Summary
Clonostachys rosea is a promising saprophytic filamentous fungus that belongs to phylum Ascomycota. Clonostachys rosea is widespread around the world and exists in many kinds of habitats, ...with the highest frequency in soil. As an excellent mycoparasite, C. rosea exhibits strong biological control ability against numerous fungal plant pathogens, nematodes and insects. These behaviours are based on the activation of multiple mechanisms such as secreted cell‐wall‐degrading enzymes, production of antifungal secondary metabolites and induction of plant defence systems. Besides having significant biocontrol activity, C. rosea also functions in the biodegradation of plastic waste, biotransformation of bioactive compounds, as a bioenergy sources and in fermentation. This mini review summarizes information about the biology and various applications of C. rosea and expands on its possible uses.
Immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) targeting PD-1/PD-L1 has been used for the treatment of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). However, the overall response rate to ICB therapy for HNSCC ...remains less than 20%. It has recently been reported that the appearance of tertiary lymphoid structures (TLSs) in tumor tissue is correlated with better prognosis and response to ICB treatment. Here, we demonstrated an immune classification for the tumor microenvironment (TME) of HNSCC by analyzing The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA)–HNSCC data set and found that immunotype D with TLS enrichment had a better prognosis and response to ICB treatment. Furthermore, we observed that TLSs were present in a part of tumor samples of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection negative HNSCC (HPV− HNSCC) and were associated with the densities of dendritic cell (DC)–LAMP+ DCs, CD4+ T cells, CD8+ T cells, and progenitor T cells in TME. We established an HPV− HNSCC mouse model with TLS-enriched TME by overexpressing LIGHT in a mouse HNSCC cell line. We found that the induction of TLS formation enhanced the response to PD-1 blockade treatment in the HPV− HNSCC mouse model, accompanied by increases in DCs and progenitor exhausted CD8+ T cells in the TME. Elimination of CD20+ B cells attenuated the therapeutic effect of PD-1 pathway blockade in TLS+ HPV− HNSCC mouse models. These results indicate that TLSs contribute to the favorable prognosis and antitumor immunity of HPV− HNSCC. Inducing TLS formation in HPV− HNSCC tumors is a potential therapeutic method for improving the ICB response rate in patients with HPV− HNSCC.
The sterol regulatory element binding protein (SREBP) family of transcription activators are critical regulators of cholesterol and fatty acid homeostasis. We previously demonstrated that human ...SREBPs bind the CREB-binding protein (CBP)/p300 acetyltransferase KIX domain and recruit activator-recruited co-factor (ARC)/Mediator co-activator complexes through unknown mechanisms. Here we show that SREBPs use the evolutionarily conserved ARC105 (also called MED15) subunit to activate target genes. Structural analysis of the SREBP-binding domain in ARC105 by NMR revealed a three-helix bundle with marked similarity to the CBP/p300 KIX domain. In contrast to SREBPs, the CREB and c-Myb activators do not bind the ARC105 KIX domain, although they interact with the CBP KIX domain, revealing a surprising specificity among structurally related activator-binding domains. The Caenorhabditis elegans SREBP homologue SBP-1 promotes fatty acid homeostasis by regulating the expression of lipogenic enzymes. We found that, like SBP-1, the C. elegans ARC105 homologue MDT-15 is required for fatty acid homeostasis, and show that both SBP-1 and MDT-15 control transcription of genes governing desaturation of stearic acid to oleic acid. Notably, dietary addition of oleic acid significantly rescued various defects of nematodes targeted with RNA interference against sbp-1 and mdt-15, including impaired intestinal fat storage, infertility, decreased size and slow locomotion, suggesting that regulation of oleic acid levels represents a physiologically critical function of SBP-1 and MDT-15. Taken together, our findings demonstrate that ARC105 is a key effector of SREBP-dependent gene regulation and control of lipid homeostasis in metazoans.
Deep-learning language models have shown promise in various biotechnological applications, including protein design and engineering. Here we describe ProGen, a language model that can generate ...protein sequences with a predictable function across large protein families, akin to generating grammatically and semantically correct natural language sentences on diverse topics. The model was trained on 280 million protein sequences from >19,000 families and is augmented with control tags specifying protein properties. ProGen can be further fine-tuned to curated sequences and tags to improve controllable generation performance of proteins from families with sufficient homologous samples. Artificial proteins fine-tuned to five distinct lysozyme families showed similar catalytic efficiencies as natural lysozymes, with sequence identity to natural proteins as low as 31.4%. ProGen is readily adapted to diverse protein families, as we demonstrate with chorismate mutase and malate dehydrogenase.
Capillary condensation of water is ubiquitous in nature and technology. It routinely occurs in granular and porous media, can strongly alter such properties as adhesion, lubrication, friction and ...corrosion, and is important in many processes used by microelectronics, pharmaceutical, food and other industries
. The century-old Kelvin equation
is frequently used to describe condensation phenomena and has been shown to hold well for liquid menisci with diameters as small as several nanometres
. For even smaller capillaries that are involved in condensation under ambient humidity and so of particular practical interest, the Kelvin equation is expected to break down because the required confinement becomes comparable to the size of water molecules
. Here we use van der Waals assembly of two-dimensional crystals to create atomic-scale capillaries and study condensation within them. Our smallest capillaries are less than four ångströms in height and can accommodate just a monolayer of water. Surprisingly, even at this scale, we find that the macroscopic Kelvin equation using the characteristics of bulk water describes the condensation transition accurately in strongly hydrophilic (mica) capillaries and remains qualitatively valid for weakly hydrophilic (graphite) ones. We show that this agreement is fortuitous and can be attributed to elastic deformation of capillary walls
, which suppresses the giant oscillatory behaviour expected from the commensurability between the atomic-scale capillaries and water molecules
. Our work provides a basis for an improved understanding of capillary effects at the smallest scale possible, which is important in many realistic situations.
