Objective To investigate the epidemiological characteristics and risk factors of tuberculosis in Cangzhou from 2010 to 2020. Methods A total of 325 patients diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis in Cangzhou Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine from January 2010 to December 2020 were selected as the study group. At the same time, 348 healthy adults who had a physical examination in the same hospital were selected as the control group. The epidemiological characteristics of 325 patients were analyzed. The age, gender, occupation, annual family income, marital status, drinking history, smoking history, education level and tuberculosis contact history of the two groups were compared to analyze the risk factors of tuberculosis. Results The epidemiological and statistical analyses found that among 325 cases of tuberculosis patients, patients ≥60 years old accounted for a relatively high proportion (71.08%). The majority of patients were male by gender (58.15%), and the majority of patients were farmers by occupation (47.69%). The incidence seasons were mainly in winter (40.62%) and spring (29.85%). The results of univariate analysis showed that there were statistically significant differences in gender, occupation, age, history of exposure to tuberculosis, and history of smoking between the two groups (P<0.05). Multivariate analysis found that ages ≥60 years old, male, history of smoking, farmers, and history of exposure to tuberculosis were risk factors for the onset of tuberculosis (P<0.05). Conclusion In Cangzhou, people aged over 60 years, male and farmers are prone to contract tuberculosis, and the peak time of the disease is in spring and winter. The development of corresponding prevention and control measures based on these characteristics is of great significance for the prevention and control of tuberculosis.

Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) is a lipophilic antioxidant that improves human immunity, delays senility and enhances the vitality of the human body and has wide applications in pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. Microbial fermentation is a sustainable way to produce CoQ10, and attracts increased interest. In this work, the native CoQ8 synthetic pathway of Escherichia coli was replaced by the CoQ10 synthetic pathway through integrating decaprenyl diphosphate synthase gene (dps) from Rhodobacter sphaeroides into chromosome of E. coli ATCC 8739, followed by deletion of the native octaprenyl diphosphate synthase gene (ispB). The resulting strain GD-14 produced 0.68 mg/L CoQ10 with a yield of 0.54 mg/g DCW. Modulation of dxs and idi genes of the MEP pathway and ubiCA genes in combination led to 2.46-fold increase of CoQ10 production (from 0.54 to 1.87 mg/g DCW). Recruiting glucose facilitator protein of Zymomonas mobilis to replace the native phosphoenolpyruvate: carbohydrate phosphotransferase systems (PTS) further led to a 16% increase of CoQ10 yield. Finally, fed-batch fermentation of the best strain GD-51 was performed, which produced 433 mg/L CoQ10 with a yield of 11.7 mg/g DCW. To the best of our knowledge, this was the highest CoQ10 titer and yield obtained for engineered E. coli.
Alkyl and Aryl Transferases ; genetics ; Bacterial Proteins ; genetics ; Batch Cell Culture Techniques ; Escherichia coli ; genetics ; metabolism ; Fermentation ; Gene Deletion ; Industrial Microbiology ; Metabolic Engineering ; Rhodobacter sphaeroides ; enzymology ; genetics ; Ubiquinone ; analogs & derivatives ; biosynthesis ; Zymomonas ; genetics

β-carotene belongs to carotenoids family, widely applied in pharmaceuticals, neutraceuticals, cosmetics and food industries. In this study, three key genes (dxs, idi, and crt operon) within β-carotene synthetic pathway in recombinant Escherichia coli strain CAR005 were modulated with RBS Library to improve β-carotene production. There were 7%, 11% and 17% increase of β-carotene yield respectively after modulating dxs, idi and crt operon genes with RBS Library, demonstrating that modulating gene expression with regulatory parts libraries would have more opportunities to obtain optimal production of target compound. Combined modulation of crt operon, dxs and idi genes led to 35% increase of β-carotene yield compared to parent strain CAR005. The optimal gene expression strength identified in single gene modulation would not be the optimal strength when used in combined modulation. Our study provides a new strategy for improving production of target compound through modulation of gene expression.
Escherichia coli ; metabolism ; Gene Expression ; Gene Library ; Operon ; beta Carotene ; biosynthesis