Phytochromes (phys) are red and far-red photoreceptors that control plant development and growth by promoting the proteolysis of a family of antagonistically acting basic helix-loop-helix transcription factors, the PHYTOCHROME-INTERACTING FACTORs (PIFs). We have previously shown that the degradation of PIF1 and PIF3 requires HEMERA (HMR). However, the biochemical function of HMR and the mechanism by which it mediates PIF degradation remain unclear. Here, we provide genetic evidence that HMR acts upstream of PIFs in regulating hypocotyl growth. Surprisingly, genomewide analysis of HMR-and PIF-dependent genes reveals that HMR is also required for the transactivation of a subset of PIF direct-target genes. We show that HMR interacts with all PIFs. The HMR-PIF interaction is mediated mainly by HMR's N-terminal half and PIFs' conserved active-phytochrome B binding motif. In addition, HMR possesses an acidic nine-aminoacid transcriptional activation domain (9aaTAD) and a loss-of-function mutation in this 9aaTAD impairs the expression of PIF target genes and the destruction of PIF1 and PIF3. Together, these in vivo results support a regulatory mechanism for PIFs in which HMR is a transcriptional coactivator binding directly to PIFs and the 9aaTAD of HMR couples the degradation of PIF1 and PIF3 with the transactivation of PIF target genes.

Cotton is one of the most important economic crops and the primary source of natural fiber and is an important protein source for animal feed. The complete nuclear and chloroplast (cp) genome sequences of G. raimondii are already available but not mitochondria. Here, we assembled the complete mitochondrial (mt) DNA sequence of G. raimondii into a circular genome of length of 676,078 bp and performed comparative analyses with other higher plants. The genome contains 39 protein-coding genes, 6 rRNA genes, and 25 tRNA genes. We also identified four larger repeats (63.9 kb, 10.6 kb, 9.1 kb, and 2.5 kb) in this mt genome, which may be active in intramolecular recombination in the evolution of cotton. Strikingly, nearly all of the G. raimondii mt genome has been transferred to nucleus on Chr1, and the transfer event must be very recent. Phylogenetic analysis reveals that G. raimondii, as a member of Malvaceae, is much closer to another cotton (G. barbadense) than other rosids, and the clade formed by two Gossypium species is sister to Brassicales. The G. raimondii mt genome may provide a crucial foundation for evolutionary analysis, molecular biology, and cytoplasmic male sterility in cotton and other higher plants.

The results of this study showed that RFA is a safe and locally effective method for the treatment of BCLM, especially in patients with lesions measuring less than 3 cm in diameter, a single liver metastasis, positive estrogen receptor status and no extrahepatic metastases. Also, patients with margin size >10 mm had no local tumor progression.

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Poly-γ-glutamic acid (γ-PGA) is a promising environmental-friendly material with outstanding water solubility, biocompatibility and degradability. However, it is tough to determine the relationship between functional synthetic enzyme and the strains' yield or substrate dependency. We cloned γ-PGA synthetase genes pgsBCA and glutamate racemase gene racE from both L-glutamate-dependent γ-PGA-producing Bacillus licheniformis NK-03 and L-glutamate-independent B. amyloliquefaciens LL3 strains. The deduced RacE and PgsA from the two strains shared the identity of 84.5% and 78.53%, while PgsB and PgsC possessed greater similarity with 93.13% and 93.96%. The induced co-expression of pgsBCA and racE showed that the engineered Escherichia coli strains had the capacity of synthesizing γ-PGA, and LL3 derived PgsBCA had higher catalytic activity and enhanced productivity than NK-03 in Luria–Bertani medium containing glucose or L-glutamate. However, the differential effect was weakened when providing sufficient immediateness L-glutamate substrate, that is, the supply of substrate could be served as the ascendance upon γ-PGA production. Furthermore, RacE integration could enhance γ-PGA yield through improving the preferred d-glutamate content. This is the first report about co-expression of pgsBCA and racE from the two Bacillus strains, which will be of great value for the determination of the biosynthetic mechanism of γ-PGA.