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AbstractIn this study, UV-B radiation of 96 kJ·m−2·d−1 exposed to the ‘Tainong 1’ mango tree, and trees as the control group under natural lighting. The relative conductivity and the contents of MDA, superoxide anion, H2O2 were lower in the treatment group than in the control group before 60 DAF, and the opposite occurred after 60 DAF. The total flavonoid content in the treatment group was higher than that in the control group, but the opposite occurred later. The 60 DAF serves as the critical point. Before 60 DAF, the treatment enhanced the activity of each enzyme by inducing the upregulated expression of genes such as CHS, R02446, and CYP98A so that gallochol, leucoside, kaempferoside, quercetin, isoquercetin and luteolin, and then removed ROS through the reduction of flavonoids. After 60 DAF, the treatment enhanced the activity of each enzyme by inducing the upregulated expression of HCT and R02446, but the synthesized flavonoids are consumed by ROS. Meanwhile, ROS also accumulate continuously because of the enhanced continuous exposure of UV-B radiation. The downregulated expression of CYP75A led to a decline in enzyme activity. The accumulation rate of flavonoid compounds was lower than that of ROS, which led to ROS damage in pulp.

Ten 16-year-old trees were used as test materials to investigate the effect of foliar calcium fertilizer on the sugar content of ‘Feizixiao’ litchi (Litchi chinensis Sonn.) pulp. The experiment began 35 days after anthesis (DAA) in 2020 and 2021, and the treatment was a foliar spray application of 0.3% CaCl2 aqueous solution, whereas the control was a foliar spray application of water. The sugar content, sucrose-metabolizing enzymes, and ATP-dependent phosphofructokinase (PFK) activities in pulp were measured in 2020 and 2021. Transcriptome sequencing (RNA-seq) was performed on RNA samples from treatment and control fruit pulps at 35, 63, and 69 DAA (full mature stage) in 2020, and 10 genes were chosen for confirmation by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in 2020 and 2021. At full maturity, the soluble sugar content in the calcium-treated group was extremely significantly or significantly higher than that in the control group. After 63 DAA, the net sucrose-metabolizing enzyme activity in the calcium-treated group was significantly higher than that in the control group. Furthermore, at full maturity, the calcium-treated group had significantly higher sucrose synthase cleavage activity and significantly lower PFK activity than the control group. Fifty-four highly expressed genes in the glycolytic pathway (EMP) were screened from transcriptome data, including hexokinase, PFK, and pyruvate kinase genes; 87% of these genes were downregulated in the treatment group compared with the control group at 69 DAA in 2020. The linear regression between RNA-seq and real-time PCR results was significant in 2020 (r = 0.9292) and 2021 (r = 0.8889). When the fruit is fully ripe, calcium treatment increases net sucrose-metabolizing enzyme activity by increasing sucrose synthase cleavage activity, promoting the accumulation of reducing sugars, and it downregulates phosphofructokinase gene expression in EMP, promoting sugar accumulation.

To investigate the causes of the “sugar receding” in ‘Feizixiao’ litchi (Litchi chinensis Sonn.) pulp, the main sugar contents and sucrose metabolism enzyme activities were measured in pulp obtained in 2020 and 2021. Pulp RNA obtained in 2020 was extracted at 35, 63, and 69 days after anthesis (DAA) for transcriptome sequencing analysis. The differential expression of genes was verified by real-time PCR for both years. The results showed that after 63 DAA, the contents of soluble sugars and sucrose decreased, and the contents of fructose and glucose increased in both years. The dynamic changes in sucrose metabolism enzyme activities were similar in both years. After 63 DAA, except for acid invertase (AI) in 2021, the activities of other enzymes decreased significantly, and the net activity of sucrose metabolism enzymes showed a strong sucrose cleavage activity. There were 18061, 19575, and 985 differentially expressed genes in 35 d vs. 63 d, 35 d vs. 69 d, and 63 d vs. 69 d, respectively. Ninety-one sugar metabolism genes were screened out, including sucrose synthase (SS), sucrose phosphate synthase (SPS), AI, neutral invertase (NI), hexokinase (HK), glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD), 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase (6PGD), phosphofructokinase (PFK), and pyruvate kinase (PK) genes. In 63 d vs. 69 d, seventy-five percent of sucrose metabolism genes were downregulated, seventy-seven percent of genes in glycolysis (EMP) were upregulated and the PFK genes were significantly upregulated. There was a significant linear correlation between the expression of 15 genes detected by real-time PCR and the transcriptome sequencing results (r2020 = 0.9139, r2021 = 0.8912). These results suggest that the upregulated expression of PFK genes at maturity may enhance PFK activity and promote the degradation of soluble sugar in pulp through the EMP pathway, resulting in decreased soluble sugar and sucrose contents and “sugar receding” in pulp. Moreover, the downregulated expression of sucrose metabolism genes in pulp decreased the activities of these enzymes, but the net activity of these enzymes resulted in cleaved sucrose and replenished levels of reducing sugars, resulting in a stable reducing sugar content.

