Structure–Function Relationship of a Novel PR‑5 Protein with Antimicrobial Activity from Soy Hulls

An alkaline isoform of the PR-5 protein (designated GmOLPc) has been purified from soybean hulls and identified by MALDI-TOF/TOF-MS. GmOLPc effectively inhibited in vitro the growth of <i>Phytophthora soja</i> spore and <i>Pseudomonas syringae pv glycinea</i>. The antimicrobial activity of GmOLPc should be mainly ascribed to its high binding affinity with vesicles composed of DPPG, (1,3)-β-d-glucans, and weak endo-(1,3)-β-d-glucanase activity. From the 3D models, predicted by the homology modeling, GmOLPc contains an extended negatively charged cleft. The cleft was proved to be a prerequisite for endo-(1,3)-β-d-glucanase activity. Molecular docking revealed that the positioning of linear (1,3)-β-d-glucans in the cleft of GmOLPc allowed an interaction with Glu83 and Asp101 that were responsible for the hydrolytic cleavage of glucans. Interactions of GmOLPc with model membranes indicated that GmOLPc possesses good surface activity which could contribute to its antimicrobial activity, as proved by the behavior of perturbing the integrity of membranes through surface hydrophobic amino acid residues (Phe89 and Phe94)

The Size distribution of reads generated from 454 FLX platform pyrosequencing.

<p>The Size distribution of reads generated from 454 FLX platform pyrosequencing.</p

The size distribution of contigs resulted from de

<p>The size distribution of contigs resulted from de</p

Characteristics of reads generated from 454 pyrosequencing.

<p>Characteristics of reads generated from 454 pyrosequencing.</p

The ten most representive pathways resulted from KEGG pathway annotation.

<p>The x-axis indicated the number of unigenes in a pathway; The y-axis indicated the ten representive pathway.</p

Summary of contigs generated by de

<p>Summary of contigs generated by de</p

The classification of unigenes in three GO categories (level 3).

<p><a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0102668#pone-0102668-g003" target="_blank">Figure 3</a>–1 indicated biological process; <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0102668#pone-0102668-g003" target="_blank">Figure 3</a>–2 indicated cellular component; <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0102668#pone-0102668-g003" target="_blank">Figure 3–3</a> indicated molecular function; The x-axis indicated the number of unigenes in a process; The y-axis indicated GO process.</p

Is Superhydrophobicity Equal to Underwater Superaerophilicity: Regulating the Gas Behavior on Superaerophilic Surface via Hydrophilic Defects

Superhydrophobic surfaces have long been considered as superaerophilic surfaces while being placed in the aqueous environment. However, versatile gas/solid interacting phenomena were reported by utilizing different superhydrophobic substrates, indicating that these two wetting states cannot be simply equated. Herein, we demonstrate how the hydrophilic defects on the superhydrophobic track manipulate the underwater gas delivery, without deteriorating the water repellency of the surface in air. The versatile gas-transporting processes can be achieved on the defected superhydrophobic surfaces; on the contrary, in air, a water droplet is able to roll on those surfaces indistinguishably. Results show that the different media pressures applied on the two wetting states determine the diversified fluid-delivering phenomena; that is, the pressure-induced hydrophilic defects act as a gas barrier to regulate the bubble motion behavior under water. Through the rational incorporation of hydrophilic defects, a series of gas-transporting behaviors are achieved purposively, for example, gas film delivery, bubble transporting, and anisotropic bubble gating, which proves the feasibility of this underwater air-controlling strategy

Design, Synthesis, Fungicidal Activity, and Unexpected Docking Model of the First Chiral Boscalid Analogues Containing Oxazolines

Chirality greatly influences the biological and pharmacological properties of a pesticide and will contribute to unnecessary environmental loading and undesired ecological impact. No structure and activity relationship (SAR) of enantiopure succinate dehydrogenase inhibitors (SDHIs) was documented during the structure optimization of boscalids. On the basis of commercial SDHIs, oxazoline natural products, and versatile oxazoline ligands in organic synthesis, the first effort was devoted to explore the chiral SDHIs and the preliminary mechanism thereof. Fine-tuning furnished chiral nicotinamides <b>4ag</b> as a more promising fungicidal candidate against Rhizoctonia solani, Botrytis cinerea, and Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, with EC₅₀ values of 0.58, 0.42, and 2.10 mg/L, respectively. <i>In vivo</i> bioassay and molecular docking were investigated to explore the potential in practical application and plausible novelty in action mechanism, respectively. The unexpected molecular docking model showed the different chiral effects on the binding site with the amino acid residues. This chiral nicotinamide also featured easy synthesis and cost-efficacy. It will provide a powerful complement to the commercial SDHI fungicides with the introduction of chirality

Facile Modification of a Polythiophene/TiO₂ Composite Using Surfactants in an Aqueous Medium for an Enhanced Pb(II) Adsorption and Mechanism Investigation

Surfactants are considered to have a strong affinity to metal ions. Thus, it is a novel design by employing sodium dodecyl­benzene­sulfonate (NaDBS) and hexadecyl­trimethyl­ammonium bromide (CTAB) surfactants to functionalize polythiophene/TiO₂ composite via a facile and green method to improve the Pb²⁺ removal efficiency from the aqueous solution. Techniques such as Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, zeta potential analysis, thermogravimetric analysis, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and N₂ isotherm analysis revealed changes in surface properties after modification, and adsorption active sites were also extensively detected. Batch adsorption investigations were carried out to study their adsorption behaviors for lead­(II), and the diffusion process was carefully investigated and described via kinetic models including the Weber–Morris and pseudo-second-order model. The results indicated that modification with NaDBS or CTAB significantly changed the adsorption behavior and increased the monolayer adsorption capacity of polythiophene/TiO₂ composite for Pb²⁺, from 151.52 mg/g to 198.41 or 213.22 mg/g. The entire adsorption process results comprehensively confirmed that the diffusion rate of Pb²⁺ ions was controlled by the film and intraparticle diffusion, and the combination rate of Pb²⁺ with active sites was limited by chemisorption. Pb²⁺ ions were also detected to interact with adsorption active sites including sulfur atoms, hydroxyl groups, and surfactants