Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH)cytochrome P450 reductase (CPR) is an electron supplier for various cytochrome P450 monooxygenases. Most P450-mediated catalytic reactions in insects require involvement of CPR, such as detoxification of insecticides and plant secondary metabolites. So far, CPR genes have been identified and characterized from many model and non-model insect species. Since insect P450 system is one of the most important metabolic adaptive traits involved in the degradation of xenobiotics and regulation of endogenous substrates. CPR, as the indispensable electron donor of P450 system, has attracted increasing attention as a potential candidate to develop novel chemical inhibitor to manage target insect pests. Rice planthoppers, such as Nilaparvata lugens, Laodelphax striatellus and Sogatella furcifera, are considered to be the most serious pests of rice. Previously, some studies on L. striatellus and N. lugens found that silencing the CPR gene by RNAi technology could increase their sensitivity to insecticides, but little was known about S. furcifera. This work firstly reports the identification of CPR gene in S. furcifera and up-regulation of the CPR transcription by chemical insecticides. The research will facilitate further study on the function of CPR in S. furcifera.
In this study, a fulllength cDNA encoding CPR was cloned from S. furcifera. The phylogenetic relationships of SfCPR with other insect CPRs were estimated by neighbor-joining method, and its distribution in various tissues and different developmental stages were analyzed by realtime quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). Finally, after exposure of deltamethrin, buprofezin and imidacloprid at sublethal concentrations for 6, 12 and 24 h, the relative expression levels of SfCPR in the thirdinstar nymphs were investigated.
By searching the transcriptome data sets of S. furcifera, a cDNA fragment encoding putative CPR (named SfCPR) was identified. This cDNA fragment was then amplified by PCR and sequenced in order to confirm that the sequence was not chimeric. The SfCPR cDNA contained a complete open reading frame (ORF) of 2 034 bp nucleotides, encoding a protein of 677 amino acid residues. The theoretical isoelectric point (pI) and calculated molecular mass of SfCPR protein are 5.48 and 76.762 ku, respectively. The secondary structure of SfCPR protein showed the marked features of typical CPRs, such as N-terminal transmembrane region, FMN-, FAD- and NADPH-binding domains and conserved catalytic residues. In addition, a transmembrane anchor was predicted in the N-terminus of the protein, indicating that SfCPR is an endoplasmic reticulumlocated protein. Phylogenic analysis was used to gain insight into the phylogenetic relationships among CPR proteins from diverse insect species. We found that SfCPR and CPRs from other two planthoppers were clustered together. Realtime quantitative PCR showed that the expression of SfCPR was detectable in all developmental stages and the level in adults was the highest. The SfCPR transcripts were also expressed in all the tested tissues of the adults, and most were strongly expressed in the abdomen. The exposure at sublethal concentrations of deltamethrin, buprofezin and imidacloprid led to significantly elevated expression of SfCPR. The expression of SfCPR was activated soon (6 h) after treatment with buprofezin and imidacloprid, while the response of SfCPR expression to deltamethrin was relatively slow (12 h).
In conclusion, this work is the first report about the cDNA sequence information, secondary structure and transcription profiles of CPR gene in the S. furcifera. These findings provide foundation for further research on the physiological function of SfCPR.

Human colon carcinoma cell line Caco-2 has been extensively used over the last thirty years as a model of the intestinal barrier. The parental cell line undergoes a process of spontaneous differentiation that leads to the formation of a monolayer of cells, expressing several morphological and functional characteristics of the mature enterocyte. Hollow fiber membrane bioreactors can offer an in vivo like microenvironment for adherent cell types, such as Caco-2 cells, and enable a high quantity of the desired cellular product with less population variation and favorable operation costs.
The objective of this study is to construct a novel Caco-2 cell hollow fiber membrane bioreactor, to explore the feasibility for further application by morphological observation and functional test of Caco-2 cells. 
In this experiment, the Caco-2 cells were cultured in polyethersulfone (PES) and polyvinylidenefluoride (PVDF) hollow fiber membranes as well as the classic Transwell culture plate. The morphological features of the cells were observed by optical microscope and scanning electron microscope (SEM), and the cell growth characters were examined by 3-（4,5-dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)-2,5-diphenyl-2-H-tetrazolium bromide (MTT). Meanwhile, the integrity of the cell monolayer was verified by fluorescence microscopy. The polarization and compactification of the monolayer was determined by brush border enzymatic activity, including the activities of alkaline phosphatase and γ glutamyltransferase. In this way, the proliferation and differentiation of Caco-2 cells were compared and evaluated in threedimensional hollow fiber bioreactor and two-dimensional models.
Subsequently, time-dependent morphological observation of cell layers indicated that the Caco-2 cells cultured on hollow fiber, spread well and showed clear outline, and gradually formed confluent monolayer within 10 days. The brush border enzymes were well differentiated with higher expressed function within 8-14 days compared to the traditional model, and all of them tended to be consistent in the late cultivation. 
〖JP2〗In conclusion, both the PES and PVDF hollow fiber membranes can effectively accelerate the proliferation and differentiation of Caco-2 cells during the 21 day culture period, resulting in the construction of a highly stable three-dimensional cell model. Eventually, the threedimensional Caco-2 cell hollow fiber membrane bioreactors of PES and PVDF are successfully constructed, and the model has advantages over the traditional Transwell monolayer model.

