Chinese herbal medicine has attracted increasing attention due to its therapeutic effects. It demands increasing understanding of the processing methods and the generated changes to control quality and offer better final products. In this study, extraction differences were compared among direct plant extracts (DE), standard decoction (SD), spontaneous fermentation (SF) and inoculated sequential fermentation (IF). Results showed that the extraction with the transformation of probiotics positively contributed to the release of functional compounds from Chinese herbs. It provided the strongest antioxidant capacity and the best amino acid profile. The flavor and the compositions of the herbal decoctions were further characterized. Distinctive volatile differences were found, indicating that the different treatments profoundly altered the spectrum of volatile components. The most aromatic changes were in the IF group, which corresponded with the greatest number of upregulated and the lowest number of downregulated differential compounds. Beneficial intestinal microbiota with voluntary intake of herbal tea suggested a possible positive metabolism shift in the healthy host. In conclusion, the combination of enzymatic hydrolysis and sequential fermentation provided better extraction efficiency than direct plant extraction and traditional herbal decoction. It may enable a broader utilization of traditional Chinese herbs as potential nutrient supplements, such as antibiotic alternatives in animal husbandry.

Pharmaceutical residues in wastewater pose persistent ecological and public health risks, creating an urgent need for efficient and sustainable remediation technologies. MXene-based photocatalysts have attracted growing interest owing to their high electrical conductivity, tunable surface chemistry, abundant active sites, and excellent charge-transfer capability. This review summarizes recent advances in MXene-based photocatalytic systems for pharmaceutical wastewater treatment and renewable energy production. Key topics include pharmaceutical degradation pathways, reactive oxygen species generation, ecotoxicological implications, and the multifunctional roles of MXenes as conductive supports, electron mediators, and cocatalysts. Interfacial engineering strategies, including Z-scheme, S-scheme, and Schottky heterojunctions, are discussed with respect to light absorption, charge separation, and interfacial redox reactions. Practical considerations, such as reactor design, life cycle assessment, and techno-economic feasibility, are also addressed. Finally, current challenges and future directions are highlighted, particularly scalable fluorine-free synthesis, improved oxidative stability, and machine learning-assisted material design. This review provides a concise framework for developing stable, efficient, and scalable MXene-based photocatalytic platforms for pharmaceutical wastewater remediation and sustainable energy generation.

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) is an RNA virus that induces reproductive disorders in sows and respiratory diseases in growing pigs. Recently, the NADC34-like strain of PRRSV has become more prevalent, with outbreaks occurring across pig farms in China. However, a reliable diagnostic method for the clinical detection of this strain has been absent. This study developed a TaqMan probe-based dual real-time quantitative PCR assay targeting the M and GP5 genes to specifically identify the NADC34-like PRRSV strain. The assay exhibited high specificity, detecting exclusively the NADC34-like strain without cross-reactivity with other PRRSV strains. The detection limits for pMD-M and pMD-GP5 plasmids were 2.67 × 10² and 1.35 × 10¹ copies/μL, respectively, indicating high assay sensitivity. The assay also demonstrated excellent reproducibility, with coefficient of variation (CV) values for both recombinant plasmids below 2 %. Among 251 clinical samples, 27 tested positive for NADC34-like PRRSV. This study establishes an accurate, sensitive, and reliable TaqMan dual real-time PCR assay for detecting NADC34-like PRRSV, offering a valuable tool for clinical diagnostics and outbreak management in pig farms.

