Identification and Functional Analysis of the Caffeic Acid O-Methyltransferase (COMT) Gene Family in Rice (Oryza sativa L.)

Caffeic acid O-methyltransferase (COMT) is one of the core enzymes involved in lignin synthesis. However, there is no systematic study on the rice COMT gene family. We identified 33 COMT genes containing the methyltransferase-2 domain in the rice genome using bioinformatic methods and divided them into Group I (a and b) and Group II. Motifs, conserved domains, gene structure and SNPs density are related to the classification of OsCOMTs. The tandem phenomenon plays a key role in the expansion of OsCOMTs. The expression levels of fourteen and thirteen OsCOMTs increased or decreased under salt stress and drought stress, respectively. OsCOMTs showed higher expression levels in the stem. The lignin content of rice was measured in five stages; combined with the expression analysis of OsCOMTs and multiple sequence alignment, we found that OsCOMT8, OsCOMT9 and OsCOMT15 play a key role in the synthesis of lignin. Targeted miRNAs and gene ontology annotation revealed that OsCOMTs were involved in abiotic stress responses. Our study contributes to the analysis of the biological function of OsCOMTs, which may provide information for future rice breeding and editing of the rice genome.     

Crosstalk between Growth and Osmoregulation of GHRH-SST-GH-IGF Axis in Triploid Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

Smolting is an important development stage of salmonid, and an energy trade-off occurs between osmotic regulation and growth during smolting in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). Growth hormone releasing hormone, somatostatin, growth hormone and insulin-like growth factor (GHRH-SST-GH-IGF) axis exhibit pleiotropic effects in regulating growth and osmotic adaptation. Due to salmonid specific genome duplication, increased paralogs are identified in the ghrh-sst-gh-igf axis, however, their physiology in modulating osmoregulation has yet to be investigated. In this study, seven sst genes (sst1a, sst1b, sst2, sst3a, sst3b, sst5, sst6) were identified in trout. We further investigated the ghrh-sst-gh-igf axis of diploid and triploid trout in response to seawater challenge. Kidney sst (sst1b, sst2, sst5) and sstr (sstr1b1, sstr5a, sstr5b) expressions were changed (more than 2-fold increase (except for sstr5a with 1.99-fold increase) or less than 0.5-fold decrease) due to osmoregulation, suggesting a pleiotropic physiology of SSTs in modulating growth and smoltification. Triploid trout showed significantly down-regulated brain sstr1b1 and igfbp2a1 (p < 0.05), while diploid trout showed up-regulated brain igfbp1a1 (~2.61-fold, p = 0.057) and igfbp2a subtypes (~1.38-fold, p < 0.05), suggesting triploid trout exhibited a better acclimation to the seawater environment. The triploid trout showed up-regulated kidney igfbp5a subtypes (~6.62 and 7.25-fold, p = 0.099 and 0.078) and significantly down-regulated igfbp5b2 (~0.37-fold, p < 0.05), showing a conserved physiology of teleost IGFBP5a in regulating osmoregulation. The IGFBP6 subtypes are involved in energy and nutritional regulation. Distinctive igfbp6 subtypes patterns (p < 0.05) potentially indicated trout triggered energy redistribution in brain and kidney during osmoregulatory regulation. In conclusion, we showed that the GHRH-SST-GH-IGF axis exhibited pleiotropic effects in regulating growth and osmoregulatory regulation during trout smolting, which might provide new insights into seawater aquaculture of salmonid species.     

Highly Organized Porous Gelatin-Based Scaffold by Microfluidic 3D-Foaming Technology and Dynamic Culture for Cartilage Tissue Engineering

A gelatin-based hydrogel scaffold with highly uniform pore size and biocompatibility was fabricated for cartilage tissue engineering using microfluidic 3D-foaming technology. Mainly, bubbles with different diameters, such as 100 μm and 160 μm, were produced by introducing an optimized nitrogen gas and gelatin solution at an optimized flow rate, and N₂/gelatin bubbles were formed. Furthermore, a cross-linking agent (1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethyl aminopropyl)-carbodiimide, EDC) was employed for the cross-linking reaction of the gelatin-based hydrogel scaffold with uniform bubbles, and then the interface between the close cells were broken by degassing. The pore uniformity of the gelatin-based hydrogel scaffolds was confirmed by use of a bright field microscope, conjugate focus microscope and scanning electron microscope. The in vitro degradation rate, mechanical properties, and swelling rate of gelatin-based hydrogel scaffolds with highly uniform pore size were studied. Rabbit knee cartilage was cultured, and its extracellular matrix content was analyzed. Histological analysis and immunofluorescence staining were employed to confirm the activity of the rabbit knee chondrocytes. The chondrocytes were seeded into the resulting 3D porous gelatin-based hydrogel scaffolds. The growth conditions of the chondrocyte culture on the resulting 3D porous gelatin-based hydrogel scaffolds were evaluated by MTT analysis, live/dead cell activity analysis, and extracellular matrix content analysis. Additionally, a dynamic culture of cartilage tissue was performed, and the expression of cartilage-specific proteins within the culture time was studied by immunofluorescence staining analysis. The gelatin-based hydrogel scaffold encouraged chondrocyte proliferation, promoting the expression of collagen type II, aggrecan, and sox9 while retaining the structural stability and durability of the cartilage after dynamic compression and promoting cartilage repair.     

