AOB Nitrosospira cluster 3a.2 (D11) dominates N2O emissions in fertilised agricultural soils.

Ammonia-oxidation process directly contribute to soil nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions in agricultural soils. However, taxonomy of the key nitrifiers (within ammonia oxidising bacteria (AOB), archaea (AOA) and complete ammonia oxidisers (comammox Nitrospira)) responsible for substantial N2O emissions in agricultural soils is unknown, as is their regulation by soil biotic and abiotic factors. In this study, cumulative N2O emissions, nitrification rates, abundance and community structure of nitrifiers were investigated in 16 agricultural soils from major crop production regions of China using microcosm experiments with amended nitrogen (N) supplemented or not with a nitrification inhibitor (nitrapyrin). Key nitrifier groups involved in N2O emissions were identified by comparative analyses of the different treatments, combining sequencing and random forest analyses. Soil cumulative N2O emissions significantly increased with soil pH in all agricultural soils. However, they decreased with soil organic carbon (SOC) in alkaline soils. Nitrapyrin significantly inhibited soil cumulative N2O emissions and AOB growth, with a significant inhibition of the AOB Nitrosospira cluster 3a.2 (D11) abundance. One Nitrosospira multiformis-like OTU phylotype (OTU34), which was classified within the AOB Nitrosospira cluster 3a.2 (D11), had the greatest importance on cumulative N2O emissions and its growth significantly depended on soil pH and SOC contents, with higher growth at high pH and low SOC conditions. Collectively, our results demonstrate that alkaline soils with low SOC contents have high N2O emissions, which were mainly driven by AOB Nitrosospira cluster 3a.2 (D11). Nitrapyrin can efficiently reduce nitrification-related N2O emissions by inhibiting the activity of AOB Nitrosospira cluster 3a.2 (D11). This study advances our understanding of key nitrifiers responsible for high N2O emissions in agricultural soils and their controlling factors, and provides vital knowledge for N2O emission mitigation in agricultural ecosystems.

Isolation and characteristics of two heterotrophic nitrifying and aerobic denitrifying bacteria, Achromobacter sp. strain HNDS-1 and Enterobacter sp. strain HNDS-6.

In order to solve nitrogen pollution in environmental water, two heterotrophic nitrifying and aerobic denitrifying strains isolated from acid paddy soil were identified as Achromobacter sp. strain HNDS-1 and Enterobacter sp. strain HNDS-6 respectively. Strain HNDS-1 and strain HNDS-6 exhibited amazing ability to nitrogen removal. When (NH4)2SO4, KNO3, NaNO2 were used as nitrogen resource respectively, the NH4+-N, NO3--N, NO2--N removal efficiencies of strain HNDS-1 were 93.31%, 89.47%, and 100% respectively, while those of strain HNDS-6 were 82.39%, 96.92%, and 100%. And both of them could remove mixed nitrogen effectively in low C/N (C/N = 5). Strain HNDS-1 could remove 76.86% NH4+-N and 75.13% NO3--N. And strain HNDS-6 can remove 65.07% NH4+-N and 78.21% NO3--N. A putative ammonia monooxygenase, nitrite reductase, nitrate reductase, assimilatory nitrate reductase, nitrate/nitrite transport protein and nitric oxide reductase of strain HNDS-1, while hydroxylamine reductase, nitrite reductase, nitrate reductase, assimilatory nitrate reductase, nitrate/nitrite transport protein, and nitric oxide reductase of strain HNDS-6 were identified by genomic analysis. DNA-SIP analysis showed that genes Nxr, narG, nirK, norB, nosZ were involved in nitrogen removal pathway, which indicates that the denitrification pathway of strain HNDS-1 and strain HNDS-6 was NO3-→NO2-→NO→N2O→N2 during NH4+-N removal process. And the nitrification pathway of strain HNDS-1 and strain HNDS-6 was NO2-→NO3-, but the nitrification pathway of NH4+→ NO2- needs further studies.

Genipin improves lipid metabolism and sperm parametersin obese mice via regulation of miR-132 expression.

