Conversion of Bamboo into Strong, Waterproof, and Biodegradable Thermosetting Plastic through Cell Wall Structure Directed Manipulation.

Reckoning with the global environmental challenge of plastic pollution, particularly in terms of recycling and biodegradation of thermosetting plastics, sustainable alternatives are imperative. The rapidly growing and eco-friendly material bamboo has great potential as a sustainable resource; however, it lacks the inherent self-bonding and plasticity characteristics found in plastics. This study presents a feasible approach to enhance the plasticity of bamboo by selectively removing part of its lignin and disrupting the crystalline structure of cellulose. Concurrently, this process selectively transforms hydroxyl groups into highly reactive dialdehyde groups to increase the reactivity of bamboo. The resulting activated bamboo units undergo a hot-pressing process to transform them into a type of thermosetting plastic (ABTP). The ABTP is highly moldable, and its color can be precisely regulated by adjusting the lignin content. Additionally, it exhibits exceptional solvent and water resistance, along with notable mechanical properties, including a tensile strength of 50 MPa, flexural strength of 80 MPa, flexural modulus of 5 GPa, and Shore D hardness approaching 90. Furthermore, the bamboo-derived plastic exhibits exceptional reusability and biodegradability, presenting feasible and environmentally friendly alternatives to conventional plastics while harnessing the sustainable development potential of bamboo.

The sparing effect of ultra-high dose rate irradiation on the esophagus.

Background and purpose: Current studies have substantiated the sparing effect of ultra-high dose rate irradiation (FLASH) in various organs including the brain, lungs, and intestines. Whether this sparing effect extends to esophageal tissue remains unexplored. This study aims to compare the different responses of esophageal tissue in histological and protein expression levels following conventional dose rate irradiation (CONV) and FLASH irradiation to ascertain the presence of a sparing effect. Methods and materials: C57 female mice were randomly divided into three groups: control, CONV, and FLASH groups. The chest region of the mice in the radiation groups was exposed to a prescribed dose of 20 Gy using a modified electron linear accelerator. The CONV group received an average dose rate of 0.1 Gy/s, while the FLASH group received an average dose rate of 125 Gy/s. On the 10th day after irradiation, the mice were euthanized and their esophagi were collected for histopathological analysis. Subsequently, label-free proteomic quantification analysis was performed on esophageal tissue. The validation process involved analyzing transmission electron microscopy images and utilizing the parallel reaction monitoring method. Results: Histopathology results indicated a significantly lower extent of esophageal tissue damage in the FLASH group compared to the CONV group (p < 0.05). Label-free quantitative proteomic analysis revealed that the sparing effect observed in the FLASH group may be attributed to a reduction in radiation-induced protein damage associated with mitochondrial functions, including proteins involved in the tricarboxylic acid cycle and oxidative phosphorylation, as well as a decrease in acute inflammatory responses. Conclusions: Compared with CONV irradiation, a sparing effect on esophageal tissue can be observed after FLASH irradiation. This sparing effect is associated with alleviated mitochondria damage and acute inflammation.

Mapping the Behavioral Signatures of Shank3b Mice in Both Sexes.

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are characterized by social and repetitive abnormalities. Although the ASD mouse model with Shank3b mutations is widely used in ASD research, the behavioral phenotype of this model has not been fully elucidated. Here, a 3D-motion capture system and linear discriminant analysis were used to comprehensively record and analyze the behavioral patterns of male and female Shank3b mutant mice. It was found that both sexes replicated the core and accompanied symptoms of ASD, with significant sex differences. Further, Shank3b heterozygous knockout mice exhibited distinct autistic behaviors, that were significantly different from those those observed in the wild type and homozygous knockout groups. Our findings provide evidence for the inclusion of both sexes and experimental approaches to efficiently characterize heterozygous transgenic models, which are more clinically relevant in autistic studies.

