Use of Lentinan and Fluopimomide to Control Cotton Seedling Damping-Off Disease Caused by <i>Rhizoctonia solani</i>

Lentinan (LNT) is a natural and functional polysaccharide isolated from Lentinus edodes fruiting bodies, which functions in stimulating the plant immune response, improving plant disease resistance and regulating plant growth. This study explores the use of LNT as a plant growth regulator and attractant in cotton production. After treatment with LNT, the content of malondialdehyde (MDA) in cotton seeds decreased, whereas the activities of polyphenol oxidase (PPO), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and peroxidase (POD) in leaves increased significantly. LNT also promoted the growth and development of cotton plants and significantly reduced the incidence of cotton damping-off disease. The relative expression of salicylic acid pathway-related genes in cotton also increased significantly. The prevention mechanism of fluopimomide was also evaluated, and the result showed lower EC50 values and was effective in controlling cotton seedling disease caused by Rhizoctonia solani in both greenhouse experiments and field trials. The use of LNT and fluopimomide in controlling cotton seedling damping-off disease showed a synergistic effect in field trials. These results will provide a new insight into the agricultural application of LNT as a biological fungicide in the field of biological controls

Diagnostic Value of Interferon-Gamma Release Assays Combined with Multiple Indicators for Tuberculous Peritonitis

Objective. To investigate the diagnostic value of interferon-gamma release assays combined with multiple indicators for tuberculous peritonitis. Methods. Patients who were admitted to the hospital due to suspected tuberculous peritonitis were prospectively included during the 30-month study period. Moreover, healthy individuals were recruited and included in the control group. All the study participants were assessed using various indexes, such as interferon-gamma release assays. Results. A total of 180 patients with suspected tuberculous peritonitis were enrolled, and 24 were excluded. 73 patients with a confirmed diagnosis of tuberculous peritonitis were included in the tuberculous peritonitis group, 83 patients with other diseases in the other-disease control group, and 52 healthy individuals in the control group. Moreover, 83 patients in the other-disease control group and 52 participants in the control group were identified as 135 nontuberculous peritonitis patients. The area under the receiver operating characteristics curve for the QuantiFERON-TB test was 0.851 (95% confidence interval: 0.799–0.903), and the optimal cutoff value was 0.55 IU/mL, which corresponds to a sensitivity and specificity of 86.30% and 80.00%, respectively. The receiver operating characteristic curves for the combination of the QuantiFERON-TB test and the use of erythrocyte sedimentation rate, serum adenosine deaminase level, serum cancer antigen 125 level, and hypersensitive C-reactive protein level had an area under the curve of 0.859 (95% confidence interval: 0.809–0.909), with a sensitivity and specificity of 97.26% and 62.96%, respectively. Conclusions. The combined use of the QuantiFERON-TB test and multiple indexes can significantly improve the accuracy of diagnosing tuberculous peritonitis

HPV-16, HPV-58, and HPV-33 are the most carcinogenic HPV genotypes in Southwestern China and their viral loads are associated with severity of premalignant lesions in the cervix

Abstract Background Currently, the role of human papillomavirus (HPV)-58 in southwestern China has been unexplored. Although there is some controversy, it is proposed that the viral load of HPV correlates with the severity of intraepithelial lesions. Methods We identified 7747 patients from south Sichuan and adjacent regions who were diagnosed with HPV between 2013 and 2017. The HR-HPV subtype distribution was analyzed and the patient’s viral loads were quantified using real-time RT-PCR. Results Among all 7747 patients screened for HPV genotypes, 1728 patients (22.31%) were identified as having HR-HPV subtypes. In patients without intraepithelial lesions (12.41%), HPV-52, HPV-16, and HPV-58 were the three most prevalent HR-HPV subtypes. Moreover, HPV-16, HPV-58, and HPV-33 were the most prevalent subtypes in patients with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade II (CINII) (42.86%) and grade III (CINIII) (59.81%), and accounted for the majority of invasive cervical cancer (ICC) (69.34%). Thus, viral loads of HPV-58, HPV-16, and HPV-33 positively correlated with the severity of cervical lesions (P < 0.001, P = 0.016, P = 0.026, respectively). Using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis, the optimum thresholds for predicting severe intraepithelial lesions of cases (CINI, CINIII and ICC) with HPV-16, HPV-58, and HPV-33, respectively, were obtained, which were 1, 0.93, and 0.25, respectively. Conclusion In our study, we showed that HPV-16 was the most common carcinogenic HPV subtype in southwestern China followed by HPV-58 and HPV-33. Viral loads of these subtypes are associated with the severity of premalignant lesions in the cervix

Composition and characteristics of soil microbial communities in cotton fields with different incidences of Verticillium wilt

