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Many pathogens infect hosts through specific organs, such as Ustilaginoidea virens , which infects rice panicles. Here, we show that a microbe-associated molecular pattern (MAMP), Ser-Thr-rich Glycosyl-phosphatidyl-inositol-anchored protein (SGP1) from U. virens , induces immune responses in rice leaves but not panicles. SGP1 is widely distributed among fungi and acts as a proteinaceous, thermostable elicitor of BAK1-dependent defense responses in N. benthamiana . Plants specifically recognize a 22 amino acid peptide (SGP1 N terminus peptide 22, SNP22) in its N-terminus that induces cell death, oxidative burst, and defense-related gene expression. Exposure to SNP22 enhances rice immunity signaling and resistance to infection by multiple fungal and bacterial pathogens. Interestingly, while SGP1 can activate immune responses in leaves, SGP1 is required for U. virens infection of rice panicles in vivo, showing it contributes to the virulence of a panicle adapted pathogen. Ustilaginoidea virens is a fungal pathogen that infects rice via the panicles. Here, the authors show that U. virens SGP1, a conserved Ser-Thr-rich glycosyl-phosphatidyl-inositol-anchored protein, elicits immune responses in rice leaves while contributing to virulence in panicles.

We identified a glycoside hydrolase family 12 (GH12) protein, XEG1, produced by the soybean pathogen Phytophthora sojae that exhibits xyloglucanase and β-glucanase activity. It acts as an important virulence factor during P. sojae infection but also acts as a pathogen-associated molecular pattern (PAMP) in soybean (Glycine max) and solanaceous species, where it can trigger defense responses including cell death. GH12 proteins occur widely across microbial taxa, and many of these GH12 proteins induce cell death in Nicotiana benthamiana. The PAMP activity of XEG1 is independent of its xyloglucanase activity. XEG1 can induce plant defense responses in a BAK1-dependent manner. The perception of XEG1 occurs independently of the perception of ethylene-inducing xylanase. XEG1 is strongly induced in P. sojae within 30 min of infection of soybean and then slowly declines. Both silencing and overexpression of XEG1 in P. sojae severely reduced virulence. Many P. sojae RXLR effectors could suppress defense responses induced by XEG1, including several that are expressed within 30 min of infection. Therefore, our data suggest that PsXEG1 contributes to P. sojae virulence, but soybean recognizes PsXEG1 to induce immune responses, which in turn can be suppressed by RXLR effectors. XEG1 thus represents an apoplastic effector that is recognized via the plant’s PAMP recognition machinery.

Oomycete pathogens secrete host cell-entering effector proteins to manipulate host immunity during infection. We previously showed that PsAvh52, an early-induced RxLR effector secreted from the soybean root rot pathogen, Phytophthora sojae, could suppress plant immunity. Here, we found that PsAvh52 is required for full virulence on soybean and binds to a novel soybean transacetylase, GmTAP1, in vivo and in vitro. PsAvh52 could cause GmTAP1 to relocate into the nucleus where GmTAP1 could acetylate histones H2A and H3 during early infection, thereby promoting susceptibility to P. sojae. In the absence of PsAvh52, GmTAP1 remained confined to the cytoplasm and did not modify plant susceptibility. These results demonstrate that GmTAP1 is a susceptibility factor that is hijacked by PsAvh52 in order to promote epigenetic modifications that enhance the susceptibility of soybean to P. sojae infection. Just like animals, plants can become infected and diseased. Among the microbes that infect plants, one group tends to stand out. Named Phytophthora after the Greek for ‘the plant destroyer’, these fungus-like microbes cause diseases in many species of plant, including important food crops. These diseases are difficult to control, and as a result Phytophthora diseases cost the farming industry billions of dollars every year. Effective control of Phytophthora diseases is likely to depend on scientists first gaining a better understanding of how these microbes infect plants. Also like animals, plants have an immune system to protect themselves from disease. Yet many disease-causing microbes make so-called effector proteins to overcome their hosts’ defenses. Previously in 2015, researchers reported that one effector made by a species known as Phytophthora sojae could suppress the immune system of soybean plants during the early stages of an infection. But it was not clear how the effector achieved this. Now, Li et al., who include many of the researchers involved in the 2015 study, go on to show that the same effector, known as PsAvh52, helps P. sojae to infect soybean plants by interacting with a previously unknown soybean enzyme. The enzyme is a transacetylase, meaning it belongs to a group of enzymes that transfer a chemical marker called an acetyl group on to other molecules including proteins. Li et al. went on to show that the PsAvh52 effector essentially hijacks the transacetylase enzyme, moving it to a location in the cell nucleus where it could chemically modify the proteins that package the soybean plant’s DNA. These chemical changes activate nearby genes that would have otherwise been switched off, and these incorrectly activated genes make the plant more susceptible to the infection. By deciphering one of the strategies that helps P. sojae to infect soybean plants, Li et al. have uncovered two possible approaches that may help to get this plant disease under control. The findings highlight the effector PsAvh52 as a weapon that could be blocked; they also reveal the transacetylase enzyme as a vulnerable point in the plant that could be protected. The next step will be to explore if there are chemical or genetic means that can achieve either of these two goals.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are important for cell-to-cell communication in animals. EVs also play important roles in plant–microbe interactions, but the underlying mechanisms remain elusive. Here, proteomic analyses of EVs from the soybean ( Glycine max ) root rot pathogen Phytophthora sojae identify the tetraspanin family proteins PsTET1 and PsTET3, which are recognized by Nicotiana benthamiana to trigger plant immune responses. Both proteins are required for the full virulence of P. sojae . The large extracellular loop (EC2) of PsTET3 is the key region recognized by N. benthamiana and soybean cells in a plant receptor-like kinase NbSERK3a/b dependent manner. TET proteins from oomycete and fungal plant pathogens are recognized by N. benthamiana thus inducing immune responses, whereas plant-derived TET proteins are not due to the sequence divergence of sixteen amino acids at the C-terminal of EC2. This feature allows plants to distinguish self and non-self EVs to trigger active defense responses against pathogenic eukaryotes. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are important in plant-microbe interactions. Here we show that the divergent sequences within tetraspanins localized at EV membranes enable plant innate immune system to distinguish between self and non-self EVs.

