Potential influence of carbohydrate and amino acid intake by adults on the population dynamics of Cnaphalocrocis medinalis(Lepidoptera: Crambidae)

Cnaphalocrocis medinalis is a key lepidopteran pest of rice. However, little is known about the nutritional requirements of the adult or the effects of adult-derived nutrients on reproduction. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of carbohydrates and amino acids on the reproductive and demographic parameters of C. medinalis. Different feeding solutions significantly influenced adult survival and reproduction. All the sources of carbohydrates used in the treatments(fructose, glucose, and sucrose) were sufficient to increase adult longevity and fecundity, and benefited the development of ovaries in the adult stage. The positive impact of carbohydrates on lifetime fecundity was due to the prolonged oviposition period and the increased daily fecundity. The intrinsic rate of increase(rm) of C. medinalis increased from 0.103 in waterfed individuals to approximately 0.138 when adults were fed with solutions containing carbohydrates. In contrast, amino acid intake by adult insects exhibited no effect on the longevity, fecundity, ovarian development or population growth, even showing an impact of decreasing longevity of females. As nectar secreted by the flowering plant is generally rich in sugars, the potential effects of nectar on the adults of C. medinalis and other pests have to be considered during the development of biological control by applying flowering plants as a microhabitat and food source for natural enemies in rice fields.

PD-L1-driven efficient enrichment and elimination of circulating cancer cells by magnetic MoSe_(2) nanosheet

Circulating tumor cells(CTCs)are important biomarkers in the development and progression of lung cancer because they can reach other organs through the blood circulation and form distant metastases,exacerbating lung cancer progression.The presence of CTCs is also the main reason for the failure of nanomedicine-based lung cancer treatments.Therefore,magnetic MoSe_(2) nanosheets loaded with programmed death-ligand 1(PD-L1),named PD-L1-MFP NS,were employed here to precisely capture lung cancer CTCs in the blood circulation through the tumor-targeting effect of PD-L1 killing CTCs with highly effective photothermal therapy(PTT).In addition,by increasing the expression of cytomegalovirus UL16-binding protein(ULBP)ligands on tumor cells,the PD-L1-MFP NS further activated natural killer(NK)cells and triggered NK cell-induced cancer immunotherapy,thereby enhancing the overall tumor-killing effect.In summary,this material designed to capture CTCs provides a substantial advancement for personalized PTT-triggered immunotherapy and has great clinical translational potential.

Construction of a telomerase-immortalized porcine tracheal epithelial cell model for swine-origin mycoplasma infection

Primary porcine tracheal epithelial cells(PTECs) are an appropriate model for studying the molecular mechanism of various porcine respiratory diseases, including swine-origin mycoplasmas, which are isolated from respiratory tract of pigs and mainly found on the mucosal surface surrounding swine trachea. However, the short proliferation ability of primary PTECs greatly limits their lifespan. In this study, primary PTECs were carefully isolated and cultured, and immortal PTECs were constructed by transfecting primary PTECs with the recombinant constructed plasmid pEGFPhTERT containing human telomerase reverse transcriptase(hTERT). Immortal PTECs(hTERT-PTECs) maintained both the morphological and functional characteristics of primary PTECs, as indicated by the expression of cytokeratin 18, cellcycle analysis, proliferation assay, Western blotting, telomerase activity assay, karyotype analysis and quantitative RTPCR. Compared to primary PTECs, hTERT-PTECs had an extended replicative lifespan, higher telomerase activity, and enhanced proliferative activity. In addition, this cell line resulted in a lack of transformed and grown tumors in nude mice, suggesting that it could be safely applied in further studies. Moreover, hTERT-PTECs were vulnerable to all swineorigin mycoplasmas through quantitative analysis as indicated by 50% color changing unit(CCU_(50)) calculation, and no significant differences of adhesion ability between primary and immortal PTECs were observed. For the representative swine mycoplasma Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae(Mhp), except for DNA copies quantitative real-time PCR assay, indirect immunofluorescence assay and Western blotting analysis also depicted that hTERT-PTECs was able to adhere to different Mhp strains of different virulence. In summary, like primary PTECs, hTERT-PTECs could be widely used as an adhesion cell model for swine-origin mycoplasmas and in infection studies of various porcine respiratory pathogens.

