Effects of climate and geochemical properties on the chemical forms of soil Cd, Pb and Cr along a more than 4000 km transect.

Soil heavy metal speciation has received much attention for their different ecological and environmental effects. However, the effects of climate and soil geochemical properties on them in uncontaminated soils at macroscale were still unclear. Therefore, a transect more than 4000 km was chosen to study the effects of these factors on soil Cd, Pb and Cr forms. The results revealed that mean annual temperature and precipitation showed significant positive relations with the exchangeable and Fe-Mn oxide bound states of Cd, Pb and Cr, and residual Cr. And humidity and drought indexes were significantly positively correlated with their organic and carbonate bound forms, respectively. As for soil geochemical properties, pH displayed significant negative relationships with exchangeable, Fe-Mn oxide and organic bound Pb and Cr, and exchangeable Cd. Fe2O3 was significantly positively with the exchangeable and Fe-Mn oxide bound Cd, Pb and Cr, and residual Cr. And soil organic matter showed positive relations with organic bound Pb and Cr, and residual Cd and Cr, displayed negative relationships with carbonated bound Pb and Cr. Overall, climate and soil geochemical properties together affect the transformation and transport of heavy metals between different forms in uncontaminated soils.

How accompanying ions affect soil heavy metal removal by polyepoxysuccinic acid during washing?

Soil washing with green eluent is an efficient technique to remediate heavy metal contaminated farmland. In addition to eluent, less is known about the roles of accompanying ions on heavy metal removal. We investigated the effects of accompanying ions including Fe3+, Mn2+, Ca2+, Mg2+, Al3+, Si4+ and PO43- on the desorption of Pb2+ and Cd2+ in paddy and arid soils using ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid and polyepoxysuccinic acid as eluents. The release rates of target and accompanying ions showed significant fast and slow reaction stages based on corresponding analysis and kinetic models. In fast reaction stage, Pb2+ and Cd2+ performed geochemical analogy with Ca2+, Mg2+ and PO43-. The release curves of these ions were fitted well with Elovich model, indicating that they released from oxysalt surface into solution via ion exchange, and dissolution of Fe/Mn/Al/Si (hydr)oxides through H+- and ligand-promoted dissolution. In slow reaction stage, Pb2+ and Cd2+ were related to Fe3+, Mn2+, Al3+ and Si4+, which were controlled by intraparticle diffusion process. H+ slowly diffused into interlayer of phyllosilicates to displace target and accompanying ions by ion exchange. Therefore, this research filled the gap of accompanying ions driving the release behavior of heavy metal ions during leaching.

High dispersion dendritic fibrous morphology nanospheres for electrochemical CO2 reduction to C2H4.

The electrochemical CO2 reduction to specific multi-carbon product on copper-based catalysts is subjected to low activity and poor selectivity. Herein, catalyst structure, morphology, and chemical component are systematically studied for bolstering the activity and selectivity of as-prepared catalyzers in this study. Dendritic fibrous nano-silica spheres favor the loading of active species and the transport of reactant from the central radial channel. Cu/DFNS with high dispersion active sites are fabricated through urea-assisted precipitation way. The coexistence of Cu(I)/Cu(II) induces a close combination of Cu active sites and CO2 on the Cu/DFNS interface, promoting the CO2 activation and CC coupling. The Cu-O-Si interface (Cu phyllosilicate) can improve CO2 and CO attachment. Cu/DFNS show the utmost Faradaic efficiency of C2H4 with a value of 53.04% at -1.2 V vs. RHE. And more importantly, in-situ ATR-SEIRAS reveals that the CC coupling is boosted for effectively producing C2H4 as a consequence of the existence of *COL, *COOH, and *COH intermediates. The mechanism reaction path of Cu/DFNS is inferred to be *CO2 â†’ *COOH â†’ *CO â†’ *CO*COH â†’ C2H4. Our findings will be helpful to gain insight into the links between morphology, texture, chemical component of catalyzers, and electrochemical reduction of CO2, providing valuable guidance in the design of more efficient catalysts.

Pressure-Induced Structural Phase Transition and Enhanced Interlayer Coupling in Two-Dimensional Ferromagnet CrSiTe3.

