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The regulation of gene expression plays an essential role in both the phenotype and adaptation of plants. Transcriptome sequencing enables simultaneous identification of exonic variants and quantification of gene expression. Here, we sequenced the leaf transcriptomes of 287 rice accessions from around the world and obtained a total of 177 853 high-quality single nucleotide polymorphisms after filtering. Genome-wide association study identified 44 354 expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs), which regulate the expression of 13 201 genes, as well as 17 local eQTL hotspots and 96 distant eQTL hotspots. Furthermore, a transcriptome-wide association study screened 21 candidate genes for starch content in the flag leaves at the heading stage. HS002 was identified as a significant distant eQTL hotspot with five downstream genes enriched for diterpene antitoxin synthesis. Co-expression analysis, eQTL analysis, and linkage mapping together demonstrated that bHLH026 acts as a key regulator to activate the expression of downstream genes. The transgenic assay revealed that bHLH026 is an important regulator of diterpenoid antitoxin synthesis and enhances the disease resistance of rice. These findings improve our knowledge of the regulatory mechanisms of gene expression variation and complex regulatory networks of the rice genome and will facilitate genetic improvement of cultivated rice varieties.

The understanding of the electrode-polyelectrolyte interface is important for the development of devices using polyelectrolyte, such as polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFCs), solid polymer electrolyte water electrolyzers and CO2 reduction eletrolyzers. In the past decade, the invention of shell-isolated nanoparticle enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SHINERS) has greatly widened the application of surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) on the electrode-solution interface research, but the study of the electrode-polyelectrolyte interface is still rare. More than that, the reported electrochemical in-situ Raman works on the electrode-polyelectrolyte interface have the common issue of coexistence of the electrode-solution interface and the electrode-polyelectrolyte interfaces. In this work, we report a new design of electrochemical in-situ Raman test method suitable for the study of electrode-polyelectrolyte interface. This method focuses on the use of screen printing electrodes (SPE) with a compact planar three-electrode structure. With this planar structure, a normal electrochemical behavior of the electrode can be obtained by adding pure water instead of additional electrolyte solution. Meanwhile, the use of SPE planar electrode also avoids the problems of incomplete polymer coating on the catalyst surface and complex electrochemical interfaces caused by the use of powder materials. The experimental results indicate that Pt-plated SPE can work normally in both electrolyte solutions (H2SO4 and KOH) and pure water-polyelectrolyte membranes (Nafion and QAPPT). Except for the pure water-QAPPT membrane system, all the other systems demonstrate strong potential-dependent Pt-O stretching mode signals from the electrode-electrolyte interfaces, which verifies that this method is practical and effective for the electrochemical in-situ Raman study of both electrode-solution and electrode-polyelectrolyte interfaces.

CO2 electroreduction offers a promising approach to alleviate global warming and reduce petroleum consumption simultaneously, due to its capability to convert the greenhouse gas CO2 to valuable fuels and chemicals by using renewable electricity. Electrocatalyst has an essential impact on the CO2 electroreduction performance. Among the diverse exploited materials, Cu is the only monometallic electrocatalyst that can produce CO and hydrocarbons. However, its activity, selectivity, and durability are not satisfactory for practical applications. Here, we make a comprehensive survey of the recent progress in enhancing Cu-based electrocatalysts with the strategies such as oxidation pre-treatment, heteroatom doping, morphological control, and surface modification. This review provides an overview of the current status and future opportunities for Cu-catalyzed CO2 electroreduction. It may contribute to the rational design of Cu-based electrocatalysts with improved performance and thus advance practical CO2 electrolyzer development.

