Knockdown of the salivary protein gene NlG14 caused displacement of the lateral oviduct secreted components and inhibited ovulation in Nilaparvata lugens.

Saliva plays important roles in insect feeding, but its roles in insect reproduction were rarely reported. Here we reported that the knockdown of a salivary gland-specific gene NlG14 disrupted the reproduction through inhibiting the ovulation of the brown planthopper (BPH), Nilaparvata lugens (Stål), one of the most devastating rice pests in Asia. NlG14 knockdown caused the displacement of the lateral oviduct secreted components (LOSC), leading to the ovulation disorder and the accumulation of mature eggs in the ovary. The RNAi-treated females laid much less eggs than their control counterparts, though they had the similar oviposition behavior on rice stems as controls. NlG14 protein was not secreted into the hemolymph, indicating an indirect effect of NlG14 knockdown on BPH reproduction. NlG14 knockdown caused the malformation of A-follicle of the principal gland and affected the underlying endocrine mechanism of salivary glands. NlG14 reduction might promote the secretion of insulin-like peptides NlILP1 and NlILP3 from the brain, which up-regulated the expression of Nllaminin gene and then caused the abnormal contraction of lateral oviduct muscle. Another explanation was NlG14 reduction disrupted the ecdysone biosynthesis and action through the insulin-PI3K-Akt signaling in ovary. Altogether, this study indicated that the salivary gland specific protein NlG14 indirectly mediated BPH ovulation process, which established a connexon in function between insect salivary gland and ovary.

Elucidating the biological characteristics and pathogenicity of the highly virulent G2a porcine epidemic diarrhea virus.

Since the large-scale outbreak of porcine epidemic diarrhoea (PED) in 2010, caused by the genotype 2 (G2) variant of the porcine epidemic diarrhoea virus (PEDV), pig farms in China, even those vaccinated with the G2b vaccine, have experienced infections from the G2a variant, leading to significant economic losses. This study successfully isolated the G2a strain DY2020 from positive small intestine contents (SICs) by blind passage on Vero cells for four generations. The SICs were taken from Daye, Hubei Province, China. The biological characteristics were identified by indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The growth kinetics of the strain on Vero cells were detected by TCID50, and the virus titre could reach 107.35 TCID50 ml-1 (SD: 5.07×106). The pathogenicity towards colostrum-deprived piglets was conducted by assessing faecal viral shedding, morphometric analysis of intestinal lesions, and immunohistochemical staining. The results showed that DY2020 was highly virulent to colostrum-deprived piglets, with severe watery diarrhoea and other clinical symptoms appeared at 6 h post-infection (h p.i.), and all died within 30 h. Pathological tissue examination results showed that the lesions mainly occurred in the intestines of piglets, causing pathological changes such as shortening of intestinal villi. In summary, the discovery of the G2a strain DY2020 in this study is of great significance for understanding Hubei PEDV and provides an important theoretical basis for the development of new efficient PEDV vaccines.

Electrolyte Superwetting and Electrode Friendly of Porous Membrane for Better Cycling Stability of Lithium Metal Batteries.

Porous polymer membranes as separator plays important roles in separating cathode and anode, storing electrolytes, and transporting ions in energy storage devices. Here, an effective strategy is reported to prepare an electrolyte superwetting membrane, which shows good Li+ transport rate and uniformity, as well as electrode-friendly properties to afford the reduction and oxidation of electrodes. It thereby improves the cycle stability and safety of Li metal batteries. With the arrayed capillaries technique, a thin layer of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) and polyacrylonitrile (PAN) composite is uniformly coated on the surface and pores of polypropylene (PP) membrane with a total thickness of 30 µm. After treating it with n-butyllithium and LiNO3 in turn, a chemically inert membrane with efficient and uniform ion transport is prepared, and the cycle stability of Li||Li symmetric cells is up to 1500 h, 4 times higher than that of PP membrane. Moreover, the Li||LiFePO4 with as-prepared membranes achieve a higher capacity retention rate of 92% after 190 cycles at a current density of 3.6 mA cm-2 and a capacity of 3.6 mAh cm-2, and the Li||NCM721 batteries achieve a capacity retention rate of 71% after 600 cycles at a current density of 1.8 mA cm-2.

