HAG1 Regulates Arsenic Allocation and Accumulation in Rice Grains

Rice is a well-recognized accumulator of arsenic(As),which poses a threat to food security and human health.Different rice varieties vary widely in their As accumulation and tolerance,yet the underlying genetic basis remains unknown.In this study,we isolated a rice mutant hag1,which displayed high accumulation of As in rice grains and increased sensitivity to As toxicity.Using genetic investigation,we identified the ATP-binding cassette(ABC)transporter OsABCC1,involved in sequestering As in vacuoles,as the causal gene responsible for As allocation and tolerance in rice.Detailed physiological analysis revealed that As stress caused more severe oxidative damage in hag1 compared with the wild type(WT).The hag1 mutant displayed different accumulation patterns depending on the levels of As stress.We discovered that under low As concentration,hag1 synthesized more thiol compounds and exhibited lower As translocation than the WT;however,at high As levels,hag1 produced fewer thiol compounds and increased As transfer factor.Transcriptome analysis of the node nearest to the panicles revealed that OsABCC1 was down-regulated in hag1,resulting in increased As translocation and accumulation in rice grains.Additionally,natural variations in the promoter of OsABCC1 may confer differential gene expression and distinct As accumulations in grains between japonica and indica rice varieties,providing insights for breeding low-As rice varieties.

Replacement of Forage Fiber Sources with Dried Distillers Grains with Solubles and Corn Germ Meal in Holstein Calf Diets

This study was carried out to determine the effect of replacement of forage fiber sources from alfalfa and Leymus chinensis with nonforage fiber sources（NFFS） from dried distillers grains with solubles and corn germ meal on calves growth, rumen development and blood parameters. 48 female and 12 male calves（（110.55±15.36） kg of body weight and 12 wk of age） were assigned randomly to four dietary treatments（15 calves/treatment） in a completely randomized design. Experimental diets were： 0% NFFS（control）, 9% NFFS（group 1）, 18% NFFS（group 2）, 27% NFFS（group 3）, and contained equivalent neutral detergent fiber and total digestible nutrients, respectively. The dry matter intake was similar among diets, averaging 3.33 kg d-1, and no differences were detected for body weight, withers height, body length and heart girth. In addition, the development of rumen, reticulum, omasum and abomasum also were similar among diets. Dry matter, crude protein, and neutral detergent fiber digestibilities increased with the increasing levels of NFFS in the experimental diets, but had no significant effect. Blood urea nitrogen, total protein and glubulin were not affected by the dietary treatment, but group 3 resulted in the highest（P〈0.05） concentrations of glucose and the lowest（P〈0.05） concentrations of triglycerides and albumin. In conclusion, dried distillers grains with solubles（DDGS） and corn germ meal（CGM） were available and alternative fiber sources for Holstein calf diets.

Amino acid digestibility of heat damaged distillers dried grains with solubles fed to pigs

The primary objective of this experiment was to determine the effects of heat treatment on the standardized ileal digestibility （SID） of amino acids （AA） in corn distillers dried grains with solubles （DDGS） fed to growing pigs. The second objective was to develop regression equations that may be used to predict the concentration of SID AA in corn DDGS. A source of corn DDGS was divided into 4 batches that were either not autoclaved or autoclaved at 130℃ for 10, 20, or 30 min. Four diets containing DDGS from each of the 4 batches were formulated with DDGS being the only source of AA and CP in the diets. A N-free diet also was formulated and used to determine the basal endogenous losses of CP and AA. Ten growing pigs （initial BW： 53.5 ＋ 3.9 kg） were surgically equipped with a T-cannula in the distal ileum and allotted to a replicated 5 x4 Youden square design with 5 diets and 4 periods in each square. The SID of CP decreased linearly （P〈 0.05） from 77.9% in non-autoclaved DDGS to 72.1, 66.1, and 68.5% in the DDGS samples that were autoclaved for 10, 20, or 30 min, respectively. The SID of lysine was quadratically reduced （P〈 0.05） from 66.8% in the non-autoclaved DDGS to 54.9, 55.3, and 51.9% in the DDGS autoclaved for 10, 20, or 30 min, respectively. The concentrations of SID Arginine, Histidine, Leucine, Lysine, Methionine, Phenylalanine, or Threonine may be best predicted by equations that include the concentration of acid detergent insoluble N in the model （r2 = 0.76, 0.68, 0.67, 0.84, 0.76, 0.73, or 0.54, respectively）. The concentrations of SID Isoleucine and Valine were predicted （r2 = 0.58 and 0.54, respectively） by the Lysine：CP ratio, whereas the concentration of SID Tryptophan was predicted （r2 = 0.70） by the analyzed concentration of Tryptophan in DDGS. In conclusion, the SID of AA is decreased as a result of heat damage and the concentration of SID AA in heat-damaged DDGS may be predicted by regression equations developed in this experiment.

