Facile construction of bio-based high fire-safety cellulose fabrics with well wearing performance.

The design of flame-retardant cellulose fabrics suffered from deterioration on wearing performance and environmental issue. Here, we developed facile construction of bio-based high fire-safety cellulose fabrics (lyocell) that exploited the bio-based flame-retardant coating (APD) by adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and dicyandiamide (DCD) via ionic reaction. The rich phosphorus/nitrogen elements of APD enabled the excellent fire safety of APD/Lyocell. Specifically, the APD/Lyocell2 had a higher limiting oxygen index (LOI) value of 29.3 %, a lower peak of heat release rate (PHRR, decreasing by 66.6 %), and a reduced total heat rate (THR, lowered by 56.5 %) with respect to pure lyocell fabrics. Interestingly, the APD/Lyocell2 exhibited well flame-retardant durability via passing the vertical burning test after 100 rubs. The satisfactory flame-retardant behaviors of APD/Lyocell derived from the excellent synergistic effect on the gaseous-solid phases, where APD could release more non-flammable gasses and generate phosphoric acid, polyphosphoric acid, etc. to accelerate itself and cellulose dehydration into char residues during combustion. More importantly, the wearing performance of APD/Lyocell fabrics, such as handle, air permeability and tensile strength, etc. almost remained after treatment. The ease of operation and use of bio-based coating made it a promising option to obtain the practical lyocell fabrics with flame-retardancy.

Lack of the CCT domain changes the ability of mango MiCOL14A to resist salt and drought stress in Arabidopsis.

CONSTANS (CO) is the key gene in the photoperiodic pathway that regulates flowering in plants. In this paper, a CONSTANS-like 14A (COL14A) gene was obtained from mango, and its expression patterns and functions were characterized. Sequence analysis shows that MiCOL14A-JH has an additional A base, which leads to code shifting in subsequent coding boxes and loss of the CCT domain. The MiCOL14A-JH and MiCOL14A-GQ genes both belonged to group Ⅲ of the CO/COL gene family. Analysis of tissue expression patterns showed that MiCOL14A was expressed in all tissues, with the highest expression in the leaves of seedling, followed by lower expression levels in the flowers and stems of adult leaves. However, there was no significant difference between different mango varieties. At different development stages of flowering, the expression level of MiCOL14A-GQ was the highest in the leaves before floral induction period, and the lowest at flowering stage, while the highest expression level of MiCOL14A-JH appeared in the leaves at flowering stage. The transgenic functional analysis showed that both MiCOL14A-GQ and MiCOL14A-JH induced delayed flowering of transgenic Arabidopsis. In addition, MiCOL14A-JH enhanced the resistance of transgenic Arabidopsis to drought stress, while MiCOL14A-GQ increased the sensitivity of transgenic Arabidopsis to salt stress. Further proteinprotein interaction analysis showed that MiCOL14A-JH directly interacted with MYB30-INTERACTING E3 LIGASE 1 (MiMIEL1), CBL-interacting protein kinase 9 (MiCIPK9) and zinc-finger protein 4 (MiZFP4), but MiCOL14A-GQ could not interact with these three stress-related proteins. Together, our results demonstrated that MiCOL14A-JH and MiCOL14A-GQ not only regulate flowering but also play a role in the abiotic stress response in mango, and the lack of the CCT domain affects the proteinprotein interaction, thus affecting the gene response to stress. The insertion of an A base can provide a possible detection site for mango resistance breeding.

Nutritional status and prognostic factors for mortality in patients admitted to emergency department observation units: a national multi-center study in China.

