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Escherichia coli, a gram-negative bacterium, was generally considered conditional pathogenic bacteria and the proportion of bacteria resistant to commonly used specified antibacterial drugs exceeded 50%. Phage therapeutic application has been revitalized since antibiotic resistance in bacteria was increasing. Compared with antibiotics, phage is the virus specific to bacterial hosts. However, further understanding of phage-host interactions is required. In this study, a novel phage specific to a E. coli strain, named as phage Kayfunavirus ZH4, was isolated and characterized. Transmission electron microscopy showed that phage ZH4 belongs to the family Autographiviridae. The whole-genome analysis showed that the length of phage ZH4 genome was 39,496 bp with 49 coding domain sequence (CDS) and no tRNA was detected. Comparative genome and phylogenetic analysis demonstrated that phage ZH4 was highly similar to phages belonging to the genus Kayfunavirus. Moreover, the highest average nucleotide identity (ANI) values of phage ZH4 with all the known phages was 0.86, suggesting that ZH4 was a relatively novel phage. Temperature and pH stability tests showed that phage ZH4 was stable from 4° to 50 °C and pH range from 3 to 11. Host range of phage ZH4 showed that there were only 2 out of 17 strains lysed by phage ZH4. Taken together, phage ZH4 was considered as a novel phage with the potential for applications in the food and pharmaceutical industries.

Food contamination by

Escherichia coli O114:K90(B) is a kind of enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC). It can cause severe diarrhea and even septicemia in Aquaculture. With the incidence of antibiotic resistance reaching crisis point, it is important to find alternative treatments for multidrug-resistant infections. Using phages for pathogen control is a promising treatment option to combat bacterial resistance. In this study, a lytic phage, named as GN06, was isolated from sewage. It can efficiently lytic E. coli O114:K90(B). Transmission electron microscopy showed that the phage belongs to the Siphoviridae. Phage GN06 has a linear, double-stranded DNA genome of 107,237 bp with a GC content of 39.2% and 155 coding sequences. Cages belonging to the genus Tequintavirus and could be classified as a T5-like virus. BLASTn analysis revealed that phage GN06 shares 94.07% identity (88% genome coverage) with an unpublished Escherichia phage vB_EcoS_HASG4. Moreover, the highest average nucleotide identity (ANI) values of phage GN06 with all the known phages was 0. 83, suggesting that GN06 was a relatively novel phage. Temperature and pH stability tests showed that phage GN06 was stable from 4℃ to 60℃and pH range from 5 to 9. These results suggested that phage GN06 with unique genomic features and high tolerances of pH and temperature had the potential of controlling bacteria pathogens. Therefore, GN06 has the potential to serve as a novel candidate for phage therapy.

Background and aims Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress is associated with liver inflammation and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, how ER stress links inflammation and HCC remains obscure. Mesencephalic astrocyte-derived neurotrophic factor (MANF) is an ER stress-inducible secretion protein that inhibits inflammation by interacting with the key subunit of nuclear factor kappa light chain enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB) p65. We hypothesized that MANF may play a key role in linking ER stress and inflammation in HCC. Approach and results Here, we found that MANF mRNA and protein levels were lower in HCC tissues versus adjacent noncancer tissues. Patients with high levels of MANF had better relapse-free survival and overall survival rates than those with low levels. MANF levels were also associated with the status of liver cirrhosis, advanced tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) stage, and tumor size. In vitro experiments revealed that MANF suppressed the migration and invasion of hepatoma cells. Hepatocyte-specific deletion of MANF accelerated N-nitrosodiethylamine (DEN)-induced HCC by up-regulating Snail1+2 levels and promoting epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). MANF appeared in the nuclei and was colocalized with p65 in HCC tissues and in tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α)-treated hepatoma cells. The interaction of p65 and MANF was also confirmed by coimmunoprecipitation experiments. Consistently, knockdown of MANF up-regulated NF-κB downstream target genes TNF-α, interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-1α expression in vitro and in vivo. Finally, small ubiquitin-related modifier 1 (SUMO1) promoted MANF nuclear translocation and enhanced the interaction of MANF and p65. Mutation of p65 motifs for SUMOylation abolished the interaction of p65 and MANF. Conclusions MANF plays an important role in linking ER stress and liver inflammation by inhibiting the NF-κB/Snail signal pathway in EMT and HCC progression. Therefore, MANF may be a cancer suppressor and a potential therapeutic target for HCC.

