Detoxification of tetracycline and synthetic dyes by a newly characterized Lentinula edodes laccase, and safety assessment using proteomic analysis.

Fungal laccase has strong ability in detoxification of many environmental contaminants. A putative laccase gene, LeLac12, from Lentinula edodes was screened by secretome approach. LeLac12 was heterogeneously expressed and purified to characterize its enzymatic properties to evaluate its potential use in bioremediation. This study showed that the extracellular fungal laccase from L. edodes could effectively degrade tetracycline (TET) and the synthetic dye Acid Green 25 (AG). The growth inhibition of Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis by TET revealed that the antimicrobial activity was significantly reduced after treatment with the laccase-HBT system. 16 transformation products of TET were identified by UPLC-MS-TOF during the laccase-HBT oxidation process. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis revealed that LeLac12 could completely mineralize ring-cleavage products. LeLac12 completely catalyzed 50 mg/L TET within 4 h by adding AG (200 mg/L), while the degradation of AG was above 96% even in the co-contamination system. Proteomic analysis revealed that central carbon metabolism, energy metabolism, and DNA replication/repair were affected by TET treatment and the latter system could contribute to the formation of multidrug-resistant strains. The results demonstrate that LeLac12 is an efficient and environmentally method for the removal of antibiotics and dyes in the complex polluted wastewater.

Transcriptomic investigation unveils the role of energy metabolism under low phosphorus and salt combined stress in soybean (Glycine max).

Soybean (Glycine max) is economically significant, but the mechanisms underlying its adaptation to simultaneous low phosphorus and salt stresses are unclear. We employed the Shennong 94-1-8 soybean germplasm to conduct a comprehensive analysis, integrating both physiochemical and transcriptomic approaches, to unravel the response mechanisms of soybean when subjected to simultaneous low phosphorus and salt stresses. Remarkably, the combined stress exhibited the most pronounced impact on the soybean root system, which led to a substantial reduction in total soluble sugar (TSS) and total soluble protein (TSP) within the plants under this treatment. A total of 20,953 differentially expressed genes were identified through pairwise comparisons. Heatmap analysis of genes related to energy metabolism pathways demonstrated a significant down-regulation in expression under salt and low phosphorus + salt treatments, while low phosphorus treatment did not exhibit similar expression trends. Furthermore, the weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) indicated that the blue module had a strong positive correlation with TSS and TSP. Notably, 2,3-bisphosphoglycerate-dependent phosphoglycerate mutase 1, FCS-Like Zinc finger 8, auxin response factor 18 isoform X2, and NADP-dependent malic enzyme emerged as hub genes associated with energy metabolism. In summary, our findings indicate that soybean roots are more adversely affected by salt and combined stress than by low phosphorus alone due to reduced activity in energy metabolism-related pathways and hub genes. These results offer novel insights into the adaptive mechanisms of soybeans when facing the combined stress of low phosphorus and salinity.

Comparative physiological and transcriptomic analysis of two salt-tolerant soybean germplasms response to low phosphorus stress: role of phosphorus uptake and antioxidant capacity.

BACKGROUND: Phosphorus (P) and salt stress are common abiotic stressors that limit crop growth and development, but the response mechanism of soybean to low phosphorus (LP) and salt (S) combined stress remains unclear. RESULTS: In this study, two soybean germplasms with similar salt tolerance but contrasting P-efficiency, A74 (salt-tolerant and P-efficient) and A6 (salt-tolerant and P-inefficient), were selected as materials. By combining physiochemical and transcriptional analysis, we aimed to elucidate the mechanism by which soybean maintains high P-efficiency under salt stress. In total, 14,075 differentially expressed genes were identified through pairwise comparison. PageMan analysis subsequently revealed several significantly enriched categories in the LP vs. control (CK) or low phosphorus + salt (LPS) vs. S comparative combination when compared to A6, in the case of A74. These categories included genes involved in mitochondrial electron transport, secondary metabolism, stress, misc, transcription factors and transport. Additionally, weighted correlation network analysis identified two modules that were highly correlated with acid phosphatase and antioxidant enzyme activity. Citrate synthase gene (CS), acyl-coenzyme A oxidase4 gene (ACX), cytokinin dehydrogenase 7 gene (CKXs), and two-component response regulator ARR2 gene (ARR2) were identified as the most central hub genes in these two modules. CONCLUSION: In summary, we have pinpointed the gene categories responsible for the LP response variations between the two salt-tolerant germplasms, which are mainly related to antioxidant, and P uptake process. Further, the discovery of the hub genes layed the foundation for further exploration of the molecular mechanism of salt-tolerant and P-efficient in soybean.

