Foods high in resistant starch (RS) are beneficial to prevent various diseases including diabetes, colon cancers, diarrhea and chronic renal or hepatic diseases. Elevated RS in rice is important for public health since rice is a staple food for half of the world population. A japonica mutant ‘Jiangtangdao 1’ (RS = 11.67%) was crossed with an indica cultivar ‘Miyang 23’ (RS = 0.41%). The mutant sbe3-rs that explained 60.4% of RS variation was mapped between RM6611 and RM13366 on chromosome 2 (LOD = 36) using 178 F2 plants genotyped with 106 genome-wide polymorphic SSR markers. Using 656 plants from four F3∶4 families, sbe3-rs was fine mapped to a 573.3 Kb region between InDel 2 and InDel 6 using one STS, five SSRs and seven InDel markers. SBE3 which codes for starch branching enzyme was identified as a candidate gene within the putative region. Nine pairs of primers covering 22 exons were designed to sequence genomic DNA of the wild type for SBE3 and the mutant for sbe3-rs comparatively. Sequence analysis identified a missense mutation site where Leu-599 of the wild was changed to Pro-599 of the mutant in the SBE3 coding region. Because the point mutation resulted in the loss of a restriction enzyme site, sbe3-rs was not digested by a CAPS marker for SpeI site while SBE3 was. Co-segregation of the digestion pattern with RS content among 178 F2 plants further supported sbe3-rs responsible for RS in rice. As a result, the CAPS marker could be used in marker-assisted breeding to develop rice cultivars with elevated RS which is otherwise difficult to accurately assess in crops. Transgenic technology should be employed for a definitive conclusion of the sbe3-rs.

Bacterial endophytes with the capacity to degrade petroleum hydrocarbons and promote plant growth may facilitate phytoremediation for the removal of petroleum hydrocarbons from contaminated soils. A hydrocarbon-degrading, biosurfactant-producing, and plant-growth-promoting endophytic bacterium, Pseudomonas aeruginosa L10, was isolated from the roots of a reed, Phragmites australis, in the Yellow River Delta, Shandong, China. P. aeruginosa L10 efficiently degraded C10–C26 n-alkanes from diesel oil, as well as common polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) such as naphthalene, phenanthrene, and pyrene. In addition, P. aeruginosa L10 could produce biosurfactant, which was confirmed by the oil spreading method, and surface tension determination of inocula. Moreover, P. aeruginosa L10 had plant growth-stimulating attributes, including siderophore and indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) release, along with 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic (ACC) deaminase activity. To explore the mechanisms underlying the phenotypic traits of endophytic P. aeruginosa L10, we sequenced its complete genome. From the genome, we identified genes related to petroleum hydrocarbon degradation, such as putative genes encoding monooxygenase, dioxygenase, alcohol dehydrogenase, and aldehyde dehydrogenase. Genome annotation revealed that P. aeruginosa L10 contained a gene cluster involved in the biosynthesis of rhamnolipids, rhlABRI, which should be responsible for the observed biosurfactant activity. We also identified two clusters of genes involved in the biosynthesis of siderophore (pvcABCD and pchABCDREFG). The genome also harbored tryptophan biosynthetic genes (trpAB, trpDC, trpE, trpF, and trpG) that are responsible for IAA synthesis. Moreover, the genome contained the ACC deaminase gene essential for ACC deaminase activity. This study will facilitate applications of endophytic P. aeruginosa L10 to phytoremediation by advancing the understanding of hydrocarbon degradation, biosurfactant synthesis, and mutualistic interactions between endophytes and host plants.

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The antibacterial activity and acting mechanism of hypocrellin A (HA) were conducted regarding in vitro activity of HA on Staphylococcus aureus GZ86 by analyzing the growth, permeability, and morphology of the bacterial cells following treatment with HA. The experimental results indicated 1.5 mg/l HA could completely inhibit the growth of 10⁷ CFU/ml S. aureus cells in liquid beef extract-peptone medium under a halogen-tungsten lamp for 120 min. Meanwhile, HA resulted in the leakage of reducing sugars and proteins and induced the respiratory chain dehydrogenases into inactive state, suggesting that HA were able to destroy the permeability of the bacterial membranes. When the cells of S. aureus were exposed to 2.5 mg/l HA under a halogen-tungsten lamp for 120 min, many pits and gaps were observed in bacterial cells by scanning electron microscopy, and the cell wall was fragmentary, indicating the bacterial cells were damaged severely. The experiments strongly confirmed the contribution of multiform reactive oxygen species (ROS) to bactericidal effect. In conclusion, the combined results suggested that ROS may damage the structure of bacterial cell wall and depress the activity of some membranous enzymes, which cause S. aureus bacteria to die eventually.