The two-dimensional van der Waals ferromagnetic semiconductor CrSiTe3 has attracted growing interest as an intrinsic topological magnet. Both superconductivity and enhancement of ferromagnetism, usually competing for orders, have been observed in CrSiTe3 at high pressure. However, the high-pressure structure of CrSiTe3 is still unclear, setting obstacles in understanding pressure-induced novel physics. Here, combining the Raman spectra and first-principles calculations, the structure of CrSiTe3 at high pressure has been clarified. The interlayer breathing mode located at ∼42.1 cm-1 has been observed for the first time in CrSiTe3 by ultralow-frequency Raman spectroscopy at high pressure. Theoretical calculations confirm a phase transition from the R3̅ phase to the R3 phase accompanying noticeable enhancement of the Curie temperature. Our results highlight ultralow-frequency Raman spectroscopy combined with high pressure for detecting and modulating the structure and interlayer coupling of two-dimensional materials.

Hirsutine ameliorates myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury through improving mitochondrial function via CaMKII pathway.

Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is the leading cause of death worldwide. Ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury is considered the most common contributor to AMI. Hirsutine has been shown to protect cardiomyocytes against hypoxic injury. The present study investigated whether hirsutine improved AMI induced by I/R injury and the underlying mechanisms. In our study, we used a rat model of myocardial I/R injury. The rats were given hirsutine daily (5, 10, 20 mg/kg) by gavage for 15 days before the myocardial I/R injury. Detectable changes were observed in myocardial infarct size, mitochondrial function, histological damage, and cardiac cell apoptosis. According to our findings, hirsutine pre-treatment reduced the myocardial infarct size, enhanced cardiac function, inhibited cell apoptosis, reduced the tissue lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) content, as well as enhanced myocardial ATP content and mitochondrial complex activity. In addition, hirsutine balanced mitochondrial dynamics by increasing Mitofusin2 (Mfn2) expression while decreasing dynamin-related protein 1 phosphorylation (p-Drp1), which was partially regulated by ROS and calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II phosphorylation (p-CaMKII). Mechanistically, hirsutine inhibited mitochondrial-mediated apoptosis during I/R injury by blocking the AKT/ASK-1/p38 MAPK pathway. This present study provides a promising therapeutic intervention for myocardial I/R injury.

A novel bio-washing eluent obtained from fermentation of fruit wastes for removal of soil Pb: efficiency, mechanism, and risk assessment.

Agricultural wastes are inexpensive materials for soil remediation. However, the direct water extracts from these wastes showed low efficiency for Pb removal, thus limiting their application. In this study, citrus pericarp (CP) and pineapple peel (PP), as the common agricultural wastes, were inoculated with lactic acid bacteria to produce fermentation liquors (FCP and FPP) for improving Pb removal efficiency. Results showed that the Pb removal rates by FCP and FPP reached 37.3 and 43.6%, and increased by almost 50.0% than those by CP and PP. The ecological risk of Pb reduced by 83.0-88.2% after five times continuous washing with FCP and FPP, and the Pb concentrations conformed to soil remediation standard of China. Moreover, soil organic carbon 1.5 times increased in the washed soils, while total potassium improved by 40.7-68.0%. The mechanisms of Pb removal by these wastes involved in adsorption-desorption of Pb2+, complexation with organic ligands, and co-precipitation of Pb complexes. The increase of low molecular organic acids during the fermentation promoted dissolution of Pb and provided more hydroxyl, carboxyl, and amine groups to interact with Pb2+, thus improving its removal rate. Therefore, fermentation liquid from fruit wastes is a novel, effective, and ecofriendly bio-washing eluent for Pb removal from contaminated soils.

Response of microbiomes with different abundances to removal of metal fractions by soil washing.

Toxic metal contamination causes a great threat to soil ecosystem and human health. Soil washing is a fast practice for removing metals, but its influences on microbial diversity and the stability of soil ecosystem remain unknown. In this study, ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), citric acid (CA), and fermented pineapple peel residue (FPP) were used as representatives of chelates, low molecular organic acids and biological materials to wash Pb-polluted soils, and their impacts on microbial community were investigated. Washing with these agents effectively removed Pb, but altered microbial community structure. After washing with EDTA, CA, and FPP, 3-8 bacterial phyla and 1 fungal phylum greatly increased, while 7-20 bacterial and 0-6 fungal phyla severely decreased or even disappeared. The alterations of different microbiomes were closely related to soil metal fractions. The labile metal fraction had negative effects on most bacteria and fungi, but also showed positive influences on Actinobacteria, Patescibacteria, and Fusobacteria. The moderately stable and stable fractions were nontoxic to the most microbes, but still harmful to Patescibacteria and Deinococcus-Thermus. These findings provide new insights for the effects of soil washing remediation and toxicity of metal fractions on the microbiomes with different abundance.

