Mechanical rolling formation of interpenetrated lithium metal/lithium tin alloy foil for ultrahigh-rate battery anode

To achieve good rate capability of lithium metal anodes for high-energy-density batteries, one fundamental challenge is the slow lithium diffusion at the interface. Here we report an interpenetrated, three-dimensional lithium metal/lithium tin alloy nanocomposite foil realized by a simple calendering and folding process of lithium and tin foils, and spontaneous alloying reactions. The strong affinity between the metallic lithium and lithium tin alloy as mixed electronic and ionic conducting networks, and their abundant interfaces enable ultrafast charger diffusion across the entire electrode. We demonstrate that a lithium/lithium tin alloy foil electrode sustains stable lithium stripping/plating under 30mAcm(-2) and 5mAhcm(-2) with a very low overpotential of 20mV for 200 cycles in a commercial carbonate electrolyte. Cycled under 6C (6.6mAcm(-2)), a 1.0mAhcm(-2) LiNi0.6Co0.2Mn0.2O2 electrode maintains a substantial 74% of its capacity by pairing with such anode

A Novel Apoptosis Correlated Molecule: Expression and Characterization of Protein Latcripin-1 from Lentinula edodes C91–3

An apoptosis correlated molecule—protein Latcripin-1 of Lentinula edodes C91–3—was expressed and characterized in Pichia pastoris GS115. The total RNA was obtained from Lentinula edodes C91–3. According to the transcriptome, the full-length gene of Latcripin-1 was isolated with 3′-Full Rapid Amplification of cDNA Ends (RACE) and 5′-Full RACE methods. The full-length gene was inserted into the secretory expression vector pPIC9K. The protein Latcripin-1 was expressed in Pichia pastoris GS115 and analyzed by Sodium Dodecylsulfonate Polyacrylate Gel Electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and Western blot. The Western blot showed that the protein was expressed successfully. The biological function of protein Latcripin-1 on A549 cells was studied with flow cytometry and the 3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-Diphenyl-tetrazolium Bromide (MTT) method. The toxic effect of protein Latcripin-1 was detected with the MTT method by co-culturing the characterized protein with chick embryo fibroblasts. The MTT assay results showed that there was a great difference between protein Latcripin-1 groups and the control group (p < 0.05). There was no toxic effect of the characterized protein on chick embryo fibroblasts. The flow cytometry showed that there was a significant difference between the protein groups of interest and the control group according to apoptosis function (p < 0.05). At the same time, cell ultrastructure observed by transmission electron microscopy supported the results of flow cytometry. The work demonstrates that protein Latcripin-1 can induce apoptosis of human lung cancer cells A549 and brings new insights into and advantages to finding anti-tumor proteins

The Effects of Catch Crops on Properties of Continuous Cropping Soil and Growth of Vegetables in Greenhouse

Continuous cropping has become a key factor limiting the sustainable development of greenhouse vegetables. It is a matter of great importance to maintain and improve the effective fertility of greenhouse soil. Catch crops planted as green manure is an effective method to improve soil quality. In order to determine the effects of catch crops on soil characteristics and the growth of afterculture vegetables, onion, corn, wheat, soybean and cabbage were planted as catch crops for two years during the summer fallow season, with no catch crop as CK. The results showed that the total porosity and organic matter content of the soil, with corn and wheat as catch crops, was significantly increased by 2.93%, 5.25% and 21.32%, 51.61%, respectively, while pH was decreased, compared with CK. The urease, sucrase, invertase, catalase and FDA enzyme activity of the soil with corn and wheat as catch crops was significantly increased by 30.14% and 30.21%, 14.81% and 25.31%, 15.43% and 15.21%, 29.37% and 28.69%, 46.32% and 44.23%. Meanwhile, the enzyme activity of the soil was increased with each catch crop planted. The amount of culturable bacteria and actinomycetes in the soil with corn and wheat as catch crops was increased by 33.42% and 38.12% at the period of 150dayII, while fungi was decreased by 59.95%. The yield of vegetables with corn and wheat as catch crops significantly increased by 5.59~13.33% and 4.35~11.18% compared with CK. Overall, catch crops could improve the soil quality as well as the growth of afterculture vegetables

