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Starch is a very important plant polysaccharide, which is also an important industrial raw material for food production and processing.Since natural starch has poor heat, shear and acid resistance, and is easy to retrograde.It is necessary to carry out physical modification, chemical modification and enzyme modification.Among starch modification, especially chemical modification, chemical reagents are easy to remain in modified starch, so rapid and safe physical modification has attracted more and more attention.In physical modification, thermal processing modification is widely used.This paper summarizes the effects of six thermally treated technologies on the structure and properties of starch, aiming to provide a theoretical reference for the research on physicochemical properties of physically modified starch, in order to provide a certain theoretical basis for the production and development of starch with specific needs.

SUMMARY: Erianin, crepidatin, and chrysotobibenzyl are typical medicinal polymethoxylated bibenzyls (PMBs) that are commercially produced in Dendrobium species. PMBs' chemo‐diversity is mediated by the manifold combinations of O‐methylation and hydroxylation in a definite order, which remains unsolved. To unequivocally elucidate the methylation mechanism of PMBs, 15 possible intermediates in the biosynthetic pathway of PMBs were chemically synthesized. DcOMT1–5 were highly expressed in tissues where PMBs were biosynthesized, and their expression patterns were well‐correlated with the accumulation profiles of PMBs. Moreover, cell‐free orthogonal tests based on the synthesized intermediates further confirmed that DcOMT1‐5 exhibited distinct substrate preferences and displayed hydroxyl‐group regiospecificity during the sequential methylation process. The stepwise methylation of PMBs was discovered from SAM to dihydro‐piceatannol (P) in the following order: P → 3‐MeP → 4‐OH‐3‐MeP → 4‐OH‐3,5‐diMeP → 3,3'(4′),5‐triMeP → 3,4,4′,5‐tetraMeP (erianin) or 3,3′,4,5‐tetraMeP (crepidatin) → 3,3′,4,4′,5‐pentaMeP (chrysotobibenzyl). Furthermore, the regioselectivities of DcOMTs were investigated by ligand docking analyses which corresponded precisely with the catalytic activities. In summary, the findings shed light on the sequential catalytic mechanisms of PMB biosynthesis and provide a comprehensive PMB biosynthetic network in D. catenatum. The knowledge gained from this study may also contribute to the development of plant‐based medicinal applications and the production of high‐value PMBs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to clarify the effects of planting density with nitrogen rate on regulation of nitrogen utilization in summer direct seeded cotton, the CCRI 425 were used as the experimental materials in the Key Laboratory of Genetics and Physiology of Yangzhou University in 2019 and 2020. Density were used as the main treatments in 2019 and three levels of density of 60,000 plants hm-2, 90,000 plants hm-2, and 120,000 plants hm-2 were set. Nitrogen application rate as the secondary treatments and four levels of convention nitrogen application rate (0 kg hm-2, 90 kg hm-2, 150 kg hm-2, and 210 kg hm-2) were conducted. Production application (90,000 plants m-2, 180 kg hm-2 nitrogen application rate) was used as the CK. Under the density of 120,000 plants hm-2, there were four levels of convention nitrogen application rate (0 kg hm-2, 90 kg hm-2, 150 kg hm-2, and 210 kg hm-2). The results showed that cotton seed yield was increased, reaching 4147.8-5119.2 kg hm-2, at the density of 12x104 plants hm-2 with nitrogen application of 150 kg hm-2. The dry matter of reproductive organs was 2605.6-2863.6 kg hm-2 and accounted for over 50% of the total dry matter weight. Nitrogen accumulation in reproductive organs was significantly increased, reaching 45.97-60.70 kg hm-2. Nitrogen use efficiency was significantly increased, nitrogen recovery efficiency (NRE) was 42.58%-44.17%, agronomic nitrogen use efficiency (aNUE) was 7.16-21.34 kg (kg N) -1, physiological nitrogen use efficiency (pNUE) was 19.16-24.03 kg (kg N) -1, partial productivity of nitrogen fertilizer (NPP) was 21.12-34.13 kg (kg N) -1. Regression analysis further showed that nitrogen recovery efficiency, nitrogen agronomic efficiency, nitrogen physiological efficiency, and physiological efficiency were linearly positively correlated with yield. The percentage of open bolls reached 43.59%-60.76% before spraying defoliation and ripening agent and the normal flocculation rate could be achieved after spraying defoliation and ripening agent. Therefore, high-density with medium nitrogen rate is beneficial to nitrogen absorption and utilization, which provides the technical support for high yield, high efficient production, and nitrogen reduction in cotton. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Soybean is a short‐day plant that typically flowers earlier when exposed to short‐day conditions. However, the identification of genes associated with earlier flowering time but without a yield penalty is rare. In this study, we conducted genome‐wide association studies (GWAS) using two re‐sequencing datasets that included 113 wild soybeans (G. soja) and 1192 cultivated soybeans (G. max), respectively, and simultaneously identified a candidate flowering gene, qFT13‐3, which encodes a protein homologous to the pseudo‐response regulator (PRR) transcription factor. We identified four major haplotypes of qFT13‐3 in the natural population, with haplotype H4 (qFT13‐3H4) being lost during domestication, while qFT13‐3H1 underwent natural and artificial selection, increasing in proportion from 4.5% in G. soja to 43.8% in landrace and to 81.9% in improve cultivars. Notably, most cultivars harbouring qFT13‐3H1 were located in high‐latitude regions. Knockout of qFT13‐3 accelerated flowering and maturity time under long‐day conditions, indicating that qFT13‐3 functions as a flowering inhibitor. Our results also showed that qFT13‐3 directly downregulates the expression of GmELF3b‐2 which is a component of the circadian clock evening complex. Field trials revealed that the qft13‐3 mutants shorten the maturity period by 11 days without a concomitant penalty on yield. Collectively, qFT13‐3 can be utilized for the breeding of high‐yield cultivars with a short maturity time suitable for high latitudes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To investigate the effect of syphilis infection on the microstructure of white matter (WM) in HIV-infected male patients using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI).Methods: Twenty-seven HIV-infected male patients with current syphilis or a history of syphilis (HIV +/syphilis +), twenty-nine HIV-infected male patients without syphilis co-infection (HIV +/syphilis–), and twenty-nine healthy controls (HC) were enrolled. All participants received DTI, and all patients received comprehensive neuropsychological assessment. Tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) was adopted to analyze the DTI measures: fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity (MD), axial diffusivity (AD), and radial diffusivity (RD). Correlation analysis was conducted to investigate the relationships between DTI measures and cognitive performance.Results: There were no significant differences in DTI measures between HIV+/syphilis– and HC. Compared with HC, lower FA was found in body of corpus callosum (BCC), splenium of corpus callosum (SCC), genu of corpus callosum (GCC), the bilateral anterior corona radiata (ACR), superior corona radiata (SCR), posterior corona radiata (PCR), and posterior thalamic radiation (PTR) in HIV+/syphilis+ (p < 0.05). Higher RD was found in BCC and SCC (p < 0.05). Compared with HIV+/syphilis–, lower scores were found in complex motor skills (CMS) in HIV+/syphilis+, lower FA was found in BCC, SCC, GCC, the bilateral ACR, SCR, PCR, PTR, cingulate gyrus (CGC), the right inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus (IFO), the retrolenticular part of internal capsule (RLIC), sagittal stratum (SS), external capsule (EC) in HIV+/syphilis+ (p < 0.01). Correlation analysis uncorrected for multiple comparisons showed there was a positive correlation between FA in GCC and CMS, FA in BCC, and CMS in HIV+/syphilis+.Conclusions: Syphilis co-infection can have an additive or synergistic effect on the brain WM in HIV-infected subjects. HIV-infected patients without syphilis should be actively treated to avoid syphilis infection.

Soybean oil and rapeseed oil were taken as the research objects, and the sensory quality and characteristic indexes changes during the frying process for 15 hours at 170 ℃ were discussed. Meanwhile, the relationship between fatty acid composition, polar component, viscosity value and high value of oil bubble was studied. The results showed that the sensory experience of soybean oil in the frying process was better than that of rapeseed oil. The changes of acid value of the two kinds of oils were within the hygienic standard(acid value≤5 mgKOH/g), and there was a significant positive correlation between the bubble high value,viscosity, polar components and the frying time (P