The distribution of Asian ancestry in the genome of Danish Duroc pigs was investigated using whole-genome sequencing data from European wild boars, Danish Duroc, Chinese Meishan and Bamaxiang pigs. Asian haplotypes deriving from Meishan and Bamaxiang occur widely across the genome. Signatures of selection on Asian haplotypes are common in the genome, but few of these haplotypes have been fixed. By defining 50 kb windows with more than 50% Chinese ancestry, which did not exhibit...

Prostate cancer (PC) is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in men and is the second leading cause of male cancer-related death in North America. Metabolic adaptations in malignant PC cells play a key role in fueling the growth and progression of the disease. Unfortunately, little is known regarding these changes in cellular metabolism. Here, we demonstrate that centromere protein F (CENPF), a protein associated with the centromere-kinetochore complex and chromosomal segregation during mitosis, is mechanically...

Transmissible gastroenteritis virus (TGEV) infection causes acute enteritis in swine of all ages, and especially in suckling piglets. Small intestinal inflammation is considered a central event in the pathogenesis of TGEV infections, and nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) is a key transcription factor in the inflammatory response. However, it is unclear whether NF-κB is crucial for inducing inflammation during a TGEV infection. Our results show that NF-κB was activated in swine testicular (ST) cells and intestinal...

We, the Editors and Publisher of the journal Cell Cycle, have retracted the following article: Xuehao Li, Xin Zhang, Chunlu Yang, Sui Cui, Qiming Shen and Shun Xu. The lncRNA RHPN1-AS1 downregulation promotes gefitinib resistance by targeting miR-299-3p/TNFSF12 pathway in NSCLC. Cell Cycle. 2018;17(14):1772-1783. doi: 10.1080/15384101.2018.1496745 Since publication, concerns have been raised about the integrity of the data in the article. When approached for an explanation, the authors have been unable to address the concerns...

Epiphyllous liverworts form a special group of bryophytes that primarily grow on the leaves of understory vascular plants in tropical and subtropical evergreen broadleaf forests. Being sensitive to moisture and temperature changes, epiphyllous liverworts are often consider to be good indicators of climate change and forest degradation. However, they are a poorly collected and taxonomically complicated group, with an only partly identified distribution pattern. In this study, we built four models based on 24 environmental...

Insects such as locusts and grasshoppers can reduce the effectiveness of pathogens and parasites by adopting different defense strategies. We investigated the behavioral thermopreference of Locusta migratoria manilensis (Meyen) (Orthoptera: Acrididae) induced by the fungus Beauveria bassiana, and the impact this behavior had on the fungal mycosis under laboratory conditions. By basking in higher temperature locations, infected nymphs elevated their thoracic temperature to 30-32.6 °C, which is higher than the optimum temperature (25°C) for B....

Although epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) gefitinib has exhibited notable clinical efficacy in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. However, its therapeutic efficacy is ultimately limited by the development of gefitinib resistance. The present study aimed to investigate the effects of the long non-coding RNA, RHPN1-AS1 on gefitinib resistance in NSCLC and explore the underlying mechanisms. In this study, RHPN1-AS1 was observed to be downregulated in gefitinib resistant patients and NSCLC...

In populations of facultatively sexual organisms the proportion of sexually produced offspring contributed each generation is a critical determinant of their evolutionary potential. However, estimating this parameter in natural populations has proved difficult. Here we develop a population genetic model for estimating the number of sexual events occurring per generation for facultatively sexual haploids possessing a biallelic mating type locus (e.g. Chlamydomonas, ascomycete fungi). Our model treats the population as two subpopulations possessing opposite mating...

Trueperella pyogenes (T. pyogenes) is an important opportunistic pathogen. Pyolysin (PLO) importantly contributes to the pathogenicity of T. pyogenes. However, the relationship between the structure and function and the virulence of PLO is not well documented. In the current study, recombinant PLO (rPLO) and three rPLO mutants were prepared. rPLO D238R, a mutant with the 238th aspartic acid replaced with an arginine, showed impairment in oligomerization activity on cholesterol-containing liposome and pore-forming activity on sheep...

Trueperella pyogenes (T. pyogenes) is an important opportunistic pathogen. Pyolysin (PLO) importantly contributes to the pathogenicity of T. pyogenes. However, the relationship between the structure and function and the virulence of PLO is not well documented. In the current study, recombinant PLO (rPLO) and three rPLO mutants were prepared. rPLO D238R, a mutant with the 238th aspartic acid replaced with an arginine, showed impairment in oligomerization activity on cholesterol-containing liposome and pore-forming activity on sheep...

1. Ecological theories and experimental evidence indicate that human activity induced losses in biodiversity can have substantial impacts on multiple ecosystem functions. It remains unclear, however, how grazing affects grassland biodiversity and ecosystem multifunctionallity (EMF). 2. Here, we assessed the grazing effects on different dimensions of biodiversity (i.e. plants and soil microbes) and EMF based on a 11-year field experiment in a semi-arid grassland. 3. We found that soil organic C, available nitrogen, and plant...

