Search

Purpose: To compare the detection ability of 68Ga-labelled DOTA-l-Nal3-octreotide ([68Ga]Ga-DOTA-NOC) and 6-[18F]fluoro-L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine ([18F]DOPA) in patients with phaeochromocytomas and paragangliomas (PPGLs) of different origins and gene mutations, such as germline succinate dehydrogenase complex genes (SDHx). Methods: Eighty-five patients with histopathologically confirmed PPGLs who underwent both [68Ga]Ga-DOTA-NOC and [18F]DOPA PET/CT from March 2017 to June 2023 were enrolled in this retrospective study. For comparative analyses, PPGLs were classified as phaeochromocytoma (PCC), sympathetic paraganglioma (sPGL), and head/neck paraganglioma (HNPGL). Detection rates were analyzed on per-patient and per-lesion bases and compared using the Chi-square/Fischer's exact test. Results: Among 85 patients with PPGLs (48 males; 43 years ± 17 [SD]), the patient-based detection rates of [68Ga]Ga-DOTA-NOC and [18F]DOPA PET/CT were 87.1% (74/85) and 89.4% (76/85), respectively (p = 0.634), and the lesion-based detection rates were 80.8% (479/593) and 71.2% (422/593), respectively (p < 0.001). Only one patient with a recurrent PCC presented double-negative imaging, while 66 patients exhibited double-positive imaging. The remaining patients were either [68Ga]Ga-DOTA-NOC-negative/[18F]DOPA-positive (n = 10) or [68Ga]Ga-DOTA-NOC-positive/[18F]DOPA-negative (n = 8). In subgroup analyses, [68Ga]Ga-DOTA-NOC PET/CT detected significantly more metastases of sPGL (91.1%, 236/259) and SDHx-related PPGL (89.6%, 86/96) than [18F]DOPA PET/CT (48.6%[126/259] and 50.0%[48/96], respectively; both p < 0.001). However, [18F]DOPA showed significantly higher detection rates of PCC in both primary/recurrent and metastatic lesions (94.3%[50/53] vs. 62.3%[33/53] and 87.9%[174/198] vs. 69.2%[137/198], respectively; both p < 0.001). Regarding metastases in different organs, [68Ga]Ga-DOTA-NOC PET/CT detected more lesions than [18F]DOPA PET/CT in bone (96.2%[176/183] vs. 66.1%[121/183]; p < 0.001) and lymph nodes (82.0%[73/89] vs. 53.9%[48/89]; p < 0.001) but less lesions in peritoneum (20%[4/20] vs. 100%[20/20]; p < 0.001). Conclusion: [68Ga]Ga-DOTA-NOC and [18F]DOPA are complementary in diagnosing PPGL under the appropriate clinical setting. [68Ga]Ga-DOTA-NOC should be considered as the ideal first-line tracer for detecting metastases of sPGL and SDHx-related tumours, whereas [18F]DOPA may be the optimal tracer for evaluating non-SDHx-related PCC, especially in detecting primary lesions and monitoring recurrence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The entomogenous fungus Beauveria bassiana is used as a biological insecticide worldwide, wild B. bassiana strains with high pathogenicity in the field play an important role in controlling insect pests via not only screening of highly virulent strains but also natural infection, but the pathogenicity degeneration of wild strains severely affected aforementioned effects. Previous studies have showed that multiple factors contributed to this phenomenon. It has been extensively proved that the mycovirus infection caused hypovirulence of phytopathogenic fungi, which has been used for plant disease biocontrol. However, it remains unknown whether the mycovirus epidemics is a key factor causing hypovirulence of B. bassiana naturally in the field. Methods: Wild strains of B. bassiana were collected from different geographic locations in Jilin Province, China, to clarify the epidemic and diversity of the mycoviruses. A mycovirus Beauveria bassiana chrysovirus 2 (BbCV2) we have previously identified was employed to clarify its impact on the pathogenicity of host fungi B. bassiana against the larvae of insect pest Ostrinia furnacalis. The serological analysis was conducted by preparing polyclonal antibody against a BbCV2 coat protein, to determine whether it can dissociate outside the host fungal cells and subsequently infect new hosts. Transcriptome analysis was used to reveal the interactions between viruses and hosts. Results: We surprisingly found that the mycovirus BbCV2 was prevalent in the field as a core virus in wild B. bassiana strains, without obvious genetic differentiation, this virus possessed efficient and stable horizontal and vertical transmission capabilities. The serological results showed that the virus could not only replicate within but also dissociate outside the host cells, and the purified virions could infect B. bassiana by co-incubation. The virus infection causes B. bassiana hypovirulence. Transcriptome analysis revealed decreased expression of genes related to insect epidermis penetration, hypha growth and toxin metabolism in B. bassiana caused by mycovirus infection. Conclusion: Beauveria bassiana infected by hypovirulence-associated mycovirus can spread the virus to new host strains after infecting insects, and cause the virus epidemics in the field. The findings confirmed that mycovirus infection may be an important factor affecting the pathogenicity degradation of B. bassiana in the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Three novel highly active phthalimide based ionic liquids are synthesized. • 98.7 % yield is achieved under the atmospheric CO 2 pressure and 30 °C. • Contributions of each active components are analyzed by DFT calculations. • Inert cation and moderate basicity of ionic liquid are crucial items. The carboxylative coupling of carbon dioxide (CO 2) with propargyl alcohols is an important pathway to accomplish the reusability