Heterologous expression of taxane genes confers resistance to fall armyworm in Nicotiana benthamiana.

KEY MESSAGE: Taxadiene synthase, taxadiene-5α-hydroxylase, and taxane 13α-hydroxylase genes were introduced into Nicotiana benthamiana, and the improved resistance to lepidoptera pest fall armyworm was reported. Fall armyworm (FAW) is a serious agricultural pest. Genetic engineering techniques have been used to create pest-resistant plant varieties for reducing pest damage. Paclitaxel is a diterpenoid natural metabolite with antineoplastic effects in medicine. However, the effects of taxanes on the growth and development of lepidoptera pests, such as the FAW, are unknown. Here, selected paclitaxel precursor biosynthesis pathway genes, taxadiene synthase, taxane 5α-hydroxylase, and taxane 13α-hydroxylase, were engineered in the heterologous host Nicotiana benthamiana plants. Bioassay experiments showed that the transgenic N. benthamiana plants displayed improved resistance to FAW infestation, with degeneration of gut tissues and induced expression of apoptosis-related genes. Cytotoxicity experiment showed that the paclitaxel precursor, 10-deacetylbaccatin III, is cytotoxic to Sf9 cells, causing cell cycle arrest at the G2/M phase and disorder of the cytoskeleton. Metabolome analysis showed that heterologous expression of taxane genes in N. benthamiana affected the digestive system, steroid hormone and purine metabolism pathways of FAW larvae. In summary, this study provides a candidate approach for FAW control.

ExpressVis: a biologist-oriented interactive web server for exploring multi-omics data.

In the era of life-omics, huge amounts of multi-omics data have been generated and widely used in biomedical research. It is challenging for biologists with limited programming skills to obtain biological insights from multi-omics data. Thus, a biologist-oriented platform containing visualization functions is needed to make complex omics data digestible. Here, we propose an easy-to-use, interactive web server named ExpressVis. In ExpressVis, users can prepare datasets; perform differential expression analysis, clustering analysis, and survival analysis; and integrate expression data with protein-protein interaction networks and pathway maps. These analyses are organized into six modules. Users can use each module independently or use several modules interactively. ExpressVis displays analysis results in interactive figures and tables, and provides comprehensive interactive operations in each figure and table, between figures or tables in each module, and among different modules. It is freely accessible at https://omicsmining.ncpsb.org.cn/ExpressVis and does not require login. To test the performance of ExpressVis for multi-omics studies of clinical cohorts, we re-analyzed a published hepatocellular carcinoma dataset and reproduced their main findings, suggesting that ExpressVis is convenient enough to analyze multi-omics data. Based on its complete analysis processes and unique interactive operations, ExpressVis provides an easy-to-use solution for exploring multi-omics data.

Spherical Binderless 4A/5A Zeolite Assemblies: Synthesis, Characterization, and Adsorbent Applications.

Zeolite microspheres have been successfully applied in commercial-scale separators such as oxygen concentrators. However, further enhancement of their applications is hampered by the post-synthetic shaping process that formulates the zeolite powder into packing-sized spherical bodies with various binders leading to active site blockage and suboptimal performance. Herein, binderless zeolite microspheres with a tunable broad size range from 2 µm to 500 µm have been developed with high crystallinity, sphericity over 92%, monodispersity with a coefficient of variation (CV) less than 5%, and hierarchical pore architecture. Combining precursor impregnation and steam-assisted crystallization (SAC), mesoporous silica microspheres with a wide size range could be successfully transformed into zeolite. For preserved size and spherical morphology, a judicious selection of the synthesis conditions is crucial to ensure a pure phase, high crystallinity, and hierarchical architecture. For the sub-2-µm zeolite microsphere, low-temperature prolonged aging was important so as to suppress external zeolization that led to a large, single macroporous crystal. For the large 500 µm sphere, ultrasound pretreatment and vacuum impregnation were crucial and facilitated spatially uniform gel matrix dispersion and homogenous crystallization. The obtained zeolite 5A microspheres exhibited excellent air separation performance, while the 4A microspheres displayed ammonium removal capabilities. This work provides a general strategy to overcome the existing limitations in fabricating binder-free technical bodies of zeolites for various applications.

