Prediction of Potential Suitable Distribution Areas for an Endangered Salamander in China.

Climate change has been considered to pose critical threats for wildlife. During the past decade, species distribution models were widely used to assess the effects of climate change on the distribution of species' suitable habitats. Among all the vertebrates, amphibians are most vulnerable to climate change. This is especially true for salamanders, which possess some specific traits such as cutaneous respiration and low vagility. The Wushan salamander (Liua shihi) is a threatened and protected salamander in China, with its wild population decreasing continuously. The main objective of this study was to predict the distribution of suitable habitat for L. shihi using the ENMeval parameter-optimized MaxEnt model under current and future climate conditions. Our results showed that precipitation, cloud density, vegetation type, and ultraviolet radiation were the main environmental factors affecting the distribution of L. shihi. Currently, the suitable habitats for L. shihi are mainly concentrated in the Daba Mountains, including northeastern Chongqing and western Hubei Provinces. Under the future climate conditions, the area of suitable habitats increased, which mainly occurred in central Guizhou Province. This study provided important information for the conservation of L. shihi. Future studies can incorporate more species distribution models to better understand the effects of climate change on the distribution of L. shihi.

Robust, Efficient, and Recoverable Thermocells with Zwitterion-Boosted Hydrogel Electrolytes for Energy-Autonomous and Wearable Sensing.

The rapid growth of flexible quasi-solid-state thermocells (TECs) provides a fresh way forward for wearable electronics. However, their insufficient mechanical strength and power output still hinder their further applications. This work demonstrates a one-stone-two-birds strategy to synergistically enhance the mechanical and thermoelectrochemical properties of the [Fe(CN)6]3-/4--based TECs. By introducing multiple non-covalent interactions via betaine zwitterions, the mechanical strength of the conventional brittle gelatin hydrogel electrolytes is substantially improved from 50 to 440 kPa, with a high stretchability approaching 250%. Meanwhile, the betaine zwitterions strongly affect the solvation structure of [Fe(CN)6]3- ions, thus enlarging the entropy difference and raising the thermoelectrochemical Seebeck coefficient from 1.47 to 2.2 mV K-1. The resultant quasi-solid-state TECs exhibit a superior normalized output power density of 0.48 mW m-2 K-2, showing a notable improvement in overall performance compared to their counterparts without zwitterion regulation. In addition, the intrinsic thermo-reversible property allows the TECs to repeatedly self-recover through sol-gel transformations, ensuring reliable energy output and even recycling of TECs in case of extreme mechanical damages. An energy-autonomous smart glove consisting of eighteen individual TECs is further designed, which can simultaneously monitor the temperature of different positions of any touched object, demonstrating high potential in wearable applications.

Development of a novel disulfidptosis-related lncRNA signature for prognostic and immune response prediction in clear cell renal cell carcinoma.

Disulfidptosis, a novel form of regulated cell death, occurs due to the aberrant accumulation of intracellular cystine and other disulfides. Moreover, targeting disulfidptosis could identify promising approaches for cancer treatment. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are known to be critically implicated in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) development. Currently, the involvement of disulfidptosis-related lncRNAs in ccRCC is yet to be elucidated. This study primarily dealt with identifying and validating a disulfidptosis-related lncRNAs-based signature for predicting the prognosis and immune landscape of individuals with ccRCC. Clinical and RNA sequencing data of ccRCC samples were accessed from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. Pearson correlation analysis was conducted for the identification of the disulfidptosis-related lncRNAs. Additionally, univariate Cox regression analysis, Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator Cox regression, and stepwise multivariate Cox analysis were executed to develop a novel risk prognostic model. The prognosis-predictive capacity of the model was then assessed using an integrated method. Variation in biological function was noted using GO, KEGG, and GSEA. Additionally, immune cell infiltration, the tumor mutational burden (TMB), and tumor immune dysfunction and exclusion (TIDE) scores were calculated to investigate differences in the immune landscape. Finally, the expression of hub disulfidptosis-related lncRNAs was validated using qPCR. We established a novel signature comprised of eight lncRNAs that were associated with disulfidptosis (SPINT1-AS1, AL121944.1, AC131009.3, AC104088.3, AL035071.1, LINC00886, AL035587.2, and AC007743.1). Kaplan-Meier and receiver operating characteristic curves demonstrated the acceptable predictive potency of the model. The nomogram and C-index confirmed the strong correlation between the risk signature and clinical decision-making. Furthermore, immune cell infiltration analysis and ssGSEA revealed significantly different immune statuses among risk groups. TMB analysis revealed the link between the high-risk group and high TMB. It is worth noting that the cumulative effect of the patients belonging to the high-risk group and having elevated TMB led to decreased patient survival times. The high-risk group depicted greater TIDE scores in contrast with the low-risk group, indicating greater potential for immune escape. Finally, qPCR validated the hub disulfidptosis-related lncRNAs in cell lines. The established novel signature holds potential regarding the prognosis prediction of individuals with ccRCC as well as predicting their responses to immunotherapy.