Effects of continuous cropping on fungal community diversity and soil metabolites in soybean roots.

IMPORTANCE: Soybean yield can be affected by soybean soil fungal communities in different tillage patterns. Soybean is an important food crop with great significance worldwide. Continuous cultivation resulted in soil nutrient deficiencies, disordered metabolism of root exudates, fungal pathogen accumulation, and an altered microbial community, which brought a drop in soybean output. In this study, taking the soybean agroecosystem in northeast China, we revealed the microbial ecology and soil metabolites spectrum, especially the diversity and composition of soil fungi and the correlation of pathogenic fungi, and discussed the mechanisms and the measures of alleviating the obstacles.

Fabrication and evaluation of dodecyl imide maleopimaric acid glycidyl methacrylate ester modified silica with multiple retention mechanisms for reversed phase liquid chromatography.

As green, less toxic, and abundant ligands with rich functional groups, natural products are widely used in synthesis of chromatographic stationary phases. In this work, dodecyl imide maleopimaric acid glycidyl methacrylate ester (C12-MPAGN) was prepared from maleopimaric acid through the imidization and ring-opening based esterification reaction. By using "thiol-ene" click chemistry, it was chemically bonded to the silica and (3-mercaptopropyl) trimethoxysilane (γ-MPS) was used as the coupling agent to obtain dodecyl imide maleopimaric acid glycidyl methacrylate ester bonded silica stationary phase (Sil-C12-MPAGN). Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), scanning electron microscopies (SEM), and elemental analysis (EA) were utilized to verify that the Sil-C12-MPAGN stationary phase was successfully prepared with C12-MPAGN immobilized on the silica surface. In order to evaluate the chromatographic performance and retention mechanisms of the Sil-C12-MPAGN column and compared with C18 column, a variety of compounds were used, including stander mixture of Tanaka, alkylbenzenes, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), phenols and flavonoids. Based on these multiple interactions, including hydrophobic, hydrogen-bonding, and π-π interactions, high selectivity and superior separation performance were demonstrated by the Sil-C12-MPAGN column for probe molecules what had previously been mentioned. In addition, the quantitative determination of paclitaxel content in Yew bark extract was conducted with this column, which was found that the concentration was 83.67 mg/L, respectively. In short, the present study proposes a new strategy for introducing rosin to liquid chromatography with high selectivity and separation performance.

[Preparation and chromatographic performance of cardanol-bonded silica stationary phase].

