Understory seedlings of Quercus mongolica survive by phenological escape

Understanding understory seedling regeneration mechanisms is important for the sustainable development of temperate primary forests in the context of increasingly intense climate warming events.The poor regeneration of dominant tree species,however,is one of the biggest challenges it faces at the moment.Especially,the regeneration of the shade-intolerant Quercus mongolica seedling is difficult in primary forests,which contrasts with the extreme abundance of understory seedlings in secondary forests.The mechanism behind the interesting phenomenon is still unknown.This study used in-situ monitoring and nursery-controlled experiment to investigate the survival rate,growth performance,as well as nonstructural carbohydrate (NSC) concentrations and pools of various organ tissues of seedlings for two consecutive years,further analyze the understory light availability and simulate the foliage carbon (C) gain in the secondary and primary forest.Results suggested that seedlings in the secondary forest had greater biomass allocation aboveground,height and specific leaf area (SLA) in summer,which allowed the seedling to survive longer in the canopy closure period.High light availability and positive C gain in early spring and late autumn are key factors affecting the growth and survival of understory seedlings in the secondary forest,whereas seedlings in the primary forest had annual negative carbon gain.Through the growing season,the total NSC concentrations of seedlings gradually decreased,whereas those of seedlings in the secondary forest increased significantly in autumn,and were mainly stored in roots for winter consumption and the following year's summer shade period,which was verified by the nursery-controlled experiment that simulated autumn enhanced light availability improved seedling survival rate and NSC pools.In conclusion,our results revealed the survival trade-off strategies of Quercus mongolica seedlings and highlighted the necessity of high light availability during the spring and autumn phenological periods for shade-intolerant tree seedling recruitment.

Expression and Regulation of Plant Amino Acid Transporters and Their Application in Crop Genetic Improvement

Amino acid transporters( AATs) play an important role in transport process of various amino acids,which are indispensable in plant growth and development,while many putative AATs have been identified and the complete genomic sequences of the important plants have already been completed by splicing and assembling. There is still little knowledge about the expression,regulation and various biological functions of AATs in plants,including the major food crops. This study mainly reviewed the expression,regulation and various biological functions of AATs in plants,and the application of AATs in crop genetic improvement was also prospected. Thus,this review will provide important information for genetic improvement of staple food crops in plants.

Expression Regulation of Starch and Storage Protein Synthesis Related Genes in Rice Grains

Starch and the storage proteins are the main nutritious substances in crop grains,and their composition and content in grains play a decisive role in the grain quality of rice and other staple food crops.This review has mainly summarized the new advances in the expression regulation of starch and storage protein synthesis related genes in rice grains.Moreover,the challenges of the starch and storage protein synthesis substances in rice genetic improvement were also discussed.This review will provide important information for genetic improvement of grain quality in rice and,potentially,other staple cereals.

反离子聚合聚(3,4-乙烯二氧噻吩)薄膜的热电性能研究进展

反离子的选择对电化学聚合聚(3,4-乙烯二氧噻吩)(PEDOT)薄膜的结构和热电性能的影响备受关注,在已报道的聚合物薄膜中,PEDOT:聚(苯乙烯磺酸盐)(PSS)、PEDOT:甲苯磺酸盐(Tos)、PEDOT:高氯酸(ClO_(4))和PEDOT:三氟甲磺酸酯(OTf)等被广泛研究。文中综合分析了不同类型反离子对PEDOT薄膜热电性能的应用研究,重点阐述了PEDOT:PSS和PEDOT:Tos提高热电性能的工艺方法,PEDOT:PSS薄膜具有高电导率、可水处理和热稳定性高等特点,二次掺杂、化学去掺杂和连续处理工艺能有效提高其热电性能,但是PSS有亲水性的限制;而Tos具有疏水性,且PEDOT:Tos薄膜能够有效平衡赛贝克系数和电导率的关系;其它的PEDOT:ClO_(4)和PEDOT:OTf等薄膜对热电性能也起到了一定的促进作用。最后,展望了反离子聚合PEDOT薄膜作为柔性热电器件和可穿戴电子器件的开发和实际应用。对进一步研究新的反离子聚合具有一定的参考价值。

D-type neuropeptide decorated AIEgen/RENP hybrid nanoprobes with light-driven ROS generation ability for NIR-Ⅱ fluorescence imaging-guided through-skull photodynamic therapy of gliomas

Glioma is one of the most common malignant tumors of the central nervous system,leading high mortality rates in human.Aggregation-induced emission(AIE)photosensitizers-based photodynamic therapy(PDT)has emerged as a promising therapeutic strategy for least-invasive treatment of glioma,which involves local irradiation of the tumor using an external near-infrared(NIR)laser.Unfortunately,most AIE photosensitizers suffered from poorly penetration of the visible light excitation,bad spatiotemporal resolution in deep tissues and low efficient blood-brain barrier(BBB)crossing ability,which greatly limited the clinical practice of AIE photosensitizers for especially deep-seated brain tumor treatment.In this work,we developed a multifunctional NIR-driven theranostic agent through hybrid of AIE photosensitizers TIND with rare-earth doping nanoparticles(RENPs)NaGdF4:Nd/Yb/Tm with up/down dual-mode conversion luminescence.The theranostic agent was further decorated with D-type neuropeptide DNPY for crossing BBB and targeting glioma.Under the 808-nm light irradiation,the down-conversion NIR-II luminescence could indicate the position glioma and the upconversion NIR-I luminescence could trigger the AIE photosensitizers producing reactive oxygen species to inhibit orthotopic glioma tumor growth in situ.These results demonstrate that the integration of Dtype neuropeptide,AIE photosensitizers and RENPs could be promising candidates for in vivo NIR-II fluorescence image-guided through-skull PDT treatments of brain tumors.

