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There is an urgent need to understand the coupled relationship between belowground microbes and aboveground plants in response to temperature under climate change. The metabolic theory of ecology (MTE) provides a way to predict the metabolic rate and species diversity, but the spatial scale dependence and connections between plants and microorganisms are still unclear. Here, we used two independent datasets to address this question. One is from comprehensive sampling of paddy fields targeting bacteria and microbial functional genes, and the other is a global metadata of spatial turnover for microorganisms (bacteria, fungi and archaea, n = 139) and plants (n = 206). Results showed that spatial turnover of bacterial communities and microbial functional genes increased with temperature and fitted MTE. Through meta-analysis, the temperature-dependent spatial scale pattern was further extended to the global scale, with the spatial turnover of microorganisms and plants being consistent with MTE. Belowground microorganisms and aboveground plants were closely linked with each other even when controlling for temperature, suggesting that factors other than shared relationships with temperature also contribute to their linkages. These results implied a broad application of MTE in biology and have important implications for predicting the ecological consequences of future climate warming.

Taking hydraulic punching test of Zhaozhuang Mine as engineering background, by comparing the field application effects of different hydraulic punching processes, the relationship between coal moisture content around the borehole blockage and gas extraction effect was monitored and analyzed. The following conclusions were drawn: the occurrence of borehole blockage was the result of the comprehensive action of coal slag particle size and slag discharge capacity of punching return water. Blocking the borehole led to the accumulation of a large amount of punching high-pressure water and coal slag in the borehole, which compressed and infiltrated the surrounding coal body and reduced gas extraction efficiency of borehole. Under the condition of the same amount of coal produced by punching, the different punching methods led to the great difference in the influence radius of punching. The large flow three-stage coal-breaking hydraulic punching system developed according to the borehole blockage mechanism can effectively reduce the particle size of coal slag, increase the punching flow, effectively avoid borehole blockage, and improve gas extraction efficiency of borehole.

Changes in the composition and ratio of the flora during colitis have been found to potentially affect ovarian function through nutrient absorption. However, the mechanisms have not been fully explored. To investigate whether colitis-induced dysbacteriosis of the intestinal flora affects ovarian function, mice were given dextran sodium sulfate (DSS) through drinking water. High-throughput sequencing technology was used to clarify the composition and proportion of bacterial flora as well as gene expression changes in the colon. Changes in follicle type, number, and hormone secretion in the ovary were detected. The results showed that 2.5% DSS could induce severe colitis symptoms, including increased inflammatory cell infiltration, severe damage to the crypt, and high expression of inflammatory factors. Moreover, vitamin A synthesis metabolism-related genes Rdh10, Aldh1a1, Cyp26a1, Cyp26b1, and Rarβ were significantly decreased, as well as the levels of the steroid hormone synthase-related proteins STAR and CYP11A1. The levels of estradiol, progesterone, and Anti-Mullerian hormone as well as the quality of oocytes decreased significantly. The significantly changed abundances of Alistipes, Helicobacter, Bacteroides, and some other flora had potentially important roles. DSS-induced colitis and impaired vitamin A absorption reduced ovarian function.

We synthesized and assembled a truncated cyanophage genome called Syn-P4-8, containing 18 genes for viral coat assembly proteins, and transferred it into a nonhost strain, Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803, to investigate interactions between Syn-P4-8 and Synechocystis PCC 6803. We found that coexpression of tail fiber and tail protein genes enhanced the salt tolerance of Synechocystis PCC 6803.

During the perinatal period, the bovine mammary epithelial cells of dairy cows exhibit vigorous metabolism and produce large amounts of reactive oxygen species (ROS). The resulting redox balance disruption leads to oxidative stress, one of the main causes of mastitis. Puerarin (PUE) is a natural flavonoid in the root of PUE that has attracted extensive attention as a potential antioxidant. This study first investigated whether PUE could reduce oxidative damage and mastitis induced by hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) in bovine mammary epithelial cells in vitro and elucidated the molecular mechanism. In vitro, BMECs (Bovine mammary epithelial cells) were divided into four treatment groups: Control group (no treatment), H2O2 group (H2O2 stimulation), PUE + H2O2 group (H2O2 stimulation before PUE rescue) and PUE group (positive control). The growth of BMECs in each group was observed, and oxidative stress-related indices were detected. Fluorescence quantitative PCR (qRT–PCR) was used to detect the expression of tightly linked genes, antioxidant genes, and inflammatory factors. The expression of p65 protein was detected by Western blot. In vivo, twenty cows with an average age of 5 years having given birth three times were divided into the normal dairy cow group, normal dairy cow group fed PUE, mastitis dairy cow group fed PUE, and mastitis dairy cow group fed PUE (n = 5). The contents of TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1β in milk and serum were detected. In BMECs, the results showed that the PUE treatment increased the activities of glutathione (GSH), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC); ROS and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels were reduced. Thus, PUE alleviated H2O2-induced oxidative stress in vitro. In addition, the PUE treatment eliminated the inhibition of H2O2 on the expression of oxidation genes and tight junction genes, and the enrichment degree of NRF-2, HO-1, xCT, and tight junctions (claudin4, occludin, ZO-1 and symplekin) increased. The PUE treatment also inhibited the expression of NF-κB-associated inflammatory factors (IL-6 and IL-8) and the chemokine CCL5 in H2O2-induced BMECs. In vivo experiments also confirmed that feeding PUE can reduce the expression of inflammatory factors in the milk and serum of lactating dairy cows. In conclusion, PUE can effectively reduce the oxidative stress of bovine mammary epithelial cells, enhance the tight junctions between cells, and play an anti-inflammatory role. This study provides a theoretical basis for PUE prevention and treatment of mastitis and oxidative stress. The use of PUE should be considered as a feed additive in future dairy farming.

