Nonspecific immune, histology and accumulation of marine worm, Urechis unicinctus in response to bisphenol A (BPA).

Bisphenol A (BPA) is one of the environmental endocrine disruptors, due to its chemical stability it exists in abundant concentrations in water and soil consequently accumulating in the food chain and causing many endocrine-related health problems. So far, studies on the effects of BPA on marine invertebrates have focused on acute toxicity, endocrine regulation, reproduction, and development. However, fewer studies have been conducted on marine benthos. The current study aimed to detect the accumulation of BPA and its impact on tissue structure, antioxidant capacity, and immune indexes in marine worm, Urechis unicinctus. U. unicinctus, as a common marine benthic animal, were exposed to different concentrations of BPA. Blood cells and intestinal tract were taken for tissue structure inspection, and supernatant of the coelomic fluid was collected for oxidative and antioxidant biomarkers. Results showed that the accumulation of BPA in muscles of U. unicinctus tended to increase with exposure time. BPA induced a rise in H2O2 and MDA content, and altered the activities of CAT, T-SOD, GST, LSZ and ACP, weaken the immune system functions. Moreover, pathological observation showed that BPA caused severe histopathology in the respiratory intestine, stomach, and midgut. These results will be helpful to understand the response mechanism of U. unicinctus under BPA exposure and provide a reference for controlling the aquaculture conditions and marine water quality of U. unicinctus.

The Role of Indigenous Yeasts in Shaping the Chemical and Sensory Profiles of Wine: Effects of Different Strains and Varieties.

The microbial terroir is an indispensable part of the terroir panorama, and can improve wine quality with special characteristics. In this study, eight autochthonous yeasts (Saccharomyces cerevisiae), selected in Huailai country, China, were trailed in small-scale and pilot fermentations for both white (Riesling and Sémillon) and red (Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah) wines and evaluated by GC-MS analysis and the rate-all-that-apply (RATA) method. Compared to commercial yeast strains, the indigenous yeasts were able to produce higher concentrations of ethyl esters and fatty acid ethyl esters, and higher alcohol, resulting in higher odor activity values of fruity, floral attributes. Marked varietal effects were observed in the pilot fermentation, but yeast strains exerted a noticeable impact in modulating wine aroma and sensory profile. Overall, indigenous yeast could produce more preferred aroma compounds and sensory characteristics for both white and red wines, demonstrating the potential for improving wine quality and regional characteristics.

Examination and Forecast of Relationship among Tourism, Environment, and Economy: A Case Study in Shandong Province, China.

Correctly understanding and handling the relationship of tourism industry, ecological environment, and regional economy is an important prerequisite and foundation for realizing regional ecological protection and high-quality development. Based on the entropy method and the coupling coordination model, this paper conducts quantitative research on the coupling coordination relationship and development law of tourism industry-ecological environment-regional economic (TEE) in various cities in Shandong Province. First, a coupling coordination evaluation system of TEE was constructed to evaluate the comprehensive development level of the three systems in each city in Shandong Province from 2010 to 2017; secondly, based on the coupling coordination model, the relationship among the three systems of each city was analyzed using spatial and temporal dimensions; finally, the gray GM (1, 1) model was used to predict the future coupling coordination degree of the three systems in Shandong Province. The research results show that: (1) the development of the economy and tourism industry of cities in Shandong Province is highly correlated, and the overall trend is increasing. The ecological environment mainly changes first, and then rises. (2) From the perspective of time, the changes in the coupling coordination degree of the three systems are mainly to maintain stability and increase fluctuations, and generally develop in the direction of benign coordination. From a spatial perspective, the coupling coordination degree of the three systems shows significant regional integrity and differences, showing a pattern of high in the east and low in the west. (3) In the next few years, the coupling coordination degree of the three systems will roughly continue the characteristics of changes from 2010 to 2017.

Contrasting summer versus winter dynamic microbial communities and their environmental driving factors in the solid-state saccharification process of Fuyu-flavor Baijiu.