of CO 2. Moreover, the α-methylene cyclic carbonates are the critical intermediate to generate the fine chemicals and pharmaceuticals. However, the robust catalyst is still limited to perform this reaction under the mild conditions, especially to obtain the equilibrium among several reaction conditions including reaction time, reaction temperature, and catalyst amount. The novel ionic liquid, [Pth][BTMA], is synthesized in this work to be catalyst for the title reaction along with AgOAc as the co-catalyst. To explore the influence of cation, anion, and Ag salt, other four ionic liquids are utilized to catalyze the reaction along with five different Ag salts. Under the atmospheric pressure and 30 °C, the 98.7 % product yield is achieved by [Pth][BTMA]/AgOAc within 9 h, which are better than most of catalysts in literature. More important, the role of cation and anion in the catalysis is elucidated by the 1H NMR, 13C NMR, and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Both the moderate basicity and inert cation of [Pth][BTMA] contribute the excellent catalytic activity. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on discrete dynamic optimization on train rescheduling on single-track railway with the consideration of train punctuality and station satisfaction degree. A discrete dynamic system is firstly described to mimic train rescheduling, and a state transition function is specially designed according to the train departure event. The purpose of this function is to improve simulation efficiency by directly confirming the next discrete time. After the construction and analysis of optimization models to discrete dynamic system, a two-stage heuristic search strategy is developed, by using clustering hierarchy theory and stochastic search strategy, to obtain train departure time and arrival time before each state transition of the system. Finally, a numerical experiment is conducted to verify the proposed system, models, and the heuristic search strategy. The result shows that the discrete dynamic system, together with the state transition function and heuristic search strategy, shows better performance in simulation efficiency and solution quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Beauveria bassiana (B. bassiana) is a famous entomopathogenic fungus that could parasitize on hundreds of insect species, which are being used as an environmentally friendly mycoinsecticide. Nevertheless, the possible effect of genetic diversity of these B. bassiana isolates from different hosts on virulence has not been explored before. In order to explore that issue, we compared the genome sequences among seventeen B. bassiana isolates from 17 different insects using whole genome re-sequencing, with B. bassiana strain ARSEF 2860 as the reference genome. Results: There were a total of 10,098 missense mutated genes, 720 positively selected genes were identified in 17 strains of B. bassiana. Among these, two genes with high frequency mutations encode the toxin-producing non-ribosomal peptide synthase (NRPS) protein. Seven genes undergoing positive selection were enriched in the two-component signaling pathway that is known to regulate the fungal toxicity. In addition, the domain changes of three positively selected genes are also directly related to the virulence plasticity. Besides, the functional categorization of mutated genes showed that most of them involved in the biological functions of toxic proteins involved in. Conclusions: Based on our data, our results indicate that several mutated genes and positively selected genes may underpin virulence of B. bassiana towards hosts during infection process, which provide an insight into the potential effects of natural variation on the virulence of B. bassiana, which will be useful in screening out potential virulence factors in B. bassiana. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Beauveria bassiana (B. bassiana) is a broad-spectrum entomopathogenic species of fungi which is a natural enemy of Ostrinia furnacalis (O. furnacalis). Nevertheless, the precise mechanism of pathogenicity difference of B. bassiana strains on O. furnacalis has not been investigated before. In this study, two B. bassiana strains isolated from the infected O. furnacalis and exhibited different pathogenicity were chose to analyze the gene expression using RNA-sequencing analysis. To investigate the significantly differentially expressed genes (DEGs) of these two strains, total RNA was extracted and Cuffdiff software was applied to perform the significance analysis of the microarrays method. qRT-PCR was applied to verify the expression of DEGs. Gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) Pathway analyses were applied to evaluate the functions of DEGs. Data showed 72 up-regulated and 192 down-regulated genes in hyper-pathogenic strain ZK193 in comparison with hypo-pathogenic strain ZK203. Genes involved in fungal growth, sporulation and toxin production were up-regulated in hyper-pathogenic strain ZK193. GO enrichment analysis of DEGS showed that the most observably enriched biological processes of regulated genes were the single-organism process, the metabolic process, the cellular process and biological regulation. KEGG enrichment pathway demonstrated that the almost enriched groups were metabolic pathways, such as lipid metabolism, transport and catabolism, amino acid metabolism, and carbohydrate metabolism. In conclusion, these results will help us to further understand the reason why different B. bassiana strains exhibit different pathogenicity on the same host, even under the same conditions. In addition, transcriptome data will provide a theoretical basis for exploring latent virulence factors in the future. Highlights • Sequencing analysis of two Beauveria bassiana isolated from ostrinia furnacalis. • Identifying DEGs between these two Beauveria bassiana strains. • Evaluating the functions of DEGs via GO and KEGG pathway analyses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

