Search

Several completely stirred tank reactors (CSTRs) connected in series for corn stover anaerobic digestion was devised to obtain more methane yield and increase conversion rates. Liquid fraction of the digestate (LFD) was recirculated from the second-stage reactor to first-stage reactors to reuse LFD and improve system performance. LFD recirculation didn’t inhibit methane production of serial digestion, and methane and biogas production were increased by 2.3% and 10.8%, respectively. Moreover, LFD recirculation increased pH and alkalinity concentration (AC) and decreased volatile fatty acids (VFAs) concentrations and the ratio of VFAs to AC, which means a significant increase in system stability of anaerobic digestion (AD). Ammonia concentrations gradually increased with LFD recirculation, but was far lower than the inhibition concentration. Microbial analysis indicated that the recirculation increased the richness, but decreased the diversity of both bacterial and archaeal community in the first and second stage of serial system. More specifically, LFD recirculation enriched the dominant bacterial phyla (Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes), but had little influence on the dominated archaeal genus (Methanobacterium). The results showed that the recirculation of LFD during serial AD was technically suitable by minimizing both discharge of LFD and possible pollution related with discharging LFD.

Temperature has different effects on anaerobic digestion (AD) of various biomasses, which could bring out changes in microbial communities. The relationship between microbial community and methane production at 35 °C (R35), 38 °C (R38), 41 °C (R41), and 44 °C (R44) was analyzed during AD of corn stover (CS). The results showed that the daily biogas and methane production from R44 were 16.6%–42.4% and 16.2%–40.6% higher than yields from R35, R38 and R41, respectively. The abundance of Bacteroidetes in R35, R38 and R41 was relatively close (30.70%–39.36%), which was low in R44 (16.00%). The abundance of Firmicutes in R35 was 32.30%, however, Firmicutes was the most dominant phylum at R44 (66.58%). The abundance of Miscellaneous_Crenarchaeotic_Group and Euryarchaeota were 54.63 ± 6.47% and 44.43 ± 6.73% across all digesters. This research demonstrated that among all temperatures studied, 44 °C could enhance the conversion efficiency of the substrates to methane and be recommended for better conversion of CS in AD process.

The aggregation of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) into the polymer matrix and weak bactericidal property of MWCNT usually limit the application of MWCNT in the infection resistance. To solve the above problem, vancomycin hydrochloride modified multi-walled carbon nanotube (Van-MWCNT) via the chemical reaction of the MWCNT's inherent carboxyl group and the Van's amide group was well designed and synthesized. Then, Van-MWCNT was in-situ anchored onto thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) electrospun nanofibers (TPU/Van-MWCNT) by ultrasonication assistance to achieve the bactericidal property. The above preparation process was facile, non-toxic with the green solvent-water as medium. At the same time, it also effectively reduced the aggregation of Van-MWCNT into the electrospun nanofibers. The minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of Van-MWCNT against S. aureus was obviously lower than that of MWCNT. And the TPU/Van-MWCNT exhibited excellent antibacterial properties evaluated through the spread plate test and field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM). The as-prepared antibacterial TPU electrospun nanofibers have potential application in wound dressing. Keywords: TPU electrospun nanofibers, Carbon nanotube, Vancomycin, Ultrasonication assistance, Antibacterial property

Raspberry ketone accounts for the characteristic aroma of the raspberry fruit. A bifunctional enzyme with both chalcone synthase (CHS) and benzalacetone synthase (BAS) activity is thought to play a crucial role in the synthesis of p-hydroxybenzalacetone, yet the in vitro enzymatic properties and reaction products of the CHS/BAS recombinant enzyme from raspberry have not been characterized. In this work, a type III polyketide synthase (PKS) gene (RinPKS1) and its corresponding cDNA were isolated from raspberry. Sequence and phylogenetic analyses demonstrated that RinPKS1 is a CHS. However, functional and enzymatic analyses showed that recombinant RinPKS1 is a bifunctional enzyme with both CHS and BAS activity. RinPKS1 showed some interesting characteristics: (1) no traces of bis-noryangonin and 4-coumaroyltriacetic acid lactone could be detected in the enzyme reaction mixture at different pH values; and (2) recombinant RinPKS1 overexpressed in Escherichia coli effectively yielded p-hydroxybenzalacetone as a dominant product at high pH; however, it effectively yielded naringenin as a dominant product at low pH. Furthermore, 4-coumaroyl-CoA and feruloyl-CoA were the only cinnamoyl-CoA derivatives accepted as starter substrates. RinPKS1 did not accept isobutyryl-CoA, isovaleryl-CoA or acetyl-CoA as substrates.