Structural elucidation of lignin, hemicelluloses and LCC from both bamboo fibers and parenchyma cells.

Biomass recalcitrance, a key challenge in biomass utilization, is closely linked to the architectural composition and cross-linkages of molecules within cell walls. With three bamboo species investigated, this study aims to elucidate the inherent molecular-scale structural differences between bamboo fibers and parenchyma cells through a systematic chemical extraction and structural characterization of isolated hemicelluloses, lignin, and lignin-carbohydrate complexes (LCC). We observed that parenchyma cells exhibit superior alkaline extractability compared to fibers. Additionally, we identified the hemicelluloses in parenchyma cells as L-arabino-4-O-methyl-D-glucurono-D-xylan, displaying a highly branched structure, while that in fibers is L-arabino-D-xylan. Furthermore, the parenchyma cell lignin exhibited a higher syringyl-to-guaiacyl (S/G) ratio and ß-O-4 linkage content compared to fibers, whereas fibers contain more carbon­carbon linkages including ß-ß, ß-5, and ß-1. This notable structural difference suggests a denser and more stable lignin in bamboo fibers. Importantly, we found that LCC in parenchyma cells predominantly comprises γ-ester linkages, which exhibit an alkaline-unstable nature. In contrast, fibers predominantly contain phenyl glycoside linkages, characterized by their alkaline-stable nature. These findings were observed for all the tested bamboo species, indicating the conclusions should be also valid for other bamboo species, suggesting the competitiveness of bamboo parenchyma cells as a valuable biofuel feedstock.

Revealing spatial distribution and accessibility of cell wall polymers in bamboo through chemical imaging and mild chemical treatments.

Understanding the distribution and accessibility of polymers within plant cell walls is crucial for addressing biomass recalcitrance in lignocellulosic materials. In this work, Imaging Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) and Raman spectroscopy, coupled with targeted chemical treatments, were employed to investigate cell wall polymer distribution in two bamboo species at both tissue and cell wall levels. Tissue-level Imaging FTIR revealed significant disparities in the distribution and chemical activity of cell wall polymers between the fibrous sheath and fibrous strand. At the cell wall level, Imaging Raman spectroscopy delineated a distinct difference between the secondary wall and intercellular layer, with the latter containing higher levels of lignin, hydroxycinnamic acid (HCA), and xylan, and lower cellulose. Mild acidified sodium chlorite treatment led to partial removal of lignin, HCA, and xylan from the intercellular layer, albeit to a lesser extent than alkaline treatment, indicating susceptibility of these polymers to chemical treatment. In contrast, lignin in the secondary wall exhibited limited reactivity to acidified sodium chlorite but was slightly removed by alkaline treatment, suggesting stable chemical properties with slight alkaline intolerance. These findings provide valuable insights into the inherent design mechanism of plant cells and their efficient utilization.

A deep learning-based method for the prediction of temporal lobe injury in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

PURPOSE: To establish a deep learning-based model to predict radiotherapy-induced temporal lobe injury (TLI). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Spatial features of dose distribution within the temporal lobe were extracted using both the three-dimensional convolution (C3D) network and the dosiomics method. The Minimal Redundancy-Maximal-Relevance (mRMR) method was employed to rank the extracted features and select the most relevant ones. Four machine learning (ML) classifiers, including logistic regression (LR), k-nearest neighbors (kNN), support vector machines (SVM) and random forest (RF), were used to establish prediction models. Nested sampling and hyperparameter tuning methods were applied to train and validate the prediction models. For comparison, a prediction model base on the conventional D0.5cc of the temporal lobe obtained from dose volume (DV) histogram was established. The area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC) was utilized to compare the predictive performance of the different models. RESULTS: A total of 127 nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients were included in the study. In the model based on C3D deep learning features, the highest AUC value of 0.843 was achieved with 5 features. For the dosiomics features model, the highest AUC value of 0.715 was attained with 1 feature. Both of these models demonstrated superior performance compared to the prediction model based on DV parameters, which yielded an AUC of 0.695. CONCLUSION: The prediction model utilizing C3D deep learning features outperformed models based on dosiomics features or traditional parameters in predicting the onset of TLI. This approach holds promise for predicting radiation-induced toxicities and guide individualized radiotherapy.