News image captioning is a popular and advanced task requiring the generation of image captions that reflect the relevant information contained in the news articles. The existing approaches usually align objects in images with corresponding news content and focus on entity-based approaches. However, their limitations are threefold: (a) semantic discourses of news contexts are largely unexplored, (b) the caption style has not yet been used, and (c) key entities are not ensured to be generated during caption generation. In this paper, we propose a novel framework for generating news image captions which are semantically informative, well-styled and entity-aware controllable. Specifically, the semantics of news articles are preserved by separating them into elementary discourse units (EDUs), which are fine-grained basic semantic units. Moreover, we introduce a Contrastive Style Reward to ensure that the style of captions and corresponding news content are coherent. Furthermore, we introduce a controllable mechanism to ensure that key entities are generated during the generation process. Extensive experiments on two large-scale news datasets demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed framework. [Display omitted] • We propose a news image captioning framework with EDU-level semantic extraction. • We introduce the controllable mechanism to ensure entity-aware captioning. • We design a Contrastive Style Reward to enhance the coherence of textual style. • Our framework achieves prior performance on both semantic- and style-related aspects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Small-molecule kinase inhibitors have been well established and successfully developed in the last decades for cancer target therapies. However, intrinsic or acquired drug resistance is becoming the major barrier for their clinical application. With the development of immunotherapies, in particular the discovery of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), the combination of ICIs with other therapies have recently been extensively explored, among which combination of ICIs with kinase inhibitors achieves promising clinical outcome in a plethora of cancer types. Here we comprehensively summarize the potent roles of protein kinases in modulating immune checkpoints both in tumor and immune cells, and reshaping tumor immune microenvironments by evoking innate immune response and neoantigen generation or presentation. Moreover, the clinical trial and approval of combined administration of kinase inhibitors with ICIs are collected, highlighting the precise strategies to benefit cancer immune therapies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evaluation of an experimental and preclinical islet transplantation (IsletTx) model to elucidate associated clinical problems is vital. This study aimed to introduce a simple methodology for producing a swine autologous IsletTx model as a preliminary step in an allogeneic transplant experiment. Twenty-seven pigs were included in the study. Total pancreatectomy (TP) was performed in 8 pigs (TP group), TP with autologous IsletTx in 9 (TP + IsletTx group), and distal pancreatectomy (DP) with autologous IsletTx in 10 (DP + IsletTx group). An open biopsy was performed on all pigs during postoperative day 14 using an infrared imaging (IRI) system. Laboratory data and postoperative survival were analyzed and compared according to the procedures done. Postoperative survival rate was significantly higher in the pigs with autologous IsletTx than in those without (P =.026). There were no significant differences in survival between the TP + IsletTx and DP + IsletTx groups (P =.746). Significant hyperglycemia was not observed in both groups, but the DP + IsletTx group remained relatively stable throughout the postoperative course. There were no differences in serum creatinine, aspartate aminotransferase, and alanine aminotransferase levels between the 2 groups. By selective liver lobe transplantation and administration of the IRI system, localization of the transplanted islets via open biopsy was achieved. We successfully developed an autologous IsletTx model and an open biopsy system using a swine model. This study will aid in the development of an allogeneic IsletTx experiment that may improve transplantation outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Beauveria bassiana Vuillemin is an entomopathogenic fungus that has been developed as a biological insecticide. B. bassiana can be infected by single or multiple mycoviruses, most of which are double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) viruses, while infections with single-stranded RNA (ssRNA) viruses, especially negative single-stranded RNA (-ssRNA) viruses, have been observed less frequently. In the present study, we sequenced and analyzed the complete genomes of two new different mycoviruses coinfecting a single B. bassiana strain: a -ssRNA virus which we have named "Beauveria bassiana negative-strand RNA virus 1" (BbNSRV1), and a dsRNA