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Environmental Research Nov 2023For a long time, the well-known Gram-positive bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) has been extensively studied and developed as a biological insecticide for... (Review)
Review
For a long time, the well-known Gram-positive bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) has been extensively studied and developed as a biological insecticide for Lepidoptera and Coleoptera pests due to its ability to secrete a large number of specific insecticidal proteins. In recent years, studies have found that Bt strains can also potentially biodegrade residual pollutants in the environment. Many researchers have isolated Bt strains from multiple sites polluted by exogenous compounds and characterized and identified their xenobiotic-degrading potential. Furthermore, its pathway for degradation was also investigated at molecular level, and a number of major genes/enzymes responsible for degradation have been explored. At present, a variety of xenobiotics involved in degradation in Bt have been reported, including inorganic pollutants (used in the field of heavy metal biosorption and recovery and precious metal recovery and regeneration), pesticides (chlorpyrifos, cypermethrin, 2,2-dichloropropionic acid, etc.), organic tin, petroleum and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, reactive dyes (congo red, methyl orange, methyl blue, etc.), and ibuprofen, among others. In this paper, the biodegrading ability of Bt is reviewed according to the categories of related pollutants, so as to emphasize that Bt is a powerful agent for removing environmental pollutants.
Topics: Bacillus thuringiensis; Environmental Pollutants; Insecticides; Chlorpyrifos; Ibuprofen; Bacterial Proteins; Endotoxins
PubMed: 37481057
DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2023.116699 -
Neurochemical Research Nov 2023Hot peppers, also called chilli, chilli pepper, or paprika of the plant genus Capsicum (family Solanaceae), are one of the most used vegetables and spices worldwide.... (Review)
Review
Hot peppers, also called chilli, chilli pepper, or paprika of the plant genus Capsicum (family Solanaceae), are one of the most used vegetables and spices worldwide. Capsaicin (8-methyl N-vanillyl-6-noneamide) is the main pungent principle of hot green and red peppers. By acting on the capsaicin receptor or transient receptor potential cation channel vanilloid subfamily member 1 (TRPV1), capsaicin selectively stimulates and in high doses defunctionalizes capsaicin-sensitive chemonociceptors with C and Aδ afferent fibers. This channel, which is involved in a wide range of neuronal processes, is expressed in peripheral and central branches of capsaicin-sensitive nociceptive neurons, sensory ganglia, the spinal cord, and different brain regions in neuronal cell bodies, dendrites, astrocytes, and pericytes. Several experimental and clinical studies provided evidence that capsaicin protected against ischaemic or excitotoxic cerebral neuronal injury and may lower the risk of cerebral stroke. By preventing neuronal death, memory impairment and inhibiting the amyloidogenic process, capsaicin may also be beneficial in neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson's or Alzheimer's diseases. Capsaicin given in systemic inflammation/sepsis exerted beneficial antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects while defunctionalization of capsaicin-sensitive vagal afferents has been demonstrated to increase brain oxidative stress. Capsaicin may act in the periphery via the vagal sensory fibers expressing TRPV1 receptors to reduce immune oxidative and inflammatory signalling to the brain. Capsaicin given in small doses has also been reported to inhibit the experimentally-induced epileptic seizures. The aim of this review is to provide a concise account on the most recent findings related to this topic. We attempted to delineate such mechanisms by which capsaicin exerts its neuronal protective effects. We also aimed to provide the reader with the current knowledge on the mechanism of action of capsaicin on sensory receptors.
Topics: Capsaicin; TRPV Cation Channels; Neuroprotection; Nociceptors; Spinal Cord; Gonadal Steroid Hormones
PubMed: 37493882
DOI: 10.1007/s11064-023-03983-z -
Phytotherapy Research : PTR Oct 2023Cancer is the most common cause of death worldwide, following cardiovascular diseases. Cancer is a multifactorial disease and many reasons such as physical, chemical,... (Review)
Review
Cancer is the most common cause of death worldwide, following cardiovascular diseases. Cancer is a multifactorial disease and many reasons such as physical, chemical, biological, and lifestyle-related factors. Nutrition, which is one of the various factors that play a role in the prevention, development, and treatment of many types of cancer, affects the immune system, which is characterized by disproportionate pro-inflammatory signaling in cancer. Studies investigating the molecular mechanisms of this effect have shown that foods rich in bioactive compounds, such as green tea, olive oil, turmeric, and soybean play a significant role in positively changing the expression of miRNAs involved in the regulation of genes associated with oncogenic/tumor-suppressing pathways. In addition to these foods, some diet models may change the expression of specific cancer-related miRNAs in different ways. While Mediterranean diet has been associated with anticancer effects, a high-fat diet, and a methyl-restricted diet are considered to have negative effects. This review aims to discuss the effects of specific foods called "immune foods," diet models, and bioactive components on cancer by changing the expression of miRNAs in the prevention and treatment of cancer.
