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SUMMARY: The dynamic balance between the self‐renewal and differentiation of stem cells in plants is precisely regulated by a series of developmental regulated genes that exhibit spatiotemporal‐specific expression patterns. Several studies have demonstrated that the WOX family transcription factors play critical roles in maintaining the identity of stem cells in Arabidopsis thaliana. In this study, we obtained amiR‐WOX9 transgenic plants, which displayed terminating prematurely of shoot apical meristem (SAM) development, along with alterations in inflorescence meristem and flower development. The phenotype of amiR‐WOX9 plants exhibited similarities to that of wus‐101 mutant, characterized by a stop‐and‐go growth pattern. It was also found that the expression of WUS in amiR‐WOX9 lines was decreased significantly, while in UBQ10::WOX9‐GFP transgenic plants, the WUS expression was increased significantly despite no substantial alteration in meristem size compared to Col. Therefore, these data substantiated the indispensable role of WOX9 in maintaining the proper expression of WUS. Further investigations unveiled the direct binding of WOX9 to the WUS promoter via the TAAT motif, thereby activating its expression. It was also found that WUS recognized identical the same TAAT motif cis‐elements in its own promoter, thereby repress self‐expression. Next, we successfully identified a physical interaction between WOX9 and WUS, and verified that it was harmful to the expression of WUS. Finally, our experimental findings demonstrate that WOX9 was responsible for the direct activating of WUS, which however was interfered by the ways of WUS binding its own promoter and the interaction of WUS and WOX9, thereby ensuring the appropriate expression pattern of WUS and then the stem cell stability. This study contributes to an enhanced comprehension of the regulatory network of the WOX9‐WUS module in maintaining the equilibrium of the SAM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whether farmers should consider the role of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) in agriculture is a hotly debated topic. We aimed to investigate the role of indigenous AMF in reducing nitrogen (N) loss from paddy fields via runoff, leaching, NH3 volatilization, and N2O emission. We conducted a pot experiment employing a mycorrhiza‐defective rice mutant (non‐mycorrhizal) as the control, grown in soil containing indigenous AMF. The corresponding AMF treatment used the progenitor of this mutant with the same soil. The plants were fertilized with nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium 6 weeks after sowing. The root colonization was 23% in mycorrhizal rice, and no typical AMF structures were observed in the roots of non‐mycorrhizal rice. Our findings indicated that the mycorrhizal system exhibited lower N concentrations of runoff and leachate further compounded by reduced fluxes of N2O and NH3. This led to 14% decrease (mycorrhizal rice 111 kg N ha−1; the non‐mycorrhizal rice: 129 kg N ha−1) in cumulative N loss within 3 days post‐fertilization. While this AMF effect was consistent across the four tested N loss pathways, differences were observed between NH4+‐N and NO3−‐N in the runoff pathway. Notably, our results revealed no evidence of trade‐offs in AMF effect on N loss among the tested pathways. Additionally, mycorrhizal rice had larger shoots and roots than their non‐mycorrhizal counterparts. Our study underscores the potential benefits of indigenous AMF in paddy fields for mitigating water pollution and reducing greenhouse gas emission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prelithiation is a well‐established strategy for enhancing battery energy density. However, traditional prelithiation approaches have primarily addressed compensating for the initial active lithium loss (ALL) while overlooking the ALL during extended cycling. In response, a novel method is introduced by increasing the prelithiation degree and pre‐storing stable LiCx within the anode. This innovation facilitates sustainable lithium replenishment, resulting in a significant improvement in battery cycle life and energy density. Moreover, challenges associated with using pure Li foils to realize this strategy in contact prelithiation are revealed, such