Osmotic stress induces phosphorylation of histone H3 at threonine 3 in pericentromeric regions of Arabidopsis thaliana

Histone phosphorylation plays key roles in stress-induced transcriptional reprogramming in metazoans but its function(s) in land plants has remained relatively unexplored. Here we report that an Arabidopsis mutant defective in At3g03940 and At5g18190, encoding closely related Ser/Thr protein kinases, shows pleiotropic phenotypes including dwarfism and hypersensitivity to osmotic/salt stress. The double mutant has reduced global levels of phosphorylated histone H3 threonine 3 (H3T3ph), which are not enhanced, unlike the response in the wild type, by drought-like treatments. Genome-wide analyses revealed increased H3T3ph, slight enhancement in trimethylated histone H3 lysine 4 (H3K4me3), and a modest decrease in histone H3 occupancy in pericentromeric/knob regions of wild-type plants under osmotic stress. However, despite these changes in heterochromatin, transposons and repeats remained transcriptionally repressed. In contrast, this reorganization of heterochromatin was mostly absent in the double mutant, which exhibited lower H3T3ph levels in pericentromeric regions even under normal environmental conditions. Interestingly, within actively transcribed protein-coding genes, H3T3ph density was minimal in 5′ genic regions, coincidental with a peak of H3K4me3 accumulation. This pattern was not affected in the double mutant, implying the existence of additional H3T3 protein kinases in Arabidopsis. Our results suggest that At3g03940 and At5g18190 are involved in the phosphorylation of H3T3 in pericentromeric/knob regions and that this repressive epigenetic mark may be important for maintaining proper heterochromatic organization and, possibly, chromosome function(s).

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CAND2/PMTR1 Is Required for Melatonin-Conferred Osmotic Stress Tolerance in Arabidopsis

International Journal of Molecular Sciences ◽

10.3390/ijms22084014 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 22 (8) ◽

pp. 4014

Author(s):

Lin-Feng Wang ◽

Ting-Ting Li ◽

Yu Zhang ◽

Jia-Xing Guo ◽

Kai-Kai Lu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Osmotic Stress ◽

Stress Tolerance ◽

Wild Type Plant ◽

Wild Type ◽

Melatonin Receptor ◽

Ros Scavenging ◽

Exogenous Melatonin ◽

Osmotic Stress Tolerance ◽

Osmotic Stress Response ◽

In The Wild

Osmotic stress severely inhibits plant growth and development, causing huge loss of crop quality and quantity worldwide. Melatonin is an important signaling molecule that generally confers plant increased tolerance to various environmental stresses, however, whether and how melatonin participates in plant osmotic stress response remain elusive. Here, we report that melatonin enhances plant osmotic stress tolerance through increasing ROS-scavenging ability, and melatonin receptor CAND2 plays a key role in melatonin-mediated plant response to osmotic stress. Upon osmotic stress treatment, the expression of melatonin biosynthetic genes including SNAT1, COMT1, and ASMT1 and the accumulation of melatonin are increased in the wild-type plants. The snat1 mutant is defective in osmotic stress-induced melatonin accumulation and thus sensitive to osmotic stress, while exogenous melatonin enhances the tolerance of the wild-type plant and rescues the sensitivity of the snat1 mutant to osmotic stress by upregulating the expression and activity of catalase and superoxide dismutase to repress H2O2 accumulation. Further study showed that the melatonin receptor mutant cand2 exhibits reduced osmotic stress tolerance with increased ROS accumulation, but exogenous melatonin cannot revert its osmotic stress phenotype. Together, our study reveals that CADN2 functions necessarily in melatonin-conferred osmotic stress tolerance by activating ROS-scavenging ability in Arabidopsis.

