Genetic and agronomic traits stability of marker-free transgenic wheat plants generated from Agrobacterium-mediated co-transformation in T2 and T3 generations

Genetically modified wheat has not been commercially utilized in agriculture largely due to regulatory hurdles associated with traditional transformation methods. Development of marker-free transgenic wheat plants will help to facilitate biosafety evaluation and the eventual environmental release of transgenic wheat varieties. In this study, the marker-free transgenic wheat plants previously obtained by Agrobacterium-mediated co-transformation of double T-DNAs vector were identified by fluorescence in situ hybridization(FISH) in the T1 generation, and their genetic stability and agronomic traits were analyzed in T2 and T3 generations. FISH analysis indicated that the transgene often integrated into a position at the distal region of wheat chromosomes. Furthermore, we show that the GUS transgene was stably inherited in the marker-free transgenic plants in T1 to T3 generations. No significant differences in agronomic traits or grain characteristics were observed in T3 generation, with the exception of a small variation in spike length and grains per spike in a few lines. The selection marker of bar gene was not found in the transgenic plants through T1 to T3 generations. The results from this investigation lay a solid foundation for the potential application of the marker-free transgenic wheat plants achieved through the co-transformation of double T-DNAs vector by Agrobacterium in agriculture after biosafty evaluation.

Synthesis,Crystal Structure and Fluorescence Property of a New Trinuclear Nickel(Ⅱ) Complex Bridged by 2,6-Pyridine Dicarboxylic Acid

A new trinuclear nickel complex,[Ni3（pdc）3（2,2＇-bipy）3（H2O）2]·2H2O（H2pdc = pyridine 2,6-dicarboxylic acid,2,2＇-bipy = 2,2＇-bipyridine） has been hydrothermally synthesized and characterized by IR,elemental analysis and X-ray diffraction methods.Crystal data for this complex：monoclinic,space group P21/n,a = 21.206（4）,b = 10.002（2）,c = 28.066（6）,β = 108.18（3）°,C51H41N9Ni3O16,Mr = 1212.06,V = 5.656（2） nm3,Dc = 1.423 g·cm-3,μ（MoKα） = 1.062 mm-1,Z = 4,F（000） = 2488,GOOF = 1.034,the final R = 0.0543 and wR = 0.1237 for 6149 observed reflections with Ⅰ 〉 2σ（Ⅰ）.In the complex,three nickel（Ⅱ） ions are bridged by the pyridine 2,6-dicarboxylic acid groups,and all nickel（Ⅱ） ions are seven-coordinated by nitrogen atoms of 2,2＇-bipyridine and pyridine 2,6-dicarboxylic acid and oxygen atoms from pyridine 2,6-dicarboxylic and water to adopt a severely distorted pentagonal bipyramidal geometry.The emission and excitation peaks of the complex in ethanol solutions are located at 336 and 316 nm,respectively.

A theranostic agent for cancer therapy and imaging in the second nearinfrared window

Thera no stic nano particles are integrated systems useful for simulta neous diag nosis and imaging guided delivery of therapeutic drugs, with wide ranging pote ntial applicati ons in the clinic. Here we developed a thera no stic nan oparticle (~24 nm size by dynamic light scatteri ng) p-FE-PTX-FA based on polymeric micelle encapsulating an organic dye (FE) fluorescing in the 1,000-1,700 nm second near-infrared (NIR-Ⅱ) window and an an ti-ca ncer drug paclitaxel. Folic acid (FA) was conjugated to the nan oparticles to afford specific binding to molecular folate receptors on muri ne breast can cer 4T1 tumor cells. In vivo, the nan oparticles accumulated in 4T1 tumor through both passive and active targeting effect. Under an 808 nm laser excitation, fluorescence detection above 1,300 nm afforded a large Stokes shift, allowing targeted molecular imaging tumor with high signal to background ratios, reaching a high tumor to normal tissue signal ratio (T/NT) of (20.0±2.3). Further, 4T1 tumors on mice were completed eradicated by paclitaxel released from p-FE-PTA-FA within 20 days of the first injection. Pharmacokinetics and histology studies indicated p-FE-PTX-FA had no obvious toxic side effects to major organs. This represented the first NIR-Ⅱ theranostic age nt developed.

Structural isomer and high-yield of Pt1Ag28 nanoduster via one-pot chemical wet method

In order to understand the structure-property correlation and explore the application of metal nanoclusters, it is important and intriguing to determine their crystal structure and obtain high-yield. At the same time, this is also a challenge in nanoscience and technology. Here, we report the highly efficient synthesis of Pt1Ag28 nanocluster via one-pot chemical wet method. The crystal structure of Pt1Ag28 nanocluster was determined by X-ray crystallography to be a face centered cubic (FCC) kernel. This novel structure is the structural isomerization of Pt1Ag28 nanocluster reported before. This phenomenon is first discovered in the synthesis of alloy nanoclusters. In addition, Pt1Ag28 nanocluster has high yield and exhibits potential optics in the near infrared (NIR) fluorescent imaging. The time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) calculation implied that the optical property of Pt1Ag28 was sensitive to its structure. This work provides a simple method to synthesize alloy nanoclusters with structural isomerization.