Engineered geranyl diphosphate methyltransferase produces 2-methyl-dimethylallyl diphosphate as a noncanonical C unit for terpenoid biosynthesis.

Terpenoids constitute the largest class of natural products with complex structures, essential functions, and versatile applications. Creation of new building blocks beyond the conventional five-carbon (C) units, dimethylallyl diphosphate (DMAPP) and isopentenyl diphosphate, expands significantly the chemical space of terpenoids. Structure-guided engineering of an -adenosylmethionine-dependent geranyl diphosphate (GPP) C2-methyltransferase from yielded variants converting DMAPP to a new C unit, 2-methyl-DMAPP.

The Effect of Inner Friction on Concrete Fracture Behavior under Biaxial Compression: A 3D Mesostructure Study.

The mechanical behavior of concrete under biaxial loading condition (especially biaxial compression) is one of the most important indexes to evaluate the quality of concrete. To study the mechanical behavior of concrete under biaxial compression at mesoscale, we adopted our recently developed 3D numerical model based on Voronoi tessellation and cohesive elements. A constitutive model considering the friction effect is used in the model to characterize the fracture behavior of all potential fracture surfaces inside the concrete.

[Study on interaction between ginsenosides Rg_1,Rb_1 and Ro and bovine serum albumin].

Small molecules with physiological or pharmacological activities need to interact with biological macromolecules in order to function in the body. As the protein with the highest proportion of plasma protein,serum albumin is the main protein binding to various endogenous or exogenous small molecules. Serum albumin interacts with small molecules in a reversible non-covalent manner and transports small molecules to target sites.

[Prevalence of spp. infections in large - scale pig farms in north of Yangtze River in Anhui Province].

Objective: To characterize the prevalence and species/genotypes of spp. in farmed pigs in the north of the Yangtze River in Anhui Province.

Methods: A total of 500 samples of pig feces were obtained from seven largescale pig farms in the north of the Yangtze River in Anhui Province.