Glomeruli instance segmentation from pathologic images is a fundamental step in the automatic analysis of renal biopsies. Glomerular histologic manifestations vary widely among diseases and cases, and several special staining methods are necessary for pathologic diagnosis. A robust model is needed to segment and classify glomeruli with different staining methods and apply in cases with various glomerular pathologic changes. Herein, pathologic images from renal biopsy slides stained with three basic special staining methods were used to build the data sets. The snapshot group included 1970 glomeruli from 516 patients, and the whole-slide image group included 8665 glomeruli from 148 patients. Cascade Mask region-based convolutional neural net architecture was trained to detect, classify, and segment glomeruli into three categories: i) GN, structural normal; ii) global sclerosis; and iii) glomerular with other lesions. In the snapshot group, total glomeruli, GN, global sclerosis, and glomerular with other lesions achieved an F1 score of 0.914, 0.896, 0.681, and 0.756, respectively, which were comparable with those in the whole-slide image group (0.940, 0.839, 0.806, and 0.753, respectively). Among the three categories, GN achieved the best instance segmentation effect in both groups, as determined by average precision, average recall, F1 score, and Mask mean Intersection over Union. The present model segments and classifies multistained glomeruli with efficiency and robustness. It can be applied as the first step for more detailed glomerular histologic analysis.

As the most common cancer of the genitourinary system, prostate cancer (PCa) is a global men′s health problem whose treatments are an urgent research issue. Treatment options for PCa include active surveillance (AS), surgery, endocrine therapy, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, immunotherapy, etc. However, as the cancer progresses, the effectiveness of treatment options gradually decreases, especially in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC), for which there are fewer therapeutic options and which have a shorter survival period and worse prognosis. For this reason, oncolytic viral therapy (PV), with its exceptional properties of selective tumor killing, relatively good safety in humans, and potential for transgenic delivery, has attracted increasing attention as a new form of anti-tumor strategy for PCa. There is growing evidence that OV not only kills tumor cells directly by lysis but can also activate anticancer immunity by acting on the tumor microenvironment (TME), thereby preventing tumor growth. In fact, evidence of the efficacy of this strategy has been observed since the late 19th century. However, subsequently, interest waned. The renewed interest in this therapy was due to advances in biotechnological methods and innovations at the end of the 20th century, which was also the beginning of PCa therapy with OV. Moreover, in combination with chemotherapy, radiotherapy, gene therapy or immunotherapy, OV viruses can have a wide range of applications and can provide an effective therapeutic result in the treatment of PCa.

Ultrathin alkaline polymer electrolyte (APE) membranes have become a hot research topic for high-performance alkaline polymer electrolyte fuel cells (APEFCs). To our knowledge, freestanding ultrath...

Appearance and taste are important factors in rice (Oryza sativa) grain quality. Here, we investigated the taste scores and related eating-quality traits of 533 diverse cultivars to assess the relationships between-and genetic basis of-rice taste and eating-quality. A genome-wide association study highlighted the Wx gene as the major factor underlying variation in taste and eating quality. Notably, a novel waxy (Wx) allele, Wxla , which combined two mutations from Wxb and Wxin , exhibited a unique phenotype. Reduced GBSSI activity conferred Wxla rice with both a transparent appearance and good eating quality. Haplotype analysis revealed that Wxla was derived from intragenic recombination. In fact, the recombination rate at the Wx locus was estimated to be 3.34 kb/cM, which was about 75-fold higher than the genome-wide mean, indicating that intragenic recombination is a major force driving diversity at the Wx locus. Based on our results, we propose a new network for Wx evolution, noting that new Wx alleles could easily be generated by crossing genotypes with different Wx alleles. This study thus provides insights into the evolution of the Wx locus and facilitates molecular breeding for quality in rice. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Developing efficient catalysts toward the oxygen evolution reaction(OER) is important for water splitting and rechargeable metal-air batteries. Although NiFe oxides are considered as potentially applicable catalysts in the alkaline media, there are still a limited numbers of researches working on membrane electrode assembly(MEA) fed with pure water due to their poor electrical conductivity. In this work, antimony doped tin oxide(ATO) has been employed as conductive supports where NiFe layered double hydroxide uniformly dispersed[named NiFe-LDH(layered double hydroxide)/ATO]. The catalysts have been synthesized by a one-step co-precipitation method, and then NiFe-LDH/ATO-air plasma was obtained through mild air plasma treatment. According to XPS analysis, binding energies of Ni2p and Fe2p were shifted negatively. Moreover, a new signal of low oxygen coordination appeared on O1s spectrum after air plasma treatment. These XPS results indicated that oxygen vacancies(Ov) were generated after air plasma treatment. Electrochemical measurement indicated that the vacancy-rich NiFe-LDH/ATO-air plasma exhibited better performance than NiFe-LDH/ATO not only in 1 mol/L KOH solutions but also in an alkaline polymer electrolyte water electrolyzer(APEWE) fed with deionized water. This work provides a feasible way to design practical catalysts used in electrochemical energy conversion systems by choosing corrosion resistance supports and defect engineering.

