Description: Cellulose and xylan are two major components of lignocellulosic biomass, which represents a potentially important energy source, as it is abundant and can be converted to methane by microbial action. However, it is recalcitrant to hydrolysis, and the establishment of a complete anaerobic digestion system requires a specific repertoire of microbial functions. In this study, we maintained 2-year enrichment cultures of anaerobic digestion sludge amended with cellulose or xylan to investigate whether a cellulose- or xylan-digesting microbial system could be assembled from sludge previously used to treat neither of them. While efficient methane-producing communities developed under mesophilic (35°C) incubation, they did not under thermophilic (55°C) conditions. Illumina amplicon sequencing results of the archaeal and bacterial 16S rRNA genes revealed that the mature cultures were much lower in richness than the inocula and were dominated by single archaeal (genus Methanobacterium ) and bacterial (order Clostridiales ) groups, although at finer taxonomic levels the bacteria were differentiated by substrates. Methanogenesis was primarily via the hydrogenotrophic pathway under all conditions, although the identity and growth requirements of syntrophic acetate-oxidizing bacteria were unclear. Incubation conditions (substrate and temperature) had a much greater effect than inoculum source in shaping the mature microbial community, although analysis based on unweighted UniFrac distance found that the inoculum still determined the pool from which microbes could be enriched. Overall, this study confirmed that anaerobic digestion sludge treating nonlignocellulosic material is a potential source of microbial cellulose- and xylan-digesting functions given appropriate enrichment conditions.

Description: Whole-genome sequencing, particularly in fungi, has progressed at a tremendous rate. More difficult, however, is experimental testing of the inferences about gene function that can be drawn from comparative sequence analysis alone. We present a genome-wide functional characterization of a sequenced but experimentally understudied budding yeast, Saccharomyces bayanus var. uvarum (henceforth referred to as S. bayanus ), allowing us to map changes over the 20 million years that separate this organism from S. cerevisiae . We first created a suite of genetic tools to facilitate work in S. bayanus . Next, we measured the gene-expression response of S. bayanus to a diverse set of perturbations optimized using a computational approach to cover a diverse array of functionally relevant biological responses. The resulting data set reveals that gene-expression patterns are largely conserved, but significant changes may exist in regulatory networks such as carbohydrate utilization and meiosis. In addition to regulatory changes, our approach identified gene functions that have diverged. The functions of genes in core pathways are highly conserved, but we observed many changes in which genes are involved in osmotic stress, peroxisome biogenesis, and autophagy. A surprising number of genes specific to S. bayanus respond to oxidative stress, suggesting the organism may have evolved under different selection pressures than S. cerevisiae . This work expands the scope of genome-scale evolutionary studies from sequence-based analysis to rapid experimental characterization and could be adopted for functional mapping in any lineage of interest. Furthermore, our detailed characterization of S. bayanus provides a valuable resource for comparative functional genomics studies in yeast.

Description: Weedy rice ( Oryza spp.) is a problematic weed of cultivated rice ( O. sativa ) around the world. Recent studies have established multiple independent evolutionary origins of weedy rice, raising questions about the traits and genes that are essential for the evolution of this weed. Among world regions, South Asia stands out due to the heterogeneity of its weedy rice populations, which can be traced to at least three origins: two through de-domestication from distinct cultivated rice varieties, and one from local wild rice ( O. rufipogon / O. nivara ). Here we examine five traits considered typical of or advantageous to weedy rice in weedy, cultivated and wild rice samples from South Asia. We establish that convergence among all three weed groups occurs for easy seed shattering, red pericarp color, and compact plant architecture, suggesting that these traits are essential for weed success in the South Asian agricultural environment. A high degree of convergence for black hull color is also seen among weeds with wild ancestors and weeds evolved from the aus cultivated rice group. We also examine polymorphism in five known domestication candidate genes, and find that Rc and Bh4 are associated with weed seed pericarp color and hull color, respectively, and weedy alleles segregate in the ancestral populations, as do alleles for the seed dormancy-linked gene Sdr4 . The presence of a domestication related allele at the seed shattering locus, sh4 , in weedy rice populations with cultivated ancestry supports a de-domestication origin for these weedy groups, and raises questions about the reacquisition of the shattering trait in these weedy populations. Our characterization of weedy rice phenotypes in South Asia and their associated candidate genes contribute to the emerging understanding of the mechanisms by which weedy rice evolves worldwide, suggesting that standing ancestral variation is often the source of weedy traits in independently evolved groups, and highlighting the reservoir of genetic variation that is present in cultivated varieties as well as in wild rice, and its potential for phenotypic evolution.

Description: H5N6 avian influenza virus (AIV) has posed a potential threat to public health since its emergence in China in 2013. To understand the evolution and emergence of H5N6 AIV in the avian population, we performed molecular surveillance of live poultry markets (LPMs) in Wugang Prefecture, Hunan Province, in central China, during 2014 and 2015. Wugang Prefecture is located on the Eastern Asian-Australian migratory bird flyway, and a human death due to an H5N6 virus was reported in the prefecture on 21 November 2016. In total, we sampled and sequenced the complete genomes of 175 H5N6 AIVs. Notably, our analysis revealed that H5N6 AIVs contain at least six genotypes arising from segment reassortment, including a rare variant that possesses an HA gene derived from H5N1 clade 2.3.2 and a novel NP gene that has its origins with H7N3 viruses. In addition, phylogenetic analysis revealed that genetically similar H5N6 AIVs tend to cluster according to their geographic regions of origin. These results help to reveal the evolutionary behavior of influenza viruses prior to their emergence in humans. IMPORTANCE The newly emerged H5N6 influenza A virus has caused more than 10 human deaths in China since 2013. In November 2016, a human death due to an H5N6 virus, in Wugang Prefecture, Hunan Province, was confirmed by the WHO. To better understand the evolution and emergence of H5N6 viruses, we surveyed live poultry markets (LPMs) in Wugang Prefecture before the reported human death, with a focus on revealing the diversity and genomic origins of H5N6 in birds during 2014 and 2015. In general, H5N6 viruses in this region were most closely related to H5N1 clade 2.3.4.4, with the exception of one virus with an HA gene derived from clade 2.3.2 such that it represents a novel reassortant. Clearly, the ongoing surveillance of LPMs is central to monitoring the emergence of pathogenic influenza viruses.

