Saponin and Ribosome-Inactivating Protein Synergistically Trigger Lysosome-Dependent Apoptosis by Inhibiting Lysophagy: Potential to Become a New Antitumor Strategy.

The susceptibility of lysosomal membranes in tumor cells to cationic amphiphilic drugs (CADs) enables CADs to induce lysosomal membrane permeabilization (LMP) and trigger lysosome-dependent cell death (LDCD), suggesting a potential antitumor therapeutic approach. However, the existence of intrinsic lysosomal damage response mechanisms limits the display of the pharmacological activity of CADs. In this study, we report that low concentrations of QS-21, a saponin with cationic amphiphilicity extracted from Quillaja Saponaria tree, can induce LMP but has nontoxicity to tumor cells. QS-21 and MAP30, a type I ribosome-inactivating protein, synergistically induce apoptosis in tumor cells at low concentrations of both. Mechanistically, QS-21-induced LMP helps MAP30 escape from endosomes or lysosomes and subsequently enter the endoplasmic reticulum, where MAP30 downregulates the expression of autophagy-associated LC3 proteins, thereby inhibiting lysophagy. The inhibition of lysophagy results in the impaired clearance of damaged lysosomes, leading to the leakage of massive lysosomal contents such as cathepsins into the cytoplasm, ultimately triggering LDCD. In summary, our study showed that coadministration of QS-21 and MAP30 amplified the lysosomal disruption and can be a new synergistic LDCD-based antitumor therapy.

Bioelectrochemical Fixation of Nitrogen to Extracellular Ammonium by Pseudomonas stutzeri.

Diazotrophs can produce bioavailable nitrogen from inert N2 gas by bioelectrochemical nitrogen fixation (e-BNF), which is emerging as an energy-saving and highly selective strategy for agriculture and industry. However, current e-BNF technology is impeded by requirements for NH4+ assimilation inhibitors to facilitate intracellular ammonia secretion and precious metal catalysts to generate H2 as the energy-carrying intermediate. Here, we initially demonstrate inhibitor- and catalystless extracellular NH4+ production by the diazotroph Pseudomonas stutzeri A1501 using an electrode as the sole electron donor. Multiple lines of evidence revealed that P. stutzeri produced 2.32 ± 0.25 mg/liter extracellular NH4+ at a poised potential of -0.3 V (versus standard hydrogen electrode [SHE]) without the addition of inhibitors or expensive catalysts. The electron uptake mechanism was attributed to the endogenous electron shuttle phenazine-1-carboxylic acid, which was excreted by P. stutzeri and mediated electron transfer from electrodes into cells to directly drive N2 fixation. The faradaic efficiency was 20% ± 3%, which was 2 to 4 times that of previous e-BNF attempts using the H2-mediated pathway. This study reports a diazotroph capable of producing secretable NH4+ via extracellular electron uptake, which has important implications for optimizing the performance of e-BNF systems and exploring the novel nitrogen-fixing mode of syntrophic microbial communities in the natural environment. IMPORTANCE Ammonia greatly affects global ecology, agriculture, and the food industry. Diazotrophs with an enhanced capacity of extracellular NH4+ excretion have been proven to be more beneficial to the growth of microalgae and plants, whereas most previously reported diazotrophs produce intracellular organic nitrogen in the absence of chemical suppression and genetic manipulation. Here, we demonstrate that Pseudomonas stutzeri A1501 is capable of extracellular NH4+ production without chemical suppression or genetic manipulation when the extracellular electrode is used as the sole electron donor. We also reveal the electron uptake pathway from the extracellular electron-donating partner to P. stutzeri A1501 via redox electron shuttle phenazines. Since both P. stutzeri A1501 and potential electron-donating partners (such as electroactive microbes and natural semiconductor minerals) are abundant in diverse soils and sediments, P. stutzeri A1501 has broader implications on the improvement of nitrogen fertilization in the natural environment.