Rice grain oil is a valuable nutrient source. However, the genetic basis of oil biosynthesis in rice grains remains unclear. In this study, we performed a genome-wide association study on oil composition and oil concentration in a diverse panel of 533 cultivated rice accessions. High variation for 11 oil-related traits was observed, and the oil composition of rice grains showed differentiation among the subpopulations. We identified 46 loci that are significantly associated with grain oil concentration or composition, 16 of which were detected in three recombinant inbred line populations. Twenty-six candidate genes encoding enzymes involved in oil metabolism were identified from these 46 loci, four of which (PAL6, LIN6, MYR2, and ARA6) were found to contribute to natural variation in oil composition and to show differentiation among the subpopulations. Interestingly, population genetic analyses revealed that specific haplotypes of PAL6 and LIN6 have been selected in japonica rice. Based on these results, we propose a possible oil biosynthetic pathway in rice grains. Collectively, our results provide new insights into the genetic basis of oil biosynthesis in rice grains and can facilitate marker-based breeding of rice varieties with enhanced oil and grain quality.

Powered by renewable electricity, the electrochemical conversion of CO2 to liquid fuels and valuable chemicals is a meaningful approach to enable carbon cycling and tackle environmental issues. An ...

Transition metal-based electrocatalysts will undergo surface reconstruction to form active oxyhydroxide-based hybrids, which are regarded as the "true-catalysts" for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Much effort has been devoted to understanding the surface reconstruction, but little on identifying the origin of the enhanced performance derived from the substrate effect. Herein, we report the electrochemical synthesis of amorphous CoOOH layers on the surface of various cobalt sulfides (CoS

Significance We present a groundbreaking advance in completely nonprecious hydrogen fuel cell technologies achieving a record power density of 200 mW/cm 2 with Ni@CN x anode and Co−Mn cathode. The 2-nm CN x coating weakens the O-binding energy, which effectively mitigates the undesirable surface oxidation during hydrogen oxidation reaction (HOR) polarization, leading to a stable fuel cell operation for Ni@CN x over 100 h at 200 mA/cm 2 , superior to a Ni nanoparticle counterpart. Ni@CNx exhibited a dramatically enhanced tolerance to CO relative to Pt/C, enabling the use of hydrogen gas with trace amounts of CO, critical for practical applications. The complete removal of precious metals in fuel cells lowers the catalyst cost to virtually negligible levels and marks a milestone for practical alkaline fuel cells.

Genetic profiles of the bladder Depending on the environment of the individual, the human bladder can be exposed to carcinogens as they are flushed through the body. Lawson et al. and Li et al. examined the genetic composition of laser-dissected microbiopsies from normal and cancer cells collected from the urothelium, a specialized epithelium lining the lower urinary tract (see the Perspective by Rozen). These complementary studies identified the mutational landscape of bladder urothelium through various sequencing strategies and identified high mutational heterogeneity within and between individuals and tumors. Both studies identified mutational profiles related to specific carcinogens such as aristolochic acid and the molecules found in tobacco. These studies present a comprehensive description of the diverse mutational landscape of the human bladder in health and disease, unraveling positive selection for cancer-causing mutations, a diversity of mutational processes, and large differences across individuals. Science , this issue p. 75 , p. 82 ; see also p. 34

Increasing the antioxidation capability of Ni for the hydrogen oxidation reaction (HOR) is considered important and challenging for alkaline polymer electrolyte fuel cells (APEFCs). Herein, we report a series of Ni-core carbon-shell (Ni@C) catalysts obtained by a vacuum pyrolysis method treated at different temperatures. According to the cyclic voltammetry tests and the HOR tests, Ni@C treated at 500 °C exhibits a much higher Ni core utilization and better catalytic activity toward HOR than the commonly used Ni/C catalyst. Furthermore, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy characterization shows that a higher percentage of Ni

Metallic tin (Sn) has always been considered as an anode candidate for nonaqueous lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). Nevertheless, there were hardly any attempts to use Sn as an anode material in aqueou...

