Metabolism and transcriptome profiling provides insight into the genes and transcription factors involved in monoterpene biosynthesis of borneol chemotype of Cinnamomum camphora induced by mechanical damage

Background The borneol chemotype of Cinnamomum camphora (BCC), a monoterpene-rich woody plant species, is the sole source prescribed by the Chinese Pharmacopoeia for the production of natural D-borneol, a major monoterpene in BCC used for millennia as a topical analgesic in China. Nevertheless, the possible gene-regulatory roles of transcription factors (TFs) in BCC’s monoterpenoid biosynthesis remained unknown. Here, a joint analysis of the transcriptome and terpenoid metabolome of BCC induced by mechanical damage (MD) was used to comprehensively explore the interaction between TFs and terpene synthase (TPS) unigenes that might participate in monoterpene biosynthesis in BCC. Results Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry analysis detected 14 monoterpenes and seven sesquiterpenes. All but two monoterpenes underwent a significantly increased accumulation after the MD treatment. RNA sequencing data revealed that 10 TPS, 82 MYB, 70 AP2/ERF, 38 BHLH, 31 WRKY, and 29 bZIP unigenes responded to the MD treatment. A correlation analysis revealed that three monoterpene synthase genes (CcTPS1, CcTPS3, CcTPS4) highly correlated with multiple monoterpenes, namely D-borneol, camphor, and bornyl acetate, which could be responsible for monoterpenoid biosynthesis in BCC. Furthermore, five WRKY, 15 MYB, 10 ERF/AP2, five bZIP, and two BHLH genes had strong, positive correlations with CcTPS1 or CcTPS4, judging by their high coefficient values (R2 > 0.8). The bioinformatics results were verified by quantitative real-time PCR. Conclusion This study provides insight into the genes involved in the biosynthesis and regulation of monoterpene in BCC and thus provides a pool of candidate genes for future mechanistic analyses of how monoterpenes accumulate in BCC

Vibration Test and Shock Absorption of Coal Crusher Chambers in Thermal Power Plants (I): Field Test and Assessment

A field vibration test was conducted on the coal crusher chamber of a thermal power plant to evaluate its vibration performance. The vibration displacements and velocities of the structure, coal crusher body, and vibration-isolation platform were tested. The vibration safety of the coal crusher chamber and the vibration-isolation efficiency of the spring vibration-isolation system were evaluated based on the test results, and the reason the vibration exceeded the limit was analyzed. This study showed that the vibration displacement of a coal crusher with a spring vibration-isolation system met the code requirements, but the equipment had greater vibration displacements, which were related to the connection between the equipment and the platform. Compared to a steel platform, the vibration displacement of a concrete platform was smaller, and the vibration-isolation efficiency was greater. The vibration displacements of the coal crusher body could be reduced by controlling the vibration displacements of the platform

Vibration Test and Shock Absorption of Coal Crusher Chambers in Thermal Power Plants (II): Numerical Analysis

The coal crusher generates large vibrations when crushing coal blocks, which can affect the equipment itself, as well as the safety of the structure. In order to study the dynamic characteristics of coal crusher, a finite element model of the coal crusher chamber in the Shangluo power plant was built by using ABAQUS. Firstly, modal and harmonic response analyses were conducted, and the comparison shows that the numerical results are basically in accordance with the test results. Then, shock absorption research was performed using a parametric analysis that included the stiffness and position of the spring vibration isolator, the mass, and material of the vibration-isolation platform. Finally, the dynamic coefficient of a coal crusher was discussed. The results showed that, compared with the stiffness of the spring vibration isolator, the mass of the vibration-isolation platform had more influence on the vibration displacement of the coal crusher. To achieve better vibration isolation, the concrete platform is suggested, and the eccentricity of the spring vibration isolator should not exceed 5%. When static design method is adopted to calculate the bearing capacity of the supporting structure subjected to the dynamic load of the coal crusher, the dynamic coefficient of a coal crusher is suggested as 1.5

Gas Emissions and Environmental Benefits of Wheat Cultivated under Different Fertilization Managements in Mollisols

