Well-ordered NiFe-MOF-74 is in situ grown on Ni foam by the induction of Fe2+ and directly used as an OER electrocatalyst. Benefited from the intrinsic open porous structure of MOF-74, the in situ ...formed MOF arrays and the synergistic effect of Ni and Fe, outstanding water oxidation activity is obtained in alkaline electrolytes with an overpotential of 223 mV at 10 mA cm−2.
Concern for the psychological health of people affected by the COVID-19 pandemic is necessary. Previous studies suggested that self-compassion contributes to life-satisfaction. However, little is ...known about the mechanism underlying this relation. This study investigated the relationship between self-compassion and life-satisfaction among Chinese self-quarantined residents during the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, we examined the mediating effect of positive coping and the moderating role of gender in this relation. Participants consist of 337 self-quarantined residents (129 men, 208 women) from a community in China, who completed measures of demographic information, Self-Compassion Scale, Satisfaction with Life Scale, and Simplified Coping Style Questionnaire. The results revealed that self-compassion was positively linked with life-satisfaction. Moreover, positive coping partially mediated the relationship between self-compassion and life-satisfaction for males and not females. In the female group, self-compassion was positively linked with positive coping and life-satisfaction; however, positive coping and life-satisfaction were not significantly linked. These findings indicated that intervention focus on self-compassion could increase life-satisfaction in self-quarantined people during the COVID-19, and self-compassion may contribute to life-satisfaction via positive coping only in the male.
The black soldier fly (BSF), Hermetia illucens (Diptera: Stratiomyidae), is renowned for its bioconversion of organic waste into a sustainable source of animal feed. We report a high-quality genome ...of 1.1 Gb and a consensus set of 16,770 gene models for this beneficial species. Compared to those of other dipteran species, the BSF genome has undergone a substantial expansion in functional modules related to septic adaptation, including immune system factors, olfactory receptors, and cytochrome P450s. We further profiled midgut transcriptomes and associated microbiomes of BSF larvae fed with representative types of organic waste. We find that the pathways related to digestive system and fighting infection are commonly enriched and that Firmicutes bacteria dominate the microbial community in BSF across all diets. To extend its potential practical applications, we further developed an efficient CRISPR/Cas9-based gene editing approach and implemented this to yield flightless and enhanced feeding capacity phenotypes, both of which could expand BSF production capabilities. Our study provides valuable genomic and technical resources for optimizing BSF lines for industrialization.
A 65 days feeding trial was conducted to evaluate the potential of black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) as a fish meal (FM) protein alternative in the diet of yellow catfish. Fish meal protein was ...replaced with BSFL meal protein at 0% (control), 13%, 25%, 37%, 48%, 68%, 85% and 100%. Compared with the control group, increased growth performances (e.g. weight gain rate increased by 21.7%) and immune indexes (e.g. serum lysozyme activity increased by 6.8%) of yellow catfish fed with diets in which a maximum of 48% FM protein was replaced by BSFL meal protein was determined. The diet in which 25% FM protein was replaced by BSFL meal protein resulted in the greatest growth performances (e.g. weight gain rate increased by 29.1%) and immune indexes (e.g. serum lysozyme activity increased by 31.9%) as well as the lowest feed conversion ratio (0.9) among all diets tested. No significant differences in survival rate, body indexes or composition were determined among all treatments. Therefore, BSFL meal protein has the potential to partially replace FM protein in the diet of yellow catfish, and it may also enhance the immunocompetence of the fish.