Early Expression of Tet1 and Tet2 in Mouse Zygotes Altered DNA Methylation Status and Affected Embryonic Development

Ten-eleven translocation (Tet) dioxygenases can induce DNA demethylation by catalyzing 5-methylcytosine(5mC) to 5-hydroxymethylcytosine(5hmC), and play important roles during mammalian development. In mouse, Tet1 and Tet2 are not expressed in pronucleus-staged embryos and are not involved in the genomic demethylation of early zygotes. Here, we investigated the influence of Tet1 and Tet2 on methylation of parental genomes by ectopically expressing Tet1 and Tet2 in zygotes. Immunofluorescence staining showed a marked 5hmC increase in the maternal pronucleus after injection of Tet1 or Tet2 mRNA into zygotes. Whole-genome bisulfite sequencing further revealed that Tet2 greatly enhanced the global demethylation of both parental genomes, while Tet1 only promoted the paternal demethylation. Tet1 and Tet2 overexpression altered the DNA methylation across genomes, including various genic elements and germline-specific differently methylated regions. Tet2 exhibited overall stronger demethylation activity than Tet1. Either Tet1 or Tet2 overexpression impaired preimplantation embryonic development. These results demonstrated that early expression of Tet1 and Tet2 could substantially alter the zygotic methylation landscape and damage embryonic development. These findings provide new insights into understanding the function of Tet dioxygenases and the mechanism of DNA methylation in relation to embryogenesis.     

原料润磨对造球和焙烧过程的影响

通过生产试验,研究了原料润磨比对生球强度的影响,在实验室进行了不同温度的焙烧试验,测量了原料不同润磨比时球团矿的常温抗压强度,研究了球团矿氧化焙烧过程中热态强度的变化规律.     

含短纤维胎面胶的混炼工艺

介绍了含短纤维胎面胶的混炼工艺,分析了在混炼过程中短纤维在橡胶中的混合分散模型.指出当短纤维-橡胶复合材料处于最佳黏度状态时,混炼效果最佳.     

改进BP网络及其在传感器非线性校正中的应用

针对传统BP网络收敛速度慢、容易陷入局部最小点等问题,采用附加动量因子和自适应学习速率进行了改进,并将其用于对传感器的非线性误差进行补偿.用MATLAB语言编制相应的训练程序,仿真结果表明,在相同的条件下,改进后算法节省了大量的训练时间,同时提高了数据拟合的精度.     

基于自动检焦信号梯度信息的自适应平滑算法研究

近年来随着航空相机技术不断发展,高分辨率相机将成为未来航空相机的发展趋势;但环境的变化会使光学系统的性能发生显著的、随机的变化,因此,欲在恶劣的环境条件下获得最佳分辨率,必须使相机具有很高的检焦精度,然而由于测量元件及电源等的噪声的存在,大大影响了检焦信号精度;基于中值滤波和梯度信息的平滑滤波算法,介绍了一种新的自适应平滑算法,该算法有效地抑制扰动信号,更为真实的突现出峰值信号,从而大大提高了检焦精度;该方法大大减小了随机干扰对检焦结果的影响,提高了检焦精度,从而每次都能获得较为清晰的图像。     

图像扫描波动性定量标准及分形扫描矩阵的快速生成

在图像扫描技术中，首要的问题是如何尽量减小生成数据的波动性。本文在深入研究各种扫描技术的基础上，定义了一种描述扫描产生数据波动性的度量指标，基于图像存在局部连续性，证明了Hilbert分形曲线扫描优于其他传统扫描，表明在生成数据的最佳连续特性，并通过实验 分析了图像扫描方式对DCT变换编码效果的影响。最后，给出了一个构造Hilbert扫描矩阵的快速算法。     

ptp通讯在锌电解供电优化系统中的研究与应用

以提高锌电解供电系统的自动化程度、实现网络控制为目的,在分析了系统总体结构和控制原理的基础上,重点讨论了ptp通讯在系统中的研究与应用;ptp通讯网络以S7-300PLC为主站,以两台晶闸管数字触发器为从站,实现电流给定和触发角反馈等信号的传输,其通讯协议简单,开发成本低,与Profibus网一道组成的控制网抗干扰能力强,可靠性高,有力地保证了锌电解供电优化系统安全运行,为锌电解提高整流效率、节约电能提供了保障.