Total antioxidant capacity (TAC) assessment is vital for evaluating food nutritional quality, yet conventional methods face limitations in complex matrices, efficiency, and environmental robustness. To address this, we synthesized manganese-doped porous carbon nanospheres (Mn@CNS), which feature a high density of uniformly distributed diverse catalytic sites, creating an efficient peroxidase-like nanozyme for sensitive colorimetric detection of TAC. Kinetic analysis revealed that Mn@CNS had strong affinities for both 3,3',5,5'-tetramethylbenzidine and H2O2 substrates, with Km values of 0.15 mM and 14.63 mM, respectively. This allowed us to establish an effective colorimetric detection platform for the rapid and sensitive identification of ascorbic acid with a low detection limit of 0.17 μM. Furthermore, we used cysteine, glutathione, ferulic acid, caffeic acid, quercetin and (+)-α-tocopherol to validate the efficacy of Mn@CNS in antioxidant assessment. This assay has successfully evaluated TAC in real samples, highlighting its potential for the rapid, cost-effective, on-site detection of TAC.

Zebrafish possesses robust caudal fin regeneration which depends on multiple factors to maintain body integrity. However, it is uncertain whether the caudal fin regeneration is related to gut microbiota. Here, we investigated the effect of Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus GG (LGG) on the regeneration of caudal fin under oxytetracycline (OTC) exposure. The results demonstrated that 1000 μg/L OTC exposure for 4 days decreased reactive oxygen species (ROS) production at 1 and 3 h post amputation (hpa), increased neutrophil recruitment at 6 hpa, enhanced the number of apoptotic cells at 1, 3, 6 and 12 hpa and inhibited Wnt signaling pathway at 48 hpa in wound site. Furthermore, OTC exposure caused dysbacteriosis by elevating level of Proteobacteria and decreasing the abundance of Firmicutes, particularly Lacticaseibacillus, thereby negatively impacting wound healing and repair. Additionally, the administration of 106 CFU/mL of LGG for 48 h could improve intestinal environment through increasing the colonization rate of LGG in OTC-treated larvae intestines. The regenerative process restored by LGG was accompanied with increased ROS production at 1, 3 and 6 hpa, inhibited neutrophil recruitment at 6 hpa, decreased the number of apoptotic cells at 1 hpa, and activated Wnt signaling pathway at 48 hpa in OTC-treated fish. LGG is a promising bacterium for restoring fin regeneration and provides new insights regarding the correlation among the gut microbiota and fin regeneration.

Botrytis cinerea can reduce the yield of fruits and vegetables by infecting plants. The conidia produced by Botrytis cinerea can be transmitted to the aquatic environment via air and water, but the effects of Botrytis cinerea on aquatic animals is unknown. In this research, the influence of Botrytis cinerea on the development, inflammation, and apoptosis of zebrafish larvae and the underlying mechanism was evaluated. Results indicated that, compared with the control group, the larvae exposed to 101-103 CFU/mL of Botrytis cinerea spore suspension had a delayed hatching rate, lower head and eye area, shorter body length, and larger yolk sac at 72 h post-fertilization. In addition, the quantitative fluorescence intensity of treated larvae displayed a dose-dependent increase in apoptosis sign, revealing that Botrytis cinerea could generate apoptosis. Subsequently, zebrafish larvae were inflamed after exposure to Botrytis cinerea spore suspension, which was characterized as inflammatory infiltration and macrophage aggregation in the intestine. The enrichment of the pro-inflammatory factor TNF-& alpha; activated the NF-& kappa;B signaling pathway, generating the increase of the transcription level of target genes (jak3, pi3k, pdk1, akt, and ikk2) and the high expression of major proteins NF-& kappa;B (P65) in this pathway. Likewise, elevated content of TNF-& alpha; could activate JNK, which turned on the P53 apoptotic pathway, leading to a significant increase in the bax, caspase3, and caspase9 transcript abundances. This study demonstrated that Botrytis cinerea could cause developmental toxicity, morphological malformation, inflammation, and cell apoptosis in zebrafish larvae, which provided data support and a theoretical basis for ecological health risk assessment and filled the gap in biological research of Botrytis cinerea.

