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Ticks are a group of blood-sucking ectoparasites that play an important role in human health and livestock production development as vectors of zoonotic diseases. The phylogenetic tree of single genes cannot accurately reflect the true kinship between species. Based on the complete mitochondrial genome analysis one can help to elucidate the phylogenetic relationships among species. In this study, the complete mitochondrial genome of Dermacentor steini (isolate Longyan) was sequenced and compared with the mitochondrial genes of 3 other Chinese isolates (Nanchang, Jinhua and Yingtan). In Dermacentor steini 4 isolates had identical or similar mitochondrial genome lengths and an overall variation of 0.76% between sequences. All nucleotide compositions showed a distinct AT preference. The most common initiation and stop codons were ATG and TAA, respectively. Fewer base mismatches were found in the tRNA gene of D. steini (isolate Longyan), and the vicinity of the control region and tRNA gene was a hot rearrangement region of the genus Dermacentor. Maximum likelihood trees and Bayesian trees indicate that D. steini is most closely related to Dermacentor auratus. The results enrich the mitochondrial genomic data of species in the genus Dermacentor and provide novel insights for further studies on the phylogeographic classification and molecular evolution of ticks.

SpyTag/Catcher chemistry is usually applied to engineer robust enzymes via head-to-tail cyclization using spontaneous intramolecular isopeptide bond formation. However, the SpyTag/Catcher induced intercellular protein assembly in vivo cannot be ignored. It was found that some active inclusion bodies had generated to different proportions in the expression of six SpyTag/Catcher labeled proteins (CatIBs-STCProtein). Some factors that may affect the formation of CatIBs-STCProtein were discussed, and the subunit quantities were found to be strongly positively related to the formation of protein aggregates. Approximately 85.44% of the activity of the octameric protein leucine dehydrogenase (LDH) was expressed in aggregates, while the activity of the monomeric protein green fluorescence protein (GFP) in aggregates was 12.51%. The results indicated that SpyTag/Catcher can be used to form protein aggregates in E. coli. To facilitate the advantages of CatIBs-STCProtein, we took the CatIBs-STCLDH as an example and further chemically cross-linked with glutaraldehyde to obtain novel cross-linked enzyme aggregates (CLEAs-CatIBs-STCLDH). CLEAs-CatIBs-STCLDH had good thermal stability and organic solvents stability, and its activity remained 51.03% after incubation at 60 °C for 100 mins. Moreover, the crosslinked CatIBs-STCLDH also showed superior stability over traditional CLEAs, and its activity remained 98.70% after 10 cycles of catalysis.

Thyroid carcinoma (THCA) is the most common endocrine malignancy. Recent research has shown heat shock protein family A (HSPA5) as a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker for various malignancies. Nevertheless, the role of HSPA5 in THCA is unclear. This study aims to explore HSPA5 expression in THCA and its potential diagnostic and therapeutic value for THCA.We obtained the data of HSPA5 expression in THCA and normal thyroid tissues from the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO). We used the Shapiro-Wilk normality test, Levene's test, t-test, Dunn's test, Kruskal-Wallis test, Wilcoxon rank sum test, chi-square test, Fisher's exact test, and logistic regression to evaluate the relationship between the expression of HSPA5 and clinicopathological features. Kaplan-Meier method and Cox regression were applied to analyse the correlation between the expression level of HSPA5 and prognosis of THCA patients, and to construct a prognosis prediction model of THCA patients. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) was applied to explore the potential pathway related to HSPA5 in THCA.HSPA5 expression was lower in THCA tissues than in normal thyroid tissues (p0.001). Low expression of HSPA5 in THCA patients was related to poorer T stage (p0.001), N stage (p0.001), pathologic stage (p0.001), tumour extrathyroidal extension (p0.001), residual tumour (p = 0.03), and progression-free interval (PFI) event (p = 0.002). Low HSPA5 expression was associated with poor PFI. According to the results of univariate analysis, THCA patients who had high HSPA5 levels had longer PFI (p = 0.042). Enrichment analysis via GO/KEGG showed that the top 10 genes related to HSPA5 were all enriched in the pathways related to endoplasmic reticulum function. Moreover, HSPA5 expression was related to immune infiltrating cells.Decreased expression of HSPA5 is associated with worse clinicopathological features, shorter PFI and higher immune infiltration level of multiple immune cells, which demonstrated that HSPA5 is a prognostic biomarker in THCA.