Objective: In the future, the stress of enhanced UV-B radiation on the Earth will first affect the photosynthesis of plants, including mangoes. Therefore, it is necessary to study the effects of enhanced UV-B radiation on the photosynthesis of mangoes. Methods: ‘Tainong No 1’ mango trees in the field were selected as the experimental material and divided into 2 groups: one group was shined under 96 kJ·m−2·d−1 UV-B lamps for artificially simulated treatment of enhanced UV-B radiation, and the other group was shined under sunshine directly as the control (CK). The main photosynthetic physiological indicators were measured with conventional methods, and the expression levels of the genes encoding large and small subunits of the Rubisco enzyme were measured with fluorescent qPCR. The changes in stomatal morphology and chloroplast structure were observed with scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. Results: The content of malondialdehyde (MDA) and the relative conductivity in the leaves of the treatment tended to be significantly higher than those of the CK. The net photosynthetic rate (Pn) of the treatment tended to decrease and be lower than that of CK. The dynamics of intercellular CO2 concentration (Ci) of the treatment and CK changed differently from each other but generally tended to decrease, and that of the treatment tended to be significantly higher than that of CK. The stomatal conductance (Gs) of the treatment and CK both generally decreased, and that of the treatment was always significantly lower than that of CK. The contents of chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b and total chlorophyll and the ratio of chlorophyll a/b of the treatment were lower than those of CK, while the carotenoid content showed the opposite trend. The stomata and the surface of leaves of the treatment were sunken and damaged, respectively. The palisade tissue, spongy tissue and upper epidermis thickened more, and the total thickness significantly increased. Meanwhile, the ratio of palisade tissue to spongy tissue decreased. During treatment, the chloroplasts were swollen and shortened, the number of chloroplasts was reduced, the starch grains were degraded, and the grana lamella were distorted, loosely arranged and blurred. The expression of the genes encoding the Rubisco large subunit (rbcL) in the treatment was significantly inhibited, while that encoding the Rubisco small subunit (rbcS) decreased first and increased later. In conclusion, 96 kJ·m−2·d−1 enhanced UV-B radiation treatment caused damage to the leaf cell membrane system. This led to stomatal limitation of photosynthesis by destroying the stomatal structure and nonstomatal limitation of photosynthesis by damaging the submicrostructure of the chloroplasts and downregulating the expression of rbcL. The leaves may resist the photosynthetic damage caused by enhanced UV-B radiation by upregulating rbcS expression as much as possible.

The sugar contents of ‘Feizixiao’ litchi (Litchi chinensis Sonn.) decrease at full maturity; calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg) foliar fertilizer can resolve this “sugar receding”. To investigate the physiological mechanism of Ca and Mg foliar fertilizer used to resolve the “sugar receding” phenomenon in ‘Feizixiao’ litchi pulp, 16-year-old litchi trees were treated with 0.3% CaCl2 + 0.3% MgCl2 foliar spraying or water as a control. We determined the pulp sugar content over a two-year period in 2020 and 2021. Pulp total RNA was extracted for transcriptome sequencing in 2020, and the expression pattern of 10 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) was verified by real-time PCR in 2020 and 2021. The results showed that the fertilizer treatment significantly increased pulp fructose and total soluble sugar contents at maturity in both years. According to Gene Ontology (GO) functional enrichment analysis, there were 155 DEGs divided into 35 GO categories, among which 49 DEGs were divided into 49 pathways according to Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis. We isolated sugar-metabolism-related enzyme genes, including sucrose synthase (SS), acid invertase (AI), neutral invertase (NI), sucrose phosphate synthase (SPS), and hexokinase (HK). All sucrose-metabolism-related enzyme (NI, AI, SS, SPS) genes were downregulated, and six of the seven HK genes were downregulated. The expression patterns of the 10 DEGs were verified by real-time PCR, which showed significant linear relationships (r2020 = 0.9127, r2021 = 0.8705). In conclusion, the fertilizer treatment inhibited the synthesis of sucrose and phosphorylation of hexose by downregulating the expression of the SS, SPS, and HK genes, thus increasing the fructose and total soluble sugar contents in ‘Feizixiao’ litchi.