Interference of CsGPA1, the α-submit of G protein, reduces drought tolerance in cucumber seedlings

The G protein α-subunit, GPA1, is an integral component of several signaling pathways in plants, including response to abiotic stress. However, the molecular mechanism behind these processes remains largely unknown in the cucumber plant (Cucumis sativus L.). In order to further understand the role of CsGPA1 in cucumber under drought stress, changes in plant growth, physiological parameters, and gene expression of CsAQPs were all measured under water stress induced by polyethylene glycol (PEG) using wild type (WT) and CsGPA1-interference (RNAi) cucumber seedlings. Our results demonstrated that the RNAi plants had lower drought tolerance, displaying seriously withered leaves, lower relative growth rate, lower root-shoot ratio, and lower root activity under drought stress compared to WT plants. Physiological studies indicated that the suppression of CsGPA1 weakened drought stress tolerance due to higher water loss rate in the leaves, higher levels of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), increased malondialdehyde (MDA) content, lower free proline content, lower soluble sugar content, lower soluble protein content, and decreased antioxidant enzyme activities. qRT-PCR analysis demonstrated that the interference of CsGPA1 up-regulated the expression of most AQP genes (except for CsPIP2;3 in leaves) and down-regulated the expression of CsPIP1;2, CsPIP1;4, CsPIP2;1, and CsPIP2;4 in roots under drought stress when compared to WT plants. Our results demonstrated that CsGPA1 could function as a positive regulator in drought stress response by decreasing the accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), improving permeable potentials, and reducing water loss in cucumber plants

Reducing the Halotolerance Gap between Sensitive and Resistant Tomato by Spraying Melatonin

Salt stress is one of the primary abiotic stresses that negatively affects agricultural production. Melatonin, as a useful hormone in plants, has been shown to play positive roles in crop improvement to abiotic stress conditions. However, it remains unclear whether spraying melatonin could reduce the halotolerance gap between tomato genotypes with different salt sensitivities. Here, plant growth, H2O2 content, electrolyte leakage, antioxidant system, gas exchange, pigment content, and chloroplast ultrastructure of salt sensitive genotype (SG) and resistant genotype (RG) at CK (control), M (spraying melatonin), S (salt), and SM (spraying melatonin under salt stress) were investigated. The results showed that the weight, height, and stem diameter of the plant at SM from both genotypes significantly increased compared with S. The plant undergoing SM from both genotypes showed significantly decreased H2O2 but increased activity of SOD, APX, GR, and GSH, as well as net photosynthetic rate and Fv/Fm, as compared with S. The ratio between SM and S (SM/S) of SG was significantly higher than that of RG in terms of plant height and stem diameter, whereas antioxidant parameters, H2O2 content, and electrolyte leakage showed no difference between RG and SG in SM/S. The SM/S of SG in terms of photosynthetic parameters and pigment content were significantly higher than that of RG. Chloroplast ultrastructure showed remarkable changes under salt stress, whereas spraying melatonin reduced the destruction of chloroplasts, especially for SG. We concluded that spraying melatonin reduces the halotolerance gap between SG and RG by photosynthesis regulation instead of the antioxidant mechanism. This indicated that the positive roles of melatonin on tomato plants at salt stress depend on the genotype sensitivity

The Application of Tomato Plant Residue Compost and Plant Growth-Promoting Rhizobacteria Improves Soil Quality and Enhances the Ginger Field Soil Bacterial Community

