Misuse or excessive use of chemical fertilizers cause non-point source pollution in the vegetable production system. Fertilizer is a key factor affecting nutrient absorption and biomass production of vegetables. However, there is little information on the role of Compound Effective Microorganisms (CEM) in vegetable production. In field trials, three fertilizer treatments were used to study their effects on the growth characteristics and quality of lettuce, spinach, and pakchoi. There were five treatments in the experiment including Control Treatment (CK), 0.3% (Mass volume ratio: w/v) of urea: Water (T1), 0.3% (w/v) of compound fertilizer: Water (T2), CEM fertilizer was diluted to 1: 1,000 (CEM fertilizer: Water, Volume ratio: v/v) before application (T3), 1: 500 (CEM fertilizer: Water, v/v) (T4), 1: 100 (CEM fertilizer: Water, v/v) (T5). Ten representative plants were selected for each treatment to measure plant growth performance. Compared with the control, the plant height gradually increased after applying fertilizer during the entire growth period of the plant. Total leaf chlorophyll concentration of the CEM treatment was also significantly higher than the control treatments. CEM led to an increase in leaf area and leaf number. The effect of EM fertilizer on vegetable growth and yield was studied. In T4 treatment, spinach had the highest plant fresh yield, which was 15.60 g plant. Under different fertilizer treatments, the yield of pakchoi varied greatly, while under T5 treatment, the yield of pakchoi increased significantly. The maximum yield of pakchoi in T5 treatment was 30.66 g plant . The yield of lettuce in T3 treatment was the highest, 12.32 g plant. CEM could maintain productivity of green vegetable and contained a variety of beneficial bacteria. The cultivation of EM increased the yield of plants and increased the growth of vegetables. In conclusion, these results showed that vegetables could produce high yield and high quality through CEM management.

Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium (S. Typhimurium) inhabits a wide range of hosts, including poultry, and causes acute gastroenteritis in humans that may result in death. Superoxide dismutase (SOD) is an important antioxidant enzyme present in nearly all living cells exposed to oxygen. Recently, we reported the novel roles of SOD in serum resistance and biofilm formation in S. Typhimurium. This study was designed to explore the effect of infection with sodA mutant of S. Typhimurium on the autophagic response of macrophages. Murine macrophage cell line RAW264 center dot 7 was infected with wild-type (LSM52), a sodA deletion mutant (LSM52 Delta sodA) and complemented strain (LSM52C Delta sodA). We found that sodA deletion triggered remarkable autophagic responses in infected cells, shown as higher concentrations of LC3-II or Beclin-1 than those infected with the wild-type or complemented strain during the first hour post-infection in S. Typhimurium. Consistent with these results, the number of viable bacteria in cells infected with the sodA mutant was significantly lower than those infected with wild-type or complemented strains at 1 h, 2 h and 3 h post-infection in S. Typhimurium. All results indicated that infection with sodA mutant of S. Typhimurium leads to up-regulation of autophagy in Raw264 center dot 7 macrophages. Significance and Impact of the Study Autophagy plays an important role in Salmonella infection although the role of autophagy in Salmonella infection remains unclear. This study was designed to explore the effect of sodA on the autophagic response of macrophage. We found that infection with sodA mutant of Salmonella Typhimurium could lead to up-regulation of autophagy in Raw264 center dot 7 macrophages.

Aims Further investigations of the novel biological functions of SodA in Salmonella enterica serovar typhimurium (Salm. typhimurium). Methods and ResultsConclusionsA deletion mutant of sodA in Salm. typhimurium was constructed and its biological characteristics were analysed. More specifically, the roles of superoxide dismutase (SOD) in resistance to environmental stresses and serum, biofilm formation, epithelial cell adherence and invasion were investigated. Inactivation of sodA gene resulted in a slightly reduced growth rate, low SOD activity and increased susceptibility to reactive oxygen species and chicken serum. However, SodA was not involved in the motility of Salm. typhimurium. In addition, the sodA mutant exhibited a decreased capacity to form biofilm as well as to adhere and invade to HeLa cells, compared to the wild-type and complemented strains. Salmonella typhimurium SOD appears to play an important role in resistance to serum and oxidative stress, biofilm formation, adherence to and invasion of epithelial cells. Significance and Impact of the StudyThis study illustrates the novel roles of SodA in serum resistance and biofilm formation in Salm. typhimurium, which may provide a candidate for the biofilm eradication and prevention of infections.