ABRO1 promotes NLRP3 inflammasome activation through regulation of NLRP3 deubiquitination.

Deubiquitination of NLRP3 has been suggested to contribute to inflammasome activation, but the roles and molecular mechanisms are still unclear. We here demonstrate that ABRO1, a subunit of the BRISC deubiquitinase complex, is necessary for optimal NLRP3-ASC complex formation, ASC oligomerization, caspase-1 activation, and IL-1ß and IL-18 production upon treatment with NLRP3 ligands after the priming step, indicating that efficient NLRP3 activation requires ABRO1. Moreover, we report that ABRO1 deficiency results in a remarkable attenuation in the syndrome severity of NLRP3-associated inflammatory diseases, including MSU- and Alum-induced peritonitis and LPS-induced sepsis in mice. Mechanistic studies reveal that LPS priming induces ABRO1 binding to NLRP3 in an S194 phosphorylation-dependent manner, subsequently recruiting the BRISC to remove K63-linked ubiquitin chains of NLRP3 upon stimulation with activators. Furthermore, deficiency of BRCC3, the catalytically active component of BRISC, displays similar phenotypes to ABRO1 knockout mice. Our findings reveal an ABRO1-mediated regulatory signaling system that controls activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome and provide novel potential targets for treating NLRP3-associated inflammatory diseases.

VPS37C facilitates erythroid differentiation by promoting EKLF stability.

The process of erythroid differentiation is orchestrated at the molecular level by a complex network of transcription factors. Erythroid Krüppel-like factor (EKLF/KLF1) is a master erythroid gene regulator that directly regulates most aspects of terminal erythroid differentiation. However, the underlying regulatory mechanisms of EKLF protein stability are still largely unknown. In this study, we identified Vacuolar protein sorting 37 C (VPS37C), a core subunit of the Endosomal sorting complex required for transport-I (ESCRT-I) complex, as an essential regulator of EKLF stability. Our study showed that VPS37C interacts with EKLF and prevents K48-linked polyubiquitination of EKLF and proteasome-mediated EKLF degradation, thus enhancing EKLF protein stability and transcriptional activity. VPS37C overexpression in murine erythroleukemia (MEL) cells promotes hexamethylene bisacetamide (HMBA)-induced erythroid differentiation manifested by up-regulating erythroid-specific EKLF target genes and increasing benzidine-positive cells. In contrast, VPS37C knockdown inhibits HMBA-induced MEL cell erythroid differentiation. Particularly, the restoration of EKLF expression in VPS37C-knockdown MEL cells reverses erythroid-specific gene expression and hemoglobin production. Collectively, our study demonstrated VPS37C is a novel regulator of EKLF ubiquitination and degradation, which plays a positive role in erythroid differentiation of MEL cells by enhancing EKLF protein stability.

Characterization of the activity of 2'-C- methylcytidine against infectious pancreatic necrosis virus replication.

Infectious pancreatic necrosis virus (IPNV) is the pathogen of infectious pancreatic necrosis (IPN), which can cause high mortality in salmonids, harm the healthy development of salmon-trout aquaculture, and lead to huge economic losses. However, in China, there is currently neither a commercially available vaccine to prevent IPNV infection nor antiviral drugs to treat IPNV infection. The genome of IPNV consists of two segments of dsRNA named A and B. Segment B encodes the RNA-dependent RNA-polymerase (RdRp) VP1 which is essential for viral RNA replication and is therefore considered an important target for the development of antiviral drugs. In this study, we investigate whether 2'-C-methylcytidine (2CMC), a nucleoside analog which target viral polymerases, has an inhibitory effect on IPNV both in vitro and in vivo. The results show that 2CMC inhibits IPNV infection by inhibiting viral RNA replication rather than viral internalization or attachment. In vivo experiment results showed that 2CMC could inhibit viral RNA replication and reduce viral load in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). In our study, we have revealed that 2CMC has a potent inhibitory effect against IPNV infection. Our data suggest that 2CMC is an attractive anti-IPNV drug candidate which will be highly valuable for the development of potential therapeutics for IPNV.

