First Reports of Cladosporium tenuissimum Causing Leaf spots on Hydrangea macrophylla in Anhui province in China.

Forever Summer Hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla) is a common flowering plant in the Yangtze River Valley area of China, and it is widely cultivated globally (Chen et al. 2015). In July 2023, H. macrophylla leaves exhibiting visible diseased lesions were reported in a nursery in Wuhu, Anhui Province, China. The incidence reached 40% in a 0.2 ha area. The primary disease symptom was multiple irregular necrotic spots (0.5 to 1 mm in diameter) appearing on the leaves. These spots on the leaves were faded yellow around the perimeter and grayish brown in the center.). 15 leaf samples were sterilized with 75% alcohol and rinsed three times in sterile distilled water, then transferred to antibiotic-added potato dextrose agar (PDA) for incubation at 27°C. The colonies were fluffy, flocculent, or hairy, dark green, gray-green to gray-brown in color, and spreading or protruding punctate with a colorless halo on PDA. The conidiophores were brown to dark brown, smooth or rough surface, mostly unbranched, clearly differentiated, erect or curved. The conidia displayed a light brown to brown hue, lemon shape, fusiform, elongated ellipsoid or others with obvious spore markings and spore umbilicus. Genomic DNA was extracted from fungal colonies on infected leaves of three collections separately (Braun et al. 2003) and the internal transcribed spacer regions (ITS), actin (ACT) genes and partial translation elongation factor-l-alpha (EF) were amplified and sequenced using the primers ITS1/4 (Yin et al. 2012), ACT-512F/ACT-783R and EF 1-728F/986R (Carbone and Kohn 1999), respectively. DNA sequences of isolates were identical and deposited in GenBank (accession no. OR362754 for ITS, OR611929 for ACT and PP209106 for EF). The consensus sequences from ITS, EF and ACT showed 100%, 98.98% and 100% identical to Cladosporium strains (accession no. OQ186140.1, MT154169.1 and OL322092.1), respectively. To confirm the pathogenicity of the isolates, hydrangeas were planted in 15-cm pots containing commercial potting mix (one plant/pot). Three healthy plants were inoculated at the five to eight leaf stage by spraying 50 µL of the isolate conidial suspension (4 × 106 spores/mL) on healthy leaves. Three plants treated with sterile distilled water were used as controls. After inoculation, all plants were placed in a humidity chamber (>95% relative humidity, 26°C) for 48 h and then transferred to a greenhouse at 22/27°C. All inoculated leaves exhibited symptoms similar to those observed in the nursery 10 days after inoculation, while no symptoms were observed for control leaves. The fungus was re-isolated and confirmed to be C. tenuissimum. Based on the above morphological characterization and molecular identification, the causal agent for this leaf spot disease was identified as C. tenuissimum. Although C. tenuissimum has been reported to cause disease on H. paniculata in northern China (Li et al.2021), this is the first time that C. tenuissimum has been found on H. macrophylla in southern China. This new disease of H. macrophylla caused by C. tenuissimum is a threat to urban greening and is worth further investigation.

[Material basis and mechanism of Xiao'er Resuqing Oral Liquid on hand, foot and mouth disease based on network pharmacology and molecular docking].

