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A degrading enzyme PADE produced during the degradation of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) by the laboratory screening bacteria M19 was selected as the subject in this study. Thin layer chromatography and fluorescence spectrum analysis were performed to analyze possible structural changes of products in the AFB1 degradation solution. Mass spectrometric were further used to detect the AFB1 degradation products.The results of thin layer chromatography showed that no new fluorescent absorbent substance was detected in the organic phase degradation solution, and no absorbent substance was detected in the aqueous phase degradation solution, indicating that the degradation product did not have fluorescence absorption. The fluorescence spectrum detection results showed that the fluorescence of the AFB1 degradation product was decreased obviously. The mass spectrometry results showed that a substance P with a mass-to-charge ratio of 227.18 was found. Based on all the results, it can be concluded that the lactone bond was broken during the degradation of AFB1, and a degradation product P with a molecular weight of 226 was generated. The molecular formula was C14H10O3 as analyzed by Xcalibur software. The degradation pathway was hypothesized.

It has long been recognized that inhibition of plant water transport by either osmotic stress or salinity is mediated by aquaporins ( AQPs), but the function and regulation of AQPs are highly variable among distinct isoforms and across different species. In this study, cucumber seedlings were subjected to polyethylene glycol ( PEG) or NaCl stress for duration of 2 h or 24 h. The 2 h treatment with PEG or NaCl had non-significant effect on the expression of plasma membrane AQP ( CsPIPs) in roots, indicating the decrease in hydraulic conductivity of roots ( Lpr) and root cells ( Lprc) measured in these conditions were due to changes in AQP activity. After both 2 h and 24 h PEG or NaCl exposure, the decrease in hydraulic conductivity of leaves ( Kleaf) and leaf cells ( Lplc) could be attributed to a down-regulation of the two most highly expressed isoforms, CsPIP 1;2 and CsPIP 2;4. In roots, both Lpr and Lprc were further reduced after 24 h PEG exposure, but partially recovered after 24 h NaCl treatment, which were consistent with changes in the expression of CsPIP genes. Overall, the results demonstrated differential responses of CsPIPs in mediating water transport of cucumber seedlings, and the regulatory mechanisms differed according to applied stresses, stress durations and specific organs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT It is important to understand the ecophysiological characters of plants when exploring mechanisms underlying species substitution in the process of plant succession. In the present study, we selected 34 woody species from different stages of secondary succession in subtropical forests of southern China, and measured their hydraulic conductivity, gas exchange rates, leaf nutrients and drought-tolerance traits such as xylem resistance to cavitation, turgor loss point and carbon isotope ratio. Principal component analysis revealed that early-, mid- and late-successional species were significantly separated along axis 1, which was strongly associated with hydraulic-photosynthetic coordination. In contrast to species distributed in late-successional forest, early-successional species had the highest hydraulic conductivity, net photosynthetic rates, photosynthetic nitrogen and phosphorus use efficiencies, but had the lowest photosynthetic water-use efficiency. However, changes of the measured drought-tolerance traits of the 34 species along the succession did not demonstrate a clear trend - no significant correlations between these traits and plant successional stages were found. Moreover, the trade-off between hydraulic efficiency and safety was not identified. Taken together, our results suggested that hydraulic efficiency and photosynthetic function, rather than drought tolerance, play an important role in species distributions along plant succession in subtropical forests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Erythroderma, also known as exfoliative dermatitis, is a rarely reported atypical cutaneous manifestation of adult-onset Still's disease (AOSD). We present the case of erythroderma in association with AOSD that was steroid dependent and responded to tocilizumab therapy. Skin rash, pruritis, and related laboratory findings were significantly improved upon the addition of tocilizumab, while prednisolone was successfully tapered to an ever-lowest maintenance level. To our knowledge, this is the first to report the sole therapeutic effect of tocilizumab in erythroderma related to AOSD., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright © 2024, Zhang et al.)

Objectives: To investigate the current status of sleep initiation patterns, influencing factors for sleep initiation patterns, and the influence of sleep initiation patterns on sleep quality in infants and young children., Methods: A total of 521 infants and young children, aged 0-35 months, who underwent physical examination at the outpatient service of the Department of Growth and Development in Shenzhen Bao'an Women's and Children's Hospital Affiliated to Jinan University were enrolled as subjects. A self-designed questionnaire and Brief Infant Sleep Questionnaire were used to collect the information on family background, parenting behaviors, and sleep quality in the past one week. A multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate the influencing factors for sleep initiation patterns. A multiple linear regression analysis was used to evaluate the influence of sleep initiation patterns on the number of nighttime awakenings., Results: Among the 521 infants and young children, 258 (49.5%) were breastfed/bottle fed to initiate sleep, 62 (11.9%) were rocked/held to initiate sleep, 39 (7.5%) slept independently, and 162 (31.1%) initiated sleep accompanied by parents. The multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the children with breastfeeding and a younger age were more likely to be breastfed/bottle fed to initiate sleep ( P <0.05) and that the children with a younger age were also more likely to be rocked/held to initiate sleep ( P <0.05). The multiple linear regression analysis showed that sleep initiation with breastfeeding/bottle feeding significantly increased the number of nighttime awakenings ( P <0.05)., Conclusions: Most infants and young children initiate sleep by being breastfed/bottle fed, rocked/held, or accompanied. The sleep initiation pattern is associated with the age of children and whether they are still breastfeeding. Sleep initiation with breastfeeding/bottle feeding can increase the number of nighttime awakenings. io .