Treating and utilizing vegetable residues may reduce waste and improve rhizosphere soil. This study explored the effects of tomato plant residue compost and plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) on the physicochemical properties and microbial community of ginger field soil. Four treatment procedures were adopted: no compost or PGPR (CK), compost (TC), compost + Bacillus subtilis (TC-BS), and compost +Bacillus amyloliquefaciens SQR9 (TC-BA). The results showed that compared with the CK, TC significantly increased soil organic matter, alkali hydrolyzable nitrogen, available phosphorus, and available potassium by 17.34%, 21.66%, 19.56%, and 37.20%, respectively. Soil urease activity, neutral phosphatase activity, and sucrase activity increased by 55.89%, 35.59%, and 57.21%, respectively. Chloroflexi, Gemmatimonadetes, and Bacillus abundances increased by 1.40%, 1.80%, and 0.68%, respectively, while Firmicutes decreased by 0.80%. TC-BS significantly improved soil bacterial diversity than CK and TC, and relative abundance of Beneficial Proteobacteria, Acidobacteria, Chloroflexi, and Bacillus microorganisms dominated. Principal coordinate analysis revealed significant differences in bacterial community structure among different treatments. Redundancy analysis indicated total potassium (p = 0.002), pH (p = 0.0012), and available phosphorus (p = 0.016) as the main community composition driving factors. In conclusion, B. subtilis inoculation in ginger field soil supplemented with tomato compost enhanced bacterial diversity, altered bacterial community structure, enriched beneficial microorganisms, and promoted a healthy rhizosphere

Physiological and Molecular Mechanisms of ABA and CaCl2 Regulating Chilling Tolerance of Cucumber Seedlings

Cold stress is a limiting factor to the growth and development of cucumber in the temperate regions; hence, improving the crop&rsquo;s tolerance to low temperature is highly pertinent. The regulation of low-temperature tolerance with exogenous ABA and CaCl2 was investigated in the cucumber variety Zhongnong 26. Under low-temperature conditions (day/night 12/12 h at 5 &deg;C), seedlings were sprayed with a single application of ABA, CaCl2, or a combination of both. Our analysis included a calculated chilling injury index, malondialdehyde (MDA) content, relative electrical conductivity, antioxidant enzyme activities (SOD, CAT, and APX), leaf tissue structure, and expression of cold-related genes by transcriptome sequencing. Compared with the water control treatment, the combined ABA + CaCl2 treatment significantly improved the superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) of the seedlings by 34.47%, 59.66%, and 118.80%, respectively (p &lt; 0.05), and significantly reduced the chilling injury index, relative electrical conductivity, and MDA content, by 89.47%, 62.17%, and 44.55%, respectively (p &lt; 0.05). Transcriptome analysis showed that compared with the water control treatment, 3442 genes were differentially expressed for the combined treatment, 3921 for the ABA treatment, and 1333 for the CaCl2 treatment. KEGG enrichment analysis for both the ABA and combined ABA + CaCl2 treatments (as compared to the water control) showed that it mainly involves genes of the photosynthesis pathway and metabolic pathways. Differentially expressed genes following the CaCl2 treatment were mainly involved in plant hormone signal transduction, plant&ndash;pathogen interaction, MAPK signaling pathway&ndash;plant, phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, and circadian rhythm&ndash;plant. qRT-PCR analysis and RNA-seq results showed a consistent trend in variation of differential gene expression. Overall, this study demonstrated that although all three treatments provided some protection, the combined treatment of ABA (35 mg/L) with CaCl2 (500 mg/L) afforded the best results. A combined ABA + CaCl2 treatment can effectively alleviate cold-stress damage to cucumber seedlings by inducing physiological changes in photosynthesis and metabolism, and provides a theoretical basis and technical support for the application of exogenous ABA and CaCl2 for low-temperature protection of cucumber seedlings

Photosynthesis Mediated by <i>RBOH</i>-Dependent Signaling Is Essential for Cold Stress Memory

