Achieving Strong Circularly Polarized Luminescence through Cascade Cationic Insertion in Lead-free Hybrid Metal Halides.

Generating circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) with simultaneous high photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) and dissymmetry factor (glum) is difficult due to usually unmatched electric transition dipole moment (µ) and magnetic transition dipole moment (m) of materials. Herein we tackle this issue by playing a "cascade cationic insertion" trick to achieve strong CPL (with PLQY of ~100 %) in lead-free metal halides with high glum values reaching -2.3×10-2 without using any chiral inducers. Achiral solvents of hydrochloric acid (HCl) and N, N-dimethylformamide (DMF) infiltrate the crystal lattice via asymmetric hydrogen bonding, distorting the perovskite structure to induce the "intrinsic" chirality. Surprisingly, additional insertion of Cs+ cation to substitute partial (CH3)2NH2 + transforms the chiral space group to achiral but the crystal maintains chiroptical activity. Further doping of Sb3+ stimulates strong photoluminescence as a result of self-trapped excitons (STEs) formation without disturbing the crystal framework. The chiral perovskites of indium-antimony chlorides embedded on LEDs chips demonstrate promising potential as CPL emitters. Our work presents rare cases of chiroptical activity of highly luminescent perovskites from only achiral building blocks via spontaneous resolution as a result of symmetry breaking.

Deciphering soil amendments and actinomycetes for remediation of cadmium (Cd) contaminated farmland.

Soil heavy metal pollution is one of the most serious environmental problems in China, especially cadmium (Cd), which has the most extensive contaminated soil coverage. Therefore, more economical and efficient remediation methods and measures are needed to control soil Cd contamination. In this study, different amendments (biochar (B), organic fertilizer (F), lime (L)) and actinomycetes (A) inoculants were applied to Cd contaminated farmland to explore their effects on wheat growth. Compared with Control, all treatments except A treatment were able to significantly increase the underground parts dry mass of wheat, with the highest increase of 57.19 %. The results showed that the B treatment significantly increased the plant height of wheat by 3.45 %. All treatments increased wheat SOD activity and chlorophyll content and reduced the MDA, which contributes to wheat stress resistance under Cd contamination. F, L and AF treatments can significantly reduce the Cd content in wheat above- and underground parts by up to 56.39 %. Soil amendments can modify the physical and chemical properties of the soil, which in turn affects the absorption of Cd by wheat. Moreover, the addition of soil amendments significantly affects the composition and structure of the rhizospheric soil bacterial community at the wheat jointing stage. The application of organic fertilizer increases the richness and diversity of the bacterial community, while lime makes it significantly decreases it. T-test and microbiome co-occurrence networks show that actinomycetes could not only effectively colonize in local soil, but also effectively enhance the complexity and stability of the rhizosphere microbial community. Considering the practical impact of different treatments on wheat, soil microorganisms, economic benefits and restoration of soil Cd contamination, the application of organic fertilizer and actinomycetes in Cd contaminated soil is a more ideal remediation strategy. This conclusion can be further verified by studying larger repair regions and longer consecutive repair cycles to gain insight into the repair mechanism.

Effort expectancy mediate the relationship between instructors' digital competence and their work engagement: evidence from universities in China.

In a very short time, higher education transitioned to online and blended learning, in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic. Although research literature is replete with rationale for instructors to develop digital competence during the Great Online Transition, research on the correlates of digital competence and effort expectancy in relation to their work engagement has remained insufficient. Thus, the objective of this study is to investigate the effects of digital competence and effort expectancy and how they predict teachers' work engagement. A sample of 321 in-service teachers selected from universities in China took part in this study. The results of structural equation modeling indicated that teachers' digital competence positively and significantly correlated with their work engagement and their effort expectancy. In addition, effort expectancy significantly influenced teachers' work engagement. Lastly, effort expectancy, as the mediator variable, was found to mediate the relationship between teachers' digital competence and their work engagement. Implications were suggested for improving teachers' work engagement to support digital shifts.

