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Cotton breeding for the development of early-maturing varieties is an effective way to improve multiple cropping indexes and alleviate the conflict between grains and cotton in the cultivated fields in China. In the present study, we aimed to identify upland cotton quantitative trait loci (QTLs) and candidate genes related to early-maturity traits, including whole growth period (WGP), flowering timing (FT), node of the first fruiting branch (NFFB), height of the node of the first fruiting branch (HNFFB), and plant height (PH). An early-maturing variety, CCRI50, and a late-maturing variety, Guoxinmian 11, were crossed to obtain biparental populations. These populations were used to map QTLs for the early-maturity traits for two years (2020 and 2021). With BSA-seq analysis based on the data of population 2020, the candidate regions related to early maturity were found to be located on chromosome D03. We then developed 22 polymorphic insertions or deletions (InDel) markers to further narrow down the candidate regions, resulting in the detection of five and four QTLs in the 2020 and 2021 populations, respectively. According to the results of QTL mapping, two candidate regions (InDel_G286-InDel_G144 and InDel_G24-InDel_G43) were detected. In these regions, three genes (GH_D03G0451, GH_D03G0649, and GH_D03G1180) have non-synonymous mutations in their exons and one gene (GH_D03G0450) has SNP variations in the upstream sequence between CCRI50 and Guoxinmian 11. These four genes also showed dominant expression in the floral organs. The expression levels of GH_D03G0451, GH_D03G0649 and GH_D03G1180 were significantly higher in CCRI50 than in Guoxinmian 11 during the bud differentiation stages, while GH_D03G0450 showed the opposite trend. Further functional verification of GH_D03G0451 indicated that the GH_D03G0451-silenced plants showed a delay in the flowering time. The results suggest that these are the candidate genes for cotton early maturity, and they may be used for breeding early-maturity cotton varieties.

Recent research emphasised the indispensable role of histone lactylation in the activation of hepatic stellate cells. The VHL mutation is extremely common in clear cell renal cell carcinoma, which normally causes a metabolic shift in cancer cells and increases lactate production, eventually creating a lactate-enriched tumour microenvironment. Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) promote tumour progression, which is also vital in clear cell renal cell carcinoma. Therefore, this study investigated histone lactylation in CAFs and its impact on patient survival. Multiomics technology was employed to determine the role of histone lactylation-related genes in the evolution of CAFs which correlated with the function and molecular signatures of CAFs. The results suggested that TIMP1 was the hub gene of histone lactylation-related genes in clear cell renal cell carcinoma.

The mechanism of using graphene oxide as a two-dimensional filler to increase the path length of the corrosive medium to the metal surface is limited to improving the corrosion resistance of the coating. This study propose novel dispersion and in-situ crosslinking reaction mechanism for constructing water-based heavy-duty anticorrosive coatings by using graphene oxide (GO) and waterborne epoxy resin (WEP). The results showed that GO can be uniformly dispersed directly into WEP without complex functional modifications. Oxygen-containing functional groups on moleculars structure of GO&WEP co-polymerized with diethylenetriamine (DETA) forming a continuous phase film which improved the density of the coating. Characterization techniques such as Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermal conductivity measurement instrument, pencil hardness tester, adhesion tester, salt spray corrosion test chamber, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) were used to evaluate coating structure and performance properties. The results showed that graphene characteristics enhanced physical properties and anti-corrosion performance of composite coatings. The construction mechanism of the coating is different from that of the current GO modified and dispersed in the coating as a two-dimensional filler to extend the path length of the corrosive medium to the metal surface. The coatings prepared by adding the optimum mass ratio of 0.1–0.2 % GO to WEP have the best physical properties and anti-corrosion properties. When the GO content is 0.2 wt%, the thermal conductivity increases by 86.0 %. After added 0.025 wt% GO, the coating hardness is increased by two grades directly from 2B to HB. With the addition of GO concentration increased to 0.05 wt%, the adhesion is increased from 2 to level 1.When the GO content exceeds 0.05 %, the coating will not bulge off after 4 months of salt water immersion experiment.

