Background: There are only a few studies on sex hormones in females of different ages suffering from depression, and their conclusions are not uniform until now. This study aimed to investigate the correlation between the severity of depression in females and factors such as sex hormones and differences in sex hormone levels in females of different ages, exploring variations after treatment.Methods: A total of 169 females with depression were selected and divided into the first-episode (91 cases) and recurrent (78 cases) groups. Then, on the basis of their age, the first-episode patients were divided into the young (48 cases, age < 45 years), perimenopausal (20 cases, 45–55 years), and elderly groups (23 cases, age > 55 years); the patients with recurrent depression were classified into the young (37 cases, age < 45 years), perimenopausal (19 cases, 45–55 years), and elderly groups (22 cases, age > 55 years). The patients were assessed in accordance with theInternational Classification of Diseasesof mental and behavioral disorders. The serum progesterone, prolactin, estradiol, and testosterone levels in the patients were measured, and differences in sex hormone levels of the groups were analyzed.Results: The estradiol level was negatively correlated with age and the prolactin level was positively correlated with occupation. The severity of depression in females was found to be negatively correlated with age. The serum progesterone and estradiol levels in the young group were significantly higher than those in the elderly group, regardless of the first episode or recurrence. Estradiol levels in the perimenopausal and elderly groups with first-episode depression were significantly higher than those in the same group with recurrent depression. However, there was no significant difference in the serum progesterone, prolactin, estradiol, and testosterone levels in the recurrent group before and after treatment.Conclusions: Sex hormone levels, especially estradiol, varied among females of different ages suffering from depression. Recurrent depression also has a certain effect on sex hormone levels in females. Not only should the age and relapse be considered when studying the sex hormone levels of females with depression, but also attention should be paid to whether the patients have used antidepressants before their sexual hormonal testing.

Globodera rostochiensis is an important quarantine pest, it causes serious potato yield losses annually. Reliable and rapid molecular detection of G. rostochiensis is pivotal to effective early disease diagnosis and managements. Herein, recombinase polymerase amplification integrated with lateral flow assays method (RPA-LFA) was developed to target the internal transcribed spacer of nuclear ribosomal DNA (ITS rDNA) of the golden cyst nematode (G. rostochiensis), which allowed for the rapid diagnosis and detection of this nematode from crude extracts of cysts and juveniles within 30 min. Sensitivity test results showed that 10⁻¹ single juvenile and 10⁻³ single cyst can be reliably detected. Moreover, the RPA-LFA method can directly diagnose and detect G. rostochiensis from infested field soil. This is the first RPA-LFA method for diagnosis G. rostochiensis, it is a fast, accurate, and sensitive detection method and can be developed for detection of G. rostochiensis in fields and laboratories lacking large instrument and equipment.

Plenodomus lindquistii (basionym: Leptosphaeria lindquistii) is the most prevalent fungus pathogen causing the black stem disease in sunflower. To date, only one whole-genome sequence is reported in NCBI, but no complete gene annotation has been submitted. Herein, we sequenced a Leptosphaeria lindquistii isolate from sunflower seeds imported from the United States using Oxford Nanopore long-read sequencing and Illumina short-read sequencing. We generated a 38.6-Mb genome assembly consisting of 29 contigs with an N50 of 1.689 Mb and a maximum length of 5.316 Mb. In the genome assembly, we identified 13,481 protein-coding genes, of which 12,531 were annotated. The high-quality assembly and annotation of the Leptosphaeria lindquistii genome will allow us to conduct further studies for the specific identification of pathogens causing sunflower black stem disease and provide a better understanding of the infection mechanisms of Leptosphaeria lindquistii.

Diaporthe helianthi is one of the main fungal pathogens responsible for causing phomopsis stem canker and significant yield losses of sunflowers. In this study, the calmodulin (Cal) gene of D. helianthi was selected to develop a rapid detection method involving recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA) combined with CRISPR/Cas12a-based detection at 37 °C. The developed detection system could complete the specific detection of D. helianthi in 45 min, including 25 min for RPA and 20 min for CRISPR/Cas12 reaction. The detection system could be coupled with both lateral flow test strips and fluorescence signal reading modes. The detection limit for lateral flow assay was 1 pg/μL genomic D. helianthi DNA (14 copies/µL); The detection limit for fluorescence signal was 0.1 pg/μL genomic DNA (1.4 copies/µL), approximately 100 times higher than that of the real-time PCR. Thus, the developed RPA/CRISPR-Cas12a system meets the need for portable detection of D. helianthi on-site at ports and in the field.