First Report of Root Rot Caused by Ilyonectria robusta in the Medicinal Herb Aconitum carmichaelii in China.

Aconitum carmichaelii Debeaux is used as a traditional Chinese medicine with antiarrhythmic, antiinflammatory and other pharmacological functions. It is widely cultivated in China. According to our survey, about 60% of A. carmichaelii in Qingchuan, Sichuan, suffered from root rot, reducing yields by 30% in the past five years. Symptomatic plants exhibited stunted growth, dark brown roots, reduced root biomass, and fewer root hairs. The disease caused root rot and plant death in 50% of the infected plants. In October 2019, ten symptomatic 6-month-old plants were collected from fields in Qingchuan. Diseased pieces of the roots were surface sterilized with sodium hypochlorite solution (2%), rinsed three times in sterile water, plated on potato dextrose agar (PDA), and incubated at 25°C in the dark. Six single-spore isolates of a Cylindrocarpon-like anamorp were obtained. The colonies on PDA were 35 to 37 mm diam after seven days with regular margins. The plates were covered with felty aerial mycelium, white to buff, and the reverse side chestnut near center with a ochre to yellowish leading edge. On spezieller nährstoffarmer agar (SNA), macroconidia were 1 to 3 septate, straight or slightly curved, cylindrical, with rounded ends, and varied in size: 1-septate 15.1 to 33.5 × 3.7 to 7.3 µm (n=250), 2-septate 16.5 to 48.5 × 3.7 to 7.6 µm (n=85), and 3-septate 22.0 to 50.6 × 4.9 to 7.4 µm (n=115). Microconidia were ellipsoid to ovoid, and 0 to 1 septate; aseptate spores were 4.5 to 16.8 × 1.6 to 4.9 µm (n=200), and 1-septate spores were 7.4 to 20.0 × 2.4 to 5.1 µm (n=200). The chlamydospores were brown, thick-walled, globose to subglobose, 7.9 to 15.9 µm (n=50). The morphology of these isolates was consistent with the previous description of Ilyonectria robusta (Cabral et al. 2012). Isolate QW1901 was characterized by sequencing the ITS, TUB, H3, and tef1α loci using previously reported primer pairs: ITS1/ITS4 (White et al. 1990), T1/Bt-2b (O'Donnell and Cigelnik 1997), CYLH3F/CYLH3R (Crous et al. 2004), and EF1/EF2 (O'Donnell et al. 1998). A Blastn search of the sequences of ITS, TUB, H3, and tef1α showed that QW1901 shared 99.26, 97.89, 97.79, and 99.17 % identities, respectively, with the ex-type strain of I. robusta (CBS308.35). The ITS, TUB, H3, and tef1α sequences were deposited in GenBank under accession nos. MW534715, and MW880180 to MW880182, respectively. A phylogenetic tree was constructed from a neighbor-joining analysis on the alignment of the combined ITS, TUB, H3, and tef1α sequence. QW1901 was clustered with the ex-type strain of I. robusta. To confirm the pathogenicity of I. robusta, bare roots of healthy 6-month-old A. carmichaelii were inoculated with mycelial plugs of 7-day-old QW1901 colonies selected randomly (Lu et al. 2015). Five needle-wound lateral roots and five intact roots were inoculated as replicates with pathogen-free agar plugs as a control. Then, all plants were grown in sterile soil in a growth chamber at 20±1°C and watered regularly. Pathogenicity assays were repeated twice. After 20 days of cultivation, infected plants exhibited symptoms similar to those observed in the field. All control plants remained asymptomatic. Sequencing confirmed the re-isolation of I. robusta from the inoculated plants, satisfying Koch's hypothesis. Ilyonectria robusta has been reported to cause root rot of plants such as Codonopsis tangshen and Panax ginseng ( Lu et al. 2015; Zheng et al. 2021), and has also been reported to be isolated from Aconitum kongboense in China (Wang et al. 2015). However, this is the first report of the pathogen causing root rot of A. carmichaelii. Management measures, such as growing disease-free seedlings in sterile soil, should be used to minimize the risk of this pathogen.

The regenerating protein 3A: a crucial molecular with dual roles in cancer.

