Publications by authors named "Xiao-chun Luo"

Vibrio-induced diseases pose a significant threat to shrimp aquaculture. While the mechanisms underlying Vibrio penetration of shrimp shells and the gastrointestinal tract remain unclear, this study implicates chitinases as critical virulence factors. Despite their inability to utilize chitin or shrimp shells as sole carbon and nitrogen sources, three major shrimp pathogens-V.

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With the global population continuously rising, efficient bioconversion of inedible agricultural by-products is crucial for human food and energy sustainability. We here propose solid-state fermentation approaches to efficiently convert biopolymers into oligomers/monomers by accelerating the natural degradation process of the versatile Streptomyces sp. strain SCUT-3.

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Feather waste, a rich source of proteins, has traditionally been processed through high-temperature puffing and acid-base hydrolysis, contributing to generation of greenhouse gases and HS. To address this issue, we employed circular economy techniques to recover the nutritional value of feather waste. Streptomyces sp.

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Animal farming copiously generates indoles, which contribute to odor and pose a challenge for deodorization. While biodegradation is widely accepted, there is a lack of suitable indole-degrading bacteria for animal husbandry. In this study, we aimed to construct genetically engineered strains with indole-degrading abilities.

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Article Synopsis
  • The genus Streptomyces is essential for breaking down chitin in soil, and studying its enzymes can help in managing chitinous waste effectively.* -
  • In this study, three chitinases from the Streptomyces sp. SCUT-3 strain were expressed in Pichia pastoris, with varying yields and notable synergistic effects on breaking down chitin and shrimp shells.* -
  • These enzymes showed strong antifungal properties against plant pathogens, highlighting their potential as both biodegradable waste-processing agents and biocontrol tools, paving the way for improved chitin waste recycling methods.*
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Indole is an inter-species and inter-kingdom signaling molecule widespread in the natural world. A large amount of indole in livestock wastes makes it difficult to be degraded, which causes serious malodor. Identifying efficient and eco-friendly ways to eliminate it is an urgent task for the sustainable development of husbandry.

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Hybridization is an artificial breeding strategy for generating potentially desirable offspring. Recently, a novel Hulong grouper hybrid (Epinephelus fuscogutatus × Epinephelus lanceolatus) yielded significant growth superiority over its parent. Improved innate immunity is considered as another desirable feature during hybridization.

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Cryptocaryon irritans, a pathogen model for fish mucosal immunity, causes skin mucosal and systematic humoral immune response. Where and how MHC II antigen presentation occurs in fish infected with C. irritans remain unknown.

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The ongoing development of new production methods may lead to the commercialization of -acetyl chitooligosaccharides (NACOS), such as chitosan oligosaccharides (COS). The bioactivity of NACOS, although not well detailed, differs from that of COS, as they have more acetyl groups than COS. We used two enzymatically produced NACOS with different molecular compositions and six NACOS (NACOS1-6) with a single degree of polymerization to verify their immunomodulatory effects on the RAW264.

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Cryptocaryon irritans is an extremely harmful ciliated obligate parasite that is responsible for large economic losses in aquaculture. C. irritans infection can cause an insect-resistant immune response in fish, and many immune cells can be observed in the local infection site.

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Article Synopsis
  • Feather waste is the most protein-rich natural resource and is underutilized; bioconversion offers a low-cost, eco-friendly method, but lacks effective bacteria for large-scale processing.
  • Research on the Streptomyces sp. SCUT-3 reveals its ability to break down feathers into amino acids, providing valuable nutrition for various organisms.
  • By employing multiple omics techniques, the study uncovers the complex processes SCUT-3 uses for feather degradation, such as colonization, metabolism, and oxygen management.
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IκB kinase (IKK) is the core regulator of the nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) pathway, which is involved in cellular development and proliferation, as well as the inflammatory response. IKKα is an important subunit of the IKK complex. In this study, two IKKαs (EcIKKα-1 and -2) were characterized in E.

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Phagocytic cells are activated to produce a large amount of reactive oxygen species (ROS) that kill pathogens quickly and efficiently through oxidation. NADPH oxidase is the main source of intracellular ROS. In the present study, five subunits of the phagocytic NADPH oxidase complex were identified in orange-spotted grouper (Epinephelus coioides).

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Using Landsat 5/TM and Landsat 8/OLI images in 2000 and 2017, based on remote sensing ecological index (RSEI) model, combined with meteorological observation data and socio-economic data in Nanjing from 2000 to 2017, we analyzed and evaluated the ecological environment changes and the characteristic ecological areas in Nanjing. The results showed that the average RSEI of Nanjing decreased from 0.626 to 0.