Soil microorganisms could affect the growth of plants and play an important role in indicating the change of soil environment. Cotton Verticillium wilt is a serious soil borne disease. This study aimed to analyze the community characteristics of soil microorganisms in cotton fields with different incidences of Verticillium wilt, so as to provide theoretical guidance for the prevention and control of soil borne diseases of cotton. Through the analysis of soil microbial communities in six fields, the results showed that there was no difference in fungal and bacterial alpha-diversity index before cotton planting, while there were differences in rhizosphere of diseased plants. For fungal beta diversity indexes, there were significant differences in these six fields. There was no significant difference for bacterial beta diversity indexes before cotton planting, while there was a certain difference in the rhizosphere of diseased cotton plants. The composition of fungi and bacteria in different fields was roughly the same at the genus level, but the abundances of the same genus varied greatly between different fields. Before cotton planting, there were 61 fungi (genera) and 126 bacteria (genera) with different abundances in the six fields. Pseudomonas, Sphingomonas and Burkholderia had higher abundances in the fields with less incidence. This study will provide a theoretical basis for microbial control of Cotton Verticillium wilt

Corrosion Behavior of NiTi Alloys Fabricate by Selective Laser Melting Subjected to Femtosecond Laser Shock Peening

NiTi alloys are commonly used in many fields such as aerospace, mechanical engineering due to their excellent mechanical properties and shape memory effect. In recent years, the emergence of selective laser melting (SLM) technology provides a new method for the preparation of NiTi parts. But the surface corrosion failure of SLM-NiTi is the most common problem. This paper mainly focuses on the research of femtosecond laser shock peening of the surface of SLM-NiTi alloy to improve the corrosion resistance. Selecting different scanning space (1 μm, 3 μm, 5 μm, 10 μm), and analyze the surface morphology of the material through the OM, SEM, EDS and white light interferometer, and investigate the surface nanohardness and corrosion resistance through nanoindentation and electrochemical testing. The research results show that part of the TiO2 is formed under different scanning spaces, and part of NiO is formed when the scanning space is 1μm. At the same time, it is found that the sample under the condition of 10 μm has the most excellent corrosion resistance and nanohardness. The nanohardness reaches 1303 ± 40 HV and the corrosion current density reaches 1.45 ± 0.1 × 10−9 A·cm−2. Proper femtosecond laser treatment can effectively improve the surface strength and corrosion resistance of the NiTi alloys

Additional file 1: of HPV-16, HPV-58, and HPV-33 are the most carcinogenic HPV genotypes in Southwestern China and their viral loads are associated with severity of premalignant lesions in the cervix

Table S1. Original data of final diagnoses and quantitative PCR identification. (XLS 902 kb

Quantitative Proteomics of Potato Leaves Infected with Phytophthora infestans Provides Insights into Coordinated and Altered Protein Expression during Early and Late Disease Stages

In order to get a better understanding of protein association during Solanum tuberosum (cv. Sarpo Mira)&ndash;Phytophthora infestans incompatible interaction, we investigated the proteome dynamics of cv. Sarpo Mira, after foliar application of zoospore suspension from P. infestans isolate, at three key time-points: zero hours post inoculation (hpi) (Control), 48 hpi (EI), and 120 hpi (LI); divided into early and late disease stages by the tandem mass tagging (TMT) method. A total of 1229 differentially-expressed proteins (DEPs) were identified in cv. Sarpo Mira in a pairwise comparison of the two disease stages, including commonly shared DEPs, specific DEPs in early and late disease stages, respectively. Over 80% of the changes in protein abundance were up-regulated in the early stages of infection, whereas more DEPs (61%) were down-regulated in the later disease stage. Expression patterns, functional category, and enrichment tests highlighted significant coordination and enrichment of cell wall-associated defense response proteins during the early stage of infection. The late stage was characterized by a cellular protein modification process, membrane protein complex formation, and cell death induction. These results, together with phenotypic observations, provide further insight into the molecular mechanism of P. infestans resistance in potatos

Rational Modulation of Effective Mass Near Band Edge of Li₂SnO₃ to Increase Photogenerated Carrier Separation Ratio and Photocatalytic Performance

Photogenerated carrier separation is important in photocatalysis. Doping may offer control over the effective masses of the photogenerated electrons and holes. Herein, a doping strategy in Li2SnO3 enhanced photogenerated carrier separation, boosting photocatalysis. Substitution of Ge with Sn increased the effective mass of holes and reduced that of electrons; hence, the photogenerated electron/hole lifetime ratio in Li2Sn0.90Ge0.10O3 was approximately 2.8 times as great as that of Li2SnO3. Photocatalytic degradation by Li2Sn0.90Ge0.10O3 reached 100% within 12 min. However, the opposite effect was achieved upon doping with Pb. Theoretical calculations revealed that the low Ge-4p valence band orbital reduced hole mobility, while the Ge-4s orbital hybridized with O-2p near the conduction band minimum increased the electron mobility. Steady-state and time-resolved photoluminescence spectroscopy, electron spin resonance, and liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry were conducted to explore the photocatalytic mechanism. This study provides an understanding of structure–activity relationships to guide the design of high-performance photocatalysts