Project description:Food packaging reinforced with Zn-doped TiO2 nanoparticles with enhanced prerequisite film-forming and biodegradable traits was prepared to augment fresh food storage. Pure and tailored metal (Zinc, Copper, and Selenium) doped TiO2 nanoparticles were synthesized and analyzed through multiple characterization techniques (optical spectra, XRD patterns (X-Ray Diffraction), Dynamic Light Scattering, and Scanning Electron Microscopy). The synthesized nanoparticles were tested for their Minimum Inhibitory Concentrations, antimicrobial potential against common lethal food pathogens, and cytotoxicity. Compared to Cu- and Se-doped nanoparticles, Zn-doped TiO2 nanoparticles displayed the most potent antimicrobial activity with insignificant cytotoxicity and were incorporated into the food packaging materials. The developed nano-reinforced food packaging efficaciously augmented the freshness of plums (Oemleria cerasiformis) for 16 days (42 ± 2 °C). The physicomechanical characterization of the nano-reinforced packaging establishes its utility in food packaging applications. The developed biodegradable packaging undergoes complete decomposition within 12 days of storage in natural soil.
Project description:Constructing high-quality haplotype-resolved genome assemblies has substantially improved the ability to detect and characterize genetic variants. A targeted approach providing readily access to the rich information from haplotype-resolved genome assemblies will be appealing to groups of basic researchers and medical scientists focused on specific genomic regions. Here, using the 4.5 megabase, notoriously difficult-to-assemble major histocompatibility complex (MHC) region as an example, we demonstrated an approach to construct haplotype-resolved assembly of the targeted genomic region with the CRISPR-based enrichment. Compared to the results from haplotype-resolved genome assembly, our targeted approach achieved comparable completeness and accuracy with reduced computing complexity, sequencing cost, as well as the amount of starting materials. Moreover, using the targeted assembled personal MHC haplotypes as the reference both improves the quantification accuracy for sequencing data and enables allele-specific functional genomics analyses of the MHC region. Given its highly efficient use of resources, our approach can greatly facilitate population genetic studies of targeted regions, and may pave a new way to elucidate the molecular mechanisms in disease etiology.
Project description:Constructing high-quality haplotype-resolved genome assemblies has substantially improved the ability to detect and characterize genetic variants. A targeted approach providing readily access to the rich information from haplotype-resolved genome assemblies will be appealing to groups of basic researchers and medical scientists focused on specific genomic regions. Here, using the 4.5 megabase, notoriously difficult-to-assemble major histocompatibility complex (MHC) region as an example, we demonstrated an approach to construct haplotype-resolved assembly of the targeted genomic region with the CRISPR-based enrichment. Compared to the results from haplotype-resolved genome assembly, our targeted approach achieved comparable completeness and accuracy with reduced computing complexity, sequencing cost, as well as the amount of starting materials. Moreover, using the targeted assembled personal MHC haplotypes as the reference both improves the quantification accuracy for sequencing data and enables allele-specific functional genomics analyses of the MHC region. Given its highly efficient use of resources, our approach can greatly facilitate population genetic studies of targeted regions, and may pave a new way to elucidate the molecular mechanisms in disease etiology.