Quercetin is a kind of flavonoid substance extensively existing in the plant, which has antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-apoptosis effects. It was reported that the higher concentration of spores present in the environment could cause abnormal development in zebrafish larvae. Therefore, this study set out to investigate whether quercetin could reduce the zebrafish larvae damage caused by Botrytis cinerea exposure as well as to examine the molecular basis for this action. The findings demonstrated that 50 μM quercetin improved the developmental dysplasia of zebrafish larvae induced by 102 CFU/mL Botrytis cinerea spore suspension, reduced abnormal apoptosis, enhanced antioxidant system, relieved inflammation, reshaped intestinal morphology and recovered intestinal motility. At the molecular level, quercetin decreased the transcriptional abundance of pro-apoptotic factors (bax, p53, caspase3, and caspase9) and up-regulated the anti-apoptotic gene (bcl-2) expression to reduce apoptosis. Moreover, quercetin enhanced the activities of downstream antioxidant enzymes (SOD and CAT) to clear excess ROS and MDA due to Botrytis cinerea exposure by up-regulating the expression of antioxidant genes (nrf2, ho-1, sod, and cat) in the Keap1-Nrf2 pathway. Additionally, quercetin inhibited the elevation of TNF-α by regulating the gene expression of key targets (jak3, pi3k, pdk1, akt, and ikk2) and the content of major proteins NF-κB (P65) and IκB in the NF-κB pathway. In conclusion, this work enriched the contents of the biological research of Botrytis cinerea and provided a new direction for the drug development and targeted therapy of quercetin.

Intestinal peristalsis is essential for gastrointestinal function, which could maintain the appropriate progression and digestion of food and reduce bacterial aggregation through mixing function. Even though certain ingredients of foodstuff are known to increase or decrease intestinal peristalsis, the role of environmental pollutants on intestinal peristalsis is relatively unknown. Therefore, the effects of four typical environmental pollutants (oxytetracycline, arsenic, polychlorinated biphenyls and chlorpyrifos) on intestinal peristalsis in the zebrafish model and then tested the recovery effect of the constipation-resistant probiotic. The results showed that 4-day environmental pollutants exposures on the zebrafish embryos at 1 day post fertilization clearly decreased the intestinal peristalsis through decreasing the serotonin (5-HT) production and down-regulating the expression of key genes involved in 5-HT synthesis. Pollutants-evoked change of gut motility could be normalized in the presence of Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (LGG) via increasing 5-HT secretion. Exogenous 5-hydroxytryptophan (100 µg/L) could also rescue the dysfunction of gut motility in pollutants-treated zebrfish. The data identified that LGG normalized disorder of intestinal peristalsis induced by environmental pollutants through increasing 5-HT level. The stimulant effect of LGG on peristalsis may be associated with 5-HT system, which could provide references for the application of probiotics in regulation of gut dysmotility.

Probiotic-based therapy is a promising approach, which can positively modulate bacterial composition and maintain homeostasis. However, exogenous probiotics are easily destroyed by harsh conditions in vivo; thus, their application prospects have been severely limited. Specifically, oxytetracycline (OTC), a broad-spectrum antibiotic widely used in aquaculture, results in adverse intestinal environments, such as dysbacteriosis, oxidative damage, and gut dysmotility. Here, we describe a facile method to apply glycol chitosan/alginate as armor on the surface of probiotics to effectively protect them from the changed enteric environments induced by OTC. The results demonstrated that the coated Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus GG (LGG) for only 2 h administration could significantly improve the colonization rate of LGG, and the relative abundance of Lacticaseibacillus can reach 80% in OTC-treated larvae intestines. We also explored the specific mechanisms of the coated LGG to diminish reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation and rescue gut dysmotility for OTC treatment, including enhancing the activity of antioxidative enzymes (CAT, SOD and GPx) and increasing 5-HT synthesis. The mitigation effect of the coated LGG for 2 h administration was comparable to that of uncoated LGG for 24 h administration. Encapsulation of LGG with polysaccharides provides a unique application example for generating useful bacterial therapeutics in harsh intestinal environments.