Photocatalytic removal of NH

Phage therapy is a promising alternative antibiotic strategy to combat multidrug-resistant bacteria infections. Most studies focus on the synergistic effects, while the antagonistic interactions between phage and antibiotics is rarely studied. Here, we isolated and identified a novel polyvalent phage SaP7, which is capable of infecting multidrug-resistant Salmonella S7 and several E. coli strains. Morphology via electron microscopy showed that SaP7 belonged to the Myoviridae family. Genomic analysis revealed that the genome of SaP7 lacked any genes associated with antibiotic resistance, toxins, lysogeny, and virulence factors. We discovered the antagonism efficacy of SaP7 combined amoxicillin/potassium clavulanate (AMC) in counteracting Salmonella S7 in piglet-models by bacterial loads in feces and tissues. The consistent result as above between SaP7 and amoxicillin (AMX) was further verified in BALB/c mice-models. Furthermore, in vitro, plaque assay and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) determinations showed that AMX or AMC or cefepime (FEP) inhibited SaP7 plaque formation respectively and SaP7 decreased bacterial susceptibility of Salmonella S7 to AMX, AMC and FEP. And the negative interference of SaP7 with the bacteriostasis to Salmonella S7 of these three β-lactam antibiotics was observed in planktonic cultures via microtiter plates, but could not prevent the bacteriostasis of high titer of phage or high concentration of antibiotics. Finally, our research suggested that a polyvalent phage SaP7 existed antagonism with several β-lactam antibiotics. It is therefore crucial to fully and cautiously evaluate phage/antibiotic interactions and probable outcomes to avoid antagonistic impacts and failure of antibiotic and phage combination therapy.

RFamide-related peptide-3 (RFRP-3) has been proposed as a key inhibitory regulator of mammalian reproduction. Our previous studies demonstrated that RFRP-3 mediated apoptosis and autophagy of the epididymis in rats and inhibited porcine granulosa cell (GC) proliferation. However, the molecular mechanisms of the RFRP-3 effect on porcine GC apoptosis and autophagy have not been studied before. Herein, we first investigated the role of RFRP-3 in apoptosis and autophagy in cultured porcine GCs in vitro. Our results showed that different doses of RFRP-3 dose-dependently elevated the expression of autophagy markers at both the mRNA and protein levels, whereas the expression of apoptosis markers exhibited a bidirectional, dose-dependent effect. Because the p38MAPK signaling pathway plays essential roles in apoptosis and autophagy, we subsequently evaluated the effect of RFRP-3 on p38MAPK activation. The results showed that 10

Photocatalytic removal of NH3–N is expected to be an alternative to the biological method that accompanied with high energy consumption and secondary pollution. However, NH3–N is always oxidized into nitrate and nitrite during the photocatalytic processes, which also need to be removed from the water. Herein, the g-C3N4/rGO/TiO2 Z-scheme photocatalytic system was prepared and used for the NH3–N removal. The results showed the rate constant of NH3–N conversion on it was 0.705 h−1, 1.7 times as high as that on g-C3N4/TiO2, and most of the NH3–N were converted into gaseous products. And the experiment result indicated NH3–N and NO3− in water could enhance the removal of each other. According to the results, the main reaction mechanism is speculated as: ·OH radicals and ·O2− radicals were generated on TiO2 and oxidized the NH3–N into NO3−, and the latter was reduced into non-toxic N2 on the conduction band of g-C3N4. Finally, NH3–N removal performance for actual coking wastewater was investigated, and the stability of the photocatalyst was tested. This work provides some theoretical basis for the two-step degradation of pollutants by Z-scheme photocatalytic system.

In this work, to enhance the mineralization of the organic dyes, the g-C3N4(Ag)/Gr/TiO2 Z-scheme photocatalyst was successfully prepared by hydrothermal method. The XRD and XPS results showed that the nanocomposite was constructed. The SEM and EDS results showed that the morphology of g-C3N4(Ag)/Gr/TiO2 was that TiO2 nanoparticles distributed on the surface of the Gr/g-C3N4 layers. The photocatalytic performance of the prepared samples was evaluated by the photocatalytic degradation and mineralization of RhB under visible light irradiation. The degradation efficiency of RhB on g-C3N4(Ag)/Gr/TiO2 reached 99.7% within 2 h, and the kinetic rate (0.0431 min-1) was 7.1, 7.1, 2.2, 2.0 and 1.3 times higher than those of g-C3N4, TiO2, g-C3N4(Ag)/Gr, g-C3N4/TiO2, and g-C3N4/Gr/TiO2, respectively. The total organic carbon (TOC) removal results showed that the mineralization efficiency of RhB on this composite was as high as 74.5% after 2 h of reaction time. During the photocatalytic process, it was speculated that Gr acted as the electron transporter between TiO2 and g-C3N4, which reduced the recombination efficiency of photo-generated charge carriers, and silver clusters acted as an electron reservoir to accelerate the reduction reaction of photo-generated electrons on the g-C3N4 conduction band, and further improved the photocatalytic performance.