Socioeconomic Relation with Plastic Consumption on 61 Countries Classified by Continent, Income Status and Coastal Regions.

In this study, World Bank socioeconomic data of 61 countries during 2009-2015 combine with a semi-systematic literature review was applied to analyze the relationship between plastic consumptions and socioeconomic levels statistically. Based on a total data volume of 5551, we found that all countries can be divided into different groups like the continent, income status, and coastal countries. It is showed that most plastics were consumed by North America, Europe, high-income countries, and coastal countries in the Pacific and the Atlantic Ocean. A potential relation occurred in plastic consumptions with different socioeconomic parameters like Gross National Income (GNI) per capita, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita, life expectancy, agriculture land use, etc. The results indicated the need should continue to support initiatives to cover identified gaps, either geographic or thematic, to address plastic consumptions.

Spatial-temporal potential exposure risk analytics and urban sustainability impacts related to COVID-19 mitigation: A perspective from car mobility behaviour.

Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) poses a significant threat to the population and urban sustainability worldwide. The surge mitigation is complicated and associates many factors, including the pandemic status, policy, socioeconomics and resident behaviours. Modelling and analytics with spatial-temporal big urban data are required to assist the mitigation of the pandemic. This study proposes a novel perspective to analyse the spatial-temporal potential exposure risk of residents by capturing human behaviours based on spatial-temporal car park availability data. Near real-time data from 1,904 residential car parks in Singapore, a classical megacity, are collected to analyse car mobility and its spatial-temporal heat map. The implementation of the circuit breaker, a COVID-19 measure, in Singapore has reduced the mobility and heat (daily frequency of mobility) significantly at about 30.0%. It contributes to a 44.3%-55.4% reduction in the transportation-related air emissions under two scenarios of travelling distance reductions. Urban sustainability impacts in both environment and economy are discussed. The spatial-temporal potential exposure risk mapping with space-time interactions is further investigated via an extended Bayesian spatial-temporal regression model. The maximal reduction rate of the defined potential exposure risk lowers to 37.6% by comparison with its peak value. The big data analytics of changes in car mobility behaviour and the resultant potential exposure risks can provide insights to assist in (a) designing a flexible circuit breaker exit strategy, (b) precise management via identifying and tracing hotspots on the mobility heat map, and (c) making timely decisions by fitting curves dynamically in different phases of COVID-19 mitigation. The proposed method has the potential to be used by decision-makers worldwide with available data to make flexible regulations and planning.

Early dengue outbreak detection modeling based on dengue incidences in Singapore during 2012 to 2017.

Dengue has been as an endemic with year-round presence in Singapore. In the recent years 2013, 2014, and 2016, there were several severe dengue outbreaks, posing serious threat to the public health. To proactively control and mitigate the disease spread, early warnings of dengue outbreaks, at which there are rapid and large-scale spread of dengue incidences, are extremely helpful. In this study, a two-step framework is proposed to predict dengue outbreaks and it is evaluated based on the dengue incidences in Singapore during 2012 to 2017. First, a generalized additive model (GAM) is trained based on the weekly dengue incidence data during 2006 to 2011. The proposed GAM is a one-week-ahead forecasting model, and it inherently accounts for the possible correlation among the historical incidence data, making the residuals approximately normally distributed. Then, an exponentially weighted moving average (EWMA) control chart is proposed to sequentially monitor the weekly residuals during 2012 to 2017. Our investigation shows that the proposed two-step framework is able to give persistent signals at the early stage of the outbreaks in 2013, 2014, and 2016, which provides early alerts of outbreaks and wins time for the early interventions and the preparation of necessary public health resources. In addition, extensive simulations show that the proposed method is comparable to other potential outbreak detection methods and it is robust to the underlying data-generating mechanisms.

Extracellular polymeric substances trigger an increase in redox mediators for enhanced sludge methanogenesis.

