UPK3A+ umbrella cell damage mediated by TLR3-NR2F6 triggers programmed destruction of urothelium in Hunner-type interstitial cystitis/painful bladder syndrome.

Urothelial damage and barrier dysfunction emerge as the foremost mechanisms in Hunner-type interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome (HIC). Although treatments aimed at urothelial regeneration and repair have been employed, their therapeutic effectiveness remains limited due to the inadequate understanding of specific cell types involved in damage and the lack of specific molecular targets within these mechanisms. Therefore, we harnessed single-cell RNA sequencing to elucidate the heterogeneity and developmental trajectory of urothelial cells within HIC bladders. Through reclustering, we identified eight distinct clusters of urothelial cells. There was a significant reduction in UPK3A+ umbrella cells and a simultaneous increase in progenitor-like pluripotent cells (PPCs) within the HIC bladder. Pseudotime analysis of the urothelial cells in the HIC bladder revealed that cells faced challenges in differentiating into UPK3A+ umbrella cells, while PPCs exhibited substantial proliferation to compensate for the loss of UPK3A+ umbrella cells. The urothelium in HIC remains unrepaired, despite the substantial proliferation of PPCs. Thus, we propose that inhibiting the pivotal signaling pathways responsible for the injury to UPK3A+ umbrella cells is paramount for restoring the urothelial barrier and alleviating lower urinary tract symptoms in HIC patients. Subsequently, we identified key molecular pathways (TLR3 and NR2F6) associated with the injury of UPK3A+ umbrella cells in HIC urothelium. Finally, we conducted in vitro and in vivo experiments to confirm the potential of the TLR3-NR2F6 axis as a promising therapeutic target for HIC. These findings hold the potential to inhibit urothelial injury, providing promising clues for early diagnosis and functional bladder self-repair strategies for HIC patients. © 2024 The Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland.

An artificial intelligence-enabled electrocardiogram algorithm for the prediction of left atrial low-voltage areas in persistent atrial fibrillation.

OBJECTIVES: We aimed to construct an artificial intelligence-enabled electrocardiogram (ECG) algorithm that can accurately predict the presence of left atrial low-voltage areas (LVAs) in patients with persistent atrial fibrillation. METHODS: The study included 587 patients with persistent atrial fibrillation who underwent catheter ablation procedures between March 2012 and December 2023 and 942 scanned images of 12-lead ECGs obtained before the ablation procedures were performed. Artificial intelligence-based algorithms were used to construct models for predicting the presence of LVAs. The DR-FLASH and APPLE clinical scores for LVA prediction were calculated. We used a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, calibration curve, and decision curve analysis to evaluate model performance. RESULTS: The data obtained from the participants were split into training (n = 469), validation (n = 58), and test sets (n = 60). LVAs were detected in 53.7% of all participants. Using ECG alone, the deep learning algorithm achieved an area under the ROC curve (AUROC) of 0.752, outperforming both the DR-FLASH score (AUROC = 0.610) and the APPLE score (AUROC = 0.510). The random forest classification model, which integrated a probabilistic deep learning model and clinical features, showed a maximum AUROC of 0.759. Moreover, the ECG-based deep learning algorithm for predicting extensive LVAs achieved an AUROC of 0.775, with a sensitivity of 0.816 and a specificity of 0.896. The random forest classification model for predicting extensive LVAs achieved an AUROC of 0.897, with a sensitivity of 0.862, and a specificity of 0.935. CONCLUSION: The deep learning model based exclusively on ECG data and the machine learning model that combined a probabilistic deep learning model and clinical features both predicted the presence of LVAs with a higher degree of accuracy than the DR-FLASH and the APPLE risk scores.

The dual roles of dissimilatory iron reduction in the carbon cycle: The "iron mesh" effect can increase inorganic carbon sequestration.