Use of a post-production fractionation process improves the nutritional value of wheat distillers grains with solubles for young broiler chicks

Background： Post-production fractionation of wheat distillers grains with solubles（DDGS） increases their crude protein content and reduces their fiber content.This experiment was conducted to determine the effects of fractionation of wheat DDGS on apparent total tract digestibility（ATTD） and performance when fed to broiler chicks（0–21 d）.Methods： A total of 150,day-old,male broiler chicks（Ross-308 line;Lilydale Hatchery,Wynyard,Saskatchewan） weighing an average of 49.6 ± 0.8 g were assigned to one of five dietary treatments in a completely randomized design.The control diet was based on wheat and soybean meal and contained 20% regular wheat DDGS.The experimental diets contained 5,10,15 or 20% fractionated wheat DDGS added at the expense of regular wheat DDGS.Results： The ATTD of dry matter and gross energy were linearly increased（P 0.01） as the level of fractionated wheat DDGS in the diet increased.Nitrogen retention was unaffected by level of fractionated wheat DDGS（P 0.05）.Weight gain increased linearly（P = 0.05） as the level of fractionated wheat DDGS in the diet increased.Feed intake,feed conversion and mortality were unaffected by level of fractionated wheat DDGS in the diet（P 0.05）.Conclusions： Post-production fractionation of wheat DDGS improves their nutritional value by lowering their fiber content and increasing their content of crude protein and energy.These changes in chemical composition supported increased weight gain of broilers fed wheat DDGS.

Effects of dietary replacement of soybean meal with dried distillers grains with solubles on the microbiota occupying different ecological niches in the rumen of growing Hu lambs

Background:Diet has a profound impact on the rumen microbiota,and the impact can vary among the different rumen ecological niches(REN).This study investigated the effects of dietary replacement of soybean meal(SBM)with dried distillers grains with solubles(DDGS)on the rumen microbiota occupying different REN of growing Hu lambs.After a 9-week feeding trial,6 lambs from each dietary treatment(SBM vs.DDGS-based diets)were slaughtered for sample collection.The microbiota of the rumen solid,liquid,and epithelium fractions was examined using amplicon sequencing analysis of bacterial 16S rRNA gene,functional prediction,and qPCR.Results:No interaction of dietary protein source(PS)and REN were detected for virtually all the measurements made in this study.The DDGS substitution resulted in very limited influence on bacterial community structure.However,the metabolic pathways predicted from 16S rRNA gene sequences varied greatly between SBM-and DDGS-based diets.The populations of rumen total bacteria,fungi,sulfate-reducing bacteria(SRB),and methanogens were not influenced by DDGS substitution,but the population of protozoa was reduced.The bacterial communities in rumen solid(RS)and liquid(RL)were similar in taxonomic composition but were different in relative abundance of some taxa.In contrast,the bacterial composition and relative abundance of rumen epithelium(RE)were greatly distinct from those of the RS and the RL.In alignment with the bacterial relative abundance,the metabolic pathways predicted from 16S rRNA genes also varied greatly among the different REN.The populations of total bacteria,protozoa,and methanogens attached to the RE were smaller than those in the RS and RL,and the fungal population on the rumen epitheliumwas smaller than that in the RS but similar to that in the RL.On the contrary,the SRB population on the RE was greater than that in the RS and RL.Conclusions:Substitution of SBM with DDGS had greater impact to the protozoa than to the other microbes,and the microbial community structure and functions at different REN are distinct and niche-adapted.

