Heat shock proteins (HSPs) participate in diverse physiological processes in insects, and HSP70 is one of the most highly conserved proteins in the HSP family. In this study, full-length cDNAs of three HSP70 genes (Lthsc70, Lthsp701, and Lthsp702) were cloned and characterized from Liriomyza trifolii, an important invasive pest of vegetable crops and horticultural crops worldwide. These three HSP70s exhibited signature sequences and motifs that are typical of the HSP70 family. The expression patterns of the three Lthsp70s during temperature stress and in different insect development stages were studied by real-time quantitative PCR. Lthsp701 was strongly induced by high- and low-temperature stress, but Lthsc70 and Lthsp702 were not very sensitive to temperature changes. All three Lthsp70s were expressed during insect development stages, but the expression patterns were quite different. The expression of Lthsc70 and Lthsp702 showed significant differences in expression during leafminer development; Lthsc70 was most highly expressed in female adults, whereas Lthsp702 was abundantly expressed in larvae and prepupae. Lthsp701 expression was not significantly different among leafminer stages. These results suggest that functional differentiation within the LtHSP70 subfamily has occurred in response to thermal stress and insect development.

This study aimed to describe the expression profiles of microRNAs (miRNAs) from mammary gland tissues collected from dairy cows with Streptococcus agalactiae-induced mastitis and to identify differentially expressed miRNAs related to mastitis. The mammary glands of Chinese Holstein cows were challenged with Streptococcus agalactiae to induce mastitis. Small RNAs were isolated from the mammary tissues of the test and control groups and then sequenced using the Solexa sequencing technology to construct two small RNA libraries. Potential target genes of these differentially expressed miRNAs were predicted using the RNAhybrid software, and KEGG pathways associated with these genes were analysed. A total of 18 555 913 and 20 847 000 effective reads were obtained from the test and control groups, respectively. In total, 373 known and 399 novel miRNAs were detected in the test group, and 358 known and 232 novel miRNAs were uncovered in the control group. A total of 35 differentially expressed miRNAs were identified in the test group compared to the control group, including 10 up-regulated miRNAs and 25 down-regulated miRNAs. Of these miRNAs, miR-223 exhibited the highest degree of up-regulation with an approximately 3-fold increase in expression, whereas miR-26a exhibited the most decreased expression level (more than 2-fold). The RNAhybrid software predicted 18 801 genes as potential targets of these 35 miRNAs. Furthermore, several immune response and signal transduction pathways, including the RIG-I-like receptor signalling pathway, cytosolic DNA sensing pathway and Notch signal pathway, were enriched in these predicted targets. In summary, this study provided experimental evidence for the mechanism underlying the regulation of bovine mastitis by miRNAs and showed that miRNAs might be involved in signal pathways during S. agalactiae-induced mastitis.

Odorant-binding proteins (OBPs) play a fundamental role in insect olfaction. In recent years, Galeruca daurica (Joannis) (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) has become one of the most important insect pests in the Inner Mongolian grasslands of China. This pest only feeds on the species of Allium plants, implying the central role of olfaction in its search for specific host plants. However, the olfaction-related proteins have not been investigated in this beetle. In this study, we identified 29 putative OBP genes, namely GdauOBP1–29, from the transcriptome database of G. daurica assembled in our laboratory by using RNA-Seq. All 29 genes had the full-length open reading frames except GdauOBP29, encoding proteins in length from 119 to 202 amino acids with their predicted molecular weights from 12 to 22 kDa with isoelectric points from 3.88 to 8.84. Predicted signal peptides consisting of 15–22 amino acid residues were found in all except GdauOBP6, GdauOBP13 and GdauOBP29. The amino acid sequence identity between the 29 OBPs ranged 8.33–71.83%. GdauOBP1–12 belongs to the Classic OBPs, while the others belong with the Minus-C OBPs. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that GdauOBPs are the closest to CbowOBPs from Colaphellus bowringi. RT-PCR and qRT-PCR analyses showed that all GdauOBPs were expressed in adult antennae, 11 of which with significant differences in their expression levels between males and females. Most GdauOBPs were also expressed in adult heads (without antennae), thoraxes, abdomens, legs and wings. Moreover, the expression levels of the GdauOBPs varied during the different development stages of G. daurica with most GdauOBPs expressed highly in the adult antennae but scarcely in eggs and pupae. These results provide insights for further research on the molecular mechanisms of chemical communications in G. daurica.

The present study compared the miRNA expression profiles of five Toxoplasma gondii strains, namely RH (Type I, ToxoDB10), TgXD (Type I, ToxoDB10), PRU (Type II, ToxoDB1), QHO (Type II, ToxoDB1) and TgC7 (ToxoDB9), by Solexa deep sequencing, bioinformatics analysis and real-time quantitative PCR. A total of 7, 15, 10, 12 and 10 miRNAs were found from RH, TgXD, PRU, QHO and TgC7 strains, respectively. Thirteen miRNAs were shared by three genotypes, with only one miRNA shared by all of the 5 strains and others shared by 2 or more strains. A large number of targets ranging from 1 to 185 were identified for commonly shared miRNAs and strain-specific miRNAs with complete or nearly complete complementarity. Functional prediction showed that these targets were mostly focused on catalytic activity (191 targets) and binding activity (183 targets). Nonetheless, the majority of targets and most of the miRNAs are related to the virulence or invasion proteins of different strains of T. gondii, including ROP and MIC, as well as some other proteins, such as AMA1, GRA and RHO. The present study characterized comparatively the miRNA profiles of 3 different genotypes of T. gondii, identified genotype-shared miRNAs and strain-specific miRNAs.

Carcinoma of the stomach is one of the most prevalent cancer types in the world today. Only a limited number of biomarkers are available for detection and prognostic evaluation of gastric cancer. New advances in identifying molecular biomarkers are essential. Two major forms of gastric cancer are distinguished according to their morphological and clinicopathological classifications (well-differentiated/intestinal type and poorly differentiated/diffuse type) – characteristics that can also be attributed to different oncogene activations. Many genes related to cell cycle regulation and signal transduction have been implicated in gastric cancer progression. In particular, there is convincing evidence that protein tyrosine kinases (PTKs) are involved in oncogenesis and disease progression. To learn more about the biological significance of all expressed PTKs in human cancers, an improved and more-comprehensive PTK profiling approach has been developed to discover additional PTKs activated in cancer cells. With the completion of the human genome project and the availability of cDNA microarrays or DNA chips, the entire human transcriptome can be used for elucidating genes responsible for human gastric cancer oncogenesis and progression.