The seasonal spontaneous fermentation depends on the assembly of specific microbiota. However, a knowledge gap remains regarding the seasonal dynamics of microbial community and functionality. This study aimed to investigate the differences in microbial community dynamics during the saccharification process of Fuyu-flavor Baijiu in winter versus summer by employing high-throughput sequencing. It also explored the driving effects of environmental variables on the microbial succession. The environmental temperature of saccharification in summer (29 ± 1 °C) was strikingly different in winter (14 ± 1 °C), leading to a longer incubation time in winter fermentation. The dominant bacterial genera displayed in the early stage of the summer saccharification process were Staphylococcus, unclassified Enterobacteriaceae, and Weissella, whereas the dominant genus was Weissella during the middle stage and Lactobacillus during the late stage of saccharification. In contrast, unclassified Enterobacteriaceae and Weissella were dominant genera throughout the winter saccharification process. In the fungal community, Rhizopus was the dominant genus in summer and winter saccharification. Principal coordinate analysis revealed that the changes in the environmental temperature in winter versus summer had distinct impacts on the microbial community structure. Also, temperature was the key factor driving the succession of bacterial community, whereas pH was the main factor driving the succession of dominant fungi. Predictive gene functionality of bacterial and fungal communities was computed using the Phylogenetic Investigation of Communities by Reconstruction of Unobserved States 2 against Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) database and MetaCyc database, respectively. Correlation networks were constructed to better understand the relationships between dominant microbial genera and physicochemical factors during the saccharification process. These results provided new insights into the Baijiu fermentation technology and allowed a theoretical basis for exploring effective management strategies regarding traditional fermentation in response to complex seasonal factors.

Highly enantioselective hydrogenation of quinolines using phosphine-free chiral cationic ruthenium catalysts: scope, mechanism, and origin of enantioselectivity.

Asymmetric hydrogenation of quinolines catalyzed by chiral cationic η(6)-arene-N-tosylethylenediamine-Ru(II) complexes have been investigated. A wide range of quinoline derivatives, including 2-alkylquinolines, 2-arylquinolines, and 2-functionalized and 2,3-disubstituted quinoline derivatives, were efficiently hydrogenated to give 1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinolines with up to >99% ee and full conversions. This catalytic protocol is applicable to the gram-scale synthesis of some biologically active tetrahydroquinolines, such as (-)-angustureine, and 6-fluoro-2-methyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinoline, a key intermediate for the preparation of the antibacterial agent (S)-flumequine. The catalytic pathway of this reaction has been investigated in detail using a combination of stoichiometric reaction, intermediate characterization, and isotope labeling patterns. The evidence obtained from these experiments revealed that quinoline is reduced via an ionic and cascade reaction pathway, including 1,4-hydride addition, isomerization, and 1,2-hydride addition, and hydrogen addition undergoes a stepwise H(+)/H(-) transfer process outside the coordination sphere rather than a concerted mechanism. In addition, DFT calculations indicate that the enantioselectivity originates from the CH/π attraction between the η(6)-arene ligand in the Ru-complex and the fused phenyl ring of dihydroquinoline via a 10-membered ring transition state with the participation of TfO(-) anion.

Deciphering the Shifts in Microbial Community Diversity From Material Pretreatment to Saccharification Process of Fuyu-Flavor Baijiu.

The microbiota of the pretreatment phase is crucial to the assembly of the microbial community in the saccharification of fuyu-flavor baijiu. This study investigates the shifts in microbial community diversity from the pretreatment of raw materials to the end of saccharification. High-throughput sequencing reveals that Lactobacillus, Weissella, and Bacillus in the bacterial community and Rhizopus, Candida, Pichia, and Aspergillus in the fungal community are predominant during raw material pretreatment and saccharification processes. Also, 11 bacterial genera, including Bacillus, Lactobacillus, Leuconostoc, Weissella, Lactococcus, and Acetobacter, and eight yeast genera, including Candida, Pichia, Saccharomyces, and Wickerhamomyces, were isolated from the initial saccharification stage by culture-dependent approaches. Sourcetracker analysis indicates that the cooling grains and rice husks were the main contributors to the bacterial community composition of the saccharification process, and Qu was the main contributor to the shaping of the fungal community structure during the saccharification process. Abundance variation of the predictive functional profiles of microbial communities encoding for key enzymes involved in pyruvate metabolism, starch and sucrose metabolism, and glycolysis/gluconeogenesis during the pretreatment and saccharification phases were inferred by PICRUSt2 analysis. The results of this study will be utilized to produce consistently high-quality fuyu-flavor baijiu via better controlling the shaping of microbial community structures during the pretreatment and fermentation processes.