virus, which we have named "Beauveria bassiana orthocurvulavirus 1" (BbOCuV1). The genome of BbNSRV1 consists of a single segment of negative-sense, single-stranded RNA with a length of 6169 nt, containing a single open reading frame (ORF) encoding a putative RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) with 1949 aa (220.1 kDa). BLASTx analysis showed that the RdRp had the highest sequence similarity (59.79%) to that of Plasmopara viticola lesion associated mononegaambi virus 2, a member of the family Mymonaviridae. This is the first report of a -ssRNA mycovirus infecting B. bassiana. The genome of BbOCuV1 consists of two dsRNA segments, 2164 bp and 1765 bp in length, respectively, with dsRNA1 encoding a protein with conserved RdRp motifs and 70.75% sequence identity to the putative RdRp of the taxonomically unassigned mycovirus Fusarium graminearum virus 5 (FgV5), and the dsRNA2 encoding a putative coat protein with sequence identity 64.26% to the corresponding protein of the FgV5. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that BbOCuV1 belongs to a taxonomically unassigned group of dsRNA mycoviruses related to members of the families Curvulaviridae and Partitiviridae. Hence, it might be the member of a new family that remains to be named and formally recognized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polymycoviridae is a recently established family of mycoviruses. Beauveria bassiana polymycovirus 4 (BbPmV-4) was previously reported. However, the effect of the virus on host fungus B. bassiana was not clarified. Here, a comparison between virus-free and virus-infected isogenic lines of B. bassiana revealed that BbPmV-4 infection of B. bassiana changes morphology and could lead to decreases in conidiation and increases in virulence against Ostrinia furnacalis larvae. The differential expression of genes between virus-free and virus-infected strains was compared by RNA-Seq and was consistent with the phenotype of B. bassiana. The enhanced pathogenicity may be related to the significant up-regulation of genes encoding mitogen activated protein kinase, cytochrome P450, and polyketide synthase. The results enable studies of the mechanism of interaction between BbPmV-4 and B. bassiana. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several species of entomopathogenic fungi (EPF), often considered as bioinsecticides, are able to colonize and establish a symbiotic relationship with plants as endophytes. Recent studies have demonstrated that insects feeding on endophytically colonized plants could have reduced survival. These newly emerging, but not yet fully understood, ecological roles suggest the possibility that EPF may affect preferences and performance of herbivorous insects. However, such plant-mediated effects and underlying mechanisms are largely unexplored. Here, we examined that the endophytic EPF, Beauveria bassiana, could affect oviposition selection and offspring fitness of Asian corn borer, Ostrinia furnacalis on maize, Zea mays. We observed that O. furnacalis females preferred to lay eggs on B. bassiana-inoculated maize plants. This was attributed to the changes in plant volatile profiles upon endophytic colonization by B. bassiana. Of these plant volatiles, we observed increased amounts of insect-preferred compounds, 2-ethyl-1-hexanol and 3-hexen-1-ol, and decreased amounts of non-preferred compounds β-caryophyllene, naphthalene and α-pinene. This finding suggests that B. bassiana-induced plant volatiles could modulate the interactions between plants and insects. However, fewer O. furnacalis larvae, pupae, and adults survived on the B. bassiana-colonized maize plants and this was correlated with lower plant nitrogen content in these plants. These results indicated that oviposition selection of O. furnacalis did not reflect the maximization of offspring fitness following maize inoculation with B. bassiana. We suggest that EPF-inoculated maize causes a detrimental attraction for O. furnacalis, which should be considered for potential application of "trap plants" when incorporating endophytic EPF within integrated pest management programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • The catalyzed mechanism of propargylic alcohol and H 2 O is investigated. • CO 2 could be absorbed by the [Bu 4 P+] cation to form [Bu 4 P -H -CO 2 ] complex. • A novel mechanism is proposed with the [Bu 4 P -H -CO 2 ][Im +H ] complex employed as the actual catalytic species. Hydration of propargylic alcohols is one of the most important pathways to synthesize α-hydroxy ketones. However, its mechanism is still obscure in the presence of multiple catalytic species. The mechanism of catalysis for the hydration of propargylic alcohols in the presence of [Bu 4 P+][Im-] is investigated along with the carbon dioxide (CO 2) as the co-catalyst by the density functional theory (DFT) with the aim to elucidate the role of [Bu 4 P+] cation and [Im-] anion. The CO 2 could be absorbed by the [Bu 4 P+] cation to form [Bu 4 P -H -CO 2 ] complex after the hydrogen atom in [Bu 4 P+] cation transfers to the [Im-] anion. Then, both [Bu 4 P -H -CO 2 ] and [Im +H ] are employed as the actual catalytic species to construct a new pathway. It is the more favorable as compared with the previously reported pathways. In previous reported pathway, the [Im-] anion is regarded as the real catalytic species, while [Bu 4 P+] cation plays the auxiliary role to stabilize the substrate by the hydrogen bond. The mechanism of the same reaction catalyzed