Characterization, Antioxidant Capacity and Protective Effect of Peptides from Cordyceps militaris Cultivated with Tussah Pupa on Oxidative Injured HepG2 Cells.

The antioxidant capacity and protective effect of peptides from protein hydrolysate of Cordyceps militaris cultivated with tussah pupa (ECPs) on H2O2-injured HepG2 cells were studied. Results indicated ECP1 (<3 kDa) presented the strongest antioxidant activity compared with other molecular weight peptides. Pretreated with ECPs observably enhanced survival rates and reduced apoptosis rates of HepG2 cells. ECPs treatment decreased the ROS level, MDA content and increased CAT and GSH-Px activities of HepG2 cells. Besides, the morphologies of natural peptides from C. militaris cultivated with tussah pupa (NCP1) and ECP1 were observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Characterization results suggested the structure of NCP1 was changed by enzymatic hydrolysis treatment. Most of hydrophobic and acidic amino acids contents (ACC) in ECP1 were also observably improved by enzymatic hydrolysis. In conclusion, low molecular weight peptides had potential value in the development of cosmetics and health food.

Characterization of the oral microbiome of children with type 1 diabetes in the acute and chronic phases.

Background and Aim: The relationship between the oral microbiota and type 1 diabetes (T1D) remains unclear. We aimed to evaluate the variations in the oral microbiome in T1D and identify potentially associated bacterial factors. Methods: We performed high-throughput sequencing of the V3-V4 area of the 16S rRNA gene to profile the oral bacterial composition of 47 healthy children (CON group), 46 children with new-onset T1D in the acute phase (NT1D group), and 10 children with T1D in the chronic phase receiving insulin treatment (CT1D group). Multivariate statistical analysis of sequencing data was performed. Results: Compared to the CON group, the NT1D group was characterized by decreased diversity and increased abundance of genera harboring opportunistic pathogens, while this trend was partially reversed in the CT1D group. Differential genera between groups could distinguish the NT1D group from the CON group (AUC = 0.933) and CT1D group (AUC = 0.846), respectively. Moreover, T1D-enriched genera were closely correlated with HbA1c, FBG and WBCs levels. Conclusion: Our results showed that the acute phase of T1D was characterized by oral microbiota dysbiosis, which could be partially ameliorated via glycemic control. The possible role of oral microbiota dysbiosis on oral health and systemic metabolic status in T1D warrants further mechanistic investigation.

Enhancing the Performance of Evolutionary Algorithm by Differential Evolution for Optimizing Distillation Sequence.

Optimal synthesis of distillation sequence is a complex problem in chemical processes engineering, which involves process structure optimization and operation parameters optimization. The study of the synthesis of distillation sequence is a crucial step toward improving the efficiency of chemical processes and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This work introduced the concept of binary tree to encode the distillation sequence. The performance of the six evolutionary algorithms was evaluated by solving a 14-component distillation sequence synthesis problem. The best algorithm was used to optimize the operation parameters of a triple-column distillation process. The total annual cost and CO2 emissions were considered as the metrics to evaluate the performance of triple-column distillation processes. As a result, NSGA-II-DE was found to be the best one of the six tested evolutionary algorithms. Then, NSGA-II-DE was applied to the distillation sequence optimization to find the best operating parameters, which led to a significant reduction in CO2 emission and total annual costs.

Analysis of Chloroplast Genomes Provides Insights Into the Evolution of Agropyron.

Plants of the Agropyron genus are important pasture resources, and they also play important roles in the ecological restoration. Chloroplast genomes are inherited from maternal parents, and they are important for studying species taxonomy and evolution. In this study, we sequenced the complete chloroplast genomes of five typical species of the Agropyron genus (eg., A. cristatum × A. desertorum Fisch. Schult, A. desertorum, A. desertorum Fisch. Schult. cv. Nordan, A. michnoi Roshev, and A. mongolicum Keng) using the Illumina NovaSeq platform. We found that these five chloroplast genomes exhibit a typical quadripartite structure with a conserved genome arrangement and structure. Their chloroplast genomes contain the large single-copy regions (LSC, 79,613 bp-79,634 bp), the small single-copy regions (SSC, 12,760 bp-12,768 bp), and the inverted repeat regions (IR, 43,060 bp-43,090 bp). Each of the five chloroplast genomes contains 129 genes, including 38 tRNA genes, eight rRNA genes, and 83 protein-coding genes. Among them, the genes trnG-GCC, matK, petL, ccsA, and rpl32 showed significant nucleotide diversity in these five species, and they may be used as molecular markers in taxonomic studies. Phylogenetic analysis showed that A. mongolicum is closely related to A. michnoi, while others have a closer genetic relationship with the Triticum genus.

