Unimodal productivity-biodiversity relationship along the gradient of multidimensional resources across Chinese grasslands

Resources can affect plant productivity and biodiversity simultaneously and thus are key drivers of their relationships in addition to plant-plant interactions. However, most previous studies only focused on a single resource while neglecting the nature of resource multidimensionality. Here we integrated four essential resources for plant growth into a single metric of resource diversity (RD) to investigate its effects on the productivity-biodiversity relationship (PBR) across Chinese grasslands. Results showed that habitats differing in RD have different PBRs − positive in low-resource habitats, but neutral in medium- and high-resource ones—while collectively, a weak positive PBR was observed. However, when excluding direct effects of RD on productivity and biodiversity, PBR in high-resource habitats became negative, which leads to a unimodal instead of a positive PBR along the RD gradient. By integrating resource effects and changing plant-plant interactions into a unified framework with the RD gradient, our work contributes to uncovering underlying mechanisms for inconsistent PBRs at large scales

Oral microbiome and risk of malignant esophageal lesions in a high-risk area of China: A nested case-control study.

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to prospectively evaluate the association of oral microbiome with malignant esophageal lesions and its predictive potential as a biomarker of risk. METHODS: We conducted a case-control study nested within a population-based cohort with up to 8 visits of oral swab collection for each subject over an 11-year period in a high-risk area for esophageal cancer in China. The oral microbiome was evaluated with 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene sequencing in 428 pre-diagnostic oral specimens from 84 cases with esophageal lesions of severe squamous dysplasia and above (SDA) and 168 matched healthy controls. DESeq analysis was performed to identify taxa of differential abundance. Differential oral species together with subject characteristics were evaluated for their potential in predicting SDA risk by constructing conditional logistic regression models. RESULTS: A total of 125 taxa including 37 named species showed significantly different abundance between SDA cases and controls (all P0.84. CONCLUSIONS: The oral microbiome may play an etiological and predictive role in esophageal cancer, and it holds promise as a non-invasive early warning biomarker for risk stratification for esophageal cancer screening programs

New Perspective on Natural Plant Protein-Based Nanocarriers for Bioactive Ingredients Delivery

The health effects of bioactive substances in the human body are affected by several factors, including food processing conditions, storage conditions, light and heat, among others. These factors greatly limit the stability and bioavailability of bioactive substances. These problems can be solved by a novel protein-based nanocarrier technology, which has the excellent potential to enhance solubility, bioavailability, and the controlled release of bioactive substances. In addition, plant protein has the advantages of economy, environmental protection, and high nutrition compared to animal protein. In this review, the preparation, characterization, and application of plant protein-based nanocarriers are summarized. The research deficiency and future prospects of plant protein nanocarriers are emphasized

Bio-based poly(ethylene furanoate)/ZnO transparent thin films with improved water vapor barrier and antibacterial properties for food packaging application

Poly(ethylene furanoate) (PEF) biocomposite films incorporating zinc oxide nanoparticle (ZnO NPs) were prepared using a solvent casting method. The ZnO NPs were homogeneously dispersed within the PEF films with the aid of γ −aminopropyltriethoxylsilane (APTES). The water vapor barrier, optical transmittance and antimicrobial properties of the PEF/ZnO films were tested. Water vapor permeability (WVP) and transmittance in the visible (400–800 nm) region of control PEF film were 6.92 × 10 ^–12 g·m m ^−2 · s·Pa and 87.3%, respectively. WVP value of PEF films decreased 43.2% through ZnO NPs compounding. On the contrary, transmittance of PEF films decreased 6.8% due to the absorption and scattering of ZnO NPs. In addition, the PEF film with modified ZnO NPs exhibited a bacteriostatic rate up to 97.0% after 3 h. Thus, the PEF/ZnO films show great potential in the field of food packaging

Aboveground net primary productivity not CO2 exchange remain stable under three timing of extreme drought in a semi-arid steppe.

