Analysis of adaptive molecular mechanisms in response to low salinity in antennal gland of mud crab, Scylla paramamosain.

As an important marine aquaculture species, the mud crab (Scylla paramamosain) is a good candidate for studying the osmoregulatory mechanism of crustaceans. While previous studies have focused on the osmoregulatory function of the gills, this study aims to explore the osmoregulatory function of the antennal glands. By the comparative transcriptomic analysis, we found the pathways of ion regulation including "proximal tubule bicarbonate reclamation" and "mineral absorption" were activated in the antennal glands of the crabs long-term dwelling in low salinity. The enhanced ionic reabsorption was associated with up-regulated ion transport genes such as NKA, CA-c, VPA, and NHE, and with energy metabolism genes such as MDH, SLC25, and PEPCK. The upregulation of NKA and CA-c was also verified by the increased enzyme activity. The lowered osmolality and ion concentration of the hemolymph and the enlarged labyrinth lumen and hemolymph capillary inside the antennal glands indicated the infiltration of external water and the responsively increase of urine excretion, which explained the requirement of enhanced ionic reabsorption. To further confirm these findings, we examined the change of gene expression, enzyme activity, internal ion concentration, and external ion concentration during a 96 h low salinity challenge with seven intervals. The results were basically consistent with the results as shown in the long-term low salinity adaptation. The present study provides valuable information on the osmoregulatory function of the antennal glands of S. paramamosain. The implication of this study in marine aquaculture is that it provides valuable information on the osmoregulatory mechanism of mud crabs, which can be used to improve their culture conditions and enhance their tolerance to salinity stress. The identified genes and pathways involved in osmoregulation can also be potential targets for genetic selection and breeding programs to develop more resilient mud crab strains for aquaculture.

Significant tipping points of sediment microeukaryotes forewarn increasing antibiotic pollution.

Antibiotic pollution imposes urgent threats to public health and microbial-mediated ecological processes. Existing studies have primarily focused on bacterial responses to antibiotic pollution, but they ignored the microeukaryotic counterpart, though microeukaryotes are functionally important (e.g., predators and saprophytes) in microbial ecology. Herein, we explored how the assembly of sediment microeukaryotes was affected by increasing antibiotic pollution at the inlet (control) and across the outlet sites along a shrimp wastewater discharge channel. The structures of sediment microeukaryotic community were substantially altered by the increasing nutrient and antibiotic pollutions, which were primarily controlled by the direct effects of phosphate and ammonium (-0.645 and 0.507, respectively). In addition, tetracyclines exerted a large effect (0.209), including direct effect (0.326) and indirect effect (-0.117), on the microeukaryotic assembly. On the contrary, the fungal subcommunity was relatively resistant to antibiotic pollution. Segmented analysis depicted nonlinear responses of microeukaryotic genera to the antibiotic pollution gradient, as supported by the significant tipping points. We screened 30 antibiotic concentration-discriminatory taxa of microeukaryotes, which can quantitatively and accurately predict (98.7% accuracy) the in-situ antibiotic concentration. Sediment microeukaryotic (except fungal) community is sensitive to antibiotic pollution, and the identified bioindicators could be used for antibiotic pollution diagnosis.

ROS Stress and Cell Membrane Disruption are the Main Antifungal Mechanisms of 2-Phenylethanol against Botrytis cinerea.

2-Phenylethanol (2-PE), a common compound found in plants and microorganisms, exhibits broad-spectrum antifungal activity. Using Botrytis cinerea, we demonstrated that 2-PE suppressed mycelium growth in vitro and in strawberry fruit and reduced natural disease without adverse effects to fruit quality. 2-PE caused structural damage to mycelia, as shown by scanning and transmission electron microscopy. From RNA sequencing analysis we found significantly upregulated genes for enzymatic and nonenzymatic reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging systems including sulfur metabolism and glutathione metabolism, indicating that ROS stress was induced by 2-PE. This was consistent with results from assays demonstrating an increase ROS and hydrogen peroxide levels, antioxidant enzyme activities, and malondialdehyde content in treated cells. The upregulation of ATP-binding cassette transporter genes, the downregulation of major facilitator superfamily transporters genes, and the downregulation of ergosterol biosynthesis genes indicated a severe disruption of cell membrane structure and function. This was consistent with results from assays demonstrating compromised membrane integrity and lipid peroxidation. To summarize, 2-PE exposure suppressed B. cinerea growth through ROS stress and cell membrane disruption.

