High-internal-phase Pickering emulsions have various applications in materials science. However, the biocompatibility and biodegradability of inorganic or synthetic stabilizers limit their applications. Herein, we describe high-internal-phase Pickering emulsions with 87 % edible oil or 88 % n-hexane in water stabilized by peanut-protein-isolate microgel particles. These dispersed phase fractions are the highest in all known food-grade Pickering emulsions. The protein-based microgel particles are in different aggregate states depending on the pH value. The emulsions can be utilized for multiple potential applications simply by changing the internal-phase composition. A substitute for partially hydrogenated vegetable oils is obtained when the internal phase is an edible oil. If the internal phase is n-hexane, the emulsion can be used as a template to produce porous materials, which are advantageous for tissue engineering.

Many of true bugs are important insect pests to cultivated crops and some are important vectors of human diseases, but few cladistic analyses have addressed relationships among the seven infraorders of Heteroptera. The Enicocephalomorpha and Nepomorpha are consider the basal groups of Heteroptera, but the basal-most lineage remains unresolved. Here we report the mitochondrial genome of the unique-headed bug Stenopirates sp., the first mitochondrial genome sequenced from Enicocephalomorpha. The Stenopirates sp. mitochondrial genome is a typical circular DNA molecule of 15, 384 bp in length, and contains 37 genes and a large non-coding fragment. The gene order differs substantially from other known insect mitochondrial genomes, with rearrangements of both tRNA genes and protein-coding genes. The overall AT content (82.5%) of Stenopirates sp. is the highest among all the known heteropteran mitochondrial genomes. The strand bias is consistent with other true bugs with negative GC-skew and positive AT-skew for the J-strand. The heteropteran mitochondrial atp8 exhibits the highest evolutionary rate, whereas cox1 appears to have the lowest rate. Furthermore, a negative correlation was observed between the variation of nucleotide substitutions and the GC content of each protein-coding gene. A microsatellite was identified in the putative control region. Finally, phylogenetic reconstruction suggests that Enicocephalomorpha is the sister group to all the remaining Heteroptera.

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β-glucan is a type of polysaccharide which widely exists in bacteria, fungi, algae, and plants, and has been well known for its biological activities such as enhancing immunity, antitumor, antibacterial, antiviral, and wound healing activities. The conformation of β-glucan plays a crucial role on its biological activities. Therefore, β-glucans obtained from different sources, while sharing the same basic structures, often show different bioactivities. The basic structure and inter-molecular forces of polysaccharides can be changed by modification, which leads to the conformational transformation in solution that can directly affect bioactivity. In this review, we will first determine different ways to modify β-glucan molecules including physical methods, chemical methods, and biological methods, and then reveal the relationship of the flexible helix form of the molecule chain and the helix conformation to their bioactivities. Last, we summarize the scientific challenges to modifying β-glucan’s conformation and functional activity, and discuss its potential future development.

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Peanut allergy has garnered significant attention because of the high sensitization rate, increase in allergy, and severity of the reaction. Sufficiently reliable therapies and efficient mitigating techniques to combat peanut allergy are still lacking. Current management relies on avoiding peanuts and nuts and seeds with homologous proteins, although adverse events mostly occur with accidental ingestion. There is a need for hypoallergenic peanut products to protect sensitized individuals and perhaps serve as immunotherapeutic products. Alongside traditional practices of thermal and chemical treatment, novel processing approaches such as high‐pressure processing, pulsed ultraviolet light, high‐intensity ultrasound, irradiation, and pulsed electric field have been performed toward reducing the immunoreactivity of peanut. Covalent and noncovalent chemical modifications to proteins also have the tendency to alter peanut allergenicity. Enzymatic hydrolysis seems to be the most advantageous technique in diminishing the allergenic potential of peanut. Furthermore, the combined processing approach (hurdle technologies) such as enzymatic hydrolysis followed by, or in conjunction with, roasting, high pressure and heat, ultrasound with enzymatic treatment, or germination have shown a significant reduction of peanut immunoreactivity and may emerge as useful techniques in reducing the allergenicity of peanut and other foods. This study represents our current knowledge about the alterations in allergenic properties of peanut via different processing mechanisms as well as evaluating its future potential, geographical based data on increasing sensitization, clinical relevance, eliciting dose, and current management of peanut allergy. Furthermore, the molecular characteristics and clinical relevance of peanut allergens have been discussed.

BackgroundNabidae, a family of predatory heteropterans, includes two subfamilies and five tribes. We previously reported the complete mitogenome of Alloeorhynchus bakeri, a representative of the tribe Prostemmatini in the subfamily Prostemmatinae. To gain a better understanding of architecture and evolution of mitogenome in Nabidae, mitogenomes of five species representing two tribes (Gorpini and Nabini) in the subfamily Nabinae were sequenced, and a comparative mitogenomic analysis of three nabid tribes in two subfamilies was carried out.Methodology/Principal FindingsNabid mitogenomes share a similar nucleotide composition and base bias, except for the control region, where differences are observed at the subfamily level. In addition, the pattern of codon usage is influenced by the GC content and consistent with the standard invertebrate mitochondrial genetic code and the preference for A+T-rich codons. The comparison among orthologous protein-coding genes shows that different genes have been subject to different rates of molecular evolution correlated with the GC content. The stems and anticodon loops of tRNAs are extremely conserved, and the nucleotide substitutions are largely restricted to TψC and DHU loops and extra arms, with insertion-deletion polymorphisms. Comparative analysis shows similar rates of substitution between the two rRNAs. Long non-coding regions are observed in most Gorpini and Nabini mtDNAs in-between trnI-trnQ and/or trnS2-nad1. The lone exception, Nabis apicalis, however, has lost three tRNAs. Overall, phylogenetic analysis using mitogenomic data is consistent with phylogenies constructed mainly form morphological traits.Conclusions/SignificanceThis comparative mitogenomic analysis sheds light on the architecture and evolution of mitogenomes in the family Nabidae. Nucleotide diversity and mitogenomic traits are phylogenetically informative at subfamily level. Furthermore, inclusion of a broader range of samples representing various taxonomic levels is critical for the understanding of mitogenomic evolution in damsel bugs.