Nitric Acid-Potassium Hydroxide Fractionation of Rice Straw: an Integrated Biorefinery Initiative

Rice straw was fractionated with nitric acid in order to avoid the cooking liquor recovery in pulp production from agricultural residue (rice straw). The rice straw treated with 11.03% nitric acid at 90 ℃ for 3hr yields 53.09% pulp. The nitric acid treated rice straw pulp had high amount of lignin and minerals. However, further treatment of nitric acid pulp with low potassium hydroxide reduced the lignin and ash sufficiently as well as the pulp yield. Pulp yield reduced from 53.09 to 34.27%. The papermaking properties of the nitric acid followed by KOH treated pulp showed better quality than the nitric acid pulp. Nitric acid liquor was used several times. Pulp yield decreased in every step of reusing of the nitric acid spent liquor although residual lignin content increased. The final effluent liquor was rich with potassium, nitrogen and biomass that can be used as soil nutrient for cultivation.

Silencing of GhKEA4 and GhKEA12 Revealed Their Potential Functions Under Salt and Potassium Stresses in Upland Cotton

The K+ efflux antiporter (KEA) mediates intracellular K+ and H+ homeostasis to improve salt tolerance in plants. However, the knowledge of KEA gene family in cotton is largely absent. In the present study, 8, 8, 15, and 16 putative KEA genes were identified in Gossypium arboreum, G. raimondii, G. hirsutum, and G. barbadense, respectively. These KEA genes were classified into three subfamilies, and members from the same subfamilies showed similar motif compositions and gene structure characteristics. Some hormone response elements and stress response elements were identified in the upstream 2000 bp sequence of GhKEAs. Transcriptome data showed that most of the GhKEAs were highly expressed in roots and stems. The quantificational real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) results showed that most of the GhKEAs responded to low potassium, salt and drought stresses. Virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) experiments demonstrated that under salt stress, after silencing genes GhKEA4 and GhKEA12, the chlorophyll content, proline content, soluble sugar content, peroxidase (POD) activity and catalase (CAT) activity were significantly decreased, and the Na+/K+ ratio was extremely significantly increased in leaves, leading to greater salt sensitivity. Under high potassium stress, cotton plants silenced for the GhKEA4 could still maintain a more stable Na+ and K+ balance, and the activity of transporting potassium ions from roots into leaves was reduced silenced for GhKEA12. Under low potassium stress, silencing the GhKEA4 increased the activity of transporting potassium ions to shoots, and silencing the GhKEA12 increased the ability of absorbing potassium ions, but accumulated more Na+ in leaves. These results provided a basis for further studies on the biological roles of KEA genes in cotton development and adaptation to stress conditions.

High baseline ROMK activity in mouse late distal convoluted and early connecting tubule (DCT2/CNT) probably contributes to aldosterone-independent K+ secretion

The renal outer medullary K+ channel (ROMK) is co-localized with the epithelial Na+ channel (ENaC) in late distal convoluted tubule (DCT2), connecting tubule (CNT) and cortical collecting duct (CCD). ENaC-mediated Na+ absorption generates the electrical driving force for ROMK-mediated tubular K+ secretion which is critically important for maintaining renal K+ homeostasis. ENaC activity is aldosterone-dependent in late CNT and early CCD (CNT/CCD) but aldosterone-independent in DCT2 and early CNT (DCT2/CNT). This suggests that under baseline conditions with low plasma aldosterone ROMK-mediated K+ secretion mainly occurs in DCT2/CNT. Therefore, we hypothesized that baseline ROMK activity is higher in DCT2/CNT than in CNT/CCD. To test this hypothesis, patch-clamp experiments were performed in DCT2/CNT and CNT/CCD microdissected from mice maintained on standard diet. In single-channel recordings from outside-out patches we detected typical ROMK channel activity in both DCT2/CNT and CNT/CCD and confirmed that ROMK is the predominant K+ channel in the apical membrane. Amiloride-sensitive (ΔIami) and tertiapin-sensitive (ΔITPNQ) whole-cell currents were determined to assess ENaC and ROMK activity, respectively. As expected, baseline ΔIami was high in DCT2/CNT (~370 pA) but low in CNT/CCD (~60 pA). Importantly, ΔITPNQ was significantly higher in DCT2/CNT than in CNT/CCD (~810 pA versus ~350 pA). We conclude that high ROMK activity in DCT2/CNT is critical for aldosterone-independent renal K+ secretion under baseline conditions. A low potassium diet significantly reduced ENaC but not ROMK activity in DCT2/CNT. This suggests that modifying ENaC activity in DCT2/CNT plays a key regulatory role in adjusting renal K+ excretion to dietary K+ intake.