Preparation and application of nano petal-shaped covalent organic frameworks modified polystyrene-divinylbenzene- glycidylmethacrylate microspheres for the extraction of illicit drugs from wastewater.

A novel nano petal-shaped covalent organic frameworks modified magnetic polystyrene-divinylbenzene-glycidylmethacrylate (NP-COF@Mag-PS/DVB/GMA) microsphere has been synthesized. It is a perfect combination of high productivity of PS/DVB/GMA microspheres and excellent enrichment efficiency of COF particles, and the excellent properties of NP-COF@Mag-PS/DVB/GMA microspheres are characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The sorbent can extract illicit drugs via the reverse-phase interactions provided by benzene ring on the polymer backbone and the hydrogen bonding interactions provided by functional group (-NH-) on the COF particles. Based on using NP-COF@Mag-PS/DVB/GMA as sorbents, an easiness-to-handle of magnetic dispersive solid phase extraction (Mag-dSPE) procedure is proposed for the simultaneous preconcentration of 12 illicit drugs from wastewater. The obtained results show high extraction efficiency of NP-COF@Mag-PS/DVB/GMA to illicit drugs with recoveries between 81.6 and 116%. Furthermore, a liquid chromatography-tandem quadrupole mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method for the determination of 12 illicit drugs from wastewater at sub-ppt levels has been proposed and validated with the pretreatment of samples by Mag-dSPE. The limits of quantification (LOQs) for the 12 illicit drugs are between 0.40 and 4.90 ng/L. Validation results on linearity, specificity, trueness and precision, as well as on application to the analysis of 12 illicit drugs in ten real samples demonstrate the applicability to environment monitoring analysis.

Induction and Genomic Analysis of a Lysogenic Phage of Hafnia paralvei.

Hafnia paralvei is a bacterium that can cause zoonoses. No research has been reported on H. paralvei prophage. In this study, a Hafnia phage yong1 was induced from pathogenic H. paralvei LY-23 by mitomycin C. The phage showed a Myoviridae-like morphology having a hexagonal head of approximately 65 nm in diameter and a contractile tail of approximately 95 nm in length and 17 nm in width. Its genome was sequenced by using the Illumina Miseq platform. The complete genome of Hafnia phage yong1 is 43,329 bp with a G + C content of 47.65%. BLASTn analysis revealed that Hafnia phage yong1 had the highest sequence similarity with the predicted prophages of Enterobacter chengduensis strain WCHECl-C4 = WCHECh050004 recovered from a human blood sample and Escherichia coli strain L103-2 recovered from a goose farm in China. Hafnia phage yong1 contains a tRNA gene and 76 predicted open reading frames, 33 of which were annotated. Gene strings similar to the bacteriophage λ cro-cI-rexA-rexB operon conferring Imm and Rex to lysogenic cells were found in Hafnia phage yong1 genome. Hafnia phage yong1 is the first Myoviridae-like phage found to contain such contiguous genes. Hafnia phage yong1 formed an independent branch between two families, Chaseviridae and Drexlerviridae, in the Proteomic tree.

Unified Strategy to Amphenicol Antibiotics: Asymmetric Synthesis of (-)-Chloramphenicol, (-)-Azidamphenicol, and (+)-Thiamphenicol and Its (+)-3-Floride.

The asymmetric synthesis of (-)-chloramphenicol, (-)-azidamphenicol, and (+)-thiamphenicol and its (+)-3-floride, (+)-florfenicol, is reported. This approach toward the amphenicol antibiotic family features two key steps: (1) a cinchona alkaloid derived urea-catalyzed aldol reaction allows highly enantioselective access to oxazolidinone gem-diesters and (2) a continuous flow diastereoselective decarboxylation of thermally stable oxazolidinone gem-diesters to form the desired trans-oxazolidinone monoesters with two adjacent stereocenters that provide the desired privileged scaffolds of syn-vicinal amino alcohols in the amphenicol family.

Directly-coupled-column ultra-fast liquid chromatography with diode array detection method for the rapid quantification of allergenic disperse dyes in water preconcentrated by magnetic solid-phase extraction.