Construction of Inorganic/Polymer Tandem Layer on Li Metal with Long-Term Stability by LiNO3 Concentration Gradient Electrolyte.

Metal electrode with long cycle life is decisive for the actual use of metal rechargeable batteries, while the dendrite growth and side reaction limit their cyclic stability. Herein, the construction of polymer and inorganic-rich SEI tandem layer structure on Li metal can be used for extraordinarily extending its cycle life is reported, which is generated by an in situ PVDF/LiF/LiNO3 (PLL) gel layer on the surface of Li metal with a chemically compatible ether solvent. The cycle life of Li//Li cells with the tandem layer structure is over 6000 h, six times longer than those with LiNO3 homogeneous electrolyte. It highlights the importance of LiNO3 concentration gradient electrolyte formed by the in situ PLL gel layer, in which highly concentrated LiNO3 is confined on the surface of Li metal to generate the uniform and inorganic-rich LiF/Li2 O/Li3 N layer on the bottom of PVDF/LiF with good mechanical strength, resulting in the dendrite free anode in cell cycling. The assembled Li//LiFePO4 and Li//NMC811 batteries show the capacity retention rate of 80.9% after 800 cycles and 82.3% after 500 cycles, respectively, much higher than those of references.

Isolation, identification and characteristics of Bibersteinia trehalosi from goat.

A conditionally pathogenic bacterium called Bibersteinia trehalosi inhabits the upper respiratory tract of ruminants and is becoming a significant cause of pneumonia, especially in goats. In this study, we identified a gram-negative bacteria strain isolated from dead goat's lungs, which was named M01. By integrating the outcomes of its morphological and biochemical characterization with the investigation of the 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, the isolate was identified as B. trehalosi. Based on antibiotic susceptibility tests, the isolate was shown to be resistant to ß-lactams, tetracyclines, and amphenicols. Its genome was discovered to comprise 2115 encoded genes and a circular chromosome measuring 2,345,568 bp using whole genome sequencing. Annotation of the VFBD database revealed that isolate M01 had four virulence genes encoding three virulence factors. The CARD database revealed that its genome has two antibiotic-resistance genes. Based on pathogenicity testing, isolate M01 was highly pathogenic to mice, primarily causing pneumonia, with an LD50 of 1.31 × 107 CFU/ml. Moreover, histopathology showed loss of alveolar structure and infiltration of lung inflammatory cells. Hence, the current study could provide sufficient information for prevention and control strategies for future epidemics of B. trehalosi in goat species.

An OBP gene highly expressed in non-chemosensory tissues affects the phototaxis and reproduction of Spodoptera frugiperda.

Insect odorant binding proteins (OBPs) were initially regarded as carriers of the odorants involved in chemosensation. However, it had been observed that a growing number of OBP genes exhibited broad expression patterns beyond chemosensory tissues. Here, an OBP gene (OBP31) was found to be highly expressed in the larval ventral nerve cord, adult brain and male reproductive organ of Spodoptera frugiperda. An OBP31 knockout strain (OBP31-/- ) was generated by CRISPR/Cas9 mutagenesis. For OBP31-/- , the larvae needed longer time to pupate, but there was no difference in the pupal weight between OBP31-/- and wild type (WT). OBP31-/- larvae showed stronger phototaxis than the WT larvae, indicating the importance of OBP31 in light perception. For mating rhythm of adults, OBP31-/- moths displayed an earlier second mating peak. In the cross-pairing of OBP31-/- and WT moths, the mating duration was longer, and hatchability was lower in OBP31-/- group and OBP31+/- ♂ group than that in the WT group. These results suggested that OBP31 played a vital role in larval light perception and male reproductive process and could provide valuable insights into understanding the biological functions of OBPs that were not specific in chemosensory tissues.

