Search

To address the toxicity concerns of aluminum ions (Al 3+ ) due to their widespread environmental presence, a novel chromone-derived fluorescent probe, (E)-N'-((4-oxo-4H-chromen-3-yl)methylene)benzohydrazide (NMA), was developed for dual-mode detection combining colorimetric and fluorometric channels. Upon chelation with Al 3+ in a 1:1 stoichiometric ratio, NMA exhibited a significant fluorescence enhancement at 510 nm, accompanied by a rapid and visible color change due to the chelation-enhanced fluorescence (CHEF) effect, achieving an exceptional detection limit of 9 nM-well below the World Health Organization's recommended threshold. The reversible binding of NMA, demonstrated through sequential addition of Al 3+ and EDTA, enabled the construction of an INHIBIT molecular logic gate, broadening its potential for smart sensing applications. Structural interactions and selectivity were confirmed through 1 H NMR, FT-IR spectroscopy, and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. NMA proved highly effective in diverse applications, including detecting Al 3+ in food samples, bioimaging in living cells, and environmental monitoring via smartphone-assisted platforms and test strips, making it a powerful tool for addressing aluminum toxicity in practical and real-time settings., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

As a typical species of Gecarcinidae, Cardisoma armatum has adapted to the terrestrial environment. Meanwhile, C. armatum with unique living habits provides an excellent model for exploring the terrestrial adaptation mechanism of crabs. In this study, we have conducted a comprehensive transcriptomic analysis of C. armatum, aiming to deepen our understanding of the adaptive mechanisms operating within two groups: the air-exposed (AE) group and the water-immersed (WI) group, over eight hours. Genes that showed differential expression about adaptation to terrestrial environments were categorized into three groups: immune regulation, antioxidant system, and ion transport. The transcriptomic analysis also revealed a significant increase in the expression of genes related to immune response, antioxidant systems, and ion transport, such as the mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathway, tumor protein 53, superoxide dismutase 1, superoxide dismutase 2, solute carrier family 9 member A3, and Na + /K + /2Cl - cotransporter, indicating that C. armatum responds positively to changes in habitat. This study aims to furnish a molecular rationale for the adaptive mechanisms that terrestrial and semi-terrestrial crab species exhibit in their terrestrial habitats, thereby contributing to a deeper understanding of their evolutionary adaptations., Competing Interests: Declarations. Declaration of competing interest: The authors declare that they have no competing interests. Ethics declarations: All applicable international, national, and/or institutional guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed., (© 2025. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

Heterogeneous single-metal-site catalysts (HSMSCs) have been recognized as promising materials due to the advantages of evenly distributed active metal sites, easy separation, and recyclability. Herein, we construct a single-site Ru catalyst on porous ionic polymers (Ru/PIPs-IL3) via electrostatic interactions, which is a practical and useful strategy for synthesizing HSMSCs. The strong electrostatic interactions (Δ H = -73.4 and -83.5 kJ/mol for Ru-PPh 4 and Ru-P(vBn)(vPh) 3 , respectively) between the quaternary phosphonium cations and oxygen anions of the cyclopentadienyl ligand in Ru species were both consolidated by DFT calculation and X-ray crystallography. The XPS, ATR-IR, HAADF-STEM, and EXAFS analyses and ion exchange experiment were employed to characterize the structure of Ru/PIPs-IL3. These results provide compelling evidence that PIPs-IL3 can interact with Shvo's catalyst in a manner analogous to that observed with quaternary phosphonium (PPh 4 Cl), thereby anchoring the Ru through electrostatic interactions. Such heterogeneous single-site Ru catalyst Ru/PIPs-IL3 exhibited a twofold activity compared to the homogeneous catalyst with a TON CO of up to 545 and an excellent 98.5% CO selectivity in the low-temperature reverse water-gas shift reaction.

Nitrite (NIT) is one of the most common toxic compounds in aquaculture. However, the effects of NIT exposure on the reproductive capabilities of aquatic animals remain largely unknown. This study explored the consequences of NIT exposure on the ovarian tissues of Procambarus clarkii and revealed that it significantly reduced ATP content and gonadosomatic index (GSI), causing metabolic imbalance, reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation, increased oxidative stress, and altered antioxidant enzyme activity. Pathological investigation revealed a decrease in the number of oogonia and oocytes, as well as an increase in vacuolated and apoptotic cells in the ovary. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) revealed that genes related to oxidative stress, apoptosis, and autophagy were significantly upregulated, whereas genes involved in ovarian development and energy metabolism were downregulated. These findings suggested that NIT exposure not only caused oxidative stress and abnormal energy metabolism, but also activated autophagy and apoptosis in the ovarian cells. In addition, the Nrf2/Keap1 (nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2/Kelch-like ECH-associated protein 1) signaling pathway was found to be activated. Nrf2 knockdown inhibited antioxidant, apoptotic, and autophagy activities while increasing the expression of genes related to reproduction and nutrient metabolism. Selenomethionine (Se-Met) treatment alleviated NIT exposure-induced ovarian damage by elevating antioxidant capacity, superoxide dismutase, and catalase activities and reducing the levels of H 2 O 2 , malondialdehyde, glutathione, and ROS. In addition, Se-Met improved the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant stress responses by activating the Nrf2/Keap1 pathway and attenuating NIT-induced ovarian toxicity. Overall, this study provides a novel approach for maintaining ovarian homeostasis after NIT exposure., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2025. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