as difficulties in thinning to less than 5 µm, and the loss of the electronic pathway during prelithiation, resulting in low lithium utilization rates and numerous residues. Additionally, the significantly accelerated capacity fading caused by these residues, typically emerging after hundreds of cycles, has been overlooked. To overcome these challenges, an ultrathin Li‐Mg‐Al alloy foil is developed with significantly improved mechanical properties and delithiation behavior. During prelithiation, the 96Li2Mg2Al alloy maintains a complete film structure with numerous micropores, avoiding randomly distributed debris. This structure ensures high utilization, unimpeded electronic pathways, and efficient electrolyte filtration. By employing a 5‐µm 96Li2Mg2Al foil for sustainable prelithiation, a substantial improvement in energy density is achieved and tripled the battery's lifespan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SUMMARY: Pollen development is critical to plant reproduction, but the underlying regulatory molecular mechanisms have not been fully elucidated. The Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) EFR3 OF PLANT 3 (EFOP3) and EFR3 OF PLANT 4 (EFOP4) genes encode members of the Armadillo (ARM) repeat superfamily that play key roles in pollen development. Herein, we demonstrate that EFOP3 and EFOP4 are co‐expressed in pollen at anther stages 10–12, but loss‐of‐function of both EFOP3 and EFOP4 leads to male gametophyte sterility, irregular intine, and shriveled pollen grains at anther stage 12. We further established that full‐length EFOP3 and EFOP4 specifically localize to the plasma membrane, and the integrity of these proteins is essential for pollen development. We observed uneven intine, less organized cellulose and reduced pectin content in mutant pollen compared with the wild‐type. These, together with the misexpression of several genes related to cell wall metabolism in efop3−/− efop4+/− mutants, suggest that EFOP3 and EFOP4 may indirectly regulate the expression of these genes to affect intine formation, thus controlling Arabidopsis pollen fertility in a functionally redundant manner. Moreover, transcriptome analysis showed that the absence of EFOP3 and EFOP4 function affects multiple pollen development pathways. These results enhance our understanding of EFOPs proteins and their role in pollen development. Significance Statement: We show that the integrity of EFOP3 and EFOP4 proteins is essential for their specific association with the plasma membrane of pollen, and is required for pollen intine development in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana). EFOP3 and EFOP4 may indirectly regulate the expression of cell wall metabolism‐related genes to affect intine formation, thus controlling Arabidopsis pollen fertility in a functionally redundant manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Senescence in plants is a complex and highly regulated process. However, the early senescence of leaf directly affects crop yield and quality. Identifying early senescence mutants and understanding its mechanism are critical to crop genetic improvement. In this study, we isolated an early senescence mutant esl13 (early senescence leaf 13) by ethyl methane sulfonate mutagenesis of Xinong 1B. Under paddy field conditions, the leaves of esl13 are normal green at the tillering stage, yellow at the booting stage, and gradually extended to the base of the leaves, and the senescence was most severe at the mature stage. At the booting stage, the leaves of mutant showed significantly lower photosynthetic pigment content, weaker chloroplast autofluorescence, and a highly significant reduction in net photosynthetic rate, resulting in shorter plants heights, shorter spike length, and lower seed yield at the mature stage. Similarly, the activity of antioxidant enzymes catalase, superoxide dismutase, and peroxidase decreased continuously, and malondialdehyde and superoxide anion (O2−) accumulated in the mutant esl13. Genetic analysis showed that the leaf senescence phenotype of esl13 is controlled by a single recessive nuclear gene, which was fine mapped between two molecular markers insertion‐deletion 4‐4 and SNP220 on chromosome 4. Gene sequencing showed that the 1230th base starting from ATG of the candidate gene LOC_Os04g48530 changed from