Pressure-Induced Bifurcation in the Photoluminescence of Red Carbon Quantum Dots: Coexistence of Emissions from Surface Groups and Nitrogen-Doped Cores.

Carbon quantum dots (CDs) with favorable fluorescent properties have stimulated considerable effort to modulate their photoluminescence (PL) for bioimaging and sensing. However, the fluorescent mechanisms are still only partially understood due to the diverse physicochemical properties of CDs prepared by various synthesis methods and postpreparation processes. In this report, pressure-induced bifurcation of PL is reported in red carbon quantum dots (R-CDs) for the first time. The splitting of PL into an irreversible blue-shifted peak and a reversible red-shifted peak under pressure suggests the coexistence of multiple fluorescent mechanisms in R-CDs, i.e., emissions from surface groups and nitrogen-doped cores. The concentration and excitation laser energy dependencies of pressure-induced bifurcation, as well as the time-resolved PL, further support the coexistence of multiple emitters. Our results provide a method for distinguishing between the different fluorescent mechanisms related to surface groups and carbon cores in CDs.

Monodisperse perovskite CoSn(OH)6 in-situ grown on NiCo hydroxide nanoflowers with strong interfacial bonds to boost broadband visible-light-driven photocatalytic CO2 reduction.

Heterojunction engineering is a very prospective approach to modulate the photocatalytic behaviors of semiconductors. Herein, Venus flytrap-like NiCo hydroxide nanoflowers (HNF) with surface modification by different contents of CoSn(OH)6 were fabricated in situ for the first time. Interestingly, CoSn(OH)6 nanocubes (NC) are monodispersed on the nanosheet surface of NiCo HNF. Experimental characterizations and theoretical calculations comprehensively demonstrate the surface Sn atoms of CoSn(OH)6 are effectively embedded into the NiCo HNF interlayers, and co-sharing of the hydroxyl enables intimate contact in the heterointerface of NiCo HNF/CoSn(OH)6 hybrids and thereby largely shortens the charge migrating distance, contributing to an efficient interfacial charge migration and promoting charge separation. The optimized NiCo HNF/CoSn(OH)6 exhibits the remarkably enhanced photocatalytic efficiency for CO2 reduction with a TON of 601.2 and the CO and CH4 yield is about 3 folds that over CoSn(OH)6 NC. DRIFTS reveals the reaction intermediates in the CO2 photocatalytic process and proposes a possible mechanism for photocatalytic CO2 reaction. These findings may pave the way for rational engineering design of non-precious highly-dispersed broadband visible-light-driven CO2 reduction heterostructure catalysts.

Decolourization and biodegradation of methylene blue dye by a ligninolytic enzyme-producing Bacillus thuringiensis: Degradation products and pathway.

In this study, a ligninolytic enzyme-producing strain F5 was isolated and identified as Bacillus thuringiensis, which can efficiently degrade methylene blue (MB) dye. The optimal pH, temperature, rotation speed, NaCl concentration, and inoculum of strain F5 for MB degradation were pH 6.0, 30 °C, 140 rpm, 10 g/L NaCl, 4% inoculum (v/v), and the strain F5 had salt tolerance, the MB decolorization rate reached 95% after 12 h. The degraded products were characterized by UV-vis, FT-IR, and GC-MS. Based on products analysis, four different intermediates were identified, and a new pathway for the degradation of MB was proposed. The degradation of MB by strain F5 was due to the synergistic effects of laccase (Lac), manganese peroxidase (MnP), lignin peroxidase (LiP), and NADH-DCIP reductase; among them, Lac and MnP were the key enzymes. The phytotoxicity results showed that MB degraded metabolites' toxicity was lower than that of the parent compound, indicating that the strain F5 had a detoxification effect on MB dyes.

Efficiency and comprehensive risk assessment of soil Pb and Cd by washing technique with three biodegradable eluents.