Andrographolide Alleviates Oxidative Damage and Inhibits Apoptosis Induced by IHNV Infection via CTSK/BCL2/Cytc Axis.

Infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus (IHNV) is an important pathogen that causes significant economic losses to salmon trout farming. Although vaccines have been invented for the treatment of IHNV, findings from our previous survey show that breeding enterprises and farmers require effective oral drugs or immune enhancers. However, studies on the development of oral drugs are limited. In the present study, we used bioinformatics methods to predict the protein targets of andrographolide (Andro) in IHNV. Cells were infected with IHNV, and the effect of andrographolide was explored by evaluating the expression levels of genes implicated in oxidative stress, activities of antioxidant enzymes, and the expression of genes implicated in apoptosis and necrosis. In the present study, cells were divided into NC, IHNV, IHNV+10 µM andrographolide, and IHNV+20 µM andrographolide groups. qRT-PCR was performed to determine the expression level of genes, and an antioxidant enzyme detection kit was used to evaluate the activities of antioxidant enzymes. Fluorescent staining was performed using a reactive oxygen species detection kit (ROS) and Hoechst 33342/PI double staining kit, and the mechanism of alleviation of apoptosis and oxidative stress andrographolide after IHNV infection was determined. The results indicated that andrographolide inhibits viral growth by binding to the NV protein of IHNV and increasing the antioxidant capacity of the body through the CTSK/BCL2/Cytc axis, thereby inhibiting the occurrence of IHNV-induced apoptosis. This is the first study to explore the antagonistic mechanism of action of andrographolide in alleviating IHNV infection. The results provide valuable information on alternative strategies for the treatment of IHNV infection during salmon family and provide a reference for the use of andrographolide as an antioxidant agent in agricultural settings.

GPS2 promotes erythroid differentiation by control of the stability of EKLF protein.

Erythropoiesis is a complex multistage process that involves differentiation of early erythroid progenitors to enucleated mature red blood cells, in which lineage-specific transcription factors play essential roles. Erythroid Krüppel-like factor (EKLF/KLF1) is a pleiotropic erythroid transcription factor that is required for the proper maturation of the erythroid cells, whose expression and activation are tightly controlled in a temporal and differentiation stage-specific manner. Here, we uncover a novel role of G-protein pathway suppressor 2 (GPS2), a subunit of the nuclear receptor corepressor/silencing mediator of retinoic acid and thyroid hormone receptor corepressor complex, in erythrocyte differentiation. Our study demonstrates that knockdown of GPS2 significantly suppresses erythroid differentiation of human CD34+ cells cultured in vitro and xenotransplanted in nonobese diabetic/severe combined immunodeficiency/interleukin-2 receptor γ-chain null mice. Moreover, global deletion of GPS2 in mice causes impaired erythropoiesis in the fetal liver and leads to severe anemia. Flow cytometric analysis and Wright-Giemsa staining show a defective differentiation at late stages of erythropoiesis in Gps2-/- embryos. Mechanistically, GPS2 interacts with EKLF and prevents proteasome-mediated degradation of EKLF, thereby increasing EKLF stability and transcriptional activity. Moreover, we identify the amino acids 191-230 region in EKLF protein, responsible for GPS2 binding, that is highly conserved in mammals and essential for EKLF protein stability. Collectively, our study uncovers a previously unknown role of GPS2 as a posttranslational regulator that enhances the stability of EKLF protein and thereby promotes erythroid differentiation.

Comparative transcriptome analysis of long non coding RNA (lncRNA) in RTG-2 cells infected by infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus.

Infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus (IHNV) is the vital pathogen that has caused the great economic loss in salmonid fisheries. To date, there is limited information concerning the changes of lncRNAs in RTG-2 cells infected by IHNV. In this study, a comparative transcriptome analysis of lncRNAs was performed in RTG-2 cells with and without IHNV infection to determine their changes and the effects on IHNV infection. The results showed that IHNV infection significantly changed the expression levels of lncRNAs and mRNAs, including 3693 differentially expressed lncRNAs (DE-lncRNAs) and 3503 differentially expressed mRNAs (DE-mRNAs) respectively. These DE-lncRNAs and DE-mRNAs induced by IHNV were mostly associated with immune response, RNA processing, and viral diseases related pathways. Further analysis found that some DE-lncRNAs might participate in the regulation of extracellular matrix metabolism, apoptosis, lipid synthesis, autophagy, and immune responses referring to the functions of their target genes. Afterwards, 349 co-expression relationships were constructed by 223 DE-lncRNAs and 271 DE-mRNAs, of which LTCONS_00146935 was the pivotal node in the interaction networks, and was together with its target genes modulated the immune responses under the IHNV infection. RT-qPCR results showed that the changes of the selected immune-related DEGs were in consistent with the RNA-seq data, suggesting that the sequencing data was relatively reliable. In summary, this is the first study to determine the changes and interactions of lncRNA-mRNA in RTG-2 cells under the IHNV infection. The results provided the valuable information concerning the lncRNAs in salmonid fish, which will benefit for future study on uncovering the roles of lncRNAs-mRNAs during the viral infection.

An inactivated vaccine against infectious pancreatic necrosis virus in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss).

Infectious pancreatic necrosis virus (IPNV), belonging to the genus Aquabirnavirus within the family Birnaviridae, causes huge economic loss to the global salmonid industry every year. Recently, outbreaks of disease caused by genogroup I IPNV were found in many rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) farms worldwide. An inactivated vaccine was prepared using a genogroup I IPNV isolate with an optimized procedure as incubation with ß-propanolactone (BPL) at the final concentration of 0.5% at room temperature for 48 h. The inactivated vaccine was used to immunize rainbow trout, and the protection efficiency was evaluated by viral loads determination, immune-related genes quantification, and neutralizing antibody tests. The viral loads in immunized rainbow trout were significantly decreased and the strongest antiviral effect was observed on 30 days post-immunization (d.p.i). The expression of innate immune-related genes IFN-1, and Mx-1 genes were significantly up-regulated on 3, 7, and 15 d.p.i (p < 0.05), and adaptive immune-related genes CD4, CD8, and IgM genes were significantly up-regulated on 15 and 30 d.p.i (p < 0.05). Neutralizing antibodies were firstly detected on 30 d.p.i and the highest titer was observed on 45 d.p.i, which began to decrease on 60 d.p.i, but was still significantly higher than that in negative control fish. The results indicated that the vaccine prepared in this study could stimulate the non-specific and specific immune response and provide significant immune protection to the vaccinated rainbow trout.

NLRP3 is dispensable for d-galactosamine/lipopolysaccharide-induced acute liver failure.

The nucleotide-binding domain and leucine-rich repeat-containing family pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome is involved in various acute and chronic liver diseases, however, it is not clear whether NLRP3 contributes to d-Galactosamine (D-GalN) plus lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced acute liver failure (ALF). This study aims to investigate the role of NLRP3 inflammasome in D-GalN/LPS-induced fatal hepatitis. We found that Nlrp3-/- and WT mice showed similar mortality against a lethal dose of D-GalN/LPS treatment. Serum ALT and AST levels, as well as liver necrosis area and hepatocyte apoptosis, were not significantly different between Nlrp3-/- and WT mice at 6 h after D-GalN/LPS injection. Moreover, the numbers of intrahepatic F4/80+ cells and Ly6G+ cells were comparable in two genotype mice following D-GalN/LPS treatment. Besides, Nlrp3-/- mice had reduced IL-1ß levels but similar TNF-α, IL-6, and MCP-1 levels compared with WT mice upon D-GalN/LPS administration. Our findings revealed that NLRP3 ablation does not protect mice from D-GalN/LPS-induced fatal hepatitis and has a marginal effect on intrahepatic inflammatory response upon D-GalN/LPS treatment. This suggests that NLRP3 inflammasome does not appear to be a major contributor to D-GalN/LPS-induced ALF.

Autophagy induced by infectious pancreatic necrosis virus promotes its multiplication in the Chinook salmon embryo cell line CHSE-214.