A novel range-divided data dependent acquisition (DDA) strategy was proposed for the screening of diterpenoid alkaloids in Aconitum pendulum roots. In range-divided DDA, the low-range was set between m/z 340-500 and the high-range was set between m/z 500-700 according to the molecular weight range of the diterpenoid alkaloids. The combined identification approach including MS 1 molecular weight, MS 2 spectrum interpretation, literature comparison, and standard verification was applied to the results. The range-divided DDA identified 15 more diterpenoid alkaloids than the full-range DDA under the same LC conditions. A total of 47 diterpenoid alkaloids were identified. Among them, brachyaconitines A-D were screened for the first time in Aconitum pendulum. This screening strategy can serve as a powerful tool for the discovery of novel metabolites in the field of plant metabolomics., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2025 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Developing a pragmatic pattern for timely learning crop growth information is significant in promoting high-quality agricultural production. Herein, an electrochemical sensing mode is designed for in-situ monitoring plant hormone (indole acetic acid as a typical example). To simplify the available electrochemical procedure with separate division of sensing interface decoration and liquid electrolyte addition, a bi-functional electrolyte, with superior quality of electron conduction and ion mass transfer, is built by exploiting the excellent conductivity of carbon-based nanostructures and the dynamic redox cycle between phenols and metal ions, endowed with the integration between conductive medium and semi-solid electrolyte. Since the one-step decoration of gel electrolyte, the sensing interface greatly simplifies the testing procedure without adding liquid electrolytes. With fascinating merits of integrative carbon-based gel electrolyte, electrochemical sensing toward in-situ tracing indole acetic acid with attractive simplicity and practicability, fulfilling the goal of acquiring information on plant growth status in timely manner., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Jiyong Shi reports financial support was provided by Jiangsu University. If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Fruit features are crucial for plant propagation, population growth, biodiversity preservation, and evolutionary survival. However, the synergistic regulatory mechanisms underlying the development of fruit traits such as color, shape and duration are unclear. Euscaphis japonica, whose fruits have a red-winged pericarp and persist for a long period of time, is an important ornamental plant in eastern Asia. In this study, we present a complete proteome spanning multiple time points and the phosphoproteome landscape of E. japonica fruit during the maturation and ripening phases. Quantitative evaluation via proteome and phosphoproteome analysis revealed three distinct phases that are consistent with the fruit maturation and ripening stages on a longitudinal time scale. The two-way proteomics analysis revealed functionally important biological events, including anthocyanin accumulation and phytohormone and light signal transduction. Importantly, our integrated analysis, along with experimental validation and phytohormone treatments, suggested that alterations in EjPHYB S21/S37 and EjPHOT1 S394/S429 phosphorylation may lead to auxin accumulation and the inhibition of ethylene biosynthesis, thereby initiating the development of long-duration, red butterfly-shaped E. japonica fruit. Our study reveals a mechanism of E. japonica fruit formation that highlights plant adaptive strategies that potentially evolved through interactions with frugivores., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no competing interests., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Spartina alterniflora has significantly altered coastal ecosystems. Understanding macrofaunal responses to its invasion is crucial for managing coastal wetlands. Five invasion stages over 16 years were analyzed: no invasion, initial, young, mature, and senescing. Macrofaunal biodiversity initially increased but later declined. Environmental properties varied by stages, creating distinct habitats. The impact on macrofauna depended on species traits and invasion stage. Key species accounting for 49.54 % of dissimilarity were Stenothyra glabra, Bullacta caurina, Pseudomphala latericea, and Potamocorbula laevis. Trophic structure initially remained stable but shifted later. Organic carbon (OC), total nitrogen (TN), and C/N ratio correlated with S. alterniflora development. Height of S. alterniflora was a key environmental indicator, while OC content and C/N ratio were crucial for shaping the macrofaunal community, indicating food source changes. This study provides valuable insights for managing coastal environments., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2025 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Diverse α-aryl α-carbonyl sulfoxonium ylides were efficiently synthesized in yields ranging from moderate to high via a palladium-catalyzed α-arylation of sulfoxonium ylides with aryl thianthrenium salts. The reactions proceeded smoothly via C-S and C-H bond functionalization, exhibiting broad substrate scope and good compatibility to various functionalities. In addition, the scale-up synthesis could be achieved, and the one-pot protocol commencing from the use of simple arene as the precursor of aryl thianthrenium salt could also be accomplished., (© 2025 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Giardia , a flagellated protozoan, is widely distributed in wild rodents. To characterize the presence of Giardia in wild rodents in southern China, this study collected 344 fecal samples from wild rodents in Guangxi, Hunan, and Yunnan provinces. The β-giardin gene ( bg ) was amplified to identify the presence of Giardia sp. The results showed that 48 samples (13.95%, 48/344) tested positive for Giardia , including three positives for G. duodenalis (assemblage G n = 1, assemblage F n = 2) and 45 positives for G. microti. Among these, Microtus fortis had the highest prevalence at 30.22% (42/139), followed by Apodemus agrarius (7.14%, 3/42). Rattus flavipectus showed a prevalence of 2.56% (1/39), while Bandicota indica had a rate of 5.13% (2/39). The prevalence of Giardia in males (18.27%, 36/197) was slightly higher than in females (8.16%, 12/147). To the best of our knowledge, the present study reported the detection of assemblage F and assemblage G in B. indica for the first time. In addition, G. microti was found exclusively in M. fortis and a few A. agrarius . This study enriches the epidemiological data on Giardia in wild rodents and provides new insights for future research.

We presented a highly efficient palladium-catalyzed site-selective C-H sulfonylation reaction via aryl thianthrenium salts. By utilizing readily available and cost-effective arenes along with sodium sulfinates, we achieved the C(sp 2 )-S cross-coupling with high efficiency, establishing a dependable method for synthesizing diarylsulfones with satisfactory yields. This method exhibits excellent tolerance toward functional groups, scalability, and the synthesis or late-stage functionalization of bioactive molecules, making it a valuable sulfonylation tool for drug modifications.

Designing high-performance anodic catalysts to drive glycerol oxidation reaction (GOR) is essential for advancing direct alcohol fuel cells. Coupling Pd with oxophilic materials is an effective strategy to enhance its intrinsic catalytic activity. In this study, we successfully synthesized Pd/Bi 2 Te 3 catalysts with tunable compositions, using Bi 2 Te 3 as a novel promoter, and applied them to the GOR for the first time. Electrocatalytic tests revealed that the activity of the Pd/Bi 2 Te 3 catalysts was closely linked to their compositions. Among these catalysts, the optimized Pd/Bi 2 Te 3 -20 % showed potential to replace the commercial Pd/C catalyst, exhibiting a peak current density 5.2 times higher than that of the benchmark Pd/C catalyst. Furthermore, improved catalytic stability and faster catalytic kinetics were observed for Pd/Bi 2 Te 3 -20 %. The synergistic effect between Pd and Bi 2 Te 3 is responsible for the high performance of the Pd/Bi 2 Te 3 -20 % catalyst., (© 2024 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

The apple snail, Pomacea canaliculata (Lamarck, 1819), a freshwater snail listed as a pernicious invasive alien species by the World Conservation Union (IUCN), has caused serious agricultural and ecological harm worldwide. This species has inflicted significant agricultural and ecological damage on a global scale. Under conditions of extreme environmental stress, the apple snail enters a state of dormancy and remains in this dormant phase until environmental conditions become favorable again, which serves as a crucial survival strategy. In our study, we subjected apple snails to 30 days of air-exposure stress followed by rehydration to reactivate them. Our objective was to elucidate the underlying mechanisms associated with drought tolerance, dormancy, and subsequent arousal based on transcriptomic analyses. The results indicated that the groups subjected to 5-, 15- and 30-day air-exposure stress treatments (DRY05, DRY15 and DRY30) exhibited a general down-regulation of metabolism-related pathways. These pathways included starch and sucrose metabolism, linoleic acid metabolism, glutathione metabolism and glycosaminoglycan degradation, compared with the control (CK). In addition, the weighted correlation network analysis (WGCNA) identified two critical pathways: toll-like receptor signaling pathway and adherens junction. The down-regulation of these pathways indicated a decrease in immune levels during dormancy in apple snails. This may further lead to the inhibition of apoptosis and a reduction in energy expenditure, thereby sustaining vital activities. The up-regulation of intercellular adhesion and immune-related pathways upon reawakening (RCY01) further substantiates the presence of this tolerance mechanism during dormancy in the apple snail. This study provides a reference for understanding the tolerance of apple snails to extreme environments, and provides a basic theory for apple snail biocontrol research., Competing Interests: Declarations. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests. Ethics statement: The animal study protocol was approved by the Institutional Review Board of Yancheng Teachers University., (© 2025. The Author(s).)

A convenient and base-free three-component reaction has been developed for the synthesis of S-alkyl substituted isothioureas from cyclic sulfonium salts, isothiocyanates, and amines. This protocol provides an alternative avenue to access a series of S-alkyl substituted isothioureas in moderate to good yields through ring-opening reaction of aryl, alkenyl and alkynyl sulfonium salts. The present strategy features operational simplicity, good functional group tolerance, gram-scale synthesis and high reaction efficiency., (© 2024 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Background: The marine crustacean Oratosquilla oratoria is economically significant in seafood and aquaculture industries. However, the lack of high-quality genome assembly has hindered our understanding of O. oratoria, particularly the mechanisms underlying its developed visual system., Results: We generated a chromosome-level genome assembly for O. oratoria (2.97 Gb, 44 pseudo-chromosomes) using combination sequencing strategies. Our analysis revealed that more than half of the genome was covered by repeat sequences, and LINE elements showed significant expansion. Furthermore, phylogenetic analysis revealed a close relationship of O. oratoria with Dendrobranchiata and Pleocyemata. In addition, the evolutionary rate of O. oratoria was slightly faster than that of Dendrobranchiata and slower than that of Pleocyemata. Interestingly, we observed the significant expansion of middle-wavelength-sensitive (MWS) opsins in the O. oratoria genome by tandem duplication, partially contributing to their unique visual capabilities. Compared with other crustaceans, O. oratoria has evolved a thicker cornea that was possibly driven by visual adaptations and ecological requirements. Employing comparative transcriptome analysis, we identified a tandemly duplicated cuticle protein (CP) cluster that was specifically expanded and expressed in the ocular tissues of O. oratoria, potentially contributing to the thick cornea of O. oratoria., Conclusions: Our study established the first chromosome-level genome for Stomatopoda species, providing a valuable genomic resource for studying the molecular mechanisms underlying the developed visual system of O. oratoria., Competing Interests: Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: Not applicable. Consent for publication: Not applicable. Competing interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests., (© 2025. The Author(s).)

A variety of α-arylated sulfoxonium ylides could be facilely synthesized in modest to high yields through α-arylation of sulfoxonium ylides with aryl fluorosulfates via C-O bond functionalization under palladium catalysis. Reactions using readily available and bench-stable aryl fluorosulfates as effective and appealing arylating agents showed both good substrate scope and broad functionality tolerance. Important functional groups such as nitro, cyano, formyl, acetyl, methoxycarbonyl, trifluoromethoxy, fluoro, and chloro embedded in substrates remained intact during the course of the reaction, and could be subjected to downstream modification. In addition, the reaction could be readily scalable and applied in the late-stage modification of complex molecules.

As a major agricultural country, agricultural carbon emissions in China are one of the key areas of focus for achieving China's "dual carbon" targets. This study utilizes the Dagum Gini coefficient, convergence models, and the ARIMA model to analyze the characteristics of agricultural carbon emissions in China's three major grain production functional zones. The results show that: (1) The agricultural carbon emissions in the national, main grain-production, and main grain-sales regions exhibit a fluctuating decreasing trend, while the agricultural carbon emissions in the grain production-sales balance region show a fluctuating increasing trend. The primary sources of agricultural carbon emissions are agricultural material inputs and enteric fermentation of ruminants. (2) The intra-regional differences in agricultural carbon emissions are the largest in the main grain-sales region, followed by the grain production-sales balance region, and the smallest in the main grain-production region. The contribution rate of inter-regional differences is the highest, making it the main source of overall disparity, while the contribution rate of hyperbolic density is the lowest. (3) Both the national level and the three major grain production functional zones exhibit conditional β-convergence in agricultural carbon emissions, indicating that the agricultural production in the national, main grain-production, and main grain-sales regions shows a "carbon neutral" characteristic, while the agricultural production in the grain production-sales balance region shows a "carbon peak" characteristic. (4) The agricultural carbon peak in China occurred in 2015, with a total carbon emission of 164.5 million tons. The main grain-production and main grain-sales regions have already reached carbon peak, while the grain production-sales balance region is expected to reach its carbon peak by 2030., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Vibrio parahaemolyticus is the dominant pathogen in mariculture, leading to the bivalves' mass summer mortality. This study investigated the antibacterial defense mechanism of the Cyclina sinensis against V. parahaemolyticus. The immersion challenge revealed that the daily mortality of C. sinensis increased and then decreased gradually, and the mass mortality occurred about a week after V. parahaemolyticus infection. The Vibrio load in the hepatopancreas of C. sinensis was dramatically increased at 12-24 hpi (hours post-infection) and then declined significantly at 2-7 dpi (days post-infection). RNA-Seq generated 866 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), and KEGG analyses enriched multiple innate immune-related and metabolic-related pathways. The expression levels of nine immune-related and metabolic-related DEGs were significantly changed after Vibrio infection, and their temporal expression patterns were multiple. Our results indicated that the immunity and metabolic responses might be reprogrammed to protect the host against pathogens at the early infection phase. This study would expand our knowledge of the pathogenesis mechanisms of clams infected with Vibrio and provide a theoretical basis for healthy shellfish cultivation., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest We do not have commercial or associative interest, and all authors have approved the work submitted., (Copyright © 2025. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) is an important cereal crop used in animal feed, beer brewing, and food production. Waterlogging stress is one of the prominent abiotic stresses that has a significant impact on the yield and quality of barley. Seed germination plays a critical role in the establishment of seedlings and is significantly impacted by the presence of waterlogging stress. However, there is a limited understanding of the regulatory mechanisms of gene expression and metabolic processes in barley during the germination stage under waterlogging stress. This study aimed to investigate the metabolome and transcriptome responses in germinating barley seeds under waterlogging stress. The findings of the study revealed that waterlogging stress sharply decreased seed germination rate and seedling growth. The tolerant genotype (LLZDM) exhibited higher levels of antioxidase activities and lower malondialdehyde (MDA) content in comparison to the sensitive genotype (NN). In addition, waterlogging induced 86 and 85 differentially expressed metabolites (DEMs) in LLZDM and NN, respectively. Concurrently, transcriptome analysis identified 1776 and 839 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in LLZDM and NN, respectively. Notably, the expression of genes associated with redox reactions, hormone regulation, and other biological processes were altered in response to waterlogging stress. Furthermore, the integrated transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses revealed that the DEGs and DEMs implicated in mitigating waterlogging stress primarily pertained to the regulation of pyruvate metabolism and flavonoid biosynthesis. Moreover, waterlogging might promote flavonoid biosynthesis by regulating 15 flavonoid-related genes and 10 metabolites. The present research provides deeper insights into the overall understanding of waterlogging-tolerant mechanisms in barley during the germination process., Competing Interests: Declarations. Conflict of interest: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2025. The Author(s) under exclusive licence to The Botanical Society of Japan.)

Haliotid herpesvirus 1 (HAHV-1) causes significant damage to the abalone aquaculture industry. Knowledge of HAHV-1 invasion and host defense mechanisms is limited due to the lack of stable molluscan cell lines. The present study established an in vitro infection model of HAHV-1 using the primary suspension cultures of hemocytes from Haliotis diversicolor supertexta and Haliotis discus hannai . The cytopathic effects of HAHV-1 on adherent-cultured hemocytes of both species were also investigated. The HAHV-1 DNA loads were firstly monitored by means of quantitative PCR during the development of viral infection, and subsequently the mechanism of interaction between HAHV-1 and hemocytes was explored by means of a transcriptome analysis. H. diversicolor supertexta hemocytes exhibited a high degree of susceptibility to HAHV-1, with viral loads reaching a peak of 4.0 × 10⁷ copies/ng DNA. In contrast, no significant replication was observed in H. discus hannai hemocytes. Transcriptome analysis revealed that HAHV-1 evades the host immune response in the early stages of infection, and hijacks the host's energy and redox metabolism to promote its replication at the late stages. Consequently, this study provides a valuable reference point for the investigation of virus-host interaction between HAHV-1 and abalone in vitro .

Melatonin (MLT), produced by the pineal gland and other tissues, is known for its anti-inflammatory effects, particularly in regulating inflammatory markers and cytokines in intestinal cells. Our study aimed to investigate how MLT influences the expression of inflammatory genes through histone modification in canine ileum epithelial cells (cIECs). In our experiment, cIECs were cultured and divided into a control group (CON) and an MLT-treatment group. MLT did not significantly affect cell growth or death in cIECs compared to the CON. However, MLT treatment led to an upregulation of CD40, ZAP70, and IL7R and a downregulation of LCK, RPL37, TNFRSF13B, CD4, CD40LG, BLNK, and CIITA at the mRNA expression level. Moreover, MLT significantly altered the NF-kappa B signaling pathway by upregulating genes, such as CD40, ZAP70, TICAM1, VCAMI, GADD45B, IRAK1, TRADD, RELA, RIPK1, and RELB, and downregulating PRKCB, LY96, CD40LG, ILIB, BLNK, and TNFRSF11A. Using ChIP-qPCR, we discovered that MLT treatment enhanced histone acetylation marks H3K9ac, H3K18ac, H3K27ac, and methylation marks H3K4me1 and H3K4me3 at the ZAP70 and CD40 gene loci ( p < 0.05). Additionally, the enrichment of RNA polymerase II and phosphorylated Ser5 pol-II at these loci was increased in MLT-treated cells ( p < 0.05), indicating heightened transcriptional activity. In conclusion, our findings suggest that MLT mitigates inflammation in cIECs by modulating the transcription of ZAP70 and CD40 through histone modifications, offering potential therapeutic insights for inflammatory bowel diseases.

Cynanchum auriculatum Royle ex Wight, commonly known as "Baishouwu," has been traditionally used in China for its medicinal and dietary benefits. Despite its long history of use, the potential therapeutic effects of C. auriculatum in the treatment of colitis have not been fully investigated. This study aims to evaluate the effects of the water extract of C. auriculatum root on colitis and elucidate its potential mechanisms of action. The water extract of C. auriculatum root (CW) was prepared and characterized using UPLC-Q-TOF-MS, identifying thirty-two distinct compounds, including saponins, organic acids, fatty acid derivatives, and alkaloids. The therapeutic efficacy of CW was assessed in a colitis mouse model. CW significantly alleviated colitis symptoms, evidenced by increased colon length, reduced disease activity indices, and decreased colon tissue damage. CW reduced colonic inflammatory cytokine production and enhanced the expression of tight junction proteins, including claudin-1, occludin, and ZO-1, thereby strengthening intestinal barrier integrity. Additionally, CW modulated the gut microbiota by increasing microbial diversity, promoting beneficial Lactobacillus growth, reducing pathogenic Pseudomonas levels, and enhancing short-chain fatty acid production. The results suggest that CW exhibits significant therapeutic potential in the management of colitis by attenuating inflammation, restoring gut barrier function, and modulating the gut microbiota. These findings provide a basis for further exploration of C. auriculatum as a functional food for prevention and treatment of colitis., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflicts of interest., (© 2025 The Author(s). Food Science & Nutrition published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Objectives: This present study investigates whether performance can influence job burnout, and it further examines whether there is a meaningful difference in the association between job burnout and job performance in universities. Provided here are applicable strategies aimed at preventing and maximizing job burnout crises before the job is taken and during its execution., Methodology: To answer the research questions quantitatively, group regression analysis utilizing panel data from 2020 to 2023 was employed. The instruments include the KPI and mental health records to evaluate the level of job performance and job burnout. Likewise, a total of nine universities were purposively and randomly selected, and 1,113 academics were sampled for the study. The KPI scores and frequency of burnout counseling was collected from the human resource department and the medical health centers., Findings: The results showed that academics' job burnout is influenced by their job performance ( β  = -0.014, p  < 0.001). Academics' superior performance was notably linked to lower job burnout and the need for psychological counseling. Furthermore, academics' job burnout was significantly moderated by psychological counseling ( β  = -0.006, p  < 0.05), and neither did it regulate their job performance., Conclusion: Academics with high performance levels exhibit low levels of burnout. Meanwhile, academics who demonstrate low or poor performance indicate high burnout levels. Psychological counseling can moderate the level of job burnout but does not cure burnout. This study suggests that competency is the basic bedrock for strong performance and less burnout experienced by staff. Consequently, all universities should employ their staff based on assessing their competency and ability to handle stressful situations to prevent job burnout crises from occurring., Implications: This paper makes a contribution to the existing literature on job performance and job burnout by utilizing a distinctive measurement path approach. In this context, universities need to use pre-measurement mechanisms to prevent burnout instead of post-measurement techniques through proactive recruitment strategies based on the popular adage that "prevention is better than cure.", Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2025 Lei, Alam and Bashir.)

