Uninheritable but Widespread Bacterial Symbiont Enterococcus casseliflavus Mediates Detoxification of the Insecticide Chlorantraniliprole in the Agricultural Invasive Pest Spodoptera frugiperda.

Host-symbiont interaction plays a crucial role in determining the host's fitness under toxic stress, as observed in numerous insect species. However, the mechanism of the symbionts involved in the detoxification of insecticides remains poorly known. In this study, through microbiome, proteomic, and genomic analysis, we identified a prevalent symbiont, Enterococcus casseliflavus EMBL-3, in a major invasive insect pest,Spodoptera frugiperda. This symbiont enhances the host's insecticide resistance to chlorantraniliprole by breaking amide bonds and dehalogenating insecticides. Complying with the increase in exposure risk of chlorantraniliprole, the E. casseliflavus isolates of insects' symbionts but not those from mammals or environmental strains showed a significant enrichment of potential chlorantraniliprole degradation genes. EMBL-3 is popular in field population insects with efficient horizontal transmission ability through cross-diet and cannibalism. This study provides a new therapeutic target for agricultural pests based on symbiont-targeted insect control for global crop protection.

Investigation of emission characteristics of a marine cargo ship in real-world conditions.

Pollution caused by ship emissions will considerably impact coastal areas. A test system that matched the actual conditions of a ship was designed based on a portable emission measurement system (PEMS), and the emission characteristic of gaseous and particle emissions and the particle size distribution of the ship's main engine were investigated under real-world operating conditions. The results showed that the emission concentrations of the main pollutants fluctuated greatly under the departure, anchoring, and docking conditions, and the peaks of CO, CO2, and NOx emissions appeared under these transient conditions. The emission concentrations of CO2, hydrocarbons, particle number (PN), and particulate mass increased with the increase in speed. The PN-based particle size distribution of the engine presented a unimodal distribution under daily operating conditions. The maximum emission factor of NOx based on the engine power was 29.53 g/kWh at the engine speed of 66 r/min. The results of the study may contribute to supplementing the emission factors of this type of ship, and provide data support for monitoring and assessment of the marine environment.

The conformational modification of myofibrillar protein by magnetic field improves its emulsification properties.

This study investigated the effect of different magnetic field treatments (0, 3, 6, 9, 12 mT) on the structure and emulsification properties of myofibrillar protein (MP). The results showed that the emulsion stabilized by MP with 3, 6, 9 mT magnetic field treatments possessed higher emulsifying ability, storage stability and apparent viscosity, since magnetic field induced the structural unfolding of MP and exposed the hydrophobic groups (the surface hydrophobic increased from 30.10 to 43.73 µg). Meanwhile, the magnetic field treatments decreased the MP particle size from 1752.00 to 1278.67 nm, which was favorable for the diffusion and adsorption of proteins at the oil-water interface, thus improving the MP emulsification ability and stability. Furthermore, the 9 mT magnetic field-treated MP had the best ability to emulsify oil droplets with a more uniform and smaller emulsion size from 28.593 to 23.443 µm. However, high-intensity magnetic field treatment (12 mT) caused MP particles to aggregate and the hydrophobic binding sites to be buried, which was not conducive to encapsulating oil droplets.

Reduction of specific enterocytes from loss of intestinal LGR4 improves lipid metabolism in mice.

Whether intestinal Leucine-rich repeat containing G-protein-coupled receptor 4 (LGR4) impacts nutrition absorption and energy homeostasis remains unknown. Here, we report that deficiency of Lgr4 (Lgr4iKO) in intestinal epithelium decreased the proportion of enterocytes selective for long-chain fatty acid absorption, leading to reduction in lipid absorption and subsequent improvement in lipid and glucose metabolism. Single-cell RNA sequencing demonstrates the heterogeneity of absorptive enterocytes, with a decrease in enterocytes selective for long-chain fatty acid-absorption and an increase in enterocytes selective for carbohydrate absorption in Lgr4iKO mice. Activation of Notch signaling and concurrent inhibition of Wnt signaling are observed in the transgenes. Associated with these alterations is the substantial reduction in lipid absorption. Decrement in lipid absorption renders Lgr4iKO mice resistant to high fat diet-induced obesity relevant to wild type littermates. Our study thus suggests that targeting intestinal LGR4 is a potential strategy for the intervention of obesity and liver steatosis.