Sharp faceted interfaces are often observed between compound precipitates and matrix phases, which are remarkably different in their lattice parameters. Multiple orientation relationships (ORs) ...corresponding to various faceted interfaces tend to coexist in one alloy. A near row matching (NRM) approach is proposed for a systematic investigation of ORs corresponding to potential preferred interfaces. Unlike a common practice to search for misorientations corresponding to low sigma grain boundaries associated with matching periodicity in three dimensions (3D), this approach directly searches for ORs that permit local 2D periodic good matching structures in preferred interfaces. The calculation method consists of two simple steps to evaluate matching within and between rows of lattice points. The method has been applied to a Mg
2
Sn/Mg system. Ten of the forty-four predicted facets agree with the experimental observations, for the cases that the preferred facets can be described (approximately) by low index planes of the precipitates. The predictions can cover all known observations, if limited high index planes are included as candidates. Each observed facet is characterized with a periodic pattern of good matching sites (GMSs) in localized regions. NRM is a necessary condition for the existence of a periodic GMS pattern. The agreement between the calculation results and experimental results confirms the important role of periodic matching in the development of preferred interfaces and their corresponding ORs. It also demonstrates the usefulness of geometric matching study for quantitative predictions of potential preferred interfaces.
A three-dimensional transient computational fluid dynamics model is developed to analyze the influence of tool thread pitch on the material flow and thermal process in friction stir welding (FSW) of ...aluminum alloy plates. Four tool designs with different thread pitch are considered, the information of material flow velocity in the shear layer is extracted by analyzing the distribution of the tracking particles which are released at the starting points of streamlines, and the effect of thread pitch on material flow velocity is examined. Pin thread can effectively prevent the speed sudden change at advancing side, which is easy to occur with unthreaded pin. The total heat generation decreases with increase in thread pitch, which results in the decrease in peak temperature in FSW process. The calculated and measured thermal cycles and thermo-mechanically affected zone boundary match with each other.
Recently, a new two-dimensional material, single- or few-layered black phosphorus (BP), has attracted considerable attention for applications in electronics, optoelectronics, and batteries due to its ...unique properties, including large specific surface area, anisotropy, and tunable and direct band gaps. In particular, contributions to electrochemical energy storage devices, such as lithium and sodium ion batteries and supercapacitors, have emerged. However, critical issues remain to be explored before scaled-up commercial production of BP, such as preparation, stability, and performance. Herein, we present the first review of recent progress in BP-based electrochemical energy storage device. The preparation and electrochemical properties of black phosphorus, recent advances, potential challenges, and relevant perspectives in electrochemical energy storage, and the potential of BP are discussed in this work.
Recently, a new two-dimensional material, single- or few-layered black phosphorus (BP), has attracted considerable attention for applications in electrochemical energy storage, due to its ultrahigh theoretical capacity, and can hopefully become commercialized in the near future.
The terpenoid backbone biosynthesis pathway is responsible for the synthesis of different backbones for terpenoids; (E)‐β‐farnesene (EβF), a sesquiterpene, is the major component of aphid alarm ...pheromone. Our previous studies eliminated the possibility of host plants and endosymbionts as the sources of EβF, and we thus speculate that the terpenoid pathway might affect the biosynthesis of EβF in aphids. First, the transcriptional responses of four genes encoding farnesyl diphosphate synthase (FPPS), geranylgeranyl diphosphate synthase (GGPPS) and decaprenyl diphosphate synthase in the cotton aphid Aphis gossypii to simulated stimulation were analysed using quantitative real‐time PCR, showing an immediate decrease in the transcript abundances of the four genes. Next, RNA‐interference‐mediated gene knockdown was performed, indicating that fpps knockdown caused a significant cost in terms of body size and fecundity. Finally, an association analysis of gene knockdown with the amount of EβF was conducted, revealing that the concentration of EβF per milligram of aphid was drastically decreased in response to fpps knockdown, whereas ggpps knockdown significantly raised the concentration of EβF. Our data support a peculiar mode of biosynthesis and storage of the aphid alarm pheromone that relies directly on the terpenoid backbone biosynthesis pathway in the aphid.
With the aim of gathering temporal trends on bacterial epidemiology and resistance from multiple laboratories in China, the CHINET surveillance system was organized in 2005. Antimicrobial ...susceptibility testing was carried out according to a unified protocol using the Kirby-Bauer method or automated systems. Results were analyzed according to Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) 2014 definitions. Between 2005 and 2014, the number of bacterial isolates ranged between 22 774 and 84 572 annually. Rates of extended-spectrum β-lactamase production among Escherichia coli isolates were stable, between 51.7 and 55.8%. Resistance of E. coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae to amikacin, ciprofloxacin, piperacillin/tazobactam and cefoperazone/sulbactam decreased with time. Carbapenem resistance among K. pneumoniae isolates increased from 2.4 to 13.4%. Resistance of Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains against all of antimicrobial agents tested including imipenem and meropenem decreased with time. On the contrary, resistance of Acinetobacter baumannii strains to carbapenems increased from 31 to 66.7%. A marked decrease of methicillin resistance from 69% in 2005 to 44.6% in 2014 was observed for Staphylococcus aureus. Carbapenem resistance rates in K. pneumoniae and A. baumannii in China are high. Our results indicate the importance of bacterial surveillance studies.
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