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The light-sensitive albino tea plant can produce pale-yellow shoots with high levels of amino acids which are suitable to process high-quality tea. In order to understand the mechanism of the albino phenotype formation, the changes in the physio-chemical characteristics, chloroplast ultrastructure, chlorophyll-binding proteins, and the relevant gene expression were comprehensively investigated in the leaves of the light-sensitive albino cultivar ‘Huangjinya’ (‘HJY’) during short-term shading treatment. In the content of photosynthetic pigments, the ultrastructure of the chloroplast, and parameters of the photosynthesis in the leaves of ‘HJY’ could be gradually normalized along with the extension of the shading time, resulting in the leaf color transformed from pale yellow to green. BN-PAGE and SDS-PAGE revealed that function restoration of the photosynthetic apparatus was attributed to the proper formation of the pigment-protein complexes on the thylakoid membrane that benefited from the increased levels of the LHCII subunits in the shaded leaves of ‘HJY’, indicating the low level of LHCII subunits, especially the lack of the Lhcb1 might be responsible for the albino phenotype of the ‘HJY’ under natural light condition. The deficiency of the Lhcb1 was mainly subject to the strongly suppressed expression of the Lhcb1.x which might be modulated by the chloroplast retrograde signaling pathway GUN1 (GENOMES UNCOUPLED 1)-PTM (PHD type transcription factor with transmembrane domains)-ABI4 (ABSCISIC ACID INSENSITIVE 4). more...

Background As a major disease affecting dairy cow production worldwide, bovine mastitis is caused by a variety of pathogenic microorganisms that eventually cause mammary gland inflammation. Acremonium terricola culture (ATC) is a new type of affordable feed additive produced by the solid fermentation of A. terricola isolated from Cordyceps gunnii and exerted its anti-inflammatory effect. Objectives To evaluate the protective effects of ATC on mastitis and investigate its active mechanism, a lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced rat mastitis model was used in two experiments. Design In Experiment 1, a total of 40 female Sprague-Dawley rats were used to determine the optimal supplementary dose of ATC via gavage trial. In Experiment 2, we examined the effects of an optimal dose of ATC on LPS-induced mastitis in rats. Results The results of Experiment 1 showed that administration of ATC improved growth performance and antioxidant functions in the serum and the liver, as well as immunoglobulin A, G, and M levels in rat serum, and it decreased the content of alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, triglyceride, cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein, and serum urea nitrogen in rat serum; a dosage of 250-1,250 mg/kg/day was shown to be high enough to be effective. The results of Experiment 2 indicated that ATC can relieve the inflammatory reaction of mammary glands in rats, and the LPS-induced expression of tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin-1β, interleukin-6, and inducible nitric oxide synthase significantly decreased after ATC treatment. Moreover, our results demonstrated that ATC markedly enhanced the activity of antioxidase in this rat mastitis model. The results of Western blot analysis revealed that ATC could suppress the expression of toll-like receptor 4, phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase, and activity of c-Jun N-terminal kinase in the LPS-stimulated mastitis model. Conclusion Taken together, ATC was shown to exert its anti-inflammatory effect by blocking mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathways. These results demonstrate that ATC exerts anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects in mastitis prevention. more...

Background: Brown adipocytes (BAs) are the major component of brown adipose tissue (BAT) that is closely related to systemic hypertension. BAs are derived from multiple progenitors including PDGFRα+ adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs). Skin-derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells (S-MSCs) have the capacity to differentiate into adipocytes. However, the differentiation of S-MSCs into BAs remains unexplored. We aim to study the ability and regulation mechanism of S-MSCs differentiation into BAs, and the direct role of BAT in blood pressure regulation. Methods: Protein expression was measured by Flow Cytometry or Western blotting, and gene mRNA levels were detected by real-time quantitative PCR (RT-PCR). For the BA differentiation of S-MSCs, S-MSCs were stimulated with a brown adipogenic cocktail containing insulin, IBMX, dexamethasone, triiodothyronine (T3), and rosiglitazone for the indicated periods. The oxygen consumption rate (OCR) was measured with an XF24 Extracellular Flux Analyzer. Mitochondrial mass was checked by flow cytometry and fluorescence staining. Hypertensive mouse model was induced in WT mice by infusion with angiotensin II (Ang II) and measured SBP using tail-cuff. The interscapular brown adipose tissue (iBAT)-deficiency mice were gotten by surgically removing the iBAT depot and allowed to recover for 6 days. Aorta, iBAT or heart tissue sections were examined by hematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining. Results: We found that S-MSCs isolated from the mouse dermis expressed the stem cell markers CD90/105 and PDGFRα, and readily differentiated into BAs. Mitochondrial biogenesis and oxygen consumption were markedly increased during BA differentiation of S-MSCs in vitro. Another, Ang II-induced hypertensive mice carried the change of iBAT to white adipose tissue (WAT), the enhanced Ang II-induced blood pressure and vascular remodeling were observed in BAT-deficient mice generated by surgically removing iBAT comparing with C57BL/6 (wild type-WT) mice. Conclusions: S-MSCs represent a useful in vitro model for differentiation of BAs regulated by mitochondrial activity, and are progenitors of BAs. This study indicates that PDGFRα+ S-MSCs could differentiate into BAs, and BAT plays a direct role in Ang II-induced hypertension and target organ remodeling. more...