Genome-wide hypermethylation is closely associated with abnormal expression of genes involved in neural development in induced pluripotent stem cells derived from a Down syndrome mouse model.

Mental retardation is the main clinical manifestation of Down syndrome (DS), and neural abnormalities occur during the early embryonic period and continue throughout life. Tc1, a model mouse for DS, carries the majority part of the human chromosome 21 and has multiple neuropathy phenotypes similar to patients with DS. To explore the mechanism of early neural abnormalities of Tc1 mouse, induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells from Tc1 mice were obtained, and genome-wide gene expression and methylation analysis were performed for Tc1 and wild-type iPS cells. Our results showed hypermethylation profiles for Tc1 iPS cells, and the abnormal genes were shown to be related to neurodevelopment and distributed on multiple chromosomes. In addition, important genes involved in neurogenesis and neurodevelopment were shown to be downregulated in Tc1 iPS cells. In short, our study indicated that genome-wide hypermethylation leads to the disordered expression of genes associated with neurodevelopment in Tc1 mice during early development. Overall, our work provided a useful reference for the study of the molecular mechanism of nervous system abnormalities in DS.

Mongoliimonas terrestris gen. nov., sp. nov., isolated from desert soil.

A Gram-stain-negative, non-motile, aerobic, non-spore-forming, spherical bacterium (strain MIMtkB18T) was isolated from desert soil collected from part of a Mongolian Plateau, territory of Inner Mongolia, PR China. Cell growth could be observed at 20-45 °C (optimum at 40 °C), at a pH of 6-9 (optimum at pH 8.6) and in the presence of 0-1 % (w/v) NaCl (optimum 0 %). The genomic DNA G+C content was 69.6 mol%. 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis showed that strain MIMtkB18T was most closely related to Methylobrevis pamukkalensis PK2T (94.1 %), species of the genus Pleomorphomonas(93.4-94.0 %), and Hartmannibacter diazotrophicus E19T (93.9 %). The sole respiratory quinone was Q-10. The major fatty acids (>5 %) were C18 : 0 (5.7 %) and summed feature 8 (C18 : 1ω7c and/or C18 : 1ω6c) (81.6 %). Polar lipids were mainly composed of phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylmonomethylethanolamine and unidentified phospholipids. Based on phenotypic, chemotaxonomic and phylogenetic characteristics, it is concluded that strain MIMtkB18T represents a novel genus and species, for which the name Mongoliimonas terrestris sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is MIMtkB18T (=KCTC 42635T=MCCC 1K00571T).

Functional identification of two minor capsid proteins from Chinese wheat mosaic virus using its infectious full-length cDNA clones.

Full-length cDNA clones of Chinese wheat mosaic virus (CWMV) RNA1 and RNA2 were produced from single reverse transcription PCR reactions and transcripts were shown to be infectious in both wheat and Nicotiana benthamiana. An efficient and reliable agro-infiltration method was then developed for reverse genetic assays in N. benthamiana. Inoculation of infectious cDNA clones resulted in obvious chlorotic symptoms, and CWMV viral genomic RNAs, capsid protein (CP)-related proteins, and typical rod-shaped particles were detectable on the inoculated and upper leaves, similar to those of WT virus. The optimal temperature for virus multiplication was 12 °C, but the optimum for systematic infection in plants was 17 °C. Mutant clones that abolished the N- or C-terminal extensions of the major CP did not inhibit systemic infection or the formation of rod-shaped particles but sometimes modified the symptoms in inoculated plants. These results suggest that the two minor CP-related proteins of CWMV are dispensable for viral infection, replication, systemic movement and virion assembly in plants.

