Effect of propionate on the production of natamycin with Streptomyces gilvosporeus XM-172

This study described the influence of feeding short-chain fatty acids and alcohols on natamycin production in the glucose basal medium, produced by Streptomyces gilvosporeus XM-172. The highest natamycin production was obtained with feeding propionate as compared to other precursors. The optimal propionate concentration and feeding time were 6 g L-1 and early log phase, respectively. This optimal propionate feeding strategy led to a natamycin production of 6.72 g L-1, which was nearly 85% higher than that of the control. It was firstly revealed that propionate could greatly promote natamycin biosynthesis by S. gilvosporeus.Key words: Precursor, propionate, natamycin production, Streptomyces gilvosporeus XM-172

High regioselective acetylation of vitamin A precursors using lipase B from Candida antarctica in organic media

The effect of different reaction parameters was explored on the acylation of primary hydroxyl group of 1,6-diol by lipase B from Candida antarctica catalysis in organic solvent. First, the effect of the organic solvents was investigated, and the highest conversion rate was obtained in n-hexane. Then, the effect of the acyl donor was studied. Among several reactants, including acetic acid and two different acetates, vinyl acetate gave the best yield. A maximum monoester yield of 98.5% was obtained using vinyl acetate as acyl donor in n-hexane at 50°C. The substrate concentration was 25 mmol/L, while the diol to vinyl acetate molar ratio was 1:3. Substrate concentration had to be limited due to an inhibitory effect on enzyme by the diol that caused a decrease on initial reaction rate. To promote initial reaction rate, excess vinyl acetate was used. Under the optimum conditions, the conversion rate and monoacylation selectivity were 98.5 and 100%, respectively. The produced monoester was 6.1 mg/ml, and this amount can be further optimized base on the results presented here.Key word: Acetylation, regioselectivity, immobilized lipase B, biocatalytic processes, vitamin A precursors

Self-Diffusion in 2D Dusty Plasma Liquids: Numerical Simulation Results

We perform Brownian dynamics simulations for studying the self-diffusion in two-dimensional (2D) dusty plasma liquids, in terms of both mean-square displacement and velocity autocorrelation function (VAF). Super-diffusion of charged dust particles has been observed to be most significant at infinitely small damping rate $\gamma$ for intermediate coupling strength, where the long-time asymptotic behavior of VAF is found to be the product of $t^{-1}$ and $\exp{(-\gamma t)}$. The former represents the prediction of early theories in 2D simple liquids and the latter the VAF of a free Brownian particle. This leads to a smooth transition from super-diffusion to normal diffusion, and then to sub-diffusion with an increase of the damping rate. These results well explain the seemingly contradictory scattered in recent classical molecular dynamics simulations and experiments of dusty plasmas.Comment: 10 pages 5 figures, accepted by PR

Wave spectra of 2D dusty plasma solids and liquids

Brownian dynamics simulations were carried out to study wave spectra of two-dimensional dusty plasma liquids and solids for a wide range of wavelengths. The existence of a longitudinal dust thermal mode was confirmed in simulations, and a cutoff wavenumber in the transverse mode was measured. Dispersion relations, resulting from simulations, were compared with those from analytical theories, such as the random-phase approximation (RPA), quasi-localized charged approximation (QLCA), and harmonic approximation (HA). An overall good agreement between the QLCA and simulations was found for wide ranges of states and wavelengths after taking into account the direct thermal effect in the QLCA, while for the RPA and HA good agreement with simulations were found in the high and low temperature limits, respectively.Comment: 26 pages, 9 figure

Optomechanically-induced transparency in parity-time-symmetric microresonators

Optomechanically-induced transparency (OMIT) and the associated slowing of light provide the basis for storing photons in nanoscale devices. Here we study OMIT in parity-time (PT)-symmetric microresonators with a tunable gain-to-loss ratio. This system features a sideband-reversed, non-amplifying transparency, i.e., an inverted-OMIT. When the gain-to-loss ratio is varied, the system exhibits a transition from a PT-symmetric phase to a broken-PT-symmetric phase. This PT-phase transition results in the reversal of the pump and gain dependence of the transmission rates. Moreover, we show that by tuning the pump power at a fixed gain-to-loss ratio, or the gain-to-loss ratio at a fixed pump power, one can switch from slow to fast light and vice versa. These findings provide new tools for controlling light propagation using nanofabricated phononic devices

Efficient production of polar molecular Bose-Einstein condensates via an all-optical R-type atom-molecule adiabatic passage

