Effects of Lanthanum on Hydrolytic Enzyme Activities in Red Soil

The effects of La on some hydrolytic enzyme activities in red soil were studied in incubation and pot culture experiments. In the incubation experiment, La slightly stimulates the activities of urease and acidic phosphatase in soil and strongly stimulates sucrase activity in soil. In the pot culture experiment, La stimulates the activities of urease, acidic phosphatase and sucrase to different degrees. The stimulative effects of rare earth elements (REE) on hydrolytic enzyme activities in soil may result in increasing yield of crops.

Ligninolytic enzymes production by endophytic fungus Diaporthe phaseolorum(Desm.)Sacc.under the influence of different carbon and nitrogen sources

Endophytic fungi are being investigated for their ability to create industrially relevant secondary metabolites.In recent years,there has been a surge in interest in these fungi as a source of novel enzymes,particularly hydrolytic enzymes.The present study investigated the effect of different carbon,organic and inorganic nitrogens on the growth and ligninolytic enzyme production by the endophytic fungus Diaporthe phaeolorum.The fungus was isolated from the leaves of Dillenia indica and analyzed by morpho-molecular basis.The fungus showed promising results for in vitro production of ligninolytic enzymes.Sucrose was the most favorable carbon compound for growth among all the carbon compounds tested.It displayed maximum lignin peroxidase(Lip)activity in fructose(3.5 U/ml),followed by pectin(2.60 U/ml)and glucose(2.53 U/ml).Glucose gave the highest manganese peroxidase(MnP)activity i.e.,6.88 U/ml followed by starch,sucrose and raffinose.Similarly,the maximum laccase activity was 44.5 U/ml in pectin.Potassium nitrate and L-asparagine were the best inorganic and organic nitrogen for growth.In the case of ligninolytic enzyme production,ammonium acetate and ammonium phosphate were the best media for LiP and MnP,whereas laccase production was highest in ammonium nitrate supplemented medium.In organic nitrogen sources,medium supplemented with DL-tryptophan gave the highest Lip production,whereas MnP and laccase production was observed in the medium containing L-tyrosine and L-asparagine.To the best of our knowledge,this is the first report related to the growth and ligninolytic enzyme production by Diaporthe phaseolorum.The findings from the study will assist researchers in improving the production of ligninolytic enzymes by this fungus under in vitro conditions on an industrial scale.

Combining conservation tillage with nitrogen fertilization promotes maize straw decomposition by regulating soil microbial community and enzyme activities

Straw return can effectively improve farmland soil microenvironment and fertility.However,excessive straw in the topsoil adversely affects seed germination and crop growth.At present,the characteristics and key driving factors of straw decomposition in dry farmlands are unclear.Based on the interactions between tillage practices including zero tillage(ZT),chisel tillage(CT),and plow tillage(PT)and nitrogen(N)fertilization,i.e.,low N(N1,180 kg ha^(-1)),normal N(N2,240 kg ha^(-1)),and high N(N3,300 kg ha^(-1)),quantitative polymerase chain reaction technology and an enzymatic detection kit were used to investigate the effects of key straw C-degrading enzyme activities and microbial abundance in soil on maize straw decomposition during the growth period of winter wheat in the winter wheat/summer maize double cropping system in a dry farmland of the Loess Plateau,China.Between 2018 and 2020,ZT and CT significantly increased winter wheat yield(by 10.94%and 12.79%,respectively)and straw decomposition velocity(by 20%and 26.67%,respectively),compared with PT.Compared to N1 and N3,N2 significantly increased wheat yield(by 4.65%and 5.31%,respectively)and straw decomposition velocity(by 26.33%and 13.21%,respectively).The partial least squares pathway modelling showed significant positive direct effects of soil moisture,NO3-,NH4+,total N,bacteria,and cellulase,laccase,and xylanase activities on straw decomposition,while soil pH,fungi,and Actinomycetes had significant negative direct effects.Overall,conservation tillage(ZT and CT)combined with N2 was beneficial for straw decomposition in the drylands of the Loess Plateau and improved straw resource utilization and basic soil fertility.The results of the study clarified the key drivers of straw decomposition in dry farmlands and provided new ideas for developing updated soil management practices and adaptive N application strategies to promote the resource utilization of straw and achieve the goals of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality.

Factors that contribute to the mycoparasitism stimulus in Trichoderma atroviride. strain P1

