title: PeerJ description: Articles published in PeerJ link: https://peerj.com/articles/index.rss3?journal=peerj&page=383 creator: info@peerj.com PeerJ errorsTo: info@peerj.com PeerJ language: en title: Followership styles scrutinized: temporal consistency and relationships with job attitudes and self-efficacy link: https://peerj.com/articles/16135 last-modified: 2023-10-27 description: While followership has been repeatedly acknowledged as an important part of leadership, key questions are still awaiting empirical testing. In our two studies, we test Kelley’s prominent concept of followership styles for the first time in a longitudinal design. Specifically, we use a latent-state trait approach to examine the degree to which followership behaviors (i.e., active engagement [AE] and independent, critical thinking [ICT]) reflect rather stable or rather dynamic behaviors. Furthermore, we examine the relationships of followership behaviors with job attitudes (i.e., job satisfaction and organizational commitment) and self-efficacy in latent states cross-lagged models. We first test our hypotheses in a sample of N = 184 employees from eleven German service organizations, which were surveyed twice with a time lag of nine to 12 months. To replicate and extend our findings from Study 1, we conducted Study 2 with a sample of N = 570 participants from a German open-access panel, which were surveyed twice with a time lag of four months. In Study 2, we additionally test leader humility and perceived organizational support (POS) as potential moderators of the relationships between followership and job attitudes. While our findings support Kelley’s conceptualization of followership styles as rather consistent behavior patterns, mixed results were found for the relationships with the other variables. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of our findings as well as the relevance of time in followership research. creator: Mirko Ribbat creator: Christoph Nohe creator: Joachim Hüffmeier uri: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.16135 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ rights: ©2023 Ribbat et al. title: Factors influencing the distribution of woody plants in tropical karst hills, south China link: https://peerj.com/articles/16331 last-modified: 2023-10-27 description: The seasonal rainforests distributed across the tropical karst hills of south China are of high biodiversity conservation value and serve many important ecosystem functions. However, knowledge surrounding distribution patterns of woody plants in tropical karst hills remains limited. In this study, we surveyed the distribution of families, genera and species of woody flora at four slope positions (depression, lower slope, middle slope, and upper slope), and analyzed the influence of topographic and soil variables on the distribution of woody plants in the tropical karst hills of south China. Forty forest plots (each 20 m × 20 m) contained 306 species of woody plants with a diameter at breast height (DBH) ≥1 cm, representing 187 genera and 66 families. As slope increased, the number of families increased slowly, and the number of genera and species followed a concave-shaped trend, with the lowest number of genera and species in the lower slope position. Differences in species composition were significantly stronger between slope positions than within slope positions. The topographic and soil variables explained 22.4% and 19.6%, respectively, of the distribution of woody plants, with slope position, slope degree, soil potassium and soil water content as the most significant variables. The results of generalized linear mixed model analysis showed that total R2 of fixed effects on variation of woody species richness was 0.498, and rock outcrop rate and soil total phosphorus were the best fitting effects. Our results help to explain the community assembly mechanism and to inform management and protection strategies for species-rich seasonal rainforests in the karst area. creator: Gang Hu creator: Zhonghua Zhang creator: Hongping Wu creator: Lei Li uri: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.16331 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ rights: © 2023 Hu et al. title: Genome-wide identification and expression analysis of GA20ox and GA3ox genes during pod development in peanut link: https://peerj.com/articles/16279 last-modified: 2023-10-26 description: BackgroundGibberellins (GAs) play important roles in regulating peanut growth and development. GA20ox and GA3ox are key enzymes involved in GA biosynthesis. These enzymes encoded by a multigene family belong to the 2OG-Fe (II) oxygenase superfamily. To date, no genome-wide comparative analysis of peanut AhGA20ox and AhGA3ox-encoding genes has been performed, and the roles of these genes in peanut pod development are not clear.MethodsA whole-genome analysis of AhGA20ox and AhGA3ox gene families in peanut was carried out