The genetic paradox of biological invasions is complex and multifaceted. In particular, the relative role of disparate propagule sources and genetic adaptation through postintroduction hybridization has remained largely unexplored. To add resolution to this paradox, we investigate the genetic architecture responsible for the invasion of two invasive Asian carp species, bighead carp (Hypophthalmichthys nobilis) and silver carp (H. molitrix) (bigheaded carps) that experience extensive hybridization in the Mississippi River Basin (MRB). We sequenced the genomes of bighead and silver carps (~1.08G bp and ~1.15G bp, respectively) and their hybrids collected from the MRB. We found moderate-to-high heterozygosity in bighead (0.0021) and silver (0.0036) carps, detected significantly higher dN/dS ratios of single-copy orthologous genes in bigheaded carps versus 10 other species of fish, and identified genes in both species potentially associated with environmental adaptation and other invasion-related traits. Additionally, we observed a high genomic similarity (96.3% in all syntenic blocks) between bighead and silver carps and over 90% embryonic viability in their experimentally induced hybrids. Our results suggest intrinsic genomic features of bigheaded carps, likely associated with life history traits that presumably evolved within their native ranges, might have facilitated their initial establishment of invasion,

Fabricating concurrently stretchable and conductive hydrogel scaffold is highly desired in the development of myocardial tissue engineering, and also very challenging especially with the anisotropic conductive properties. Existing anisotropic-strategies are limited to specific nanomaterials, or time-consuming. Here, we present a simple and new stretch-induced strategy to make conductive nanotubes aligned in the hydrogel. With this strategy, we fabricated a new type of hybrid hydrogel that possesses excellent stretchability while enabling outstanding anisotropic conductivity (6 vs 30 S/cm). Hybrid hydrogels are also successfully applied as a therapeutic cardiac patch which induces an elongated cell morphology of cultured cardiomyocytes and enables a stable directional transmission of electric signals. This patch gave successful mitigation of myocardium infarction in rats. It is believed that this strategy, and this nanocomposite hydrogel have a promising application in tissue engineering.

The digestive tract is replete with complex and diverse microbial communities that are important for the regulation of multiple pathophysiological processes in humans and animals, particularly those involved in the maintenance of intestinal homeostasis, immunity, inflammation, and tumorigenesis. The diversity of bile acids is a result of the joint efforts of host and intestinal microflora. There is a bidirectional relationship between the microbial community of the intestinal tract and bile acids in that, while the microbial flora tightly modulates the metabolism and synthesis of bile acids, the bile acid pool and composition affect the diversity and the homeostasis of the intestinal flora. Homeostatic imbalances of bile acid and intestinal flora systems may lead to the development of a variety of diseases, such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), colorectal cancer (CRC), hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), type 2 diabetes (T2DM), and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). The interactions between bile acids and intestinal flora may be (in)directly involved in the pathogenesis of these diseases.

Adhesion to many kinds of surfaces, including biological tissues, is important in many fields but has been proved to be extremely challenging. Furthermore, peeling from strong adhesion is needed in many conditions, but is sometimes painful. Herein, a mussel inspired hydrogel is developed to achieve both strong adhesion and trigger‐detachment. The former is actualized by electrostatic interactions, covalent bonds, and physical interpenetration, while the latter is triggered, on‐demand, through combining a thixotropic supramolecular network and polymer double network. The results of the experiments show that the hydrogel can adhere to various material surfaces and tissues. Moreover, triggered by shear force, non‐covalent interactions of the supramolecular network are destroyed. This adhesion can be peeled easily. The possible mechanism involved is discussed and proved. This work will bring new insight into electronic engineering and tissue repair like skin care for premature infants and burn victims.

Unprecedented advances in metal nanoparticle synthesis have paved the way for broad applications in sensing, imaging, catalysis, diagnosis and therapy by tuning optical properties, enhancing catalytic performance, and improving chemical and biological properties of metal nanoparticles. The central guiding concept for regulating the size and morphology of metal nanoparticles has been identified as the precise manipulation of nucleation and subsequent growth, often known as seed‐mediated growth methods. However, since the growth process is sensitive not only to the metal seeds but also to capping agents, metal precursors, growth solution, growth/incubation time, reductant and other influencing factors, the precise control of metal nanoparticle morphology is multifactorial. Further, multiple reaction parameters are entangled with each other, so it is necessary to clarify the mechanism by which each factor precisely regulates the morphology of metal nanoparticles. In this review, to exploit the generality and extendibility of metal nanoparticle synthesis, we systematically summarized the mechanism of growth influencing factors in seed‐mediated growth methods. Second, we focus on a variety of critical properties and applications enabled by grown metal nanoparticles. Finally, we review the current progress and offer insights on the challenges, opportunities, and future directions for the growth and applications of grown metal nanoparticles.This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved