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A carbonate intercalated magnesium aluminum layered double hydroxide is used as an anode material for lithium-ion batteries, displaying a maximum discharge specific capacity of 814 mA h g−1 at 200 mA g−1 in this work through utilizing the valence variation of Mg and the conversion between LiOH and LiH/Li2O. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Methanol, as an environmentally friendly renewable energy source, is considered an ideal C1 resource in biomanufacturing. However, due to its cytotoxicity, microorganisms can only grow in low methanol concentrations, resulting in less efficient metabolism and biochemical production from methanol. Therefore, it is essential to develop chassis strains that can be used in high methanol concentrations as the sole source of carbon. In this study, we aimed to industrialize high-methanol tolerant Pichia pastoris (P. pastoris) chassis cells with stable traits using iterative adaptive laboratory evolution (microbial microdroplet culture (MMC) and shake flask culture (SFC)) and clarify the mechanism of tolerance. The results suggested that the evolved strain WS026-4 (MMC-SFC) exhibited the ability to survive in BMMY medium containing 10% methanol as well as BMMY agar medium with a methanol concentration of 13%. WS026-4 (MMC-SFC) exhibited good stress homeostasis at high methanol concentrations, which is largely dependent on regulating membrane lipid metabolism. The analysis of WS026-4 (MMC-SFC) demonstrated alterations in the composition of crucial phospholipids and the expression of associated genes. Notably, a substantial augmentation in the levels of phosphatidylcholine (PC) emerged as a prominent determinant in bolstering the resistance of the strain to methanol. In addition, the strain overexpressing the phosphatidylethanolamine N-methyltransferase 2 (PET2) gene could grow on 8% methanol BMMY agar medium. This finding suggests that PET2 is a crucial target for enhancing methanol tolerance. This study sets the stage for expanding the potential of exploiting P. pastoris as an organic one-carbon platform for the production of biochemicals and biofuel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A hierarchical structure is successfully synthesized by coating polypyrrole (PPy) on the surface of carbon/saponite superlattice (denoted as PPy@C/SAP), and applied as low volume‐expansion insertion‐type anode for Li, Na, K storage.The synergistic effect of metal Ni, Fe doping, carbon/silicate superlattice, abundant oxygen vacancies and PPy coating leads to a good electronic conductivity and large current discharging capability. As a Si‐based material, PPy@C/SAP has excellent storage capability for Li (659 mAh g−1 after 1000 cycles at 2 A g−1 and 550 mAh g−1 after 1000 cycles at 5 A g−1), Na (maximum specific capacity of 533 and 327 mAh g−1 after 50 cycles) as well as K (236 mAh g−1 after 100 cycles). XPS, XANES, XRD, FTIR, HRTEM, SEM are used to detect the hybrid mechanism (bulk insertion and surface conversion) with a volume expansion as low as 9%. Insertion reaction driven by valence state change of Ni, Fe, Si (Ni0⇔Ni2+, Fe0⇔Fe3+, Si2+⇔Si4+) in laminates and conversion reactions between LiOH/Li2CO3 and LiH/Li2C2 catalyzed by Ni° contribute to the high performance. In the whole electrochemical process, layered structure is retained while the conversion reactions of LiOH (prodeced by laminates dehydroxylation) and Li2CO3 (electrolyte decomposition) cause the dynamic evolution of solid ectrolyte interphase. This study develops a promising Si‐based anode material for lithium ion batteries, sodium ion batteries and potassium ion batteries, which is significant for designing long cycle life rechargeable batteries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fat and lean pig breeds show obvious differences in meat quality characteristics including the fatty acid composition of muscle. However, the molecular mechanism underlying these phenotypes differences remains unknown. This study compared meat quality traits between Lantang (a Chinese indigenous breed) and Landrace (a typical lean breed). The Lantang pigs showed higher L* values and intramuscular fat content, lower pH45min, pH24h and shear force in longissimus dorsi (LD) muscle than Landrace (P < 0.05). Fatty acid analysis demonstrated the lower monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) and higher polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) percentage in Lantang LD than that in Landrace LD (P < 0.05). To further identify candidate genes for fatty acid composition, the transcriptome of LD muscle from the two breeds were measured by microarrays. There were 586 transcripts differentially expressed, of which 267 transcripts were highly expressed in Lantang pigs. After the validation by real-time quantitative PCR, 13 genes were determined as candidate genes for fatty acid composition of muscle, including Stearoyl-CoA desaturase (SCD). Then, a SCD over-expression plasmid was transfected into C2C12 cells to reveal the effect of SCD on the fatty acid composition in vitro. The results showed that SCD over-expression significantly increased PUFA proportion, while reduced that of saturated fatty acids (SFA) in C2C12 cells (P < 0.05). In summary, this study compared the differences of fatty acid composition and transcriptome in two breeds differing in meat quality, and further identified the novel role of SCD in the regulation of PUFA deposition.

Pichia pastoris is one of the most widely used recombinant protein expression systems. In this study, a novel method for rapid screening of P. pastoris strains capable of efficiently expressing recombinant proteins was developed. Firstly, the ability to express recombinant proteins of the modified strain GS115-E in which a functional Sec63-EGFP (Enhanced green fluorescent protein) fusion protein replaced the endogenous endoplasmic reticulum transmembrane protein Sec63 was tested. Next, the plasmids carrying different copy numbers of phytase (phy) gene or xylanase (xyn) gene were transformed into GS115-E to obtain recombinant strains with different expression levels of phytase or xylanase, and the expression levels of EGFP and recombinant proteins in different strains were tested. Finally, a flow cytometer sorter was used to separate a mixture of cells with different phytase expression levels into sub-populations according to green fluorescence intensity. A good linear correlation was found between the fluorescence intensities of EGFP and the expression levels of the recombinant proteins in the recombinant strains (0.8<|R|<1). By using the flow cytometer, high-yielding P. pastoris cells were efficiently screened from a mixture of cells. The expression level of phytase of the selected high-fluorescence strains was 4.09 times higher than that of the low-fluorescence strains after 120 h of methanol induction. By detecting the EGFP fluorescence intensity instead of detecting the expression level and activity of the recombinant proteins in the recombinant strains, the method developed by the present study possesses the greatly improved performance of convenience and versatility in screening high-yielding P. pastoris strains. Combining the method with high-throughput screening instruments and technologies, such as flow cytometer and droplet microfluidics, the speed and throughput of this method will be further increased. This method will provide a simple and rapid approach for screening and obtaining P. pastoris with high abilities to express recombinant proteins.

Objective: To explore the effects of Telmisartan on IKCa1 potassium channel after T-lymphocyte activation and proliferation in peripheral blood of hypertensive patients in Xinjiang Kazakh., Methods: Peripheral blood T cells in vitro culture were isolated from 30 Xinjiang Kazakh outpatients without antihypertensive drug therapy. They were randomly selected from our hypertension clinic from August 2012 to December 2012. The proliferated T lymphocytes were divided into control, telmisartan and TRAM-34 groups. After culturing for 0, 24, 48 h after corresponding treatments, the patch-clamp technique was employed to record the electrophysiological changes of IKCa1 potassium channel of T lymphocytes., Results: Under different treatment conditions, the IKCa1 potassium channel showed different electrophysiological changes. Pairwise comparison was made among the groups on the same time. For the telmisartan group, IKCa1 potassium channel peak current, peak current density of intervention 24 h and 48 h were significantly reduced compared with the control group (24 h:(835 ± 117)vs(1 471 ± 255) pA, (213 ± 61) vs (388 ± 129) pA/pF; 48 h:(631 ± 142) vs (1 555 ± 383) pA, (155 ± 54) vs (388 ± 114) pA/pF, all P < 0.01) . And the blocking rates of 0 h, 24 h and 48 h of telmisartan on IKCa1 potassium channel were 6.8%, 45.1% and 60.1% respectively., Conclusion: Telmisartan can block the IKCa1 potassium channel of T lymphocytes in peripheral blood of hypertensive patients in Xinjiang Kazakh. It suggests that telmisartan may play an anti-inflammatory effect by blocking the IKCa1 potassium channels of T lymphocyte activation.