Rational Design of Nanocatalysts with Nonmetal Species Modification for Electrochemical CO2 Reduction

Converting CO₂ to valuable carbonaceous fuels and chemicals via electrochemical CO₂ reduction by using renewable energy sources is considered to be a scalable strategy with substantial environmental and economic benefits. One of the challenges in this field is to develop nanocatalysts with superior electrocatalytic activity and selectivity for targeted products. Nonmetal species modification of nanocatalysts is of great significance for the construction of distinctive active sites to overcome the kinetic limitations of CO₂ reduction. These types of modification enable the efficient control of the selectivity and significantly decrease the reaction overpotential. Herein, a comprehensive review of the recent progress of nonmetal species modification of nanocatalysts for electrochemical CO₂ reduction is presented. After discussing some fundamental parameters and the basic principles of CO₂ reduction, including possible reaction pathways in light of theoretical modeling and experiments, the identification of active sites and elucidation of reaction mechanisms are emphasized for unraveling the role of nonmetal species modification, such as heteroatom incorporation, organic molecule decoration, electrolyte engineering, and single‐atom engineering. In the final section, future challenges and constructive perspectives are provided, facilitating the accelerated advancement of mechanism research and practical applications of green carbon cycling.     

Raman–deuterium isotope probing to study metabolic activities of single bacterial cells in human intestinal microbiota

Human intestinal microbiota is important to host health and is associated with various diseases. It is a challenge to identify the functions and metabolic activity of microorganisms at the single-cell level in gut microbial community. In this study, we applied Raman microspectroscopy and deuterium isotope probing (Raman–DIP) to quantitatively measure the metabolic activities of intestinal bacteria from two individuals and analysed lipids and phenylalanine metabolic pathways of functional microorganisms in situ. After anaerobically incubating the human faeces with heavy water (D₂O), D₂O with specific substrates (glucose, tyrosine, tryptophan and oleic acid) and deuterated glucose, the C–D band in single-cell Raman spectra appeared in some bacteria in faeces, due to the Raman shift from the C–H band. Such Raman shift was used to indicate the general metabolic activity and the activities in response to the specific substrates. In the two individuals' intestinal microbiota, the structures of the microbial communities were different and the general metabolic activities were 76 ± 1.0% and 30 ± 2.0%. We found that glucose, but not tyrosine, tryptophan and oleic acid, significantly stimulated metabolic activity of the intestinal bacteria. We also demonstrated that the bacteria within microbiota preferably used glucose to synthesize fatty acids in faeces environment, whilst they used glucose to synthesize phenylalanine in laboratory growth environment (e.g. LB medium). Our work provides a useful approach for investigating the metabolic activity in situ and revealing different pathways of human intestinal microbiota at the single-cell level.     

Setosphaeria turcica ATR turns off appressorium-mediated maize infection and triggers melanin-involved self-protection in response to genotoxic stress

Eukaryotic organisms activate conserved signalling networks to maintain genomic stability in response to DNA genotoxic stresses. However, the coordination of this response pathway in fungal pathogens remains largely unknown. In the present study, we investigated the mechanism by which the northern corn leaf blight pathogen Setosphaeria turcica controls maize infection and activates self-protection pathways in response to DNA genotoxic insults. Appressorium-mediated maize infection by S. turcica was blocked by the S-phase checkpoint. This repression was dependent on the checkpoint central kinase Ataxia Telangiectasia and Rad3 related (ATR), as inhibition of ATR activity or knockdown of the ATR gene recovered appressorium formation in the presence of genotoxic reagents. ATR promoted melanin biosynthesis in S. turcica as a defence response to stress. The melanin biosynthesis genes StPKS and StLac2 were induced by the ATR-mediated S-phase checkpoint. The responses to DNA genotoxic stress were conserved in a wide range of phytopathogenic fungi, including Cochliobolus heterostrophus, Cochliobolus carbonum, Alternaria solani, and Alternaria kikuchiana, which are known causal agents for plant diseases. We propose that in response to genotoxic stress, phytopathogenic fungi including S. turcica activate an ATR-dependent pathway to suppress appressorium-mediated infection and induce melanin-related self-protection in addition to conserved responses in eukaryotes.     

