Community structure of endophytic fungi in roots and leaves of Fagopyrum mill and Avena sativa in a Chinese northern cold region

In order to explore the endophytic fungi of Fagopyrum Mill and Avena sativa, Illumina Miseq high-throughput sequencing was used to analyze the community structure and diversity of endophytic fungi in leaves and roots of buckwheat and oat at the mature stage. The results of community structure showed that there were 205 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) in buckwheat roots and 181 OTUs in buckwheat leaves based on 97% sequence similarity level. There were 152 OTUs and 127 OTUs in the root and the leaf of oat, respectively. At the phylum level, Ascomycota and Basidiomycota were the dominant endophytic fungi in buckwheat roots and leaves, while Ascomycota was the dominant endophytic fungus in oat roots and leaves. Alpha diversity analysis showed that the Ace index, Chao index and Shannon index of buckwheat roots were higher than that of buckwheat leaves, and the three indices of oat roots were also higher than that of oat leaves, indicating that the richness and diversity of endophytic fungi community in roots were higher than that in leaves. Biomarkers were found by significant difference analysis in buckwheat and oat. The endophytic functional groups of buckwheat and oat were mainly distributed in Pathotroph and Saprotroph. The results of this study laid a foundation for fully exploiting the dominant endophytic fungal resources of buckwheat and oat and further developing microbial fertilizers.

Internal metal(loid)s are potentially involved in the association between ambient fine particulate matter and blood pressure: A repeated-measurement study in north China.

The effects of ambient fine particulate matter (PM2.5) exposure on blood pressure have been widely reported. However, there remains uncertainty regarding the underlying roles of particulate matter components. We aimed to investigate the association between ambient PM2.5 exposure and blood pressure, as well as the potential effects of trace metal(loid)s, in a repeated-measurement study that enrolled women of childbearing age. Our study included 35 participants from Hebei Province, China, each of whom was visited for five times. During each visit, we conducted questionnaire surveys, measured blood pressure, and collected blood. The daily PM2.5 exposure of participants was estimated according to their residential addresses using a spatiotemporal model that combined monitoring data with satellite measurements and chemical-transport model simulations. This model was used to calculate average PM2.5 concentrations in 1, 3, 7, 15, 30, and 60 days prior to each visit. Serum concentrations of various trace metal(loid)s were measured. A linear mixed-effects model was used to investigate associations among study variables. Overall, the mean (standard deviation) 60 days PM2.5 concentration over all five visits was 108.1(43.3) µg/m3. PM2.5 concentration was positively associated with both systolic and diastolic blood pressures. Likewise, ambient PM2.5 concentration was positively associated with serum concentrations of manganese and arsenic, and negatively associated with serum concentrations of nickel, tin, and chromium. Only the serum concentration of molybdenum was negatively associated with systolic blood pressure. We concluded that ambient PM2.5 exposure may contribute to elevated blood pressure, potentially by interfering with internal intake of various metal(loid)s in the human body.

Maternal serum level of manganese, single nucleotide polymorphisms, and risk of spontaneous preterm birth: A nested case-control study in China.

Manganese (Mn) is an essential trace element, but an excess or accumulation can be toxic. Until now, few studies have examined the effects of maternal Mn level on the risk of spontaneous preterm birth (SPB). The aims of this study were to examine the association between maternal Mn level and the risk of SPB at the early stage of pregnancy, and investigate whether this association was modified by single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in genes of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT). We conducted a nested case-control study in three maternal and child health care hospitals in Shanxi province, China, from December 2009 to December 2013. From an overall cohort of 4229 women, 528 were included in our study, including 147 cases of SPB and 381 controls. Maternal blood samples were collected during 4-22 gestational weeks. The maternal serum concentrations of Mn was measured using inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. We found the maternal Mn concentration in the case group (median: 1.55 ng/mL) was significantly higher than that in the control group (median: 1.27 ng/mL). Compared to the lowest level, the SPB risk was significantly increased to 1.44 (95%CI: 0.60-3.43), 2.42 (95%CI: 1.06-5.55) and 2.46 (95%CI: 1.08-5.62) respectively for the second, third and fourth quartiles in first trimester, but not significant in second trimester or overall. When exposure to a high Mn level, women who with AA (6.36, 95%CI: 1.57-25.71) and AG (3.04, 95%CI: 1.59-5.80) of rs2758352, with CC (2.34, 95%CI: 1.31-4.18) of rs699473, and with GG (2.26, 95%CI: 1.22-4.16) of rs769214 were more likely to develop a SPB, but not among women with other genotypes. In conclusion, high maternal serum Mn level is associated with the increased SPB risk in first trimester, and the association is modified by maternal SNPs of SOD2, SOD3 and CAT.

Environmental complex exposure and the risk of influenza-like illness among housewives: A case study in Shanxi Province, China.

The association between environmental pollution and risk of influenza-like illness (ILI) among general population has been reported. However, the relationships between the individual pollutants and ILI risk are still under discussion. Our study aimed to explore the associations of the typical environmental polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and metal(loid)s with ILI risk among women population. We carried out a cross-sectional study and included a total of 396 housewives in Shanxi Province, China. The information on their general characteristics and ILI frequency was collected by questionnaire. We collected their hair samples and analyzed the concentrations of PAHs and various metal(loid)s. The results indicated that only acenaphthylene concentration of the nine detected PAH congeners in the hair was significantly associated with ILI risk with adjusted odds ratio (AOR) and 95% confidence interval (95% CI) of 0.58 (0.38 - 0.91). Among the concerned 4 toxic metal(loid)s and 15 rare earth elements, only the hair concentration of arsenic had a positive dose-response relationship with ILI risk. In addition, we found that there were negative dose-response associations of the three essential trace elements (i.e. chromium, cobalt, and nickel), and four essential alkaline earth elements (i.e. magnesium, calcium, strontium, barium) with ILI risk. It was concluded that the environmental exposure to certain compounds of housewives may contribute to their ILI development.