Continuous cropping obstacle caused by intensive cropping of potato has seriously affected its healthy development of industrialization. Autotoxicity was confirmed to be one of the mechanisms causing continuous cropping obstacle; therefore it will be significance to study the autotoxicity of potato for sustainable agriculture production. The growth of plants can be inhibited by autotoxicity through regulating the permeability of cell membrane, affecting the function and enzymatic activities, and even the photosynthesis system. It was so difficult to eliminate the continuous cropping obstacle by agronomic measures, thus it become necessary to solve the problem of continuous cropping obstacle and to reveal the mechanism of autotoxicity for potato.
In this paper, a pot experiment was conducted to investigate effects of water extracts from different organs (root, stem and leaf) of potato on its growth and development. The potatoes were collected from tuber of mature potato in the field, and matrix culture method was adopted to conduct the experiments. Morphological characteristics of root system (root length, root surface area and root volume), and physiological parameters (catalase, peroxidase and malondiadehyde) were used as indicators to study the autotoxicity effect. 
The results showed that: Water extracts from different organs of potato exhibited obvious inhibitory effect on the growth of potato, and the extracts from stem and leaves had significant inhibitory effect on the height of potato (P<0.05), with the alleopathic response index (RI) value of -0.11. The root extracts significantly inhibited the number of branches and stem diameter, with the RI value of -0.11 and -0.13, respectively. Meanwhile, the damage of root system caused by the root extracts was also worst, with the RI value of -0.25 for the root surface area, -0.32 for the root tip number, and -0.32 for the branch number, respectively. The chlorophyll contents of potato leaf, activities of peroxidase and catalase all decreased under the treatments of water extracts from different organs of potato; however, the MDA content was increased, and the allelopathic effect of root extracts was the strongest, with the RI value of -0.10. The soluble sugar content was significantly increased by the root extracts, while reduced by the stem and leaf extracts, with the RI value of -0.11 and -0.02, respectively. On the contrary, the soluble protein content was increased by the stem and leaf extracts, while reduced by the root extracts, with the RI value of -0.06. 
In conclusion, the autotoxicity effect is observed in different organs of potato, but the adaptation to allelochemicals is distinct among the different organs of potato, and the inhibitory effect by root extracts is strongest.

Shine Muscat (Vitis labruscana Bailey ×V. vinifera L. Shine Muscat) is a diploid table grape cultivar resulted from cross breeding of ‘Akitsu21’ [‘Steuben’ (V. labruscana) × ‘Muscat of Alexandria’ ( V. vinifera)] with ‘Hakunan’ (V. vinifera) released by National Institute of Fruit Tree Science (NIFTS) in Japan. It has a large berry size, bright yellowgreen pericarp, crispy and juicy flesh, musky flavor, high soluble solid content and low acidity. Fruit ripening of Shine Muscat was in middle to late August with a long shelf life. The average mass is 10.0 g and 12.4 g for seeded and seedless fruit production, respectively. The seedless berries can be commercially produced by applying gibberellin A3 (GA3) to flower and fruit clusters in full bloom and 10 to 15 days after full bloom, respectively. Under natural conditions, however, the berries of Shine Muscat are smaller, and grape clusters are relatively sparse. Besides, Shine Muscat grape has the problem of rusty spot incidence, which occurs at the maturation stage just before harvest. Tiny reddishbrown blotches appear on the surface of berries and considerably affected its production quality and commodity value. 
In this study, 3yearold Shine Muscat trees were selected as the material, and the effects of different concentrations and collocations of GA3 and N-(2-chloro-4-pyridyl)-N′-phenylurea (CPPU) treatments on fruit setting and fruit quality of Shine Muscat grape were studied. 
The results showed that co-treatment with GA3 and CPPU could significantly improve the fruit setting rate, fruit cluster density, yield stability of Shine Muscat grape; meanwhile, it could also improve the percentage of seedless fruit. The combined use of GA3 and CPPU could remarkably increase single fruit mass, spike mass, total soluble solid content (TSS) and fruit hardness. Higher concentration of CPPU in the early stage would result in higher fruit hollow rate. On the contrary, lower concentration of CPPU in the early stage had no significant effect on fruit enlargement. Meanwhile, higher concentration of CPPU in the later stage would decrease the content of fruit soluble solids. 
