SUMMARY Zika virus (ZIKV) has become a public health threat due to its global transmission and link to severe congenital disorders. The host immune responses to ZIKV infection have not been fully elucidated, and effective therapeutics are not currently available. Herein, we demonstrated that cholesterol-25-hydroxylase (CH25H) was induced in response to ZIKV infection and that its enzymatic product, 25-hydroxycholesterol (25HC), was a critical mediator of host protection against ZIKV. Synthetic 25HC addition inhibited ZIKV infection in vitro by blocking viral entry, and treatment with 25HC reduced viremia and conferred protection against ZIKV in mice and rhesus macaques. 25HC suppressed ZIKV infection and reduced tissue damage in human cortical organoids and the embryonic brain of the ZIKV-induced mouse microcephaly model. Our findings highlight the protective role of CH25H during ZIKV infection and the potential use of 25HC as a natural antiviral agent to combat ZIKV infection and prevent ZIKV-associated outcomes, such as microcephaly.

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Jujube (Ziziphus jujuba Mill.), or Chinese date, is the most important species of Rhamnaceae, a large cosmopolitan family, and is one of the oldest cultivated fruit trees in the world. It originates from the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River, the 'mother river' of the Chinese people. It is distributed in at least 48 countries on all continents except Antarctica and is becoming increasingly important, especially in arid and semiarid marginal lands. Based on a systematic analysis of the unique characteristics of jujube, we suggest that it deserves to be recognized as a superfruit. We summarized historical research achievements from the past 3000 years and reviewed recent research advances since 1949 in seven fields, including genome sequencing and application, germplasm resources and systematic taxonomy, breeding and genetics, cultivation theory and techniques, pest control, postharvest physiology and techniques, and nutrition and processing. Based on the challenges facing the jujube industry, we discuss eight research aspects to be focused on in the future.

Diverse communities of bacteria inhabit plant tissues and those bacteria play a crucial role for plant health and growth. Tree peony (Paeonia Sect. Moutan) is known for its excellent ornamental and medicinal values as Chinese traditional plant, but little is known about its associated bacterial community under natural conditions. To examine how endophytic bacteria in tree peony vary across tissues and cultivars, PCR-based Illumina was applied to reveal the diversity of endophytic bacteria in tree peony. A total of 149,842 sequences and 21,463 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were obtained. The OTU abundance of roots was higher than leaves across other three cultivars except for ‘Kinkaku’ and ‘Luoyanghong’. The community was composed of five dominant groups (Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Acidobacteria and Actinobacteria) in all samples. Endophytic bacteria community structures had changed in leaves and roots. Sequences of Pseudomonas and Enterobacteriaceae were prevalent in root samples, whereas Succinivibrio and Acinetobacter were the dominant genus in leaf samples. Otherwise, the distribution of each dominant genus among the 5 cultivars was either varied. These findings suggested that both plant genotype and tissues contribute to the shaping of the bacterial communities associated with tree peony.