Soil washing with environmentally friendly eluents is a rapid remediation technique for farmland polluted by heavy metals. In this study, polyepoxysuccinic acid (PESA), ethylenediamine tetra (methylene phosphonic acid) sodium (EDTMPS), and phosphonyl carboxylic acid copolymer (POCA) were applied to remedy paddy and arid soils polluted by Pb and Cd. At the same time, ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) was used as a control eluent. PESA showed comparable removal of soil Pb and Cd (over 80.0%) with EDTA, and EDTMPS and POCA removed two heavy metals by 35.2-50.3%. For labile fractions, PESA significantly removed Pb by 93.5-96.7% and Cd by 84.9-90.3% in two soils. EDTMPS and POCA removed Pb by 75.5-85.8% in two soils, while they only removed Cd by 11.7-42.2% in paddy soil, and 76.3-81.7% in arid soil. The risks of total heavy metal concentrations were reduced from the high risk to low risk in paddy soil, and to considerable risk in arid soil, while only dropped to considerable or even had no change by EDTMPS and POCA leaching. The risks of the two soils reduced from high to low or considerable level after PESA washing based on labile fraction change, and to considerable or high level after EDTMPS and POCA leaching, respectively. Therefore, PESA is an ecological benefit eluent for remediating the farmland polluted by heavy metals, and the risk assessment based on labile fraction more easily identifies the dynamic change of heavy metal during the washing process.

Biosorption of Congo Red from Aqueous Solutions Based on Self-Immobilized Mycelial Pellets: Kinetics, Isotherms, and Thermodynamic Studies.

In the current study, Aspergillus fumigatus and Pseudomonas putida were co-cultured to obtain self-immobilized mycelial pellets to evaluate the decolorization efficiency of Congo red (CR). The obtained co-culture exhibited the highest decolorization efficiency of 99.22% compared to monoculture of A. fumigatus (89.20%) and P. putida (55.04%). The morphology and surface properties of the mycelial pellets were characterized by SEM, FTIR, BET, and XPS. The adsorption kinetics and isotherms were well described by pseudo-second-order and Langmuir models. The findings revealed that the removal efficiency of the mycelial pellet for CR was significantly influenced by physicochemical parameters. Thermodynamic result showed that the biosorption process was endothermic. The maximum adsorption capacity can be obtained from the Langmuir model, which is 316.46 mg/g, it suggests that mycelial pellet was an efficient biosorbent to remove CR from aqueous solution. This study indicates that the mycelial pellet can develop a sustainable approach to eliminate CR from the wastewater.

Interferon Inducing Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Virus Vaccine Candidate Protected Piglets from HP-PRRSV Challenge and Evoke a Higher Level of Neutralizing Antibodies Response.

Although widespread administration of attenuated porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) vaccines has been implemented since they first became commercially available two decades ago, PRRSV infection prevalence in swine herds remains high. The limited success of PRRSV vaccines is partly due to the well-established fact that a given vaccine strain confers only partial or no protection against heterologous strains. In our past work, A2MC2-P90, a novel PRRSV vaccine candidate that induced a type I IFNs response in vitro, conferred complete protection against challenge with genetically heterologous PRRSV strains. Here we assessed the ability of the PRRSV vaccine candidate A2MC2-P90 to protect piglets against the HP-PRRSV challenge and compared its efficacy to that of a licensed HP-PRRSV-specific vaccine (TJM-F92) assessed in parallel. A2MC2-P90 provided vaccinated piglets with 100% protection from a lethal challenge with extremely virulent HP-PRRSV-XJA1, while 100% mortality was observed for unvaccinated piglets by day 21 post-challenge. Notably, comparison of partial sequence (GP5) of XJA1 to A2MC2-P90 suggested there was only 88.7% homology. When comparing post-HP-PRRSV challenge responses between piglets administered A2AMC2-P90 versus those immunized with licensed vaccine TJM-F92, A2MC2-P90-vaccinated piglets rapidly developed a stronger protective humoral immune response, as evidenced by much higher titers of neutralizing antibodies, more rapid clearance of viremia and less nasal virus shedding. In conclusion, our data suggest that this novel vaccine candidate A2MC2-P90 has improved protection spectrum against heterologous HP-PRRSV strains.

Remediation of heavy metal contaminated soil by biodegradable chelator-induced washing: Efficiencies and mechanisms.

