A number of APETALA2 (AP2)/ETHYLENE RESPONSE FACTOR (ERF) genes have been shown to function in abiotic and biotic stress responses, and these genes are often induced by multiple stresses. We report here the characterization of an AP2/ ERF gene in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) that is specifically induced during hypoxia. We show that under normoxic conditions, the expression of AtERF73/HRE1 can be induced by exogenous addition of 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid and that a combination of hypoxia and 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid results in hyperinduction of AtERF73/HRE1 expression. In addition, hypoxic induction of AtERF73/HRE1 is reduced but not completely abolished in ethylene-insensitive mutants and in the presence of inhibitors of ethylene biosynthesis and responses. These results suggest that, in addition to ethylene, an ethylene-independent signal is also required to mediate hypoxic induction of AtERF73/HRE1. To assess the role of AtERF73/HRE1, we generated three independent RNA interference (RNAi) knockdown lines of AtERF73/HRE1. Under normoxic conditions, the AtERF73/HRE1-RNAi seedlings displayed increased ethylene sensitivity and exaggerated triple responses, indicating that AtERF73/HRE1 might play a negative regulatory role in modulating ethylene responses. Gas chromatography analyses showed that the production of ethylene was similar between wild-type and RNAi lines under hypoxia. Quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction analyses showed that hypoxia-inducible genes could be affected by AtERF73/HRE1-RNAi lines in two different ways: hypoxic induction of glycolytic and fermentative genes was reduced, whereas induction of a number of peroxidase and cytochrome P450 genes was increased. Taken together, our results show that AtERF73/HRE1 is involved in modulating ethylene responses under both normoxia and hypoxia.

As one of the most important crops, maize not only has been a source of the food, feed, and industrial feedstock for biofuel and bioproducts, but also became a model plant system for addressing fundamental questions in genetics. Male sterility is a very useful trait for hybrid vigor utilization and hybrid seed production. The identification and characterization of genic male-sterility (GMS) genes in maize and other plants have deepened our understanding of the molecular mechanisms controlling anther and pollen development, and enabled the development and efficient use of many biotechnology-based male-sterility (BMS) systems for crop hybrid breeding. In this review, we summarize main advances on the identification and characterization of GMS genes in maize, and construct a putative regulatory network controlling maize anther and pollen development by comparative genomic analysis of GMS genes in maize, Arabidopsis, and rice. Furthermore, we discuss and appraise the features of more than a dozen BMS systems for propagating male-sterile lines and producing hybrid seeds in maize and other plants. Finally, we provide our perspectives on the studies of GMS genes and the development of novel BMS systems in maize and other plants. The continuous exploration of GMS genes and BMS systems will enhance our understanding of molecular regulatory networks controlling male fertility and greatly facilitate hybrid vigor utilization in breeding and field production of maize and other crops.

Copper can efficiently electro‐catalyze carbon dioxide reduction to C2+ products (C2H4, C2H5OH, n‐propanol). However, the correlation between the activity and active sites remains ambiguous, impeding further improvements in their performance. The facet effect of copper crystals to promote CO adsorption and C−C coupling and consequently yield a superior selectivity for C2+ products is described. We achieve a high Faradaic efficiency (FE) of 87 % and a large partial current density of 217 mA cm−2 toward C2+ products on Cu(OH)2‐D at only −0.54 V versus the reversible hydrogen electrode in a flow‐cell electrolyzer. With further coupled to a Si solar cell, record‐high solar conversion efficiencies of 4.47 % and 6.4 % are achieved for C2H4 and C2+ products, respectively. This study provides an in‐depth understanding of the selective formation of C2+ products on Cu and paves the way for the practical application of electrocatalytic or solar‐driven CO2 reduction.

SummaryAlthough hundreds of genetic male sterility (GMS) mutants have been identified in maize, few are commercially used due to a lack of effective methods to produce large quantities of pure male‐sterile seeds. Here, we develop a multicontrol sterility (MCS) system based on the maize male sterility 7 (ms7) mutant and its wild‐type Zea mays Male sterility 7 (ZmMs7) gene via a transgenic strategy, leading to the utilization of GMS in hybrid seed production. ZmMs7 is isolated by a map‐based cloning approach and encodes a PHD‐finger transcription factor orthologous to rice PTC1 and Arabidopsis MS1. The MCS transgenic maintainer lines are developed based on the ms7‐6007 mutant transformed with MCS constructs containing the (i) ZmMs7 gene to restore fertility, (ii) α‐amylase gene ZmAA and/or (iii) DNA adenine methylase gene Dam to devitalize transgenic pollen, (iv) red fluorescence protein gene DsRed2 or mCherry to mark transgenic seeds and (v) herbicide‐resistant gene Bar for transgenic seed selection. Self‐pollination of the MCS transgenic maintainer line produces transgenic red fluorescent seeds and nontransgenic normal colour seeds at a 1:1 ratio. Among them, all the fluorescent seeds are male fertile, but the seeds with a normal colour are male sterile. Cross‐pollination of the transgenic plants to male‐sterile plants propagates male‐sterile seeds with high purity. Moreover, the transgene transmission rate through pollen of transgenic plants harbouring two pollen‐disrupted genes is lower than that containing one pollen‐disrupted gene. The MCS system has great potential to enhance the efficiency of maize male‐sterile line propagation and commercial hybrid seed production.

