Variation of microbiological and small molecule metabolite profiles of Nuodeng ham during ripening by high-throughput sequencing and GC-TOF-MS

The internal microbial diversity and small molecular metabolites of Nuodeng ham in different processing years(the first,second and third year sample)were analyzed by high-throughput sequencing technology and gas chromatography-time of flight mass spectrography(GC-TOF-MS)to study the effects of microorganisms and small molecular metabolites on the quality of ham in different processing years.The results showed that the dominant bacteria phyla of Nuodeng ham in different processing years were Proteobacteria and Firmicutes,the dominant fungi phyla were Ascomycota and Basidiomycota,while Staphylococcus and Aspergillus were the dominant bacteria and fungi of Nuodeng ham,respectively.Totally,252 kinds of small molecular metabolites were identified from Nuodeng ham in different processing years,and 12 different metabolites were screened through multivariate statistical analysis.Further metabolic pathway analysis showed that 23 metabolic pathways were related to ham fermentation,of which 8 metabolic pathways had significant effects on ham fermentation(Impact>0.01,P<0.05).The content of L-proline,phenyllactic acid,L-lysine,carnosine,taurine,D-proline,betaine and creatine were significantly positively correlated with the relative abundance of Staphylococcus and Serratia,but negatively correlated with the relative abundance of Halomonas,Aspergillus and Yamadazyma.

Molecular detection of SARS-CoV-2 being challenged by virus variation and asymptomatic infection

Coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19)has been a pandemic for more than a year.With the expanding second wave of the pandemic in winter,the continuous evolution of SARS-CoV-2 has brought new issues,including the significance of virus mutations in infection and the detection of asymptomatic infection.In this review,we first introduced several major SARS-CoV-2 mutations since the COVID-19 outbreak and then mentioned the widely used molecular detection techniques to diagnose COVID-19,primarily focusing on their strengths and limitations.We further discussed the effects of viral genetic variation and asymptomatic infection on the molecular detection of SARS-CoV-2 infection.The review finally summarized useful insights into the molecular diagnosis of COVID-19 under the special situation being challenged by virus mutation and asymptomatic infection.

Enhanced high-temperature mechanical properties of laser-arc hybrid additive manufacturing of Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy via microstructure control

Recently,rapid and cost-effective additive manufacturing solutions for lightweight aluminum alloys with excellent high-temperature mechanical properties have been increasingly in demand.In this study,we combined laser-arc hybrid additive manufacturing with solution and artificial aging treatments to achieve Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy with favorable high-temperature strength via microstructure control.Hydrogen pores became the major defect in the as-deposited and heat-treated specimens.The continuous distribution of eutectics with hard-brittle characteristics at the grain boundaries was destructed following heat treat-ment.High-densityηprecipitates were uniformly dispersed in the heat-treated Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy,whereas appeared coarsened and dissolved at 473 K,owing to the rapid diffusion of Zn and Mg.The average 0.2%yield strength(318±16 MPa)and ultimate tensile strength(362±20 MPa)at 473 K af-ter heat treatment were enhanced by approximately 58%and 51%,respectively,compared to those of the as-deposited specimen.In addition,theηprecipitates contributed to lattice distortions and strain fields,which prevented dislocation motion and increased slip deformation resistance at high temper-atures.The as-deposited specimen exhibited intergranular fracture at 473 K,with cracks preferring to propagate along the aggregated eutectics.However,crack propagation proceeded in the sections with more pores in the heat-treated specimen.Our approach may provide a valid option for achieving alu-minum alloys with excellent high-temperature mechanical properties.

Import Determinants of Organelle-Specific and Dual Targeting Peptides of Mitochondria and Chloroplasts in Arabidopsis thaliana

Most of the mitochondrial and chloroplastic proteins are synthesized in the cytosol as precursor proteins carrying an N-terminal targeting peptide （TP） directing them specifically to a correct organelle. However, there is a group of proteins that are dually targeted to mitochondria and chloroplasts using an ambiguous N-terminal dual targeting peptide （dTP）. Here, we have investigated pattern properties of import determinants of organelle-specific TPs and dTPs combining mathematical multivariate data analysis （MVDA） with in vitro organellar import studies. We have used large datasets of mitochondrial and chloroplastic proteins found in organellar proteomes as well as manually selected data sets of experimentally confirmed organelle-specific TPs and dTPs from Arabidopsis thaliana. Two classes of organelle-specific TPs could be distinguished by MVDA and potential patterns or periodicity in the amino acid sequence contributing to the separation were revealed, dTPs were found to have intermediate sequence features between the organelle-specific TPs. Interestingly, introducing positively charged residues to the dTPs showed clustering towards the mitochondrial TPs in silico and resulted in inhibition of chloroplast, but not mitochondrial import in in vitro organellar import studies. These findings suggest that positive charges in the N-terminal region of TPs may function as an ＇avoidance signal＇ for the chloroplast import.