In sum, comprehensive consideration for the fruit cluster compactness, fruit size, sugar degree, aroma component and cost saving, the better cotreatments in production are as follows: 1) 25 mg/L GA3+10 mg/L CPPU for one time at 5 days after full bloom, or 2) 25 mg/L GA3+5 mg/L CPPU at 1-3 days right after full bloom, and 25 mg/L GA3 at 10-15 days after full bloom (treatment Ⅴ), or 3) 25 mg/L GA3+5 mg/L CPPU at 1-3 days right after full bloom, and 25 mg/L GA3+5 mg/L CPPU at 10-15 days after full bloom (treatment Ⅸ). The results will provide technical support on solving the key problems during cultivation of the new cultivar Shine Muscat grape

Blueberry (Vaccinium spp.) is well known for its rich anthocyanins and other bioactive compounds, which helps preventing from cardiovascular disease and other chronic illnesses. Over the past decades, blueberry has been cultured in many areas of China, thus became the fastestgrowing species in fruit production, potentially making China one of the largest blueberryproducing countries in the world. However, blueberry growth and production were severely affected by drought events in areas of Yangtze River. Vaccinium plants preferred acidic soils and spontaneously formed mutualistic symbiotic associations mainly with soil fungi of the phylum Ascomycota, called ‘ericoid mycorrhizae’. However, some reports have indicated that the absence of ericoid mycorrhizal fungi inoculum may allow Vaccinium plants to associate with arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi, and AM fungi inoculation significantly enhanced growth of Vaccinium plants. Southern highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum) has short or even rare root hairs in field systems, and depends on fungi for optimal growth. Meanwhile, few reports were about the effects of AM fungi on osmotic adjustment and reactive oxygen metabolism of southern highbush blueberry. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects of Glomus mosseae, G. versiforme, G. intraradices and G. etunicatum on the southern highbush blueberry seedlings under drought stress conditions, and antioxidant and osmotic adjustment matters, mineral nutrition in blueberry plants and enzymatic activities in rhizosphere soil were investigated. Two soil water regimes (wellwatered ［WW］ and drought stress ［DS］) and five AM fungi inoculations (four Glomus and non-AM fungi inoculation ［CK］) were arranged in a complete randomized block design. Each treatment (one plant per pot) was performed in three replicates. Water treatments began after 134 days (July 31, 2014) adaption of greenhouse conditions, and WW pots were maintained, but DS pots were cut off for 20 days of water supply and resumed on August 20. Meanwhile, the leaves of blueberry cultivar Misty plants were collected for determination of physiological index on 13 d drought, 20 d drought and 2 d rewatering, respectively. The results showed that the leaf relative water content (RWC) and chlorophyll contents decreased in DS treatments, while the soluble sugar content, superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and malondialdehyde (MDA) contents increased, but had no significant effects on mycorrhizal colonization. Under the DS conditions, leaf RWC, chlorophyll, soluble sugar contents and SOD activity were significantly higher in AM fungiinoculated plants, especially in G. mosseaeinoculated plants than in non-AM fungi inoculated plants, while the leaf MDA content was lower. In addition, AM fungi, especially G. mosseae, increased phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) contents in the leaves, stems and roots, as well as acid phosphatase (ACP), catalase (CAT) and urease activities in rhizosphere soil of blueberry plants, in comparison with the nonAM fungiinoculated treatment (CK).  These results indicate that the drought tolerance of blueberry cultivar Misty is enhanced with AM fungi inoculation through increase of antioxidant enzyme and osmotic adjustment, and the soil environment is improved, accompanied by P and K uptake increases by plants. In addition, G. mosseae is the most beneficial Glomus among the four AM fungi to improve the resistance of blueberry cultivar Misty plants against DS.

Lily has high ornamental and economic value. However, the reproduction rate of traditional propagation method was low, and was easily infected, causing degradation of bulbs and associated problems. Application of tissue culture techniques can greatly improve the reproduction coefficient in the production process, but the weakness of plantlets and low survival rate in the transplanting process have become a prominent problem during the commercial process of lily bulbs. Hence, to cultivate strong seedling and increase survival rate, we could promote the formation and enlargement of bulbs by in vitro culture. This study aimed to explore the influence of sucrose and photoperiod on the enlargement of in vitro bulblet of Lilium sargentiae and their interaction effect, and to explain their action mechanism in the process of in vitro bulblet enlargement. Sterile buds induced by bulblet scales of L. sargentiae as explants were selected as materials. The experiments were conducted under three different concentrations of sucrose (30, 60 and 90 g/L) and five different photoperiods (0, 8, 12, 16 and 24 h/d). The morphological index, endogenous sugar and related enzymatic activity changes were measured in formation and enlargement of in vitro bulblet. The results showed that: 1) The optimal condition for bulblet enlargement was sucrose concentration of 60 g/L and photoperiod of 8 h/d. At a certain concentration of sucrose, there was no significant difference between the photoperiods of 8 h/d and 0 h/d. 2) Under the sucrose concentration of 30 g/L and different lighting conditions, the trend was W type for sucrose content, and M type for both fructose and glucose contents; under the sucrose concentrations of 60 and 90 g/L, the trend of sucrose content was fall rise fall, while the trend of fructose and glucose contents was rise fall rise, opposite to that of sucrose content. 3) Among treatments with different sucrose concentrations, the change trend of sucrose phosphate synthase activity was basically the same with that of the sucrose content, but the change trends of the sucrose synthase activity and sucrose content were opposite. In conclusion, 60 g/L sucrose in complete darkness can promote bulblet enlargement in production. The sucrose synthase is involved in decomposition process of sucrose, while the sucrose phosphate synthase is involved in the accumulation process of sucrose. Sucrose not only plays a physiological role, but also may play a sugar signal role in the bulblet enlargement process, both of which are strictly regulated by sugar concentration. Sucrose concentration and photoperiod have interaction effect on the induction and enlargement of in vitro bulblets, but the effect of sucrose is greater. Thus, sucrose is a major factor for the formation and enlargement of in vitro bulblets.

