Article
Microbiology
Darwin Linardi, Weiyi She, Qian Zhang, Yi Yu, Pei-Yuan Qian, Henry Lam
Summary: The study developed a high throughput proteomics-based method to complement genome mining methods for the identification of biosynthetic pathways in Streptomyces species.
FRONTIERS IN MICROBIOLOGY
(2022)
Review
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Wenfang Wang, Guosong Zheng, Yinhua Lu
Summary: Recent advances in cloning strategies of microbial natural product biosynthetic gene clusters focus on efficiently capturing BGCs, selecting and optimizing vectors for carrying large-size DNA, and methods for assembling targeted DNA fragments with appropriate vectors. The future direction aims to develop novel, universal, and high-efficiency methods for cloning NP BGCs.
FRONTIERS IN BIOENGINEERING AND BIOTECHNOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Microbiology
Giuliano Gattoni, Fabiana Di Costanzo, Rafael R. de la Haba, Ana B. Fernandez, Shaday Guerrero-Flores, Nelly Selem-Mojica, Antonio Ventosa, Paulina Corral
Summary: Shifting bioprospecting targets towards underexplored bacterial groups combined with genome mining studies helps to avoid rediscovery of known compounds and reveals novel and promising biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs). In this study, a comparative phylogenomic mining study was conducted on photosynthetic bacterial groups to determine the biosynthetic potential of a novel marine bacterium, Roseibaca domitiana. The study showed a close relationship between the phylogenetic distance of photosynthetic genera and their BGC profiles, indicating the conservation pattern that can discriminate between these genera. Additionally, the study revealed a high biosynthetic potential of infrequently cultured bacterial groups and the need to focus on microbial minorities as a novel and vast source of bioactive compounds.
FRONTIERS IN MICROBIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Microbiology
Gregory Evdokias, Cameron Semper, Montserrat Mora-Ochomogo, Marcos Di Falco, Thi Truc Minh Nguyen, Alexei Savchenko, Adrian Tsang, Isabelle Benoit-Gelber
Summary: The study found that a biosynthetic gene cluster in Aspergillus niger is downregulated in co-culture with Bacillus subtilis. Gene analysis revealed that the cluster contains various genes including nonribosomal peptides synthetase and transcription factor. Overexpression of the transcription factor gene led to reduced growth rate and production of two previously unknown compounds, which were reverted to wild-type phenotype upon deletion of the nonribosomal peptides synthetase gene. This suggests that the biosynthetic gene cluster is regulated by the transcriptional regulator gene and is involved in the production of these compounds.
Article
Chemistry, Applied
Yi-Wei Hu, Wei-Hao Chen, Meng-Meng Song, Xiao-Yan Pang, Xin-Peng Tian, Fa-Zuo Wang, Yong-Hong Liu, Jun-Feng Wang
Summary: A new indole diketopiperazine alkaloid, penilline D (1), was isolated from the Antarctic fungus Penicillium sp. SCSIO 05705, along with other indole alkaloids, meroterpenoids, and butenolide derivatives. Compound 5 exhibited moderate cytotoxic activity against the 143B cell line, while compound 6 showed strong inhibitory activity against AChE.
NATURAL PRODUCT RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Qingxia Ren, Min Zhang, Rui Xue, Tongji Liu, Zhennai Yang, Zhang Yang
Summary: The present study purified and characterized a novel low-molecular-weight antimicrobial peptide (AMP) named PNMGL2 produced by Lactiplantibacillus plantarum NMGL2. The AMP was separated and purified effectively using ethyl acetate extraction and DEAE-Sepharose anion exchange chromatography. The purified AMP, identified as a hexapeptide LNFLKK through MALDI-TOF MS and structurally characterized as a combination of helixes and random coil, showed antimicrobial activity against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL MACROMOLECULES
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Jing Liu, Yiling Yang, Lauritz Harken, Shu-Ming Li
Summary: Heterologous expression of a three-gene cluster from Streptomyces aurantiacus led to the elucidation of the biosynthetic steps of streptoazine C. The prenyltransferase SasB showed high flexibility towards tryptophan-containing cyclodipeptides. This study provides potential use of enzymes with high substrate promiscuity for generating prenylated derivatives.
