Publications by authors named "Fengqin Song"

Contamination of crop seeds and feed with and its associated aflatoxins presents a significant threat to human and animal health due to their hepatotoxic and carcinogenic properties. To address this challenge, researchers have screened for potential biological control agents in peanut soil and pods. This study identified a promising candidate, a strain of the nonpigmented bacterium, ZJS2-1, isolated from the peanut rhizosphere in Zhejiang Province, China, exhibiting notable antifungal and antiaflatoxin activities.

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Autophagy, a conserved cellular recycling process, plays a crucial role in maintaining homeostasis under stress conditions. It also regulates the development and virulence of numerous filamentous fungi. In this study, we investigated the specific function of ATG8, a reliable autophagic marker, in the opportunistic pathogen .

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Nitric oxide (NO) is a signaling molecule with diverse roles in various organisms. However, its role in the opportunistic pathogen Aspergillus flavus remains unclear. This study investigates the potential of NO, mediated by metabolites from A.

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Aflatoxins (AFs) have always been regarded as the most effective carcinogens, posing a great threat to agriculture, food safety, and human health. is the major producer of aflatoxin contamination in crops. The prevention and control of and aflatoxin continues to be a global problem.

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is one of the most opportunistic pathogens invading many important oilseed crops and foodstuffs with such toxic secondary metabolites as aflatoxin (AF) and Cyclopiazonic acid. We previously used the DNA methylation inhibitor 5-azacytidine to treat with an AF-producing A133 strain, and isolated a mutant (NT) of , which displayed impaired abilities of AF biosynthesis and fungal development. In this study, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis was used to reveal the metabolic changes between these two strains.

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Herbivore specialists adapt to feed on a specific group of host plants by evolving various mechanisms to respond to plant defenses. Insects also possess complex gut microbiotas but their potential role in adaptation is poorly understood. Our previous study of the genome of diamondback moth, , revealed an intrinsic capacity to detoxify plant defense compounds, which is an important factor in its success as a pest.

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Centromeric chromatin in most eukaryotes is composed of highly repetitive centromeric retrotransposons and satellite repeats that are highly variable even among closely related species. The evolutionary mechanisms that underlie the rapid evolution of centromeric repeats remain unknown. To obtain insight into the evolution of centromeric repeats following polyploidy, we studied a model diploid progenitor (Gossypium raimondii, D-genome) of the allopolyploid (AD-genome) cottons, G.

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Article Synopsis
  • * Researchers identified 85 P450 genes in the moth's genome, classifying them into 26 families and 52 subfamilies, with significant expansions observed in certain gene clans compared to other insect species.
  • * Gene expression analysis showed that specific P450 genes were highly expressed in the head tissue and midgut of the moth, indicating their potential roles in detoxifying insecticides and plant toxins, which could aid future research on pest management.
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Aflatoxins (AFs) are a group of highly oxygenated polyketidese-derived toxins mainly produced by Aspergillus flavus and A. parasiticus, whose biosynthesis mechanisms are extremely sophisticated. Methylation is known as the major form of epigenetic regulation, which is correlated with gene expression.

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How an insect evolves to become a successful herbivore is of profound biological and practical importance. Herbivores are often adapted to feed on a specific group of evolutionarily and biochemically related host plants, but the genetic and molecular bases for adaptation to plant defense compounds remain poorly understood. We report the first whole-genome sequence of a basal lepidopteran species, Plutella xylostella, which contains 18,071 protein-coding and 1,412 unique genes with an expansion of gene families associated with perception and the detoxification of plant defense compounds.

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