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BODIPY dyes have recently been used for photothermal and photodynamic therapy of tumors. However, complex multi-material systems, multiple excitation wavelengths and the unclear relationship between BODIPY structures and their PTT/PDT efficiency are still major issues. In our study, nine novel BODIPY near-infrared dyes were designed and successfully synthesized and then, the relationships between BODIPY structures and their PTT/PDT efficiency were investigated in detail. The results showed that modifications at position 3,5 of the BODIPY core with conjugated structures have better effects on photothermal and photodynamic efficiency than the modifications at position 2,6 with halogen atoms. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations showed that this is mainly due to the extension of the conjugated chain and the photoinduced electron transfer (PET) effect. By encapsulating BDPX-M with amphiphilic DSPE-PEG2000-RGD and lecithin, the obtained NPs not only show good water solubility and biological stability, but also could act as superior agents for photothermal and photodynamic synergistic therapy of tumors. Finally, we obtained BODIPY NPs that exhibited excellent photothermal and photodynamic effects at the same time under single irradiation with an 808 nm laser (photothermal conversion efficiency: 42.76%, A/A0: ∼0.05). In conclusion, this work provides a direction to design and construct phototherapeutic nanoparticles based on BODIPY dyes for tumor treatment.

Panicle traits directly associated with yield are a target of selection in rice breeding. Although abundant QTL for panicle traits have been identified, there is little information about the genetic basis of panicle traits in japonica super rice (JSR) cultivars. In this study, we identified QTL for panicle traits in three environments using a population of recombinant inbred lines (RILs) derived from the JSR cultivar Liaoxing 1. A total of 197 RILs were genotyped with 285 polymorphic SNP markers. Phenotypic data and best linear unbiased prediction (BLUP) value of primary branch number (BNP), secondary branch number (BNS), grain number on primary branch (GNP), grain number on secondary branch (GNS), grain number per panicle (GN), panicle length (PL) and grain density (GD) were used for QTL mapping. A total of 105 QTL for seven panicle traits were detected in single environments using their BLUP values. Individual QTL explained 0.51%–52.22% of the phenotypic variation. Of the 105, 49 were also detected by joint multi-environment analyses. Five stable QTL: qGD9, qPL9, qGNP9, qGN6, and qBNS6.2 were identified in multiple environments. qGD9, qGNP9, and qPL9, co-localizing on chromosome 9, likely correspond to the known gene DEP1. Importantly, qGN6 and qBNS6.2 in a co-localization region were identified as novel QTL, and their Liaoxing 1 alleles had a positive effect. Several RILs with the QTL allele combinations qGD9/qPL9/qGNP9 and qGN6/qBNS6.2 showed greater GN. Further investigation of the putative gene underlying qGN6/qBNS6.2 would shed light on the molecular mechanism of JSR.

Interfacial adsorption configuration plays a crucial role in influencing the photovoltaic performance of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), and thus, theoretical investigations are needed to further understand the impacts of different absorption configurations on stoichiometric and defective TiO2(101) surfaces on the short-circuit photocurrent density (JSC) and open-circuit voltage (VOC) of DSSCs. Herein, calculations of isolated dyes and dye/TiO2 systems were performed on the donor-π bridge-acceptor (D-π-A) type porphyrin sensitizers bearing different donor moieties and an α-cyanoacrylic acid anchoring group (T1-3), using DFT and TD-DFT methods. And, for the first time, comparative analysis of interfacial electron transfer (IET) and density of states (DOS) were carried out on dye/TiO2 systems with stoichiometric and defective surfaces to provide further insight into the electronic factors influencing the efficiency of DSSCs, which can well explain the experimental variation trends of JSC and VOC values. It turned out that attachment via the carboxyl and cynao groups in a tridentate binding mode can result in more efficient IET rates and an upshifted conduction band in comparison with those of the bidentate attachment. More interestingly, we found that the adsorption configuration on defective surfaces containing an O2c vacancy induced more upshifted CBM and relatively fast IET, especially for the bonding mode through two O atoms of the carboxyl group.

