Soybean is one of the important economic crops, which supplies a great deal of vegetable oil and proteins for human. The content of nutrients in different soybean seeds is different, which is related to the expression of multiple genes, but the mechanisms are complicated and still largely uncertain. In this study, to reveal the possible causes of the nutrients difference in soybeans A7 (containing low oil and high protein) and A35 (containing high oil and low protein), RNA-seq technology was performed to compare and identify the potential differential expressed genes (DEGs) at different seed developmental stages. The results showed that DEGs mainly presented at the early stages of seeds development and more DEGs were up-regulated at the early stage than the late stages. Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analysis showed that the DEGs have diverged in A7 and A35. In A7, the DEGs were mainly involved in cell cycle and stresses, while in A35 were the fatty acids and sugar metabolism. Specifically, when the DEGs contributing to oil and protein metabolic pathways were analyzed, the differences between A7 and A35 mainly presented in fatty acids metabolism and seeds storage proteins (SSPs) synthesis. Furthermore, the enzymes, fatty acid dehydrogenase 2, 3-ketoacyl-CoA synthase and 9S-lipoxygenase, in the synthesis and elongation pathways of fatty acids, were revealed probably to be involved in the oil content difference between A7 and A35, the SSPs content might be due to the transcription factors: Leafy Cotyledon 2 and Abscisic acid-intensitive 3, while the sugar transporter, SWEET10a, might contribute to both oil and protein content differences. Finally, six DEGs were selected to analyze their expression using qRT-PCR, and the results were consistent with the RNA-seq results. Generally, the study provided a comprehensive and dynamic expression trends for the seed development processes, and uncovered the potential DEGs for the differences of oil in A7 and A35.

Toona ciliata var. pubescens (Toona in Meliaceae) (Tc) is listed as an endangered species, and there are natural regeneration obstacles due to its long-term excessive exploitation and utilization. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) can produce beneficial effects for plant growth and natural regeneration. However, the characteristics of the AMF community in natural Tc forests are poorly understood. The Illumina PE250 high-throughput sequencing method was used to study the characteristics of the AMF community in the rhizosphere soil and roots associated with three dominant tree species (Tc; Padus buergeriana, Pb; and Maesa japonica, Mj) in a natural Tc forest in Guanshan National Natural Reserve, South Central China. The results found that Glomeraceae was the most abundant AMF family in the rhizosphere soil and roots. Moreover, the relative abundance of Archaeosporaceae in rhizosphere soil was significantly larger than that in the roots; in contrast, the relative abundance of Glomeraceae in rhizosphere soil was significantly lower than that in the roots (p < 0.05). Regarding different tree species, the relative abundances of Acaulosporaceae and Geosiphonaceae were larger in Mj and Tc than in Pb. AMF operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were 1.30-, 1.43-, and 1.71-fold higher in the Tc, Pb, and Mj rhizosphere soil, respectively, than in the corresponding roots. Nevertheless, higher AMF community richness was found in the roots compared to that in the rhizosphere soil based on the Chao index. This finding indicated that AMF of a relatively high aggregation degree were in roots, and more AMF groups with relatively low abundance occurred in the rhizosphere soil, which correspondingly lowered the calculated richness index of the AMF community. A redundancy analysis showed that different soil chemical properties impacted variations in the AMF community characteristics differently. This study has great significance for the interpretation of AMF diversity survey and the application design of AMF in vegetation restoration.

BackgroundLung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) is one of the most common subtypes of lung cancer which is the leading cause of death in cancer patients. Circadian clock disruption has been listed as a likely carcinogen. However, whether the expression of circadian genes affects overall survival (OS) in LUAD patients remains unknown. In this article, we identified a circadian gene signature to predict overall survival in LUAD.MethodsRNA sequencing (HTSeq-FPKM) data and clinical characteristics were obtained for a cohort of LUAD patients from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). A multigene signature based on differentially expressed circadian clock-related genes was generated for the prediction of OS using Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (LASSO)-penalized Cox regression analysis, and externally validated using the GSE72094 dataset from the GEO database.ResultsFive differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified to be significantly associated with OS using univariate Cox proportional regression analysis (P < 0.05). Patients classified as high risk based on these five DEGs had significantly lower OS than those classified as low risk in both the TGCA cohort and GSE72094 dataset (P 1, P < 0.001). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves confirmed its prognostic value. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) showed that Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathways related to cell proliferation, gene damage repair, proteasomes, and immune and autoimmune diseases were significantly enriched.ConclusionA novel circadian gene signature for OS in LUAD was found to be predictive in both the derivation and validation cohorts. Targeting circadian genes is a potential therapeutic option in LUAD.

Both canopy gaps (CG) and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) play key roles in seedling establishment and increasing species diversity in forests. The response of AMF to canopy gaps is poorly understood. To assess the long-term effects of canopy gaps on soil AMF community, we sampled soil from plots in a 50-year Cryptomeria japonica (L.f.) D. Don. plantation, located in Lushan Mountain, subtropical China. We analyzed the AMF community, identified through 454 pyrosequencing, in soil and edaphic characteristics. Both richness and diversity of AMF in CG decreased significantly compared to the closed canopy (CC). The differences of the AMF community composition between CG and CC was also significant. The sharp response of the AMF community appears to be largely driven by vegetation transformation. Soil nutrient content also influenced some taxa, e.g., the low availability of phosphorus increased the abundance of Acaulospora. These results demonstrated that the formation of canopy gaps can depress AMF richness and alter the AMF community, which supported the plant investment hypothesis and accentuated the vital role of AMF–plant symbioses in forest management.