Screening and dietary exposure assessment of T-2 toxin and its modified forms in commercial cereals and cereal-based products in Shanghai.

A reliable and sensitive UPLC-MS/MS method coupled with HLB-SPE was developed for simultaneous determination of T-2 and its modified forms (HT-2, NEO, T-2-triol, T-2-tetraol, T-2-3G, and HT-2-3G) in cereals and cereal-based products. Acceptable linearity (R2 ≥ 0.99), limits of quantitation (0.5-10.0 µg/kg), intra-day precision (RSD < 12.8 %), inter-day precision (RSD ≤ 15.8 %), and recovery (76.8 %-115.2 %) were obtained for all analytes in all matrices investigated. 107 commercial foodstuffs were analyzed, and T-2 was detected in 29.0 % of maize and maize flour samples (0.51 to 56.61 µg/kg) and in 10-33.3 % of wheat flour and barley samples (1.27 to 78.51 µg/kg). Moreover, 66.7 % of the positive samples were simultaneously contaminated with two or more T-2 forms. The possible health risk related to T-2 and its modified forms in cereals and cereal-based products was evaluated using a probabilistic dietary exposure assessment. The 95th percentile dietary exposure values of the sum of T-2 forms ranged from 0.16 to 1.70 ng/kg b.w./day for lower bound (LB), and 0.17 to 7.59 ng/kg b.w./day for upper bound (UB). Results strongly suggested that the presence of T-2 and its modified forms in cereals and cereal-based products warrants greater attention and investigation, although probabilistic dietary exposure values currently remain below the tolerable daily intake (TDI) value of 20 ng/kg b.w./day.

Phylogenetic Variation of Tri1 Gene and Development of PCR-RFLP Analysis for the Identification of NX Genotypes in Fusarium graminearum Species Complex.

NX toxins have been described as a novel group of type A trichothecenes produced by members of the Fusarium graminearum species complex (FGSC). Differences in structure between NX toxins and the common type B trichothecenes arise from functional variation in the trichothecene biosynthetic enzyme Tri1 in the FGSC. The identified highly conserved changes in the Tri1 gene can be used to develop specific PCR-based assays to identify the NX-producing strains. In this study, the sequences of the Tri1 gene from type B trichothecene- and NX-producing strains were analyzed to identify DNA polymorphisms between the two different kinds of trichothecene producers. Four sets of Polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) methods were successfully developed to distinguish the common type B trichothecene producers and NX producers within FGSC. These promising diagnostic methods can be used for high-throughput genotype detection of Fusarium strains as a step forward for crop disease management and mycotoxin control in agriculture. Additionally, it was found that the Tri1 gene phylogeny differs from the species phylogeny, which is consistent with the previous studies.

Enhanced Adhesion of Copper Films on Fused Silica Glass Substrate by Plasma Pre-Treatment.

A non-thermal atmospheric jet plasma pre-treatment technique was introduced to help the growth of extremely sticky copper films on fused silica glass substrates. A tape test was utilized to assess the bonding quality between copper films and fused silica glass substrates. AFM was used to characterize the sample surface roughness and XPS for chemical bonding characterization. The Owens-Wendt method and a Theta Lite Optical Tensiometer were used to analyze the contact angle and surface energy. The results showed that the surface energy greatly increased from 34.6 ± 0.3 mJ·m-2 to 55.9 ± 0.4 mJ·m-2 after 25 s plasma pre-treatment due to the increasing Si-O and Si-N concentrations, which brought about the electrostatic force increasing at the copper/glass interface. After 25 s plasma pre-treatment, the average surface roughness (Sa) grew from 0.8 ± 0.1 nm to 2.4 ± 0.3 nm. With higher surface roughness, there were more spaces and vacancies for the copper atoms to make contact on the bonded surfaces and increase the mechanical bite force. The electrostatic force and the mechanical bite force on the interface helped to form an atomic diffusion connection layer and improved the interactions between the copper film and the glass substrate. The findings in the SEM supported the conclusions stated above. Therefore, the adhesion between copper films and fused silica glass substrates increased by about 20% by 25 s plasma pre-treatment compared with the untreated glass substrate.

