Solar-driven, self-sustainable electrolysis for treating eutrophic river water: Intensified nutrient removal and reshaped microbial communities.

River ecosystems are the most important resource of surface freshwater, but they have frequently been contaminated by excessive nutrient input of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) in particular. An efficient and economic river water treatment technology that possesses the capacity of simultaneous N and P removal is urgently required. In this study, a solar-driven, self-sustainable electrolytic treatment was conducted in situ to intensify N and P removal from eutrophic river water. Solar panel was applied to provide the electrolysis setups with energy (voltage 10 ± 0.5 V), and the current density was controlled to be 0.06 ± 0.02 mA cm-2. Results indicated that the average removal efficiencies of total N (TN) and total P (TP) under electrolysis conditions reached 72.4 ± 11.7 and 13.8 ± 5.3 mg m-2 d-1, which were 3.7- and 4.7-fold higher compared to untreated conditions. Enhanced TN removal mainly reflected the abatement of nitrate N (NO3--N) (80.6 ± 4.1%). The formation of ferric ions through the electro-dissolution of the sacrificial iron anode improved TP removal by coprecipitation with SPS. Combined high-throughput sequencing and statistical analyses revealed that electrolysis significantly reshaped the microbial communities in both the sediment-water interface and suspended sediment (SPS), and hydrogenotrophic denitrifiers (e.g., Hydrogenophaga) were highly enriched under electrolysis conditions. These findings indicated that in situ electrolysis is a feasible and effective technology for intensified nutrient removal from river water.

Integration of microRNA-mRNA profiles and pathway analysis of plant isoquinoline alkaloid berberine in SGC-7901 gastric cancers cells.

PURPOSE: Berberine (BBR) is a traditional Chinese medicine normally used for gastroenteritis, and recent research found that it could fight against tumors. In this study, we focused on integrating miRNA sequencing and RNA sequencing of SGC-7901 gastric cancer cells treated by BBR to elucidate their underlying mechanisms. MATERIALS AND METHODS: WST-1 assay and flow cytometry were used to check the effects of BBR on SGC-7901. miRNA sequencing and RNA sequencing were used to establish the miRNA and mRNA profiles of BBR-treated SGC-7901. RESULTS: The results showed that BBR could inhibit the proliferation of SGC-7901 cells and induce G1 arrest in cell cycle phase and apoptosis. A total of 1,960 upregulated genes and 4,837 downregulated genes were identified in the RNA sequencing and 347 upregulated and 93 downregulated miRNAs in the miRNA sequencing. A total of 78 novel miRNAs were also found. Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analysis showed that the genes were related to pathways in cancer and metabolism. We also analyzed the miRNA-mRNA network of genes grouped into cell cycle, apoptosis, inflammation, metabolism, cell junction, acetylization process, TGF-ß pathway, and Wnt signaling pathway. CONCLUSION: BBR could inhibit the proliferation of SGC-7901 cells and induce apoptosis. Integrated analysis of microRNA-mRNA profiles is a promising approach to validate gene expression patterns associated with malignant phenotype and study the mechanisms of anticancer.