A systematic review and meta-analysis of field studies of portable air cleaners: Performance, user behavior, and by-product emissions.

Indoor air quality is important for the health of building occupants, and public interest in controlling indoor airborne pathogens increased dramatically with the COVID-19 pandemic. Pollutant concentrations can be controlled locally using portable air cleaners (sometimes called air purifiers), which allow occupants to apply air cleaning technology to meet their needs in the location and times that they find appropriate. This paper provides a systematic review of scientific literature that describes field studies of the effectiveness of portable air cleaners. Over 500 papers were considered, and 148 were reviewed in detail, to extract 35 specific research results (e.g., particulate removal performance) or characteristics (e.g., type of building). These were aggregated to provide an overview of results and approaches to this type of research, and to provide meta-analyses of the results. The review includes: descriptions of the geographical location of the research; rate of publications over time; types of buildings and occupants in the field study; types of air cleaner technology being tested; pollutants being measured; resulting pollutant removal effectiveness; patterns of usage and potential barriers to usage by occupants; and the potential for by-product emissions in some air cleaner technologies. An example result is that 83 of the 148 papers measured reductions in fine particulates (PM2.5) and found a mean reduction of 49 % with standard deviation of 20 %. The aggregated results were approximately normally distributed, ranging from finding no significant reduction up to a maximum above 90 % reduction. Sixteen of the 148 papers considered gaseous pollutants, such as volatile organic compounds, nitrogen dioxide, and ozone; 36 papers considered biological pollutants, such as bacteria, viruses, pollen, fungi, etc. An important challenge, common to several studies, is that occupants run the air cleaners for shorter periods and on low airflow rate settings, because of concerns about noise, drafts, and electricity cost, which significantly reduces air cleaning effectiveness.

Preparation of MIL-88(Fe)@Fe2O3@FeSiCr double core-shell-structural composites and their wave-absorbing properties.

To tackle the aggravating electromagnetic wave (EMW) pollution issues, high-efficiency EMW absorption materials are being urgently explored. The FeSiCr soft magnetic alloy is one of the more widely used and well-received iron-based soft magnetic alloy materials with high permeability; however, the development of high-performance FeSiCr alloy wave-absorbing materials is still a major challenge. In this study, double core-shell-structured composites of MIL-88(Fe)@Fe2O3@FeSiCr were successfully prepared by the oxidative heat treatment of the flaky FeSiCr obtained after ball milling and then in situ composited with MIL-88(Fe). The heterogeneous interfacial composition and microstructure were regulated to balance the microwave-loss capability and impedance matching of the material, and an enhancement of the composite absorbing performance was achieved. The composite material had a reflection-loss minimization (RLmin) of -72.65 dB, corresponding to a frequency of 6.61 GHz, with an absorbing coating thickness of 2.97 mm and an effective absorbing bandwidth (RL ≤ -10 dB) of 2.38 GHz (5.42-7.80 GHz). The results of this study provide useful ideas for wave-absorbing materials by applying high permeability soft magnetic alloy micropowders.

The prognostic value of red blood cell distribution width for pulmonary infection in elderly patients received abdominal surgery with tracheal intubation and general anesthesia.

