Impact of Low-Energy Ion Beam Implantation on the Expression of Ty1-copia-like Retrotransposons in Wheat(Triticum aestivum)

Retrotransposon-like elements are major constituents of most eukaryotic genomes. For example, they account for roughly 90% of the wheat （Triticum aestivum） genome, Previous study on a wheat strain treated by low-energy N^＋ ions indicated the variations in AFLP （Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism ） markers, One such variation was caused by the re-activation of Tyl-copia-like retrotransposons, implying that the mutagenic effects of lowenergy ions might work through elevated activation of retrotransposons, In this paper an expression profile of Tyl-copia-like retrotransposons in wheat treated by low-energy N^＋ ions is reported, The reverse transcriptase （RT） domains of these retrotransposons were amplified by reverse-transcriptional polymerase chain reaction （RT-PCR） and sequentially cloned, 42 and 65 clones were obtained from the treated （CL） and control materials （CK）, respectively, Sequence analysis of each clone was performed by software. Phylogeny and classification were calculated responding to the sequences of the RT domains. All the results show that there is much difference in the RT domain between the control sample and the treated sample, Especially, the RT domains from the treated group encode significantly more functional ORF （open reading frames） than those from the control sample, This observation suggests that the treated sample has higher activation of retrotransposons, possibly as a consequence of low-energy ion beam irradiation, It also suggests that retrotransposons in the two groups impact the host gene expression in two different ways and carry out different functions in wheat cells.

Mutagenic Effects of BM302:GO112 Induced by Low-Energy Ion Beam Implantation

Mutant strains of GO112 and BM302 with a high 2-keto-L-gulonic acid （2KLG） transformation rate induced by ion beam implantation were separately and combinatorially compared with the original strains GO29 and BM80 to study the mutagenic effects of ion beam implantation. Both the sole GOl12 and mixed BM302：GOl12 demonstrated improved SNDH activity and 2KLG yield compared to the original strains. The mutant combinations of BM302：GOl12 showed a longer stationary phase and higher biomass than BM80：GO29. The mutant BM302 exhibited a stronger capacity to maintain a stable pH environment at mixed fermentation with Gluconobacter oxydans （G. oxydans） for 2KLG transformation and facilitated the growth of G. oxydans compared with the original strain BM80. The promotive capacity to L-sorbosone dehydrogenase （L-SNDH） from the supernate of BM302 was 1.6-fold higher than that of BM80. Genes encoded SNDH in GO29 and GOl12 were amplified and sequenced, and mutations including three transitions （CG →TA, CG →TA, GC → AT） and one transversion （AT→ TA） were confirmed from GO29 to GOl12. The corresponding amino acid was changed as Leu →Phe, Arg → Gln and Asn → Lys.

Uniformity Control of Scanned Beam in 300 MeV Proton and Heavy Ion Accelerator Complex at SESRI

In recent years,heavy ion accelerator technology has been rapidly developing worldwide and widely applied in the fields of space radiation simulation and particle therapy.Usually,a very high uniformity in the irradiation area is required for the extracted ion beams,which is crucial because it directly affects the experimental precision and therapeutic effect.Specifically,ultra-large-area and high-uniformity scanning are crucial requirements for spacecraft radiation effects assessment and serve as core specification for beamline terminal design.In the 300 MeV proton and heavy ion accelerator complex at the Space Environment Simulation and Research Infrastructure(SESRI),proton and heavy ion beams will be accelerated and ultimately delivered to three irradiation terminals.In order to achieve the required large irradiation area of 320 mm×320 mm,horizontal and vertical scanning magnets are used in the extraction beam line.However,considering the various requirements for beam species and energies,the tracking accuracy of power supplies(PSs),the eddy current effect of scanning magnets,and the fluctuation of ion bunch structure will reduce the irradiation uniformity.To mitigate these effects,a beam uniformity optimization method based on the measured beam distribution was proposed and applied in the accelerator complex at SESRI.In the experiment,the uniformity is successfully optimized from 75%to over 90%after five iterations of adjustment to the PS waveforms.In this paper,the method and experimental results were introduced.