Enhancing acidogenic fermentation of waste activated sludge via urea hydrogen peroxide pretreatment: Performance and mechanisms.

Improving the anaerobic treatment performance of waste activated sludge (WAS) to achieve resource recovery is an indispensable requirement to reduce carbon emissions, minimize and stabilize biosolids. In this study, a novel strategy by using urea hydrogen peroxide (UHP) to enhance SCFAs production through accelerating WAS disintegration, degrading recalcitrant substances and alleviating competitive suppression of methanogens. The SCFAs production and acetate proportion rose from 436.9 mg COD/L and 31.3% to 3102.6 mg COD/L and 54.1%, respectively, when UHP grew from 0 to 80 mg/g TSS. Mechanism investigation revealed that OH, O2 and urea were the major contributors to accelerate WAS disintegration with the sequence of OH> O2 > urea. Function microbes related to acidification and genes associated with acetate production ([EC:2.3.1.8] and [EC:2.7.2.1]) were upregulated while genes encoding propionic acid production ([EC:6.4.1.3] and [EC:6.2.1.1]) were downregulated. These results raised the application prospects of UHP in WAS resource utilization.

Type A Trichothecene Metabolic Profile Differentiation, Mechanisms, Biosynthetic Pathways, and Evolution in Fusarium Species-A Mini Review.

Trichothecenes are the most common Fusarium toxins detected in grains and related products. Type A trichothecenes are among the mycotoxins of greatest concern to food and feed safety due to their high toxicity. Recently, two different trichothecene genotypes within Fusarium species were reported. The available information showed that Tri1 and Tri16 genes are the key determinants of the trichothecene profiles of T-2 and DAS genotypes. In this review, polymorphisms in the Tri1 and Tri16 genes in the two genotypes were investigated. Meanwhile, the functions of genes involved in DAS and NEO biosynthesis are discussed. The possible biosynthetic pathways of DAS and NEO are proposed in this review, which will facilitate the understanding of the synthesis process of trichothecenes in Fusarium strains and may also inspire researchers to design and conduct further research. Together, the review provides insight into trichothecene profile differentiation and Tri gene evolutionary processes responsible for the structural diversification of trichothecene produced by Fusarium.

Integrative Single-Cell Transcriptomics and Epigenomics Mapping of the Fetal Retina Developmental Dynamics.

The underlying mechanisms that determine gene expression and chromatin accessibility in retinogenesis are poorly understood. Herein, single-cell RNA sequencing and single-cell assay for transposase-accessible chromatin sequencing are performed on human embryonic eye samples obtained 9-26 weeks after conception to explore the heterogeneity of retinal progenitor cells (RPCs) and neurogenic RPCs. The differentiation trajectory from RPCs to 7 major types of retinal cells are verified. Subsequently, diverse lineage-determining transcription factors are identified and their gene regulatory networks are refined at the transcriptomic and epigenomic levels. Treatment of retinospheres, with the inhibitor of RE1 silencing transcription factor, X5050, induces more neurogenesis with the regular arrangement, and a decrease in Müller glial cells. The signatures of major retinal cells and their correlation with pathogenic genes associated with multiple ocular diseases, including uveitis and age-related macular degeneration are also described. A framework for the integrated exploration of single-cell developmental dynamics of the human primary retina is provided.

A chromosome-level genome assembly of an early matured aromatic Japonica rice variety Qigeng10 to accelerate rice breeding for high grain quality in Northeast China.