6-Gingerol, the main active ingredient in ginger, exhibits a variety of biological activities, such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer activities, and can affect cell development. However, the effects of 6-gingerol on mammalian reproductive processes, especially early embryonic development, are unclear. This study explored whether 6-gingerol can be used to improve the quality of in vitro-cultured porcine embryos. The results showed that 5 μM 6-gingerol significantly increased the blastocyst formation rates of porcine early embryos. 6-Gingerol attenuated intracellular reactive oxygen species accumulation and autophagy, increased intracellular glutathione levels, and increased mitochondrial activity. In addition, 6-gingerol upregulated NANOG, SRY-box transcription factor 2, cytochrome c oxidase subunit II, mechanistic target of rapamycin kinase, and RPTOR independent companion of MTOR complex 2 while downregulating Caspase 3, baculoviral IAP repeat containing 5, autophagy related 12, and Beclin 1. Most importantly, 6-gingerol significantly increased the levels of p-extracellular regulated protein kinase 1/2 while reducing the levels of p-c-Jun N-terminal kinase 1/2/3 and p-p38. These results indicate that 6-gingerol can promote the development of porcine early embryos in vitro.

Background. Idiopathic scoliosis accounts for over 80% of all cases of scoliosis but has an unclear pathogenic mechanism. Many studies have introduced conventional image processing methods, but the results often fail to meet expectations. With the improvement and evolution of research in neural networks in the field of deep learning, many research efforts related to spinal reconstruction using the convolutional neural network (CNN) architecture of deep learning have shown promise. Purpose. To investigate the use of CNN for spine modeling. Methods. The primary technique used in this study involves Mask Region-based CNN (R-CNN) image segmentation and object detection methods as applied to spine model positioning of radiographs. The methods were evaluated based on common evaluation criteria for vertebral segmentation and object detection. Evaluations were performed using the loss function, mask loss function, classification loss function, target box loss function, average accuracy, and average recall. Results. Many bony structures were directly identified in one step, including the lumbar spine (L1-L5) and thoracic spine (T1-T12) in frontal and lateral radiographs, thereby achieving initial positioning of the statistical spine model to provide spine model positioning for future reconstruction and classification prediction. An average detection box accuracy of 97.4% and an average segmentation accuracy of 96.8% were achieved for the prediction efficacy of frontal images, with good image visualization. Moreover, the results for lateral images were satisfactory considering the evaluation parameters and image visualization. Conclusion. Mask R-CNN can be used for effective positioning in spine model studies for future reconstruction and classification prediction.

Soil microbial diversity is extremely vulnerable to fertilization, which is one of the main anthropogenic activities associated with global changes. Yet we know little about how and why soil microbial diversity responds to fertilization across contrasting local ecological contexts. This knowledge is fundamental for predicting changes in soil microbial diversity in response to ongoing global changes. We analyzed soils from ten 20-year field fertilization (organic and/or inorganic) experiments across China and found that the national-scale responses of soil bacterial diversity to fertilization are dependent on ecological context. In acidic soils from regions with high precipitation and soil fertility, inorganic fertilization can result in further acidification, resulting in negative impacts on soil bacterial diversity. In comparison, organic fertilization causes a smaller disturbance to soil bacterial diversity. Despite the overall role of environmental contexts in driving soil microbial diversity, a small group of bacterial taxa were found to respond to fertilization in a consistent way across contrasting regions throughout China. Taxa such as Nitrosospira and Nitrososphaera, which benefit from nitrogen fertilizer addition, as well as Chitinophagaceae, Bacilli, and phototrophic bacteria, which respond positively to organic fertilization, could be used as bioindicators for soil fertility in response to fertilization at the national scale. Overall, our work provides new insights into the importance of local environmental context in determining the responses of soil microbial diversity to fertilization, and identifies regions with acidic soils wherein soil microbial diversity is more vulnerable to fertilization at the national scale.

Soil contains a vast number of unidentified microbes, known as soil microbial dark matter. This is an important source of microbial biodiversity and genetic resources1,2, but has yet to be fully explored. In this study, we conducted the first large-scale excavation of soil microbial dark matter by reconstructing 40,039 metagenome-assembled genome bins (the SMAG catalog) from 3,463 soil metagenomes. We identified 16,530 of 21,077 species-level genome bins (SGBs) as unknown SGBs (uSGBs), which greatly expand archaeal and bacterial diversity across the tree of life. The uSGBs identified substantially increased the functional landscape and intra-species genome diversity of the soil microbiome, and provided large proportions of the 43,169 biosynthetic gene clusters and 8,544 CRISPR-Cas genes mined from the SMAG catalog. This suggests their potential for genetic resource exploitation. In addition, we determined that uSGBs contributed 84.6% of novel viral-host associations identified from the SMAG catalog. Our results demonstrate the richness of microbial dark matter in soil and highlight its potential. Furthermore, the SMAG catalog will serve as a valuable genomic database for understanding soil microbial biodiversity and exploiting novel genetic resources.

