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The increasing prevalence of drug-resistant bacteria has prompted the search for alternative approaches to address bacterial infections. Lanthipeptides, which are small molecule peptides, are biosynthesized and post-translationally modified by ribosomes in gram-positive bacteria. These compounds possess distinctive target recognition properties, making them highly potential candidates for combating antimicrobial resistance. Consequently, they hold promising potential as innovative substitutes for traditional antibiotics. We conducted a comprehensive analysis of 65 publicly available Bacillus amyloliquefaciens genomes' data to explore the potential for lanthipeptide synthesis in this species. We annotated 21 putative precursor peptide genes for these novel lanthipeptides. Through heterologous expression experiments, we successfully obtained a novel lanthipeptide named amyA3. We accomplished a novel co-transformation strategy by introducing the synthetic enzyme obtained from B. amyloliquefaciens WS-8 into the E. coli BL21 (DE3) strain along with the heterologous precursor peptide amyA3. Through mass spectrometry analysis, we confirmed the successful modification of amyA3 by the synthetic enzyme derived from B. amyloliquefaciens WS-8, which represents a significant breakthrough in this research field. The identification and characterization of the lanthipeptide amyA3 along with the elucidation of its biosynthetic pathway provide novel perspectives into the discovery of naturally derived products and the intricate processes of translation and post-translational modifications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper takes the China high- and new-technology enterprise (HNTE) program implemented in 2008 as a quasi-natural experiment. Difference-in-differences (DID) estimate with matching data from the China Industrial Enterprise Database, the China Customs Database and the HNTE Certification Database for 2006–2010 is used to study the impact of HNTE certification on enterprises' export product quality. The results show that, overall, HNTE certification promotes the upgrading of export product quality. Moreover, the improvement of innovation ability brought by HNTE certification is an important channel to promote such upgrades. A series of robustness tests also confirm the above conclusions. In addition, heterogeneity analyses are conducted based on the enterprise size, ownership and trade mode, respectively. The results show that the mechanism by which HNTE certification policy promotes export product quality through the improvement of enterprise innovation ability is more significant in non-SOEs and general trading enterprises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Here we report the discovery and identification of antibacterial substances from the secondary metabolites of a new strain Bacillus velezensis BA-26. The whole genome of B. velezensis BA-26 was sequenced. Its genome data were annotated, and four potentially unknown gene clusters and nine known secondary metabolite synthetic gene clusters were analyzed and excavated by antiSMASH software. Based on the predicted secondary metabolites from the genome of strain BA-26, the material identification of isolated and purified extracellular secondary metabolites was conducted in combination with mass spectrometry data. A total of 24 antifungal compounds were identified, namely, iturin and various fengycins. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of iturin to Botrytis cinerea was 62.50 µg·mL−1. The MICs of C14 fengycin A, C16 fengycin A and C18 fengycin A were 62.50, 31.25 and 0.49 µg·mL−1, respectively, indicating that the increase in the number of carbon atoms in side chain fatty acids of fengycin improves its biological activity. Two kinds of anti-disease fungal compounds from B. velezensis BA-26, namely, iturin and fengycin, were purified and identified; they were found to have antibacterial activities against common pathogenic fungi. Therefore, B. velezensis BA-26 may be potentially used as a biological control agent. This study enriches the genome information on B. velezensis, elucidates the active components of B. velezensis BA-26 antibacterial substances, and provides a useful reference for using strain BA-26 as a biological control agent. Supplemental data for this article is available online at https://doi.org/10.1080/13102818.2021.1934540. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Marigold (Tagetes erecta L.) flowers can be used to produce lutein, but the production process generates fermentation wastewater, which is rich in lactic acid. Currently, most fermentation wastewater treatment methods are relatively expensive and time-consuming. To develop a practical marigold flower fermentation wastewater treatment method, in this study, we treated the fermentation wastewater with calcium oxide to prepare a neutralization solution, which was then used to irrigate maize that in turn exhibited a significant increase in growth. Then, we investigated soil pH, conductivity and enzyme activity, as well as microbial community and diversity of the maize rhizosphere and non-rhizosphere soil. Compared with the control group, the neutralization solution had no significant effect on soil pH and four kinds of enzyme (soil urease, catalase, sucrase and acid phosphatase) activity, but the electrical conductivity of the treatment group increased by 24.3%. The 16s rDNA and ITS rDNA sequencing results showed that the neutralization solution treatment influenced the diversity and abundance of bacteria and fungi in the non-rhizosphere samples, as well as the number of bacterial species in rhizosphere soil. The effect of neutralization solution treatment on bacteria was greater than that on fungi. Proteobacteria and Ascomycota were the predominant bacterial and fungal phyla in maize rhizosphere soil. The relative abundance of Paenibacillus, Bacillus and Penicillium genera significantly increased in non-rhizosphere soils. We hereby present a potential method for treating marigold flower fermentation wastewater for fertilizer utilization and show that the neutralization solution promotes maize growth and influences the soil microbial structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]