BACKGROUND: Nutritional risk is common among patients admitted to the emergency department and is associated with adverse clinical outcomes. Despite its large population, few comprehensive studies have been conducted in China concerning the nutritional status of patients admitted to emergency department observation units (EDOUs). METHODS: Patients admitted to EDOUs of 90 tertiary hospitals in China between June 2020 and December 2020 were enrolled. Demographic information, laboratory parameters, nutritional support therapies, and 28-day mortality were recorded. Risk factors for mortality were examined using multi-variate-adjusted logistic regression analysis. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves for each predictor of mortality were plotted, and the area under the ROC (AUROC) curves was compared. RESULTS: A total of 2,005 eligible patients were finally enrolled. At the 28-day follow-up, 1,911 patients survived, and 94 died. The group with a Nutritional Risk Screening 2002 (NRS 2002) score of 3-4 points was the largest (52.01%). The number of patients receiving oral nutritional supplements, enteral nutrition (EN), parenteral nutrition (PN), and the combination of EN and PN was 425, 314, 853, and 413, respectively. Among the total, 77.55% of patients had nutritional risk (NRS 2002 ≥3). The proportion of patients with high nutritional risk (NRS2002≥5) in the age group >80 years was significantly higher than that in the age group 66-80 years (29.00% vs. 23.93%, P=0.032), but not significantly higher than that in the age group 18-65 years (29.00% vs. 26.54%, P=0.449). Logistic regression analysis revealed that heart failure (odds ratio [OR] 1.856, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.087-3.167, P=0.023), consciousness (OR 2.967, 95% CI 1.894-4.648, P<0.001), Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II) score (OR 1.037, 95% CI 1.017-1.058, P<0.001), NRS 2002 score (OR 1.286, 95% CI 1.115-1.483, P=0.001), and Mini Nutritional Assessment-Short Form score (OR 0.946, 95% CI 0.898-0.997, P=0.039) were all independent risk factors for 28-day mortality. APACHE II and NRS 2002 scores were superior to other predictors according to the comparison of AUROC. CONCLUSIONS: Nutritional risk is prevalent among older patients in EDOUs in China. APACHE II and NRS 2002 scores are important risk factors for mortality in patients admitted to the EDOU. Timely and appropriate nutritional screening and support measures are critical to reduce patients' length of hospital stay and mortality.

Overexpression of two CONSTANS-like 2 (MiCOL2) genes from mango delays flowering and enhances tolerance to abiotic stress in transgenic Arabidopsis.

The CO/COL gene family plays an important role in regulating photoperiod-dependent flowering time in plants. In this study, two COL2 gene homologs, MiCOL2A and MiCOL2B, were isolated from 'SiJiMi' mango, and their expression patterns and functions were characterized. The MiCOL2A and MiCOL2B genes both belonged to the group Ⅰ of CO/COL gene family. MiCOL2A and MiCOL2B exhibited distinct circadian rhythms and were highly expressed in leaves during the flowering induction period. Subcellular localization analysis revealed that MiCOL2A and MiCOL2B are localized in the nucleus. The overexpression of MiCOL2A and MiCOL2B significantly delayed flowering time in Arabidopsis under both long-day (LD) and short-day (SD) conditions. The MiCOL2A and MiCOL2B overexpression Arabidopsis plants exhibited more tolerance to slat and drought stress after abiotic stress treatments, with greater ROS scavenging capacity and protective enzyme activity, less cell damage and death and higher expression of stress response genes than wild type plants. Bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC) analysis showed that MiCOL2A and MiCOL2B interacted with several stress-related proteins, including zinc finger protein 4 (MiZFP4), MYB30-INTERACTING E3 LIGASE 1 (MiMIEL1) and RING zinc finger protein 34 (MiRZFP34). The results indicate that MiCOL2A and MiCOL2B are not only involved in flowering time but also play a positive role in abiotic stress responses in plants.

Extraradical Mycorrhizal Hyphae Promote Soil Carbon Sequestration through Difficultly Extractable Glomalin-Related Soil Protein in Response to Soil Water Stress.