Is it necessary to perform measurement-based patient-specific quality assurance for online adaptive radiotherapy with Elekta Unity MR-Linac?

This study aimed to investigate the necessity of measurement-based patient-specific quality assurance (PSQA) for online adaptive radiotherapy by analyzing measurement-based PSQA results and calculation-based 3D independent dose verification results with Elekta Unity MR-Linac. There are two workflows for Elekta Unity enabled in the treatment planning system: adapt to position (ATP) and adapt to shape (ATS). ATP plans are those which have relatively slighter shifts from reference plans by adjusting beam shapes or weights, whereas ATS plans are the new plans optimized from the beginning with probable re-contouring targets and organs-at-risk. PSQA gamma passing rates were measured using an MR-compatible ArcCHECK diode array for 78 reference plans and corresponding 208 adaptive plans (129 ATP plans and 79 ATS plans) of Elekta Unity. Subsequently, the relationships between ATP, or ATS plans and reference plans were evaluated separately. The Pearson's r correlation coefficients between ATP or ATS adaptive plans and corresponding reference plans were also characterized using regression analysis. Moreover, the Bland-Altman plot method was used to describe the agreement of PSQA results between ATP or ATS adaptive plans and reference plans. Additionally, Monte Carlo-based independent dose verification software ArcherQA was used to perform secondary dose check for adaptive plans. For ArcCHECK measurements, the average gamma passing rates (ArcCHECK vs. TPS) of PSQA (3%/2 mm criterion) were 99.51% ± 0.88% and 99.43% ± 0.54% for ATP and ATS plans, respectively, which were higher than the corresponding reference plans 99.34% ± 1.04% (p < 0.05) and 99.20% ± 0.71% (p < 0.05), respectively. The Pearson's r correlation coefficients were 0.720 between ATP and reference plans and 0.300 between ATS and reference plans with ArcCHECK, respectively. Furthermore, >95% of data points of differences between both ATP and ATS plans and reference plans were within ±2σ (standard deviation) of the mean difference between adaptive and reference plans with ArcCHECK measurements. With ArcherQA calculation, the average gamma passing rates (ArcherQA vs. TPS) were 98.23% ± 1.64% and 98.15% ± 1.07% for ATP and ATS adaptive plans, separately. It might be unnecessary to perform measurement-based PSQA for both ATP and ATS adaptive plans for Unity if the gamma passing rates of both measurements of corresponding reference plans and independent dose verification of adaptive plans have high gamma passing rates. Periodic machine QA and verification of adaptive plans were recommended to ensure treatment safety.

ARU-DGAN: A dual generative adversarial network based on attention residual U-Net for magneto-acousto-electrical image denoising.

Magneto-Acousto-Electrical Tomography (MAET) is a multi-physics coupling imaging modality that integrates the high resolution of ultrasound imaging with the high contrast of electrical impedance imaging. However, the quality of images obtained through this imaging technique can be easily compromised by environmental or experimental noise, thereby affecting the overall quality of the imaging results. Existing methods for magneto-acousto-electrical image denoising lack the capability to model local and global features of magneto-acousto-electrical images and are unable to extract the most relevant multi-scale contextual information to model the joint distribution of clean images and noise images. To address this issue, we propose a Dual Generative Adversarial Network based on Attention Residual U-Net (ARU-DGAN) for magneto-acousto-electrical image denoising. Specifically, our model approximates the joint distribution of magneto-acousto-electrical clean and noisy images from two perspectives: noise removal and noise generation. First, it transforms noisy images into clean ones through a denoiser; second, it converts clean images into noisy ones via a generator. Simultaneously, we design an Attention Residual U-Net (ARU) to serve as the backbone of the denoiser and generator in the Dual Generative Adversarial Network (DGAN). The ARU network adopts a residual mechanism and introduces a linear Self-Attention based on Cross-Normalization (CNorm-SA), which is proposed in this paper. This design allows the model to effectively extract the most relevant multi-scale contextual information while maintaining high resolution, thereby better modeling the local and global features of magneto-acousto-electrical images. Finally, extensive experiments on a real-world magneto-acousto-electrical image dataset constructed in this paper demonstrate significant improvements in preserving image details achieved by ARU-DGAN. Furthermore, compared to the state-of-the-art competitive methods, it exhibits a 0.3 dB increase in PSNR and an improvement of 0.47% in SSIM.

