Effect of three tree species on UV weathering of wood flour-HDPE composites

Eucalyptus urophylla, Acacia mangium, and Pinus caribaea are the primary species for the wood industry in Vietnam. Wood residues of these species were used to reinforce high-density polyethylene(HDPE) composites. The flexural or bending property, impact strength and surface color were evaluated after exposure to accelerated ultraviolet weathering up to 2000 h. The weathered surface was characterized by scanning electron microscopy(SEM) and Fourier transform infrared(FTIR) spectroscopy. The results indicate that A. mangium/HDPE composites had the lowest color change and least fading,and remained stable after 1500 h exposure. FTIR spectroscopy showed that the oxidation of the composites increased in parallel with duration of exposure by assessing the concentration of carbonyl groups on the surfaces. SEM showed that all three species reinforced composites exhibited similar severe cracks after 1000 h;however, at the end of the weathering test, E. urophylla and P. caribaea composites were more severely cracked than A. mangium composites. A. mangium also had the highest flexural strength, impact strength and crystallinity duringweathering. A. mangium is the most preferable among the three species to reinforce HDPE.

Suppression of Jasmonic Acid-Mediated Defense by Viral-Inducible MicroRNA319 Facilitates Virus Infection in Rice

MicroRNAs （miRNAs） are pivotal modulators of plant development and host-virus interactions. However, the roles and action modes of specific miRNAs involved in viral infection and host susceptibility remain largely unclear. In this study, we show that Rice ragged stunt virus （RRSV） infection caused increased accumulation of miR319 but decreased expression of miR319-regulated TCP （TEOSINTE BRANCHED/ CYCLOIDEA/PCF） genes, especially TCP21, in rice plants. Transgenic rice plants overexpressing miP,319 or downregulating TCP21 exhibited disease-like phenotypes and showed significantly higher susceptibility to RRSV in comparison with the wild-type plants. In contrast, only mild disease symptoms were observed in RRSV-infected lines overexpressing TCP21 and especially in the transgenic plants overexpressing miR319- resistant TCP21. Both RRSV infection and overexpression of miR319 caused the decreased endogenous jasmonic acid （JA） levels along with downregulated expression of JA biosynthesis and signaling-related genes in rice. However, treatment of rice plants with methyl jasmonate alleviated disease symptoms caused by RRSV and reduced virus accumulation. Taken together, our results suggest that the induction of miR319 by RRSV infection in rice suppresses JA-mediated defense to facilitate virus infection and symp- tom development.

The Phytol Phosphorylation Pathway Is Essential for the Biosynthesis of Phylloquinone, which Is Required for Photosystem I Stability in Arabidopsis

Phytyl-diphosphate, which provides phytyl moieties as a common substrate in both tocopherol and phyllo- quinone biosynthesis, derives from de novo isoprenoid biosynthesis or a salvage pathway via phytol phos- phorylation. However, very little is known about the role and origin of the phytyl moiety for phylloquinone biosynthesis. Since VTE6, a phytyl-phosphate kinase, is a key enzyme for phytol phosphorylation, we char- acterized Arabidopsis vte6 mutants to gain insight into the roles of phytyl moieties in phylloquinone biosyn- thesis and of phylloquinone in photosystem I （PSI） biogenesis. The VTE6 knockout mutants vte6-1 and vte6-2 lacked detectable phylloquinone, whereas the phylloquinone content in the VTE6 knockdown mutant vte6-3 was 90% lower than that in wild-type. In vte6 mutants, PSI function was impaired and accu- mulation of the PSI complex was defective. The PSI core subunits PsaA/B were efficiently synthesized and assembled into the PSI complex in vte6-3. However, the degradation rate of PSI subunits in the assembled PSI complex was more rapid in vte6-3 than in wild-type. In vte6-3, PSI was more susceptible to high-light damage than in wild-type. Our results provide the first genetic evidence that the phytol phosphorylation pathway is essential for phylloquinone biosynthesis, and that phylloquinone is required for PSI complex stability.

Autophagy targets Hd1 for vacuolar degradation to regulate rice flowering

Flowering time(heading date)is a critical agronomic trait that determines the yield and regional adaptability of crops.Heading date 1(Hd1)is a central regulator of photoperiodic flowering in rice(Oryza sativa).However,how the homeostasis of Hd1 protein is achieved is poorly understood.Here,we report that the nuclear autophagy pathway mediates Hd1 degradation in the dark to regulate flowering.Loss of autophagy function results in an accumulation of Hd1 and delays flowering under both short-day and long-day conditions.In the dark,nucleus-localized Hd1 is recognized as a substrate for autophagy and is subjected to vacuolar degradation via the autophagy protein OsATG8.The Hd1-0sATG8 interaction is required for autophagic degradation of Hd1 in the dark.Our study reveals a new mechanism by which Hd1 protein homeostasis is regulated by autophagy to control rice flowering.Our study also indicates that the regulation of flowering by autophagic degradation of Hd1 orthologs may have arisen over the course of mesangiosperm evolution,which would have increased their flexibility and adaptability to the environment by modulating flowering time.

Pentatricopeptide repeat protein PHOTOSYSTEM I BIOGENESIS FACTOR2 is required for splicing of ycf3

To gain a better understanding of the molec-ular mechanisms of photosystem!(PSI)biogenesis,wecharacterized the Arabidopsis thaliana photosystem l bio-genesis factor 2(pbf2)mutant,which lacks PSl complex.PBF2 encodes a P-class pentatricopeptide repeat(PPR)protein.In the pbf2 mutants,we observed a striking de-crease in the transcript level of only one gene,thechloroplast gene ycf3,which is essential for PSl assembly.Further analysis of ycf3 transcripts showed that PBF2 isspecifically required for the splicing of ycf3 intron 1.Computational prediction of binding sequences and elec-trophoretic mobility shift assays reveal that PBF2 specifi-cally binds to a sequence in ycf3 intron 1.Moreover,we found that PBF2 interacted with two general factors forgroup ll intron splicing CHLOROPLAST RNA SPLICING2-AsSOCIATED FACTOR1(CAF1)and CAF2,and facilitated theassociation of these two factors with ycf3 intron 1.Ourresults suggest that PBF2 is specifically required for thesplicing of ycf3 intron 1 through cooperating with CAF1and CAF2.Our results also suggest that additional proteinsare required to contribute to the specificity of CAF-dependent group ll intron splicing.