Description: The nucleotide sequences of five plasmids from one Klebsiella oxytoca isolate were determined using the PacBio RS II system. Plasmid analysis revealed that bla NDM-1 was carried on an IncX3 plasmid. The bla IMP-4 and bla KPC-2 genes were located on IncN and IncP-6 plasmids, respectively. Comparative sequence analysis highlighted the successful spread of carbapenemase-harboring plasmids among different enterobacterial species. We report for the first time, to our knowledge, coproducing NDM-1, KPC-2, and IMP-4 carbapenemases on a K. oxytoca isolate.

Description: There are three independent CdII ions in the title complex, {[Cd3(C10H3O8)2(H2O)4]·4H2O}n, one of which is coordinated by four O atoms from three 5-carboxybenzene-1,2,4-tricarboxylate ligands and by two water molecules in a distorted octahedral geometry. The second CdII ion is coordinated by five O atoms from four 5-carboxybenzene-1,2,4-tricarboxylate ligands and by one water molecule also in a distorted octahedral geometry while the third CdII ion is coordinated by five O atoms from three 5-carboxybenzene-1,2,4-tricarboxylate ligands and by one water molecule in a highly distorted octahedral geometry. The 5-carboxybenzene-1,2,4-tricarboxylate ligands bridge the CdII ions, resulting in the formation of a three-dimensional structure. Intra- and intermolecular O—H...O hydrogen bonds are present throughout the three-dimensional structure.

Description: In the title complex, [Ni(C9H5O6)2(C11H10N4)2]·8H2O, the NiII ion exhibits site symmetry 2. It has a distorted octahedral coordination defined by two N atoms from two symmetry-related 1-[(1H-benzimidazol-1-yl)methyl]-1H-imidazole ligands and four O atoms from two symmetry-related 3,5-dicarboxybenzoate anions. In the crystal, the complex molecules and solvent water molecules are linked via O—H...O, O—H...N and N—H...O hydrogen bonds, forming a three-dimensional structure. There are also a number of C—H...O interactions present.

Description: Genetic correlations between quantitative traits measured in many breeding programs are pervasive. These correlations indicate that measurements of one trait carry information on other traits. Current single-trait (univariate) genomic selection does not take advantage of this information. Multivariate genomic selection on multiple traits could accomplish this but has been little explored and tested in practical breeding programs. In this study, three multivariate linear models ( i.e. , GBLUP, BayesA, and BayesC) were presented and compared to univariate models using simulated and real quantitative traits controlled by different genetic architectures. We also extended BayesA with fixed hyperparameters to a full hierarchical model that estimated hyperparameters and BayesC to impute missing phenotypes. We found that optimal marker-effect variance priors depended on the genetic architecture of the trait so that estimating them was beneficial. We showed that the prediction accuracy for a low-heritability trait could be significantly increased by multivariate genomic selection when a correlated high-heritability trait was available. Further, multiple-trait genomic selection had higher prediction accuracy than single-trait genomic selection when phenotypes are not available on all individuals and traits. Additional factors affecting the performance of multiple-trait genomic selection were explored.

Description: In the title complex, {[CaZn(C10H2O8)(H2O)2]·H2O}n, the ZnII ion is coordinated by four O atoms from four benzene-1,2,4,5-tetracarboxylate anions in a distorted tetrahedral geometry. The CaII ion is eight-coordinated by six O atoms from four benzene-1,2,4,5-tetracarboxylate anions and by two water molecules in a distorted square-antiprismatic geometry. The CaII and ZnII ions and the lattice water molecule are located on twofold rotation axes; the centroid of the benzene-1,2,4,5-tetracarboxylate anion is located on a centre of inversion. The μ8-bridging mode of the anion results in the formation of a three-dimensional structure with channels extending along [100] in which lattice water molecules are situated. Intermolecular O—H...O hydrogen bonds involving the coordinating and lattice water molecules as donors and the carboxylate O atoms and lattice water molecules as acceptors are present in the structure.

Description: The resistance gene Pi-ta has been effectively used to control rice blast disease, but some populations of cultivated and wild rice have evolved resistance. Insights into the evolutionary processes that led to this resistance during crop domestication may be inferred from the population history of domesticated and wild rice strains. In this study, we applied a recently developed statistical method, time-dependent Poisson random field model, to examine the evolution of the Pi-ta gene in cultivated and weedy rice. Our study suggests that the Pi-ta gene may have more recently introgressed into cultivated rice, indica and japonica , and U.S. weedy rice from the wild species, O. rufipogon . In addition, the Pi-ta gene is under positive selection in japonica , tropical japonica , U.S. cultivars and U.S. weedy rice . We also found that sequences of two domains of the Pi-ta gene, the nucleotide binding site and leucine-rich repeat domain, are highly conserved among all rice accessions examined. Our results provide a valuable analytical tool for understanding the evolution of disease resistance genes in crop plants.