Tea flower is a new food resource with high protein and low fat, but there are few reports on the total protein extraction of tea flower so far.  In this work, the tea flower protein was classified by Osboren method, and alkaline and enzymatic extractions were used for obtaining the total protein of the tea flower, and the functional properties of the protein were further analyzed. The single factor design of alkaline extraction was four levels of NaOH concentration (0.01, 0.05, 0.10 and 0.30 mol/L), five levels of time (0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 3.0 and 4.0 h), four levels of temperature (40, 60, 80 and 90 ℃) and five levels of liquid solid ratio (8∶1, 15∶1, 20∶1, 30∶1 and 60∶1). Screening test result showed that the alkaline protease was the most suitable enzyme for enzymatic extraction, and the single factor design of enzymatic extraction was four levels of the amount of alkaline protease (0.1%, 1.0%, 4.0% and 8.0%), four levels of liquidsolid ratio (10∶1, 20∶1, 30∶1 and 40∶1), four levels of time (0.5, 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0 h) and three levels of temperature (30, 50 and 70 ℃). The results of Osboren experiment showed that the tea flower proteins were mainly composed of albumin, accounting for 53.86%, which was suitable for alkaline extraction. Based on the results of single factor test and orthogonal array design, the optimal conditions of alkaline extraction were 0.15 mol/L NaOH, 2.5 h, 75 ℃ and liquidsolid ratio of 30∶1, and the highest protein extraction rate and purity were 91.45% and 90%, respectively. The optimal condition of enzymatic extraction were 5% alkaline protease, liquidsolid ratio of 50∶1, 2 h and 60 ℃, and the highest protein extraction rate and purity were 79.12% and 55%, respectively.  The functional properties of the tea flower protein from alkaline and enzymatic extractions were different. The purity, water retention capacity, emulsion stability and foamability from alkaline extraction were 90%, 4.00 mL/g, 85.18% and 100.00%, which were higher than those (55%, 3.60 mL/g, 30.76% and 80.00%) of enzymatic extraction. The emulsibility, oil absorption capacity, foam stability and solubility of the tea flower protein from enzymatic extraction were 83.87%, 4.40 mL/g, 72.92% and 89.00%, which were higher than those (77.14%, 4.00 mL/g, 40.00% and 60.60%) of alkaline extraction. Besides, the protein from alkaline and enzymatic extractions had good abilities on scavenging 1,1-dipheny-2-picryhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical with the rate of 50.79% and 56.04% respectively, suggesting anti-oxidative function of the tea flower protein. In sum, the present work provides optimization methods on the extraction of tea flower protein. The good functional properties with water retention capacity, oil absorption capacity, emulsibility, foamability and anti-oxidative ability and so on of the protein will expand the application of tea flower in the field of food and cosmetics.

Biochar is a carbon-rich product obtained from thermal treatment and pyrolysis of various plant- and animal-based biomass. The biomass for preparation of biochar had extensive sources, and the treatment is usually easy operation, mainly thermochemical decomposition under a poor-oxygen condition. Biochar has been considered as a low cost and high efficiency sorbent for both organic and inorganic contaminants including heavy metals, radioactive elements, nitrogen and phosphate, due to its abundant O-containing functional groups and surface charges, advanced micro- and macro- pore structures, and rich carbon content.  In this paper, recent research progress on biochar with regards to its mechanisms and potential applications in remediation of inorganic contaminated soils was reviewed. The key parameters controlling biochar’s properties include pyrolysis temperatures and feedstock types, resulting in biochar with great difference in surface areas, pore size distribution, pH, H/C ratio, ion exchange capacity, and carbon content. Therefore, the sorption mechanisms of inorganic pollutants varied with different properties of biochar. The sorption mechanisms of inorganic pollutants such as heavy metal, radioactive elements, nitrogen and phosphate were summarized as well as their potential applications in real soil condition. Several different possible mechanisms were proposed: 1) electrostatic outer-sphere complexation due to surface cationic exchange; 2) surface complexation with active O-containing functional groups such as carboxyl and hydroxyl groups; 3) electrostatic attraction of anionic inorganic pollutants such as phosphate and arsenic to protonated groups under alkaline pH; 4) coprecipitation of heavy metal and phosphate with organic matter and mineral oxides on surface of the biochar or presorbed metal ions; 5) specific binding of iodide with aromatic carbon in biochar; 6) to donate electrons for mitigating/reducing heavy metal such as chromium; 7) physical adsorption of heavy metals onto biochar’s surface; 8) changing the pH of point of zero charge (pHpzc) to immobilize or mobilize heavy metals.  Generally and undoubtedly, the use of biochar as an environmental sorbent can have strong implications. It can effectively sorb various organic and inorganic contaminants in aqueous solutions. However, due to soil complexity, whether biochar is suitable for the remediation of inorganic contaminated soil is still unclear. These confused results could attribute to: 1) high dissolved organic carbon contents of soil at the increased pH induced by biochar addition may mobilize heavy metal leaching and/or form high available species; 2) electrostatic repulsion between anionic heavy metal ions and negatively charged biochar surface may enhance the desorption of heavy metal from soil-biochar matrix; 3) changing soil pH may result in mobilization or immobilization of heavy metals; 4) the transportation of biochar in soil system may influence the mitigation of sorbed heavy metals; 5) the availability of heavy metal sorbed by biochar to soil microorganism or plants; 6) the stability and biodegradation of biochar is also an uncertain factor for the application of biochar in the remediation of inorganic contaminated soil. Based on the limited information, we proposed that biochars, especially those pyrolyzed at high temperature were suitable for the remediation of the low pH and/or low dissolved organic carbon soil contaminated with cadmium, lead, copper, zinc and other heavy metals. Furthermore, further researches on interactions among soil-biochar-pollutants and field applications for remediation of contaminated soil are urgently needed.