SiBaoChongCao (SBCC) is a functional food product containing fermentation of Acremonium terricola belonging to the Cordyceps genus. SBCC at 1 and 2 g kg−1 for 20 days exhibited anti-fatigue activities such as increasing exhaustive swimming and running time of mice and increasing the strength of muscle. The increased muscle endurance in SBCC-treated mice might be related to enhancement of muscle cell growth and differentiation and improvement of muscle response to exercise training, as shown by an increase in muscle cross-sectional area and elevation of MHC, MyoD, MyoG and PGC-1α levels. And, SBCC at 1.5 g kg−1 could ameliorate cancer-related cachexia such as ameliorating decrease in body temperature and inhibiting fat tissue atrophy. The anti-cachexia effects of SBCC might be related to inhibition of inflammatory cytokine IL-6 secretion and suppression of over-lipolysis and lipid over-utilization through inhibiting the activation of AMPK and p38 MAPK and down-regulating the level of UCP1. more...

The effects of Acremonium terricola culture (ATC) on performance, rumen fermentation and microbiota, and antioxidant and immune functions in dairy cows were investigated in two experiments. In Experiment 1, thirty multiparous Holstein dairy cows were blocked for day in milk, somatic cell counts and milk production and were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 treatments in an 8-week trial: a basal diet plus 0, 15 or 30 g/d ATC. The result of supplementing dairy cows with ATC was a linear increase in the apparent digestibility of dry matter, crude protein, acid detergent fiber and neutral detergent fiber, milk production, 4% fat-corrected milk, energy-corrected milk, feed efficiency, milk fat and lactose yields, and milk fat percentage, but a linear decrease in the milk somatic cell count. In Experiment 2, five late-lactating dairy cows were fed the basal diet from d 1 to 14 (pre-trial period). From d 15 to 35 (trial period), the same cows were fed 30 g/d ATC. Supplementation with ATC was stopped from d 36 to 42 (post-trial period). Feed, rumen and blood samples were collected on d 13, 14, 34, 35, 41 and 42. Compared with the pre- and post-periods, the ruminal pH and molar proportion of butyrate decreased during the trial period. Additionally, the ammonia nitrogen and total volatile fatty acid concentrations as well as the molar proportion of acetate were increased. For most of the rumen bacteria that were measured, the relative expression level increased during the trial period, but that of Fibrobacter succinogenes decreased. Moreover, ATC significantly increased the total antioxidant capacity as well as the activities of glutathione peroxidase and total superoxide dismutase during the trial period. The concentrations of blood glucose and immunoglobulins A, M, and G also increased in the plasma. By contrast, ATC resulted in a significant reduction in the plasma concentrations of aspartate transaminase, non-esterified fatty acids, beta-hydroxybutyric acid, interleukin-1, interleukin-6, tumor necrosis factor-α and malondialdehyde. These results show that feeding ATC can increase performance, improve rumen fermentation, and increase antioxidant and immune functions in dairy cows, when fed up to 30 g/d. more...

