Genome-wide association study (GWAS) with single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) has been widely used to explore genetic controls of phenotypic traits. Alternatively, GWAS can use counts of substrings of length k from longer sequencing reads, k-mers, as genotyping data. Using maize cob and kernel color traits, we demonstrated that k-mer GWAS can effectively identify associated k-mers. Co-expression analysis of kernel color k-mers and genes directly found k-mers from known causal genes. Analyzing complex traits of kernel oil and leaf angle resulted in k-mers from both known and candidate genes. A gene encoding a MADS transcription factor was functionally validated by showing that ectopic expression of the gene led to less upright leaves. Evolution analysis revealed most k-mers positively correlated with kernel oil were strongly selected against in maize populations, while most k-mers for upright leaf angle were positively selected. In addition, genomic prediction of kernel oil, leaf angle, and flowering time using k-mer data resulted in a similarly high prediction accuracy to the standard SNP-based method. Collectively, we showed k-mer GWAS is a powerful approach for identifying trait-associated genetic elements. Further, our results demonstrated the bridging role of k-mers for data integration and functional gene discovery.

Aflatoxins are one of the most toxic mycotoxins and can cause serious harm to humans and animals. Adsorption is a practical decontamination technique favored by the industry because of its advantages of low cost, speed and simplicity, and environmental friendliness. In this work, the adsorption features of activated carbon and chitosan were fabricated in a composite through chemical co-precipitation to improve its properties for adsorption. Furthermore, the capacity of the synthesized chitosan and acid-washed activated carbon composite (CS-AAC) to attenuate the aflatoxins in contaminated peanut oil and the adsorption capacity at different initial aflatoxins content, contact duration, and temperature were evaluated. The results showed a higher adsorption capacity (removal efficiency to 93.45% of AFB1, 94.05% of AFB2, 89.16% of AFG1, 83.26% of AFG2). The Freundlich isothermal and D-R model and the pseudo-second-order rate expression both implied a good correlation with the test data and explained the adsorption mechanism well. The adsorption mechanism was found to be accomplished primarily via ion exchange and chelation. According to thermodynamic results (△G < 0, △H > 0, △S > 0), the adsorption process was endothermic and spontaneous. Compared to acid-washed activated carbon, CS-AAC enhanced the retention of VE and sterols (especially VE by 23%), and the safety of CS-AAC adsorbent was explored by cellular experiments. In conclusion, CS-AAC is a promising adsorbent material for the removal of aflatoxins from edible oils.

The aerobic composting process is extensively utilized to manage kitchen waste. Nonetheless, the variability in the quality of compost derived from engineering practices which significantly hinders its broader industrial application. This work investigated the final products of kitchen waste compost at multiple industrial-scale treatment facilities utilizing three distinct aerobic composting processes in a bid to explore key factors affecting compost quality. The quality evaluation was based on technical parameters like seed germination index (GI), and limiting factors such as heavy metal content. The results showed that most of the compost products failed to meet the established standards, with GI being the primary limiting indicator. Furthermore, maturity assessments suggested that compost with low GI exhibited reduced humification could not be recommended for agricultural use. The investigation delved into the primary determinants of GI, focusing on risk factors such as the oil and salt of kitchen waste, and the microbial community of the humification driving forces. The results indicated that products with low GI had higher oil and salt content and a relatively simple microbial community. A thorough analysis suggested that excessive levels oil and salt were potential influencing factors on GI, as they stimulated the activity of acid-producing bacteria like Lactobacillus, suppressed the activity of humification-promoting bacteria such as Actinomarinales, and influenced the decomposition and humification processes of organic matter and total nitrogen, thereby affecting product quality. The findings provide valuable insights for improving kitchen waste compost products for agricultural applications.

UNASSIGNED: Aqueous enzyme-assisted solvent extraction (AE-SE) of oil from apricot (Prunus armeniaca L.) kernel was investigated in this study and the operational parameters were optimized. After preliminary screening, a cocktail of enzymes (Celluclast 1.5 L and Alcalase Pure 2.4 L [60:40, v/v)] of 1% (v/w) was chosen. The extraction process parameters: temperature (40-60 °C), time (1-5 h), and pH (4-9) were optimized using Box-Behnken design to achieve the highest oil yield (%) and antioxidant activity (DPPH, %). Under optimized conditions, i.e., temperature 40 °C, time 2.5 h, and pH 8.28, the highest oil yield and DPPH were 47.93% and 67.31%, respectively. The gas chromatography analysis disclosed that apricot kernel oil extracted by solvent extraction and AE-SE have similar fatty acid compositions, and the oil is rich in unsaturated fatty acids. The physicochemical analysis showed AE-SE method produces high-quality oil and can be substituted as green technology for industrial oil extraction purposes.
UNASSIGNED:

After marine oil spills, natural processes like photooxidation and biodegradation can remove the oil from the environment. However, these processes are strongly influenced by environmental conditions. To achieve a greater understanding of how seasonal variations in temperature, light exposure and the bacterial community affect oil depletion in the marine environment, we performed two field experiments during the spring and autumn. Field systems equipped with a thin oil film of Statfjord, Grane or ULSFO were deployed in northern Norway. Depletion of the total extractable matter was faster during the spring than during the autumn. Statfjord showed faster depletion of n-alkanes during spring, while depletion of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons varied between the seasons based on the degree of alkyl-substitutions. ULSFO displayed the overall slowest depletion. Biodegradation of the oils was associated with high abundances of unassigned bacteria during the spring but was governed by Alcanivorax, Cycloclasticus, Oleibacter and Oleispira during the autumn.

