Background: The mammal intestinal microbiota is involved in various physiological processes and plays a key role in host environment adaption. However, for non-human primates (NHPs), little is known about their gut microbial community in high-altitude environments and even less about their adaption to such habitats. We characterised the gut microbial community of rhesus macaques from multiple high-altitude environments and compared it to those of low-altitude populations. Results: We collected faecal samples of rhesus macaques from four high-altitude populations (above 3000 m) and three low-altitude populations (below 500 m). By calculating the alpha diversity index, we found that high-altitude populations exhibited a higher diversity. Statistical analysis of beta diversity indicated significant differences between high-and low-altitude populations. Significant differences were also detected at the phylum and family levels. At the phylum level, the high-altitude gut microbial community was dominated by Firmicutes (63.42%), while at low altitudes, it was dominated by Bacteroidetes (47.4%). At the family level, the high-altitude population was dominated by Ruminococcaceae (36.2%), while the low-altitude one was dominated by Prevotellaceae (39.6%). Some families, such as Christensenellaceae and Rikenellaceae, were consistently higher abundant in all high-altitude populations. We analysed the overlap of operational taxonomic units (OTUs) in high-altitude populations and determined their core OTUs (shared by all four high-altitude populations). However, when compared with the lowaltitude core OTUs, only 65% were shared, suggesting a divergence in core OTUs. Function prediction indicated a significant difference in gene copy number of 35 level-2 pathways between high-and low-altitude populations; 29 of them were higher in high altitudes, especially in membrane transport and carbohydrate metabolism. Conclusions: The gut microbial community of high-altitude rhesus macaques was significantly distinct from that of low-altitude populations in terms of diversity, composition and function. High-altitude populations were dominated by Firmicutes and Ruminococcace, while in low-altitude populations, Bacteroidetes and Prevotellaceae were dominant. The difference in gut microbiota between these two populations may be caused by differences in host diet, environmental temperature and oxygen pressure. These differentiated gut microbial microorganisms may play a critical role in the adaptive evolution of rhesus macaques to high-altitude environments.

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Summary of main observation and conclusion An efficient and environmentally benign electrochemical oxidative radical C—H trifluoromethylation of arenes by employing Langlois reagent as the CF3 source was developed in this work. Neither transition metal catalysts nor external chemical oxidants were required in this trifluoromethylation process. The reaction could be conducted in gram scale with high reaction efficiency.

Summary. Scutellaria barbata D. Don has been used as a traditional Chinese medicine for antitumor and anti-inflammatory. However, there were just a few investigations about S. barbata D. Don according to bioactivity-directed isolation and online identification for the chemical constituents. In this work, eight compounds were isolated from S. barbata D. Don. The three flavonoids indicated the cytotoxic activity against human leukemic Reh cell lines. In addition, the constituents of S. barbata D. Don were further characterized and identified by ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC−Q-TOF-MS). The UHPLC− Q-TOF-MS method was in negative ion mode. HPLC separation was performed on a Tosoh TSK gel ODS-100V (4.6 × 150 mm, 3.0 µm) column by gradient elution using water containing 0.3% formic acid and acetonitrile as mobile phase at a flow rate of 0.8 mL min −1 . A total of 18 compounds, including 4 phenolic acids and 14 flavonoids were tentatively characterized and identified by means of the retention time, accurate mass, and characteristic fragment ions.

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