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Photodynamic therapy (PDT), as an emerging cancer treatment, requires the development of highly desirable photosensitizers (PSs) with integrated functional groups to achieve enhanced therapeutic efficacy. Coordination‐driven self‐assembly (CDSA) would provide an alternative approach for combining multiple PSs synergistically. Here, we demonstrate a simple yet powerful strategy of combining conventional chromophores (tetraphenylethylene, porphyrin, or Zn‐porphyrin) with pyridinium salt PSs together through condensation reactions, followed by CDSA to construct a series of novel metallo‐supramolecular PSs (S1–S3). The generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) is dramatically enhanced by the direct combination of two different PSs, and further reinforced in the subsequent ensembles. Among all the ensembles, S2 with two porphyrin cores shows the highest ROS generation efficiency, specific interactions with lysosome, and strong emission for probing cells. Moreover, the cellular and living experiments confirm that S2 has excellent PDT efficacy, biocompatibility, and biosafety. As such, this study will enable the development of more efficient PSs with potential clinical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Salt stress and flowering time are major factors limiting geographic adaptation and yield productivity in soybean (Glycine max). Although improving crop salt tolerance and latitude adaptation are essential for efficient agricultural production, whether and how these two traits are integrated remains largely unknown. Here, we used a genome‐wide association study to identify a major salt‐tolerance locus controlled by E2, an ortholog of Arabidopsis thaliana GIGANTEA (GI). Loss of E2 function not only shortened flowering time and maturity, but also enhanced salt‐tolerance in soybean. E2 delayed soybean flowering by enhancing the transcription of the core flowering suppressor gene E1, thereby repressing Flowering Locus T (FT) expression. An E2 knockout mutant e2CR displayed reduced accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) during the response to salt stress by releasing peroxidase, which functions in ROS scavenging to avoid cytotoxicity. Evolutionary and population genetic analyses also suggested that loss‐of‐function e2 alleles have been artificially selected during breeding for soybean adaptation to high‐latitude regions with greater salt stress. Our findings provide insights into the coupled selection for adaptation to both latitude and salt stress in soybean; and offer an ideal target for molecular breeding of early‐maturing and salt‐tolerant cultivars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The production of soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] is seriously threatened by various leaf-feeding insects, and wild soybean [Glycine soja Sieb. & Zucc.] has a greater resistance capacity and genetic diversity. In this study, a natural population consisting of 121 wild soybean accessions was used for detecting insect resistance genes. The larval weight (LW) of the common cutworm (CCW), the resistance level (RL) and the index of damaged leaf (IDL) were evaluated as resistance indicators to herbivores. An association synonymous SNP AX-94083016 located in the coding region of the respiratory burst oxidase gene GsRbohA1 was identified by genome-wide association study (GWAS) analyses. The overexpression of GsRbohA1 in soybean hairy roots enhanced resistance to CCW. One SNP in the promoter region cosegregated with AX-94083016 contributing to soybean resistance to CCW by altering GsRbohA1 gene expression and reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation. Two major haplotypes, GsRbohA1A and GsRbohA1G, were identified based on the SNP. The resistant haplotype GsRbohA1A predominates in wild soybeans, although it has been gradually lost in landraces and cultivars. The nucleotide diversity around GsRbohA1 is much lower in landraces and cultivars than in its ancestors. In conclusion, a new resistant haplotype, GsRbohA1A, was identified in wild soybean, which will be a valuable gene resource for soybean insect resistance breeding through introducing into improvement lines, and it offers a strategy for exploring resistance gene resources from its wild relatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cerium oxide catalysts with localized Ce 2 O 3 phase transition were prepared by controlling the calcination temperature. The effects of O act at the heterogeneous interfaces of CeO x catalysts and catalytic mechanism were investigated. The oxidation of toluene experienced intermediates of benzyl alcohol, benzaldehyde, benzoate, maleic acid and carbonates. Among them, benzoic acid was the decisive step in the toluene oxidation pathway. [Display omitted] • Simple preparation of CeO 2 catalysts with localised Ce 2 O 3 phase transition. • Influence of heterogeneous interfaces on catalyst properties. • Oxygen species located at the CeO 2 -Ce 2 O 3 heterogeneous interfaces were active sites. • The possible reaction mechanism of toluene was proposed by DRIFT analysis. Cerium oxide was a potential replacement for precious metals as a catalyst for VOCs. Here, we prepared CeO x -350, CeO x -450, CeO x -550 and CeO x -650 catalysts by controlling the calcination temperature, the occurrence of Ce 2 O 3 localized phase transitions at CeO x -350 and CeO x -550 was confirmed by XRD, HRTEM and TGA. This localized phase transition caused the change in specific surface area and crystallinity, and prolonged the Ce-O-Ce bond lengths