Cadmium (Cd) is a toxic and carcinogenic contaminant released from a wide range of industries. Its accumulation in soil and water is of growing environmental and health concerns. Thus, there is an increasing demand for materials that are effective for Cd adsorption, economically feasible, and unlikely to create new environmental problems. Humic acid (HA) is ubiquitous in soil and sediment. It can also be extracted from lignite and leonardite, which can be viewed as ancient biochar and oxidized ancient biochar, respectively. Being abundant in carboxyl and hydroxyl groups (—COOH, —OH), HA has a strong propensity for adsorbing heavy metal cations by forming inner-sphere complexes, thus reducing their mobility and bioavailability. A leonardite (Leo) from Xinjiang, China was used to produce HA by ultrasonically dispersing Leo in 0.1 mol/L NaOH solution at 40 ℃ for 30 min, and then flocculating the supernatant with 6 mol/L HCl. The obtained HA (Leo-HA) was characterized for its surface properties by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and was analyzed for elemental compositions, carboxyl group, and isoelectric point (pI). Further, its adsorption characteristics were determined by kinetic and batch experiments, and its potential applications in removing Cd2+ from water and immobilizing Cd2+ in soils were assessed based on its technical reliability, economic feasibility, and environmental impact. For environmental relevance, a relatively low range of Cd2+ concentrations (0-100 mg/L) was used in adsorption experiment, during which the pH of solution was maintained constant. Results showed that Leo-HA had a low pI of 2.7 and a high C content of 58.68%, which is not unusual for coal-derived HA. FTIR confirmed the abundance of —COOH and —OH groups. The carboxyl group was determined at 5.81 mol/kg. The low Cd concentration (0.15 mg/kg) of Leo-HA met the prerequisite for safe use in agricultural land, as regulated by Farmland Environmental Quality Standards. Kinetic studies showed that Cd2+ adsorption onto Leo-HA reached equilibrium in 8 h and the process was pH-dependent. The adsorption increased with pH within 2.0-6.0, and then decreased as pH further increased to 7.0. This is because Leo-HA starts to dissolve as solution pH approaches to neutral. Adsorption data were better fitted into Langmuir equation (R2=0.991) than Freundlich equation (R2=0.891), suggesting the monolayer nature of Cd2+ adsorption onto Leo-HA. At pH 5.0, the maximum adsorption capacity (Qm) derived from the Langmuir equation was 137.37 mg/g, which was equivalent to 71% of the carboxyl groups of Leo-HA. This Qm was much higher than what had been reported in the literature for lignite, lignite-derived HA, and soil HA. A simple comparison at pH 4.3 and an initial Cd2+ concentration of 80 mg/L showed that the Leo-HA adsorbed more Cd2+ (86.97 mg/g) than the reference HA 1R106H (73.49 mg/g) from IHSS did, even though the later had a higher carboxyl content (6.82 mol/kg). This apparent discrepancy was due to the fact that dissolution of 1R106H was observed at pH 4.3, whereas the Leo-HA was stable at this pH. Leonardite is abundant across China. Leo-HA has the advantages of low cost, high adsorption capacity, and low Cd content, thus it is a prospective adsorbent for immobilizing Cd2+ in contaminated soils or removing Cd2+ from water. Lime has widely been used to immobilize Cd2+ in soils, but it tends to reduce soil organic matter content, damage soil structure, and pose a hazard to the safety of its users in the field. In contrast, Leo-HA is beneficial to soil structure and soil quality, as well as safe to handle in the field. Field trials of applying Leo-HA onto heavy metal contaminated soils would be a logical step to follow.