Rice blast seriously threatens rice production worldwide. Utilizing the rice blast resistance gene to breed the rice blast resistant varieties is one of the best ways to control rice blast disease. Using a map-based cloning strategy, here, we cloned a novel rice blast resistance gene, Pi65 from the resistant variety GangYu129 (abbreviated GY129, O. sativa japonica ). Overexpression of Pi65 in the susceptible variety LiaoXing1 (abbreviated LX1, O. sativa japonica ) enhanced rice blast resistance, while knockout of Pi65 in GY129 resulted in susceptible to rice blast disease. Pi65 encodes two transmembrane domains, with 15 LRR domains and one serine/threonine protein kinase catalytic domain, conferring resistance to isolates of M. oryzae collected from northeast China. There are sixteen amino acids differences between the Pi65 resistance and susceptible alleles. Compared with the Pi65 resistant allele, the susceptible allele deleted one LRR domain. Pi65 was constitutively expressed in whole plants, and it could be induce expressed in the early stage of M. oryzae infection . Transcriptome analysis revealed that numerous genes associated with disease resistance were specifically upregulated in GY129 24-hour post inoculation (HPI), on the contrary, the photosynthesis-and carbohydrate metabolism-related genes were particularly downregulated 24 HPI, demonstrating that the disease resistance associated genes has been activated in GY129 (carrying Pi65 ) after rice blast fungal infection, and the cellular basal and energy metabolism was inhibited simultaneously. Our study provides genetic resources for improving rice blast resistance as well as enriches the study of rice blast resistance mechanisms.

Pi65, a leucine-rich repeat receptor-like kinase (LRR-RLK) domain cloned from Oryza sativa japonica, is a novel rice blast disease resistance gene. Rice blast seriously threatens rice production worldwide. Utilizing the rice blast resistance gene to breed rice blast-resistant varieties is one of the best ways to control rice blast disease. Using a map-based cloning strategy, we cloned a novel rice blast resistance gene, Pi65, from the resistant variety GangYu129 (abbreviated GY129, Oryza sativa japonica). Overexpression of Pi65 in the susceptible variety LiaoXing1 (abbreviated LX1, Oryza sativa japonica) enhanced rice blast resistance, while knockout of Pi65 in GY129 resulted in susceptibility to rice blast disease. Pi65 encodes two transmembrane domains, with 15 LRR domains and one serine/threonine protein kinase catalytic domain, conferring resistance to isolates of Magnaporthe oryzae (abbreviated M. oryzae) collected from Northeast China. There were sixteen amino acid differences between the Pi65 resistance and susceptible alleles. Compared with the Pi65-resistant allele, the susceptible allele exhibited one LRR domain deletion. Pi65 was constitutively expressed in whole plants, and it could be induced in the early stage of M. oryzae infection. Transcriptome analysis revealed that numerous genes associated with disease resistance were specifically upregulated in GY129 24 h post inoculation (HPI); in contrast, photosynthesis and carbohydrate metabolism-related genes were particularly downregulated at 24 HPI, demonstrating that disease resistance-associated genes were activated in GY129 (carrying Pi65) after rice blast fungal infection and that cellular basal metabolism and energy metabolism were inhibited simultaneously. Our study provides genetic resources for improving rice blast resistance and enriches the study of rice blast resistance mechanisms.