Cold tolerance is improved by cold stress acclimation (CS-ACC), and the cold tolerance level is ‘remembered’ by plants. However, the underlying signaling mechanisms remain largely unknown. Here, the CS memory mechanism was studied by bioinformation, plant physiological and photosynthetic parameters, and gene expression. We found that CS-ACC induced the acquisition of CS memory and enhanced the maintenance of acquired cold tolerance (MACT) in cucumber seedlings. The H2O2 content and NADPH oxidase activity encoded by CsRBOH was maintained at higher levels during recovery after CS-ACC and inhibition of RBOH-dependent signaling after CS-ACC resulted in a decrease in the H2O2 content, NADPH oxidase activity, and MACT. CsRBOH2, 3, 4, and 5 showed high expression during recovery after CS-ACC. Many BZR-binding sites were identified in memory-responsive CsRBOHs promoters, and CsBZR1 and 3 showed high expression during recovery after CS-ACC. Inhibition of RBOH-dependent signaling or brassinosteroids affected the maintenance of the expression of these memory-responsive CsRBOHs and CsBZRs. The photosynthetic efficiency (PE) decreased but then increased with the prolonged recovery after CS-ACC, and was higher than the control at 48 h of recovery; however, inhibition of RBOH-dependent signaling resulted in a lower PE. Further etiolated seedlings experiments showed that a photosynthetic capacity was necessary for CS memory. Therefore, photosynthesis mediated by RBOH-dependent signaling is essential for CS memory

Association between drinking water quality and mental health and the modifying role of diet: a prospective cohort study

Abstract Background Environmental factors play an important role in developing mental disorders. This study aimed to investigate the associations of metal and nonmetal elements in drinking water with the risk of depression and anxiety and to assess whether diets modulate these associations. Methods We conducted a prospective cohort study including 24,285 participants free from depression and anxiety from the Yinzhou Cohort study in the 2016–2021 period. The exposures were measured by multiplying metal and nonmetal element concentrations in local pipeline terminal tap water samples and total daily drinking water intakes. Cox regression models adjusted for multi-level covariates were used to estimate adjusted hazard ratios (aHRs) and 95% confidence intervals (95%CIs). Results During an average follow-up period of 4.72 and 4.68 years, 773 and 1334 cases of depression and anxiety were identified, respectively. A 1 standard deviation (SD) increase in manganese exposure reduced the incidence of depression by 8% (HR 0.92, 95%CI 0.88 to 0.97). In contrast, with a 1 SD increase in copper and cadmium exposure, the incidence of depression increased by 6% (HR 1.06, 95%CI 1.01 to 1.11) and 8% (HR 1.08, 95%CI 1.00 to 1.17), respectively. The incidence of anxiety increased by 39% (HR 1.39, 95%CI 1.20 to 1.62), 33% (HR 1.33, 95%CI 1.03 to 1.71), and 14% (HR 1.14, 95%CI 1.03 to 1.25) respectively for a 1 SD increase in manganese, iron, and selenium exposure. Diets have a moderating effect on the associations of metal and nonmetal elements with the risk of anxiety. Stronger associations were observed in older, low-income groups and low-education groups. Conclusions We found significant associations between exposure to metal and nonmetal elements and depression and anxiety. Diets regulated the associations to some extent

Mitigating Concentration Polarization through Acid–Base Interaction Effects for Long-Cycling Lithium Metal Anodes

Lithium (Li) metal has attracted great attention as a promising high-capacity anode material for next-generation high-energy-density rechargeable batteries. Nonuniform Li+ transport and uneven Li plating/stripping behavior are two key factors that deteriorate the electrochemical performance. In this work, we propose an interphase acid–base interaction effect that could regulate Li plating/stripping behavior and stabilize the Li metal anode. ZSM-5, a class of zeolites with ordered nanochannels and abundant acid sites, was employed as a functional interface layer to facilitate Li+ transport and mitigate the cell concentration polarization. As a demonstration, a pouch cell with a high-areal-capacity LiNi0.95Co0.02Mn0.03O2 cathode (3.7 mAh cm–2) and a ZSM-5 modified thin lithium anode (50 μm) delivered impressive electrochemical performance, showing 92% capacity retention in 100 cycles (375.7 mAh). This work reveals the effect of acid–base interaction on regulating lithium plating/stripping behaviors, which could be extended to developing other high-performance alkali metal anodes