by other four different ionic liquids is also investigated to further testify the contribution of [Bu 4 P+] cation and [Im-] anion in the catalysis. This work not only provides a new insight into the cation-regulated pathway for the hydration of propargylic alcohols but also points out a new strategy to design the ionic liquids achieving the improved catalytic efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana is widely used for insect pest control and can produce three distinct infective unit types under different nutritional and environmental conditions: aerial conidia, blastospores, and submerged conidia. Here, we identified endophytic colonization ability and existing forms of the three types of B. bassiana infective units after inoculating Arabidopsis plants via soil drenching, and tested their effects on their presence mold disease caused by Botrytis cinerea. We found that all B. bassiana infective unit types colonized Arabidopsis leaves, with germinating and producing hyphae by hydrophilic blastopores and submerged conidia; further, we showed that blastospores were more effective in defending against B. cinerea , compared with aerial conidia. These findings suggest that in addition to aerial conidia, the colonization of other two types of entomopathogenic fungal infective units could also have important impacts on plant resistance. This study contributes to better understanding on the function of B. bassiana as fungal endophytes, which could lead to a new paradigm for how to successfully use these organisms in biological control against plant diseases. [Display omitted] • All three distinct Beauveria bassiana spore types can colonize/establish in plants. • Its blastospores and submerged conidia can germinate/produce hyphae in leaves. • Its aerial conidia, however, cannot produce hyphae inside the leaves. • Endophytic colonization by aerial conidia or blastospores helps plants resist mold. • B. bassiana blastospores confer greater disease resistance than aerial conidia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A novel ionic liquid without active hydrogen atom in cation is synthesized. • Real catalytic specie was elucidate by experimental and theoretical studies. • The 98.8% quinazoline-2,4(1 H ,3 H)-diones yield is achieved under 70 °C and 0.1 MPa CO 2. Cyclization reaction of carbon dioxide (CO 2) and 2-aminobenzonitriles is of significance for the sustainable development, however, the harsh reaction condition especially for the high CO 2 pressure is still an obstacle. Herein, a novel ionic liquid benzyltrimethylammonium succinimide ([BzTMA+][Suc−]) is designed and synthesized, in which no active hydrogen atom is included in cation. It displays the excellent catalytic activity achieving the 98.8% yield for quinazoline-2,4(1 H ,3 H)-diones even under the atmospheric pressure. By combination of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H NMR and 13C NMR), CO 2 absorption measurements, density functional theory (DFT) calculations, and the frontier molecular orbital analysis, the real catalytic species and synergistic effect of cation and anion on the catalytic performance are elucidated. The [Suc−] anion affords to introduce the CO 2 into the organic phase even under the atmospheric pressure by formation of [Suc-CO 2 −]. However, the real catalytic species is [BzTMA+] cation and [Suc−] anion rather than [BzTMA+] and [Suc-CO 2 −]. If the active hydrogen atom is included in the cation, the CO 2 absorption capacity of [Suc−] anion would be weakened by the strong interaction between active hydrogen atom in cation and [Suc−] anion resulting in the inferior catalytic behavior. The cooperation of [BzTMA+] and [Suc−] finally results in the high catalytic activity under the atmospheric pressure. Involvement of active hydrogen atom in cation is not an insurance to prepare the robust catalyst. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel double-stranded RNA virus was isolated and identified from Beauveria bassiana Vuillemin, derived from the muscardine cadaver of an Ostrinia furnacalis larva in China. The virus contains six dsRNAs, and each viral dsRNA contains only one open reading frame (ORF). As in other polymycoviruses, dsRNA1 encodes an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp), dsRNA3 encodes a methyltransferase (MTR), and dsRNA4 encodes a proline-alanine-serine-rich protein. A BLASTp search revealed that the viral RdRp domain showed 79.43%, 79.04%, and 59.05% sequence identity to Beauveria bassiana polymycovirus 2 and 3 (BbPmV-2, BbPmV-3) and Magnaporthe oryzae polymycovirus 1 (MoPmV-1), respectively. Phylogenetic analysis based on RdRp sequences showed that the phylogenetically closest relatives of this virus are BbPmV-2, BbPmV-3, and MoPmV-1. This virus, along with previously ill-defined polymycoviruses (BbPmV-2 and BbPmV-3), appears to belong to an as-yet-unestablished species. The findings further suggest that the virus is a new member of the genus Polymycovirus within the family Polymycoviridae, and we have named it "Beauveria bassiana polymycovirus 4" (BbPmV-4). However, the sixth dsRNA is a defective RNA with the same sequence as that of dsRNA4 except for a deletion of 312 bp from nt 185 to nt 496, but it still contains a complete ORF. To our knowledge, this is the first report of the existence of a defective RNA in a polymycovirus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Beauveria bassiana, an entomopathogenic fungus, is used for arthropod pest control worldwide. Here, we report