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Hyper-cross-linked polymers (HCPs) have been attracted widespread attention as adsorbents in recent years. A series of HCPs (HCP-1, HCP-2 and HCP-3) were synthesized via a Friedel-Crafts reaction using low-cross-linked pitch as precursor and dichloromethane (DCM) as cross-linking reagent and solvent. The prepared HCPs were characterized by N2 adsorption, Fourier transform infrared (FI-IR), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and static water contact angle. The resultant HCPs possess micro/meso pore structures and a high stability. The Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface areas of HCP-1, HCP-2 and HCP-3 are 152 m2·g−1, 467 m2·g−1 and 447 m2·g−1, respectively. Their total pore volumes vary from 0.207 cm·g−1 to 0.545 cm3·g−1 and following the sequence of HCP-1−1, which is higher than that of benzene, suggesting a strong adsorption selectivity for o-xylene over benzene. In addition, the effect of water vapor on the adsorption of o-xylene onto HCP-2 was investigated. The dynamic adsorption amount of o-xylene on HCP-2 decreases by 76.47% under the relative humidity (RH) of 30%, implying that the HCP-2 has poor hydrophobicity. The equilibrium adsorption capacity of o-xylene on HCP-2 shows a slight decline after five adsorption cycles. [Formula: see text]

Five specimens, initially presumed to be

Silique dehiscence is an important physiological process during natural growth that enables mature seeds to be released from plants, which then undergo reproduction and ensure the survival of future generations. In agricultural production, the time and degree of silique dehiscence affect the harvest time and processing of crops. Premature silique dehiscence leads to seeds being shed before harvest, resulting in substantial reductions to yields. Conversely, late silique dehiscence is not conducive to harvesting, and grain weight and oil content will be reduced due to the respiratory needs of seeds. In this paper, the mechanisms and regulation of silique dehiscence, and its application in agricultural production is reviewed.

The BnaNPR1-like gene family was identified in B. napus, and it was revealed that repression of BnaNPR1 significantly reduces resistance to S. sclerotiorum, intensifies ROS accumulation, and changes the expression of genes associated with SA and JA/ET signaling in response to this pathogen. The NONEXPRESSOR OF PATHOGENESIS-RELATED GENES1 (NPR1) and related NPR1-like genes play an important role in regulating plant defense. Oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.) is an important oilseed crop; however, little is known about the B. napus (Bna) NPR1-like gene family. Here, a total of 19 BnaNPR1-like genes were identified in the B. napus genome, and then named according to their respective best match in Arabidopsis thaliana (At), which led to the determination of B. napus homologs of every AtNPR1-like gene. Analysis of important protein domains and functional motifs indicated the conservation and variation among these homologs. Phylogenetic analysis of these BnaNPR1-like proteins and their Arabidopsis homologs revealed six distinct sub-clades, consequently indicating that their name classification totally conformed to their phylogenetic relationships. Further, B. napus transcriptomic data showed that the expression of three BnaNPR1s was significantly down-regulated in response to infection with Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, the most important pathogen of this crop, whereas BnaNPR2/3/4/5/6s did not show the expression differences in general. Further, we generated B. napus BnaNPR1-RNAi lines to interpret the effect of the down-regulated expression of BnaNPR1s on resistance to S. sclerotiorum. The results showed that BnaNPR1-RNAi significantly decreased this resistance. Further experiments revealed that BnaNPR1-RNAi intensified ROS production and changed defense responses in the interaction of plants with this pathogen. These results indicated that S. sclerotiorum might use BnaNPR1 to regulate specific physiological processes of B. napus, such as ROS production and SA defense response, for the infection.

Sclerotinia sclerotiorum causes a devastating disease in oilseed rape (Brassica napus), resulting in major economic losses. Resistance response of B. napus against S. sclerotiorum exhibits a typical quantitative disease resistance (QDR) characteristic, but the molecular determinants of this QDR are largely unknown. In this study, we isolated a B. napus mitogen-activated protein kinase gene, BnaMPK6, and found that BnaMPK6 expression is highly responsive to infection by S. sclerotiorum and treatment with salicylic acid (SA) or jasmonic acid (JA). Moreover, overexpression (OE) of BnaMPK6 significantly enhances resistance to S. sclerotiorum, whereas RNAi in BnaMPK6 significantly reduces this resistance. These results showed that BnaMPK6 plays an important role in defense to S. sclerotiorum. Furthermore, expression of defense genes associated with SA-, JA- and ethylene (ET)-mediated signaling was investigated in BnaMPK6-RNAi, WT and BnaMPK6-OE plants after S. sclerotiorum infection, and consequently, it was indicated that the activation of ET signaling by BnaMPK6 may play a role in the defense. Further, four BnaMPK6-encoding homologous loci were mapped in the B. napus genome. Using the allele analysis and expression analysis on the four loci, we demonstrated that the locus BnaA03.MPK6 makes an important contribution to QDR against S. sclerotiorum. Our data indicated that BnaMPK6 is a previously unknown determinant of QDR against S. sclerotiorum in B. napus.