Modern sugarcane, a highly allo-autopolyploid organism, has a very complex genome. In the present study, the karyotype and genome architecture of modern sugarcane were investigated, resulting in a genome assembly of 97 chromosomes (8.84 Gb). The allopolyploid genome was divided into subgenomes from Saccharum officinarum (So h ) and S. spontaneum (Ss h ), with So h dominance in the Saccharum hybrid (S. hybrid). Genome shock affected transcriptome dynamics during allopolyploidization. Analysis of an inbreeding population with 192 individuals revealed the underlying genetic basis of transgressive segregation. Population genomics of 310 Saccharum accessions clarified the breeding history of modern sugarcane. Using the haplotype-resolved S. hybrid genome as a reference, genome-wide association studies identified a potential candidate gene for sugar content from S. spontaneum. These findings illuminate the complex genome evolution of allopolyploids, offering opportunities for genomic enhancements and innovative breeding strategies for sugarcane., Competing Interests: Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2025. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature America, Inc.)

A detailed chemical investigation of the Hainan soft coral Lobophytum crassum led to the identification of a class of polyoxygenated cembrane-type macrocyclic diterpenes (1-28), including three new flexible cembranoids, lobophycrasins E-G (2-4), and twenty-five known analogues. Their structures were elucidated by combining extensive spectroscopic data analysis, quantum mechanical-nuclear magnetic resonance (QM-NMR) methods, the modified Mosher's method, X-ray diffraction analysis, and comparison with data reported in the literature. Bioassays revealed that sixteen cembranoids inhibited the proliferation of H1975, MDA-MB231, A549, and H1299 cells. Among them, Compounds 10, 17, and 20 exhibited significant antiproliferative activities with IC 50 values of 1.92-8.82 μM, which are very similar to that of the positive control doxorubicin. Molecular mechanistic studies showed that the antitumour activity of Compound 10 was closely related to regulation of the ROR1 and ErbB3 signalling pathways. This study may provide insight into the discovery and utilization of marine macrocyclic cembranoids as lead compounds for anticancer drugs., Competing Interests: Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chinese Pharmacological Society.)

The excessive use of antibiotics contributes significantly to environmental pollution and the widespread presence of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), which poses a serious threat to aquatic ecosystems and human health. Despite being a critical source of antibiotics and ARGs in the environment, research exploring their occurrence and removal characteristics in township wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) remains limited. This study investigated the abundance and removal efficiencies of 39 antibiotics and 8 ARGs in influent and effluent samples from 40 township WWTPs located in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. Antibiotics were detected in both influents and effluents, with detection frequencies (DFs) ranging from 2.44% to 100%. In contrast, all targeted ARGs exhibied 100% DFs in both influents and effluents. The average concentrations of antibiotics in influents and effluents were 370.67 ng/L and 242.06 ng/L, respectively, and the ARGs concentrations were 9.88 × 10 6 and 7.10 × 10 5 copies/mL, respectively. Among the antibiotics analyzed, macrolides and fluoroquinolones accounted for over 70% of the total antibiotic concentrations in both influent and effluent samples. Additionally, sul1 and sul2 were identified as the predominant ARGs, constituting more than 99% of the total abundance in both influent and effluent samples. Notably, significant correlations between the ARGs and their respective antibiotics were not consistently observed. The average removal efficiencies for total antibiotics and ARGs by township WWTPs were 34.70% and 93.30%, respectively. Furthermore, all calculated ecological risk values (risk quotient, RQ) for individual antibiotics in effluent samples were below one, except for oxytetracycline, which had RQ values greater than one in three effluents. The total RQs, representing the sum of individual RQs, indicated that 11 effluents presented a high risk (27.50%), while 17 effluents exhibited a moderate risk (42.50%). These findings suggest that township WWTPs may represent a significant source of antibiotics and ARGs in the environment, necessitating further process improvements for their effective elimination., Competing Interests: Declarations. Ethical approval: This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors. Consent to participate: All the co-authors have checked and consented for its submission. Consent for publication: The manuscript is approved by all authors for publication. Conflict of interest: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

The copper complexing of dissolved organic matter released from hydrochar (HDOM) affects the former's environmental behavior. In this study, how hydrothermal temperatures (180, 220 and 260 °C) influence the molecular-level constitutions and Cu(II) binding features of HDOM were elucidated via fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry and multi-spectroscopic analysis. The findings demonstrated that the almost HDOM molecules had the traits of lower polarity and higher hydrophobicity. As the hydrothermal temperature increased, the molecules with particularly high relative strength gradually disappeared, average molecular weight, percentages of CHON and aliphatic compounds of HDOM reduced while the percentages of CHO and aromatic compounds increased. In general, the fluorescence quenching of Cu(II) weakened as hydrothermal temperature rose and the Cu(II) binding stability constants of fluorophores in HDOM were 4.50-5.31. In addition, the Cu(II) binding order of fluorophores in HDOM showed temperature heterogeneities, and polysaccharides or aromatic rings of non-fluorescent substances had the fastest responses to Cu(II) binding. Generally, fluorescent components tend to bind Cu(II) at relatively trace concentrations (0-40 µmol/L), whereas non-fluorescent substances tend to the bind Cu(II) at relatively higher concentrations (50-100 µmol/L). This study contributed to the prediction of the potential environmental behaviors and risks of Cu(II) at the molecular level after hydrochar application., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Acidic electrocatalytic CO 2 reduction reaction (CO 2 RR) is a promising route to prevent unavoidable CO 2 loss to carbonates and crossover of liquid products in conventional alkaline or neutral electrolytes. However, high proton concentration in acid leads to dominant hydrogen evolution reaction, reducing the selectivity towards CO 2 RR, especially at industrial-level current. In this work, we report Bi-Cu metal-organic layers (MOLs) with strong electronic interaction, which creates electron-rich Bi active sites. 2D nanosheet-like Bi-Cu catalyst with abundant exposed active sites was obtained by in-situ electroreduction. The catalyst presents a HCOOH Faradaic efficiency of 87.4 % at 400 mA cm -2 in acidic medium. The maximum single pass conversion efficiency for HCOOH is up to 62.1 %, which rivals recent reported electrocatalysts for acidic CO 2 RR. Mechanistic investigations indicate that Bi-Cu MOLs derived Cu doped Bi-based nanosheets with electron-rich Bi sites can be conducive to promote intrinsic activity, improving the selectivity for CO 2 RR to liquid HCOOH., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2025 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Incremental broad learning system (IBLS) is an effective and efficient incremental learning method based on broad learning paradigm. Owing to its streamlined network architecture and flexible dynamic update scheme, IBLS can achieve rapid incremental reconstruction on the basis of the previous model without the entire retraining from scratch, which enables it adept at handling streaming data. However, two prominent deficiencies still persist in IBLS and constrain its further promotion in large-scale data stream scenarios. Firstly, IBLS needs to retain all historical data and perform associated calculations in the incremental learning process, which causes its computational overhead and storage burden to increase over time and as such puts the efficacy of the algorithm at risk for massive or unlimited data streams. Additionally, due to the random generation rule of hidden nodes, IBLS generally necessitates a large network size to guarantee approximation accuracy, and the resulting high-dimensional matrix calculation poses a greater challenge to the updating efficiency of the model. To address these issues, we propose a novel bidimensionally partitioned online sequential broad learning system (BPOSBLS) in this paper. The core idea of BPOSBLS is to partition the high-dimensional broad feature matrix bidimensionally from the aspects of instance dimension and feature dimension, and consequently decompose a large least squares problem into multiple smaller ones, which can then be solved individually. By doing so, the scale and computational complexity of the original high-order model are substantially diminished, thus significantly improving its learning efficiency and usability for large-scale complex learning tasks. Meanwhile, an ingenious recursive computation method called partitioned recursive least squares is devised to solve the BPOSBLS. This method exclusively utilizes the current online samples for iterative updating, while disregarding the previous historical samples, thereby rendering BPOSBLS a lightweight online sequential learning algorithm with consistently low computational costs and storage requirements. Theoretical analyses and simulation experiments demonstrate the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed algorithm., Competing Interests: Declarations. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

