Pm67, a new powdery mildew resistance gene transferred from Dasypyrum villosum chromosome 1V to common wheat(Triticum aestivum L.)

Powdery mildew, caused by the biotrophic fungus Blumeria graminis f. sp. tritici(Bgt), is a global disease that poses a serious threat to wheat production. To explore additional resistance gene, a wheatDasypyrum villosum 1 V#5(1 D) disomic substitution line NAU1813(2 n = 42) with high level of seedling resistance to powdery mildew was used to generate the recombination between chromosomes 1 V#5 and1 D. Four introgression lines, including t1 VS#5 ditelosomic addition line NAU1815, t1 VL#5 ditelosomic addition line NAU1816, homozygous T1 DL·1 VS#5 translocation line NAU1817, and homozygous T1 DS·1 VL#5 translocation line NAU1818 were developed from the selfing progenies of 1 V#5 and 1 D double monosomic line that derived from F1 hybrids of NAU1813/NAU0686. All of them were characterized by fluorescence in situ hybridization, genomic in situ hybridization, 1 V-specific markers analysis, and powdery mildew tests at different developmental stages. A new powdery mildew resistance gene named Pm67 was physically located in the terminal bin(FL 0.70–1.00) of 1 VS#5. Lines with Pm67 exhibited seedling stage immunity and tissue-differentiated reactions at adult plant stage. The sheaths, stems, and spikes of the Pm67 line were still immune, but the leaves showed a low degree of susceptibility.Microscopic observation showed that most penetration attempts were stopped in association with papillae on the sheath, and colonies cannot form conidia on the susceptible leaf of Pm67 line at adult plant stage, suggesting that the defence layers of the Pm67 line is tissue-differentiated. Thus, the T1 DL·1 VS#5 translocation line NAU1817 provides a new germplasm in wheat breeding for improvement of powdery mildew resistance.

BaTiO_(3)/Polyurethane Dielectric Composites with Diels-Alder Bond for Improved Self-Healing Properties

In general,self-healing dielectric composites are mainly composed of polar hydrogen bonds,which have high hydrophilicity and are unsuitable for humid environment.Dielectric composite with Diels-Alder(D-A)bond contains covalent bonds,it can be adopted as an efficient self-healing material.Here,we construct self-healing barium titanate(BT)/polyurethane(PU)dielectric composites by adopting PU with D-A bond as matrix(BT/PU-DA).The prepared 10%BT/PU-DA composite exhibits superior self-healing ability than that of PUDA.Moreover,its dielectric constant can reach 9.3 with a loss of only 0.04 at 1000 Hz and maintain 93%repair efficiency of tensile strength.The experimental analysis suggests the introduction of D-A bond can enhance the thermostability and self-healing ability of BT/PU-DA composite.In addition,the incorporation of BT nanoparticles and D-A bond in the self-healing composite contributes to the lower dielectric loss and excellent tensile strength after healing.The adopted strategy is a promising and facile approach to develop highly efficient selfhealing dielectric material,which will be conducive to reuse and sustainable development of the electronic packaging material in aqueous medium or wet environment.

Highly reversible and long-lived zinc anode assisted by polymer-based hydrophilic coating

Rechargeable aqueous zinc-ion batteries(AZIBs)are the most promising candidates for the energy storage due to their high safety,rich resources,and large specific capacity.However,AZIBs using neutral or slightly acidic electrolytes still face side effects and zinc dendrites on the anode surface.To stabilize the Zn anode,a chemically stable and multi-functional coating of polyvinylidene fluoride(PVDF)and 4,4′-(hexafluoroisopropylidene)diphthalic anhydride(6FDA)was prepared on the Zn surface.The anhydride groups in 6FDA can improve the hydrophilicity,promoting the migration of zinc ions.Besides,PVDF is compatible with 6FDA because of the presence of organic F-containing groups,which can also effectively reduce the nucleation overpotential and exhibit the dendrite-free Zn deposition/stripping.The PVDF/6FDA@Zn symmetric cell can cycle for 5000 h at a current density of 0.5 mA·cm^(−2),maintaining the extremely low polarization voltage and overpotential of 28 and 8 mV,respectively.The PVDF/6FDA@Zn||MnO2 full cell can remain a specific capacity of~90 mAh·g^(−1)after 2000 cycles at 1.5 A·g^(−1).This simple method achieves a reversible Zn anode,providing an inspiring strategy for ultra-long-cycle AZIBs.

