Metabolomic analysis of methane-reducing seaweed Asparagopsis taxiformis for sustainable production in Taiwan.

This study employed a combined approach of untargeted UHPLC-HRMS and targeted GC-MS analyses to investigate the effects of different cultivation media on the growth and bromoform production of Asparagopsis taxiformis tetrasporophytes. Growth performance and metabolic profiles were analyzed under various nutrient conditions, including PES, F/2, Walne, and a control medium. Significant variations in growth rates and metabolic compositions were observed across the media.

Essential genes encoded by the mating-type locus of the human fungal pathogen .

Fungal sexual reproduction is controlled by the mating-type () locus. In contrast to a majority of species in the phylum Basidiomycota that have tetrapolar mating-type systems, the opportunistic human pathogen employs a bipolar mating-type system, with two mating types ( and α) determined by a single locus that is unusually large (~120 kb) and contains more than 20 genes. While several genes are associated with mating and sexual development, others control conserved cellular processes (e.

Homeodomain protein Sxi1α regulates cell-cell fusion during distinct sexual reproduction modes in .

Sex-specific homeodomain () proteins are key regulators of cell identity and sexual development in fungi, typically functioning as heterodimers to regulate transcription. In the human fungal pathogens and , the proteins Sxi1α and Sxi2 (sex-induced 1α and 2) have been characterized as interacting partners that play critical roles in sexual development during sexual reproduction. Given the dominance of α cells in natural populations of , the roles of Sxi1α and Sxi2 in unisexual reproduction, which predominantly involves same-sex (α × α) mating, remain unclear.

Misconceptions, prejudice and social distance towards people with alcohol use disorders in China.

Purpose: Research from Western societies indicates pervasive public stigma against people with alcohol use disorders (AUDs). However, there is a lack of knowledge about the interactions between different components of stigma and their contribution to discriminatory behaviour towards individuals with AUDs within the Chinese cultural context. The aim of the present study was therefore to investigate the relationships of (mis-)conceptions, stereotypes, emotional reactions, perceived public stigma and their contribution to the desire for social distance among the Chinese adults.

ALBA3 maintains male fertility under heat stress in plants.

Heat stress (HS) at the reproductive stage detrimentally affects crop yields and seed quality. However, the molecular mechanisms that protect reproductive processes in plants under HS remain largely unknown. Here, we report that Acetylation Lowers Binding Affinity 3 (ALBA3) is crucial for safeguarding male fertility against HS in Arabidopsis.

H NMR-based metabolomic analysis of hypersalinity-induced oviparity in brine shrimp.

This study investigated the mechanisms by which high salinity conditions stimulate adult Artemia females to produce diapaused cysts. We used a H NMR-based metabolomic approach to elucidate the metabolic regulation between ovoviviparity and oviparity in Artemia exposed to different salinities. At a salinity of 80 ppt, 100 % of females produced diapaused cysts, compared to 20 % at 50 ppt.

Essential genes encoded by the mating-type locus of the human fungal pathogen .

Fungal sexual reproduction is controlled by the mating-type () locus. In contrast to a majority of species in the phylum Basidiomycota that have tetrapolar mating-type systems, the opportunistic human pathogen employs a bipolar mating-type system, with two mating types ( and α) determined by a single locus that is unusually large (~120 kb) and contains more than 20 genes. While several genes are associated with mating and sexual development, others control conserved cellular processes (e.

Optimization of Fermentation and Biocontrol Efficacy of XHG-1-3m2.

Biological control plays an increasingly important role in various aspects of modern agriculture and forestry. Identifying biocontrol strains with commercial potential for effective disease management is currently a focal point in biological control research. In this study, XHG-1-3m2, a strain with significant biocontrol potential against causing shot hole disease in wild apricots, was developed.

Mapping intratumoral myeloid-T cell interactomes at single-cell resolution reveals targets for overcoming checkpoint inhibitor resistance.

Effective cancer immunotherapies restore anti-tumor immunity by rewiring cell-cell communication. Treatment-induced changes in communication can be inferred from single-cell RNA-sequencing (scRNA-seq) data, but current methods do not effectively manage heterogeneity within cell types. Here we developed a computational approach to efficiently analyze scRNA-seq-derived, single-cell-resolved cell-cell interactomes, which we applied to determine how agonistic CD40 (CD40ag) alters immune cell crosstalk alone, across tumor models, and in combination with immune checkpoint blockade (ICB).

Scavenger Receptor CD36 in Tumor-Associated Macrophages Promotes Cancer Progression by Dampening Type-I IFN Signaling.

Tumor-associated macrophages (TAM) are a heterogeneous population of myeloid cells that dictate the inflammatory tone of the tumor microenvironment. In this study, we unveiled a mechanism by which scavenger receptor cluster of differentiation 36 (CD36) suppresses TAM inflammatory states. CD36 was upregulated in TAMs and associated with immunosuppressive features, and myeloid-specific deletion of CD36 significantly reduced tumor growth.

Serum proteome reveals distinctive molecular features of H7N9- and SARS-CoV-2-infected patients.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has reminded us of human infections with the H7N9 virus and has raised questions related to the clinical and molecular pathophysiological diversity between the two diseases. Here, we performed a proteomic approach on sera samples from patients with H7N9-virus or SARS-CoV-2-virus infection and healthy controls. Compared to SARS-CoV-2, H7N9-virus infection caused elevated neutrophil concentrations, T cell exhaustion, and increased cytokine/interleukin secretion.

