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The metal-free porphyrins protonation has gained interest over five decades because its structure modification and hardly monoacid intermediate isolation. Here, upon the hydrogen atom abstraction processes, one step diproptonated H 3 STTP(BF 4 ) 2 (STTP = 5,10,15,20-tetraphenyl-21-thiaporphyrin) ( 3 ) and stepwise protonated HS 2 TTPSbCl 6 ( 5 ) and diprotonated H 2 S 2 TTP(BF 4 ) 2 ( 6 ) (S 2 TTP = 5,10,15,20-tetraphenyl-21,23-thiaporphyrin) compounds were obtained using HSTTP and S 2 TTP with oxidants. The closed-shell protonated compounds were fully characterized using XRD, UV-vis, IR and NMR spectra. In addition, the reduced 19π compounds [K(2,2,2)]HSTTP ( 2 ) and [K(2,2,2)]S 2 TTP ( 7 ) were synthesized by the ligands with reductant KC 8 in THF solution. These two open-shell compounds were characterized with UV-vis, IR and EPR spectroscopies. The semiempirical ZINDO/S method was employed to analyze the HOMO/LUMO gap lever and identify the electronic transitions of the UV-vis spectra of the closed- and open-shell porphyrin compounds.

Stimbiotic supplementation may provide an innovative feed additive solution to accelerate the proliferation of beneficial fiber-degrading bacteria in the distal intestine and the utilization of dietary fiber. Optimal utilization of dietary fiber has multiple benefits for gut health and nutrient utilization. This study was conducted to evaluate the late gestation and lactation performance, the plasma, colostrum, and milk immunoglobulin (IgA, IgG, and IgM) concentrations, and the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant biomarkers in plasma of sows fed with or without a stimbiotic during the late gestation and lactation phase. A total of 40 sows were allocated to two treatment groups: control (CT) with no supplementation or 100 mg/kg stimbiotic (VP), with 20 sows per treatment. Sows were fed the treatment diets from d 85 of gestation to d 28 of lactation. In the results, the average daily weight gain of piglets during lactation was greater from sows fed in the VP group compared to that in the CT group ( p < 0.05). The plasma concentrations of IgM at farrowing and IgG at weaning of the sows fed the diet with the stimbiotic supplementation were much higher than those in the CT sows ( p < 0.05), respectively. In addition, the dietary stimbiotic increased the concentrations of IgM in the colostrum and of IgA and IgM in the milk at d 14 of lactation ( p < 0.05). Plasma concentrations of malondialdehyde (MDA) on d 0 and d 28 of lactation tended to be lower in sows fed the VP diets compared with those of the sows fed the CT diets. Thus, our study indicated that stimbiotic supplementation could improve the daily weight gain of piglets and the immune function of sows in lactation.

Hypoxic environments are generally undesirable for most plants, but for astringent persimmon, high CO 2 treatment (CO 2 > 90%), also termed artificial high-CO 2 atmosphere (AHCA), causes acetaldehyde accumulation and precipitation of soluble tannins and could remove astringency. The multiple transcriptional regulatory linkages involved in persimmon fruit deastringency have been advanced significantly by characterizing the ethylene response factors (ERFs), WRKY and MYB; however, the involvement of zinc finger proteins for deastringency has not been investigated. In this study, five genes encoding C2H2-type zinc finger proteins were isolated and designed as DkZF1-5 . Phylogenetic and sequence analyses suggested the five DkZF s could be clustered into two different subgroups. qPCR analysis indicated that transcript abundances of DkZF1/4 were significantly upregulated during AHCA treatment (1% O 2 and 95% CO 2 ) at day 1, DkZF2 / 5 at both day 1 and 2, while DkZF3 at day 2. Dual-luciferase assay indicated DkZF1 and DkZF2 as the activators of deastringency-related structural genes ( DkPDC2 and DkADH1 ) and transcription factors (DkERF9/10). Moreover, combinative effects between various transcription factors were investigated, indicating that DkZF1 and DkZF2 synergistically showed significantly stronger activations on the DkPDC2 promoter. Further, both bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC) and yeast two hybrid (Y2H) assays confirmed that DkZF2 had protein-protein interactions with DkZF1. Thus, these findings illustrate the regulatory mechanisms of zinc finger proteins for persimmon fruit deastringency under AHCA.

In order to reduce the harm of nitrous oxide (N 2 O) on the environment, it is very important to find an effective way to capture and decompose this nitrous oxide. Based on the density functional theory (DFT), the adsorption mechanism of N 2 O on the surfaces of M-decorated (M = Mg, Cu or Ag) graphene oxide (GO) was studied in this paper. The results show that the effects of N 2 O adsorbed onto the surfaces of Mg-GO by O-end and Cu-GO by N-end are favorable among all of the adsorption types studied, whose adsorption energies are -1.40 eV and -1.47 eV, respectively. Both adsorption manners belong to chemisorption. For Ag-GO, however, both the adsorption strength and electron transfer with the N 2 O molecule are relatively weak, indicating it may not be promising for N 2 O removal. Moreover, when Gibbs free energy analyses were applied for the two adsorption types on Mg-GO by O-end and Cu-GO by N-end, it was found that the lowest temperatures required to undergo a chemisorption process are 209 °C and 338 °C, respectively. After being adsorbed onto the surface of Mg-GO by O-end, the N 2 O molecule will decompose into an N 2 molecule and an active oxygen atom. Because of containing active oxygen atom, the structure O-Mg-GO has strong oxidizability, and can be reduced to Mg-GO. Therefore, Mg-GO can be used as a catalyst for N 2 O adsorption and decomposition. Cu-GO can be used as a candidate material for its strong adsorption to N 2 O.