Obesity has now surpassed malnutrition and infectious diseases as the most significant contributor to health problems worldwide. In particular, obesity is associated with several metabolic disorders, including hyperlipidemia, hepatic steatosis, and subfertility. Genipin (GNP), the aglycone of geniposide, is isolated from the extract of the traditional Chinese medicine Gardenia jasminoides Ellis and has been used in traditional oriental medicine against several inflammation-driven diseases. However, the effect and molecular mechanism of GNP on obesity-associated dyslipidemia and sperm dysfunction still need to be explored. In this study, we detect the effects of GNP on hyperlipidemia, hepatic lipid accumulation and sperm function using a high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obese mouse model. We find that obese mice treated with GNP show an improvement in body weight, serum triglyceride levels, serum hormone levels, serum inflammatory cytokines, hepatic steatosis and sperm function. At the molecular level, HFD/GNP diversely regulates the expression of miR-132 in a tissue-specific manner. miR-132 further targets and regulates the expression of SREBP-1c in liver cells, as well as the expressions of SREBP-1c and StAR in Leydig cells in the testis, thus modifying lipogenesis and steroidogenesis, respectively. Collectively, our data demonstrate that GNP shows a broad effect on the improvement of HFD-induced metabolic disorder and sperm dysfunction in male mice by tissue-specific regulation of miR-132. Our findings reveal the function GNP in ameliorating hepatic lipid metabolism and sperm function and suggest that this compound is a versatile drug to treat metabolic disorders.

Remediation of organic amendments on soil salinization: Focusing on the relationship between soil salts and microbial communities.

Soil salinization has emerged as a major factor with an adverse influence on agricultural green development worldwide. It is necessary to develop high-efficiency and ecologically beneficial management measures for alleviating soil salinization. The experiment of application for cow manure (CM), biochar (BC), and bio-organic fertilizer (BIO) in soil with light salinity was conducted to investigate the remediation of organic materials on soil salinization with melon (Cucumis melo L.) by reducing the availability of saline ions and shifting the soil microbial community. Results showed that BC treatment significantly decreased the EC values of the soil and soil solution by 19.23% and 27.02% and the concentrations of Na+, K+, and Cl- by 13.28%, 13.08%, and 15.21%, respectively, followed by CM and BIO treatments. High-throughput sequencing identified that organic amendments significantly improved the richness of the soil bacterial community and increased the relative abundances of Acidobacteria and Firmicutes by 33.11% and 111.2%, respectively, and the beneficial salt-tolerant bacterial genera Flavobacterium, Bacillus and Arthrobacter by 32.04%, 38.92% and 35.67%, respectively. Additionally, soil Na+, Ca2+, K+ and Cl- were significantly negatively correlated with Acidobacteria and Flavobacterium and were also the most important factors driving the changes in the structure of the soil bacterial communities. The bacterial networks were more complex in the organic amendments treatments than in CK, reflecting through more nodes and links and a higher average clustering coefficient, density and modularity. This study provided a comprehensive understanding of the application of organic amendments in alleviating soil salinization and improving soil bacterial and fungal communities and provides scientific support for agriculture green development.

Genipin improves reproductive health problems caused by circadian disruption in male mice.

BACKGROUND: Circadian rhythm disruption impacts a wide range of physiological processes, including fertility. However, the effect of circadian disruption on male spermatogenesis and fertility, and treatments for these effects have been largely unexplored at the molecular level. METHODS: In this study, we examined the effects of genipin on improving the reproductive health problems caused by circadian disruption. Three groups of animals were fed under different conditions: control group (normal T cycle with saline), group of shortened T cycles (Light/Dark = 4 hours/4 hours) with saline, and a group of shortened T cycles with genipin by oral gavage. The male fertility was evaluated by fertility study and pups parameters analysis after successful sexual behavior and mating with female mice. We sacrificed the treated animals after 5 or 10 weeks and collected the testis, sperm and serum for histological analysis, sperm motility assay, and serum hormone detection, respectively. Furthermore, the effect of genipin was assessed by detection of progesterone secretion and steroidogenic key proteins expression, including StAR and CYP11A1, in mouse Leydig tumor MLTC-1 cells. RESULTS: Male mice exposed to shortened light-dark cycles, much shorter than 24 hours, had reduced fertility with decreased sperm concentrations and sperm motility. Male mice under circadian disruption have reduced testis size and abnormal morphology, leading to lower fertility rates, reduced litter size and pup body weight. Treatment with exogenous genipin, a natural plant-derived compound, alleviated circadian disruption-induced damage to fertility and spermatogenesis and normalized testosterone, dihydrotestosterone (DHT), and androstenedione (ASD) levels in the male mice. The levels of key proteins involved in steroidogenesis, StAR and CYP11A1, were reduced in mouse testes after the circadian disruption, but genipin treatment restored the reduction. The mRNA expression of SRD5A1, which encodes an androgen synthesis enzyme, was also upregulated by genipin treatment. Furthermore, genipin treatment showed a positive effect on steroidogenesis in MLTC-1 cells, resulting in an increase in hormone secretion and the upregulation of StAR and CYP11A1. CONCLUSIONS: Our results showed an association between circadian disruption and reproductive health problems in male mice and indicated that treatments with genipin have positive effects on the reproductive health of male mice with circadian rhythm disorders.

