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A novel microbial consortium (NZDC-6) was screened and characterized to detoxify the estrogenic mycotoxin zearalenone (ZEA), which commonly contaminates maize and is a major threat to food and health security. We found NZDC-6 to be thermophilic and highly effective, with a 90.3% ZEA degradation ratio at an optimum temperature of 60 °C. NZDC-6 was also effective at degrading the more estrogenic ZEA cognates, α-zearalenol (α-ZAL) and β-zearalenol (β-ZAL), with >90% degradation ratios. To evaluate a practical application, ZEA-contaminated corncobs were treated with NZDC-6 via semisolid fermentation. Measurements of physicochemical parameters and 16S microbial diversity and redundancy analysis (RDA) indicated that ZEA removal was most efficient at a low corncob solid content (< 5%), as a high solid content overwhelmed the microbial metabolic load, leading to increased dissolved oxygen and lowered pH. Our results demonstrate that the control of environmental variables is crucial for effective ZEA microbial removal in practical applications.

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The aim of this study was to explore the underlying mechanism of adverse effects caused by tebuconazole (TEB) on the reproduction of aquatic organisms In the present study, in order to explore the effects of TEB on reproduction, four-month-old zebrafish were exposed to TEB (0, DMSO, 0.4 mg/L, 0.8 mg/L, and 1.6 mg/L) for 21 days. After exposure, the accumulations of TEB in gonads were observed and the cumulative egg production was evidently decreased. The decline of fertilization rate in F1 embryos was also observed. Then the changes in sperm motility and histomorphology of gonads were discovered, evaluating that TEB had adverse effects on gonadal development. Additionally, we also found the alternations of social behavior, 17β-estradiol (E2) level, and testosterone (T) level. Furthermore, the expression levels of genes involved in the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis and social behavior were remarkably altered. Taken together, it could be concluded that TEB affected the egg production and fertilization rate by interfering with gonadal development, sex hormone secretion, and social behavior, which were eventually attributed to the disruption of the expressions of genes associated with the HPG axis and social behavior. This study provides a new perspective to understanding the mechanism of TEB-induced reproductive toxicity.

Phenoxy acid herbicides are widely used herbicides that play an important role in improving the yield and quality of crops. However, some research has shown that this kind of herbicide is poisonous to human and animals. In this study, a rapid and sensitive method was developed for the detection of seven phenoxy acid herbicides in water samples based on magnetic solid-phase extraction followed by liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry. Magnetic amino-functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotubes were prepared by mixing bare magnetic Fe O nanoparticles with commercial amino-functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotubes in water. Then the amino-functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotubes were used to enrich phenoxy acid herbicides from water samples based on hydrophobic and ionic interactions. The effects of experimental variables on the extraction efficiency have been studied in detail. Under the optimized conditions, the method validation was performed. Good linearities for seven phenoxy acid herbicides were obtained with squared regression coefficients ranging from 0.9971 to 0.9989. The limits of detection ranged from 0.01 to 0.02 μg/L. The method recoveries of seven phenoxy acid herbicides spiked at three concentration levels in a blank sample were from 92.3 to 103.2%, with inter- and intraday relative standard deviations less than 12.6%.