Chemical Composition, Toxicity, and Repellency of Essential Oils from Three Hedychium Species Against Stored-Product Insects.

Stored products are constantly infested by insects, so finding eco-friendly bioinsecticides for insect management is important. The work aimed to assess the insecticidal and repellent activity of essential oil (EO) from Hedychium glabrum S. Q. Tong, Hedychium coronarium Koen., and Hedychium yunnanense Gagnep. against Tribolium castaneum, Lasioderma serricorne, and Liposcelis bostrychophila. Results showed that 88 chemical components were identified in the extracted Hedychium EOs, indicating that they exhibited diversity in components. According to principal component analysis (PCA), the composition of the EO from the H. yunnanense stem and leaf (EOHYSL) was significantly different from other EOs due to the different organs and species. The biological activity also varied continuously with plant species and organs. Only the EO of H. yunnanense (EOHY) showed strong fumigant toxicity. While in the contact tests, EOHGR showed the strongest toxicity effect on L. bostrychophila, with a LC50 value of 71.76 µg/cm2, which was closest to the positive control (Pyrethrin). All EOs had remarkable repellent activities against the three target insects, and repellency increased with concentration. According to the results of the comprehensive score, EOHY had the highest potential, which ranged from 0.7999 to 0.8689. Thus, Hedychium EOs possess potential biorational traits to be biological insecticides.

Liamocins overproduction via the two-pH stage fermentation and anti-Aspergillus flavus activity of Massoia lactone.

Aureobasidium melanogenum was found to be grown the best at the constant pH 7.0 and to produce the highest amount of liamocins at the constant pH 3.0. Therefore, the wild type strain A. melanogenum 9-1 and the engineered strain V33 constructed in the laboratory were grown at the constant pH 7.0 for 48 h, then, they were continued to be cultivated at the constant pH 3.0. Under such conditions, A. melanogenum 9-1 produced 36.51 ± 0.55 g L-1 of liamocin and its cell mass was 27.43 ± 0.63 and 6.00 ± 0.11 g L-1 of glucose was left in the finished medium within 168 h while the engineered strain V33 secreted 70.86 ± 2.04 g L-1 of liamocin, its cell mass was 31.63 ± 0.74 g L-1 , 0.16 ± 0.01 g L-1 of glucose was maintained in the finished medium. Then, Massoia lactone was released from the produced liamocins. The released Massoia lactone loaded in the nanoemulsions could be used to actively damage cell wall and cell membrane of both spores and mycelia of Aspergillus flavus, leading to its cell necrosis. Massoia lactone loaded in the nanoemulsions also actively inhibited cell growth of A. flavus, its conidia production and aflatoxin biosynthesis on peanuts, indicating that Massoia lactone loaded in the nanoemulsions had highly potential application in controlling cell growth of A. flavus and aflatoxin biosynthesis in foods and feedstuffs.

Vaporization of perfluorocarbon attenuates sea-water-drowning-induced acute lung injury by deactivating the NLRP3 inflammasomes in canines.

Seawater-drowning-induced acute lung injury (SD-ALI) is a life-threatening disorder characterized by increased alveolar-capillary permeability, an excessive inflammatory response, and refractory hypoxemia. Perfluorocarbons (PFCs) are biocompatible compounds that are chemically and biologically inert and lack toxicity as oxygen carriers, which could reduce lung injury in vitro and in vivo. The aim of our study was to explore whether the vaporization of PFCs could reduce the severity of SD-ALI in canines and investigate the underlying mechanisms. Eighteen beagle dogs were randomly divided into three groups: the seawater drowning (SW), perfluorocarbon (PFC), and control groups. The dogs in the SW group were intratracheally administered seawater to establish the animal model. The dogs in the PFC group were treated with vaporized PFCs. Probe-based confocal laser endomicroscopy (pCLE) was performed at 3 h. The blood gas, volume air index (VAI), pathological changes, and wet-to-dry (W/D) lung tissue ratios were assessed. The expression of heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), nuclear respiratory factor-1 (NRF1), and NOD-like receptor family pyrin domain containing-3 (NLRP3) inflammasomes was determined by means of quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and immunological histological chemistry. The SW group showed higher lung injury scores and W/D ratios, and lower VAI compared to the control group, and treatment with PFCs could reverse the change of lung injury score, W/D ratio and VAI. PFCs deactivated NLRP3 inflammasomes and reduced the release of caspase-1, interleukin-1ß (IL-1ß), and interleukin-18 (IL-18) by enhancing the expression of HO-1 and NRF1. Our results suggest that the vaporization of PFCs could attenuate SD-ALI by deactivating NLRP3 inflammasomes via the HO-1/NRF1 pathway.