Early-matured aromatic japonica rice from the Northeast is the most popular rice commodity in the Chinese market. The Qigeng10 (QG10) was one of the varieties with the largest planting area in this region in recent years. It was an early-matured japonica rice variety with a lot of superior traits such as semi-dwarf, lodging resistance, long grain, aromatic and good quality. Therefore, a high-quality assembly of Qigeng10 genome is critical and useful for japonica research and breeding. In this study, we produced a high-precision QG10 chromosome-level genome by using a combination of Nanopore and Hi-C platforms. Finally, we assembled the QG10 genome into 77 contigs with an N50 length of 11.80 Mb in 27 scaffolds with an N50 length of 30.55 Mb. The assembled genome size was 378.31Mb with 65 contigs and constituted approximately 99.59% of the 12 chromosomes. We identified a total of 1,080,819 SNPs and 682,392 InDels between QG10 and Nipponbare. We also annotated 57,599 genes by the Ab initio method, homology-based technique, and RNA-seq. Based on the assembled genome sequence, we detected the sequence variation in a total of 63 cloned genes involved in grain yield, grain size, disease tolerance, lodging resistance, fragrance, and many other important traits. Finally, we identified five elite alleles (qTGW2Nipponbare , qTGW3Nanyangzhan , GW5IR24 , GW6Suyunuo , and qGW8Basmati385 ) controlling long grain size, four elite alleles (COLD1Nipponbare , bZIP73Nipponbare , CTB4aKunmingxiaobaigu , and CTB2Kunmingxiaobaigu ) controlling cold tolerance, three non-functional alleles (DTH7Kitaake , Ghd7Hejiang19 , and Hd1Longgeng31 ) for early heading, two resistant alleles (PiaAkihikari and Pid4Digu ) for rice blast, a resistant allele STV11Kasalath for rice stripe virus, an NRT1.1BIR24 allele for higher nitrate absorption activity, an elite allele SCM3Chugoku117 for stronger culms, and the typical aromatic gene badh2-E2 for fragrance in QG10. These results not only help us to better elucidate the genetic mechanisms underlying excellent agronomic traits in QG10 but also have wide-ranging implications for genomics-assisted breeding in early-matured fragrant japonica rice.

Isolation of a Novel QTL, qSCM4, Associated with Strong Culm Affects Lodging Resistance and Panicle Branch Number in Rice.

Rice breeders are now developing new varieties with semi-high or even high plant height to further increase the grain yield, and the problem of lodging has re-appeared. We identified a major quantitative trait locus (QTL), qSCM4, for resistance to lodging by using an F2 segregant population and a recombinant self-incompatible line population from the cross between Shennong265 (SN265) and Lijiangxintuanheigu (LTH) after multiple years and multiple environments. Then, the residual heterozygous derived segregant population which consisted of 1781 individual plants, and the BC3F2 segregant population which consisted of 3216 individual plants, were used to shorten the physical interval of qSCM4 to 58.5 kb including 11 genes. DNA sequencing revealed the most likely candidate gene for qSCM4 was Os04g0615000, which encoded a functional protein with structural domains of serine and cysteine. There were 13 DNA sequence changes in LTH compared to SN265 in this gene, including a fragment deletion, two base changes in the 3' UTR region, six base changes in the exons, and four base changes in the introns. A near-isogenic line carrying qSCM4 showed that it improved the lodging resistance through increasing stem thickness by 25.3% and increasing stem folding resistance by 20.3%. Furthermore, it was also discovered that qSCM4 enhanced the primary branch per panicle by 16.7%, secondary branch by per panicle 9.9%, and grain number per panicle by 14.7%. All the above results will give us a valuable genetic resource for concurrently boosting culm strength and lodging resistance, and they will also provide a basis for further research on the lodging resistance mechanism of rice.

Photocatalytic Generation of Hydrogen Radical (H⋠) with GSH for Photodynamic Therapy.

As a reactive hydrogen species, the hydrogen radical (H⋅) scarcely sees applications in tumor biological therapy due to the very limited bio-friendly sources of H⋅. In this work, we report that TAF can act as an organic photosensitizer as well as an efficient photocatalytic H⋅ generator with reduced glutathione (GSH) as a fuel. The photoactivation of TAF leads to cell death in two ways including triple amplification of oxidative stress via ferroptosis-apoptosis under normoxia and apoptosis through biological reductions under hypoxia. TAF presents excellent biosafety with ultrahigh photocytotoxicity index at an order of magnitude of 102 -103 on both normoxic and hypoxic cells. The in vitro data suggest that H⋅ therapy is promising to overcome the challenge of tumor hypoxia at low doses of both photocatalyst and light. In addition, the capability of near-infrared two-photon excitation would benefit broad biological applications.

The fate of diclofenac in anaerobic fermentation of waste activated sludge.