A facile, low-cost and time-saving method was proposed to prepare antibacterial polyurethane-g-polyethylene glycol (TPU-g-PEG) nanofiber composite by anchoring silver nanoparticles (AgNP) onto nanofibers via ultrasonication assistance. Firstly, antifouling PEG as bacteria-repelling component was chemically grafted onto TPU nanofibers through UV photo-graft polymerization to obtain TPU-g-PEG nanofibers; then AgNP as bactericidal component were immobilized onto the TPU-g-PEG nanofibers under the assistance of ultrasonication. Even if the nanofibers were immersed into PBS solution and incubated for 7 days, the released content of AgNP characterized by ICP-MS was 2.688 μg which was much lower than that of reference reported method. The TPU-g-PEG/Ag nanofiber composites exhibited excellent hemocompatibility, including suppression of platelet and red blood cell adhesion, the lower hemolysis ratios, and the higher blood clotting index. Importantly, the as-prepared nanofiber composites performed better antibacterial properties in vitro assays employing gram negative and positive strains, because of the bacterial resistance of the grafted PEG and the bactericidal effect of silver. Our approach has significant potential for the development of infection-resistant wound dressing.

The stability of the high-oleic characteristic of tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) transformants obtained by silencing of microsomal Ω-6 desaturase (FAD2) was investigated when grown at low temperature. Results showed that oleic acid content in total leaf lipids, individual leaf lipids and total seed lipids of transformants decreased drastically at low temperature, with a corresponding increase of polyunsaturated fatty acid contents. The decrease of oleate was caused by neither the restoration of FAD2 transcripts nor the disappearance of small interference RNA. A significant increase of hexadecadienoic acid and hexadecatrienoic acid was observed in MGDG (monogalactosyldiacylglycerol) of transformants grown at lower temperature. Hexadecadienoic and hexadecatrienoic acids, typical fatty acids in MGDG, are produced through the activity of Ω-6 desaturase in plastids (FAD6). The significant increase of Hexadecadienoic and hexadecatrienoic acids suggested the involvement of FAD6 and/or other desaturases in the lipid desaturation of transgenic plants under lower temperature, leading to a significant decrease of oleate in plant cells. These results suggested that the activities of plastidic desaturases must be, at least partially, responsible for the instability of the high-oleic characteristic of FAD2-silenced plants.

The discovery of antibacterial functions for carbon nanotubes (CNT) has triggered great interest because of the excellent antibacterial properties of CNT. However, there are two obstacles, i.e., cell toxicity and CNT aggregation in a polymer matrix, which greatly limit the antibacterial application of CNT in medical devices. In this study, a facile, cost-effective, time-saving and environmentally friendly approach was proposed to impart the antibacterial property to thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) electrospun nanofibers with CNT. The ultrasonication technique was explored to in situ anchor the CNT onto the TPU electrospun nanofibers to achieve the bactericidal property. This effectively circumvented the aggregation of CNT when the TPU/CNT electrospun nanofibers were prepared. In addition, the anchor preparation was efficient taking only 10 min to complete and it was also non-toxic because the green solvent ethanol was used as the dispersion solvent. PEG was chemically grafted onto the TPU (TPU-g-PEG) electrospun nanofibers through UV photo-graft polymerization. Although CNT exhibit a good bactericidal property, they could be toxic to human cells. Incorporation of PEG could not only effectively reduce the toxicity of CNT to the human cells but also decrease bacterial attachment. The TPU-g-PEG/CNT nanofibers exhibited excellent hemocompatibility, including suppression of red blood cell adhesion, and lower hemolysis ratios. Importantly, the as-prepared nanofibers had better antibacterial properties due to the bacterial resistance of the grafted PEG and the bactericidal effect of CNT. Our facile approach has significant potential for the infection-resistant wound dressing.