Pickering emulsion hydrogels (PEHs) were developed as a pH-responsive, controlled-release delivery system to address the limitations of Pickering emulsions in some harsh processing or gastrointestinal conditions. Specifically, the PEHs were fabricated based on alginate and various concentrations of gellan gum (GG) with carboxymethyl chitosan (CMCS) matrix. The encapsulation efficiency (EE), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) results proved the successful encapsulation. Furthermore, the hydrogels remained stable in the presence of destabilizing ions (Na+ or phosphate ions) and high osmotic pressure mediums. The texture profile analysis (TPA) characteristics and Young's modulus of the 0.8 % GG (w/v) PEHs were superior to the others. The PEHs prevented the emulsions from being released at pH 2.0, while the emulsions were entirely released at pH 7.4 in vitro, with the rate of release controlled by CMCS and the degree by GG concentration. This work facilitates the delivery of Pickering emulsions with excellent stability and pH-responsive controlled release for hydrophobic actives in food applications.

Plant-derived exosome-like nanoparticles (PELNs) have been shown to enter mammalian cells for disease treatment. Although abundant miRNAs are contained in ginger exosome-like nanoparticles (GELNs), little is known about their type and function. Herein, we extracted GELNs with desirable particle sizes (156 ± 36 nm) and a negative surface charge (-26.6 ± 5 mV). The miRNA profiles in ginger and GELNs were analyzed using high-throughput sequencing, and the results of the sequencing were validated by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). There were 27 miRNAs with higher expression levels in the GELNs, and they were mainly involved in the regulation of inflammatory and cancer-related pathways. Furthermore, GELNs could be specifically internalized by intestine cells via caveolin-mediated endocytosis and micropinocytosis, as well as counteract lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflammation by downregulating NF-κβ, IL-6, IL-8, and TNF-α expression. Importantly, the positive effects were further proved to be possibly related to the miRNAs enriched in the GELNs. Overall, these results indicated that PELNs could target human digestive organs and play a cross-kingdom physiological regulation role through miRNAs.

Accumulating researches suggest that the microbiota reside in the gastrointestinal system can influence neurodevelopment of brain and programming of behaviors. However, the mechanism underlining the relationship between shoals' behaviors and intestinal microbiota remain controversial and the roles of responsible neurotransmitters are still unclear. Here we show that shoaling behavior affected the color preference of shoals, indicating that shoals tended to choose a favorable color environment that benefited social contact. Meanwhile, administration of the selective D1-R antagonist, SCH23390, could disrupt the social interaction that led to the deficits of color preference in shoals. More importantly, the altered microbiota caused by an antibiotic oxytetracycline (OTC) exposure decreased the sociability and weakened shoals' preference for all color combinations. When given a supplementation of Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG after OTC exposure, fish maintained the same capability of social cohesion and color preference as normal fish. Our results support a role for dopamine in shaping the color preference in shoals. Our findings show that dopamine level of brain could mediate both social recognition and color preference, and offer a possibility that the production of dopamine is coordinated through gut microbiota.

Gut microbiota influence neurodevelopment of brain and programing of behaviors. However, the mechanism underlining the relationship between shoals’ behaviors and intestinal microbiota remain controversial and the roles of neurotransmitters are still unclear. Here we show that, shoaling behavior affected the innate color preference of shoals, indicating that shoals tended to choose a favorable color environment that benefits social contact. Meanwhile, administration of D1-R antagonist disrupted the social interaction which led to the deficits of color preference. More importantly, the altered microbiota caused by an antibiotic OTC decreased the sociability and weakened shoals’ color preference. When given a supplement of LGG after OTC exposure, fish exhibited an unexpectedly recovery capability in social cohesion and color preference. Our findings show that dopamine level of brain could mediate both social recognition and color preference, and highlight the pathway of microbial metabolites through the microbiota-gut-brain axis that coordinate the production of dopamine.