Diclofenac (DCF), a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug, is one of the most commonly detected pharmaceuticals in wastewater treatment plants. However, the fate of DCF in waste activated sludge (WAS) anaerobic fermentation has not been well-understood so far. This work therefore aims to comprehensively reveal whether and how DCF is transformed in WAS mesophilic anaerobic fermentation through both experimental investigation and density functional theory (DFT) calculation. Experimental results showed that ∼28.8% and 45.8% of DCF were respectively degraded during the batch and long-term fermentation processes. Based on the detected intermediates and DFT-predicted active sites, three metabolic pathways, i.e., chlorination, hydroxylation, and dichlorination, responsible for DCF transformation were proposed. DFT calculation also showed that the Gibbs free energy (ΔG) of the three transformation pathways was respectively 19.0, -4.3, and -19.3 kcal/mol, suggesting that the latter two reactions (i.e., hydroxylation and dichlorination) were thermodynamically favorable. Illumina MiSeq sequencing analyses revealed that DCF improved the populations of complex organic degradation microbes such as Proteiniclasticum and Tissierellales, which was in accord with the chemical analyses above. This work updates the fundamental understanding of the degradation of DCF in WAS anaerobic fermentation process and enlightens engineers to apply theoretical calculation to the field of sludge treatment or other complex microbial ecosystems.

Immune Dysfunction Mediated by the ceRNA Regulatory Network in Human Placenta Tissue of Intrahepatic Cholestasis Pregnancy.

Pregnancy-related intrahepatic cholestasis (ICP) is a serious complication with adverse perinatal outcomes of preterm labor, fetal distress, or stillbirth. As a result, it is important to investigate and identify the potential critical pathogenic mechanisms of ICP. First, we collected the placental tissues from the ICP with placental weight and fetal birth weight loss for the whole transcriptome sequencing. Then we analyzed the differentially expressed (DE) circRNAs (DEcircRNAs) by SRPBM, DElncRNAs by FRKM, DEmiRNAs by TPM, and DEmRNAs by TPM and RSEM. Based on differential expression of term pregnancy placental tissues from pregnancies impacted by ICP (n=7) as compared to gestational aged matched control tissues (n=5), the circ/lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA competitive endogenous RNA (ceRNA) regulatory networks were constructed. The ceRNA regulatory networks covered 3,714 events, including 21 DEmiRNAs, 36 DEcircRNAs, 146 DElncRNAs, and 169 DEmRNAs. According to the functional analysis, ICP complications were linked to the immune system, signal transduction, endocrine system, cell growth and death, and transport and catabolism. Further evidence suggested that the expression of immune-related genes KLRD1, BRAF, and NFATC4 might have a potential ceRNA mechanism by individual lncRNA sponging miR372-3p, miR-371a-3p, miR-7851-3p, and miR-449a to control downstream the level of TNF-α, IFN-γ, and IL-10, thereby regulating the pathophysiology of ICP. Furthermore, our results were validated by the qRT-PCR, western blotting and ELISA assays. In conclusion, this study is the first to evaluate placental ceRNA networks in pregnancies affected by ICP, showing alterations in immune regulatory networks which may impact fetal and placental growth. Overall our these data suggest that the ceRNA regulatory network may refine biomarker predictions for developing novel therapeutic approaches in ICP.

Evaluating the effect of diclofenac on hydrogen production by anaerobic fermentation of waste activated sludge.

Hydrogen production from waste-activated sludge (WAS) anaerobic fermentation is considered to be an effective method of resource recovery. However, the presence of a large number of complex organic compounds in sludge will affect the biological hydrogen production process. As an extensively applied prevalent anti-inflammatory drug, diclofenac (DCF) is inevitably released into the environment. However, the effect of diclofenac on hydrogen production from WAS anaerobic fermentation has not been fully investigated. This work therefore aims to comprehensively investigate the removal efficiency of DCF in mesophilic anaerobic fermentation of WAS and its effect on hydrogen yield. Experiment results showed that 32.5%-38.3% of DCF was degraded in the fermentation process when DCF concentration was ranged from 6 to 100 mg/kg TSS (total suspended solids). DCF at environmental level inhibited hydrogen production, the maximal hydrogen yield decreased from 24.2 to 15.3 mL/g VSS (volatile suspended solids) with an increase of DCF addition from 6 to 100 mg/kg TSS. This is because the presence of DCF caused inhibitions to acetogenesis and acidogenesis, the processes responsible for hydrogen production, probably due to that the polar groups of DCF (i.e., carboxyl group) could readily bind to active sites of [FeFe]- Hydrogenase. Besides, the microbial analysis revealed that DCF increased the microbial diversity but had few influences on the microbial structure.