PubMed: 37434291
DOI: 10.1002/ptr.7937 -
Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) Mar 2024Benzimidazole fungicides are a class of highly effective, low-toxicity, systemic broad-spectrum fungicides developed in the 1960s and 1970s, based on the fungicidal... (Review)
Review
Benzimidazole fungicides are a class of highly effective, low-toxicity, systemic broad-spectrum fungicides developed in the 1960s and 1970s, based on the fungicidal activity of the benzimidazole ring structure. They exhibit biological activities including anticancer, antibacterial, and antiparasitic effects. Due to their particularly outstanding antibacterial properties, they are widely used in agriculture to prevent and control various plant diseases caused by fungi. The main products of benzimidazole fungicides include benomyl, carbendazim, thiabendazole, albendazole, thiophanate, thiophanate-methyl, fuberidazole, methyl (1-{[(5-cyanopentyl)amino]carbonyl}-1-benzimidazol-2-yl) carbamate, and carbendazim salicylate. This article mainly reviews the physicochemical properties, toxicological properties, disease control efficacy, and pesticide residue and detection technologies of the aforementioned nine benzimidazole fungicides and their main metabolite (2-aminobenzimidazole). On this basis, a brief outlook on the future research directions of benzimidazole fungicides is presented.
Topics: Fungicides, Industrial; Benzimidazoles; Carbamates; Thiophanate; Anti-Bacterial Agents
PubMed: 38542855
DOI: 10.3390/molecules29061218 -
ACS Energy Letters Jul 2023With the advent of nonfullerene acceptors (NFAs), organic photovoltaic (OPV) devices are now achieving high enough power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) for...
With the advent of nonfullerene acceptors (NFAs), organic photovoltaic (OPV) devices are now achieving high enough power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) for commercialization. However, these high performances rely on active layers processed from petroleum-based and toxic solvents, which are undesirable for mass manufacturing. Here, we demonstrate the use of biorenewable 2-methyltetrahydrofuran (2MeTHF) and cyclopentyl methyl ether (CPME) solvents to process donor: NFA-based OPVs with no additional additives in the active layer. Furthermore, to reduce the overall carbon footprint of the manufacturing cycle of the OPVs, we use polymeric donors that require a few synthetic steps for their synthesis, namely, PTQ10 and FO6-T, which are blended with the Y-series NFA Y12. High performance was achieved using 2MeTHF as the processing solvent, reaching PCEs of 14.5% and 11.4% for PTQ10:Y12 and FO6-T:Y12 blends, respectively. This work demonstrates the potential of using biorenewable solvents without additives for the processing of OPV active layers, opening the door to large-scale and green manufacturing of organic solar cells.
PubMed: 37469392
DOI: 10.1021/acsenergylett.3c00891 -
Applied and Environmental Microbiology Jun 2023Bacillus subtilis has been widely used and generally recognized as a safe host for the production of recombinant proteins, high-value chemicals, and pharmaceuticals....
Bacillus subtilis has been widely used and generally recognized as a safe host for the production of recombinant proteins, high-value chemicals, and pharmaceuticals. Thus, its metabolic engineering attracts significant attention. Nevertheless, the limited availability of selective markers makes this process difficult and time-consuming, especially in the case of multistep biosynthetic pathways. Here, we employ CRISPR/Cas9 technology to build an easy cloning toolkit that addresses commonly encountered obstacles in the metabolic engineering of B. subtilis, including the chromosomal integration locus, promoter, terminator, and guide RNA (gRNA) target. Six promoters were characterized, and the promoter strengths ranged from 0.9- to 23-fold that of the commonly used strong promoter P. We characterized seven terminators in B. subtilis, and the termination efficiencies (TEs) of the seven terminators are all more than 90%. Six gRNA targets were designed upstream of the promoter and downstream of the terminator. Using a green fluorescent protein (GFP) reporter, we confirmed integration efficiency with the single-locus integration site is up to 100%. We demonstrated the applicability of this toolkit by optimizing the expression of a challenging but industrially important product, lycopene. By heterologous expression of the essential genes for lycopene synthesis on the B. subtilis genome, a total of 13 key genes involved in the lycopene biosynthetic pathway were manipulated. Moreover, our findings showed that the gene cluster -- could positively affect the production of lycopene, while the cluster --- had a negative effect on lycopene production. Hence, our multilocus integration strategy can facilitate the pathway assembly for production of complex chemicals and pharmaceuticals in B. subtilis. We present a toolkit that allows for rapid cloning procedures and one-step subcloning to move from plasmid-based expression to stable chromosome integration and expression in a production strain in less than a week. The utility of the customized tool was demonstrated by integrating the MEP (2C-methyl-d-erythritol-4-phosphate) pathway, part of the pentose phosphate pathway (PPP), and the hetero-lycopene biosynthesis genes by stable expression in the genome. The tool could be useful to engineer B. subtilis strains through diverse recombination events and ultimately improve its potential and scope of industrial application as biological chassis.