Co-doped BaFe_(2)As_(2) Josephson junction fabricated with a focused helium ion beam

Josephson junction plays a key role not only in studying the basic physics of unconventional iron-based superconductors but also in realizing practical application of thin-film based devices,therefore the preparation of high-quality iron pnictide Josephson junctions is of great importance.In this work,we have successfully fabricated Josephson junctions from Co-doped BaFe_(2)As_(2)thin films using a direct junction fabrication technique which utilizes high energy focused helium ion beam(FHIB).The electrical transport properties were investigated for junctions fabricated with various He^(+)irradiation doses.The junctions show sharp superconducting transition around 24 K with a narrow transition width of 2.5 K,and a dose correlated foot-structure resistance which corresponds to the effective tuning of junction properties by He^(+)irradiation.Significant J_c suppression by more than two orders of magnitude can be achieved by increasing the He^(+)irradiation dose,which is advantageous for the realization of low noise ion pnictide thin film devices.Clear Shapiro steps are observed under 10 GHz microwave irradiation.The above results demonstrate the successful fabrication of high quality and controllable Co-doped BaFe_(2)As_(2)Josephson junction with high reproducibility using the FHIB technique,laying the foundation for future investigating the mechanism of iron-based superconductors,and also the further implementation in various superconducting electronic devices.

Analysis of a Partial Male-Sterile Mutant of Arabidopsis thaliana Isolated from a Low-Energy Argon Ion Beam Mutagenized Pool

A screen for Arabidopsis fertility mutants, mutagenized by low-energy argon ion beam, yielded two partial male-sterile mutants tc243-1 and tc243-2 which have similar phenotypes. tc243-2 was investigated in detail. The segregation ratio of the mutant phenotypes in the M2 pools suggested that mutation behaved as single Mendelian recessive mutations, tc243 showed a series of mutant phenotypes, among which partial male-sterile was its striking mutant characteristic. Phenotype analysis indicates that there are four factors leading to male sterility, a. Floral organs normally develop inside the closed bud, but the anther filaments do not elongate sufficiently to position the locules above the stigma at anthesis, b. The anther locules do not dehisce at the time of flower opening （although limited dehiscence occurs later）, c. Pollens of mutant plants develop into several types of pollens at the trinucleated stage. as determined by staining with DAPI （4＇,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole）. which shows a variable size. shape and number of nucleus. d. The viability of pollens is lower than that of the wild type on the germination test in vivo and vitro.

Lifetime measurement of the 3d^(9) ^(2)D_(3/2) metastable level in Mo^(15+)at an electron beam ion trap

An experimental measurement of the lifetime of 3d^(9) ^(2)D_(3/2) metastable level in Mo^(15+)is reported in this work.The Mo^(15+)ions are produced and trapped in an electron beam ion trap with a magnetic field of 0.65 T.The decay photons emitted from 3d^(9) ^(2)D_(3/2) level are subsequently recorded via a cooled photomultiplier tube.Through meticulous scrutiny of potential systematic uncertainties affecting the measurement outcomes,we have determined the lifetime of Mo^(15+)3d^(9)2D_(3/2)metastable level to be 2.83(22)ms.The experimental result provides a clear distinguishment from existing calculations based on various theoretical approaches.

A segmented conical electric lens for optimization of the beam spot of the low-energy muon facility at PSI: a Geant4 simulation analysis

The low-energy muon facility at PSI provides nearly fully polarized positive muons with tunable energies in the ke V range to carry out muon spin rotation(LE-μSR)experiments with nanometer depth resolution on thin films,heterostructures, and near-surface regions. The low-energy muon beam is focused and transported to the sample by electrostatic lenses. In order to achieve a minimum beam spot size at the sample position and to enable the steering of the beam in the horizontal and vertical direction, a special electrostatic device has been implemented close to the sample position. It consists of a cylinder at ground potential followed by four conically shaped electrodes,which can be operated at different electric potential. In LE-μSR experiments, an electric field at the sample along the beam direction can be applied to accelerate/decelerate muons to different energies(0.5–30 keV). Additionally, a horizontal or vertical magnetic field can be superimposed for transverse or longitudinal field μSR experiments. The focusing properties of the conical lens in the presence of these additional electric and magnetic fields have been investigated and optimized by Geant4 simulations. Some experimental tests were also performed and show that the simulation well describes the experimental setup.

