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Chloroplasts are essential organelles in plants that contain chlorophylls and facilitate photosynthesis for growth and development. As photosynthetic efficiency significantly impacts crop productivity, understanding the regulatory mechanisms of chloroplast development has been crucial in increasing grain and biomass production. This study demonstrates the involvement of OsGATA16, an ortholog of Arabidopsis GATA, NITRATE INDUCIBLE, CARBON-METABOLISM INVOLVED ( GNC), and GNC-LIKE/CYTOKININ-RESPONSIVE GATA FACTOR 1 ( GNL/CGA1), in chlorophyll biosynthesis and chloroplast development in rice ( Oryza sativa). The osgata16-1 knockdown mutants produced pale-green leaves, while OsGATA16-overexpressed plants ( OsGATA16-OE1) generated dark-green leaves, compared to their parental japonica rice. Reverse transcription and quantitative PCR analysis revealed downregulation of genes related to chloroplast division, chlorophyll biosynthesis, and photosynthesis in the leaves of osgata16-1 and upregulation in those of OsGATA16-OE1. Additionally, in vivo binding assays showed that OsGATA16 directly binds to the promoter regions of OsHEMA, OsCHLH, OsPORA, OsPORB, and OsFtsZ, and upregulates their expression. These findings indicate that OsGATA16 serves as a positive regulator controlling chlorophyll biosynthesis and chloroplast development in rice.

Phytocystatins (PhyCYSs) are plant-specific proteinaceous inhibitors of cysteine proteases (CPs) that regulate protein turnover and defense responses. Here, we characterized a member of the PhyCYS gene family in Arabidopsis thaliana, AtCYS1, during seed germination. AtCYS1 transcript level and AtCYS1 promoter-driven β-glucuronidase (GUS) activity gradually increased during germination, as measured by quantitative reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR) and GUS staining assays, respectively. The level and activity of the AtCYS1 protein were up-regulated during germination, as shown by western blot and CP inhibitory activity analyses, respectively. In addition, a canonical dehydration-responsive element (DRE) was identified in the AtCYS1 promoter. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays (EMSAs) revealed that the DRE-binding factor 2C (DREB2C) binds directly to the AtCYS1 promoter. Transient transactivation assays using Arabidopsis leaf protoplasts showed that DREB2A and DREB2C act as transcriptional activators of AtCYS1. In DREB2C overexpression lines, AtCYS1 protein levels were elevated, while the endogenous CP activity was reduced. However, AtCYS1 overexpression lines (35S:AtCYS1) and the cys1-1 null mutant, characterized by a quantitative imbalance in the AtCYS1 protein level, showed delayed germination under normal growth conditions. These results suggest that DREB2 proteins act as transcriptional activators of the AtCYS1 gene, and an imbalance in the level of AtCYS1 inhibits seed germination.

A disconnected piled raft (DPR) foundation has been introduced as an effective pile design to reduce the vertical loading experienced by the pile. The characterization of DPRs has focused on the load transfer mechanism, foundation and soil settlement, bearing capacity, load distribution, and bending moment of the piles. DPR piles can act to increase the bearing capacity of the ground, and DPRs can reduce settlement while securing the bearing capacity. In this study, centrifuge model tests are performed to simulate the static behavior of DPRs under actual stress conditions. The behaviors of the DPR foundation for axial load, axial load distribution among the piles, and bending moment are compared to those of the connected piled raft foundation to understand the complex behaviors of DPRs. The centrifuge test results show that DPRs help reduce the pile axial load and bending moment during vertical loading. In addition, DPRs show smaller vertical settlement than shallow foundations. Therefore, we confirm that DPRs can be applied in foundation design as settlement reducers.

The plant circadian clock regulates multiple developmental and physiological events that occur at specific times and seasons. As many of the currently known clock proteins and clock-associated regulators are transcription factors, analyzing molecular events in the nuclei is crucial. In addition, long-time course analyses of protein abundance and interactions are often required to assess the role of the circadian clock on clock-regulated phenomena. Here we introduce a simple procedure to prepare nuclear-enriched tissues, which we routinely use to study time-resolved accumulation changes in low-abundance nuclear proteins (i.e., transcription factors). In addition to measuring changes in abundance, investigating the protein-protein interaction dynamics at specific times of day or under certain environmental conditions is needed for plant chronobiology studies. Therefore, we also present our co-immunoprecipitation method for studying diurnal/circadian protein-protein interactions, tailored to nuclear-localized proteins in Arabidopsis and tobacco.

When connected piles are used as settlement reducers, the proportion of vertical load carried by the pile may come close to the allowable load of the pile. To reduce not only the vertical load, but also the lateral load and bending moment to which the pile is subjected, the disconnected piled raft (DPR) has been introduced as an effective design for the role of the settlement reducers. Although several DPRs have been constructed, most of the research efforts on DPRs are limited to the structural behavior such as the evaluation of the seismic acceleration of the structure on the DPR; thus, there is a need to evaluate the dynamic performance of DPRs focusing on geotechnical problems. In this study, the seismic behavior of DPRs is investigated using dynamic centrifuge tests and compared with the results obtained from connected piled rafts (CPRs). The bending moment of piles of different materials, namely aluminum and steel, is evaluated. Results show that there is a reduction in the amplitude of acceleration of the foundation horizontal motion for the DPR compared to the CPR. The edge pile of a DPR attracts the smaller dynamic bending moment of the pile compared to that of a CPR. The dynamic bending moment of piles is predominantly governed by the soil behavior rather than the pile material. Finally, the seismic behavior of DPR was evaluated comprehensively through centrifuge tests.