Rheinheimera oceanensis sp. nov., a novel member of the genus Rheinheimera, isolated from the West Pacific Ocean.

Two Gram-stain-negative, aerobic, non-motile and short-rod-shaped bacteria, designated as strains GL-53T and GL-15-2-5, were isolated from the seamount area of the West Pacific Ocean and identified using a polyphasic taxonomic approach. The growth of strains GL-53ᵀ and GL-15-2-5 occurred at pH 5.5-10.0, 4-40 °C (optimum at 28 °C) and 0-10.0 % NaCl concentrations (optimum at 0-5.0 %). On the basis of 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, strains GL-53ᵀ and GL-15-2-5 exhibited the highest similarity to Rheinheimera lutimaris YQF-2T (98.4 %), followed by Rheinheimera pacifica KMM 1406T (98.1 %), Rheinheimera nanhaiensis E407-8T (97.4 %), Rheinheimera aestuarii H29T (97.4 %), Rheinheimera hassiensis E48T (97.2 %) and Rheinheimera aquimaris SW-353T (97.2 %). Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the isolates were affiliated with the genus Rheinheimera and represented an independent lineage. The major fatty acids were summed feature 3 (C16 : 1 ω7c and/or C16 : 1 ω6c), C16 : 0 and summed feature 8 (C18 : 1 ω7c and/or C18 : 1 ω6c). The sole isoprenoid quinone was ubiquinone 8. The major polar lipids were phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, one unidentified aminophospholipid (and one unidentified glycolipid. The DNA G+C content was 48.5 mol%. The average nucleotide identity, average amino acid identity and in silico DNA-DNA hybridization values among the genomes of strain GL-53ᵀ and the related strains in the genus Rheinheimera were 75.5-90.1 %, 67.5-93.9 % and 21.4-41.4 %, respectively. Based on their phenotypic, chemotaxonomic and genotypic properties, the two strains were identified as representing a novel species of the genus Rheinheimera, for which the name Rheinheimera oceanensis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is GL-53T (=KCTC 82651T=MCCC M20598T).

An α-hemoglobin-derived peptide (m)VD-hemopressin (α) promotes NREM sleep via the CB1 cannabinoid receptor.

Hemopressin and related peptides have shown to function as the endogenous ligands or the regulator of cannabinoid receptors. The previous studies demonstrated that the endocannabinoid system played important roles in modulating several physiological functions such as sleep, olfaction, emotion, learning and memory, and reward behaviors. Mouse VD-hemopressin (α) [(m)VD-HPα], an 11-residue peptide derived from the α1 chain of hemoglobin, was recently presumed as a selective agonist of the CB1 receptor. The present study was undertaken to investigate the effects of (m)VD-HPα on the sleep-wake cycle and power spectrum of cortical EEG in freely moving rats and the potential neurons in the brain activated by (m)VD-HPα. The results showed that 20.1 nmol of (m)VD-HPα i.c.v. administration increased non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep in the first 2 h section accompanied by an increase in EEG delta (0.5-4 Hz) activity. The (m)VD-HPα-induced NREM sleep enhancement was due to extended episode duration instead of the episode number. In addition, the effect of (m)VD-HPα (20.1 nmol) on sleep-wake states was significantly attenuated by an antagonist of the CB1 receptor, AM251 (20 nmol, i.c.v.) but not by the CB2 receptor antagonist, AM630 (20 nmol, i.c.v.). In comparison with vehicle, (m)VD-HPα increased Fos-immunoreactive (-ir) neurons in the ventrolateral preoptic nucleus (VLPO), but reduced Fos-ir neurons in the lateral hypothalamus (LH), tuberomammillary nucleus (TMN), and locus coeruleus (LC). These findings suggest that (m)VD-HPα promotes NREM sleep via the CB1 cannabinoid receptor to probably activate VLPO GABAergic neurons, but inactivates the LH orexinergic, LC noradrenergic, and TMN histaminergic neurons.