Oomycete pathogens produce a large number of CRN effectors to manipulate plant immune responses and promote infection. However, their functional mechanisms are largely unknown. Here, we identified a Phytophthora sojae CRN effector PsCRN108 which contains a putative DNA-binding helix-hairpin-helix (HhH) motif and acts in the plant cell nucleus. Silencing of the PsCRN108 gene reduced P. sojae virulence to soybean, while expression of the gene in Nicotiana benthamiana and Arabidopsis thaliana enhanced plant susceptibility to P. capsici. Moreover, PsCRN108 could inhibit expression of HSP genes in A. thaliana, N. benthamiana and soybean. Both the HhH motif and nuclear localization signal of this effector were required for its contribution to virulence and its suppression of HSP gene expression. Furthermore, we found that PsCRN108 targeted HSP promoters in an HSE- and HhH motif-dependent manner. PsCRN108 could inhibit the association of the HSE with the plant heat shock transcription factor AtHsfA1a, which initializes HSP gene expression in response to stress. Therefore, our data support a role for PsCRN108 as a nucleomodulin in down-regulating the expression of plant defense-related genes by directly targeting specific plant promoters.

Recently, several studies have reported that the survival benefit of wedge resection might not be inferior to that of lobectomy in early-stage NSCLC patients, but there is no unified definition of the details or cutoff value. Patients with early-stage NSCLC with a tumour size ≤ 2.0 cm were chosen from the SEER database. The influence of confounding factors was minimized by 1:1 propensity score matching (PSM). Kaplan‒Meier curves and Cox proportional hazards models were used to evaluate the overall survival (OS) and lung cancer-specific survival (LCSS) of patients undergoing lobectomy and wedge resection. A total of 3891 patients with early-stage NSCLC with tumour size ≤ 2.0 cm were enrolled, of whom 2839 underwent lobectomy and 1052 underwent wedge resection. Both before and after PSM, lobectomy significantly improved OS and LCSS compared with wedge resection in the unstratified study population. In the tumour size ≤ 1 cm group, lobectomy had better OS and LCSS than wedge resection ( P  < 0.05) before PSM; after PSM, there was no significant difference in OS ( P  = 0.16) and LCSS ( P  = 0.17). In Grade I patients, before PSM, lobectomy was superior to wedge resection in LCSS ( P  = 0.038), while there was no significant difference in OS ( P  = 0.16); after PSM, there were no significant differences in either OS ( P  = 0.78) or LCSS ( P  = 0.11). For early-stage NSCLC patients with a tumour size ≤ 1 cm or with a tumour size ≤ 2 cm and with Grade I, there was no significant difference in survival between wedge resection and lobectomy.

