Comparing the performance of granular coral limestone and Leca in adsorbing Acid Cyanine 5R from aqueous solution

The effect of granular coral limestone and Leca as adsorbents for removing Acid Cyanine 5R (AC5R) from aqueous solution was studied. The optimum pH and adsorbent particles size in both adsorbents were determined to be 3 and 297 μm, respectively. The optimum dosages of coral limestone and granular Leca were 0.150 and 0.145 g/mg of dye, respectively. Also, results have shown that the adsorption efficiency by both coral limestone and Leca increased with the decreasing adsorbent particles size. Moreover, under similar conditions, the maximum removal efficiency by granular coral limestone and Leca was 94% and 88%, respectively. The results revealed that the performance of granular coral limestone was better in AC5R removal than that of Leca granulated under such condition. In total, granular coral limestone and Leca act as suitable adsorbents for removing dye pollutants from an aqueous solution.     

Effect of total flavonoid in rabdosia rubescens on tolerant mice models under cerebral anoxia

ObjectiveTo study the protective effect of total flavonoid in rabdosia rubescens on BIT model by brain ischemic tolerance (hereinafter BIT) model of mice.MethodBIT model is used to block bilateral common carotid arteries and to copy BIT model of mice. After 10 min of transient ischemia for rats in preconditioning group, the mice in the nimodipine group and naoluotong capsule group were given the total flavonoid in rabdosia rubescens (300 mg/kg, 150 mg/kg, 75 mg/kg) for gavage, sham operation group, ischemia/reperfusion injury (hereinafter IRI) group and BIT group were fed with the same volume of 0.5% sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) once a day for 5 days. After administration for 1 h on day 5 (120 h), the rats in the other groups except for the sham operation group were treated with blood flow block for 30 min and reperfusion for 22 h. The serum NSE level were measured and the brain NO content and NOS activity changes was measured to observe the histopathological changes of brain tissue.ResultsBIT models of mice and in rats were both successfully replicated. The total flavonoid in rabdosia rubescens can decrease the mortality of mice, decrease serum NSE level, increase the content of NO and the activity of NOS in the brain tissue of mice, and improve the pathological damage of cortex and hippocampus of mice.ConclusionThe total flavonoid in rabdosia rubescens can stimulate an endogenous protective mechanism by inducing the release of low levels of cytokines NO and NOS, which reduces the release of serum NSE, relieves the brain tissue ischemia-reperfusion injury, and further improves the protection effect of ischemic preconditioning on brain injury. The damage of brain tissue ischemia and reperfusion, and further improve the ischemia Protective effect of preconditioning on brain injury.     

Site-directed mutagenesis of UbiA to promote menaquinone biosynthesis in Elizabethkingia meningoseptica

To increase the menaquinone (MK) content of an Elizabethkingia meningoseptica, site-directed mutagenesis was generated to suppress 4-hydroxybenzoate octaprenyl transferase (UbiA) activity and subsequently blocked the ubiquinone (UQ) biosynthesis pathway. Fourteen conserved residues except L174 and G211 were mutated to analyze the effect of site-directed mutagenesis. The expression of UbiA in twelve mutants was decreased in both mRNA and protein levels, which resulted in the decrease of UQ concentration. Based on MenA expression level, 12 mutants were divided into two groups. Second group such as N72A, D76A, K81A, L139A, and D198A enhanced the expression of MenA, which increased MK production by 127.1%, 87.9%, 96.2%, 109.7% and 130.0% in wt-EmUbiA, respectively. In general, blocking UQ synthesis pathway for by site-directed mutagenesis of the active site of UbiA in E. meningoseptica was a promising strategy to increase MK production in E. meningoseptica.     

Anti-oxidative effects of silkworm storage protein 1 in HeLa cell

Silkworm hemolymph contains unique proteins that exhibit anti-apoptotic activity in mammalian cells. Among them, 30 K protein, which is one of the major anti-apoptotic molecules in silkworm hemolymph, has been well investigated. However, little is known about the biological functions of storage protein 1 (SP1), another main protein in silkworm hemolymph. In this study, the anti-apoptotic and anti-oxidative activities of SP1 were analyzed. A stable cell line expressing SP1 was constructed, which showed strong anti-apoptotic effect induced by staurosporine treatment. In addition, the cell line exhibited resistance to oxidative stress caused by hydrogen peroxide. For practical applications of SP1, recombinant SP1 was produced in Escherichia coli, and the supplementation of recombinant SP1 into culture medium exhibited anti-apoptotic and anti-oxidative activities. In addition, SP1 was found to be a cell-penetrating protein and localized in the cytosol as well as on the plasma membrane. The findings showed that SP1 itself is not an anti-oxidant; rather, it mediates intracellular anti-oxidative activity. In conclusion, the cellular resistance of SP1 to apoptosis and oxidative stress will provide a new strategy that could be utilized in the bio-industry for the production of biologics as well as for the development of anti-aging cosmetics.     

Herbivore regulation of plant abundance in aquatic ecosystems

Herbivory is a fundamental process that controls primary producer abundance and regulates energy and nutrient flows to higher trophic levels. Despite the recent proliferation of small‐scale studies on herbivore effects on aquatic plants, there remains limited understanding of the factors that control consumer regulation of vascular plants in aquatic ecosystems. Our current knowledge of the regulation of primary producers has hindered efforts to understand the structure and functioning of aquatic ecosystems, and to manage such ecosystems effectively. We conducted a global meta‐analysis of the outcomes of plant–herbivore interactions using a data set comprised of 326 values from 163 studies, in order to test two mechanistic hypotheses: first, that greater negative changes in plant abundance would be associated with higher herbivore biomass densities; second, that the magnitude of changes in plant abundance would vary with herbivore taxonomic identity. We found evidence that plant abundance declined with increased herbivore density, with plants eliminated at high densities. Significant between‐taxa differences in impact were detected, with insects associated with smaller reductions in plant abundance than all other taxa. Similarly, birds caused smaller reductions in plant abundance than echinoderms, fish, or molluscs. Furthermore, larger reductions in plant abundance were detected for fish relative to crustaceans. We found a positive relationship between herbivore species richness and change in plant abundance, with the strongest reductions in plant abundance reported for low herbivore species richness, suggesting that greater herbivore diversity may protect against large reductions in plant abundance. Finally, we found that herbivore–plant nativeness was a key factor affecting the magnitude of herbivore impacts on plant abundance across a wide range of species assemblages. Assemblages comprised of invasive herbivores and native plant assemblages were associated with greater reductions in plant abundance compared with invasive herbivores and invasive plants, native herbivores and invasive plants, native herbivores and mixed‐nativeness plants, and native herbivores and native plants. By contrast, assemblages comprised of native herbivores and invasive plants were associated with lower reductions in plant abundance compared with both mixed‐nativeness herbivores and native plants, and native herbivores and native plants. However, the effects of herbivore–plant nativeness on changes in plant abundance were reduced at high herbivore densities. Our mean reductions in aquatic plant abundance are greater than those reported in the literature for terrestrial plants, but lower than aquatic algae. Our findings highlight the need for a substantial shift in how biologists incorporate plant–herbivore interactions into theories of aquatic ecosystem structure and functioning. Currently, the failure to incorporate top‐down effects continues to hinder our capacity to understand and manage the ecological dynamics of habitats that contain aquatic plants.     

Hypoxia-inducible factor 1α regulates branching morphogenesis during kidney development

The kidneys are exposed to hypoxic conditions during development. Hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF), an important mediator of the response to hypoxia, is believed to have an important role in development. However, the relationship between HIF and branching morphogenesis has not been elucidated clearly.