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Improvement of selectivity and activity of imprinted photocatalysis is a major challenge for antibiotic photodegradation due to the functional monomers of imprinting hindering the photogenerated carrier migration. Here, an organic imprinted Ag-polyaniline/CoFe2O4/Carbon photocatalyst (IM-Ag-PANI/CoFe2O4/C) was successfully prepared by photo-initiated polymerization which achieved selective photodegradation of tetracycline (TC). The heterojunction formed by the functional monomer Ag@PANI and CoFe2O4/C not only facilitates the separation of photo-excited carriers and the exposure of active sites but also contributes to the selective adsorption capability by imprinted cavity on Ag@PANI, thereby improving the photocatalytic activity and selectivity simultaneously. In addition, the Corncob conversion carbon matrix method and iron-based magnetic character enable a more environmentally friendly and recyclable capability of IM-Ag-PANI/CoFe2O4/C. After using machine learning models to train and predict experimental parameters by changing experimental parameters, the IM-Ag-PANI/CoFe2O4/C can photodegrade 82.23% of TC within 2 h, and it has a selective degradation ability compared to enrofloxacin hydrochloride (EH). This research provides a new idea for the construction of imprinted photocatalytic materials that can improve photocatalytic activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses effective strategies for creating self-compatible Brassica rapa (Chinese cabbage) plants by introducing mutated SRK and SCR/SP11 genes from Brassica napus (rapeseed). Self-incompatibility (SI) is a common trait in Brassica vegetable crops, but it hinders the development and propagation of inbred lines. The manipulation of SI genes, such as SRK and SCR/SP11, can lead to the creation of self-compatible materials. The researchers used CRISPR/Cas9 technology to mutate the BnSRK-1 gene in B. napus and then employed distant hybridization to introduce the mutated gene into B. rapa, resulting in the generation of self-compatible materials. This research has important implications for improving the breeding process of Brassica vegetable crops. [Extracted from the article]

Many plant pathogens secrete effector proteins into the host plant to suppress host immunity and facilitate pathogen colonization. The necrotrophic pathogen Sclerotinia sclerotiorum causes severe plant diseases and results in enormous economic losses, in which secreted proteins play a crucial role. SsCVNH was previously reported as a secreted protein, and its expression is significantly upregulated at 3 h after inoculation on the host plant. Here, we further demonstrated that deletion of SsCVNH leads to attenuated virulence. Heterologous expression of SsCVNH in Arabidopsis enhanced pathogen infection, inhibited the host PAMP‐triggered immunity (PTI) response and increased plant susceptibility to S. sclerotiorum. SsCVNH interacted with class III peroxidase AtPRX71, a positive regulator of innate immunity against plant pathogens. SsCVNH could also interact with other class III peroxidases, thus reducing peroxidase activity and suppressing plant immunity. Our results reveal a new infection strategy employed by S. sclerotiorum in which the fungus suppresses the function of class III peroxidases, the major component of PTI to promote its own infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Photocatalytic oxygen reductive H2O2 production is a promising approach to alternative industrial anthraquinone processes while suffering from the requirement of pure O2 feedstock for practical application. Herein, we report a spaced double hydrogen bond (IC−H‐bond) through multi‐component Radziszewski reaction in an imidazole poly‐ionic‐liquid composite (SI‐PIL‐TiO2) and levofloxacin hydrochloride (LEV) electron donor for highly efficient and selective photocatalytic air reductive H2O2 production. It is found that the IC−H‐bond formed by spaced imino (−NH−) group of SI‐PIL‐TiO2 and carbonyl (−C=O) group of LEV can switch the imidazole active sites characteristic from a covered state to a fully exposed one to shield the strong adsorption of electron donor and N2 in the air, and propel an intenser positive potential and more efficient orbitals binding patterns of SI‐PIL‐TiO2 surface to establish competitive active sites for selectivity O2 chemisorption. Moreover, the high electron enrichment of imidazole as an active site for the 2e− oxygen reduction ensures the rapid reduction of O2. Therefore, the IC−H‐bond enables a total O2 utilization and conversion efficiency of 94.8 % from direct photocatalytic air reduction, achieving a H2O2 production rate of 1518 μmol/g/h that is 16 and 23 times compared to poly‐ionic‐liquid composite without spaced imino groups (PIL‐TiO2) and TiO2, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Photocatalytic oxygen reductive H2O2 production is a promising approach to alternative industrial anthraquinone processes while suffering from the requirement of pure O2 feedstock for practical application. Herein, we report a spaced double hydrogen bond (IC−H‐bond) through multi‐component Radziszewski reaction in an imidazole poly‐ionic‐liquid composite (SI‐PIL‐TiO2) and levofloxacin hydrochloride (LEV) electron donor for highly efficient and selective photocatalytic air reductive H2O2 production. It is found