Basic leucine zipper (bZIP) is a diverse transcription factor in plants that is involved in many stress responses, especially salt stress. However, the roles of bZIP genes in the common bean have not been elucidated. 84 proteins in common bean were identified here. Through phylogenetic analysis, the PvbZIPs were classified into five subfamilies, and these clusters were supported by several group-specific features, including gene structure, motifs, and cis-regulatory elements. Collinearity analysis revealed the connection between PvbZIPs and bZIPs from two other dicotyledonous species, namely Arabidopsis and Soybean (Glycine max). Expression patterns of the PvbZIPs genes indicated that they exhibit a tissue-specific manner at the sprouting stage. RNA-seq and qRT-PCR analyses indicated that PvbZIPs exhibit different expression patterns under salt stress in salt tolerance and salt-sensitive varieties. According to KEGG analysis of PvbZIPs-enriched pathways, PvbZIPs appear to target the abscisic acid (ABA) signaling pathway which might result in enhanced salt tolerance. Our findings elucidate on functional characterization of PvbZIP in Phaseolus vulgaris and its role in salt stress regulation through ABA.

Tea (Camellia sinensis L.) is a thermophilic evergreen woody plant that has poor cold tolerance. The SAD gene plays a key role in regulating fatty acid synthesis and membrane lipid fluidity in response to temperature change. In this study, full-length SAD cDNA was cloned from tea leaves using rapid amplification of cDNA ends and polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based methods. Sequence analysis demonstrated that CsSAD had a high similarity to other corresponding cDNAs. At 25°C, the CsSAD transcriptional level was highest in the leaf and lowest in the stem, but there was no obvious difference between the root and stem organs. CsSAD expression was investigated by reverse transcription-PCR, which showed that CsSAD was upregulated at 4° and -5°C. At 25°C, CsSAD was induced by polyethylene glycol, abscisic acid, and wounding, and a similar trend was observed at 4°C, but the mean expression level at 4°C was lower than that at 25°C. Under natural cold acclimation, the 'CsCr05' variety's CsSAD expression level increased before decreasing. The CsSAD expression level in variety 'CsCr06' showed no obvious change at first, but rapidly increased to a maximum when the temperature was very low. Our study demonstrates that CsSAD is upregulated in response to different abiotic conditions, and that it is important to study the stress resistance of the tea plant, particularly in response to low temperature, drought, and wounding.

Objective This study aimed to investigate related factors affecting the eradication rate of Helicobacter pylori (Hp) by modified quadruple therapy. Methods Between September 2020 and March 2021, 341 patients who were diagnosed with Hp infection and whose infections were confirmed by gastroscopy, a histological examination, and a C13-UBT without culturing and antimicrobial susceptibility studies received a two-week anti-Hp treatment, a modified quadruple therapy, in our department. The result of C13-UBT was rechecked 4 weeks after the drug withdrawal, and the patients were divided into two groups—a success group and a failure group—according to the final breath result. The general clinical information and related laboratory indexes of each patient were collected, and the factors affecting the eradication rate were analyzed. Results The total clinical eradication rate was 80.06% (273/341), and the failure rate was 19.94% (68/341), correspondingly. Univariate analysis identified statistically significant differences between the two groups in serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels, presence of oral diseases, positive cytotoxin-associated gene A (CagA), and medical compliance ( P < 0.05). Meanwhile, the use of a proton pump inhibitor (PPIs) and antibiotics was statistically different ( P < 0.05). Logistic regression analysis revealed that vitamin D level (<20 ng/mL) [OR = 98.56, 95% CI (29.01–334.83), P < 0.001] and medical compliance [OR = 148.18, 95% CI (37.64–583.33), P < 0.001] were independent effecting factors for eradication rate. Conclusion Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D level lower than 20 ng/mL may affect the success of eradication of Hp and is an independent risk factor for eradication failure.

Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) is an important food crop; however, its production is affected by salt stress. Salt stress can inhibit seed germination, promote senescence, and modify cell wall biosynthesis, assembly, and architecture. Melatonin, an indole heterocycle, has been demonstrated to greatly impact cell wall structure, composition, and regulation in plants under stress. However, the molecular basis for such assumptions is still unclear. In this study, a common bean variety, “Naihua” was treated with water (W), 70 mmol/L NaCl solution (S), and 100 μmol/L melatonin supplemented with salt solution (M+S) to determine the response of common bean to exogenous melatonin and explore regulatory mechanism of melatonin against salt stress. The results showed that exogenous melatonin treatment alleviated salt stress-induced growth inhibition of the common bean by increasing the length, surface area, volume, and diameter of common bean sprouts. Moreover, RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) and real-time quantitative PCR (qRT-PCR) indicated that the cell wall regulation pathway was involved in the salt stress tolerance of the common bean enhanced by melatonin. Screening of 120 germplasm resources revealed that melatonin treatment improved the salt tolerance of more than 65% of the common bean germplasm materials. Melatonin also up-regulated cell wall pathway genes by at least 46%. Furthermore, we analyzed the response of the common bean germplasm materials to melatonin treatment under salt stress using the key genes associated with the synthesis of the common bean cell wall as the molecular markers. The results showed that two pairs of markers were significantly associated with melatonin, and these could be used as candidate markers to predict whether common bean respond to exogenous melatonin and then enhance salt tolerance at the sprouting stage. This study shows that cell wall can respond to exogenous melatonin and enhance the salt tolerance of common bean. The makers identified in this study can be used to select common bean varieties that can respond to melatonin under stress. Overall, the study found that cell wall could response melatonin and enhance the salt tolerance and developed the makers for predicting varieties fit for melatonin under stress in common bean, which may be applied in the selection or development of common bean varieties with abiotic stress tolerance.

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