The effect of ammonia pretreatment on the anaerobic digestibility of corn stover was investigated. Corn stover with different moisture contents (30%, 50%, 70%, and 90%) was pretreated with three concentrations of ammonia (2%, 4%, and 6%) at 35 ± 2 °C for the following batch digestion. Results showed that the reagent of 4% ammonia and 70% moisture content could achieve the highest anaerobic digestibility. In comparison with the untreated, the time needed to produce 90% of the maximum digester gas production (T90) shortened from 52 d to 37 d. The total biogas production and the unit volatile solids (VS) biogas yield were 20,740 ml and 427.1 ml respectively, both 26.70% higher than the untreated. It was found that the digesters with high moisture contents of 70% and 90% were more stable and had shorter acidification periods relative to the low moisture contents of 30% and 50%. The decreases in cellulose, hemicelluloses and lignin indicated that ammonia pretreatment could destroy the lignocellulose (LCH) structure and furthermore enhance the biogas production. Following anaerobic digestion, 80.6% of cellulose and 68.52% of hemicelluloses were consumed where there was 4% ammonia and 70% moisture content, indicating why these conditions produced the highest level of biogas.

Several completely stirred tank reactors (CSTR) connected in series for anaerobic digestion of corn stover were investigated in laboratory scale. Serial anaerobic digestion systems operated at a total HRT of 40 days, and distribution of HRT are 10 + 30 days (HRT10 + 30 d), 20 + 20 days (HRT20 + 20 d), and 30 + 10 days (HRT30 + 10 d) were compared to a conventional one-step CSTR at the same HRT of 40 d. The results showed that in HRT10 + 30 d serial system, the process became very unstable at organic load of 50 gTS·L−1. The HRT20 + 20 d and HRT30 + 10 d serial systems improved methane production by 8.3–14.6% compared to the one-step system in all loads of 50, 70, 90 gTS·L−1. The conversion rates of total solid, cellulose, and hemicellulose were increased in serial anaerobic digestion systems compared to single system. The serial systems showed more stable process performance in high organic load. HRT30 + 10 d system showed the best biogas production and conversions among all systems.

Salidroside, a plant secondary metabolite inRhodiola, has been demonstrated to have several adaptogenic properties as a medicinal herb. Due to the limitation of plant source, microbial production of salidroside by expression of plant uridine diphosphate glycosyltransferase (UGT) is promising. However, glycoside production usually remains hampered by poor expression of plant UGTs in microorganisms. Herein, we achieved salidroside production by expression ofRhodiolaUGT72B14 inEscherichia coli(E. coli) and codon optimization was accordingly applied.UGT72B14expression was optimized by changing 278 nucleotides and decreasing the G+C content to 51.05% without altering the amino acid sequence. The effect of codon optimization on UGT72B14 catalysis for salidroside production was assessed bothin vitroandin vivo.In vitro, salidroside production by codon-optimized UGT72B14 is enhanced because of a significantly improved protein yield (increased by 4.8-fold) and an equivalently high activity as demonstrated by similar kinetic parameters (KMandVmax), compared to that by wild-type protein.In vivo, both batch and fed-batch cultivation using the codon-optimized gene resulted in a significant increase in salidroside production, which was up to 6.7 mg/L increasing 3.2-fold over the wild-typeUGT72B14.