An efficient method to simultaneously analyze multi-class organic pollutants in human serum.

The degree of population exposure to various organic pollutants (OPs), including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, organochlorinated pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls, and polybrominated diphenyl ethers, can be determined by measuring their concentrations in human serum. However, performing large-scale measurements with such a variety of compounds in serum is challenging in terms of efficiency and cost. We describe herein the development of a high-efficiency extraction and sample cleanup protocol for simultaneous and quantitative analyses of OPs using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. OPs, together with crude lipid impurities, were extracted from human serum with a mixture of n-hexane and methyl tert-butyl ether. A disperse sorbent composed of primary secondary amine and C18 (PSA/C18) was used to roughly remove co-extracted impurities. A combined column of neutral silica gel and neutral alumina oxide (AlO/SiG) was then used for deep cleanup. For the removal of impurities, the overall performance of our protocol for the analysis of OPs in serum was comparable to that of traditional gel permeation chromatography (GPC) and dramatically better than that of PSA/C18, which is a frequently used QuEChERS (quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, safe) based method. While both the proposed protocol and GPC yielded recoveries of 80%-110% for four classes of OPs, our protocol consumed about 10 times less solvent, resulting in lower experimental expenses and a lower risk of contamination from residual OPs in the solvent and other supplies. In contrast to GPC, our protocol also permits efficient batch processing of serum samples, allowing for large sample sizes such as those encountered in epidemiological studies.

Concentrations of selected heavy metals in placental tissues and risk for neonatal orofacial clefts.

Orofacial clefts (OFCs) have multifactorial etiologies. Prenatal exposure to heavy metals can induce OFCs in animal models, but evidence from studies of human subjects is scarce. We examined whether concentrations of mercury (Hg), cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), and arsenic (As) in placental tissues are associated with risk for OFCs in offspring. This population-based case-control study included 103 newborns affected by OFCs with available placental tissues and 206 controls randomly selected from 509 non-malformed newborns with available placenta samples, recruited in five rural counties in northern China. Sociodemographic information was collected using a structured questionnaire in face-to-face interviews. The concentrations of Hg, Cd, Pb, and As in placental tissues were analyzed using an inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry in helium mode. The median concentrations of Hg (7.4 ng/g), Cd (57.1 ng/g), and Pb (96.1 ng/g) were all statistically significantly higher in OFC cases than in controls (Hg 5.5 ng/g, Cd 38.6 ng/g, and Pb 67.9 ng/g, respectively); no differences were observed between the two groups in median concentrations of As. Concentrations above the median for all subjects were associated with a 2.33-fold (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.33-2.09) increased OFC risk for Cd and a 3.08-fold (95% CI 1.74-5.47) increased risk for Pb. The risk for OFCs increased with concentration tertiles, with an adjusted odds ratio of 3.06 (95% CI 1.36-6.88) for the second tertile and 8.18 (95% CI 6.64-18.37) for the highest tertile of Cd, and 3.88 (95% CI 1.78-8.42) for the second tertile and 5.17 (95% CI 2.37-11.29) for the highest tertile of Pb. The association between Hg concentration and OFC risk was borderline nonsignificant after adjusting for confounding factors. Prenatal exposure to Cd and Pb, as reflected by their concentrations in placental tissues, is associated with an increased risk for neonatal OFCs.

Impact of Periconceptional Folic Acid Supplementation on Low Birth Weight and Small-for-Gestational-Age Infants in China: A Large Prospective Cohort Study.

OBJECTIVES: To explore the effects of maternal folic acid supplementation alone during pregnancy on the incidence of low birth weight (LBW) and small-for-gestational-age (SGA) infant status. STUDY DESIGN: Data were derived from a large population-based cohort study performed in China to evaluate the prevention of neural tube defects with folic acid supplementation. The sample comprised 200 589 singleton live births registered in 2 southern Chinese provinces by mothers for whom detailed information on folic acid use was available. Gestational age was calculated from the first day of the last menstrual period. LBW was defined as a birth weight <2500 g. Infants were considered SGA when the age-adjusted birth weight was below the 10th percentile as defined by a national survey performed in 1998. Logistic regression was used to estimate the effects of folic acid after adjusting for the principal potential confounders. RESULTS: The overall incidence of LBW and SGA status was 2.18% and 5.82%, respectively. The incidence of LBW and SGA status was 2.09% and 5.73% in women who took folic acid, and 2.27% and 5.90% in those who did not. The adjusted risk ratios associated with folic acid use were 0.85 (95% CI: 0.80-0.90) for LBW and 0.93 (95% CI: 0.89-0.96) for SGA status. Folic acid use during pregnancy appeared to be particularly important to prevent LBW and SGA status. CONCLUSIONS: A maternal daily intake of 400 µg folic acid alone significantly reduced the risks of infant LBW and SGA status.