T to A, causing the encoded amino acid change. Genetic complementation experiments confirmed the gene LOC_Os04g48530 controlled the mutant phe notype. This research provides new clues for further elucidating the regulation mechanism of rice senescence. Core Ideas: The allele ESL13 of SLAC1 by molecular location was identified.The mutation of ESL13 inhibited photosynthesis and reduced the yield.ESL13 was involved in the regulation of rice leaf senescence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sepsis‐induced myocardial dysfunction (SIMD), a deadly symptom in sepsis patients, is mainly caused by cardiovascular inflammation. However, it remains unclear how systemic inflammation triggers and aggravates cardiovascular inflammation in the pathogenesis of SIMD. This study found that proinflammatory cytokines and H2O2 concentrations were significantly induced in SIMD‐mice. In particular, a microarray analysis of CD63+ exosomes isolated from sham‐ and SIMD‐monocytes revealed a significant induction of thioredoxin‐interacting protein (TXNIP) and NLR family pyrin domain‐containing 3 (NLRP3). We proved that oxidative stress caused the disassociation of the TXNIP‐TRX2 (thioredoxin 2) complex and the assembly of the TXNIP‐NLRP3 complex. In addition, this finding showed that the latter complex could be embedded into CD63+ exosomes and traffic from monocytes to the resident heart macrophages, where it activated caspase‐1 and cleaved inactive interleukin 1β (IL‐1β) and IL‐18. Furthermore, using an amplified luminescent proximity homogeneous assay (Alpha) with GST‐TXNIP and His‐NLRP3, we obtained a small molecule named PSSM1443 that could disrupt the TXNIP‐NLRP3 interaction in vitro, impairing NLRP3 downstream events. Of note, after administering PSSM1443 to the SIMD‐mice, we found the small molecule could significantly suppress the activation of caspase‐1 and the cleavage of pro‐IL‐1β and pro‐IL‐18, reducing inflammation in the SIMD‐mice. Collectively, our results reveal that monocyte‐derived exosomes harbor the overexpressed TXNIP‐NLRP3 complex, which traffics from circulating monocytes to local macrophages and promotes the cleavage of inactive IL‐1β and IL‐18 in the macrophages, aggravating cardiovascular inflammation. PSSM1443 functions as an inhibitor of the TXNIP‐NLRP3 complex and its administration can decrease inflammation in SIMD‐mice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Nucleotide‐binding site–leucine‐rich repeat (NB‐LRR) resistance proteins are critical for plant resistance to pathogens; however, their mechanism of activation and signal transduction is still not well understood. We identified a mutation in an as yet uncharacterized rice coiled‐coil (CC)‐NB‐LRR, Oryza sativa RPM1‐like resistance gene 1 (OsRLR1), which leads to hypersensitive response (HR)‐like lesions on the leaf blade and broad‐range resistance to the fungal pathogen Pyricularia oryzae (syn. Magnaporthe oryzae) and the bacterial pathogen Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae, together with strong growth reduction. Consistently, OsRLR1‐overexpression lines showed enhanced resistance to both pathogens. Moreover, we found that OsRLR1 mediates the defence response through direct interaction in the nucleus with the transcription factor OsWRKY19. Down‐regulation of OsWRKY19 in the rlr1 mutant compromised the HR‐like phenotype and resistance response, and largely restored plant growth. OsWRKY19 binds to the promoter of OsPR10 to activate the defence response. Taken together, our data highlight the role of a new residue involved in the NB‐LRR activation mechanism, allowing identification of a new NB‐LRR downstream signalling pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: The exocyst is a key factor in vesicle transport and is involved in cell secretion, cell growth, cell division and other cytological processes in eukaryotes. EXO70 is the key exocyst subunit. We obtained a gene, SHORT‐ROOT 1 (SR1), through map‐based cloning and genetic complementation. SR1 is a conserved protein with an EXO70 domain in plants. SR1 mutation affected the whole root‐development process: producing shorter radicles, adventitious roots and lateral roots, and demonstrating abnormal xylem development, resulting in dwarfing and reduced water potential and moisture content. SR1 was largely expressed in