Occurrence and Risk Assessment of Dietary Exposure to Deoxynivalenol in Wheat-Based Products Based Different Wheat-Producing Area for the Inhabitants in Shanghai, China.

Deoxynivalenol (DON) is one of the major mycotoxins that contaminate cereals. In this study, we determined the DON level in wheat-based products from Chinese five main production areas collected in Shanghai and calculated the daily intake of DON for inhabitants using the point evaluation and the probabilistic evaluation based on Monte Carlo simulation. The results showed the positive rates of DON in the products were higher than 80.0%, with the concentrations ranging from 41.8 to 1110 µg/kg. The estimated mean daily intakes of DON for 7- to 10-year-old children and adults groups were below 1 µg/kg bw/day, the provisional maximum tolerable daily intake (PMTDI) set by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA), suggesting no health risks for the consumers. However, the 99th percentiles of dietary DON exposures for children and adults exceeded the PMTDI, indicating adverse health effects might occur if the two groups intake highly contaminated wheat-based products. The potential health risks for the two groups exposed to DON in the wheat-based products from the Middle and Lower Yangtze Valley (MLYV) were higher than those from the other areas in China.

Bioinformatics and Transcriptome Analysis of CFEM Proteins in Fusarium graminearum.

Fusarium blight of wheat is usually caused by Fusarium graminearum, and the pathogenic fungi will secrete effectors into the host plant tissue to affect its normal physiological process, so as to make it pathogenic. The CFEM (Common in Fungal Extracellular Membrane) protein domain is unique to fungi, but it is not found in all fungi. The CFEM protein contained in F. graminearum may be closely related to pathogenicity. In this study, 23 FgCFEM proteins were identified from the F. graminearum genome. Then, features of these proteins, such as signal peptide, subcellular localization, and transmembrane domains, etc., were analyzed and candidate effectors were screened out. Sequence alignment results revealed that each FgCFEM protein contains one CFEM domain. The amino acids of the CFEM domain are highly conserved and contain eight spaced cysteines, with the exception that FgCFEM8, 9, and 15 lack two cysteines and three cysteines were missed in FgCFEM18 and FgCFEM22. A recently identified CFEM_DR motif was detected in 11 FgCFEMs, and importantly we identified two new conserved motifs containing about 29 and 18 amino acids (CFEM_WR and CFEM_KF), respectively, in some of FgCFEM proteins. Transcriptome analysis of the genes encoding CFEM proteins indicated that all the CFEM-containing genes were expressed during wheat infection, with seven and six genes significantly up- and down-regulated, respectively, compared with in planta and in vitro. Based on the above analysis, FgCFEM11 and FgCFEM23 were predicted to be F. graminearum effectors. This study provides the basis for future functional analyses of CFEM proteins in F. graminearum.

Photocatalytic Degradation of Deoxynivalenol Using Cerium Doped Titanium Dioxide under Ultraviolet Light Irradiation.

Deoxynivalenol (DON) is a major mycotoxin with high toxicity that often contaminates grains, foods and feeds. The traditional approaches for DON removal are difficult to meet industry and agriculture demands due to the high stability of the DON molecule. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop green and effective strategies for DON degradation. In this study, a batch of photocatalytic nanomaterials of cerium (Ce) doped titanium dioxide (TiO2) were successfully prepared by sol-gel method. The catalysts were systematically characterized by XRD, HRTEM, FT-IR, UV-Vis and XPS. The catalyst 0.5Ce-TiO2 showed superior photocatalytic activity for DON degradation in aqueous solution under ultraviolet light irradiation, better than that of traditional photocatalyst pure TiO2, and 96% DON with initial concentration of 5.0 mg/L could be degraded in 4 h. In addition, the two possible degradation intermediate products C5H8O3 and C17H18O6 were identified, the photocatalytic degradation mechanism and degradation pathway were studied. The results indicate that Ce doped TiO2 photocatalyst can be used to reduce DON effectively.