Artificial redox mediators can be employed to improve the electron transfer efficiency during sludge methanogenesis, whereas these artificial redox mediators have possible deficiencies, such as high cost and non-biodegradability. For large-scale commercial applications, more cost-effective and environmentally friendly alternatives should be developed. Herein, the potential of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) as natural redox mediators to improve methanogenesis was investigated. Compared to the control test without EPS addition, the methane (CH4) production yield was increased by 83.5 ± 2.4% with an EPS dosage of 0.50 g/L and the lag phase duration was shortened by 45.6 ± 7.0%, along with the enhanced sludge dewaterability. Spectroelectrochemical measurements implied that EPS addition notably changed the intensities of different redox-active groups, which decreased the charge transfer resistance and enhanced the extracellular electron transfer efficiency. These redox-active groups were mainly from the solubilization and hydrolysis of sludge protein due to increased protease activities, thereby leading to a higher acetate concentration during the acidification step. Further investigation showed that EPS addition also improved the activities of both acetotrophic and hydrogenotrophic methanogens, as indicated by a higher abundance of alpha subunit of methyl coenzyme M reductase (mcrA) genes, enhancing CH4 production. This work provides an innovative strategy for improving sludge anaerobic digestion with efficient additives.

Pollutant removal characteristics of a two-influent-line BNR process performing denitrifying phosphorus removal: role of sludge recycling ratios.

This paper studied denitrifying phosphorus removal of a novel two-line biological nutrient removal process treating low strength domestic wastewater under different sludge recycling ratios. Mass balance of intracellular compounds including polyhydroxyvalerate, polyhydroxybutyrate and glycogen was investigated together with total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP). Results showed that sludge recycling ratios had a significant influence on the use of organics along bioreactors and 73.6% of the average removal efficiency was obtained when the influent chemical oxygen demand (COD) ranged from 175.9 mgL-1 to 189.9 mgL-1. The process performed better under a sludge recycling ratio of 100% compared to 25% and 50% in terms of ammonia and COD removal rates. Overall, TN removal efficiency for 50% and 100% sludge recycling ratios were 56.4% and 61.9%, respectively, unlike the big gap for carbon utilization and the TP removal rates, indicating that the effect of sludge recycling ratio on the anaerobic compartments had been counteracted by change in the efficiency of other compartments. The higher ratio of sludge recycling was conducive to the removal of TN, not in favor of TP, and less influence on COD. Thus, 25% was considered to be the optimal sludge recycling ratio.

Balancing Industry and Drug Policy Objectives in the Pharmaceutical Sector: The Case of China.

Objectives This article assessed the balance between industry and drug policy objectives in the pharmaceutical sector in China. Methods The articles were mainly identified through databases such as Elsevier, Google Scholar, and SpringerLink, among others. Related articles were mainly separated into three categories: studies on drug policies, studies related to China's new health-care reform policy, and studies concerning patent policies. Results A relatively healthy environment for continuous innovation and drug patent protection in the pharmaceutical industry has been created in China, and the public's drug benefits have also significantly improved. However, the balance between industrial and drug policy objectives in the pharmaceutical sector in China requires additional attention. Discussion and conclusions The results suggest that the government should pay more attention to incentivizing enterprises' innovation, but the current Essential Medicines System in China has limited innovation. Hence, the mechanism for selecting essential medicines should be reformed, and certain appropriate and reasonably innovative medicines should be included. Additionally, medicine coverage, especially the coverage of essential drugs for primary care should be expanded to improve public health benefits. Furthermore, the pharmaceutical industry should be incorporated into the prospective National Drug Policy to achieve a balance between public benefits and pharmaceutical industry development in the future.

