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In the development of applications to mitigate nuisance cyanobacterial blooms, environmentally friendly approaches have gained much attention. Recently, we found a bacterial strain Go58, which was isolated from the biofilm of a water plant, that showed potent algicidal activity against the bloom-forming cyanobacterium Microcystis aeruginosa. Whole genome sequencing of strain Go58 suggested that it is potentially a novel species closely related to Pseudomonas protegens. Pyoluteorins were obtained from the culture broth of this strain, and they demonstrated high toxicity against cultured cyanobacterial species, including M. aeruginosa and Anabaena cylindrica, but less toxicity against eukaryotic microalgae and other aquatic organisms. The production of pyoluteorin was enhanced by the presence of the target cyanobacterium. When a wild-caught microalgal consortium was treated with either strain Go58 or pyoluteorin, both efficiently suppressed the growth of harmful wild cyanobacteria, but promoted the growth of some specific eukaryotic microalgae. Since P. protegens is globally ubiquitous and highly anticipated to be a biopesticide for infectious diseases in the field of agriculture, the similar bacterial group identified in this study may also have potential as a safe on-site collectable biological countermeasure for controlling cyanobacterial blooms., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Mercury (Hg) pollution is a well-recognized global environmental and health issue and exhibits distinctive persistence, neurotoxicity, bioaccumulation, and biomagnification effects. As the largest global Hg reservoir, the Hg cumulatively stored in soils has reached as high as 250-1000 Gg. Even more concerning is that global soil-rice systems distributed in many countries have become central to the global Hg cycle because they are both a major food source for more than 3 billion people worldwide and the central bridge linking atmospheric and soil Hg circulation. In this review, we discuss the form distribution, transformation, and bioavailability of Hg in soil-rice systems by focusing on the Hg methylation and demethylation pathways and distribution, uptake, and accumulation in rice plants and the effects of Hg on the community structure and ecological functions of microorganisms in soil-rice systems. In addition, we clarify the mechanisms through which commonly used humus and biochar organic amendments influence Hg and its environmental effects in soil-rice systems. The review also elaborates on the advantages of sulfur-modified biochars and their critical role in controlling Hg migration and bioavailability in soils. Finally, we provide key information about Hg pollution in soil-rice systems, which is of great significance for developing appropriate strategies and mitigation planning to limit Hg bioconcentration in rice crops and achieving key global sustainable development goals, such as the guarantee of food security and the promotion of sustainable agriculture., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Low response to glucocorticoid (GC) predicts therapeutic failure in acute T lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL). The efficient and safe strategies are still required for the treatment of relapsed T-ALL. Our previous study revealed that tetrandrine induces apoptosis in human T lymphoblastoid leukemia cells possibly via activation of NF-κB. GCs are recognized as typical NF-κB inhibitors and are used for the treatment of T-ALL patients. In the present study, we examined whether methylprednisolone (MP) potentiates the cytotoxic effect of tetrandrine (TET) via NF-κB regulation by using human T lymphoblastoid leukemia MOLT-4 cells. WST-8 assay data showed that nM grade of MP increased cytotoxicity of TET against MOLT-4 cells in vitro. This effect seemed to be related to the potentiation of TET action by MP to induce apoptosis. Meanwhile, the combination also impeded the transition of cell cycle from G0/G1 phase to S phase. However, the regulation effect of this combination on cell cycle had no relationship with cyclin signaling pathway, since the drug-combination did not influence on the expression of cyclin A2/B1/D1 in MOLT-4 cells. On the other hand, the combination significantly inhibited the phosphorylation of NF-κB (p < 0.01). These results suggest that nM grade of MP potentiates the cytotoxic effect of TET possibly via regulation of NF-κB activation and "G0/G1 to S" phase transition in human T lymphoblastoid leukemia MOLT-4 cells. Combination of TET and MP may provide a new therapeutic strategy for relapsed T-ALL., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)