GANSamples-ac4C: Enhancing ac4C site prediction via generative adversarial networks and transfer learning.

RNA modification, N4-acetylcytidine (ac4C), is enzymatically catalyzed by N-acetyltransferase 10 (NAT10) and plays an essential role across tRNA, rRNA, and mRNA. It influences various cellular functions, including mRNA stability and rRNA biosynthesis. Wet-lab detection of ac4C modification sites is highly resource-intensive and costly. Therefore, various machine learning and deep learning techniques have been employed for computational detection of ac4C modification sites. The known ac4C modification sites are limited for training an accurate and stable prediction model. This study introduces GANSamples-ac4C, a novel framework that synergizes transfer learning and generative adversarial network (GAN) to generate synthetic RNA sequences to train a better ac4C modification site prediction model. Comparative analysis reveals that GANSamples-ac4C outperforms existing state-of-the-art methods in identifying ac4C sites. Moreover, our result underscores the potential of synthetic data in mitigating the issue of data scarcity for biological sequence prediction tasks. Another major advantage of GANSamples-ac4C is its interpretable decision logic. Multi-faceted interpretability analyses detect key regions in the ac4C sequences influencing the discriminating decision between positive and negative samples, a pronounced enrichment of G in this region, and ac4C-associated motifs. These findings may offer novel insights for ac4C research. The GANSamples-ac4C framework and its source code are publicly accessible at http://www.healthinformaticslab.org/supp/.

Buprofezin delayed the molting of Pardosa pseudoannulata, a predatory enemy for insect pests, by suppressing chitin synthase 1 expression.

Spiders, the major predatory enemies of insect pests in fields, are vulnerable to insecticides. In this study, we observed that the recommended dose of buprofezin delayed the molting of the pond wolf spider Pardosa pseudoannulata, although it had no lethal effect on the spiders. Since buprofezin is an insect chitin biosynthesis inhibitor, we identified two chitin synthase genes (PpCHS1 and PpCHS2) in P. pseudoannulata. Tissue-specific expression profiling showed that PpCHS1 was most highly expressed in cuticle. In contrast, PpCHS2 showed highest mRNA levels in the midgut and fat body. RNAi knockdown of PpCHS1 significantly delayed the molting of 12-days old spiderlings, whereas no significant effect on the molting was observed in the PpCHS2-silencing spiderlings. The expression of PpCHS1 was significantly suppressed in the spiderlings treated with buprofezin, but rescued by exogenous ecdysteroid ponasterone A (PA). Consistent with this result, the molting delay caused by buprofezin was also rescued by PA. The results revealed that buprofezin delayed the molting of spiders by suppressing PpCHS1 expression, which will benefit the protection of P. pseudoannulate and related spider species.

Insecticidal activity of the spider neurotoxin PPTX-04 through modulating insect voltage-gated sodium channel.

Ion channels on cell membrane are molecular targets of more than half peptide neurotoxins from spiders. From Pardosa pseudoannulata, a predatory spider on a range of insect pests, we characterized a peptide neurotoxin PPTX-04 with an insecticidal activity. PPTX-04 showed high toxicity to Nilaparvata lugens, a main prey of P. pseudoannulata, and the toxicity was not affected by the resistance to etofenprox (IUPAC chemical name:1-ethoxy-4-[2-methyl-1-[(3-phenoxyphenyl)methoxy]propan-2-yl]benzene, purity: 99%). On N. lugens voltage-gated sodium channel NlNav1 expressed in Xenopus oocytes, PPTX-04 prolonged the channel opening and induced tail currents, which is similar to pyrethroid insecticides. However, PPTX-04 potency on NlNav1 was not affected by mutations conferring pyrethroid resistance in insects, which revealed that PPTX-04 and pyrethroids should act on different receptors in NlNav1. In contrast, two mutations at the extracellular site 4 significantly reduced PPTX-04 potency, which indicated that PPTX-04 would act on a potential receptor containing the site 4 in NlNav1. The result from the molecular docking supported the conclusion that the binding pocket of PPTX-04 in NlNav1 should contain the site 4. In summary, PPTX-04 had high insecticidal activity through acting on a distinct receptor site in insect Nav, and was a potential resource to control insect pests and manage resistance to pyrethroids.