Effects of wearable physical activity tracking for breast cancer survivors: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

PURPOSE: Breast cancer is the most common cancer type worldwide, with its survivors often experiencing physical and psychosocial health problems. Wearable device use is an innovative and effective way to promote physical activity and improve health-related outcomes in breast cancer survivors; however, the current evidence is unclear. We aimed to determine the effects of wearable devices on physical activity and health-related outcomes in breast cancer survivors. METHODS: PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library databases were searched to identify eligible studies from inception to September 2022. Additional relevant studies were obtained from the reference lists of the identified studies. Two reviewers independently screened the eligible studies, appraised the risk of bias, and extracted the data. Meta-analysis was conducted using Review Manager version 5.3. FINDINGS: Sixteen randomized controlled trials were included. Physical activity tracking and pedometer-based interventions improved moderate-intensity physical activity (standardized mean difference [SMD] = 0.32, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.17-0.46, p < 0.0001), moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (SMD = 0.85, 95%CI: 0.38-1.32, p = 0.0004), total physical activity (SMD = 0.51, 95%CI: 0.12-0.90, p = 0.01), quality of life (SMD = 0.17, 95%CI: 0.03-0.31, p = 0.01), physical function (SMD = 0.21, 95%CI: 0.04-0.38, p = 0.02), and mood state profiles (SMD = -0.58, 95%CI: -1.13 to 0.02, p = 0.04) in breast cancer survivors. However, the effects of low-intensity physical activity, vigorous-intensity physical activity, fatigue, anxiety, depression, and sleep quality could not be ascertained. CONCLUSIONS: Physical activity tracking and pedometer-based interventions were effective in increasing physical activity and improving health-related outcomes in breast cancer survivors. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING PRACTICE: This review offers availability of credible evidence supporting the potential usefulness and effectiveness of wearable physical activity trackers on physical activity and health-related outcomes in breast cancer survivors.

Improving combination cancer immunotherapy by manipulating dual immunomodulatory signals with enzyme-triggered, cell-penetrating peptide-mediated biomodulators.

Immunosuppressive tumor microenvironments challenge the effectiveness of protein-based biopharmaceuticals in cancer immunotherapy. Reestablishing tumor cell immunogenicity by enhancing calreticulin (CRT) exposure is expected to improve tumor immunotherapy. Given that CRT translocation is inherently modulated by phosphorylated eIF2α, the selective inhibition of protein phosphatase 1 (PP1) emerges as an effective strategy to augment tumor immunogenicity. To harness the PP1-disrupting potential of GADD34-derived motifs and address their limited intracellular delivery, we integrated these sequences into an enzyme-triggered, cell-penetrating peptide-mediated chimeric protein scaffold. This design not only facilitates efficient cytoplasmic delivery of these immunostimulatory motifs to induce "eat-me" signaling, but also provides a versatile platform for combination immunotherapy. Fabrication of biomodulators with cytotoxic BLF1 provides additional "eat-me" signaling through phosphatidylserine exposure or that with an immunomodulatory designed ankyrin repeat protein disables "don't-find-me" signaling by antagonizing PD-L1. Notably, these bifunctional biomodulators exhibit remarkable ability to induce macrophage phagocytosis, dendritic cell maturation, and CD8+ T activation, ultimately substantially inhibiting tumor growth. This study presents a modular genetic coding strategy for PP1-centered therapies that enables seamless integration of immunostimulatory sequences into protein-based anti-tumor cocktail therapies, thereby offering novel alternatives for improving antitumor efficacy.

A questionnaire to assess the health information literacy of patients with intermediate-stage chronic kidney disease.

AIM: To investigate the status and influencing factors of health information literacy in patients with intermediate-stage chronic kidney disease (CKD). DESIGN: A prospective clinical study. METHODS: We used a CKD health information literacy questionnaire to survey 130 patients with intermediate-stage CKD and valuate their health needs and health knowledge. We performed the study in strict accordance with the Guidelines for Clinical Trial Protocols. We registered the study in the Chinese Clinical Trial Registration Center (registration No. ChiCTR2100053103; approval No. K56-1). RESULTS: The overall health information literacy of CKD was relatively low. Low education level, advanced age and unemployment were influencing factors. The scores of assessment ability, literacy awareness, application ability, integration ability and CKD health knowledge reserve were relatively low. The generalized linear model showed that the older the men, the lower their health information literacy.