Infectious pancreatic necrosis virus (IPNV) is a common pathogen that causes huge economic losses for the salmonid aquaculture industry. Autophagy plays an important regulatory role in the invasion of pathogenic microorganisms. In this study, we explored the relationship between IPNV infection and autophagy in Chinook salmon embryo (CHSE-214) cells using standard methods. Transmission electron microscopy showed that IPNV infection produced typical structures of autophagosomes in CHSE-214 cells. Transformation of microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3 (LC3)-I to LC3-II protein, a marker of autophagy, was observed in IPNV-infected cells using confocal fluorescence microscopy and western blot analysis. Western blotting also showed that expression of the autophagy substrate p62 was significantly decreased in IPNV-infected cells. The influence of autophagy on IPNV multiplication was further clarified with cell culture experiments using autophagy inducer rapamycin and autophagy inhibitor 3-methyladenine. Rapamycin promoted IPNV multiplication at both the nucleic acid and protein levels, which led to higher IPNV yields; 3-methyladenine treatment had the opposite effect. This study has demonstrated that IPNV can induce autophagy, and that autophagy promotes the multiplication of IPNV in CHSE-214 cells.

Infectious pancreatic necrosis virus inhibits infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus at the early stage of infection in a time dependent manner during Co-infection in Chinook salmon embryo cell lines.

Salmonids can be co-infected by infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus (IHNV) and infectious pancreatic necrosis virus (IPNV) under natural or experimental conditions. To reveal the influence of IPNV on IHNV in co-infections, CHSE-214 cells were inoculated with IPNV at different time intervals prior to or after IHNV infection. Propagation of IHNV was determined by an immunofluorescence antibody test, real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction, flow cytometry, and virus titration. The results showed that when cells were inoculated with IPNV prior to IHNV, IHNV multiplication was inhibited. This inhibitory effect became stronger with increasing time intervals (P < 0.05). When cells were inoculated with IPNV after IHNV, the inhibitory effect became weaker with increasing time intervals (P < 0.05), and no significant inhibition was observed at 12 h (P > 0.05) compared with the single IHNV infection group. The findings suggest that IHNV is inhibited at the early stage of infection by IPNV and in a time dependent manner during co-infection. Furthermore, the effect of IPNV on IHNV entry and expression of IHNV entry-related genes clathrin, dynamin-2, adaptor protein 2, and vacuolar protein sorting 35 were also determined. The results showed that IPNV did not affect the amount of IHNV entering the cells. However, the expression levels of clathrin and dynamin-2 were significantly lower in co-infection than those in single IHNV infection, which suggests that IPNV likely inhibits IHNV by affecting IHNV invasion via downregulating IHNV entry-related genes clathrin and dynamin-2.

Phylogeography and evolution of infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus in China.

Infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus (IHNV) is a well-known rhabdoviral pathogen of salmonid fish. In this study, a comprehensive analysis of 40 IHNV viruses isolated from thirteen fish farms in nine geographically dispersed Chinese provinces during 2012 to 2017 is presented. Identity of nucleotide and amino acid sequences among all the complete glycoprotein (G) genes from Chinese isolates was 98.0-100% and 96.7-100%, respectively. Coalescent phylogenetic analyses revealed that all the Chinese IHN virus characterized in this study were in a monophyletic clade that had a most recent common ancestor with the J Nagano (JN) subgroup within the J genogroup of IHNV. Within the Chinese IHNV clade isolates obtained over successive years from the same salmon fish farm clustered in strongly supported subclades, suggesting maintenance and diversification of virus over time within individual farms. There was also evidence for regional virus transmission within provinces, and some cases of longer distance transmission between distant provinces, such as Gansu and Yunnan. The data demonstrated that IHNV has evolved into a new subgroup in salmon farm environments in China, and IHNV isolates are undergoing molecular evolution within fish farms. We suggest that Chinese IHNV comprises a separate JC subgroup within the J genogroup of IHNV.

Endohedral Ca@B38: stabilization of a B38(2-) borospherene dianion by metal encapsulation.

Based on extensive global-minimum searches and first-principles electronic structure calculations, we present the viability of an endohedral metalloborospherene Cs Ca@B38 () which contains a Cs B38(2-) () dianion composed of interwoven boron double chains with a σ + π double delocalization bonding pattern, extending the Bn(q) (q = n - 40) borospherene family from n = 39-42 to n = 38. Transition metal endohedral complexes Cs M@B38 (M = Sc, Y, Ti) (, , ) based on Cs B38(2-) () are also predicted.