Heavy metal pollution has become more and more serious with the development of industry. Heavy metals can accumulate in plants, and enter into human body through the food chain. Lead (Pb) is one of the most common heavy metal contaminants in the environment, usually discharged with waste water and waste gas. Accumulation of lead in the body can cause physical function disorder, and it is even more harmful to children. Therefore, it is very urgent to control the lead pollution. As a new type of adsorbent for soil heavy metal, biochar has a great advantage compared with other traditional materials. Biomass-derived biochar combines an effective removal of water contaminants with low cost of remediation. Many researchers used waste biomass crops and other materials to make biochar by pyrolysis at high temperature to remove heavy metals. The water movement on the biochar pores is affected by metal adsorption, which is a novel and promising technique to identify the nature of biochar-metal bonds at the solid-liquid interface. However, few researches were reported using common tropical biomass waste such as coconut shell and coconut fiber to prepare biochars. The coconut fiber become thick after matured, and the loose brown fibrous layers are soft and elastic, mainly are composed of hard stratum corneum. The coconut shell and coconut fiber are abundant, cheap and easy to collect in Hainan Province. Therefore, study on the adsorption of lead by biochars prepared from coconut shell and coconut fiber has a great significance to control heavy metal pollution. The objectives of this study were to: 1) characterize the biochars prepared from coconut shell and coconut fiber under different temperatures; 2) determine the adsorption characteristics and mechanisms of Pb2+ on biochars. Biochars were prepared by pyrolyzing coconut fiber and coconut shell at the temperatures of 300, 500 and 700 ℃ respectively, and their physical and chemical properties were analyzed.  The results of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and element contents indicated that, the carbonation degree of the biochars increased with the pyrolysis temperature, while the amount of oxygen-containing functional groups decreased. In addition, the surface area, ash content, pH, cation exchange capacity (CEC) and basic functional group content enriched with the pyrolysis temperature. The adsorption of Pb2+ by biochars derived from coconut fiber and coconut shell was fitted better with Langmuir model. As the pyrolysis temperature increased from 300 to 700 ℃, the amount of Pb2+ adsorbed on the biochars gradually increased. Among the six kinds of biochars, the coconut fiber biochar prepared at 700 ℃ had the highest adsorption amount of 180.438 mg/g, which was better than many adsorption materials that reported previously. The CEC and ash content were important factors affecting the adsorption deduced from the fit curve. Under the condition of initial Pb2+ concentration with 200 mg/L, the saturated adsorption amounts of coconut fiber and coconut shell biochars were 44.89-96.08 mg/g and 15.82-61.77 mg/g, respectively. The saturated adsorption amount of coconut fiber biochars was higher than that of the coconut shell biochars. However, the stable adsorption amounts of coconut fiber and coconut shell biochars were 9.83-13.91 mg/g and 9.68-25.16 mg/g, respectively. In conclusion, the different preparation temperatures can directly affect the physical and chemical properties of biochars. Different raw material sources and pyrolysis temperatures have a great influence on the adsorption capacity of Pb2+, and the largest amount of lead adsorption material is YA700 (180.438 mg/g). In addition, different raw material sources and pyrolysis temperatures have a great influence on the stable adsorption quantity of lead, and the adsorption of Pb2+ on the coconut shell biochar is more stable than coconut fiber biochar.

Phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) are the major essential macronutrients required for the biological growth and development of crop. As the mineral resource reserve declined for both P and K, the increasing demand for phosphoruspotassium fertilizer from global food production caused imbalance between supply and demand. As a result, the cost of agricultural production increased, and economic benefits reduced, along with increasing environmental risks. In China, synchronization between rainfall and temperature is common in red soil area, with strong soil leaching, and phosphorus and potassium nutrients are easy to lose, thus excessive application of fertilizer is necessary. Therefore, investigation on improvement of use efficiency and reduction of leaching rate for K and P will have great economic significance on agricultural production, help maintaining good ecological function.
In this study, to investigate the effects of different biochar additions on available potassium and phosphorus and their leaching rates in red soil, a simulated rainfall experiment was conducted in laboratory. Biochar was prepared from peanut shell. Different biochar dosages (0%, 1%, 2% and 3%) were added to fertilization and nonfertilization soils, and the contents and leaching variation of available K and P were further analyzed to measure the influence of biochar on soil K and P availabilities and their leaching loss.
The results showed that the available K and P in red soil were substantially improved with increasing addition of biochar, but the total amount of K and P increased little in the leachate. Among the non-fertilization treatments, the leaching rates of K were 53.6%, 14.3%, 9.1% and 7.5%, and the leaching rates of P were 88.8%, 23.5%, 16.3% and 7.8%, for different biochar additions (0%, 1%, 2% and 3%), respectively. Among the fertilization soil treatments, the leaching rate of P decreased from 24.1% to 7.2% with the biochar addition; while the leaching rate of K was less affected by the biochar addition. Under the simulated leaching condition, the 3% biochar addition could reduce the leaching rate of available K from 9.8% to 0.3% for nonfertilization soil, and from 10.8% to 0.5% for fertilization soil. The influence of biochar on K leaching was associated with the leaching time. In the first ten days, the K leaching induced by biochar application increased in the order of 3% > 2% > 1%>0%, and the order was opposite after the 10th day. However, biochar had no significant effects on the P leaching with different rates, and the available P contents declined for both non-fertilization and fertilization soils under the simulated leaching condition.
It is concluded that biochar addition can increase the contents of available P and K in red soil. Under the simulated leaching condition, biochar also can maintain soil available K in higher level, and it is propitious to decline the leaching rate of K and P in red soil.