Dissimilatory iron reduction (DIR) can drive the release of organic carbon (OC) as carbon dioxide (CO2 ) by mediating electron transfer between organic compounds and microbes. However, DIR is also crucial for carbon sequestration, which can affect inorganic-carbon redistribution via iron abiotic-phase transformation. The formation conditions of modern carbonate-bearing iron minerals (ICFe ) and their potential as a CO2 sink are still unclear. A natural environment with modern ICFe , such as karst lake sediment, could be a good analog to explore the regulation of microbial iron reduction and sequential mineral formation. We find that high porosity is conducive to electron transport and dissimilatory iron-reducing bacteria activity, which can increase the iron reduction rate. The iron-rich environment with high calcium and OC can form a large sediment pore structure to support rapid DIR, which is conducive to the formation and growth of ICFe . Our results further demonstrate that the minimum DIR threshold suitable for ICFe formation is 6.65 µmol g-1 dw day-1 . DIR is the dominant pathway (average 66.93%) of organic anaerobic mineralization, and the abiotic-phase transformation of Fe2+ reduces CO2 emissions by ~41.79%. Our findings indicate that as part of the carbon cycle, DIR not only drives mineralization reactions but also traps carbon, increasing the stability of carbon sinks. Considering the wide geographic distribution of DIR and ICFe , our findings suggest that the "iron mesh" effect may become an increasingly important vector of carbon sequestration.

Treatment strategies and drug resistance mechanisms in adenocarcinoma of different organs.

Adenocarcinoma is a common type of malignant tumor, originating from glandular epithelial cells in various organs, such as pancreas, breast, lung, stomach, colon, rectus, and prostate. For patients who lose the opportunity for radical surgery, medication is available to provide potential clinical benefits. However, drug resistance is a big obstacle to obtain desired clinical prognosis. In this review, we provide a summary of treatment strategies and drug resistance mechanisms in adenocarcinoma of different organs, including pancreatic cancer, gastric adenocarcinoma, colorectal adenocarcinoma, lung adenocarcinoma, and prostate cancer. Although the underlying molecular mechanisms involved in drug resistance of adenocarcinoma vary from one organ to the other, there are several targets that are universal for drug resistance in adenocarcinoma, and targeting these molecules could potentially reverse drug resistance in the treatment of adenocarcinomas.

ZNF33A Promotes Tumor Progression and BET Inhibitor Resistance in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer.

Overexpression of ZNF33A (Krüppel-type zinc finger 33A) promotes carcinogenesis in several malignant tumors. However, the biochemical role and clinical importance of ZNF33A in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) still need to be explored. In this study, overexpression of ZNF33A in TNBC patient tissues and cell lines led to a worse prognosis. ZNF33A promoted cell growth and facilitated the resistance of cancer cells to inhibitors of bromodomain and extraterminal domain (BET) in TNBC. ZNF33A also promoted the induction of c-Myc, the primary player for the resistance to BET inhibitors in TNBC. In conclusion, ZNF33A may be a tumor growth-promoting factor associated with TNBC prognosis, and ZNF33A repression may sensitize TNBC cells to BET inhibitors.

Design method of an ultra-thin two-dimensional geometrical waveguide near-eye display based on forward-ray-tracing and maximum FOV analysis.

A two-dimensional geometrical waveguide enables ultra-thin augmented reality (AR) near-eye display (NED) with wide field of view (FOV) and large exit-pupil diameter (EPD). A conventional design method can efficiently design waveguides that meet the requirements, but is unable to fully utilize the potential display performance of the waveguide. A forward-ray-tracing waveguide design method with maximum FOV analysis is proposed, enabling two-dimensional geometrical waveguides to achieve their maximum FOV while maintaining minimum dimensions. Finally, the designed stray-light-suppressed waveguide NED has a thickness of 1.7 mm, a FOV of 50.00°H × 29.92°V, and an eye-box of 12 mm × 12 mm at an eye-relief of 18 mm.

Natural products in digestive tract tumors metabolism: Functional and application prospects.

Digestive tract diseases are presently the hotspot of clinical diagnosis and treatment, and the incidence of digestive tract tumor is increasing annually. Surgery remains the main therapeutic schedule for digestive tract tumor. Though benefits were brought by neoadjuvant chemotherapy, a part of patients lose the chance of surgery because of late detection or inappropriate intervention. Therefore, the treatment of inoperable patients has become an urgent need. At the same time, tumor metabolism is an extremely complex and diverse process. Natural products are confirmed effective to inhibit the development of tumors in vitro and in vitro. There are many kinds of natural products and their functions remain not clear. However, some natural products such as polyphenols have been proven to have definite anti-cancer effects, and some terpenoids have definite anti-inflammatory, anti-ulcer, anti-tumor, and other effects. Therefore, the anti-tumor characteristics of natural products should arouse our high attention. Although there are many obstacles to study the activities of natural products in tumor, including the difficulty in detection or distinguishing each component due to their low levels in tumor tissue, etc., the emergence of highly sensitive and locatable spatial metabolomics make the research and application of natural products a big step forward. In this review, natural products such as phenols, terpenoids and biotinoids were summarized to further discuss the development and therapeutic properties of natural metabolites on digestive tract tumors.