This study was conducted to examine the effects of Acrermonium terricola culture (ATC) on feed digestibility, rumen fermentation, and blood parameters in dairy cows. Six non-lactating ruminally and duodenally fistulated cows were evaluated in a replicated 3 × 3 Latin square design, with each period lasting 27 d. The cows were randomly assigned into three treatment groups: (1) basal diet (no additive); (2) basal diet plus 15 g/cow per day ATC; and (3) basal diet plus 30 g/cow per day ATC. Cows supplemented with ATC had a higher total-tract apparent digestibility of dry matter and crude protein, production of ammonia nitrogen and volatile fatty acids, and relative population size of proteolytic bacteria than did unsupplemented cows. ATC supplementation decreased ruminal pH, concentration of urea nitrogen, aspartate transaminase, non-esterified fatty acids, and beta-hydroxybutyric acid in plasma and improved ruminal disappearance of roughage and blood glucose content. Overall, ATC is an effective feed additive and regulates apparent digestibility, rumen fermentation, and blood metabolism for dairy cows. more...

Most tea plants (Camellia sinensis) are considered self-incompatible (SI). It is difficult to identify self-compatible (SC) tea mutants through controlled hand-pollination. ‘Ziyan’ (ZY), a purple tea cultivar, was previously found to be SC by pedigree relationship reconstruction of its offspring using DNA markers. To assess the inbreeding depression in C. sinensis, in this study we identified 29 selfing progeny plants (SP) of ZY and compared their fitness traits and contents of secondary metabolites with the out-crossing progeny (OP, n = 38 plants) and the clonal mother ZY (n = 3 plants). The results showed that fitness traits, including root-collar diameter, matured leaf area, and fruit number of SP, were significantly lower than those of OP and ZY. Notably, the average fruit number of SP was only 9.0 % of ZY and 7.3 % of OP. The spring bud flush time of SP was also significantly later than the OP as indicated by the sprouting index on March 30th, 2020. However, the average content of anthocyanin of SP was 3.67 times that of OP. The total catechin and caffeine contents in SP were lower than those in OP and ZY, but less significantly. Together, the results indicated a strong inbreeding depression of fitness traits in the first selfing generation of ZY, while the impacts on secondary metabolites were not consistent. In addition, a possible homozygous lethal allele was found on LG03. The findings of this study have useful implications for inbred line-based breeding and researches in C. sinensis. more...

The treatment of malignant tumors following surgery is important in preventing relapse. Among all the post-surgery treatments, immunomodulators have demonstrated satisfactory effects on preventing recurrence according to recent studies. Ginsenoside is a compound isolated from panax ginseng, which is a famous traditional Chinese medicine. Ginsenoside aids in killing tumor cells through numerous processes, including the antitumor processes of ginsenoside Rh2 and Rg1, and also affects the inflammatory processes of the immune system. However, the role that ginsenoside serves in antitumor immunological activity remains to be elucidated. Therefore, the present study aimed to analyze the effect of ginsenoside Rh2 on the antitumor immunological response. With a melanoma mice model, ginsenoside Rh2 was demonstrated to inhibit tumor growth and improved the survival time of the mice. Ginsenoside Rh2 enhanced T-lymphocyte infiltration in the tumor and triggered cytotoxicity in spleen lymphocytes. In addition, the immunological response triggered by ginsenoside Rh2 could be transferred to other mice. In conclusion, the present study provides evidence that ginsenoside Rh2 treatment enhanced the antitumor immunological response, which may be a potential therapy for melanoma. more...

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of dietary gallic acid (GA) at 100, 200, or 400 mg/kg on growth performance, diarrhea incidence, intestinal morphology, plasma antioxidant indices, and immune response in weaned piglets. A total of 96 male weaned piglets (25 ± 1 days of age) with an initial body weight of 8.40 kg were allocated into 6 replicated pens (4 piglets per pen) for each of the 4 experimental treatments. On day 21, 24 piglets (1 piglet/pen) received an intraperitoneal lipopolysaccharide (LPS) injection. The blood samples were collected before (0 h) and 4 h after LPS challenge, and the piglets were slaughtered 4 h postchallenge to collect small intestinal samples. Dietary GA supplementation did not affect the growth performance of piglets (P > 0.05), but reduced diarrhea incidence was observed in piglets administered 400 mg/kg dietary GA compared with piglets fed a control diet (P 0.05). Dietary GA linearly increased ileal secretory IgA content (P = 0.053). Moreover, dietary GA supplementation showed a linear effect on the expression TNF-α (P more...