Green transportation dictated by low carbon policies means that vehicle power sources are changing from fossil fuels to electricity. In electric vehicles, the numbers of electronic devices and the complexity of control software are high; design complexity has thus increased. Efforts to reduce the complexity of automated vehicle electrical and electric systems (E/E systems) at the design stage are actively underway. To reduce system design complexity, we introduce a design methodology employing cyber-physical systems (CPS). We designed an automated forklift system to explore the effectiveness of the proposed methodology. This paper shows that the CPS design methodology enables effective development of automated E/E control systems.

Plants measure light, quality, intensity, and duration to coordinate growth and development with daily and seasonal changes in environmental conditions, however, the molecular details linking photochemistry to signal transduction remain incomplete. Two closely related Light, Oxygen, or Voltage (LOV) domain containing photoreceptor proteins ZEITLUPE (ZTL) and FLAVIN-BINDING, KELCH REPEAT, F-BOX 1 (FKF1) divergently regulate the protein stability of circadian clock and photoperiodic flowering components to mediate daily and seasonal development. Using structural approaches, we identified that mutations at the Gly46 position led to global rearrangements of the ZTL dimer interface. Specifically, introduction of G46S and G46A variants that mimic equivalent residues found in FKF1 induce a 180° rotation about the dimer interface that is coupled to ordering of N- and C-terminal signaling elements. These conformational changes hinge upon rotation of a C-terminal Gln residue analogous to that present in light-state structures of ZTL. The results presented herein, confirm a divergent signaling mechanism within ZTL that deviates from other members of the LOV superfamily and suggests that mechanisms of signal transduction in LOV proteins may be fluid across the LOV protein family.

Plants sense light and temperature changes to regulate flowering time. Here, we show that expression of the Arabidopsis florigen gene, FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT), peaks in the morning during spring, a different pattern than we observe in the laboratory. Providing our laboratory growth conditions with a red/far-red light ratio similar to open-field conditions and daily temperature oscillation is sufficient to mimic the FT expression and flowering time in natural long days. Under the adjusted growth conditions, key light signalling components, such as phytochrome A and EARLY FLOWERING 3, play important roles in morning FT expression. These conditions stabilize CONSTANS protein, a major FT activator, in the morning, which is probably a critical mechanism for photoperiodic flowering in nature. Refining the parameters of our standard growth conditions to more precisely mimic plant responses in nature can provide a powerful method for improving our understanding of seasonal response.

The smoothness and continuity of the tool path are crucial in high-quality machining. However, many tool paths are described using only line segments (G01), which inevitably cause discontinuities between blocks. Such discontinuity leads to vibration and feed rate fluctuation, which ultimately leads to a poor surface finish. This study proposes a novel input shaping-based corner rounding algorithm that ensure machining accuracy and vibration suppression. Input shaping is a model-based, robust vibration suppression solution, and it has been widely used in many applications. However, input shaping also distorts the original trajectory, which limits its usage in multiaxis systems. To ensure position accuracy, the corner rounding algorithm proposed in this study includes the position deviation regulation module and the distortion compensation module. The position deviation regulation module limits the position deviation due to corner rounding within the threshold while the distortion compensation scheme compensates for the distortion due to input shaping. The proposed algorithm has been verified via simulations and experiments using a two-degrees of freedom (DOF) Cartesian machine.

Recently, FlexRay was developed to replace the controller area network (CAN) protocol in the chassis network systems to provide high-speed data transmission as well as hardware redundancy for safety. However, FlexRay network design is more complicated than with CAN protocol, which has been an in-vehicle network (IVN) standard for car manufacturers for decades, because the FlexRay has many parameters such as the base cycle or slot lengths. To simplify the FlexRay network design and assist vehicle network designers in configuring a FlexRay network, this paper presents an automatic field bus exchange format (FIBEX) generation method for migration from the CAN message description format such as the DBC format to the FlexRay FIBEX format. The automatic FIBEX generation method is examined by simulating a chassis networking system using a DBC benchmark tool, which demonstrates the feasibility of the system and the reduction in workload for network designers.