Quantitative assessment of the response of seawater environmental quality to marine protection policies under regional economic development --A case study of Xiamen Bay, China.

Xiamen is the epitome of having steady economic growth and non-negligible environmental stress over decades. Several restoration programs have been applied to address the conflicts between heavy environmental pressures and human activities, but the response of current coastal protection policies to the marine environment remains to be assessed. Therefore, to assess the effectiveness and efficiency of marine conservation policies under regional economic growth in Xiamen, quantitative techniques including elasticity analysis and dummy variable regression models were applied. Here we show the potential relationship between seawater quality (pH, COD, DIN and DRP) and economic growth including Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and Gross Ocean Product (GOP), to evaluate the ongoing related policies by using over 10 years of data (2007-2018). According to our estimates, a GDP growth rate of 8.5% represents a stable economic climate that is favorable for the overall rehabilitation of the local coastal environment. The results of the quantitative research indicate a strong relationship between economic development and seawater quality, with marine protection regulations serving as the direct cause. As GDP growth and pH are significantly positively correlated (coef. = 0.8139, p = 0.012), ocean acidification has decreased over the last decade. With an inversely proportional correlation with GDP (coef. = 0.8456, p = 0.002) and GOP (coef. = 0.8046, p = 0.005), the trend in COD concentrations effectively meets the targets of current pollution control legislation. By using a dummy variable regression model, we found that legislation is the most effective way in seawater recovery in the GOP section, and positive externalities of marine protection frameworks are also estimated. Meanwhile, it is predicted that the negative effects from the non-GOP section will gradually affect the coastal environmental quality gradually. An overall framework for controlling marine pollutant discharges, giving equal attention to maritime and non-maritime anthropogenic activities should be promoted and updated.

Microplastics in the Taiwan Strait and adjacent sea: Spatial variations and lateral transport.

This study investigates the distribution, structural properties, and potential impacts of oceanic processes on microplastics (MPs) in the Taiwan Strait (TWS) and surrounding seas. With an average of 174 particles/m3, the MP abundance in surface seawater ranged from 84 to 389 particles/m3. MP abundance ranged from 16 to 382 particles/kg in sediments, with a median of 121 particles/kg. Fragment and fiber were the two most frequently detected shapes. These MPs were found to be composed primarily of carbon and oxygen elements at 70-90% levels using energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. Additionally, several examples had trace levels of metallic components. Black was the color that MPs saw the most often out of all the hues. The two main types of polymers are polyester and rayon, and their production is influenced by home sewage discharge and synthetic fiber production. The main routes of MP transport were land source input, riverine input, and oceanic currents. This study showed that salinity affects the distribution of MPs, with high-salinity seawater serving to saturate their presence. On the other hand, upwelling raises MP concentrations by bringing nutrients from the deep to the surface. Furthermore, it has been discovered that the dilution of the Pearl River plume increases the MP prevalence in the region. The South China Sea Warm Current had the highest lateral MPs transport flux (2.1 × 1014 particles/y), which was followed by the Taiwan Strait Current area (1.0 × 1014 particles/y) and the Guangdong coastal areas (8.6 × 1013 particles/y). In sediments, the MP prevalence was inversely correlated with particle size. Flocculation processes probably made it easier for MPs to travel down the water column and deposit themselves on the aquatic substrate. Although the relationship between MPs, total organic carbon, and total organic nitrogen was not correlated, a favorable trend showed that MPs may discreetly contribute to carbon storage in coastal sediment.

Solvent-dependent carbon dots for multifunctional sensing of temperature, pH, and proton pump inhibitors.