Production of microbial oils co-fermented by Trichoderma.koningii and Trichosporon cutaneum with Daqu distiller's grains

Abstract： Daqu distiller＇s grains were co-fermented as raw materials by Trichoderma.koningii and Trichosporon cutaneum to produce microbial oils, which can provide raw materials for bio-diesel development. The single factor tests were used to investigate the effects of ratio of strains, inoculum size, culture temperature and culture time on the production of microbial oils. The best processing conditions were obtained by orthogonal test through measuring the content of microbial oils in product. The result shows that the microbial oils content of the co-fermented product under the ratio of Trichoderma.koningii to Trichosporon cutaneum of 1：1, the inoculum size of strains of 11% at 28 ℃ for 6 d is 7.15 g/L. It is shown that the production of microbial oils co-fermented by Trichoderma.koningii and Trichosporon cutaneum with Daqu distiller＇s grains is possible. The research provides a new idea for the reuse of Daqu distiller＇s grains and also provides a new way for the development of microbial oils.

Effects of Organic Fertilizers Made from Distiller＇s Grains on the Growth and Development of Flue-cured Tobacco

Pot experiments were conducted to study the effects of different organic fertilizers made from distiller＇s grains on the physiological characteristics and growth of flue-cured tobacco. The results showed that the agronomic traits and biomass of flue-cured tobacco in the three treatments were higher than that of the control group,and the mixed application of different organic fertilizers made from distiller＇s grains and compound fertilizer could promote the growth and development of flue-cured tobacco significantly.

Amino acid digestibility in low-fat distillers dried grains with solubles fed to growing pigs

The objective of this experiment was to determine the standardized ileal digestibility（SID） of amino acids（AA） in 3sources of distillers dried grains with solubles（DDGS） with different concentrations of fat.Twelve growing barrows（initial body weight：76.1 ± 6.2 kg） were randomly allotted to a replicated 6×4 Youden square design with 6 diets and 4 periods.The fat content of the 3 sources of DDGS were 11.5,7.5,and 6.9%respectively.Diets contained 60%DDGS and fat concentration of the diets were 7.5,52,and 5.2%,respectively.Two additional diets containing the 2sources of DDGS with 75 and 6.9%fat were also formulated,and corn oil was added to these diets to increase the concentration of fat in the diets to levels that were calculated to be similar to the diet containing conventional DDGS with 11.5%fat.A N-free diet was also formulated to calculate endogenous losses of crude protein（CP） and AA from the pigs.Pigs were fed experimental diets during four 7-d periods.The first 5 d of each period were an adaptation period and ileal digesta were collected on d 6 and 7 of each period.The apparent ileal digestibililty（AID） and SID of CP and all indispensable AA,except AID Pro and SID of Trp,were greater（P 〈 0.01） in conventional DDGS than in the 2 sources of DDGS with reduced fat.Adding oil to the diets containing the 2 sources of DDGS with reduced fat did not consistently increase SID of AA.In conclusion,conventional DDGS has greater SID values for most AA compared with DDGS that contains less fat and inclusion of additional oil to diets containing low-fat DDGS does not increase AID or SID of AA.The lower AA digestibility in low-fat DDGS could not be overcome by the inclusion of additional fat to the diets.

Effect of Graded Levels of Wheat Distillers Grains with Solubles on Nutrient Digestibility,Performance and Carcass Traits of Growing-Finishing Pigs Fed Diets Based on Wheat and Field Peas