Biodegradable chelators (BCs) are promising substitutes for conventional washing agents in the remediation of heavy metal contaminated soil with strong complexing ability and less cost. However, great challenges for the applications of BC-assisted washing still exist, such as the assessment of the factor affecting the efficiency of metal removal and the unclear of the metal removal mechanism. Batch washing was therefore explored to evaluate the potential for four BCs for removing Cd, Pb, and Zn from polluted soils. The soil spectroscopic characteristics before and after washing were also investigated. The results demonstrated that iminodisuccinic acid (ISA) and glutamate-N, N-diacetic acid (GLDA) were an appealing alternative to commonly used non-biodegradable ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, but glucomonocarbonic acid (GCA) and polyaspartic acid (PASP) were less efficient. Optimal parameters of BCs were determined to be a concentration of 50 mmol L-1, a pH of 5.0, a contact time of 120 min, and a solid/liquid ratio of 1:5, considering metal removal efficiencies and the suitable cost. A single removal washing could be up to 52.39% of Cd, 71.79% of Pb, and 34.13% of Zn from mine soil, and 98.28% of Cd, 91.10% of Pb, and 90.91% of Zn from polluted farmland soil. After washing, the intensity of heavy metal binding to soil colloids increased while the metal mobility reduced because of weakly bound fractions removed by BCs. The BCs-induced soil washing revealed that the possible mechanisms of metal removal included the acid dissolution, ion exchange, and surface complexation. Our findings highlight the potential application of especially ISA and GLDA as efficient washing agents to remove potentially toxic elements from contaminated soils.

Synchronous removal of ammonium and phosphate from swine wastewater by two agricultural waste based adsorbents: Performance and mechanisms.

Two agricultural wastes, Chinese medicinal herbal residue and spent Pleurotus ostreatus substrate, were developed to remove ammonium and phosphate from swine wastewater. These adsorbents were mesoporous materials with abundant smooth layered pores, and rough protuberances and grooves, respectively. Their adsorption capacities were 1131.65 and 1631.79 mg N g-1, and 63.41 and 62.58 mg P g-1 at pH 8.0, dosage of 0.2 g L-1 and contact time of 360 min. And kinetics data of ammonium and phosphate fitted best with the intra-particle diffusion and pseudo-second-order models, respectively. Based on the point of zero charge, FTIR and XPS analyses, ammonium was removed mainly by electrostatic attraction, ion exchange and surface precipitation, while phosphate was by ligand exchange, surface complexation and precipitation. Therefore, the two agricultural wastes have great potential to synchronously remove ammonium and phosphate from swine wastewater.

Effects of soil chemical properties and fractions of Pb, Cd, and Zn on bacterial and fungal communities.

Heavy metal contamination in soils poses a serious threat to microorganisms, which play important roles in soil biogeochemical process. However, the key fractions of heavy metals affecting soil microorganisms are still unclear. In this study, DNA sequencing, redundancy and variance partition analysis were performed to investigate the combined effects of heavy metal fractions and soil chemical properties on microbial communities in Pb, Cd, and Zn co-contaminated soils. The results showed that long-term exposure of microorganisms to these metals changed the richness, diversity, and structure of their communities. The bacterial and fungal Chao richness indexes decreased, but only the bacterial Shannon index improved with increasing metal concentrations. Moreover, soil available potassium and acid-extractable Pb made the greatest contributions to variations in the bacterial community structure, while soil pH, water-extractable Pb and Zn were the dominant factors influencing the fungal community structure. In addition, Marmoricola, Nocardioides, and Gibberella were sensitive to these metals. Overall, the effects of different heavy metal fractions on microorganisms varied significantly, and these metal fractions together with soil chemical properties determined the soil microbial communities.

Soil washing remediation of heavy metal from contaminated soil with EDTMP and PAA: Properties, optimization, and risk assessment.

Soil washing is a rapid and efficient remediation technique for soil contaminated by heavy metals. In this study, Cd, Pb, and Zn were removed from contaminated soil by ethylenediamine tetra (methylene phosphonic acid) (EDTMP) and polyacrylic acid (PAA). We then investigated the effect of varying the concentration, pH and duration of the washing processes. Single-factor experiments suggest that the PAA washing process may be dominated by electrostatic adsorption, and is suitable for remediation under weak acid and neutral conditions. Meanwhile, EDTMP remediation might be dominated by chelation, which is favorable in strong acid and alkaline environments. In a quadratic saturation D-optimization design (QSDD), we optimized the washing parameters and further explored the washing mechanism including primary factor, principal effect, interaction effect, and the optimal washing conditions, with simultaneously changing multiple influencing factors. The optimum efficiencies of Cd, Pb, and Zn removal were 92.74%, 96.14%, and 50.76% respectively in EDTMP remediation, and 84.62, 79.24, and 41.66% respectively in PAA remediation. The washing processes effectively reduced the availability of Cd, Pb, and Zn in contaminated soil, without noticeably affecting soil chemical properties. Therefore, the washing incurred little ecological risk. EDTMP and PAA are suitable remediation agents of soil contaminated by heavy metals.