the discovery and characterization of a novel double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) mycovirus, Beauveria bassiana chrysovirus 2 (BbCV-2), isolated from a Chinese B. bassiana strain. The genome sequence of the virus was determined by metagenomic sequencing, RT-PCR, and RACE cloning and was found to consist of four dsRNA segments that are 3441 bp, 2779 bp, 2925 bp, and 2688 bp long, respectively. Each dsRNA segment contains a single ORF. The ORF of dsRNA1 encodes a 1114-amino-acid (aa) protein (123.4 kDa) with a conserved RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) motif, the sequence of which showed the highest identity of only 16.13% to that of Beauveria bassiana chrysovirus-1 (BbCV-1). The ORF of dsRNA2 encodes an 805-aa coat protein (CP) (84.7 kDa). The ORFs of dsRNAs 3 and 4 encodes proteins of undetermined function. The virus is a new member of the family Chrysoviridae from B. bassiana. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: High-performance counter-current chromatography (HPCCC) and high performance liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (HPLC–MS) was efficiently utilized for the separation and identification of the chemical components with a wide range of polarity from the mixed extract of Chinese medicinal herb Apocynum venetum. For HPCCC separation, four sets of solvent systems, n-hexane–ethyl acetate–acetonitrile–water (1.5:3.5:2:4.5, v:v:v:v), ethyl acetate–methanol–water (5:2:5, v:v:v) and n-butanol–methanol–water (5:1:5, v:v:v) were used for the one-step separation by four stages. The HPCCC separation was initiated by filling the column with the lower phase of n-hexane–ethyl acetate–acetonitrile–water (1.5:3.5:2:5, v:v:v:v) as a stationary phase followed by elution with the upper phase of n-hexane–ethyl acetate–acetonitrile–water (1.5:3.5:2:5, v:v:v:v) to separate the hydrophobic compounds (tail to head). Then the mobile phase was switched to the upper phase of ethyl acetate–acetonitrile–water (5:3:7, v:v:v) to eluted the moderate hydrophobic compounds, then the mobile phase was switched to the upper phase of ethyl acetate–methanol–water (5:2:5, v:v:v) to eluted the moderate hydrophilic compounds, and finally the hydrophilic compounds still retained in the column was eluted by the upper phase of n-butanol–methanol–water (5:1:5, v:v:v). A total of 16 named compounds including adhyperforin, hyperforin, amentoflavone, biapigenin, quercetin, avicularin, acetylated isoquercetin, acetylated hyperoside, astragalin, trifolin, isoquercetin, hyperoside, querciturone, rutin, chlorogenic acid and quercetin-3-O-β-d-glucosyl-β-d-glucopyranoside were successfully separated via the four sets of solvent systems in one step operation for 130min. The compounds separated by HPCCC were identified by comparing with mixed standards data of HPLC–MS as well as NMR data. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Amino-specified pyrazolium ionic liquid (APEPzBr) is synthesized by two steps. It is interesting that the product of the first step ([EPzPNH 3 Br 2) could also catalyze the coupling reaction of carbon dioxide (CO 2) and epoxides under 70 °C along with 0.5 MPa CO 2 pressure, which is even more benign than APEPzBr. It is attributed to the strong ability of [EPzPNH 3 Br 2 to absorb CO 2 along with robust electrophilic activation, which is testified by density functional theory and 13C NMR measurement. The difference between [EPzPNH 3 Br 2 and APEPzBr is further elucidated by electron localization function (ELF) and atoms in molecules (AIM). Unlabelled Image • [EPzPNH 3 Br 2 could be synthesized by only one step. • Coupling reaction of CO 2 is performed under 70 °C along with 0.5 MPa CO 2 pressure. • The mechanism is elucidated by DFT calculation along with 13C NMR data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cuproplasia, or copper-dependent cell proliferation, has been observed in varieties of solid tumors along with aberrant copper homeostasis. Several studies reported good response of patients to copper chelator assisted neoadjuvant chemotherapy, however, the internal target molecules are still undetermined. Unravel copper-associated tumor signaling would be valuable to forge new links to translate biology of copper into clinical cancer therapies. We evaluated the significance of high-affinity copper transporter-1 (CTR1) by bioinformatic analysis, and in 19 pairs of clinical specimens. Then, with the help of gene interference and chelating agent, enriched signaling pathways were identified by KEGG analysis and immunoblotting. Accompanying biological capability of pancreatic carcinoma-associated proliferation, cell cycle, apoptosis, and angiogenesis were investigated. Furthermore, a combination of mTOR inhibitor and CTR1 suppressor has been assessed in xenografted tumor mouse models. Hyperactive CTR1 was investigated in pancreatic cancer tissues and proven to as the key point of cancer copper homeostasis. Intracellular copper deprivation induced by CTR1 gene knock-down or systematic copper chelation by tetrathiomolybdate suppressed proliferation and angiogenesis of pancreatic cancer cell. PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway was suppressed by inhibiting the activation of p70(S6)K and p-AKT, and finally inhibited mTORC1 and mTORC2 after copper deprivation. Additionally, CTR1 gene silencing successfully improved the anti-cancer effect of mTOR inhibitor rapamycin. Our study reveals that CTR1 contributes to pancreatic tumorigenesis and progression, by