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Aspergillus nidulans Protein O-Mannosyltransferases Play Roles in Cell Wall Integrity and Developmental Patterning

Eukaryotic Cell ◽

10.1128/ec.00040-09 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 8 (10) ◽

pp. 1475-1485 ◽

Cited By ~ 33

Author(s):

Thanyanuch Kriangkripipat ◽

Michelle Momany

Keyword(s):

Cell Wall ◽

Aspergillus Nidulans ◽

Double Mutant ◽

Elevated Temperatures ◽

Cell Wall Integrity ◽

Wild Type ◽

Spatial Cues ◽

Developmental Patterning ◽

In The Wild ◽

Increased Sensitivity

ABSTRACT Protein O-mannosyltransferases (Pmts) initiate O-mannosyl glycan biosynthesis from Ser and Thr residues of target proteins. Fungal Pmts are divided into three subfamilies, Pmt1, -2, and -4. Aspergillus nidulans possesses a single representative of each Pmt subfamily, pmtA (subfamily 2), pmtB (subfamily 1), and pmtC (subfamily 4). In this work, we show that single Δpmt mutants are viable and have unique phenotypes and that the ΔpmtA ΔpmtB double mutant is the only viable double mutant. This makes A. nidulans the first fungus in which all members of individual Pmt subfamilies can be deleted without loss of viability. At elevated temperatures, all A. nidulans Δpmt mutants show cell wall-associated defects and increased sensitivity to cell wall-perturbing agents. The Δpmt mutants also show defects in developmental patterning. Germ tube emergence is early in ΔpmtA and more frequent in ΔpmtC mutants than in the wild type. In ΔpmtB mutants, intrahyphal hyphae develop. All Δpmt mutants show distinct conidiophore defects. The ΔpmtA strain has swollen vesicles and conidiogenous cells, the ΔpmtB strain has swollen conidiophore stalks, and the ΔpmtC strain has dramatically elongated conidiophore stalks. We also show that AN5660, an ortholog of Saccharomyces cerevisiae Wsc1p, is modified by PmtA and PmtC. The Δpmt phenotypes at elevated temperatures, increased sensitivity to cell wall-perturbing agents and restoration to wild-type growth with osmoticum suggest that A. nidulans Pmts modify proteins in the cell wall integrity pathway. The altered developmental patterns in Δpmt mutants suggest that A. nidulans Pmts modify proteins that serve as spatial cues.

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Tri-methylation of Histone H3 Lysine 4 Facilitates Gene Expression in Ageing Cells

10.1101/238048 ◽

2017 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Cristina Cruz ◽

Monica Della Rosa ◽

Christel Krueger ◽

Qian Gao ◽

Lucy Field ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Gene Expression ◽

Budding Yeast ◽

Histone H3 ◽

Specific Factor ◽

Protein Coding ◽

Replicative Lifespan ◽

Protein Coding Genes ◽

Genome Wide ◽

Normal Expression ◽

Transcriptional Induction

AbstractTranscription of protein coding genes is accompanied by recruitment of COMPASS to promoter-proximal chromatin, which deposits di- and tri-methylation on histone H3 lysine 4 (H3K4) to form H3K4me2 and H3K4me3. Here we determine the importance of COMPASS in maintaining gene expression across lifespan in budding yeast. We find that COMPASS mutations dramatically reduce replicative lifespan and cause widespread gene expression defects. Known repressive functions of H3K4me2 are progressively lost with age, while hundreds of genes become dependent on H3K4me3 for full expression. Induction of these H3K4me3 dependent genes is also impacted in young cells lacking COMPASS components including the H3K4me3-specific factor Spp1. Remarkably, the genome-wide occurrence of H3K4me3 is progressively reduced with age despite widespread transcriptional induction, minimising the normal positive correlation between promoter H3K4me3 and gene expression. Our results provide clear evidence that H3K4me3 is required to attain normal expression levels of many genes across organismal lifespan.

