Frontiers of Biology in China 

About: Frontiers of Biology in China is an academic journal. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Population & Gene. It has an ISSN identifier of 1673-3509. Over the lifetime, 860 publications have been published receiving 9075 citations.

An overview of inflammation: mechanism and consequences

Abstract: Inflammation is an essential response provided by the immune systems that ensures the survival during infection and tissue injury. Inflammatory responses are essential for the maintenance of normal tissue homeostasis. The molecular mechanism of inflammation is quite a complicated process which is initiated by the recognition of specific molecular patterns associated with either infection or tissue injury. The entire process of the inflammatory response is mediated by several key regulators involved in the selective expression of proinflammatory molecules. Prolonged inflammations are often associated with severe detrimental side effects on health. Alterations in inflammatory responses due to persistent inducers or genetic variations are on the rise over the last couple of decades, causing a variety of inflammatory diseases and pathophysiological conditions.

Degradome sequencing reveals endogenous small RNA targets in rice ( Oryza sativa L. ssp. indica )

Abstract: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) and small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) regulate gene expression in eukaryotes. Plant miRNAs modulate their targets mainly via messenger RNA (mRNA) cleavage. Small RNA (sRNA) targets have been extensively investigated in Arabidopsis using computational prediction, experimental validation, and degradome sequencing. However, small RNA targets are largely unknown in rice (Oryza sativa). Here, we report global identification of small RNA targets using high throughput degradome sequencing in the rice indica cultivar 93–11 (Oryza sativa L. ssp. indica). One hundred and seventy-seven transcripts targeted by a total of 87 unique miRNAs were identified. Of targets for the conserved miRNAs between Arabidopsis and rice, transcription factors comprise around 70% (58 in 82), indicating that these miRNAs act as masters of gene regulatory nodes in rice. In contrast, non-conserved miRNAs targeted diverse genes which provide more complex regulatory networks. In addition, 5 AUXIN RESPONSE FACTORs (ARFs) cleaved by the TAS3 derived ta-siRNAs were also detected. A total of 40 sRNA targets were further validated via RNA ligasemediated 5’ rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RLM 5’-RACE). Our degradome results present a detailed sRNA-target interaction atlas, which provides a guide for the study of the roles of sRNAs and their targets in rice.

Insights into the role of jasmonic acid-mediated defenses against necrotrophic and biotrophic fungal pathogens

Abstract: Jasmonic acid (JA) is a natural hormone regulator involved in development, responses against wounding and pathogen attack. Upon perception of pathogens, JA is synthesized and mediates a signaling cascade initiating various defense responses. Traditionally, necrotrophic fungi have been shown to be the primary activators of JAdependent defenses through the JA-receptor, COI1. Conversely, plants infected with biotrophic fungi have classically been associated with suppressing JA-mediated responses. However, recent evidence has shown that certain biotrophic fungal species also trigger activation of JA-mediated responses and mutants deficient in JA signaling show an increase in susceptibility to certain biotrophic fungal pathogens. These findings suggest a new role for JA in defense against fungal biotrophs. This review will focus on recent research advancing our knowledge of JA-dependant responses involved in defense against both biotrophic and necrotrophic fungi.