SnO2 is an attractive anodic material for advanced lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). However, its low electronic conductivity and large volume change in lithiation/delithiation lead to a poor rate/cycling performance. Moreover, the initial Coulombic efficiencies (CEs) of SnO2 anodes are usually too low to build practical full LIBs. Herein, a two-step hydrothermal synthesis and pyrolysis method is used to prepare a SnO2/C nanocomposite, in which aggregated SnO2 nanosheets and a carbon network are well-interpenetrated with each other. The SnO2/C nanocomposite exhibits a good rate/cycling performance in half-cell tests but still shows a low initial CE of 45%. To overcome this shortage and realize its application in a full-cell assembly, the SnO2/C anode is controllably prelithiated by the lithium-biphenyl reagent and then coupled with a LiCoO2 cathode. The resulting full LIB displays a high capacity of over 98 mAh g-1LCO in 300 cycles at 1 C rate.

Speciation has long been regarded as an irreversible process once the reproductive barriers had been established. However, unlike in natural populations, artificial selection might either accelerate or prevent speciation processes in domesticated species. Asian cultivated rice is a target crop for both domestication and artificial breeding; it contains two subspecies of indica and japonica, which usually produce sterile inter-subspecific hybrids due to reproductive barriers. In this study, we constructed the evolutionary trajectory of a reproductive isolation system S5, which regulates fertility in indica-japonica hybrids via three adjacent genes, based on the data of 606 accessions including two cultivated and 11 wild rice species. Although hybrid sterility haplotypes at S5 lead to establishment of a killer-protector reproductive barrier, origin of wide-compatibility haplotypes by complex hybridization and recombination provides an opposing force to reproductive isolation and thus prevents speciation during domestication. Analysis in a diallel set of 209 crosses involving 21 parents showed that the wide-compatibility genotypes largely rescued fertility of indica-japonica hybrids, indicating that the wide-compatibility gene would enable gene flow to maintain species coherence. This counteracting system indicates that combined effects of natural evolution and artificial selection may result in reversible processes of speciation in rice, which may also have implications for genetic improvement of rice.

Electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2RR) to liquid fuels and valued chemicals is a meaningful approach to decreasing CO2 emissions and alleviating the energy crisis. In particular, the c...

Background Wild-abortive cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS-WA) and Honglian CMS (CMS-HL) are the two main CMS types utilized in production of three-line hybrid rice in xian/indica (XI) rice. Dissection of the genetic basis of fertility restoration of CMS-WA and CMS-HL in the core germplasm population would provide valuable gene and material resources for development of three-line hybrid combinations. Results In this study, two F1 populations with CMS-WA and CMS-HL background respectively were developed using 337 XI and aus accessions being paternal parents. Genome-wide association studies on three fertility-related traits of the two populations for two consecutive years revealed that both fertility restoration of CMS-WA and CMS-HL were controlled by a major locus and several minor loci respectively. The major locus for fertility restoration of CMS-WA was co-located with Rf4, and that for fertility restoration of CMS-HL was co-located with Rf5, which are cloned major restorer of fertility (Rf) genes. Furthermore, haplotype analysis of Rf4, Rf5 and Rf6, the three cloned major Rf genes, were conducted using the 337 paternal accessions. Four main haplotypes were identified for Rf4, and displayed different subgroup preferences. Two main haplotypes were identified for Rf5, and the functional type was carried by the majority of paternal accessions. In addition, eight haplotypes were identified for Rf6. Conclusions Haplotype analysis of three Rf genes, Rf4, Rf5 and Rf6, could provide valuable sequence variations that can be utilized in marker-aided selection of corresponding genes in rice breeding. Meanwhile, fertility evaluation of 337 accessions under the background of CMS could provide material resources for development of maintainer lines and restorers.