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Group III Histidine Kinase Is a Positive Regulator of Hog1-Type Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase in Filamentous Fungi

Eukaryotic Cell ◽

10.1128/ec.4.11.1820-1828.2005 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 4 (11) ◽

pp. 1820-1828 ◽

Cited By ~ 82

Author(s):

Akira Yoshimi ◽

Kaihei Kojima ◽

Yoshitaka Takano ◽

Chihiro Tanaka

Keyword(s):

Osmotic Stress ◽

Filamentous Fungi ◽

Histidine Kinase ◽

Type Strain ◽

Wild Type Strain ◽

Wild Type ◽

Group Iii ◽

Positive Regulator ◽

Mitogen Activated Protein ◽

In The Wild

ABSTRACT We previously reported that the group III histidine kinase Dic1p in the maize pathogen Cochliobolus heterostrophus is involved in resistance to dicarboximide and phenylpyrrole fungicides and in osmotic adaptation. In addition, exposure to the phenylpyrrole fungicide fludioxonil led to improper activation of Hog1-type mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) in some phytopathogenic fungi, including C. heterostrophus. Here we report, for the first time, the relationship between the group III histidine kinase and Hog1-related MAPK: group III histidine kinase is a positive regulator of Hog1-related MAPK in filamentous fungi. The phosphorylation pattern of C. heterostrophus BmHog1p (Hog1-type MAPK) was analyzed in wild-type and dic1-deficient strains by Western blotting. In the wild-type strain, phosphorylated BmHog1p was detected after exposure to both iprodione and fludioxonil at a concentration of 1 μg/ml. In the dic1-deficient strains, phosphorylated BmHog1p was not detected after exposure to 10 μg/ml of the fungicides. In response to osmotic stress (0.4 M KCl), a trace of phosphorylated BmHog1p was found in the dic1-deficient strains, whereas the band representing active BmHog1p was clearly detected in the wild-type strain. Similar results were obtained for Neurospora crassa Os-2p MAPK phosphorylation in the mutant of the group III histidine kinase gene os-1. These results indicate that group III histidine kinase positively regulates the activation of Hog1-type MAPKs in filamentous fungi. Notably, the Hog1-type MAPKs were activated at high fungicide (100 μg/ml) and osmotic stress (0.8 M KCl) levels in the histidine kinase mutants of both fungi, suggesting that another signaling pathway activates Hog1-type MAPKs in these conditions.

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Genome-wide analysis of the H3K27me3 epigenome and transcriptome in Brassica rapa

GigaScience ◽

10.1093/gigascience/giz147 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 8 (12) ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Miriam Payá-Milans ◽

Laura Poza-Viejo ◽

Patxi San Martín-Uriz ◽

David Lara-Astiaso ◽

Mark D Wilkinson ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Brassica Rapa ◽

Chromatin Immunoprecipitation ◽

High Throughput Sequencing ◽

Model Systems ◽

Epigenetic Mark ◽

Protein Coding ◽

Brassica Crops ◽

Genome Wide ◽

Floral Regulatory Genes ◽

Complex Genome

Abstract Background Genome-wide maps of histone modifications have been obtained for several plant species. However, most studies focus on model systems and do not enforce FAIR data management principles. Here we study the H3K27me3 epigenome and associated transcriptome of Brassica rapa, an important vegetable cultivated worldwide. Findings We performed H3K27me3 chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by high-throughput sequencing and transcriptomic analysis by 3′-end RNA sequencing from B. rapa leaves and inflorescences. To analyze these data we developed a Reproducible Epigenomic Analysis pipeline using Galaxy and Jupyter, packaged into Docker images to facilitate transparency and reuse. We found that H3K27me3 covers roughly one-third of all B. rapa protein-coding genes and its presence correlates with low transcript levels. The comparative analysis between leaves and inflorescences suggested that the expression of various floral regulatory genes during development depends on H3K27me3. To demonstrate the importance of H3K27me3 for B. rapa development, we characterized a mutant line deficient in the H3K27 methyltransferase activity. We found that braA.clf mutant plants presented pleiotropic alterations, e.g., curly leaves due to increased expression and reduced H3K27me3 levels at AGAMOUS-like loci. Conclusions We characterized the epigenetic mark H3K27me3 at genome-wide levels and provide genetic evidence for its relevance in B. rapa development. Our work reveals the epigenomic landscape of H3K27me3 in B. rapa and provides novel genomics datasets and bioinformatics analytical resources. We anticipate that this work will lead the way to further epigenomic studies in the complex genome of Brassica crops.