A directly-coupled-column ultra-fast liquid chromatography coupled with diode array detection method for the determination of 12 allergenic disperse dyes in river water at sub-ppb levels has been developed and successfully validated. The analytical method is based on the use of two different reversed-phased columns connected through a two-position switching valve. A baseline separation was achieved by proper selection of stationary phases, mobile phases, and the use of a gradient elution in both dimensions. Furthermore, an easy-to-handle magnetic solid-phase extraction procedure was developed for the preconcentration of 12 allergenic disperse dyes from river water. An enrichment factor of 100 times was obtained. The results showed excellent performance in terms of trueness (76.8-99.0%), precision (intraday: 2.2-8.0%, interday: 3.3-8.2%), and sensitivity (limits of determination, 0.027-1.46 µg/L). Twenty real samples collected from the outfalls in the Yaojiang, Yongjiang and Fenghuajiang estuary were analyzed, and three of the studied compounds were found in one collected sample (12.6 µg/L for disperse blue 7, 11.6 µg/L for disperse blue 106, and 0.22 µg/L for disperse blue 3).

Molecular nutritional characteristics of vinasse pike eel (Muraenesox cinereus) during pickling.

Vinasse pike eel (Muraenesox cinereus) is a traditional Chinese food with a characteristic flavour, taste, and nutritional composition. Its flavour is closely related to the molecular nutritional composition of this food pickled product. In this study, we characterised the changes in the nutritional composition of pike eel during vinasse pickling. Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy revealed 33 components in eel, e.g. a range of organic acids, amino acids, alcohols, and sugars. Multivariate data analysis further revealed that the nutritional composition of eel undergoes major changes during pickling, which were highlighted by the consumption of sucrose and creatine, the accumulation of a range of organic acids, alcohols, glucose, and creatinine, as well as in the fluctuation of some amino acids. The abundant sucrose, glutamate, creatine, and lactate could take an active part in the flavour formation of vinasse eel. This work provides insight into the nutritional characteristics of vinasse eel during pickling.

Fast throughput determination of 21 allergenic disperse dyes from river water using reusable three-dimensional interconnected magnetic chemically modified graphene oxide followed by liquid chromatography-tandem quadrupole mass spectrometry.

We report the template-free fabrication of three-dimensional hierarchical nanostructures, i.e., three-dimensional interconnected magnetic chemically modified graphene oxide (3D-Mag-CMGO), through a simple and low-cost self-assembly process using one-pot reaction based on solvothermal method. The excellent properties of the 3D-Mag-CMGO are characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM), FTIR, elementary analyzer (EA) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The easiness-to-handle of the magnetic dispersive solid phase extraction (Mag-dSPE) procedure is developed for preconcentration of 21 allergenic disperse dyes from river water. The obtained results show the higher extraction capacity of 3D-Mag-CMGO with recoveries between 80.0-112.0%. Furthermore, an ultra-fast liquid chromatography-tandem quadrupole mass spectrometry (UFLC-MS/MS) method for determination of 21 allergenic disperse dyes in river at sub-ppt levels has been developed with pretreatment of the samples by Mag-dSPE. The limits of quantification (LOQs) for the allergenic disperse dyes are between 0.57-34.05ng/L. Validation results on linearity, specificity, trueness and precision, as well as on application to the analysis of 21 allergenic disperse dyes in fifty real samples demonstrate the applicability to environment monitoring analysis.

Fast determination of catecholamines in human plasma using carboxyl-functionalized magnetic-carbon nanotube molecularly imprinted polymer followed by liquid chromatography-tandem quadrupole mass spectrometry.

A novel, simple and sensitive method based on the use of dispersive micro-solid-phase extraction (d-µ-SPE) procedure combined with ultra-fast liquid chromatography-tandem quadrupole mass spectrometry (UFLC-MS/MS) for the determination of catecholamines, i.e., dopamine (DA), norepinephrine(NE) and epinephrine (E), was developed and validated. The novel catecholamines molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) on the surface of carboxyl-functionalized magnetic-carbon nanotube (CF@m-CNTs-MIP) was synthesized and characterized by vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The CF@m-CNTs-MIP was used as the d-µ-SPE sorbent to extract catecholamines from human plasma samples. The obtained results demonstrated the higher extraction capacity of CF@m-CNTs-MIP with recoveries between 87.5-110%. The limits of quantification (LOQs) for NE, E and DA were 76 ng/L, 18 ng/L and 10 ng/L, respectively. Validation results on linearity, specificity, accuracy, precision and stability, as well as on application to the analysis of catecholamines in 120 healthy volunteers demonstrated the applicability to clinical studies.

