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Cadmium (Cd) is a harmful element that affects plant growth and development. Genetic improvements could be applied for enhancing Cd tolerance and accumulation in plants. Here, a novel Cd stress-induced gene, NtNRAMP3, was identified in tobacco. We constructed two NtNRAMP3-knockout (KO) tobacco lines using the CRISPR/Cas9 system, which enhanced Cd tolerance and Cd accumulation in tobacco leaves compared with those in the wildtype (WT). Subcellular localization analysis suggested that NtNRAMP3 is a tonoplast protein and GUS (β-glucuronidase) histochemical analysis showed that NtNRAMP3 is highly expressed in the conductive tissue of leaves. NtNRAMP3-KO tobacco showed reduced Cd translation from vacuole to cytosol in leaves compared with the WT, and its vacuolar Cd concentration was significantly higher (20.78-22.81%) than that in the WT; in contrast, Cd concentration in the cytosol was reduced by 13.72-20.15%, preventing chlorophyll degradation and reducing reactive oxygen species accumulation in the leaves. Our findings demonstrate that NtNRAMP3 is involved in regulating Cd subcellular distribution (controlling Cd transport from vacuoles to the cytosol) and affects Cd tolerance and its accumulation in tobacco. This provides a key candidate gene to improve the phytoremediation efficiency of plants via genetic engineering., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Objective: Randomized clinical trials and published meta-analyses assessing the clinical effectiveness of Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) on the treatment of stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) yielded inconsistent results in terms of disease outcomes, in which the design of placebo-controlled studies can contribute to the heterogeneity. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of CHM compared to placebo on the treatment of stable COPD, to provide robust evidence for the use of CHM in COPD., Methods: Nine electronic databases were searched from inception to October 1, 2019 to identify placebo controlled randomized trials of CHM for the treatment of stable COPD and studies in English or Chinese were included. The primary outcomes were symptom score (CAT score), quality of life (SGRQ) and frequency of acute exacerbations. The secondary outcomes included lung function, clinical total effective rate and adverse events. The selection of studies, data extraction and coding and assessment of risk of bias of the included studies were conducted by two reviewers independently. Mean difference (MD) was used to analyze continuous variable and relative risk ratio (RR) for dichotomous data., Results: A total of eleven studies involving 1223 patients were included. While maintaining routine western pharmacotherapies (WP), CHM had significant advantage over the treatment of placebo in improving CAT score (MD -3.93; 95 %CI -6.01 to -1.85) and SGRQ score (MD -6.20; 95 %CI -10.13 to -2.28), reducing the frequency of acute exacerbations (MD -0.78; 95 %CI -1.40 to -0.16) and improving clinical effective rate (RR 1.29; 95 %CI 1.14 to 1.45), but had no significant effect on improving FEV 1 %pred (MD 8.18; 95 %CI -4.22 to 20.58). High heterogeneity was found for the changes in exacerbation frequency and FEV 1 %pred. No serious adverse events related to CHM were reported., Conclusions: This meta-analysis of placebo-controlled RCTs demonstrated that the use of CHM in addition to WP could alleviate clinical symptoms, improve quality of life and clinical efficiency and reduce the frequency of exacerbations, which could be an alternative approach for treatment adjustment of COPD. CHM was a relatively safe treatment. These findings need to be verified in future with high-quality clinical trials., (Copyright © 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Engineering microbial cell factories has been widely applied to produce compounds spanning from intricate natural products to bulk commodities. In each case, host robustness is essential to ensure the reliable and sustainable production of targeted metabolites. However, it can be negatively affected by metabolic burden, pathway toxicity, and harsh environment, resulting in a decreased titer and productivity. Enhanced robustness enables host to have better production performance under complicated growth circumstances. Here, we review current strategies for boosting host robustness, including metabolic balancing, genetic and phenotype stability enhancement, and tolerance engineering. In addition, we discuss the challenges and future perspectives on microbial host engineering for increased robustness., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Taking inspiration from natural dynamic regulatory mechanisms in microbes, construction of dynamic regulatory networks has recently emerged as a promising strategy for metabolic pathway engineering. Over the past years, a variety of dynamic control systems have been developed to maximize the production by balancing cell growth and product formation. Here, we review the attractive dynamic regulation tools that have been applied in biosynthetic pathway optimization. We particularly put emphasis on the recent successful implementations in pathway engineering by utilization of fermentation parameters-based, metabolites-based and quorum sensing system-based dynamic control networks, and the future challenges in extending the application of those promising dynamic regulation tools in industrial manufacturing., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

High surface area (136 m 2 g -1 ) nanoporous two-dimensional TiO 2 nanoflakes are applied as an adsorbent and meanwhile a matrix for toxic small molecule analysis using positive-ion surface-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (SALDI-TOF MS). The TiO 2 nanoflakes enable one-step enrichment and analysis, greatly simplifying the analysis technique. Due to the high enrichment efficiency and low background noise, small molecule organic contaminants at ppt or even sub-ppt concentrations such as malachite green (10 pg/mL), leucomalachite green (10 pg/mL), cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (0.001 pg/mL), rhodamine B (0.001 pg/mL), and crystal violet (0.1 pg/mL) were detected. In addition, malachite green and its metabolite leucomalachite green at ng/mL concentrations were successfully detected from fish blood and fish extracts, and crystal violet and its homologues at ng/cm 2 concentrations were detected from inks on thermal receipt papers obtained from local supermarket., (Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

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PSE pork has a weaker texture than normal pork due to the denaturation by endogenous protease. Changes in the nutritional quality and characteristics of myofibrillar protein (MP) from PSE pork have been scarcely documented. MPs were isolated from both PSE (MPP) and normal pork (MPN) and were oxidized for 12h at 4°C by a hydroxyl radical generating system (10μM FeCl3, 100μM ascorbic acid, 0.1, 1, and 10mM H2O2). The MPP had less aggregation and looser structure with higher surface hydrophobicity. The MPP was also less polymeric, as evidenced by intenser bands on SDS-PAGE and fewer carbonyl-NH2 interactions. The MPP particles were of smaller size, caused by the endogenous protease and oxidation, and reached the critical concentration to enhance the solubility. The altered characteristics of MPP enhanced its in vitro digestion rate and overall digestibility. In addition, the in vitro digestion rate of MPN can be enhanced if the oxidative stress is strong enough (10mM H2O2)., (Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

The influence of NaNO2 content on protein oxidation and nitrosation was investigated in cooked sausages at different concentrations (0, 50, 100, 200 and 400 mg NaNO2/kg). Dependent on concentration, NaNO2 had both anti- and pro-oxidant effects on protein oxidation. The antioxidant effects of NaNO2 on the protein oxidation were evidenced by significantly lower carbonyl contents, higher free amines and lower surface hydrophobicities. The pro-oxidant effects of NaNO2 on protein oxidation resulted in a decrease of sulfhydryls and an increase of disulfide bonds. NaNO2 also improved the protein nitrosation inducing the formation of 3-nitrotyrosine (3-NT). Moreover, 3-NT had significant correlations with parameters of protein oxidation, indicating that 3-NT may be a possible marker for protein oxidation. Results of this study contribute to an understanding of the impact of NaNO2 on food quality and help to identify optimal formulations of cured meat products., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)