Betaine homocysteine methyltransferase (BHMT, EC 2.1.1.5) catalyzes the transfer of a methyl group from betaine to homocysteines (Hcy) to form dimethylglycine and Met, respectively. A full-length cDNA of the BHMT in Lateolabrax japonicus was amplified using RT-PCR and SMART RACE methods. The cDNA of the BHMT in L. japonicus is 1 461 bp in size, with 72 bp 5'-UTR, 183 bp 3'-UTR and 1206 bp ORF, encoding a protein of 401 amino acids with a molecular weight of 44.32 kD and pI 7.21. The sequence analysis indicated that the deduced amino acid sequence of BHMT shared high identity (77%-93%) with nine other species; the highest was 93% with Perca flavescens. Semi-quantitative RT-PCR was used to characterize the expression of BHMT in ten tissues including muscle, heart, eye, brain, gill, liver, intestine, kidney, adipose tissue and spleen. The results showed that BHMT is only expressed in the liver, intestines and kidney. BHMT mRNA in these three tissues declined after the fish were transferred from sea water to a higher salinity environment and induced when transferred to a lower salinity environment. BHMT gene in liver, intestine and kidney can also be induced after intraperitoneal injection of betaine. Our results show that betaine can induce the transcription of BHMT in fish, and BHMT play pivotal roles in adaptation to osmotic change.

Objective: To investigate the biological effects of insulin resistance (IR) on the porcine granulosa cells which is induced by wortmannin, the PI-3K inhibitor and mediated by key molecules including GLUT4 and MAPK during insulin signaling., Methods: The model of IR porcine granulosa cell was established in in vitro culture by treatment of wortmannin, and was assessed the amount of 3H glucose uptake as well as medium glucose levels by glucose oxidase method. The protein and mRNA expression of GLUT4 and MAPK were evaluated by immunofluorescence and RT-PCR respectively., Results: The glucose intake was decreased by 40% with treatment of wortmannin at 1.5 micromol/L (P<0.05). GLUT4 and MAPK were localized mainly to cytoplasm of granulose cells. When granulosa cells were insulin resistant, the expression of GLUT4 was down-regulated whereas MAPK was up-regulated as compared with the controls., Conclusions: Wortmannin treatment can lead to decreased expression of GLUT4 and increase of IR granulose cells. This metabolic phenotype could induce increased expression of MAPK and mitogenic potential, indicating the cross-talk between two pathways of insulin signaling within ovarian cells.

The present paper introuduces the method, with which the water-soluble polysaccharide was extracted with hot water from Garidi-15, the products were further purified with column chromatography on SephadexC-25, and the contents of water soluble polysaccharide were determined by phenyl hydrate-sulfuric acid method. The average recovery was 100.50%, and RSD was 0.82%. The components of water soluble polysaccharide were identified by gas chromatography as xylose, mannose, galactose and glucose in the molar ratio of 1.03 : 1.26 : 0.77 : 2.30. The water soluble polysaccharide was identified by IR spectrum and UV(200-400 nm) scanning spectrum. The IR spectrum indicates that there are characteristic absorption peaks of polysaccharides at 3 417.46, 2 928.65, 1 742.86, 1 643.69, 1 149.78, 1 078.19, 1 022.56 and 834.57 cm(-1), of which there are absorption peaks of pyranose at 1 078.19 and 1 022.56 cm(-1), and contain one characteristic absorption peak of alpha-pyranose indican band at 834.57 cm(-1). The UV scanning spectrum shows the obvious polysaccharide absorption peak at 280 nm, and indicates the existence of C=O bond.

The water soluble polysaccharide was extracted from Agari-8, and the contents of the water soluble polysaccharide were determined by phenyl hydrate-sulfuric acid method. The average recovery was 101.80%. The RSD was 0. 92Y. The components of the water soluble polysaccharide were identified by gas chromatography with: arabinose, xylose, mannose and glucose in the molar ratio of 0.40 : 0.10 : 5.67 : 22.78. Their IR and UV spectra were studied.