Controlled chemical prelithiation of high capacity phosphorous/carbon (P/C) composite anode has been applied to develop advanced lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). The initial coulombic efficiency (CE) of P/C is significantly improved (up to 93% for fully-prelithiated P/C) owing to the formation of an artificial solid electrolyte interface (SEI) layer, which is characterized by SEM, Raman and XPS analyses. It ensures the application of P/C anode in real battery assembly. A partly-prelithiated P/C anode prepared by 20 s prelithiation treatment is paired with a LiCoO2 (LCO) cathode. The full cell delivers a highly reversible capacity of ~104 mAh g−1LCO at 1C rate and retains a CE close to 100% over 2000 cycles. Moreover, a fully-prelithiated P/C anode prepared by 10 min prelithiation treatment is paired with a high-capacity Li-free sulfur/carbon (S/C) cathode. This newly configured full cell delivers a good rate and cycling performance and a high energy density of 358 Wh kg−1.

Lithium-ion/sulfur (Li-ion/S) batteries consisting of metallic lithium-free anodes and sulfur cathodes are promising energy storage solutions. Anode prelithiation enables a Li-ion/S battery assembly with the extensively-developed sulfur cathodes. However, it's very challenging owing to the low lithiation potentials of anode materials (e.g. Al, 0.32 V vs. Li/Li+). Here, a free-standing LiAl alloy anode (c-LiAl) is prepared via an easy-to-implement chemical prelithiation, by using a newly exploited reagent of lithium 9,9-dimethylfluorene (Li-DiMF) with a lower redox potential of 0.22 V vs. Li/Li+. Compared with the LiAl anode prepared by electrochemical prelithiation (e-LiAl) and the lithium metal anode by electrodeposition (e-Li/Cu), c-LiAl displays a superior cyclability in the half cell test and high resistance towards polysulfide or ambient-air corrosion. When paired with a sulfur cathode, the resulting Li-ion/S battery with c-LiAl demonstrates a much better cycling performance than the Li-ion/S battery with e-LiAl and the lithium/sulfur battery with e-Li/Cu.

Xanthogranulomatous adrenalitis (XGA) is a rare inflammatory condition of the adrenal glands, probably resulting from a combination of chronic infection and local bleeding. Herein, we present an exceedingly rare case of functional xanthogranulomatous adrenalitis occurring in a 44-year-old Chinese female patient. With a history of intermittent superficial infection and a high level of C-reactive protein for 6 months, she presented to the hospital without fever or flank pain. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed a 5-cm right adrenal mass, which showed iso-signal on T1WI and a slightly long signal or iso-signal on T2WI. The preoperative basal serum renin level of the patient was decreased and the aldosterone-to-renin ratio was increased. After laparoscopic radical adrenalectomy, the adrenal mass was diagnosed as xanthogranulomatous adrenalitis, which was confirmed by histological examination and immunohistochemical staining for CD68. One month after surgery, the serum renin and aldosterone to renin ratio of the patient dropped to normal levels. Our case shows that xanthogranulomatous adrenalitis may resemble functional adrenal neoplasms, both biochemically and radiologically. The most likely cause of xanthogranulomatous adrenalitis is chronic infection, especially gram-positive coccus infection. Xanthogranulomatous adrenalitis should be considered when clinical and radiological manifestations are not typical for other inflammatory diseases or adrenal neoplasms.

qFC6, a major quantitative trait locus for rice crude fat content, was fine mapped to be identical with Wx. FC6 negatively regulates crude fat content and rice quality. Starch, protein and lipids are the three major components in rice endosperm. The lipids content in rice influences both storage and quality. In this study, we identified a quantitative trait locus (QTL), qFC6, for crude fat (free lipids) content through association analysis and linkage analysis. Gene-based association analysis revealed that LOC_Os06g04200, also known as Wx, was the candidate gene for qFC6. Complementation and knockout transgenic lines revealed that Wx negatively regulates crude fat content. Lipid composition and content analysis by gas chromatography and taste evaluation analysis showed that FC6 positively influenced bound lipids content and negatively affected both free lipids content and taste. Besides, higher free lipids content rice varieties exhibit more lustrous appearance after cooking and by adding extra oil during cooking could improve rice luster and taste score, indicating that higher free lipids content may make rice more lustrous and delicious. Together, we cloned a QTL coordinating rice crude fat content and eating quality and assisted in uncovering the genetic basis of rice lipid content and in the improvement of rice eating quality.