Black soldier fly (BSF) larvae, Hermetia illucens L., develops on organic wastes, reducing ecological pollution and converting waste biomass into protein and fat rich insect biomass. BSF can replace ...increasingly expensive protein sources used in poultry, aquaculture and livestock compound diet formulation, such as fish meal and soybean meal, which holds the potential to alleviate future food and feed insecurity. The fate of nutritional spectra in BSF during its life cycle phases is still poorly understood. This study assessed metabolic changes in nutrition composition of BSF from egg to adult. A rapid increase of crude fat content was observed since the development of 4-14 days of larvae with its maximum level reaching 28.4% in dry mass, whereas the crude protein displayed a continuous decreasing trend in the same development phases with minimum level of 38% at larval phase (12 days) and peak level of 46.2% at early pupa stage. A sharp drop in crude fat was noticed from early prepupae to late pupae (24.2%, 8.2% respectively). However crude protein shows its maximum value being 57.6% at postmortem adult stage with 21.6% fat level. In addition, fatty acids, amino acids, minerals and vitamins composition in different development stages of BSF were presented and compared. Findings from this study could provide podium to food and feed industry for framing a strategy for specific molecular nutritional component intake into the diets of humans, aquaculture and animals. It is also indicated that BSF is a possible insect which can be applied to combating the food scarcity of countries where micronutrient deficiency is prevalent. Moreover it contributes to advance exploring for developmental and metabolic biology of this edible insect.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Antimicrobial peptides from a wide spectrum of insects possess potent microbicidal properties against microbial-related diseases. In this study, seven new gene fragments of three types of ...antimicrobial peptides were obtained from Hermetia illucens (L), and were named cecropinZ1, sarcotoxin1, sarcotoxin (2a), sarcotoxin (2b), sarcotoxin3, stomoxynZH1, and stomoxynZH1(a). Among these genes, a 189-basepair gene (stomoxynZH1) was cloned into the pET32a expression vector and expressed in the Escherichia coli as a fusion protein with thioredoxin. Results show that Trx-stomoxynZH1 exhibits diverse inhibitory activity on various pathogens, including Gram-positive bacterium Staphylococcus aureus, Gram-negative bacterium Escherichia coli, fungus Rhizoctonia solani Khün (rice)-10, and fungus Sclerotinia sclerotiorum (Lib.) de Bary-14. The minimum inhibitory concentration of Trx-stomoxynZH1 is higher against Gram-positive bacteria than against Gram-negative bacteria but similar between the fungal strains. These results indicate that H. illucens (L.) could provide a rich source for the discovery of novel antimicrobial peptides. Importantly, stomoxynZH1 displays a potential benefit in controlling antibiotic-resistant pathogens.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
MFG-E8 has shown tissue protection effects in various models of organ injury. In this study, the function of MFG-E8 in SEV-induced neural stem cells (NSCs) was studied. The cell viability and ...apoptosis affected by rhMFG-E8 were tested by MTT and flow cytometry analysis, respectively. Then, the mRNA expression of MFG-E8 was detected by qRT-PCR. The expression of SOD, GSF-Px, and MDA was assessed using ELISA assay. Western blot analysis was applied for assessing the expression of MFG-E8, BCL2, BAX, cleaved caspase-3, GRP-78, XBP-1, ATF-6, ATF-4, CHOP, p-PI3K, PI3K, p-AKT, and AKT. The pharmacological experiments suggested that both mRNA and protein expression of MFG-E8 were significantly decreased after 24 h, 48 h, and 72 h treatment with SEV, and the Western blot results displayed that 50 and 100 μg/ml rhMFG-E8 could evidently promote the expression of MFG-E8 in NSCs induced by SEV. Next, rhMFG-E8 reduced the apoptosis of NSCs induced by SEV through upregulating Bcl-2 and cleaved caspase-3 and downregulating Bax. Moreover, rhMFG-E8 alleviated the endoplasmic reticulum pressure of NSCs induced by SEV through decreasing the expression of GRP-78, XBP-1, ATF-6, ATF-4, and CHOP. In addition, the rhMFG-E8 could promote the expression of SOD and GSH-Px and inhibit the expression of MDA and LDH detected by the ELISA assay and LDH kit. Moreover, rhMFG-E8 elevated the expression of p-PI3K/PI3K and p-AKT/AKT, which were inhibited by SEV in NSCs. The results of this project supported that rhMFG-E8 protects neural activity in neural stem cells induced by anesthetic sevoflurane via regulating the PI3K/AKT pathways.
