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A novel interspecific somatic hybrid combining drought tolerance and high quality of sweet potato and Ipomoea triloba L. was obtained and its genetic and epigenetic variations were studied. Somatic hybridization can be used to overcome the cross-incompatibility between sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.) and its wild relatives and transfer useful and desirable genes from wild relatives to cultivated plants. However, most of the interspecific somatic hybrids obtained to date cannot produce storage roots and do not exhibit agronomic characters. In the present study, a novel interspecific somatic hybrid, named XT1, was obtained through protoplast fusion between sweet potato cv. Xushu 18 and its wild relative I. triloba. This somatic hybrid produced storage roots and exhibited significantly higher drought tolerance and quality compared with its cultivated parent Xushu 18. Transcriptome and real-time quantitative PCR (qRT-PCR) analyses revealed that the well-known drought stress-responsive genes in XT1 and I. triloba were significantly up-regulated under drought stress. The genomic structural reconstructions between the two genomes of the fusion parents in XT1 were confirmed using genomic in situ hybridization (GISH) and specific nuclear and cytoplasmic DNA markers. The DNA methylation variations were characterized by methylation-sensitive amplified polymorphism (MSAP). This study not only reveals the significance of somatic hybridization in the genetic improvement of sweet potato but also provides valuable materials and knowledge for further investigating the mechanism of storage root formation in sweet potato.

Key message A novel interspecific somatic hybrid combining drought tolerance and high quality of sweetpotato and Ipomoea triloba L. was obtained and its genetic and epigenetic variations were clarified. Somatic hybridization can be used to overcome the cross-incompatibility between sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.) and its wild relatives and transfer useful and desirable genes from wild relatives to cultivated plants. However, most of the interspecific somatic hybrids obtained to date can’t produce storage roots and show no good agronomic characters. In the present study, a novel interspecific somatic hybrid, named XT1, was obtained through protoplast fusions between sweetpotato cv. Xushu 18 and its wild relative I. triloba L.. This somatic hybrid was found to produce storage roots and to exhibit significantly higher drought tolerance and quality compared with its cultivated parent Xushu 18. Transcriptome and real-time quantitative PCR (qRT-PCR) analyses showed that the well-known drought stress-responsive genes in XT1 and I. triloba were significantly up-regulated under drought stress. Evidence of genome structural reconstructions between the two genomes of the fusion parents in XT1 was confirmed by genomic in situ hybridization (GISH) and specific nuclear and cytoplasmic DNA markers. Its DNA methylation variations were characterized by methylation-sensitive amplified polymorphism (MSAP). This study not only reveals the significance of somatic hybridization techniques in the genetic improvement of sweetpotato but also provides valuable materials and knowledge for investigating the mechanism of storage root formation in sweetpotato.

Some trace amounts of urea herbicide residues can be transferred to humans via the food chain, thereby being potentially harmful to human health. The development of a robust analytical methodology for effective sample preparation and simultaneous determination of herbicide residues in vegetable samples is required for achieving food safety.; Results: The diuron-molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) synthesized have excellent affinity and high selectivity to phenylureas (monolinuron, isoproturon, diuron and linuron) and tebuthiuron. A novel automated procedure with better selectivity for vegetable sample treatment was developed by integrated matrix solid-phase dispersion-accelerated solvent extraction clean-up in situ. Five herbicides can be baseline separated with runtime down to 5 min by ultra-performance liquid chromatography, and good linearity was obtained with a correlation coefficient (r) of 0.9999. The limit of quantification of the method was in the range of 0.8-2.3 µg kg-1 . Diuron residue in cherry tomato sample was found to be 40 µg kg-1 .; Conclusion: The developed method has satisfactory selectivity, good linearity, high sensitivity and accuracy as well as speediness, and can ensure rapid selective extraction and sensitive multi-residue analysis at low microgram per kilogram levels of the herbicides in vegetable food. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry.; © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry.

In this paper, a novel detection method based on luminescence resonance energy transfer (LRET) system for sensitive detection of Mn 2+ ions has been proposed. The positively charged upconversion nanoparticles capped with polyethyleneimin (PEI-UCNPs) and negatively charged Ag NPs capped with tripolyphosphate (P 3 O 10 5− -Ag NPs) were bound through electrostatic interaction. They were used as energy donors and acceptors, respectively. The green upconversion luminescence could be quenched because of a good overlap between the UCNPs emission and the Ag NPs absorption spectra. Nevertheless, the LRET was disrupted and the green upconversion luminescence was restored in the presence of Mn 2+ because of the coagulation of P 3 O 10 5− -Ag NPs. Thus, the relative luminescence intensity increased as the concentrations of Mn 2+ increased. The response is linear to the concentrations of Mn 2+ in the range from 0.2 to 5 μM, and the detection limit is evaluated to be 150 nM (S/N = 3). This probe was easy to operate with satisfactory selectivity and excellent sensitivity, which would be able to satisfy the requirements of Mn 2+ -related detection.

The water-soluble CuInS 2 quantum dots (CIS QDs) have been successfully synthesized by a one-pot aqueous-phase synthesis method using indium chloride and copper chloride as reactants. The type-I structure CIS/ZnS core/shell QDs were synthesized in situ for surface passivation, which led to a dramatic enhancement of fluorescence intensity. The CIS/ZnS QDs exhibited a tunable emission in the range of 500–680 nm by changing the ratio of Cu:In without the variation of size. And the corresponding fluorescent color changed from green to red. The QDs with uniform diameter could be assigned to a typical chalcopyrite structure according to XRD analysis. The as-prepared CIS/ZnS QDs have a good potential to be applied in biomedical fluorescence label and probes due to their low toxicity and excellent optical features.