We study the heavy quark symmetry with the homogeneous bag model (HBM) and light-front quark model (LFQM) based on the decays of Λb0→Λc+ℓ−ν¯ℓ(ℓ=e,μ,τ). In particular, we calculate various parameters in the heavy quark expansions, including the Isgur-Wise functions and their first order corrections. The parameters in the HBM are fitted from the mass spectra, while the ones in the LFQM are tightly constrained by the heavy quark symmetry, granting the predictive power of our results. We explicitly obtain that B(Λb0→Λc+e−ν¯e)=(5.69±0.58,5.35±0.50), B(Λb0→Λc+μ−ν¯μ)=(5.67±0.58,5.33±0.49), and Γ(Λb0→Λc+τ−ν¯τ)/Γ(Λb0→Λc+μ−ν¯μ)=(0.3243±0.0126,0.3506±0.0046) for the numerical values of (HBM, LFQM). Our results of the branching fractions in both models agree well with the experimental data and lattice QCD calculations. In addition, we find that the hard gluon corrections decrease the branching fractions around 10%.

IntroductionThe ecological environment of tidal flats often changes due to tidal erosion and sedimentation. The distribution of tidal flat surface sediment is a natural reflection of the changes in the external dynamic environment, the spatial and temporal distribution pattern is of great significance.MethodsIn this study, the output structure of traditional convolutional neural network is combined with BP neural network. Meanwhile, four phases of Sentinel-2 multispectral images were collected and combined with field data from the Doulonggang tidal flat in Jiangsu Province, China, to construct the sediment composition inversion model.ResultsThe inversion accuracy was higher than 80% compared with the measured results. According to the inversion result, from 2017 to 2022, the surface sediment particle size of the tidal flat in Jiangsu varied seasonally and was coarse in summer and fine in winter. Additionally, the sediment composition tended to coarsen, showing an interannual change trend of increasing sand content and decreasing clay and silt contents.DiscussionThe above change of the sedimentary environment of the tidal flat may be caused by the decrease of fine grained sediment deposition, the introduction of exotic vegetation, the global sea level rise and the influence of human activities.

Efficient gas extraction technology is an important topic for low permeability and high gas outburst coal seam. Based on the engineering background of Hudi Coal Mine with the soft and hard coal seams and the existing hydraulic permeability enhancement technology, a new construction process to improve coal seam permeability was proposed to effectively reduce coal seam gas content and the risk of coal and gas outburst. In this measure, the roadway in floor was replaced with a directional main borehole, directional branch boreholes were used to replace crossing holes, and soft coal was mined along soft sub layers via the directional drilling machine and directional hydraulic jet. Main boreholes are drilled parallel to the seam in the coal seam floor, and branch boreholes are drilled through the floor and coal seam. The numerical simulation was used to study the permeability improvement effect of different mining diameters by the proposed measure. The result showed that, as the mining diameter increased from 2 m to 4 m, the average influence diameter of coal seam porosity increased from 15.44 m to 19.65 m, and the average influence diameter of the permeability increased from 15.75 m to 20.07 m, which is three times the influence range of the ordinary borehole. The application of the proposed measure and its supporting equipment was carried out under the special coal seam and gas conditions of Hudi Coal Mine. Results show that the soft coal was mined efficiently along the soft sub layer using the main borehole, branch boreholes, and directional hydraulic jet. Compared the traditional hydraulic flushing in the borehole with the ordinary drilling machine, the average speed of mining soft sub layers increased from 0.5 t/h to 3.6 t/h, the equivalent mining diameter of soft sub layers increased from 1.2 m to 7.6 m, and the average flow of gas extraction increased from 0.41 m3/d to 6.25 m3/d. The conclusions obtained in this study can provide a reference for coal mine gas extraction with similar coal seam conditions.

Osteoporosis is closely related to iron metabolism. This study aimed to investigate whether hops extract (HLE) and its active component xanthohumol (XAN) could ameliorate bone loss caused by iron overload, and explored its potential mechanism.Iron overload mice induced by iron dextran (ID) were used in vivo, and were treated with HLE and XAN for 3 months. Bone micro-structure and bone morphology parameters were determined by Micro-CT and TRAP staining. Bone metabolism markers and oxidation indexes in serum and bone tissue were evaluated. For in vitro experiment, bone formation indexes were determined. Moreover, the expression of key proteins in protein kinase B (Akt)/glycogen synthetase kinase 3β (GSK3β)/nuclear factor E2-related (Nrf2) pathway was evaluated by Western blotting.HLE and XAN effectively improved the bone micro-structure of the femur in mice, altered bone metabolism biomarkers, and regulated the expression of proteins related to bone metabolism. Additionally, they significantly promoted cell proliferation, runt-related gene 2 (Runx2) expression, and increased ALP activity in ID-induced osteoblasts. Moreover, HLE and XAN markedly inhibited the increase of oxidative stress caused by iron overload in vivo and in vitro. Further studies showed that they significantly up-regulated the expression of p-Akt, p-GSK3β, nuclear-Nrf2, NAD(P)H: quinone oxidoreductase 1 (NQO1), and heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) in ID-induced osteoblasts.These findings indicated hops and xanthohumol could ameliorate bone loss induced by iron overload via activating Akt/GSK3β/Nrf2 pathway, which brought up a novel sight for senile osteoporosis therapy.

