BackgroundBiotic and abiotic stresses, such as powdery mildew infection and high temperature, are important limiting factors for yield and grain quality in wheat production. Emerging evidences suggest that long non-protein coding RNAs (npcRNAs) are developmentally regulated and play roles in development and stress responses of plants. However, identification of long npcRNAs is limited to a few plant species, such as Arabidopsis, rice and maize, no systematic identification of long npcRNAs and their responses to abiotic and biotic stresses is reported in wheat.ResultsIn this study, by using computational analysis and experimental approach we identified 125 putative wheat stress responsive long npcRNAs, which are not conserved among plant species. Among them, some were precursors of small RNAs such as microRNAs and siRNAs, two long npcRNAs were identified as signal recognition particle (SRP) 7S RNA variants, and three were characterized as U3 snoRNAs. We found that wheat long npcRNAs showed tissue dependent expression patterns and were responsive to powdery mildew infection and heat stress.ConclusionOur results indicated that diverse sets of wheat long npcRNAs were responsive to powdery mildew infection and heat stress, and could function in wheat responses to both biotic and abiotic stresses, which provided a starting point to understand their functions and regulatory mechanisms in the future.

Background: Wheat is a major crop in the world, and the high temperature stress can reduce the yield of wheat by as much as 15%. The molecular changes in response to heat stress are poorly understood. Using GeneChip ® Wheat Genome Array, we analyzed genome-wide gene expression profiles in the leaves of two wheat genotypes, namely, heat susceptible 'Chinese Spring' (CS) and heat tolerant 'TAM107' (TAM).

Grain or phase boundaries play a critical role in the carrier and phonon transport in bulk thermoelectric materials. Previous investigations about controlling boundaries primarily focused on the reducing grain size or forming nanoinclusions. Herein, liquid phase compaction method is first used to fabricate the Yb‐filled CoSb3 with excess Sb content, which shows the typical feature of low‐angle grain boundaries with dense dislocation arrays. Seebeck coefficients show a dramatic increase via energy filtering effect through dislocation arrays with little deterioration on the carrier mobility, which significantly enhances the power factor over a broad temperature range with a high room‐temperature value around 47 μW cm−2 K−1. Simultaneously, the lattice thermal conductivity could be further suppressed via scattering phonons via dense dislocation scattering. As a result, the highest average figure of merit ZT of ≈1.08 from 300 to 850 K could be realized, comparable to the best reported result of single or triple‐filled Skutterudites. This work clearly points out that low‐angle grain boundaries fabricated by liquid phase compaction method could concurrently optimize the electrical and thermal transport properties leading to an obvious enhancement of both power factor and ZT.

Maternal effect genes play critical roles in early embryogenesis of model organisms where they have been intensively investigated. However, their molecular function in mammals remains largely unknown. Recently, we identified a subcortical maternal complex (SCMC) that contains four proteins encoded by maternal effect genes (Mater, Filia, Floped and Tle6). Here we report that TLE6, similar to FLOPED and MATER, stabilizes the SCMC and is necessary for cleavage beyond the two-cell stage of development. We document that the SCMC is required for formation of the cytoplasmic F-actin meshwork that controls the central position of the spindle and ensures symmetric division of mouse zygotes. We further demonstrate that the SCMC controls formation of the actin cytoskeleton specifically via Cofilin, a key regulator of F-actin assembly. Our results provide molecular insight into the physiological function of TLE6, its interaction with the SCMC and their roles in the symmetric division of the zygote in early mouse development.

The pluripotency of mammalian early and late epiblast could be recapitulated by naïve embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and primed epiblast stem cells (EpiSCs), respectively. However, these two states of pluripotency may not be sufficient to reflect the full complexity and developmental potency of the epiblast during mammalian early development. Here we report the establishment of self-renewing formative pluripotent stem cells (fPSCs) which manifest features of epiblast cells poised for gastrulation. fPSCs can be established from different mouse ESCs, pre-/early-gastrula epiblasts and induced PSCs. Similar to pre-/early-gastrula epiblasts, fPSCs show the transcriptomic features of formative pluripotency, which are distinct from naïve ESCs and primed EpiSCs. fPSCs show the unique epigenetic states of E6.5 epiblast, including the super-bivalency of a large set of developmental genes. Just like epiblast cells immediately before gastrulation, fPSCs can efficiently differentiate into three germ layers and primordial germ cells (PGCs) in vitro. Thus, fPSCs highlight the feasibility of using PSCs to explore the development of mammalian epiblast.

Low BMI was associated with reduced semen quality. The associations between BMI and semen quality were found statistically significant even after adjustment for reproductive hormones. Reproductive hormones cannot explain the association between BMI and semen quality.

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Background:Obesity is a risk factor for metabolic diseases, while preadipocyte differentiation or adipogenesis is closely related to obesity occurrence. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are a unique class of transcripts in regulation of a variety of biological processes. Using cDNA microarray, we found lncRNA U90926 is negatively correlated with 3T3-L1 preadipocyte differentiation.Objective:The aim of this study was to explore the role of lncRNA U90926 (lnc-U90926) in adipogenesis and the underlying mechanisms.Methods:Quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) was performed to determine lnc-U90926 expression in 3T3-L1 preadipocytes, differentiated adipocytes, and in adipose tissues form mice. RNA fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) was performed to determine the localization of lnc-U90926 in 3T3-L1 preadipocytes. The effects of lnc-U90926 on 3T3-L1 adipogenesis were analyzed with lentivirus-mediated gain- and loss-of-function experiments. Lipid accumulation was evaluated by oil red O staining; several adipogenesis makers were analyzed by qPCR and western blotting. Dual luciferase assay was applied to explore the transactivation of target genes modulated by lnc-U90926. All measurements were performed at least for three times.Results:Lnc-U90926 expression decreased along the differentiation of 3T3-L1 preadipocytes. In mice, lnc-U90926 is predominantly expressed in adipose tissue. Obese mice have lower lnc-U90926 expression in subcutaneous and visceral adipose tissue than non-obese mice. FISH results showed that lnc-U90926 was mainly located in the cytoplasm. Overexpression lnc-U90926 attenuated 3T3-L1 adipocyte differentiation as evidenced by its ability to inhibit lipid accumulation, to decrease the mRNA levels of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma 2 (PPARγ2), fatty acid binding protein 4 (FABP4) and adiponectin (AdipoQ) as well as to reduce the protein levels of PPARγ and FABP4 (P<0.05). Knockdown of lnc-U90926 showed opposite effects, which increased mRNA expression of PPARγ2, FABP4, CCAAT/enhancer-binding proteinα (C/EBPα) and AdipoQ.Conclusion:Lnc-U90926 attenuates 3T3-L1 adipocyte differentiation via inhibiting the transactivation of PPARγ2 or PPARγ.