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Trizol extraction for polysaccharide-rich plant tissue was unsuitable for isolating total RNA from loquat fruit. CTAB-LiCl extraction was improved with pretreatment using washing buffer with 80% ethanol and 70% acetone. The RNA isolated by this protocol from different loquat fruit tissue at various development periods, was high in purity (A260/A280 ratio ranged from 1.81 to 1.99 and A260/A230 ratio was over 2.0), and high in yield.

Phylogenetic relationships of the genus Eriobotrya Lindl. were examined based on the nrDNA Adh sequences. A phylogenetic tree of 14 loquat accessions (species, varieties and forma) was generated by using Photinieae serrulaia L. as an outgroup and Rhaphiolepis indica (L.) Lindl. as an ingroup, which represent the two closest genera of Eriobotyra. The results showed that these loquat accessions were divided into two main clades in the consensus tree. Clade I included E. seguinii Card and group A formed by E. henryi Nakai, E.bengalensis Hook.f., and forma angustifolia Vidal. Clade II is composed of the other taxas which included three groups. E. cavaleriei Rehd and E. fragrans Champ formed group B; group C consisted of E. prinoides Rehd. & Wils. var. dadunensis H.Z.Zhang, and E. japonica Lindl.; and group D included E. deflexa Nakai and E. deflexa Nakai Var.buisanensis NaKai. Since E. deflexa Nakai, E. deflexa Nakai Var.buisanensis NaKai and E. kwangsiensis Chun, were closer in the phylogenetic tree; while E. prinoides Rehd. & Wils. var. dadunensis H.Z.Zhang, E. japonica Lindl, E. prinoides Rehd & Wils and E.elliptica Lindl. were close with each other, they may be locataed at a similar place of the phylogenetic stage. However, E. malipoensis Kuan need further studies on its phylogenetis relationship for it was separated from the others. Results further support the theory that E. cavaleriei Rehd could be a variety of E. fragrans Champ.

Loquat (Eriobotrya japonica) is a subtropical tree with commercially important fruit and with leaves that have medicinal uses against cough and asthma. Leaves contain significant amounts of phenols, flavonoids, triterpene acids, and polysaccharides. However, information of the triterpene acids and polysaccharides in leaves is limited. In this study, the contents of five major triterpene acids and total polysaccharides in the leaves of 11 species of Eriobotrya were determined using RP-HPLC and phenol-sulfuric acid method, respectively. Total concentration of triterpene acids varied from 8.38 to 22.35 mg g-1 DW. The concentration of triterpene acids was greater than 20 mg g-1 DW in E. bengalensis, E. prinoides and E. fragrans, and it was less than 10.0 mg g-1 DW in E. elliptica. Different drying temperature (40-80°C) of leaves did not affect the content of polysaccharides with highest content (80.8 mg g-1 DW) from E. prinoides. The contents of triterpene acid in six wild species and polysaccharides in 5 wild species were higher than that in cultivated loquat.

Temperature has a vital impact on plant growth and development, and heat stress severely threatens agricultural productivity and food security. High temperatures can cause annual yield reductions and disease in loquat [Eriobotrya japonica (Thunb.) Lindl.]. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying the heat stress response in loquat are not known. In this study, the transcriptome of loquat leaves in response to heat stress was sequenced and assembled de novo, and differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified. A total of 16,120 and 11,668 DEGs were identified at 1 and 2 h posttreatment, respectively. Gene ontology (GO) analysis indicated that the DEGs were located in the membrane and endoplasmic reticulum and were related to signal transduction and protein modification. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway analysis revealed that the heat‐induced DEGs were mainly related to the activation of protein processing in the endoplasmic reticulum and transcription. Ninety‐six heat shock proteins (HSPs) were also found in the protein processing pathway in the endoplasmic reticulum, and most HSPs were induced by heat stress. Heat shock transcription factors regulating the expression of downstream HSPs were induced by heat together with HSPs. This research provides insights into the mechanism of loquat plant heat stress tolerance and paves the way for heat‐tolerant loquat breeding. Core Ideas: The transcriptome of loquat leaves suffering heat stress were sequenced and de novo assembled.Differentially expressed genes response to heat stress was enriched in protein processing in endoplasmic reticulum.The upregulated heat shock proteins (HSPs) in the pathway were the dominant component of the heat stress response.Heat shock transcription factors regulating the expression of HSPs were induced by heat together with HSPs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The perovskite (CH3NH3PbI3) films on the planar hetero-junction perovskite solar cells (PHJ-PSCs) are fabricated by “two-steps” process with the wet spin-coating method. The precursor (PbI2) solutions are compounded with 4 types of solvents: N-Methyl Pyrrolidone (NMP), γ-butyrolactone (GBL), Dimethyl Sulfoxide (DMSO) and N, N-dimethylformamide (DMF). All the solutions have the same concentration. The influences of different precursor solvents to the micro-structures of CH3NH3PbI3 films and device performance are studied. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) are used to characterize the CH3NH3PbI3 films. The results indicate that the CH3NH3PbI3 film using DMF solvent possesses more rough morphology and thickest thickness. The monolithic PHJ-PSCs devices based on DMF solvent are tested under a standard one sun of simulated solar irradiation (AM1.5). The results show that the open-circuit voltage (Voc) reaches 872mV, the short-circuit current (Jsc) reaches 9.35mA/cm2, the filling factor(FF) is 0.62 and the photo-current conversion efficiency (PCE) is 5.05%. DMF is the best one among these 4 types of solvents for PHJ-PSCs.

The MADS-box transcription factor SUPPRESSOR OF OVEREXPRESSION OF CONSTANS1 (SOC1) integrates environmental and endogenous signals to promote flowering in Arabidopsis. However, the role of SOC1 homologs in regulating flowering time in fruit trees remains unclear. To better understand the molecular mechanism of flowering regulation in loquat (Eriobotrya japonica Lindl.), two SOC1 homologs (EjSOC1-1 and EjSOC1-2) were identified and characterized in this work. Sequence analysis showed that EjSOC1-1 and EjSOC1-2 have conserved MADS-box and K-box domains. EjSOC1-1 and EjSOC1-2 were clearly expressed in vegetative organs, and high expression was detected in flower buds. As observed in paraffin-embedded sections, expression of the downstream flowering genes EjAP1 s and EjLFY s started to increase at the end of June, a time when flower bud differentiation occurs. Additionally, high expression of EjSOC1-1 and EjSOC1-2 began 10 days earlier than that of EjAP1 s and EjLFY s in shoot apical meristem (SAM). EjSOC1-1 and EjSOC1-2 were inhibited by short-day (SD) conditions and exogenous GA3, and flower bud differentiation did not occur after these treatments. EjSOC1-1 and EjSOC1-2 were found to be localized to the nucleus. Moreover, ectopic overexpression of EjSOC1-1 and EjSOC1-2 in wild-type Arabidopsis promoted early flowering, and overexpression of both was able to rescue the late flowering phenotype of the soc1-2 mutant. In conclusion, the results suggest that cultivated loquat flower bud differentiation in southern China begins in late June to early July and that EjSOC1-1 and EjSOC1-2 participate in the induction of flower initiation. These findings provide new insight into the artificial regulation of flowering time in fruit trees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]