Angiogenesis induced by vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) plays an important role in psoriasis. Hypoxic adaptation is conferred through hypoxia-inducible transcription factors (HIFs). VEGF and its receptor Flt-1 are HIF target genes. Growth factors and inflammatory cytokines activate the phosphoinositol-3 kinase pathway, and via activated protein kinase B (phospho-Akt) augment HIF activity. Here, we demonstrate that the major oxygen-dependent HIF isoforms are strongly upregulated in psoriatic skin: HIF-1alpha mainly in the epidermis, in an expression pattern similar to VEGF mRNA; HIF-2alpha in both the epidermis and in capillary endothelial cells of the dermis. In contrast, normal human skin shows low expression of HIF-alpha proteins, with the exception of hair follicles, and glands, which strongly express HIF-1alpha. In normal human skin, phospho-Akt appeared in the basal epidermal layer, in hair follicles, and in dermal glands. In contrast, in psoriasis, phospho-Akt expression was low in the epidermis, but markedly enhanced in the dermal capillaries and in surrounding interstitial/inflammatory cells. Our data suggest that hypoxia initiates a potentially self-perpetuating cycle involving HIF, VEGF, and Akt activation, which could drive physiologic growth of hair follicles and skin glands. Furthermore, such a cycle may exist in psoriasis in dermal capillaries and contribute to disease progression.

46as a global pandemic. However, specific antiviral drugs are still unavailable, and pateints are managed 47 65 anti-inflammatory effects by reducing IL-6 and increasing lymphocyte %. It appears that LMWH can 66 be used as a potential therapeutic drug for the treatment of COVID-19, paving the way for a subsequent 67 well-controlled clinical trial. 68

We have examined gene expression in the fat tissue of normal mice at the onset of diet-induced obesity. Insulin-induced gene 1 (insig-1) mRNA rose progressively with a high-fat diet and declined on a restricted diet. Because insig-1 binds sterol regulatory element-binding protein cleavage-activating protein in the endoplasmic reticulum, thereby blocking proteolytic processing required for sterol regulatory element-binding protein activation, we tested its influence on lipogenesis. In differentiating 3T3-L1 cells, insig-1 and -2 rose in parallel with aP 2 mRNA during differentiation. The mRNA of the lipogenic transcription factor, carbohydrate response element-binding protein, was undetectable in undifferentiated 3T3-L1 preadipocytes but rose dramatically during differentiation in 25 mM, but not in 5 mM, glucose. Transfection of mouse or human insig-1 into 3T3-L1 preadipocytes completely prevented oil red O staining and blocked upregulation of aP 2, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor ␥2, and carbohydrate response element-binding protein, while reducing down-regulation of preadipocyte factor 1. The results suggest that insig-1 expression restricts lipogenesis in mature adipocytes and blocks differentiation in preadipocytes.

Coesite-bearing eclogites from >100 km 2 in the southern Dulan area, North Qaidam Mountains (NQM) of western China, contain zircon that records protolith crystallization and ultra high pressure (UHP) metamorphism. Sensitive High-Resolution Ion Microprobe (Mass Spectrometer) and Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry U-Pb analyses from cathodoluminescence (CL)-dark zircon cores in a coesite-bearing eclogite yield an upper intercept age of 838 ± 50 Ma, and oscillatory zoned cores in a kyanite-bearing eclogite gave a weighted mean 206 Pb ⁄ 238 U age of 832 ± 20 Ma. These zircon cores yield steep heavy rare earth element (HREE) slopes and negative Eu anomalies that suggest a magmatic origin. Thus, c. 835 Ma is interpreted as the eclogite protolith age. Unzoned CL-grey or -bright zircon and zircon rims from four samples yield weighted mean ages of 430 ± 4, 438 ± 2, 446 ± 10 and 446 ± 3 Ma, flat HREE patterns without Eu anomalies, and contain inclusions of garnet, omphacite, rutile, phengite and rare coesite. These ages are interpreted to record 16 ± 5 Myr of UHP metamorphism. These new UHP ages overlap the age range of both eclogite and paragneiss from the northern Dulan area, suggesting that all UHP rock types in the Dulan area belong to the same tectonic unit. Our results are consistent with slow continental subduction, but do not match oceanic subduction and diapiric exhumation UHP model predictions. These new data suggest that, similar to eclogites in other HP ⁄ UHP units of the NQM and South Altyn Tagh, protoliths of the eclogites in the Dulan area formed in a continental setting during the Neoproterozoic, and then subducted to mantle depth together with continental materials during the Early Palaeozoic.