Fast determination of 24 steroid hormones in river water using magnetic dispersive solid phase extraction followed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.

The easiness-to-handle of the magnetic dispersive solid phase extraction (Mag-dSPE) procedure was developed for preconcentration of 24 steroid hormones in river water. Ethylenediamine-functionalized magnetic carbon nanotubes (EDA@Mag-CNTs) were synthesised by a simple one-pot reaction and were used as sorbent in Mag-dSPE procedure. The properties of the EDA@Mag-CNTs were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). An ultra-fast liquid chromatography-tandem quadrupole mass spectrometry (UFLC-MS/MS) method for determination of 24 steroid hormones in river water at nanograms per liter had been developed with pretreatment of the samples by Mag-dSPE. The obtained results demonstrated the higher extraction capacity of EDA@Mag-CNT Mag-dSPE with recoveries between 82.1 and 113%. The limits of quantification (LOQs) for the steroid hormone were between 0.020 and 1.00 ng/L. The developed method had been successfully applied to 60 river water samples, and it was confirmed that EDA@Mag-CNT Mag-dSPE was a highly effective extraction method for the steroid hormone analyses.

Optimum heterodyning angle for heterodyned optical Kerr gated ballistic imaging.

We perform heterodyned optical Kerr gated (HOKG) ballistic imaging of an object hidden behind a turbid medium using a femtosecond laser. The experimental results show that an optimum heterodyning angle should be selected to acquire the highest spatial resolution of the HOKG imaging system. The optimum heterodyning angle depends on the scattering parameters of the turbid media, and it decreases with increasing optical density or decreasing thickness of the turbid medium.

Sharpness-enhanced ultrafast imaging by using a biased optical Kerr gate.

We proposed a novel biased optical Kerr gated imaging (BOKGI) method for ultrafast imaging. The imaging performance of the BOKGI system has been investigated. Experimental results showed that by using the BOKGI, the high spatial frequency components of the detected object could be effectively retrieved, which are often filtered by the photo-induced soft aperture in a conventional OKGI system. Comparing with the conventional OKGI method, the BOKGI method could enhance the sharpness of images and provide a higher spatial resolution of the imaging system. In addition, the influence of the biased angle on the BOKGI performance has been also investigated.

Fast determination of 22 sulfonamides from chicken breast muscle using core-shell nanoring amino-functionalized superparamagnetic molecularly imprinted polymer followed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.

A novel, simple and sensitive method was developed for the simultaneous determination of 22 sulfonamides (SAs) in chicken breast muscle by using the dispersive micro-solid-phase extraction (d-µ-SPE) procedure combined with ultra-fast liquid chromatography-tandem quadrupole mass spectrometry (UFLC-MS/MS). The excellent core-shell nanoring amino-functionalized superparamagnetic molecularly imprinted polymer (CS-NR-Mag-MIP) was used as sorbent, and the main factors affecting the extraction efficiency were investigated in detail. All target compounds showed good linearities in the tested range with correlation coefficients (r) higher than 0.9980. The mean recoveries were in the range of 85.0-112.2% at low, medium and high concentration levels (0.1, 1.0 and 5.0 ng/g). The intra-day and inter-day relative standard deviations (RSDs) were lower than 6.0% and 8.9%, respectively. The limits of quantification for the 22 SAs were between 0.013 and 0.099 ng/g. The developed d-µ-SPE-UFLC-MS/MS method had been successfully applied to the chicken breast muscle samples for food-safety risk monitoring in Zhejiang Province, China. The results showed sulfamethazine, sulfamethoxazole and sulfaquinoxaline in five out of three hundred collected samples were detected with concentrations of 0.418-2.28, 16.4 and 2.93 ng/g, respectively. It was confirmed that the CS-NR-Mag-MIP was a kind of highly effective d-µ-SPE materials used for the SAs analyses.

High contrast ballistic imaging using femtosecond optical Kerr gate of tellurite glass.

We investigated the ballistic imaging technique using femtosecond optical Kerr gate of a tellurite glass. High contrast images of an object hidden behind turbid media were obtained. Compared to the conventional femtosecond optical Kerr gate using fused quartz, the optical Kerr gate using tellurite glass has more capacity to acquire high quality images of the object hidden behind a high optical density turbid medium. The experimental results indicated that the tellurite glass is a good candidate as the optical Kerr material for the ballistic imaging technique due to its large optical nonlinearity.