Recent advances in biological detection with magnetic nanoparticles as a useful tool

Magnetic nanoparticles have emerged as a powerful tool for magnetic resonance imaging, biodetection, drug delivery, and hyperthermia. This review focuses on the biological detection of magnetic nanoparticles as well as their physicochemical properties. Substantial progress in the sensitivity of detection has been made by developing variety of methods. Five applications of magnetic nanoparticles in biological detection are discussed in this review: magnetic separation, magnetic sensing, magnetic manipulation, magnetic catalysis, and signal enhancer for surface plasmon resonance(SPR). Finally, some future trends and perspectives in these research areas are outlined.

One-step preparation of porous aminated-silica nanoparticles and their antibacterial drug delivery applications

Porous functionalized silica nanoparticles have attracted the interest of researchers as they are excellent carriers for antibacterial drug delivery applications.In this work,porous aminated-silica nanoparticles(SiO2-NH2 NPs) were prepared via one-step approach through the ammonia-catalyzed hydrolysis of tetraethylorthosilicate(TEOS) and(3-aminopropyl) triethoxysilane(APTES) in a mixed water-ethanol system.The obtained SiO2-NH2 NPs displayed a spherical morphology and relatively uniform size distribution,while the morphology and structure of SiO2-NH2 NPs were mainly determined by the order of the reagents added and the pH value of the solution.After characterization,the results showed that there were a large number of-NH2 groups on the surface of porous SiO2-NH2 NPs and that the porous SiO2-NH2 NPs had a large surface area of 476 m2 g-1 with an average pore width of 4.3 nm.Through an absorbing-releasing experiment and bacterial test,those SiO2-NH2 NPs were found to exhibit efficient absorption and release of drugs as well as a pH-de pendent release pattern of epirubicin-loaded SiO2-NH2 NPs.Meanwhile,SiO2-NH2@capsaicin NPs exhibited antibacterial properties.Those porous SiO2-NH2 NPs could be a candidate for drug delivery for antibacterial applications owing to their tailored porous structure and high surface area.

Solvent-induced synthesis of hollow structured Fe_(3)O_(4)-based anode materials for high-performance Li-ion batteries

High capacity Fe_(3)O_(4)-based anode materials have attracted a great deal of attention as an alternative to commercial graphite in Li-ion batteries(LIBs).However,it is still a challenge to alleviate the fast capacity fading of Fe_(3)O_(4) due to the intercalation of Lit.In this work,we develop a novel and effective strategy to rapidly fabricate the hollow Fe_(3)O_(4) nanostructures via the solvent-induced effect.The influence of the ratio of the tert-butanol(TB)and the water on the microstructure was further discussed.As expected,when the hollow nanostructures based on the 1:1 ratio of TB and water is used as the anode material for LIBs,a high reversible capacity of 1020 mA h g^(-1) after 100 cycles at 1 A g^(-1) and 450 mA h g^(-1) even for 5 A g^(-1) after 1000 cycles can be obtained,paving a new avenue to fabricate the functionally hollow nanostructures for high-performance anode materials or other applications.

Solvent-free Synthesis of Flowable Carbon Clusters with Customizable Size and Tunable Optical Performance

We propose a rapid and solvent-flee route for synthesizing luminous carbon clusters by controlling carbonization of polyethylene glycol （PEG）. This approach does not involve solvents yet uses the precursor itself as suspend- ing medium, thus features mild and green chemistry, and also enables the formation of uniform-sized carbon clus- ters, of which the diameter can be easily tuned from 0.7 to 3.5 nm via control of reaction time. In term of the di- mension, the resultants are denoted as sub-nano carbon clusters （SNCs） and carbon dots （CDs）, respectively. Bene- fiting from surface anchored PEG segments, both of the two show favorable flowability at room temperature and excellent solubility in aqueous and organic solvents. Comparison of their optical performances and structures re- veals that they share the same chromophores. Particularly, the SNCs demonstrate robust photo- and pH-stable pho- toluminescence and can be directly applied to cell-imaging regarding to its prominent biocompatibility. Moreover, its quantum yield （5.5%）, which is approximately 3 times higher than that of CDs （1.5%）, can be dramatically en- hanced to 18.8% by facile chemical reduction. We anticipate that these PEG derivatives marked with easy synthesis, controllable optical performances and excellent physical properties will be highly appealing in future applications.