The phytochemical investigation on 1 g of materials from Gypsoplaca macrophylla (Zahlbr.) Timdal resulted in the discovery of gypmacrophin A, a rare pentacyclic sesterterpenoid; brialmontin III, a new polysubstituted depside and two known ones, brialmontins I and II. The structure and absolute configurations of gypmacrophin A were elucidated by spectroscopic analyses and computational methods. Gypmacrophin A showed weak inhibition of AchE with an IC 50 value of 32.03 μM. The four compounds provided new chemical evidence for G . macrophylla identification., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest. The founding sponsors had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, and in the decision to publish the results.

Four new ent -abietane diterpenoids, along with four known ones were isolated from the aerial parts of Isodon serra , a traditional Chinese folk medicine. The new diterpenoids were named as serrin K ( 1 ), xerophilusin XVII ( 2 ), and enanderianins Q and R ( 3 and 4 ), while the known ones were identified as rubescansin J ( 5 ), (3α,14β)-3,18-[(1-methylethane-1,1-diyl)dioxy]- ent -abieta-7,15(17)-diene-14,16-diol ( 6 ), xerophilusin XIV ( 7 ), and enanderianin P ( 8 ), respectively. Their structures were elucidated by extensive spectroscopic analysis and comparison with the literature. Compound 1 showed remarkable inhibitory activity towards NO production in LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 cells (IC 50 = 1.8 μM) and weak cytotoxicity towards five human tumor cell lines (HL-60, SMMC-7721, A-549, MCF-7, SW480).

Starch is one of the most important storage carbohydrates in plants. Kiwifruit typically accumulate large amounts of starch during development. The fruit retain starch until commercial maturity, and its postharvest degradation is essential for consumer acceptance. The activity of genes related to starch degradation has, however, rarely been investigated. Based on the kiwifruit genome sequence and previously reported starch degradation-related genes, 17 novel genes were isolated and the relationship between their expression and starch degradation was examined using two sets of materials: ethylene-treated (100 µL/L, 20 °C; ETH) vs. control (20 °C; CK) and controlled atmosphere stored (CA, 5% CO₂ + 2% O₂, 0 °C) vs. normal atmosphere in cold storage (NA, 0 °C). Physiological analysis indicated that ETH accelerated starch degradation and increased soluble solids content (SSC) and soluble sugars (glucose, fructose and sucrose), while CA inhibited starch reduction compared with NA. Using these materials, expression patterns of 24 genes that may contribute to starch degradation (seven previously reported and 17 newly isolated) were analyzed. Among the 24 genes, AdAMY1 , AdAGL3 and AdBAM3.1/3L/9 were significantly induced by ETH and positively correlated with starch degradation. Furthermore, these five genes were also inhibited by CA, conforming the likely involvement of these genes in starch degradation. Thus, the present study has identified the genes with potential for involvement in starch degradation in postharvest kiwifruit, which will be useful for understanding the regulation of kiwifruit starch content and metabolism., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

NAC genes have been characterized in numerous plants, where they are involved in responses to biotic and abiotic stress, including low oxygen stress. High concentration of CO2 is one of the most effective treatments to remove astringency of persimmon fruit owing to the action of the accumulated anoxia metabolite acetaldehyde. In model plants, NAC genes have been identified as being responsive to low oxygen. However, the possible relationship between NAC transcription factors and persimmon astringency removal remains unexplored. In the present research, treatment with a high concentration of CO2 (95%) effectively removed astringency of "Mopan" persimmon fruit by causing decreases in soluble tannin. Acetaldehyde content increased in response to CO2 treatment concomitantly with astringency removal. Using RNA-seq and Rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE), six DkNAC genes were isolated and studied. Transcriptional analysis indicated DkNAC genes responded differentially to CO2 treatment; DkNAC1, DkNAC3, DkNAC5 and DkNAC6 were transiently up-regulated, DkNAC2 was abundantly expressed 3 days after treatment, while the DkNAC4 was suppressed during astringency removal. It is proposed that DkNAC1/3/5/6 could be important candidates as regulators of persimmon astringency removal and the roles of other member are also discussed.

Bagging is a useful method to improve fruit quality by altering its exposure to light, whereas its effect on fruit volatiles production is inconsistent, and the genes responsible for the observed changes remain unknown. In the present study, single-layer yellow paper bags were used to study the effects of bagging treatment on the formation of C6 aldehydes in peach fruit (Prunus persica L. Batsch, cv. Yulu) over two succeeding seasons. Higher concentrations of n-hexanal and (E)-2-hexenal, which are characteristic aroma volatiles of peach fruit, were induced by bagging treatment. After bagging treatment, peach fruit had significantly higher LOX and HPL enzyme activities, accompanying increased contents of C6 aldehydes. The gene expression data obtained through real-time PCR showed that no consistent significant differences in transcript levels of LOX genes were observed over the two seasons, but significantly up-regulated expression was found for PpHPL1 after bagging treatment In addition, bagging-treated fruit produced more (E)-2-hexenal and had higher expression levels of PpHPL1 during postharvest ripening at room temperature. The regulatory role of the LOX-HPL pathway on the biosynthesis of n-hexanal and (E)-2-hexenal in response to bagging treatment during peach fruit development is discussed in the text.

The synthesis and structure-activity relationship (SAR) studies of praziquantel derivatives with activity against adult Schistosoma japonicum are described. Several of them showed better worm killing activity than praziquantel and could serve as leads for further optimization.