金佛山亚热带常绿阔叶林地表土壤动物群落特征及其影响因素

为探讨小尺度下不同微生境的土壤动物群落特征及其与环境因子之间的关系,于2018年10月在金佛山西坡亚热带常绿阔叶林样带内,对其凋落物层及腐殖质层两类微生境的土壤动物群落进行调查及相应环境因子的测定。此次调查共捕获地表土壤动物12381头,隶属于3门9纲22目。其中优势类群为蜱螨目和长角虫兆目,个体数占比为75.24%;常见类群为原虫兆目、愈腹虫兆目、短角虫兆目、双翅目、鞘翅目和膜翅目,个体数占比为21.23%。同时,土壤动物的密度（M）、Shannon-Wiener多样性指数（H）、Simpson优势度指数（D）及Pielou均匀度指数（E）均表现为腐殖质层极显著高于凋落物层（P<0.01）。根据回归分析及冗余分析结果发现,两类微生境的土壤动物群落特征与环境因子的关系存在一定差异;影响凋落物层土壤动物群落特征的重要环境因子为凋落物的总有机碳、碳氮比、湿度及pH,而影响腐殖质层土壤动物群落特征的重要环境因子为腐殖质的干重、总氮、总磷、湿度、pH及微生物生物量氮。研究表明,常绿阔叶林生态系统的不同微生境间土壤动物多样性特征存在显著差异,小尺度下环境因子对土壤动物群落特征具有重要影响。     

香椿种质生长及叶部表型性状的遗传变异分析

以84个香椿(Toona sinensis(A.Juss.)Roem.)种质为材料,对其2个生长性状和18个叶部性状(包含6个质量性状和12个数量性状)进行测定。结果显示,香椿6个叶部质量性状变异类型丰富,呈现出多态化特点,单一性状的主要表型多为1~2个。苗高、地径及叶部表型等14个数量性状在种质间的差异均达到极显著水平,且除地径外,其他性状的遗传方差分量均大于环境方差分量,表明此类性状主要受遗传控制。参试的14个数量性状的平均表型变异系数为20.35%,平均遗传变异系数为16.36%;综合表型和遗传变异系数,叶柄长度较其他性状变异大,而叶片夹角稳定性最高,各数量性状(除地径外)遗传变异系数与表型变异系数之差小于7%。香椿种质各性状间Shannon-Weaver遗传多样性指数相差不大(1.892~2.069),遗传多样性水平高,具有良好的遗传改良基础。聚类分析可将84个香椿种质分为5类,类群Ⅰ表现为生长旺盛、小比叶重型;类群Ⅱ生长较快、叶片较大;类群Ⅲ种质数量最多,属生长缓慢、大比叶重型;类群Ⅳ特征为大叶片、多叶型;类群Ⅴ为小叶片、稀叶型。研究结果表明参试香椿种质变异丰富,遗传多样性水平高,能为良种选育、遗传改良等研究提供丰富的遗传材料。     

Five candidate biomarkers associated with the diagnosis and prognosis of cervical cancer

