High-accuracy and fast detection of nutritive elements in traditional Chinese medicine Panax notoginseng (PN) is beneficial for providing useful assessment of the healthy alimentation and pharmaceutical value of PN herbs. Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) was applied for high-accuracy and fast quantitative detection of six nutritive elements in PN samples from eight producing areas. More than 20,000 LIBS spectral variables were obtained to show elemental differences in PN samples. Univariate and multivariate calibrations were used to analyze the quantitative relationship between spectral variables and elements. Multivariate calibration based on full spectra and selected variables by the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (Lasso) weights was used to compare the prediction ability of the partial least-squares regression (PLS), least-squares support vector machines (LS-SVM), and Lasso models. More than 90 emission lines for elements in PN were found and located. Univariate analysis was negatively interfered by matrix effects. For potassium, calcium, magnesium, zinc, and boron, LS-SVM models based on the selected variables obtained the best prediction performance with R_p values of 0.9546, 0.9176, 0.9412, 0.9665, and 0.9569 and root mean squared error of prediction (RMSEP) of 0.7704 mg/g, 0.0712 mg/g, 0.1000 mg/g, 0.0012 mg/g, and 0.0008 mg/g, respectively. For iron, the Lasso model based on full spectra obtained the best result with an R_p value of 0.9348 and RMSEP of 0.0726 mg/g. The results indicated that the LIBS technique coupled with proper multivariate chemometrics could be an accurate and fast method in the determination of PN nutritive elements for traditional Chinese medicine management and pharmaceutical analysis.

A novel Gram-negative, facultatively anaerobic, non-sporulating, non-motile, catalase- and oxidase-positive, rod-shaped bacterium (strain JSM 061001^T) was isolated from a tidal flat in the South China Sea, China. Growth occurred with 0–5 % (w/v) NaCl [optimum, 0.5–1 % (w/v) NaCl], at pH 5.0–10.0 (optimum, pH 7.0) and at 4–35 °C (optimum, 25–30 °C). The major cellular fatty acids were C_16 : 0, cyclo C_17 : 0, C_18 : 1ω7c and C_16 : 1. Strain JSM 061001^T contained ubiquinone Q-8 as the predominant respiratory quinone, and phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine and an unidentified phospholipid as the polar lipids. The genomic DNA G+C content was 65.5 mol%. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that strain JSM 061001^T belongs to the family Alcaligenaceae and was related most closely to the type strains of the two recognized species of the genus Pigmentiphaga. The three strains formed a robust cluster in the neighbour-joining, maximum-parsimony and maximum-likelihood phylogenetic trees. Levels of DNA–DNA relatedness between strain JSM 061001^T and the type strains of Pigmentiphaga daeguensis and Pigmentiphaga kullae were 15.8 and 10.5 %, respectively. The combination of phylogenetic analysis, DNA–DNA hybridization data, phenotypic characteristics and chemotaxonomic differences supported the view that strain JSM 061001^T represents a novel species of the genus Pigmentiphaga, for which the name Pigmentiphaga litoralis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is JSM 061001^T (=CCTCC AA207034^T=KCTC 22165^T).

A novel Gram-negative, mesophilic, slightly halophilic, catalase- and oxidase-positive, obligately aerobic bacterium, designated strain YIM-C238T, was isolated from a sediment sample from a salt lake in the Qaidam Basin, north-west China. Cells were non-sporulating, non-motile, straight to slightly curved rods. Coccoid bodies and filaments of varying length developed in older cultures. Growth occurred with 0.5–6 % (w/v) NaCl [optimum, 2–3 % (w/v) NaCl], at pH 6.0–10.0 (optimum, pH 7.0–8.0) and at 10–40 °C (optimum, 25–30 °C). The major cellular fatty acids were anteiso-C15 : 0, 3-OH iso-C16 : 0 and anteiso-C15 : 1 ω10c, and menaquinone 6 was the sole respiratory quinone. Non-diffusible carotenoid pigments were produced. Flexirubin pigments were absent. The genomic DNA G+C content was 35.8 mol%. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that strain YIM-C238T should be assigned to the genus Psychroflexus. The sequence similarities between the isolate and the type strains of members of the genus Psychroflexus were in the range 95.5–97.0 %. The combination of phylogenetic analysis, DNA–DNA hybridization data, phenotypic characteristics and chemotaxonomic differences supported the view that strain YIM-C238T represents a novel species of the genus Psychroflexus, for which the name Psychroflexus sediminis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is YIM-C238T (=CCTCC AA 207030T=KCTC 22166T).

Among various pests, the brown planthopper (BPH) that damages rice is the major destructive pests. Understanding resistance mechanisms is a critical step toward effective control of BPH. This study investigates the proteomics of BPH interactions with three rice cultivars: the first resistant (PR) to BPH, the second susceptible (PS), and the third hybrid (HR) between the two, in order to understand mechanisms of BPH resistance in rice. Over 4900 proteins were identified from these three rice cultivars using iTRAQ proteomics study. A total of 414, 425 and 470 differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) were detected from PR, PS and HR, respectively, after BPH infestation. Identified DEPs are mainly enriched in categories related with biosynthesis of secondary metabolites, carbon metabolism, and glyoxylate and dicarboxylate metabolism. A two-component response regulator protein (ORR22) may participate in the early signal transduction after BPH infestation. In the case of the resistant rice cultivar (PR), 6 DEPs, i.e. two lipoxygenases (LOXs), a lipase, two dirigent proteins (DIRs) and an Ent-cassa-12,15-diene synthase (OsDTC1) are related to inheritable BPH resistance. A heat shock protein (HSP20) may take part in the physiological response to BPH infestation, making it a potential target for marker-assisted selection (MAS) of rice. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) revealed eight genes encoding various metabolic proteins involved in BPH resistance. During grain development the expressions of these genes varied at the transcriptional and translational levels. This study provides comprehensive details of key proteins under compatible and incompatible interactions during BPH infestation, which will be useful for further investigation of the molecular basis of rice resistance to BPH and for breeding BPH-resistant rice cultivars.

Panax notoginseng (P. notoginseng) is a valuable herbal medicine, as well as a dietary food supplement known for its satisfactory clinical efficacy in alleviating blood stasis, reducing swelling, and relieving pain. However, the ability of P. notoginseng to absorb and accumulate cadmium (Cd) poses a significant environmental pollution risk and potential health hazards to humans. In this study, we employed laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) for the rapid detection of Cd. It is important to note that signal uncertainty can impact the quantification performance of LIBS. Hence, we proposed the crater–spectrum feature fusion method, which comprises ablation crater morphology compensation and characteristic peak ratio correction (CPRC), to explore the feasibility of signal uncertainty reduction. The crater morphology compensation method, namely, adding variables using multiple linear regression (MLR) analysis, decreased the root-mean-square error of the prediction set (RMSEP) from 7.0233 μg/g to 5.4043 μg/g. The prediction results were achieved after CPRC pretreatment using the calibration curve model with an RMSEP of 3.4980 μg/g, a limit of detection of 1.92 μg/g, and a limit of quantification of 6.41 μg/g. The crater–spectrum feature fusion method reached the lowest RMSEP of 2.8556 μg/g, based on a least-squares support vector machine (LSSVM) model. The preliminary results suggest the effectiveness of the crater–spectrum feature fusion method for detecting Cd. Furthermore, this method has the potential to be extended to detect other toxic metals in addition to Cd, which significantly contributes to ensuring the quality and safety of agricultural production.