Lactobacillus sp. participated in the adaptation of Rongchang piglets to cold stress.

Rongchang piglets were easily induced to cold stress and diarrhoea in the winter when raised in an open hog house. However, they also gradually recovered under mid-cold stress. Other studies have suggested gut microbiome might be involved in the host energy metabolism to relieve stress. To study how to adapt Rongchang piglets to cold stress by gut microbiome, thirty Rongchang piglets were randomly divided into a mild cold stress group and a control group for 30 consecutive days. The findings revealed that the piglets had low growth performance and a high diarrhoea rate and mortality rate during the first half of the cold treatment, but subsequently stabilised. The level of cortisol (COR) also displayed a similar trend. In the mild cold stress group, the relative abundance of Muribaculaceae significantly increased on day 15, and the predominant bacterial on day 30 was Lactobacillus sp. Our results indicated that the Rongchang piglet's production performance and health were impaired at the start of the mild cold stress. However, as time passed, the body could progressively adapt to the low temperature, and Lactobacillus sp. participated in this process. This study provides new insight into how to alleviate health damage caused by cold stress.

Multiomics Reveals the Microbiota and Metabolites Associated with Sperm Quality in Rongchang Boars.

In this study, we investigated the correlation between the composition and function of the gut microbiota and the semen quality of Rongchang boars. Significant differences in gut microbial composition between boars with high (group H) and low (group L) semen utilization rates were identified through 16S rRNA gene sequencing, with 18 differential microbes observed at the genus level. Boars with lower semen utilization rates exhibited a higher relative abundance of Treponema, suggesting its potential role in reducing semen quality. Conversely, boars with higher semen utilization rates showed increased relative abundances of Terrisporobacter, Turicibacter, Stenotrophomonas, Clostridium sensu stricto 3, and Bifidobacterium, with Stenotrophomonas and Clostridium sensu stricto 3 showing a significant positive correlation with semen utilization rates. The metabolomic analyses revealed higher levels of gluconolactone, D-ribose, and 4-pyridoxic acid in the H group, with 4 pyridoxic acid and D-ribose showing a significant positive correlation with Terrisporobacter and Clostridium sensu stricto 3, respectively. In contrast, the L group showed elevated levels of D-erythrose-4-phosphate, which correlated negatively with Bifidobacterium and Clostridium sensu stricto 3. These differential metabolites were enriched in the pentose phosphate pathway, vitamin B6 metabolism, and antifolate resistance, potentially influencing semen quality. These findings provide new insights into the complex interplay between the gut microbiota and boar reproductive health and may offer important information for the discovery of disease biomarkers and reproductive health management.

Dithiocarbamate-capped silver nanoparticles as a resonance light scattering probe for simultaneous detection of lead(II) ions and cysteine.

We investigated the suitability of dithiocarbamate (DTC) capped Ag nanoparticles (NPs) as resonance light scattering (RLS) probes for the simultaneous sensing of Pb(2+) and cysteine. The DTC capping ligands are generated by a very simple in situ method through reaction of carbon disulfide with diethanolamine as primary precursor molecules under ultrasonic irradiation. This strategy was based on the fact that Pb(2+) could induce the aggregation of DTC-Ag NPs due to the strong metal affinity of DTC along with an enhanced RLS signal. After optimizing some experimental conditions (including the pH value of the solution, concentration of DTC-Ag NPs, and ion strength), a very simple and facile sensing system has been developed for the detection of Pb(2+) in water based on RLS technology. The proposed system promises excellent selectivity, a wide linear response range and high sensitivity for Pb(2+). The linear response range for Pb(2+) was from 0.01 µM to 60 µM. The limit of detection (S/N = 3σ) for Pb(2+) was as low as 4 nM. The proposed method was successfully used to detect Pb(2+) in river and tap water samples, indicating the potential of this new, sensitive and selective method in water quality monitoring. Meanwhile, due to the strong binding preference of cysteine toward Pb(2+) by the formation of Pb(2+)-S bonds, Pb(2+) was removed from the surfaces of the DTC-Ag NPs, leading to redispersion of DTC-Ag NPs, along with a decreased RLS signal. The possibility of the proposed system for the sensing of cysteine was also investigated.

Biosorption of multifold toxic heavy metal ions from aqueous water onto food residue eggshell membrane functionalized with ammonium thioglycolate.

A new biosorbent material from eggshell membrane was synthesized through thiol functionalization, which is based on the reduction of disulfide bonds in eggshell membrane by ammonium thioglycolate. The thiol-functionalized eggshell membrane was characterized, and its application as an adsorbent for removal of Cr(VI), Hg(II), Cu(II), Pb(II), Cd(II), and Ag(I) from aqueous water has been investigated. The experimental results revealed that the adsorption abilities of the thiol-functionalized eggshell membrane toward Cr(VI), Hg(II), Cu(II), Pb(II), Cd(II), and Ag(I) improved 1.6-, 5.5-, 7.7-, 12.4-, 12.7-, and 21.1-fold, respectively, compared with that of the eggshell membrane control. The adsorption mechanism and adsorption performance, including the adsorption capacity and the kinetics of the thiol-functionalized eggshell membrane for the target heavy metals, were investigated. The effects of solution pH, coexisting substances, and natural water matrices were studied. The thiol-functionalized eggshell membrane can be used as column packing to fabricate a column for real wastewater purification.