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C-Raf proto-oncogene serine/threonine kinase is a mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAP) kinase kinase, which can initiate a mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascade by phosphorylating the dual-specific MAP kinase kinases (MEK1/2), and in turn activate the extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERK1/2). To study the function of c-Raf in teleost fish, a c-Raf cDNA sequence from orange-spotted grouper (Epinephelus coioides) was cloned. Ecc-Raf shared 81%-99% amino acid identity with other vertebrate c-Raf molecules, and shared the highest amino acid identity (99%) with Lates calcarifer c-Raf.

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Initiation of the innate immune response requires recognition of pathogen-associated molecular patterns by pathogen recognition receptors such as Toll-like receptors (TLRs). MyD88 adaptor-like (Mal) is an adaptor that responds to TLR activation and acts as a bridging adaptor for MyD88. In the present study, the open reading frame of Mal was identified in orange-spotted grouper (Epinephelus coioides), and named EcMal.

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Macrophage expressed gene 1 (Mpeg1) is a molecule that can form pores and destroy the cell membrane of invading pathogens. In this study, we identified two Mpeg1 isoforms from the orange-spotted grouper (Epinephelus coioides) and named them EcMpeg1a and EcMpeg1b. Predicted proteins of the two EcMpeg1s contained a signal peptide, a conserved membrane attack complex/perforin (MACPF) domain, a transmembrane segment, and an intracellular region.

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In this study, a chitinase gene, Chit46 from a mycoparasitic fungus Trichoderma harzianum was successfully expressed in Pichia pastoris with a high heterologous chitinase production of 31.4 U/mL, much higher than the previous reports. The active center and substrate binding pocket of the recombinant Chit46 (rChit46) were analyzed and the effects of pH, temperature, metal ions and glycosylation on its activity were tested.

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Tumor necrosis factor receptor-associated factor 5 (TRAF5) is a key adapter molecule that participates in numerous signaling pathways. The function of TRAF5 in fish is largely unknown. In the present study, a TRAF5 cDNA sequence (EcTRAF5) was identified in grouper (Epinephelus coioides).

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Article Synopsis
  • MEK dual-specificity protein kinases are important enzymes that relay signals from outside the cell to the nucleus, and this study focused on characterizing MEK1 and MEK2 in the orange-spotted grouper fish.
  • The cloned cDNA sequences showed a high level of amino acid identity (around 80-99%) with both other teleosts and mammals, indicating evolutionary conservation.
  • Analysis revealed that EcMEK1 and EcMEK2 are mainly expressed in immune organs, activated certain signaling pathways upon overexpression, and were notably involved in immune responses during infections.
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In mammals, tumor necrosis factor receptor-associated factor 2 (TRAF2) is a crucial intracellular adaptor protein, which performs a vital role in numerous signaling pathways that activate NF-κB, MAPKs, and IRFs. In the present study, three TRAF2 sequences were identified from the orange-spotted grouper (Epinephelus coioides), and named EcTRAF2-1, EcTRAF2-2, and EcTRAF2-3. These sequences contained conserved structure features that were similar to those of mammals.

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B-cell linker protein (BLNK) is an adaptor protein that plays a crucial role in the B cell antigen receptor (BCR) signal pathway. To investigate the function of BLNK in teleost fish, we cloned a BLNK ortholog gene from the orange-spotted grouper (Epinephelus coioides). Homology analysis showed that the grouper BLNK (EcBLNK) had a 34%-77% amino acid identity in comparison to other vertebrates and shared the highest amino acid identity with BLNK from the Asian seabass Lates calcarifer.

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Life science studies represent one of the biggest generators of large data sets, mainly because of rapid sequencing technological advances. Biological networks including interactive networks and human curated pathways are essential to understand these high-throughput data sets. Biological network analysis offers a method to explore systematically not only the molecular complexity of a particular disease but also the molecular relationships among apparently distinct phenotypes.

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Bruton's tyrosine kinase (BTK) is a Tec-family tyrosine kinase and plays a crucial role in B cell antigen receptor (BCR) signal pathway. Mutations in humans and mice BTK gene results in X-linked agammaglobulinemia (XLA) and X-linked immunodeficiency (XLD), respectively. To study the function of BTK in teleost, we cloned a BTK gene from orange-spotted grouper.

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The use of cell wall degrading enzymes of Trichoderma is a promising alternative for improving food storage. The aspartic protease P6281 secreted by the fungus Trichoderma harzianum plays an important role in mycoparasitism on phytopathogenic fungi. In this study, recombinant P6281 (rP6281) expressed in Pichia pastoris showed high activity of 321.

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