JOURNAL OF NATURAL PRODUCTS
(2021)
Article
Microbiology
Dongli Lv, Jinmei Xia, Xiaoqing Guan, Qiliang Lai, Beibei Zhang, Jianhui Lin, Zongze Shao, Sulan Luo, Dongting Zhangsun, Jiang-Jiang Qin, Weiyi Wang
Summary: Two new bioactive compounds were isolated from a deep-sea-derived fungus and their structures were determined. Compounds 1, 5-7 exhibited significant inhibition against Staphylococcus aureus, while compound 8 showed potent reduction in cell viability of gastric cancer cells.
FRONTIERS IN MICROBIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Kyung Taek Heo, Byeongsan Lee, Jae-Hyuk Jang, Young-Soo Hong
Summary: Kidamycins belong to a family of antitumor antibiotics with interesting biological activity. Several synthetic derivatives are being developed, but their synthesis is difficult due to the complex structures and unusual C-glycosylated residues. The biosynthetic gene cluster of kidamycin was studied, revealing the sequential biosynthetic steps of the unique C-glycosylated amino-deoxyhexoses. The importance of this study lies in its potential for the development of synthetic derivatives.
FRONTIERS IN BIOENGINEERING AND BIOTECHNOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Microbiology
Marwa Neyaz, Sumanjari Das, Daniel Cook, Rebecca Creamer
Summary: Swainsonine is a cytotoxic alkaloid produced by fungi, and its biosynthesis depends on the SWN gene cluster. The presence and conservation of swainsonine genes vary among different orders of fungi, suggesting a complex evolutionary history of the SWN cluster in fungi.
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Heung-Soon Park, Hee-Ju Nah, Seung-Hoon Kang, Si-Sun Choi, Eung-Soo Kim
Summary: A potential novel phytopathogenic fungicide-producing Streptomyces strain, S. rubrisoli Inha 501, was identified through bioassay-based screening, showing potent antifungal activities against various fungi. Whole-genome sequencing and anti-SMASH genome mining revealed a polyene biosynthetic gene cluster and confirmed the compound's homology to neotetrafibricin A, suggesting it as a promising candidate for crop protection against phytopathogenic fungi in the soil environment.
FRONTIERS IN BIOENGINEERING AND BIOTECHNOLOGY
(2021)
Review
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Banu Metin
Summary: This review provides an in-depth exploration of the secondary metabolites produced by P. roqueforti in blue cheeses. It focuses on their biosynthetic pathways, the gene clusters responsible for their production, and their bioactivities. The review also discusses the potential of P. roqueforti for producing secondary metabolites and highlights recently identified metabolites and related gene clusters.
FERMENTATION-BASEL
(2023)
Review
Plant Sciences
Yinan Wu, Franklin L. Gong, Sijin Li
Summary: Plant biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) are important for understanding plant specialized metabolism and evolution. Recent studies have shown that baker's yeast can be used as a versatile platform for the characterization of plant BGCs. This review summarizes the strategies and applications of yeast in plant BGC characterization and presents a perspective on the development of a systematic pipeline for advancing the understanding of plant BGCs and plant natural product biomanufacturing.
CURRENT OPINION IN PLANT BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Organic
Fangfang Jia, Mingliang Zhang, Jiangping Fan, Yang Wang, Xiangyu Ge, Xinyu Mi, Xiao Liu, Juan Wang, Peng-Fei Tu, She-Po Shi
Summary: Two novel 3,5-dimethylorsellinic acid derived meroterpenoids (peniciterpenolides A and B), one new spongian-type diterpene (peniciterpenolide C), and one new drimane-type sesquiterpene (peniciterpenolide D), along with a known meroterpenoid (atlantinone B), were isolated from an endophytic fungus identified from Huperzia serrata. These compounds exhibited inhibitory activity against nitric oxide production in lipopolysaccharide-activated RAW 264.7 macrophage cells with IC50 values ranging from 20.6 to 46.9 μM.
ORGANIC CHEMISTRY FRONTIERS
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Alexa K. Byers, Leo Condron, Maureen O'Callaghan, Nick Waipara, Amanda Black
Summary: This study identified secondary metabolite encoding biosynthetic gene clusters (SM-BGCs) in Penicillium and Burkholderia strains that inhibited the growth of Phytophthora agathidicida, a pathogen causing kauri dieback disease. Several types of SM-BGCs were identified, including PKSs, NRPSs, and terpenes, but many were still unknown. Further investigation is necessary to identify the compounds encoded by these SM-BGCs and explore their antimicrobial potential.