BACKGROUND: Red blood cell distribution width (RDW) has been shown to be an important predictor of the occurrence of various inflammatory and infectious diseases. However, the predictive value of RDW for pulmonary infection in elderly patients undergoing abdominal surgery under general anesthesia with endotracheal intubation remains unclear. METHODS: A total of 200 eligible elderly patients who underwent abdominal surgery with endotracheal intubation and general anesthesia in our hospital from January 2019 to January 2022 were included in this study. During hospitalization, there were 64 cases with different degrees of pulmonary infection, and 136 cases without pulmonary infection. Participants' RDW levels were analyzed on admission. Serum levels of inflammatory factors in infected patients were analyzed during hospitalization. Multivariate logistic analysis was performed to evaluate clinical factors for pulmonary infection during hospitalization following-up abdominal surgery with endotracheal intubation and general anesthesia in elderly patients. Youden's J statistic was used to define the correlation. RESULTS: RDW at admission was independently associated with the risk of pulmonary infection in elderly patients undergoing general anesthesia with endotracheal intubation for abdominal surgery ([OR 1.952, 95% confidence interval 1.604 to 2.279, p=0.006]). RDW at admission was statistically positively correlated with inflammatory factors, including procalcitonin (p<0.001), C-reactive protein (p<0.001), and tumor necrosis factor-α (p<0.001), in elderly patients with postoperative pneumonia who underwent abdominal surgery. CONCLUSION: RDW at admission had predictive value for pulmonary infection in elderly patients undergoing abdominal surgery under general anesthesia with endotracheal intubation.

Serum Proteomic Signatures in Umbilical Cord Blood of Preterm Neonates Delivered by Women with Gestational Diabetes.

Background: Women who develop diabetes during pregnancy are at higher risk of preterm birth. Here, we identified differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) in the serum of umbilical cord blood samples obtained from preterm neonates delivered by women with gestational diabetes to provide therapeutic targets for clinical drug development. Materials and Methods: Umbilical cord blood was collected after delivery of preterm neonates by women with gestational diabetes and after delivery of healthy neonates by women without diabetes. DEPs in the serum samples were identified using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Gene Ontology (GO), cluster analysis and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) were used to determine the biological functions associated with these DEPs. Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay was used to confirm the key DEPs. Results: We found that 21 proteins were significantly upregulated, and 51 proteins were significantly downregulated in 72 DEPs in serum samples. GO analyses showed that the DEPs were mainly associated with the GO terms cellular process, biological regulation, cellular anatomical entity, and binding. KEGG signaling pathway analysis indicated that most of the upregulated DEPs were associated with the complement and coagulation cascades, Staphylococcus aureus infection, pertussis, HIF-1 signaling pathway and PPAR signaling pathway and that most of the downregulated DEPs were associated with the complement and coagulation cascades, dilated cardiomyopathy, pathways in cancer, Chagas disease, and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. The results of KEGG pathway annotation and enrichment analyses indicated that changes in the complement and coagulation cascades may be importantly associated with preterm delivery of neonates by women with gestational diabetes. The key DEPs were confirmed by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay. Conclusion: Our proteomics and bioinformatics analyses identified several key proteins and the complement and coagulation cascades pathway that warrant further investigation as potential novel therapeutic targets in preterm delivery among women with gestational diabetes.

Comparison of clinical outcomes between laparoscopic orchiopexy and open orchiopexy in the treatment of palpable undescended testes.

Objective: To compare the clinical effects of laparoscopic orchiopexy (LO) and open orchiopexy (OO) in the treatment of palpable undescended testes. Methods: Seventy-six children with palpable undescended testes treated in Zaozhuang Municipal Hospital from June 2019 to January 2021 were selected in this observational retrospective study. Patients were grouped according to their different surgical methods, 33 patients received OO (Open-group) and 43 patients received LO (Laparoscopic-group). The clinical outcomes of the two groups were compared, including surgical-related indicators, near and long-term surgical complications and postoperative testicular growth. Results: Operation time, intraoperative bleeding, first ambulation time and hospitalization time in the Laparoscopic-group were lower than those in the Open-group (p<0.05). The short-term complication rate in the Laparoscopic-group was lower than that in the Open-group (2.27% vs 15.15%; p<0.05), but the long-term complication rate in the Laparoscopic-group was not significantly different from the Open-group (4.65% vs 3.03%; p>0.05). Follow-up was up to 18 months post-operation, with the rate of testicular growth (97.67% vs 96.97%; p>0.05) and testicular volume (0.59 ± 0.14ml vs 0.58 ± 0.12ml p>0.05) not significantly different between the Laparoscopic-group or Open-group respectively. Conclusion: LO is as clinically effective as OO in the treatment of palpable undescended testes, however, shorter operation time, less intraoperative bleeding and rapid recovery time have been noted with LO.