Soil water stress (WS) affects the decomposition of soil organic carbon (SOC) and carbon (C) emissions. Glomalin, released by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi into soil that has been defined as glomalin-related soil protein (GRSP), is an important pool of SOC, with hydrophobic characteristics. We hypothesized that mycorrhizal fungi have a positive effect on SOC pools under soil WS for C sequestration in GRSP secreted by extraradical mycorrhizal hyphae. A microsystem was used to establish a root chamber (co-existence of roots and extraradical mycorrhizal hyphae) and a hyphal chamber (the presence of extraradical mycorrhizal hyphae) to study changes in plant growth, leaf water potential, soil aggregate stability, SOC, GRSP, C concentrations in GRSP (CGRSP), and the contribution of CGRSP to SOC after inoculating Rhizophagus intraradices with trifoliate orange (Poncirus trifoliata) in the root chamber under adequate water (AW) and WS. Inoculation with R. intraradices alleviated negative effects on leaf water potential and plant growth after 7 weeks of WS. Soil WS decreased SOC and mean weight diameter (MWD), while AMF inoculation led to an increase in SOC and MWD in both chambers, with the most prominent increase in the hyphal chamber under WS. The C concentration in easily extractable GRSP (EE-GRSP) and difficultly extractable GRSP (DE-GRSP) was 7.32 - 12.57 and 24.90 - 32.60 mg C/g GRSP, respectively. WS reduced CGRSP, while AMF mitigated the reduction. Extraradical mycorrhizal hyphae increased GRSP production and CGRSP, along with a more prominent increase in DE-GRSP under WS than under AW. Extraradical mycorrhizal hyphae increased the contribution of CDE-GRSP to SOC only under WS. CEE-GRSP and CDE-GRSP were significantly positively correlated with SOC and MWD. It is concluded that extraradical mycorrhizal hyphae prominently promoted C sequestration of recalcitrant DE-GRSP under soil WS, thus contributing more organic C accumulation and preservation in aggregates and soil C pool.

Ectopic expression of two CAULIFLOWER genes from mango caused early flowering in Arabidopsis.

APETALA1 (AP1), CAULIFLOWER (CAL) and FRUITFULL (FUL) were homologous genes with redundant functions in the process of flower transformation and floral development in Arabidopsis. Two CALs genes, MiCAL1 and MiCAL2, were cloned from mango (Mangifera indica L.). Their full-length sequences contained 717 bp and 714 bp, encoding 239 and 238 amino acids, respectively. Both the MiCAL1 and MiCAL2 proteins contained typical MADS-box and K-box domains and therefore belonged to the CAL-like protein family. MiCAL1 and MiCAL2 were expressed in all tissues at the inflorescence elongation stage and flowering stage, with the highest expression in the leaves at the flowering stage. They had similar expression patterns during flower development, with the highest expression levels in leaves during flower differentiation and the lowest expression levels during fruit development. Overexpression of MiCAL1 and MiCAL2 resulted in significantly earlier flowering in Arabidopsis. Overexpression of MiCAL1 resulted in terminal flowers with normal flower organs, while overexpression of MiCAL2 induced partially variation in floral organs but had no effect on inflorescences. Yeast two-hybrid (Y2H) experiments showed that MiCAL1 and MiCAL2 can interact with several flower-related proteins as well as stress response proteins, such as SEP1, SVP1, SVP2, SOC1G and Di19-4. These results suggest that these two MiCALs genes may have an important influence on mango flowering.

Genome-Wide Analysis of the RNase T2 Family and Identification of Interacting Proteins of Four ClS-RNase Genes in 'XiangShui' Lemon.

S-RNase plays vital roles in the process of self-incompatibility (SI) in Rutaceae plants. Data have shown that the rejection phenomenon during self-pollination is due to the degradation of pollen tube RNA by S-RNase. The cytoskeleton microfilaments of pollen tubes are destroyed, and other components cannot extend downwards from the stigma and, ultimately, cannot reach the ovary to complete fertilisation. In this study, four S-RNase gene sequences were identified from the 'XiangShui' lemon genome and ubiquitome. Sequence analysis revealed that the conserved RNase T2 domains within S-RNases in 'XiangShui' lemon are the same as those within other species. Expression pattern analysis revealed that S3-RNase and S4-RNase are specifically expressed in the pistils, and spatiotemporal expression analysis showed that the S3-RNase expression levels in the stigmas, styles and ovaries were significantly higher after self-pollination than after cross-pollination. Subcellular localisation analysis showed that the S1-RNase, S2-RNase, S3-RNase and S4-RNase were found to be expressed in the nucleus according to laser confocal microscopy. In addition, yeast two-hybrid (Y2H) assays showed that S3-RNase interacted with F-box, Bifunctional fucokinase/fucose pyrophosphorylase (FKGP), aspartic proteinase A1, RRP46, pectinesterase/pectinesterase inhibitor 51 (PME51), phospholipid:diacylglycerol acyltransferase 1 (PDAT1), gibberellin receptor GID1B, GDT1-like protein 4, putative invertase inhibitor, tRNA ligase, PAP15, PAE8, TIM14-2, PGIP1 and p24beta2. Moreover, S3-RNase interacted with TOPP4. Therefore, S3-RNase may play an important role in the SI of 'XiangShui' lemon.

