Improved laccase production by Trametes versicolor using Copper-Glycyl-L-Histidyl-L-Lysine as a novel and high-efficient inducer

A highly efficient strategy using Copper-Glycyl-L-Histidyl-L-Lysine (GHK-Cu) as a novel inducer was developed to enhance laccase production by Trametes versicolor. After medium optimization, laccase activity increased by 12.77-fold compared to that without GHK-Cu. The laccase production of 1113.8 U L−1 was obtained by scaling-up culture in 5-L stirring tank. The laccase production induced by CuSO4 was poorer than that of GHK-Cu at the same mole concentration. GHK-Cu could increase the permeability of cell membrane with less damage, and it facilitated the adsorption, accumulation, and utilization of copper by fungal cells, which was beneficial for laccase synthesis. GHK-Cu induced better expression of laccase related genes than that of CuSO4, resulting in higher laccase production. This study provided a useful method for induced production of laccase by applying GHK chelated metal ion as a non-toxic inducer, which reduced the safety risk of laccase broth and provided the potential application of crude laccase in food industry. In addition, GHK can be used as the carrier of different metal ions to enhance the production of other metalloenzymes

An Algorithm of Building Extraction in Urban Area Based on Improved Top-hat Transformations and LBP Elevation Texture

Classification of building and vegetation is difficult solely by LiDAR data and vegetation in shadows can't be eliminated only by aerial images. The improved top-hat transformations and local binary patterns (LBP) elevation texture analysis for building extraction are proposed based on the fusion of aerial images and LiDAR data. Firstly, LiDAR data is reorganized into grid cell, the algorithm removes ground points through top-hat transform. Then, the vegetation points are extracted by normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). Thirdly, according to the elevation information of LiDAR points, LBP elevation texture is calculated and achieving precise elimination of vegetation in shadows or surrounding to the buildings. At last, morphological operations are used to fill the holes of building roofs, and region growing for complete building edges. The simulation is based on the complex urban area in Vaihingen benchmark provided by ISPRS, the results show that the algorithm affording higher classification accuracy

Coherent Random-Modulated Continuous-Wave LiDAR Based on Phase-Coded Subcarrier Modulation

A coherent random-modulated continuous-wave (RMCW) LiDAR transmits a lightwave modulated by a pseudo-random binary sequence (PRBS). The lightwave backscattered from targets is received and used to reconstruct the PRBS. Then, the time-of-flight is extracted by correlating the reconstructed PRBS and the original PRBS. We propose a coherent RMCW LiDAR based on phase-coded subcarrier modulation, in which the impacts of internal reflection and optical Doppler frequency shift (DFS) are mitigated. A continuous lightwave is amplitude-modulated by an RF signal which is phase-coded with a PRBS. Coherent detection is used in the receiver. A beat signal that consisted of a low-frequency signal and a high-frequency signal is obtained by a single balanced photodetector (BPD). The optical DFS can be directly extracted from the low-frequency signal. It is used to compensate for the frequency offset of PRBS, which is extracted from the high-frequency signal. In addition, the background noise caused by internal reflection is suppressed by averaging over successive measurement spots. In this paper, the performance of a coherent RMCW LiDAR is firstly analyzed by numeric simulations and demonstration experiments. Then, line-scanning measurements for moving targets are implemented to demonstrate the 3D imaging capability of the proposed coherent RMCW LiDAR

Evaluation of the Obesity Genes FTO and MC4R for Contribution to the Risk of Large Artery Atherosclerotic Stroke in a Chinese Population

Background: Obesity is a well-established risk factor for large artery atherosclerotic (LAA) stroke. The aim of the study was to explore whether obesity genes, such as MC4R and FTO, contribute to LAA stroke risk in the Chinese Han population. Methods: 322 LAA stroke patients and 473 controls were recruited. Gene polymorphism of MC4R (rs17782313) and FTO (rs8050136 and rs9939609) were genotyped. Results: No differences were observed in genotype frequencies of variants of FTO (rs8050136 and rs9939609) or MC4R (rs17782313) between LAA stroke patients and control subjects. However, rs17782313 of the MC4R gene was associated with LAA stroke susceptibility in smokers (rs17782313: p = 0.020, OR (95% CI) = 1.55 (1.07-2.23)) in the stratified analysis. Furthermore, multifactor dimensionality reduction analysis revealed that the combination of MC4R variant (rs17782313), hypertension and smoking habit was significantly associated with increased risk of LAA stroke (p Conclusion: Our study indicated that the synergistic effects of MC4R variants, hypertension, and smoking habit contribute significantly to the risk of LAA stroke in the Chinese Han population. The finding revealed that obesity gene MC4R contribute to the risk of LAA stroke via a synergistic mechanism, which will provide new insight into the genetic architecture of LAA stroke

Cyclic l-lactide synthesis from lignocellulose biomass by biorefining with complete inhibitor removal and highly simultaneous sugars assimilation