1. Ambient nutrient changes influence the coupling of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) in terrestrial ecosystems, but whether it could alter the scaling relationship of plant leaf N to P concentrations remains unclear. 2. Here we conducted experimental manipulations using Arabidopsis thaliana, with five levels of N and P additions and nine repeated experiments, and then evaluated the changes in the scaling relationship of leaf N to P concentrations under nutrient additions. 3. Overall, leaf...

Bactrocera dorsalis, the Oriental fruit fly, is one of the world’s most destructive agricultural insect pests and a major impediment to international fresh commodity trade. The genetic structuring of the species across its entire geographic range has never been undertaken, because under a former taxonomy B. dorsalis was divided into four distinct taxonomic entities, each with their own, largely non-overlapping, distributions. Based on the extensive sampling of six a priori groups from 63 locations, genetic...

Hemipteroid insects (Paraneoptera), with over 10% of all known insect diversity, are a major component of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Previous phylogenetic analyses have not consistently resolved the relationships among major hemipteroid lineages. We provide maximum likelihood-based phylogenomic analyses of a taxonomically comprehensive dataset comprising sequences of 2,395 single-copy, protein-coding genes for 193 samples of hemipteroid insects and outgroups. These analyses yield a well-supported phylogeny for hemipteroid insects. Monophyly of each of the three hemipteroid...

Domestication represents a unique opportunity to study the evolutionary process. The elimination of seed dispersal traits was a key step in the evolution of cereal crops under domestication. Here, we show that ObSH3, a YABBY transcription factor, is required for the development of the seed abscission layer. Moreover, selecting a genomic segment deletion containing SH3 resulted in the loss of seed dispersal in populations of African cultivated rice (Oryza glaberrima Steud.). Functional characterization of SH3...

Chinese indigenous chickens constitute world-renowned genetic resources due to their excellent traits, including early puberty, good meat quality, and strong resistance to disease. Unfortunately, the introduction of a large number of commercial chickens in the past two decades has had an adverse effect on Chinese indigenous chickens. Using the chicken 60K single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) chip, we assessed the genetic diversity and population structure of 1,187 chickens, representing eight Chinese indigenous chicken breeds, two hybrid chicken...

Organelle genome fragmentation has been found in a wide range of eukaryotic lineages; however, its use in phylogenetic reconstruction has not been demonstrated. We explored the use of mitochondrial (mt) genome fragmentation in resolving the controversial suborder-level phylogeny of parasitic lice (order Phthiraptera). There are ~5,000 species of parasitic lice in four suborders (Amblycera, Ischnocera, Rhyncophthirina and Anoplura), which infest mammals and birds. The phylogenetic relationships among these suborders are unresolved despite decades of studies....

Among their responses to microbial infection, plants deploy an arsenal of antibiotic natural products. While these historically have been identified on the basis of their antibiotic activity in vitro, this leaves open the question of their relevance to defense in planta. The vast majority of such natural products from the important crop plant rice (Oryza sativa) are diterpenoids whose biosynthesis proceeds via either ent- or syncopalyl diphosphate (CPP) intermediates, and which were isolated on the...

Antibiotic exposure elicits the emergence of colistin- and carbapenem-resistant Escherichia coli coharboring MCR-1 and NDM-5 in a patient

Antibiotic exposure elicits the emergence of colistin- and carbapenem-resistant Escherichia coli coharboring MCR-1 and NDM-5 in a patient

Prostate cancer (PC) is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in men and is the second leading cause of male cancer-related death in North America. Metabolic adaptations in malignant PC cells play a key role in fueling the growth and progression of the disease. Unfortunately, little is known regarding these changes in cellular metabolism. Here, we demonstrate that centromere protein F (CENPF), a protein associated with the centromere-kinetochore complex and chromosomal segregation during mitosis, is mechanically...

Transmissible gastroenteritis virus (TGEV) infection causes acute enteritis in swine of all ages, and especially in suckling piglets. Small intestinal inflammation is considered a central event in the pathogenesis of TGEV infections, and nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) is a key transcription factor in the inflammatory response. However, it is unclear whether NF-κB is crucial for inducing inflammation during a TGEV infection. Our results show that NF-κB was activated in swine testicular (ST) cells and intestinal...

The evolutionary concurrence of intraspecies self-incompatibility (SI) and explosive angiosperm radiation in the Cretaceous has led to the hypothesis that SI was one of the predominant drivers of rapid speciation in angiosperms. Interspecies unilateral incompatibility (UI) usually occurs when pollen from a self-compatible (SC) species is rejected by the pistils of a SI species, while the reciprocal pollination is compatible (UC). Although this SI x SC type UI is most prevalent and viewed as a...