Concentrated monosodium glutamate wastewater (CMGW) generated from the production of monosodium glutamate is an organic wastewater with high concentration of ammonia, chemical oxygen demand, biochemical oxygen demand and SO₄^2-and low pH. Discharge of CMGW has raised serious environmental problems, and potential secondary pollution existed even treated with traditional physical and chemical processes. It has already been reported that the richness of nitrogen and carbon makes the recycling of this wastewater possible in the way of microbial fermentation as medium. However, the differences of strain and fermentation purpose require that the medium contains different nutritional compositions with a certain dosage. Bacillus subtilis F-2, isolated from a commercial organic fertilizer, can inhibit the growth of 18 plant pathogenic fungi with varying degrees, especially in F. oxysoporum f.sp niweum with inhibition rate of 93%, which reveal the potential to prepare bio-organic fertilizer under biocontrol. In addition, F-2 also plays an important role in decomposition of organic waste. The study on degradation of food waste has pointed to its dominance in microbial community. Therefore, F-2 as a prospective functional bacteria in agriculture and environment, it is necessary to improve F-2 viable cell production as much as possible. Massive studies were focused on medium optimization of B. subtilis to enhance its cell density in fermentation liquor. However, the main ingredients of medium used in most of these studies were peptone, yeast extracts, beef extracts, soy or corn flour, associated with great cost and excessive consumption of resources. The purpose of this study was to investigate a cost-effective resource utilization of CMGW by increasing the density of B. subtilis F-2 viable cells in cultures. The CMGW medium which was 80-fold diluent of the wastewater, i.e., 12.5 g/L CMGW, was served as the main carbon and nitrogen sources of strain F-2. Contrast experiments of shaking cultures, orthogonal and single factor experiments were applied to find the optimal CMGW medium formula and its culturing condition.  The contrast experiments showed that the D(600 nm) value of F-2 suspension and viable cell density of the CMGW medium was significantly higher than that of nutrient broth (NB) medium, and the amino acid content in the CMGW medium decreased significantly after culturing. The optimal formula identifying F-2 by the orthogonal experiment of L₁₆(4³×2⁶) was as follows: 12.5 g/L CMGW, 1.0 g/L beef extracts, 4.0 g/L peptone, 0.5 g/L MnSO₄·2H₂O, 0.02 g/L H₃BO₃, 0.1 g/L FeSO₄·7H₂O and 0.5 g/L MnSO₄·7H₂O. The viable cell density in the optimized CMGW medium was 2.9 and 6.3 times of the CMGW medium and NB medium, respectively. Furthermore, according to the results of single factor experiment, the proper initial pH and culturing temperature of the optimized CMGW medium were screened as pH 6.5-7.5 and 30-35 ℃. In conclusion, the CMGW medium is an ideal substitute for NB medium in the fermentation of B. subtilis F-2, providing a practicable and promising approach to reuse and recover CMGW. Moreover, the CMGW medium is superior to NB medium, and the fermentation effect is even better after the medium and culturing condition are optimized.

The pH rise of the compost mixture is one of the main causes for nitrogen volatilization loss in the composting process. As a consequence of organic degradation, accumulated ammonium nitrogen will trigger pH rise spontaneously. It is generally believed that ammonia nitrogen (NH₃) will volatilize once the pH of compost mixture exceeds 8.0. And the higher the pH is, the more the NH₃ volatilization will be. In this way, the pH rise of mixture will result in substandard compost products, not only because its pH is out of the upper limit (pH=8.5) of the NY 525—2012 standard, but also significant decline of nutrition content due to NH₃ volatilization. Hence, adjusting the pH of materials to control nitrogen loss becomes one of the hot issues in the organic fertilizer industry. A lot of chemical agents have been applied to adjust the pH in composting. However, most of them are difficult to implement efficiency and decrease production cost, let alone the dilution effects and imbalance of nutrition. The concentrated monosodium glutamate wastewater (CMGW) is an evaporative and concentrated liquid waste from discharged organic water in production of monosodium glutamate, characterized by rich nutrients and free heavy metal pollution. Previous studies have indicated that CMGW is a promising conditioning agent to adjust acidity and reduce NH₃ volatilization for composting, and the suggested optimum dosage is 2% of the mixture in mass.  The appropriate adding time of CMGW for adjusting pH and decreasing nitrogen loss due to NH₃ volatilization in composting was further discussed in present study by a compost simulation experiment. The simulation experiment took place in a composting device (patent number: ZL 201010589910X) with the mixture of fresh pig manure and mushroom residues at a ratio of 3∶1 in mass, as well as 1% fermentation bacterial agent of the mixture. Three treatments were conducted as follows: 1) M1, application of 2% CMGW before composting; 2) M2, application of 2% CMGW at the 5th day of composting; 3) CK, control group without CMGW.  After composting, the pH of the control group without CMGW increased from 8.5 to 9.0, which exceeded the standard limit, and was significantly higher than that in the other two treatments with 2% CMGW during the whole composting process. Furthermore, a significant difference between the pH in the M1 and M2 treatments was also found, in which the pH was reduced by 1.0-1.5 units to 7.0 for M1, while just 0.2-0.3 units for M2. The results suggested that the adding time played a remarkable role in acidity adjustment efficiency of CMGW, and the application before composting would be more effective. This suggestion was further testified by the change of nitrogen contents in composting. The NH₄⁺-N content of the compost mixture in the M1 treatment was significantly higher than that in M2 or CK treatment during the composting process, especially at the early stage. However, the maximal reduction of NH₄⁺-N content was also found in the M1 treatment, which showed an equal minimum NH₄⁺-N content in the other two treatments at the end of composting. Meanwhile, as the NH₄⁺-N content decreased, the NO₃^--N content of compost mixture in the M1 treatment rose so promptly that it was significantly higher than that in the M2 or CK treatment at the later stage of composting, but few changes were showed in the latter two treatments and there was no difference between them in the whole composting process. In addition, the total nitrogen content of the compost products in the M1 treatment was also significantly higher than that in the CK or M2 treatment at the end of composting. Nevertheless, the adding time of CMGW had no negative effect on the indexes of composting process, such as the temperature and moisture content in composting and the seed germination index of compost products. In conclusion, the acidity adjustment efficiency and the nitrogen content of compost mixture are significantly affected by the adding time of CMGW in composting. Specifically, the appropriate application of CMGW at the beginning of composting can not only adjust the pH of compost mixture to a qualified level, but also provide more nitrogen source (especially NH₄⁺-N) and promote the transformation of NH₄⁺-N to NO₃^--N, reducing nitrogen loss from NH₄⁺-N volatilization in composting eventually.