Stereotactic body radiation therapy for refractory premature ventricular contractions that originate from the left ventricular summit: A case report.

The case highlights an available method to minimize the target volume and reduce the radiation dose by using a temporary catheter, to reduce the long-term risk of radiotherapy for ventricular arrhythmias.

Sunlight irradiation promotes both the chemodiversity of terrestrial DOM and the biodiversity of bacterial community in a subalpine lake.

Alpine lake habitats are evolving into subalpine lakes under the scenario of climate change, where the vegetation are promoted due to increasing temperature and precipitation. The abundant terrestrial dissolved organic matter (TDOM) leached from watershed soil into subalpine lakes would undergo strong photochemical reaction due to the high altitude, with the potential to alter DOM composition and affect the bacterial communities. To reveal the transformation of TDOM by both photochemical and microbial processes in a typical subalpine lake, Lake Tiancai (located 200 m below the tree line) was chosen. TDOM was extracted from the surrounding soil of Lake Tiancai and then subjected to the photo/micro-processing for 107 days. The transformation of TDOM was analyzed by Fourier-transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR MS) and fluorescence spectroscopy, and the shift of bacterial communities was analyzed using 16s rRNA gene sequencing technology. Dissolved organic carbon and light-absorbing components (a350) decay accounted for approximately 40% and 80% of the original, respectively, in the sunlight process, but both less than 20% in the microbial process for 107 days. The photochemical process promoted the chemodiversity as there were ∼7000 molecules after sunlight irradiation, compared to ∼3000 molecules in the original TDOM. Light promoted the production of highly unsaturated molecules and aliphatics, which were significantly associated with Bacteroidota, suggesting that light may influence bacterial communities by regulating the DOM molecules. Carboxylic-rich alicyclic molecules were generated in both photochemical and biological processes, suggesting TDOM was converted to a stable pool over time. Our finding on the transformation of terrestrial DOM and the alternation of bacterial community under the simultaneously photochemical and microbial processes will help to reveal the response of the carbon cycle and lake system structure to climate change for high-altitude lakes.

The association of dietary intake of riboflavin and thiamine with kidney stone: a cross-sectional survey of NHANES 2007-2018.

BACKGROUND: Kidney stone disease (KSD) is a common condition that affects 10% population in the United States (US). The relationship between thiamine and riboflavin intake and KSD has not been well-studied. We aimed to investigate the prevalence of KSD and the association between dietary thiamine and riboflavin intake with KSD in the US population. METHODS: This large-scale, cross-sectional study included subjects from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2007-2018. KSD and dietary intake were collected from questionnaires and 24-hour recall interviews. Logistic regression and sensitivity analyses were performed to investigate the association. RESULTS: This study included 26,786 adult participants with a mean age of 50.12 ± 17.61 years old. The prevalence of KSD was 9.62%. After adjusting for all potential covariates, we found that higher riboflavin intake was negatively related to KSD compared with dietary intake of riboflavin < 2 mg/day in the fully-adjusted model (OR = 0.541, 95% CI = 0.368 to 0.795, P = 0.002). After stratifying by gender and age, we found that the impact of riboflavin on KSD still existed in all age subgroups (P < 0.05) but only in males (P = 0.001). No such associations were found between dietary intake of thiamine and KSD in any of the subgroups. CONCLUSIONS: Our study suggested that a high intake of riboflavin is independently inversely associated with kidney stones, especially in male population. No association was found between dietary intake of thiamine and KSD. Further studies are needed to confirm our results and explore the causal relationships.

Application of transcriptome in time analysis and donor characterization in blood samples.

