Construction and Regulation of the Abscisic Acid Biosynthesis Pathway in Yarrowia lipolytica.

Abscisic acid (ABA) is an important plant hormone with a variety of physiological functions such as regulating plant growth and helping plants to resist an adverse growth environment. However, at present, the ABA yield of heterologous biosynthesis by metabolic engineering is still low for industrial production. Therefore, five Botrytis cinerea genes (bcaba1, bcaba2, bcaba3, bcaba4, and bccpr1) related to ABA biosynthesis were expressed in Yarrowia lipolytica PO1h; its ABA production was 24.33 mg/L. By increasing the copy number of IDI and ERG12S, ERG20YMT, and bcaba3, bcaba1 genes, the yield of ABA was increased to 54.51 mg/L. By locating HMG-CoA reductase and HMG-CoA synthase in mitochondria, acetyl-CoA in mitochondria was converted into mevalonate; this increased the ABA yield to 102.12 mg/L. Finally, in the fed-batch fermentation process with the addition of dodecane, the ABA yield was up to 1212.57 mg/L, which is the highest yield of heterologous production of ABA by metabolic engineering.

Enhancement of Mass Transfer Process for Photocatalytic Reduction in Cr(VI) by Electric Field Assistance.

The removal of Cr(VI), a highly-toxic heavy metal, from industrial wastewater is a critical issue in water treatment research. Photocatalysis, a promising technology to solve the Cr(VI) pollution problem, requires urgent and continuous improvement to enhance its performance. To address this need, an electric field-assisted photocatalytic system (PCS) was proposed to meet the growing demand for industrial wastewater treatment. Firstly, we selected PAF-54, a nitrogen-rich porous organic polymer, as the PCS's catalytic material. PAF-54 exhibits a large adsorption capacity (189 mg/g) for Cr(VI) oxyanions through hydrogen bonding and electrostatic interaction. It was then coated on carbon paper (CP) and used as the photocatalytic electrode. The synergy between capacitive deionization (CDI) and photocatalysis significantly promotes the photoreduction of Cr(VI). The photocatalytic performance was enhanced due to the electric field's influence on the mass transfer process, which could strengthen the enrichment of Cr(VI) oxyanions and the repulsion of Cr(III) cations on the surface of PAF-54/CP electrode. In addition, the PCS system demonstrates excellent recyclability and stability, making it a promising candidate for chromium wastewater treatment.

Monitoring Intracellular IP6 with a Genetically Encoded Fluorescence Biosensor.

Inositol hexakisphosphate (IP6), a naturally occurring metabolite of inositol with specific functions in different organelles or tissues, participates in numerous physiological processes and plays a key role in mammalian metabolic regulation. However, current IP6 detection methods, i.e., high-performance liquid chromatography and gel electrophoresis, require sample destruction and lack spatiotemporal resolution. Here, we construct and characterize a genetically encoded fluorescence biosensor named HIPSer that enables ratiometric quantitative IP6 detection in HEK293T cells and subcellular compartments. We demonstrate that HIPSer has a high sensitivity and relative selectivity for IP6 in vitro. We also provide proof-of-concept evidence that HIPSer can monitor IP6 levels in real time in HEK293T cells and can be targeted for IP6 detection in the nucleus of HEK293T cells. Moreover, HIPSer could also detect changes in IP6 content induced by chemical inhibition of IP6-metabolizing enzymes in HEK293T cells. Thus, HIPSer achieves spatiotemporally precise detection of fluctuations in endogenous IP6 in live cells and provides a versatile tool for mechanistic investigations of inositol phosphate functions in metabolism and signaling.

Weak non-line-of-sight target echoes extraction without accumulation.

