Integration of genome and transcriptome reveals core genes and allele-specific expression genetic variants associated with immune differentiation of taurine ancestry dairy cattle from indicine ancestry cattle.

Background: Disease is a key factor to shorten productive lifespan of dairy cattle. Shifting from classical 'treating existing diseases' to 'preventing diseases before they occur' is a challenge in high-producing dairy cattle. Immunity plays a crucial role in defending against disease.

Characterizing age-related features for assessing biological age and characteristics in Xinjiang Brown cattle.

Background: Productive lifespan is a critical economic trait for both dual-purpose and dairy cows, as it determines lifetime milk production. Xinjiang Brown cattle, a dual-purpose breed widely raised in China's Xinjiang region, have a population of nearly two million and play a vital role in the local economy. However, the molecular mechanisms influencing aging and productive lifespan in Xinjiang Brown cattle remain largely unknown.

The comprehensive transcriptomic atlas of porcine immune tissues and the peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) immune dynamics reveal core immune genes.

Background: Viral diseases have profoundly influenced the sustainable development of the swine farming industry. With the development of genomics technology, the combination of transcriptome, genetic variation, immune response, and QTL mapping data to illustrate the interactions between pathogen and host immune system, will be an effective tool for identification of disease resistance genes in pigs. The immune system of an organism is the source of disease resistance in livestock, consisting of various immune tissues, as well as the immune cells and cytokines they produced.

Design, synthesis, biological evaluation, and X-ray single crystal structure of novel computer-aided-drug-designbased α-mangostin derivatives: Multifunctional ligands against Alzheimer's disease.

Multifunctional ligand design strategy may be a promising approach for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD). α-Mangostin (α-M), a natural small molecule with anti-AD properties, was used as the lead compound for the design and synthesis of six α-M derivatives (1-6) with the help of computer-aided-drug-design (CADD). Both theoretical calculations and experimental results suggested that 1-6 might serve as promising selective butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE) inhibitors and amyloid-β (Aβ) aggregation inhibitors.

Photovoltaic Power Station Impacts on the Benthic Ecosystem and Sediment Carbon Storage in Tidal Flats in China.

Photovoltaic power is a rapidly growing component of the renewable energy sector. Photovoltaic power stations (PVPSs) on coastal tidal flats offer benefits, but the lack of information on the effects of PVPSs on benthic ecosystems and sediment carbon storage can hamper the development of eco-friendly renewable energy. We sampled the macrobenthos and sediment cores at a PVPS on a coastal tidal flat in eastern China.

Study of multifunctional anti-AD ligands: design, synthesis, X-ray crystal structure and biological evaluation of diosmetin derivatives.

The development of anti-AD drugs has attracted much attention as the number of AD patients is increasing year by year. Five diosmetin derivatives (1-5) were designed and synthesized by introducing carbamate groups. The crystal structure of 1 was analyzed by X-ray diffraction, which showed a large conjugated coplanar structure and might be favorable for the insertion into the Aβ folding.

Elemental geochemical evidence for the river-derived sources of trace metals in surface sediments from Hangzhou Bay, East China Sea.

Coastal estuaries are often heavily subject to riverine influences by the inputs of sediment from terrestrial sources. Hangzhou Bay (HZB) is threatened by the riverine derived trace metals from two large rivers of Qiantang River (QTR) and Yangtze River (YZR). However, previous studies mainly focused on the incidental transport from the largest river in China (YZR) and failed to simultaneously evaluate the contributions of these two rivers, especially the directly flowing river of QTR, by their trace elemental geochemical composition and distribution.

The role of RNA epigenetic modification-related genes in the immune response of cattle to mastitis induced by Staphylococcus aureus.

Objective: RNA epigenetic modifications play an important role in regulating immune response of mammals. Bovine mastitis induced by Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is a threat to the health of dairy cattle.

Size-fractionated N fixation off the Changjiang Estuary during summer.

Recent evidence has shown active N fixation in coastal eutrophic waters, yet the rate and controlling factors remain poorly understood, particularly in large estuaries. The Changjiang Estuary (CE) and adjacent shelf are characterized by fresh, nitrogen-replete Changjiang Diluted Water (CDW) and saline, nitrogen-depletion intruded Kuroshio water (Taiwan Warm Current and nearshore Kuroshio Branch Current), where N fixation may be contributed by different groups (i.e.