Evaluation of microbial population dynamics in the co-composting of cow manure and rice straw using high throughput sequencing analysis.

Microbial population dynamics in co-composting of cow manure and rice straw were evaluated using 16S high throughput sequencing technology. Physicochemical factors, including temperature, pH, nitrogen contents, the ratio of carbon and nitrogen, and germination index, were also determined in this study. 16S high throughput sequencing results showed that bacterial community structure and composition significantly varied in each phase of composting. The major phyla included Bacteroidetes, Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Actinobacteria and Planctomycetes, respectively. Bacteroidetes and Proteobacteria were the most abundant phyla in all phases, and Actinobacteria was just dominant in the mesophilic phase, while Firmicutes and Planctomycetes were ubiquitous. At the genus level, Simiduia, Flavobacterium, unclassified Chitinophagaceae and Flexibacter notably changed in each phase of composting. Bacterial community diversity in the mesophilic phase was higher than that in others based on the Shannon-Wiener index and Simpson diversity index. The ratio of carbon and nitrogen and germination index indicated that the co-composting of cow manure and rice straw reached maturation. The result of nitrogen contents showed that nitrogen loss mainly occurred in the thermophilic phase. In addition, the differences in the distributions of key OTUs between in the late thermophilic phase and the cooling and maturation phase were unobvious compared with other phase's base on the principal component analysis. Redundancy analysis revealed that the changes of nitrogen played a predominant role in the distributions of OTUs during the composting process.

CBe5Hn((n-4)) (n = 2-5): Hydrogen-Stabilized CBe5 Pentagons Containing Planar or Quasi-Planar Pentacoordinate Carbons.

The diagonal relationship between beryllium and aluminum and the isoelectronic relationship between BeH unit and Al atom were utilized to design a new series ppC- or quasi-ppC-containing species C5v CBe5H5(+), Cs CBe5H4, C2v CBe5H3(-), and C2v CBe5H2(2-) by replacing the Al atoms in previously reported global minima planar pentacoordinate carbon (ppC) species D5h CAl5(+), C2v CAl4Be, C2v CAl3Be2(-), and C2v CAl2Be3(2-) with BeH units. The three-center two-electron (3c-2e) bonds formed between Be and bridging H atoms were crucial for the stabilization of these ppC species. The natural bond orbital (NBO) and adaptive natural density partitioning (AdNDP) analyses revealed that the central ppCs or quasi-ppCs possess the stable eight electron-shell structures. The AdNDP analyses also disclosed that these species are all 6σ+2π double-aromatic in nature. The aromaticity was proved by the calculated negative nucleus-independent chemical shifts (NICS) values. DFT and high-level CCSD(T) calculations revealed that these ppC- or quasi-ppC species are the global minimum or competitive low-lying local minimum (Cs CBe5H4) on their potential energy surfaces. The Born-Oppenheimer molecular dynamic (BOMD) simulations revealed that the H atoms in C2v CBe5H3(-) and C2v CBe5H2(2-) can easily rotate around the CBe5 cores and the structure of quasi-planar C5v CBe5H5(+) will become the planar structure at room temperature; however, these interesting dynamic behaviors did not indicate the kinetic instability as the basic ppC structures were maintained during the simulations. Therefore, it would be potentially possible to realize these interesting ppC- or quasi-ppc-species in future experiments.

Characteristics of Bacillus sp. PZ-1 and its biosorption to Pb(II).

