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This study aimed to accurately identify the “golden flower” fungus, and characterize its effects on the chemical composition of Fu tea. A “golden flower” fungus strain was isolated from Hunan Fu tea and named as ACF-1. The ACF-1 was identified as Aspergillus cristatus using culture characteristics, optical microscopic structure, electron microscopic structure, ITS region sequence alignment analysis, and multigene phylogeny analysis based on β-tubulin, calmodulin, and RNA polymerase Ⅱ gene sequences. ACF-1 fungus was inoculated into sterilized primary dark tea for a loose tea “flowering” experiment, to analyze changes in the main chemical components. Polyphenol, free amino acid, soluble sugar, and flavonoid contents changed substantially in the “flowering” samples compared to non-“flowering”, decreasing by 11.3%, 17.3%, 11.9%, and 33.8%, respectively. The variation of chemical components made a foundation for the quality improvement during the process. These findings provide a more comprehensive understanding of the formation of the sensory characteristics in Fu tea and provide a guidance for the development and utilization of “golden flower” fungus.

Extensive chloride ions present in seawater can undergo a competitive reaction with water oxidation on the anode during seawater electrocatalysis. The use of alkaline electrolytes enhances the selectivity of seawater oxidation towards the oxygen evolution reaction rather than the chlorine evolution reaction by increasing the potential gap between the two reactions. Layered double hydroxides (LDHs), also known as hydrotalcites, which can withstand alkaline environments, are suitable for seawater oxidation due to their stability and selectivity. Recent years have witnessed a growing number of publications on LDH-catalyzed seawater splitting. To gain a comprehensive understanding of the current state and challenges of LDH-related electrocatalysts in seawater electrocatalysis, this review conducts a thorough assessment of recent advances in the synthesis, characterization, and electrocatalytic performance of LDH-related materials. First, the review introduces the reaction mechanisms of seawater electrocatalysis over LDH-related materials. The second part presents the common synthetic methods of LDHs, along with the advantages and limitations of each method, as well as various characterization techniques for investigating the structure–activity relationship. Subsequently, the principles for designing LDH-based electrocatalysts and modulating their electrocatalytic activities for seawater splitting are summarized. Furthermore, this review concludes with an analysis of the electrocatalytic performances of LDH derivatives (metal(oxy)hydroxides and phosphides) obtained from LDH precursors. Finally, the challenges and prospects of LDH-related electrocatalysts for seawater electrolysis are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rosette‐type submerged macrophytes are widely distributed across a range of water depths in shallow lakes and play a key role in maintaining ecosystem structures and functions. However, little is known about the rapid adaptive responses of such macrophytes to variations in water depth, especially at the juvenile stage. Here, we conducted a short‐term in situ mesocosm experiment, in which the juveniles of Vallisneria natans were exposed to a water depth gradient ranging from 20 to 360 cm. Twenty‐two leaf‐related traits were examined after 4 weeks of growth in a shallow lake. Most (18) traits of V. natans generally showed high plasticity in relation to water depth. Specifically, juveniles allocated more biomass to leaves and had higher specific leaf area, leaf length‐to‐width ratio, chlorophyll content, and carotenoids content in deep waters, displaying trait syndrome associated with high resource acquisition. In contrast, V. natans juveniles in shallow waters had higher leaf dry matter content, leaf soluble carbohydrate content, carotenoids per unit chlorophyll, and peroxidase activity, pertaining to resource conservation. Notably, underwater light intensity was found to be the key factor explaining the trait plasticity along the water depth gradient, and 1.30 mol photons m−2 d−1 (at 270 cm) could be the optimal irradiance level based on the total biomass of V. natans juveniles. The present study highlights the significance of leaf trait plasticity for rosette‐type macrophytes in response to variations in water depth and sheds new light on the differences between trade‐offs in deep‐ and shallow‐water areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of nanoparticles (NPs) on microbiota homeostasis and their physiological relevance are still unclear. Herein, we compared the modulation and consequent pharmacological effects of oral administration of (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG)-loaded β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) NPs (EGCG@β-CD NPs) and EGCG on gut microbiota. EGCG@β-CD NPs were prepared using self-assembly and their influence on the intestinal microbiome structure was analyzed using a metagenomics approach. The "Encapsulation efficiency (EE), particle size, polydispersity index (PDI), zeta potential" of EGCG@β-CD NPs were recorded as 98.27 ± 0.36%, 124.6 nm, 0.313 and -24.3 mV, respectively. Surface morphology of EGCG@β-CD NPs was observed as spherical. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and molecular docking studies confirmed that EGCG could be well encapsulated in β-CD and formed as EGCG@β-CD NPs. After being continuously administered EGCG@β-CD NPs for 8 weeks, the serum cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and liver malondialdehyde (MDA) levels in the rats were significantly decreased, while the levels of catalase (CAT) and apolipoprotein-A1 (apo-A1) in the liver increased significantly in the hyperlipidemia model of rats, when compared to the high-fat-diet group. Furthermore, metagenomic analysis revealed that the ratio of Verrucomicrobia/Bacteroidetes was altered and Bacteroidetes decreased in the high-fat diet +200 mg/kg·bw EGCG@β-CD NPs group, while the abundance of Verrucomicrobia was significantly increased, especially Akkermansia muciniphila in rat feces. EGCG@β-CD NPs could be a promising EGCG delivery strategy to modulate the gut microbiota, enhancing its employment in the prevention of hyperlipidemia.