As green, less toxic, widely available, and site-rich functional ligands, natural products are widely used for the development of chromatographic stationary phases. In this work, a novel stationary phase, cardanol-bonded on silica (CBS) was prepared using γ-glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane (KH-560) as the coupling reagent and cardanol as the functional ligand. The synthesized stationary phase was characterized by Fourier transform-infrared spectra (FT-IR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), elemental analysis (EA), and N2 adsorption-desorption analysis. The results revealed that cardanol was successfully immobilized on the surface of spherical silica by the ring-opening reaction of the epoxy groups in phenolic hydroxyl. The retention mechanism and chromatographic performance of the CBS column were further evaluated and compared with those of a commercial C18 column using different classes of analytes, e. g., Tanaka standard test mixtures, alkylbenzenes, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), phenols, and aromatic positional isomers. The retention of alkylbenzenes under different chromatographic conditions revealed that the CBS column was a typical reversed-phase liquid chromatographic column, similar to the commercial C18 column. From the results of the Tanaka test, it was concluded that CBS could provide various interactions for different solutes e. g., hydrogen bonding and π-π interactions, along with hydrophobic interactions. The synergistic effects resulting from the aromatic rings, the hydroxyl and alkyl linkers in the new stationary phase improved the separation selectivity via multiple retention mechanisms. Based on these interactions, different solute probes such as hydrophobic alkylbenzenes, PAHs, and phenols were successfully separated in the reversed-phase liquid chromatography (RPLC) mode. For example, the aromatic positional isomers o-terthenyl, m-terphenyl, and triphenylene were used to investigate the chromatographic performance of the CBS column. These PHAs were baseline separated with good peak shapes. The resolution of m-terphenyl and triphenylene was as high as 6.81, while the two isomers could not be separated on the C18 column under the same chromatographic conditions. The repeatability and column stability of the CBS column was evaluated, and excellent repeatability and column stability were observed. The relative standard deviations (RSDs) of the retention time, peak area, and peak height for alkylbenzenes with 10 replicate injections were 0.052%-0.079%, 0.104%-0.847%, and 0.081%-0.272%, respectively. Traditional Chinese medicines have contributed notably to the Chinese civilization and human health. However, the complicated chemical compositions, unclear medicinal action mechanisms, and low purification efficiency for the traditional Chinese medicines have limited further development. Therefore it is necessary to establish an efficient, simple and feasible method for the separation and purification of herbal medicines. HPLC has been widely used in traditional Chinese medicines for the separation and detection of various components. In order to explore the CBS column for analysis of the traditional Chinese medicines, the ethanol extracts of fruits of Evodiae fructus and Camptotheca acuminata were used to test the separation performance of this column. The resolution of camptothecin from the preceding and following impurity peaks was 4.23 and 2.71. The resolution between evodiamine and rutaecarpin was 5.43, while the resolution from the adjacencies of impurity peaks was 2.20 and 1.69, respectively. The above mentioned results indicated that the CBS column shows good separation performance for the main active ingredients in the ethanolic extracts of these drugs, this validating its great potential for the analysis of real samples. Overall, the present study not only provides a new approach for the preparation of chromatographic stationary phases but also opens a new possibility for the separation and purification of camptothecin and evodiamine in real samples. This is an extension of the application of cardanol to chromatographic separation materials.

Continuous-cropping-tolerant soybean cultivars alleviate continuous cropping obstacles by improving structure and function of rhizosphere microorganisms.

Introduction: Soybean continuous cropping will change soil microorganisms and cause continuous cropping obstacles, resulting in a significant yield decline. Different soybean cultivars have different tolerances to continuous cropping, but the relationship between continuous cropping tolerance and soil microorganisms is not clear. Methods: Two soybean cultivars with different tolerances to continuous cropping were used to study the effects of continuous cropping on soil physical and chemical properties, nitrogen and phosphorus cyclic enzyme activities, rhizosphere soil microbial community and function. Results: The results showed that the yield reduction rate of a continuous-cropping-tolerant cultivar (L14) was lower than that of a continuous-cropping-sensitive cultivar (L10) under continuous cropping. At R1 and R6 growth stages, soil nutrient content (NH4 +-N, NO3 --N, AP, DOM, TK, and pH), nitrogen cycling enzyme (URE, NAG, LAP) activities, phosphorus cycling enzyme (ALP, NPA, ACP) activities, copy numbers of nitrogen functional genes (AOA, AOB, nirK, nirK) and phosphorus functional genes (phoA, phoB) in L14 were higher than those in L10. Soybean cultivar was an important factor affecting the structure and functional structure of bacterial community under continuous cropping. The relative abundances of Proteobacteria, Bacteroidota, Acidobacteriota and Verrucomicrobiota with L14 were significantly higher than those of L10. The complexity of the soil bacterial community co-occurrence network in L14 was higher than that in L10. Discussion: The continuous-cropping-tolerant soybean cultivar recruited more beneficial bacteria, changed the structure and function of microbial community, improved soil nitrogen and phosphorus cycling, and reduced the impact of continuous cropping obstacles on grain yield.

