Plant and non-plant species possess cryptochrome(CRY)photoreceptors to mediate blue light regulation of development or the circadian clock.The blue light-dependent homooligomerization of Arabidopsis CRY2 is a known ea...Plant and non-plant species possess cryptochrome(CRY)photoreceptors to mediate blue light regulation of development or the circadian clock.The blue light-dependent homooligomerization of Arabidopsis CRY2 is a known early photoreaction necessary for its functions,but the photobiochemistry and function of light-dependent homooligomerization and heterooligomerization of cryptochromes,collectively referred to as CRY photooligomerization,have not been well established.Here,we show that photooligomerization is an evolutionarily conserved photoreaction characteristic of CRY photoreceptors in plants and some non-plant species.Our analyses of the kinetics of the forward and reverse reactions of photooligomerization of Arabidopsis CRY1 and CRY2 provide a previously unrecognized mechanism underlying the different photosensitivity and photoreactivity of these two closely related photoreceptors.We found that photooligomerization is necessary but not sufficient for the functions of CRY2,implying that CRY photooligomerization is presumably accompanied by additional function-empowering conformational changes.We further demonstrated that the CRY2-CRY1 heterooligomerization plays roles in regulating functions of Arabidopsis CRYs in vivo.Taken together,these results suggest that photooligomerization is an evolutionarily conserved mechanism determining the photosensitivity and photoreactivity of plant CRYs.展开更多
In nature, biological systems maintain their unique structures and functions by using nonequilibrium processes driven by chemical fuels. Inspired by natural systems, transient hydrogel systems based on chemical reacti...In nature, biological systems maintain their unique structures and functions by using nonequilibrium processes driven by chemical fuels. Inspired by natural systems, transient hydrogel systems based on chemical reaction networks have been developed that are in thermodynamically nonequilibrium states. The formation of dynamic covalent bonds is an effective tool for designing analogous systems. Herein, we design a transient polymer hydrogel based on fuel-mediated covalent borate ester bonds. The pH-sensitive covalent borate ester bond is formed by the reaction between polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and boric acid (B(OH)_(3)). Sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and 1,3-propanesulfonate (PrS) are used together as the chemical fuels to temporally control the pH of the system. Meanwhile, the lifetime of the transient hydrogel can be simply controlled by adjusting the composition of the chemical fuel, and the cyclic phase transitions can also be achieved. These programmable transient hydrogels have potential applications in the fields of information transmission and fluid guidance.展开更多
基金supported in part by the National Institutes of Health(GM56265 to C.L.)FAFU-ICE fund(KXGH17011 to Q.W.)+2 种基金FAFU OYIA fund(XJQ201801 to Q.W.)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(31801018 to Q.L.,31600228 to S.C.)the Natural Science Foundation of Fujian Province(2019J06014 to Q.W.,2018J01605 to Q.L.).
文摘Plant and non-plant species possess cryptochrome(CRY)photoreceptors to mediate blue light regulation of development or the circadian clock.The blue light-dependent homooligomerization of Arabidopsis CRY2 is a known early photoreaction necessary for its functions,but the photobiochemistry and function of light-dependent homooligomerization and heterooligomerization of cryptochromes,collectively referred to as CRY photooligomerization,have not been well established.Here,we show that photooligomerization is an evolutionarily conserved photoreaction characteristic of CRY photoreceptors in plants and some non-plant species.Our analyses of the kinetics of the forward and reverse reactions of photooligomerization of Arabidopsis CRY1 and CRY2 provide a previously unrecognized mechanism underlying the different photosensitivity and photoreactivity of these two closely related photoreceptors.We found that photooligomerization is necessary but not sufficient for the functions of CRY2,implying that CRY photooligomerization is presumably accompanied by additional function-empowering conformational changes.We further demonstrated that the CRY2-CRY1 heterooligomerization plays roles in regulating functions of Arabidopsis CRYs in vivo.Taken together,these results suggest that photooligomerization is an evolutionarily conserved mechanism determining the photosensitivity and photoreactivity of plant CRYs.
基金supported by the Shenzhen Fundamental Research Program(grant no.JCYJ20190806154814347)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(grant no.21975145).
文摘In nature, biological systems maintain their unique structures and functions by using nonequilibrium processes driven by chemical fuels. Inspired by natural systems, transient hydrogel systems based on chemical reaction networks have been developed that are in thermodynamically nonequilibrium states. The formation of dynamic covalent bonds is an effective tool for designing analogous systems. Herein, we design a transient polymer hydrogel based on fuel-mediated covalent borate ester bonds. The pH-sensitive covalent borate ester bond is formed by the reaction between polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and boric acid (B(OH)_(3)). Sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and 1,3-propanesulfonate (PrS) are used together as the chemical fuels to temporally control the pH of the system. Meanwhile, the lifetime of the transient hydrogel can be simply controlled by adjusting the composition of the chemical fuel, and the cyclic phase transitions can also be achieved. These programmable transient hydrogels have potential applications in the fields of information transmission and fluid guidance.