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mrp, a Multigene, Multifunctional Locus inBacillus subtilis with Roles in Resistance to Cholate and to Na+ and in pH Homeostasis

Journal of Bacteriology ◽

10.1128/jb.181.8.2394-2402.1999 ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 181 (8) ◽

pp. 2394-2402 ◽

Cited By ~ 109

Author(s):

Masahiro Ito ◽

Arthur A. Guffanti ◽

Bauke Oudega ◽

Terry A. Krulwich

Keyword(s):

Double Mutant ◽

Ph Regulation ◽

Inducible Promoter ◽

Cytoplasmic Ph ◽

Null Mutant ◽

Wild Type ◽

Ph Homeostasis ◽

In The Wild ◽

Single Transcript ◽

Membrane Spanning

ABSTRACT A 5.9-kb region of the Bacillus subtilis chromosome is transcribed as a single transcript that is predicted to encode seven membrane-spanning proteins. Homologues of the first gene of this operon, for which the designation mrp (multiple resistance and pH adaptation) is proposed here, have been suggested to encode an Na+/H+ antiporter or a K+/H+ antiporter. In the present studies of theB. subtilis mrp operon, both polar and nonpolar mutations in mrpA were generated. Growth of these mutants was completely inhibited by concentrations of added Na+ as low as 0.3 M at pH 7.0 and 0.03 M at pH 8.3; there was no comparable inhibition by added K+. A null mutant that was constructed by full replacement of the mrp operon was even more Na+ sensitive. A double mutant with mutations in both mrpA and the multifunctional antiporter-encodingtetA(L) gene was no more sensitive than themrpA mutants to Na+, consistent with a major role for mrpA in Na+ resistance. Expression of mrpA from an inducible promoter, upon insertion into the amyE locus, restored significant Na+ resistance in both the polar and nonpolarmrpA mutants but did not restore resistance in the null mutant. The mrpA disruption also resulted in an impairment of cytoplasmic pH regulation upon a sudden shift in external pH from 7.5 to 8.5 in the presence of Na+ and, to some extent, K+ in the range from 10 to 25 mM. By contrast, themrpA tetA(L) double mutant, like the tetA(L) single mutant, completely lost its capacity for both Na+- and K+-dependent cytoplasmic pH regulation upon this kind of shift at cation concentrations ranging from 10 to 100 mM; thus, tetA(L) has a more pronounced involvement thanmrpA in pH regulation. Measurements of Na+efflux from the wild-type strain, the nonpolar mrpA mutant, and the complemented mutant indicated that inducible expression ofmrpA increased the rate of protonophore- and cyanide-sensitive Na+ efflux over that in the wild-type in cells preloaded with 5 mM Na+. The mrpA and null mutants showed no such efflux in that concentration range. This is consistent with MrpA encoding a secondary, proton motive force-energized Na+/H+ antiporter. Studies of a polar mutant that leads to loss of mrpFG and its complementation in trans by mrpF ormrpFG support a role for MrpF as an efflux system for Na+ and cholate. Part of the Na+ efflux capacity of the whole mrp operon products is attributable to mrpF. Neither mrpF nor mrpFGexpression in trans enhanced the cholate or Na+resistance of the null mutant. Thus, one or more other mrpgene products must be present, but not at stoichiometric levels, for stability, assembly, or function of both MrpF and MrpA expressed intrans. Also, phenotypic differences among themrp mutants suggest that functions in addition to Na+ and cholate resistance and pH homeostasis will be found among the remaining mrp genes.

