Mikania micrantha is one of the top 100 worst invasive species that can cause serious damage to natural ecosystems and substantial economic losses. Here, we present its 1.79 Gb chromosome-scale ...reference genome. Half of the genome is composed of long terminal repeat retrotransposons, 80% of which have been derived from a significant expansion in the past one million years. We identify a whole genome duplication event and recent segmental duplications, which may be responsible for its rapid environmental adaptation. Additionally, we show that M. micrantha achieves higher photosynthetic capacity by CO
absorption at night to supplement the carbon fixation during the day, as well as enhanced stem photosynthesis efficiency. Furthermore, the metabolites of M. micrantha can increase the availability of nitrogen by enriching the microbes that participate in nitrogen cycling pathways. These findings collectively provide insights into the rapid growth and invasive adaptation.
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•Zn-HA/Bi-HA biphasic coatings were prepared on the surface of titanium plates via sol-gel and dip-coating process.•Regular spherical apatite deposition could be formed on the ...biphasic coating surface.•Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus adhesion to the titanium biphasic coating surface were strongly inhibited.•The surface of biphasic coatings was effective to enhance the proliferation of MG63 cells.
Hydroxyapatite (HA) coatings have been of important as biocompatible coatings for dental and bone tissue engineering application. However, the poor antibacterial performance and weak biological activity of HA coatings limited their clinical applications. As a strategy to improve the antibacterial performance and biological activity of HA, Zinc and bismuth ions were incorporated into HA lattice by substituting Ca2+ ions, respectively, and thus zinc substituted hydroxyapatite/bismuth substituted hydroxyapatite (Zn-HA/Bi-HA) biphasic coatings on titanium plates with various ratios were fabricated via sol-gel and dip-coating processes. The purity of the Zn-HA and Bi-HA phase was confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) test. The biphasic coatings showed slower dissolution rate than pure HA coating. Furthermore, the Zn-HA/Bi-HA coatings reveal good biomineralization activity in simulated body fluid (SBF) by forming regular spherical apatite agglomerates. Moreover, the biphasic Zn-HA/Bi-HA coatings exhibited that improved antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) as compared to pure HA coatings. The CCK-8 assays demonstrate Zn-HA/Bi-HA coatings showed no toxicity to MG63 cells, and the Zn-HA/Bi-HA2 (Zn-HA:Bi-HA=64:1) coating is more effective to enhance the proliferation of MG63 cells compared to other coatings. This finding suggests Zn-HA/Bi-HA biphasic coatings are promising candidates for biomedical applications.
Porous liquids, as a newly emerging type of porous material, have great potential in gas separation and storage. However, the examples and synthetic strategies reported so far likely represent only ...the tip of the iceberg due to the great difficulty and challenge in engineering permanent porosity in liquid matrices. Here, by taking advantage of the hydrogen bonding interaction between the alkane chains of branched ionic liquids and the Brønsted sites in H-form zeolites, as well as the mechanical bond of the long alkyl chain of the cation penetrated into the zeolite channel at the interface, the H-form zeolites can be uniformly stabilized in branched ionic liquids to form porous liquid zeolites, which not only significantly improve their gas sorption performance, but also change the gas sorption-desorption behavior because of the preserved permanent porosity. Furthermore, such a facile synthetic strategy can be extended to fabricate other types of H-form zeolite-based porous liquids by taking advantage of the tunability of the counter-anion (e.g., NTf2-, BF4-, EtSO4-, etc.) in branched ionic liquids, thus opening up new opportunities for porous liquids for specific applications in energy and environment.
The rapid stem elongation of the invasive weed
Mikania micrantha
in the forest understory is of vital significance for its successful invasion. To understand the physiological and molecular ...mechanisms for this process, here we comparatively investigated the physiological characteristics and transcriptome patterns of
M. micrantha
stem under low light (30%) and full light (100%) conditions. The results showed that
M. micrantha
stem had photosynthetic capacity, which was highly plastic to light intensities, constituting an indispensable part of the plastic response of
M. micrantha
to shading.
M. micrantha
had longer internodes, epidermal cells, and consequently longer stems under low light than full light conditions, which could proximally be attributed to phytohormone production and reduction of photoprotective substances as potential metabolic trade-off, as observed here under shading treatment. The transcriptome sequencing and qPCR verified the results from physiological investigation, and showed that under low light condition the expression levels of genes involved in photosynthesis (e.g.