The disease caused by Sclerotinia sclerotiorum has traditionally been difficult to control, resulting in tremendous economic losses in oilseed rape (Brassica napus). Identification of important genes in the defense responses is critical for molecular breeding, an important strategy for controlling the disease. Here, we report that a B. napus mitogen-activated protein kinase gene, BnaMPK3, plays an important role in the defense against S. sclerotiorum in oilseed rape. BnaMPK3 is highly expressed in the stems, flowers and leaves, and its product is localized in the nucleus. Furthermore, BnaMPK3 is highly responsive to infection by S. sclerotiorum and treatment with jasmonic acid (JA) or the biosynthesis precursor of ethylene (ET), but not to treatment with salicylic acid (SA) or abscisic acid. Moreover, overexpression (OE) of BnaMPK3 in B. napus and Nicotiana benthamiana results in significantly enhanced resistance to S. sclerotiorum, whereas resistance is diminished in RNAi transgenic plants. After S. sclerotiorum infection, defense responses associated with ET, JA, and SA signaling are intensified in the BnaMPK3-OE plants but weakened in the BnaMPK3-RNAi plants when compared to those in the wild type plants; by contrast the level of both H2O2 accumulation and cell death exhibits a reverse pattern. The candidate gene association analyses show that the BnaMPK3-encoding BnaA06g18440D locus is a cause of variation in the resistance to S. sclerotiorum in natural B. napus population. These results suggest that BnaMPK3 is a key regulator of multiple defense responses to S. sclerotiorum, which may guide the resistance improvement of oilseed rape and related economic crops.

Sclerotinia sclerotiorum causes a devastating disease in oilseed rape (Brassica napus), an important oil crop, resulting in huge economic losses. Studies have shown that Arabidopsis thaliana NONEXPRESSOR OF PATHOGENESIS-RELATED GENES 1(NPR1), a key regulator of salicylic acid (SA) signaling, plays an important role in plant defense against pathogens. However, little is known about the B. napus (Bna) NPR1 gene and its role in defense to S. sclerotiorum. In this study, we cloned a new NPR1 homolog (BnaNPR1) from B. napus. The new cloned BnaNPR1 exhibits 68.35% identity with AtNPR1 in protein level, and its expression is strongly activated by the SA treatment that, in turn, can enhance resistance to S. sclerotiorum. Further, transgenic Nicotiana benthamiana and B. napus overexpressing BnaNPR1 showed significantly enhanced resistance to S. sclerotiorum. Further experiments showed that after S. sclerotiorum infection, transgenic plants activated the expression of genes associated with SA defense response but suppressed genes associated with JA signaling. These results indicated that BnaNPR1 plays a positive role in resistance of B. napus against S. sclerotiorum, which provides molecular evidence about the positive role of SA signaling in this resistance. Interestingly, it was revealed that the induced expression of BnaNPR1 is suppressed during the S. sclerotiorum infection. Thus, we propose that the strategies for utilization of BnaNPR1 to improve resistance to S. sclerotiorum will be overexpression.

Many special honeys are produced in Yunnan province due to abundant nectar plants and minerals resources provided by the unique natural environment in this area. In this work, the physicochemical property of three honeys (Viciacracca honey, Hevea brasiliensis honey and Punica granatum honey) from Yunnan was studied. The results showed that in different honeys the moisture content, electrical conductivity and dynamic viscosity were different. The sugar contents of each honey were determined with HPLC-RI. The results showed that P. granatum honey had the most abundant glucose [35.62 g·(100 g)-1], and H. brasiliensis honey had the most abundant fructose [41.03 g·(100 g)-1]. Thirteen different mineral elements in three honey species were determined with FAAS. It was found that the mineral level was from 167.24 mg·kg-1 in P. granatum honey to 437.34 mg·kg-1 in H. brasiliensis. Based on the mineral content the three honey species were classified following the principal component analysis (PCA) method. The result showed that Cu, Zn and Na could act as the elemental markers for V. cracca honey, while Mg, K, Ca, As and Cd act as the elemental markers for H. brasiliensis honey, and Fe, Mn, Ni, and Cr act as the elemental markers for P. granatum honey. This study reported the physicochemical property of three special Yunnan honeys, which could help the further study and utilization of these honeys.