Black soldier fly can convert organic wastes into their own functional biological macromolecules i.e. chitin that has great potential for biotechnological, biomedical and cosmetic application. The ...variation in the physiochemical structure of chitin was proved for several insects during metamorphosis stages whereas, it remains unknown for black soldier fly (BSF), a recognized resource insect for industrial production and organic waste management. The current work noted results on how the chitin matrix can undergo physicochemical changes during the developmental phases (larvae, prepupa, puparium, and adults) of BSF. Chitin content was determined around 3.6%, 3.1%, 14.1% and 2.9%, respectively. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis and x-ray diffraction analysis showed that chitin from BSF different stages was all α-chitin with similar thermal stability. The chitin crystalline index increased gradually with development from larvae to adult, 33.09%, 35.14%, 68.44% and 87.92%, respectively. Moreover, it was observed by scan electron microscopy that surface morphology characteristics of chitin vary significantly in developmental phases. These results confirmed that Hermetia illucens is promising for converting organic wastes into valuable biopolymers i.e. chitin and its physiochemical properties in various developmental stages help to determine the related biomedical, biotechnological, cosmetic and functional food utilization potential.
Summary
The potential utility of black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) to convert animal waste into harvested protein or lipid sources for feeding animal or producing biodiesel provides a new strategy for ...agricultural waste management. In this study, the taxonomic structure and potential metabolic and nutrient functions of the intestinal bacterial communities of BSFL were investigated in chicken and swine manure conversion systems. Proteobacteria, Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes were the dominant phyla in the BSFL gut in both the swine and chicken manure systems. After the larvae were fed manure, the proportion of Proteobacteria in their gut significantly decreased, while that of Bacteroidetes remarkably increased. Compared with the original intestinal bacterial community, approximately 90 and 109 new genera were observed in the BSFL gut during chicken and swine manure conversion, and at least half of the initial intestinal genera found remained in the gut during manure conversion. This result may be due to the presence of specialized crypts or paunches that promote microbial persistence and bacteria–host interactions. Ten core genera were found in all 21 samples, and the top three phyla among all of the communities in terms of relative abundance were Proteobacteria, Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes. The nutrient elements (OM, TN, TP, TK and CF) of manure may partly affect the succession of gut bacterial communities with one another, while TN and CF are strongly positively correlated with the relative abundance of Providencia. Some bacterial taxa with the reported ability to synthesize amino acids, Rhizobiales, Burkholderia, Bacteroidales, etc., were also observed in the BSFL gut. Functional analysis based on genes showed that intestinal microbes potentially contribute to the nutrition of BSFL and the high‐level amino acid metabolism may partly explain the biological mechanisms of protein accumulation in the BSFL body. These results are helpful in understanding the biological mechanisms of high‐efficiency nutrient conversion in BSFL associated with intestinal microbes.
The potential utility of black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) to convert animal waste into harvested protein or lipid sources provides a new strategy for agricultural waste management. In this study, the taxonomic structure and potential metabolic and nutrient functions of the intestinal bacterial communities of BSFL were investigated in chicken and swine manure conversion systems. The results are helpful in understanding the biological mechanisms of high‐efficiency nutrient conversion in BSFL associated with intestinal microbes.
Plant-parasitic nematodes cause severe losses to crop production and economies all over the world.
MCCC 1K02966, a deep-sea bacterium, was obtained from the Southwest Indian Ocean and showed ...nematicidal and fumigant activities against
in vitro. The nematicidal volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from the fermentation broth of
MCCC 1K02966 were investigated further using solid-phase microextraction gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Four VOCs, namely, pentane, 1-butanol, methyl thioacetate, and dimethyl disulfide, were identified in the fermentation broth. Among these VOCs, methyl thioacetate exhibited multiple nematicidal activities, including contact nematicidal, fumigant, and repellent activities against
. Methyl thioacetate showed a significant contact nematicidal activity with 87.90% mortality at 0.01 mg/mL by 72 h, fumigant activity in mortality 91.10% at 1 mg/mL by 48 h, and repellent activity at 0.01-10 mg/mL. In addition, methyl thioacetate exhibited 80-100% egg-hatching inhibition on the 7th day over the range of 0.5 mg/mL to 5 mg/mL. These results showed that methyl thioacetate from MCCC 1K02966 control
with multiple nematicidal modes and can be used as a potential biological control agent.