Recent achievements in selenium-based transition metal electrocatalysts for pH-universal water splitting

The electrolysis of water to produce hydrogen is an important technique to replace traditional fossil fuel-based hydrogen production.This method efficiently converts electrical energy into chemical energy,it is ostensibly a promising candidate for addressing the energy crisis.Significant effort has been devoted to developing efficient electrocatalysts for water electrolysis.The exploration of suitable catalytic materials for the hydrogen evolution reaction(HER),oxygen evolution reaction(OER),and other bifunctional electrocatalytic reactions is crucial.Transition metal selenides(TMSes)have emerged as potential HER and OER electrocatalysts because of their unique electronic structures,which are beneficial for charge transfer,tuneable bandgaps,distinctive morphologies,and low-cost.This review discusses the mechanisms and performance comparisons of TMSes in overall water splitting under various pH conditions.From an industrial and commercial perspective,the catalytic performance of TMSes for the HER and OER is not ideal.Methods for preparing electrocatalytic materials and optimizing materials for overall water decomposition and modulation mechanisms have been introduced to improve electrocatalytic performance,such as element doping,carbon composites,bimetallic systems,morphology control,and heterogeneous interface engineering.Finally,the challenges and prospects of TMSes were discussed.

A novel protein complex that regulates active DNA demethylation in Arabidopsis

Active DNA demethylation is critical for altering DNA methylation patterns and regulating gene expression.The 5-methylcytosine DNA glycosylase/lyase ROS1 initiates a base-excision repair pathway for active DNA demethylation and is required for the prevention of DNA hypermethylation at 1000 s of genomic regions in Arabidopsis.How ROS1 is regulated and targeted to specific genomic regions is not well understood.Here,we report the discovery of an Arabidopsis protein complex that contains ROS1,regulates ROS1 gene expression,and likely targets the ROS1 protein to specific genomic regions.ROS1 physically interacts with a WD40 domain protein(RWD40),which in turn interacts with a methyl-DNA binding protein(RMB1)as well as with a zinc finger and homeobox domain protein(RHD1).RMB1 binds to DNA that is methylated in any sequence context,and this binding is necessary for its function in vivo.Loss-of-function mutations in RWD40,RMB1,or RHD1 cause DNA hypermethylation at several tested genomic regions independently of the known ROS1 regulator IDM1.Because the hypermethylated genomic regions include the DNA methylation monitoring sequence in the ROS1 promoter,plants mutated in RWD40,RMB1,or RHD1 show increased ROS1 expression.Importantly,ROS1 binding to the ROS1 promoter requires RWD40,RMB1,and RHD1,suggesting that this complex dictates ROS1 targeting to this locus.Our results demonstrate that ROS1 forms a protein complex with RWD40,RMB1,and RHD1,and that this novel complex regulates active DNA demethylation at several endogenous loci in Arabidopsis.