[Evalation of Jingzhi Xiaoban Tablet in Improving Heart Function of Coronary Heart Disease Pa- tients by Doppler Tissue Imaging and Speckle Tracking Imaging Technology].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the role of Jiangzhi Xiaoban Tablet (JXT) in improving heartfunction of coronary heart disease (CHD) patients by tissue Doppler imaging (TDI) and speckle trackingimaging (STI) technology. METHODS: Recruited were 60 inpatients with confirmed CHD by coronary angiography at First Affiliated Hospital, Hunan University of Traditional Chinese Medicine from October 2013to November 2014. They were assigned to the treatment group (group A) and the control group (groupB) according to random digit table, 30 cases in each group. Patients in group A took JXT, 0.45 g/tablet,4 tablets each time, 3 times per day, while those in group B took Simvastatin Tablet, 20 mg/tablet, 1 tablet each time, once per evening. The therapeutic course for all was 8 weeks. The long axis view of theheart of 18 segments STI Peak strain LS and TDI peak systolic Sa parameters were performed in all patients before and after treatment. RESULTS: Before treatment segments of STI strain LS and TDI longitudinal peak systolic peak Sa were not statistically different between the two groups (P > 0.05). Each segment of STI peak longitudinal strain LS and TDI peak systolic Sa in the two groups were higher after treatment than before treatment (P < 0.05). After treatment each segment of STI parameters of LS and eachTDI segment parameters of Sa were significantly lower in group B than in group A (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: JXT could improve heart function of CHD patients to different degrees, and its curative effect was betterthan that of routine Western medicine (Simvastatin Tablets) treatment.

P5-2 of rice black-streaked dwarf virus is a non-structural protein targeted to chloroplasts.

The genome segment S5 of rice black-streaked dwarf virus (genus Fijivirus, family Reoviridae) is functionally bicistronic in infected plants. It has a conserved second ORF (P5-2) partially overlapping the major ORF in a different reading frame, but its function remains unknown. P5-2 was detected in infected plants, but not in purified viral particles by Western blotting, indicating that it is a non-structural protein. In immunoelectron microscopy, polyclonal antibodies against P5-2 specifically labelled chloroplasts of infected rice plants. When P5-2 fused with green fluorescent protein was transiently expressed in leaves of Nicotiana benthamiana, fluorescence was also co-localized with chloroplasts. Experiments with deletion mutants of P5-2 showed that its N-terminal part was responsible for its targeting to chloroplasts.

[Acquirement and evaluation of murine ventricular extracellular matrix].

Cardiac extracellular matrix (ECM), generated from the process of decellularization, has been widely considered as an ideal source of biological scaffolds. However, current ECM preparations are generally difficult to be applied to generate cardiac tissue. Our research was aimed to improve decellularization protocols to prepare cardiac ECM slices. Adult murine ventricular tissues were embedded in low melting agarose and cut into 300 µm slices, and then were divided randomly into three groups: normal cardiac tissue, SDS treated group (0.1% SDS) and SDS+Triton X-100 treated group (0.1% SDS+0.5% Triton X-100). Total RNA content and protein content quantification, HE staining and immunostaining were used to evaluate the removal of cell components and preservation of vital ECM components. Furthermore, murine embryonic stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (mES-CMs) and mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) were co-cultured with ECM slices to evaluate biocompatibility. The relative residual RNA and protein contents of ECM slices significantly decreased after decellularization. HE staining showed that SDS+Triton X-100 treatment better destroyed cellular structure and removed nuclei of ECM slices, compared with SDS treatment. Immunostaining showed that collagen IV and laminin were better preserved and presented better similarity to original cardiac tissue in ECM slices acquired by SDS+Triton X-100 treatment. However, collagen IV and laminin were significantly decreased and arranged disorderly in SDS treated group. We observed effective survival (≥ 12 days) of MEFs and mES-CMs on ECM slices acquired by SDS+Triton X-100 treatment, and signs of integration, whereas those signs were not found in SDS treated group. We concluded that, compared with traditional SDS method, new combined protocol (SDS+Triton X-100) generated ECM slices with better component and structural preservation, as well as better biocompatibility.

[Progress on PI3K/Akt signaling pathway regulating self-renewal and pluripotency of embryonic stem cells].

The phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) and its downstream target protein kinase B (Akt/PKB) can be activated by a variety of extracellular and intracellular signals. They are important signaling molecules and key survival factors involved in cell proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis and other cellular processes. Recently, many reports demonstrate that type I PI3K/Akt signaling pathway plays an important role in maintenance of self-renewal and pluripotency of embryonic stem (ES) cells. Further studies with regard to the self-renewal and pluripotency of ES cells and underlying molecular mechanisms are crucial to its application in cell replacement therapy, regenerative medicine and tissue engineering. The present review focuses on the recent progress on the mediation of PI3K/Akt signaling pathway on the maintenance of self-renewal and pluripotency of ES cells.

Effect of conventional and biodegradable microplastics on the soil-soybean system: A perspective on rhizosphere microbial community and soil element cycling.

As an exogenous carbon input, microplastics (MPs), especially biodegradable MPs, may significantly disrupt soil microbial communities and soil element cycling (CNPS cycling), but few studies have focused on this. Here, we focused on assessing the effects of conventional low-density polyethylene (LDPE), biodegradable polybutylene adipate terephthalate (PBAT), and polylactic acid (PLA) MPs on rhizosphere microbial communities and CNPS cycling in a soil-soybean system. The results showed that PBAT-MPs and PLA-MPs were more detrimental to soybean growth than LDPE-MPs, resulting in a reduction in shoot nitrogen (14.05% and 11.84%) and shoot biomass (33.80% and 28.09%) at the podding stage. In addition, dissolved organic carbon (DOC) increased by 20.91% and 66.59%, while nitrate nitrogen (NO3--N) significantly decreased by 56.91% and 69.65% in soils treated with PBAT-MPs and PLA-MPs, respectively. PBAT-MPs and PLA-MPs mainly enhanced copiotrophic bacteria (Proteobacteria) and suppressed oligotrophic bacteria (Verrucomicrobiota, Gemmatimonadota, etc.), increasing the abundance of CNPS cycling-related functional genes. LDPE-MPs tended to enrich oligotrophic bacteria (Verrucomicrobiota, etc.) and decrease the abundance of CNPS cycling-related functional genes. Correlation analysis revealed that MPs with different degradation properties selectively affected the composition and function of the bacterial community, resulting in changes in the availability of soil nutrients (especially NO3--N). Redundancy analysis further indicated that NO3--N was the primary constraining factor for soybean growth. This study provides a new perspective for revealing the underlying ecological effects of MPs on soil-plant systems.

Computed tomography radiogenomics: A potential tool for prediction of molecular subtypes in gastric stromal tumor.

BACKGROUND: Preoperative knowledge of mutational status of gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) is essential to guide the individualized precision therapy. AIM: To develop a combined model that integrates clinical and contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CE-CT) features to predict gastric GISTs with specific genetic mutations, namely KIT exon 11 mutations or KIT exon 11 codons 557-558 deletions. METHODS: A total of 231 GIST patients with definitive genetic phenotypes were divided into a training dataset and a validation dataset in a 7:3 ratio. The models were constructed using selected clinical features, conventional CT features, and radiomics features extracted from abdominal CE-CT images. Three models were developed: ModelCT sign, modelCT sign + rad, and model CTsign + rad + clinic. The diagnostic performance of these models was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis and the Delong test. RESULTS: The ROC analyses revealed that in the training cohort, the area under the curve (AUC) values for modelCT sign, modelCT sign + rad, and modelCT sign + rad + clinic for predicting KIT exon 11 mutation were 0.743, 0.818, and 0.915, respectively. In the validation cohort, the AUC values for the same models were 0.670, 0.781, and 0.811, respectively. For predicting KIT exon 11 codons 557-558 deletions, the AUC values in the training cohort were 0.667, 0.842, and 0.720 for modelCT sign, modelCT sign + rad, and modelCT sign + rad + clinic, respectively. In the validation cohort, the AUC values for the same models were 0.610, 0.782, and 0.795, respectively. Based on the decision curve analysis, it was determined that the modelCT sign + rad + clinic had clinical significance and utility. CONCLUSION: Our findings demonstrate that the combined modelCT sign + rad + clinic effectively distinguishes GISTs with KIT exon 11 mutation and KIT exon 11 codons 557-558 deletions. This combined model has the potential to be valuable in assessing the genotype of GISTs.

