.  In detail, 1Ns and 2Ns had opposite signals on the short and long arms, 3Ns, 4Ns, and 7Ns had superposed two-color signals, 5Ns and 6Ns had fluorescent signals only on their short arms, and 7Ns had signals on the intercalary of the long arm.  In addition, we evaluated different ways to identify alien introgression lines by using low-density single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) arrays and recommended the SNP homozygosity rate in each chromosome as a statistical pattern.  The 15K SNP array is widely applicable for addition, substitution, and translocation lines, and the 40K SNP array is the most accurate for recognizing transposed intervals between wheat and alien chromosomes.  Our research provided convenient methods to distinguish the homologous group of P. huashanica chromosomes in a common wheat background based on ND-FISH and SNP arrays, which is of great significance for efficiently identifying wheat–P. huashanica-derived lines and the further application of Ns chromosomes

Erhualian (E), Meishan (MS) and Mi (MI) pigs are excellent indigenous pig breeds in Chinese Taihu Basin, which have made great contributions to the genetic improvement of commercial pigs.  Investigation of the genetic structure and inbreeding level of the 3 pig breeds is of great significance for the sustainable breeding of commercial pigs.  The length and number of runs of homozygosity (ROH) as well as the frequency of genomes covered by ROH can be used as indicators to evaluate the level of inbreeding and the origin of the population.  In this study, the ROH characteristics of E, MS, MI and Landrace (L) pigs were analyzed by SLAF-seq data, and the inbreeding coefficient based on ROH (FROH) was calculated.  In addition, we have identified candidate genes in the genomic regions associated with ROH.  A total of 10 568 ROH were detected in 116 individuals of 4 pig breeds.  The analysis showed that there were significant differences in genetic structure between 3 Taihu Basin pig breeds and L, and the genetic structure of E and MI was similar.  The results of FROH showed that the inbreeding level of MS was the highest (0.25±0.07), while E and MI were lower than L.  Compared with the other 3 pig populations, MS showed a higher frequency of long ROH (>5 Mb), indicating higher inbreeding in MS in recent generations.  A large number of candidate genes related to reproductive traits are located in the genomic regions with a high frequency of ROH, and these genes are expected to be used as candidate genes in marker-assisted selection (MAS) breeding programs.  Our findings can provide theoretical support for genetic conservation and genetic improvement of 3 pig breeds in Chinese Taihu Basin.

The bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathways play an important role in regulation of bone formation and development, however, it remains unclear that the effect of dietary different levels of non-phytate phosphorus (NPP) on these signaling pathways and their correlations with bone phosphorus (P) retention and bone development in broilers.  Therefore, this experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of dietary P supplementation on BMP and MAPK signaling pathways and their correlations with bone P retention and bone development in broilers.  A total of 800 one-day-old Arbor Acres male broilers were randomly allotted to 1 of 5 treatments with 8 replicates in a completely randomized design.  The 5 treatments of dietary NPP levels were 0.15, 0.25, 0.35, 0.45 and 0.55% or 0.15, 0.22, 0.29, 0.36 and 0.43% for broilers from 1 to 21 days of age or 22 to 42 days of age, respectively.  The results showed that extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1 (ERK1) mRNA expression in the tibia of broilers on days 14 and 28, phosphorylated-ERK1 (p-ERK1) on day 14, and BMP2 protein expression on days 28 and 42 decreased linearly (P<0.04), while c-Jun N-terminal kinase 1 (JNK1) mRNA expression on day 42 increased linearly (P<0.02) with the increase of dietary NPP level.  At 14 days of age, total P accumulation in tibia ash (TP_TA), bone mineral concentration (BMC), bone mineral density (BMD), bone breaking strength (BBS) and tibia ash were negatively correlated (r=–0.726 to –0.359, P<0.05) with ERK1 and JNK1 mRNA as well as p-ERK1; tibia alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and bone gal protein (BGP) were positively correlated (r=0.405 to 0.665, P<0.01) with ERK1 mRNA and p-ERK1.  At 28 days of age, TP_TA, BMC, BMD, BBS and tibia ash were negatively correlated (r=–0.518 to –0.370, P<0.05) with ERK1 mRNA and BMP2 protein, while tibia ALP was positively correlated (r=0.382 to 0.648, P<0.05) with them.  The results indicated that TP_TA, BMC, BMD, BBS or tibia ash had negative correlations, while tibia ALP and BGP had positive correlations with ERK1 and JNK1 mRNAs, BMP2 protein and p-ERK1, suggesting that bone P retention and bone development might be regulated by BMP and MAPK signaling pathways in broiler chickens.

Soybean cyst nematode (SCN) Heterodera glycines is considered as the major constraint to soybean production.  GmSHMT08 at Rhg4 locus on chromosome 08, encoding a serine hydroxylmethyltransferase, is a major gene underlying resistance against H. glycines in Peking-type soybeans.  However, the molecular mechanism underpinning this resistance is less well characterized, and whether GmSHMT08 could interact with proteins in H. glycines remains unclear.  In this study, yeast two-hybrid screening was conducted using GmSHMT08 as a bait protein, and a fragment of a 70-kDa heat shock protein (HgHSP70) was screened from H. glycines that exhibited interaction with GmSHMT08.  This interaction was verified by both GST pull-down and bimolecular fluorescence complementation assays.  Our finding reveals HgHSP70 could be applied as a potential candidate gene for further exploring the mechanism on GmSHMT08-mediated resistance against SCN H. glycines.