Interspecies Horizontal Transfer and Specific Integration of the Mosquitocidal Toxin-Encoding Plasmid pTAND672-2 from Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. israelensis to Lysinibacillus sphaericus.

pTAND672-2, a 144-kb resident plasmid of Bacillus thuringiensis serovar israelensis strain TAND672, was sequenced and characterized. This extrachromosomal element carries mosquitocidal toxin-, conjugation-, and recombinase-encoding genes, together with a putative arbitrium system, a genetic module recently discovered in temperate phages controlling lysogeny-lysis transition and in mobile genetic elements (MGEs) where its function remains clarified. Using conjugation experiments, pTAND672-2 is shown to be a novel integrative and conjugative element (ICE), which can horizontally transfer from B. thuringiensis serovar israelensis to Lysinibacillus sphaericus, another mosquitocidal bacterium, where it integrates into the chromosome. Its integration and circularization are reversible and involve a single-cross recombination between 33-bp specific sites, attB in the chromosome of L. sphaericus and attP in pTAND672-2. CDS143, coding for the putative tyrosine integrase Int143 distantly related to site-specific tyrosine Xer recombinases and phage integrases, can mediate the integration of pTAND672-2 to attB. The B. thuringiensis mosquito-killing genes carried by pTAND672-2 are efficiently transcribed and expressed in L. sphaericus, displaying a slight increased toxicity in this bacterium against Aedes albopictus larvae. The occurrence of pTAND672-2-like plasmids within the Bacillus cereus group was also explored and indicated that they all share a similar genetic backbone with diverse plasmid sizes, ranging from 58 to 225 kb. Interestingly, among them, the pEFR-4-4 plasmid of Bacillus paranthracis EFR-4 and p5 of B. thuringiensis BT-59 also display conjugative capability; moreover, like pTAND672-2 displays a chimeric structure between the pCH_133-e- and pBtoxis-like plasmids, pBTHD789-3 also appears to be mosaic of two plasmids. IMPORTANCE Horizontal transfer of mobile genetic elements carrying mosquitocidal toxin genes may play a driving role in the diversity of mosquitocidal bacteria. Here, the 144-kb mosquitocidal toxin-encoding plasmid pTAND672-2 is the first verified integrative and conjugative element (ICE) identified in Bacillus thuringiensis serovar israelensis. The key tyrosine integrase Int143, involved in the specific integration, is distantly related to other tyrosine recombinases. The study also reports the occurrence and potential interspecies transmission of pTAND672-2-like plasmids with varied sizes in B. thuringiensis, Bacillus paranthracis, and Bacillus wiedmannii isolates belonging to the Bacillus cereus group. This study is important for further understanding the evolution and ecology of mosquitocidal bacteria, as well as for providing new direction for the genetic engineering of biopesticides in the control of disease-transmitting mosquitoes.

Upcycling of poly(ethylene terephthalate) to produce high-value bio-products.

More than 70 million tons of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) are manufactured worldwide every year. The accumulation of PET waste has become a global pollution concern, motivating the urgent development of technologies to valorize post-consumer PET. The development of chemocatalytic and enzymatic approaches for depolymerizing PET to its corresponding monomers opens up new opportunities for PET upcycling through biological transformation. Here, we identify Rhodococcus jostii strain PET (RPET) that can directly use PET hydrolysate as a sole carbon source. We also investigate the potential of RPET to upcycle PET into value-added chemicals, using lycopene as a proof-of-concept product. Through rational metabolic engineering, we improve lycopene production by more than 500-fold over that of the wild type. In addition, we demonstrate the production of approximately 1,300 µg/L lycopene from PET by cascading this strain with PET alkaline hydrolysis. This work highlights the great potential of biological conversion as a means of achieving PET upcycling.

Mining the Roles of Cucumber DUF966 Genes in Fruit Development and Stress Response.

DUF966 genes are widely found in monocotyledons, dicotyledons, mosses, and other species. Current evidence strongly suggests that they are involved in growth regulation and stress tolerance in crops. However, their functions in cucumbers remain unexplored. Here, cucumber CsDUF966 was systemically identified and characterized using bioinformatics. Eight CsDUF966 genes were identified in the cucumber genome. These were phylogenetically separated into three groups. All CsDUF966 proteins were hydrophilic and localized to the nucleus. Moreover, three acidic and five basic proteins were identified. Evolutionary analysis of DUF966 between cucumber and 33 other Cucurbitaceae species/cultivars revealed that most CsDUF966 genes were conserved, whereas CsDUF966_4.c and CsDUF966_7.c were positively selected among the five cucumber cultivars. Expression profiling analysis showed that CsDUF966 had variable expression patterns, and that miRNA164, miRNA166, and Csa-novel-35 were involved in the post-transcriptional regulation of CsDUF966_4.c and CsDUF966_7.c. The expression of CsDUF966_4.c and CsDUF966_7.c, which were under strong neofunctionalization selection, was strictly regulated in fruit and tissues, including seeds, pericarps, peels, and spines, suggesting that these genes are fruit growth regulators and were strongly selected during the cucumber breeding program. In conclusion, the results reveal the roles of CsDUF966s in regulating cucumber fruit development and lay the foundation for further functional studies.