During the long and cold winter season in northern area of China, wastewater treatment is often inefficient which causes the substandard discharge. In this study, a lead-resistant psychrotrophilic bacterium was isolated and used as an adsorbent to remove Pb(II) from aqueous solution at 15 °C. The strain was identified and designated as Bacillus sp. PZ-1 based on the morphology, physiological-biochemical experiments and 16S rDNA sequence analysis. The minimal inhibitory concentration and antibiotic experiments revealed that PZ-1 had high resistance to 1500 mg L(-1) of Zn(II), 800 mg L(-1) of Cu(II), 400 mg L(-1) of Ni(II), 15 µg mL(-1) of chloramphenicol and 50 µg mL(-1) of streptomycin, but susceptibility to 200 mg L(-1) of Co(II). Scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy analyses showed that biosorption of Bacillus sp. PZ-1 to Pb(II) involved surface adsorption, ion exchange and micro-precipitate. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analyses indicated that hydroxyl, carbonyl and carboxyl on cells may play vital roles in Pb(II) adsorption. Besides, siderophore secreted by PZ-1 had beneficial impacts on the Pb(II) removal. Biosorption experiments were carried out as a function of initial Pb(II) concentration (50-500 mg L(-1)), pH (3.0-7.0), biomass concentration (5-50 g L(-1)) and contact time (5-40 min). Biosorption rate of 93.01% with adsorption capacity of 9.30 mg g(-1) was obtained under the initial Pb(II) concentration of 400 mg (-1), pH of 5.0, contact time of 20 min, biomass concentration of 40 g L(-1) and the temperature of 15 °C. The equilibrium data were well fitted with Langmuir model, which indicated the adsorption process of Pb(II) is monolayer adsorption. Bacillus sp. PZ-1 appeared to be an efficient biosorbent for removing Pb(II) from wastewater at low temperature.

Epidemic spreading in time-varying community networks.

The spreading processes of many infectious diseases have comparable time scale as the network evolution. Here, we present a simple networks model with time-varying community structure, and investigate susceptible-infected-susceptible epidemic spreading processes in this model. By both theoretic analysis and numerical simulations, we show that the efficiency of epidemic spreading in this model depends intensively on the mobility rate q of the individuals among communities. We also find that there exists a mobility rate threshold qc. The epidemic will survive when q > qc and die when q < qc. These results can help understanding the impacts of human travel on the epidemic spreading in complex networks with community structure.

Traditional Chinese medicine bufalin inhibits infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus infection in vitro and in vivo.

Infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus (IHNV) causes infectious hematopoietic necrosis and severe economic losses to salmon and trout aquaculture worldwide. Currently, the only commercial vaccine against IHNV is a DNA vaccine with some biosafety concerns. Hence, more effective vaccines and antiviral drugs are needed to prevent IHNV infection. In this study, 1,483 compounds were screened from a traditional Chinese medicine monomer library, and bufalin showed potential antiviral activity against IHNV. The 50% cytotoxic concentration of bufalin was >20 µM, and the 50% inhibitory concentration was 0.1223 µΜ against IHNV. Bufalin showed the inhibition of diverse IHNV strains in vitro, which confirmed that it had an inhibitory effect against all IHNV strains, rather than random activity against a single strain. The bufalin-mediated block of IHNV infection occurred at the viral attachment and RNA replication stages, but not internalization. Bufalin also inhibited IHNV infection in vivo and significantly increased the survival of rainbow trout compared with the mock drug-treated group, and this was confirmed by in vivo viral load monitoring. Our data showed that the anti-IHNV activity of bufalin was proportional to extracellular Na+ concentration and inversely proportional to extracellular K+ concentration, and bufalin may inhibit IHNV infection by targeting Na+/K+-ATPase. The in vitro and in vivo studies showed that bufalin significantly inhibited IHNV infection and may be a promising candidate drug against the disease in rainbow trout. IMPORTANCE: Infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus (IHNV) is the pathogen of infectious hematopoietic necrosis (IHN) which outbreak often causes huge economic losses and hampers the healthy development of salmon and trout farming. Currently, there is only one approved DNA vaccine for IHN worldwide, but it faces some biosafety problems. Hence, more effective vaccines and antiviral drugs are needed to prevent IHNV infection. In this study, we report that bufalin, a traditional Chinese medicine, shows potential antiviral activity against IHNV both in vitro and in vivo. The bufalin-mediated block of IHNV infection occurred at the viral attachment and RNA replication stages, but not internalization, and bufalin inhibited IHNV infection by targeting Na+/K+-ATPase. The in vitro and in vivo studies showed that bufalin significantly inhibited IHNV infection and may be a promising candidate drug against the disease in rainbow trout.