Parecoxib inhibits esophageal squamous cell carcinoma progression via the PDK1-AKT pathway.

BACKGROUND: Parecoxib plays an important role in inhibition of human cancer. However, the effect of parecoxib on esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is still not well known. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of parecoxib on ESCC and its underlying mechanism. METHODS: RNA-sequence analysis was performed to identify functional alterations and mechanisms. Cell cycle, proliferation, invasion, and migration were assessed using flow cytometry, CCK-8 assay, colony formation, transwell, and wound healing assays. Extracellular matrix (ECM) degradation was detected by substrate gel zymography and 3D cell culture assay. Western blotting was used to detect parecoxib-dependent mechanisms involving cell cycle, proliferation, invasion, and migration. Tumor formation in vivo was detected by mouse assay. RESULTS: Functional experiments indicated that parecoxib induced ESCC cell cycle arrest in G2 phase, and inhibited cell proliferation, invasion, and migration in vitro. Western blotting revealed that parecoxib downregulated the phosphorylation levels of AKT and PDK1, as well as the expression of the mutant p53, cyclin B1, and CDK1, while upregulating p21waf1. Parecoxib inhibited matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP2) secretion and invadopodia formation, which were related to ECM degradation. Furthermore, we found that parecoxib suppressed ESCC growth in heterotopic tumor models. CONCLUSION: Parecoxib inhibits ESCC progression, including cell cycle, proliferation, invasion, and migration, via the PDK1-AKT signaling pathway.

Down-regulation of kappa opioid receptor promotes ESCC proliferation, invasion and metastasis via the PDK1-AKT signaling pathway.

BACKGROUND: As a class of the opioid receptors, the kappa opioid receptor (KOR) has been verified to be a potential biomarker and therapeutic target for human malignant tumors. However, a thorough understanding of whether KOR affects progression of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is still lacking. This study focused on exploring the effect of knocking down KOR in ESCC and its underlying mechanism. METHODS: Bioinformatics analysis was used to compare the different expression level of OPRK1 (KOR gene) in tumor and adjacent normal tissues, and predict the relationship between KOR expression and overall survival. RNA-sequence analysis was performed to detect the altered functions and mechanisms after down regulating KOR. The in vitro and in vivo assays were used to detect the effects of down-regulated KOR on cell proliferation, migration and invasion. Substrate gel zymography and 3D cell culture assays were used to find the effect of KOR knockdown on the degradation of extracellular matrix (ECM), and immunefluorescence was performed to detect the altered cytoskeleton. Western blotting and immunohistochemistry were used to explore the underlying mechanism pathway. RESULTS: Bioinformatics analysis revealed that the expression of OPRK1 was lower in tumor tissue than that in adjacent normal tissues, and lowered expression of KOR was associated with poorer overall survival. The in vitro assays demonstrated that down-regulation of KOR enhanced ESCC proliferation, metastasis and invasion. Western blotting revealed that down-regulation of KOR could activate PDK1-AKT signaling pathway, which actively regulated the cancer progression. Down-regulation of KOR enhanced the formation of invadopodia, secretion of matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP2) and rearrangement of cytoskeleton, which were positively related with the invasion of ESCC. KOR knockdown enhanced the tumor invasion and elevated the AKT phosphorylation in nude mice. The AKT kinase inhibition could reverse the effect of down-regulation of KOR. CONCLUSION: KOR might act as a tumor suppressor in ESCC and down-regulation of KOR could enhance the ESCC tumor phenotype. Video Abstract.

