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[Display omitted] • Alpha-lipoic acid can be effectively grafted onto keratin macromolecular chains through disulfide bond. • Alpha-lipoic acid is grafted on cysteine residues makes keratin macromolecules inclined to form Beta-sheet conformation. • The structure and performance of regenerated keratin can be ameliorated by reducing the content of disulfide bond crosslink. The R&D and application of natural biomass resources is one of the important ways to solve the world's energy shortage and environmental pollution. However, the complex processing technology and poor mechanical properties seriously hinder the development of the biomass polymers. A kind of natural antioxidant, alpha-lipoic acid, was used to modify wool keratin by grafting thiols in this study, so as to ameliorated the physical properties of regenerated materials. The optimal process parameters and modification mechanism were explored. Research results indicated that grafting ratio of lipoic acid can reach more than 13% and the polypeptide chains were more stretched in solution, when 30% lipoic acid was added into keratin solution at 40 °C with a reaction time of 2 h. In addition, lipoic acid grafted on thiol groups can effectively weaken the intra- and intermolecular forces of keratin, this change made the arrangement of macromolecular chains more orderly. The physical structure of modified keratin became uniform and compact, and the materials had obtained better thermal and mechanical properties. This research provided a novel and environment-friendly method for the modification technology of keratin, and it was beneficial to expand the application fields of biomass materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cotton fiber is an indispensable raw material in the textile industry. Fiber length is an important fiber quality index, and the research on fiber length is also quite abundant. However, on the same ovule, there are only a few studies on the difference in fiber length development between the micropylar end and the chalazal end of the ovule. We elucidate the mechanism of fiber length differences at both ends of the ovule through the phenomics, transcriptome, and metabolome. The results show that 20, 25, and 30 days post anthesis (DPA) are the pivotal stages to causing the difference in fiber length at two ends of the ovules. Through the KEGG annotation of differentially expressed genes (DEGs), it was found that flavonoid biosynthesis, plant hormone signal transduction, and phenylpropanoid biosynthesis are enriched in DEGs, and similar conclusions were drawn in the analysis of differential abundant metabolites (DAMs). The results of in vitro culture of ovules showed that chlorogenic acid in the flavonoid pathway and scopolin downstream of the phenylpropanoid pathway have significant effects on fiber growth. Our research provide insights into the mechanism of cotton fiber elongation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oil pollution has caused more and more serious damages to the environment, especially to water. Oil and water separation technologies based on high-performance absorbing materials have attracted extensive attentions. Herein, elasticity-enhanced bacterial cellulose (BC) aerogel is synthesized for oil/water separation through thermochemical vapor deposition (CVD) catalyzed by 1, 2, 3, 4-butanetetracarboxylic acid (BTCA). BTCA has two functions, namely, esterification with BC and catalyzing CVD. The prepared aerogel could be recovered soon after being compressed and the elastic recovery was >90 % at set maximum deformation of 80 %. And, it also exhibits vigorous fatigue resistance with an elastic deformation of >80 % after 50 cycles. The high elastic and hydrophobic aerogel is very suitable for absorbing and desorbing oils by simple mechanical squeezing. The adsorption capacity for n-hexane and dichloroethane maintain 87 % and 81 % after 50 cycles, respectively, which implies robust reusability. Importantly, the CVD could also be catalyzed by other solid acids such as citric acid and vitamin C. This design and fabrication method offers a novel avenue for the preparation of hydrophobic bacterial cellulose aerogel with high elasticity. Elasticity-enhanced bacterial cellulose aerogel for oil/water separation. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • A 13C labelling with high-resolution mass spectrometry approach was conducted. • Quinone-quinone and quinone-catechol products were unexpectedly discovered. • Charge transfer might dominantly lead to the formation of quinone-catechols. • Self-condensation of semiquinone radicals probably produce the quinone-quinones. Quinones are highly reactive oxidants and play an essential role in inducing quality deterioration of fruit and vegetable products. Here, a novel stable isotope-labeling approach in combination with high-resolution tandem mass spectrometry UPLC-Q-TOF/MS and UPLC-Q-Exactive Orbitrap/MS, was successfully applied in tracking quinone reaction pathways in both real wines and model reaction systems. Unexpectedly, the binding products of quinone-quinone and quinone-catechol that are not derived from either nucleophilic reaction or redox reaction were discovered and showed the significant high peak area. Self-coupling reactions of semiquinone radicals might provide a possible interpretation for the formation of quinone-quinone products, and a charge transfer reaction coupled with a complementary donor–acceptor interaction is feasibly responsible for the products with a quinone-catechol structure. These findings endow a new perspective for quinone metabolic pathway in foods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]