The color discrimination can confer survival advantages by helping animals to find nutritious food and shelter and to avoid predator. Zebrafish as a social species, data on innate color preference in shoals remain controversial and there are limited data for this organism. Here we showed that, when given a choice among two color combinations (R-Y, R-G, Y-G, B-G, B-R, B-Y), shoals of zebrafish exhibited a complex pattern of color preference and the order of RYGB preference was R>Y>G, B>G. By contrast, the individual zebrafish showed marked changes, completely losing their preference for all the tested color combinations. To investigate the role of shoaling behavior in color preference, we selected a D1-receptor antagonist (SCH23390), which could disrupt social preference and decrease social interaction in zebrafish. Interestingly, the shoals that were treated by SCH23390 showed no color preference for all color combinations. Our findings indicate that social interaction is involved in color-driven behavior in zebrafish, and reveal the possible mechanisms that the dopaminergic system may contribute to innate color preference in shoals of zebrafish.

The adult zebrafish (Danio rerio) were exposed to treated-effluent concentration of bisphenol A (BPA) or 17β-estradiol (E2) for 6 months to evaluate their effects on behavioral characteristics: motor behavior, aggression, group preference, novel tank test and light/dark preference. E2 exposure evidently dampened fish locomotor activity, while BPA exposure had no marked effect. Interestingly, BPA-exposed fish reduced their aggressive behavior compared with control or E2. Both BPA and E2 exposure induced a significant decrease in group preference, as well as a weaker adaptability to new environment, exhibiting lower latency to reach the top, more entries to the top, longer time spent in the top, fewer frequent freezing, and fewer erratic movements. Furthermore, the circadian rhythmicity of light/dark preference was altered by either BPA or E2 exposure. Our results suggest that chronic exposure of treated-effluent concentration BPA or E2 induced various behavioral anomalies in adult fish and enhanced ecological risk to wildlife.

Multispectral imaging in the visible and near-infrared (405–970 nm) regions was tested for nondestructive discrimination of insect-infested, moldy, heterochromatic, and rancidity in sunflower seeds. An excellent classification (accuracy >97 %) for intact sunflower seeds could be achieved using Fisher’s linear discriminant function based on 10 feature wavelengths that were selected from the original 19 wavelengths by Wilks’ lambda stepwise method. Intact sunflower seeds with different degree of rancidity could be precisely clustered by multispectral imaging technology combined with principal component analysis-cluster analysis (PCA-CA). Our results demonstrate the capability of multispectral imaging technology as a tool for rapid and nondestructive analysis of seed quality attributes, which enables many applications in the agriculture and food industry.

Zebrafish (Danio rerio) has been a widely used vertebrate animal model in developmental biology and behavioral neuroscience, but knowledge about some of its basic behaviors, for example, light/dark preference, is still controversial. Appropriate preference for light or dark environments can be crucial for an animal's survival, so we hypothesize that zebrafish may have its light/dark preference varied with the circadian clock. In this present work, we tested the hypothesis by recording the light/dark preference in a two-compartment tank continuously for over 60 h. We found that the light avoidance of fish generally increases with time from morning (8:00am) to midnight (2:00am), and then decreases with time from midnight (2:00am) to morning (8:00am), exhibiting a clear circadian-like trend in the light/dark preference. As melatonin can mediate circadian clock output and promote sleep in zebrafish, by adding extra melatonin at around 9:00am on the third day, the mean proportion of time fish spent in the dark area was increased significantly. Our results demonstrate that the circadian clock plays a significant role in regulating the light/dark preference in zebrafish, which provides valuable insights into understanding the metabolism mechanism underlying the neurobehavior, and facilitate further studies related to the neurobiology of normal and pathological behavior.