This study focuses on optimizing catalytic activity in photocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction by precisely designing and modulating the electronic structure of metal single atoms. The catalyst, denoted as PtSA@S-TFPT, integrates low-valence platinum single atoms into sulfur-containing covalent organic frameworks. The robust asymmetric four-coordination between sulfur and platinum within the framework enables a high platinum loading of 12.1 wt%, resulting in efficient photocatalytic hydrogen production activity of 11.4 mmol g -1  h -1 and stable performance under visible light. These outcomes are attributed to a reduced hydrogen desorption barrier and enhanced photogenerated charge separation, as indicated by density functional theory calculations and dynamic carrier analysis. This work challenges traditional notions and opens an avenue for developing low-valence metal single atom-loaded covalent organic framework catalysts to advance photocatalytic hydrogen evolution., Competing Interests: Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Procambarus clarkii is an economically important species in China; however, its high mortality rate due to pathogenic bacteria, particularly Vibrio parahaemolyticus, results in significant economic loss. This study aimed to understand the immune response of crayfish to bacterial infection by comparing and analyzing transcriptome data of hepatopancreatic tissue from P. clarkii challenged with V. parahaemolyticus or treated with PBS. Physiological indices (TP, Alb, ACP, and AKP) were analyzed, and tissue sections were prepared. After assembling and annotating the data, 18,756 unigenes were identified. A comparison of the expression levels of these unigenes between the control and V. parahaemolyticus groups revealed 4037 DEGs, with 2278 unigenes upregulated and 1759 downregulated in the V. parahaemolyticus group. GO (Gene Ontology) enrichment analysis shows that the DGEs are mainly enriched in cellular anatomical activity, bindinga and cellular process, enrichment analysis of KEGG (Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes) pathways showed that DGEs were mainly enriched in Base excision repair, Phagosome and Longevity regulating pathway. At the same time, lysosome was also enriched. The phagosome and lysosome pathways play a crucial role in the immune defense of crayfish against V. parahaemolyticus injection that will be highlighted. In addition, the expression levels of six selected immune-related DEGs were measured using qRT-PCR, which validated the results of RNA-seq analysis. This study provides a new perspective on the immune system and defense mechanisms of P. clarkii and a valuable foundation for further investigation of the molecular immune mechanisms of this species., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) small envelope protein (E) plays important roles in virus budding, assembly, and release. Our previous study found that PEDV E protein localizes in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) to trigger the unfolded protein response (UPR). However, how UPR is directly regulated by PEDV E protein remains elusive. Thus, in this study, we investigated the expression of ER chaperone glucose-regulated protein 78 (GRP78) and activations of the three main UPR signaling pathways to elucidate the underlying mechanisms of UPR triggered by PEDV E protein. The results showed that over-expression of PEDV E protein increased expression of GRP78 and induced stronger phosphorylation of both protein kinase RNA-like ER kinase (PERK) and eukaryotic initiation factor-2α (eIF2α), as well as caused the significant degradation of activating transcription factor 6 (ATF6), in both dose- and time-dependent manners. However, PEDV E protein did not induce UPR through the inositol-requiring enzyme 1 (IRE1) signaling pathway, as revealed by the splicing of XBP1 remaining unaffected and unchanged when PEDV E protein was overexpressed. Taken together, these results demonstrate that PEDV E protein induces UPR through activation of both PERK and ATF6 pathways rather than IRE1 signaling. This study not only provides mechanistic details of UPR induced by the PEDV E protein, but also provides insights into these new biologic functions to help us better understand the interactions between PEDV and host cells., Competing Interests: Declarations Competing interest The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Carrot (Daucus carota L.), a widely cultivated economically vegetable from the Apiaceae family, is grown globally. However, carrots can be adversely impacted by cadmium (Cd) pollution in the soil due to its propensity to accumulate in the fleshy root, thus impeding carrot growth and posing health hazards to consumers. Given the potential of hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S) to improve plant resistance against Cd stress, we treated germinating carrot seeds with varying concentrations of sodium hydrosulfide (NaHS), aiming to alleviate the toxic impacts of Cd stress on carrot seed germination. The results revealed that carrot seeds treated with a concentration of 0.25 mM NaHS displayed better seed germination-associated characteristics compared to seeds treated with NaHS concentrations of 0.1 mM and 0.5 mM. Further investigation revealed a rise in the expression levels of L-cysteine desulfhydrase and D-cysteine desulfhydrase, along with enhanced activity of L-cysteine desulfhydrase and D-cysteine desulfhydrase among the NaHS treatment group, thereby leading to H 2 S accumulation. Moreover, NaHS treatment triggered the expression of pyrroline-5-carboxylate synthase and pyrroline-5-carboxylate reductase and promoted the accumulation of endogenous proline, while the contents of soluble sugar and soluble protein increased correspondingly. Interestingly, since the application of exogenous proline did not influence the accumulation of endogenous H 2 S, suggesting that H 2 S served as the upstream regulator of proline. Histochemical staining and biochemical indices revealed that NaHS treatment led to elevated antioxidant enzyme activity, alongside a suppression of superoxide anion and hydrogen peroxide generation. Furthermore, high performance liquid chromatography analysis revealed that NaHS treatment reduced Cd 2+ uptake, thereby promoting germination rate, seed vitality, and hypocotyl length of carrot seeds under Cd stress. Overall, our findings shed light on the application of NaHS to enhance carrot resistance against Cd stress and lay a foundation for exploring the regulatory role of H 2 S in plants responding to Cd stress., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.)