Changes in Soil Microbial Activity, Bacterial Community Composition and Function in a Long-Term Continuous Soybean Cropping System After Corn Insertion and Fertilization.

Corn-soybean rotation and fertilization are common practices improving soil fertility and crop yield. Their effects on bacterial community have been extensively studied, yet, few comprehensive studies about the microbial activity, bacterial community and functional groups in a long-term continuous soybean cropping system after corn insertion and fertilization. The effects of corn insertions (Sm: no corn insertion, CS: 3 cycles of corn-soybean rotations and CCS: 2 cycles of corn-corn-soybean rotations) with two fertilization regimes (No fertilization and NPK) on bacterial community and microbial activity were investigated in a long-term field experiment. The bacterial communities among treatments were evaluated using high-throughput sequencing then bacterial functions were predicted based on the FaProTax database. Soil respiration and extracellular enzyme activities were used to assess soil microbial activity. Soil bacterial community structure was significantly altered by corn insertions (p < 0.01) and fertilization (p < 0.01), whereas bacterial functional structure was only affected by corn insertion (p < 0.01). The activities of four enzymes (invertase, ß-glucosidase, ß-xylosidase, and ß-D-1,4-cellobiohydrolase) involved in soil C cycling were enhanced by NPK fertilizer, and were also enhanced by corn insertions except for the invertase and ß-xylosidase under NPK fertilization. NPK fertilizer significantly improved soil microbial activity except for soil metabolic quotient (qCO2) and the microbial quotient under corn insertions. Corn insertions also significantly improved soil microbial activity except for the ratio of soil induced respiration (SIR) to basal respiration (BR) under fertilization and the qCO2 was decreased by corn insertions. These activity parameters were highly correlated with the soil functional capability of aromatic compound degradation, which was the main predictors of bacterial functional structure. In general, the combination of soil microbial activity, bacterial community and corresponding functional analysis provided comprehensive insights into compositional and functional adaptations to corn insertions and fertilization.

Changes in photosynthetic traits and their responses to increasing fertilization rates in soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) during decades of genetic improvement.

BACKROUND: Changes in photosynthetic traits (PTs) during the long-term genetic improvement of soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) yield have been studied, but detailed information on whether PT responses to environmental stress have improved, and their correlations with seed yield, are still unknown. Our objectives were to describe the changes in soybean PTs - leaf area index (LAI), leaf chlorophyll content (Chl), net photosynthetic rate (PN ), stomatal conductance (gs ), and transpiration rate (E) - during decades of genetic improvement, and to detect whether the responses to increasing fertilizer application rates (FRs) of the PTs of 13 different soybean cultivars released in various decades differed. RESULTS: All of the soybean PTs increased significantly along with the year in which each cultivar was released, under different FR treatments, indicating that PTs have improved during decades of genetic breeding. Medium FR (nitrogen) treatment (150 kg ha -1 ) increased PT values, to different extents, at all the investigated growth stages. Leaf area index, Chl, and PN of the old and middle cultivar groups at the full bloom (R2), full seed (R6), and beginning maturity (R7) stages decreased significantly under high FR treatment (300 kg ha-1 ) compared with the medium FR treatment. The former had no effect on any of the PTs of new cultivar group, or had promotive effects. Thus, the photosynthetic capacities of the new cultivars are more tolerant to high FR-related stress than older cultivars. CONCLUSIONS: The photosynthetic capacities, and tolerance to high FR-related stress, of soybean cultivars that were released in different years improved after long-term genetic breeding. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry.

ß-Cyclodextrin functionalized SBA-15 via amide linkage as a super adsorbent for rapid removal of methyl blue.