Rice blast seriously threatens rice production worldwide. To control this disease, it is necessary to identify and utilize blast resistance genes to breed disease-resistant rice varieties. Here, we report a rice blast resistance gene, Pi65, isolated from the resistant variety GangYu129 (abbreviated GY129, O. sativa japonica) by map-based cloning. Pi65 overexpression in the susceptible variety LiaoXing1 (abbreviated LX1, O. sativa japonica) enhanced blast resistance, while Pi65 knockout in GY129 resulted in a decrease in its resistance to rice blast. Pi65 encodes two transmembrane regions, with 15 LRR domains and one serine/threonine protein kinase catalytic domain, conferring resistance to isolates of M. oryzae collected from northeast China. Sixteen amino acids differed between the resistance and susceptibility proteins. The Pi65 susceptibility allele had one fewer LRR duplication. Pi65 was constitutively expressed in whole plants, and M. oryzae inoculation significantly increased its expression level. Transcriptome sequencing revealed that numerous genes associated with disease resistance were specifically upregulated in GY129 24 h after M. oryzae inoculation, and photosynthesis-and carbohydrate metabolism-related genes were particularly downregulated, demonstrating disease resistance gene activation in GY129 mediated by Pi65 after rice blast fungal infection, cellular basal and energy metabolism was inhibited simultaneously. These combined factors endow GY129 with rice blast resistance. Our study provides genetic resources for improving rice blast resistance in japonica rice and enriches the study of rice blast resistance mechanisms.

BackgroundThe hybrid rice varieties have made a significant contribution to food security. Although there has been rapid development of hybrid indica rice variety, the development of hybrid japonica rice has been relatively slow. This study aimed to understand the genetic background of representative parental lines of hybrid japonica rice in northern China that were beneficial for increasing efficiency to find a superior breeding combination using a restorer line and a sterile line. ResultsWe selected 137 parental lines of hybrid japonica rice, including 90 restorer lines, 47 sterile lines, which broadly represented the recent rice breeding trends in China. These lines were genotyped using 8K SNP-Chips (China Golden Marker Biotechnology Co. Ltd.) to understand the genetic diversity, population structure, phylogenetic evolution, and indica blood content. The genetic diversity of total parental lines averaged 0.264, with values for the restorer line and sterility line as 0.287 and 0.148, respectively. Based on the model-based population structure analysis and distance-based clustering, these 137 lines were divided into 14 groups, including seven independent restorer lines groups and seven mixture groups. There were 70% restorer lines in the above-mentioned seven independent restorer lines groups, and the indica blood content was 0.348, while 30% restorer lines were genetically similar to the sterile lines and constituted the other seven mixture groups, where the indica blood content in the restorer lines and the sterility lines was 0.142 and 0.121, respectively. The results of distance-based clustering revealed that the restorer lines, Group 1 and Group 2 (containing only restorer lines), had longer genetic distances with groups containing mainly sterile lines (the genetic distance ranged from 0.672 to 0.788), which served as a potential heterotic for hybrid rice breeding. This observation was consistent with the breeding strategy of high yield hybrid japonica rice.ConclusionsThe typical japonica sterile lines were crossed with the restorer lines containing high indica components indicating a strong heterosis pattern was a feasible scheme for heterosis utilization of indica-japonica subspecies. Thus, the effective ways to further improve the rice quality of hybrid japonica rice in northern China included maintaining moderate genetic distance and indica components between the parental lines along with the excellent quality of both the parental lines.

Interfacial adsorption configuration plays a crucial role in influencing the photovoltaic performance of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), and thus, theoretical investigations are needed to further understand the impacts of different absorption configurations on stoichiometric and defective TiO2(101) surfaces on the short-circuit photocurrent density (JSC) and open-circuit voltage (VOC) of DSSCs. Herein, calculations of isolated dyes and dye/TiO2 systems were performed on the donor-π bridge-acceptor (D-π-A) type porphyrin sensitizers bearing different donor moieties and an α-cyanoacrylic acid anchoring group (T1-3), using DFT and TD-DFT methods. And, for the first time, comparative analysis of interfacial electron transfer (IET) and density of states (DOS) were carried out on dye/TiO2 systems with stoichiometric and defective surfaces to provide further insight into the electronic factors influencing the efficiency of DSSCs, which can well explain the experimental variation trends of JSC and VOC values. It turned out that attachment via the carboxyl and cynao groups in a tridentate binding mode can result in more efficient IET rates and an upshifted conduction band in comparison with those of the bidentate attachment. More interestingly, we found that the adsorption configuration on defective surfaces containing an O2c vacancy induced more upshifted CBM and relatively fast IET, especially for the bonding mode through two O atoms of the carboxyl group.