up-regulating the phosphorylation of AKT/mTOR signaling molecules. Recovering copper balance by copper deprivation addresses as promising strategy for improved cancer chemotherapy. • Copper trigger PDAC progress via the CTR1-AKT-mTOR axis. • Copper deprivation enhances the anti-tumor effects of rapamycin in PDAC. • Cellular copper is an upstream regulator of the mTOR signaling pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Machine learning was used to predict the yields of ionic liquids catalyzed CO 2 cyclization reaction for the first time. • Density function theory calculations were conducted to obtain reaction descriptors with high-precision. • The strategy of refining the database quality improves the predictive ability of RF model significantly. • The ML model was interpreted well by the shapely additive explanation method. Ionic liquids are one of the excellent catalysts for the CO 2 cycloaddition reaction, which is an effective means to realize CO 2 utilization and alleviate environmental problems. However, the design of ionic liquids catalysts has great blindness due to the diversity of their anion and cation structures. Herein, we collected a database of 866 samples for CO 2 cyclization with ionic liquids as catalysts and established the yield prediction model with various machine learning regression algorithms. Together with density function theory (DFT) calculated molecular electronic properties and the experimental conditions as the input descriptors, random forest (RF) model has better prediction accuracy than support vector regression (SVR) and multilayer perceptron (MLP) for the whole data. When the dataset was subdivided into different subsets based on substrates and ionic liquids, the prediction accuracy of the model was also improved. For the imidazole subset with no additional solvent or additive added, the RF model achieves good accuracy with the R2 of 0.80 for the test data. Moreover, the shapely additive explanation (SHAP) method was used to interpret the ML models. The strategy of refining the descriptors and dataset used in our work provides guidance for establishing highly reliable machine learning models in the chemistry reactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Insect coinfection assay for mycoviruses interspecific transmission was reported. • Mycoviruses could spread intra- and interspecifically between Beauveria species. • DsRNA mycoviruses affected the growth rate and colony morphology of host fungi. Mycoviruses can spread interspecifically and intraspecifically in plant pathogenic fungi, as well as spreading intraspecifically in entomogenous fungi, especially Beauveria bassiana. However, whether mycoviruses are common in Beauveria spp. and can spread interspecifically between Beauveria species are unclear. Herein, four Beauveria species, but not B. bassiana , were randomly selected for double stranded RNA (dsRNA) detection. Furthermore, two previously reported dsRNA mycoviruses from B. bassiana , BbCV-2 and BbPmV-4, were used to study the interspecific transmission among B. bassiana, B. amorpha , and B. aranearum , using hyphal anastomosis and a novel insect coinfection transmission method. The results showed that dsRNA mycoviruses exist universally in Beauveria spp. and could spread interspecifically between different Beauveria species. The transmission efficiency from B. bassiana to the other two Beauveria species was significantly higher than that of the reverse transmission. Both viruses could stably and vertically spread in B. amorpha and B. aranearum , which affected their growth rate and colony morphology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Immobilized ionic liquids are one of the most popular catalysts for the cycloaddition of carbon dioxide (CO 2) and epoxides with some distinguished advantages. However, the harsh reaction condition, especially for the high reaction pressure, is still the obstacle for its large-scale application. A series of amino-functionalized pyrazolium ionic liquids are grafted on SBA-15 in this work. Among them, SBA-15-APMPzBr(20) exhibits the best catalytic activity achieving 97.6% product yield under 0.5 MPa CO 2 pressure at 100 °C by using 100 mg SBA-15-APMPzBr(20) for 10 h. No solvent is added in the catalytic system. Moreover, SBA-15-APMPzBr(20) exhibits the good recyclability and generality. Its excellent catalytic performance is attributed to the contribution from both immobilized ionic liquids and the SBA-15 supporter. Besides the mesoporous feature, the hydroxyl groups in SBA-15 promote the ring-opening of substrate, which is testified by the experimental measurements and density functional theory calculations. [Display omitted] • A series of amino-functionalized pyrazolium ionic liquids are grafted on SBA-15. • The 97.6% CPC yield could be achieved under 100 °C and 0.5 MPa CO 2 pressure. • SBA-15 and immobilized ionic liquids contribute to promote the ring-opening of ECH. • The mechanism is elucidated by the DFT calculations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • A novel polystyrene-supported ionic liquid (PS-IMPCOOHTMGBr) is synthesized. • The 97.2% CPC yield could be achieved under 80 °C and 0.1 MPa CO 2 during 4 h. • Two possible reaction mechanisms are proposed. • There is no obvious decrease for the catalytic activity after 9 times. A novel polystyrene-supported ionic liquid (PS-IMPCOOHTMGBr) is synthesized and successfully applied to catalyze the cycloaddition of CO 2 and epichlorohydrin (ECH). The 97.2% product