Metabolic Engineering of Enterobacter aerogenes for Improved 2,3-Butanediol Production by Manipulating NADH Levels and Overexpressing the Small RNA RyhB.

Biotechnological production of 2,3-butanediol (2,3-BD), a versatile platform bio-chemical and a potential biofuel, is limited due to by-product toxicity. In this study, we aimed to redirect the metabolic flux toward 2,3-BD in Enterobacter aerogenes (E. aerogenes) by increasing the intracellular NADH pool. Increasing the NADH/NAD+ ratio by knocking out the NADH dehydrogenase genes (nuoC/nuoD) enhanced 2,3-BD production by up to 67% compared with wild-type E. aerogenes. When lactate dehydrogenase (ldh) was knocked out, the yield of 2,3-BD was increased by 71.2% compared to the wild type. Metabolic flux analysis revealed that upregulated expression of the sRNA RyhB led to a noteworthy shift in metabolism. The 2,3-BD titer of the best mutant Ea-2 was almost seven times higher than that of the parent strain in a 5-L fermenter. In this study, an effective metabolic engineering strategy for improved 2,3-BD production was implemented by increasing the NADH/NAD+ ratio and blocking competing pathways.

Comparison of metabolism substances in Cordyceps sinensis and Cordyceps militaris cultivated with tussah pupa based on LC-MS.

The objective of our study was to compare the chemical composition of Cordyceps sinensis (C. sinensis) and Cordyceps militaris (C. militaris) cultivated with tussah pupa by using metabonomics technology in order to clarify the similarity and difference of the two medicinal materials from the whole metabolite level. The results showed that there were 25 different metabolites among the 69 metabolites that were highly expressed in C. militaris cultivated with tussah pupa compared with C. sinensis in both positive and negative ion modes. Analysis results of partial differential metabolites pathways indicated that 16 differential metabolites were involved in multiple pathways, such as histidine metabolism, arginine biosynthesis, tyrosine metabolism, glyoxylate and dicarboxylate metabolism, phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, pyruvate metabolism, etc. Therefore, the composition of C. militaris cultivated with tussah pupa had significant advantage comparing with C. sinensis, which demonstrated that high-priced C. sinensis could be substituted with C. militaris cultivated with tussah pupa to some extent. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: This study comprehensively compared the chemical composition of Cordyceps sinensis (C. sinensis) and Cordyceps militaris (C. militaris) cultivated with tussah pupa by using metabonomics technology in order to clarify the similarity and difference of the two medicinal materials from the whole metabolite level. The experimental results provide a theoretical basis and scientific support for whether C. sinensis can be substituted with C. militaris cultivated with tussah pupa in clinical practice.

Effect of mechanical vibration on postharvest quality and volatile compounds of blueberry fruit.

The objective of the study was to investigate the effect of mechanical vibration on postharvest quality and volatile compounds in blueberries (Vaccinium spp. Berkeley). Ethylene production, respiratory rate, firmness, decay incidence, soluble solids content (SSC), titratable acid content (TAC), flavonoid content, total phenols content (TPC), enzyme activity and volatile compounds of blueberry fruit were determined. Results showed that mechanical vibration resulted in the increase of ethylene production, respiratory rate, decay incidence and the decrease of firmness, enzyme activity, SSC, TAC, flavonoid content, TPC in blueberries comparing with the control. Moreover, mechanical vibration improved the relative content of alcohols and decreased the relative content of esters in comparison with the control group. In conclusion, the effect of transport vibration on blueberry quality was conspicuous. The quality of blueberry fruit gradually decreased with the extension of vibration time during the transportation, which seriously reduced storage life and commodity value of blueberries.