Intermittent fasting promotes type 3 innate lymphoid cells secreting IL-22 contributing to the beigeing of white adipose tissue.

Mechanism underlying the metabolic benefit of intermittent fasting remains largely unknown. Here, we reported that intermittent fasting promoted interleukin-22 (IL-22) production by type 3 innate lymphoid cells (ILC3s) and subsequent beigeing of subcutaneous white adipose tissue. Adoptive transfer of intestinal ILC3s increased beigeing of white adipose tissue in diet-induced-obese mice. Exogenous IL-22 significantly increased the beigeing of subcutaneous white adipose tissue. Deficiency of IL-22 receptor (IL-22R) attenuated the beigeing induced by intermittent fasting. Single-cell sequencing of sorted intestinal immune cells revealed that intermittent fasting increased aryl hydrocarbon receptor signaling in ILC3s. Analysis of cell-cell ligand receptor interactions indicated that intermittent fasting may stimulate the interaction of ILC3s with dendritic cells and macrophages. These results establish the role of intestinal ILC3s in beigeing of white adipose tissue, suggesting that ILC3/IL-22/IL-22R axis contributes to the metabolic benefit of intermittent fasting.

Obesity refers to a condition where a person has excessive fat accumulation, which can have negative impacts on their health. Managing obesity has typically relied on reducing energy intake and increasing energy use through diets and exercise. For example, intermittent fasting is a diet strategy involving periods of time in a day or week where a person does not eat any food. Research has shown that intermittent fasting may improve the metabolism and increase energy use by enhancing a process known as "beigeing" of white fat tissue. In this process, white fat cells or their precursor cells differentiate into beige fat cells, which can consume excess energy by burning fat. Consequently, understanding how beigeing of white fat cells is activated in intermittent fasting may reveal a promising strategy for tackling obesity and metabolic diseases. Immune cells found in the gut known as innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) may play a role in the metabolic benefits from intermittent fasting. However, the roles of ILCs are complex: some types of ILCs can promote obesity, while others show metabolic benefits through their release of proteins like IL-17 and IL-22, which can help the body to metabolise glucose. To find out if these immune cells play a role in intermittent fasting, Chen, Sun et al. used diet-induced obese mice that had to fast every other day. Intermittent fasting was found to cause a form of ILCs (ILC3s) to release IL-22, which resulted in beigeing of white fat cells in obese mice. Single-cell sequencing techniques of gut immune cells further revealed that intermittent fasting increased forms of signalling in ILC3s and caused ILC3s to interact with other immune cells, such as dendritic cells and macrophages. The findings demonstrate how intermittent fasting causes beigeing of white adipose tissue through ILC3s, revealing mechanisms underpinning the metabolic benefits found from intermittent fasting. More research into this process may help identify new targets for treating obesity.

Bacillus velezensis promotes the proliferation of lactic acid bacteria and influences the fermentation quality of whole-plant corn silage.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the promoting effect of a Bacillus velezensis (BV) strain on lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and determine its influence on the fermentation quality and aerobic stability of silage. Methods: Flat colony counting method was used to evaluate the effect of BV on the growth of LAB. Freshly harvested whole-plant corn was inoculated separately with BV and L. plantarum (LP), along with an uninoculated control group (CK), and assessed at 1, 3, 5, 7, 15, and 30 days of ensiling. Results: The results indicated that BV exhibited a proliferative effect on Weissella confusa, Lactobacillus plantarum L-2, and Pediococcus pentosaceus. And exhibited a more rapid pH reduction in BV-inoculated silage compared with that in CK and LP-inoculated silage during the initial stage of ensiling. Throughout ensiling, the BV and LP experimental groups showed enhanced silage fermentation quality over CK. Additionally, relative to LP-inoculated silage, BV-inoculated silage displayed reduced pH and propionic acid. BV also prolonged aerobic stability under aerobic conditions. The microbial community in BV-inoculated silage showed greater stability than that in LP-inoculated silage. Additionally, Firmicutes and Lactobacillus exhibited more rapid elevation initially in BV versus LP-inoculated silage, but reached comparable levels between the two inoculation groups in the later stage. Conclusion: In summary, BV enhanced the efficacy and aerobic stability of whole-plant corn silage fermentation by stimulating LAB proliferation.

Insight into the mechanisms of combining direct current magnetic field with phosphate in promoting emulsifying properties of myofibrillar protein.

