African swine fever virus (ASFV), the causative pathogen of the recent ASF epidemic, is a highly contagious double-stranded DNA virus. Its genome is in the range of 170~193 kbp and encodes 68 structural proteins and over 100 non-structural proteins. Its high pathogenicity strains cause nearly 100% mortality in swine. Consisting of four layers of protein shells and an inner genome, its structure is obviously more complicated than many other viruses, and its multi-layered structures play different kinds of roles in ASFV replication and survival. Each layer possesses many proteins, but very few of the proteins have been investigated at a structural level. Here, we concluded all the ASFV proteins whose structures were unveiled, and explained their functions from the view of structures. Those structures include ASFV AP endonuclease, dUTPases (E165R), pS273R protease, core shell proteins p15 and p35, non-structural proteins pA151R, pNP868R (RNA guanylyltransferase), major capsid protein p72 (gene B646L), Bcl-2-like protein A179L, histone-like protein pA104R, sulfhydryl oxidase pB119L, polymerase X and ligase. These novel structural features, diverse functions, and complex molecular mechanisms promote ASFV to escape the host immune system easily and make this large virus difficult to control.
The Drosophila transcription factor (TF) Zfh1 has distinct roles compared to the cell lineage‐determining TFs in almost all mesoderm‐derived tissues. Here, we link Zfh1 to the well‐characterized mesodermal transcriptional network. We identify five enhancers integrating upstream regulatory inputs from mesodermal TFs and directing zfh1 expression in mesoderm. Most downstream Zfh1‐target genes are co‐bound by mesodermal TFs, suggesting that Zfh1 and mesodermal TFs act on the same sets of co‐regulated genes during the development of certain mesodermal tissues. Furthermore, we demonstrate that Zfh1 is critical for the expression of a hemocyte marker gene peroxidasin and helps restrict the activity of a hemocyte‐specific enhancer of serpent to hemocyte‐deriving head mesoderm, suggesting a potential role of Zfh1 in hemocyte development.
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