The NH3, N2O and CO2 emissions from farmland soil pose a great threat to the environment, and the application of organic fertilizer and other reasonable fertilization measures can reduce soil gas emissions. However, research into greenhouse gas emissions and environmental benefits under the combined measures of partial substitution of organic fertilizer and phased application of chemical fertilizer is limited. Herein, a field experiment involving soil gas emission monitoring was conducted to study the effects of chemical fertilizer application in stages on Mollisols’ gas emissions and environmental benefits based on the partial replacement of chemical fertilizer with organic fertilizer. Five treatments were set up, including conventional nitrogen application (CF); no nitrogen application (N0); and one-stage (N1), two-stage (N2) and three-stage (N3) application of chemical nitrogen based on 25% of chemical nitrogen being replaced with organic fertilizer. The results showed that N1 had the best emission reduction. Compared with CF, N1 reduced NH3 volatilization and N2O and CO2 emission accumulation by 27.64%, 12.09% and 15.48%, respectively. Compared with N2 and N3, N1 could better reduce the soil urease, nitrate reductase, catalase and β-glucosidase activities, reduce the rate of the conversion of urea and organic carbon, increase the content of NH4+-N in the soil and reduce the NH3 volatilization rate and N2O and CO2 emission rates. A comprehensive analysis showed that N1 showed the best effects in reducing the soil gas emission rate, and environmental cost

Critical Role of Hepatic Cyp450s in the Testis-Specific Toxicity of (5R)-5-Hydroxytriptolide in C57BL/6 Mice

Low solubility, tissue accumulation, and toxicity are chief obstacles to developing triptolide derivatives, so a better understanding of the pharmacokinetics and toxicity of triptolide derivatives will help with these limitations. To address this, we studied pharmacokinetics and toxicity of (5R)-5-hydroxytriptolide (LLDT-8), a novel triptolide derivative immunosuppressant in a conditional knockout (KO) mouse model with liver-specific deletion of CYP450 reductase. Compared to wild type (WT) mice, after LLDT-8 treatment, KO mice suffered severe testicular toxicity (decreased testicular weight, spermatocytes apoptosis) unlike WT mice. Moreover, KO mice had greater LLDT-8 exposure as confirmed with elevated AUC and Cmax, increased drug half-life, and greater tissue distribution. γ-H2AX, a marker of meiosis process, its localization and protein level in testis showed a distinct meiosis block induced by LLDT-8. RNA polymerase II (Pol II), an essential factor for RNA storage and synapsis in spermatogenesis, decreased in testes of KO mice after LLDT-8 treatment. Germ-cell line based assays confirmed that LLDT-8 selectively inhibited Pol II in spermatocyte-like cells. Importantly, the analysis of androgen receptor (AR) related genes showed that LLDT-8 did not change AR-related signaling in testes. Thus, hepatic CYP450s were responsible for in vivo metabolism and clearance of LLDT-8 and aggravated testicular injury may be due to increased LLDT-8 exposure in testis and subsequent Pol II reduction

A comprehensive dataset of luminescence chronologies and environmental proxy indices of loess-paleosol deposits across Asia

Loess-paleosol sequences have been used in Asia to study climate and environmental changes during the Quaternary. The scarcity of age control datasets and proxy indices analysis data for Asian loess has limited our understanding of loess depositional processes and the reconstruction of paleoclimatic changes from loess-paleosol records. In this study, we present a dataset that includes 1785 quartz optically stimulated luminescence ages and 1038 K-feldspar post-infrared infrared stimulated luminescence ages from 128 loess-paleosol sequences located in different regions of Asia. We generate 38 high-resolution age-depth models of loess records based on the provided datasets. We provide data on 12,365 grain size records, 14,964 magnetic susceptibility records, 2204 CaCO3 content records, and 3326 color reflection records. This dataset contains the most detailed and accurate chronologies and proxy index data for loess records in Asia yet published. It provides fundamental data for understanding the spatial-temporal variations in loess depositional processes and climatic changes across the continent during the mid-late Quaternary.</p