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Arsenic (As) is one of the most toxic contaminants to food crops, and as such, decreasing crops uptake and accumulation of As cannot be overemphasized. Here, we characterized a functional wheat NIP2;1 homolog of the As transporter, TaNIP2;1. TaNIP2;1 expression was suppressed by arsenite (As(III)) in wheat. Ectopic expression of TaNIP2;1 in the Δfps1 yeast mutant enhanced yeast sensitivity towards As(III). Conversely, the elevated expression of TaNIP2;1 in Δacr3 mutants decreased yeast sensitivity to arsenate (As(V)), demonstrating that TaNIP2;1 showed both influx and efflux transport activities for As(III) in yeasts. This is further supported by increased As concentration in the yeast cells that overproduce TaNIP2;1 in Δfps1, while As concentration decreased in Δacr3. Furthermore, ectopic expression of TaNIP2;1 in Arabidopsis confirmed that TaNIP2;1 can transport As into plants, as supported by increased sensitivity to and uptake of As(III). No change in plant sensitivity was found to Cu(II), Cd(II), Zn(II) or Ni(II), indicating that transport activity of TaNIP2;1 is specific for As(III). Taken together, our data show that TaNIP2;1 may be involved in As(III) transportation in plants. This finding reveals a functional gene that can be manipulated to reduce As content in wheat.The extensive applicability of engineered nanoparticles (ENPs) in various fields such as environment, agriculture, medicine or biotechnology has mostly been attributed to their better physicochemical properties as compared with conventional bulk materials. However, functions and biological effects of ENPs change across different scenarios which impede the progress in their risk assessment and safety management. This review thus intends to figure out whether properties of ENPs can be indicators of their behavior through summarizing and analyzing the available literature and knowledge. The studies have indicated that size, shape, solubility, specific surface area, surface charge and surface reactivity constitute a more accurate measure of ENPs functions and toxic effects in addition to mass concentration. Effects of ENPs are also highly dependent on dose metrics, species and strains of organisms, environmental conditions, exposure route and duration. Searching correlations between properties and functions or biological effects may serve as an effective way in understanding positive and negative impacts of ENPs. This will ensure safe design and sustainable future use of ENPs.The widespread existence of microplastics in wastewater has caused great concern. As the exposure time of microplastics in the environment increases, the microplastic leaching solution (i.e.,chemical additives) may be released into the environment causing toxic effects. In this study, the effect of polystyrene (PS) microplastics on the anaerobic digestion system was investigated. The results showed that the exposure to 80 nm and 5 μm polystyrene microplastics with the concentrations of 0.2 g/L or lower did not significantly affect the cumulative methane production (P ≥ 0.05). On the other hand, 80 nm and 5 μm PS microplastic level of 0.25 g/L led to a decrease in methane production by 19.3% (P = 2 × 10-5) and 17.9% (P = 4 × 10-5), respectively. The 80 nm PS nanoplastics therefore had slightly higher inhibition capacity on methane production than 5 μm PS microplastics. The pH of all groups remained stable at 6.7-7.5. Volatile fatty acids (VFAs) concentration and ammonium-nitrogen concentration had no obvious relationship to PS micro and nanoplastics addition. Further investigation showed that PS micro and nanoplastics concentration of 0.25 g/L or higher could inhibit acidification and methanation stage of anaerobic digestion. However, the main negative influence of PS micro and nanoplastics on methane production was due to the severe inhibition on the methanization stage.The characteristics and content of organo-mineral complex were confirmed to be changed in agriculture soils under the biochar application with long-term, but the resulting environmental effects in the retention and lasting of agrochemicals and xenobiotic pollutants is far from clear. In this study, biochar-soil composites were prepared by one-step dry ball-milling method, and a sorption case study was proceed to investigate the biochar incorporated affection in soils on the transport of dimethyl phthalate (DMP). More surface oxygen-containing functional groups on ball-milled biochar enhanced its complexation with soil minerals. Sorption isotherms of DMP onto the biochar-soil composites were well described by the Freundlich model, both heterogeneous surface and multilayer interactions occurred simultaneously. The kinetics of sorption could be simulated with the pseudo-second-order model (R2 > 0.98), while the average sorption energy (Ea) calculated from Dubinin-Radushkevich isotherms were found in the range of 3.83-5.60 kJ mol-1, which revealed that the sorption processes coexist of chemisorption and physisorption, and π-π electron donor-acceptor interaction, pore-filling and hydrophobic interactions could be identified as the main sorption mechanisms. Desorption of absorbed DMP appeared obvious nonlinear characteristics and lag effect, the calculated hysteresis index (HI) increased with the application of biochar into soil. Molibresib Considering the phenomenon of biochar aging and soil complexation, it is important to verify how the transport and natural attenuation of contaminant will be influenced by biochar addition, especially the long-term effect in soil ecosystem.Ammonia toxicity to respiratory system in pig faming is of particular concern, but the molecular mechanism remains still unclear. The present study was devoted to assess the impacts of the ammonia exposure on the lung tissues based on a pig study using 80 ppm ammonia exposing to piglets for different days. The histology analysis revealed ammonia exposure induced lung injury and inflammatory response, as indicated by epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), significant thickening of alveolar septa, infiltration of inflammatory cells and excessive mucus production. The transcriptome analysis revealed many more up-regulated genes in exposure groups when compared with the control group, and these genes were significantly enriched in the GO term of extracellular exosome, proteolysis, and regulation of circadian rhythm. The study discovered the induction of seven genes (CRY2, CIART, CREM, NR1D1, NR1D2, PER1 and PER3) that encode repressors of circadian clock. One gene (ARNTL) that encodes activator of circadian clock was down-regulated after ammonia exposure.