Search

Although individual genomic structural variants (SVs) are known to influence gene expression and trait variation, the extent and scale of SV impact across a species remain unknown. In the present study, we constructed a reference library of 334,461 SVs from genome assemblies of 16 representative morphotypes of neopolyploid Brassica napus accessions and detected 258,865 SVs in 2,105 resequenced genomes. Coupling with 5 tissue population transcriptomes, we uncovered 285,976 SV-expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) that associate with altered expression of 73,580 genes. We developed a pipeline for the high-throughput joint analyses of SV-genome-wide association studies (SV-GWASs) and transcriptome-wide association studies of phenomic data, eQTLs and eQTL-GWAS colocalization, and identified 726 SV-gene expression-trait variation associations, some of which were verified by transgenics. The pervasive SV impact on how SV reshapes trait variation was demonstrated with the glucosinolate biosynthesis and transport pathway. The study highlighting the impact of genome-wide and species-scale SVs provides a powerful methodological strategy and valuable resources for studying evolution, gene discovery and breeding.

Effective plant defense against pathogens relies on highly coordinated regulation of immune gene expression. Enhancers, as cis -regulatory elements, are indispensable determinants of dynamic gene regulation, but the molecular functions in plant immunity are not well understood. In this study, we identified a novel enhancer, CORE PATTERN-INDUCED ENHANCER 35 (CPIE35), which is rapidly activated upon pathogenic elicitation and negatively regulates antifungal resistance through modulating WRKY15 expression. During immune activation, CPIE35 activates the transcription of WRKY15 by forming chromatin loops with the promoter of WRKY15 in a WRKY18/40/60-, WRKY33-, and MYC2-dependent manner. WRKY15 directly binds to the promoters of PAD3 and GSTU4 , suppressing their expression and leading to reduced camalexin synthesis and resistance. Interestingly, CPIE35 region is evolutionarily conserved among Brassicaceae plants, and the CPIE35 -WRKY15 module exerts similar functions in Brassica napus to negatively regulate antifungal resistance. Our work reveals the "enhancer–promoter-transcription factor" regulatory mechanism in maintenance of immune homeostasis, highlighting the importance and conserved role of enhancers in fine-tuning immune gene expression in plants. During immune activation in Arabidopsis thaliana , the enhancer CORE PATTERN-INDUCED ENHANCER 35 (CPIE35) activates the transcription of WRKY15 by forming chromatin loops with the promoter of WRKY15 in a WRKY18/40/60-, WRKY33-, and MYC2-dependent manner. WRKY15, in turn, suppresses the expression of PAD3 and GSTU4 , inhibiting camalexin synthesis and therefore decreasing plant resistance to pathogenic fungi. Notably, the CPIE35 region is evolutionarily conserved among Brassicaceae plants, and the CPIE35 -WRKY15 module exerts similar functions in Brassica napus to negatively regulate antifungal resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reversible cross‐linked structures are widely used to turn thermoset plastics into recyclable and self‐healing vitrimer materials, but seldom applied in traditional flexible rubber/ceramic composites. In this paper, dioxaborolanes based flexible poly (isoprene (IP)‐co‐acrylonitrile (AN)) vitrimer is synthesized as the rubber matrix by copolymerizing with functional monomers at 5°C for 7 h, and mixed with 5 wt% modified barium titanates (BT) to prepare flexible high dielectric vitrimer composite. The materials are characterized by FTIR, TGA, SEM, DMA, etc. The results indicate that reversible crosslinking can occur above 76.4°C, and copolymerizing with the dioxaborolanes based monomers can turn poly (IP‐co‐AN) into the flexible vitrimer. The poly (IP‐co‐AN)/BT vitrimer composite not only shows a good thermal stability below 145.6°C, but also exhibits an excellent particle dispersivity and a certain self‐healing function at 80°C. The poly (IP‐co‐AN)/BT vitrimer composite has a storage modulus E' about 3.18 MPa at 25°C and Tg about −5.4°C, and shows a higher relative permittivity about 7.5 and lower dielectric loss about 0.156 at 1 k Hz. The results indicate that this paper provides a new method to achieve multifunction and high dielectricity for composites. Highlight: Reversible cross‐linked structures are applied in rubber / ceramic compositesCross‐linked flexible composites are reprocessable and self‐healingReversible bonds between particles and matrix improve compatibilitySynergism of BaTiO3 and cross‐linked structure enhances dielectric properties [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The slow kinetic process of the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and poor electrochemical stability in acidic environments of electrocatalysts seriously restrict the efficiency of hydrogen production from proton exchange membrane water electrolyzers (PEMWEs). In recent years, developing corrosion-resistant and redox-active doped TiO2 with heterogeneous atoms has become an effective strategy to address this challenge. However, most of the reported studies only explore single-element doped TiO2-supported catalysts, and there are few reports comparing the doping effects of various elements at the experimental level, which is crucial for screening high-performance OER electrocatalysts. In this work, seven different metal elements M (M = V, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Nb, W) are selected for doping anatase TiO2 with the same molar ratio (M/Ti) and combined with IrO2 nanoparticles to form M-doped TiO2-supported IrO2 (M–TiO2@IrO2) electrocatalysts. Electrochemical OER activity and stability results indicate that W–TiO2@IrO2 exhibits the best performance among all these catalysts in terms of comprehensively regulating the conductivity of TiO2 and the activity and stability of IrOx within the range of experimental design in this work, which originates from the appropriate energy band structure obtained through W doping, optimizing the intrinsic conductivity of the support and interfacial electronic structure between the metal oxide and support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SRS (SHI-related sequence) transcription factors play a crucial role in plant growth, development, and abiotic stress response. Although Brassica napus (B. napus) is one of the most important oil crops in the world, the role of SRS genes in B. napus (BnSRS) has not been well investigated. Therefore, we employed a bioinformatics approach to identify BnSRS genes from genomic data and investigated their characteristics, functions, and expression patterns, to gain a better understanding of how this gene family is involved in plant development and growth. The results revealed that there were 34 BnSRS gene family members in the genomic sequence of B. napus, unevenly distributed throughout the sequence. Based on the phylogenetic analysis, these BnSRS genes could be divided into four subgroups, with each group sharing comparable conserved motifs and gene structure. Analysis of the upstream promoter region showed that BnSRS genes may regulate hormone responses, biotic and abiotic stress response, growth, and development in B. napus. The protein-protein interaction analysis revealed the involvement of BnSRS genes in various biological processes and metabolic pathways. Our analysis of BnSRS gene expression showed that 23 BnSRS genes in the callus tissue exhibited a dominant expression pattern, suggesting their critical involvement in cell dedifferentiation, cell division, and tissue development. In addition, association analysis between genotype and agronomic traits revealed that BnSRS genes may be linked to some important agronomic traits in B. napus, suggesting that BnSRS genes were widely involved in the regulation of important agronomic traits (including C16.0, C18.0, C18.1, C18.2 C18.3, C20.1, C22.1, GLU, protein, TSW, and FFT). In this study, we predicted the evolutionary relationships and potential functions of BnSRS gene family members, providing a basis for the development of BnSRS gene functions which could facilitate targeted functional studies and genetic improvement for elite breeding in B. napus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]