Efficacy of continuous positive airway pressure on TNF-α in obstructive sleep apnea patients: A meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) is an important mediator of the immune response. At present, the improvement of TNF-α after continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) treatment of obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) is still controversial. METHODS: We conducted a systematic review of the present evidence based on a meta-analysis to elucidate the effects of TNF-α on OSAHS after CPAP treatment. RESULTS: To measure TNF-α, ten studies used enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and one used radioimmunoassay. The forest plot outcome indicated that CPAP therapy would lower the TNF-α levels in OSAHS patients, with a weighted mean difference (WMD) of 1.08 (95% CI: 0.62-1.55; P < 0.001) based on the REM since there is highly significant heterogeneity (I2 = 90%) among the studies. Therefore, we used the subgroup and sensitivity analyses to investigate the source of heterogeneity. The findings of the sensitivity analysis revealed that the pooled WMD ranged from 0.91 (95% CI: 0.52-1.31; P < 0.001) to 1.18 (95% CI: 0.74-1.63; P < 0.001). The findings were not influenced by any single study. Notably, there was homogeneity in the Asia subgroup and publication year: 2019, implying that these subgroups could be the source of heterogeneity. CONCLUSION: Our meta-analysis recommends that CPAP therapy will decrease the TNF-α level in OSAHS patients, but more related research should be conducted.

EasyAmplicon: An easy-to-use, open-source, reproducible, and community-based pipeline for amplicon data analysis in microbiome research.

It is difficult for beginners to learn and use amplicon analysis software because there are so many software tools to choose from, and all of them need multiple steps of operation. Herein, we provide a cross-platform, open-source, and community-supported analysis pipeline EasyAmplicon. EasyAmplicon has most of the modules needed for an amplicon analysis, including data quality control, merging of paired-end reads, dereplication, clustering or denoising, chimera detection, generation of feature tables, taxonomic diversity analysis, compositional analysis, biomarker discovery, and publication-quality visualization. EasyAmplicon includes more than 30 cross-platform modules and R packages commonly used in the field. All steps of the pipeline are integrated into RStudio, which reduces learning costs, keeps the flexibility of the analysis process, and facilitates personalized analysis. The pipeline is maintained and updated by the authors and editors of WeChat official account "Meta-genome." Our team will regularly release the latest tutorials both in Chinese and English, read the feedback from users, and provide help to them in the WeChat account and GitHub. The pipeline can be deployed on various platforms, and the installation time is less than half an hour. On an ordinary laptop, the whole analysis process for dozens of samples can be completed within 3 h. The pipeline is available at GitHub (https://github.com/YongxinLiu/EasyAmplicon) and Gitee (https://gitee.com/YongxinLiu/EasyAmplicon).

Magnetic resonance tumor targeting imaging using gadolinium labeled human telomerase reverse transcriptase antisense probes.

To develop a molecular probe for MRI detection of human tumor telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) mRNA expression. Uniformly phosphorothioate-modified hTERT antisense oligonucleotide (ASON) homing hTERT mRNA was labeled with gadolinium (Gd) through the bifunctional chelator 1,4,7, 10-tetraazacyclododecane-N, N', N'', N'''-tetraacetic acid (DOTA) stirred within 45 minutes at 60 °C. The Gd labeled probes were characterized in vitro. The cellular uptake rate and biodistribution of (99m) Tc-DOTA-ASON was measured instead of that of Gd-DOTA-ASON. A549 lung adenocarcinoma model was established in BALB/c nude mice and Gd-DOTA-ASON was injected intraperitoneally and MR images were acquired using 7.0T Micro-MRI (Bruker Biospec, Ettlingen, Germany) at different time points. Immunohistochemical analysis of telomerase activity of each xenograft was operated two days after in vivo imaging. The binding efficiency of Gd-DOTA-ASON reached as high as 71.7 ± 4.5% (n = 6). Gd-DOTA-ASON displayed perfect stability in fresh human serum at 37 °C for 24 h. Compared with normal lung cells, A549 cells showed an obviously higher uptake of (99m) Tc-DOTA-ASON than that of lung cells (10.5 ± 2.7% vs. 4.8 ± 2.6%, P < 0.05). The signal intensity of A549 xenografts can be enhanced by Gd-DOTA-ASON and the signal to noise ratio (SNR) of tumor to muscle reached 2.37 and maintained a relatively high level within 6 h after injection. The activity of hTERT in A549 tumors can be suppressed by Gd-DOTA-ASON in pathological slices. The results of this study show that Gd-DOTA-ASON can be a promising intracellular MR contrast probe for targeting telomerase-positive carcinomas.

