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This study aimed to produce livestock manure biochar to decrease environmental problems from livestock manure and evaluate its effectiveness as an organic fertilizer by examining the growth and nutrient use efficiency of crops. A plot experiment was conducted to investigate the characteristics of lettuce growth and nitrogen use efficiency in upland soils treated with cow manure biochar. The cow manure biochar was applied at rates of 0, 3, 5, 7, and 10 t ha−1 (referred to as CMB0, CMB3, CMB5, CMB7, and CMB10, respectively), along with inorganic fertilizer (IF, NPK—200-59-12 kg ha−1). The lettuce cultivation test was carried out for 42 days, during which the fresh weight, dry weight, length, and number of lettuce leaves were measured. Nitrogen use efficiency was evaluated by determining the agronomic efficiency of N and the apparent recovery fraction of N. Overall, as the cow manure biochar application rate increased, crop growth and nitrogen uptake improved. Soils treated with CMB5 and CMB7 showed higher lettuce growth, nitrogen content, and nitrogen uptake compared to soils under other treatments. Nitrogen use efficiency followed a pattern similar to that of crop productivity, with cow manure biochar application levels playing a significant role. In particular, the agronomic efficiency of N and the apparent recovery fraction of N, which are both related to crop nutrient utilization, were significantly higher in the CMB5 treatment compared to the IF treatment. These results indicate that nitrogen use efficiency can be enhanced through biochar application when growing crops on agricultural land. Therefore, it is suggested that the appropriate application of cow manure biochar can reduce inorganic fertilizer use and increase crop productivity, thereby enabling sustainable and eco-friendly agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The gut microbiota (GM) has been shown to be closely associated with the development of colorectal cancer (CRC). However, the involvement of GM is CRC has mainly been demonstrated by metagenomic profiling studies showing the compositional difference between the GM of healthy individuals and that of CRC patients and not by directly studying isolated gut microbes. Thus, to discover novel gut microbes involved in CRC, we isolated the GM from the feces of healthy individuals and evaluated its anti-CRC activity in vitro and in vivo. After GM isolation, cell-free supernatants (CFSs) were prepared from the isolated gut microorganisms to efficiently screen a large amount of the GM for anti-proliferative ability in vitro. Our results showed that the CFSs of 21 GM isolates had anti-proliferative activity against human colon cancer HCT 116 cells. Of these 21 GM isolates, GM07 was chosen for additional study because it had the highest anti-cancer activity against mouse colon cancer CT 26 cells in vitro and was further evaluated in a CT 26 allograft mouse model in vivo. GM07 was identified as Odoribacter splanchnicus through phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Further investigation determined that the CFS of O. splanchnicus (OsCFS) induced anti-proliferative activity via apoptosis, but not cell cycle arrest. Moreover, GC/MS analysis suggested that the putative active molecule in OsCFS is malic acid. Finally, in the CRC mouse model, peri-tumoral injection of OsCFS significantly decreased CRC formation, compared to the control group. Altogether, these findings will provide valuable information for the discovery of potential probiotic candidates that inhibit CRC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vespa mandarinia found in the forests of East Asia, including Korea, occupies the highest rank in the arthropod food web within its geographical range. It serves as a source of nutrition in the form of Vespa amino acid mixture and is listed as a threatened species, although no conservation measures have been implemented. Here, we performed de novo assembly of the V. mandarinia transcriptome by Illumina HiSeq 4000 sequencing. Over 60 million raw reads and 59,184,811 clean reads were obtained. After assembly, a total of 66,837 unigenes were clustered, 40,887, 44,455, and 22,390 of which showed homologous matches against the PANM, Unigene, and KOG databases, respectively. A total of 15,675 unigenes were assigned to Gene Ontology terms, and 5,132 unigenes were mapped to 115 KEGG pathways. The zinc finger domain (C2H2-like), serine/threonine/dual specificity protein kinase domain, and RNA recognition motif domain were among the top InterProScan domains predicted for V. mandarinia sequences. Among the unigenes, we identified 534,922 cDNA simple sequence repeats as potential markers. This is the first transcriptomic analysis of the wasp V. mandarinia using Illumina HiSeq 4000. The obtained datasets should promote the search for new genes to understand the physiological attributes of this wasp. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]