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During surveys of plant pathogens in the desert regions of Xinjiang Province, China, a leaf spot was observed on Cynanchum sibiricum. The suspected fungus was isolated and identified using morphology and molecular phylogeny. Morphologically, the fungus was similar to Neodidymelliopsis species. Phylogenetic analyzes of combined internal transcribed spacer (ITS); the large subunit of the ribosomal rDNA (LSU); RNA polymerase II the second largest subunit (rpb2), and β-tubulin gene (tub2) sequences showed that our isolates formed a distinct monophyletic lineage in Neodidymelliopsis. This new clade is identified as Neodidymelliopsis cynanchi sp. nov. based on the phylogenetic and morphological evidence. In addition, N. urticae is synonymized with N. cannabis based on morphology and phylogeny. Furthermore, we emphasize that in-depth revisions are required to assure the taxonomic status of N. sambuci, N. tinkyukuku and N. salvia. This is the first report of Neodidymelliopsis species associated with C. sibiricum leaf spot. The results expand our knowledge of Didymellaceae taxa and microfungi associated with desert environments in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The South China Botanical Garden (SCBG), one of the largest and oldest botanical gardens in China, conserves important plant germplasms of endangered species. Therefore, ensuring tree health and studying the associated mycobiome of the phyllosphere is essential to maintaining its visual aesthetics. During a survey of plant-associated microfungal species in SCBG, we collected several coelomycetous taxa. Phylogenetic relationships were evaluated based on the analyses of ITS, LSU, RPB2, and β-tubulin loci. The morphological features of the new collections were compared with those of existing species, emphasizing close phylogenetic affinities. Based on the morphological comparisons and multi-locus phylogeny, we introduce three new species. These are Ectophoma phoenicis sp. nov., Remotididymella fici-microcarpae sp. nov., and Stagonosporopsis pedicularis-striatae sp. nov. In addition, we describe a new host record for Allophoma tropica in the Didymellaceae. Detailed descriptions and illustrations are provided along with notes comparing allied species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developing high-performance and low-cost donor/acceptor materials is crucial for the industrialization of organic solar cells (OSCs). Therefore, a series of new donor and acceptor materials with simple structures and easy synthesis have been reported. However, how to further achieve low-cost and high-performance OSCs is still an issue that should be solved when competing with other photovoltaic technologies. Herein, we demonstrate a high-performance and low-cost PTQ10:Y26 system with an impressive efficiency of 16.01% via a series of morphology optimizations. Moreover, the devices demonstrated excellent bulk-heterojunction (BHJ) thickness tolerance over the range of 100 nm to 300 nm, which is beneficial for large-scale fabrications. Besides, we calculated the industrial figure of merit (i-FOM) of the PTQ10:Y26 system and made a relatively comprehensive comparison with other classic BHJ combinations based on A–DA′D–A acceptors. The PTQ10:Y26 system shows a high FOM of over 0.3, which is among the high FOM values for OSCs now. Combining with the merits of low cost, high efficiency and thickness insensitivity, we firmly believe that PTQ10:Y26 shows great potential in the commercialization for OSCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Efficient heat transfer is beneficial to heat dissipation and the thermal durability of organic solar cell (OSCs). In this regard, heat transfer properties of organic semiconductors within OSCs should play important roles, but their thermal properties are rarely explored. Here, heat diffusion properties of Y‐series non‐fullerene acceptors processing different DA′D framework, named BZ4F‐5, BZ4F‐6, and BZ4F‐7 are probed; it is found that backbone rings extension from five‐ to six‐ and seven‐membered‐fused rings trigger longer phonon mean free path and higher thermal diffusivities (D) in their pristine solid films and bulk heterojunction blends. Particularly, the correlation between the thermal transport properties in Y‐series acceptors and their backbone geometry, molecule stacking, and thin‐film crystallinity is demonstrated. More importantly, both organic thin‐film transistors and OSCs confirm that thermal durability of organic semiconductor devices correlated with the thermal properties of their active layer. Although BZ5F‐6 and BZ4F‐7 based devices possess similar device performance at room temperature, superior heat dissipation in BZ4F‐7 molecule endows it with enhanced device lifetime. These results contribute to critical design criteria for future molecular optimization in photovoltaic and optoelectronic devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent studies have almost focused on finding active layer materials with extended π‐conjugation structures for high‐performance organic solar cells (OSCs). However, with the extension of conjugate length, the synthesis difficulty and cost of materials will increase. Achieving high efficiency while reducing material costs is a prerequisite for the commercialization of OSCs. Herein, two low‐cost