that the IC−H‐bond formed by spaced imino (−NH−) group of SI‐PIL‐TiO2 and carbonyl (−C=O) group of LEV can switch the imidazole active sites characteristic from a covered state to a fully exposed one to shield the strong adsorption of electron donor and N2 in the air, and propel an intenser positive potential and more efficient orbitals binding patterns of SI‐PIL‐TiO2 surface to establish competitive active sites for selectivity O2 chemisorption. Moreover, the high electron enrichment of imidazole as an active site for the 2e− oxygen reduction ensures the rapid reduction of O2. Therefore, the IC−H‐bond enables a total O2 utilization and conversion efficiency of 94.8 % from direct photocatalytic air reduction, achieving a H2O2 production rate of 1518 μmol/g/h that is 16 and 23 times compared to poly‐ionic‐liquid composite without spaced imino groups (PIL‐TiO2) and TiO2, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Selective photodecomposition of highly toxic pollutants is a significant challenge because the free radicals produced by photocatalyst show an indistinguishable attack on all contaminants in wastewater. To realize selective photodegradation, an organic imprinted Ag-PANI/CdS/Fe3O4/Biochar photocatalyst (IM-Ag-PANI/CdS/Fe3O4/BC) was successfully prepared by photoinitiated polymerization method. The formation of heterojunction facilitates the separation of photoexcited carriers and effectively inhibits the photocorrosion of CdS, thereby improving the photocatalytic activity and stability of photocatalysts. Moreover, the imprinted cavities in Ag-PANI layer help to selectively adsorb and degrade 2-mercapto-1-methylimidazole (MMIZ), resulting in a high selectivity coefficient of 2.40 relative to 5-Mercapto-1-methyltetrazole, and the photodegradation efficiency of MMIZ is boosted up to 76% within 1 h. This work provides a new idea to construct stable photocatalysts with high selectivity for the decontamination of target pollutants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sclerotinia stem rot, caused by the necrotrophic fungal pathogen Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, is a serious constraint to lettuce production worldwide. To understand the molecular mechanisms underlying the plant's response to S. sclerotiorum infection, next-generation sequencing was used to analyze the transcriptional alterations in lettuce post-infection in a time course of a compatible interaction. A total of 28,485, 28,777 and 29,018 unigenes were obtained at 6 hours post-inoculation (hpi), 12 hpi and 24 hpi, respectively. Among these, 4104, 4316 and 4980 genes were up-regulated while 3977, 3818 and 3802 genes were down-regulated at 6 hpi, 12 hpi and 24 hpi, respectively. Functional classification of the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) indicated that 21, 24 and 30 metabolic pathways were affected at 6 hpi, 12 hpi and 24 hpi, respectively. Some pathways were related to the plant immune response, such as 'oxidative phosphorylation', 'plant hormone signal transduction' and the 'MAPK signaling pathway'. Real time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) analysis of six selected DEGs further validated the RNA-seq results. In addition, some novel potential disease responsive genes, including superoxide dismutase, WRKY transcription factors, pectinesterase inhibitor and ethylene-responsive transcription factors were identified. Our results suggest that lettuce adopts multiple strategies in regulating plant immunity to S. sclerotiorum infection. Collectively, the study provides new insights in the interaction of the plant - S. sclerotiorum pathosystem and provides information for further characterization of genes involved in plant resistance against S. sclerotiorum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the hydrothermal in situ growth technique was used to controllably produce the stable nanoflower-like Pt-MoS2/BiVO4 (Pt-MS/BVO) composite. MoS2 nanospheres were embellished with BiVO4 and Pt nanoparticles. Excellent photocatalytic efficiency for the TC degradation was demonstrated by the Pt-MS/BVO composite. In the light irradiation, degradation efficiency was 11 and 5 times higher than MoS2 and BiVO4, respectively. The reaction speed of Pt-MS/BVO was 1.9, 3.2, and 18.3 times that of MoS2/BiVO4 (MS/BVO), BiVO4, and MoS2, according to the photocatalytic kinetics fitting curve. MoS2 not only resulted in good dispersion of Pt and BiVO4, furthermore but also performed a significant part in the creation of direct Z-type charge-transfer composites with relatively short charge diffusion distances and abundant intimate contact interfaces, while the noble metal Pt acted as an electron collector to suppress the electron–hole complexation rate, thus improving the photocatalytic activity. This study sheds light on the ternary photocatalyst's rational design for multilayer electron transport and achieves efficient removal of tetracycline residues in the water environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The magnetic carbon material was synthesized by a simple solid-phase method, and a modified imprinting layer was formed on the surface of the magnetic carbon material by molecular imprinting and microwave methods, and the final modified imprinted Ag-Poly (o-phenylenediamine) (Ag-POPD) photocatalyst was used to degrade the antibiotic ciprofloxacin. The as prepared