This trial was conducted to determine the effects of graded levels of wheat distillers dried grains with solubles （DDGS） on nutrient digestibility, performance and carcass characteristics of pigs （21.8 to 112.3 kg） fed diets based on wheat and field peas. Forty crossbred pigs were assigned on the basis of sex and weight to one of five dietary treatments in a 5 x 2 （treatment x sex） factorial arrangement. The experimental diets were based on wheat and field peas and were formulated to contain 0, 4.86%, 9.71%, 14.57% or 19.42% wheat DDGS during the growing period and 0, 4.01%, 8.05%, 12.10% and 16.14% wheat DDGS during the finishing period. At the highest levels, ~vheat DDGS supplied 100% of the supplementary protein. The digestibility coefficient for gross energy showed a tendency towards a linear decline （P 〈 0.08 ） as the level of wheat DDGS in the diet increased while digestibility coefficients for dry matter and crude protein were unaffected （P 〉 0. 05 ） by inclusion level of wheat DDGS. During the growing period （21.8 to 60.8 kg）, weight gain of pigs fed wheat DDGS declined （P〈0.01） linearly. The impairment in growth appeared to be associated with a decrease in feed in- take which also declined linearly （P 〈 0.01 ） with increasing inclusion level of wheat DDGS. Feed conversion was unaffected by level of wheat DDGS. During the finishing period （60.8 to 112.3 kg）, and over the entire experimental period （21.8 to 112.3 kg ）, weight gain and feed conversion declined linearly as the dietary inclusion level of wheat DDGS increased. Carcass traits were generally unaffected by the inclusion of wheat DDGS with the exception of a trend towards a linear （P = 0.10） reduction in lean yield and a linear increase （ P = 0.09） in loin fat as the level of wheat DDGS in the diet increased. Overall, these results suggest that wheat DDGS are inferior to field peas as a supplementary protein source for use in swine rations.

Optimization of C/N ratio preparation of protein-rich and multi-enzymes feed thallus through synergic fermentation of mixed distillers'grains

A new procedure of determining optimal C/N (the rate of carbon source to nitrogen source) of mixed distillers' grains for combined bacteria synergic fermentation is established. At the same time an improved method evaluating bacteria growth, called method of dry cell weighing by filtering is developed. For each combination of C and N, their initial and residual contents before and after fermentation respectively are determined. Then followed the calculation of utilization of C and N sources by the compound bacteria. The optimal C/N is finally located from among the utilization of C and N of several combinations and the weight of produced mass of oven dried thallus. The conditions of fermentation are: inoculum size 10%, temperature 30 0℃, rotational speed 170 r/min, shake culture time 48h. The best results obtained from orthogonal experiments are: maximum mass of oven dried thallus is 14 693g in a liter liquid medium, maximum utilization rate of carbon source is 98 13% and maximum utilization rate of nitrogen is 78 14%. Optimal C/N is 5 1.

Rice Grains from Slightly Saline Field Exhibited Unchanged Starch Physicochemical Properties but Enhanced Nutritional Values

This study aims to investigate grain quality and nutritional values of rice(Pokkali,a salt-tolerant cultivar;RD73,a new cultivar improved from KDML105 introgressed with Saltol QTL from Pokkali,and KDML105,a moderately salt-susceptible cultivar)grown under non-saline(0.04–0.87 dS/m)and slightly saline(1.08–4.83 dS/m)field conditions.The results revealed that salinity caused significant reduction in grain size but significant increments in reducing sugar and total protein contents in the grains.Nevertheless,the amounts of starch in the grains of KDML105 and Pokkali rice genotypes were unaffected by the stress.The starch granule size distribution was also unaffected by salinity.Interestingly,only starch from Pokkali was significantly diminished in amylose content,from 19.18%to 16.99%.Accordingly,parameters relating to starch gelatinization,retrogradation,and pasting properties of KDML105 and RD73 were unaffected by salinity;only Pokkali showed a significant increase in percentage of retrogradation along with a significant reduction in gelatinization enthalpy.In the saline field,total phenolic content and antioxidant capacity in the grains of all rice cultivars tended to increase,particularly in Pokkali.On average,essential element contents in grains from the saline-treated plants showed a 33%,32%,32%,22%,20%,11%,and 10%increase in total P,N,K,Mg,Zn,Fe,and Ca content,respectively.Interestingly,total Fe content exhibited the greatest percentage of increments in KDML105(187%).Taken together,cultivation of rice in the slightly saline field did not alter its eating and cooking qualities,while enhanced some nutritional properties such as proteins,minerals,and secondary metabolites like phenolic compounds.

Effects of Distiller's Grain Substrate with Acid Regulation on the Growth of Tobacco Seedlings in Floating Breeding System

In order to reduce the use of peat resources and realize the sustainable development of tobacco, the pH of distiller s grain substrate was adjusted with humic acid, and the effects of various distiller s grain substrates on the growth of tobacco seedlings were studied to find out the method of cultivating high-quality tobacco seedlings by using distiller s grain substrate. The results showed that when 60% of humic acid was added to the distiller s grain substrate made from coarse distiller s grains, fine distiller s grains, perlite and vermiculite, both the pH and electrical conductivity decreased significantly and were similar to that of the conventional substrate. Moreover, the emergence rate of tobacco seedlings, the rate of strong tobacco seedlings, leaf number, stem height, root growth and quality of tobacco seedlings were good.