Trichoderma atroviride strain P1 has been used extensively to study the mycoparasitic mechanisms in the interaction between plant pathogenic host and beneficial antagonistic fungi. Mutants of P1 containing the green fluorescent protein (gfp) or glucose oxidase (gox) reporter systems and different inducible promoters (from the exochitinase nag1 gene, or the endochitinase ech42 gene of P1) were used to determine the factors that activate the biocontrol gene expression cascade in the antagonist. The following compounds were tested singly and in various combinations: purified Trichoderma P1 enzymes (endochitinase, exochitinase, chitobiosidase, glucanase); antagonist culture filtrates (T. atroviride P1 wild-type and relative knock-out mutants, T. harzianum, T. reesei); pathogen culture filtrates (Botrytis, Pythium, Rhizoctonia); purified fungal cell walls (CWs) from Trichoderma, Botrytis, Pythium, Rhizoctonia; colloidal crab shell chitin; and plant extracts from cucumber leaves, stems or roots. Strong induction of mycoparasitism was found with the various digestion products produced by treating fungal CWs and colloidal chitin with purified enzymes or fungal culture filtrates. Filtrates from chitinase knock-out mutants, as well as CWs from Oomycetes fungi, were less active in producing the stimulus for mycoparasitism. The host CW digestion products were separated by molecular weight (MW) to determine which compounds were able to activate Trichoderma. Micromolecules of MW less than 3 kDa were found to trigger mycoparasitism gene expression before physical contact with the host pathogen. These compounds stimulated mycelial growth and spore germination of the antagonist. Purification of these host-derived compounds was conducted by HPLC and in vivo assay. The obtained inducers were able to stimulate both the production of endochitinase and exochitinase enzymes, even under repressing conditions in the presence of glucose. Inducers stimulated the biocontrol effect of P1 in the presence of host fungi. The disease symptom development on bean leaves inoculated with Botrytis and Trichoderma spores was clearly reduced by the addition of the inducers, unless these molecules were not specifically inactivated. Finally, purified inducers added to liquid cultures of T. atroviride P1 stimulated the production of low MW antibiotics and metabolites which inhibited Botrytis spore germination. Mass spectrometry analysis (ESI-MS) of the inducers indicated the presence of hexose oligomers, like cellobiose, while MS/MS analysis by selective fragmentation of peaks in the spectrum demonstrated the presence of at least three distinct compounds that were biologically active.

In Silico Screening of Potential Chinese Herbal Medicine Against COVID-19 by Targeting SARS-CoV-2 3CLpro and Angiotensin Converting Enzyme Ⅱ Using Molecular Docking

Objective:To seek potential Chinese herbal medicine(CHM)for the treatment of coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19)through the molecular docking of the medicine with SARS-CoV-23 CL hydrolytic enzyme and the angiotensin converting enzymeⅡ(ACE2)as receptors,using computer virtual screening technique,so as to provide a basis for combination forecasting.Methods:The molecular docking of CHM with the SARS-Cov-23 CL hydrolase and the ACE2 converting enzyme,which were taken as the targets,was achieved by the Autodock Vina software.The CHM monomers acting on 3 CLpro and ACE2 receptors were retrieved from the Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Database and Analysis Platform,the active ingredients were selected,and the key CHMs and compounds were speculated.Based on the perspective of network pharmacology,the chemical-target network was constructed,and the functional enrichment analysis of gene ontology and the pathway enrichment analysis of Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes were carried out by DAVID to speculate about the mechanism of action of the core drug pairs.Results:There are6 small molecule compounds that have the optimal binding energy with the two target proteins.Among 238 potential anti-COVID-19 herbs screened in total,16 kinds of CHM containing the most active ingredients,and5 candidate anti-COVID-19 herbs that had been used in high frequency,as well as a core drug pair,namely,Forsythiae Fructus-Lonicerae Japonicae Flos were selected.Conclusion:The core drug pair of Forsythiae Fructus-Lonicerae Japonicae Flos containing multiple components and targets is easy to combine with 3 CLpro and ACE2,and exerts an anti-COVID-19 pneumonia effect through multi-component and multi-target,and plays the role of anti-COVID-19 pneumonia in multi-pathway.

Mining diversity of the natural biorefinery housed within Tipula abdominalis larvae for use in an industrial biorefinery for production of lignocellulosic ethanol

Although they are the largest taxonomic group of animals, relatively few insects have been examined for symbiotic relationships with micro-organisms. However, this is rapidly changing because of the potential for examination of the natural insectmicrobe-lignocellulose interactions to provide insights for biofuel technology. Micro-organisms associated with lignocellulose-consuming insects often facilitate the digestion of the recalcitrant plant diet; therefore these microbial communities may be mined for novel lignocellulose-degrading microbes, or for robust and inexpensive biocatalysts necessary for economically feasible biofuel production from lignocellulose. These insect-microbe interactions are influenced by the ecosystem and specific lignocellulose diet, and appre- ciating the whole ecosystem-insect-microbiota-lignocellulose as a natural biorefinery provides a rich and diverse framework from which to design novel industrial processes. One such natural biorefinery, the Tipula abdominalis larvae in riparian ecosystems, is reviewed herein with applications for biochemical processes and overcoming challenges involved in conversion of lignocellulosic biomass to fuel ethanol. From the dense and diverse T. abdominalis larval hindgut microbial community, a cellulolytic bacterial isolate, 27C64, demonstrated enzymatic activity toward many model plant polymers and also produced a bacterial antibiotic. 27C64 was co-cultured with yeast in fermentation of pine to ethanol, which allowed for a 20% reduction of commercial enzyme. In this study, a micro-organism from a lignocellulose-consuming insect was successfully applied for improvement of biomass-to-biofuel technology.