Zinc is a significant source of heavy metal pollution that poses risks to both human health and biodiversity. Excessive concentrations of zinc can hinder the growth and development of insects and trigger cell death through oxidative damage. The midgut is the main organ affected by exposure to heavy metals. The silkworm, a prominent insect species belonging to the Lepidoptera class and widely used in China, serves as a model for studying the genetic response to heavy metal stress. In this study, high-throughput sequencing technology was employed to investigate detoxification-related genes in the midgut that are induced by zinc exposure. A total of 11,320 unigenes and 14,723 transcripts were identified, with 553 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) detected, among which 394 were up-regulated and 159 were down-regulated. The Gene Ontology (GO) analysis revealed that 452 DEGs were involved in 18 biological process subclasses, 14 cellular component subclasses and 8 molecular functional subclasses. Furthermore, the KEGG analysis demonstrated enrichment in pathways such as Protein digestion, absorption and Lysosome. Validation of the expression levels of 9 detoxification-related DEGs through qRT-PCR confirmed the accuracy of the RNA-seq results. This study not only contributes new insights into the detoxification mechanisms mechanism of silkworms against zinc contamination, but also serves as a foundation basis for understanding the molecular detoxification processes in lepidopteran insects., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as no potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

High HMGB1 levels contribute to the development and metastasis of tumors such as colorectal cancer (CRC). The current investigation sought to evaluate the association of a functional InDel polymorphism (rs34000982) on the HMGB1 gene with CRC susceptibility and tumor stage and the clinical relevance of HMGB1 gene expression. A total of 600 CRC patients and 600 healthy control individuals were genotyped by a polymerase chain reaction-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis assay. The findings demonstrated that the rs34000982 Ins allele or Ins/Ins genotype was associated not only with reduced susceptibility to CRC, especially stage III-IV CRC (Ins vs. Del: OR = 0.65, 95%CI = 0.51-0.82, p  < 0.001; Ins/Ins vs. Del/Del: OR = 0.29, 95%CI = 0.14- 0.60, p  < 0.001), but also with tumor stage. CRC patients carrying the Ins allele or Ins/Ins genotype had a significantly lower risk of stage III-IV tumors (Ins vs. Del: OR = 0.69, 95%CI = 0.53- 0.91; Ins/Ins vs. Del/Del: OR = 0.41, 95%CI = 0.18-0.94). Functional research revealed that the rs34000982 Ins allele enabled hsa-miR-944 to interact with the 3' untranslated region of HMGB1. In addition, HMGB1 gene expression levels were associated not only with multiple immune cell infiltration, but also with multiple anti-CRC drug sensitivities. The current findings suggest that the HMGB1 rs34000982 polymorphism may serve as a marker of CRC susceptibility and progression in the Chinese population, and HMGB1 levels may serve as an anti-CRC drug sensitivity marker.

This long-term field study conducted in Yancheng, China, evaluated the effects of diverse crop rotation sequences on rice growth, yield, and soil properties. Six rotation treatments were implemented from 2016 to 2023 as follows: rice-wheat (control), rice-rape, rice-hairy vetch, rice-barley, rice-faba bean, and rice-winter fallow. Rice growth parameters, yield components, biomass accumulation, and soil properties were measured. Results showed that legume-based rotations, particularly rice-faba bean and rice-hairy vetch, significantly improved rice growth and yield compared to the rice-wheat control. The rice-faba bean rotation increased yield by 19.1% to 8.73 t/ha compared to 7.33 t/ha for the control, while rice-hairy vetch increased yield by 11.9% to 8.20 t/ha. These rotations also demonstrated higher biomass production efficiency, with increases of 33.33% and 25.00%, respectively, in spring crop biomass. Soil nutrients improvements were observed, particularly in available nitrogen, potassium, and electrical conductivity. Legume-based rotations increased the available nitrogen by up to 35.9% compared to the control. The study highlights the potential of diversified crop rotations, especially those incorporating legumes, to enhance rice productivity and soil health in subtropical regions. These findings have important implications for developing sustainable and resilient rice-based cropping systems to address challenges of food security and environmental sustainability in the face of climate change and resource constraints., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

A phosphine-catalyzed [4 + 1] annulation of β'-acetoxy allenoate with α-alkylidene succinimides is described. This method demonstrates the nucleophilic dialkylation and cyclization of α-alkylidene succinimides, resulting in the formation of functionalized spirosuccinimide derivatives. The reaction exhibits a wide substrate scope and yields ranging from moderate to excellent under the optimized conditions. In addition, the biological evaluation indicates that the cycloadduct 3u presents satisfied inhibitory activities for three human cancer cell lines (HCT116, A549, and HepG2).