Amphotericin B (AmB) is a powerful but toxic fungicide that operates via enigmatic small molecule–small molecule interactions. This mechanism has challenged the frontiers of structural biology for half a century. We recently showed AmB primarily forms extramembranous aggregates that kill yeast by extracting ergosterol from membranes. Here, we report key structural features of these antifungal ‘sponges’ illuminated by high-resolution magic-angle spinning solid-state NMR, in concert with simulated annealing and molecular dynamics computations. The minimal unit of assembly is an asymmetric head-to-tail homodimer: one molecule adopts an all-trans C1–C13 motif, the other a C6–C7-gauche conformation. These homodimers are staggered in a clathrate-like lattice with large void volumes similar to the size of sterols. These results illuminate the atomistic interactions that underlie fungicidal assemblies of AmB and suggest this natural product may form biologically active clathrates that host sterol guests.

This paper presents a single-inductor boost converter for thermoelectric energy harvesting. A two-stages startup circuit with a three-phase operation is adopted to obtain self-startup with a single inductor. To extract the maximum energy, a coarse- and fine-tuning MPPT is proposed to adaptively and effectively track the internal source resistance. By designing a zero-current detector, the synchronization loss is reduced, which significantly improves the peak efficiency. The boost converter is implemented in a 0.18-μm standard CMOS process. Simulation results show that the converter self-starts the operation from a TEG voltage of 128 mV and achieves 88% peak efficiency, providing a maximum output power of 3.78 mW. The improved MPPT enables the converter to sustain the operation at an input voltage as low as 7.5 mV after self-startup.

Stroke patients with autonomic dysfunction are more likely to develop cardiac problems, which have been linked to lower functional outcomes and increased mortality. In this study, heart rate variability (HRV) detection paired with the Clinical Feature Scale will be utilized to elucidate the immediate impact of manual acupuncture on autonomic dysfunction of varying severity in the convalescence stroke phase. This is a randomized, single-blind, controlled clinical trial approach. At a ratio of 1:1, 60 appropriate patients will be randomly randomized into either the experimental or control group. On the basis of symptomatic treatment drugs, the experimental group will additionally undertake acupuncture therapy 3 times a week for 4 weeks, for a total of 12 times. Primary outcomes include 24-hour HRV and 60-minute HRV detection at week 4 compared with baseline. The secondary outcome is the score of clinical feature scale at week 4 compared with the baseline. Adverse events and safety indices will be recorded throughout the experiment. The SPSS V.25.0 statistical program was applied for analysis, and measurement data were expressed as mean ± SD.

Ponding at the soil surface exerts profound impacts on infiltration. However, the effects of ponding depth on infiltration, especially the development of a saturated zone below the soil surface, have not been considered in present infiltration models. A new general Green-Ampt model solution (GAMS) was derived for a one-dimensional vertical infiltration into soils under a uniform initial moisture distribution with ponding on its surface. An expression was included in the new solution for simulating the saturated layer developed below the soil surface as long as the pressure head at the surface is greater than the water-entry suction. The GAMS simulates the infiltration processes closer to the numerical solution by HYDRUS-1D than the traditional and a recently improved Green-Ampt model. Moreover, an inversion method to improve the estimates of soil hydraulic parameters from one-dimensional vertical infiltration experiments that is based on the GAMS was suggested. The effect of ponding depth (hp), initial soil moisture content, soil texture, and hydraulic soil properties (Ks, hd and n) in the saturated zone was also evaluated. The results indicate that the saturated zone developed at a much faster rate than the unsaturated zone during infiltration. Generally, a larger saturated zone was found for soils with higher initial soil moisture content, coarser texture, higher Ks values and lower hd and n. Our findings reveal that including the saturated zone in the infiltration model yields a better estimate for the soil hydraulic parameters. The proposed GAMS model can improve irrigation design and rainfall-runoff simulations.

Objective: Bacteria-induced mastitis is characterized by mammary pain, swelling of the mammary glands, and decreased milk production and quality in cows. Reducing the negative effects of inflammation is a challenge, and the regulatory mechanism of the inflammatory response in mammary epithelial cells is not yet clear. Results: Our results indicated that the RNA-binding protein Musashi2 (Msi2) regulates the inflammatory response and the blood-milk barrier in mastitis. Msi2 is commonly enriched in stem cells and tumor cells. We found that Msi2 expression was upregulated during mastitis. Silencing Msi2 in BMECs and mice increased inflammatory factors and tight junctions. Transcriptional profiling analysis revealed that Msi2 silencing increased transforming growth factor-beta (TGFβ) signaling. RNA-interacting protein immunoprecipitation assays demonstrated that Msi2 could affect the translation of transforming growth factor-beta receptor 1 (TGFβR1), thereby affecting TGFβ signaling. Overall, Msi2 silencing reduced inflammatory reactions and repaired the blood-milk barrier during mastitis Conclusions: Our findings indicate that Msi2 plays an important role in mastitis by regulating the TGFβ signaling pathway. A decrease in Msi2 can reduce the negative effects of mastitis by inhibiting the expression of inflammatory factors and increasing tight junction proteins.