Cyclic chiral lactide is the monomer chemical for polymerization of high molecular weight polylactic acid (PLA). The synthesis of cyclic l-lactide starts from poly-condensation of l-lactic acid to a low molecular weight prepolymer and then depolymerized to cyclic l-lactide. Lignocellulose biomass is the most promising carbohydrate feedstock for lactic acid production, but the synthesis of cyclic l-lactide from l-lactic acid produced from lignocellulose has so far not been successful. The major barriers are the impurities of residual sugars and inhibitors in the crude cellulosic l-lactic acid product. Here we show a successful cyclic l-lactide synthesis from cellulosic l-lactic acid by lignocellulose biorefining with complete inhibitor removal and coordinated sugars assimilation. The removal of inhibitors from lignocellulose pretreatment was accomplished by biodetoxification using a unique fungus Amorphotheca resinae ZN1. The nonglucose sugars were completely and simultaneously assimilated at the same rate with glucose by the engineered l-lactic acid bacterium Pediococcus acidilactici. The l-lactic acid production from wheat straw was comparable to that from corn starch with high optical pure (99.6%), high l-lactic acid titer (129.4 g/L), minor residual total sugars (~2.2 g/L), and inhibitors free. The cyclic l-lactide was successfully synthesized from the regularly purified l-lactic acid and verified by detailed characterizations. This study paves the technical foundation of carbon-neutral production of biodegradable PLA from lignocellulose biomass

Simultaneous and rate-coordinated conversion of lignocellulose derived glucose, xylose, arabinose, mannose, and galactose into D-lactic acid production facilitates D-lactide synthesis

D-lactide is the precursor of poly(D-lactide) (PDLA) or stereo-complex with poly(L-lactide) (PLLA). Lignocellulosic biomass provides the essential feedstock option to synthesize D-lactic acid and D-lactide. The residual sugars in D-lactic acid fermentation broth significantly blocks the D-lactide synthesis. This study showed a simultaneous and rate-coordinated conversion of lignocellulose derived glucose, xylose, arabinose, mannose, and galactose into D-lactic acid by adaptively evolved Pediococcus acidilactici ZY271 by simultaneous saccharification and co-fermentation (SSCF) of wheat straw. The produced D-lactic acid achieved minimum residual sugars (∼1.7 g/L), high chirality (∼99.1%) and high titer (∼128 g/L). A dry acid pretreatment eliminated the wastewater stream generation and the biodetoxification by fungus Amorphotheca resinae ZN1 removed the inhibitors from the pretreatment. The removal of the sugar residues and inhibitor impurities in D-lactic acid production from lignocellulose strongly facilitated the D-lactide synthesis. This study filled the gap in cellulosic D-lactide production from lignocellulose-derived D-lactic acid

The Reaction of Poisonous Alkali Oxides with Vanadia SCR Catalyst and the Afterward Influence: A DFT and Experimental Study

Brønsted acid sites and reducibility are crucial for a vandaia catalyst in selective catalytic reduction of NO reaction. Alkali oxides are poisonous to vanadia catalyst. Theoretical chemistry computations and experiments were performed to study the reaction of alkali oxides with the catalyst and the afterward influence left on the catalyst. Both NH₃ adsorption and neutralization by alkali oxides proceed on Brønsted acid sites. Theoretical computation with density functional theory shows that neutralization by alkali oxide is more exothermic than NH₃ adsorption. The easy consumption of Brønsted acid sites by alkali oxides results in the transformation of surface nature and the decrease of acidity, which is experimentally testified by the NH₃ sorption results. The replacement of hydrogen ion by the alkali ion after neutralization will cause the reduction of vanadium atom, as indicated by computed Mulliken charges. This has led to the lower reducibility of the catalyst, which is verified by the theoretical hydrogenation process and experimental hydrogen reduction profile

Comparison of the chloroplast genomes and phylogenomic analysis of Elaeocarpaceae

Background Elaeocarpaceae is a vital family in tropical and subtropical forests. Compared with the important position of Elaeocarpaceae species in forest ecosystem and the concern of medicinal value, the most research on Elaeocarpaceae are classification and taxonomy. Molecular systematics has corrected the morphological misjudgment, and it belongs to Oxalidales. Phylogenetic and divergence time estimates of Elaeocarpaceae is mostly constructed by using chloroplast gene fragments. At present, although there are reports on the chloroplast structure of Elaeocarpaceae, a comprehensive analysis of the chloroplast structure of Elaeocarpaceae is lacking. Methods To understand the variation in chloroplast sequence size and structure in Elaeocarpaceae, the chloroplast genomes of nine species were sequenced using the Illumina HiSeq 2500 platform and further assembled and annotated with Elaeocarpus japonicus and Sloanea sinensis (family Elaeocarpaceae) as references. A phylogenomic tree was constructed based on the complete chloroplast genomes of the 11 species representing five genera of Elaeocarpaceae. Chloroplast genome characteristics were examined by using Circoletto and IRscope software. Results The results revealed the following: (a) The 11 sequenced chloroplast genomes ranged in size from 157,546 to 159,400 bp. (b) The chloroplast genomes of Elaeocarpus, Sloanea, Crinodendron and Vallea lacked the rpl32 gene in the small single-copy (SSC) region. The large single-copy (LSC) region of the chloroplast genomes lacked the ndhK gene in Elaeocarpus, Vallea stipularis, and Aristotelia fruticosa. The LSC region of the chloroplast genomes lacked the infA gene in genus Elaeocarpus and Crinodendron patagua. (c) Through inverted repeat (IR) expansion and contraction analysis, a significant difference was found between the LSC/IRB and IRA/LSC boundaries among these species. Rps3 was detected in the neighboring regions of the LSC and IRb regions in Elaeocarpus. (d) Phylogenomic analysis revealed that the genus Elaeocarpus is closely related to Crinodendron patagua on an independent branch and Aristotelia fruticosa is closely related to Vallea stipularis, forming a clade with the genus Sloanea. Structural comparisons showed that Elaeocarpaceae diverged at 60 Mya, the genus Elaeocarpus diverged 53 Mya and that the genus Sloanea diverged 0.44 Mya. These results provide new insight into the evolution of the Elaeocarpaceae