the roots, but only in developing root meristems and tracheary elements. The shortness of the sr1 mutant roots was caused by the presence of fewer meristem cells. The in situ histone H4 expression patterns confirmed that cell proliferation during root development was impaired. Tracheary element dysplasia was caused by marked decreases in the inner diameters of and distances between the perforations of adjacent tracheary elements. The membrane transport of sr1 mutants was blocked, affecting cell division in the root apical region and the development of root tracheary elements. The study of SR1 will deepen our understanding of the function of EXO70 genes in Oryza sativa (rice) and guide future studies on the molecular mechanisms involved in plant root development. Significance Statement: The study of SR1 will deepen our understanding of the function of EXO70 genes in rice and will guide future studies on the molecular mechanisms involved in plant root development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) is a widely utilized cathode material in lithium‐ion batteries, prized for its safety, low cost, and extensive cycling lifespan. However, its low compaction density limits its application in batteries requiring high volumetric energy density. The inclusion of conductive carbon black in electrodes, while increasing porosity, also exacerbates side reactions due to its high specific surface area. In this study, the use of liquid metal (GaIn) nanoparticles is explored as a substitute for carbon black in electrode formulations. GaIn nanoparticles' stable oxide film prevents oxidation at cathode potential. Additionally, liquid metal improves the particle interface to a solid‐liquid interface, reducing particle friction and providing a lubricating effect, resulting in a denser electrode structure. As a result, the porosity of LiFePO4 electrodes prepared with liquid metal is reduced, leading to a 20.7% increase in volumetric energy density. Moreover, GaIn‐containing batteries exhibit fewer side reactions, especially at elevated temperatures in both liquid and solid battery configurations. Solid‐state batteries employing GaIn nanoparticles demonstrate a specific capacity of 144 mAh g−1 at 0.5C, showcasing superior cycling performance compared to traditional formulations. This underscores the potential of GaIn to elevate the performance of LiFePO4 batteries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Batteries: Sn-Alloy Foil Electrode with Mechanical Prelithiation: Full-Cell Performance up to 200 Cycles (Adv. In article number 1902150, Sa Li, Yunhui Huang, Ju Li and co-workers report that grain refinement by alloying can improve lithiation/delithiation ductility and reduce Sn foil damage by denser grain boundary sliding systems. A 50 µm self-standing Li SB I x i sb 3Ag0.5Cu96.5Sn foil anode, prepared by mechanical prelithiation, achieves good mechanical strength and demonstrates a striking full-cell cycling performance. [Extracted from the article]

Self‐supporting Sn foil is a promising high‐volumetric‐capacity anode for lithium ion batteries (LIBs), but it suffers from low initial Coulombic efficiency (ICE). Here, mechanical prelithiation is adopted to improve ICE, and it is found that Sn foils with coarser grains are prone to cause electrode damage. To mitigate damage and prepare thinner lithiated electrodes, 3Ag0.5Cu96.5Sn foil is used that has more refined grains (5–10 µm) instead of Sn (50–100 µm), where the abundant grain boundaries (GBs) offer more sliding systems to release stress and reduce deep fractures. Thus, the thickness of Lix3Ag0.5Cu96.5Sn can be reduced to 50 µm, compared to 100 µm LixSn. When the foils contact open air, the Sn‐Li‐O(H) products are more stable than Li‐O(H), thus Lix3Ag0.5Cu96.5Sn shows outstanding air stability. The as‐prepared 50 µm foil anode achieves stable 200 cycles in LiFePO4//Lix3Ag0.5Cu96.5Sn full cell (≈2.65 mAh cm−2) and the capacity retention is 95%. Even at 5C, the capacity of Lix3Ag0.5Cu96.5Sn is still up to ≈1.8 mAh cm−2. The cycle life of NCM523//Lix3Ag0.5Cu96.5Sn full cell exceeds that of NCM523//Li. Furthermore, 70 µm Lix3Ag0.5Cu96.5Sn is used as double‐sided anode for a 3 cm × 2.8 cm pouch cell and its actual volumetric capacity density is 674 mAh cm−3 after 50 cycles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]