In this study, nitrilase (Nit) was immobilized in zeolite imidazole framework-90 (ZIF-90) by one-pot biomimetic mineralization strategy. The structure, morphology and functional groups of ZIF-90 and immobilized enzyme Nit@ZIF-90 were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM)/energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). Circular dichroism (CD) proved that the immobilized method of encapsulation in ZIF-90 could effectively maintain the intrinsic conformation of Nit. Meanwhile, the stability and reusability of Nit@ZIF-90 were systematically evaluated. Compared with the free enzyme, the thermal, pH and organic solvents stability of Nit@ZIF-90 were significantly increased. Further, Nit@ZIF-90 exhibited better reusability during the hydrolysis of acrylonitrile and retained 48.34% of the initial activity after 10 cycles. Besides, the Ni@ZIF-90 had preferable storage stability, which showed a high degree of residual activity (more than 64 %) after storage at 4 °C for 7 d. The improved stability and reusability of the Nit@ZIF-90 implied that it could be used as a potential effective biocatalyst for hydrolysis of nitrile compounds in industrial application.

Background. The dismal prognosis of gastric signet ring cell carcinoma (GSRC) is a global problem. The current study is conducted to comprehensively evaluate clinicopathological features and survival outcomes in GSRC patients stratified by anatomic subsites. Then, predictive nomograms are constructed and validated to improve the effectiveness of personalized management. Method. The patients diagnosed with GSRC were recruited from the online SEER database. The influence of anatomic subsites on overall survival (OS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS) was evaluated using multivariate Cox regression and Kaplan-Meier analysis. Then, we employed propensity score matching (PSM) technique to decrease selection bias and balance patients’ epidemiological factors. Predictive nomograms were constructed and validated. Sensitivity analysis was performed to validate the conclusion. Results. Multivariate Cox regression demonstrated that the patients with overlapping gastric cancer (OGC) suffered the highest mortality risk for OS (HR, 1.29; 95% CI, 1.23-1.36; P < 0.001 ) and CSS (HR, 1.33; 95% CI, 1.28-1.37; P < 0.001 ). Age, TNM stage, tumor localization, tumor size, surgery, and chemotherapy presented a highly significant relationship with OS and CSS. Following subgroup and PSM analysis, OGC patients were confirmed to have the worst OS and CSS. Then, nomograms predicting 6-month, 12-month, and 36-month survival were constructed. The area under the curve (AUC) value in ROC was 0.775 (95% CI, 0.761-0.793) for 6-month survival, 0.789 (95% CI, 0.776-0.801) for 12-month survival, and 0.780 (95% CI, 0.765-0.793) for 36-month survival in the OS group, while in the CSS group, it was 0.771 (95% CI, 0.758-0.790) for 6-month survival, 0.781 (95% CI, 0.770-0.799) for 12-month survival, and 0.773 (95% CI, 0.762-0.790) for 36-month survival. Conclusion. We identified anatomic subsites as a predictor of survival in those with GSRC. Patients with OGC suffered the highest mortality risk. The proposed nomograms allowed a relatively accurate survival prediction for GSRC patients.

To study the effect of SpyTag/SpyCatcher cyclization on stability and refolding of protein, we constructed a cyclized green fluorescent protein (SRGFP) and its derivative to act as a linear structure control (L-SRGFP). SRGFP and L-SRGFP showed similar fluorescence characteristics to the wild-type GFP, while compared with GFP and L-SRGFP, the thermal stability and denaturation resistance of SRGFP were improved. The refolding efficiencies of these three denatured proteins were investigated under different pH, temperature and initial protein concentration conditions, and it was found that SRGFP was superior to GFP and L-SRGFP in terms of refolding yield and refolding speed. In the pH range of 8.0-8.5, SRGFP could basically recover all fluorescence, while GFP and L-SRGFP recovered only about 87.52% and 88.58%. When refolded at a high temperature (37 °C), SRGFP still recovered 85.27% of the fluorescence, whereas GFP and L-SRGFP recovered only around 69.43% and 68.45%. At a high initial protein concentration (5 mg/mL), the refolding yield of SRGFP was about 15% higher than that of both GFP and L-SRGFP. These results suggest that the introduction of SpyRing structure (head-to-tail cyclization via SpyTag and SpyCatcher) improved the protein's stability and facilitated the refolding of denatured protein.