Fuel compression in the magnetized cylindrical implosion driven by a gold tube heated by heavy ion beams

A magnetized cylindrical target composed of a gold tube filled with deuterium-tritium fuel plasma at low density is studied numerically in the present paper.A shock wave is produced when a heavy ion beam heats the gold along the direction of the magnetic field.The density peak of the shock wave increases with the increase in time and it propagates in the-r direction in the cylindrical tube.It seems that this wave is the supermagnetosonic wave.It is found that the Mach number M is between 6.96 and 19.19.The density peak of the shock wave increases as the intensity of the heavy ion beam increases.Furthermore,the density peak of the shock wave increases as the external magnetic field increases.

Influence of extraction voltage on electron and ion behavior characteristics

The characteristics of the extracted ion current have a significant impact on the design and testing of ion source performance.In this paper,a 2D in space and 3D in velocity space particle in cell(2D3V PIC)method is utilized to simulate plasma motion and ion extraction characteristics under various initial plasma velocity distributions and extraction voltages in a Cartesian coordinate system.The plasma density is of the order of 10^(15)m^(-3)-10^(16)m^(-3)and the extraction voltage is of the order of 100 V-1000 V.The study investigates the impact of various extraction voltages on the velocity and density distributions of electrons and positive ions,and analyzes the influence of different initial plasma velocity distributions on the extraction current.The simulation results reveal that the main reason for the variation of extraction current is the spacecharge force formed by the relative aggregation of positive and negative net charges.This lays the foundation for a deeper understanding of extraction beam characteristics.

Experimental results of a magnetic field modification to the radio frequency driver of a negative ion source

A magnetic field produced by a current flowing through the plasma grid(PG) is one of the solutions to reduce the collisional loss of negative ions in a negative ion source, which reduces the electron temperature in front of the PG. However, the magnetic field diffused into the driver has some influence on the plasma outflowing. In order to investigate the effect of changing this magnetic field on the outflowing of plasma from the driver, a circular ring(absorber) of high permeability iron has been introduced at the driver exit, which can reduce the magnetic field around it and improve plasma outflowing. With the application of the absorber, the electron density is increased by about 35%, and the extraction current measured from the extraction grid is increased from 1.02 A to 1.29 A. The results of the extraction experiment with cesium injection show that both the extraction grid(EG) current and H-current are increased when the absorber is introduced.

Impact of T_(i)/T_(e )ratio on ion transport based on EAST H-mode plasmas

At the EAST tokamak, the ion temperature(T_(i)) is observed to be clamped around 1.25 keV in electron cyclotron resonance(ECR)-heated plasmas, even at core electron temperatures up to 10 keV(depending on the ECR heating power and the plasma density). This clamping results from the lack of direct ion heating and high levels of turbulence-driven transport. Turbulent transport analysis shows that trapped electron mode and electron temperature gradient-driven modes are the most unstable modes in the core of ECR-heated H-mode plasmas. Nevertheless, recently it was found that the T_(i)/T_(e)ratio can increase further with the fraction of the neutral beam injection(NBI) power, which leads to a higher core ion temperature(Ti0). In NBI heating-dominant H-mode plasmas, the ion temperature gradient-driven modes become the most unstable modes.Furthermore, a strong and broad internal transport barrier(ITB) can form at the plasma core in high-power NBI-heated H-mode plasmas when the T_(i)/T_(e)ratio approaches ~1, which results in steep core Teand Tiprofiles, as well as a peaked neprofile. Power balance analysis shows a weaker Teprofile stiffness after the formation of ITBs in the core plasma region, where Ticlamping is broken,and the core Tican increase further above 2 keV, which is 80% higher than the value of Ticlamping in ECR-heated plasmas. This finding proposes a possible solution to the problem of Ticlamping on EAST and demonstrates an advanced operational regime with the formation of a strong and broad ITB for future fusion plasmas dominated by electron heating.