Welcome to the Food Production,Processing and Nutrition journal

Food production,processing and nutrition is a multifaceted area of research and development,of interest to many,which has both fundamental and applied components of interest.The field has undergone rapid advances in each of its components which starts with the food production,whether land-based farms or aquatic areas related to fisheries and aquaculture,to gene manipulation,variety improvement and selection as well as further studies that include proteomic,lipidomic and foodomic,among others.Furthermore,green processing,food safety,elimination of contaminants and retention of bioactive components using both thermal and non-thermal processing,are rapidly expanding our horizons.Of course,full attention must also be paid to ultra-processed foods that may provide variety but this could come at the price of including components that may lead to obesity and other health concerns if not properly designed.Of course,processing methods and their effect on nutritional components must be carefully considered as they play a major role in health promotion and disease risk reduction.Therefore important aspects related to production technologies,absorption,bioavailability,metabolism and personalized nutrition with consideration of gut microbiota need to be carefully examined.

Occurrence,toxicity,production and detection of Fusarium mycotoxin:a review

Fusarium mycotoxin contamination of both foods and feeds is an inevitable phenomenon worldwide.Deoxynivalenol,nivalenol,zearalenone,T-2 toxin and fumonisin B1 are the most studied Fusarium mycotoxins.Cocontamination of mycotoxins has also been studied frequently.Fusarium mycotoxins occur frequently in foods at very low concentrations,so there is a need to provide sensitive and reliable methods for their early detection.The present review provides insight on the types,toxicology and occurrence of Fusarium mycotoxins.It further elucidates various detection methods of mycotoxin production from Fusarium strains,with a special focus on chromatographic and immunochemical techniques.

Phytochemicals and antioxidant activity in four varieties of head cabbages commonly consumed in China

Head cabbage(Brassica oleracea var.capitata)is a cruciferous leafy vegetable consumed commonly in China.It has been suggested that diets rich in cabbages play an important role in disease prevention.The phytochemicals as well as antioxidant activity of four typical varieties of head cabbages in China were systematically investigated.Sinapic acid was the most abundant phenolic acid in all samples followed by iso-ferulic acid.Most phenolic acids in red head cabbage were significantly higher than in other head cabbages.The 5-CH3-H4 folate contents in all samples were much higher than folate.Conical head cabbage contained the highest amount of folic acids while red head cabbage had the lowest.Cyanidin was the only anthocyanidins found in red head cabbage with the content of 44.52 mg 100 g^(−1)fresh weight(fw).Total isothiocyanates in flat head cabbage was significantly higher than other head cabbages.Red head cabbage had the significant the highest level of total phenolics and flavonoids with the values of 153.94 mg gallic acid equivalents·100 g^(−1)and 51.32 mg rutin equivalents·100 g^(−1),respectively,while flat head cabbage had the lowest level.Red head cabbage exhibited the highest antioxidant activity as measured by 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl-hydrazyl(DPPH)and 2,2′-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid)diammonium salt(ABTS)radical scavenging and ferric ion reducing antioxidant power(FRAP)assays with the values of 69.82,87.23%and 0.53,respectively.The study suggests that different varieties of head cabbages have different nutritional advantages,and provides useful information to recommend the right head cabbages for consumers.

Transient carriage and low-level colonization of orally administrated lytic and temperate phages in the gut of mice

Many studies have shown the efficacy of phage therapy in reducing gastrointestinal pathogens.However,it is unclear whether phages can successfully colonize the gut when administered in an adequate amount for a long time.About 1×10^(8)PFU/mL of purified lytic phage PA13076 or temperate phage BP96115 were fed daily to mice via drinking water over 31 days,to elucidate the distribution of phages in the gastrointestinal tract.At day 16 and 31,six different segments of the gastrointestinal tract with their contents,including stomach,duodenum,jejunum,ileum,cecum,colon,and fresh feces,were aseptically collected.The phage titers were determined using the double-layered plate method with S.Enteritidis ATCC 13076 or S.Pullorum SPu-109 used as host cells.The results indicated that a small portion of administered phages survived exposure to gastric acid and entered the intestinal tract.The prevalence of phages in the gastrointestinal tract was lower than 1%of the primary phage count.Highest phage titers were detected in the cecum with 10^(4)~10^(5)PFU/g,and most of the phages were eliminated from the body via feces with 10^(6)PFU/g.On day 16 and day 31,the same level of phage titers in different segments of the gastrointestinal tract indicated that the colonization of phages had reached saturation at day 16.These results demonstrate transient phage carriage and low-level colonization of orally administrated lytic and temperate gut phages in mice.