Artificial cyanophages are considered to be an effective biological method to control harmful cyanobacterial bloom. However, no synthetic cyanophage genome has been constructed and where its obstacles are unclear. Here, we survey a stretch of 16 kb length sequence of cyanophage A-4L that is unclonable in

Kirsten rat sarcoma viral oncogene homolog (KRAS), or guanosine triphosphatase KRAS, is a proto-oncogene that encodes the small guanosine triphosphatase transductor protein. Previous studies have found that KRAS can promote cytokine secretion, cell chemotaxis, and survival. However, its effects on milk fat synthesis in bovine mammary epithelial cells are unclear. In this study, the effects of KRAS inhibition on cell metabolism, autophagy, oxidative stress, endoplasmic reticulum stress, mitochondrial function, and lipid composition as well as the potential mechanisms were detected in an immortalized dairy cow mammary epithelial cell line (MAC-T). The results showed that inhibition of KRAS changed the lipid composition (especially the triglyceride level), mitochondrial functions, autophagy, and endoplasmic reticulum stress in cells. Moreover, KRAS inhibition regulated the levels of the mammalian target of rapamycin and mitogen-activated protein kinase (extracellular regulated protein kinases, c-Jun N-terminal kinases, p38) activation. These results indicated that regulation of KRAS would affect the synthesis and composition of milk fat. These results are also helpful for exploring the synthesis and secretion of milk fat at the molecular level and provide a theoretical basis for improving the percentage of fat in milk and the yield of milk from cows.

Background The pathogenesis of neck pain in the brain, which is the fourth most common cause of disability, remains unclear. Furthermore, little is known about the characteristics of dynamic local functional brain activity in cervical pain. Objective The present study aimed to investigate the changes of local brain activity caused by chronic neck pain and the factors leading to neck pain. Methods Using the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF) method combined with sliding window approach, we compared local brain activity that was measured by the functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) of 107 patients with chronic neck pain (CNP) with that of 57 healthy control participants. Five pathogenic factors were selected for correlation analysis. Results The group comparison results of dynamic amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (dALFF) variability showed that patients with CNP exhibited decreased dALFF variability in the left inferior temporal gyrus, the middle temporal gyrus, the angular gyrus, the inferior parietal marginal angular gyrus, and the middle occipital gyrus. The abnormal dALFF variability of the left inferior temporal gyrus was negatively correlated with the average daily working hours of patients with neck pain. Conclusions The findings indicated that the brain regions of patients with CNP responsible for audition, vision, memory, and emotion were subjected to temporal variability of abnormal regional brain activity. Moreover, the dALFF variability in the left inferior temporal gyrus might be a risk factor for neck pain. This study revealed the brain dysfunction of patients with CNP from the perspective of dynamic local brain activity, and highlighted the important role of dALFF variability in understanding the neural mechanism of CNP.

Atmospheric emission sources of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in China's eastern seaboard regions cause heavy POP contamination in the Bohai Sea (BS), China. Because many rivers are emptying into the BS, terrestrial runoff has been considered a dominant pathway of POPs onto the BS. Here, we explored the contribution of atmospheric transport and terrestrial runoff to organophosphorus flame retardants (OPFRs) to the BS by using an atmospheric transport model and a terrestrial runoff model. We examined the sensitivity and response of OPFR in the BS seawater to its atmospheric transport, deposition, and riverine discharge via terrestrial runoff. Both terrestrial runoff and atmospheric transport model simulations reveal that the atmospheric transport and deposition, including dry, wet, and diffusive gaseous deposition, dominate OPFR input into the BS. The total OPFR fluxes entering the BS via the atmospheric pathway and riverine input were 70.4 and 2.8 t/yr in 2013, respectively.

Cyanophages play an important role in regulating the dynamics of cyanobacteria communities in the hydrosphere, representing a promising biological control strategy for cyanobacterial blooms. Nevertheless, most cyanophages are host-specific, making it difficult to control blooming cyanobacteria via single or multiple cyanophages. In order to address the issue, we explore the interaction between cyanophages and their heterologous hosts, with the aim of revealing the principles of designing and constructing an artificial cyanophage genome towards multiple cyanobacterial hosts. In the present study, we use synthetic biological approaches to assess the impact of introducing a fragment of cyanophage genome into a heterologous cyanobacterium under a variety of environmental conditions. Based on a natural cyanophage A-4L genome (41,750 bp), a truncated cyanophage genome Syn-A-4-8 is synthesized and assembled in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We found that a 351–15,930 bp area of the A-4L genome has a fragment that is lethal to Escherichia coli during the process of attempting to assemble the full-length A-4L genome. Syn-A-4-8 was successfully introduced into E. coli and then transferred into the model cyanobacterium Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942 (Syn7942) via conjugation. Although no significant phenotypes of Syn7942 carrying Syn-A-4-8 (LS-02) could be observed under normal conditions, its growth exhibited a prolonged lag phase compared to that of the control strain under 290-millimolar NaCl stress. Finally, the mechanisms of altered salt tolerance in LS-02 were revealed through comparative transcriptomics, and ORF25 and ORF26 on Syn-A-4-8 turned out to be the key genes causing the phenotype. Our research represents an important attempt in designing artificial cyanophages towards multiple hosts, and offers new future insights into the control of cyanobacterial blooms.

