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In this study, two poplar varieties with different resistance to sulfur dioxide were selected for a comparative experiment. SO2 fumigation to the poplars was carried out under controlled conditions to determine the variation in the activity of enzymes, the content of metabolites and the expression of enzymes genes in pathways of sulfur metabolism in plants. The results showed that the activity of enzymes and the content of sulfur metabolites were closely related to the response of the poplars to SO2 stress. Populus × euramericana cv. 'Purui' had two ways of detoxification: oxidation detoxification, oxidizing sulfite (SO32−) to sulfate SO42− by sulfite oxidase; reductive detoxification, SO32− being reduced to S2− by sulfite reductase (SiR). Moreover, OASTL and SAT activity, and levels of cysteine (CYS) and glutathione (GSH) also increased in P. × euramericana cv. 'Purui' in response to SO2 fumigation, and the gene expression encoding Glutathione S-transferases (GST), and some enzymes in cysteine and methionine metabolism was up-regulated. For Populus × euramericana cv. '74/76' with weaker resistance to sulfur dioxide, it only detoxified by increasing the activity of SiR, and but down-regulated the expression of gene encoding 3'-phosphoadenosine 5'-phosphosulfate synthase (PAPSS), which could affect the consumption of sulfite in the exposure to SO2. Thus, the SO2-resistant difference of the two poplar varieties is mainly attributed to variation in activity of the enzymes and content of their metabolites in pathways of sulfur metabolism, and gene expression of some enzymes in cysteine and methionine metabolism also plays a role in the resistant difference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soap stocks are by-products obtained during the refining process of vegetable oil, and are mainly feedstocks to produce acidified oil. In this work, an efficient process was developed to convert soap stock into a high-quality biofuel with low impurity content. A combination of acidification and catalytic cracking reactions employed as pretreatment was investigated to decrease the impurity content in the soap stock feedstock for obtaining a value-added biofuel. A high olefin content (approximately 47%) pyrolytic oil was obtained during the pretreatment. For further improvement of the cold flow properties, hydro-isomerization of pyrolytic oil for the formation of iso-alkanes over the Ce–Pt/SAPO-11and Ce–Pt/ZSM-5 catalysts was then carried out. The isomerization reaction temperature could be decreased to 320 °C because of the approximately 47% olefin content. The cold filter plugging point (CFPP) of the resulting product could be obtained at −11 °C, and the sulfur content could be decreased to lower than 10 ppm, which could meet the EN and ASTM specifications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Emerging evidence has underscored the crucial role of infiltrating immune cells in the tumor immune microenvironment (TIME) of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) development and progression. With the implementation of screening programs, the incidence of early-stage NSCLC is rising. However, the high risk of recurrence and poor survival rates associated with this disease necessitate a deeper understanding of the TIME and its relationship with driver alterations. The aim of this study was to provide an in-depth analysis of immune changes in early-stage NSCLC, highlighting the significant transitions in immune response during disease progression., Methods: Tumor tissues were collected from 105 patients with precancerous lesions or stage I-III NSCLC. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) was used to detect cancer driver alterations. Multiplex immunofluorescence (mIF) was performed to evaluate immune cell density, percentage, and spatial proximity to cancer cells in the TIME. Next Among these patients, 64 had NGS results, including three with adenocarcinoma in situ (AIS), 10 with minimally invasive adenocarcinoma (MIA), and 51 with stage I invasive cancers. Additionally, three patients underwent neoadjuvant immuno-chemotherapy and tumor tissue specimens before and after treatment were obtained., Results: Patients with stage I invasive cancer had significantly higher density (P=0.01) and percentage (P=0.02) of CD8 + T cells and higher percentages of M1 macrophages (P=0.04) and immature natural killer (NK) cells (P=0.041) in the tumor parenchyma compared to those with AIS/MIA. Patients with mutated epidermal growth factor receptor ( EGFR ) gene exhibited decreased NK cell infiltration, increased M2 macrophage infiltration, and decreased aggregation of CD4 + T cells near tumor cells compared to EGFR wild-type patients. As NSCLC progressed from stage I to III, CD8 + T cell density and proportion increased, while PD-L1 + tumor cells were in closer proximity to PD-1 + CD8 + T cells, potentially inhibiting CD8 + T cell function. Furthermore, M1 macrophages decreased in density and proportion, and the number of NK cells, macrophages, and B cells around tumor cells decreased. Additionally, patients with tertiary lymphoid structures (TLSs) had significantly higher proportion of M1 macrophages and lymphocytes near tumor cells, whereas those without TLS had PD-L1 + tumor cells more densely clustered around PD-1 + CD8 + T cells. Notably, neoadjuvant immuno-chemotherapy induced the development of TLS., Conclusions: This study offers an in-depth analysis of immune changes in NSCLC, demonstrating that the transition from AIS/MIA to invasive stage I NSCLC leads to immune activation, while the advancement from stage I to stage III cancer results in immune suppression. These findings contribute to our understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying early-stage NSCLC progression and pave the way for the identification of potential treatment options., Competing Interests: Conflicts of Interest: All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form (available at https://tlcr.amegroups.com/article/view/10.21037/tlcr-24-379/coif). Y.S. serves as an Editor-in-Chief of Translational Lung Cancer Research. D.Z., J.C., B.Z., Junling Zhang, and M.H. are from 3D Medicines Inc. The other authors have no other conflicts of interest to declare., (2024 AME Publishing Company. All rights reserved.)