Photostimulated Spiropyran for Instantaneous Visualization of Thermal Field Distribution and Flow Pattern.

The study of thermocapillary convection has attracted the attention of researchers due to the importance in both fundamental and industrial aspects. To trace the state of flows in real time during thermocapillary convection, the development of imaging methods and tools is essential. Here we use a benzothiazole unit-bearing spiropyran (BS1-SP) as a photostimulated indicator to visualize the details of instantaneous temperature distribution and flow pattern on the surface of volatile solvent simultaneously with a high spatial and temporal resolution during convection. This work provides insights into dynamic self-organization and thermo-hydrodynamics taking place in evaporating systems, and a useful tool to study these behaviors.

Effectiveness of lysozyme coatings and 1-MCP treatments on storage and preservation of kiwifruit.

The objective of the present study was to investigate the effectiveness of lysozyme coatings and 1-MCP on storage and preservation of kiwifruit stored at 4 ±â€¯1 °C and 90-95% RH for 20 d. Ethylene production, respiratory rate, decay incidence, weight loss, firmness, chlorophyll, soluble solid, titratable acid, ascorbic acid, total bacterial count, ascorbate peroxidase (APX), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) activity of treated kiwifruit were examined. The results showed that lysozyme coatings or 1-MCP treatment inhibited ethylene production and respiratory rate, delayed the increase of decay incidence, weight loss, soluble solid and total bacterial count, improved firmness, chlorophyll, titratable acid, ascorbic acid content, APX, SOD and CAT activity during the storage compared with the untreated kiwifruit in different degree. Moreover, the combined effect of lysozyme coatings and 1-MCP was more excellent than that of lysozyme coatings or 1-MCP alone. In conclusion, our present results indicated that the combined treatment of lysozyme coatings and 1-MCP may be an efficient way to improve the postharvest quality and prolong the shelf life of kiwifruit.

Evaluation of 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) treatment combined with nano-packaging on quality of pleurotus eryngii.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) combined with nano-packaging on quality of pleurotus eryngii stored at 4 ± 1 °C for 12 days. Texture, respiration rate, soluble protein, soluble sugar, weight loss, soluble solid, malondialdehyde (MDA) content, polyphenol oxidase (PPO), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) activity of treated pleurotus eryngii were determined. The results suggested that 1-MCP treatment combined with nano-packaging reduce respiration rate, weight loss and MDA content, delayed the decrease of soluble protein content, and maintained soluble sugar and soluble solid content of treated pleurotus eryngii during the storage at 4 ± 1 °C compared with the untreated samples. The efficiency of the combined treatment (1-MCP + nano-packaging) was better than that of 1-MCP or nano-packaging alone. Moreover, 1-MCP plus nano-packaging treatment effectively improved SOD and CAT activities, and suppressed the increase of PPO activity in pleurotus eryngii. Therefore, present results indicated that 1-MCP plus nano-packaging treatment may be an effective technology on maintaining commercial quality and lengthening shelf life of pleurotus eryngii.

A novel approach for the preparation of nanocrystalline cellulose by using phosphotungstic acid.

In this work, a sustainable and green process to prepare nanocrystalline cellulose (NCC) from bleached hardwood pulp was demonstrated. Rod-like nanocrystalline cellulose with the size of 15-40 nm in width and hundreds of nanometers in length was obtained through H3PW12O40 (HPW)-catalyzed hydrolysis of bleached pulp fibers under the mild reaction conditions. Thermogravimetric analysis revealed that the resulting NCC exhibited much higher thermal stability than the partially sulfated NCC (prepared by sulfuric acid). In addition, the concentrated HPW could be easily recovered and recycled through the extraction with diethyl ether, and the recovered HPW could be reused for several rounds of cellulose hydrolysis without activity lost. These fundamental studies are of crucial importance for the development and application of NCC products/NCC-based biomaterials with good thermal stability.