In this study, we examined the relationship between abscisic acid (ABA), auxin, and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling and the cell cycle in rice (Oryza sativa L. cv. Zhonghua No. 11) roots. Root system growth was significantly promoted by 0.1 nM ABA but markedly inhibited by 0.3 mM Tungstate (TS, an ABA biosynthesis inhibitor). Detection of plants treated with DRB (an RNA synthesis inhibitor, 5,6-dichlorobenzimidazole 1-β-d-ribofuranoside), TIBA (2,3,5-triiodobenzoic acid, an inhibitor of polar auxin transport), or BFA (brefeldin, a protein transport inhibitor) using DR5-GUS staining revealed that ABA regulates the distribution of auxin via transcription and transport pathways. The expression of some auxin- and cell cycle-related genes, as well as several ABA or MAPK genes, was differentially regulated in roots by ABA and TS at 7 or 11 days, indicating that a certain level of ABA action may primarily target specific genes involved in MAPK and auxin signaling and the cell cycle at a given developmental stage. The results suggest that an appropriate level of ABA determines auxin homeostasis through controlling gene expression and the distribution of auxin, and that ABA regulates the auxin and MAPK signaling pathways and influences cell-cycle progression. Overall, ABA plays positive roles in regulating root system growth by modulating MAPK and auxin signaling and the cell cycle. Our findings help elucidate the integrative effects of ABA, auxin, and MAPK signaling and the cell cycle on root growth. We propose a working model for the role of ABA in root system growth.

Industrial washing oil as solvent, super clean coal was extracted and prepared from raw coal using heat extraction technology. The structures of raw coal and super clean coal were characterized by thermogravimetry, Fu Liye infrared spectrum, Gieseler fluidity. The results showed that the heat extraction rate of super clean coal was decreased with the increasing of coalification degree. The ash of raw coal which were silicate and alumina can be concentrated by heat extraction technology into coal residue and the mixtures of various structure were mainly composed of aromatic hydrocarbons also can be extracted effectively. Compared with raw coal, the super clean coal had lower softening temperature,higher final fluid temperature and curing temperature,thus it had the plastic range wider. Thickness of plastic layer was determinate by 80%Si-ma lean coal matching 20% super clean coal which can be considered coking binder was obtained from Xiao-kang village 1/3 coking coal heat extraction. The Y value is 27.4. The coal coking was in complete fusion state after experiment.

We studied the link between abscisic acid (ABA), auxin, MAPK (mitogen-activated protein kinase) signaling, and the cell cycle in cadmium (Cd)-stressed rice (Oryza sativa L. cv. Zhonghua No. 11) roots. ABA can partially compensate for root growth inhibition and counteract over-accumulation of auxin caused by Cd. GUS staining of rice plants harboring DR5-GUS showed that ABA affects auxin distribution in Cd-stressed roots. Detection using DRB (5,6-dichlorobenzimidazole 1-β-d-ribofuranoside, an RNA synthesis inhibitor), MG132 (a protein degradation inhibitor), BFA (brefeldin A, a protein transport inhibitor), and TIBA (2,3,5-triiodobenzoic acid, a polar auxin transport inhibitor) revealed that ABA regulates the distribution of auxin via transcription, protein degradation, and transport pathways under Cd stress. Several genes related to ABA and MAPK, key components of the auxin signaling pathway, and the cell cycle were differentially regulated by Cd plus ABA vs. Cd plus tungstate (TS) (a ABA biosynthesis inhibitor) at 7 days or 11 days of treatment in roots, indicating that ABA levels affect the transcription of these genes, and that these genes are differentially regulated by ABA in rice seedlings at different developmental stages. Furthermore, the expression of some of these genes differed between Cd + ABA/TS-treated plants and plants treated with TS or ABA alone, suggesting that ABA signaling serves specific functions in the regulation of gene expression under Cd stress. Overall, these results suggest that ABA coordinates auxin and MAPK signaling and the cell cycle in response to Cd stress. The ABA signal transduction pathways in Cd-stressed rice plants are discussed.