using bioinformatic tools. The expression of these genes at different stage of pod development was analyzed using qRT-PCR.ResultsIn this study, a total of 15 AhGA20ox and five AhGA3ox genes were identified in peanut genome, which were distributed on 14 chromosomes. Phylogenetic analysis divided the GA20oxs and GA3oxs into three groups, but AhGA20oxs and AhGA3oxs in two groups. The conserved pattern of gene structure, cis-elements, and protein motifs further confirmed their evolutionary relationship in peanut. AhGA20ox and AhGA3ox genes were differential expressed at different stages of pod development. The strong expression of AhGA20ox1/AhGA20ox4, AhGA20ox12/AhGA20ox15, AhGA3ox1 and AhGA3ox4/AhGA3ox5 in S1-stage indicated that these genes could have a key role in controlling peg elongation. Furthermore, AhGA20ox and AhGA3ox also showed diverse expression patterns in different peanut tissues including leaves, main stems, flowers and inflorescences. Noticeably, AhGA20ox9/AhGA20ox11 and AhGA3o4/AhGA3ox5 were highly expressed in the main stem, whereas the AhGA3ox1 and AhGA20ox10 were strongly expressed in the inflorescence. The expression levels of AhGA20ox2/AhGA20ox3, AhGA20ox5/AhGA20ox6, AhGA20ox7/AhGA20ox8, AhGA20ox13/AhGA20ox14 and AhGA3ox2/AhGA3ox3 were high in the flowers, suggesting their involvement in flower development. These results provide a basis for deciphering the roles of AhGA20ox and AhGA3ox in peanut growth and development, especially in pod development. creator: Jie Sun creator: Xiaoqian Zhang creator: Chun Fu creator: Naveed Ahmad creator: Chuanzhi Zhao creator: Lei Hou creator: Muhammad Naeem creator: Jiaowen Pan creator: Xingjun Wang creator: Shuzhen Zhao uri: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.16279 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ rights: ©2023 Sun et al. title: Identification of key genes and validation of key gene aquaporin 1 on Wilms’ tumor metastasis link: https://peerj.com/articles/16025 last-modified: 2023-10-26 description: BackgroundWilms’ tumor (WT) is one of the most common solid tumors in children with unsatisfactory prognosis, but few molecular prognostic markers have been discovered for it. Many genes are associated with the occurrence and prognosis of WT. This study aimed to explore the key genes and potential molecular mechanisms through bioinformatics and to verify the effects of aquaporin 1 (AQP1) on WT metastasis.MethodsDifferentially expressed genes (DEGs) were generated from WT gene expression data sets from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. Gene functional enrichment analysis was carried out with the Database for Annotation, Visualization and Integrated Discovery (DAVID). A protein–protein interaction network (PPI) was constructed and visualized by the Search Tool for the Retrieval of Interacting Genes/Proteins (STRING) database and Cytoscape software. Minimal Common Oncology Data Elements (MCODE) was used to detect the important modules in the PPI network, and the important nodes (genes) in the PPI module were sorted by CytoHubba. RT-qPCR was performed to validate the expression of the key genes in WT. Wound healing and Transwell assays were used to detect the cell migration and invasion abilities of AQP1-overexpressing cells. Phalloidin-iFlour 488 was used to stain the cytoskeleton to observe how AQP1 overexpression affects cytoskeletal microfilament structure.ResultsA total of 73 co-expressed DEGs were chosen for further investigation. The importance of homeostasis and transmembrane transport of ions and water were highlighted by functional analysis. Gene regulatory network and PPI network were predicted. MCODE plug identified two important modules. Finally, top five key genes were identified using CytoHubba, including Renin (REN), nephrosis 2 (NPHS2), Solute Carrier Family 12 Member 3 (SLC12A3), Solute Carrier Family 12 Member 1 (SLC12A1) and AQP1. The five key genes were mainly enriched in cell volume and ion homeostasis. RT-qPCR confirmed the expression of the five key genes in WT. AQP1 was validated to be expressed at significantly lower levels in WT than in normal tissue. AQP1 overexpression significantly reduced the migratory and invasive capacity of Wit-49 cells, as evidenced by reducing the scratch healing rate and the number of perforated control cells by Wit-49 cells. AQP1 overexpression also reduced the expression of biomarkers of epithelial-mesenchymal transformation, decreased levels of vimentin and N-cadherin and increased expression of E-cadherin, resulting in decreased formation of conspicuous lamellipodial protrusions, characteristic of diminished WT cell invasion and migration.ConclusionOur study reveals the key genes of WT. These key genes may provide novel insight for the mechanism and diagnosis of WT. AQP1 overexpression inhibited invasion, migration, EMT, and cytoskeletal rearrangement of WT cells, indicating that AQP1 plays a role in the pathogenesis of