Purpose: Cervical cancer (CC) is one of the most general gynecological malignancies and is associated with high morbidity and mortality. We aimed to select candidate genes related to the diagnosis and prognosis of CC.Methods: The mRNA expression profile datasets were downloaded. We also downloaded RNA-sequencing gene expression data and related clinical materials from TCGA, which included 307 CC samples and 3 normal samples. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were obtained by R software. GO function analysis and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis of DEGs were performed in the DAVID dataset. Using machine learning, the optimal diagnostic mRNA biomarkers for CC were identified. We used qRT-PCR and Human Protein Atlas (HPA) database to exhibit the differences in gene and protein levels of candidate genes.Results: A total of 313 DEGs were screened from the microarray expression profile datasets. DNA methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1), Chromatin Assembly Factor 1, subunit B (CHAF1B), Chromatin Assembly Factor 1, subunit A (CHAF1A), MCM2, CDKN2A were identified as optimal diagnostic mRNA biomarkers for CC. Additionally, the GEPIA database showed that the DNMT1, CHAF1B, CHAF1A, MCM2 and CDKN2A were associated with the poor survival of CC patients. HPA database and qRT-PCR confirmed that these genes were highly expressed in CC tissues.Conclusion: The present study identified five DEmRNAs, including DNMT1, CHAF1B, CHAF1A, MCM2 and Kinetochore-related protein 1 (KNTC1), as potential diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers of CC.     

Development and characterization of 33 polymorphic microsatellite markers in Trachurus japonicus by SLAF-seq technology

Trachurus japonicus is an economically important fish in the northwestern Pacific Ocean. However, its resources have declined seriously and there is an urgent need for a wide-range of investigations of the existing genetic resources. This requires a large number of diverse molecular markers with high discriminating power. In this study, we identified 43,264 perfect SSRs in T. japonicus genome using SLAF-seq technology. Of these, we randomly selected 106 SSRs (tri-nucleotide to hexa-nucleotide) to test for polymorphism. Eventually, we successfully developed a total of 33 loci including 8 tri-nucleotide and 25 long repeat motifs (tetra-nucleotide to hexa-nucleotide). The number of alleles (Na) of these loci ranged from 4 to 24 (mean 12.6). The observed heterozygosity (Ho) and expected heterozygosity (He) varied from 0.258 to 0.969 (mean 0.723) and from 0.452 to 0.962 (mean 0.827), respectively. All loci except TJ6-7 were highly informative (PIC > 0.5). These results showed that the shortlisted 33 loci exhibited moderate to relatively high genetic diversity, of which 18 were regarded as highly polymorphic and well-resolved. In summary, these diverse and potential microsatellites detected in our study provide substantial genetic basis for the screening of polymorphic SSR markers of T. japonicus and also provide a powerful tool to perform further studies on the genetic resource assessment and conservation of T. japonicus.     

小麦/玉米轮作田根际微生物多样性分析

[背景] 小麦/玉米轮作是中国粮食作物主要种植模式之一,目前对小麦/玉米轮作田根际土壤微生物差异变化缺乏全面的了解。[目的] 明确小麦/玉米根际土壤微生物差异变化并了解其潜在功能。[方法] 以小麦/玉米根际土壤为材料,运用细菌16S rRNA基因和真菌rDNA ITS基因测序,分析小麦/玉米根际土壤微生物多样性。[结果] 玉米季微生物丰富度高于小麦季,而多样性无明显差异。放线菌门（Actinobacteria）、变形菌门（Proteobacteria）、酸杆菌门（Acidobacteria）和绿弯菌门（Chloroflexi）为小麦季和玉米季根际土壤的优势细菌门,优势真菌门为子囊菌门（Ascomycota）。小麦季和玉米季共有细菌和真菌分别是631个和261个,小麦季特有细菌和真菌分别是38个和58个,玉米季特有细菌和真菌分别是25个和39个。LEfSe分析（LDA阈值为2）细菌和真菌表明,放线菌纲（Actinobacteria）和微囊菌目（Microascales）在小麦季富集,鞘脂单胞菌目（Sphingomonadales）和银耳纲（Tremellomycetes）在玉米季富集。小麦季、玉米季微生物代谢功能不同,与小麦季相比,玉米季养分循环的代谢通路丰富度较高,而参与氧化应激的代谢通路丰富度较低。[结论] 该研究结果对指导小麦/玉米轮作田管理具有理论和实践意义。