A Method for Detection of Main Metabolites in Aromatic Rice Seeds

[ Objective] A method was developed for the analysis of main metabolites in aromatic rice seeds by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry （GC-MS）. [ Method] The main metabolites in seeds of 9 different aromatic rice varieties were compared and analyzed with two methods. Method 1 ： the compound was extracted by the mixture of anhydrous ethanol and methylene chloride （ WV = 1：1 ） at 60 ℃ for 3 h in water bath; the extract was isolated and detected by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry using HP-5 capillary column with scan monitoring mode. Method 2： the main metabolites in aromatic rice seeds were detected using headspaee solid phase micro-extraction and gas chromatography mass spectrometry （GC-MS）. [ Result ] Fifteen types of common metabolites were found in 9 different aromatic rice varieties. Method 1 was more effective than method 2 in detecting the main metabolites in aromatic rice seeds. [ Conclusion] This study provides an important reference for clarifying the metabolic pathway of main metabolites in aromatic rice and lays the foundation for further rice breeding.

Dehydration of sugars to 5-hydroxymethylfurfural and non-stoichiometric formic and levulinic acids over mesoporous Ta and Ta-W oxide solid acid catalysts

A series of mesoporous Ta and Ta-W oxides have been prepared and employed as solid acid catalysts for the dehydration of fructose and glucose to 5-hydroxymethylfurfural(HMF).Solid state 31 P MAS NMR spectroscopic results using trimethylphosphine(TMP)as a probe molecule show that the acid strength and the ratio of Br?nsted to Lewis acid sites increase gradually with the addition of tungsten in tantalum oxide.It is found that high sugar conversion and HMF selectivity are achieved over catalyst with relatively high ratios of Br?nsted to Lewis acid sites.Unexpected stoichiometric excess of formic acid relative to levulinic acid can be observed mainly because of direct decomposition of fructose over Lewis acid sites.The addition of 2-butanol leads to the increase of sugars conversion and the HMF selectivity,especially for the catalyst with high ratio of Br?nsted to Lewis acid sites.Among them,Ta7W3 oxide catalyst shows 54%HMF selectivity and good reusability with the addition of 2-butanol by extracting HMF from aqueous phase and removing humins deposed on the surface of the catalyst.

Tumor microenvironment-activatable neuropeptide-drug conjugates enhanced tumor penetration and inhibition via multiple delivery pathways and calcium deposition

Peptide-drug conjugates have achieved considerable development and application as a novel strategy for targeted delivery of anticancer drugs. Bioactive peptides induced calcium deposition can irreversibly assist inhibition of tumors. However, active regulation of calcium level through signal transduction of bioactive substances has not been reported yet. In this study, novel neuropeptide-doxorubicin conjugates(NP-DOX) with lysosome-specific acid response were described for neuropeptide Y_1 receptor(Y_1R)-overexpressed triple-negative breast cancer. The delivery mechanism of NP-DOX was clarified that diverse pathways were involved, including intracellular and intercellular transport. Importantly, up-regulation of Y_1 R-mediated intracellular calcium level via second messenger inositol triphosphate was presented in NP-DOX treated MDA-MB-231 cells. In vivo antitumor efficacy demonstrated that NP-DOX showed less organ toxicity and enhanced tumor inhibition benefited from its controlled release and Y_1R-mediated calcium deposition, compared with free DOX. This bioconjugate is a proof-of-concept confirming that neuropeptide-mediated control of signaling responses in neuropeptide-drug conjugates enables great potential for further applications in tumor chemotherapy.

LPS-induced mitochondrial DNA synthesis and release facilitate RAD50-dependent acute lung injury

Dear Editor,ATP-binding cassette(ABC)-ATPase(RAD50),together with meiotic recombination 11 homolog 1(MRE11)subunits,to form MRE11-RAD50 complex,plays important roles in recognition of double-stranded DNA(dsDNA)and initiation of consequent inflammatory cascade1.Acute lung injury(ALI)and acute respiratory destress syndrome(ARDS)are systemic uncontrolled inflammation and life-threatening.However,the function of the DNA sensor in ALI/ARDS remains poorly defined.Here we investigated functions of RAD50 using mouse primary macrophages and conditionally RAD50 knockout mice in vitro and in a lipopolysaccharide(LPS)-induced lung injury model.