Gating pore currents occur in CaV1.1 domain III mutants associated with HypoPP

Mutations in the voltage sensor domain (VSD) of CaV1.1, the α1S subunit of the L-type calcium channel in skeletal muscle, are an established cause of hypokalemic periodic paralysis (HypoPP). Of the 10 reported mutations, 9 are missense substitutions of outer arginine residues (R1 or R2) in the S4 transmembrane segments of the homologous domain II, III (DIII), or IV. The prevailing view is that R/X mutations create an anomalous ion conduction pathway in the VSD, and this so-called gating pore current is the basis for paradoxical depolarization of the resting potential and weakness in low potassium for HypoPP fibers. Gating pore currents have been observed for four of the five CaV1.1 HypoPP mutant channels studied to date, the one exception being the charge-conserving R897K in R1 of DIII. We tested whether gating pore currents are detectable for the other three HypoPP CaV1.1 mutations in DIII. For the less conserved R1 mutation, R897S, gating pore currents with exceptionally large amplitude were observed, correlating with the severe clinical phenotype of these patients. At the R2 residue, gating pore currents were detected for R900G but not R900S. These findings show that gating pore currents may occur with missense mutations at R1 or R2 in S4 of DIII and that the magnitude of this anomalous inward current is mutation specific.

EFFECT OF NUTRITIONAL COUNSELING LEALEF MEDIA ON KNOWLEDGE, SODIUM, POTASIUM INTAKE IN PATIENTS HYPERTENSION

ABSTRACK Hypertension actually is a disease that can be implified on sudden death. It's mostly caused by high blood pressure so that the risk of suffering complications is a big issue. It can be caused by many factors, one of that is high sodium and low potassium consumption as well. Based on 2015 WHO data, it shows that 1.13 billion people in the world have hypertension. Based on Riskesdas data the number of cases of hypertension in Indonesia is 63,309,620 people. In Bengkulu province In 2018 about province's health data, it was found that in 2018 the estimated number of sufferers ≥ 15 years reached 899,010 people. The highest hypertension was found in the Selebar Sub-District Puskesmas Basuki Rahmad about 7,464 .The purpose of this study determines the effect of nutritional counseling using modified leaflet media, knowledge of sodium and potassium intake in patients with hypertension in Basuki Rahmad Community Health Center in Bengkulu City in 2020.This research method is a pre-experimental research design with one group pretest and posttest term. Samples that were taken by purposive sampling of 25 people. Data collected includes pre test data first, namely knowledge, data, sodium intake, and potassium. After that post-test data, it is knowledge data about sodium and potassium consumption. Analysis of the data used is the univariate analysis and bivariate analysis.Based on the research from 25 samples given nutritional counseling, the results obtained knowledge about sodium and potassium consumption value of p-value 0,000.In the conclusion of this study is about the influence of nutritional counseling on sodium and potassium consumption that related to hypertension disease.

Genome-Wide Analysis of HAK/KUP/KT Potassium Transporter Genes in Banana (Musa Acuminata L.) and Their Tissue-Specific Expression Profiles Under Potassium Stress

Potassium is one of the most essential inorganic cations for plant growth and development. The high affinity K+ (HAK)/K+ uptake (KUP)/K+ transporter (KT) family plays essential roles in the regulation of cellular K+ levels and the maintenance of osmotic balance. However, the roles of these genes in the responses of bananas to low-potassium stress are unclear. In this study, 24 HAK/KUP/KT (MaHAK) genes were identified from banana genomic data. These genes were further classified into four groups based on phylogenetic analysis, gene structure and conserved domain analysis. Segmental duplication events played an important role in the expansion of the MaHAK gene family. Transcriptome analysis revealed the expression patterns of MaHAKs in various tissues under different K+ conditions. MaHAK14b was upregulated under both short- and long-term K+-deficient conditions, suggesting that it plays crucial roles in K+ uptake at low K+ concentrations. Furthermore, MaHAK14b mediated K+ uptake when it was heterologously expressed in the yeast mutant R5421 on low K+ medium. Collectively, these findings provide a foundation for further functional analysis of MaHAK genes, which may be used to improve stress resistance in bananas.

The largest plagiogranite on Earth formed by re-melting of juvenile proto-continental crust

The growth of continental crust through melt extraction from the mantle is a critical component of the chemical evolution of the Earth and the development of plate tectonics. However, the mechanisms involved remain debated. Here, we conduct petrological and geochemical analyses on a large (up to 5000 km2) granitoid body in the Arabian-Nubian shield near El-Shadli, Egypt. We identify these rocks as the largest known plagiogranitic complex on Earth, which shares characteristics such as low potassium, high sodium and flat rare earth element chondrite-normalized patterns with spatially associated gabbroic rocks. The hafnium isotopic compositions of zircon indicate a juvenile source for the magma. However, low zircon δ18O values suggest interaction with hydrothermal fluids. We propose that the El-Shadli plagiogranites were produced by extensive partial melting of juvenile, previously accreted oceanic crust and that this previously overlooked mechanism for the formation of plagiogranite is also responsible for the transformation of juvenile crust into a chemically stratified continental crust.