To remove the bulky aqueous organic dye e.g. methyl blue (MB) from water, ordered mesoporous silica SBA-15 has been functionalized with ß-cyclodextrin (ß-CD) via amide linkage. The surface physical and chemical properties of the surface of the resulted ß-CD-functionalized adsorbents (abbrev. SBA15-A-CD) were characterized systematically. The results indicate that the channels of SBA-15 were uniformly modified with amine groups and were further ß-CD-terminated via amide linkages, without ruining its ordered mesoporous structure. The effects of contact time, pH, ionic strength, temperature and salt on the adsorption performance were explored. SBA15-A-CD showed maximum adsorption capacity for MB up to 1791 mg·g-1 combined with excellent recyclability. Besides, the adsorption behavior of MB onto SBA15-A-CD has been investigated by DFT calculation and two-dimensional NMR. Specifically, the enhanced adsorption capacity for MB stems from the tailored host-guest interaction between ß-CD cavity and aromatic moiety of MB in combination with the electrostatic attraction between amine groups and sulfonated group of MB. These findings offer good opportunities for improving the ability of mesoporous silica in adsorption of bulky anion dyes in wastewater.

Response of Soybean Root to Phosphorus Deficiency under Sucrose Feeding: Insight from Morphological and Metabolome Characterizations.

Phosphorus (P) is one the least available essential plant macronutrients in soils that is a major constraint on plant growth. Soybean (Glycine max L.) production is often limited due to low P availability. The better management of P deficiency requires improvement of soybean's P use efficiency. Sugars are implicated in P starvation responses, and a complete understanding of the role of sucrose together with P in coordinating P starvation responses is missing in soybean. This study explored global metabolomic changes in previously screened low-P-tolerant (Liaodou, L13) and low-P-sensitive (Tiefeng 3, T3) soybean genotypes by liquid chromatography coupled mass spectrometry. We also studied the root morphological response to sucrose application (1%) in P-starved soybean genotypes against normal P supply. Root morphology in L13 genotype has significantly improved P starvation responses as compared to the T3 genotype. Exogenous sucrose application greatly affected root length, root volume, and root surface area in L13 genotype while low-P-sensitive genotype, i.e., T3, only responded by increasing number of lateral roots. Root : shoot ratio increased after sucrose treatment regardless of P conditions, in both genotypes. T3 showed a relatively higher number of differentially accumulated metabolites between P-starved and normal P conditions as compared to L13 genotype. Common metabolites accumulated under the influence of sucrose were 5-O-methylembelin, D-glucuronic acid, and N-acetyl-L-phenylalanine. We have discussed the possible roles of the pathways associated with these metabolites. The differentially accumulated metabolites between both genotypes under the influence of sucrose are also discussed. These results are important to further explore the role of sucrose in the observed pathways. Especially, our results are relevant to formulate strategies for improving P efficiency of soybean genotypes with different P efficiencies.

Immobilization of ß-CD on a Hyper-Crosslinked Polymer for the Enhanced Removal of Amines from Aqueous Solutions.

In this paper, we adopted a simple and efficient strategy to prepare a ß-cyclodextrin (ß-CD)-modified hyper-crosslinked polymer (CDM-HCP). The structures and physicochemical properties of the as-synthesized polymer were also evaluated. It was applied to the removal of anilines from aqueous solutions. The introduction of ß-CD into the hyper-crosslinked polymer significantly enhanced adsorption properties for the removal of various amines. The adsorption kinetics agreed with the pseudo-second-order mode very well. The adsorption isotherm data of p-methylaniline (p-MA) and p-aminobenzoic acid (p-ABC) were in agreement with the Langmuir isotherm, whereas aniline and p-chloroaniline (p-CA) were fitted best with the Freundlich model. The maximum adsorption capacities (qmax) determined by adsorption isotherms were 148.97 mg/g for aniline, 198.45 mg/g for p-MA, 293.71 mg/g for p-CA, and 622.91 mg/g for p-ABC, respectively. It had higher adsorption capacities than those of some commercial polymeric resins, such as XAD-4, PA66, and AB-8. The interaction mechanism was investigated by FTIR, XPS, and the ONIOM2 method. A CDM-HCP can be regenerated efficiently and used repeatedly, indicating its potential technological applications in removing organic pollutants from actual industrial effluents.

Effect of Drought Stress during Soybean R2-R6 Growth Stages on Sucrose Metabolism in Leaf and Seed.