MOLECULAR ECOLOGY RESOURCES
(2023)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Shuai Song, Yahui Zhang, Xinchun Duan, Chunquan Liu, Yanlin Du, Xiaoran Wang, Yi Luo, Yong Cui
Summary: In this study, the influence of hypoxia-treated tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) on the malignant phenotypes of esophageal cancer (EC) cells was examined. It was found that hypoxic macrophages contributed to the proliferation, cell cycle progression, and metastasis of EC cells. Additionally, hypoxia treatment accelerated the transformation of macrophages into M2 polarization. The upregulation of interleukin-8 (IL-8) secretion by macrophages after hypoxia treatment was found to be mediated by hypoxia-inducible factor-1 alpha (HIF-1 alpha). IL-8 secreted by hypoxic macrophages further facilitated EC cell proliferation, cell cycle progression, and metastasis by elevating programmed death 1 ligand (PD-L1) expression. The study suggests that the HIF-1 alpha/IL-8 axis in hypoxic macrophages could enhance EC advancement through upregulating PD-L1 expression, providing a novel potential target for EC treatment.
CANCER GENE THERAPY
(2023)
Review
Orthopedics
Rongli Zhang, Yahui Zhang, Liyuan Hou, Chengyong Yan
Summary: This study compares the clinical outcomes of vacuum-assisted closure (VAC) versus conventional dressing on necrotizing fasciitis. The results showed that patients treated with VAC had a significantly lower mortality rate compared to conventional dressing. There were no significant differences in the number of debridements, total length of hospital stay, and complication rate between the two groups.
JOURNAL OF ORTHOPAEDIC SURGERY AND RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Li An, Ruixue Zhang, Neng Wang, Pan Wu, Shizhong Wang, Zhiwei Han, Yahui Zhang, Yuran Fu, Yuhao Zhang
Summary: Acid mine drainage (AMD) with low pH and high concentrations of sulfates and heavy metals is a major source of environmental pollution. This study proposes a novel treatment system for AMD using a combination of bio-oxidation and carbonate rock neutralization. The results showed that by adding carbonate rocks, the efficiency of Fe2+ oxidation and total iron removal increased significantly compared to the control group. The addition of carbonate rocks also regulated the acidic environment and facilitated the formation of schwertmannite, providing favorable conditions for bacterial attachment. Acidithiobacillus and Leptospirillum were identified as the dominant bacteria in the biological oxidation stage. These findings provide valuable insights for the development of a combined treatment method for AMD using biological oxidation and carbonate rock neutralization.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE-WATER RESEARCH & TECHNOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Reproductive Biology
Yahui Zhang, Yi Lin, Guoqiang Li, Yuan Yuan, Xuejiao Wang, Na Li, Chuanhao Xiong, Yueying Yang, Yuhang Ma, Zhijian Zhang, Xiaoying Ding
Summary: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a complicated hormonal and metabolic disorder, the exact pathogenesis of which remains unclear. Inflammation and impaired brown adipose tissue activity are involved in the progression of PCOS. Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists have been found to alleviate inflammation and stimulate browning of white adipose tissue.
BIOLOGY OF REPRODUCTION
(2023)
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Yahui Zhang, Ke Gao, Changdong Li
Summary: By simulating a sheared fault containing a granular gouge, we find two regimes of fault slip driven by the heterogeneity of the gouge stress field: a dispersive regime with weak heterogeneity and a pervasive regime with strong heterogeneity. The accumulation of gouge stress field heterogeneity is an inevitable consequence of increased entropy in the preparation stage of a large earthquake, which eventually destroys the long-range stress field correlations in the gouge and resets at the beginning of a new cycle of a large earthquake.
EARTH AND PLANETARY SCIENCE LETTERS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Ping Gao, Wen Zhang, Xiaosheng Fang, Bing Leng, Yahui Zhang, Xin Liu, Xin Wang, Nan Guo
Summary: A method for quantifying venetoclax and voriconazole in human plasma was established and validated. Co-treatment with voriconazole was found to increase the peak concentration of venetoclax, but also led to higher trough concentrations.
JOURNAL OF PHARMACEUTICAL AND BIOMEDICAL ANALYSIS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Yan He, Yahui Zhang, Xiaohua Feng, Shuwei Deng, Zhiwen Wang
Summary: This paper proposes a new optimized parameter model to improve the pointing accuracy of moving-platform electro-optical telescopes (MPEOTs). The study comprehensively analyzes the error sources and establishes a linear pointing correction model based on the target positioning process. Stepwise regression is applied to obtain the optimized parameter model and experimental results demonstrate its effectiveness, with pointing errors of less than 50 arcsec for approximately 23 h.