Sharply delimited leaf spots may reflect local changes in chlorophyll background, anthocyanin composition and gene expression, but these components are rarely resolved between adjacent green and spotted tissues. Three spatially defined leaf tissue types were sampled from one wild T. macropoda individual: green tissue from an upper non-spotted leaf (GGreen), and adjacent green (SGreen) and dark spotted (SSpot) tissues from the same lower spotted leaf. Three independently processed spatial subsamples were collected from each tissue type, yielding nine analytical samples. Chlorophyll content and targeted anthocyanin profiles were measured, and RNA sequencing was performed, followed by candidate transcript–anthocyanin association analysis and qRT–PCR of pooled samples. SSpot retained approximately half the chlorophyll measured in adjacent SGreen, whereas their summed abundance of detected anthocyanin derivatives did not differ significantly. Seven derivatives met the fold-change criterion in the SSpot–SGreen comparison, indicating a compositional shift rather than broad anthocyanin accumulation. RNA-seq separated all three tissue types; the dominant variation distinguished GGreen from both tissues of the spotted leaf, while the local SSpot–SGreen contrast contained 1,459 differentially expressed genes. An SGR-like chlorophyll-degradation candidate and transcripts assigned to anthocyanin biosynthesis, modification and transport showed SSpot-biased expression, and selected transcript abundances covaried with the seven fold-change-selected anthocyanins. The data define SSpot as a chlorophyll-depleted, compositionally distinct sector within the sampled individual and prioritize candidates for validation across plants and leaves.

Liquid- and solid-state fermentation are both used to produce Eurotium cristatum-fermented Fu tea, but their final soluble products have rarely been compared directly. We compared a liquid-state fermented tea infusion (LFt-D7) with an aqueous extract of solid-state fermented Fu tea (SFt-D7), using an unfermented sterilized tea extract (SHt-D0) as the reference group. LFt-D7 developed a darker reddish-brown appearance and had higher theaflavin and theabrownin contents, lower thearubigin content, and larger Commission Internationale de l’Éclairage L*a*b* (CIELAB) color differences than SHt-D0 and SFt-D7. Liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) profiling separated the three endpoint groups; 221, 180, and 203 Level 2 annotations met the variable importance in projection (VIP > 1) and nominal p < 0.05 screening criteria in LFt-D7 versus SHt-D0, SFt-D7 versus SHt-D0, and LFt-D7 versus SFt-D7, respectively. Targeted analyses showed substantially lower free amino acid levels in SFt-D7. LFt-D7 retained a larger soluble free-amino-acid pool, had the highest total quantified flavonoid content with a stronger flavanol contribution, and showed higher relative peak-intensity signals for selected alkaloid- and phenolic acid-related metabolites. Mantel analysis showed covariation between metabolite modules and pigment indices, CIELAB parameters, total free amino acid (FAA) content, and total quantified flavonoid content. Together, these results show that the two complete preparation routes produce different soluble chemical profiles.

Leaf variegation in Aspidistra elatior provides a useful system for exploring localized plant–microbiome associations, yet the biological factors linked to sector-specific chlorosis remain unclear. To investigate potential relationships among endophytic microbial communities, host transcriptomic responses, and metabolic variation, we integrated 16S/ITS amplicon sequencing, transcriptomics, and widely targeted LC–MS/MS-based metabolomics across normal green (GG), adjacent green (SG), and chlorotic spot (SS) sectors. SS sectors showed sector-associated bacterial community patterns characterized by lower Shannon diversity relative to SG, enrichment of unclassified Rickettsiales , Stenotrophomonas , and Salinivibrio , and reduced abundance of several Actinobacteriota -associated taxa. By contrast, fungal community structure remained comparatively stable across sectors. Transcriptomic analysis identified sector-associated expression differences involving stress- and defense-related genes, including heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) and the F-box regulator SKIP23. Metabolomic profiling identified 52 core differentially accumulated metabolites (DEMs) between SS and SG, of which 37 showed higher abundance in SS. These metabolites included alkaloids, flavonoids, phenolic acids, and amino acids and derivatives. Integrated multi-omics correlation analyses linked host gene-expression modules to metabolite classes and revealed a significant correspondence between bacterial community dissimilarity and metabolic variation across sectors. Together, these findings identify SS sectors as spatially distinct leaf microenvironments in which bacterial community structure, host transcriptional state, and metabolite accumulation vary in parallel, placing localized variegation in a broader microbiome–host–metabolite context.