Sucrose is the main photosynthesis product of plants and the fundamental carbon skeleton monomer and energy supply for seed formation and development. Drought stress induces decreased photosynthetic carbon assimilation capacity, and seriously affects seed weight in soybean. However, little is known about the relationship between decreases in soybean seed yield and disruption of sucrose metabolism and transport balance in leaves and seeds during the reproductive stages of crop growth. Three soybean cultivars with similar growth periods, "Shennong17", "Shennong8", and "Shennong12", were subjected to drought stress during reproductive growth for 45 days. Drought stress significantly reduced leaf photosynthetic rate, shoot biomass, and seed weight by 63.93, 33.53, and 41.65%, respectively. Drought stress increased soluble sugar contents, the activities of sucrose phosphate synthase, sucrose synthase, and acid invertase enzymes, and up-regulated the expression levels of GmSPS1, GmSuSy2, and GmA-INV, but decreased starch content by 15.13% in leaves. Drought stress decreased the contents of starch, fructose, and glucose in seeds during the late seed filling stages, while it induced sucrose accumulation, which resulted in a decreased hexose-to-sucrose ratio. In developing seeds, the activities of sucrose synthesis and degradation enzymes, the expression levels of genes related to metabolism, and the expression levels of sucrose transporter genes were enhanced during early seed development under drought stress; however, under prolonged drought stress, all of them decreased. These results demonstrated that drought stress enhances the capacity for unloading sucrose into seeds and activated sucrose metabolism during early seed development. At the middle and late seed filling stages, sucrose flow from leaves to seeds was diminished, and the balance of sucrose metabolism was impaired in seeds, resulting in seed mass reduction. The different regulation strategies in sucrose allocation, metabolism, and transport during different seed development stages may be one of the physiological mechanisms for soybean plants to resist drought stress.

MSH2 and MSH6 in Mismatch Repair System Account for Soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) Tolerance to Cadmium Toxicity by Determining DNA Damage Response.

Our aim was to investigate DNA mismatch repair (MMR) genes regulating cadmium tolerance in two soybean cultivars. Cultivars Liaodou 10 (LD10, Cd-sensitive) and Shennong 20 (SN20, Cd-tolerant) seedlings were grown hydroponically on Murashige and Skoog (MS) media containing 0-2.5 mg·L-1 Cd for 4 days. Cd stress induced less random amplified polymorphism DNA (RAPD) polymorphism in LD10 than in SN20 roots, causing G1/S arrest in LD10 and G2/M arrest in SN20 roots. Virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) of MLH1 in LD10-TRV-MLH1 plantlets showed markedly diminished G1/S arrest but enhanced root length/area under Cd stress. However, an increase in G1/S arrest and reduction of G2/M arrest occurred in SN20-TRV-MSH2 and SN20-TRV-MSH6 plantlets with decreased root length/area under Cd stress. Taken together, we conclude that the low expression of MSH2 and MSH6, involved in the G2/M arrest, results in Cd-induced DNA damage recognition bypassing the MMR system to activate G1/S arrest with the assistance of MLH1. This then leads to repressed root growth in LD10, explaining the intervarietal difference in Cd tolerance in soybean.

[Preparation and application of urushiol methacrylate-bonded silica liquid chromatographic stationary phase].

