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In two recent papers (J. Andersson, S. Areva, B. Spliethoff and M. Lindén, Biomaterials, 2005, 26, 6827–6835 and J. Andersson, E. Johannessen, S. Areva, M. Järn and M. Lindén, J. Nanosci. Nanotechnol., 2006, 6, 2438–2444) we have presented new means of synthesizing silica–calcium phosphate (hydroxyapatite or tricalcium phosphate) composite materials, where the calcium phosphate is covered by a mesoporous layer of silica. These materials are bifunctional biomaterials, as they can be used both as drug carrier matrices and osteoconductive materials. Some of these materials, especially if synthesized according to a one-pot method, exhibit a very high in vitro bioactivity, and nucleate and grow calcium phosphate on their surfaces in less than 24 h if exposed to a simulated body fluid. In the present study, we have carried out a thorough characterization of the one-pot sol–gel derived composite materials by the means of solid state 29Si magic angle spinning (MAS) NMR, 31P MAS NMR, 23Na MAS NMR, and transfer of population in double resonance (TRAPDOR) NMR spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. The aim of the study is to relate the material properties to the in vitro bioactivity. The reason for high bioactivity of the composites cannot be ascribed to the silica content, but primarily to the presence of a highly soluble second calcium phosphate phase, NaCaPO4, co-existing with the hydroxyapatite in the hybrid material. Furthermore, the hydroxyapatite becomes increasingly calcium deficient with increasing silica content, which adds to increase the bioactivity. Also the overall crystallinity of the apatitic calcium phosphate phase could contribute to the bioactivity of the composites in vitro. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary We have constructed Arabidopsis thaliana plants that are virtually devoid of the major light-harvesting complex, LHC II. This was accomplished by introducing the Lhcb2.1 coding region in the antisense orientation into the genome by Agrobacterium -mediated transformation. Lhcb1 and Lhcb2 were absent, while Lhcb3, a protein present in LHC II associated with photosystem (PS) II, was retained. Plants had a pale green appearance and showed reduced chlorophyll content and an elevated chlorophyll a /b ratio. The content of PS II reaction centres was unchanged on a leaf area basis, but there was evidence for increases in the relative levels of other light harvesting proteins, notably CP26, associated with PS II, and Lhca4, associated with PS I. Electron microscopy showed the presence of grana. Photosynthetic rates at saturating irradiance were the same in wild-type and antisense plants, but there was a 10–15% reduction in quantum yield that reflected the decrease in light absorption by the leaf. The antisense plants were not able to perform state transitions, and their capacity for non-photochemical quenching was reduced. There was no difference in growth between wild-type and antisense plants under controlled climate conditions, but the antisense plants performed worse compared to the wild type in the field, with decreases in seed production of up to 70%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]