Securinega suffruticosa (Pall.) Rehd is an excellent natural secondary shrub in the Shell Islands of Yellow River Delta. The roots of S. suffruticosa have high medicinal value and are used to treat diseases, such as neurasthenia and infant malnutrition. Any organism that is isolated from this species is of immense interest due to its potential novel bioactive compounds. In this research, the distribution and diversity of culturable endophytic fungi in S. suffruticosa were studied, and the endophytic fungi with antimicrobial activity were screened. A total of 420 endophytic fungi isolates were obtained from the S. suffruticosa grown in Shell Islands, from which 20 genera and 35 species were identified through morphological and internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequence analyses. Chaetomium, Fusarium, Cladosporium, and Ceratobasidium were the dominant genera. The high species richness S (42), Margalef index D 0 (5.6289), Shannon-Wiener index H 0 (3.1000), Simpson diversity index D s (0.9459), PIE index (0.8670), and evenness Pielou index J (0.8719) and a low dominant index λ (0.0541) indicated the high diversity of endophytic fungi in S. suffruticosa, the various species of endophytic fungi with obvious tissue specificity. The inhibition percentages of the 12 species of such endophytic fungi against Colletotrichum siamense were 3.6%-26.3%. C. globosum, Fusarium sp.3, and C. ramotenellum had a high antibacterial activity against Enterococcus faecalis, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Staphylococcus aureus. The Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) and the Minimum Bactericidal Concentration (MBC) were between 0.5 mg/mL and 2 mg/mL. Alkaloid content detection indicated that endophytic fungi had a high alkaloid content, whereas the alkaloid contents of C. globosum and Fusarium sp.3 reached 0.231% and 0.170%, respectively. Members belonging to the endophytic fungal community in the S. suffruticosa of Shell Islands that may be used as antagonists and antibacterial agents for future biotechnology applications were identified for the first time.

Near-infrared (NIR) fluorescence imaging is a noninvasive technique that provides numerous advantages for the realtime in vivo monitoring of biological information in living subjects without the use of ionizing radiation. Near-infrared fluorescent (NIRF) dyes are widely used as fluorescent imaging probes. These fluorescent dyes remarkably decrease the interference caused by the self-absorption of substances and autofluorescence, increase detection selectivity and sensitivity, and reduce damage to the human body. Thus, they are beneficial for bioassays. Indole heptamethine cyanine dyes are widely investigated in the field of near-infrared fluorescence imaging. They are mainly composed of indole heterocyclics, heptamethine chains, and N-substituent side chains. With indole heptamethine cyanine dyes as the parent, introducing reactive groups to the parent compounds or changing their structures can make fluorescent probes have different functions like labeling protein and tumor, detecting intracellular metal cations, which has become the hotspot in the field of fluorescence imaging of biological research. Therefore, this study reviewed the applications of indole heptamethine cyanine fluorescent probes to metal cation detection, pH, molecules, tumor imaging, and protein in vivo. The distribution, imaging results, and metabolism of the probes in vivo and in vitro were described. The biological application trends and existing problems of fluorescent probes were discussed.

Some endophyte isolates were isolated in a bamboo pole sample parasitized the fungus Shiraia bambusicola from Zhejiang Province. After screening through hypocrellin bacteriostatic effect and fermentation test, we got the isolate TX4 of bacterial elicitor and GZUIFR-TT1 of fungal elicitor which had certain effect to promote S. bambusicola to produce hypocrellin. The Plackett-Burman design was introduced to evaluate the effects of nine factors based on single-factor test. Yeast extract, glucose, and isolate GZUIFR-TT1 elicitor were found to be the critical activity factors for increasing the total hypocrellin production. So we identified the isolate GZUIFR-TT1 as Trametes sp. Through response surface methodology, we obtained the optimum production conditions as follows: yeast extract, 2.99 g/L; glucose, 32.45 g/L; and Trametes sp. elicitor, 81.40 μg/mL. Under the above conditions, the experimental value of hypocrellin production was 102.60 mg/L, compared with the control it increased about 7.90 times.

In this study, laccase production was enhanced using mutant Shiraia sp. The Shiraia sp. GZS1 strain was mutated using ultraviolet irradiation, followed by screening of strains that were resistant to certain stressors. The mutant GZ11K2 was selected and used for further studies. 2,2′-Azino-bis(3-ethylben-zothiazoline-6-sulfonate) was used as substrate for both wild and mutant laccases at optimal pH (4.0). The mutant laccase exhibited a broader active pH range. The mutant laccase also showed a higher optimal catalytic temperature, more active under alkaline conditions, and higher temperature range than the wild one. The mutant strains produced higher yield of laccase than the wild strain even at high salinity of 3 g/L NaCl. Both laccases were mildly inhibited by sodium dodecyl sulfate (0.5 mM), ethanol (50%) and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (1 mM), and almost completely inhibited by NaN3 (20 μM) and DTT (1 mM), stable in the presence of metal ions except Ag + and Hg 2+. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONSLaccase is extensively used in various applications, such as pulp delignification, decoloration, biopolymer modification, biotransformation and food dechlorination. A newly isolated laccase-producing strain Shiraia sp. GZS1 and a genetically stable mutant GZ11K2 were established with 1.82 times laccase activity compared with that of the wild strain. The mutant Shiraia sp. GZ11K2 laccase was active over a wider pH and temperature ranges and more stable than the wild strain under neutral and alkaline conditions. The laccase from the mutant GZ11K2 with higher laccase productivity and enhanced enzyme properties can be used in biotechnological and industrial applications.