In diverse Phytophthora -plant pathosystems, Phytophthora secretes XLP1 (PsXEG1-Like Protein), a non-enzymatic paralog that functions as a decoy to protect XEG1 (Xyloglucan-specific Endoglucanase) from host inhibitors. Here, we show that the genus-specific selection pressures on the XEG1 / XLP1 gene pair are crucial for host adaptation and are closely linked to Phytophthora host range. Our findings reveal that the XEG1 / XLP1 gene pair originated within Phytophthora and subsequently evolved into genus-specific genes, undergoing functional divergence driven by preferential selection. Positive selection sites within the XEG1 / XLP1 gene pair in Phytophthora contribute to this functional divergence and are associated with the host range variability of Phytophthora as evidenced by multivariate statistical analyses. Furthermore, mutations at key selection sites in Phytophthora sojae and Phytophthora capsici significantly impair their pathogenicity, with P. capsici exhibiting almost no colonization expansion on tobacco and pea. Notably, natural Phytophthora populations harbor mutations at the positive selection sites, indicating ongoing evolutionary pressures on the XEG1/XLP1 gene pair. This study identifies lineage-specific XEG1 / XLP1 gene pair in the genus Phytophthora , revealing that selective pressure on these genes drives functional differentiation. This selection is closely linked to the host range and adaptability of Phytophthora species.

Background: Postoperative pulmonary embolism (PPE) is a critical complication that can significantly affect patient outcomes. This study aimed to assess knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) of thoracic healthcare professionals toward PPE. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from September to December 2022. Results: A total of 222 thoracic healthcare professionals participated in the study; the majority were aged 30–40 years (40.54%) and had over 10 years of work experience (47.75%). Participants completed a self-designed questionnaire assessing demographic data and KAP scores: knowledge (0–11), attitudes (11–55), and practices (9–45). The main measures included the mean scores for knowledge, attitudes, and practices, along with correlation analyses and path analysis to assess relationships among the KAP components. Mean scores were 9.03 ± 1.13 for knowledge, 50.09 ± 4.23 for attitudes, and 35.78 ± 7.85 for practices. Participants showed strong awareness of PPE definitions and risk factors, but only 24.77% correctly identified its classic clinical triad. Attitudinally, while most expressed a willingness to engage in PPE training and risk assessment, 55.41% remained cautious about anticoagulation due to bleeding risks. In practice, although 72.52% consistently supported postoperative mobilization, only 30.63% frequently acquired updated PPE knowledge. Significant positive correlations were found between knowledge and attitudes (r = 0.218, p < 0.001) and between attitudes and practices (r = 0.234, p < 0.001). Path analysis showed that knowledge positively influenced attitudes (path coefficient 0.748, p = 0.002), and attitudes positively influenced practices (path coefficient 0.374, p = 0.003). Conclusions: Thoracic healthcare professionals exhibited adequate knowledge, positive attitudes, and proactive practices regarding PPE, indicating a strong foundation for enhancing postoperative care.

As college students bear little energy cost of public buildings on campus, information intervention is more feasible than economic intervention to augment the energy-saving intention of college students. College students are sensitive to environmental information; thus, building energy consumption information, which reflects the energy consumption levels of the environment where students live, may be effective to promote the energy-saving intention of college students. However, the changeable cognitive structure of college students makes it difficult to predict the cognitive results of building energy consumption information. Based on social cognitive theory and theory of planned behavior, this paper reveals the impacts of building energy consumption information on energy-saving intentions of college students from the perspective of perceived value and personal norms. The conclusions are: (1) The impacts are positive and indirect; (2) the impacts are realized through the path “perceived benefit—perceived value—intention” and “perceived benefit & risk—personal norm—intention”; (3) the perceived value and personal norm independently affect energy-saving intention; and (4) the effect of perceived benefits is the most obvious. Based on the above results, we put forward a series of policy suggestions, with the aim to enhance the positive effect of building energy consumption information on college students.

The extracellular space (apoplast) of plant tissue represents a critical battleground between plants and attacking microbes. Here we show that a pathogen-secreted apoplastic xyloglucan-specific endoglucanase, PsXEG1, is a focus of this struggle in the Phytophthora sojae–soybean interaction. We show that soybean produces an apoplastic glucanase inhibitor protein, GmGIP1, that binds to PsXEG1 to block its contribution to virulence. P. sojae, however, secretes a paralogous PsXEG1-like protein, PsXLP1, that has lost enzyme activity but binds to GmGIP1 more tightly than does PsXEG1, thus freeing PsXEG1 to support P. sojae infection. The gene pair encoding PsXEG1 and PsXLP1 is conserved in many Phytophthora species, and the P. parasitica orthologs PpXEG1 and PpXLP1 have similar functions. Thus, this apoplastic decoy strategy may be widely used in Phytophthora pathosystems.