As an effective supplement to the current forensic DNA typing and one of the research hotpots in forensic science, the in-depth mining and characterization of biological evidence can provide rich and reliable clues for case investigation. In this study, the time-dependent variations of transcriptome were confirmed in in vitro blood samples within 0-168 days and a random forest model was established to realize the classification of blood samples with different TSD (time since deposition). Meanwhile, significant differences were observed in the transcripts of blood samples with different smoking habits and genders within a certain time period. HLA-DRB1, HLA-DQB1 and HLA-DQA2 were identified as markers for smoking habit identification, while the transcripts for RPS4Y1 and EIF1AY from the non-recombining region of the Y chromosome (NRY) were identified as markers for male sex identification. Thus, this study provides a theoretical foundation and experimental strategy for establishing a transcriptome-based method for characterizing blood sample retention time and donor characteristics in the field of forensic investigation.

Mcl-1 inhibition overcomes BET inhibitor resistance induced by low FBW7 expression in breast cancer.

While the promise of bromodomains and extraterminal (BET) protein inhibitors (BETis) is emerging in breast cancer (BC) therapy, resistance in these cells to BETis conspicuously curbs their therapeutic potential. FBW7 is an important tumour suppressor. However, the role of FBW7 in BC is not clear. In the current study, our data indicated that the low expression of FBW7 contributes to the drug resistance of BC cells upon JQ1 treatment. shRNA-mediated FBW7 silencing in FBW7 WT BC cells suppressed JQ1-induced apoptosis. Mechanistically, it was revealed that this diminished FBW7 level leads to Mcl-1 stabilization, while Mcl-1 upregulation abrogates the killing effect of JQ1. Mcl-1 knockdown or inhibition resensitized the BC cells to JQ1-induced apoptosis. Moreover, FBW7 knockdown in MCF7 xenografted tumours demonstrated resistance to JQ1 treatment. The combination of JQ1 with a Mcl-1 inhibitor (S63845) resensitized the FBW7 knockdown tumours to JQ1 treatment in vivo. Our study paves the way for a novel therapeutic potential of BETis with Mcl-1 inhibitors for BC patients with a low FBW7 expression.

Healable, Recyclable, and Multifunctional Soft Electronics Based on Biopolymer Hydrogel and Patterned Liquid Metal.

Recent years have witnessed the rapid development of sustainable materials. Along this line, developing biodegradable or recyclable soft electronics is challenging yet important due to their versatile applications in biomedical devices, soft robots, and wearables. Although some degradable bulk hydrogels are directly used as the soft electronics, the sensing performances are usually limited due to the absence of distributed conducting circuits. Here, sustainable hydrogel-based soft electronics (HSE) are reported that integrate sensing elements and patterned liquid metal (LM) in the gelatin-alginate hybrid hydrogel. The biopolymer hydrogel is transparent, robust, resilient, and recyclable. The HSE is multifunctional; it can sense strain, temperature, heart rate (electrocardiogram), and pH. The strain sensing is sufficiently sensitive to detect a human pulse. In addition, the device serves as a model system for iontophoretic drug delivery by using patterned LM as the soft conductor and electrode. Noncontact detection of nearby objects is also achieved based on electrostatic-field-induced voltage. The LM and biopolymer hydrogel are healable, recyclable, and degradable, favoring sustainable applications and reconstruction of the device with new functions. Such HSE with multiple functions and favorable attributes should open opportunities in next-generation electronic skins and hydrogel machines.

Intrahabitat Differences in Bacterial Communities Associated with Corbicula fluminea in the Large Shallow Eutrophic Lake Taihu.