Accelerating S↔Li2 S Reactions in Li-S Batteries through Activation of S/Li2 S with a Bifunctional Semiquinone Catalyst.

The reaction rate bottleneck during interconversion between insulating S8 (S) and Li2 S fundamentally leads to incomplete conversion and restricted lifespan of Li-S battery, especially under high S loading and lean electrolyte conditions. Herein, we demonstrate a new catalytic chemistry: soluble semiquinone, 2-tertbutyl-semianthraquinone lithium (Li+ TBAQ⋅- ), as both e- /Li+ donor and acceptor for simultaneous S reduction and Li2 S oxidation. The efficient activation of S and Li2 S by Li+ TBAQ⋅- in the initial discharging/charging state maximizes the amount of soluble lithium polysulfide, thereby substantially improve the rate of solid-liquid-solid reaction by promoting long-range electron transfer. With in situ Raman spectra and theoretical calculations, we reveal that the activation of S/Li2 S is the rate-limiting step for effective S utilization under high S loading and low E/S ratio. Beyond that, the S activation ratio is firstly proposed as an accurate indicator to quantitatively evaluate the reaction rate. As a result, the Li-S batteries with Li+ TBAQ⋅- deliver superior cycling performance and over 5 times higher S utilization ratio at high S loading of 7.0 mg cm-2 and a current rate of 1 C compared to those without Li+ TBAQ⋅- . We hope this study contributes to the fundamental understanding of S redox chemical and inspires the design of efficient catalysis for advanced Li-S batteries.

Controllable Fabrication and Rectification of Bipolar Nanofluid Diodes in Funnel-Shaped Si3 N4 Nanopores.

Solid-state nanopores attract widespread interest, owning to outstanding robustness, extensive material availability, as well as capability for flexible manufacturing. Bioinspired solid-state nanopores further emerge as potential nanofluidic diodes for mimicking the rectification progress of unidirectional ionic transport in biological K+ channels. However, challenges that remain in rectification are over-reliance on complicated surface modifications and limited control accuracy in size and morphology. In this study, suspended Si3 N4 films of only 100 nm thickness are used as substrate and funnel-shaped nanopores are controllably etched on that with single-nanometer precision, by focused ion beam (FIB) equipped with a flexibly programmable ion dose at any position. A small diameter 7 nm nanopore can be accurately and efficiently fabricated in only 20 ms and verified by a self-designed mathematical model. Without additional modification, funnel-shaped Si3 N4 nanopores functioned as bipolar nanofluidic diodes achieve high rectification by simply filling each side with acidic and basic solution, respectively. Main factors are finely tuned experimentally and simulatively to enhance the controllability. Moreover, nanopore arrays are efficiently prepared to further improve rectification performance, which has great potential for high-throughput practical applications such as extended release of drugs, nanofluidic logic systems, and sensing for environmental monitoring and clinical diagnosis.

Mutations in troABCD against Copper Overload in a copA Mutant of Streptococcus suis.