Research on Heredity of Coarse Ferrite Grains

The changes in austenite grain size of the specimens with coarse ferrite grains under different heat treatment process were investigated.The focus was on studying the effect of annealing on refining coarse ferrite grains,as well as the influence of the ferrite grain size on the main technical indicators of gas carburizing.The results show that coarse ferrite grains may not necessarily cause the coarse austenite grains,but may result in mixed austenite grains.After annealing treatment,the coarse ferrite grains can be significantly refined and homogenized.Moreover,the coarse ferrite grains have no significant effects on hardnessand intergranular oxidationof gas carburizing.

Understanding of Five Grains for YANG:a way to straighten Asians’dietary structure

According to the general opinion,grains should occupy the largest amount of human food each day,but this grain-based eating habit does not allow human life to be extended.Grains are high in carbohydrates and five commonly recognized plant hormones,namely auxin,gibberellin,cytokinin,abscisic acid,and ethylene.Through in-depth analysis of ancient books,it was found that five grains for support:support is a restriction,and it means the essence,which means that grains should be eaten less,and it is the essence of the least daily intake.To correctly understand the Chinese dietary concept of"five grains for support"is the basis for improving Asian dietary health and promoting Asian human health.

The Mechanism of Heating Rate on the Secondary Recrystallization Evolution in Grain Oriented Silicon Steel

Grain-oriented silicon steels were prepared at different heating rates during high temperature annealing,in which the evolution of magnetic properties,grain orientations and precipitates were studied.To illustrate the Zener factor,the diameter and number density of precipitates of interrupted testing samples were statistically calculated.The effect of precipitate ripening on the Goss texture and magnetic property was investigated.Data indicated that the trend of Zener factor was similar under different heating rates,first increasing and then decreasing,and that the precipitate maturing was greatly inhibited as the heating rate increased.Secondary recrystallization was developed at the temperature of 1010℃when a heating rate of 5℃/h was used,resulting in Goss,Brass and{110}<227>oriented grains growing abnormally and a magnetic induction intensity of 1.90T.Furthermore,increasing the heating rate to 20℃/h would inhibit the development of undesirable oriented grains and obtain a sharp Goss texture.However,when the heating rate was extremely fast,such as 40℃/h,poor secondary recrystallization was developed with many island grains,corresponding to a decrease in magnetic induction intensity to 1.87 T.At a suitable heating rate of 20℃/h,the sharpest Goss texture and the highest magnetic induction of 1.94 T with an onset secondary recrystallization temperature of 1020℃were found among the experimental variables in this study.The heating rate affected the initial temperature of secondary recrystallization by controlling the maturation of precipitates,leading to the deviation and dispersion of Goss texture,thereby reducing the magnetic properties.

Atomic-scale insights into microscopic mechanisms of grain boundary segregation in Al−Cu alloys

This study aims to clarify the mechanisms for the grain boundary(GB)segregation through investigating the absorption of excess solute atoms at GBs in Al−Cu alloys by using the hybrid molecular dynamics/Monte Carlo simulations.Two segregation mechanisms,substitutional and interstitial mechanisms,are observed.The intergranular defects,including dislocations,steps and vacancies,and the intervals in structural units are conductive to the prevalence of interstitial mechanism.And substitutional mechanism is favored by the highly ordered twin GBs.Furthermore,the two mechanisms affect the GB structure differently.It is quantified that interstitial mechanism is less destructive to GB structure than substitutional one,and often leads to a segregation level being up to about 6 times higher than the latter.These findings contribute to atomic scale insights into the microscopic mechanisms about how solute atoms are absorbed by GB structures,and clarify the correlation among intergranular structures,segregation mechanisms and kinetics.