In situ luminescence measurements of GaN/Al_(2)O_(3) film under different energy proton irradiations

Ion beam-induced luminescence(IBIL) experiments were performed to investigate the in situ luminescence of GaN/Al_(2)O_(3) at varying ion energies,which allowed for the measurement of defects at different depths within the material.The energies of H^(+)were set to 500 keV,640 keV and 2 MeV,the Bragg peaks of which correspond to the GaN film,GaN/Al_(2)O_(3) heterojunction and Al_(2)O_(3) substrate,respectively.A photoluminescence measurement at 250 K was also performed for comparison,during which only near band edge(NBE) and yellow band luminescence in the GaN film were observed.The evolution of the luminescence of the NBE and yellow band in the GaN film was discussed,and both exhibited a decrease with the fluence of H^(+).Additionally,the luminescence of F centers,induced by oxygen vacancies,and Cr^(3+),resulting from the ^(2)E →^(4)A_(2) radiative transition in Al_(2)O_(3),were measured using 2 MeV H^(+).The luminescence intensity of F centers increases gradually with the fluence of H^(+).The luminescence evolution of Cr^(3+)is consistent with a yellow band center,attributed to its weak intensity,and it is situated within the emission band of the yellow band in the GaN film.Our results show that IBIL measurement can effectively detect the luminescence behavior of multilayer films by adjusting the ion energy.Luminescence measurement can be excited by various techniques,but IBIL can satisfy in situ luminescence measurement,and multilayer structural materials of tens of micrometers can be measured through IBIL by adjusting the energy of the inducing ions.The evolution of defects at different layers with ion fluence can be obtained.

Research on the Distant Hybrids of Wheat Obtained via Low-Energy Ion-Beam Implantation

The whole DNA of soybean was implanted into four varieties of wheat of Zhongyu 5, Huaiyin 9628, Wenyou 1, Jimai 5 respectively via ion-beam mediation. There were 5 plants obtained whose protein content was higher than 18.5 %, the highest one was 21.44 %. There were 3 plants obtained whose protein content was lower than 11.5%, the lowest one was 10.96%. We can see that the whole DNA of soybean transformed into wheat via ion beam implantation can induce the increase in wheat protein content dramatically. The result also shows that the transformation efficiency of different gene types of wheat receptor varies greatly that the implanting time has a certain effect on the efficiency of transformation.

Cu_2ZnSnS_4 thin films prepared by sulfurization of ion beam sputtered precursor and their electrical and optical properties

Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) thin films were successfully prepared by sulfurization of ion bean sputtered precursors on soda-lime glass substrate. The single phase of stannite-type structure CZTS films were obtained as revealed in EDS and XRD analysis when the ratios of the constituents of CZTS thin films are close to stoichiometric by optimizing the conditions of precursor preparation and sulfurization. A low sheet resistivity as about 0.156 Ω·cm and a high absorption coefficient as 1×104 cm-1 were achieved in this method by Hall effect measurements and UV-VIS spectrophotometer. The optical band-gap energy of the CZTS sample is about 1.51 eV, which is very close to the optimum value for a solar-cell absorber.

Purification and Properties of a New L-Sorbose Dehydrogenase Accelerative Protein from Bacillus megaterium Bred by Ion-Beam Implantation

Bacillus megaterium BM302 bred by ion-beam implantation produces L-sorbose dehydrogenase accelerative protein （SAP） to accelerate the activity of L-sorbose dehydrogenase （SDH） of Gluconobacter oxydans in the 2-keto-L-gulonic acid （2KLG） fermentation from L-sorbose by the mixed culture of B. megaterium BM302 and G. oxydans. The SAP purified by three chromatographic steps gave 35-fold purification with a yield of 13% and a specific activity of 5.21 units/mg protein. The molecular weight of the purified SAP was about 58 kDa. The SDH accelerative activity of SAP at pH 7 and 50℃ was the highest. Additionally, it retained 60% activity at a pH range of 6.5 ～ 10 and was stable at 20℃ ～ 60℃. After 0.32-unit SAP was added to the single cultured G. oxydans strains, the SDH activity was apparently accelerated and the 2KLG yield of GO29, GO112, GO and GI13 was enhanced 2.1, 3.3, 3.5 and 2.9 folds respectively over that of the strains without the addition of SAP.