Laparoscopic radical hysterectomy for cervical cancer by pulling the round ligament without a uterine manipulator.

OBJECTIVE: To demonstrate the experience of laparoscopic radical hysterectomy for cervical cancer without the use of a uterine manipulator and investigate the feasibility and treatment effectiveness of this surgical approach. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The laparoscopic radical hysterectomy for cervical cancer by pulling the round ligament without a uterine manipulator prevented the oppression of the uterine manipulator on the tumour. Vaginal ligation was performed below the lesion of cervical cancer, and the vagina was cut off below the ligation line. Consequently, the exposure of cancer tissues in the abdominal cavity was prevented, enabling a tumour-free operation. We reviewed the medical records of the 22 patients with stage IB1-IIA2 cervical squamous cell carcinoma who were treated at our hospital between May 2019 and February 2020. All the patients underwent the laparoscopic radical hysterectomy for cervical cancer by pulling the round ligament. All the patients were informed about the different therapeutic schemes and surgical approaches as well as their advantages and disadvantages. Information about operative time, intraoperative blood loss, hospitalisation duration, postoperative complications, postoperative adjuvant therapy, prognosis and other data were recorded. RESULTS: All the surgical procedures were successfully completed without perioperative complications, such as vascular injury, pelvic injury and abdominal organ injury. The mean operative duration was 204 min, and the mean operative blood loss was 102 mL. The mean duration of postoperative hospital stay was 13 days. Nineteen patients received postoperative chemotherapy once before hospital discharge. Urinary retention was the major postoperative complication. All the patients were followed up for 14-23 months. The median follow-up time was 18 months. 21 of the 22 patients survived. No recurrence was detected in the patients during follow-up. One patient who had a pelvic lymph node metastasis but refused complete chemoradiotherapy died before the last follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: This surgical approach appears to be safe and feasible for patients with cervical cancer. A larger sample size and longer follow-up period are required to confirm whether this surgical approach can actually and effectively improve the prognosis.

Molecular identification and subtyping of Blastocystis sp. in hospital patients in Central China.

Blastocystis is a common enteric protist that inhabits the gastrointestinal tract of approximately 1 billion people worldwide. In this study, a total of 1,070 patients from two hospitals in Zhengzhou, Central China were enrolled to know molecular characteristics of Blastocystis sp. The microorganism was identified and subtyped with a PCR amplification and sequencing of the small subunit ribosomal deoxyribonucleic acid (SSU-rDNA). The overall minimum prevalence of Blastocystis sp. in participants was 3.1% (33/1070). Although there were no significant differences on Blastocystis sp. infections among study sites, age groups, and gender, the higher infection was observed in the patients with gastrointestinal diseases (8.8%, 15/170). Sequence analysis of the 33 isolates revealed three known subtypes, such as ST1 (n = 7), ST3 (n = 23), and ST7 (n = 3). Among them, ST3 was the dominant subtype being detected in 23 isolates (69.7%), followed by ST1 (21.2%, 7/33) and ST7 (9.1%, 3/33). The phylogenetic analysis demonstrated that three subtypes (ST1, ST3 and ST7) were clustered with their reference sequences with good bootstrap support. The subtype determination of Blastocystis sp. isolates by the phylogenetic analysis was well supported by online platform. The present study provides the first molecular report of Blastocystis sp. infections in hospital patients in Central China.

Genetic Dissection of Germinability under Low Temperature by Building a Resequencing Linkage Map in japonica Rice.