Nine CBF/DREB1 homologous genes in rice were obtained by BLAST search in the NCBI database, which share conserved amino acid sequences with DREB1 protein in Arabidopsis. Three CBF genes organized in tandem, named OsCBF1, OsCBF2 and OsCBF3, showed a transient induction in the process of cold acclimation, much stronger in indica rice 93-11 compared with japonica rice Nipponbare. The candidate downstream genes OsLIP5 and OsLIP9 were induced in 93-11 but not in Nipponbare. The differential expression of CBF regulon might be caused by polymorphisms within promoter sequences between these two rice varieties. These results could be useful for utilization of CBF/DREB1 genes and illustration of differences in chilling tolerance between indica and japonica rice varieties. more...

The splitting quantum yields of the dimer by tethered chromophores exhibited different solvent effects. To further explore mechanism of the solvent effects, three covalently linked phenothiazine–dimer model compounds with a short linker, 1a–1c, were prepared. It was observed that solvent effect on dimer-splitting efficiency for phenothiazine–dimer systems is contrary to that of the other chromophore–dimer systems. Calculated results based on the Marcus theory showed that phenothiazine systems with a lower driving force induced by a lower value of Eox have a longer donor–acceptor distance between phenothiazine moiety and dimer unit, then gives a higher λs. Thus, back electron transfer would lie in the Marcus normal region for phenothiazine–dimer models, in which dimer-splitting is more efficient in higher polarity solvents. The value of redox potential between a donor and an acceptor should be a key leading to back electron transfer lying in the different Marcus regions and following two reverse solvent effects. Moreover, fluorescence spectra showed that the dual fluorescence gives a hint of charge-transfer complexes, and partial charge transfer would lead to lower splitting efficiency. However, some new insights into mechanisms of DNA photoreactivation mediated by photolyases were gained. more...

In this paper, series of mortar tests with Aeolian sand as its fine aggregate were launched. Result shows that the admixture flyash can effectively improve the liquidity and water capacity, hence to improve the workability of the mortar. As the mortar age increases, with the surface activity of flyash gradually brought into full play, the long-term mortar strength can be ensured. The compound additive with polycarboxylic as the water reducing agent, neopelex as the gas-forming agent and the sodium silicate, reduced the required water by about 15% without changing the consistency of the mortar mixture. United Expansive Agent (UEA) was used to reduce the shrinkage rate of the mortar mixture. The Cost Performance Indicator (CPI) was introduced to evaluate the cost performance of the mix mortar, suggesting that the CPI of the mix mortar is 1.38 times of that of the mortar with river sand. Test results of various index value shows that the mortar mix ratio obtained in this paper can meet the need of plastering and masonry engineering. more...

In phosphate buffer solution of pH 5.4, the formation of supramolecular systems of Mg-meso-tetrakis(2-thienyl)porphyrin(Mg-TTP) with β-CD, carboxymethyl-β-CD (CM-β-CD), heptakis(2,6-di-O-methyl)-β-CD (DM-β-CD), heptakis(2,3,6-tri-O-methyl)-β-CD (TM-β-CD) and sulfurbutylether-β-CD (SBE-β-CD) has been studied by means of UV–vis, fluorescence and NMR spectroscopy, respectively. And the Mg-TTP can form 1:1 host-guest inclusion complexes with five cyclodextrins. In this paper, the inclusive capability of different kinds of cyclodextrins is compared. The inclusion ability of modified β-CD with Mg-TTP is stronger than the native β-CD. And the inclusion ability of TM-β-CD with Mg-TTP is the strongest among five CDs, which indicates that the hydrophobic effect plays a crucial role in the inclusion procedure except for the capacity matching. In addition, 1H-NMR data and 2D-ROESY NMR spectra support the inclusion conformation of the TM-β-CD-Mg-TTP supramolecular system, indicating the interaction mechanism of inclus... more...