Ecological risk assessment of trace metals in sediments and their effect on benthic organisms from the south coast of Zhejiang province, China.

To explore the ecological risks of trace metals in sediments and their relationship with benthic organisms, 12 trace metals were analyzed and the macrobenthos were identified in the sediments collected from the south coast of Zhejiang province which belongs to the East China Sea. Spatially, the concentrations of most trace metals were high in the estuary, except for Ba and Sr. There was no obvious enrichment for trace metals, except that the concentration of Cd slightly exceeded the coastal background.

Influence of biodeposition by suspended cultured oyster on the distributions of trace elements in multiple media in a semi-enclosed bay of China.

It remains unclear how the suspended non-fed bivalve mariculture will alter the coastal transfer and cleaning process of trace elements, the non-degradable contaminants, which have been reported to accumulate in sediment from bivalve mariculture areas. Herein, we set up a field in situ comparative test in the suspended oyster (Crassostrea plicatula) farming area (OF) and reference area (RA) of Xiangshan Bay to verify our hypothesis that the biodepositon of suspended oysters would consolidate trace elements from the water column and transport them to the sediment. Distribution of trace elements in multiple media of biodeposits (BDs), settling particles (SPs), sediments (SEs), and seawater demonstrate that the accelerated deposition of BDs which enriched trace elements from the water column by oysters filtering suspended particles led to trace elements accumulation in SEs from OF.

Heavy metal concentrations in tissues of marine fish and crab collected from the middle coast of Zhejiang Province, China.

Concentrations of the heavy metals As, Cd, Cu, Hg, Pb, and Zn in various tissues of five marine fish species and one crab species collected from the middle coast of Zhejiang Province of China were investigated in this study. The results indicated considerable variation in heavy metal concentrations in different tissues and species. Elevated concentrations of most heavy metals were identified in fish gills and crab gills and hepatopancreas, with some differences by heavy metal type.

Kelp cultivation effectively improves water quality and regulates phytoplankton community in a turbid, highly eutrophic bay.

Coastal eutrophication and its associated harmful algal blooms have emerged as one of the most severe environmental problems worldwide. Seaweed cultivation has been widely encouraged to control eutrophication and algal blooms. Among them, cultivated kelp (Saccharina japonica) dominates primarily by production and area.

Effects of fish cage culture and suspended oyster culture on macrobenthic communities in Xiangshan Bay, a semi-enclosed subtropical bay in eastern China.

The impacts of fish cage culture and suspended oyster culture on macrobenthic communities were investigated in Xiangshan Bay, China, on a seasonal basis from January to October of 2015. Samples were collected from a fish cage farm, a suspended oyster farm, and two corresponding reference sites. Two-way ANOVA results showed that species richness, abundance, biomass, and Shannon-Wiener diversity differed significantly between the four different investigated areas, and different seasons as well.

Oyster farming control on phytoplankton bloom promoted by thermal discharge from a power plant in a eutrophic, semi-enclosed bay.

Temperature increase caused by thermal discharge from power plants promotes phytoplankton growth and frequent bloom in eutrophic subtropical waters, particularly in cold seasons. Suspension filter-feeding bivalves show size-selective grazing on phytoplankton. Thus, we hypothesized that algal bloom under thermal stimulation could be controlled and that phytoplankton community was structured by oyster farming.

Heavy metal concentrations in commercial marine organisms from Xiangshan Bay, China, and the potential health risks.

Commercial marine organisms were collected from the coast of Xiangshan Bay to investigate the concentrations of eight heavy metals (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb, and Zn) and evaluate the potential health risks. The results indicated considerable variations in the heavy metal concentrations among six species groups, of them mollusks (seasnail, benthic bivalve, and oyster) generally contained relative high levels of most metals, followed by crustaceans (crab and shrimp), by contrast, fish had low concentrations of all metals, except Hg. Three heavy metal groups were identified to interpret the accumulative characteristics in the marine organisms.

Development of marine water quality criteria for inorganic mercury in China based on the retrievable toxicity data and a comparison with relevant criteria or guidelines.

The development of marine water quality criteria (WQC) in China has been insufficient because data on the toxicity of pollutants for marine organisms based on the species sensitivity distribution (SSD) method are lacking. The Chinese aquatic environmental quality standards, including those for seawater, were derived from the developed countries. Therefore, establishing Chinese marine WQC is crucial for identifying the sensitivity of marine species in China and will improve their protection from threats.