Treatment plan prescreening for patient-specific quality assurance measurements using independent Monte Carlo dose calculations.

Purpose: This study proposes a method to identify plans that failed patient-specific quality assurance (QA) and attempts to establish a criterion to prescreen treatment plans for patient-specific QA measurements with independent Monte Carlo dose calculations. Materials and methods: Patient-specific QA results measured with an ArcCHECK diode array of 207 patients (head and neck: 25; thorax: 61; abdomen: 121) were retrospectively analyzed. All patients were treated with the volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) technique and plans were optimized with a Pinnacle v16.2 treatment planning system using an analytical algorithm-based dose engine. Afterwards, phantom verification plans were designed and recalculated by an independent GPU-accelerated Monte Carlo (MC) dose engine, ArcherQA. Moreover, sensitivity and specificity analyzes of gamma passing rates between measurements and MC calculations were carried out to show the ability of MC to monitor failing plans (ArcCHECK 3%/3 mm,<90%), and attempt to determine the appropriate threshold and gamma passing rate criterion utilized by ArcherQA to prescreen treatment plans for ArcCHECK measurements. The receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve was also utilized to characterize the performance of different gamma passing rate criterion used by ArcherQA. Results: The thresholds for 100% sensitivity to detect plans that failed patient-specific QA by independent calculation were 97.0%, 95.4%, and 91.0% for criterion 3%/3 mm, 3%/2 mm, and 2%/2 mm, respectively, which corresponded to specificities of 0.720, 0.528, and 0.585, respectively. It was shown that the 3%/3 mm criterion with 97% threshold for ArcherQA demonstrated perfect sensitivity and the highest specificity compared with other criteria, which may be suitable for prescreening treatment plans treated with the investigated machine to implement measurement-based patient-specific QA of patient plans. In addition, the area under the curve (AUC) calculated from ROC analysis for criterion 3%/3 mm, 3%/2 mm, and 2%/2 mm used by ArcherQA were 0.948, 0.924, and 0.929, respectively. Conclusions: Independent dose calculation with the MC-based program ArcherQA has potential as a prescreen treatment for measurement-based patient-specific QA. AUC values (>0.9) showed excellent classification accuracy for monitoring failing plans with independent MC calculations.

Adenine Base Editing System for Pseudomonas and Prediction Workflow for Protein Dysfunction via ABE.

Pseudomonas is a large genus that inhabits diverse environments due to its distinct metabolic versatility. Its applications range from environmental to industrial biotechnology. Molecular tools that allow precise and efficient genetic manipulation are required to understand and harness its full potential. Here, we report the development of a highly efficient adenine base editing system, i.e., dxABE-PS, for Pseudomonas species. The system allows A:T → G:C transition with up to 100% efficiency along a broad target spectrum because we use xCas9 3.7, which recognizes NG PAM. To enhance the dxABE-PS utility, we develop a prediction workflow for protein dysfunction using ABE, namely, DABE-CSP (dysfunction via ABE through CRISPOR-SIFT prediction). We applied DABE-CSP to inactivate several genes in Pseudomonas putida KT2440 to accumulate a nylon precursor, i.e., muconic acid from catechol with 100% yield. Moreover, we expanded the ABE to non-model Pseudomonas species by developing an nxABE system for P. chengduensisDY56-96, isolated from sediment samples from the seamount area in the West Pacific Ocean. Taken together, the establishment of the ABE systems along with DABE-CSP will fast-track research on Pseudomonas species.