The problem of Feizixiao lychee fruit cracking is typically solved by the application of calcium to the leaves. However, lychee trees are sensitive to excessive amounts of calcium, and in practice, it is easy to spray excessive amounts that result in fertilizer burns. This paper intends to explore the effects of excessive calcium fertilizer application on lychee fruit pulp quality and the underlying molecular physiological mechanism. Adult Feizixiao lychee trees were used as test materials; concerning treatment, a 54 μM anhydrous CaCl2 aqueous solution was sprayed onto the leaves, and water was used as a control (CK). The levels of pulp sugar and the activities of key enzymes involved in glucose metabolism were observed, and transcriptome analysis and genetic screening were performed on the pulp. Spraying excessive amounts of calcium onto the leaf surfaces caused the downregulation of trehalase-encoding genes and SUS-encoding genes, thus inhibiting the activities of trehalase, SS-I and SS-II, and further inhibiting the accumulation of glucose, fructose, and sucrose. Moreover, upregulation of VIN gene expression enhanced AI activity and inhibited sucrose accumulation, thus inhibiting upregulation of NI gene expression during fruit growth and expansion; in turn, this inhibited the increase in NI activity in the fruit pulp, which then decreased the glucose and fructose accumulation in the pulp in the high-calcium treatment group compared with the CK group. The downregulation and expression of CHS family genes may lead to a decrease in chalcone accumulation, which may lead to damage caused by active oxygen production in the fruit pulp, thus inhibiting the accumulation of soluble sugars in that tissue.

The microbial diversity of rose jam was analyzed by high‐throughput sequencing, along with functional prediction of the bacterial community. The results indicate that Pseudomonas, Pantoea, and Burkholderia emerged were the top three dominant bacterial groups. Proteobacteria was particularly abundant in R4 (99.1%) and R6 (96.12%). Zygosaccharomyces, unclassified fungi, and Botrytis constituted the top three fungal groups. The presence of unclassified OTUs was observed in all samples, particularly in R6 (52.36%), R8 (45.28), and R9 samples (39.57%). Gene prediction using PICRUSt revealed the existence of multiple KEGG functional modules associated with human metabolism in each rose jam sample. The presence of a high abundance of functional genes indicated the microbial community's diverse wide range of microgenetic resources that can be further explored for research purposes. The microbial community found in rose jam exhibits remarkable diversity and encompasses valuable functional information relevant to human health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent studies focusing on identifying the biological agents of Catharsius molossus have led to the identification of three new N-acetyldopamine dimers molossusamide A–C (1-3) and two known compounds 4 and 5. The structures of the new compounds were identified by comprehensive spectroscopic evidences. Compound 4 was found to have inhibitory effects towards COX-1 and COX-2.

Objective: To evaluate the high-resolution and color Doppler ultrasonographic (US) characteristics of cervical lymphadenopathy in patients with infectious mononucleosis., Methods: High-resolution and color Doppler US were performed in 30 patients aged 2 to 30 years with a total of 59 palpable enlarged cervical lymph nodes due to infectious mononucleosis. The US characteristics of the nodes including shape,echotexture,hilum,border,matting,cystic necrosis,calcification and vascular pattern were assessed. Three patients received cervical lymph nodes biopsies., Results: The common US findings of cervical lymphadenopathy due to infectious mononucleosis were round shape (69.5%),bilateral distribution (96.7%),matting (83.3%) [even bilateral matting (66.6%)],indistinct margin (79.7%),absence of hilum (66.1%),heterogeneous echotecture (61.0%),and central hilar vascular pattern(89.8%). In 2 patients with absence of the echoic hilum,lymph nodes biopsies showed histological features including marked effacement of the normal architecture in the medullary region accompanied by a mixed proliferation of lymphocytes and histiocytes. In all infectious mononucleosis nodes with a hilum,85.0% had heterogeneously hypo/iso-echoic hila and indistinct demarcation to the cortex. One of them underwent lymph node biopsy and histological findings showed obvious dilation of the sinus oidal lumen and proliferation of histiocytes., Conclusion: Although several ultrasonographic characteristics frequently present in the nodes of infectious mononucleosis are not specific,the combination of ultrasound findings may be valuable in differential diagnosis.

Aim: To investigate the effects of liraglutide, a glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor activator, on body weight and waist circumference in Chinese overweight and obese type 2 diabetic patients., Methods: A total of 328 Chinese overweight and obese type 2 diabetic patients were included in this multi-center, open-labeled and self-controlled clinical study. The patients were subcutaneously injected with liraglutide once daily for 24 weeks as add-on therapy to their previous hypoglycemic treatments. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS software package version 11.5 for Windows., Results: Liraglutide treatment caused significant reduction of the mean body weight (from 86.61±14.09 to 79.10±13.55 kg) and waist circumference (from 101.81±13.96 to 94.29±14.17 cm), resulting in body weight lose of 5%-10% in 43.67% patients, and body weight loss above 10% in 34.06% patients, who had significant lower plasma creatinine levels. Baseline waist circumference, BMI and HOMA-IR were independently correlated with the body weight loss. Furthermore, liraglutide treatment significantly decreased HbA1c levels (from 8.66%±2.17% to 6.92%±0.95%) with HbA1c<7.0% in 35.37% patients, who had a significantly lower baseline level of HbA1c, but higher baseline levels of C peptide and glucagon. Moreover, liraglutide treatment resulted in greater body weight loss in patients with a long duration of diabetes, and better glycemic control in patients with a short duration of diabetes., Conclusion: Liraglutide significantly reduces body weight and waist circumference in Chinese overweight and obese type 2 diabetic patients. Patients with apparent visceral obesity, insulin resistance and a long duration of diabetes may have greater body weight loss; whereas patients with high insulin-secreting ability, hyperglucagonemia, and short-duration diabetes may obtain better glycemic control with liraglutide.