A‐DA′D‐A‐type (where A and D represent an electron‐withdrawing unit and an electron‐donating unit, respectively) nonfullerene acceptors (Y25,Y26) are synthesized with pentacyclic fused backbone as the DA′D electron‐deficient core and 5,6‐difluoro‐3‐(dicyandiamethyl) indigo as the end groups. Compared with classical Y series acceptors with heptacyclic backbone, although Y25 and Y26 own the reduced conjugated length, they still show moderate performance (11.65% and 13.34%), and the cost of synthesis is significantly reduced. Therefore, we provide a new molecular design idea for commercially efficient nonfullerene OSCs acceptors. We also find that adding alkyl chains to the β site of thiophenes is beneficial to obtaining the reduced energetic disorder, dominant molecular stacking, and desirable morphology, which can facilitate charge carrier transport and prompt higher short‐circuit current density (Jsc) as well as fill factor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims. To compare the effects of Semen Arecae (SA) and Charred Semen Arecae (CSA) on gastrointestinal motility, motilin, substance P (SP), and cholecystokinin (CCK) in chronically stressed rats. Methods. Rats were randomly divided into control group and stress group. Rats in stress group were randomly exposed to a variety of unpredictable stimulations for 21 days. Then, the rats were treated orally with distilled water, SA, CSA, and mosapride for 7 days. Gastric residue rate and intestinal propulsion rate were evaluated. Serum levels of motilin and SP were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). CCK mRNA was quantified by using quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). Results. Both SA and CSA improved the intestinal propulsion and reduced the gastric residue in chronically stressed rats. Furthermore, the serum levels of motilin and SP were significantly higher and the CCK mRNA expressions in intestine and hypothalamus were downregulated in SA and CSA groups. Furthermore, it was found that CSA is more effective. Conclusion. Both SA and CSA enhanced gastrointestinal motility and increased serum levels of motilin and SP in chronically stressed rats via downregulating CCK mRNA expressions in intestine and hypothalamus. Importantly, CSA possessed more effective promoting effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Myxomycetes play crucial ecological roles, yet their species diversity, distribution, and taxonomic relationships remain poorly understood. In this study, we examined 104 specimens from 19 provinces in China. Through morphological analysis, we identified a group of species with reduced lime formation, a feature typically associated with the Physaraceae, but with key morphological similarities to the Diderma. A comprehensive phylogenetic analysis was conducted using three genes (nSSU, EF-1α, and COI), resulting in a dataset of 452 sequences from 116 species. Notably, we identified a distinct clade within Didymiaceae containing species with fewer lime knots, a trait traditionally linked to Physaraceae. This clade, designated as the new genus Neodiderma, was phylogenetically positioned as a sister group to Diderma, potentially representing a transitional group between Didymiaceae and Physaraceae, supported by both morphological and molecular evidence. Eleven new species — N. macrosporum, N. pseudobisporum, N. verrucocapillitium, N. rigidocapillitium, N. rufum, Physarum guangxiense, P. subviride, P. nigritum, P. biyangense, P. neoovoideum, and P. jilinense — were identified from China, and their phylogenetic positions were analysed. Additionally, N. spumarioides (formerly Diderma spumarioides) was recombined. The new and recombined species were formally described and illustrated, and a key to the sections and species of Neodiderma and Physarum was provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Leaf spots and stem lesions causing widespread mortality of Caspian Sea karelinia (Karelinia caspia) were observed in desert regions of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China. Fifteen samples were collected from five widely distributed counties of Tarim and Junggar Basins in 2016. The pathogen was identified using morphological observations and phylogenetic analyses based on combined partial sequences from seven genes (Alt a 1, ATPase, calmodulin, glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase, internal transcribed spacer, RNA polymerase II, and translation elongation factor 1), and placed as a new species: Alternaria kareliniae sp. nov. in section Dianthicola. The fungus has a small conidium (24.3 to) 29.1 to 64.8 (to 75.8) by (9.3 to) 12.4 to 16.5 (to 21.7) μm with a long beak (130 to) 183.9 to 350.4 (to 378.2) μm, as well as four to eight transverse septa, which differs significantly from other species of Alternaria section Dianthicola. On potato carrot agar, it grew significantly more slowly than others of this section. Pathogenicity tests showed that the fungus could infect leaves and stems of K. caspia and cause the same symptoms as those observed in the field. The fungus was reisolated from inoculated leaves and stems of the host. The disease in desert regions appears to be increasing, and it may have future negative implications for desert ecology in these areas. Future research should concentrate on elucidating the disease cycle and disease management alternatives.