A Comparative Investigation on Structural and Chemical Differences between the Pith and Rind of Sunflower Stalk and Their Influences on Nanofibrillation Efficiency.

The structure and chemical composition of cell walls play a vital role in the bioconversion and utilization of plants. In the present study, the cell wall structure and chemical composition of pith and rind from sunflower stalks were compared and correlated to their nanofibrillation efficiency with ultrasonic treatment. Mild chemical pretreatment using 1% or 4% NaOH without any bleaching process were applied prior to ultrasonication nanofibrillation. Significant structural and chemical differences were demonstrated between the pith and rind, with the former exhibiting a much lower lignin and hemicellulose contents, higher pectin, much looser cell structure and higher cell wall porosity than the latter. Alkaline treatment alone was sufficient to eliminate most of the hemicellulose and pectin from stalk pith, whereas only partial removal of hemicellulose and lignin was achieved for the woody rind part. After 30 min of ultrasonic treatment, the stalk pith exhibited fully defibrillated fibrils with a continuous and entangled micro/nanofibrillated network, whereas numerous micron-sized fiber and fragments remained for the rind. The results indicated that stalk pith is less recalcitrant and easier to be fibrillated with ultrasonication than rind, which must be correlated to their distinct differences in both structure and chemical composition.

Thiosulfatihalobacter marinus gen. nov. sp. nov., a novel member of the family Roseobacteraceae, isolated from the West Pacific Ocean.

Two strains (GL-11-2T and ZH2-Y79) were isolated from the seawater collected from the West Pacific Ocean and the East China Sea, respectively. Cells were Gram-stain-negative, strictly aerobic, non-motile and rod-shaped. Cells grew in the medium containing 0.5-7.5 % NaCl (w/v, optimum, 1.0-3.0 %), at pH 6.0-8.0 (optimum, pH 6.5-7.0) and at 4-40 °C (optimum, 30 °C). H2S production occurred in marine broth supplemented with sodium thiosulphate. The almost-complete 16S rRNA gene sequences of the two isolates were identical, and exhibited the highest similarity to Pseudoruegeria aquimaris JCM 13603T (97.5 %), followed by Ruegeria conchae TW15T (97.2%), Shimia aestuarii DSM 15283T (97.1 %) and Ruegeria lacuscaerulensis ITI-1157T (97.0 %). Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the isolates were affiliated with the family Roseobacteraceae and represented an independent lineage. The sole isoprenoid quinone was ubiquinone 10. The principal fatty acids were summed feature 8 (C18 : 1 ω7c and/or C18 : 1 ω6c) and cyclo-C19 : 0 ω8c. The major polar lipids were phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylcholine and diphosphatidylglycerol. The DNA G+C content was 62.3 mol%. The orthologous average nucleotide identity, in silico DNA-DNA hybridization and average amino acid identity values among the genomes of strain GL-11-2T and the reference strains were 73.2-79.0, 20.3-22.5 and 66.0-80.8 %, respectively. Strains GL-11-2ᵀ and ZH2-Y79 possessed complete metabolic pathways for thiosulphate oxidation, dissimilatory nitrate reduction and denitrification. Phylogenetic distinctiveness, chemotaxonomic differences and phenotypic properties revealed that the isolates represent a novel genus and species of the family Roseobacteraceae, belonging to the class Alphaproteobacteria, for which the name Thiosulfatihalobacter marinus gen. nov., sp. nov. (type strain, GL-11-2T=KCTC 82723T=MCCC M20691T) is proposed.