WT. creator: Hong Liu creator: Chen Jin creator: Xia Yang creator: Nan Xia creator: Chunzhi Guo creator: Qian Dong uri: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.16025 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ rights: ©2023 Liu et al. title: Bioefficacy of engineered Beauveria bassiana with scorpion neurotoxin, LqqIT1 against cotton mealybug, Phenacoccus solenopsis and cowpea aphid, Aphis craccivora link: https://peerj.com/articles/16030 last-modified: 2023-10-26 description: Cotton mealybug, Phenacoccus solenopsis (Tinsley) and cowpea aphid Aphis craccivora (Koch) are notorious polyphagous, hemipteran sap sucking insect pests. A recombinant toxin gene ‘LqqIT1’ from the scorpion Leiurus quinquestriatus quinquestriatus (Ehrenberg) was cloned in the pAL1 fungal expression vector and then expressed in the entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana (Balasmo) using genetic modification techniques. The genetically transformed B. bassiana strain (BbLqqIT1-3) and its un-transformed parent strain (Bb-C) were screened to infect the third instar nymphs of P. solenopsis and first instar nymph of A. craccivora through leaf treatment and topical application (spray) method at 1 * 107 spores per ml concentration. The recombinant strain BbLqqIT1-3 was highly pathogenic against A. craccivora but non pathogenic to P. solenopsis. BbLqqIT1-3 induced 72 and 43.33% mortality in A. craccivora nymphs 96 h after leaf treatment and topical application, respectively. The nymphs of A. craccivora infected with BbLqqIT1-3 displayed classical neurotoxic symptoms such as sluggishness, solublize and liquification of the body. Crude soluble toxin protein, BbLqqIT1a-CSE and Bb-WT-CSE was extracted from the BbLqqIT1-3 and Bb-C, respectively using ammonium sulphate precipitation method, and their oral toxicity was analyzed at 5 µg/ml concentration. The survival of the studied insects was negatively affected by the crude soluble toxin extracts. The LT50 values of BbLqqIT1a-CSE against P. solenopsis and A. craccivora were 22.18 and 17.69 h, respectively. Exposure to crude soluble toxin extracts also accounted for the imbalance of ionic concentrations in the hemolymph of treated insects such as hyperpotassemia (3.53–8.18 meq/ml) in the P. solenopsis and hypopotassemia (7.52–0.47 meq/ml) in A. craccivora. The transformed fungus BbLqqIT1-3 strain exhibited promising results in invitro study. creator: Sonam Rajput creator: Sachin S. Suroshe creator: Purnmasi Ram Yadav creator: Anoop Kumar creator: Gurvinder Kaur Saini uri: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.16030 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ rights: © 2023 Rajput et al. title: Forest habitats and plant communities strongly predicts Megachilidae bee biodiversity link: https://peerj.com/articles/16145 last-modified: 2023-10-26 description: Megachilidae is one of the United States’ most diverse bee families, with 667 described species in 19 genera. Unlike other bee families, which are primarily ground nesters, most megachilid bees require biotic cavities for nesting (i.e., wood, pithy stems, etc.). For this group, the availability of woody-plant species may be as important as nectar/pollen resources in maintaining populations. We studied Megachilidae biodiversity in the continental United States. We confirmed that the highest species richness of Megachilidae was in the southwestern United States. We examined the relationship between species richness and climate, land cover, tree species richness, and flowering plant diversity. When examining environmental predictors across the conterminous United States, we found that forested habitats, but not tree diversity, strongly predicted Megachilidae richness. Additionally, Megachilidae richness was highest in areas with high temperature and low precipitation, however this was not linearly correlated and strongly positively correlated with flowering plant diversity. Our research suggests that the availability of nesting substrate (forested habitats), and not only flowering plants, is particularly important for these cavity-nesting species. Since trees and forested areas are particularly susceptible to climate change, including effects of drought, fire, and infestations, nesting substrates could become a potential limiting resource for Megachilidae populations. creator: Lindsie M. McCabe creator: Paige Chesshire creator: Neil S. Cobb uri: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.16145 license: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/ rights: title: Morphology and ontogeny of carpus and tarsus in stereospondylomorph temnospondyls link: https://peerj.com/articles/16182 last-modified: 2023-10-26 description: Skeletal development is well known in temnospondyls, the most diverse group of Paleozoic and Mesozoic amphibians. However, the elements of carpus and tarsus (i.e., the mesopodium) were always the last bones to ossify relative