Introduction & Objectives: Canonical Wnt signaling (Wnt/β-catenin signaling) maintains the bone homeostasis by promoting the osteoblastic activities. The inhibitory factor, Dickkopf (DKK)1, enhances the bone resorption, especially in malignancies. The low density lipoprotein related protein (LRP) 5 is a component of membranous co-receptor of Wnt/β-catenin signaling and is also involved in serum low density lipoprotein cholestrol (LDL-C) level regulation. The clear cell renal cell carcinoma bone metastasis (ccRCC-BM) is characterized by osteolytic bone resorption. Whether and how Wnt/β-catenin signaling plays roles in regulating the invasion, metastasis and osteolytic process of ccRCC to bone remain unclear. This study investigated the expression of DKK1, LRP5 proteins in primary and metastatic lesions of RCC-BM. The therapeutic potential of Wnt/β-catenin signaling target medication was also evaluated.Materials & Methods: ccRCC-BM patients with paired samples of primary and metastatic lesions were selected. ccRCC patients without any metastasis (ccRCC-only) were set as control. Slides of paraffin-embedded tissue underwent immunohistochemical staining with monoclonalanti-DKK1 antibody and polyclonal anti-LRP5 antibody. Semi-quantitatively scoring according to staining intensity was performed. The staining results in the renal tissue adjacent to RCC, the primary RCC lesions (with BM or without BM), and the RCC-BM lesions were recorded. The expression difference was analyzed by univariate analysis of variance (ANOVA).Results: The expression of DKK1 was significantly different amid renal tissue adjacent to RCC, primary RCC and RCC-BM tissues (p< 0.001). The expression of DKK1 in primary RCC was significantly lower than that in renal tissue adjacent to RCC (pConclusions: A "rebound" of DKK1 expression was found in bone metastasis lesions. Along with the decreasing LRP5 expression in primary lesions of RCC-BM patients, this suggests that the canonical Wnt signaling (Wnt/β-catenin signaling) is inhibited during the bone metastasis process in ccRCC. The overexpression of DKK1 and the down-regulation of LRP5 receptor are involved.

In this work, we report a novel dual-redox electrochemical capacitor (EC) using a modified viologen (V) as anolyte and bromide (Br) as catholyte. In general, modified viologens are dications. When they are used as anolyte in aqueous dual-redox ECs, only one-electron reduction reaction can occur, because most divalent and monovalent viologens are soluble but zerovalent viologens are insoluble. The insoluble and nonconductive zerovalent viologens will block the surface of the activated carbon electrode from subsequent reactions. The energy densities of the dual-redox ECs using viologens are expected to be greatly improved if those viologens can carry out multiple electron reduction reactions. In this work, 1,1'-bis[3-(trimethylammonio)propyl]-4,4'-bipyridinium (NV

The self-healing feature of gallium (Ga) is unique, making Ga-based materials attract attention for their potential to solve the anode pulverization issue of lithium ion batteries. In this work, a hierarchical two-dimensional (2D) Ga2O3/C structure has been synthesized by a facile NaCl template method. Ga2O3 nanoparticles (3.8 nm) are uniformly embedded in 2D carbon nanosheets. The long horizontal length of the carbon nanosheets (10 μm) provides long-range electron conductivity, and the thin vertical thickness (75 nm) shortens the Li ion diffusion path. Benefited from the integrated 2D structure and the high electron conductivity, the obtained 2D Ga2O3/C nanosheets exhibit excellent overall performance, including high lithium storage capacity (1026 mAh g-1 at 0.5 A g-1), high rate capability (378 mAh g-1 at 10.0 A g-1), and high cyclability (500 cycles at 0.5 A g-1). The lithiation/delithiation mechanism of 2D Ga2O3/C has been further studied with combined electrochemical and ex situ X-ray diffraction methods.

Thermogalvanic cells (TGCs) directly convert waste heat to electricity, but the efficiency has been limited largely by the contradiction between thermal resistance and electrical conductance. Here ...