Chinese Red Steppe Cattle (CRS), a composite cattle breed, is well known for its milk production, high slaughter rate, carcass traits, and meat quality. Nowadays, it is widely bred in Jilin and Hebei Province and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous region. However, the population structure and the genetic basis of prominent characteristics of CRS are still unknown. In this study, we systematically describe their population structure, genetic diversity, and selection signature based on genotyping data from 61 CRS individuals with GGP Bovine 100 K chip. The results showed that CRS cattle had low inbreeding levels and had formed a unique genetic structure feature. Using two complementary methods (including comprehensive haplotype score and complex likelihood ratio), we identified 1291 and 1285 potentially selected genes, respectively. There were 141 genes annotated in common 106 overlapping genomic regions covered 5.62 Mb, including PLAG1, PRKG2, DGAT1, PARP10, TONSL, ADCK5, and BMP3, most of which were enriched in pathways related to muscle growth and differentiation, milk production, and lipid metabolism. This study will contribute to understanding the genetic mechanism behind artificial selection and give an extensive reference for subsequent breeding.

We report a type of core@dotted-shell structured nanoprobe that incorporates water-soluble silica and water-interacted gadolinium oxide, endowed with excellent hydrophilicity and high magnetic reso...

Amphotericin-like glycosylated polyene macrolides (GPMs) are a clinically and industrially important family of natural products, but the mechanisms by which they exert their extraordinary biological activities have remained unclear for more than half a century. Amphotericin B exerts fungicidal action primarily via self-assembly into an extramembranous sponge that rapidly extracts ergosterol from fungal membranes, but it has remained unclear whether this mechanism is applicable to other GPMs. Using a highly conserved polyene–hemiketal region of GPMs that we hypothesized to represent a conserved ergosterol-binding domain, we bioinformatically mapped the entirety of the GPM sequence-function space and expanded the number of GPM biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) by 10-fold. We further leveraged bioinformatic predictions and tetrazine-based reactivity screening targeting the electron-rich polyene region of GPMs to discover a first-in-class methyltetraene- and diepoxide-containing GPM, kineosporicin, and to assign BGCs to many new producers of previously reported members. Leveraging a range of structurally diverse known and newly discovered GPMs, we found that the sterol sponge mechanism of fungicidal action is conserved., A combination of genome-mining and chemical reactivity identified new antifungal natural products. Such glycosylated polyene macrolides share a common mode of action via ergosterol extraction.

Fungal infections cause more than 1.5 million deaths annually. With an increase in immune-deficient susceptible populations and the emergence of antifungal drug resistance, there is an urgent need for novel strategies to combat these life-threatening infections. Here, we use a combinatorial screening approach to identify an imidazopyrazoindole, NPD827, that synergizes with fluconazole against azole-sensitive and -resistant isolates of Candida albicans. NPD827 interacts with sterols, resulting in profound effects on fungal membrane homeostasis and induction of membrane-associated stress responses. The compound impairs virulence in a Caenorhabditis elegans model of candidiasis, blocks C. albicans filamentation in vitro, and prevents biofilm formation in a rat model of catheter infection by C. albicans. Collectively, this work identifies an imidazopyrazoindole scaffold with a non-protein-targeted mode of action that re-sensitizes the leading human fungal pathogen, C. albicans, to azole antifungals.

We study CP violation in b-baryon decays of $\Xi_b^- \to \Xi^- D$ with $D = D^0, \bar{D}^0$ and $D_i~(i=1,2)$. We find that these baryonic decay processes provide an ideal opportunity to measure the weak phase due to the absence of the relative strong phase. Explicitly, we relate $\bar{\rho}$ and $\bar{\eta}$ the CKM elements with the decay rate ratios of $R_i= \Gamma(\Xi_b^- \to \Xi^-D_{i} ) / \Gamma( \Xi_b^- \to \Xi^-D^0 )$ without the charge conjugate states. As a complementary, we also examine the decay distributions of $\Lambda_b \to \Lambda(\to p \pi^- ) D$. There are in total 32 decay observables, which can be parameterized by 9 real parameters, allowing the experiments to extract the angle $\gamma\equiv \arg(-V_{ud}V_{ub}^*/V_{cd}V_{cb}^*)$ in the CKM unitarity triangle. In addition, the feasibilities of the experimental measurements are discussed. We find that $\bar{\rho}$ and $\bar{\eta}$ can be extracted at LHCb Run3 from $\Xi_b^- \to \Xi^- D$, and a full analysis of $\Lambda_b \to \Lambda(\to p \pi^-)D$ is available at LHCb Run4., Comment: Accepted by PLB