RNAi epimutations conferring antifungal drug resistance are inheritable.

Epimutations modify gene expression and lead to phenotypic variation while the encoding DNA sequence remains unchanged. Epimutations mediated by RNA interference (RNAi) and/or chromatin modifications can confer antifungal drug resistance and may impact virulence traits in fungi. However, whether these epigenetic modifications can be transmitted across generations following sexual reproduction was unclear.

Distinct evolutionary trajectories following loss of RNA interference in .

While increased mutation rates typically have negative consequences in multicellular organisms, hypermutation can be advantageous for microbes adapting to the environment. Previously, we identified two hypermutator clinical isolates that rapidly develop drug resistance due to transposition of a retrotransposon, Cnl1. Cnl1-mediated hypermutation is caused by a nonsense mutation in the gene encoding a novel RNAi component, Znf3, combined with a tremendous transposon burden.

Alternative ergosterol biosynthetic pathways confer antifungal drug resistance in the human pathogens within the species complex.

Unlabelled: Mucormycoses are emerging fungal infections caused by a variety of heterogeneous species within the Mucorales order. Among the species complex, is the most frequently isolated pathogen in mucormycosis patients and despite its clinical significance, there is an absence of established genome manipulation techniques to conduct molecular pathogenesis studies. In this study, we generated a spontaneous uracil auxotrophic strain and developed a genetic transformation procedure to analyze molecular mechanisms conferring antifungal drug resistance.

Lipid-associated macrophages reshape BAT cell identity in obesity.

Obesity and type 2 diabetes cause a loss in brown adipose tissue (BAT) activity, but the molecular mechanisms that drive BAT cell remodeling remain largely unexplored. Using a multilayered approach, we comprehensively mapped a reorganization in BAT cells. We uncovered a subset of macrophages as lipid-associated macrophages (LAMs), which were massively increased in genetic and dietary model of BAT expansion.

High-Valence Cu Induced by Photoelectric Reconstruction for Dynamically Stable Oxygen Evolution Sites.

Oxygen vacancies are generally considered to play a crucial role in the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). However, the generation of active sites created by oxygen vacancies is inevitably restricted by their condensation and elimination reactions. To overcome this limitation, here, we demonstrate a novel photoelectric reconstruction strategy to incorporate atomically dispersed Cu into ultrathin (about 2-3 molecular) amorphous oxyhydroxide (a-CuM, M = Co, Ni, Fe, or Zn), facilitating deprotonation of the reconstructed oxyhydroxide to generate high-valence Cu.

Quorum sensing mediated response mechanism of anammox consortia to anionic surfactant: Molecular simulation and molecular evidence.

The widespread use of surfactants raise challenges to biological wastewater treatment. Anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) process has the potential to treat wastewater containing anionic surfactants, but the response of anammox consortia at the molecular level under long-term exposure is unclear. Using high-throughput sequencing and gene quantification, combined with molecular docking, the effect of sodium dodecyl sulfonate (SDS) on anammox consortia were investigated.

Amorphous Bismuth-Tin Oxide Nanosheets with Optimized C-N Coupling for Efficient Urea Synthesis.

Closing the carbon and nitrogen cycles by electrochemical methods using renewable energy to convert abundant or harmful feedstocks into high-value C- or N-containing chemicals has the potential to transform the global energy landscape. However, efficient conversion avenues have to date been mostly realized for the independent reduction of CO or NO. The synthesis of more complex C-N compounds still suffers from low conversion efficiency due to the inability to find effective catalysts.

Theoretical Investigation on Dialumenes toward Dihydrogen Activation: Mechanism and Ligand Effect.

Herein, we report a computation study based on the density functional theory calculations to understand the mechanism and ligand effect of the base-stabilized dialumenes toward dihydrogen activation. Among all of the examined modes of dihydrogen activation using the base-stabilized dialumene, we found that the concerted 1,2-hydrogenation of the Al═Al double bond is kinetically more preferable. The concerted 1,2-hydrogenation of the Al═Al double bond adopts an electron-transfer model with certain asynchrony.

De Novo Screening and Mirror Image Isomerization of Linear Peptides Targeting α7 Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor.

As ligand-gated ion channels, nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) are widely distributed in the central and peripheral nervous systems and are associated with the pathogenesis of various degenerative neurological diseases. Here, we report the results of phage display-based de novo screening of an 11-residue linear peptide (named KP1794) that targets the α7 nAChR, which is among the most abundant nAChR subtypes in the brain. Moreover, two d-peptides were generated through mirror image and/or primary sequence inverso isomerization (termed KP1794 and KP1794) and displayed improved inhibitory effects (IC = 0.

Proteomic characterization identifies clinically relevant subgroups of soft tissue sarcoma.

Soft tissue sarcoma is a broad family of mesenchymal malignancies exhibiting remarkable histological diversity. We portray the proteomic landscape of 272 soft tissue sarcomas representing 12 major subtypes. Hierarchical classification finds the similarity of proteomic features between angiosarcoma and epithelial sarcoma, and elevated expression of SHC1 in AS and ES is correlated with poor prognosis.