photocatalyst is very sensitive to temperature, and the ciprofloxacin degradation rate in ambient environment (25 °C) was 73.25% higher than at 40 °C. The photocatalyst has high selectivity to ciprofloxacin and is convenient to recover due to its magnetic properties. The significant increase in photocatalytic activity is mainly attributed to the synergistic effect between Ag and magnetic carbon materials that can accelerate the spatial separation of charge carriers. Furthermore, details of the photocatalytic degradation mechanism of the photocatalyst composite are discussed. The described method is a new single-step continuous microwave synthesis, which also opens new ways to modify/tune materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The red color in radish taproots is an important quality index and is mainly affected by anthocyanins. However, the metabolite components and gene expression underlying dark red taproot color formation in radish remain elusive. In this study, the metabolites and gene expression patterns affecting anthocyanin biosynthesis were monitored in the dark red taproots. Comparative analysis of anthocyanin metabolites between dark red taproots and white taproots indicated that pelargonin and pelargonidin 3-O-beta-D-glucoside were the most promising dark red pigments responsible for the coloration of the taproots. Transcriptomic analysis of gene expression between dark red taproots and white taproots revealed that most of genes involved in the anthocyanin biosynthesis pathway were up-regulated in dark red taproots. In particular, RsCHS and RsDFR were the two most up-regulated genes in the dark red taproots. Moreover, the higher coexpression of two R2R3-Myb transcription factors, RsMYB1 and RsMYB2, may contribute to dark red color formation. Our work documents metabolomic and transcriptomic changes related to the dark red color formation in taproots radish and provides valuable data for anthocyanin-rich radish breeding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present work, we report the discovery and complete genome sequence of a novel partitivirus identified from Brassica campestris L. ssp. chinensis, which we have named "Brassica campestris chinensis cryptic virus 1" (BCCV1). Next-generation sequencing (NGS) combined with adapter-ligation-mediated amplification allowed assembly of the full-length genome sequence of BCCV1. The genome of BCCV1 contains two dsRNA segments, dsRNA1 (1595 bp) and dsRNA2 (1591 bp), which encode a conserved RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) and a putative capsid protein (CP), respectively. Homology searches and phylogenetic analysis of the 479-aa RdRp and 438-aa CP showed that BCCV1 is a new member of the genus Deltapartitivirus, family Partitiviridae. This is the first report of the identification of a member of the family Partitiviridae in Brassica campestris L. ssp. chinensis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Here, we report the full-length genome sequence of a novel cogu-like virus identified in Brassica campestris L. ssp. Chinensis (B. campestris), an economically important vegetable in China. This virus, tentatively named "Brassica campestris chinensis coguvirus 1" (BCCoV1), has a bipartite genome that consists of two RNA molecules (RNA1 and RNA2). The negative-stranded (ns) RNA1 is 6757 nt in length, encoding the putative RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp), and the ambisense RNA2 is 3061 nt long, encoding the putative movement protein (MP) and nucleocapsid protein (NP). A homology search of the RdRp, MP, and NP showed that they are closely related to five other recently discovered negative-stranded RNA (nsRNA) viruses infecting plants, belonging to the new genus Coguvirus. Phylogenetic analysis of the 252-kDa RdRp confirmed the classification of this virus, showing that BCCoV1 possibly belongs to the genus Coguvirus, family Phenuiviridae, order Bunyavirales. The present study improves our understanding of the viral diversity in B. campestris and the evolution of nsRNA viruses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose a transmissive circular polarization converter with reduced thickness and high performance. The proposed device is composed of a three-layer metasurface spaced by two dielectric plates. The top and bottom layers are metasurfaces formed by meander lines, and the middle metasurface is a modified fishnet structure etched periodically with gaps along the x-direction. By employing these periodic gaps, the bandwidth of the proposed device is significantly extended. The simulation results reveal that the device can convert a linearly polarized incident wave into a circularly polarized transmissive wave in wideband from 10 to 16 GHz, with relative bandwidth of 46%. Fortunately, the device's bandwidth can still cover the range of 10–13.8 GHz even when the incident angle increases to 40°. Meanwhile, two equivalent circuit models for two orthogonal polarizations are accurately extracted to better understand the physical mechanism of bandwidth expansion. An experimental sample is fabricated to verify the device performance. The experimental results are in reasonable agreement with simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vortex beams have been extensively investigated for their major applications in wireless communications. To obtain practical applications, vortex beam generators with high performance and simple structure are of vital importance. Here, we present a novel metasurface-based device to generate high-performance vortex beams. This device is a four-layer Pancharatnam-Berry metasurface with ultrathin thickness. The unit cell of each metasurface is composed of a cross dipole and a square ring resonator. The simulated and experimental results show that the proposed meta-device can convert a right-hand circularly polarized wave into a left-hand circularly polarized vortex beam in a broadband from 9.3 to 12 GHz. Moreover, the device has high transmission efficiency up to 79% and ultrathin thickness of 0.2λ (λ is the central frequency of operation frequency band). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SsITL, a secretory protein of the necrotrophic phytopathogen Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, was previously reported to suppress host immunity at the early stages of infection. However, the molecular mechanism that SsITL uses to inhibit plant defence against S. sclerotiorum has not yet been elucidated. Here, we report that SsITL interacted with a chloroplast‐localized calcium‐sensing receptor, CAS, in chloroplasts. We found that CAS is a positive regulator of the salicylic acid signalling pathway in plant immunity to S. sclerotiorum and CAS‐mediated resistance against S. sclerotiorum depends on Ca2+ signalling. Furthermore, we showed that SsITL could interfere with the plant salicylic acid (SA) signalling pathway and SsITL‐expressing transgenic plants were more susceptible to S. sclerotiorum. However, truncated SsITLs (SsITL‐NT1 or SsITL‐CT1) that lost the ability to interact with CAS do not affect plant resistance to S. sclerotiorum. Taken together, our findings reveal that SsITL inhibits SA accumulation during the early stage of infection by interacting with CAS and then facilitating the infection by S. sclerotiorum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

* Cerato-platanin proteins (CPs), which are secreted by filamentous fungi, are phytotoxic to host plants, but their functions have not been well defined to date. * Here we characterized a CP (SsCP1) from the necrotrophic phytopathogen Sclerotinia sclerotiorum. Sscp1 transcripts accumulated during plant infection, and deletion of Sscp1 significantly reduced virulence. SsCP1 could induce significant cell death when expressed in Nicotiana benthamiana. * Using yeast two-hybrid, GST pull-down, co-immunoprecipitation and bimolecular florescence complementation, we found that SsCP1 interacts with PR1 in the apoplast to facilitate infection by S. sclerotiorum. Overexpressing PR1 enhanced resistance to the wild-type strain, but not to the Sscp1 knockout strain of S. sclerotiorum. Sscp1-expressing transgenic plants showed increased concentrations of salicylic acid (SA) and higher levels of resistance to several plant pathogens (namely Botrytis cinerea, Alternaria brassicicola and Golovinomyces orontii). * Our results suggest that SsCP1 is important for virulence of S. sclerotiorum and that it can be recognized by plants to trigger plant defense responses. Our results also suggest that the SA signaling pathway is involved in CP-mediated plant defense. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Combined with high precision on two body decay pions and the unique features of hypernuclear electro-production mechanism, a new experiment aims to effectively access the hypernuclear continuum which offers insight on a wide range of light hypernuclei with variety of possible (Z, A) combinations via production of hyper-fragments. Precise binding energies of various hypernuclear species allow us to address on most of the leading puzzles and inconsistencies and may lead to new important discoveries and findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon fixation pathway of plants (CFPP) in photosynthesis converts solar energy to biomass, bio-products and biofuel. Intriguingly, a large number of heterotrophic fungi also possess enzymes functionally associated with CFPP, raising the questions about their roles in fungal development and in evolution. Here, we report on the presence of 17 CFPP associated enzymes (ten in Calvin-Benson-Basham reductive pentose phosphate pathway and seven in C4-dicarboxylic acid cycle) in the genome of Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, a heterotrophic phytopathogenic fungus, and only two unique enzymes: ribulose-1, 5-bisphosphate carboxylase-oxygenase (Rubisco) and phosphoribulokinase (PRK) were absent. This data suggested an incomplete CFPP-like pathway (CLP) in fungi. Functional profile analysis demonstrated that the activity of the incomplete CLP was dramatically regulated during different developmental stages of S. sclerotiorum. Subsequent experiments confirmed that many of them were essential to the virulence and/or sclerotial formation. Most of the CLP associated genes are conserved in fungi. Phylogenetic analysis showed that many of them have undergone gene duplication, gene acquisition or loss and functional diversification in evolutionary history. These findings showed an evolutionary links in the carbon fixation processes of autotrophs and heterotrophs and implicated the functions of related genes were in course of continuous change in different organisms in evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]