Stem canker diseases caused by the pathogen Cytospora chrysosperma (Pers.) Fr.) and Botryosphaeria dothidea (Moug. ex Fr.) Ces. & de Not. are the two major forest diseases in the poplar plantations in China, sometimes which can destroy all the poplar seedlings or severely damage mature poplar forests. Hybrid breeding is the most direct and efficient method of controlling and managing tree diseases. However, assessing disease resistance or selecting disease-resistance clones based on In vitro stem inoculation is inefficient, time-consuming, and expensive, limiting the development of hybrid breeding of poplar stem canker disease. In this study, we proposed an alternative method to assess disease resistance to stem canker pathogens through in vivo leaf inoculation. The test materials used in this method can be on 1-year-old poplar saplings or the annual branches of perennial poplars in the greenhouse or the field. The critical step of this alternative method is the selection of inoculating leaves: the 5-7 th newly matured leaves might be the most suitable. The second critical step of the leaf inoculation method is to make wounds on plant leaves through needle pierces, providing sufficient lesions to measure disease severity. For the adequate number of leaves produced in the early stage of poplar breeding, this in vivo leaf inoculation contributes to the rapid, accurate, and large-scale screening of the disease-resistance poplar clones to stem canker pathogens. Moreover, this leaf inoculation method will also serve as an efficient method for screening pathotypes of stem canker disease pathogen C. chrysosperma, B.dothidea, or other poplar stem canker pathogens.

Recently, a novel poplar mosaic disease caused by bean common mosaic virus (BCMV) was investigated in Populus alba var. pyramidalis in China. Symptom characteristics, physiological performance of the host, histopathology, genome sequences and vectors, and gene regulation at the transcriptional and posttranscriptional levels were analyzed and RT-qPCR (quantitative reverse transcription PCR) validation of expression was performed in our experiments. In this work, the mechanisms by which the BCMV pathogen impacts physiological performance and the molecular mechanisms of the poplar response to viral infection were reported. The results showed that BCMV infection decreased the chlorophyll content, inhibited the net photosynthesis rate (Pn) and stomatal conductance (Gs), and significantly changed chlorophyll fluorescence parameters in diseased leaves. Transcriptome analysis revealed that the expression of the majority of DEGs (differentially expressed genes) involved in the flavonoid biosynthesis pathway was promoted, but the expression of all or almost all DEGs associated with photosynthesis-antenna proteins and the photosynthesis pathway was inhibited in poplar leaves, suggesting that BCMV infection increased the accumulation of flavonoids but decreased photosynthesis in hosts. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) illustrated that viral infection promoted the expression of genes involved in the defense response or plant-pathogen interaction. MicroRNA-seq analysis illustrated that 10 miRNA families were upregulated while 6 families were downregulated in diseased poplar leaves; moreover, miR156, the largest family with the most miRNA members and target genes, was only differentially upregulated in long-period disease (LD) poplar leaves. Integrated transcriptome and miRNA-seq analyses revealed 29 and 145 candidate miRNA-target gene pairs; however, only 17 and 76 pairs, accounting for 2.2% and 3.2% of all DEGs, were authentically negatively regulated in short-period disease (SD) and LD leaves, respectively. Interestingly, 4 miR156/SPL (squamosa promoter-binding-like protein) miRNA-target gene pairs were identified in LD leaves: the miR156 molecules were upregulated, but SPL genes were downregulated. In conclusion, BCMV infection significantly changed transcriptional and posttranscriptional gene expression in poplar leaves, inhibited photosynthesis, increased the accumulation of flavonoids, induced systematic mosaic symptoms, and decreased physiological performance in diseased poplar leaves. This study elucidated the fine-tuned regulation of poplar gene expression by BCMV; moreover, the results also suggested that miR156/SPL modules played important roles in the virus response and development of viral systematic symptoms in plant virus disease., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Wang, Zhang, Shen, Li, Fu, Li, Li, Liu, Su, Zhang and Zhao.)