INTRODUCTION: REG3A, a member of the third subclass of the Reg family, has been found in a variety of tissues but is not detected in immune cells. In the past decade, it has been determined that REG3A expression is regulated by injury, infection, inflammatory stimuli, and pro-cytokines via different signaling pathways, and it acts as a tissue-repair, bactericidal, and anti-inflammatory molecule in human diseases. Recently, the role of REG3A in cancer has received increasing attention. The present article aims to investigate the structure, expression, regulation, function of REG3A, and to highlight the potential role of REG3A in tumors. METHODS: A detailed literature search and data organization were conducted to find information about the role of REG3A in variety of physiological functions and tumors. RESULTS: Contradictory roles of REG3A have been reported in different tumor models. Some studies have demonstrated that high expression of REG3A in cancers can be oncogenic. Other studies have shown decreased REG3A expression in cancer cells as well as suppressed tumor growth. CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, better understanding of REG3A may lead to new insights that make it a potentially useful target for cancer therapy.

Activated Plasmonic Nanoaggregates for Dark-Field in Situ Imaging for HER2 Protein Imaging on Cell Surfaces.

Dark-field microscopy (DFM) based on localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) was used for observation of experimental phenomena, which is a hopeful nondamaging and non-photobleaching biological imaging technique. In this strategy, plasma nanoaggregates with stronger scattering efficiency were formed in the presence of the target, causing a "turn-on" phenomenon, when asymmetry modified AuNPs were introduced as probes with zero LSPR background. First, Au1-N3 probe and Au2-C≡C probe were designed for the cycloaddition between azide and alkyne to form AuNP dimers under catalytic action by Cu+, which was obtained from the reduction of Cu2+ by sodium ascorbate. The two kinds of probes were successfully used for the detection of Cu2+ in rat serum. Then, to apply this concept to protein on cells, DNA and antibody were modified on the probes. DNA1/Au1-N3 probe and anti-HER2/Au2-C≡C probe were proposed for HER2 protein DFM on cells. By designing an aptamer sequence in primer, the rolling circle amplification (RCA) was introduced in HER2 DFM on cells, and the image signal was much brighter than that from no-RCA. The unique design made it easier to discriminate the target signal from background noise in cell DFM. This method might be used in the fields of molecular diagnostics and cell imaging.

Anti-Oxidative and Antibacterial Self-Healing Edible Polyelectrolyte Multilayer Film in Fresh-Cut Fruits.

The consumption of fresh-cut fruits is limited because of the oxidation browning and pathogenic bacteria's growth on the fruit surface. Besides, crack of the fresh-keeping film may shorten the preservation time of fruit. In this work, polyelectrolyte multilayer (PEM) film was fabricated by layer-by-layer (LBL) electrostatic deposition method. The film was made by carboxy methylcellulose sodium (CMC) and chitosan (CS). The as-prepared PEM film had good anti-oxidative and antibacterial capability. It inhibited the growth of Gram-negative bacteria and the antibacterial rate was more than 95%. The stratified structure and linear increase of the absorbance in the film verified a linear increase of film thickness. The slight scratched film could self-heal rapidly after the stimulation of water whatever the layer number was. Moreover, the film could heal cracks whose width was far bigger than the thickness. The application of PEM film on fresh-cut apples showed that PEM film had good browning, weight loss and metabolic activity inhibition ability. These results showed that the PEM film is a good candidate as edible film in fresh-cut fruits applications.

Self-healing multilayer polyelectrolyte composite film with chitosan and poly(acrylic acid).

If self-healing materials can be prepared via simple technology and methods using nontoxic materials, this would be a great step forward in the creation of environmentally friendly self-healing materials. In this paper, the specific structural parameters of the various hydrogen bonds between chitosan (CS) and polyacrylic acid (PAA) were calculated. Then, multilayer polyelectrolyte films were fabricated with CS and PAA based on layer-by-layer (LbL) self-assembly technology at different pH values. The possible influence of pH on the (CS/PAA) × 30 multilayer polyelectrolyte film was investigated. The results show that the interactions between CS and PAA, swelling capacity, microstructure, wettability, and self-healing ability are all governed by the pH of the CS solution. When the pH value of the CS solution is 3.0, the prepared multilayer polyelectrolyte film (CS3.0/PAA2.8) × 30 has fine-tuned interactions, a network-like structure, good swelling ability, good hydrophilicity, and excellent self-healing ability. This promises to greatly widen the future applications of environmentally friendly materials and bio-materials.

Drug-Loaded Biomimetic Carriers for Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma Therapy: Advances and Perspective.