Effect of Chinese steamed bun and bread processing on pesticide residues in wheat flour

The changes of five pesticides including imidacloprid, triadimefon, fenitrothion, chlorpyrifos-methyl, and chlorpyrifos in wheat flour during Chinese steamed bun and bread processing were systematically investigated. The pesticide residues were determined by high performance liquid chromatography coupled with diode array detector. Dough mixing step in both Chinese steamed bun and bread processing reduced the concentration of five pesticide residues significantly by 33 to 46%. It was mainly attributed to the increase of moisture content in mixed dough during this step. The reduction of pesticides in fermenting step varied from 2 to 22% in Chinese steamed bun and bread processing. Resting step in both Chinese steamed bun and bread processing has little effect on the pesticide residues with the reduction from 2 to 8%. The five pesticides have different behaviours in steaming step of Chinese steamed bun processing and in baking step of bread processing. During the steaming step, only the concentrations of triadimefon and imidacloprid residues in crust were increased by 52 and 1%, the others in crust and in crumb of Chinese steamed bun were decreased by 4 to 38%. After the baking step, the concentrations of triadimefon and imidacloprid residues in crust, and the triadimefon residue in crumb of bread were increased by 65, 83, and 14%, respectively, the others were all reduced. The processing factors (PFs) for triadimefon and imidacloprid in crust in the steaming and baking steps, for triadimefon in crumb in the baking steps were greater than 1, and the others were all less than 1. Overall, this study provides important references for monitoring pesticide residues in the processing of wheat flour products. The PFs obtained could be helpful for the risk assessment of pesticides in wheat flour products.

Uptake and accumulation of di-n-butyl phthalate in six leafy vegetables under hydroponic conditions

The uptake and accumulation of di-n-butyl phthalate(DBP)in six leafy vegetables was investigated under hydroponic conditions.The test vegetables were six varieties of Brassica campestris ssp.,including Kangresijiqing(KRSJQ),Xiadiqing(XDQ),Ziyoucai(ZYC),Aijiaohuang(AJH),Shanghaiqing(SHQ)and Gaogengbai(GGB).The root concentration factor(RCF),translocation factor(TF)and transpiration stream concentration factor(TSCF)were calculated in order to compare the difference of uptake and accumulation behaviours of DBP in vegetable varieties.The results showed that DBP was easily concentrated in vegetable roots,but was poorly translocated from the roots to the shoots.Among the six vegetables,the ability of concentrating DBP from the solution to shoots was the highest in GGB,followed by ZYC,KRSJQ,AJH,SHQ and XDQ.High concentrations of DBP(5.0 mg/L)seem to inhibit normal physiological activity in the vegetables,which resulted in a higher RCF and a lower TF and TSCF than in low-concentration treatment.The results will help to evaluate the safety of agricultural products and to provide evidence for screening DBP pollution-safe vegetable cultivars.

Extraction and purification of ustiloxin A from rice false smut balls by a combination of macroporous resin and high-speed countercurrent chromatography

Rice false smut is an emerging plant disease worldwide.Ustiloxin A(UstA)is the major mycotoxin found in rice false smut balls,which are fungal colonies in rice florets.In this study,a new method consisting of macroporous resin column chromatography and high-speed countercurrent chromatography(HSCCC)was developed for UstA separation.UstA was extracted by a 3.81%HCOOH solution and adsorbed by XAD-4 resin.UstA was then eluted by a 40%methanol solution supplemented with 0.1%trifluoroacetic acid(TFA).Further purification was achieved by HSCCC using a two-phase solvent system consisting of n-butanol/TFA/H_(2)O(1/0.05/1,v/v/v).Under the optimized conditions,225 mg of UstA was obtained with a purity of 97.39%in a single run,with a final recovery of 65.2%.An inhibitory effect on seed germination of wheat and maize caused by UstA was observed in a preliminary phytotoxicity assay.

Edible insects as a food source:a review

The practice of eating insects has been documented for a long time.With obvious economic and environmental advantages,edible insects are in the spotlight recently due to their enormous potential in multiple industries.A number of research has been conducted to maximize their value,but concerns have been raised for the food security.In this review,we compared the characteristics of edible insects with other traditional protein sources.The progress of modern entomophagy was introduced.The benefits and risks of eating insects were summarized.Additionally,the shortcoming of current production were discussed.Feasible ways and strategies were proposed to promote the consumption of edible insects.

The pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase 2(PDK2)is associated with conidiation,mycelial growth,and pathogenicity in Fusarium graminearum

Pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase(PDK)is a mitochondrial enzyme in a variety of eukaryotes,including the plant pathogen Fusarium graminearum.This enzyme can reduce the oxidation of glucose to acetyl-coA by phosphorylation and selectively inhibits the activity of pyruvate dehydrogenase(PDH),which is a kind of pyruvate dehydrogenase complex(PDC).In this study,we investigated the F.graminearum pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase encoded by FgPDK2,which is a homologue of Neurospora crassa PDK2.The disruption of the FgPDK2 gene led to several phenotypic defects including effects on mycelial growth,conidiation,pigmentation,and pathogenicity.The mutants also showed decreased resistance to osmotic stress and cell membrane/wall-damaging agents.The FgPDK2 deletion mutant exhibited reduced virulence.All of these defects were restored by genetic complementation of the mutant with the complete FgPDK2 gene.Overall,the results demonstrated that FgPDK2 is crucial for the growth of F.graminearum and can be exploited as a potential molecular target for novel fungicides to control Fusarium head blight caused by F.graminearum.

Thymol ameliorates ammonium toxicity via repressing polyamine oxidase-derived hydrogen peroxide and modulating ammonium transporters in rice root

Background:Ammonium is an indispensable nutrient for crop growth,but anoxic conditions or inappropriate fertilizer usage result in the increase in ammonium content in soil.Excessive ammonium causes phytotoxicity.Thymol is a kind of natural phenolic compound with anti-microbial properties.However,little is known about the role of thymol in modulating plant physiology.Here we find the novel role of thymol in protecting rice from ammonium toxicity.Results:Thymol remarkably rescued rice seedlings growth from ammonium stress,which may resulted from the attenuation of reactive oxygen species(ROS)accumulation,oxidative injury,and cell death in both shoots and roots.Polyamine oxidase(PAO)metabolizes polyamines to produce ROS in plants in response to stress conditions.Thymol blocked ammonium-induced upregulation of a set of rice PAOs,which contributed to the decrease in ROS content.In rice seedlings upon ammonium stress,thymol downregulate the expression of ammonium transporters(AMT1;1 and AMT1;2);thymol upregulated the expression of calcineurin B-like interacting protein kinase 23(CIPK23)and calcineurin B-like binding protein 1(CBL1),two negative regulators of AMTs.This may help rice avoid ammonium overload in excessive ammonium environment.Correlation analysis indicated that PAOs,AMTs,and CBL1 were the targets of thymol in the detoxification of excessive ammonium.Conclusion:Thymol facilitates rice tolerance against ammonium toxicity by decreasing PAO-derived ROS and modulating ammonium transporters.Such findings may be applicable in the modulation of nutrient acquisition during crop production.

The antioxidant methyl gallate inhibits fungal growth and deoxynivalenol production in Fusarium graminearum

Production of the Fusarium toxin deoxynivalenol(DON)is associated with oxidative stress and has been indicated to be part of an adaptive response to oxidative stress in the important wheat fungus Fusarium graminearum.In this study,we found that the antioxidant methyl gallate(MG)displays inhibitory effects against mycelial growth,conidial formation and germination,and DON biosynthesis in F.graminearum in a dose-dependent manner.Treatment with 0.05%(w/v)MG resulted in an abnormal swollen conidial morphology.The expression of the TRI genes involved in DON biosynthesis was significantly reduced,and the induction of Tri1-GFP green fluorescence signals in the spherical and crescent-shaped toxisomes was abolished in the MG-treated mycelium.RNA-Seq analysis of MG-treated F.graminearum showed that 0.5%(w/v)MG inhibited DON production by possibly altering membrane functions and oxidoreductase activities.Coupled with the observations that MG treatment decreases catalase,POD and SOD activity in F.graminearum.The results of this study indicated that MG displays antifungal activity against DON production by modulating its oxidative response.Taken together,the current study revealed the potential of MG in inhibiting mycotoxins in F.graminearum.

A Trust-Based Hierarchical Consensus Mechanism for Consortium Blockchain in Smart Grid

As the smart grid develops rapidly,abundant connected devices offer various trading data.This raises higher requirements for secure and effective data storage.Traditional centralized data management does not meet the above requirements.Currently,smart grid with conventional consortium blockchain can solve the above issues.However,in the face of a large number of nodes,existing consensus algorithms often perform poorly in terms of efficiency and throughput.In this paper,we propose a trust-based hierarchical consensus mechanism(THCM)to solve this problem.Firstly,we design a hierarchical mechanism to improve the efficiency and throughput.Then,intra-layer nodes use an improved Raft consensus algorithm and inter-layer nodes use the Byzantine Fault Tolerance algorithm.Thirdly,we propose a trust evaluation method to improve the election process of Raft.Finally,we implement a prototype system to evaluate the performance of THCM.The results demonstrate that the consensus efficiency is improved by 19.8%,the throughput is improved by 12.34%,and the storage is reduced by 37.9%.