A novel stationary phase for high performance liquid chromatography was prepared using urushiol methacrylate as the chromatographic ligand. The mixed urushiol methacrylate was prepared using urushiol and methacryloyl chloride via a substitution reaction and then coated onto the surface of spherical silica by physical adsorption. The spherical silica was chemically modified with 3-methacryloyloxypropyl trimethoxysilane. Then, the urushiol methacrylate-bonded silica stationary phase (USP) was synthesized via the surface radical polymerization of urushiol methacrylate and the pendant vinyl groups onto the surface of the spherical silica. The stationary phase was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, scanning electron microscopy, and elemental analysis. The results revealed that the urushiol methacrylate was successfully immobilized on the spherical silica surface after the surface polymerization reaction, and that it had excellent monodispersity. The stationary phases were packed in a stainless-steel hollow column by the slurry packing method, with methanol as the slurry solvent and absolute ethanol as the propelling solvent. The chromatographic performance of the stationary phases were investigated for the separation of Gastrodia elata extract. Acetonitrile-0.05% phosphoric acid solution (3:97, v/v) was employed as the mobile phase at a flow rate of 0.4 mL/min, with the detection wavelength of 220 nm. The separation performance for Fructus evodia extract was also studied, using acetonitrile-water (50:50, v/v) as the mobile phase at a flow rate of 0.5 mL/min, and the detection wavelength was 290 nm. This column showed good separation performance for both these extracts. Out of the five peaks observed for the Gastrodia elata extract, one was attributed to gastrodin, but the other four peaks need to be further verified. Two peaks assignable to evodiamine and rutaecarpine were observed for the Fructus evodia extract. Compared with C18 column, the USP column allowed for more effective separation of the components from the Gastrodia elata extract, with baseline separation; on the other hand, the chromatographic conditions for the separation of the components of the Fructus evodia extract were more environmentally friendly and safer. Because of the low flow rates adopted for the separation of the Gastrodia elata and Fructus evodia extracts, the amount of mobile phase used could be reduced. This study provides not only a new method for the separation and purification of gastrodin and evodiamine in real samples, but also a new strategy for the preparation of chromatographic stationary phases. It expanded the application of raw lacquer in chromatographic separation materials.

Effect of drought stress on sugar metabolism in leaves and roots of soybean seedlings.

Sucrose is the main photosynthetic product in plants, and acts as a major energy substrate and signaling regulator of plant growth. Furthermore, sucrose is involved in the responses to various abiotic stresses. However, the role of sucrose in soybean (Glycine max L.) growth and development under drought stress remains largely unknown. In this study, the two soybean cultivars, Shennong8 (CV.SN8) and Shennong12 (CV.SN12), were grown in pot culture and subjected to three water treatments for 15 days: soil moisture contents of 75 ±â€¯5% (CK), 45 ±â€¯5% (MD), and 30 ±â€¯5% (SD) of field capacity. Under drought stress, the reduction in shoot biomass was more pronounced than the reduction of biomass in the root of both soybean cultivars, resulting in higher root/shoot (R/S) ratio. Drought stress increased the contents of soluble sugar and sucrose in the leaves, but decreased starch content; in the roots, all of these parameters were increased. This may be related to the enhanced carbohydrate metabolism activity under drought stress, including notable changes in the activities of sugar metabolism enzymes and expression levels of GmSPS, GmSuSy, GmC-INV, GmA-INV, GmAMY3, and GmBAM1. Furthermore, the expression levels of sucrose transporter genes (GmSUC2, GmSWEET6, and GmSWEET15) in leaves and roots of soybean seedlings were up-regulated under drought stress. In conclusion, our results highlight that the increase in R/S ratio caused by the changes of sugar allocation, metabolism, and transport under drought stress contributes towards drought resistance of soybean.

Rapid Effect of Nitrogen Supply for Soybean at the Beginning Flowering Stage on Biomass and Sucrose Metabolism.

Nitrogen application at the beginning flowering stage (R1 stage) increased the soybean grain yield, however, the rapid effect of enriched nitrogen at R1 growth stage on soybean dry matter accumulation and sugar metabolism is still unclear. Continuous high nitrogen (CHN), Continuous low nitrogen (CLN), Enriched nitrogen supply at R1 stage (ENS) treatments were applied on two soybean cultivars (Liaodou11, Liaodou14), to investigate the effect of enriched nitrogen on plant biomass accumulation and sucrose metabolism. After 12 h of ENS treatment, the root/shoot rate of both cultivars were lower than that of CLN, but at 24 h it was no significant difference between ENS and CLN. Enriched N at R1 stage, soybean kept a balance of sucrose synthesis and decomposition in leaf by affecting sucrose synthetase (SS) and sucrose phosphate synthase (SPS) activities. Under N limitation condition the plant dry matter accumulation supported root growth priority. Enriched N at R1 stage resulted in the rapid shoot biomass accumulation. In high yield cultivar, the shoot growth was priority to root growth, the common yield cultivar was on the contrary. Our result suggest that enrich N at R1 stage resulted in the accumulation of biomass in shoot rapidly.

