Biglycan (BGN), a key member of the small leucine-rich proteoglycan family, is an important component of the extracellular matrix. Clinical studies have demonstrated that upregulation of BGN is associated with poor prognosis in patients with various types of solid cancer. The present study analyzed the mRNA expression levels of BGN in various types of solid cancer when compared with that in normal tissues via the Oncomine database. The UALCAN, OncoLnc and Kaplan-Meier Plotter databases were additionally used to evaluate the prognostic values of BGN in patients with solid cancer and co-expression gene analysis was conducted using the protein-protein interaction networks of BGN. The present study observed that the mRNA expression levels of BGN were increased in bladder, brain and central nervous system, breast, colorectal, esophageal, gastric, head and neck, lung, ovarian and 28 subtypes of cancer compared with normal tissues. The increased expression of BGN was identified to be associated with a poor outcome in ovarian and gastric cancer. Based on the co-expression network, BGN was identified as the key gene in a 43-gene network. The present findings of increased expression of BGN in solid tumors and its positive association with poor outcome on patient survival indicate that BGN may serve as a prognostic marker and as a target for novel therapeutics for multiple types of cancer.

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Alginate oligosaccharides produced by enzymatic degradation show versatile physiological functions and biological activities. In this study, a new alginate lyase encoding gene alyS02 from Flavobacterium sp. S02 was recombinantly expressed at a high level in Yarrowia lipolytica, with the highest extracellular activity in the supernatant reaching 36.8 ± 2.1 U/mL. AlyS02 was classified in the polysaccharide lyase (PL) family 7. The optimal reaction temperature and pH of this enzyme were 30 °C and 7.6, respectively, indicating that AlyS02 is a cold-adapted enzyme. Interestingly, AlyS02 contained more than 90% enzyme activity at 25 °C, higher than other cold-adapted enzymes. Moreover, AlyS02 is a bifunctional alginate lyase that degrades both polyG and polyM, producing di- and trisaccharides from alginate. These findings suggest that AlyS02 would be a potent tool for the industrial applications.

Tannase plays a crucial role in many fields, such as the pharmaceutical industry, beverage processing, and brewing. Although many tannases derived from bacteria and fungi have been thoroughly studied, those with good pH stabilities are still less reported. In this work, a mangrove-derived yeast strain Rhodosporidium diobovatum Q95, capable of efficiently degrading tannin, was screened to induce tannase, which exhibited an activity of up to 26.4 U/mL after 48 h cultivation in the presence of 15 g/L tannic acid. The tannase coding gene TANRD was cloned and expressed in Yarrowia lipolytica. The activity of recombinant tannase (named TanRd) was as high as 27.3 U/mL. TanRd was purified by chromatography and analysed by SDS-PAGE, showing a molecular weight of 75.1 kDa. The specific activity of TanRd towards tannic acid was 676.4 U/mg. Its highest activity was obtained at 40 °C, with more than 70% of the activity observed at 25–60 °C. Furthermore, it possessed at least 60% of the activity in a broad pH range of 2.5–6.5. Notably, TanRd was excellently stable at a pH range from 3.0 to 8.0; over 65% of its maximum activity remained after incubation. Besides, the broad substrate specificity of TanRd to esters of gallic acid has attracted wide attention. In view of the above, tannase resources were developed from mangrove-derived yeasts for the first time in this study. This tannase can become a promising material in tannin biodegradation and gallic acid production.

Aims This work evaluated the effects of epiphytic microbiota and chemical components on fermentation quality and microbial community of ensiled oat. Methods and Results Oat harvested at the heading stage (HS) and the milk stage (MS) was sterilized by gamma‐ray irradiation and inoculated as the following: (1) HS epiphytic microbiota + sterilized HS (H‐H); (2) MS epiphytic microbiota + sterilized HS (M‐H); (3) MS epiphytic microbiota + sterilized MS (M‐M); and (4) HS epiphytic microbiota + sterilized MS (H‐M). After 60‐day fermentation, silages inoculated with the epiphytic microbiota of HS had higher acetic acid content than those inoculated with MS. Silage made from sterilized MS had lower pH, ammonia nitrogen and butyric acid contents and higher dry matter, water‐soluble carbohydrates and lactic acid contents than that made from sterilized HS. The microbial communities of oat silages were similar, and they were mainly Lactobacillus. Conclusions The chemical component rather than the epiphytic microbiota at harvest exerted more effects on oat silages. Significance and Impact of the Study This work reveals the different effects of chemical and microbial factors on the fermentation of silage, which is instructive for us to produce quality silage.

Aims: This study aimed to separate the effects of chemical and microbial factors on the fermentation quality and bacterial community of ensiled Pennisetum giganteum. Methods and Results: Fresh P. giganteum of two vegetative stages (stage I, G I ; stage II, G II ) was treated as follows: G I epiphytic microbiota + γray presterilized G I (M I C I ), G II epiphytic microbiota + γray presterilized G I (M II C I ), G I epiphytic microbiota + γray presterilized G II (M I C II ), and G II epiphytic microbiota + γray presterilized G II (M II C II ). Triplicates per treatment were sampled after 30 days of ensiling for chemical and microbial analyses and high-throughput sequencing. Silages made from C II (M I C II and M II C II ) had higher lactic acid concentration and the ratio of lactic to acetic acid, and lower pH and ammonia nitrogen concentration than silages produced by C I (M I C I and M II C I ). Species differential analyses showed that the changes of chemical composition rather than epiphytic microbiota significantly affected the relative abundance of Lactobacillus, Pediococcus and Pantoea in P. giganteum silages. Conclusion:These above results manifested that chemical composition was the main factor influencing the fermentation quality and bacterial community of P. giganteum silage in this study. Significance and Impact of the Study:The obtained results may, therefore, be the first record to provide an in-depth understanding of the relative contributions of chemical and microbial parameters on fermentation quality and bacterial community, which is of great importance for modulating silage fermentation and improving silage quality.

BACKGROUND: The influence of epiphytic microbiota and chemical composition on fermentation quality and microbial community of Italian ryegrass silage was evaluated. Italian ryegrass harvested at the filling stage (FS) and the dough stage (DS) was sterilized by gamma-ray irradiation and inoculated as follows: (I) FS epiphytic microbiota + irradiated FS (F F); (II) FS epiphytic microbiota + irradiated DS (F D); (III) DS epiphytic microbiota + irradiated DS (D D); (IV) DS epiphytic microbiota + irradiated FS (D F).RESULTS: After 60 days of ensiling, silage made from irradiated FS had a lower pH and ammonia nitrogen (NH 3 -N) content and a higher lactic acid (LA) content than that made from irradiated DS. Similarly, silage inoculated with the epiphytic microbiota of DS had a lower pH and NH 3 -N content and a higher LA content than that inoculated with the epiphytic microbiota of FS. However, LA-type fermentation (lactic acid:acetic acid > 2:1) was presented at D F and D D. The principal coordinates analysis showed that the distance between F F and D F and F D and D D was closer than other treatments, suggesting that the microbial community of silages made from irradiated FS (or DS) was more similar. CONCLUSION:The epiphytic microbiota played a more important role in the fermentation type, whereas the chemical composition had a great influence on the contents of fermentation end-products. However, chemical composition had a stronger effect on the microbial community of silage than the epiphytic microbiota.

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