Industrial washing oil as solvent, super pure coal was extracted and prepared from raw coal using heat extraction technology. The structures of raw coal and super pure coal were characterized by thermogravimetry and Fu Liye infrared spectrum. The results showed that the heat extraction rate of super pure coal was decreased with the increasing of coalification degree. The ash of raw coal which were silicate and alumina can be concentrated by heat extraction technology into coal residue and the mixtures of various structure were mainly composed of aromatic hydrocarbons also can be extracted effectively.

New experimental data of densities and surface tensions are presented for the binary mixtures of the ionic liquid 1-ethyl-3-methyl imidazolium nitrate ([EMIM]NO 3 ) with methanol and ethanol. Measurements were performed at 298.15 K and atmospheric pressure, covering the whole composition range. Excess molar volumes V E and the surface tension deviations δγ have been determined. For the excess molar volumes of binary mixture, there is a region of negative V E at low IL mole fraction, passing through a minimum and then V E increases and becomes positive, showing maximum at higher IL mole fraction. It is shown that the surface tension deviations δγ of [EMIM]NO 3 + methanol system are positive but those of [EMIM]NO 3 + ethanol system are negative over the entire mole fraction range.

With homologous DNA probes, we had screened a grass carp heat shock protein 90 gene (CiHsp90). The full sequence of CiHsp90 cDNA was 2793 bp, which could code a 798 amino acids peptide. The phylogenetic analysis demonstrated that CiHsp90 shared the high homology with Zebrafish Grp94. Quantitative RT-PCR analysis showed that CiHsp90 was ubiquitously expressed at lower levels in all detected tissues and up-regulated after heat shock at 34 °C or cold stress at 4 °C. To understand the function of CiHsp90 involving in thermal protection, an expression vector containing coding region cDNA was expressed in E. coli BL21 (DE3) plysS. Upon transfer from 37 °C to 42 °C, these cells that accumulated CiHsp90 peptides displayed greater thermoresistance than the control cells. While incubated at 4°C for different periods, it could also improve the cell viability. After transient transfected recombinant plasmid pcDNA3.1/CiHsp90 into mouse myeloma cell line SP2/0, we found that CiHsp90 could contribute to protecting cells against both thermal and cold extremes. On the contrary, the mutant construct ΔN-CiHsp90 (256-798aa) could abolish the protection activity both in prokaryotic cells and eukaryotic cells. Additionally, both CiHsp90 and ΔN-CiHsp90 peptides could reduce the level of citrate synthase aggregation at the high temperature.

Aiming at the limitations of rapid fault diagnosis of blast furnace, a novel strategy based on cost-conscious least squares support vector machine (LS-SVM) is proposed to solve this problem. Firstly, modified discrete particle swarm optimization is applied to optimize the feature selection and the LS-SVM parameters. Secondly, cost-conscious formula is presented for fitness function and it contains in detail training time, recognition accuracy and the feature selection. The CLS-SVM algorithm is presented to increase the performance of the LS-SVM classifier. The new method can select the best fault features in much shorter time and have fewer support vectors and better generalization performance in the application of fault diagnosis of the blast furnace. Thirdly, a gradual change binary tree is established for blast furnace faults diagnosis. It is a multi-class classification method based on center-of-gravity formula distance of cluster. A gradual change classification percentage is used to select sample randomly. The proposed new method raises the speed of diagnosis, optimizes the classification accuracy and has good generalization ability for fault diagnosis of the application of blast furnace.

Dechlorination with tetravalent sulfur is widely used in wastewater treatment processes after chlorination. Dechlorination can remove certain genotoxic disinfection by-products (DBPs). However, the reactions occurring during dechlorination of chlorinated secondary effluent and their genotoxic chemicals are still very complex, and the related genotoxicity changes remain unknown. Therefore, the effects of dechlorination on genotoxicity in secondary effluent and its fractions and typical genotoxic chemical after chlorination were evaluated.The dissolved organic matter in the secondary effluent sample was separated into four fractions with XAD-8 resin. Genotoxicity of secondary effluent and its fractions was evaluated by SOS/umu test, an ISO standard method. The concentration of typical genotoxic chemical named ofloxacin was determined by liquid chromatography with a mass spectrometer and a fluorescence detector.Dechlorination with the addition of Na(2)SO(3) notably decreased the genotoxicity in the chlorinated secondary effluent, especially in the presence of high ammonia nitrogen concentration in the sample before chlorination. The Na(2)SO(3) addition significantly decreased the genotoxicity of the secondary effluent and its genotoxic ofloxacin prior to chlorination. The genotoxicity in the fractions containing hydrophobic acids (HOA) increased after chlorination, while addition of Na(2)SO(3) decreased the genotoxicity induced by chlorination. Tryptophan found in HOA exhibited genotoxicity after chlorination, while dechlorination decreased the genotoxicity in chlorinated tryptophan induced by DBPs.Dechlorination was found to decrease the genotoxicity of chlorinated secondary effluent. The decrease was associated with the reduction of genotoxicity in genotoxic chemicals in secondary effluent prior to chlorination and DBPs.