As an endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress-related protein, mesencephalic astrocyte-derived neurotrophic factor (MANF) is involved in inflammatory diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis. However, the mechanisms of the transcriptional regulation of MANF is still undefined. Here, we showed that MANF expression was upregulated in hepatitis B tissues and hepatoma cells, and positively correlated with the spliced X-box binding protein-1 (XBP1s). Both overexpression of XBP1s and tunicamycin treatment were able to enhance MANF transcription. On the contrary, inhibition of XBP1 splicing by IRE1α endonuclease inhibitor or knockdown of XBP1s with siRNA attenuated MANF expression. Two ER stress-responsive elements (ERSE) were found in the promoter region of MANF (ERSE I and ERSE II). The chromatin immunoprecipitation and reporter gene assay showed that XBP1s mainly binds to ERSE I to promote MANF transcription. Moreover, MANF was found to interact with XBP1s to enhance its own expression. Our findings uncover a new mechanism of ERSE-dependent transcriptional regulation of MANF, as well as a key role of XBP1s in promoting the MANF expression.

This study is to identify potential biomarkers and therapeutic targets for lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). GSE6044 and GSE118370 raw data from the Gene Expression Omnibus database were normalized with Robust Multichip Average. After merging these two datasets, the combat function of sva packages was used to eliminate batch effects. Then, limma packages were used to filtrate differentially expressed genes. We constructed protein–protein interaction relationships using STRING database and hub genes were identified based on connectivity degrees. The cBioportal database was used to explore the alterations of the hub genes. The promoter methylation of cyclin dependent kinase 1 (CDK1) and polo-like Kinase 1 (PLK1) and their association with tumor immune infiltration in patients with LUAD were investigated using DiseaseMeth version 2.0 and TIMER databases. The Cancer Genome Atlas-LUAD dataset was used to perform gene set enrichment analysis. We identified 10 hub genes, which were upregulated in LUAD, among which 8 were successfully verified in the Cancer Genome Atlas and Oncomine databases. Kaplan–Meier analysis indicated that the expressions of CDK1 and PLK1 in LUAD patients were associated with overall survival and disease-free survival. The methylation levels in the promoter regions of these 2 genes in LUAD patients were lower than those in normal lung tissues. Their expressions in LUAD were associated with tumor stages and relative abundance of tumor infiltrating immune cells, such as B cells, CD4+ T cells, and macrophages. Moreover, cell cycle, DNA replication, homologous recombination, mismatch repair, P53 signaling pathway, and small cell lung cancer signaling were significantly enriched in CDK1 and PLK1 high expression phenotype. CDK1 and PLK1 may be used as potential biomarkers and therapeutic targets for LUAD.

High efficient growth promoting bacteria were screened from the rhizosphere soil of sunflower in the cold black soil area, and their growth promoting ability was tested to obtain the strains with comprehensive growth promoting ability. The phosphate solubilizing bacteria were screened out by inorganic phosphate bacteria culture medium, the phosphate solubilizing ability of the strain was determined by mo sb anti chromogenic method, the indoleacetic acid producing ability of the strain was determined by salkowski method, the iron carrier producing ability of the strain was determined by CAS method, and the growth promoting ability of the strain was evaluated comprehensively. Eleven strains of phosphate solubilizing bacteria were isolated and screened from soil samples. Among them, strain WP2 had the strongest phosphate solubilizing ability, and the concentration of phosphate radical was 12.75 μg/mL; strain WP1 had the strongest indoleacetic acid producing ability, and the concentration of indoleacetic acid was 25.37μg/mL; strain WP1 had the strongest iron producing ability, with Su = 72.76%, and the strength was 4+. It was found that WP1, WP2 and WP10 had strong ability of promoting growth and had strong potential of development and utilization. The above results can provide excellent strains for the development and promotion of special bio fertilizer suitable for the cold black soil.

The purpose of the experiment is to obtain high-efficiency microbial phosphorus dephosphorization fertilizer, increase the soluble phosphorus content of the soil, and promote plant growth. The phosphorus detoxifying bacteria in sunflower rhizosphere were studied through dilution and coating plate method, molybdenum-antimony anti-spectrophotometry, plate culture, physiological and biochemical detection. 10 strains were isolated and purified to form bright rings, D/d value is between 1.10-4.35. The quantitative analysis of the pressure showed that BX2 had the best effect in dissolving phosphorus. The available phosphorus increment was 38.59μg/mL, BX7 had the lowest phosphorus dissolving effect, and the effective phosphorus increase was only 1.77μg/mL. These strains of BX2, BX3, BX5, BX9 and BX10 have excellent phosphorus-dissolving properties, providing necessary conditions for the subsequent development of microbial fertilizer.

The monitoring data of chemical oxygen demand and NH3-N in the upper and lower sections of Jiamusi City in Songhua River were analyzed, and the law of water quality change in Songhua River in Jiamusi City was explored. Based on the simulation results of MIKE11 model for the water from the interval, the minimum ecological safety distance of the upper and lower reaches of Songhua River in Jiamusi city is predicted. Between the rainy season and the standard water period, the Jiamusi section meets the minimum ecological safety distance between Tangyuan County and there is no minimum safety distance during the dry season. The MIKE11 model has good adaptability to the diffusion simulation of pollutants in the upper and lower reaches of the Songhua River in Jiamusi and can be used as an evaluation basis for analyzing the impact of the water quality of the sewage outlet of the river.