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A wide transparent region (200–900 nm) and distorted octahedrons led to moderate SHG of (TMCM)CdCl3.

A new chalcohalide, [Sr4Cl2][Ge3S9], was synthesized through chemical tailoring and aliovalent substitution strategies.

The Rb3Ba3Li2Al4B6O20F crystal is a competitive ultraviolet NLO crystal, which not only can output 266 nm laser but also exhibits excellent comprehensive performances, such as large NLO coefficient, small walk-off and large acceptance angles.

Rice false smut, caused by Ustilaginoidea virens, is one of the most important diseases in rice. The disease not only causes significant yield losses in China and worldwide but also produces multiple types of mycotoxins that pose a serious threat to the health of humans and animals. To effectively prevent and control the disease, the pathogenicity mechanisms of U. virens have been studied preliminarily, and some control strategies have been developed. This review focuses on recent progress in understanding the molecular mechanisms of U. virens pathogenicity, including virulence-related genes, transcriptional regulation of virulence genes, and effector-mediated interactions between rice and U. virens. Based on the molecular mechanisms underlying the rice-U. virens interactions, the possibilities of the pathogenicity genes in U. virens and host immune-related genes as potential targets for biological agents, host-induced gene silencing, and molecular design breeding are also discussed.

Rice false smut caused by Ustilaginoidea virens is emerging as a devastating disease of rice (Oryza sativa) worldwide; however, the molecular mechanisms underlying U. virens virulence and pathogenicity remain largely unknown. Here we demonstrate that the small cysteine-rich secreted protein SCRE6 in U. virens is translocated into host cells during infection as a virulence factor. Knockout of SCRE6 leads to attenuated U. virens virulence to rice. SCRE6 and its homologs in U. virens function as a novel family of mitogen-activated protein kinase phosphatases harboring no canonical phosphatase motif. SCRE6 interacts with and dephosphorylates the negative immune regulator OsMPK6 in rice, thus enhancing its stability and suppressing plant immunity. Ectopic expression of SCRE6 in transgenic rice promotes pathogen infection by suppressing the host immune responses. Our results reveal a previously unidentified fungal infection strategy in which the pathogen deploys a family of tyrosine phosphatases to stabilize a negative immune regulator in the host plant to facilitate its infection.

The present study aimed at investigating the effects and mechanism of long noncoding RNA highly upregulated in metastatic triple-negative breast cancer lymph node (lncRNA HUMT) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction was used to assess the expression of HUMT, microRNA (miR)-455-5p, and low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein 4 (LRP4) in HCC tissues. Colony forming and 5-ethynyl-2'-deoxyuridine assays were performed to assess cell proliferation. Transwell assay was performed to measure cell migration and invasion. Cell cycle distribution was assessed using flow cytometry. The protein expression of LRP4, proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), matrix metallopeptidase 2 (MMP-2), and MMP-9 was detected using western blot. Luciferase reporter assay and RNA immunoprecipitation assay was used to confirm the target association between miR-455-5p and HUMT or LRP4. In our study, the level of HUMT was enhanced in HCC tissues and cells. Cell proliferation, invasion, and migration in HCC cells were repressed by knockdown of HUMT, and knockdown of HUMT arrested cells in G1 phase and decreased the levels of PCNA, MMP-2, and MMP-9. MiR-455-5p was a target of HUMT. Lowexpression of miR-455-5p reversed the inhibitive influence on HCC cells induced by of HUMT silencing. LRP4 was a target of miR-455-5p and was negatively regulated by miR-455-5p. In addition, LRP4 expression was positively modified by HUMT, and LRP4 inhibited the inhibitory effects on HCC cells induced by HUMT silencing. In conclusion, HCC cell proliferation, invasion, and migration were restrained by knockdown of HUMT, which was related to the miR-455-5p/LRP4 axis.

The first polar fluorinated tungsten iodate Ba2[WO3F(IO3)][WO3F2] with a direct W–O–I bond has been successfully synthesized.

Three new Salt-Inclusion Infrared Nonlinear Optical Crystals with Zero-dimensional [Ge3S9] Clusters.

A new borophosphate, NH4(B6PO10(OH)4)·H2O, has been obtained, which exhibits the largest birefringence of all reported borophosphates to date.

The property-oriented structural design strategy is employed in Hg-based chalcogenide to synthesize a new IR NLO crystal, [Ba4Cl2][HgGa4S10], which exhibits well-balanced NLO properties, including large SHG response and wide band gap.

The introduction of distorted [TeO5] groups into phosphates is beneficial to improve the piezoelectric properties of phosphate crystals.

In four Y-based borates, the Y–O groups have different spans of overlap population and the compounds exhibit various birefringence values, ranging from 0.038 to 0.103.

Cs2VOF4(IO2F2) exhibits a strong SHG response (5 × KH2PO4 (KDP) at 1064 nm), a moderate birefringence (0.088@1064 nm), and a short UV cutoff edge (257 nm).

We herein report two asymmetric germanate crystals, KNbGe3O9 and K3Nb3Ge2O13, with different structures and optical properties derived from divergent polymerized forms of GeO4 and NbO6 groups. Remarkably, K3Nb3Ge2O13 achieved a rare combination of the strongest second harmonic generation (SHG) response of 17.5×KDP@1064nm and the largest birefringence of 0.196@546nm in germanates. It features unique [Nb3O12]∞ tubular chains constructed by circular Nb3O15 tripolymers. Theoretical calculations reveal that the d-p interactions in the Nb3O15 group are responsible for outstanding optical properties. This work emphasizes the significance of the polymerizable functional units in obtaining high-performance nonlinear optical (NLO) crystals.

Hg3AsSe4X (X = Br and I) derived from honeycomb layered topology of GaSe, achieved superior optical properties including strong SHG effects, suitable band gaps, large birefringence and wide IR transparency range.

Rationally designing a high-performance nonlinear optical (NLO) crystal remains a great ongoing challenge. It involves not only the design of noncentrosymmetric structures but also property optimization. In this communication, a new strategy for effectively designing the NLO crystal has been put forward, i.e. using the structure-directing property of oxyfluoride anions to obtain a noncentrosymmetric and polar structure, and then by substitution of IO 3 - for isovalent F - anions to further enhance the SHG response. With this strategy, a new iodate fluoride , Ba 2 [MoO 3 F(IO 3 )](MoO 3 F 2 ) has been successfully designed from the Ba 2 (MoO 3 F 2 )F 2 with the cis- directing [MoO 4 F 2 ] 4- groups. It exhibits a large SHG response ( ~8 × KDP), a wide transparent region (0.30-10.92 µm), a high laser-induced damage threshold (LDT) (88.53 MW cm -2 ), and a large birefringence (~0.264@532 nm). These indicate Ba 2 [MoO 3 F(IO 3 )](MoO 3 F 2 ) would be a promising NLO crystal.

Oxychalcogenides capable of exhibiting excellent balance among large second-harmonic generation (SHG) response, wide band gap (E

Introducing electronegative species into organic constituents was considered to be one effective strategy for adjusting crystal symmetry and designing new nonlinear optical (NLO) materials. By substitution of C4 in piperidine (C

The introduction of the transition metal cations with d

Organic-inorganic hybrid Pb-halide perovskites have attracted tremendous interest due to their potential application in photovoltaic and optoelectronic fields. However, the toxicity and poor stability of Pb-halide perovskites have become key bottlenecks toward their future commercialization and industrialization. Therefore, in this work, two novel hybrid lead-free perovskite nonlinear optical (NLO) crystals (2-AMP)