Alkaloid purification using rosin-based polymer-bonded silica stationary phase in HPLC.

Alkaloids are important natural products that exhibit a wide spectrum of pharmacological activities. To efficiently separate and purify them, a rosin-based polymer-bonded silica stationary phase in high-performance liquid chromatography was synthesized via the surface radical polymerization of ethylene glycol maleic rosinate acrylate and methacrylic acid onto functionalized silica. The stationary phases, columns, optimization of chromatographic conditions for alkaloids, and thermodynamic behavior of the analytes on the column were fully studied. Under the optimized conditions, the prepared column efficiently purified natural camptothecine, caffeine, and evodiamine with the corresponding purities of 92, 96, and 97%. With this work, we have developed an efficient approach to isolate alkaloids and promoted the research on rosin-based materials in biomedicine and analytical chemistry.

Shoot/Root Interactions Affect Soybean Photosynthetic Traits and Yield Formation: A Case Study of Grafting With Record-Yield Cultivars.

Improvement of soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] yield and photosynthesis physiology have been achieved over decades of cultivar breeding. Identification of the mechanisms involved in shoot-root interactions would be beneficial for the development of yield improvement breeding strategies. The objectives of this study were to investigate soybean shoot-root interactions with different-year released soybean cultivars and to evaluate their effects on grain yield and yield components. Soybean grafts used in this study were constructed with two record-yield cultivars Liaodou14 (L14) and Zhonghuang35 (Z35) and eleven cultivars released in 1966-2006 from the United States and Chinese. The grafting experiments were conducted as pot-culture experiments and repeated in 2014 and 2015. Our results showed that net photosynthesis rate (P N) was positively correlated to both root activity and root bleeding sap mass (RBSM) during the R6 reproductive stage. Moreover, different year-released soybean shoots had all exhibited capabilities of changing the root activity and architecture of L14 and Z35 rootstocks to "generation"-specific patterns during all reproductive stages. However, these influences were independent of the photosynthetic strength. Yield analysis had demonstrated that high-yielding root systems (L14 and Z35 rootstocks) could cause more than 15% of yield increase in seven out of eleven common scions in a scion-genotype-dependent manner. For Williams-descendant cultivar scions, L14 and Z35 rootstocks promoted yields mainly by increasing the seed number (SN), but those scions of Amsoy-descendent cultivars showed mainly seed weight (SW) increases when grafted onto L14 and Z35 rootstocks. On the other hand, although most tested common rootstocks did not show significant influence over the final yields in record-yield L14 and Z35 scions, they were obviously capable of shifting the formation of yield components when compared to L14 and Z35 self-grafting controls. Taken together, soybean shoots could influence the root physiology and played a crucial role in the determination of yield potentials. Synergistically with shoots, soybean roots played a more supportive role during the realization of yield potentials through root activities and by balancing the formation of yield components. These findings provided interesting insightful information for developing new breeding strategies which aim to pyramid elite physiological and yield traits by selecting specific parental combinations.

A molecular dynamics study on the resilience of Sec61 channel from open to closed state.

When the nascent chain is released from the ribosome, its packing into the apolar environment of the lipid bilayer in the endoplasmic reticulum is facilitated by the Sec61 translocon. In this process, coupling of the conformational change of the channel is essential to transport the nascent chain and meanwhile maintain the membrane permeability barrier. Two molecular dynamics simulations were performed in the current work to investigate the resilience of the lateral gate and the linkage mechanism of the lateral gate, pore ring and plug. The results affirmed that the lateral gate is able to recover its partially-closed state rapidly after the nascent chain segment enters the bilayer. This triggers subsequent motions of the pore ring and plug, which prevent the small molecules passing through the pore. The pore diameter in the partially-closed state is about 6-7 Å. The plug would move upward ∼2 Å if the lateral gate could not close. Two waters permeate through the channel when the lateral gate was open. Water molecules could go across the bilayer via the gap of the open lateral gate due to the occluding of the pore ring and plug.