Among all cereals, rice is highly sensitive to cold stress, especially at the germination stage, which adversely impacts its germination ability, seed vigor, crop stand establishment, and, ultimately, grain yield. The dissection of novel quantitative trait loci (QTLs) or genes conferring a low-temperature germination (LTG) ability can significantly accelerate cold-tolerant rice breeding to ensure the wide application of rice cultivation through the direct seeding method. In this study, we identified 11 QTLs for LTG using 144 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) derived from a cross between a cold-tolerant variety, Lijiangxintuanheigu (LTH), and a cold-sensitive variety, Shennong265 (SN265). By resequencing two parents and RIL lines, a high-density bin map, including 2,828 bin markers, was constructed using 123,859 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) between two parents. The total genetic distance corresponding to all 12 chromosome linkage maps was 2,840.12 cm. Adjacent markers were marked by an average genetic distance of 1.01 cm, corresponding to a 128.80 kb physical distance. Eight and three QTL alleles had positive effects inherited from LTH and SN265, respectively. Moreover, a pleiotropic QTL was identified for a higher number of erected panicles and a higher grain number on Chr-9 near the previously cloned DEP1 gene. Among the LTG QTLs, qLTG3 and qLTG7b were also located at relatively small genetic intervals that define two known LTG genes, qLTG3-1 and OsSAP16. Sequencing comparisons between the two parents demonstrated that LTH possesses qLTG3-1 and OsSAP16 genes, and SN-265 owns the DEP1 gene. These comparison results strengthen the accuracy and mapping resolution power of the bin map and population. Later, fine mapping was done for qLTG6 at 45.80 kb through four key homozygous recombinant lines derived from a population with 1569 segregating plants. Finally, LOC_Os06g01320 was identified as the most possible candidate gene for qLTG6, which contains a missense mutation and a 32-bp deletion/insertion at the promoter between the two parents. LTH was observed to have lower expression levels in comparison with SN265 and was commonly detected at low temperatures. In conclusion, these results strengthen our understanding of the impacts of cold temperature stress on seed vigor and germination abilities and help improve the mechanisms of rice breeding programs to breed cold-tolerant varieties.

T-2 Toxin-Induced Oxidative Stress Leads to Imbalance of Mitochondrial Fission and Fusion to Activate Cellular Apoptosis in the Human Liver 7702 Cell Line.

T-2 toxin, as a highly toxic mycotoxin to humans and animals, induces oxidative stress and apoptosis in various cells and tissues. Apoptosis and mitochondrial fusion/fission are two tightly interconnected processes that are crucial for maintaining physiological homeostasis. However, the role of mitochondrial fusion/fission in apoptosis of T-2 toxin remains unknown. Hence, we aimed to explore the putative role of mitochondrial fusion/fission on T-2 toxin induced apoptosis in normal human liver (HL-7702) cells. T-2 toxin treatment (0, 0.1, 1.0, or 10 µg/L) for 24 h caused decreased cell viability and ATP concentration and increased production of (ROS), as seen by a loss of mitochondrial membrane potential (∆Ψm) and increase in mitochondrial fragmentation. Subsequently, the mitochondrial dynamic imbalance was activated, evidenced by a dose-dependent decrease and increase in the protein expression of mitochondrial fusion (OPA1, Mfn1, and Mfn2) and fission (Drp1 and Fis1), respectively. Furthermore, the T-2 toxin promoted the release of cytochrome c from mitochondria to cytoplasm and induced cell apoptosis triggered by upregulation of Bax and Bax/Bcl-2 ratios, and further activated the caspase pathways. Taken together, these results indicate that altered mitochondrial dynamics induced by oxidative stress with T-2 toxin exposure likely contribute to mitochondrial injury and HL-7702 cell apoptosis.

Exploring the mechanisms of organic matter degradation and methane emission during sewage sludge composting with added vesuvianite: Insights into the prediction of microbial metabolic function and enzymatic activity.

Effect mechanisms of organic matter (OM) degradation and methane (CH4) emission during sewage sludge (SS) composting with added vesuvianite (V) were studied by high-throughput sequencing (HTS) and phylogenetic investigation of communities by reconstruction of unobserved states (PICRUSt). Results show that the addition of V accelerated the OM degradation and decreased the cumulative CH4 emissions by 33.6% relative to the control. In addition, V significantly decreased the mcrA gene abundance and the methanogen community richness at the genus level. PICRUSt also indicated that V strengthens the microbial metabolic function and enzymatic activity related to OM degradation, and reduced the enzymatic activity related to CH4 production. Methanogens community variation analysis proved the ratio of carbon and nitrogen and moisture content are the significant variables affecting CH4 emissions. Thus, optimizing the ratio of carbon and nitrogen and moisture content will decrease CH4 emission during SS composting.