MmPsaA
,
MmPsbO1
and
MmFd3
) were generally down-regulated in comparison to full light condition, as were genes related to the photoprotective substances synthesis (e.g.
MmCHS
, and
MmF3H1
) and the negative regulators of phytohormone (e.g.
MmAUX1, MmRR1
and
MmGAI
). It was concluded that the regulation of phytohormones and photoprotective substances are important material basis for the rapid elongation of
M. micrantha
stems with high plasticity, which facilitates the vine's invasiveness in the forest understory.
Multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) was treated with multi-functional amines (DETA) and the changes of surface properties of MWNTs were investigated unsing FT-IR. Samples based on epoxy resin and ...different weight percentages of MWNTs (functionalized and non-functionalized) were prepared. MWNTs was investigated by transmission-electron microscopy (TEM). Samples containing functionalized nanotubes showed a strong influence on mechanical properties. When MWNTs content is 0.6%, the mechanical properties are the best. The bend strength increases up to 100%, bend modulus improves up to 58%, impact strength increases up to two times. MWNTs is dispersed well in epoxy matrix. These results prove that the influence of a functionalisation of carbon nanotubes on the interfacial interaction between the polymer and MWNTs.
Spatial differentiation of the net primary productivity (NPP) of vegetation is an important factor in the ecological protection and restoration of mining areas. However, most studies have focused on ...climatic productivity constraints and rarely considered the effects of soil properties and mining activities. Thus, the impact of the forces driving NPP in mining areas on spatial location remains unclear. Taking the Changhe Basin mining area as an example, we used the Carnegie–Ames–Stanford approach (CASA) model to estimate NPP and quantified the impact of climate, soil properties, and mining activities based on factorial experiments. Our results indicate that the average NPP in the Changhe Basin mining area was 290.13 gC/(m2·yr), and the NPP in the western Changhe Basin, an intensive coal mining area, was significantly lower than that in the east. The correlations between each driver and NPP varied by location, with mean annual temperature and precipitation, soil organic carbon, total nitrogen, and land degradation showing strong correlations. The relative importance of climate, soil properties, and mining activities on the spatial variability of NPP was 38.97%, 31.50%, and 29.53%, respectively. Furthermore, 70.72% of the NPP variability in mining areas was controlled by the coupled effects of climate and soil properties (CS + SC) or climate and mining activities (CM + MC). Meanwhile, The NPP in the western Changhe Basin mining area was mainly controlled by mining activities (M) or climate and mining activities (CM), while that in the east was mainly controlled by soil properties and climate (CS). Overall, our study extends the knowledge regarding the impacts of driving forces on spatial variation of NPP in mining areas and provides a reference point for forming strategies and practices of ecological restoration and land reclamation in different spatial locations in mining areas.
In this paper, the graphene oxide-Fe
3
O
4
nanocomposite was prepared by introducing Fe
3
O
4
and silane coupling agent containing sulfonic acid groups on the surface of GO. The morphology and ...structure of nanocomposites were characterized by a series of equipments, and the property of s-GO-Fe
3
O
4
as aniline adsorbent was studied. The Fe
3
O
4
particle is introduced to add magnetic property to GO magnetism and can eliminate the agglomeration of GO sheets. The addition of sulfonic groups improved the dispersion of nanocomposite and eliminated electrostatic repulsion. Thus, the nanocomposite shows high aniline adsorption capacity in a wide pH region and does not show high correlation with pH value. In addition, FTIR and XPS spectrum analyses showed that the adsorption of aniline by s-GO-Fe
3
O
4
is the combined effects of π–π interaction, acid–base reaction, and hydrogen bonds. Furthermore, the adsorption of aniline of this nanocomposite follows the pseudo-second-order kinetic model and Freundlich isotherm model. Thus, s-GO-Fe
3
O
4
is a promising nanosorbent for aniline removal from organic wastewater.