Chlorination of wastewater can form genotoxic, mutagenic, and/or carcinogenic disinfection byproduct (DBPs). In this study, the effect of bromide on genotoxicity in secondary effluent of a municipal wastewater treatment plant during chlorination was evaluated by the SOS/umu test. The presence of bromide notably decreased the genotoxicity in secondary effluent during chlorination, especially under conditions of high ammonia concentration. Bromide significantly decreased the concentration of ofloxacin, a genotoxic chemical in secondary effluent, during chlorination with high concentration of ammonia, while genotoxic DBPs formation of humic acid and aromatic amino acids associated with bromide limitedly contributed to the changes of genotoxicity in secondary effluent under the conditions of this study. By fractionating dissolved organic matter (DOM) in the secondary effluent into different fractions, the fractions containing hydrophilic substances (HIS) and hydrophobic acids (HOA) contributed to the decrease in genotoxicity induced by bromide. Chlorination of HOA without bromide increased genotoxicity, while the addition of bromide decreased genotoxicity.

Environmental stresses and the continuing deterioration of arable land, along with an explosive increase in world population, pose serious threats to global agricultural production and food security. Improving the tolerance of the major crop plants to abiotic stresses has been a main goal in agriculture for a long time. As rice is considered one of the major crops, the development of new cultivars with enhanced abiotic stress-tolerance will undoubtedly have an important effect on global food production. The transgenic approach offers an attractive alternative to conventional techniques for the genetic improvement of rice cultivars. In recent years, an array of stress-related genes has already been transferred to rice to improve its resistance against abiotic stresses. Many transgenic rice plants with enhanced abiotic stress-tolerance have been obtained. This article focuses on the progress in the study of abiotic stress tolerance in transgenic rice breeding.

The present study reports results of qualitative melittopalynological analyses of 34 honey samples of Apis cerana and Apis mellifera between 2011 and 2012 in Mengzi (China Yunnan) and the trophic niche analysis of two bee species on pollen food resources. A diverse spectrum of 17 pollen types from 14 families was identified with the Asteraceae and Myrtaceae being most frequent at non-nectar flow and the Lythraceae being most frequent at main nectar flow of pomegranate. The results of trophic niche analysis to Apis cerana and Apis mellifera are these, at non-nectar flow, the Niche breadth are 0.65 and 0.57, respectively; at nectar flow, the values are 0.41 and 0.24, respectively. Trophic niche overlap index, the value of nectar flow(0.68) is greater than non-nectar flow(0.61). Interspecific competition index, the value of nectar flow(0.92) is also greater than non-nectar flow(0.77). These results may promote the development of local beekeeping and help scholars assessing the impact of introduced bees on native bees in China.

In 2010 and 2011, the honey samples of Apis cerana cerana and A. mellifera ligustica were collected from Kunming and Mengzi of Yunnan Province, respectively, aimed to analyze the melissopalynology and tropic niche of the two bee species. The absolute pollen concentration of the honey of A. cerana cerana was 1.55 x 10(4) ind x g(-1), being significantly higher than that (1.01 x 10(4) ind x g(-1)) of A. mellifera ligustica, and the number of nectar plant species collected by A. cerana cerana was 12.9, also significantly higher than that (7.7) collected by A. mellifera ligustica, indicating that A. cerana cerana could utilize more nectar plants, while A. mellifera ligustica had stronger selectivity to the nectar plants. The trophic niche breadth of A. cerana cerana was 0.35, which was significantly higher than that (0.23) of A. mellifera ligustica. The trophic niche overlap index between the two bee species was 0.71, and the interspecific competition index was 0.93, suggesting that the food competition between A. cerana cerana and A. mellifera ligustica was fierce.