This study investigated the combined effects of direct-current magnetic field (DC-MF, 9.5 mT) and tetrasodium-pyrophosphate (TSPP, 1-5 g/L) on emulsified gel properties of porcine myofibrillar protein (MP). Results showed that MP at DC-MF and 3 g/L TSPP had decreased spectrum intensity of UV and fluorescence compared to that without DC-MF, owing to the changes of MP tertiary structure caused by DC-MF, especially tryptophan and tyrosine. The emulsion treated with DC-MF behaved better emulsifying activity and stability than that without DC-MF under such condition. And emulsion had lower creaming index and better storage stability. Gels prepared by this MP emulsion had low porosity and stable structure, accompanying with smaller size and more uniform distribution of oil droplets. Microstructure images showed that gels were covered with microporous structure, which was conducive to the good WHC of the emulsified gels (97.12%). These results showed the feasibility of DC-MF and TSPP in improving MP emulsion/emulsified gel.

Effect of magnetic field mediated CaCl2 on the edible quality of low-sodium minced pork gels.

Magnetic field combined with calcium chloride (CaCl2,) treatment is a highly promising technique for reducing sodium chloride (NaCl) in meat. Therefore, this paper investigated the effect of reducing NaCl addition (0-10%) by CaCl2 in combination with a magnetic field (3.8 mT) on the edible quality of low-salt pork mince. It is desired to drive the application of magnetic field and CaCl2 in low-sodium meat processing in this way. Results showed that the cooking yield, color, hardness, elasticity, mouthfeel, apparent texture, and orderliness of protein conformation of all minced pork were improved as compared to the control group, while the electron nose response values of their volatile sulfides and nitrogen oxides were decreased. In particular, the best edible quality and perceived salty intensity of minced pork gel was obtained by using CaCl2 in place of 5% NaCl under magnetic field mediation. In addition, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy scans showed that the reduced NaCl treatment by magnetic field combined with CaCl2 could increase the signal intensity of sodium in minced pork matrices to some extent. Magnetic field-mediated substitution of NaCl for CaCl2 treatment was also found to be favorable for inducing the transition of the protein secondary structure from an irregularly coiled to a ß-folded structure (demonstrated by infrared spectroscopy). In short, magnetic fields combined with CaCl2 instead of NaCl was a highly promising method of producing low-NaCl meats.

Polyp segmentation with interference filtering and dynamic uncertainty mining.

Objective.Accurate polyp segmentation from colo-noscopy images plays a crucial role in the early diagnosis and treatment of colorectal cancer. However, existing polyp segmentation methods are inevitably affected by various image noises, such as reflections, motion blur, and feces, which significantly affect the performance and generalization of the model. In addition, coupled with ambiguous boundaries between polyps and surrounding tissue, i.e. small inter-class differences, accurate polyp segmentation remains a challenging problem.Approach.To address these issues, we propose a novel two-stage polyp segmentation method that leverages a preprocessing sub-network (Pre-Net) and a dynamic uncertainty mining network (DUMNet) to improve the accuracy of polyp segmentation. Pre-Net identifies and filters out interference regions before feeding the colonoscopy images to the polyp segmentation network DUMNet. Considering the confusing polyp boundaries, DUMNet employs the uncertainty mining module (UMM) to dynamically focus on foreground, background, and uncertain regions based on different pixel confidences. UMM helps to mine and enhance more detailed context, leading to coarse-to-fine polyp segmentation and precise localization of polyp regions.Main results.We conduct experiments on five popular polyp segmentation benchmarks: ETIS, CVC-ClinicDB, CVC-ColonDB, EndoScene, and Kvasir. Our method achieves state-of-the-art performance. Furthermore, the proposed Pre-Net has strong portability and can improve the accuracy of existing polyp segmentation models.Significance.The proposed method improves polyp segmentation performance by eliminating interference and mining uncertain regions. This aids doctors in making precise and reduces the risk of colorectal cancer. Our code will be released athttps://github.com/zyh5119232/DUMNet.

A terbium(III) complex-based time-resolved luminescent probe for selenocysteine as an inhibitor of selenoproteins.

A terbium(III) complex-based time-resolved luminescence probe for selenocysteine can inhibit selenoprotein activity via a selenolate-triggered cleavage reaction of sulfonamide bonds in living cells.