Isolation and functional analysis of two CONSTANS-like 1 genes from mango.

The CONSTANS-LIKE1 (COL1) gene plays an important role in the regulation of photoperiodic flowering in plants. In this study, two COL1 homolog genes, MiCOL1A and MiCOL1B, were isolated from mango (Mangifera indica L.). The open reading frames of MiCOL1A and MiCOL1B are 852 and 822 bp in length and encode 284 and 274 amino acids, respectively. The MiCOL1A and MiCOL1B proteins contain only one CCT domain and belong to the CO/COL group IV protein family. MiCOL1A and MiCOL1B were expressed both in vegetative and reproductive organs but with expression level differences. MiCOL1A was highly expressed in juvenile and adult leaves, but MiCOL1B was highly expressed in flowers. Seasonal expression analysis showed that MiCOL1A and MiCOL1B have similar expression patterns and higher expression levels during flower induction and flower organ differentiation periods. However, MiCOL1A and MiCOL1B exhibited unstable patterns in circadian expression analysis. MiCOL1A and MiCOL1B were localized in the nucleus and had transcriptional activation activity in yeast. Overexpression of MiCOL1A and MiCOL1B resulted in significantly delayed flowering time in Arabidopsis. Furthermore, we also found that overexpression of MiCOL1A and MiCOL1B enhanced drought tolerance in transgenic Arabidopsis. The results demonstrated that MiCOL1A and MiCOL1B are not only involved in flowering regulation but also play a role in the stress response of plants.

Anti-Lung Cancer Activities of 1,2,3-Triazole Curcumin Derivatives via Regulation of the MAPK/NF-κB/STAT3 Signaling Pathways.

In this study, a series of curcumin derivatives containing 1,2,3-triazole were designed and synthesized, and their inhibitory activities against the proliferation of lung cancer cells were studied. Compound 5 k (3,4-dichlorobenzyltriazole methyl curcumin) had the best activity against A549 cells, with a half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50 ) of 2.27 µM, which was approximately 10 times higher than that of the lead curcumin and higher than that of gefitinib (IC50 =8.64 µM). Western blotting revealed that 5 k increased the phosphorylation levels of p38, c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK). Compound 5 k also promoted the expression of the inhibitor of nuclear factor-κB (IκBα) and decreased that of nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB), signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3), and ß-catenin. Therefore, 5 k suppresses A549 cell proliferation by activating the mitogen-activated protein kinases and suppressing NF-κB/STAT3 signaling pathways. So, 5 k can potentially be used for treating non-small cell lung cancer.

Overexpression of four MiTFL1 genes from mango delays the flowering time in transgenic Arabidopsis.

BACKGROUND: TERMINAL FLOWER 1 (TFL1) belongs to the phosphatidylethanolamine-binding protein (PEBP) family, which is involved in inflorescence meristem development and represses flowering in several plant species. In the present study, four TFL1 genes were cloned from the mango (Mangifera indica L.) variety 'SiJiMi' and named MiTFL1-1, MiTFL1-2, MiTFL1-3 and MiTFL1-4. RESULTS: Sequence analysis showed that the encoded MiTFL1 proteins contained a conserved PEBP domain and belonged to the TFL1 group. Expression analysis showed that the MiTFL1 genes were expressed in not only vegetative organs but also reproductive organs and that the expression levels were related to floral development. Overexpression of the four MiTFL1 genes delayed flowering in transgenic Arabidopsis. Additionally, MiTFL1-1 and MiTFL1-3 changed the flower morphology in some transgenic plants. Yeast two-hybrid (Y2H) analysis showed that several stress-related proteins interacted with MiTFL1 proteins. CONCLUSIONS: The four MiTFL1 genes exhibited a similar expression pattern, and overexpression in Arabidopsis resulted in delayed flowering. Additionally, MiTFL1-1 and MiTFL1-3 overexpression affected floral organ development. Furthermore, the MiTFL1 proteins could interact with bHLH and 14-3-3 proteins. These results indicate that the MiTFL1 genes may play an important role in the flowering process in mango.