As a bulk industrial solid waste, coal gangue has caused serious pollution to the environment, and its application in the field of soil amendments has been widely studied, but the mechanism of pore structure regulation of coal gangue as soil substrate has not been reported in the literature. In this paper, the physical and chemical properties of coal gangue are analyzed, and its particle size, element content, and occurrence state are defined. The regulation mechanism of pores and pores in preparing matrix soil with coal gangue is revealed, and an efficient and energy-saving fluidizing activation technology is proposed to prepare active matrix soil. The results show that matrix soil with optimal pore structure can be obtained by fluidized bed calcination at 700 °C for 15 min, with a porosity of 55.0 %, volumetric water content of 28.7 %, and gas phase rate of 24.8 %. The technology also removes carbon, which is prone to natural fires, and fixes sulfur, which is good for plant growth. The formation and regulation mechanism of pores structure of soil matrix prepared by fluidized calcination of coal gangue is as follows: The oxidation reaction of carbon and the decomposition of minerals in coal gangue will form pore structures. Adjusting the reaction temperature and time, controlling the rate of carbon oxidation reaction, and the rate of mineral decomposition can achieve the goal of regulating the pore structure. Large pores with a pore size greater than 0.03 mm are formed by the oxidation of carbon and the decomposition of kaolinite. The pores with a diameter of 0.0001–0.03 mm are formed by the overflow of carbon dioxide gas, which is generated by the oxidation reaction of carbon embedded in coal gangue particles and the decomposition of calcium carbonate. The results of this study will provide technical and theoretical support for promoting the comprehensive utilization of coal gangue and improving environmental protection.

Ustilaginoidins are a class of bis-naphtho-γ-pyrone mycotoxins to threaten humans, animals and environment. Ustilaginoidins are produced by Villosiclava virens, the rice false smut pathogen. To prepare antibodies for quantitatively analyzing ustilaginoidins in rice samples, hemiustilaginoidins D and F from the laccase gene deficiency mutant of V. virens respectively reacted with diazonium 4-aminobenzoic acid to obtain haptens with a carboxyl group, which further reacted with bovine serum albumin or ovalbumin to get their complete antigens. Two monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) designated as 4A12C6 and 5F4F6 were developed by immunization. The relationships between mAb sensitivity and 20 ustilaginoidins were described. 4A12C6 was chosen for further analysis as it could recognize main ustilaginoidins and was more sensitive than 5F4F6. The achieved indirect competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (icELISA) based on 4A12C6 had a half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) of 0.76 ng/mL and working range of 0.2–2.8 ng/mL to ustilaginoidin A. The results of ustilaginoidins-contaminated rice samples by icELISA detection were consistent with those determined by HPLC‒DAD detection. Therefore, we developed a new strategy to get haptens from the biosynthetic precursors with half structures of ustilaginoidins. The achieved icELISA was demonstrated as a convenient method to monitor ustilaginoidin content in rice samples, and showed that the contents of total ustilaginoidins from the rice cultivars with low resistance to rice false smut were more than those of high resistance cultivars.

The key step of the control reaction for the preparation of graphene oxide (GO) by chemical oxidation of KMnO4/ concentrated H2SO4 oxidation system is the intercalation mass transfer process of oxidizer in graphite. Ultrasonic field can promote the intercalation mass transfer process, but the mass transfer kinetics remains unclear. In this paper, the kinetic model of mass transfer coefficient of graphene oxide sheet intercalated by Mn2O7 oxidizer in ultrasonic field was established. The Mn2O7 intercalation process after the intervention of the ultrasonic was simulated by COMSOL Multiphysics 5.5 simulation software. The results show that the ultrasonic field makes the Mn2O7 solution inside and outside the graphite layer turbulent, and the ultrasonic intervening time has little influence on the concentration distribution and diffusion rate of the solution outside the graphite layer, while it has great influence on the concentration distribution and little influence on the diffusion rate change inside the graphite layer. These results contribute to the improvement of the mass transfer theory for the preparation of GO by ultrasonic assisted chemical oxidation.