Strategy for Mitigating Antibiotic Resistance by Biochar and Hyperaccumulators in Cadmium and Oxytetracycline Co-contaminated Soil

Publisher Copyright: © 2021 The Authors. Published by American Chemical SocietyThe global prevalence of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) is of increasing concern as a serious threat to ecological security and human health. Irrigation with sewage and farmland application of manure or biosolids in agricultural practices introduce substantial selective agents such as antibiotics and toxic metals, aggravating the transfer of ARGs from the soil environment to humans via the food chain. To address this issue, a hyperaccumulator (Sedum plumbizincicola) combined with biochar amendment was first used to investigate the mitigation of the prevalence of ARGs in cadmium and oxytetracycline co-contaminated soil by conducting a pot experiment. The addition of biochar affected the distribution of ARGs in soil and plants differently by enhancing their prevalence in the soil but restraining transmission from the soil to S. plumbizincicola. The planting of S. plumbizincicola resulted in an increase in ARGs in the soil environment. A structural equation model illustrated that mobile genetic elements played a dominant role in shaping the profile of ARGs. Taken together, these findings provide a practical understanding for mitigating the prevalence of ARGs in this soil system with complex contamination and can have profound significance for agricultural management in regard to ARG dissemination control.Peer reviewe

Analysis of expressed sequence tags generated from full-length enriched cDNA libraries of melon

Abstract Background Melon (Cucumis melo), an economically important vegetable crop, belongs to the Cucurbitaceae family which includes several other important crops such as watermelon, cucumber, and pumpkin. It has served as a model system for sex determination and vascular biology studies. However, genomic resources currently available for melon are limited. Result We constructed eleven full-length enriched and four standard cDNA libraries from fruits, flowers, leaves, roots, cotyledons, and calluses of four different melon genotypes, and generated 71,577 and 22,179 ESTs from full-length enriched and standard cDNA libraries, respectively. These ESTs, together with ~35,000 ESTs available in public domains, were assembled into 24,444 unigenes, which were extensively annotated by comparing their sequences to different protein and functional domain databases, assigning them Gene Ontology (GO) terms, and mapping them onto metabolic pathways. Comparative analysis of melon unigenes and other plant genomes revealed that 75% to 85% of melon unigenes had homologs in other dicot plants, while approximately 70% had homologs in monocot plants. The analysis also identified 6,972 gene families that were conserved across dicot and monocot plants, and 181, 1,192, and 220 gene families specific to fleshy fruit-bearing plants, the Cucurbitaceae family, and melon, respectively. Digital expression analysis identified a total of 175 tissue-specific genes, which provides a valuable gene sequence resource for future genomics and functional studies. Furthermore, we identified 4,068 simple sequence repeats (SSRs) and 3,073 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the melon EST collection. Finally, we obtained a total of 1,382 melon full-length transcripts through the analysis of full-length enriched cDNA clones that were sequenced from both ends. Analysis of these full-length transcripts indicated that sizes of melon 5' and 3' UTRs were similar to those of tomato, but longer than many other dicot plants. Codon usages of melon full-length transcripts were largely similar to those of Arabidopsis coding sequences. Conclusion The collection of melon ESTs generated from full-length enriched and standard cDNA libraries is expected to play significant roles in annotating the melon genome. The ESTs and associated analysis results will be useful resources for gene discovery, functional analysis, marker-assisted breeding of melon and closely related species, comparative genomic studies and for gaining insights into gene expression patterns.This work was supported by Research Grant Award No. IS-4223-09C from BARD, the United States-Israel Binational Agricultural Research and Development Fund, and by SNC Laboratoire ASL, de Ruiter Seeds B.V., Enza Zaden B.V., Gautier Semences S.A., Nunhems B.V., Rijk Zwaan B.V., Sakata Seed Inc, Semillas Fitó S.A., Seminis Vegetable Seeds Inc, Syngenta Seeds B.V., Takii and Company Ltd, Vilmorin and Cie S.A. and Zeraim Gedera Ltd (all of them as part of the support to ICuGI). CC was supported by CNRS ERL 8196.Peer Reviewe

Leader Unethical Pro-Organizational Behavior and Employee Unethical Conduct: Social Learning of Moral Disengagement as a Behavioral Principle

Unethical behavior in organizations has attracted much attention among researchers, yet we know little about when and why unethical behavior conducted by leaders that is intended to benefit the organization-or leader unethical pro-organizational behavior (UPB)-might translate into employee unethical behavior. Drawing on a social-learning-of-principle perspective, which proposes that people can learn the principles that govern observed behaviors, we propose that employees, especially those with a high power distance orientation, can abstract and learn a moral disengagement behavioral principle by observing leader UPB. This learned moral disengagement behavioral principle then enables them to engage in unethical behaviors that may be intended to benefit or harm their organizations. In two multiwave field studies with data collected from real estate agents, we found overall support for our theoretical model but the moderating effect of power distance orientation. We discuss some key theoretical and practical implications of these findings

Facile Synthesis of Ni(OH)₂/Carbon Nanofiber Composites for Improving NiZn Battery Cycling Life

Carbon nanofibers (CNFs) were successfully functionalized by the hydrothermal treatment of wet CNFs containing concentrated HNO₃. The method of synthesis was facile and eco-friendly. With the use of oxidized CNFs as substance, Ni­(OH)₂/oxidized CNFs hybrid materials were prepared by taking a two-step solution phase reaction. The XRD pattern and TEM image suggested a well crystalline Ni­(OH)₂ nanoplate with β-phase structure growth on the surface of CNFs. Electrochemistry test results displayed high specific capacitances and long cycle life of the composites. With the use of Ni­(OH)₂/CNFs as cathode and Zn foil as anode, assembled NiZn pouch cells could achieve ∼1.75 V discharge voltage plateau, with a specific capacity ranging from 184 mAh·g^–1 at a discharging current density of 5 mA·cm^–2 to 91 mAh·g^–1 at a discharging current density of 50 mA·cm^–2. Its cycle stability was up to 1200 cycles with a capacity retention of >96% at attaining an energy density of 150 Wh·kg^–1. Compared with a 6 mol·L^–1 KOH solution electrolyte battery, the sodium polyacrylate gel electrolyte battery displayed better cycle performance. The function of the gel electrolyte was discussed. The facile method could be extended to the oxidization of the other carbon materials and synthesis of the others carbon composites