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The National Life Science Competition for College Students has been held for five times, which has become the largest and most influential life science competition in China. The competition is designed to follow principles of "interest-driven, scientific exploration, process evaluation and ability improvement". The holding of the competition has effectively improved the training quality of life science talents in colleges and universities. This paper summarized the development, organization and management of the competition as well as the organizational characteristics of the competition. It may serve as a guidance for colleges and universities to organize students to participate in the competition, and improve the fostering of talents in the field of life sciences in colleges and universities nationwide. more...

A Gram-stain-negative, aerobic, non-motile, short-rod-shaped bacterium, designated strain hg1T, was isolated from marine sediment within the cold spring area of South China Sea and subjected to a polyphasic taxonomic investigation. Colonies were circular and 1.0–2.0 mm in diameter, coral in colour, convex and smooth after growth on marine agar at 28 °C for 3 days. Strain hg1T was found to grow at 4–40 °C (optimum, 35–37 °C), at pH 6.5–9.0 (optimum, pH 7.5) and with 0–8 % (w/v) NaCl (optimum, 1.5–2 %). Chemotaxonomic analysis showed the sole respiratory quinone was MK-7, and the principal fatty acids are iso-C15 : 0, summed feature 3 (C16 : 1 ω7c and/or C16 : 1 ω6c), and iso-C16 : 0. The major polar lipids are phosphatidylethanolamine, an unidentified phospholipid and five unidentified glycolipids. The DNA G+C content of strain hg1T was 39.6 mol% based on the genome sequence. The comparison of 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities showed that hg1T was closely related to Algoriphagus ornithinivorans DSM 15282T (98.6 % sequence similarity), Algoriphagus zhangzhouensis MCCC 1F01099T (97.9 %) and Algoriphagus vanfongensis DSM 17529T (97.2 %); it exhibited 97.0 % or less sequence similarity to the type strains of other species of the genus Algoriphagus with validly published names. Phylogenetic trees reconstructed with the neighbour-joining, maximum-parsimony and maximum-likelihood methods based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain hg1T constituted a separate branch with A . ornithinivorans , A. zhangzhouensis , A. vanfongensis in a clade of the genus Algoriphagus . OrthoANI values between strain hg1T and A . ornithinivorans , A. zhangzhouensis and A. vanfongensis were 94.3, 74.1, 73.2 %, respectively, and in silico DNA–DNA hybridization values were 56.2, 18.5 and 18.3 %, respectively. Differential phenotypic properties, together with phylogenetic distinctiveness, demonstrated that strain hg1T is clearly distinct from recognized species of genus Algoriphagus . On the basis of these features, we propose that strain hg1T (=MCCC 1K03570T=KCTC 72111T) represents a novel species of the genus Algoriphagus with the name Algoriphagus algorifonticola sp. nov. more...

(1) Background: As a enrichment plant, ramie can be used for the phytoremediation of cadmium (Cd)-contaminated soil. However, it is worth exploring the role of plant growth regulators and foliar fertilizers in the process of plant growth and development and Cd adsorption. (2) Methods: By measuring the agronomic traits, Cd content of aboveground and underground ramie, calculating the Cd transfer coefficient (TF) and Cd bioconcentration factors (BCF), and the correlation between various indicators. This study examined the effects of plant growth regulators and foliar fertilizers on ramie’s capacity for Cd accumulation and transportation, (3) Results: Plant growth regulators and foliar fertilizers increased the Cd content of the aboveground ramie, reduced the Cd content of the underground ramie, and increased the TF. Among them, GA-1 increased the Cd content of the aboveground ramie to 3 times more than that of the control and reduced the Cd content of the underground ramie by 54.76%. Salicylic acid (SA) increased the Cd content of the aboveground ramie to 3 times more than that of the control. The combination of GA and foliar fertilizer reduced the Cd content of the aboveground and underground ramie and the TF and BCF of the underground ramie. After the hormones were sprayed, the TF of ramie had a significant positive correlation with the Cd content of the aboveground ramie; the BCF of the aboveground ramie had a significant positive correlation with the Cd content and TF of the aboveground ramie. (4) Conclusions: The results indicate that Brassinolide (BR), gibberellin (GA), ethephon (ETH), polyamines (PAs), and salicylic acid (SA) have different effects on the enrichment and transport of Cd in ramie. This study provided an effective method to improve the capacity for ramie to adsorb heavy metals during cultivation. more...

Life sciences are the disciplines most closely related with human beings. As experimental disciplines, life sciences develop rapidly and highly intersect in many scientific fields. Under the "double first-class" initiative, the comprehensive development-oriented talent training system has put forward an urgent need for life sciences literacy and comprehensive ability training of college students. Taking the reform of liberal education curriculum system as an opportunity, we developed a series of eight life sciences practical liberal courses for students with non-biology majors. The courses cover all sub-disciplines or directions of life sciences, and aim to foster interdisciplinary talents with life sciences knowledge and literacy, as well as practical and innovative abilities. These courses could serve as references for experimental teaching centers in colleges and universities to set up practical liberal and experimental courses. more...

In the era of Internet +, teaching models in universities are undergoing changes due to the rapid development of information technology. Blended teaching, combining online with offline teaching, is being implemented and developed in universities. In order to reform teaching mode and improve teaching effect, the curriculum team carried out the exploration of blended teaching reform for the "Introduction to Life Sciences" for non-biology students. The course combined high-level MOOC (Massive Open Online Course), small class teaching, diversified platform and multi-dimensional teaching mode, built a multi-disciplinary collaborative teaching team, formed a multi-dimensional evaluation system focusing on process and ability, practiced the education concept of combining knowledge teaching and value leading, gained valuable practical experience, and achieved the expected teaching results. It can provide reference for the reform and construction of similar courses in other colleges and universities. The development of blended teaching expands the breadth and depth of teaching, stimulates students' interest and potential for learning, opens up students' thinking and perspective, cultivates students' scientific literacy and comprehensive ability, and plays a positive role in the cultivation of innovative and inter-disciplinary talents.在“互联网+”时代下，本科教学模式正因信息技术的快速发展发生着变革，线上教学和线下教学相结合的混合式教学模式正在各高校推行和发展。为促进教学模式改革和提升教学效果，本课程组针对面向非生物学专业学生开设的“生命科学导论”通识课程开展了混合式教学改革探索。通过线上线下混合式教学探索和实践，课程集合了高水平大型开放式网络课程 (Massive Open Online Course，MOOC)、小班化教学、多元化平台、多维度教学模式等特点，建设了多学科背景的协作式教学团队，形成了重过程重能力的多元评价体系，践行了知识传授与价值引领相结合的育人理念，获得了宝贵的实践经验和良好的教学成效，可为国内高校同类课程的改革建设提供借鉴和参考。混合式教学的开展，拓展了教学的广度和深度，激发了学生的学习兴趣和潜能，开拓了学生的思维和视角，培养了学生的科学素养和综合能力，为创新型复合型人才的培养发挥了积极作用。. more...

Additional file 1. Additional figures and tables.