yield is achieved at 80 °C under atmospheric pressure. The high activity is attributed to the ability of CO 2 capture and multiple active centers of immobilized imidazolium ionic liquids. The catalytic activity is enhanced with the increasing amount of immobilized ionic liquids. Even after 9 runs, there is no obvious decrease for the catalytic activity of PS-IMPCOOHTMGBr. To further elucidate the catalyst structure and its catalytic feature, the PS-IMPCOOHTMGBr is characterized by elemental analysis, thermal gravimetric analysis, infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopes, solid state NMR, and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller analysis. Two possible reaction mechanisms are proposed according to the characterized results and reported literature. The ionic liquids supported on the PS would have the comparable catalytic activity with those immobilized on the porous materials by judicious choice of ionic liquids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Accelerated solvent extraction (ASE) coupled with high-performance counter-current chromatography (HPCCC) was successfully used for the extraction and online isolation of five chemical constituents from the plant Hypericum perforatum L. The upper phase of the solvent system of ethyl acetate–methanol–water (5:2:5, v:v:v) was used as both the ASE solvent and the HPCCC stationary phase. Two hydrophobic compounds including 28.4mg of hyperforin with a HPLC purity of 97.28% and 32.7mg of adhyperforin with a HPLC purity of 97.81% were isolated. The lower phase of ethyl acetate–methanol–n-butanol–water (5:2:2.5:12, v:v:v:v) was used as both the ASE solvent and CCC stationary phase. Three hydrophilic compounds of 12.7mg of 3,4,5-O-tricaffeoylquinic acid with a HPLC purity of 98.82%, 15.2mg of 1,3,5-O-tricaffeoylquinic acid with a HPLC purity of 99.46% and 42.5mg of 3-O-caffeoylquinic acid with a HPLC purity of 96.90%, were obtained in a one-step extraction–separation process with less than 3h from 10.02g of raw material of H. perforatum. The targeted compounds isolated, collected and purified by HPCCC were analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), the chemical structures of all five compounds above mentioned were identified by UV, MS and NMR. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

[Display omitted] • A series of novel ionic liquids are synthesized. • Capture of CO 2 plays a critical role in the reaction system. • The 99.3 % CPC yield could be achieved under 50 °C and 1 bar CO 2 during 6 h. The efficient conversion of carbon dioxide (CO 2) to the valuable chemicals is of great significance but the development of robust catalyst is still an interesting and challenging issue. Four novel ionic liquids are facilely synthesized with the ability to adsorb carbon dioxide (CO 2). [BZTMA+][−O 2 EEPZ+][Br−] and [DBUH+][−O 2 EEPZ+][Br−] could catalyze the cycloaddition of CO 2 into cyclic carbonates under atmospheric pressure at 50 °C with 99.3 % and 97.5 % yields in the absence of co-catalyst and solvent. Moreover, the [DBUH+][−O 2 EEPZ+][Br−] could be reutilized by 11 times with a slightly decreased product yield. A new mechanism is proposed by the density functional theory (DFT). The excellent catalytic performance is mainly attributed to the ability of ionic liquids to adsorb CO 2. After the CO 2 is adsorbed, the formed intermediate would push the electrons towards the Br- anion leading to the stronger nucleophilic activation. This work introduces a new pathway to explore the ionic liquids for the chemical fixation of CO 2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the influence of fertilizer on soil quality is vital to agricultural management, yet there are few studies, particularly in black soil. In this study, soils under various treatments, namely no fertilizer, bio-organic + humic acid, bio-organic + chemical, and chemical fertilizer, were sampled to identify their major physiochemical properties, and to investigate the fungal community structure using environmental sequencing techniques. Physiochemical properties and fungal community structure were examined at four important stages of the maize life cycle: seedling, jointing, heading period, and maturity. We found that chemical fertilizer in the mature stage increased the soil available phosphorous (AP) content. Organic matter content was greatly affected by bio-organic + chemical fertilizer during the mature stage. Bio-organic + humic acid significantly increased soil phosphatase activity in maturing maize, whilst chemical fertilizers reduced invertase activity. Taken together, our results clearly illustrated that bio-organic + humic and chemical fertilization indirectly alter fungal community structure via changing soil properties (especially AP). Chemical fertilizer markedly heightened the AP content, thereby decreasing specific fungal taxa, particularly Guehomyces. OM was of positive connection with bio-organic + humic acid and Mortierella abundance, respectively, through RDA analysis, which are in agreement with our result that bio-organic + humic acid fertilization to some extent increased Mortierella abundance. Additionally, bio-organic + humic acid decreased the abundance of Fusarium and Humicola, suggesting that bio-organic + humic acid possibly could help control crop disease. These results help to inform our fundamental understanding of the interactions between fertilizers, soil properties, and fungal communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]