This paper aimed to investigate the active components and molecular mechanism of Xiao'er Resuqing Oral Liquid on hand, foot and mouth disease(HFMD) based on network pharmacology and molecular docking methods. The potential active components of 8 herbs in Xiao'er Resuqing Oral Liquid were selected through Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Database(TCMSP), Batman database and relevant literature consultation. Then related targets for the medicine were analyzed through PubChem and Swiss Target Prediction database, while related targets for HFMD were analyzed through GeneCards platform. The common targets for medicine and disease were put into STRING database to obtain the potential targets of Xiao'er Resuqing Oral Liquid for treatment of HFMD. The Cytoscape software was used to establish the "herbs-components-targets-disease" network. The protein-protein interaction(PPI) network was constructed based on STRING platform and Cytoscape software to screen the core targets. Based on Metascape platform, GO function enrichment analysis and KEGG signal pathway enrichment analysis were carried out. The main active components and potential key targets of Xiao'er Resuqing Oral Liquid were verified by molecular docking with Autodock vina 1.1.2 software. A total of 118 potential active components and 123 potential targets for treatment of HFMD were collected. PPI network indicated a total of 23 key targets, such as AKT1, MAPK1, IL6, VEGFA, EGFR, TNF, HRAS, CCND1, and CXCL8. GO function enrichment analysis results showed that there were 381 GO biological processes, 127 GO cellular components, and 117 GO molecular functions(P<0.01). KEGG enrichment analysis showed that 116 signal pathways were obtained(P<0.01), and the results showed that it was mainly associated with TNF signal pathway, IL-17 signal pathway, inflammatory mediator regulation of TRP channels, and cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction. Molecular docking results showed that the main active components all had a high binding ability with the main potential key targets. This study preliminarily investigated the multi-pathways, multi-targets and multi-components molecular mechanism of Xiao'er Resuqing Oral Liquid for treatment of HFMD, providing theoretical references for further researches on its active components and action mechanism.

Preoperative Neutrophil to Lymphocyte Ratio as a Prognostic Factor in Patients with Non-metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: The neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is a strong predictor of mortality in patients with colorectal, lung, gastric cancer, pancreatic and metastatic renal cell carcinoma. We here evaluated whether preoperative NLR is an independent prognostic factor for non-metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data from 327 patients who underwent curative or palliative nephrectomy were evaluated retrospectively. In preoperative blood routine examination, neutrophils and lymphocytes were obtained. The predictive value of NLR for non-metastatic RCC was analyzed. RESULTS: The NLR of 327 patients was 2.72±2.25. NLR <1.7 and NLR ≥1.7 were classified as low and high NLR groups, respectively. Chi-square test showed that the preoperative NLR was significantly correlated with the tumor size (P=0.025), but not with the histological subtype (P=0.095)and the pT stage (P=0.283). Overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) were assessed using the Kaplan-Meier method. Effects of NLR on OS (P=0.007) and DFS (P=0.011) were significant. To evaluate the independent prognostic significance of NLR, multivariate COX regression models were applied and identified increased NLR as an independent prognostic factor for OS (P=0.015), and DFS (P=0.019). CONCLUSIONS: Regarding patient survival, an increased NLR represented an independent risk factor, which might reflect a higher risk for severe cardiovascular and other comorbidities. An elevated blood NLR may be a biomarker of poor OS and DFS in patients with non-metastatic RCC.

Benzyl 3-[(E)-benzyl-idene]dithio-carbazate.

Crystals of the title compound, C(15)H(14)N(2)S(2), were obtained from a condensation reaction of benzyl dithio-carbazate and benzaldehyde. The mol-ecule assumes an E configuration about the N=C double bond. The phenyl ring of the thio-ester group is nearly perpendicular to the dithio-carbazate plane, with a dihedral angle of 84.60 (5)°. In the crystal structure, inter-molecular N-H⋯S hydrogen bonding links adjacent mol-ecules to form a centrosymmetric supra-molecular dimer.

Methyl 3-[(E)-1-(4-amino-phen-yl)ethyl-idene]dithio-carbazate.

The title compound, C(10)H(13)N(3)S(2), was obtained from a condensation reaction of methyl dithio-carbazate and 4-amino-acetophenone. In the crystal structure, the nearly planar mol-ecule assumes an E configuration, the benzene ring and dithio-carbazate group being located on opposite sides of the N=C bond. C-H⋯π inter-actions and N-H⋯S hydrogen bonding are present in the crystal structure.

Benzyl 3-[(E)-furfuryl-idene]dithio-carbazate.

In the title compound, C(13)H(12)N(2)OS(2), the mol-ecule assumes an E configuration, with the furan ring and dithio-carbazate units located on opposite sides of the N=C double bond. In the crystal structure, mol-ecules are linked via two inter-molecular N-H⋯S hydrogen bonds to form centrosymmetric dimers.

(E)-2-Furyl methyl ketone 2,4-dinitro-phenyl-hydrazone.

