Interactions among deep-sea mussels and their epibiotic and endosymbiotic chemoautotrophic bacteria: Insights from multi-omics analysis

Endosymbiosis with Gammaproteobacteria is fundamental for the success of bathymodioline mussels in deep-sea chemosynthesis-based ecosystems. However, the recent discovery of Campylobacteria on the gill surfaces of these mussels suggests that these host-bacterial relationships may be more complex than previously thought. Using the cold-seep mussel(Gigantidas haimaensis) as a model, we explored this hostbacterial system by assembling the host transcriptome and genomes of its epibiotic Campylobacteria and endosymbiotic Gammaproteobacteria and quantifying their gene and protein expression levels. We found that the epibiont applies a sulfur oxidizing(SOX)multienzyme complex with the acquisition of sox B from Gammaproteobacteria for energy production and switched from a reductive tricarboxylic acid (rTCA) cycle to a Calvin-Benson-Bassham(CBB)cycle for carbon assimilation. The host provides metabolic intermediates, inorganic carbon, and thiosulfate to satisfy the materials and energy requirements of the epibiont, but whether the epibiont benefits the host is unclear. The endosymbiont adopts methane oxidation and the ribulose monophosphate pathway(Ru MP) for energy production, providing the major source of energy for itself and the host. The host obtains most of its nutrients, such as lysine, glutamine, valine,isoleucine, leucine, histidine, and folate, from the endosymbiont. In addition, host pattern recognition receptors, including toll-like receptors, peptidoglycan recognition proteins, and C-type lectins, may participate in bacterial infection, maintenance, and population regulation. Overall, this study provides insights into the complex host-bacterial relationships that have enabled mussels and bacteria to thrive in deep-sea chemosynthetic ecosystems.

Synthesis and cytotoxicity of novel podophyllotoxin derivatives

In order to find novel synthetic antitumor agents with superior cytotoxicity and overcoming multidrug resistance, a novel series of 4β-N-substituted podophyllotoxin derivatives were synthesized and evaluated as potential antitumor agents. Seven novel podophyllotoxin derivatives were synthesized by linking 4β-amino-4-deoxypodophyllotoxin with N-substituted 5-methylindol-3- yl-glyoxyl chlorides and tested against K562 and K562/A02 using SRB methods in vitro, KB and KBVusing MTT methods in vitro.

Alkali-activation reactivity of chemosynthetic Al_2O_3-2SiO_2 powders and their ^(27)Al and ^(29)Si magic-angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance spectra

Pure Al2O3-2SiO2 powders were prepared by sol-gel and coprecipitation methods, and their alkaliactivation reactivities were compared. The alkali-activation reactivity of the powder prepared by the so]-gel method was higher than that of the powder prepared by the coprecipitation method. The powders were investigated by 27Al and 29Si magic-angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy （MAS NMR） to understand the relationship between their structure and alkali-activation reactivity. The 27Al MAS NMR data showed that the five-coordinate AI content of the powder prepared by the sol-gel method was higher than that of the powder prepared by coprecipitation. The higher content of five-coordinate Al corresponded to higher alkali-activation reactivity. The 29Si MAS NMR data showed that for the powder prepared by the sol-gel method, silicon was replaced by aluminum at secondary coordination sites of the central Si atoms during calcination. However, for the powder prepared by single-batch coprecipitation, the main change was from a low degree of polycondensation to a high degree of polycondensation.