Multifunctional sensing, a strategy to improve the efficiency of analysis and detection, has attracted much attention. In this study, a multifunction sensing platform was developed for temperature, pH, and proton pump inhibitors (PPI) with fluorescence carbon dots. Solvent-dependent carbon dots (PG-CDs) were synthesized through a one-step solvothermal method from phloroglucinol with the assistance of HCl. Base on the effect of functional groups on the surface, solvent-dependent behavior, temperature and pH responsive fluorescence can be observed. The PG-CDs display a reversible temperature-sensitive fluorescent behavior within 15-65 °C in N, N-dimethylacetamide. The fluorescence intensity of PG-CDs also responded to pH in a range of 3.0-7.0 with good reversibility and anti-interference. Therefore, the platform for temperature and pH sensing was proposed. In addition, since the synergistic effect of dynamic and static quenching, proton pump inhibitors (PPI) can be detected sensitively, including esomeprazole (EPZ), omeprazole (OPZ), and rabeprazole (RPZ). The linear range of detection for EPZ, OPZ, and RPZ is 2.0-80.0, 2.0-75.0, and 10.0-200.0 µM and the limits of detection is 0.29, 0.55, and 2.99 µM, separately. The recoveries for real samples were between 91.83 and 102.3%, which indicated that the platform for PPI sensing had good accuracy.

Impact of intensive mariculture activities on microplastic pollution in a typical semi-enclosed bay: Zhanjiang Bay.

Microplastic (MP) was investigated in Zhanjiang Bay, a semi-enclosed bay in south China and famous for considerable mariculture industry, to evaluate whether mariculture activities accelerated MP pollution. The MP abundances ranged from 0 to 2.65 n/m3 (number/m3), showing seasonal variances with higher levels in May and September and lower levels in January. In the inner part of the bay, a significantly high MP abundance and predominance of foam were found during the oyster breeding period, and pollution sources were prone to be single and extensive. This suggested that MPs were strongly influenced by the intensive plastic products for oyster culturing, especially during breeding. Moreover, plastic cages used for culturing were the main source of MPs in the central part of the bay. By conducting statistical analysis for eight representative bays, the economic growth, social development, agriculture structure, and aquaculture development were supposed to influence the local MP pollution level.

Facile fabrication of silica@covalent organic polymers core-shell composites as the mixed-mode stationary phase for hydrophilic interaction/reversed-phase/ion-exchange chromatography.

Covalent organic polymers (COPs) are a promising class of cross-linked polymeric networks that attracted extensive attention in separation and analysis fields. Exploring facile and convenient strategy to prepare COPs-based mixed-mode stationary phases for high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) has seriously lagged and has never been reported. Herein, we describe a facile in-situ grow strategy for fabrication of silica@COPs core-shell composites (SiO2@TpBD-(OH)2) as a novel mixed-mode stationary phase for HPLC. Owing to the co-existing of abundant hydroxyl, carbonyl, imine, cyclohexyl groups, and benzene rings in the skeleton of COPs shell, the developed mixed-mode stationary phase exhibits hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC)/reversed-phase liquid chromatography (RPLC)/ion-exchange chromatography (IEX) retention mechanisms. The content of acetonitrile, pH value, and salt concentration in the mobile phase were investigated on SiO2@TpBD-(OH)2 packed column. In comparison to conventional single-mode columns, the SiO2@TpBD-(OH)2 column showed flexible selectivity, enhanced separation performance, and superior resolution for benzene homologues, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, nucleosides and bases, and acidic organic compounds. The column efficiency of p-nitrobenzoic acid was up to 54440 plates per meter. The packed column also possessed outstanding chromatographic repeatability for six nucleosides and bases with the RSDs of 0.07-0.23%, 0.58-1.77%, and 0.31-1.23% for retention time, peak area, and peak height, respectively. Besides, the SiO2@TpBD-(OH)2 column offered baseline separation of multiple organic pollutants in lake water, which verified its great potential in real sample analysis. Overall, the silica@COPs core-shell composites not only provide a new candidate of mixed-mode stationary phases, but also extend the potential application of COPs in separation science.