Values of (99m)Tc-methoxyisobutylisonitrile imaging after first-time large-dose (131)I therapy in treating differentiated thyroid cancer.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to investigate the use of (99m)Tc-methoxyisobutylisonitrile (MIBI) imaging for evaluating the treatment response of differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) after the first administration of a high dose of (131)I. METHODS: Patients with DTC who received (131)I therapy underwent (99m)Tc-MIBI imaging after successive increases in the therapeutic dose of (131)I, and the serum levels of thyroglobulin (Tg) were measured. RESULTS: A total of 191 patients were enrolled in the final analysis, including 65 metastases and/or thyroid remnant-positive patients (22 patients with metastases and 43 patients with thyroid remnants). The sensitivity of (99m)Tc-MIBI imaging for detecting positive cases and thyroid remnants was 56.9% and 39.5%, respectively, which was significantly lower than that of (131)I imaging (92.3% and 100%, respectively, P<0.01 for both). The sensitivity of (99m)Tc-MIBI imaging for detecting metastases was 90.9%, which was slightly higher than that of (131)I imaging (77.3%, P>0.05). The Tg levels in the positive group were significantly higher than that in the negative group (P<0.01). In addition, the Tg levels in the (99m)Tc-MIBI(+)/(131)I(-) group were significantly higher than that in the (131)I(+)/(99m)Tc-MIBI group (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: After the first (131)I therapy, although (99m)Tc-MIBI imaging was able to detect the existence of metastatic lesions in patients with DTC better, its assessment for the removal efficiency of thyroid remnants was unsatisfactory. The results of (99m)Tc-MIBI imaging showed good correlations with the Tg level.

Progressive loss of striatal dopamine terminals in MPTP-induced acute parkinsonism in cynomolgus monkeys using vesicular monoamine transporter type 2 PET imaging ([(18)F]AV-133).

The 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP)-induced parkinsonism model, particularly in non-human primates, remains the gold-standard for studying the pathogenesis and assessing novel therapies for Parkinson's disease. However, whether the loss of dopaminergic neurons in this model is progressive remains controversial, mostly due to the lack of objective in vivo assessment of changes in the integrity of these neurons. In the present study, parkinsonism was induced in cynomolgus monkeys by intravenous administration of MPTP (0.2 mg/kg) for 15 days; stable parkinsonism developed over 90 days, when the symptoms were stable. Noninvasive positron emission tomographic neuroimaging of vesicular monoamine transporter 2 with 9-[(18)F] fluoropropyl-(+)-dihydrotetrabenazine ([(18)F]AV-133) was used before, and 15 and 90 days after the beginning of acute MPTP treatment. The imaging showed evident progressive loss of striatal uptake of [(18)F]AV-133. The dopaminergic denervation severity had a significant linear correlation with the clinical rating scores and the bradykinesia subscores. These findings demonstrated that [(18)F]AV-133 PET imaging is a useful tool to noninvasively evaluate the evolution of monoaminergic terminal loss in a monkey model of MPTP-induced parkinsonism.

[Study on the transgenic tobacco expressing truncated wheat cold shock protein gene TA3-13 and analysis of disease resistance].

TA3-13 is a truncated gene coding for the fragment of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cold shock protein WCP1. It has been shown previously that the procaryotically expressed TA3-13 can induce resistance to Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) when sprayed onto plant leaves. In this study, we constructed an expression vector pB-3-13 by cloning TA3-13 into the bionary vector pBI121 and transformed it into Agrobacterium tumefaciense strain EHA105 via freeze-thaw method. Tobacco (Nicotiana tobacum cv. Xanthi nc.) transformation was performed using the leaf disc infection method. After screening on MS medium containing kanamycin and PCR analysis, 33 T0 plantlets were identified as transgenic. Seeds from twenty T0 plants were collected and planted as T1 lines. Two T1 lines were selected for further characterization. PCR and GUS staining analysis showed that TA3-13 was integrated into the T1 tobacco genome and expressed. When inoculated on leaves, the transgenic tobacco showed significant resistance against TMV and rot pathogen Pectobactrium carotovorum subsp. carotovorum. These results suggest that the expression of TA3-13 in tobacco can induce defense responses to pathogen infection.