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Yongguo Jiang, Yinliang Cui, Hongliang Nian, Changhua Yang, Yahui Zhang, Mingyong Liu, Heng Xu, Jinjun Cai, Hesong Liu
Summary: The Caiyuanzi medium-sized Pb-Zn deposit is located in the Laojunshan polymetallic metallogenic province in SE Yunnan Province. It is formed by sedimentary exhalative and magmatic hydrothermal superimposition, with its sulfur and lead deriving from the upper crust.
Article
Microbiology
Lin Feng, Yahui Zhang, Weiliang Chen, Bizeng Mao
Summary: Winterberry holly (Ilex verticillata) experienced serious outbreaks in Hangzhou in 2018, with curling leaf tips, irregular black brown spots on leaves, and extensive defoliation. The incidence rate reached 50% and resulted in significant economic losses for growers.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Yuran Fu, Ruixue Zhang, Neng Wang, Pan Wu, Yahui Zhang, Li An, Yuhao Zhang
Summary: This study investigated the effects of initial pH and carbonate rock dosage on biomineralization and secondary iron mineral synthesis mediated by Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans. The results showed that at an initial pH of 1.8 and a carbonate rock dosage of 30 g, the removal rate of iron reached 67.37% and 36.9 g/L of sediments were generated, which were significantly higher than systems without carbonate rock addition.
Article
Chemistry, Applied
Chong Chong Wang, Zheng Sheng, Ya Hui Zhang, Qin Li, Pen Jin, Dong Chao Xie, Wei Hong Min, Hai Hua Zhang
Summary: This study investigated the effects of EGCG concentration on the gluten network in dough. At micro scale, EGCG at 1.0% or higher disrupted the gluten network, as evidenced by increased lacunarity and disorganization. At nano-scale, increasing EGCG concentration decreased bound water, increased bulk water, and reduced the amount of glutenin macromolecule. At atomic scale, EGCG reduced disulfide bonds but increased hydrogen bonds, ionic bonds, and hydrophobic interactions in the gluten network. However, at the molecular level, EGCG caused instability in secondary structure and disulfide bridge conformation. Overall, EGCG disrupted the gluten network and resulted in loose aggregation morphology.
FOOD HYDROCOLLOIDS
(2023)
Article
Immunology
Hong Cheng, Jingyu Wang, Yahui Zhang, Yingle Tang, Lin Zhu, Yan Tao, Wen Lu, Haifan Yang, Weiyi Zhu, Xin Tang, Xinran Qiao
Summary: The study found that Ganoderma lucidum immunoregulatory protein (rLZ-8) has protective effects against Parkinson's disease (PD) by alleviating oxidative stress and inflammatory response.
JOURNAL OF NEUROIMMUNOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Geriatrics & Gerontology
Yong Zhao, Jianchun Wang, Xiaojuan Zhu, Xiyu Zhang, Yahui Zhang, Wen Zhang, Yan Dong
Summary: This study investigated the prevalence of multimorbidity and polypharmacy in hospitalized older patients. It found that multimorbidity was highly prevalent and polypharmacy was common. Factors such as older age, polypharmacy, and prolonged hospitalization were associated with more morbidities. Age, number of morbidities, and hospitalization duration were potential risk factors for all-cause death. However, the number of medications and polypharmacy were associated with a decreased risk of mortality.
Article
Plant Sciences
Yahui Zhang, Yunqi Tang, Weicai Jin, Yu Liu, Guangyu Li, Wenhao Zhong, Jun Huang, Wenyi Wang
Summary: This study investigated the genetic basis of zeaxanthin content regulation in sweet corn and identified 8 QTLs, with a specific QTL on chromosome 7 being the main regulator of zeaxanthin content in sweet corn grains.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Yue Qin, Xiaoyu Zhang, Yanling Song, Bowen Zhong, Lu Liu, Dongdong Wang, Yahui Zhang, Wenqi Lu, Xinjia Zhao, Zhiqi Jia, Minmin Li, Lihua Zhang, Guangyan Qing
Summary: Using phage display technology, this study identified two cyclic peptide sequences that specifically bind to the terminal dodecapeptide sequence of SUMO1. The combination of these peptides and polyethylene terephthalate conical nanochannel films resulted in a highly sensitive nanochannel device for detecting SUMO1. This device shows promise for monitoring enzyme-catalyzed reactions and cellular imaging.