Background The family Parasitidae (Arachnida: Acari) includes 426 species. Up to now, the complete mitochondrial genomes of only one Parasitidae species (Parasitus wangdunqingi) has been sequenced, and it was discovered that the mitochondrial genome of this species have retained the ancestral mitochondrial genome organization of arthropods. The scarcity of available sequence data has greatly impeded evolutionary studies in Acari (mites and ticks). Here, we report the complete mitochondrial genome of Parasitus fimetorum (Family Parasitidae) and provide a comparison to Parasitus wangdunqingi. Methods We use a PCR-based strategy to amplify the mitochondrial genome of Parasitus fimetorum, and these amplicons are sequenced using the Illumina Hiseq X-10 platform. Phylogeny of Parasitiformes mites based on cox1 gene of 51 species using maximum likelihood (ML) methods. Result The complete mt genome of P. fimetorum is a typical circular, double-stranded DNA molecule 14,619 bp in size that contains 13 protein-coding genes, 22 transfer RNA genes, 2 ribosomal RNA genes, and 1 control region. The mitochondrial gene order of P. fimetorum was similar to that of the arthropods hypothesized ancestor. Mitochondrial genomes of P. fimetorum and P. wangdunqingi were compared and analyzed with the following characteristics: (1) both parasitus species evolved independently rather than synergically; (2) the preference of the two mites for codons is different, which may be due to the mutation pressure of certain mites. Phylogenetic analyses based on sequences of the cox1 genes showed that Parasitidae was monophyletic. Conclusion The mitochondrial genomes of Parasitidae mites likely remained the ancestral mt genome organization of arthropods and phylogeny of Parasitiformes mites based on cox1 gene sequences indicates that different lineages are basically monophyletic, and strong supports the current morphological taxonomy. Among others, this new resource will provided thoroughly and systematically information for further study on the mitogenomes, phylogenetics and taxonomic revision of the mites.

Fusarium wilt caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici (Fol) has severely decreased global tomato production. Organic amendments are widely applied to suppress Fol all over the world. However, the ways in which different amendments alter soil bulk microflora and thereby induce the suppression of Fol remain unclear. In this study, the effects of three organic amendments on the suppression of Fol in soil and the underlying mechanisms of those effects were studied. The organic amendments included in this study are rice straw, chicken manure compost, and vermicompost. High-throughput HiSeq sequencing and Real-Time PCR were used to determine the effect of the soil microbiota on the abundance of Fol. The abundance of Fol increased significantly with the duration of tomato cultivation. Vermicompost was the most effective organic fertilizer to suppress Fol in long-term continuous tomato cropping soil. Partial Least Squares Path Modeling revealed a strong positive relationship between the relative abundance of bacterial groups (including the genera Nocardioides, Ilumatobacter and Gaiella) and Fol inhibition. Soil chemical properties (pH, NH4+-N, soil organic matter and dissolved organic carbon) were positively associated with the genera Nocardioides, Ilumatobacter and Gaiella. Compared with chemical fertilizer and rice straw, vermicompost addition significantly increased soil pH, NH4+-N, soil organic matter and dissolved organic carbon concentrations in the soil with 20 years of tomato cultivation. Most importantly, the genera Nocardioides, Ilumatobacter and Gaiella were enriched in vermicompost, which may contribute to the propagation of these bacteria in the soil when vermicompost is added. This study provides a mechanistic framework that permits the exploration of specific functions at lower taxonomic levels. This may represent a novel approach in the management of crop pathogens via promotion of beneficial organisms.

In order to obtain high tomato production, chemical fertilizers have been intensively applied in solar greenhouse in Northern China. This unreasonable use of chemical fertilizers always leads to so...

Electricity price is the precondition and foundation of making decision and plan for the stakeholders in modern electric power market. The deregulation of power markets makes the market environment competitive in recent years. For business opportunities, many aggregators and retailers sprung up, which make electricity price appear fluctuation coupled with changing market structure and some influence factors. It undoubtedly increases the difficulty to analyze electricity price. Therefore, our proposed a novel method called multi-variable nonlinear vector time series (MNVTS) model which considering multidimensional influence factors in order to forecast real-time electricity prices. This forecasting model firstly clusters RTEP fluctuation process into the peak prices, abnormal prices, low prices and stable prices, then calculates and extracts the most influence factors. Our experiments show that our method has good prediction precision.

Novel red light-emitting nanophosphors of SrMoO4:Eu3+, Sm3+ were synthesized by a facile sol-gel method. Particles have sizes in the range of 50-80 nm. The structures, morphologies and optical properties of as-prepared products were characterized by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscope (TEM) and photo luminescent (PL). The results indicate that the red emission intensity was enhanced significantly with the increase of Sm3+ doping concentrations. When the mole fraction of Sm3+ is 2%, the emission intensity of red light is the strongest. It has been found that the incorporation of R+(Li+, Na+) into SrMoO4:Eu3+, Sm3+ phosphor could lead to a remarkable increase of photoluminescence. Thus, it is considered to be efficient red-emitting phosphors.

Novel red light-emitting nanophosphors of SrMoO4:Eu3+, Sm3+ were synthesized by a facile sol-gel method. Particles have sizes in the range of 50-80 nm. The structures, morphologies and optical properties of as-prepared products were characterized by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscope (TEM) and photo luminescent (PL). The results indicate that the red emission intensity was enhanced significantly with the increase of Sm3+ doping concentrations. When the mole fraction of Sm3+ is 2%, the emission intensity of red light is the strongest. It has been found that the incorporation of R+(Li+, Na+) into SrMoO4:Eu3+, Sm3+ phosphor could lead to a remarkable increase of photoluminescence. Thus, it is considered to be efficient red-emitting phosphors.