A selective accelerated solvent extraction procedure achieved one step extraction and clean up for analysis of herbicide atrazine and its metabolites in fruit. Using a BEH C18 analytical column and the gradient mode with 2 mM ammonium acetate aqueous solution/acetonitrile as a mobile phase achieved effective chromatographic separation of the five analytes within 4 min. The calibration curves were linear over two orders of magnitude of concentration with correlation coefficients (r) of 0.9996‒0.9999. The method limit of quantification was 1, 2, 1.5, 3, and 2 μg/kg for atrazine, desethylatrazine, desisopropylatrazine, desethyldesisopropylatrazine, and hydroxyatrazine, respectively, in the case of atrazine it is at least two orders of magnitude lower than the maximum residue limit (0.25 mg/kg). The intra-day and inter-day precisions of the five analytes were in the range of 2.1–3.5 and 3.1–4.8 %, respectively. The recoveries of the five analytes at three spiked levels varied from 85.9 to 107% with a relative standard deviation of 1.8–4.9% for pear and apple samples. The ultra high performance liquid chromatography with diode array detection method was proved to be fast, inexpensive, selective, sensitive, and accurate for the quantification of the analytes in pear and apple samples. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved

Herein, a water soluble AgInS2 quantum dots (AIS QDs) with high sensitive and selective for dopamine (DA) were prepared through a clean and facile reflux method with the mercapto propionic acid (MPA) and polyethyleneimine (PEI) used as the co-modifiers. The fluorescence quench of as-fabricated AIS QDs displayed an excellent selectivity and sensitivity to the DA and they showed a good linear relationship with the low detection limit (2.84 nm) in the range of 0.5–300 μmol/L. The mechanism of fluorescence quench may attributed to the photoinduced electrons migrated from AIS QDs to dopamine quinone, which originated from the oxidization of DA by ambient O2. Our work shows a promising prospect of designing and preparing AIS QDs used as the fluorescence sensors for DA detection.

Some trace amounts of urea herbicide residues can be transferred to humans via the food chain, thereby being potentially harmful to human health. The development of a robust analytical methodology for effective sample preparation and simultaneous determination of herbicide residues in vegetable samples is required for achieving food safety.The diuron-molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) synthesized have excellent affinity and high selectivity to phenylureas (monolinuron, isoproturon, diuron and linuron) and tebuthiuron. A novel automated procedure with better selectivity for vegetable sample treatment was developed by integrated matrix solid-phase dispersion-accelerated solvent extraction clean-up in situ. Five herbicides can be baseline separated with runtime down to 5 min by ultra-performance liquid chromatography, and good linearity was obtained with a correlation coefficient (r) of 0.9999. The limit of quantification of the method was in the range of 0.8-2.3 µg kgThe developed method has satisfactory selectivity, good linearity, high sensitivity and accuracy as well as speediness, and can ensure rapid selective extraction and sensitive multi-residue analysis at low microgram per kilogram levels of the herbicides in vegetable food. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry.

A selective accelerated solvent extraction procedure achieved one step extraction and cleanup for analysis of herbicide atrazine and its metabolites in fruit. Using a BEH C18 analytical column and the gradient mode with 2 mM ammonium acetate aqueous solution/acetonitrile as a mobile phase achieved effective chromatographic separation of the five analytes within 4 min. The calibration curves were linear over two orders of magnitude of concentration with correlation coefficients (r) of 0.9996-0.9999. The method limit of quantification was 1, 2, 1.5, 3, and 2 μg/kg for atrazine, desethylatrazine, desisopropylatrazine, desethyldesisopropylatrazine, and hydroxyatrazine, respectively, in the case of atrazine it is at least two orders of magnitude lower than the maximum residue limit (0.25 mg/kg). The intra-day and inter-day precisions of the five analytes were in the range of 2.1-3.5 and 3.1-4.8 %, respectively. The recoveries of the five analytes at three spiked levels varied from 85.9 to 107% with a relative standard deviation of 1.8-4.9% for pear and apple samples. The ultra high performance liquid chromatography with diode array detection method was proved to be fast, inexpensive, selective, sensitive, and accurate for the quantification of the analytes in pear and apple samples.

Previously, we obtained the sweetpotato somatic hybrid KT1 from a cross between sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.) cv. Kokei No. 14 and its drought-tolerant wild relative I. triloba L. KT1 not only inherited the thick storage root characteristic of Kokei No. 14 but also the drought-tolerance trait of I. triloba L. The aim of this study was to explore the molecular mechanism of the drought tolerance of KT1. Four-week-old in vitro-grown plants of KT1, Kokei No. 14, and I. triloba L. were subjected to a simulated drought stress treatment (30% PEG6000) for 0, 6, 12 and 24 h. Total RNA was extracted from samples at each time point, and then used for transcriptome sequencing. The gene transcript profiles of KT1 and its parents were compared to identify differentially expressed genes, and drought-related modules were screened by a weighted gene co-expression network analysis. The functions of ABI-like protein and Ca2+-ATPase, two proteins screened from the cyan and light yellow modules, were analyzed in terms of their potential roles in drought tolerance in KT1 and its parents. These analyses of the drought responses of KT1 and its somatic donors at the transcriptional level provide new annotations for the molecular mechanism of drought tolerance in the somatic hybrid KT1 and its parents.