Negative effects of poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) microplastics on Arabidopsis and its root-associated microbiome.

The degradable plastic poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT) is considered a potential replacement for low-density polyethylene (LDPE) as the main component of mulch film. However, it is not clear whether PBAT is harmful to the plant-soil system. Thus, we determined the effects of LDPE microplastics (LDPE-MPs) and PBAT microplastics (PBAT-MPs) on the growth of Arabidopsis. The inhibitory effect of PBAT-MPs was greater than that of LDPE-MPs on the growth of Arabidopsis. Transcriptome analysis showed that PBAT-MPs severely disrupted the photosynthetic system of Arabidopsis and increased the expression levels of genes in drug transport-related pathways. PBAT-MPs increased the relative abundances of Bradyrhizobium, Hydrogenophaga, and Arthrobacter in the bulk soil and rhizosphere soil. The abundances of Variovorax, Flavobacterium, and Microbacterium increased in the plant root zone only under PBAT-MPs. Functional prediction analysis suggested that microorganisms in the soil and plant root zone could degrade xenobiotics. Furthermore, the degradation products from PBAT comprising adipic acid, terephthalic acid, and butanediol were more toxic than PBAT-MPs. Our findings demonstrate that PBAT-MPs may be degraded by microorganisms to produce chemicals that are highly toxic to plants. Thus, biodegradable plastics may pose a great risk to the environment.

Does bacterial community succession within the polyethylene mulching film plastisphere drive biodegradation?

Agricultural fields are severely contaminated with polyethylene mulching film (PMF) and this plastic in the natural environment can be colonized by biofilm-forming microorganisms that differ from those in the surrounding environment. In this study, we investigated the succession of the soil microbial communities in the PMF plastisphere using an artificial micro-ecosystem as well as exploring the degradation of PMF by plastisphere communities. The results indicated a significant and gradual decrease in the alpha diversity of the bacterial communities in the plastisphere and surrounding liquid. The community compositions in the plastisphere and surrounding liquid differed significantly from that in agricultural soil. Phyla and genera with the capacity to degrade polyethylene and hydrocarbon were enriched in the plastisphere, and some of these microorganisms were core members of the plastisphere community. Phylogenetic Investigation of Communities by Reconstruction of Unobserved States (PICRUSt) analysis detected increases in metabolism pathways for PMF plastisphere Xenobiotics Biodegradation and Metabolism, thereby suggesting the possibility of polyethylene degradation in the plastisphere. Observations by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and confocal laser scanning microscopy demonstrated the formation of biofilms on the incubated PMF. SEM, atomic force microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and water contact angle detected significant changes in the surface microstructure, chemical composition and hydrophobicity change of the films, thereby suggesting that the plastisphere community degraded PMF during incubation. In conclusion, this study provides insights into the changes in agricultural soil microorganisms in the PMF plastisphere and the degradation of PMF.

Biodegradability of polyethylene mulching film by two Pseudomonas bacteria and their potential degradation mechanism.