Regulation Networks of Non-Coding RNA-Associated ceRNAs in Cisplatin-Induced Acute Kidney Injury.

Cisplatin is widely used as a chemotherapeutic drug to treat various solid tumors. However, it often induces severe side effects, including nephrotoxicity, which limits its application in clinical settings. Furthermore, the underlying mechanisms of action are unclear. Here, we applied whole-transcriptome RNA sequencing to a cisplatin-induced acute kidney injury (CP-AKI) mouse model to evaluate competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) networks. We found 4460 mRNAs, 1851 long non-coding RNAs, 101 circular RNAs, and 102 microRNAs significantly differentially expressed between CP-AKI and control mice. We performed gene set enrichment analysis to reveal the biological functions of the mRNAs and constructed non-coding RNA-associated ceRNA networks in CP-AKI mice. Two ceRNA regulatory pathways, Lhx1os-203/mmu-miR-21a-3p/Slc7a13 and circular RNA_3907/mmu-miR-185-3p/Ptprn, were validated using quantitative real-time PCR. The protein-protein interaction network indicated that Il6, Cxcl1, Cxcl2, and Plk1 serve as hub genes and are highly connected with the inflammatory response or DNA damage. Transcription factors, such as Stat3, Cebpb, and Foxm1, regulate gene expression levels in CP-AKI. Our study provides insight into non-coding RNA-associated ceRNA networks and mRNAs in CP-AKI and identifies potential treatment targets.

Comprehensive N- and O-Glycoproteomic Analysis of Multiple Chinese Hamster Ovary Host Cell Lines.

Glycoproteomic analysis of three Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) suspension host cell lines (CHO-K1, CHO-S, and CHO-Pro5) commonly utilized in biopharmaceutical settings for recombinant protein production is reported. Intracellular and secreted glycoproteins were examined. We utilized an immobilization and chemoenzymatic strategy in our analysis. Glycoproteins or glycopeptides were first immobilized through reductive amination, and the sialyl moieties were amidated for protection. The desired N- or O-glycans and glycopeptides were released from the immobilization resin by enzymatic or chemical digestion. Glycopeptides were studied by Orbitrap Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC/MS), and the released glycans were analyzed by Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight (MALDI-TOF). Differences were detected in the relative abundances of N- and O-glycopeptide types, their resident and released glycans, and their glycoprotein complexity. Ontogeny analysis revealed key differences in features, such as general metabolic and biosynthetic pathways, including glycosylation systems, as well as distributions in cellular compartments. Host cell lines and subfraction differences were observed in both N- and O-glycan and glycoprotein pools. Differences were observed in sialyl and fucosyl glycan distributions. Key differences were also observed among glycoproteins that are problematic contaminants in recombinant antibody production. The differences revealed in this study should inform the choice of cell lines best suited for a particular bioproduction application.

Comparison of Different Drying Methods for Asparagus [Asparagus cochinchinensis (Lour.) Merr.] Root Volatile Compounds as Revealed Using Gas Chromatography Ion Mobility Spectrometry.

Asparagus [Asparagus cochinchinensis (Lour.) Merr.] is a traditional herbal medicine plant commonly used to nourish yin, moisten dryness, and clear fire cough symptoms. Drying is an excellent option to conserve food materials, i.e., grains, fruits, vegetables, and herbs, reducing the raw materials volume and weight. This study aims to evaluate different drying approaches that could increase the value of asparagus, particularly as an ingredient in fast foods or as nutraceutical byproducts. The volatile components of asparagus roots were analyzed by using headspace-gas chromatography-ion mobility spectroscopy under different drying conditions, i.e., natural drying (ND) at ambient air temperature in the dark, well-ventilated room, temperature range 28-32°C, blast or oven drying at 50°C, heat pump or hot-air drying at temperature 50°C and air velocity at 1.5 ms-1 and vacuum freeze-drying at the temperature of -45°C and vacuum pressure of 10-30 Pa for 24 h. The findings revealed that the various drying processes had multiple effects on the color, odor index, and volatile compounds of the asparagus roots. As a result of the investigations, multiple characteristics of components, therefore, exploitation and comparison of various flavors; a total of 22 compounds were identified, such as alcohols, ketones, aldehydes, acids, esters, heterocyclic, and terpene. The present findings may help understand the flavor of the processed asparagus roots and find a better option for drying and processing.