Mesobacterium pallidum gen. nov., sp. nov., Heliomarina baculiformis gen. nov., sp. nov. and Oricola indica sp. nov., three novel Alphaproteobacteria members isolated from deep-sea water in the southwest Indian ridge.

Three Gram-staining-negative, aerobic and rod-shaped strains, designated as T40-1T, T40-3T and JL-62T, were isolated from the deep-sea water in the southwest Indian ridge. For strain T40-1T, growth occurred at 15-37 °C (optimum, 28 °C), pH 6.0-9.0 (optimum, pH 7.5) and in the presence of 0.5-5.0 % NaCl (w/v; optimum, 2.0 %). Strain T40-3T could grow at 15-40 °C (optimum, 28 °C), with 0.5-11.0 % NaCl (optimum, 2.0 %, w/v) at pH 6.0-9.5 (optimum, 8.0). The temperature, pH and salinity ranges for growth of strain JL-62T were 15-40 °C (optimum, 30 °C), pH 5.5-9.0 (optimum, pH 7.5-8.0) and 0.5-9.0 % NaCl (w/v; optimum, 4.0 %). Ubiquinone-10 was the sole ubiquinone in all strains, the major fatty acids (>20 %) were summed feature 8 (C18 : 1 ω7c / C18 : 1 ω6c). The major polar lipids of strains T40-1T and T40-3T were phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine and diphosphatidylglycerol. Strain JL-62T contained phosphatidylmonomethylethanolamine, diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol and sulfoquinovosyldiacylglycerol as major polar lipids. Phylogenetic trees based on 16S rRNA gene and core-genomic sequences revealed affiliation of strains T40-1Tand T40-3T to the family Roseobacteraceae and formed two independent clades from other Roseobacteraceae genera, and those two strains had average nucleotide identities of 62.0-72.0 % to their phylogenetically related species which fell into to the genus boundary range, indicating that they represent two novel genera. While strain JL-62T represents a novel species in the genus Oricola belonging to the family Phyllobacteriaceae, which was supported by overall genomic relatedness index calculations. The DNA G+C contents of strains T40-1T, T40-3T and JL-62T were 66.5, 60.1 and 62.1 mol %, respectively. Based on the polyphasic taxonomic data, strains T40-1T (=MCCC M24557T=KCTC 82975T) and T40-3T (=MCCC 1K05135T=KCTC 82976T) are classified as representing two novel genera belonging to the family Roseobacteraceae with the names Mesobacterium pallidum gen. nov., sp. nov. and Heliomarina baculiformis gen. nov., sp. nov. are proposed, and strain JL-62T (=MCCC M24579T=KCTC 82974T) is proposed to represent a novel species within the genus Oricola with the name Oricola indica sp. nov. is proposed.

Structural Evolution of Cellulose from Bamboo Fibers and Parenchyma Cells during Ionic Liquid Pretreatment for Enhanced Hydrolysis.

Bamboo fibers and parenchyma cells, the two dominant types of cells in bamboo, exhibit some interesting differences in cellulose crystalline structures. In the present investigation, we further demonstrated that these structural differences affect their response during ionic liquid (IL) pretreatment and the sugar conversion yield, by tracking their changes in morphology, chemical, and crystalline structures. All of the results pointed to the fact that the cellulose from bamboo fibers exhibited higher recalcitrance to IL pretreatment, with a significantly lower change in crystallinity index, d spacings from the (110) and (11̅0) planes, crystallite sizes, and easier transformation from cellulose I to cellulose II after pretreatment, as compared to that from parenchyma cells. Furthermore, the crystalline parameters of (110) and (11̅0) lattice planes exhibited more changes compared to the (200) direction. This investigation highlights the significance of parenchyma cell wastes from bamboo processing plants as a competitive candidate for the biorefinery industry.