[Research progress of D-psicose: function and its biosynthesis].

As the morbidity of metabolic syndrome like obesity and diabetes increases rapidly worldwide, the issue of nutrition (functional food) and health has drawn more attention. D-psicose, a rare natural ketohexose, has become a hot topic in functional food and health-care field because of its hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic function with good sweetness. This article mainly discusses the functional properties and biosynthesis research progress of D-psicose, together with the crystal structure of ketose-3-epimerase, to provide theoretical guidance for D-psicose-producing strain screening as well as improving the thermostability and catalytic efficiency of ketose-3-epimerase for industrial application.

Highly enantioselective hydrogenation of 2,4-diaryl-1,5-benzodiazepines catalyzed by dendritic phosphinooxazoline iridium complexes.

A PHOX with arms: A series of dendrimers with Ir phosphinooxazoline (PHOX) cores were designed and synthesized and found to be highly effective and recoverable catalysts for asymmetric hydrogenation of 2,4-diaryl-1,5-benzodiazepines. An obvious positive dendritic effect on reactivity was observed, leading to chiral nitrogen-containing heterocycles with excellent enantioselectivities.

Highly effective asymmetric hydrogenation of cyclic N-alkyl imines with chiral cationic Ru-MsDPEN catalysts.

A range of cyclic N-alkyl imines were efficiently hydrogenated by using a chiral cationic Ru(η(6)-cymene)(MsDPEN)(BArF) complex (MsDPEN = N-(methanesulfonyl)-1,2-diphenylethylenediamine) in high yields and up to 98% ee. A one-pot synthesis of chiral 2-phenylpyrrolidine via reductive amination was also developed.

[Effects of temperature and salinity on oxygen consumption rate and asphyxiation point of Sagitta crassa].

A laboratory test was conducted to study the effects of different temperature and salinity on the oxygen consumption rate and asphyxiation point of chaetognath Sagitta crassa. Both temperature and salinity had significant effects on the oxygen consumption rate (IO) and specific oxygen consumption rate (SO) of S. crassa. When the temperature raised from 5 degrees C to 25 degrees C, the IO and SO of S. crassa increased first, and then presented an obvious decreasing trend, with the regression function being y = 0.0058x3-0.2956x2 +4.415x-8.7816 (R2 = 0.99, P < 0.05) for IO and y = 0.0011x3-0.0546x2+0.8161x-1.6232 (R2 = 0.99, P < 0.05) for SO. The IO and SO at different temperature were in the ranges of 6.30-11.71 microg x ind(-1) x h(-1) and 1.22-2.16 microg x mg(-1) x h(-1), respectively, and the asphyxiation point was 4.18-6.87 mg x L(-1). When the salinity increased from 10 to 40, the IO and SO of S. crassa decreased gradually, with the regression function being y = -0.0068x2-0.1412x+21.702 (R2 = 0.89, P < 0.05) for IO and y = -0.0013x2 -0.0261x+ 4.0114 (R2 = 0.89, P < 0.05) for SO. The IO and SO at different salinity were in the ranges of 4.98-17.73 microg x ind(-1) x h(-1) and 0.92-3.56 microg x mg(-1) x h(-1), respectively, and the asphyxiation point was 4.02-6.24 mg x L(-1). Based on the differences in the oxygen consumption rate and asphyxiation point between S. crassa and other aquatic animals, it was concluded that S. crassa was a stenooxybiotic zooplankton species.

Asymmetric hydrogenation of 2- and 2,3-substituted quinoxalines with chiral cationic ruthenium diamine catalysts.

The enantioselective hydrogenation of 2-alkyl- and 2-aryl-subsituted quinoxalines and 2,3-disubstituted quinoxalines was developed by using the cationic Ru(η(6)-cymene)(monosulfonylated diamine)(BArF) system in high yields with up to 99% ee. The counteranion was found to be critically important for the high enantioselectivity and/or diastereoselectivity.