Wasted polyethylene (PE) products caused pollution has become a global issue. Researchers have identified PE-degrading bacteria which have been considered as a sustainable alleviation to this crisis. However, the degradation mechanism employed by currently isolated bacteria is unclear and their degradation efficiencies are insufficient. More importantly, there is little research into bacteria capable of degrading PE mulching film to solve "white" pollution in agriculture. We determined the PE degradation efficiency of two Pseudomonas, identified by 16S rDNA analysis, and elucidated their potential mechanisms through whole genome sequencing. During an 8-week period, PE mulch lost 5.95 ± 0.03% and 3.62 ± 0.32% of its mass after incubated with P. knackmussii N1-2 and P. aeruginosa RD1-3 strains, respectively. Moreover, considerable pits and wrinkles were observed on PE.The hydrophobicity of PE films also decreased, and new oxygenic functional groups were detected on PE mulch by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometry (FTIR). Complete genome sequencing analysis indicated that two Pseudomonas strains encode genes for enzymes and metabolism pathways involved in PE degradation. The results provide a theoretical basis for further research that investigates the mechanism driving the degradation and metabolism of discarded PE in the environment.

Microbial community roles and chemical mechanisms in the parasitic development of Orobanche cumana.

Orobanche cumana Wallr. is a holoparasite weed that extracts water and nutrients from its host the sunflower, thereby causing yield reductions and quality losses. However, the number of O. cumana parasites in the same farmland is distinctly different. The roots of some hosts have been heavily parasitized, while others have not been parasitized. What are the factors contributing to this phenomenon? Is it possible that sunflower interroot microorganisms are playing a regulatory role in this phenomenon? The role of the microbial community in this remains unclear. In this study, we investigated the rhizosphere soil microbiome for sunflowers with different degrees of O. cumana parasitism, that is, healthy, light infection, moderate infection, and severe infection on the sunflower roots. The microbial structures differed significantly according to the degree of parasitism, where Xanthomonadaceae was enriched in severe infections. Metagenomic analyses revealed that amino acid, carbohydrate, energy, and lipid metabolism were increased in the rhizosphere soils of severely infected sunflowers, which were attributed to the proliferation of Lysobacter. Lysobacter antibioticus (HX79) was isolated and its capacity to promote O. cumana seed germination and increase the germ tube length was confirmed by germination and pot experiments. Cyclo(Pro-Val), an active metabolite of strain HX79, was identified and metabolomic and molecular docking approaches confirmed it was responsible for promoting O. cumana seed germination and growth. And we found that Pseudomonas mandelii HX1 inhibited the growth of O. cumana in the host rhizosphere soil. Our findings clarify the role of rhizosphere microbiota in regulating the parasite O. cumana to possibly facilitate the development of a new weed suppression strategy.

[Correlation analysis of computed tomography imaging scoring to the presence of acute kidney injury in severe acute pancreatitis].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the multi-detector-row spiral CT (MDCT) imaging findings of severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) complicated with acute kidney injury (AKI), and to evaluate the correlation of MDCT imaging scoring to the presence of AKI in SAP. METHODS: One hundred and nineteen patients with confirmed diagnosis of SAP during March 2008-December 2010 in our hospital were retrospectively included into the study. The imaging features including pancreatic size, areas and degrees of pancreatic necrosis, peripancreatic retroperitoneal and intraperitoneal inflammation and other organs involvement (liver, kidney, spleen, gastrointestinal tract, etc.) were observed, as well as related CT severity indexes such as Balthazar CT score, CT severity index (CTSI) and extra-pancreatic inflammation on CT (EPIC) score were calculated. At the mean time, the clinical data including serum creatinine, urine output and the eventual prognosis were collected and compared with CT indexes, which was used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: SAP with AKI patients were often associated with the high incidence of multiple organ dysfunction (MODS) (88.1%) and high mortality (47.6%). In SAP with AKI patients, the CT indexes were significantly higher than those of SAP without AKI patients. Among the CT indexes, EPIC score showed the larger area under the ROC curve (AUC = 0.903) than CTSI score (AUC = 0.721) and Balthazar CT score (AUC = 0.571). CONCLUSION: Among the CT indexes, EPIC score has a better prediction of AKI in SAP patients than CTSI and Balthazar CT scores.