Alterations in anaerobic ammonium oxidation of paddy soil following organic carbon treatment estimated using 13C-DNA stable isotope probing.

In this study, soil samples from the typical rice-wheat cropping system in Jiangsu Province, China, subjected to different fertilizer application treatments-no carbon (CK), urea (UR), straw (SR), pig manure (PM), starch (ST), and glucose (GL)-were used to determine potential anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) rate and its association with bacterial abundance, diversity, and activity by using DNA stable isotope probing combined with 15N isotope tracing and molecular techniques. The effects of different organic carbon sources on anammox were significant, in the following order: GL > ST, SR > UR > PM; anammox activity differed significantly across treatments; however, the 13C active anammox bacteria were only closely related to Ca. Brocadia. The anammox hydrazine synthase ß subunit functional gene sequences were highly associated with the Candidatus genus Brocadia in PM and CK treatments. The different organic carbon sources had different inhibitory effects with anammox rate, which dropped from 3.19 to 1.04 nmol dinitrogen gas g-1 dry soil h-1 among treatments. About 4.2-22.3% of dinitrogen gas emissions were attributed to anammox and indicated that a specific population of anammox bacteria was present and varied with the addition of exogenous organic compounds in paddy soils, although a small part of dinitrogen gas was emitted from the soil via anammox.

Soil anammox community structure in different land use soils treatment with 13C urea as determined by analysis of phospholipid fatty acids.

The anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) process is globally an important nitrogen-cycling process mediated by specialized microbes. However, still little information is documented about anammox microbial community structure under agricultural soils. The anaerobic incubation experiment was conducted to study the impacts of different land use soils fertilized by 13C-urea on the activity and diversity of anammox bacteria using stable isotope to probe the phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA-SIP). The 13C was preferentially incorporated in ratios PLFAs 16:1ω7c, 16:1ω5c, and 16:0. The results revealed that the abundance of the anammox bacteria (both hzs-ß and hzo) were observed in vegetable soil V1 and paddy soils (R1 and R2) means that they were positively correlated with 13C-urea but were negatively correlated with NO3--N and NH4+-N concentrations. Thus, 13C-PLFAs 16:1ω7c, 16:1ω5c, and 16:0 could be the biomarker as soil anammox. The anaerobic microbial community composition of soils under different land use systems was diverse, and V1, R1, and R2 had similar microbial diversity and higher microbial biomass. The principal component analysis between soil properties and gene abundance suggested that not only pH but also soil organic matter, available P, and available K were important factors for the anammox process. This study suggested that 13C-Urea-PLFA for anaerobic incubation was a simple method to study anammox microbial community structure through affecting the soil nutrients, and the different land use systems played important roles in determining the microbial composition of soils.

Development of phospholipid vesicle-based permeation assay models capable of evaluating percutaneous penetration enhancing effect.

