Adsorption of methyl orange from aqueous solution by composite magnetic microspheres of chitosan and quaternary ammonium chitosan derivative

Novel composite magnetic microspheres containing chitosan and quaternary ammonium chitosan derivative(CHMMs) were prepared by inverse suspension method,and used for the methyl orange(MO) removal from aqueous solutions.The CHMMs were characterized by a scanning electron microscope,a transmission electron microscope,and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy,respectively.Compared with the chitosan beads,the incorporation of quaternary ammonium chitosan derivative significantly reduced the particle size.The MO adsorption by CHMMs was investigated by batch adsorption experiments.The adsorption kinetics was conformed to the pseudo second-order kinetics equation.The adsorption isotherm followed the Langmuir model better than the Freundlich model and the calculated maximum MO adsorption capacity was 266.6 mg·g^-1 at 293 K.Thermodynamic studies indicated that the MO adsorption was endothermic in nature with the enthalpy change(△H°) of 99.44 kJ·mol^-1.The CHMMs had a stable performance for MO adsorption in the pH range of 4-10,but high ionic strength deteriorated the MO removal due to the shielding of the ion exchange interaction.A 1 mol·L^-1 NaCl solution could be used to regenerate the exhausted CHMMs.The proposed CHMMs can be used as an effective adsorbent for dye removal or recovery from the dye wastewater.

ZmMs30 Encoding a Novel GDSL Lipase Is Essential for Male Fertility and Valuable for Hybrid Breeding in Maize

Genic male sterility (GMS) is very useful for hybrid vigor utilization and hybrid seed production. Although a large number of GMS genes have been identified in plants, little is known about the roles of GDSL lipase members in anther and pollen development. Here, we report a maize GMS gene, ZmMs30, which encodes a novel type of GDSL lipase with diverged catalytic residues. Enzyme kinetics and activity assays show that ZmMs30 has lipase activity and prefers to substrates with a short carbon chain. ZmMs30 is specifically expressed in maize anthers during stages 7-9. Loss of ZmMs30 function resulted in defective anther cuticle, irregular foot layer of pollen exine, and complete male sterility. Cytological and lipidomics analyses demonstrate that ZmMs30 is crucial for the aliphatic metabolic pathway required for pollen exine formation and anther cuticle development. Furthermore, we found that male sterility caused by loss of ZmMs30 function was stable in various inbred lines with different genetic background, and that it didn't show any negative effect on maize heterosis and production, suggesting that ZmMs30 is valuable for crossbreeding and hybrid seed production. We then developed a new multi-control sterility system using ZmMs30 and its mutant line, and demonstrated it is feasible for generating desirable GMS lines and valu. able for hybrid maize seed production. Taken together, our study sheds new light on the mechanisms of anther and pollen development, and provides a valuable male-sterility system for hybrid breeding maize.

Colorectal cancer and adjacent normal mucosa differ in apoptotic and inflammatory protein expression

Colorectal cancer usually refers to the occurrence of the appendix,rectum or colon and other parts of the ma-lignant tumor in the large intestine mucosa and glands,is also one of the most common malignant tumors in human.In recent years,studies have shown that chronic inflammation is the"initiator"of cancer.Inflammation plays a causal role in the early formation of tumors by regulating the initiation and promotion of tumor genesis and development through a series of inflammatory cytokines.Inflammation plays a causal role in the early for-mation of tumors by regulating the initiation and promotion of tumor genesis and development through a series of inflammatory cytokines.The latter part of this review describes the role of several important inflammatory factors:tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α),interleukin-6(IL-6),and transforming growth factor-β(TGF-β)in col-orectal cancer.In normal mucosa,inflammatory factors play an important role in the immune response of the body.However,when a large number of inflammatory factors accumulate,they will cause pathological damage to the body,trigger inflammation and even deteriorate into cancer.Serum levels of most inflammatory factors were low in healthy controls,but were elevated in colorectal cancer patients.Here,we review the relationship be-tween apoptosis,inflammation and cancer,and analyze the difference in the expression of inflammatory proteins in colorectal cancer and its adjacent mucosa.