Isolation and functional characterization of three MiFTs genes from mango.

FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) is a key integrator of environmental signals and internal cues and plays a central role in the photoperiod response mechanism in Arabidopsis. However, the function of FTs in Mangifera indica L. is unknown. In this study, we identified three MiFTs genes from mango and characterized their role in flowering regulation. The open reading frames of MiFT1, MiFT2, and MiFT3 are 540, 516, and 588 bp in length and encode 180, 172, and 196 amino acids, respectively; the genes belong to the PEBP family. MiFTs share the conserved exon/intron structure of FTs. The nucleotide sequence of MiFT1 is 90% identical to that of MiFT2 and 82% identical to that of MiFT3; MiFT2 and MiFT3 share 81% homology with each other. According to expression analysis, MiFTs were detected at different expression levels in all tested tissues. The expression levels of the three MiFTs were significantly different in leaves during flower development, and MiFT1 expression increased sharply in leaves and was significantly higher than that of the other two MiFTs during flower bud development. All three MiFTs showed daily cycles. Ectopic expression of the three MiFTs in transgenic Arabidopsis resulted in an earlier flowering genotype under long-day conditions, and MiFT1 had the strongest effect in promoting flowering. Additionally, overexpression of three MiFTs in Arabidopsis upregulated the expression levels of several flowering-related genes. Our results suggest that the three MiFTs have positive roles in promoting flowering and suggest that MiFT1 may acts as a key regulator in the flowering pathway.

Contribution of Quick Sequential Organ Failure Assessment Score Combined with Electrocardiography in Risk Stratification of Patients with Acute Pulmonary Embolism.

BACKGROUND: The quick Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (qSOFA) score emerged recently. We investigated its contribution to risk stratification in acute pulmonary embolism (PE) by combining with electrocardiography (ECG). METHODS: Acute PE patients diagnosed in Beijing Chao-Yang Hospital, Capital Medical University, from 2008 to 2018 were retrospectively studied and divided into high- and low - risk groups by imaging and biomarkers. The ECG scores consisted of tachycardia, McGinn-White sign (S1Q3T3), right bundle branch block, and T-wave inversion of leads V1-V3. A new combination of qSOFA scores and ECG scores by logistic regression for predicting high-risk stratification patients with acute PE was evaluated by a receiver operating characteristic curve. RESULTS: Totally 1318 patients were enrolled, including 271 in the high-risk group and 1047 in the low-risk group. A combination predictive scoring system named qSOFA-ECG = qSOFA score + ECG score was created. The optimal cutoff value for qSOFA-ECG was 2, and the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value were 81.5%, 72.3%, 43.2%, and 93.8%, respectively. For predicting high-risk stratification and reperfusion therapy, the qSOFA-ECG is superior to PE Severity Index (PESI) and simplified PESI. CONCLUSIONS: The qSOFA score contributes to identify acute PE patients with potentially hemodynamic decompensation that need monitoring and possible reperfusion therapy at the emergency department arrival when used in combination with ECG score.

How Could Agronomic Biofortification of Rice Be an Alternative Strategy with Higher Cost-Effectiveness for Human Iron and Zinc Deficiency in China?

BACKGROUND: Iron and zinc deficiencies affect human health globally, especially in developing countries. Agronomic biofortification, as a strategy for alleviating these issues, has been focused on small-scale field studies, and not widely applied while lacking of cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA). OBJECTIVE: We conducted the CEA of agronomic biofortification, expressed as USD per disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) saved, to recommend a cost-effectiveness strategy that can be widely applied. METHODS: The DALYs were applied to quantify the health burden due to Fe and/or Zn deficiency and health cost of agronomic biofortification via a single, dual, or triple foliar spray of Fe, Zn, and/or pesticide in 4 (northeast, central China, southeast, and southwest) major Chinese rice-based regions. RESULTS: The current health burden by Fe or Zn malnutrition was 0.45 to 1.45 or 0.14 to 0.84 million DALYs for these 4 regions. Compared to traditional rice diets, the daily Fe and/or Zn intake from Fe and/or Zn-biofortified rice increased, and the health burden of Fe and/or Zn deficiency decreased by 28% and 48%, respectively. The cost of saving 1 DALYs ranged from US$376 to US$4989, US$194 to US$2730, and US$37.6 to US$530.1 for the single, dual, and triple foliar Fe, Zn, and/or pesticide application, respectively, due to a substantial decrease in labor costs by the latter 2 applications. CONCLUSIONS: Agronomic biofortification of rice with the triple foliar spray of Fe, Zn, and pesticide is a rapidly effective and cost-effectiveness pathway to alleviate Fe and Zn deficiency for rice-based dietary populations.