Storage Stability in Reversion Mutation of a Rice Line Devoid of LOX-1, 2 Acquired by Ion Beam Irradiation

The effect of absence of lipoxygenase isoenzyme （LOX） on storage stability was investigated. Rice mutant 1297 without lipoxygenase isoenzyme-1 （LOX-1） or lipoxygenase isoenzyme-2 （LOX-2） generated by ion beam irradiation from Wanjian2090 and reversion mutant RM1297 with LOX-1 and LOX-2 were subjected to an accelerated-aging experiment. Shanyou63 （with LOX-1 and LOX-2 ） served as control. Results showed that the germination and dehydrogenase activity decreased while the electrical conductivity and free fatty acid content increased in all varieties with accelerated aging. In 1297 that lacked LOX-1 and 2, there were slight changes in germination, dehydrogenase activity, membrane permeability and free fatty acid content during the thirty-day accelerated-aging experiment. But in varieties with LOX-1 and LOX-2, significant changes were observed, suggesting that LOX-1, 2 might be a definite factor which influenced seed lifespan. This study also indicates that ion beam irradiation may be used as mutagen to generate mutant and reversion mutants for biological study and could become a new direction in ion beam application.

Genetic Transformation of Watermelon with Pumpkin DNA by Low Energy Ion Beam-mediated Introduction

The No.601 watermelon (citrullus lanatus) seeds were treated with 25 keV N+ implantation at the dosage of 7.8 ×1016 ions/cm2. After treatment, watermelon seeds were incubated with 380μg/μl pumpkin (Cucubita, maxima Duch) DNA solution at 35 ℃ for 5 hours. By two-generations of selection and resistance screening at seedling stage, one transformed material was selected out, whose rind color is similar to that of the donor pumpkin and whose size of seeds is between that of the donor and the receptor. Using AFLP (amplified fragment length polymorphism) technique, two polymorphic DNA fragments were amplified. This primarily testified that the donor DNA fragments/gene were introduced into the receptor cell and integrated into the genomic DNA of the receptor.

Design and preliminary results of beam return on of high power ion source

Long pulse operation of high power ion source is the requirement of fusion science research on neutral beam injector. A breakdown of accelerator column is drastically increased when operating with high beam energy and long beam duration. To extend the pulse length, which was stopped with every breakdown so far, the beam re-starting technology was developed and utilized. As a result, the voltage drop of every power supply due to breakdown was recovered within a time of 90 ms and beam pulse length was extended much longer than the case before this improvement. The details of the beam re-starting technology and the preliminary results were presented in this manuscript.

A Mutant of Bacillus Subtilis with High-Producing Surfactin by Ion Beam Implantation

In order to generate a mutant of Bacillus subtilis with enhanced surface activity through low energy nitrogen ion beam implantation, the effects of energy and dose of ions implanted were studied. The morphological changes in the bacteria were observed by scanning electron microscope （SEM）. The optimum condition of ions implantation, 20 keV of energy and 2.6 × 10^15N^＋/cm^2 in dose, was determined. A mutant, B.s-E-8 was obtained, whose surface activity of 50-fold and 100-fold diluted cell-free Landy medium was as 5.6-fold and 17.4-fold as the wild strain. The microbial growth and biosurfactant production of both the mutant and the wild strain were compared. After purified by ultrafiltration and SOURCE 15PHE, the biosurfactant was determined to be a complex of surfactin family through analysis of electrospray ionization mass spectrum （ESI/MS） and there was an interesting finding that after the ion beam implantation the intensities of the components were different from the wild type strain.

Preliminary Results of Ion Beam Extraction Tests on EAST Neutral Beam Injector

The neutral beam injection （NBI） system is one of the most important auxiliary plasma heating and current driving methods for fusion device. A high power ion beam of 3 MW with 80 keV beam energy in 0.5 s beam duration and a long pulse ion beam of 4 s with 50 keV beam energy ion beam extraction were achieved on the EAST neutral beam injector on the teststand. The preliminary results show that the EAST-NBI system was developed successfully on schedule.