Function and Characterization Analysis of BodoOBP8 from Bradysia odoriphaga (Diptera: Sciaridae) in the Recognition of Plant Volatiles and Sex Pheromones.

The belowground pest Bradysia odoriphaga (Diptera: Sciaridae) has a sophisticated and sensitive olfactory system to detect semiochemical signals from the surrounding environment. In particular, odorant-binding proteins (OBPs) are crucial in capturing and transporting these semiochemical signals across the sensilla lymph to the corresponding odorant receptors. In this study, we cloned a full-length cDNA sequence of BodoOBP8 from B. odoriphaga. Real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) analysis revealed that BodoOBP8 has the highest expression levels in males, with more pronounced expression in the male antennae than in other tissues. In this study, the recombinant protein BodoOBP8 was successfully expressed by a bacterial system to explore its function. Competitive binding assays with 33 host plant volatiles and one putative sex pheromone (n-heptadecane) revealed that purified BodoOBP8 strongly bound to two sulfur compounds (methyl allyl disulfide and diallyl disulfide) and to n-heptadecane; the corresponding dissolution constants (Ki) were 4.04, 6.73, and 4.04 µM, respectively. Molecular docking indicated that Ile96, Ile103, Ala107, and Leu111, located in the hydrophobic cavity of BodoOBP8, are the key residues mediating the interaction of BodoOBP8 with two sulfur compounds (methyl allyl disulfide and diallyl disulfide) and n-heptadecane. These results show that BodoOBP8 plays a role in the recognition of plant volatiles and sex pheromones, suggesting its application as a molecular target for the screening of B. odoriphaga attractants and repellents and facilitating a new mechanism of B. odoriphaga control.

Genome-wide identification of ZF-HD gene family in Triticum aestivum: Molecular evolution mechanism and function analysis.

ZF-HD family genes play important roles in plant growth and development. Studies about the whole genome analysis of ZF-HD gene family have been reported in some plant species. In this study, the whole genome identification and expression profile of the ZF-HD gene family were analyzed for the first time in wheat. A total of 37 TaZF-HD genes were identified and divided into TaMIF and TaZHD subfamilies according to the conserved domain. The phylogeny tree of the TaZF-HD proteins was further divided into six groups based on the phylogenetic relationship. The 37 TaZF-HDs were distributed on 18 of 21 chromosomes, and almost all the genes had no introns. Gene duplication and Ka/Ks analysis showed that the gene family may have experienced powerful purification selection pressure during wheat evolution. The qRT-PCR analysis showed that TaZF-HD genes had significant expression patterns in different biotic stress and abiotic stress. Through subcellular localization experiments, we found that TaZHD6-3B was located in the nucleus, while TaMIF4-5D was located in the cell membrane and nucleus. Our research contributes to a comprehensive understanding of the TaZF-HD family, provides a new perspective for further research on the biological functions of TaZF-HD genes in wheat.

Low Cycle Fatigue Life Assessment Based on the Accumulated Plastic Strain Energy Density.

The accumulated plastic strain energy density at a dangerous point is studied to estimate the low cycle fatigue life that is composed of fatigue initiation life and fatigue crack propagation life. The modified Ramberg-Osgood constitutive relation is applied to characterize the stress-strain relationship of the strain-hardening material. The plastic strain energy density under uni-axial tension and cyclic load are derived, which are used as threshold and reference values, respectively. Then, a framework to assess the lives of fatigue initiation and fatigue crack propagation by accumulated plastic strain energy density is proposed. Finally, this method is applied to two types of aluminum alloy, LC9 and LY12 for low-cycle fatigue, and agreed well with the experiments.

An Improved CRISPR Interference Tool to Engineer Rhodococcus opacus.