Graphical abstract
Rheum lhasaense A. J. Li et P. K. Hsiao, a stout herb plant from the Polygonaceae, is a typical Tibetan folk herb with heat-clearing and detoxifying effects, but does not have the typical laxative ...effect compared with other rhubarb plants. Nevertheless, its chemical composition and pharmacological activities still lack in-depth research. The present study endeavored to analyze the possible phytochemical constituents in R. lhasaense and explore the main compound piceatannol-3′-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (PG) effect on cognitive impairment and its underlying mechanism. The chemical profile of R. lhasaense discovered 46 compounds, including 27 stilbenoids and 13 gallotannins using UPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS. The UPLC determined the contents of 6 main stilbenoids, among which the content of PG was the highest, up to 61.06 mg/g. Moreover, behavioral tests showed that PG (40 mg/kg and 160 mg/kg) administration markedly ameliorated memory impairments of scopolamine-induced mice. Biochemical parameters showed that PG treatment alleviated the levels of Ach, AchE, and inflammatory factors while elevating the levels of antioxidants in mice. In addition, network pharmacology was performed to reveal PG exert an mild cognitive impairment effect by participating in neurodegenerative disease pathways, proliferation and apoptosis-, and inflammation-related pathways. Eventually, the results of molecular docking and the qRT-PCR revealed that PG down-regulated the mRNA expressions of MMP3, MMP9 and BACE1 in cognitive impairment mice brain tissue. In conclusion, our results demonstrated that PG mitigated scopolamine-induced cognitive dysfunction in mice by targeting the BACE1-MMP3/9 pathway, and PG might be a promising mild AD drug candidate.
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●Piceatannol-3′-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (PG) was the most abundant stilbenoid in R. lhasaense roots.●PG treatment alleviated Ach, AchE, and inproved anti-inflammatory and antioxidant level.●PG targeted the BACE1-MMP3/9 pathway, in turn reducing the accumulation of Aβ in brain tissues.
Obesity is a chronic metabolic disease that can be induced by a high-fat diet (HFD) and predisposes to a variety of complications. In recent years, various bioactive substances, such as probiotics, ...prebiotics, and postbiotics, have been widely discussed because of their good anti-lipid and anti-inflammatory activities. In this paper, soybean protein isolate was used as a substrate to prepare the postbiotic. Compound prebiotics (galactose oligosaccharides, fructose oligosaccharides, and lactitol) preparation Aunulife Postbiotics and Prebiotics Composition (AYS) is the research object. Weight loss and bowel movements in mice induced by a high-fat diet were studied. Moreover, qualitative and quantitative analyses of small-molecule metabolites in AYS were performed to identify the functional molecules in AYS. After 12 weeks of feeding, the weight gain of mice that were fed with high-dose AYS (group H) and low-dose AYS (group L) from 4 to 12 weeks was 6.72 g and 5.25 g (
< 0.05), both of which were significantly lower than that of the high-fat diet (group DM, control group) group (7.73 g) (
< 0.05). Serum biochemical analysis showed that TC, TG, and LDL-C levels were significantly lower in mice from the H and L groups (
< 0.05). In addition, the fecal lipid content of mice in the L group reached 5.89%, which was significantly higher than that of the DM group at 4.02% (
< 0.05). The study showed that AYS changed the structure of the intestinal microbiota in mice on a high-fat diet, resulting in a decrease in the relative abundance of
and
and an increase in the relative abundance of
,
, and
. The metabolomics study results of AYS showed that carboxylic acids and derivatives, and organonitrogen compounds accounted for 51.51% of the AYS metabolites, among which pantothenate, stachyose, betaine, and citrate had the effect of preventing obesity in mice. In conclusion, the administration of prebiotics and postbiotic-rich AYS reduces weight gain and increases fecal lipid defecation in obese mice, potentially by regulating the intestinal microbiota of mice on a high-fat diet.
Probiotics have received wide attention as a potential way to alleviate gastrointestinal (GI) motility disorders. Herein, we investigated the effects of
JY062,
JM1, and the probiotic combination at 5 ...× 10
CFU/mL on mice induced by loperamide and explored the possible underlying mechanisms in GI motility disorder. After two weeks of probiotic intervention, the results indicated that the probiotic combination alleviated GI motility disorder better. It increased the secretion of excitatory GI regulators motilin, gastrin, and 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) and decreased the secretion of the inhibitory GI regulators peptide YY and nitric oxide (NO), except vasoactive intestinal peptide. 5-HT and NO were related to the mRNA expression of 5-HT
receptor and nitric oxide synthase, respectively. The intervention of probiotic combination also increased the number of interstitial cells of Cajal and the expression of SCF/c-kit protein. In addition, it also increased the abundance of beneficial bacteria (
,
, and
and improved the contents of short-chain fatty acids in cecum contents of mice. In conclusion, the probiotic combination of
JY062 and
JM1 has the potential to alleviate GI motility disorders by balancing intestinal homeostasis.
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