Topics: Lycopene; CRISPR-Cas Systems; Bacillus subtilis; Plasmids; Metabolic Engineering
PubMed: 37272803
DOI: 10.1128/aem.00230-23 -
Environmental Science and Pollution... Aug 2023The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are imperative from the point of view of protecting the environment by employing sustainable options....
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are imperative from the point of view of protecting the environment by employing sustainable options. Considerable research has been carried out in the transportation sector to meet this objective. Here, the influence is assessed of epoxidised gingelly oil methyl ester biolubricant with alumina (AlO) nanoparticles on the performance and emissions of a single cylinder 0.66-L capacity direct injection compression ignition engine driven by gingelly B20 biodiesel. Engine tests are carried out with gingelly B20 biodiesel as a fuel, and gingelly methyl ester (B100), epoxidised gingelly methyl ester (B100E), and epoxidised gingelly methyl ester (B100E) mixed with 0.5%, 1.0%, and 1.5% w/w alumina (AlO) nanoparticles as the lubricant combinations. The results are compared with baseline B20 biodiesel fuel-mineral lubricant operation. The findings indicate that brake thermal efficiency increases by 8.64% for epoxidised gingelly methyl ester (B100E) with 1.0% w/w alumina (AlO) nanoparticle biolubricant in comparison to baseline operation. Considerable reductions in emissions are detected; specifically, reductions of 52.4%, 22.0%, 20.0%, and 34.9%, respectively, are observed for CO, NO, and HC concentrations and smoke opacity for the abovementioned combination as compared to baseline operation. The present work suggests that further research is merited on green fuel-green lubricant combinations. The findings of this study address the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 7 and 13.
Topics: Gasoline; Smoke; Biofuels; Vehicle Emissions; Metal Nanoparticles; Esters; Aluminum Oxide
PubMed: 37477812
DOI: 10.1007/s11356-023-28645-z -
Chemosphere Nov 2023Microplastics (MPs) and dye pollutants are widespread in aquatic environments. Here, the adsorption characteristics of anionic dye methyl orange (MO) and cationic dye...
Microplastics (MPs) and dye pollutants are widespread in aquatic environments. Here, the adsorption characteristics of anionic dye methyl orange (MO) and cationic dye malachite green (MG) on polyamide 6 (PA6) and polyamide 66 (PA66) MPs were investigated, including kinetics, isotherm equilibrium and thermodynamics. The co-adsorption of MO and MG under different pH was also evaluated. The results reveal that the adsorption process of MO and MG is suitably expounded by a pseudo-second-order kinetic model. The process can be characterized by two stages: internal diffusion and external diffusion. The isothermal adsorption equilibrium of MO and MG can be effectively described using the Langmuir model, signifying monolayer adsorption. Furthermore, the thermodynamic results indicated that the adsorption was spontaneous with exothermic and endothermic properties, respectively. The results of binary systems reveal that MO dominates the adsorption at low pH (2-5), while MG dominates at high pH (8-10). Strong competitive adsorption was observed between MO and MG in neutral conditions (pH 6-8). The desorption experiments confirm that PA6 and PA66 could serve as potential carriers of MO and MG. The interaction between dyes and polyamide MPs is primarily mediated through hydrogen bonds and electrostatic attraction. The results reveal that PA6 formed more hydrogen bonds with the dyes, resulting in higher adsorption capacity than that of PA66. This difference can be attributed to the disparities in the synthesis process and polymerization method. Our study uncovered the adsorption mechanism of dye pollutants on PA6 and PA66, and provided a more comprehensive theoretical basis for the risk assessment concerning different types of polyamide MPs in aquatic environments.
Topics: Microplastics; Nylons; Plastics; Adsorption; Hydrogen Bonding; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; Thermodynamics; Coloring Agents; Kinetics; Water Pollutants, Chemical
PubMed: 37574090
DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.139806 -
Food Science & Nutrition Dec 2023Jasmine tea is loved by most people who drink flower tea owing to its unique aroma, and it is known as the top of flower teas. In our study, the quantitative evaluation...
Jasmine tea is loved by most people who drink flower tea owing to its unique aroma, and it is known as the top of flower teas. In our study, the quantitative evaluation of the quality of jasmine tea and detection of aroma components were carried out. First, the flavor quality of 92 kinds of jasmine tea was evaluated using multiple sub-factor quality evaluation methods. According to the evaluation results, jasmine tea was divided into three types: "fresh and lovely" (FL), "heavy and thick" (HT), and "fresh and heavy" (FH). Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was used to detect the aroma components of the three types of jasmine tea samples. α-Farnesene, cis-3-hexenyl benzoate, acid phenylmethyl ester, linalool, methyl anthranilate, and indole were the main substances that constituted the basic aroma quality characteristics of jasmine tea. Compared to the FL type, the HT and FH types were weaker in the diversification of the characteristic aroma and accumulation of green, herb, sweet, and roast aroma substances. Green and herb aromas play crucial roles in the fresh and persistent qualities of the three types of jasmine tea, which are the key quality factors research focus of jasmine tea.
PubMed: 38107141
DOI: 10.1002/fsn3.3701