Overexpression of GmFDL19 enhances tolerance to drought and salt stresses in soybean.

The basic leucine zipper (bZIP) family of transcription factors plays an important role in the growth and developmental process as well as responds to various abiotic stresses, such as drought and high salinity. Our previous work identified GmFDL19, a bZIP transcription factor, as a flowering promoter in soybean, and the overexpression of GmFDL19 caused early flowering in transgenic soybean plants. Here, we report that GmFDL19 also enhances tolerance to drought and salt stress in soybean.

Responses of summer phytoplankton community to drastic environmental changes in the Changjiang (Yangtze River) estuary during the past 50 years.

The phytoplankton community in the Changjiang Estuary is subject to intensive physical and chemical stresses because of human- and climate-driven changes. We obtained historical data on summer phytoplankton communities from 1959 to 2009 to explore responses to long-term environmental changes. The nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) concentrations and ratios (N/P and N/Si) increased because of persistent riverine loading, but silicon (Si) levels remained constant.

Effects of fish farming on phytoplankton community under the thermal stress caused by a power plant in a eutrophic, semi-enclosed bay: induce toxic dinoflagellate (Prorocentrum minimum) blooms in cold seasons.

Six cruises were conducted in a fish farm adjacent to the Ninghai Power Plant in Xiangshan Bay, East China Sea. Fish farming significantly increased NH4(+), DIP, and TOC concentrations, while it significantly decreased the DO level. These increase/decrease trends were more pronounced in warmer seasons.

[Spatial niches of dominant zooplankton species in Sanmen Bay, Zhejiang Province of East China].

Ecological niche has close relations with inter-species competition and resources utilization, and thus, can be used as an indicator to symbolize the resources utilization capability of certain groups of related species. In this paper, the niche breadth and overlap of the dominant zooplankton species in the Sanmen Bay of Zhejiang were determined by Shannon's formula and Petraitis index, respectively, and the differentiation of the niche was studied by canonical correspondence analysis (CCA), aiming to approach the distribution features of coastal zooplankton and related affecting factors in the Bay. In the study area, some coastal species such as Zonosagitta bedoti, Centropages dorsispinatus, and brachyuran larvae had wider niche breadth than the pelagic species such as Flaccisagitta enflata and Pseudeuphausia sinica, and the species of different groups with prey-predator relation had a greater niche overlap than those of the same groups without this relation.

[Microcosm experiments on the influence of different N/P ratios on phytoplankton community growth in the East China Sea].

In the present study, a microcosm experiment was conducted in situ for 30 days, in order to investigate the effects of different N/P ratios (1N: 1P, 4N: 1P, 8N: 1P, 16N: 1P, 32N: 1P, 64N: 1P, 128N: 1P, and 256N: 1P) on phytoplankton community growth in the East China Sea. The results indicated that the species number, cell abundance, Chl-a content, specific growth rate as well as species composition of the phytoplankton community significantly varied with the N/P ratios. After 6 days of culture, the species number, cell abundance, Chl-a content and specific growth rate in the high N/P ratio groups were significantly higher than those in the low N/P ratio groups.

Acute toxicity of crude oil water accommodated fraction on marine copepods: the relative importance of acclimatization temperature and body size.

Recent oil spillage accidents around the world greatly increase harmful risks to marine ecology. This study evaluated the influences of petroleum water accommodated fraction (WAF) on 15 typical species of marine copepods collected from a subtropical bay in East China Sea at different seasons. Copepods showed impaired swimming ability, restlessness, loss of balance, anoxic coma, and even death when they were acutely exposed to the crude oil WAF under laboratory conditions.

[Community structure of fish in Zhoushan Fishing Ground and its adjacent waters in spring and summer].

Based on the investigation data of the fishery resources and environment in Zhoushan Fishing Ground and its adjacent waters in August 2006 and April 2007, and by using multi-dimensional scaling (MDS) and canonical correspondence analysis (CCA), this paper studied the species composition and the characteristics of fish community in the area. In spring, a total of 62 fish species were captured, belonging to 56 genera, 36 families and 11 orders. The dominant species were Amblychaeturichthys hexanema and Larimichthys polyactis, and their abundance occupied 82.