Bioremediation provides an environmentally sound solution for hydrocarbon removal. Although bioremediation under anoxic conditions is slow, it can be coupled with methanogenesis and is suitable for energy recovery. By altering conditions and supplementing alternative terminal electron acceptors to the system to induce syntrophic partners of the methanogens, this process can be enhanced. In this study, we investigated a hydrocarbon-degrading microbial community derived from chronically contaminated soil. Various hydrocarbon mixtures were used during our experiments in the presence of different electron acceptors. In addition, we performed whole metagenome sequencing to identify the main actors of hydrocarbon biodegradation in the samples. Our results showed that the addition of ferric ions or sulphate increased the methane yield. Furthermore, the addition of CO2, ferric ion or sulphate enhanced the biodegradation of alkanes. A significant increase in biodegradation was observed in the presence of ferric ions or sulphate in the case of all aromatic components, while naphthalene and phenanthrene degradation was also enhanced by CO2. Metagenome analysis revealed that Cellulomonas sp. is the most abundant in the presence of alkanes, while Ruminococcus and Faecalibacterium spp. are prevalent in aromatics-supplemented samples. From the recovery of 25 genomes, it was concluded that the main pathway of hydrocarbon activation was fumarate addition in both Cellulomonas, Ruminococcus and Faecalibacterium. Chloroflexota bacteria can utilise the central metabolites of aromatics biodegradation via ATP-independent benzoyl-CoA reduction. KEY POINTS: • Methanogenesis and hydrocarbon biodegradation were enhanced by Fe3+ or SO42- • Cellulomonas, Ruminococcus and Faecalibacterium can be candidates for the main hydrocarbon degraders • Chloroflexota bacteria can utilise the central metabolites of aromatics degradation.

BACKGROUND: The delayed drying of newly harvested tiger nuts can lead to mold and rancidity. Timely drying is therefore important. However, few studies have analyzed the impact of hot-air drying on the quality of tiger-nut oil and starch, making it essential to establish optimal drying conditions.
RESULTS: The results showed that the drying temperature was the most important factor affecting the drying speed, followed by drying airflow rate and loading capacity. A logarithmic model can describe the hot-air drying process of tiger nuts. The oil yield of tiger nut was highest after drying at 60 °C, reaching 22.40%. Meanwhile, the starch extracted from after drying at 60 °C had the highest solubility and expansion rate, 4.77% and 9.74%, respectively. Starch has the highest viscosity after drying at 70 °C, and it forms gel easily after aging.
CONCLUSIONS: High-quality tiger nuts should be produced under optimal conditions: a hot-air drying temperature of 60 °C, an airflow rate of 1.0 m s-1, and a loading capacity of 100 g. The results of this study have practical implications for the effective drying of tiger nuts. © 2024 Society of Chemical Industry.

I examine which extraordinary international events coincide with pronounced changes in the equity markets for some of the world\'s largest publicly traded suppliers on opposite sides of the global energy mix - oil and environmentally clean energy companies. First, I adapt an intuitively appealing non-parametric filter to empirically timestamp unexpected and prominent increases and decreases in a wide range of global indicators relevant to the international energy market. Then, I use such extraordinary conditions to characterise the performance of oil and environmentally clean energy equities, and their relationships. My findings suggest that jumps in the global stock market, international crude oil market shocks, and the US dollar real effective exchange rate, are the indicators that define the financial landscape during which considerable gains, losses, and instability across both types of energy markets materialise. In contrast, major elevated uncertainties related to geo-political risk and climate policy reflect relative stability in the equities of both oil and environmentally clean energy companies. Although these results imply that both energy assets are potentially lucrative hedging strategies for investors to exploit during heightened geo-political and climate policy uncertainties, clean energy equities offer market participants the option to combine profit maximising and sustainability objectives while minimising global energy security risks.

Unidirectional transport of liquids has attracted the attention of researchers in recent years for its wide application foreground. However, it is still a challenge to control the spreading of liquid, especially for oils with relatively high viscosity. In this paper, a flexible surface textured with branch-shaped microstructures is proposed. These asymmetric microstructures exhibit excellent unidirectional spreading behaviors for various oils. By suitably stretching the flexible surface to different stretch ratios, the spreading length of the oil droplets can be controlled. Moreover, the ongoing forward spreading of oil droplets can be suspended dynamically when the surface is stretched to 40%. Corresponding mechanism analysis demonstrates that surface stretching can narrow and close the microvalves between adjacent branches, which restrain the flow of the precursor film and the primary droplet. The switchable unidirectional spreading behavior enables the surface with such microstructures to be used for oil transportation, oil-water separation, and controllable lubrication.

Hypothesis Atomistically-detailed models of surfactants provide quantitative information on the molecular interactions and spatial distributions at fluid interfaces. Hence, it should be possible to extract from this information, macroscopical thermophysical properties such as interfacial tension, critical micelle concentrations and the relationship between these properties and the bulk fluid surfactant concentrations. Simulations and Experiments Molecular-scale interfacial of systems containing n-dodecyl β-glucoside (APG12) are simulated using classical molecular dynamics. The bulk phases and the corresponding interfacial regions are all explicitly detailed using an all-atom force field (PCFF+). During the simulation, the behaviour of the interface is analyzed geometrically to obtain an approximated value of the critical micelle concentration (CMC) in terms of the surfactant area number density and the interfacial tension is assessed through the analysis of the forces amongst molecules. New experimental determinations are reported for the surface tension of APG12 at the water/air and at the water/n-decane interfaces. Findings We showcase the application of a thermodynamic framework that inter-relates interfacial tensions, surface densities, CMCs and bulk surfactant concentrations, which allows the in silico quantitative prediction of interfacial tension isotherms.