Chemotherapy remains the mainstay of treatment for the lymphoma patient population, despite its relatively poor therapeutic results, high toxicity, and low specificity. With the advancement of biotechnology, the significance of drug-loading biomimetic materials in the medical field has become increasingly evident, attracting extensive attention from the scientific community and the pharmaceutical industry. Given that they can cater to the particular requirements of lymphoma patients, drug-loading biomimetic materials have recently become a potent and promising delivery approach for various applications. This review mainly reviews the recent advancements in the treatment of tumors with biological drug carrier-loaded drugs, outlines the mechanisms of lymphoma development and the diverse treatment modalities currently available, and discusses the merits and limitations of biological drug carriers. What is more, the practical application of biocarriers in tumors is explored by providing examples, and the possibility of loading such organisms with antilymphoma drugs for the treatment of lymphoma is conceived.

Preparation of chitosan/retinoic acid @ nanocapsules/TiO2 self-cleaning one-dimensional photonic crystals and the study of the visual detection of acute promyelocytic leukemia.

Sample exposure to air during optical detection leads to the widespread dispersal of microorganisms in the air, posing a health threat to patients and healthcare workers and potentially causing numerous nosocomial infections. In this study, a TiO2/CS-nanocapsules-Va visualization sensor was developed by alternatively spin-coating TiO2, CS and nanocapsules-Va. The uniformly distributed TiO2 can endow the visualization sensor with good photocatalytic performance, and the nanocapsules-Va can bind specifically to the antigen and change its volume. The research results showed that the visualization sensor cannot only detect acute promyelocytic leukemia conveniently, quickly and accurately, but also kill bacteria, decompose organic residues in blood samples under the influence of sunlight, and have an extensive application prospect in substance detection and disease diagnosis.

Enthalpy and entropy synergistic regulation-based programmable DNA motifs for biosensing and information encryption.

Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) provides a collection of intelligent tools for the development of information cryptography and biosensors. However, most conventional DNA regulation strategies rely solely on enthalpy regulation, which suffers from unpredictable stimuli-responsive performance and unsatisfactory accuracy due to relatively large energy fluctuations. Here, we report an enthalpy and entropy synergistic regulation-based pH-responsive A+/C DNA motif for programmable biosensing and information encryption. In the DNA motif, the variation in loop length alters entropic contribution, and the number of A+/C bases regulates enthalpy, which is verified through thermodynamic characterizations and analyses. On the basis of this straightforward strategy, the performances, such as pKa, of the DNA motif can be precisely and predictably tuned. The DNA motifs are finally successfully applied for glucose biosensing and crypto-steganography systems, highlighting their potential in the field of biosensing and information encryption.

A pH-Responsive Nanoplatform Based on Fluorescent Conjugated Polymer Dots for Imaging-Guided Multitherapeutics Delivery and Combination Cancer Therapy.

For cancer treatment, nanocarriers were designed with cationic lipids and polymers to improve the cytosolic delivery efficiency of siRNA. Though the positively charged nanocarriers showed great potential for RNA therapy, it was inevitable to generate the potential cytotoxicity. We constructed a pH-responsive nanoplatform, which co-carried siRNA and anticancer drug (hydroxycamptothecine, HCPT), to integrate gene therapy and chemotherapy for combination cancer therapy. The fluorescent conjugated polymer nanoparticles (CPNPs) modified with cell-penetrating peptides were employed as cores to carry siRNA molecules (siRNA-CPNPs) and track the biodistribution of nanotherapeutics by virtue of fluorescence. Calcium phosphate (CaP) nanocoatings were deposited on the surface of siRNA-CPNPs, followed by loading with HCPT and aptamers targeting cancer cells to obtain a targeted and tumor acid-responsive biocompatible nanoplatform. After the uptake of cancer cells, the CaP nanocoatings were decomposed in the acidic endo/lysosomes to release HCPT, and the siRNA-CPNPs were exposed to facilitate the siRNA endo/lysosome escape and cytoplasm delivery. Results obtained from both in vitro and in vivo studies in tumor inhibition expressed that the combined therapy exhibited a better therapeutic efficacy than any monotherapy.

Freestanding Hyaluronic Acid/Silk-Based Self-healing Coating toward Tissue Repair with Antibacterial Surface.

