Jian Wang

The past two decades has witnessed a remarkable increase in the number of microbial genomes retrieved from marine systems1,2. However, it has remained challenging to translate this marine genomic diversity into biotechnological and biomedical applications3,4. Here we recovered 43,191 bacterial and archaeal genomes from publicly available marine metagenomes, encompassing a wide range of diversity with 138 distinct phyla, redefining the upper limit of marine bacterial genome size and revealing complex trade-offs between the occurrence of CRISPR–Cas systems and antibiotic resistance genes. In silico bioprospecting of these marine genomes led to the discovery of a novel CRISPR–Cas9 system, ten antimicrobial peptides, and three enzymes that degrade polyethylene terephthalate. In vitro experiments confirmed their effectiveness and efficacy. This work provides evidence that global-scale sequencing initiatives advance our understanding of how microbial diversity has evolved in the oceans and is maintained, and demonstrates how such initiatives can be sustainably exploited to advance biotechnology and biomedicine. Analysis of 43,191 genomes obtained from publicly available marine bacterial and archaeal metagenome data provides insights into marine bacterial evolution, CRISPR–Cas defence and antibiotic resistance genes, and demonstrates the potential of marine metagenomes for biotechnological applications.

Abstract Improving the output energy and durability of triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) remains a considerable challenge for their practical applications. Owing to the interface effect of triboelectrification and electrostatic induction, thinner films with higher dielectric constants yield a higher output; however, they are not durable for practical applications. Herein, the dielectric surface effect is changed into a volume effect by adopting a millimeter‐thick dielectric film with an inner porous network structure so that charges can hop in the surface state of the network. Charge migration inside the dielectric film is the key factor affecting the output of the triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) with a thick film, based on which each working stage follows the energy‐maximization principle in the voltage–charge plot. The maximum peak and average power densities of the TENG with polyurethane foam film in 1 mm thickness reach 40.9 and 20.7 W m −2 Hz −1 , respectively, under environmental conditions, and the output charge density is 5.14 times that of TENGs with a poly(tetrafluoroethylene) film of the same thickness. Superdurability is achieved in the rotary‐mode TENG after 200 000 operation cycles. This study identifies the physical mechanism of the thick dielectric film used in TENGs and provides a new approach to promote the output and durability of TENGs.

Energy management strategy is the essential approach for achieving high energy utilization efficiency of triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) due to their ultra-high intrinsic impedance. However, the proven management efficiency in practical applications remains low, and the output regulation functionality is still lacking. Herein, we propose a detailed energy transfer and extraction mechanism addressing voltage and charge losses caused by the crucial switches in energy management circuits. The energy conversion efficiency is increased by 8.5 times through synergistical optimization of TENG and switch configurations. Furthermore, a TENG-based power supply with energy storage and regularization functions is realized through system circuit design, demonstrating the stable powering electronic devices under irregular mechanical stimuli. A rotating TENG that only works for 21 s can make a hygrothermograph work stably for 417 s. Even under hand driving, various types of TENGs can consistently provide stable power to electronic devices such as calculators and mini-game consoles. This work provides an in-depth energy transfer and conversion mechanism between TENGs and energy management circuits, and also addresses the technical challenge in converting unstable mechanical energy into stable and usable electricity in the TENG field. Effective energy management is essential to enable triboelectric nanogenerators for realistic applications. Here, the authors optimize TENG and switch configurations to improve energy conversion efficiency and design a TENG-based power supply with energy storage and output regulation functionalities.

Breast carcinomas are known to express platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), a known connective tissue mitogen. In order to further evaluate the potential role of PDGF in these epithelial tumors, expression of the PDGF B chain (PDGF-B) and the PDGF receptor beta subunit (PDGFR) was analyzed by immunocytochemistry and in situ hybridization in 49 benign and malignant breast tissues. PDGF-B expression was analyzed with respect to the expression of the proliferating cell nuclear antigen, as well as tumor grade, p53 overexpression, estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, and c-erbB-2 expression. Expression of PDGF-B protein and mRNA was restricted to the breast epithelium and tumor cells except for scattered tissue macrophages. A strong correlation was found between increasing proliferating cell nuclear antigen indices and PDGF-B expression in both nonmalignant (P = 0.01) and malignant (P = 0.02) breast specimens. Decreased PDGF-B expression was found in postmenopausal atrophic breast tissue compared with normal breast tissue (P = 0.04). Within the subgroup of malignant tumors, no correlations were found between PDGF-B expression and tumor grade or p53 overexpression. In 16 of the malignant tumors evaluated for estrogen/progesterone receptor status and c-erbB-2 overexpression, no correlations with PDGF-B expression were found. Membranous PDGFR immunostaining was present within the fibroblastic cell population in all of the tissues examined but not in the nonmalignant breast epithelium. Six malignant specimens had detectable cytoplasmic expression of PDGFR. There was no correlation between this PDGFR expression and proliferating cell nuclear antigen indices, but a correlation was noted between increasing estrogen receptor expression and PDGFR cytoplasmic expression (P = 0.04). The results support a paracrine role for PDGF-B in malignant and benign breast epithelial cell proliferation.