Wild and cultivated rice show a significant difference in anthocyanin biosynthesis in the leaf. The regulation system of anthocyanin biosynthesis in rice leaf and the causal mechanism of the difference in this biosynthesis between wild and cultivated rice remain largely unknown. In this study, a genome-wide association study and transcriptome analysis were performed to identify the determinant factors and dissect the regulatory system for anthocyanin biosynthesis in rice leaves. OsC1, OsRb and OsDFR were identified as the determinants of anthocyanin biosynthesis in rice leaves. Artificial selection of certain null mutations of OsC1 and OsRb was the main causal mechanism underlying the loss of anthocyanin pigmentation in most cultivated rice. OsP1 and the MYB-bHLH-WD40 complexes regulate anthocyanin biosynthetic genes in rice leaves with partial functional overlap. OsP1 specifically activates upstream biosynthetic genes (OsCHS, OsCHI and OsF3'H) for anthocyanin biosynthesis, whereas the ternary MYB-bHLH-WD40 complex activates all anthocyanin biosynthetic genes including OsCHS, OsCHI, OsF3'H, OsF3H, OsDFR and OsANS. OsC1 and OsRb are tissue-specific regulators that do not influence anthocyanin biosynthesis in the pericarp. Our results reveal the determinant factors, regulatory system and domestication of anthocyanin biosynthesis in rice leaves, and show the potential of engineering anthocyanin biosynthesis in rice.

The development of nonprecious electrocatalysts for hydrogen oxidation reaction (HOR) in alkaline is becoming one of the major obstacles to alkaline polymer electrolyte fuel cells (APEFCs). In this work, a series of Ni–Cu binary alloy films are high-throughput prepared using a combinatorial magnetron cosputtering method, and their corresponding electrocatalytic performances toward HOR in alkaline media are systematically studied. Both the intrinsic activity and antioxidation property of Ni are remarkably enhanced after Cu doping. A volcano-type relation between HOR activity and Cu doping content is revealed. The maximum activity is found at ca. 40 at. % Cu, with the exchange current density 4 times higher than that of pure Ni. This study gives us a deeper understanding of the impact of Cu addition on the HOR catalytic activity of Ni.

Mendelian inheritance can ensure equal segregation of alleles from parents to offspring, which provides fundamental basis for genetics and molecular biology. Segregation distortion (SD) leads to preferential transmission of certain alleles from generation to generation. Such violation of Mendelian genetic principle is often accompanied by reproductive isolation and eventually speciation. Although SD is observed in a wide range of species from plants to animals, genome-wide dissection of such biased transmission of gametes is rare. Using nine inter-subspecific rice crosses, a genome-wide screen for SD loci is performed, which reveals 61 single-locus quantitative trait loci and 194 digenic interactions showing distorted transmission ratio, among which 24 new SD loci are identified. Biased transmission of alleles is observed in all nine crosses, suggesting that SD exists extensively in rice populations. 72.13% distorted regions are repeatedly detected in multiple populations, and the most prevalent SD hotspot that observed in eight populations is mapped to chromosome 3. Xian alleles are transmitted at higher frequencies than geng alleles in inter-subspecific crosses, which change the genetic composition of the rice populations. Epistatic interaction contributes significantly to the deviation of Mendelian segregation at the whole-genome level in rice, which is distinct from that in animals. These results provide an extensive archive for investigating the genetic basis of SD in rice, which have significant implications in understanding the reproductive isolation and formation of inter-subspecific barriers during the evolution.

This study reports an ambient-air-tolerant approach for negative electrode prelithiation by using 1 M lithium-biphenyl (Li-Bp)/tetrahydrofuran (THF) solution as the prelithiation reagent. Key to this strategy are the relatively stable nature of 1 M Li-Bp/THF in ambient air and the unique electrochemical behavior of Bp in ether and carbonate solvents. With its low redox potential of 0.41 V vs Li/Li+, Li-Bp can prelithiate various active materials with high efficacy. The successful prelithiation of a phosphrous/carbon composite electrode and the notable improvement in its initial Coulombic efficiency (CE) demonstrates the practicality of this strategy.