The neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and the platelet-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) are markers of systemic inflammation. However, there is little evidence of the value of inflammation in the early diagnosis of gastric cancer (GC). A total of 2,606 patients diagnosed with GC in the past three years and 3,219 healthy controls over the same period were included in this study. Peripheral blood samples were obtained to analyze the NLR, PLR, carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), and carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9). The optimal cutoff levels for the NLR and PLR were defined by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis (NLR=2.258, PLR=147.368). The value of different biomarkers for diagnosing GC was compared by the area under the curve (AUC). The NLR and PLR showed diagnostic sensitivity in GC (AUC=0.715, AUC=0.707). Using the Bonferroni correction, the NLR and PLR were superior to CEA and CA19-9 in the diagnosis of GC (P<0.0001). The systemic inflammatory markers were significantly higher in the early stage of GC than tumor markers. After grouping patients and healthy controls by gender, we found that the diagnostic significance of combined NLR and PLR for GC was greater in male patients than in female patients (P<0.0001). The diagnostic value of the NLR and PLR in GC is higher than that of the traditional tumor markers CEA and CA19-9. Systemic markers of inflammation are more valuable in male than female patients.

These data suggest bleomycin A5 is a safe and effective intralesional agent for the treatment of macrocystic LMs, superficial oral mucosa LM, and localized deep microcystic lesions. For extensive macrocystic LMs involving contiguous anatomic areas and diffuse microcystic lesions involving deep tissues, bleomycin A5 injection combined with resection is necessary.

Tissue engineered bone has become a bone substitute for the treatment of bone defects in animal research. This study investigated the osteogenesis capacity of coralMSCs-rhBMP-2 composite with the auto-bone-graft as control. Coral-MSCs-rhBMP-2 composite were fabricated by coral (as main scaffold), rhBMP-2 (as growth factor), and MSCs (cultured from iliac marrow as seed cells). Criticalsized defects (d ¼ 15 mm) were made on forty rabbits crania and treated by different composite scaffolds: iliac autograft (n ¼ 8), coral (n ¼ 8), rhBMP-2/coral (n ¼ 8), and MSCs/rhBMP-2/coral (n ¼ 8). The defects were evaluated by gross observation, radiographic examination, histological examination, and histological fluorescence examinations after 8 and 16 weeks. The results showed that repair of bone defect was the least in coral group, and significant ingrowth of new bone formation and incorporation could be seen with 77.45% 6 0.52% in radiopacity in MSCs/ rhBMP-2/coral group, which was similar to that in iliac autograft group (84.61% 6 0.56% in radiopacity). New bone formation in MSCs/rhBMP-2/coral group was more than that in rhBMP-2/coral group. And osteogenesis rate in MSCs/rhBMP-2/coral group (10.23 6 1.45 mm) was much faster than that in rhBMP-2/coral group (5.85 6 2.19 mm) according to histological fluorescence examination. Newly formed bone partly came from induced MSCs in composite scaffold according to bromodeoxyuridine immunohistochemical examination. These data implicated that MSCs could produce synergic effect with coral-rhBMP-2, and the tissue engineered bone of coral-MSCs-rhBMP-2 is comparable to auto-bone-graft for the repair of critical-sized bone defect.

BackgroundSucrose synthase (SUS) is widely considered a key enzyme participating in sucrose metabolism in higher plants and regarded as a biochemical marker for sink strength in crops. However, despite significant progress in characterizing the physiological functions of the SUS gene family, knowledge of the trajectory of evolutionary processes and significance of the family in higher plants remains incomplete.ResultsIn this study, we identified over 100 SUS genes in 19 plant species and reconstructed their phylogenies, presenting a potential framework of SUS gene family evolution in higher plants. Three anciently diverged SUS gene subfamilies (SUS I, II and III) were distinguished based on their phylogenetic relationships and unique intron/exon structures in angiosperms, and they were found to have evolved independently in monocots and dicots. Each subfamily of SUS genes exhibited distinct expression patterns in a wide range of plants, implying that their functional differentiation occurred before the divergence of monocots and dicots. Furthermore, SUS III genes evolved under relaxed purifying selection in dicots and displayed narrowed expression profiles. In addition, for all three subfamilies of SUS genes, the GT-B domain was more conserved than the “regulatory” domain.ConclusionsThe present study reveals the evolution of the SUS gene family in higher plants and provides new insights into the evolutionary conservation and functional divergence of angiosperm SUS genes.