Crystals of the title compound, C(12)H(10)N(4)O(5), were obtained from a condensation reaction of 2,4-dinitro-phenyl-hydrazine and 2-furyl methyl ketone. The mol-ecule displays a nearly planar structure, and the furan ring is slightly twisted by a dihedral angle of 12.62 (6)° with respect to the phenyl-hydrazone plane. The face-to-face separation of 3.287 (7) Šbetween parallel benzene rings of adjacent mol-ecules indicates the existence of π-π stacking between dinitro-phenyl rings in the crystal structure.

(E)-Methyl 1,3-thia-zol-2-yl ketone 2,4-dinitro-phenyl-hydrazone.

Crystals of the title compound, C(11)H(9)N(5)O(4)S, were obtained from a condensation reaction of 2,4-dinitro-phenyl-hydrazine and methyl 1,3-thia-zol-2-yl ketone. Excluding two methyl H atoms, the mol-ecule displays a planar structure, the dihedral angle between the terminal thia-zole and benzene rings being 1.82 (8)°. The imino group links with adjacent nitro and thia-zole groups by intra-molecular bifurcated hydrogen bonding. The centroid-centroid separation of 3.7273 (11) Šbetween nearly parallel benzene and thia-zole rings of adjacent mol-ecules indicates the existence of π-π stacking in the crystal structure. Weak inter-molecular C-H⋯O hydrogen bonding is also observed.

Methyl 3-[(E)-furfuryl-idene]dithio-carbazate.

The mol-ecule of the title Schiff base compound, C(7)H(8)N(2)OS(2), prepared by the reaction of methyl dithio-carbazate and furfural in an ethanol solution under reflux, adopts an E configuration; the dithio-carbazate and furan units are located on opposite sides of the C=N double bond. The planar dithio-carbazate group is twisted slightly with respect to the furan ring, making a dihedral angle of 5.2 (1)°. Adjacent mol-ecules are linked by N-H⋯S hydrogen bonding to form a supra-molecular dimer across an inversion center.

(E)-2-Acetyl-pyrazine 4-nitro-phenyl-hydrazone.

In the title compound, C(12)H(11)N(5)O(2), the mol-ecule adopts an E configuration, with the benzene and pyrazine rings located on opposite sides of the N=C double bond. The face-to-face separations of 3.413 (14) and 3.430 (8) Å, respectively between parallel benzene rings and between pyrazine rings indicate the existence of π-π stacking between adjacent mol-ecules. The crystal structure also contains N-H⋯N and C-H⋯O hydrogen bonding.

(E)-N'-[1-(4-Amino-phen-yl)ethyl-idene]benzohydrazide.

Crystals of the title compound, C(15)H(15)N(3)O, were obtained from a condensation reaction of benzohydrazide and 1-(4-amino-phen-yl)ethanone. The mol-ecule assumes an E configuration with the amino-phenyl and benzohydrazide units located on opposite sites of the C=N double bond. In the crystal structure, the benzene rings of the mol-ecule are slightly twisted with respect to the central hydrazide, the dihedral angles being 18.22 (12) and 27.62 (12)°. The crystal structure contains inter-molecular N-H⋯O and weak C-H⋯N hydrogen bonding.

2-Methyl-benzaldehyde 2-methyl-benzyl-idenehydrazone.

The mol-ecule of the title compound, C(16)H(16)N(2), is centrosymmetric and the dihedral angle between the benzene ring and the dimethyl-hydrazine mean plane is 16.11 (15)°.

3-Ethyl-4-[(E)-2-methyl-benzyl-idene-amino]-1H-1,2,4-triazole-5(4H)-thione.

Crystals of the title compound, C(12)H(14)N(4)S, were obtained from a condensation reaction of 4-amino-3-ethyl-1H-1,2,4-triazole-5(4H)-thione and 2-methyl-benzaldehyde. In the mol-ecular structure, there is a short N=C double bond [1.255 (2) Å], and the benzene and triazole rings are located on opposite sites of this double bond. The two rings are approximately parallel to each other, the dihedral angle being 1.75 (11)°. A partially overlapped arrangement is observed between the nearly parallel triazole and benzene rings of adjacent mol-ecules; the perpendicular distance of the centroid of the triazole ring from the benzene ring is 3.482 Å, indicating the existence of π-π stacking in the crystal structure.