Ethanol extracts of Isochrysis zhanjiangensis alleviate acute alcoholic liver injury and modulate intestinal bacteria dysbiosis in mice.

BACKGROUND: Alcoholic liver disease (ALD) is responsible for 3.3 million deaths per annum. Efficacious therapeutic modalities or drug treatments for ALD have not yet been found, so it is urgent to seek new agents for preventing ALD and its related disease. Many experiments have indicated that modulating the gut microbiota and regulating the toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)/nuclear transcription factor-κB (NF-κB) inflammatory pathway can provide a new target for prevention and treatment of ALD. Marine microalgae have their natural metabolic pathways to synthesize various of bioactive compounds as promising candidates for hepatoprotection. In this study, we investigated ethanol extracts from Isochrysis zhanjiangensis (EEIZ) to evaluate their ability to alleviate acute alcoholic liver injury, regulate TLR4/NF-κB inflammatory pathway and modulate intestinal bacteria dysbiosis in mice for ALD treatment. RESULTS: In the acute ALD mouse model, EEIZ reduced levels of aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, triacylglyceride, total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein, while increasing the level of high-density lipoprotein. Besides, TLR4, myeloid differentiation factor 88, NF-κB and tumor necrosis factor-α expression levels in liver tissue were effectively downregulated by EEIZ. Furthermore, treatment with EEIZ enhanced intestinal homeostasis and significantly alleviated the damage caused by alcohol. CONCLUSION: EEIZ showed effective hepatoprotective activity against alcohol-induced acute liver injury in mice as it could alleviate hepatocyte damage, suppress the TLR4/NF-κB inflammatory pathway and regulate the intestinal flora structure. EEIZ could be a good candidate for preventing acute alcoholic liver injury. © 2024 Society of Chemical Industry.

The complete chloroplast genome sequence of medicinal plant, Selaginella involvens.

Selaginella involvens distributed in East Asia region including China used as traditional medicine, which is an important medicinal plant for preventing and treating asthma. The complete chloroplast genome sequence of S. involvens was characterized from Illumina pair-end sequencing. The chloroplast genome of S. involvens was 126,340 bp in length, containing a large single-copy region (LSC) of 53,214 bp, a small single-copy region (SSC) of 47,561 bp, and two inverted repeat (IR) regions of 12,796 bp. The overall GC content is 38.70%, whereas the corresponding values of the LSC, SSC, and IR regions are 36.2%, 31.9%, and 43.2%, respectively. The genome contains 80 complete genes, including 61 protein-coding genes (45 protein-coding gene species), nine tRNA genes (six tRNA species), and eight rRNA genes (four rRNA species). The Neighbour-joining phylogenetic analysis showed that S. involvens and Selaginella tamariscina clustered together as sisters to other Salvia species.

The complete chloroplast genome sequence of Chlorella vulgaris and phylogenetic analysis.

To understand the process of chloroplast genome evolution, information on repeated sequences, intergenic regions, and pseudogenes in chloroplast DNA is extremely helpful. Chlorella vulgaris is a fast-growing fresh-water microalga cultivated on the industrial scale for applications ranging from food to biofuel production. Structure and expression of the chloroplast genome have been studied in a number of plants. Gene content and the sequence of many genes in chloroplast DNA are relatively conserved among land plants and the Euglenophyta Euglena gracilis. The complete chloroplast genome sequence of C. vulgaris was characterized from Illumina pair-end sequencing. The chloroplast genome of C. vulgaris was 165,412 bp in length and the genome contains no large inverted repeat and has one copy of rRNA gene cluster consisting of 16S, 23S, and 5S rRNA genes. And the genes with two exons containing rrn23 (rRNA), trnl-UAA (tRNA), psba (CDS) and chlL (CDS). The genome contains 114 complete genes, including 78 protein-coding genes (45 protein-coding gene species), 33 tRNA genes (26 tRNA species), and 3 rRNA genes (3 rRNA species). The neighbour-joining phylogenetic analysis showed that C. vulgaris and C. vulgarisNC001865 clustered together as sisters to other Salvia species.

Isolation of an indigenous Chlorella vulgaris from swine wastewater and characterization of its nutrient removal ability in undiluted sewage.

Bio-treatment of wastewater mediated by microalgae is considered as a promising solution. This work aimed to isolate an indigenous microalgal strain (named MBFJNU-1) from swine wastewater effluent and identify as Chlorella vulgaris. After 12days, the removal efficiencies of total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) in undiluted swine slurry were 90.51% and 91.54%, respectively. Stress tolerance in response to wastewater was verified by cultivating in artificial wastewater containing different levels of chemical oxygen demand (COD), TN and TP. MBFJNU-1 could grow well in undiluted swine slurry and artificial wastewater containing 30,000mg/L COD or 2000mg/L TN. Furthermore, global nuclear DNA methylation (5-mC) of MBFJNU-1 was employed to explore the possible mechanism in response to wastewater stress. The results showed that the level of 5-mC was inversely proportional to the growth of MBFJNU-1 in different diluted swine slurry, helping to understand 5-mC variation in response to stress environment.

Removal of nutrients from undiluted anaerobically treated piggery wastewater by improved microalgae.

This study aimed at improving the adaptability and biodegradability of tested microalgae in undiluted anaerobic fermentation slurry of piggery wastewater. For that, a two-stage method based on UV irradiation followed by gradual domestication was developed. The distinctness of this method was the elimination of a screening procedure and just needed the UV-irradiated cells with appropriate survival to be subjected to gradual domestication. The microalgae treated with the method not only grew well in undiluted slurry, but achieved outstanding removal efficiencies in total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP). Large-scale application was conducted in an open raceway pond, and the concentrations of TN and TP after treatment were 43.80mg/L (removal rate of 89.5%) and 5.83mg/L (removal rate of 85.3%) respectively, which greatly excelled the Chinese discharge standards for livestock and poultry wastewater. The strategy is therefore a promising method for microalgae to purify piggery slurry containing high nutrient contents.