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Xiaoqu starter serves as the saccharifying and fermenting agent in the production of Cantonese soybean-flavor (Chi-flavor) Baijiu, and the complex microbial communities determine the flavor and quality of the product. Round-Koji-mechanical starter (produced by using an automated starter-making disk machine) is advantageous as it decreases operator influence, labor costs, and fermentation time, but the product quality is lower compared to traditional starter. Thus, two types of starters (traditional and Round-Koji-mechanical starter) from a Cantonese Baijiu factory were compared in a metagenomic analysis to investigate the differences in microbial community composition and core microbes. The results showed that several core microbes related to carbohydrate metabolism, amino acid metabolism and lipid metabolism, were differentially enriched in the traditional starter. Mucor lusitanicus and Rhizopus delemar were significantly positively correlated with the three key metabolic pathways. Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Cyberlindnera fabianii, Kluyveromyces marxianus, Lactobacillus fermentum, Mucor ambiguous, Rhizopus microspores, Rhizopus azygosporus, Mucor circinelloides, and Ascoidea rubescens were significantly positively correlated with two of the three key metabolic pathways. The results of this study provide a basis for understanding the differential core microbes in traditional and Round-Koji-mechanical starters of Chi-flavor Baijiu, and they also provide guidance for improving Round-Koji-mechanical starter.

Phosphorus (P), a critical macronutrient for plant growth and reproduction, is primarily acquired and translocated in the form of inorganic phosphate (Pi) by roots. Pi deficiency is widespread in many natural ecosystems, including forest plantations, due to its slow movement and easy fixation in soils. Plants have evolved complex and delicate regulation mechanisms on molecular and physiological levels to cope with Pi deficiency. Over the past two decades, extensive research has been performed to decipher the underlying molecular mechanisms that regulate the Pi starvation responses (PSR) in plants. This review highlights the prospects of Pi uptake, transport, and signaling in woody plants based on the backbone of model and crop plants. In addition, this review also highlights the interactions between phosphorus and other mineral nutrients such as Nitrogen (N) and Iron (Fe). Finally, this review discusses the challenges and potential future directions of Pi research in woody plants, including characterizing the woody-specific regulatory mechanisms of Pi signaling and evaluating the regulatory roles of Pi on woody-specific traits such as wood formation and ultimately generating high Phosphorus Use Efficiency (PUE) woody plants.

In this work, based on the first principles calculation of density functional theory (DFT), we studied the band structure changes of monolayer ZnO and ZnO/WSe2 before and after vacancy generation, and systematically studied the vacancy formation energy, band structure, density of states, electronic density difference and optical properties of ZnO/WSe2 heterostructure before and after vacancy generation. The results show that the band structures of ZnO, WSe2, and ZnO/WSe2 heterostructure are changed after the formation of Zn, O, W, and Se vacancies. The bandgap of the ZnO/WSe2 heterostructure can be effectively controlled, the transition from direct to indirect bandgap semiconductor will occur, and the heterostructure will show metallic properties. The optical properties of heterostructure have also changed significantly, and the absorption capacity of heterostructure to infrared light has been greatly increased with red shift and blue shift respectively. The generation of vacancy changes the electrical and optical properties of ZnO/WSe2 heterostructure, which provides a feasible strategy for adjusting the photoelectric properties of two-dimensional optoelectronic nano devices and has good potential and broad application prospects.