Microplastics in seawater and two sides of the Taiwan Strait: Reflection of the social-economic development.

Microplastic abundance, distribution and source characteristics were investigated for the surface seawaters from the Taiwan Strait as well as those of sediments along its west and east coasts. The microplastic abundances were in the range of 28-208 (mean 90) and 10-246 (mean 69) items/kg (d.w.) along the west and east coasts respectively. The higher microplastic abundance on the west coast might be related to the different local economic development, population, land-use and other human activities. Combined with microplastic pollution and socio-economic development, regression analysis results showed that urbanization level is negatively correlated with foams while positively correlated with fibers. This study, as the first report of microplastics in the Taiwan Strait, suggested further research on microplastics cross-strait transportation and the relationship with economic developments.

Recyclable magnetite-enhanced electromethanogenesis for biomethane production from wastewater.

Improving the yield and methane content of biogas is of great concern for wastewater treatment by anaerobic digestion. Herein we developed a nanomagnetite-enhanced electromethanogenesis (EMnano) process for the first time, the sustainable utilization of which improved the biomethane production rate from dairy wastewater. The maximum CH4 production rate in the EMnano process is 2.3 ±â€¯0.3-fold higher than it is in the conventional methanogenesis (CM) process, and it is accompanied by an almost delay-free start-up. The technical-economic evaluation revealed that an 82.1 ±â€¯5.0% greater net benefit was obtained in the third generation of the EMnano process compared with the CM process. The improved methanogenesis was attributed to the formation of dense planktonic cell co-aggregates that are triggered by nanomagnetite, which facilitated the interspecies electron exchange during acetoclastic methanogenesis. Simultaneously, a cathode biofilm with high viability and catalytic activity was also formed in the EMnano process that decreased the biofilm resistance and facilitated the electron transfer during electromethanogenesis. This study is a worthwhile attempt to combine recyclable conductive materials with an electromethanogenesis process for wastewater treatment, and it effectively achieves energy recovery with high stability and cost-effectiveness.

Comparative Transcriptomics and Proteomics of Atractylodes lancea in Response to Endophytic Fungus Gilmaniella sp. AL12 Reveals Regulation in Plant Metabolism.

The fungal endophyte Gilmaniella sp. AL12 can establish a beneficial association with the medicinal herb Atractylodes lancea, and improve plant growth and sesquiterpenoids accumulation, which is termed "double promotion." Our previous studies have uncovered the underling primary mechanism based on some physiological evidences. However, a global understanding of gene or protein expression regulation in primary and secondary metabolism and related regulatory processes is still lacking. In this study, we employed transcriptomics and proteomics of Gilmaniella sp. AL12-inoculated and Gilmaniella sp. AL12-free plants to study the impact of endophyte inoculation at the transcriptional and translational levels. The results showed that plant genes involved in plant immunity and signaling were suppressed, similar to the plant response caused by some endophytic fungi and biotroph pathogen. The downregulated plant immunity may contribute to plant-endophyte beneficial interaction. Additionally, genes and proteins related to primary metabolism (carbon fixation, carbohydrate metabolism, and energy metabolism) tended to be upregulated after Gilmaniella sp. AL12 inoculation, which was consistent with our previous physiological evidences. And, Gilmaniella sp. AL12 upregulated genes involved in terpene skeleton biosynthesis, and upregulated genes annotated as ß-farnesene synthase and ß-caryophyllene synthase. Based on the above results, we proposed that endophyte-plant associations may improve production (biomass and sesquiterpenoids accumulation) by increasing the source (photosynthesis), expanding the sink (glycolysis and tricarboxylic acid cycle), and enhancing the metabolic flux (sesquiterpenoids biosynthesis pathway) in A. lancea. And, this study will help to further clarify plant-endophyte interactions.