The Asian clam Corbicula fluminea is a keystone zoobenthos in freshwater ecosystems. However, its associated microbiome is not well understood. We investigated the bacterial communities of this clam and its surrounding environment, including sediment and water simultaneously, in a large lake by means of 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Approximately two-thirds of the bacterial operational taxonomic units (OTUs) associated with clams were observed in the surrounding environment and mostly from particle-associated samples. The associated bacterial communities were site specific and more similar to environmental bacteria from the same site than those at other sites, suggesting a local environmental influence on host bacteria. However, the significant differences in bacterial diversities and compositions between the clam and the environment also indicated strong host selection pressure on bacteria from the surrounding environment. Bacteria affiliated with Firmicutes, Spirochaetes, Tenericutes, Bacteroidetes, Epsilonbacteraeota, Patescibacteria, and Fusobacteria were found to be significantly enriched in the clams in comparison to their local environment. Oligotyping analyses of the core-associated bacterial OTUs also demonstrated that most of the core OTUs had lower relative abundances and occurrence frequencies in environmental samples. The core bacterial OTUs were found to play an important role in maintaining the stability of the bacterial community network. These core bacteria included the two most abundant taxa Romboutsia and Paraclostridium with the potential function of fermenting polysaccharides for assisting host clams in food digestion. Overall, we demonstrate that clam-associated bacteria were spatially dynamic and site specific, which were mainly structured both by local environments and host selection. IMPORTANCE The Asian clam Corbicula fluminea is an important benthic clam in freshwater ecosystems due to its high population densities and high filtering efficiency for particulate organic matter. While the associated microbiota is believed to be vital for host living, our knowledge about the compositions, sources, and potential functions is still lacking. We found that C. fluminea offers a unique ecological niche for specific lake bacteria. We also observed high intrahabitat variation in the associated bacterial communities. Such variations were driven mainly by local environments, followed by host selection pressure. While the local microbes served as a source of the clam-associated bacteria, host selection resulted in enrichments of bacterial taxa with the potential for assisting the host in organic matter digestion. These results significantly advance our current understanding of the origins and ecological roles of the microbiota associated with a keynote clam in freshwater ecosystems.

Construction and validation of a gene signature related to bladder urothelial carcinoma based on immune gene analysis.

BACKGROUND: This study developed a gene signature associated with a malignant and common tumor of the urinary system, the Bladder Urothelial Carcinoma (BLCA). METHODS: The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database was searched to obtain 414 BLCA samples and the expression spectra of 19 normal samples. Single-sample Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (ssGSEA) was conducted to determine the enrichment levels in the BLCA samples of the 29 immune genes. Unsupervised hierarchical clustering, gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA), single-factor Cox analysis, least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression models, and GEO queues were used to determine the BLCA immune gene subtype, analyze the biological pathway differences between immune gene subtypes, determine the characteristic genes of BLCA associated with prognosis, identify the BLCA-related genes, and verify the gene signature, respectively. RESULTS: We identified two immune gene subtypes (immunity_L and immunity_H). The latter was significantly related to receptors, JAK STAT signaling pathways, leukocyte interleukin 6 generation, and cell membrane signal receptor complexes. Four characteristic genes (RBP1, OAS1, LRP1, and AGER) were identified and constituted the gene signature. Significant survival advantages, higher mutation frequency, and superior immunotherapy were observed in the low-risk group patients. The gene signature had good predictive ability. The results of the validation group were consistent with TCGA queue results. CONCLUSIONS: We constructed a 4-gene signature that helps monitor BLCA occurrence and prognosis, providing an important basis for developing personalized BLCA immunotherapy.

Psychroflexus curvus sp. nov., Psychroflexus longus sp. nov. and Psychroflexus montanilacus sp. nov., isolated from salt lakes on the Tibetan Plateau.

Four Gram-stain-negative, catalase- and oxidase-positive, rod-shaped and non-motile strains (CAK1WT, CAK8WT, CAK57W and CCL10WT) were isolated from salt lakes in China. Comparisons based on the 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that the four strains show less than 98.9% similarity to species of the genus Psychroflexus. The phylogenetic tree reconstructed based on 16S rRNA gene sequences also showed that Psychroflexus species are the most closely related neighbours of the four strains. The sequenced draft genome sizes of strains CAK1WT, CAK8WT, CAK57W and CCL10WT were 3.01, 2.95, 3.01 and 3.04 Mbp with G+C contents of 37.3, 35.8, 37.5 and 36.6 %, respectively. The phylogenomic trees reconstructed based on the UBCG and GET_PHYLOMARKERS pipelines all demonstrated that the four strains belong to the genus Psychroflexus. The calculated pairwise orthologous average nucleotide identity based on usearch, digital DNA-DNA hybridization and average amino acid sequence identity values among strains CAK1WT, CAK8WT, CAK57W, CCL10WT and other species of the genus Psychroflexus were equal or lower than 91.1, 43.5 and 92.2%; the values between strains CAK1WT and CAK57W were 98.8, 90.2 and 99.0 %, respectively. The respiratory quinone of the four strains was MK-6. Their major fatty acids were iso-C14 : 0, C15 : 1 ω10c, iso-C15 : 0 and anteiso-C15 : 0. The major polar lipids of the four strains included phosphatidylethanolamine, an unidentified aminolipid and two kinds of unidentified lipids, and only strain CCL10WT contained diphosphatidylglycerol. Based on the above descriptions, strains CAK1WT, CAK8WT, CAK57W and CCL10WT should belong to the genus Psychroflexus and represent three independent novel species, for which the names Psychroflexus curvus sp. nov. (type strain CAK1WT=GDMCC 1.2644T=KCTC 82857T), Psychroflexus longus sp. nov. (type strain CAK8WT=GDMCC 1.2646T=KCTC 82859T) and Psychroflexus montanilacus sp. nov. (type strain CCL10WT=GDMCC 1.2631T=KCTC 82860T) are proposed.