OBJECTIVES: The phospholipid vesicle-based permeation assay (PVPA) model has recently been introduced as an in vitro model which can mimic stratum corneum (SC) barriers to estimate the skin permeability of drugs. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether the PVPA model was suitable for the evaluation of penetration enhancing effect of skin penetration enhancers (PE). METHODS: The PVPA model was optimized by changing the lipid composition of both small liposomes (SL), and large liposomes (LL). The barrier properties of the PVPA model were monitored by electrical resistance and permeability measurement of the fluorescent marker Rhodamine B (RB). Then the permeation studies of the five active compounds with different physicochemical properties, namely, ferulic acid, paeoniflorin, albiflorin, tetrahydrocolumbamine, and tetrahydropalmatine, were performed directly on PVPA model to evaluate the penetration enhancing effect of menthol. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS: The enhancement ratio (ER) ranking of the five active compounds observed using the optimized PVPA model was in accordance with what observed with Franz diffusion cell device using porcine ear skin. Attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) analysis of PVPA model and porcine ear skin after treatment with menthol has shown similar mechanism of menthol which perturbs the SC lipid arrangement and extracts the SC lipids. CONCLUSIONS: In summary, the optimized PVPA model was used for the first time for the evaluation of the permeation enhancing effect. The optimized PVPA model has shown potential to be applied in a more standardized, cheaper, and ethical way for the screening of PE.

[Testosterone Undecanoate Pills improves insulin resistance in type-2 diabetes men with hypogonadism].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effects of Testosterone Undecanoate Pills (TUP) on insulin resistance (IR) in type-2 diabetes men with hypogonadism. METHODS: We randomly divided 82 type-2 diabetes patients with hypogonadism into a treatment (n = 42) and a control group (n = 40), both maintaining their glucose- and lipid-reducing therapies, while the former treated orally with TUP in addition. After 6 months of medication, we compared the body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), blood glucose level, HbA1c, lipid profile, IR index obtained by homeostatic model assessment (HOMA-IR), insulin sensitivity index (ISI), sex hormone levels, and sexual function scores between the two groups of patients. RESULTS: Compared with the baseline, the patients in the treatment group showed significant decreases after medication in BMI (ï¼»26.71 ± 2.39ï¼½ vs ï¼»25.15 ± 2.28ï¼½ kg/m2, P <0.05), WC (ï¼»89.96 ± 9.13ï¼½ vs ï¼»85.03 ± 9.58ï¼½ cm, P <0.05), HbA1C (ï¼»7.73 ± 1.31ï¼½ vs ï¼»7.01 ± 1.25ï¼½ %, P <0.05), and triglyeride (ï¼»1.97 ± 0.83ï¼½ vs ï¼»1.41 ± 0.69ï¼½ mmol/L, P <0.05), a markedly elevated level of total testosterone (ï¼»7.16 ± 2.21ï¼½ vs ï¼»14.22 ± 2.63ï¼½ nmol/L, P <0.05), and remarkable improvement in HOMA-IR (3.76 ± 1.18 vs 2.55 ± 1.03, P <0.05), ISI (96 ± 51 vs 138 ± 53, P <0.05) and total scores of the Aging Males' Symptoms (P <0.05). But no significant changes were observed in the scores of the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF) after treatment (13.28 ± 6.38 vs 14.95 ± 6.08, P >0.05). CONCLUSIONS: TUP can significantly improve insulin resistance in type-2 diabetes men with hypogonadism.

Association between ADIPOQ +45T>G polymorphism and type 2 diabetes: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Recently, a number of studies have reported the association between the single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) +45 T>G polymorphism in the adiponectin (ADIPOQ) gene and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) risk, though the results are inconsistent. In order to obtain a more precise estimation of the relationship, a meta-analysis was performed. In this current study, the Medline, Embase, Pubmed, ISI Web of Knowledge, Ovid, Science Citation Index Expanded Database, Wanfang Database, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure were searched for eligible studies. Odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to estimate the strength of association. Forty-five publications were included in the final meta-analysis with 9986 T2DM patients and 16,222 controls for ADIPOQ +45 T>G polymorphism according to our inclusion and exclusion criteria. The +45 T>G polymorphism was associated with an overall significantly increased risk of T2DM (G vs. T: OR = 1.18, 95% CI = 1.06-1.32; The dominant model: OR = 1.18, 95% CI = 1.03-1.33; The recessive model: OR = 1.47, 95% CI = 1.20-1.78; The homozygous model: OR = 1.62, 95% CI = 1.25-2.09; Except the heterozygous model: OR = 1.11, 95% CI = 0.98-1.24). Subgroup analysis revealed a significant association between the +45 T>G polymorphism and T2D in an Asian population. Thus, this meta-analysis indicates that the G allele of the ADIPOQ +45 T>G polymorphisms associated with a significantly increased risk of T2DM in the Asian population.