Search

Evidence for cultivated wheat at 4650 cal. yr BP, as part of a broadening agricultural-based society (4650–4300 cal. yr BP), is presented from Xishanping in northwest China. This was established from archaeobotanical evidence and radiocarbon dating. Crops from SW Asia had therefore been adopted in China about 2500 years earlier than previously thought, and long before the ‘Silk Road’ route was known to be used. The data show that the early infiltration and blending of agriculture involving rice, buckwheat, barley, millet and wheat occurred in this region. This raises questions as to why crops from China do not appear further westward at this time and how the blending of agricultural practices contributed to the development of Chinese civilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

旨在提升脱酚棉籽蛋白的质量，对现有脱酚棉籽蛋白生产工艺中存在的问题进行了分析，并提出了改进方案。现有的脱酚棉籽蛋白生产工艺存在棉坯粉末度高、棉坯水分含量高以及脱酚棉籽蛋白KOH蛋白质溶解度低的问题。通过将棉仁与棉仁粉末分开处理，并增添造粒机将棉仁粉末造粒，以及将烘干机的出料刮板改成提升机来降低粉末度；采用引风与蒸汽同时烘干的方法来降低棉坯水分含量；采用离心分离技术及时分离物料中的脱酚液，减少脱酚液中的水分含量，进而提升脱酚棉籽蛋白KOH蛋白质溶解度。改进工艺生产的脱酚棉籽蛋白的品质得到了提升，产品质量稳定，而且改进后的工艺能耗降低，节约了成本。In order to improve the quality of degossypolized cottonseed protein, the existing problems in the production process of degossypolized cottonseed protein were analyzed, and the improvement scheme was put forward. The existing production technology of degossypolized cottonseed protein has the problems of high powder degree and high moisture content of cottonseed flake, and low KOH protein solubility of cottonseed protein. By separating the cottonseed kernel from the cottonseed kernel powder, adding a granulator to granulate the cottonseed kernel powder, and changing the discharge scraper of the dryer into a elevator, the powder degree was reduced. The moisture content in cottonseed flake was reduced by drying with air and steam simultaneously. Centrifugal separation technology was used to separate the degossypolized solution in the material so as to reduce the moisture content in the degossypolized solution, and then improve the KOH protein solubility of cottonseed protein. The quality of degossypolized cottonseed protein produced by the improved process is improved, the product quality is stable, the energy consumption in production is reduced, and the cost is saved.

Glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored glycoproteins have various intrinsic functions in yeasts and different uses in vitro. In the present study, the genome of Pichia pastoris GS115 was screened for potential GPI-modified cell wall proteins. Fifty putative GPI-anchored proteins were selected on the basis of (i) the presence of a C-terminal GPI attachment signal sequence, (ii) the presence of an N-terminal signal sequence for secretion, and (iii) the absence of transmembrane domains in mature protein. The predicted GPI-anchored proteins were fused to an alpha-factor secretion signal as a substitute for their own N-terminal signal peptides and tagged with the chimeric reporters FLAG tag and mature Candida antarctica lipase B (CALB). The expression of fusion proteins on the cell surface of P. pastoris GS115 was determined by whole-cell flow cytometry and immunoblotting analysis of the cell wall extracts obtained by β-l,3-glucanase digestion. CALB displayed on the cell surface of P. pastoris GS115 with the predicted GPI-anchored proteins was examined on the basis of potential hydrolysis of p-nitrophenyl butyrate. Finally, 13 proteins were confirmed to be GPI-modified cell wall proteins in P. pastoris GS115, which can be used to display heterologous proteins on the yeast cell surface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the pathogen that causes tuberculosis, exhibits complex host-pathogen interactions. Pattern recognition receptors and their downstream signaling pathways play crucial roles in determining the outcome of infection. In particular, the scaffold protein b-arrestin 2 mediates downstream signaling of G protein-coupled receptors. However, the role of b-arrestin 2 in conferring immunity against M. tuberculosis has not yet been explored. We found that b-arrestin 2 was upregulated in the lesioned regions of lung tissues in patients with tuberculosis. M. tuberculosis infection upregulated b-arrestin 2 expression in human macrophages, and silencing of β-arrestin 2 significantly enhanced bactericidal activity by enhancing the expression of proinflammatory cytokines such as TNF-α. β-Arrestin 2 was shown to inhibit the activation of the TLR2/ERK1/2 pathway and its transcriptional regulation activity upon M. tuberculosis infection. Furthermore, b-arrestin 2 transcriptionally regulates TNF-α by binding to CREB1. These observations revealed that the upregulation of β-arrestin 2 is critical for M. tuberculosis to escape immune surveillance through an unknown mechanism. Our research offers a novel interference modality to enhance the immune response against tuberculosis by targeting b-arrestin 2 to modulate the TLR2-β-arrestin 2-ERK1/2-CREB1-TNF-α regulatory axis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which primarily infects mononuclear phagocytes, remains the leading bacterial cause of enormous morbidity and mortality because of bacterial infections in humans throughout the world. The IL-1 family of cytokines is critical for host resistance to M. tuberculosis. As a newly discovered subgroup of the IL-1 family, although IL-36 cytokines have been proven to play roles in protection against M. tuberculosis infection, the antibacterial mechanisms are poorly understood. In this study, we demonstrated that IL-36γ conferred to human monocyte-derived macrophages bacterial resistance through activation of autophagy as well as induction of WNT5A, a reported downstream effector of IL-1 involved in several inflammatory diseases. Further studies showed that WNT5A could enhance autophagy of monocyte-derived macrophages by inducing cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) expression and in turn decrease phosphorylation of AKT/mTOR via noncanonical WNT signaling. Consistently, the underlying molecular mechanisms of IL-36γ function are also mediated by the COX-2/AKT/mTOR signaling axis. Altogether, our findings reveal a novel activity for IL-36γ as an inducer of autophagy, which represents a critical inflammatory cytokine that control the outcome of M. tuberculosis infection in human macrophages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mid-Holocene hydroclimates and the forcing mechanisms over arid Central Asia (ACA) are hotly debated in the context of global climate change. It is widely assumed that ACA Holocene precipitation broadly followed and/or was out-of-phase with Northern Hemisphere solar insolation. However, here we show a broadly antiphase relationship between Holocene boreal solar insolation and ACA hydroclimatic trend revealed from a well-dated peat core (at the Big Black peatland; BBP) in northwestern China, southern Altai Mountains. Multiple proxies, including peat development rate, pollen assemblages, and peat cellulose isotopic records, show wet conditions during the early and late Holocene, but drought condition during the mid- Holocene. This hydroclimatic pattern is similar to those extracted from other peatlands nearby and those inferred from sedimentary records in lakes in adjacent regions. The trend of δ18O in BBP peat cellulose is similar to that of a stalagmite in northern Xinjiang, both of which record the Holocene atmospheric precipitation δ18 O trend over ACA areas and possibly suggest a changing proportion of glacier meltwater supply. We speculate that the mid-Holocene drought over ACA could be ascribed to: (1) the northward movement of the westerlies, such that when the westerlies moved northward under warm conditions, less water vapor was transported to ACA, and vice versa, and (2) increased evaporation under mid-Holocene warm conditions. The data from this study and the potential mechanisms suggest that drier conditions are expected over ACA areas under a continuous global warming expectation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]