Salegentibacter lacus sp. nov. and Salegentibacter tibetensis sp. nov., isolated from hypersaline lakes on the Tibetan Plateau.

Two Gram-stain-negative, catalase- and oxidase-positive, rod-shaped and non-motile strains (LM13ST and JZCK2T) were isolated from hypersaline lakes in China. The colonies of both strains were yellow-pigmented and convex. Both strains could grow at 4-34 °C, pH 6.5-9.0 and with 1.0-13.0 % (w/v) NaCl. Comparisons based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strains LM13ST and JZCK2T share less than 98.3 % similarity with species of the genus Salegentibacter. The phylogenetic tree reconstructed based on 16S rRNA gene sequences also showed that Salegentibacter species are the most closely related neighbours of strains LM13ST and JZCK2T. The sequenced draft genome sizes of strains LM13ST and JZCK2T are 4.06 and 4.22 Mbp with G+C contents of 37.0 and 37.8 mol%, respectively. The phylogenomic tree reconstructed using the Up-to-date Bacterial Core Gene set pipeline also demonstrated that both strains belong to the genus Salegentibacter. The calculated pairwise average nucleotide identity values and digital DNA-DNA hybridization values between strains LM13ST and JZCK2T and Salegentibacter species were less than 86.4 and 32.0 %, respectively. The respiratory quinone in both strains was MK-6. Their major fatty acids were iso-C12 : 0, iso-C14 : 0, C15 : 1 ω10c, iso-C15 : 0, anteiso-C15 : 0, iso-C16 : 0 and C17 : 1 ω10c. Their major polar lipids included phosphatidylethanolamine, one unidentified lipid and one unidentified aminolipid, but strain LM13ST also contained one more unidentified aminolipid, one more unidentified lipid and one unidentified phospholipid. Combining the above descriptions, strains LM13ST and JZCK2T should represent two independent novel species of the genus Salegentibacter, for which the names Salegentibacter lacus sp. nov. (type strain LM13ST=GDMCC 1.2643T=KCTC 82861T) and Salegentibacter tibetensis sp. nov. (type strain JZCK2T=GDMCC 1.2621T=KCTC 82862T) are proposed.

Proposal to reclassify Aquiflexum aquatile into a novel genus as Cognataquiflexum aquatile gen. nov., comb. nov., and description of Cognataquiflexum nitidum sp. nov. and Cognataquiflexum rubidum sp. nov., isolated from freshwater lakes on the Tibetan Plateau.