Limb regeneration is a regrowth phenomenon when limbs of animals are truncated by external forces or self-cut in response to predation, which is a selfprotection mechanism formed during the long-term evolution process. Currently, amphibians with tails, and crustaceans belonging to arthropods were intensively studied. The results indicated that the feeding ability, growth and development were greatly affected by regeneration. Molting could be accelerated and the ovary development could be promoted by limb regeneration, inducing expression of the related genes. Chinese mitten crab (Eriocheir sinensis) has the ability of limb regeneration like other crustaceans in its life cycle. However, the molecular mechanism of regeneration for E. sinensis was still unclear. Therefore, study on limb regeneration of E. sinensis can supplement basic biological knowledge for Chinese mitten crab, and provide practical guidance for development of aquaculture industries. A total of 80 juvenile Chinese mitten crabs (40 males and 40 females) were randomly sampled to autotomy treatments with four walking legs (the first and third legs on the left, the second and fourth legs on the right), and the same number of male and female individuals were employed as the control group without any treatment (intact crab). They were separately reared in forty tanks with each of 60 L for two molt cycle, and two crabs with cut limbs (one male, one female) and two intact crabs (one male, one female) were kept in each tank. Body mass, carapace length and carapace width were measured and recorded at the initial stocking stage, and 48 h after the first and second molting, respectively. Meanwhile, the eyes and muscle tissues (regeneration limbs and intact limbs) were collected quickly after the second molt and were stored at -80 ℃ for quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) analysis of myostatin gene MSTN, insulin-like growth factor-2 gene IGF2, molting hormone receptor gene EcR, retinoid X receptor gene RXR, and molt-inhibiting hormone gene MIH.  The results showed that limb regeneration rate was only 7.6% after the first molt, but reached 91.6% after the second molt; the survival rates of the amputated crabs and intact crabs were roughly equal. Longer inter-molting days (P<0.05) were observed for the amputated crabs than intact crabs, and the body mass-gaining rate was higher than intact crabs (P<0.05) after the first molting. Shorter inter-molting days (P<0.05) were observed for amputated crabs than intact crabs, and no significant difference (P>0.05) was observed for the body mass-gaining rate of the amputated and intact crabs after the second molting. Overall, there was no significant difference of average inter-molting days between the amputated and intact crabs after the two molting. The related gene expression analysis indicated that there were no significant difference (P>0.05) between the amputated and intact crabs in IGF2, RXR and MIH genes. However, there were significant higher expression (P<0.05) of EcR gene and lower expression of MSTN gene for amputated crabs (P<0.05) than the intact crabs.  In conclusion, Chinese mitten crab can regenerate new legs in two molt cycles; there are no significant differences on the survival rate, mass-gaining rate and molt cycles between the amputated and intact crabs. The EcR and MSTN genes play important roles in promoting the leg regeneration, and the amputated crab can be kept for further aquaculture.

Panax notoginseng is a well-known Chinese herbal medicine and is manually sown because of no supporting device for precise seed metering. Seed-metering device was an essential part for the sower of P. notoginseng, and its efficiency has significant impact on the quality of sowing. The direction of design on mechanical precise seed-metering device is toward high efficiency and automation. The purpose of this study was to solve the problem of poor fluidity for P. notoginseng seed caused by irregular shape and high water content and to achieve precise seeding for P. notoginseng. A novel type of roller-round brush precise seed-metering device was designed for P. notoginseng, and the optimal metering parameters on the performance of the machine were explored.  In this study, basic structure and working principle of the model were described, and the effect of shape and size of the type hole on seed-filling was analyzed. The angle for shield plate installation was analyzed to achieve zero-speed dropping. Simulation was utilized to analyze the motion of P. notoginseng seeds in the seed-filling zone, and a motion equation was established in the roller-round brush contact zone. The speed, diameter and depth of the type hole were selected as the three test factors for the precise seed-metering device.  The simulation model of the seed-metering device for P. notoginseng seeds was established by the UGNX software, and was conducted on the basis of the EDEM dynamic simulation software. Through theoretical calculation, it was determined that the diameter of the type hole was in the range of 8-9 mm, and the depth of the type hole was in the range of 6-7 mm. For the zero speed seeding, the installation angle of the shield plate was related to the speed of the metering device and the wheel speed of the type hole. The change of the movement for P. notoginseng seeds was consistent with the direction of the motion analysis. The movement of the seeds in the contact zone of the roller-round brush was verified. Further experiments were conducted to increase the qualified index of seed space, and reduce the multi-seeding and miss-seeding indexes, lower the intensity of field test. The results showed that the optimal condition was the speed of the type hole wheel of 20 r/min, with the type hole diameter of 8.5 mm and the type hole depth of 7 mm. Under the optimal condition, the qualified index of the seed space was 93.17%, the multi-seeding and the miss-seeding indexes were 3.40% and 3.43%, respectively. In conclusion, the seed-metering device is a key component of seeding machine, and the simulation analysis for the roller-round brush seed-metering device can meet the requirement of precise seeding for P. notoginseng, providing a methodological reference for optimizing precision metering for other types of seeds.