at the heterogeneous interfaces, enhancing the redox capacity and activity of oxygen species. CeO x -550 exhibited the optimal low-temperature activity towards toluene due to the highest Ce3+ content, oxygen vacancy content and the best activity of reactive oxygen species. The oxidation of toluene experienced intermediates of benzyl alcohol, benzaldehyde, benzoate, maleic acid and carbonates. Among them, benzoic acid was the decisive step in the toluene oxidation pathway. Combined with the reaction pathway of toluene, the reaction stages of different oxygen species were determined. The active oxygen species located at the heterogeneous interface would serve as an adsorption site for toluene. The Ce 2 O 3 phase would participate in the deep oxidation of toluene as an active site, which was equivalent to the oxygen vacancies. This study was conducted to explore the effect of local phase transition on catalytic activity, which provided a new strategy for the synthesis of highly active cerium oxide catalysts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Propose a design route for novel iron-based catalysts to overcome the macroscopic pH limitation of AOPs. • Construction of acidic microenvironments at catalyst heterogeneous interfaces guided the activation of PMS and degradation of pollutants. • The mechanism of the macro-chemical environment influences reactive oxygen components in the process of AOPs. Iron-based catalysts are considered one of the most promising catalysts for AOPs. However, the dependence on an acidic working environment is a bottleneck for its development and widespread application. Meanwhile, the strong acidity of persulfate makes the mechanism of pH influence on the process of AOPs ambiguous. In this study, we report a co-catalyzed non-homogeneous phase-like Fenton-like system to achieve sustained degradation of organic pollutants such as sulfamethoxazole in neutral or alkaline buffer solutions. It exploits the proton trapping property of active sulfur in MoS 2 to construct an acidic microenvironment at the heterogeneous interface of the catalyst, which ensures the stable cycling of iron ions on the catalyst's surface and effectively inhibits the generation of iron sludge. Meanwhile, the influence of the chemical environment on ROS during PMS activation was explored using a buffer solution system, which provided new insights into the transformation mechanism of ROS during AOPs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Doping proves to be an efficacious method of establishing intermetallic interactions for enhancing toluene oxidation performance of bimetallic oxides. However, conventional bimetallic oxide catalysts are yet to overcome their inadequacy in establishing intermetallic interactions. In this work, the dispersion of Mn–Co bimetallic sites was improved by hydrolytic co-precipitation, strengthening the intermetallic interactions which improved the structural and physicochemical properties of the catalysts, thus significantly enhancing its catalytic behavior. MnCo–H catalysts fabricated by the hydrolytic co-precipitation method showed promising catalytic performance (T 50 = 223 °C, T 90 = 229 °C), robust stability (at least 100 h) and impressive water resistance (under 10 vol.% of water) for toluene elimination. Hydrolytic co-precipitation has been found to improve dispersion of MnCo elements and to enhance interaction between Co and Mn ions (Mn4+ + Co2+ = Mn3+ + Co3+), resulting in a lower reduction temperature (215 °C) and a weaker Mn–O bond strength, creating more lattice defects and oxygen vacancies, which are responsible for superior catalytic properties of MnCo–H samples. Furthermore, in situ DRIFTs showed that gaseous toluene molecules adsorbed on the surface of MnCo–H were continuously oxidized to benzyl alcohol → benzaldehyde → benzoate, followed by a ring-opening reaction with surface-activated oxygen to convert to maleic anhydride as the final intermediate, which further generates water and carbon dioxide. It was also revealed that the ring-opening reaction for the conversion of benzoic acid to maleic anhydride is the rate-controlling step. This study reveals that optimizing active sites and improving reactive oxygen species by altering the dispersion of bimetals to enhance bimetallic interactions is an effective strategy for the improvement of catalytic behavior, while the hydrolytic co-precipitation method fits well with this corollary. Doping is a successful approach to establish intermetallic interactions to improve the toluene oxidation capacity of bimetallic oxides. In spite of this, the classical bimetallic oxide catalysts are still struggling to overcome their inability to establish these interactions. In this work, hydrolytic co-precipitation has demonstrated the ability to enhance MnCo element dispersion and interaction between Co and Mn ions (Mn4+ + Co2+ = Mn3+ + Co3+). As a result, low-temperature reducibility improved while the Mn–O bond strength weakened, leading to more lattice defects and oxygen vacancies, ultimately resulting in superior catalytic properties of MnCo–H samples. [Display omitted] • Revealing the effect of Co–Mn intermetallic interactions on catalytic performance. • Stronger Co–Mn interactions are established by hydrolytic co-precipitation method. • MnCo–H with strong Co–Mn interaction shows favorable stability and H 2 O resistance. • Co–Mn interactions found to act on electron transfer and activation of oxygen. • The in-situ DRIFTS revealed mechanism and rate-limiting steps of toluene oxidation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]