Streptococcus suis is a major swine pathogen that is increasingly recognized as a porcine zoonotic pathogen that threatens the health of both pigs and humans. Metal homeostasis plays a critical role during the process of bacterial infection. In this study, RNA sequencing was used to identify potential candidate genes involved in the maintenance of intracellular copper homeostasis. CopA was identified as the primary copper exporter in S. suis. The copA deletion mutant strain was found to be more sensitive to copper and accumulated more intracellular copper than the wild-type (WT) parent strain. In addition, adding manganese increased the ability of S. suis to resist copper, and the manganese transporter, TroABCD, was involved in tolerance to copper. The copA deletion mutant strain accumulated less copper when supplemented with manganese. Furthermore, when cultured with copper, the double deletion mutant (ΔcopAΔtroA) exhibited improved growth compared to the copA deletion mutant strain. In addition, the double deletion mutant (ΔcopAΔtroA) accumulated less copper than the copA deletion mutant strain. These data were consistent with a model wherein defective TroABCD resulted in decreased cellular copper accumulation and protected the strain against copper poisoning. IMPORTANCE Metal homeostasis plays a critical role during the process of bacterial infection. We identified three important potential candidate genes involved in maintenance of intracellular copper homeostasis. CopA was demonstrated to be the main copper exporter in Streptococcus suis, and manganese increased the tolerance of S. suis to copper. The double deletion mutant (ΔcopAΔtroA) improved growth ability over the copA deletion mutant strain in the presence of high concentrations of copper and accumulated less copper. These findings are consistent with a model wherein defective TroABCD resulted in decreased cellular accumulation of copper and protected the strain against copper poisoning.

The salivary chaperone protein NlDNAJB9 of Nilaparvata lugens activates plant immune responses.

The brown planthopper (BPH) Nilaparvata lugens (Stål) is a main pest on rice. It secretes saliva to regulate plant defense responses, when penetrating rice plant and sucking phloem sap through its stylet. However, the molecular mechanisms of BPH salivary proteins regulating plant defense responses remain poorly understood. A N. lugens DNAJ protein (NlDNAJB9) gene was highly expressed in salivary glands, and the knock down of NlDNAJB9 significantly enhanced honeydew excretion and fecundity of the BPH. NlDNAJB9 could induce plant cell death, and the overexpression of NlDNAJB9 gene in Nicotiana benthamiana induced calcium signaling, mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascades, reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation, jasmonic acid (JA) hormone signaling and callose deposition. The results from different NlDNAJB9 deletion mutants indicated that the nuclear localization of NlDNAJB9 was not necessary to induce cell death. The DNAJ domain was the key region to induce cell death, and the overexpression of DNAJ domain in N. benthamiana significantly inhibited insect feeding and pathogenic infection. NlDNAJB9 might interact indirectly with NlHSC70-3 to regulate plant defense responses. NlDNAJB9 and its orthologs were highly conserved in three planthopper species, and could induce ROS burst and cell death in plants. Our study provides new insights into the molecular mechanisms of insect-plant interactions.

The transcription factor CREB3-2 regulated neutral lipase gene expression in ovary of Nilaparvata lugens.

The cyclic AMP-responsive element-binding protein 3 (CREB3) members have unique regulatory roles in cellular lipid metabolism as transcription factors. Two CREB3 proteins in Nilaparvata lugens were identified and analyzed. In ovary, when silencing NlCREB3-2, triacylglycerol (TAG) content dramatically increased but glycerol and free fatty acid (FFA) significantly decreased, which implicated that NlCREB3-2 was involved in the lipase-related TAG metabolism. In N. lugens, five neutral lipases with complete features for TAG hydrolytic activity and high expression in ovary were focused. Among them, the expression levels of three neutral lipase genes were significantly down-regulated by NlCREB3-2 RNAi. The direct regulation of NlCREB3-2 towards the three neutral lipase genes was evidenced by the dual-luciferase reporter assay. After jointly silencing three neutral lipase genes, TAG and glycerol contents displayed similar changes as NlCREB3-2 RNAi. The study proved that NlCREB3-2 participated in TAG metabolism in ovary via the direct activation towards the ovary-specific neutral lipase genes.

A consensus phosphoserine within the large cytoplasmic loop of insect nAChR α8 subunits modulated interaction between 14-3-3ε and nAChRs to regulate neonicotinoid efficacy.