BackgroundMicroorganisms are known to be important drivers of biogeochemical cycling in soil and hence could act as a proxy informing on soil conditions in ecosystems. Identifying microbiomes indicative for soil fertility and crop production is important for the development of the next generation of sustainable agriculture. Earlier researches based on one-time sampling have revealed various indicator microbiomes for distinct agroecosystems and agricultural practices as well as their importance in supporting sustainable productivity. However, these microbiomes were based on a mere snapshot of a dynamic microbial community which is subject to significant changes over time. Currently true indicator microbiomes based on long-term, multi-annual monitoring are not available.ResultsHere, using samples from a continuous 20-year field study encompassing seven fertilization strategies, we identified the indicator microbiomes ecophysiologically informing on soil fertility and crop production in the main agricultural production base in China. Among a total of 29,184 phylotypes in 588 samples, we retrieved a streamlined consortium including 2% of phylotypes that were ubiquitously present in alkaline soils while contributing up to half of the whole community; many of them were associated with carbon and nutrient cycling. Furthermore, these phylotypes formed two opposite microbiomes. One indicator microbiome dominated byBacillus asahii, characterized by specific functional traits related to organic matter decomposition, was mainly observed in organic farming and closely associated with higher soil fertility and crop production. The counter microbiome, characterized by known nitrifiers (e.g.,Nitrosospira multiformis) as well as plant pathogens (e.g.,Bacillus anthracis) was observed in nutrient-deficit chemical fertilizations. Both microbiomes are expected to be valuable indictors in informing crop yield and soil fertility, regulated by agricultural management.ConclusionsOur findings based on this more than 2-decade long field study demonstrate the exciting potential of employing microorganisms and maximizing their functions in future agroecosystems. Our results report a “most-wanted” or “most-unwanted” list of microbial phylotypes that are ready candidates to guide the development of sustainable agriculture in alkaline soils.

With the completion of the draft assembly of the giant panda genome sequence, RNA sequencing technology has been widely used in genetic research on giant pandas. We used RNA-seq to examine black and white hair follicle samples from adult pandas. By comparison with the giant panda genome, 75 963 SNP loci were labeled, 2426 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified, and 2029 new genes were discovered, among which 631 were functionally annotated. A cluster analysis of the DEGs showed that they were mainly related to the Wnt signaling pathway, ECM-receptor interaction, the p53 signaling pathway, and ribosome processing. The enrichment results showed that there were significant differences in the regulatory networks of hair follicles with different colors during the transitional stage of hair follicle resting growth, which may play a regulatory role in melanin synthesis during growth. In conclusion, our results provide new insights and more data support for research on the color formation in giant pandas.

We study the weak radiative decays of ${\bf B}_b \to {\bf B}_n \gamma$ with ${\bf B}_{b(n)} $ the anti-triplet-bottom (octet) baryons in the light front quark model. We obtain that ${\cal B}(\Lambda_b \to \Lambda \gamma)= (7.1 \pm 0.3 )\times 10 ^{-6}$, which agrees well with the current experimental value of $(7.1 \pm 1.7 )\times 10 ^{-6}$. We predict that ${\cal B}(\Xi_b^0 \to \Xi^0 \gamma)= (1.0 \pm 0.1 )\times 10 ^{-5}$ and ${\cal B}(\Xi_b^- \to \Xi^- \gamma) = (1.1 \pm 0.1) \times 10^{-5}$, which are consistent with the latest upper limits set by the LHCb collaboration. In addition, we find that the $SU(3)_F$ flavor symmetry breaking effects for the modes related to the $b\to d \gamma$ transition can be as large as $20\%$., Comment: 16 pages, 1 figure

Accurate determination of evapotranspiration (ET) has tremendous potential in guiding irrigation and improving the efficiency of water resources utilization in the North China Plain. Eddy covariance (EC) method is currently a popular method for determining field-scale ET. However, due to varying foot print and unclosed energy balance, the applicability of EC in different regions needs to be tested and corrected. In present work, we compared the ET of the winter wheat – summer maize rotation cropland measured by the EC method with the ET measured by large-scale lysimeters on different time scales. The degree of energy balance closure of EC measurements in this region is 78%. After adjusted by using Bowen ratio forced closure method, the ET monitored by EC is comparable with those monitored by large-scale lysimeters. The results also indicated that the consistency of the observed ET by the EC and lysimeters got better with an increasing time scale, especially for the multi-year average ET values with a relative deviation of less than 1%. The short-time events such as irrigation and precipitation and the mismatch of the varying footprint area of the EC and the small fixed source area of the lysimeter should be responsible for the discrepancy of ET in two methods on daily scale. However, the factors of crop biomass, total available water, and local climate condition exert more effects on the observed ET on large time scale. Overall, the EC technique is responsible for ET measurement of winter wheat – summer maize rotation cropland of the North China Plain.