This work aims to analyze the relationship between root growth, mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), auxin signaling, and cell cycle-related gene expression in cadmium (Cd)-stressed rice. The role of MAPKs in auxin signal modification and cell cycle-related gene expression during root growth was investigated by disrupting MAPK signaling using the MAPKK inhibitor PD98059 (PD). Treatment with Cd caused a significant accumulation of Cd in the roots. A Cd-specific probe showed that Cd is mainly localized in the meristematic zone and vascular tissues. Perturbation of MAPK signaling using PD significantly suppressed root system growth under Cd stress. The transcription of six MAPK genes was inhibited by Cd compared to the control. Detection using DR5-GUS transgenic rice showed that the intensity and distribution pattern of GUS staining was similar in roots treated with PD or Cd, whereas in Cd plus PD-treated roots, the GUS staining pattern was similar to that of the control, which indicates a close association of MAPK signaling with auxin homeostasis under control and Cd stress conditions. The expression of most key genes of auxin signaling, including OsYUCCA, OsPIN, OsARF, and OsIAA, and of most cell cycle-related genes, was negatively regulated by MAPKs under Cd stress. These results suggest that the MAPK pathway plays specific roles in auxin signal transduction and in the control of the cell cycle in response to Cd stress. Altogether, MAPKs take part in the regulation of root growth via auxin signal variation and the modified expression of cell cycle-related genes in Cd-stressed rice. A working model for the function of MAPKs in rice root systems grown under Cd stress is proposed.

According to the characters of SVM, an improved binary-tree SVM is proposed for multi-class problems. Furthermore aiming at the initial problems about the choice of kernel function and parameters for SVM, an ensemble method is presented to establish ensemble SVM. Here the improved SVM is used as weak learning machine. The new ensemble SVM can improve the performance of single binary-tree SVM. At the end, the new method is used to fault diagnosis of TE process. The experiments demonstrate that the ensemble improved SVM can diagnose the fault efficiently.

The multi-functional cellulase gene, mfc , from Ampullaria crossean was transformed into Volvariella volvacea by PEG-mediated protoplast transformation to improve the biological efficiency and fruiting body yield. PCR and Southern blotting indicated that mfc was integrated into the genomes of four transformants. In laboratory and large scale cultivation experiments, the average biological efficiency of the transformants was 18.39 ± 1.27% and 27.84 ± 3.21%, respectively, considerably higher than the corresponding values for untransformed controls of 12.69 ± 1.31% and 20.63 ± 2.59%. This is the first report of an improvement in biological efficiency and fruiting body yield of V. volvacea through transgenesis.

The GST (glutathione S-transferase) and GST+CAT1 (catalase 1) of Suaeda salsa were introduced into a low temperature-sensitive rice cultivar (Oryza sativa cv. Zhonghua No.11) by Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation under the control of cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) 35S promoter, and the transformed calli and plantlets were screened on Murashige and Skoog (1962) medium supplemented with hygromycin 25 microg/mL and cefotaxime 300 microg/mL. The putative primary transformants (T(0) generation) were acclimatized at 26 degrees C /22 degrees C in a greenhouse for 7 d, and then transplanted to the field, where they grew up to maturity under outdoor conditions. 25 and 14 independent transgenic lines of T(1) generation carrying the GST and GST+CAT1 genes, respectively, were identified by PCR amplification. Transgene expression was monitored by RNA-blot hybridization using total RNA samples from leaf tissues. To investigate whether expressing the Suaeda salsa GST and GST+CAT1 in transgenic rice increased low temperature stress tolerance, the T(4) 14-day-old transgenic and non-transgenic rice seedlings were transferred to a low temperature (day 7 degrees C/night 4 degrees C) growth chamber for 3-6 d. The experimental data showed that expressing the Suaeda salsa GST and GST+CAT1 enhanced low temperature stress resistance in transgenic rice seedlings. When treated with low temperature, both GST and CAT activity increased in the transformants with the time of temperature treatment. These transgenic rice plant seedlings exhibited a higher level of photosynthetic capacity than those of the non-transgenic control seedlings under low temperature treatment. Whereas, there were lower H(2)O(2) and MDA (malondialdehyde) content, and relative electrolyte leakage through the plasma membrane was also lower in transgenic rice seedlings than in the parent line under low temperature condition. The results also indicated that GST+CAT1 co-expression conferred greater level of low temperature stress tolerance to the transformed rice plants compared to the single GST transformed plants.