UNASSIGNED: An ultrasound (US) guided RFA technique for the SIJ, utilizing bipolar RF cannula placements along the lateral sacral crest (LSC), has been proposed in anatomical studies. This study evaluated changes in pain intensity, function and quality of life following this technique.
UNASSIGNED: Patients achieving ≥50% pain relief on two blocks (one FL- and one US-guided) were included. US-guided SIJ RFA was performed with sequential bipolar lesions using two multitined RF cannulae placed along the LSC. The Pain, Disability, Quality of Life Questionnaire-Spine (PDQQ-S), which includes an 11-point (0-10) numeric rating scale (NRS) for pain intensity, was completed pre-RFA, and 2, 6, 9, 12 and 16 months post-RFA. Outcomes at 2 months post-RFA were compared between US-guided and FL-guided SIJ RFA in participants with previous FL-guided SIJ RFA.
UNASSIGNED: 31 patients were included. Statistically significant decreases in pain intensity were observed up to 9 months after US-guided SIJ RFA (Baseline NRS: mean ​= ​6.8 SD ​= ​1.6, 95%CI [6.169, 7.347]; 9 month: mean ​= ​4.8, SD ​= ​2.6, 95%CI [3.891, 5.786]; p ​= ​0.0005), and up to 12 months for PDQQ-S. A clinically significant ≥2 point reduction in pain intensity on the NRS was seen in 48.4% of participants at 9 months. 11 participants had previous FL-guided SIJ RFA; no statistically significant differences were found in pain intensity or PDQQ-S scores between US- and FL-guided SIJ RFA 2-months post-RFA.
UNASSIGNED: Preliminary results suggest that SIJ RFA could be performed using US guidance. Further study is required to establish effectiveness.

Filamentous fungi are a group of eukaryotic microorganisms widely found in nature. Some filamentous fungi have been developed as \"cell factories\" and extensively used for the production of recombinant proteins, organic acids, and secondary metabolites due to their strong protein secretion capabilities or effective synthesis of many natural products. The growth morphology of filamentous fungi significantly influences the quality and quantity of fermented products. Previous research conducted by the authors\' group revealed that an increase in hyphal branches leads to enhanced protein secretion during liquid fermentation. With the development of morphological engineering of filamentous fungi, an increasing number of studies have focused on modifying fungal mycelium morphology to improve the yield of target metabolites during fermentation. While there have been a few reviews on the relationship between fungal fermentation morphology and productivity, research in this area is rapidly developing and requires updates. The paper presents a comprehensive review of domestic and international research reports, along with the authors\' own research findings, to systematically review the morphological patterns of filamentous fungi, the impact of fungal morphology on industrial fermentation, as well as methods and strategies for regulating mycelial morphology. The aim of this review is to enhance the understanding of relevant domestic scholars regarding the morphological development of filamentous fungi and provide ideas for the rational engineering of fungal strains suitable for industrial fermentation.

Plant architecture is a major motif of plant diversity, and shoot branching patterns primarily determine the aerial architecture of plants. In this study, we identified an inbred pepper line with fewer lateral branches, 20C1734, which was free of lateral branches at the middle and upper nodes of the main stem with smooth and flat leaf axils. Successive leaf axil sections confirmed that in normal pepper plants, for either node n, Pn (Primordium n) < 1 cm and Pn+1 < 1 cm were the critical periods between the identification of axillary meristems and the establishment of the region, whereas Pn+3 < 1 cm was fully developed and formed a completely new organ. In 20C1734, the normal axillary meristematic tissue region establishment and meristematic cell identity confirmation could not be performed on the axils without axillary buds. Comparative transcriptome analysis revealed that \"auxin-activated signaling pathway\", \"response to auxin\", \"response to abscisic acid\", \"auxin biosynthetic process\", and the biosynthesis of the terms/pathways, such as \"secondary metabolites\", were differentially enriched in different types of leaf axils at critical periods of axillary meristem development. The accuracy of RNA-seq was verified using RT-PCR for some genes in the pathway. Several differentially expressed genes (DEGs) related to endogenous phytohormones were targeted, including several genes of the PINs family. The endogenous hormone assay showed extremely high levels of IAA and ABA in leaf axils without axillary buds. ABA content in particular was unusually high. At the same time, there is no regular change in IAA level in this type of leaf axils (normal leaf axils will be accompanied by AM formation and IAA content will be low). Based on this, we speculated that the contents of endogenous hormones IAA and ABA in 20C1734 plant increased sharply, which led to the abnormal expression of genes in related pathways, which affected the formation of Ams in leaf axils in the middle and late vegetative growth period, and finally, nodes without axillary buds and side branches appeared.