We propose a scheme of "$R$-type" photoassociative adiabatic passage (PAP) to create polar molecular condensates from two different species of ultracold atoms. Due to the presence of a quasi-coherent population trapping state in the scheme, it is possible to associate atoms into molecules with a \textit{low-power} photoassociation (PA) laser. One remarkable advantage of our scheme is that a tunable atom-molecule coupling strength can be achieved by using a time-dependent PA field, which exhibits larger flexibility than using a tunable magnetic field. In addition, our results show that the PA intensity required in the "$R$-type" PAP could be greatly reduced compared to that in a conventional "$\Lambda$-type" one.Comment: 17 pages, 5 figures, to appear in New Journal of Physic

Wave spectra of 2D Yukawa solids and liquids in the presence of a magnetic field

Thermally excited phonon spectra of 2D Yukawa solids and liquids in the presence of an external magnetic field are studied using computer simulations. Special attention is paid to the variation of wave spectra in terms of several key parameters, such as the strength of coupling, the screening parameter, and the intensity of the magnetic field. In addition, comparisons are made with several analytical theories, including random-phase approximation, quasi-localized charge approximation, and harmonic approximation, and the validity of those theories is discussed in the present context.Comment: 21 pages 11 figure

Enhanced Delivery of Rituximab Into Brain and Lymph Nodes Using Timed-Release Nanocapsules in Non-Human Primates.

Tumor metastasis into the central nervous system (CNS) and lymph nodes (LNs) is a major obstacle for effective therapies. Therapeutic monoclonal antibodies (mAb) have revolutionized tumor treatment; however, their efficacy for treating metastatic tumors-particularly, CNS and LN metastases-is poor due to inefficient penetration into the CNS and LNs following intravenous injection. We recently reported an effective delivery of mAb to the CNS by encapsulating the anti-CD20 mAb rituximab (RTX) within a thin shell of polymer that contains the analogs of choline and acetylcholine receptors. This encapsulated RTX, denoted as n-RTX, eliminated lymphoma cells systemically in a xenografted humanized mouse model using an immunodeficient mouse as a recipient of human hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells and fetal thymus more effectively than native RTX; importantly, n-RTX showed notable anti-tumor effect on CNS metastases which is unable to show by native RTX. As an important step toward future clinical translation of this technology, we further analyzed the properties of n-RTX in immunocompetent animals, rats, and non-human primates (NHPs). Our results show that a single intravenous injection of n-RTX resulted in 10-fold greater levels in the CNS and 2-3-fold greater levels in the LNs of RTX, respectively, than the injection of native RTX in both rats and NHPs. In addition, we demonstrate the enhanced delivery and efficient B-cell depletion in lymphoid organs of NHPs with n-RTX. Moreover, detailed hematological analysis and liver enzyme activity tests indicate n-RTX treatment is safe in NHPs. As this nanocapsule platform can be universally applied to other therapeutic mAbs, it holds great promise for extending mAb therapy to poorly accessible body compartments

Evolutionary transition between invertebrates and vertebrates via methylation reprogramming in embryogenesis

© The Author(s), 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Xu, X., Li, G., Li, C., Zhang, J., Wang, Q., Simmons, D. K., Chen, X., Wijesena, N., Zhu, W., Wang, Z., Wang, Z., Ju, B., Ci, W., Lu, X., Yu, D., Wang, Q., Aluru, N., Oliveri, P., Zhang, Y. E., Martindale, M. Q., & Liu, J. Evolutionary transition between invertebrates and vertebrates via methylation reprogramming in embryogenesis. National Science Review, 6(5), (2019):993-1003, doi:10.1093/nsr/nwz064.Major evolutionary transitions are enigmas, and the most notable enigma is between invertebrates and vertebrates, with numerous spectacular innovations. To search for the molecular connections involved, we asked whether global epigenetic changes may offer a clue by surveying the inheritance and reprogramming of parental DNA methylation across metazoans. We focused on gametes and early embryos, where the methylomes are known to evolve divergently between fish and mammals. Here, we find that methylome reprogramming during embryogenesis occurs neither in pre-bilaterians such as cnidarians nor in protostomes such as insects, but clearly presents in deuterostomes such as echinoderms and invertebrate chordates, and then becomes more evident in vertebrates. Functional association analysis suggests that DNA methylation reprogramming is associated with development, reproduction and adaptive immunity for vertebrates, but not for invertebrates. Interestingly, the single HOX cluster of invertebrates maintains unmethylated status in all stages examined. In contrast, the multiple HOX clusters show dramatic dynamics of DNA methylation during vertebrate embryogenesis. Notably, the methylation dynamics of HOX clusters are associated with their spatiotemporal expression in mammals. Our study reveals that DNA methylation reprogramming has evolved dramatically during animal evolution, especially after the evolutionary transitions from invertebrates to vertebrates, and then to mammals.This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2018YFC1003303), the Strategic Priority Research Program of the CAS (XDB13040200), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (91519306, 31425015), the Youth Innovation Promotion Association of the CAS and the Key Research Program of Frontier Sciences, CAS (QYZDY-SSW-SMC016)