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ISOLATION AND STUDY OF MUTANTS LACKING A DEREPRESSIBLE PHOSPHATASE IN CHLAMYDOMONAS REINHARDI

Genetics ◽

10.1093/genetics/80.2.239 ◽

1975 ◽

Vol 80 (2) ◽

pp. 239-250

Author(s):

R F Matagne ◽

R Loppes

Keyword(s):

Alkaline Phosphatase ◽

Inorganic Phosphate ◽

Double Mutant ◽

Culture Medium ◽

Acid Phosphatases ◽

Wild Type ◽

Optimal Activity ◽

Wide Range ◽

In The Wild ◽

Definition Of

ABSTRACT In the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardi, removal of inorganic phosphate from the culture medium results in the increase of phosphatase activity (derepression) in the wild-type (WT) strain as well as in a double mutant (P2Pa) lacking the two main constitutive acid phosphatases. Following treatment of WT and P2Pa with N-methyl-N′-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG), mutants were recovered which display very low phosphatase activities when grown in the absence of phosphate; as shown by electrophoresis, they lack one non-migrating phosphatase (PD mutants). This enzyme is active over a wide range of pH with an optimum at pH 7.5. The comparison of electropherograms from WT and mutants grown on media with or without phosphate allowed us to provide a tentative definition of the pool of derepressible phosphatases in Chlamydomonas : in addition to the neutral phosphatase lacking in PD mutants, Chlamydomonas produces two electrophoretic forms of alkaline phosphatase showing an optimal activity at pH 9.5.

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Both galactosaminogalactan and α-1,3-glucan contribute to aggregation of Aspergillus oryzae hyphae in liquid culture

10.1101/589408 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Ken Miyazawa ◽

Akira Yoshimi ◽

Motoaki Sano ◽

Fuka Tabata ◽

Asumi Sugahara ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Filamentous Fungi ◽

Aspergillus Oryzae ◽

Double Mutant ◽

Liquid Culture ◽

Bacterial Cells ◽

Wild Type ◽

Hydrogen Bond Formation ◽

Relative Contribution ◽

In The Wild ◽

Increase Productivity

AbstractFilamentous fungi generally form aggregated hyphal pellets in liquid culture. We previously reported that α-1,3-glucan-deficient mutants of Aspergillus nidulans did not form hyphal pellets and their hyphae were fully dispersed, and we suggested that α-1,3-glucan functions in hyphal aggregation. Yet, Aspergillus oryzae α-1,3-glucan-deficient (AGΔ) mutants still form small pellets; therefore, we hypothesized that another factor responsible for forming hyphal pellets remains in these mutants. Here, we identified an extracellular matrix polysaccharide galactosaminogalactan (GAG) as such a factor. To produce a double mutant of A. oryzae (AG-GAGΔ), we disrupted the genes required for GAG biosynthesis in an AGΔ mutant. Hyphae of the double mutant were fully dispersed in liquid culture, suggesting that GAG is involved in hyphal aggregation in A. oryzae. Addition of partially purified GAG fraction to the hyphae of the AG-GAGΔ strain resulted in formation of mycelial pellets. Acetylation of the amino group in galactosamine of GAG weakened GAG aggregation, suggesting that hydrogen bond formation by this group is important for aggregation. Genome sequences suggest that α-1,3-glucan, GAG, or both are present in many filamentous fungi and thus may function in hyphal aggregation in these fungi. We also demonstrated that production of a recombinant polyesterase, CutL1, was higher in the AG-GAGΔ strain than in the wild-type and AGΔ strains. Thus, controlling hyphal aggregation factors of filamentous fungi may increase productivity in the fermentation industry.ImportanceProduction using filamentous fungi is an important part of the fermentation industry, but hyphal aggregation in these fungi in liquid culture limits productivity compared with that of yeast or bacterial cells. We found that galactosaminogalactan and α-1,3-glucan both function in hyphal aggregation in Aspergillus oryzae, and that the hyphae of a double mutant deficient in both polysaccharides become fully dispersed in liquid culture. We also revealed the relative contribution of α-1,3-glucan and galactosaminogalactan to hyphal aggregation. Recombinant protein production was higher in the double mutant than in the wild-type strain. Our research provides a potential technical innovation for the fermentation industry that uses filamentous fungi, as regulation of the growth characteristics of A. oryzae in liquid culture may increase productivity.