Treatment with exogenous hydrogen sulfide attenuates hyperoxia-induced acute lung injury in mice.

The aim of this work was to test the effect of treatment with hydrogen sulfide (H2S) on hyperoxia-induced acute lung injury in mice. Mice were exposed to room air or 95 % O2, and treated with NaHS (intraperitoneal injection of 0.1 ml/kg/day of 0.56 mol/l NaHS). Treatment with H2S partly restored the reduced H2S levels in plasma and lungs of mice exposed to hyperoxia. Treatment with H2S attenuated hyperoxia-induced acute lung injury marked by reduced ratio of lung weight to body weight, ratio of lung wet weight to dry weight, and cell numbers and protein content in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) and decreased apoptosis. Treatment with H2S markedly prolonged the survival of mice under oxygen exposure. Treatment with H2S abated hyperoxia-induced oxidative stress marked by reduced malondialdehyde and peroxynitrite formation, reduced NADPH oxidase activity, enhanced translocation of nuclear factor E2-related factor (Nrf2) into nucleus and increased activity of HO-1. Treatment with H2S decreased IL-1ß, MCP-1, and MIP-2, and increased IL-10 expression in lungs of mice exposed to hyperoxia. Treatment with H2S decreased NFκB activity and iNOS expression in lungs, and reduced NOx content in BAL of mice exposed to hyperoxia. Treatment with H2S reduced lung permeability and suppressed VEGF release and VEGFR2 expression in lungs of mice under oxygen exposure. Treatment with exogenous H2S attenuated hyperoxia-induced acute lung injury through abating oxidative stress, suppressing inflammation, and reducing lung permeability in mice.

The Pathogenic Yeast Metschnikowia bicuspidata var. bicuspidata in the Aquacultured Ecosystem and Its Biocontrol.

M. bicuspidata var. bicuspidata is a pathogenic yeast which can affect aquacultured and marine-cultured animals such as brine shrimp, ridgetail white prawn, chinook salmon, giant freshwater prawn, the Chinese mitten crab, marine crab, the mud crab, the mangrove land crab, the Chinese grass shrimp, sea urchins, sea urchins, Daphnia dentifera and even snails, causing a milky disease, and it has caused big economic losses in aquacultural and marine-cultural industries in the past. However, the detailed mechanisms and the reasons for the milky disease in the diseased aquatic animals are still completely unknown. So far, only some antimycotics, killer toxins and Massoia lactone haven been found to be able to actively control and kill its growth. The ecofriendly, green and renewable killer toxins and Massoia lactone have high potential for application in controlling the milky disease.

Caudatin inhibits carcinomic human alveolar basal epithelial cell growth and angiogenesis through modulating GSK3ß/ß-catenin pathway.

In this study, we investigate the anti-cancer activity of caudatin in carcinomic human alveolar basal epithelial cell line A549 and anti-angiogenic activity in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). We show that caudatin impairs the cell viability and induces G(0) /G(1) phase arrest in A549 cells with a dose dependent manner. A549 cells, not HUVECs, dealing with caudatin exhibited typical characteristics of apoptosis, which were accompanied by activation of caspase-3, caspase-9 and Poly(ADP-Ribose) Polymerase (PARP). In addition, caudatin treatment resulted in a decrease of ß-catenin and increase of phosphorylation of ß-catenin, and inhibited phosphorylation levels of GSK3ß (Ser 9) in A549 cells. Conditional medium of A549 cells-induced or growth factors-induced tube formation of HUVECs was markedly inhibited by caudatin treatment, which was associated with the inhibiting VEGF secretion from A549 cells by caudatin. Our findings suggest that caudatin inhibits carcinomic human alveolar basal epithelial cell growth and angiogenesis by targeting GSK3ß/ß-catenin pathway and suppressing VEGF production.