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Based on the experiments of utilization of garlic processing wastewater in a lotus pond, this study demonstrates that lotus pond wetlands have a remarkable ability to remove organic pollutants and decrease chemical oxygen demand (CODCr), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5), and suspended substances (SS) in garlic processing wastewater. Results also show evident effects of lotus roots on absorption of NH3-N. The pH value in a lotus pond with wastewater discharged was relatively stable. The water quality in the lotus pond reached the class II emission standard, according to the Integrated Wastewater Discharge Standard (GB8978-1996), seven days after pretreated garlic processing wastewater had been discharged into the lotus pond. Garlic processing wastewater irrigation does not produce pollution in the pond sediment and has no negative effect on the growth of lotus roots. Due to utilization of garlic processing wastewater, the output of lotus roots increased by 3.0% to 8.3%, and the quality of lotus roots was improved. Therefore, better purification and utilization results can be achieved.

In order to explore the synergistic mechanisms of combinatorial treatment using curcumin and mitomycin C (MMC) for breast cancer, MCF-7 breast cancer xenografts were conducted to observe the synergistic effect of combinatorial treatment using curcumin and MMC at various dosages. The synergistic mechanisms of combinatorial treatment using curcumin and MMC on the inhibition of tumor growth were explored by differential gene expression profile, gene ontology (GO), ingenuity pathway analysis (IPA) and Signal–Net network analysis. The expression levels of selected genes identified by cDNA microarray expression profiling were validated by quantitative RT-PCR (qRT-PCR) and Western blot analysis. Effect of combinatorial treatment on the inhibition of cell growth was observed by MTT assay. Apoptosis was detected by flow cytometric analysis and Hoechst 33258 staining. The combinatorial treatment of 100 mg/kg curcumin and 1.5 mg/kg MMC revealed synergistic inhibition on tumor growth. Among 1501 differentially expressed genes, the expression of 25 genes exhibited an obvious change and a significant difference in 27 signal pathways was observed (p < 0.05). In addition, Mapk1 (ERK) and Mapk14 (MAPK p38) had more cross-interactions with other genes and revealed an increase in expression by 8.14- and 11.84-fold, respectively during the combinatorial treatment by curcumin and MMC when compared with the control. Moreover, curcumin can synergistically improve tumoricidal effect of MMC in another human breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cells. Apoptosis was significantly induced by the combinatorial treatment (p < 0.05) and significantly inhibited by ERK inhibitor (PD98059) in MCF-7 cells (p < 0.05). The synergistic effect of combinatorial treatment by curcumin and MMC on the induction of apoptosis in breast cancer cells may be via the ERK pathway.

Nitric oxide (NO), a bioactive signaling molecule, serves as an antioxidant and anti-stress agent under abiotic stress. A hydroponics experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of sodium nitroprusside (SNP), a NO donor, on tomato seedlings exposed to 50 μmol L−1 CuCl2. The results show that copper is primarily stored in the soluble cell sap fraction in the roots, especially after treatment with Cu+SNP treatment, which accounted for 66.2% of the total copper content. The copper concentration gradually decreased from the roots to the leaves. In the leaves, exogenous NO induces the storage of excess copper in the cell walls. Copper stress decreases the proportion of copper integrated with pectates and proteins, but exogenous NO remarkably reverses this trend. The alleviating effect of NO is blocked by hemoglobin. Thus, exogenous NO is likely involved in the regulation of the subcellular copper concentrations and its chemical forms under copper stress. Although exogenous NO inhibited the absorption and transport of excess copper to some extent, the copper accumulation in tomato seedlings significantly increased under copper stress. The use of exogenous NO to enhance copper tolerance in some plants is a promising method for copper remediation.

In the present experiment, effects of sodium hydrosulfide (NaHS), a H2S donor, on the oxidative damage, antioxidant capacity and the growth of cucumber hypocotyls and radicles were studied under 100 mmol L−1 NaCl stress. NaCl treatment significantly induced accumulation of H2O2 and thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARS) in cucumber hypocotyls and radicles, and application of NaHS dramatically reduced the accumulation of H2O2 and lipid peroxidation. However, the alleviating effects greatly depended on the concentrations of NaHS, and 400 μmol L−1 NaHS treatment showed the most significant effects. Corresponding to the change of lipid peroxidation, higher activities of antioxidant enzymes as well as the antioxidant capacity indicated as DPPH scavenging activity, chelating activity of ferrous ions and hydroxyl radical (·OH) scavenging activity were induced by NaHS treatment under NaCl stress, especially by 400 μmol L−1 NaHS treatment. With the alleviating lipid peroxidation, the amylase activities in cotyledons were increased, and the length of cucumber hypocotyls and radicles were significantly promoted by NaHS treatment under NaCl stress. Unlike the effects of NaHS, pretreatment with other sodium salts including Na2S, Na2SO4, NaHSO4, Na2SO3, NaHSO3 and NaAc did not show significant effects on the growth of cucumber hypocotyls and radicles. These salts do not release H2S. Based on above results, it can be concluded that the effects of NaHS in the experiment depended on the H2S rather than other compounds derived from NaHS, and the alleviating effects might related with its function in modulating antioxidant capacity and amylase activities.

Chinese chive (A. tuberosum Rottler ex Spr.) is one of the most widely cultivated Allium species in China. However, minimal transcriptomic and genomic data are available to reveal its evolution and genetic diversity. In this study, de novo transcriptome sequencing was performed to produce large transcript sequences using an Illumina HiSeq 2000 instrument. We produced 51,968,882 high-quality clean reads and assembled them into 150,154 contigs. A total of 60,031 unigenes with an average length of 631 bp were identified. Of these, 36,523 unigenes were homologous to existing database sequences, 35,648 unigenes were annotated in the NCBI non-redundant (Nr) sequence database, and 23,509 unigenes were annotated in the Swiss-Prot database. A total of 26,798 unigenes were assigned to 57 Gene Ontology (GO) terms, and 13,378 unigenes were assigned to Cluster of Orthologous Group categories. Using the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway database, we mapped 21,361 unigenes onto 128 pathways. Furthermore, 2,125 sequences containing simple sequence repeats (SSRs) were identified. This new dataset provides the most comprehensive resource currently available for gene expression, gene discovery, and future genomic research on Chinese chive. The sequence resources developed in this study can be used to develop molecular markers that will facilitate further genetic research on Chinese chive and related species.