Developing coatings with multifunctional and biocompatible properties to enhance tissue wound regeneration is preferably applied clinically. Consequently, the freestanding and self-healing coatings were formed with the employment of the layer-by-layer (LbL) self-assembly. The coatings comprise beta-cyclodextrin-modified silk fibroin (SCD) and adamantane-modified hyaluronic acid (HAD) on the basis of the interactions between the host and the guest. The self-healing and freestanding capabilities allow the coatings to easily and repeatedly repair external mechanical damage and could be pulled off substrate. More importantly, the coatings have admirable antibacterial activity and biocompatibility. Moreover, the proliferation of cells and the myelination of Schwann cells are enhanced. Thus, we believe that the multifunctional coatings will have great potential in tissue engineering, especially for nerve regeneration.

An antibacterial and biocompatible multilayer biomedical coating capable of healing damages.

Besides the excellent biocompatibility and high antibacterial property, multifunctional biomedical coatings with a long service time is highly desirable for extended applications, which is still an ongoing challenge. The self-healing property enables new directions for effectively prolonging their service life and significantly improving their reliability. Herein, an efficient and simple method is used to facilely prepare antibacterial, biocompatibile multilayer polyelectrolyte coatings, which are capable of healing damages. The synthetic strategy involves the alternate deposition of Chitosan (CS) and sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) via the layer-by-layer (LBL) self-assembly technique. The CS/CMC multilayer polyelectrolyte coating features high antibacterial property, fast and efficient self-healing property, and excellent biocompatibility. These features allow the CS/CMC polyelectrolyte coating to have extended lifespan and to be highly promising for novel functional stent coating applications.

Transcriptome analysis of Aconitum carmichaelii and exploration of the salsolinol biosynthetic pathway.

Aconitum carmichaelii has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for treating various diseases for several thousand years. Based on the biosynthetic pathway of some alkaloids such as C19-diterpenoid alkaloids and obvious differences in alkaloid content between leaves of two A. carmichaelii varieties has been reported, we performed leaves transcriptome analysis of two A. carmichaelii varieties. Besides we characterized the biosynthetic pathway of salsolinol. A total of 56 million raw reads (8.28 G) and 55 million clean reads (8.24 G) were obtained from two varieties (Z175 and R184) leaves transcriptome, respectively, and 176,793 unigenes were annotated. 281 and 843 unigenes are involved in the salsolinol biosynthetic pathway and the formation of C19-diterpenoid alkaloids respectively. And including 34 and 24 unigenes are the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the biosynthesis pathway for C19-diterpenoid alkaloids and salsolinol between Z175 and R184 respectively, which were target genes to explore differences in C19-diterpenoid alkaloid and salsolinol biosynthesis in Z175 and R184. Thus genes involved in alkaloid biosynthesis and accumulation differ between varieties leaves. The mechanisms underlying the differences and their relevance require further exploration. The results expand our knowledge of alkaloids biosynthesis in A. carmichaelii leaves, and provide a theoretical basis for analysis differences in alkaloids biosynthesis patterns in different varieties.

Self-healing polyelectrolyte multilayered coating for anticorrosion on carbon paper.

Ideally, if the corrosion resistance coating on carbon paper (CP) can be endowed with the self-healing property, the service life and the reliability of the carbon paper will be greatly increased as the gas diffusion layer. In this paper, different cycles of s branched poly (ethyleneimine) (bPEI) and poly (acrylic acid) (PAA) were modified on the surface of the carbon paper via layer-by-layer (LbL) self-assembly technology. The prepared polyelectrolyte multilayered coatings can not only protect the carbon fiber from corrosion, but also take advantages of the surrounding water to quickly repair themselves after damaged. The effects of the assembly cycles on morphology, resistance, air permeability and the contact angle of carbon papers were investigated, then the differences of the carbon papers in electrolysis process were explored. The results reveal that all the prepared coatings can protect carbon papers from corrosion, while when the assembly cycles was 10, the coatings are most efficient.

Hydrogel improved the response in the titania/graphene oxide one-dimensional photonic crystals.

Recently, one-dimensional photonic crystals (1DPCs) have attracted considerable interest because they exhibit a material-specific response profile to external stimuli. In our previous work, TiO2/GO 1DPCs, the stopbands of which can be made to span the whole visible range, were fabricated by spin-coating technique. The prepared 1DPCs have a double response to both dimethyl sulfoxide and alkali solution. However, the response is slow, insensitive, and irreversible. To improve the responsiveness of the 1DPCs, poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG)-cross-linked poly((methyl vinyl ether)-co-maleic acid) (PMVE-co-MA) hydrogels were embedded in those crystals. The results demonstrated that modified 1DPCs with different stopbands could be obtained by controlling the speed of the spin-coating technique. The prepared 1DPCs have better responsiveness to external solution pH.