Neonicotinoids are insect-selective nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) agonists that are used extensively for plant protection and animal health care. Some chaperone proteins, such as 14-3-3 proteins, importantly modulate nAChRs to display the physiological and pharmacological properties. Here we found that there is a 14-3-3 binding motif RSPSTH within the cytoplasmic loop of most insect α8 subunits. In the motif, a potential phosphorylated serine residue, serine 337, was a putative protein kinase A (PKA) substrate. Using Locusta migratoria α8 subunit as a representative, here we demonstrated that Loc14-3-3ε interacted with the unique phosphoserine (α8S337) of Locα8 subunit to regulate agonist efficacy on hybrid Locα8/ß2 nAChRs in Xenopus oocytes. Co-expression of Loc14-3-3ε caused a dramatic rise of maximal inward currents (Imax) of Locα8/ß2 for acetylcholine and imidacloprid to 2.9-fold and 3.1-fold of that of Locα8/ß2 alone. The S337A substitution of Locα8 reduced the Imax rise when Locα8S337A/ß2 and Loc14-3-3ε were co-expressed. The increased agonist currents by exogenous Loc14-3-3ε on Locα8/ß2 could be almost abolished by either PKA inhibitor KT5720 or 14-3-3 inhibitor difopein. The findings revealed that serine 337 within motif RSPSTH was important for the interaction between insect nAChRs and 14-3-3ε, and inhibiting the interaction would change the pharmacological property of insect nAChRs to agonist such as neonicotinoids which may provide insights to develop new targets for insecticide design.

Nucleotide and codon usage biases involved in the evolution of African swine fever virus: A comparative genomics analysis.

Since African swine fever virus (ASFV) replication is closely related to its host's machinery, codon usage of viral genome can be subject to selection pressures. A better understanding of codon usage can give new insights into viral evolution. We implemented information entropy and revealed that the nucleotide usage pattern of ASFV is significantly associated with viral isolation factors (region and time), especially the usages of thymine and cytosine. Despite the domination of adenine and thymine in the viral genome, we found that mutation pressure alters the overall codon usage pattern of ASFV, followed by selective forces from natural selection. Moreover, the nucleotide skew index at the gene level indicates that nucleotide usages influencing synonymous codon bias of ASFV are significantly correlated with viral protein hydropathy. Finally, evolutionary plasticity is proved to contribute to the weakness in synonymous codons with A- or T-end serving as optimal codons of ASFV, suggesting that fine-tuning translation selection plays a role in synonymous codon usages of ASFV for adapting host. Taken together, ASFV is subject to evolutionary dynamics on nucleotide selections and synonymous codon usage, and our detailed analysis offers deeper insights into the genetic characteristics of this newly emerging virus around the world.

Molecular Mechanism of Action of Cycloxaprid, An Oxabridged cis-Nitromethylene Neonicotinoid.

Cycloxaprid, an oxabridged cis-nitromethylene neonicotinoid, showed high insecticidal activity in Hemipteran insect pests. In this study, the action of cycloxaprid was characterized by recombinant receptor Nlα1/rß2 and cockroach neurons. On Nlα1/ß2 in Xenopus oocytes, cycloxaprid acted as a full agonist. The imidacloprid resistance-associated mutation Y151S reduced the Imax of cycloxaprid by 37.0% and increased EC50 values by 1.9-fold, while the Imax of imidacloprid was reduced by 72.0%, and EC50 values increased by 2.3-fold. On cockroach neurons, the maximum currents elicited by cycloxaprid were only 55% of that of acetylcholine, a full agonist, but with close EC50 values of that of trans-neonicotinoids. In addition, cycloxaprid inhibited acetylcholine-evoked currents on insect neurons in a concentration-dependent manner when co-applied with acetylcholine. Cycloxaprid at low concentrations significantly inhibited the activation of nAChRs by acetylcholine, and its inhibition potency at 1 µM was higher than its activation potency on insect neurons. Two action potencies, activation, and inhibition, by cycloxaprid on insect neurons provided an explanation for its high toxicity to insect pests. In summary, as a cis-nitromethylene neonicotinoid, cycloxaprid showed high potency on both recombinant nAChR Nlα1/ß2 and cockroach neurons, which guaranteed its high control effects on a variety of insect pests.