to the other limb bones and with regard to the rest of the skeleton, and are preserved only in rare cases. Thus, in contrast to the other parts of the limb skeleton, little is known about the ontogeny and sequence of ossification of the temnospondyl carpus and tarsus. We intended to close this gap by studying the ontogenies of a number of Permo/Carboniferous stereospondylomorphs, the only temnospondyls with preserved growth series in which the successive ossification of carpals and tarsals can be traced. Studying the degree of mesopodial ossification within the same species show that it is not necessarily correlated with body size. This indicates that individual age rather than size determined the degree of mesopodial ossification in stereospondylomorphs and that the largest individuals are not necessarily the oldest ones. In the stereospondylomorph tarsus, the distal tarsals show preaxial development in accordance with most early tetrapods and salamanders. However, the more proximal mesopodials exhibit postaxial dominance, i.e., the preaxial column (tibiale, centrale 1) consistently started to ossify after the central column (centralia 2–4, intermedium) and the postaxial column (fibulare). Likewise, we observed preaxial development of the distal carpals in the stereospondylomorph carpus, as in most early tetrapods for which a statement can be made. However, in contrast to the tarsus, the more proximal carpals were formed by preaxial development, i.e., the preaxial column (radiale, centrale 1) ossified after the central column (centralia 2–4, intermedium) and before the postaxial column (ulnare). This pattern is unique among known early tetrapods and occurs only in certain extant salamanders. Furthermore, ossification proceeded from distal to proximal in the central column of the stereospondylomorph carpus, whereas the ossification advanced from proximal to distal in the central column of the tarsus. Despite these differences, a general ossification pattern that started from proximolateral (intermedium or centrale 4) to mediodistal (distal tarsal and carpal 1) roughly in a diagonal line is common to all stereospondylomorph mesopodials investigated. This pattern might basically reflect the alignment of stress within the mesopodium during locomotion. Our observations might point to a greater variability in the development of the mesopodium in stereospondylomorphs and probably other early tetrapods than in most extant tetrapods, possibly mirroring a similar variation as seen in the early phases of skeletogenesis in salamander carpus and tarsus. creator: Florian Witzmann creator: Nadia Fröbisch uri: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.16182 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ rights: © 2023 Witzmann and Fröbisch title: Association between serum ferritin and uric acid levels and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in the Chinese population link: https://peerj.com/articles/16267 last-modified: 2023-10-26 description: BackgroundThe prevalence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is increasing worldwide. Accumulating evidence suggests that serum ferritin and uric acid (UA) are strongly associated with the risk of NAFLD, but no consensus has been reached.ObjectiveWe sought to demonstrate the association between serum ferritin, UA levels, and NAFLD risk in a large cohort study.MethodsWe separated 2,049 patients into non-NAFLD and NAFLD groups. The NAFLD group had four subgroups based on serum ferritin and four subgroups based on UA quartile levels. We used binary logistic regression to evaluate the correlation between serum ferritin, UA, and NAFLD. Additionally, an area under the curve (AUC) of receiver operating characteristic analysis (ROC) was used to predict the diagnostic value of combined serum ferritin and UA for NAFLD.ResultsSerum ferritin and UA levels were higher in the NAFLD group compared with the non-NAFLD group. Serum lipid and liver transaminase concentrations were elevated with the increase of serum ferritin and UA. The logistic regression results showed an independent correlation between serum ferritin, UA, and NAFLD. In the NAFLD group, the AUC value of serum ferritin and UA was 0.771.ConclusionsIncreased serum ferritin and UA levels are independent risk factors for NAFLD. Increased serum UA is a stronger risk factor for NAFLD than elevated serum ferritin. Serum ferritin and UA can be important predictors of NAFLD risk. creator: Fangli Zhou creator: Xiaoli He creator: Dan Liu creator: Yan Ye creator: Haoming Tian creator: Li Tian uri: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.16267 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ rights: © 2023 Zhou et al. title: Comparative transcriptome analysis on candidate genes associated with fruiting body growth and development in Lyophyllum decastes link: https://peerj.com/articles/16288 last-modified: 2023-10-26 description: Lyophyllum decastes