Optimizing BERT for Bengali Emotion Classification: Evaluating Knowledge Distillation, Pruning, and Quantization

The rapid growth of digital data necessitates advanced natural language processing(NLP)models like BERT(Bidi-rectional Encoder Representations from Transformers),known for its superior performance in text classification.However,BERT’s size and computational demands limit its practicality,especially in resource-constrained settings.This research compresses the BERT base model for Bengali emotion classification through knowledge distillation(KD),pruning,and quantization techniques.Despite Bengali being the sixth most spoken language globally,NLP research in this area is limited.Our approach addresses this gap by creating an efficient BERT-based model for Bengali text.We have explored 20 combinations for KD,quantization,and pruning,resulting in improved speedup,fewer parameters,and reduced memory size.Our best results demonstrate significant improvements in both speed and efficiency.For instance,in the case of mBERT,we achieved a 3.87×speedup and 4×compression ratio with a combination of Distil+Prune+Quant that reduced parameters from 178 to 46 M,while the memory size decreased from 711 to 178 MB.These results offer scalable solutions for NLP tasks in various languages and advance the field of model compression,making these models suitable for real-world applications in resource-limited environments.

An integrated physiology and proteomics analysis reveals the response of wheat grain to low temperature stress during booting

Low temperature(LT)in spring has become one of the principal abiotic stresses that restrict the growth and development of wheat.Diverse analyses were performed to investigate the mechanism underlying the response of wheat grain development to LT stress during booting.These included morphological observation,measurements of starch synthase activity,and determination of amylose and amylopectin content of wheat grain after exposure to treatment with LT during booting.Additionally,proteomic analysis was performed using tandem mass tags(TMT).Results showed that the plumpness of wheat grains decreased after LT stress.Moreover,the activities of sucrose synthase(SuS,EC 2.4.1.13)and ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase(AGPase,EC 2.7.7.27)exhibited a significant reduction,leading to a significant reduction in the contents of amylose and amylopectin.A total of 509 differentially expressed proteins(DEPs)were identified by proteomics analysis.The Gene Ontology(GO)enrichment analysis showed that the protein difference multiple in the nutritional repository activity was the largest among the molecular functions,and the up-regulated seed storage protein(ssP)played an active role in the response of grains to LT stress and subsequent damage.The Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes(KEGG)enrichment analysis showed that LT stress reduced the expression of DEPs such as sucrose phosphate synthase(SPS),glucose-1-phosphate adenylyltransferase(glgC),andβ-fructofuranosidase(FFase)in sucrose and starch metabolic pathways,thus affecting the synthesis of grain starch.In addition,many heat shock proteins(HsPs)were found in the protein processing in endoplasmic reticulum pathways,which can resist some damage caused by LT stress.These findings provide a new theoretical foundation for elucidating the underlying mechanism governing wheat yield developmentafterexposuretoLTstress inspring.

Construction of Vectors to Express Foreign Protein within Potato Starch Grains

[Objective] The aim is to study the construction of vectors expressing foreign protein in potato starch grains specifically, and provide some reference for solving industrialized core problem of high cost and low expression level of foreign protein. [Method] By using molecular biological techniques of RT-PCR and nested PCR, plant expression vector for the foreign protein locating in the potato starch grains was constructed. [ Result] Coding sequence （ GC20 ） of potato starch grains that was located and expressed by GBSSI promoter was cloned. Plant expression vector was screened out through connection, transformation and enzyme digestion identification. [ Conclusion] This result laid a foundation for further screening the foreign protein on the potato starch grains.

Phase-field simulation of forced flow effect on random preferred growth direction of multiple grains

The random distribution problem of dendrite preferred growth direction was settled by random grid method.This method was used to study the influence of forced laminar flow effect on multiple grains during solidification.Taking high pure succinonitrile （SCN） undercooled melt as an example,the forced laminar flow effect on multiple grains was studied by phase-field model of single grain which coupled with flow equations at non-isothermal condition.The simulation results show that the random grid method can reasonably settle the problem of random distribution and is more effective.When the solid fraction is relatively low,melt particles flow around the downstream side of dendrite,and the flow velocity between two dendrite arms becomes high.At the stage of solidification time less than 1800Δt,every dendrite grows freely;the upstream dendrites are stronger than the downstream ones.The higher the melt flow rate,the higher the solid fraction.However,when the solid fraction is relatively high,the dendrite arm intertwins and only a little residual melt which is not encapsulated can flow;the solid fraction will gradually tend to equal to solid fraction of melt without flow.