Non-line-of-sight (NLOS) technology has been rapidly developed in recent years, allowing us to visualize or localize hidden objects by analyzing the returned photons, which is expected to be applied to autonomous driving, field rescue, etc. Due to the laser attenuation and multiple reflections, it is inevitable for future applications to separate the returned extremely weak signal from noise. However, current methods find signals by direct accumulation, causing noise to be accumulated simultaneously and inability of extracting weak targets. Herein, we explore two denoising methods without accumulation to detect the weak target echoes, relying on the temporal correlation feature. In one aspect, we propose a dual-detector method based on software operations to improve the detection ability for weak signals. In the other aspect, we introduce the pipeline method for NLOS target tracking in sequential histograms. Ultimately, we experimentally demonstrated these two methods and extracted the motion trajectory of the hidden object. The results may be useful for practical applications in the future.

Comparison of video laryngoscope, video stylet, and flexible videoscope for transoral endotracheal intubation in patients with difficult airways: a randomized, parallel-group study.

BACKGROUND: The 2022 ASA guidelines recommend the video laryngoscope, video stylet, and flexible videoscope as airway management tools. This study aims to compare the efficacy of three airway devices in intubating patients with difficult airways. METHODS: A total of 177 patients were selected and randomized into the following three groups: the video laryngoscope group (Group VL, n = 59), video stylet group (Group VS, n = 59), and flexible videoscope group (Group FV, n = 59). The success rate of the first-pass intubation, time of tracheal intubation, level of glottic exposure, and occurrence of intubation-related adverse events were recorded and analyzed. RESULTS: All patients were successfully intubated with three devices. The first-pass intubation success rate was significantly higher in Groups VS and FV than in Group VL (96.61% vs. 93.22% vs. 83.05%, P < 0.01), but it was similar in the first-pass intubation success rate between Groups VS and FV(P > 0.05). The number of patients categorized as Wilson-Cormack-Lehane grade I-II was fewer in Group VL than in Groups VS and FV (77.97% vs. 98.30% vs. 100%, P = 0.0281). The time to tracheal intubation was significantly longer in Group FV(95.20 ± 4.01) than in Groups VL(44.56 ± 4.42) and VS(26.88 ± 4.51) (P < 0.01). No significant differences were found among the three groups in terms of adverse intubation reactions (P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: In patients with difficult airways requiring intubation, use of the video stylet has the advantage of a relatively shorter intubation time, and the flexible videoscope and video stylet yield a higher first-pass intubation success rate and clearer glottic exposure than the use of the video laryngoscope. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry. No: ChiCTR2200061560, June 29, 2022.

The complete chloroplast genome of Cannabis sativa variety Yunma 7.

Cannabis sativa variety Yunma 7 has been widely cultivated for hemp fiber production in Yunnan Province of China. In the present study, we have successfully sequenced the chloroplast genome of Yunma 7. The complete chloroplast genome size is 153,899 bp in length with a GC content of 36.67%. The genome contains a large single copy region (LSC) of 84,046 bp, a small single copy region (SSC) of 17,831 bp, and a pair of inverted repeat regions (IR) of 26,011 bp. A total of 74 protein-coding genes are annotated in the chloroplast genome, together with 37 tRNAs and 8 rRNAs. Phylogenetic tree reveals that Yunma 7 is closely related to Cannabis hybrid AK Royal Automatic reported by Matielo et al.

Chiral Proline-Decorated Bifunctional Pd@NH2-UiO-66 Catalysts for Efficient Sequential Suzuki Coupling/Asymmetric Aldol Reactions.

The design and development of site-isolating and multifunctional catalysts for multistep sequential reactions at the molecular level is a significant challenge. Herein, we first report bifunctional metal NPs@chiral MOFs catalysts for asymmetric sequential reactions. Pd nanoparticles and chiral proline were successfully added to NH2-UiO-66 to construct two chiral bifunctional catalysts, in which active Pd nanoparticles were encapsulated into the frameworks via the "bottle-around-ship" method, and chiral proline was introduced into NH2-UiO-66 by coordination to zirconium nodes and postsynthetic modification (PSM) of the organic linkers. The chiral proline-decorated bifunctional Pd@NH2-UiO-66 catalysts were applied to sequential Suzuki coupling/asymmetric aldol reactions with excellent coupling performance (yields up to 99.9%) and good enantioselectivities (eeanti values up to 97%). The heterogeneous catalyst by coordination of proline can be reused, and the reaction activity was not significantly reduced after four cycles.