Tea Polyphenols Protects Tracheal Epithelial Tight Junctions in Lung during Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae Infection via Suppressing TLR-4/MAPK/PKC-MLCK Signaling.

Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae (APP) is the causative pathogen of porcine pleuropneumonia, a highly contagious respiratory disease in the pig industry. The increasingly severe antimicrobial resistance in APP urgently requires novel antibacterial alternatives for the treatment of APP infection. In this study, we investigated the effect of tea polyphenols (TP) against APP. MIC and MBC of TP showed significant inhibitory effects on bacteria growth and caused cellular damage to APP. Furthermore, TP decreased adherent activity of APP to the newborn pig tracheal epithelial cells (NPTr) and the destruction of the tight adherence junction proteins ß-catenin and occludin. Moreover, TP improved the survival rate of APP infected mice but also attenuated the release of the inflammation-related cytokines IL-6, IL-8, and TNF-α. TP inhibited activation of the TLR/MAPK/PKC-MLCK signaling for down-regulated TLR-2, TLR4, p-JNK, p-p38, p-PKC-α, and MLCK in cells triggered by APP. Collectively, our data suggest that TP represents a promising therapeutic agent in the treatment of APP infection.

Theaflavin Ameliorates Streptococcus suis-Induced Infection In Vitro and In Vivo.

Streptococcus suis (S. suis) is one of the most important zoonotic pathogens that threaten the lives of pigs and humans. Even worse, the increasingly severe antimicrobial resistance in S. suis is becoming a global issue. Therefore, there is an urgent need to discover novel antibacterial alternatives for the treatment of S. suis infection. In this study, we investigated theaflavin (TF1), a benzoaphenone compound extracted from black tea, as a potential phytochemical compound against S. suis. TF1 at MIC showed significant inhibitory effects on S. suis growth, hemolytic activity, and biofilm formation, and caused damage to S. suis cells in vitro. TF1 had no cytotoxicity and decreased adherent activity of S. suis to the epithelial cell Nptr. Furthermore, TF1 not only improved the survival rate of S. suis-infected mice but also reduced the bacterial load and the production of IL-6 and TNF-α. A hemolysis test revealed the direct interaction between TF1 and Sly, while molecular docking showed TF1 had a good binding activity with the Glu198, Lys190, Asp111, and Ser374 of Sly. Moreover, virulence-related genes were downregulated in the TF1-treated group. Collectively, our findings suggested that TF1 can be used as a potential inhibitor for treating S. suis infection in view of its antibacterial and antihemolytic activity.

Ordered and Fast Ion Transport of Quasi-solid-state Electrolyte with Regulated Coordination Strength for Lithium Metal Batteries.

Polymer based quasi-solid-state electrolyte (QSE) has attracted great attention due to its assurance for high safety of rechargeable batteries including lithium metal batteries (LMB). However, it faces the issue of low ionic conductivity of electrolyte and solid-electrolyte-interface (SEI) layer between QSE and lithium anode. Herein, we firstly demonstrate that the ordered and fast transport of lithium ion (Li+ ) can be realized in QSE. Due to the higher coordination strength of Li+ on tertiary amine (-NR3 ) group of polymer network than that on carbonyl (-C=O) group of ester solvent, Li+ can diffuse orderly and quickly on -NR3 of polymer, significantly increasing the ionic conductivity of QSE to 3.69 mS cm-1 . Moreover, -NR3 of polymer can induce in situ and uniform generation of Li3 N and LiNx Oy in SEI. As a result, the Li||NCM811 batteries (50 µm Li foil) with this QSE show an excellent stability of 220 cycles at ≈1.5 mA cm-2 , 5 times to those with conventional QSE. LMBs with LiFePO4 can stably run for ≈8300 h. This work demonstrates an attractive concept for improving ionic conductivity of QSE, and also provides an important step for developing advanced LMB with high cycle stability and safety.