This research applied sodium hydroxide (NaOH) pretreatment and trace elements to improve biomethane production when using corn stover for anaerobic digestion. Full-factor experimental tests identified the best combination of trace elements with the NaOH pretreatment, indicating that the best combination was with 1.0, 0.4, and 0.4 mg·L−1·d−1of elements Fe, Co, and Ni, respectively. The cumulative biomethane production adding NaOH pretreatment and trace elements was 11,367 mL; total solid bioconversion rate was 55.7%, which was 41.8%–62.2% higher than with NaOH-pretreatment alone and 22.2%–56.3% higher than with untreated corn stover. The best combination was obtained 5–9 days shorter than T90and maintained good system operation stability. Only a fraction of the trace elements in the best combination was present in the resulting solution; more than 85% of the total amounts added were transferred into the solid fraction. Adding 0.897 g of Fe, 0.389 g of Co, and 0.349 g of Ni satisfied anaerobic digestion needs and enhanced biological activity at the beginning of the operation. The results showed that NaOH pretreatment and adding trace elements improve corn stover biodegradability and enhance biomethane production.

To investigate the protective effect of retinoic acid (RA) on hyperoxic lung injury and the role of RA as a modulator on mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs), gastation 21 d Sprague-Dawley (SD) fetuses (term = 22 d) were delivered by hysterotomy. Within 12-24 h of birth, premature rat pups were randomly divided into 4 groups (n=12 each): air-exposed control group (group I); hyperoxia-exposed group (group II), air-exposed plus RA group (group III), hyperoxia-exposed plus RA group (group IV). Group I, III were kept in room air, and group II, IV were placed in 85 % oxygen. The pups in groups III and IV were intraperitoneally injected with RA (500 microg/kg every day). All lung tissues of premature rat pups were collected at the 4th day after birth. Terminal transferase d-UTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) staining was used for the detection of cell apoptosis. The expression of PCNA was immunohistochemically detected. Western blot analysis was employed for the determination of phosphorylated and total nonphosphorylated ERKs, JNKs or p38. Our results showed that lungs from the pups exposed to hyperoxia for 4 d exhibited TUNEL-positive nuclei increased markedly throughout the parenchyma (P0.01), and decreased significantly after RA treatment (P0.01). The index of PCNA-positive cells was significantly decreased (P0.01), and was significantly increased by RA treatment (P0.01). The air-space size was significantly enlarged, secondary crests were markedly decreased in hyperoxia-exposed animals. RA treatment improved lung air spaces and secondary crests in air-exposed pups, but had no effect on hyperoxia-exposure pups. Western blotting showed that the amounts of JNK, p38 and ERK proteins in hyperoxia-exposure or RA-treated lung tissues were same as those in untreated lung tissues (P0.05), whereas activation of these MAPKs was markedly altered by hyperoxia and RA. After hyperoxia exposure, p-ERK1/2, p-JNK1/2 and p-p38 were dramatically increased (P0.01), whereas p-JNK1/2 and p-p38 were markedly declined and p-ERK1/2 was further elevated by RA treatment (P0.01). It is concluded that RA could decrease cell apoptosis and stimulate cell proliferation under hyperoxic condition. The protection of RA on hyperoxia-induced lung injury was related to the regulation of MAP kinase activation.

The effect of ammonia pretreatment on the anaerobic digestion performance of rice straw was investigated. The rice straw was pretreated with four different moisture contents (30%, 50%, 70%, and 90%) and three concentrations of ammonia (2%, 4%, and 6%). The results showed that the anaerobic digestion achieved best performance for the rice straw pretreated by ammonia concentration of 4% and moisture content of 70%, and biogas yield achieved the highest value (396.92 mL•g-1 total solid), which was 21.9% higher than that of the untreated rice straw. Higher moisture was recommended as it could increase system stability, shorten anaerobic digestion time, and increase biogas production. The composition analyses indicated that ammonia pretreatment could effectively destroy the chemical structure of lignocellulose, and partially decompose cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin. Cellulose and hemicellulose were converted by 79.2% and 63.2%, respectively, at optimal ammonia amount and moisture content. The ammonia pretreatment proved to be a simple and effective methods to improve the anaerobic digestion performance of rice straw.