The input of exogenous organic materials is an effective way to improve soil organic matter (SOM) content in cropland. The exploration of the impact of new organic materials such as woody peat on black soil fertility can provide an important reference for preventing the degradation of black soil in Northeast China. In this study, the effects of adding woody peat to SOM and the soil-integrated fertility of black cropland were studied by seven treatments (no organic matter addition, CK; crop straw returning, SR; decomposed straw addition, DS; organic manure addition, OM; 6 t/ha woody peat addition, LWP; 10.5 t/ha natural humus material addition, MWP; and 15 t/ha natural humus material addition, HWP). The results show that natural humus material additions (LWP, MWP, and HWP treatments) could significantly increase SOM (increased by 4.79~9.41 g/kg), labile SOM (increased by 2.49~4.52 g/kg), and recalcitrant SOM (increased by 2.13~6.39 g/kg) components, respectively. For comparison, traditional organic material inputs (SR, DS, and OM treatments) had no significant effect on SOM but induced an increase in the labile SOM component in the following year. This study also found that natural humus material additions could improve soil-integrated fertility in a year term, especially in promoting SOM accumulation. However, organic manure amendment showed both the advantage of increasing soil fertility slightly and the disadvantage of increasing soil salt sharply. In conclusion, compared with traditional exogenous organic materials, the natural humus material amendment technique can rapidly increase the total SOM quantity and its different stability components and has a great effect in improving the integrated fertility of black soil. Thus, it is of significance to further study the potential of natural humus material amendment in the fertility of black soil in future.

Major problems in China’s pursuit of sustainable agricultural development include inadequate, low-quality soil and water resources, imbalanced regional allocation and unreasonable utilization of resources. In some regions, overexploitation of soil resources and excessive use of chemicals triggered a web of unforeseen consequences, including insufficient use of agricultural resources, agricultural non-point source pollution and land degradation. In the past decade, China has changed its path of agricultural development from an output-oriented one to a modern, sustainable one with agricultural ecological civilization as its goal. First, the government has formulated and improved its laws and regulations on soil resources and the environment. Second, the government has conducted serious actions to ensure food safety and coordinated management of agricultural resources. Third, the government has planned to establish national agricultural high-tech industry demonstration zones based on regional features to strengthen the connection among the government, agri-businesses, scientific community and the farming community. As the next step, the government should improve the system for ecological and environmental regulation and set up a feasible eco-incentive mechanism. At the same time, the scientific community should strengthen the innovation of bottleneck technologies and the development of whole solutions for sustainable management in ecologically fragile regions. This will enhance the alignment between policy mechanisms and technology modes and effectively promote the sustainable development of agriculture in China.

Organic amendments are a proven method of reducing soil erosion. However, the effect of organic additives on the pore properties of soils waterlogged by extreme rainfall has been minimally investigated. In this study, we collected rainfall data, established a field experiment consisting of randomized groups, and imaged the pore structure of waterlogged soil treated with different organic amendments (9 t ha−1 of maize straw [MS], 2.37 t ha−1 of cattle manure [OF], a mixture of 9 t ha−1 of MS and 1.89 t ha−1 of cattle manure [SOF], 7.4 t ha−1 of biochar [BC], 8.1 t ha−1 of woody peat [WP], and 3 L ha−1 of polyacrylamide [PAM]) in three-dimensions by X-ray microtomography and digital image analysis, which further quantified the effects. The results showed that, compared with the control, BC increased the total porosity by 54.28% and the connected porosity by 119.75%, but did not affect the pore shape and size distribution. BC and SOF improved the soil connectivity indexes; e.g., their C/I ratios increased by 177.44% and 149.62%, and the coordination numbers increased by 6.75% and 15.76%, respectively. MS had fewer, but longer and larger, channels and throats. Extreme precipitation events were significantly negatively correlated with all connectivity indicators. This study shows that organic materials can optimize the pore structure of waterlogged soil, with BC being the most resistant to erosion. However, extreme precipitation events can counteract the benefits organic additives have on soil pore structure.

As aging progresses, β-amyloid (Aβ) deposition and the resulting oxidative damage are key causes of aging diseases such as senior osteoporosis (SOP). Humulus lupulus L. (hops) is an important medicinal plant widely used in the food, beverage and pharmaceutical industries due to its strong antioxidant ability. In this study, APP/PS1 mutated transgenic mice and Aβ-injured osteoblasts were used to evaluate the protective effects of hops extracts (HLE) on SOP. Mice learning and memory levels were assessed by the Morris water maze. Mice femurs were prepared for bone micro-structures and immunohistochemistry experiments. The deposition of Aβ in the hippocampus, cortex and femurs were determined by Congo red staining. Moreover, protein expressions related to antioxidant pathways were evaluated by Western blotting. It was found that HLE markedly improved learning abilities and ameliorated memory impairment of APP/PS1 mice, as well as regulated antioxidant enzymes and bone metabolism proteins in mice serum. Micro-CT tests indicated that HLE enhanced BMD and improved micro-architectural parameters of mice femur. More importantly, it was discovered that HLE significantly reduced Aβ deposition both in the brain and femur. Further in vitro results showed HLE increased the bone mineralization nodule and reduced the ROS level of Aβ-injured osteoblasts. Additionally, HLE increased the expression of antioxidant related proteins Nrf2, HO-1, NQO1, FoxO1 and SOD-2. These results indicated that Humulus lupulus L. extract could protect against senior osteoporosis through inhibiting Aβ deposition and oxidative stress, which provides a reference for the clinical application of hops in the prevention and treatment of SOP.