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Quinoa is gaining importance on global scale due to its excellent nutritious profile and environmental stress‐enduring potential. Its production decreases under high salt stress but can be improved with paclobutrazol application. This study showed involvement of some potential protective mechanisms in root and leaf tissues of quinoa plants treated with paclobutrazol (PBZ) against high salinity. The treatment levels were based on preliminary experiments, and it was found that salt stress (400 mm NaCl) markedly reduced growth and photosynthetic pigments while PBZ (20 mg/L) application significantly improved these attributes. Stomata density and aperture declined on adaxial and abaxial surfaces of leaves due to salinity. Paclobutrazol application significantly improved the stomatal density on both surfaces of leaves. Concentration of proline and soluble sugars increased in root and leaf tissues under salinity, which was more obvious in PBZ‐treated plants. Salinity stress induced the oxidative damage by increasing lipid peroxidation (MDA) level in roots and more specifically in leaf tissues. However, PBZ treatments ameliorated the drastic effects of salinity and markedly reduced oxidative damage in salt‐stressed quinoa plants. Enhanced activity of enzymatic antioxidants such as superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and peroxidase (POD) was triggered by PBZ application, more pronounced in leaf than root tissues. Based on these findings, we conclude that PBZ application improves the salt tolerance in quinoa by activation of the above‐mentioned physiological and biochemical mechanisms specifically in leaves.

Stevia (Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni) is well known for its very sweet steviol glycosides (SGs) consisting of a common tetracyclic diterpenoid steviol backbone and a variable glycone. Steviol glycosides are 150–300 times sweeter than sucrose and are used as natural zero-calorie sweeteners. However, the most promising compounds are biosynthesized in small amounts. Based on Illumina, PacBio, and Hi-C sequencing, we constructed a chromosome-level assembly of Stevia covering 1416 Mb with a contig N50 value of 616.85 kb and a scaffold N50 value of 106.55 Mb. More than four-fifths of the Stevia genome consisted of repetitive elements. We annotated 44,143 high-confidence protein-coding genes in the high-quality genome. Genome evolution analysis suggested that Stevia and sunflower diverged ~29.4 million years ago (Mya), shortly after the whole-genome duplication (WGD) event (WGD-2, ~32.1 Mya) that occurred in their common ancestor. Comparative genomic analysis revealed that the expanded genes in Stevia were mainly enriched for biosynthesis of specialized metabolites, especially biosynthesis of terpenoid backbones, and for further oxidation and glycosylation of these compounds. We further identified all candidate genes involved in SG biosynthesis. Collectively, our current findings on the Stevia reference genome will be very helpful for dissecting the evolutionary history of Stevia and for discovering novel genes contributing to SG biosynthesis and other important agronomic traits in future breeding programs.

F-specific (F؉) RNA phages are widely used as indicators for the presence of fecal contamination and/or enteric viruses in water, and identifying subgroups of F؉ RNA phages provides an approach for microbial source tracking. Different survival characteristics of the F؉ RNA phage subgroups result in a misinterpretation of their original proportion in water, thus giving misleading information when they are used for microbial source tracking. This study investigated the comparative persistence of subgroups of F؉ RNA phages in river water under different conditions. Results suggested that temperature and pH are the major factors affecting the persistence of F؉ RNA phages in river water, and organic substances promote phage survival. The comparative persistence patterns of subgroups of F؉ RNA phages varied and may bias extrapolation of their initial proportions in surface water. Thus, the characteristics of water should be taken into consideration and the results should be carefully interpreted when F؉ RNA phages are used for microbial source tracking. F-specific (Fϩ) RNA phages are a group of single-stranded RNA bacteriophages belonging to the family Leviviridae (1, 2); they infect host bacteria by absorbing to and injecting RNA through sex pili on the surfaces of the cells (3). Fϩ RNA phages are divided into four subgroups according to their serology and phylogeny (4) and have been recommended as indicators for the presence of viral pathogens and fecal contamination, since they are similar to enteric viruses in genomic and physical properties, they are transmitted by the fecal-oral route as are enteric viruses, and their presence is highly correlated to viral contamination in various water types (3, 5). An interesting phenomenon is that subgroups II and III are generally of human origin and subgroups I and IV are predominantly isolated from animal feces (6, 7). This provides the potential to distinguish fecal contamination of human or animal origin.Phage groups differ in their resistances to environmental stressors and exhibit various persistences in aquatic environments (8), which may bias the relative prevalence of different phage groups in aquatic environments, thus leading to potential errors in the assessment of water quality. In order to assess the usefulness of viral indicators and to collect quantitative information necessary for risk assessment of water quality and water disinfection processes, investigations on the survival characteristics of some phages have been conducted (9, 10). However, most of these studies have investigated the impact of only one stressor on the survival characteristics of phage indicators (1), or employed one phage strain as a surrogate to determine the effect of environmental or processing stresses on viral survival or activity (11). Little information is currently available about the differential persistence among the four subgroups of Fϩ RNA bacteriophages in surface water, a main source of water for irrigation. Differential persistence of subgroups of Fϩ RNA phages may bias th...