Land hermit crabs are a group of shell-carrying crabs that have evolved remarkable terrestrial adaptations in behavior, morphology, physiology, and biochemistry. However, the genetic mechanisms underlying these adaptations remain unclear. In addition, usually it is very difficult to get good genome assemblies for crustaceans. In this study, we managed to assemble the first chromosome-level genome for a land hermit crab (Coenobita brevimanus) with careful manual curation. The final assembly spans 4.74 Gb, with the contig N50 of 1.75 Mb and scaffold N50 of 42.95 Mb, encompassing 117 chromosomes that account for 96.54% of the genome. The evaluations including genome BUSCO (95.26%), Merqury qv (35.88) and the mapping ratio of pair-end short reads (99.48%) showed the high-continuity of C. brevimanus genome assembly, making it the genome with the highest quality in crustaceans with genome size bigger than 3 Gb. The availability of this chromosome-scale genome of crustaceans represents a valuable resource for the land hermit crab, which represents an independent water-to-land transition evolutionary event in the animal kingdom., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Limbs are a defining characteristic of tetrapods, yet numerous taxa, primarily among amphibians and reptiles, have independently lost limbs as an adaptation to new ecological niches. To elucidate the genetic factors contributing to this convergent limb loss, we present a 12 Gb chromosome-level assembly of the Banna caecilian (Ichthyophis bannanicus), a limbless amphibian. Our comparative analysis, which includes the reconstruction of amphibian karyotype evolution, reveals constrained gene length evolution in a subset of developmental genes across 3 large genomes. Investigation of limb development genes uncovered the loss of Grem1 in caecilians and Tulp3 in snakes. Interestingly, caecilians and snakes share a significantly larger number of convergent degenerated conserved noncoding elements than limbless lizards, which have a shorter evolutionary history of limb loss. These convergent degenerated conserved noncoding elements overlap significantly with active genomic regions during mouse limb development and are conserved in limbed species, suggesting their essential role in limb patterning in the tetrapod common ancestor. While most convergent degenerated conserved noncoding elements emerged in the jawed vertebrate ancestor, coinciding with the origin of paired appendage, more recent degenerated conserved noncoding elements also contribute to limb development, as demonstrated through functional experiments. Our study provides novel insights into the regulatory elements associated with limb development and loss, offering an evolutionary perspective on the genetic basis of morphological specialization., Competing Interests: Conflict of Interest Authors declare that they have no competing interests., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution.)

Adsorbent materials constructed from natural macromolecular products are favored because of their wide range of sources, biodegradability, and environmental friendliness. Salecan is a novel extracellular polysaccharide with ideal physicochemical and biological activities. Here, we have designed a polymer gel through UV-initiated polymerization of [2-(Methacryloyloxy) ethyl] dimethyl-(3-sulfopropyl) ammonium hydroxide (SBMA) in the mixture of salecan and tannic acid. Photopatterned polymerization process allowed in situ formation of gel adsorbent in a mild reaction condition with energy-efficient manner. Batch experiments for toluidine blue (TB) adsorption were carried out as a function of initial dye concentration, solution pH, contact time, and gel dosage to examine the adsorption capacity, potential mechanism, and removal efficiency. Adsorption behavior exhibited a pH-dependence pattern, which was closely related to their swelling and morphological properties. Adsorption process was in conformity to pseudo-second-order kinetic and Langmuir isotherm models, unlocking a chemical adsorption behavior and monolayer-type removal. The maximum adsorption was 490.2 mg/g, which could be considered a superiorly competing value. Additionally, the UV-gel still showed desirable recyclability and maintained the adsorption effectiveness over 95 % after five regeneration cycles. This study opened up new prospects in preparing high performance adsorbent for TB decontamination and laid the foundation for polysaccharide-based adsorption material research., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Cadmium (Cd) is a significant heavy metal contaminant within the environment, carrying a notable level of toxicity that presents a substantial hazard to both plant and human. Carrot (Daucus carota), a significant root vegetable crop globally, have evolved multiple transcriptional regulatory mechanisms to cope with Cd stress, with a crucial involvement of the myeloblastosis (MYB) transcription factor. In this study, the DcMYB62 gene encoding 288 amino acids, localized in the nucleus and demonstrated transcription activation property, was isolated from carrot (cv. 'Kuroda'). There was a positive relationship observed between the levels of DcMYB62 expression and the accumulation patterns of carotenoids in two distinct carrot cultivars. Further investigation revealed that the expression of DcMYB62 improved Cd tolerance of Arabidopsis by increasing seed germination rate, root length, and overall survival rate. The levels of carotenoids in DcMYB62 transgenic Arabidopsis surpassed those in wild type, accompanied by elevated expression levels of 15-cis-phytoene desaturase, zeta-carotene desaturase, and carotenoid isomerase. Meanwhile, the heterologous expression of DcMYB62 promoted the biosynthesis of abscisic acid (ABA) and hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S), which in turn suppressed the formation of hydrogen peroxide and superoxide anion, while also stimulating stomatal closure. Furthermore, the heterologous expression of DcMYB62 increased the transcription of genes associated with heavy metal resistance in Arabidopsis, notably nicotianamine synthase. Overall, this study contributes to understanding how DcMYB62 promote Cd stress resistance of plants by regulating the biosynthesis pathways of carotenoids, ABA, and H 2 S, which offers valuable insights into the regulatory mechanism connecting DcMYBs with Cd stress response of carrot., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

Equitable and high-quality medical services are more urgent in underdeveloped cities for the higher population ageing and demanding social justice. However, there is little attention paid to the multi-level medical services, particularly regarding the time indicators under the latest policies for underdeveloped cities. The improved efforts were hampered partly by single scenario of location optimization, ignoring the integrated optimization for both road infrastructure and institution location. Toward the healthy China 2030 and rural revitalization policy, this study systematically investigated medical services for underdeveloped cities by constructing a multi-level evaluation and multi-scenario optimization framework with Geographical Information System technology in a case study of Xuchang City in China. Following the time goals from the latest policies, the services of high-quality hospitals and primary health centers were multi-level evaluated by network analysis method and further optimized through multi-scenario involving different new multi-level medical facilities and roads. Driven by urban-rural inequalities, candidate facilities were first selected based on multi-source data and then determined by location‑allocation analysis method, while new roads were assumed by space syntax method. The improvement rose rapidly and finally slowly with the increasing number of candidates. Few new roads and facilities could be more suitable, and the priority was explored under the local economy and planning. The findings could provide valuable support for urban healthy development under the latest policies., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

This study analyzes the characteristics of near-surface atmospheric CO 2 concentrations on the southern slope of Tomur Peak from 2013 to 2022. Utilizing the Boughton two-parameter algorithm, we determined the CO 2 background and non-background concentrations. Additionally, the Hysplit model was employed to investigate the potential contributing areas of the CO 2 non-background concentration. Our findings that the CO 2 concentration in the study area was approximately 17% lower than the global average, with an annual growth rate that was only about 47% of the global rate. The CO 2 non-background concentration accounted for only 6.25% of the observed concentration, but was largely unaffected by near-ground meteorological factors. The source of the CO 2 non-background was mainly controlled by the westerly belt, with potential source area mainly located in Central Asia. However, the WPSCF values in the modern ice and snow distribution area south of Tomur Peak and west of the monitoring station were significantly elevated, suggesting a strong wind transport of CO 2 after accumulation under the influence of the elevated terrain. The local supplying path accounted for only 12.87%, indicating that human activities in the oasis areas of the Tarim Basin had a limited influence on the study area. Due to the blocking effect of the Baikal high-pressure system and the towering topography of the Tianshan Mountains, the influence of human emissions from higher latitudes was likely negligible., (© 2024. The Author(s).)