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Photodynamic therapy (PDT) for hypoxic tumors has attracted wide attention owing to its noninvasiveness, easy maneuverability, and instantaneity. However, hypoxia in tumors and penetration depth of conventional ultraviolet light has greatly weakened its performance. To solve these problems, under NIR-II light irradiation, squaric acid nanoparticles (SQ NPs) with superior reactive oxygen, especially, hydroxyl radicals (•OH) production performance were first utilized for hypoxic tumor therapy. SQ NPs with intense light capture capability, intense NIR emission, and excellent photobleaching resistance show continuous •OH generation capabilities under NIR-II laser excitation. Through the superior PDT performance, the growth of hypoxic tumors was effectively inhibited, and the survival rate of mice was improved. This work highlights the application of NIR-II photoexcitation in deep tissue type I photodynamic therapy of hypoxic tumors, which will facilitate the development of hypoxic tumor PDT in deep depth.

Knorringia sibirica is a typical species of Polygonaceae with high medicinal and ecological value. However, there are few available phylogenetic and genetic studies about the chloroplast genome of K. sibirica. In the current study, a comprehensive examination of the chloroplast genome of K. sibirica was performed. The K. sibirica chloroplast genome is 161,384 bp, circular with a typical quadripartite structure, and comprised of guanine + cytosine content of 37.63%. The genome consists of 131 genes, including 86 protein-coding genes, 37 tRNA genes, and 8 rRNA genes. Seventy simple sequence repeats were identified in the genome. When compared with three closely related species, the result revealed that the chloroplast genome of K. sibirica was conserved in genome composition and structure. The specific sites in the genome suitable for DNA barcodes were identified by calculation of the nucleotide diversity. Finally, a phylogenetic tree of 49 species in Polygonaceae was constructed using the whole chloroplast genome. The phylogenetic analysis suggested that Knorringia is an independent genus in the Polygonea tribe. This research could provide support for the utilization of genetic sources and the evolutionary study of K. sibirica. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study provides a detailed analysis of the chloroplast genome of Microula sikkimensis. The genome consisted of a total of 149,428 bp and four distinct regions, including a large single-copy region (81,329 bp), a small single-copy region (17,261 bp), and an inverted repeat region (25,419 bp). The genome contained 112 genes, including 78 protein-coding genes, 30 tRNA genes, and 4 rRNA genes, and some exhibited duplication in the inverted repeat region. The chloroplast genome displayed different GC content across regions, with the inverted repeat region exhibiting the highest. Codon usage analysis and the identification of simple sequence repeats (SSRs) offer valuable genetic markers. Comparative analysis with other Boraginaceae species highlighted conservation and diversity in coding and noncoding regions. Phylogenetic analysis placed M. sikkimensis within the Boraginaceae family, revealing its distinct relationship with specific species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new method to realize full-pipelined SHA256 based on data storage is proposed. For the full-pipelined SHA256, only A and E need to be calculated each time when the status registers of the data compressor are updated, while B-D and F-H can be obtained directly from A-C and E-G of the previous round. Since A and E will no longer be used after they have been transmitted forward for four stages, the life cycles of each stage′s A and E are both 4 clock cycles. For the traditional pipeline structure, all status registers which are used to store A-H will be updated at the same time, which hence introduce a large dynamic power. Therefore, in order to reduce the numbers of registers, and then reduce the dynamic power of registers, this paper proposes a storage scheme, which uses latches to store each stage′s A and E. When the latter stage needs to use A and E of previous stage, it selects A and E stored in the latches of previous stages using MUXs. Therefore, only the values of two sets of latches(A and E) will update per stage, which can reduce the dynamic power consumption of the circuit. In the proposed scheme, latch is used instead of flip-flop as a storage unit, and data is selected by using MUXs which are composed of transfer gates. The proposed scheme is realized and verified using a 28 nm process, the simulation results show that when compared with traditional structure, the power consumption of the pipelined SHA256 using data storage scheme is reduced by about 27.5%, and the area is reduced by about 49.2%.

The clavicipitaceous fungus Epichloë gansuensis forms symbiotic associations with drunken horse grass ( Achnatherum inebrians ), providing biotic and abiotic stress protection to its host. However, it is unclear how E. gansuensis affects the assembly of host plant-associated bacterial communities after ammonium nitrogen (NH 4 + -N) treatment. We examined the shoot- and root-associated bacterial microbiota and root metabolites of A. inebrians when infected (I) or uninfected (F) with E. gansuensis endophyte. The results showed more pronounced NH 4 + -N-induced microbial and metabolic changes in the endophyte-infected plants compared to the endophyte-free plants. E. gansuensis significantly altered bacterial community composition and β-diversity in shoots and roots and increased bacterial α-diversity under NH 4 + -N treatment. The relative abundance of 117 and 157 root metabolites significantly changed with E. gansuensis infection under water and NH 4 + -N treatment compared to endophyte-free plants. Root bacterial community composition was significantly related to the abundance of the top 30 metabolites [variable importance in the projection (VIP) > 2 and VIP > 3] contributing to differences between I and F plants, especially alkaloids. The correlation network between root microbiome and metabolites was complex. Microorganisms in the Proteobacteria and Firmicutes phyla were significantly associated with the R00693 metabolic reaction of cysteine and methionine metabolism. Co-metabolism network analysis revealed common metabolites between host plants and microorganisms.IMPORTANCEOur results suggest that the effect of endophyte infection is sensitive to nitrogen availability. Endophyte symbiosis altered the composition of shoot and root bacterial communities, increasing bacterial diversity. There was also a change in the class and relative abundance of metabolites. We found a complex co-occurrence network between root microorganisms and metabolites, with some metabolites shared between the host plant and its microbiome. The precise ecological function of the metabolites produced in response to endophyte infection remains unknown. However, some of these compounds may facilitate plant-microbe symbiosis by increasing the uptake of beneficial soil bacteria into plant tissues. Overall, these findings advance our understanding of the interactions between the microbiome, metabolome, and endophyte symbiosis in grasses. The results provide critical insight into the mechanisms by which the plant microbiome responds to nutrient stress in the presence of fungal endophytes., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Epichloë endophytes are biotrophic fungi that establish mutualistic symbiotic relationship with grasses and affect performance of the host under different environments. Wild barley ( Hordeum brevisubulatum ) is an important forage grass and often infected by Epichloë   bromicola , thus showing tolerances to stresses. Since the plant growth correlates with both microbial infection and nutrient stoichiometry, this study was performed to investigate whether the function of Epichloë   bromicola endophyte to improve host growth depend upon the nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) fertilization. Epichloë -infected (E+) and Epichloë -free (E-) wild barley plants were subjected to nine types of mixed N (0.2 mM, 3 mM, 15 mM) and P (0.01 mM, 0.1 mM, 1.5 mM) levels treatments for 90 d to collect plant samples and determine multiple related indexes. We found that E. bromicola and N, P additions positively affected seed germination. Further, E. bromicola significantly enhanced chlorophyll content and root metabolic activity under N-deficiency, and meanwhile, might alter allocation of photosynthate under different conditions. The contents of N, P and stoichiometry of C:N:P of E+ plants were significantly higher than that of E- under nutrient deficiency, but contrary results were observed under adequate nutrients. Therefore, we propose that the growth-promoting ability of E. bromicola is closely correlated with N and P additional levels. Under low N, P additions, positive roles of endophyte are significant as opposed to negative roles under high N, P additions.