Effects of Various Rice-Based Raw Materials on Enhancement of Volatile Aromatic Compounds in Monascus Vinegar.

Monascus vinegar (MV), during whose brewing process Monascus spp. and polished rice (PR) are normally used as the starter and the raw material, respectively, is one of the traditional vinegars in China. In this study, the effects of three raw materials, including PR, unhusked rice (UR), and germinated UR (GR), on MV volatile compounds have been investigated. The results revealed that MV of GR (GMV), and its intermediate Monascus wine (GMW), exhibited the highest amount of aroma, not only in the concentrations but also in the varieties of the aromatic compounds mainly contributing to the final fragrance. Especially after three years of aging, the contents of benzaldehyde and furfural in GMV could reach to 13.93% and 0.57%, respectively, both of which can coordinate synergistically on enhancing the aroma. We also found that the filtering efficiency was significantly improved when UR and GR were applied as the raw materials, respectively. Therefore, GR might be more suitable raw materials for MV.

Augmented DNA Nanoarchitectures: A Structural Library of 3D Self-Assembling Tensegrity Triangle Variants.

The DNA tensegrity triangle is known to reliably self-assemble into a 3D rhombohedral crystalline lattice via sticky-end cohesion. Here, the library of accessible motifs is expanded through covalent extensions of intertriangle regions and sticky-end-coordinated linkages of adjacent triangles with double helical segments using both geometrically symmetric and asymmetric configurations. The molecular structures of 18 self-assembled architectures at resolutions of 3.32-9.32 Å are reported; the observed cell dimensions, cavity sizes, and cross-sectional areas agree with theoretical expectations. These data demonstrate that fine control over triclinic and rhombohedral crystal parameters and the customizability of more complex 3D DNA lattices are attainable via rational design. It is anticipated that augmented DNA architectures may be fine-tuned for the self-assembly of designer nanocages, guest-host complexes, and proscriptive 3D nanomaterials, as originally envisioned. Finally, designer asymmetric crystalline building blocks can be seen as a first step toward controlling and encoding information in three dimensions.