Pharmacokinetic profiles contribute to the differences in behavioral pharmacology of 071031B enantiomers as novel serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors.

Our previous study indicated that a chiral compound 071031B was a novel serotonin and noradrenaline reuptake inhibitor with superior antidepressant activity compared to duloxetine. The present study aimed to investigate chiral pharmacology differences of 071031B enantiomers, S-071031B and R-071031B, and disclose mechanisms underlying the behavioral differences based on target profiles and pharmacokinetic profiles. In vivo behavioral tests indicated that S-071031B was more potent than R-071031B in two depression models (the forced swimming test in mice and rats) and two pain models (the acetic acid-induced writhing and formalin tests in mice). In vitro assays revealed that both S-071031B and R-071031B showed high affinity for human serotonin transporters and norepinephrine transporters with equal potency, and showed consistently equipotent inhibitory effects on serotonin and norepinephrine uptake. Pharmacokinetic studies demonstrated that oral availability and hepatic metabolism, rather than pH stability, intestinal transport, and plasma binding, contributed to enantiomers' behavioral differences. Based on these findings, it is suggested that S-071031B is a more active enantiomer, and the differential pharmacokinetic profiles, but not target affinity, contribute to differences of S-071031B and R-071031B in behavioral pharmacology. Moreover, current PK-PD study may provide positive exploration for chiral antidepressants development.

Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungus Species Dependency Governs Better Plant Physiological Characteristics and Leaf Quality of Mulberry (Morus alba L.) Seedlings.

Understanding the synergic interactions between arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and its host mulberry (Morus alba L.), an important perennial multipurpose plant, has theoretical and practical significance in mulberry plantation, silkworm cultivation, and relevant textile industry. In a greenhouse study, we compared functional distinctions of three genetically different AMF species (Acaulospora scrobiculata, Funneliformis mosseae, and Rhizophagus intraradices) on physiological and growth characteristics as well as leaf quality of 6-month-old mulberry seedlings. Results showed that mulberry was AMF-species dependent, and AMF colonization significantly increased shoot height and taproot length, stem base and taproot diameter, leaf and fibrous root numbers, and shoot and root biomass production. Meanwhile, leaf chlorophyll a or b and carotenoid concentrations, net photosynthetic rate, transpiration rate and stomatal conductance were generally significantly greater, while intercellular CO2 concentration was significantly lower in AMF-inoculated seedlings than in non-AMF-inoculated counterparts. These trends were also generally true for leaf moisture, total nitrogen, all essential amino acids, histidine, proline, soluble protein, sugar, and fatty acid as they were significantly increased under mycorrhization. Among these three tested AMFs, significantly greater effects of AMF on above-mentioned mulberry physiological and growth characteristics ranked as F. mosseae > A. scrobiculata > R. intraradices, whilst on mulberry leaf quality (e.g., nutraceutical values) for better silkworm growth as F. mosseae ≈A. scrobiculata > R. intraradices. In conclusion, our results showed that greater mulberry biomass production, and nutritional quality varied with AMF species or was AMF-species dependent. Such improvements were mainly attributed to AMF-induced positive alterations of mulberry leaf photosynthetic pigments, net photosynthetic rate, transpiration rate, and N-containing compounds (methionine, threonine, histidine, and proline). As a result, application of Funneliformis mosseae or A. scrobiculata in mulberry plantation could be a promising management strategy to promote silkworm cultivation and relevant textile industry.