Rhodococcus opacus is a nonmodel bacterium that is well suited for valorizing lignin. Despite recent advances in our systems-level understanding of its versatile metabolism, studies of its gene functions at a single gene level are still lagging. Elucidating gene functions in nonmodel organisms is challenging due to limited genetic engineering tools that are convenient to use. To address this issue, we developed a simple gene repression system based on CRISPR interference (CRISPRi). This gene repression system uses a T7 RNA polymerase system to express a small guide RNA, demonstrating improved repression compared to the previously demonstrated CRISPRi system (i.e., the maximum repression efficiency improved from 58% to 85%). Additionally, our cloning strategy allows for building multiple CRISPRi plasmids in parallel without any PCR step, facilitating the engineering of this GC-rich organism. Using the improved CRISPRi system, we confirmed the annotated roles of four metabolic pathway genes, which had been identified by our previous transcriptomic analysis to be related to the consumption of benzoate, vanillate, catechol, and acetate. Furthermore, we showed our tool's utility by demonstrating the inducible accumulation of muconate that is a precursor of adipic acid, an important monomer for nylon production. While the maximum muconate yield obtained using our tool was 30% of the yield obtained using gene knockout, our tool showed its inducibility and partial repressibility. Our CRISPRi tool will be useful to facilitate functional studies of this nonmodel organism and engineer this promising microbial chassis for lignin valorization.

Mechanism of Nano-Structuring Manipulation of the Crystallization Temperature of Superlattice-like [Ge8Sb92/Ge]3 Phase-Change Films.

Superlattice-like (SLL) phase-change film is considered to be a promising phase-change material because it provides more controllabilities for the optimization of multiple performances of phase-change films. However, the mechanism by which SLL structure affects the properties of phase-change films is not well-understood. Here, four SLL phase-change films [Ge8Sb92(15 nm)/Ge (x nm)]3 with different x are fabricated. Their behaviors of crystallization are investigated by measuring sheet resistance and coherent phonon spectroscopy, which show that the crystallization temperature (TC) of these films increases anomalously with x, rather than decreases as the interfacial effects model predicted. A new stress effect is proposed to explain the anomalous increase in TC with x. Raman spectroscopy reveals that Raman shifts of all phonon modes in SLL films deviate from their respective standard Raman shifts in stress-free crystalline films, confirming the presence of stress in SLL films. It is also shown that tensile and compressive stresses exist in Ge and Ge8Sb92 layers, respectively, which agrees with the lattice mismatch between the Ge and Ge8Sb92 constituent layers. It is also found that the stress reduces with increasing x. Such a thickness dependence of stress can be used to explain the increase in crystallization temperature of four SLL films with x according to stress-enhanced crystallization. Our results reveal a new mechanism to affect the crystallization behaviors of SLL phase-change films besides interfacial effect. Stress and interfacial effects actually coexist and compete in SLL films, which can be used to explain the reported anomalous change in crystallization temperature with the film thickness and cycle number of periods in SLL phase-change films.

Evidence for a mutualistic relationship between the cyanobacteria Nostoc and fungi Aspergilli in different environments.

Symbiotic partnerships are widespread in nature and in industrial applications yet there are limited examples of laboratory communities. Therefore, using common photobionts and mycobionts similar to those in natural lichens, we create an artificial lichen-like symbiosis. While Aspergillus nidulans and Aspergillus niger could not obtain nutrients from the green algae, Chlorella, and Scenedesmus, the cyanobacteria Nostoc sp. PCC 6720 was able to support fungal growth and also elevated the accumulation of total biomass. The Nostoc-Aspergillus co-cultures grew on light and CO2 in an inorganic BG11 liquid medium without any external organic carbon and fungal mycelia were observed to peripherally contact with the Nostoc cells in liquid and on solid media at lower cell densities. Overall biomass levels were reduced after implementing physical barriers to indicate that physical contact between cyanobacteria and heterotrophic microbes may promote symbiotic growth. The synthetic Nostoc-Aspergillus nidulans co-cultures also exhibited robust growth and stability when cultivated in wastewater over days to weeks in a semi-continuous manner when compared with axenic cultivation of either species. These Nostoc-Aspergillus consortia reveal species-dependent and mutually beneficial design principles that can yield stable lichen-like co-cultures and provide insights into microbial communities that can facilitate sustainability studies and broader applications in the future. KEY POINTS: • Artificial lichen-like symbiosis was built with wild-type cyanobacteria and fungi. • Physical barriers decreased biomass production from artificial lichen co-cultures. • Artificial lichen adapted to grow and survive in wastewater for 5 weeks.