In neutral phosphate buffer solutions of pH 7.4, the inclusive complexation of 5-(2-hydroxy phenyl)-10,15,20-tris(4-methoxy phenyl) porphyrin (o-HTPP) with alpha-cyclodextrin (alpha-CD), beta-CD, heptakis (2,3,6-tri-O-methyl)-beta-CD (TM-beta-CD), SBE-beta-CD, HP-beta-CD and gamma-CD has been examined by means of UV-vis and fluorescence spectroscopy. The formation of inclusion complexes has been confirmed on the base of changes of spectroscopy properties. The o-HTPP forms 1:2 inclusion complexes with TM-beta-CD and 1:1 inclusion complexes with the other five cyclodextrins. The formation constants (K) of o-HTPP for the formation of the inclusion complexes have been estimated from the absorbance and fluorescence intensity changes in neutral phosphate buffer solutions. The K value (2.89x10(7)), which is the formation constant for the formation of the 1:2 inclusion supramolecular, is nearly 10(4) times than those of the 1:1 inclusion complexes. Compared to the other five cyclodextrins, the strongest inclusion ability of TM-beta-CD can be explained that the hydrogen bond plays significant role in the inclusion process. UV-vis experiments also showed that the cavity of TM-beta-CD causes the transform of the state of o-HTPP. In addition (1)H NMR data and 2D-ROSEY NMR spectra support the inclusion conformation of the o-HTPP-CD supramolecular system, indicating the interaction mechanism of inclusion processes. more...

In phosphate buffer solution of pH5.4, the interaction of meso-tetrakis(2-thienyl)porphyrin(H2TTP) and Cu-meso-tetrakis(2-thienyl)porphyrin(Cu-TTP) with α-cyclodextrin(α-CD), β-CD, γ-CD, heptakis(2,3,6-tri-O-methyl)-β-CD(TM-β-CD) has been studied by means of UV-vis, fluorescence and 1HNMR spectroscopy, respectively. The H2TTP and Cu-TTP can form 1:2 inclusion complexes with TM-β-CD and 1:1 inclusion complexes with the other three cyclodextrins. In this paper, the inclusion constants (K) of H2TTP and Cu-TTP for the formation of the inclusion complexes have been estimated from the changes of absorbance and fluorescence intensity in phosphate buffer solution. The inclusive capabilities of different kinds of cyclodextrins are compared. The result shows that the inclusion ability of α-CD with H2TTP and Cu-TTP is the strongest among the three native CDs. The inclusion ability of modified β-CD with H2TTP and Cu-TTP is stronger, compared to the native β-CD, which indicates that the capacity matching plays a crucial role in the inclusion procedure except for the hydrophobic effect. In addition 1HNMR spectra supports the inclusion conformation of the TM-β-CD-Cu-TTP inclusion complex, indicating the interaction mechanism of inclusion processes. more...

In neutral phosphate buffer solutions of pH 7.4, the inclusion complexes of 5-(2-hydroxy phenyl)-10,15,20-tris(4-methoxy phenyl) porphyrin (o-HTPP) and 5-(4-hydroxy phenyl)-10,15,20-tris(4-hydroxy phenyl) porphyrin (p-HTPP) with α-cyclodextrin (α-CD), β-CD, heptakis (2,3,6-tri-O-methyl)-β-CD (TM-β-CD) and γ-CD have been examined by means of fluorescence and absorption spectroscopy. The inclusion ability of cyclodextrin exhibited remarkable difference for TM-β-CD. Both o-HTPP and p-HTPP can form 1:1 host-guest inclusion supramolecular with α-CD, β-CD, γ-CD. The o-HTPP can form 1:2 inclusion supramolecular with TM-β-CD, which forms 1:1 inclusion supramolecular with p-HTPP. The formation constants (K) of o-HTPP and p-HTPP for the formation of the inclusion complexes have been estimated from the absorbance and/or fluorescence intensity changes in neutral phosphate buffer solutions. The formation constants as high as K = 3.05 × 107 M− 2 in the case of TM-β-CD/o-HTPP and 2.77 × 103 M− 1 in case of TM-β-CD/p-HTP... more...

With 319 rice varieties as test objects, this paper studied the effects of cadmium on their seed germination. The results showed that after treated with 10 mg x L(-1) of Cd2+, seed germination rate was less affected, but root growth was restrained evidently. Cadmium had more serious impact on root than on sprout. Different rice varieties had different germination responses to Cd2+, with the sequence of conventional rice (Japonica rice)hybrid rice (Indianica rice)conventional rice (Indianica rice). The root length and number of two-line sterilities were restrained more strongly than those of three-line sterilities. Based on their responses to Cd2+, the test 319 varieties were clustered into 3 types, i.e., endurant type, medium type, and sensitive type. more...