is a mushroom that is highly regarded for its culinary and medicinal properties. Its delectable taste and texture make it a popular choice for consumption. To gain a deeper understanding of the molecular mechanisms involved in the development of the fruiting body of L. decastes, we used RNA sequencing to conduct a comparative transcriptome analysis. The analysis encompassed various developmental stages, including the vegetative mycelium, primordial initiation, young fruiting body, medium-size fruiting body, and mature fruiting body stages. A range of 40.1 to 60.6 million clean reads were obtained, and de novo assembly generated 15,451 unigenes with an average length of 1,462.68 bp. Functional annotation of transcriptomes matched 76.84% of the unigenes to known proteins available in at least one database. The gene expression analysis revealed a significant number of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between each stage. These genes were annotated and subjected to Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analyses. Highly differentially expressed unigenes were also identified, including those that encode extracellular enzymes, transcription factors, and signaling pathways. The accuracy of the RNA-Seq and DEG analyses was validated using quantitative PCR. Enzyme activity analysis experiments demonstrated that the extracellular enzymes exhibited significant differences across different developmental stages. This study provides valuable insights into the molecular mechanisms that underlie the development of the fruiting body in L. decastes. creator: Shanwen Ke creator: LingQiang Ding creator: Xin Niu creator: Huajia Shan creator: Liru Song creator: Yali Xi creator: Jiuhai Feng creator: Shenglong Wei creator: Qianqian Liang uri: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.16288 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ rights: © 2023 Ke et al. title: High-risk histological subtype-related FAM83A hijacked FOXM1 transcriptional regulation to promote malignant progression in lung adenocarcinoma link: https://peerj.com/articles/16306 last-modified: 2023-10-26 description: BackgroundAccording to the histopathology, lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) could be divided into five distinct pathological subtypes, categorized as high-risk (micropapillary and solid) group, intermediate-risk (acinar and papillary) group, and low-risk (lepidic) group. Despite this classification, there is limited knowledge regarding the role of transcription factors (TFs) in the molecular regulation of LUAD histology patterns.MethodsPublish data was mined to explore the candidate TFs associated with high-risk histopathology in LUAD, which was validated in tissue samples. Colony formation, CCK8, EdU, transwell, and matrigel assays were performed to determine the biological function of FAM83A in vitro. Subcutaneous tumor-bearing in BALB/c nude mice and xenograft perivitelline injection in zebrafish were utilized to unreal the function of FAM83A in vivo. We also performed chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP), dual-luciferase reporter, and rescue assays to uncover the underline mechanism of FAM83A. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was performed to confirm the oncogenic role of FAM83A in clinical LUAD tissues.ResultsScreening the transcriptional expression data from TCGA-LUAD, we focus on the differentially expressed TFs across the divergent pathological subtypes, and identified that the expression of FAM83A is higher in patients with high-risk groups compared with those with intermediate or low-risk groups. The FAM83A expression is positively correlated with worse overall survival, progression-free survival, and advanced stages. Gain- and loss-of-function assays revealed that FAM83A promoted cell proliferation, invasion, and migration of tumor cell lines both in vivo and in vitro. Pathway enrichment analysis shows that FAM83A expression is significantly enriched in cell cycle-related pathways. The ChIP and luciferase reporter assays revealed that FAM83A hijacks the promoter of FOXM1 to progress the malignant LUAD, and the rescue assay uncovered that the function of FAM83A is partly dependent on FOXM1 regulation. Additionally, patients with high FAM83A expression positively correlated with higher IHC scores of Ki-67 and FOXM1, and patients with active FAM83A/FOXM1 axis had poor prognoses in LUAD.ConclusionsTaken together, our study revealed that the high-risk histological subtype-related FAM83A hijacks FOXM1 transcriptional regulation to promote malignant progression in lung adenocarcinoma, which implies targeting FAM83A/FOXM1 is the therapeutic vulnerability. creator: Wei Fei creator: Yan Yan creator: Guangjun Liu creator: Bo Peng creator: Yuanyuan Liu creator: Qiang Chen uri: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.16306 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ rights: © 2023 Fei et al.