Precipitation patterns are expected to change in the semi-arid region within the next decades, with projected increasing in extreme drought events. Meanwhile, the timing of extreme drought also shows great uncertainty, suggesting that the timing of drought, especially during growing season, may subsequently impose stronger stress on ecosystem functions than drought itself. However, how the timing of extreme drought will impact on community productivity and carbon cycle is still not clear. In this study, three timing of extreme drought (a consecutive 30-day period without precipitation event) experiments were set up separately in early-, mid- and late-growing season in a temperate steppe in Inner Mongolia since 2013. The data, including soil water content (SWC), soil temperature (ST) chlorophyll fluorescence parameter (Fv/Fm), ecosystem respiration (Re), gross primary productivity (GPP), net ecosystem carbon absorption (NEE) and aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP) were collected in growing season (from May to September) of 2016. In this study, extreme drought significantly decreased SWC during the drought treatment but not for the whole growing season. Extreme drought decreased maximum quantum efficiency of plant photosystem II (Fv/Fm) under "optimum" value (0.75~0.85) of two dominant species (Leymus chinensis and Stipa grandis). While ANPP kept stable under extreme drought treatments due to the different responses of two dominant species, which brought a compensating effect in relative abundance and biomass. In addition, only early-growing season drought significantly decreased the average Re (P < 0.01) and GPP (P < 0.01) and depressed net CO2 uptake (P < 0.01) than mid- and late-growing season drought. ST and SWC influenced the changes of GPP directly and indirectly through photosynthetic ability of the dominant species by path analysis. Our results indicated that the timing of drought should be considered in carbon cycle models to accurately estimate carbon exchange and productivity of semi-arid grasslands in the context of changing climate

Cloning of Gene of male sterile mutant <i>opw</i>(<i>only pollen wall</i>) in <i>Arabidopsis thaliana</i>

Two male sterile mutant lines with normal vegetative and flora development but no seed yields were screened out from Salk_059463 line,a population of Arabidopsis ecotype Columbia (Col) mutagenized by T-DNA insertion (provided by ARBC).The identification of T-DNA insertion site showed that there were no T-DNA sequences in the genome of these two mutants.Genetic analysis indicated that the mutants were allele and controlled by the same single recessive nuclear gene named only pollen wall,of which the cytoplasm of microspores becomes vanished from anther development stage 8,and there are only pollen wall of pollen grains in the anther at the anther development stage 12.The OPW gene was mapped to a region of 12 kb between the molecular makers T28M21 and T3G21 on chromosome 2 using map-based cloning technique.There are 21 genes annotations in that region.Cloning and sequencing the At2g40140 of the mutants,we found that there was a single A base insertion between 289 to 290 bases in the opw-1 and another single T base insertion between 412 to 413 bases in the opw-2,therefore caused the end code appear in 424-426 bases.So At2g40140 is considered the candidate gene of the OPW

Structure of the zein protein as treated with subcritical water

In the present study, we investigated the structure and selected functional properties of zein protein as treated with subcritical water. The results showed that subcritical water treatment, with different time (20–120 min) and temperatures (110–170°C), increased the solubility, foam capacity, and foam stability of zein protein significantly (p < 0.05). Analyses of particle size analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, circular dichroism spectra, scanning electron microscopy, and atomic force microscopy indicated that subcritical water treatment improved the thermal stability and the denaturation temperature of zein protein, as well as increased slightly in the percentage of ordered structural elements within the protein molecule. In addition, the particle size of zein protein increased and the surface became rough significantly. All these suggested that subcritical water is a potential green chemical, which could highly be used to change the structure and improve the functional properties of zein protein

New Insights into the Combination of Permanganate and Hydrogen Peroxide as a Novel Oxidation Process for Enhanced Removal of Organic Contaminants

Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) has recently been reported as a novel activator for enhancing permanganate (Mn(VII)) oxidation, where the removal of trace organic contaminants (TrOCs) was mainly ascribed to the contribution of Mn(VI). This study reassessed the performance and mechanism of the Mn(VII)/H2O2 process for TrOC removal and identified the role of diverse potential reactive species (i.e., intermediate manganese species and radicals). The maximum removal efficiency of organics by the Mn(VII)/H2O2 process was achieved at a [H2O2]/[Mn(VII)] ratio of 1, and acidic pH conditions were conducive to the reactions. UV–vis and XPS spectra suggested the in situ formation of MnO2 in the Mn(VII)/H2O2 process. Degradation of structurally diverse TrOCs by the Mn(VII)/H2O2 process and Mn(VII)/MnO2 process exhibited similar selectivity and pH-dependence, implying that the in situ-formed MnO2 should play an important role in catalyzing Mn(VII) oxidation toward TrOCs in the Mn(VII)/H2O2 process. In addition, the degradation kinetics of TrOCs in the Mn(VII)/H2O2 process were generally higher in phosphate buffer than those in borate buffer, which was attributed to the contribution of Mn(III)–phosphate complexes. The formation of Mn(III) in the presence of ligands (e.g., phosphate, pyrophosphate) was proved via UV–vis spectra and ligand concentration experiments. Based on results from the methyl phenyl sulfoxide (PMSO) probe and metal ion effect experiments, the possible involvement of high-valent manganese species (i.e., Mn(V)/Mn(VI)) was ruled out. Moreover, the results of radical quenching experiments indicated the negligible contribution of O2•– and •OH. Findings in this study advance the mechanistic understanding of a novel oxidation process by combining Mn(VII) with H2O2 for environmental decontamination