Thousands of lakes harbouring different characteristics (pH, salinity, temperature) are located on the Tibetan Plateau, and the mining of microbial resources inhabited in these lakes has great value. Two Gram-stain-negative, aerobic, rod-shaped, non-motile strains (LQ15WT and AIY15WT) were isolated from freshwater lakes on the Tibetan Plateau. Comparisons based on the 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that both strains LQ15WT and AIY15WT share 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities 98.4 % with Aquiflexum aquatile Z0201T, but only about 95.0 % with Aquiflexum balticum DSM 16537T. The 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity between strains LQ15WT and AIY15WT was 98.9 %. The phylogenetic tree reconstructed based on 16S rRNA gene sequences also showed that strains LQ15WT and AIY15WT take A. aquatile Z0201T as their closest neighbour and these three strains form a tight cluster. In the phylogenomic tree, the genus Aquiflexum was splited into two clusters by Mariniradius saccharolyticus. Strains LQ15WT, AIY15WT and A. aquatile Z0201T still formed a close cluster, and A. balticum DSM 16537T and Aquiflexum lacus CUG 91378T formed another cluster. The calculated OrthoANIu, average amino acid identity and digital DNA-DNA hybridization values among strains LQ15WT, AIY15WT, A. aquatile Z0201T, A. balticum DSM 16537T and A. lacus CUG 91378T were less than 91.0, 92.9 and 42.1 %, respectively. The major respiratory quinones of both strains LQ15WT and AIY15WT were MK-7 (32 %) and MK-8 (68 %), and their major fatty acids were iso-C15 : 0, C18 : 1 ω9c, summed feature 3 and summed feature 9. The predominant polar lipids of both strains were phosphatidylethanolamine, unidentified aminophospholipids, unidentified phospholipids and lipids. Strain AIY15WT also contained phosphatidylglycerol and unidentified glycolipid. Considering the distinct phylogenetic relationships and chemotaxonomic characteristics between strains A. aquatile Z0201T and A. balticum DSM 16537T, it is proposed to reclassify A. aquatile into a novel genus Cognataquiflexum gen. nov. as Cognataquiflexum aquatile comb. nov., and strains LQ15WT and AIY15WT should represent two independent novel species of the genus Cognataquiflexum, for which the names Cognataquiflexum nitidum sp. nov. (type strain: LQ15WT=CICC 24711T=JCM 34222T) and Cognataquiflexum rubidum sp. nov. (type strain: AIY15WT=CICC 24708T=JCM 34612T) are proposed.

Multi-level encryption of information in morphing hydrogels with patterned fluorescence.

Fluorescent hydrogels have attracted tremendous attention recently in the field of information security due to the booming development of information technology. Along this line, it is highly desired to improve the security level of concealed information by the advancements of materials and encryption technologies. Here we report multi-level encryption of information in a bilayer hydrogel with shape-morphing ability and patterned fluorescence. This hydrogel is composed of a fluorescence layer containing chromophore units in the poly(acrylic acid) network and an active layer with UV-absorption agents in the poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-co-acrylic acid) network. The former layer exhibits tunable fluorescence tailored by UV light irradiation to induce unimer-to-dimer transformation of the chromophores, facilitating the write-in of information through photolithography. The latter layer is responsive to temperature, enabling morphing of the bilayer hydrogel. Therefore, the bilayer hydrogel encoded with patterned fluorescent patterns can deform into three-dimensional configurations at room temperature to conceal the information, which is readable only after successive procedures of shape recovery at an appropriate temperature and under UV light irradiation from the right direction. The combination of morphing materials and patterned fluorescence as a new avenue to improve the encryption level of information should merit the design of other smart materials with integrated functions for specific applications.

The Light-to-Nutrient Ratio in Alpine Lakes: Different Scenarios of Bacterial Nutrient Limitation and Community Structure in Lakes Above and Below the Treeline.

The light-to-nutrient hypothesis proposes that under high light-to-nutrient conditions, bacteria tend to be limited by phosphorus (P), while under relatively low light-to-nutrient conditions, bacteria are likely driven towards carbon (C) limitation. Exploring whether this light-to-nutrient hypothesis is fitting for alpine lakes has profound implications for predicting the impacts of climatic and environmental changes on the structures and processes of aquatic ecosystems in climate-sensitive regions. We investigated the environmental conditions and bacterioplankton community compositions of 15 high-elevation lakes (7 above and 8 below treeline). High light-to-nutrient conditions (denoted by the reciprocal value of the attenuation coefficient (1/K) to total phosphorus (TP)), high chlorophyll a (Chl a) concentrations, low TP concentrations and low ratios of the dissolved organic carbon concentration to the dissolved total nitrogen concentration (DOC:DTN) were detected in above-treeline lakes. Significant positive correlations between the bacterioplankton community compositions with 1/K:TP ratios and Chl a concentrations indicated that not only high light energy but also nutrient competition between phytoplankton and bacteria could induce P limitation for bacteria. In contrast, low light-to-nutrient conditions and high allochthonous DOC input in below-treeline lakes lessen P limitation and C limitation. The most abundant genus, Polynucleobacter, was significantly enriched, and more diverse oligotypes of Polynucleobacter operational taxonomic units were identified in the below-treeline lakes, indicating the divergence of niche adaptations among Polynucleobacter oligotypes. The discrepancies in the light-to-P ratio and the components of organic matter between the above-treeline and below-treeline lakes have important implications for the nutrient limitation of bacterioplankton and their community compositions.