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Activation and regulation of the Spc1 stress-activated protein kinase in Schizosaccharomyces pombe.

Molecular and Cellular Biology ◽

10.1128/mcb.16.6.2870 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 16 (6) ◽

pp. 2870-2877 ◽

Cited By ~ 209

Author(s):

G Degols ◽

K Shiozaki ◽

P Russell

Keyword(s):

Protein Kinase ◽

Osmotic Stress ◽

Schizosaccharomyces Pombe ◽

Tyrosine Phosphatase ◽

Negative Regulator ◽

Mitogen Activated Protein Kinase ◽

Wild Type ◽

Expression Of Genes ◽

In The Wild

Spc1, an osmotic-stress-stimulated mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) homolog in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe, is required for the induction of mitosis and survival in high-osmolarity conditions. Spc1, also known as Sty1, is activated by Wis1 MAPK kinase and inhibited by Pyp1 tyrosine phosphatase. Spc1 is most closely related to Saccharomyces cerevisiae Hog1 and mammalian p38 kinases. Whereas Hog1 is specifically responsive to osmotic stress, we report here that Spc1 is activated by multiple forms of stress, including high temperature and oxidative stress. In this regard Spc1 is more similar to mammalian p38. Activation of Spc1 is crucial for survival of various forms of stress. Spc1 regulates expression of genes encoding stress-related proteins such as glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (gpd1+) and trehalose-6-phosphate synthase (tps1+). Spc1 also promotes expression of pyp2+, which encodes a tyrosine phosphatase postulated as a negative regulator of Spc1. This proposal is supported by the finding that Spc1 associates with Pyp2 in vivo and that the amount of Spc1 tyrosine phosphorylation is lower in a Pyp2-overproducing strain than in the wild type. Moreover, the level of stress-stimulated gpd1+ expression is higher in delta pyp2 mutants than in the wild type. These findings demonstrate that Spc1 promotes expression of genes involved in stress survival and that of regulation may be commonly employed to modulate MAPK signal transduction pathways in eukaryotic species.

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The H3K27me3 Demethylase dUTX Is a Suppressor of Notch- and Rb-Dependent Tumors in Drosophila

Molecular and Cellular Biology ◽

10.1128/mcb.01633-09 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 30 (10) ◽

pp. 2485-2497 ◽

Cited By ~ 71

Author(s):

Hans-Martin Herz ◽

Laurence D. Madden ◽

Zhihong Chen ◽

Clare Bolduc ◽

Eugene Buff ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Drosophila Melanogaster ◽

Histone H3 ◽

Epigenetic Mark ◽

Dependent Manner ◽

Wild Type ◽

Independent Manner ◽

Jmjc Domain ◽

Mutant Cells ◽

Excessive Activation

ABSTRACT Trimethylated lysine 27 of histone H3 (H3K27me3) is an epigenetic mark for gene silencing and can be demethylated by the JmjC domain of UTX. Excessive H3K27me3 levels can cause tumorigenesis, but little is known about the mechanisms leading to those cancers. Mutants of the Drosophila H3K27me3 demethylase dUTX display some characteristics of Trithorax group mutants and have increased H3K27me3 levels in vivo. Surprisingly, dUTX mutations also affect H3K4me1 levels in a JmjC-independent manner. We show that a disruption of the JmjC domain of dUTX results in a growth advantage for mutant cells over adjacent wild-type tissue due to increased proliferation. The growth advantage of dUTX mutant tissue is caused, at least in part, by increased Notch activity, demonstrating that dUTX is a Notch antagonist. Furthermore, the inactivation of Retinoblastoma (Rbf in Drosophila) contributes to the growth advantage of dUTX mutant tissue. The excessive activation of Notch in dUTX mutant cells leads to tumor-like growth in an Rbf-dependent manner. In summary, these data suggest that dUTX is a suppressor of Notch- and Rbf-dependent tumors in Drosophila melanogaster and may provide a model for UTX-dependent tumorigenesis in humans.

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