In the present study, we determined the morphological and physiological indicators of Pepino to elucidate its lateral branching responses to different light qualities using a full-spectrum lamp (F) as the control and eight different light ratios using blue light (B) and red light (R). In addition, correlation analysis revealed that the gene expression patterns correlated with lateral branching under various light treatments. Compared with the F treatment, the R treatment increased the plant height and inhibited the elongation of lateral branches, in contrast with the B treatment. The number of lateral branches did not change significantly under different light quality treatments. Moreover, correlation analysis showed that the ratio of blue light was significantly positively correlated with the length of lateral branches and significantly negatively correlated with plant height, aboveground dry weight, and other indicators. We conducted transcriptome sequencing of the sites of lateral branching at three periods under different light quality treatments. The gene related to photodynamic response, cryptochrome (CRY), was the most highly expressed under B treatment, negatively regulated lateral branch length, and positively correlated with plant height. Branched 1, a lateral branch regulation gene, was upregulated under R treatment and inhibited branching. Overall, the red light facilitated internode elongation, leaf area expansion, plant dry weight increase, and inhibition of lateral branching. Soluble sugar content increased, and the lateral branches elongated under blue light. Different light qualities regulated lateral branching by mediating different pathways involving strigolactones and CRY. Our findings laid a foundation for further clarifying the response mechanism of Pepino seedlings to light and provided a theoretical reference for elucidating the regulation of different light qualities on the lateral branching of Pepino.

Slow development has been shown to be a general mechanism to restore the fertility of thermo-sensitive and photoperiod-sensitive genic male sterile (TGMS and PGMS) lines in Arabidopsis. rpg1 is a TGMS line defective in primexine, which is essential for pollen wall pattern formation. Here, we showed that RPG1-GFP was highly expressed in microsporocytes, microspores, and pollen grains but not in the tapetum in the complemented transgenic line, suggesting that microsporocytes are the main sporophytic cells for primexine formation. Further cytological observations showed that primexine formation in rpg1 was partially restored under slow growth conditions, leading to its fertility restoration. RPG2 is the homolog of RPG1 in Arabidopsis. We revealed that the fertility recovery of rpg1 rpg2 was significantly reduced compared with that of rpg1 under low temperature. The RPG2-GFP protein was also expressed in microsporocytes in the RPG2-GFP (WT) transgenic line. These results suggest that RPG2 plays a redundant role in rpg1 fertility restoration. rpg1 plants were male sterile at the early growth stage, while their fertility was partially restored at the late developmental stage. The fertility of the rpg1 lateral branches was also partially restored. Further growth analysis showed that slow growth at the late reproductive stage or on the lateral branches led to fertility restoration. This work reveals the importance of gene redundancy in fertility restoration for TGMS lines and provides further insight into pollen wall pattern formation.

Lateral branches such as shoot and panicle are determining factors and target traits for rice (Oryza sativa L.) yield improvement. Cytokinin promotes rice lateral branching; however, the mechanism underlying the fine-tuning of cytokinin homeostasis in rice branching remains largely unknown. Here, we report the map-based cloning of RLB (RICE LATERAL BRANCH) encoding a nuclear-localized, KNOX-type homeobox protein from a rice cytokinin-deficient mutant showing more tillers, sparser panicles, defected floret morphology as well as attenuated shoot regeneration from callus. RLB directly binds to the promoter and represses the transcription of OsCKX4, a cytokinin oxidase gene with high abundance in panicle branch meristem. OsCKX4 over-expression lines phenocopied rlb which showed up-regulated OsCKX4 levels. Meanwhile, RLB physically binds to Polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2) component OsEMF2b and co-localized with H3K27me3, a suppressing histone modification mediated by PRC2, in the OsCKX4 promoter. We proposed that RLB recruits PRC2 to the OsCKX4 promoter to epigenetically repress its transcription, which suppresses the catabolism of cytokinin, thereby promoting rice lateral branching. Moreover, antisense inhibition of OsCKX4 under the LOG promoter successfully increased panicle size and spikelet number per plant without affecting other major agronomic traits. The current study provides insight into cytokinin homeostasis, lateral branching in plants, and also promising target genes for rice genetic improvement.

Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is a potential treatment for those with sacroiliac joint (SIJ) pain. There is no consensus on the optimal procedural techniques for SIJ diagnostic blocks, or RFA. This article describes different techniques for SIJ diagnostic blocks and RFA, including the relevant innervation that underlies these techniques. SIJ RFA techniques differ in important ways, including lesioning techniques, needle placements, and type of RFA cannula used. Clinicians utilize a variety of image guidance modalities for SIJ RFA; fluoroscopic guidance is standard, although endoscopic and ultrasound-guided techniques are described. Additional studies are necessary to delineate potential differences between SIJ RFA techniques.

Branching determines cotton architecture and production, but the underlying regulatory mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we report that the miR164-GhCUC2 (CUP-SHAPED COTYLEDON2) module regulates lateral shoot development in cotton and Arabidopsis. We generated OE-GhCUC2m (overexpression GhCUC2m) and STTM164 (short tandem target mimic RNA of miR164) lines in cotton and heterologous expression lines for gh-miR164, GhCUC2 and GhCUC2m in Arabidopsis to study the mechanisms controlling lateral branching. GhCUC2m overexpression resulted in a short-branch phenotype similar to STTM164. In addition, heterologous expression of GhCUC2m led to decreased number and length of branches compared with wild type, opposite to the effects of the OE-gh-pre164 line in Arabidopsis. GhCUC2 interacted with GhBRC1 and exhibited similar negative regulation of branching. Overexpression of GhBRC1 in the brc1-2 mutant partially rescued the mutant phenotype and decreased branch number. GhBRC1 directly bound to the NCED1 promoter and activated its transcription, leading to local abscisic acid (ABA) accumulation and response. Mutation of the NCED1 promoter disrupted activation by GhBRC1. This finding demonstrates a direct relationship between BRC1 and ABA signalling and places ABA downstream of BRC1 in the control of branching development. The miR164-GhCUC2-GhBRC1-GhNCED1 module provides a clear regulatory axis for ABA signalling to control plant architecture.

Reproductive transition of grasses is characterized by switching the pattern of lateral branches, featuring the suppression of outgrowth of the subtending leaves (bracts) and rapid formation of higher-order branches in the inflorescence (panicle). However, the molecular mechanisms underlying such changes remain largely unknown. Here, we show that bract suppression is required for the reproductive branching in rice. We identified a pathway involving the intrinsic time ruler microRNA156/529, their targets SQUAMOSA PROMOTER BINDING PROTEIN LIKE (SPL) genes, NECK LEAF1 (NL1), and PLASTOCHRON1 (PLA1), which regulates the bract outgrowth and thus affects the pattern switch between vegetative and reproductive branching. Suppression of the bract results in global reprogramming of transcriptome and chromatin accessibility following the reproductive transition, while these processes are largely dysregulated in the mutants of these genes. These discoveries contribute to our understanding of the dynamic plant architecture and provide novel insights for improving crop yields.

UNASSIGNED: The SlTCP26 negatively regulated auxin signal to relieve the apical dominance and suppressed abscisic acid signal to remove the lateral bud dormancy, promoting lateral branches development. Lateral branches formation from lateral buds is a complex regulatory process in higher plants, and the interaction between transcription factors and hormones is indispensable during this process. TCP transcription factors have been reported to regulate lateral branches development, while the detailed function, especially interacting with auxin and ABA during this process, was still ambiguous in tomato. In this study, a branch regulatory gene, SlTCP26, was identified in tomato, and its role along with its interaction to hormones during branch development, as investigated. The results indicated that overexpression of SlTCP26 would promote lateral branches development, and could suppress the expressing of the genes associated with IAA signaling, presenting similar effects in decapitated plants. Conversely, the exogenous IAA application could inhibit the expression of SlTCP26. Furthermore, the expressing of the ABA signaling-related genes was inhibited in SlTCP26 overexpressed tomato, similar to that in decapitated tomato. Our findings suggested that SlTCP26 may be a crucial adjuster for synergistic action between ABA and IAA signals during the development of lateral branches, and it could promote the lateral buds grow into lateral shoots, via inhibiting IAA signal to relieve the apical dominance and suppressing ABA signal to remove the lateral bud dormancy. Our study provided some insights for the development of tomato lateral branches to understand the apical dominance regulatory network.