We studied here the short-term toxicity effects of Cd on the oxidative state and cell death in the gill of freshwater crab Sinopotamon henanense. Crabs were exposed to Cd that resulted in Cd accumulation and a significant increase in the metallothionein (MT) level in the gill, but MT level increased disproportionally compared to the Cd accumulation with an extension of exposure time. Significant changes in the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) were observed. An increase in the levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and lipid peroxidation (LPO) was detected that will cause oxidative stress. Histological abnormalities of the gills were discovered, including the expansion of gill cavity, a decrease in the numbers of connection of the upper and the lower of the gill lamellae and epithelial cells, and an increase in the number of hemocytes. The results of a TUNEL test and transmission electron microscope (TEM) showed that more gill cells had apoptotic characteristics after 48 h of Cd treatment compared to the control, but epithelial cell necrosis and inflammatory response appeared only after 72 h. It was concluded that (1) Cd induced the ROS production and accumulation through inhibiting antioxidant enzyme activities and exceeding the saturation values of MT binging; (2) Cd led to lipid peroxidation and histopathological alternations; and (3) Cd induced apoptotic response at short time exposure, followed by necrotic features and inflammatory reaction after longer time exposure.

Species of Amycolatopsis, well recognized as producers of both vancomycin and rifamycin, are also known for producing other secondary metabolites, with wide usage in medicine and agriculture. The molecular genetics of natural antibiotics produced by this genus have been well studied. Since the rise of antibiotic resistance, finding new drugs to fight infection has become an urgent priority. Progress in understanding the biosynthesis of metabolites greatly helps the rational manipulation of biosynthetic pathways, and thus to achieve the goal of generating novel natural antibiotics. The efforts made in exploiting Amycolatopsis genome sequences for the discovery of novel natural products and biosynthetic pathways are summarized.

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PF signifificantly attenuates cognitive impairment, improves hippocampus perfusion and inhibits inflflammatory response in VD rats. In addition, the anti-inflflammatory effects of PF might be due to inhibiting the NF-κB pathway. PF may be a potential clinical application in improving VD.

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Erianthus fulvus (TaxID: 154759) is a valuable germplasm resource in sugarcane breeding and research and has excellent agronomic traits, such as drought resistance, cold resistance, barren tolerance and high brix. With a stable chromosome number (2n = 20) and a small genome (0.9 Gb), it is an ideal candidate for research on sugarcane. Next-generation sequencing technology has enabled a growing number of studies to focus on genomics. Due to the large amount of omics data available, a centralized platform is necessary for ensuring the consistency, independence and maintainability of these large-scale datasets through storage, analysis and integration. Here, we present a comprehensive database for the E. fulvus genome, EfGD. By using the new high-quality reference genome and its annotations, the EfGD provides the largest whole-genome sequencing reference dataset for E. fulvus, which archives 27 165 protein-coding genes and 55 564 488 SNPs from 202 newly resequenced genomes. Furthermore, we created a user-friendly graphical interface for visualizing genomic diversity, population structure and evolution and provided other tools on an open platform. Database URL: https://efgenome.ynau.edu.cn

The fire tests included fire load and fire temperature had been conducted to nine reinforced concrete frame structures with ISO834 standard heating up curve. Furthermore, the static load tests had also been done under room temperature to the above nine structures after cooling and one reinforced concrete frame structure which with the same shape and sizes but had not undergone the fire test. The experiments showed that the fire temperature effect on the specimen was larger than the fire load. The larger fire load and a higher temperature of the specimen had the larger influence on the mechanical properties such as bearing capacity and deformation. The limit load of the frame structure decreased 36.9% under 600℃; when under 800℃, decreased 48%; under 1000℃, the frame structure basically lost its bearing capacity, it decreased 57.3%.