Objective: To evaluate the diagnostic values of gray-scale and color Doppler ultrasound in the diagnosis of focal Hashimoto's thyroiditis (FHT)., Methods: The gray-scale and colour Doppler ultrasound data of 120 patients with histopathologically confirmed FHT were retrospectively studied. The background of thyroid parenchyma was subjectively evaluated as absence or presence of diffuse Hashimoto's thyroiditis. The vascular types of thyroid nodules were determined as follows: hypovascularity, marked internal flow, marked peripheral flow, and focal thyroid inferno., Results: Among all 120 nodules, 71 (59.2%) were located in normal thyroid parenchyma, 49 (40.8%) in the background of diffuse Hashimoto's thyroiditis. In the normal thyroid background, hypoechoic nodules accounted for 85.9% (61/71), and only 14.1% (10/71)nodules were isoechoic or hyperechoic. However, in the background of diffuse Hashimoto's thyroiditis, 40.8% were hypoechoic and 59.2% were isoechoic or hyperechoic. The difference was statistically significant (P<0.001). In terms of the vascular types, the hypovascularity, marked internal flow, marked peripheral flow, and focal thyroid inferno accounted for 45 %, 25.9%, 20.8%, and 8.3%, respectively., Conclusion: The "focal inferno" is a relative specific color Doppler feature of FHT.

Objective: To reveal the quality variation of polysaccharide in Dendrobium officinale by post-harvest processing and extraction methods, and provide a basis for post-harvest processing and clinical and hygienical applications of Tiepifengdou (Dendrobii Officinalis Caulis)., Method: The content of polysaccharides were studied by 4 post-harvest processing methods, i. e. drying by drying closet, drying after scalding by boiling water, drying while twisting, and drying while twisting after scalding by boiling water. And a series of temperatures were set in each processing procedure. An orthogonal test L9 (3(4)) with crushed degrees, solid-liquid ratio, extraction time and extraction times as factors were designed to analyze the dissolution rate of polysaccharides in Tiepifengdou processed by drying while twisting at 80 degrees C., Result: The content of polysaccharides was ranged from 26.59% to 32.70% in different samples processed by different processing methods, among which drying while twisting at 80 degrees C and 100 degrees C respectively were the best. Crushed degree was the most important influence on the dissolution rate of polysaccharides. The dissolution rate of polysaccharides was extremely low when the sample was boiled directly without crushing and sieving., Conclusion: Drying while twisting at 80 degrees C was the best post-harvest processing method, which can help to dry the fresh herbs and improve the accumulation of polysaccharides. Boiling the uncrushed Tiepifengdou for a long time as traditional method could not fully extract polysaccharides, while boiling the crushed Tiepifengdou can efficiently extract polysaccharides.

Since the beginning of the new century, the artificial cultivation of Dendrobium officinale has made a breakthrough progress. This paper systematically expounds key technologies, main features and cautions of the cultivation modes e.g. bionic-facility cultivation, the original ecological cultivation, and potting cultivation for D. officinale, which can provide useful information for the development and improvement of D. officinale industry.

Objective: To explore the morphotic characteristics of hypoechoic nodules in the outer gland of the prostate with benign, Methods: Twenty-two hyperplastic hypoechoic nodules in the prostatic outer gland were biopsied guided by prostatic hyperplasia. transrectal ultrasound. The hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining and immunohistochemistry combined with computer assisted quantitative image analyses were adopted to examine the mean percentages of the area densities of stroma, epithelium, glandular lumen and smooth muscle cells., Results: The area densities of stroma, epithelium, glandular lumen and smooth muscle cells were (72.52 +/- 13.14)%, (20.57 +/- 9.01)%, (6.85 +/- 4.51)% and (24.14 +/- 6.31)%, respectively., Conclusion: Hyperplastic hypoechoic nodules may develop in the outer gland as well as in the inner gland of the prostate, but the mean percentages of the components are different between the two kinds of nodules.