A systematic identification of cold tolerance genes in peanut using yeast functional screening system

Peanut(Arachis hypogaea L.)is a thermophilic crop,and low temperature leads to a significant reduction in annual yields.Despite a few cold tolerant germplasms or cultivars have been discovered and developed,molecular mechanisms governing peanut cold tolerance is poorly understood.Identification of keys genes involved in cold tolerance is the first step to address the underlying mechanism.In this study,we isolated and characterized 157 genes with potentials to confer cold tolerance in peanut by using a yeast functional screening system.GO(Gene ontology)and KEGG(Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes)enrichment analysis of these genes revealed that ribosome and photosynthesis proteins might play essential roles in peanut cold response.Transcriptome results indicated that 60 cold tolerance candidate genes were significantly induced or depressed by low temperature.qRT-PCR analysis demonstrated that several candidate genes could be also regulated by salt or drought stress.Individual overexpression of two UDP-glycosyltransferases(AhUGT2 and AhUGT268)in transgenic yeast cells could enhance their tolerance to multiple abiotic stress.In conclusion,this study advances our understanding of the mechanisms associated with the cold stress responses in peanut,and offers valuable gene resources for genetic improvement of abiotic stress tolerance in crops.

A Logistic Regression Model to Predict Graduate Student Matriculation

Higher education institutions invest a significant amount of resources every year to recruit new students.However,higher education administrators have been continuously facing challenges in enrollment management due to the demographic shifts,dramatic increases in educational costs,intense competition among institutions,and the uncertain nature of human selection patterns(Baum,Kurose,&McPherson,2013).[3]Today's post-baccalaureate applicants are more knowledgeable than in previous years,because they can access information on a specific graduate program,in a given college,at any time.As reported in numerous studies,the number of graduate students switching out of their universities continues to be an essential issue.A useful prediction model of matriculation that uses available student data is highly desirable to assist the graduate students with timely advising early in their universities.This study was designed to build a predictive model for the probability that a specific admitted graduate student will matriculate.The results indicated that ten predictive variables were statistically significant at the.05 level.Getting an assistantship made the most substantial positive contribution in predicting student matriculation,followed by FAFSA,experience with the university,campus,degree level,college,gender,age,the number of days between application and admission,and distance to the university.This study's results could be beneficial for improving marketing efforts aimed toward individuals with characteristics most likely to enroll.Administrators could calculate the predictive score(or percentage)for each prospective student based on the predictive model.Marketing efforts could then concentrate on those applicants whose predictive score is high and eliminate the low qualifying students from their recruitment plan.

An Integrated Model for Sport Consumer Repurchase Intention:A Case in the Commercial Martial Arts Schools

The retention of customers is fundamental to the success of sport organizations for a variety of reasons,not the least of which is it is less expensive for an organization to keep a current customer than to gain a new one.Since customer repurchase intention is an important indicator to predict repurchase behavior,exploring the factors that influence this behavior has important theoretical and practical implications in the commercial martial arts school market.Although previous research provides a foundation for the factors that influence a customer's repurchase intention,additional empirical work is warranted.This study was designed to integrate the findings of previous studies and examine how utilitarian factors(perceived value and switching cost),a hedonic factor(perceived enjoyment),and social/psychological factors(confirmation and satisfaction)directly or indirectly influenced consumers'repurchase intentions in the context of commercial martial arts schools.The results indicated that customer satisfaction had the strongest impact on customer repurchase intention,followed by perceived enjoyment,switching costs,confirmation,and perceived value.

In situ speciation analysis and kinetic study of arsenic adsorption on ferrihydrite with surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy

Arsenic pollution poses a serious threat to human health,and is one of the most concerning environmental problems worldwide.The adsorption,fixation,and dissolution behaviors of arsenic on the surface of iron-(hydr-)oxides influence the environmental routes of arsenic cycle geochemistry.Both inner-sphere and outer-sphere adsorption configurations of arsenic on iron oxides have been proposed based on X-ray adsorption spectra.However,there is no systematic study on the in situ speciation analysis and adsorption kinetics of these species at such interfaces,because of the lack of an efficient monitoring strategy.The correlation of surface speciation and environmental stability is still unknown.Here,a shell-isolated SiO_(2)@Ag@Au-based surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy(SERS)platform was developed for speciation analysis of the adsorbed arsenic species by eliminating the chemical interaction between arsenic and silver.Using ferrihydrite as a typical iron oxide,the intrinsic Raman spectra of the inner-sphere(~830 cm^(−1))and outer-sphere(~660 cm^(−1))complexes at the adsorption interface were identified.For the first time,the in situ kinetic monitoring of the formation and transformation of these species was realized.By correlating the speciation to the sequential extraction results,the environmental stability of arsenic on ferrihydrite was shown to be closely related to the adsorption configuration.It was shown that stability can be significantly promoted by transforming loosely bonded species(outer-sphere complexes)into inner-sphere structures.Our work demonstrated the applicability of SERS with shell-isolated plasmonic particles for arsenic geochemical cycle monitoring and mechanism studies.It also provided a convenient tool for developing effective strategies for arsenic pollutant control and abatement.

Water transport of native and exotic tree species in relation to xylem anatomical characteristics in low subtropical China

Aims Exotic fast-growing tree species have been commonly planted as pioneer species to facilitate ecological restoration in South China.Their growth and resource utilization behavior related to intrinsic physiology and structural properties have profound influences on forest ecosystem.However,the contrastive research focusing on water utilization features along with xylem anatomical properties between native and exotic species is scarce in South China.The objective of this study is to investigate the sapwood anatomical characteristics and water utilization conditions of native and exotic fast-growing species,and to elucidate the relationship between sap-flux density and conduit features.Methods We measured sap-flux density,conduit length,diameter and density of four native species(Schima superba,Michelia mac-clurei,Castanopsis hystrix and Castanopsis fissa)and four exotic species(Eucalyptus citriodora,Eucalyptus urophylla×grandis,Acacia auriculaeformis and Acacia mangium).Sap flux density was measured based on the Granier’s thermal dissipation probe method.The whole-tree water transport was quantified by mul-tiplying sap-flux density by sapwood area.The measurements of conduit characteristics were conducted by using segregation and slice method.Important Findings Sapwood area increased with the growing diameter at breast height(DBH)as a power function.Native species had a larger water-conducting tissue area than exotic species at the same DBH value when trees grew to a size with a certain value of DBH.The con-duit diameter of exotic species was significantly larger than that of native species.Conversely,native species,such as S.superba and M.macclurei,had longer conduit length and higher conduit den-sity than other tree species.Based on a physiological interpretation of the measured conduit characteristics,native tree species devel-oped a safe water transport system while exotic fast-growing tree species come into being an efficient system instead.Water trans-port increased with the growing DBH as a power function,and the exponent for native species(1.60)was higher than that for exotic species(1.22).Under the combined impact of sap-flux density and sapwood area,native species presented a larger water transport at a larger DBH value,indicating that growth advantage of exotic fast-growing species might weaken as DBH increased.