Chromosome-level genome assembly of Cnidium monnieri, a highly demanded traditional Chinese medicine.

Cnidium monnieri, a medicinal herb of the Cnidium genus and the Apiaceae family, is among the most important traditional Chinese medicines and is widely distributed in China. However, to date, no C. monnieri-related genomic information has been described. In this study, we assembled the C. monnieri genome of approximately 1210.23 Mb with a contig N50 of 83.14 Mb. Using PacBio HiFi and Hi-C sequencing data, we successfully anchored 93.86% of the assembled sequences to 10 pseudochromosomes (2n = 20). We predicted a total of 37,460 protein-coding genes, with 97.02% of them being functionally annotated in Non-Redundant, Gene Ontology, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes, and other databases. In addition, we identified 2,778 tRNAs, 4,180 rRNAs, 258 miRNAs, and 1,700 snRNAs in the genome. This is the first reported C. monnieri genome. Hopefully, the availability of this chromosome-level reference genome provides a significant basis for upcoming natural product-related biosynthetic pathway assessment in C. monnieri.

Carbon Fibers for Bioelectrochemical: Precursors, Bioelectrochemical System, and Biosensors.

Abstract: Carbon fibers (CFs) demonstrate a range of excellent properties including (but not limited to) microscale diameter, high hardness, high strength, light weight, high chemical resistance, and high temperature resistance. Therefore, it is necessary to summarize the application market of CFs. CFs with good physical and chemical properties stand out among many materials. It is believed that highly fibrotic CFs will play a crucial role. This review first introduces the precursors of CFs, such as polyacrylonitrile, bitumen, and lignin. Then this review introduces CFs used in BESs, such as electrode materials and modification strategies of MFC, MEC, MDC, and other cells in a large space. Then, CFs in biosensors including enzyme sensor, DNA sensor, immune sensor and implantable sensor are summarized. Finally, we discuss briefly the challenges and research directions of CFs application in BESs, biosensors and more fields. Highlights: CF is a new-generation reinforced fiber with high hardness and strength.Summary precursors from different sources of CFs and their preparation processes.Introduction of the application and modification methods of CFs in BESs and biosensor.Suggest the challenges in the application of CFs in the field of bio-electrochemistry.Propose the prospective research directions for CFs.

Honeycomb-like ZnO Mesoporous Nanowall Arrays Modified with Ag Nanoparticles for Highly Efficient Photocatalytic Activity.

A new structure of honeycomb-like ZnO mesoporous nanowall arrays (MNWAs) with highly efficient photocatalytic activity was designed and successfully synthesized on Al foil by hydrothermal method. The nanowalls of ZnO-MNWAs have mesopores, which possess a large surface area. The visible light absorption of ZnO-MNWAs was efficiently stronger than ZnO nanowire, resulting in that the photocatalytic activity of ZnO-MNWAs, whose bandgap energy was 3.12 eV, was 5.97 times than that of ZnO nanowires in the degradation of methyl orange. Besides, Al foil acted as a good electron conductor which was beneficial to the separation of photo-induced electron-hole pairs. After modifying ZnO-MNWAs with a proper amount of Ag nanoparticles (NPs), photocatalytic activity could be further enhanced. The photocatalytic activity of ZnO-MNWAs with the optimal amount of Ag NPs was 9.08 times than that of ZnO nanowires and 1.52 times than that of pure ZnO-MNWAs.