Impacts of the unsaturation degree of long-chain fatty acids on the volatile fatty acid profiles of rumen microbial fermentation in goats in vitro

This study investigated the impacts of the degree of unsaturation （unsaturity） of long-chain fatty acids on volatile fatty acid （VFA） profiles of rumen fermentation in vitro. Six types of long-chain fatty acids, including stearic acid （C18：0, control group）, oleic acid （C18：1, n-9）, linoleic acid （C18：2, n-6）, a-linolenic acid （C18：3, n-3）, arachidonic acid （C20：4, n-6） and eicosapentaenoic acid （C20：5, n-3）, were tested. Rumen fluid from three goats fitted with ruminal fistulae was used as inoculum and the inclusion rate of long-chain fatty acid was at 3% （w/w） of substrate. Samples were taken for VFA analysis at 0, 3, 6, 9, 12, 18 and 24 h of incubation, respectively. The analysis showed that there were significant differences in the total VFA among treatments, sampling time points, and treatment×time point interactions （P〈0.01）. a-Linolenic acid had the highest total VFA （P〈0.01） among different long-chain fatty acids tested. The molar proportion of acetate in total VFA significantly differed among treatments （P〈0.01） and sampling time points （P〈0.01）, but not treatment×time point interactions （P〉0.05）. In contrast, the molar proportion of propionate did not differ among treatments during the whole incubation （P〉0.05）. However, for butyrate molar proportions, significant differences were found not only among sampling time points but also among treatments and treatment×time point interactions （P〈0.01）, with eicosapentaenoic acid having the highest value （P〈0.01）. Additionally, no statistically significant differences were found in the acetate to propionate ratios among treatments groups （P〉0.05）, even the treatments stearic acid and a-linolenic acid were numerically higher than the others. The inclusion of 3% long-chain unsaturated fatty acids differing in the degree of unsaturation brought out a significant quadratic regression relation between the total VFA concentration and the double bond number of fatty acid. In conclusion, the a-linolenic acid with 3 double bonds appeared better for improving rumen microbial fermentation and the total VFA concentration.

Effects of fatty acid chain length and degree of unsaturation on the surface activities of monoacyl trehaloses

The surface properties of monoacyl trehaloses with different acyl chains were investigated at 30℃,40℃,50℃,and 60℃.Monoacyl trehaloses were enzymatically synthesized and purified with silica gel column chromatography and semi-preparative high-performance liquid chromatography(HPLC),and the purity of products was identified by mass spectrometry(MS)and nuclear magnetic resonance(NMR).The surface tension of monoacyl trehalose in pure water was measured using Doüy ring method at different temperatures.The critical micelle concentrations(CMC),surface tension at the CMC,γCMC,and residual area per molecule,a,were estimated from the curves.The CMC value of unsaturated monoacyl trehalose was affected by both the degree of unsaturation and the acyl chain length,and the effect of chain length on the CMC value was much stronger than that of the unsaturation degree.However,there was no significant dependency of theγCMC value and a values on the chain length or the unsaturated degree.

Producing Designer Oils in Industrial Microalgae by Rational Modulation of Co-evolving Type-2 Diacylglycerol Acyltransferases

Microalgal oils, depending on their degree of unsaturation, can be utilized as either nutritional supplements or fuels; thus, a feedstock with genetically designed and tunable degree of unsaturation is desirable to maximize process efficiency and product versatility. Systematic profiling of ex vivo （in yeast）, in vitro, and in vivo activities of type-2 diacylglycerol acyltransferases in Nannochloropsis oceanica （NoDGAT2s or NoDGTTs）, via reverse genetics, revealed that NoDGAT2A prefers saturated fatty acids （SFAs）, NoDGAT2D prefers monounsaturated fatty acids （MUFAs）, and NoDGAT2C exhibits the strongest activity toward polyunsaturated fatty acids （PUFAs）. As NoDGAT2A, 2C, and 2D originated from the green alga, red alga, and eukaryotic host ancestral participants of secondary endosymbiosis, respectively, a mecha- nistic model of oleaginousness was unveiled, in which the indigenous and adopted NoDGAT2s formulated functional complementarity and specific transcript abundance ratio that underlie a rigid SFA：MUFA：PUFA hierarchy in triacylglycerol （TAG）. By rationally modulating the ratio of NoDGAT2A＇：2C^D transcripts, a bank of N. oceanica strains optimized for nutritional supplement or fuel production with a wide range of degree of unsaturation were created, in which proportion of SFAs, MUFAs, and PUFAs in TAG varied by 1.3-, 3.7-, and 11.2-fold, respectively. This established a novel strategy to simultaneously improve productivity and quality of oils from industrial microalgae.

Variations in the effective and bankfull discharge for suspended sediment transport due to dam construction

A varied class method is applied to calculate the effective discharges and their variations after the Three Gorges Dam(TGD)construction based on the mean daily flow discharge and suspended sediment concentration field data from 1981 to 2016.For comparison,the bankfull discharges are also determined according to the cross-section profiles and flow discharge-stage relations.Our results show that a bimodal effective discharge curve usually exists at the fixed sites,which generates two effective discharges(Q_(e1) and Q_(e2))within the moderate flow range.Under the quasi-equilibrium circumstances of the pre-dam period,effective discharges are closely related to the mean annual runoff,with a narrow range of regional variations in occurrence frequency.Our analyses draw the conclusion that the relatively higher unsaturation degrees of the pre-dam effective discharges caused by dam interception and riverbed coarsening are the primary cause of the increase in effective discharges from Yichang to Shashi,while the more frequent low and medium discharges due to flow regulation drive the decrease in effective discharges from Jianli to Datong.The slightly elevated flood levels and descending bankfull levels collaboratively result in the decrease of bankfull discharges from Yichang to Shashi,while the lowered bed elevation causes the increase in bankfull discharges from Luoshan to Datong.Overall,the bankfull discharge in the Middle and Lower Yangtze River is larger than effective discharge and approaches the 1.5-year recurrence interval discharge.