Flowering at the right time is essential for maximum reproductive fitness. In Arabidopsis thaliana, the CONSTANS (CO) protein facilitates the transition from the vegetative phase to the reproductive phase under long-day conditions. The formation of heterodimeric complexes between CO and DNA binding domain-containing transcription factors is important for the induction of day length-dependent flowering. Here, we report a myb-like helix turn helix (HTH) transcriptional regulator family protein as a new modulator of floral transition, which we have named FLOWERING HTH1 (FHTH1). We isolated FHTH1 as a CO-interacting protein by a yeast two-hybrid screen using an Arabidopsis transcription factor library. Our analysis showed that FHTH1 presented in the nucleus and the FHTH1-CO complex was formed in the same subcellular location. We also observed the expression of a FHTH1:GUS construct in the leaf vasculature, where CO exists. Transgenic plants overexpressing FHTH1 fused with the plant-specific repression domain SRDX showed a delayed flowering phenotype in long days, resembling the phenotype of the co mutant. Our results suggest that FHTH1 may contribute to CO-mediated photoperiodic flowering regulation.

Plants monitor changes in day length to coordinate their flowering time with appropriate seasons. In Arabidopsis, the diel and seasonal regulation of CONSTANS (CO) protein stability is crucial for the induction of FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) gene in long days. FLAVIN-BINDING, KELCH REPEAT, F-BOX 1 (FKF1) and ZEITLUPE (ZTL) proteins control the shape of CO expression profile antagonistically, although regulation mechanisms remain unknown. In this study, we show that GIGANTEA (GI) protein modulates the stability and nuclear function of FKF1, which is closely related to the stabilization of CO in the afternoon of long days. The abundance of FKF1 protein is decreased by the gi mutation, but increased by GI overexpression throughout the day. Unlike the previous report, the translocation of FKF1 to the nucleus was not prevented by ZTL overexpression. In addition, the FKF1-ZTL complex formation is higher in the nucleus than in the cytosol. GI interacts with ZTL in the nucleus, implicating the attenuation of ZTL activity by the GI binding and, in turn, the sequestration of FKF1 from ZTL in the nucleus. We also found that the CO-ZTL complex presents in the nucleus, and CO protein abundance is largely reduced in the afternoon by ZTL overexpression, indicating that ZTL promotes CO degradation by capturing FKF1 in the nucleus under these conditions. Collectively, our findings suggest that GI plays a pivotal role in CO stability for the precise control of flowering by coordinating balanced functional properties of FKF1 and ZTL.

Plants have become physiologically adapted to a seasonally shifting environment by evolving many sensory mechanisms. Seasonal flowering is a good example of adaptation to local environmental demands and is crucial for maximizing reproductive fitness. Photoperiod and temperature are major environmental stimuli that control flowering through expression of a floral inducer, FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) protein. Recent discoveries made using the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana have shown that the functions of photoreceptors are essential for the timing of FT gene induction, via modulation of the transcriptional activator CONSTANS (CO) at transcriptional and posttranslational levels in response to seasonal variations. The activation of FT transcription by the fine-tuned CO protein enables plants to switch from vegetative growth to flowering under inductive environmental conditions. The present review briefly summarizes our current understanding of the molecular mechanisms by which the information of environmental stimuli is sensed and transduced to trigger FT induction in leaves.

The plant‐specific protein GIGANTEA (GI) controls many developmental and physiological processes, mediating rhythmic post‐translational regulation. GI physically binds several proteins implicated in the circadian clock, photoperiodic flowering, and abiotic stress responses. To understand GI's multifaceted function, we aimed to comprehensively and quantitatively identify potential interactors of GI in a time‐specific manner, using proteomics on Arabidopsis plants expressing epitope‐tagged GI. We detected previously identified (in)direct interactors of GI, as well as proteins implicated in protein folding, or degradation, and a previously uncharacterized transcription factor, CYCLING DOF FACTOR6 (CDF6). We verified CDF6's direct interaction with GI, and ZEITLUPE/FLAVIN‐BINDING, KELCH REPEAT, F‐BOX 1/LIGHT KELCH PROTEIN 2 proteins, and demonstrated its involvement in photoperiodic flowering. Extending interaction proteomics to time series provides a data resource of candidate protein targets for GI's post‐translational control.

Many plants use information about changing day length (photoperiod) to align their flowering time with seasonal changes to increase reproductive success. A mechanism for photoperiodic time measurement is present in leaves, and the day-length-specific induction of the FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) gene, which encodes florigen, is a major final output of the pathway. Here, we summarize the current understanding of the molecular mechanisms by which photoperiodic information is perceived in order to trigger FT expression in Arabidopsis as well as in the primary cereals wheat, barley, and rice. In these plants, the differences in photoperiod are measured by interactions between circadian-clock-regulated components, such as CONSTANS (CO), and light signaling. The interactions happen under certain day-length conditions, as previously predicted by the external coincidence model. In these plants, the coincidence mechanisms are governed by multilayered regulation with numerous conserved as well as unique regulatory components, highlighting the breadth of photoperiodic regulation across plant species.

SummaryThe large, plant-specific protein GIGANTEA (GI) is involved in many physiological processes, mediating rhythmic, post-translational regulation in part through circadian and light regulation ofGIRNA expression. GI binds several proteins implicated in the circadian clock, the control of photoperiodic flowering, and abiotic stress responses, and has co-chaperone activity. By extension, further interaction partners might mediate the less well-understood roles of GI but the number and rhythmicity of these interactors is unknown. Here, we seek potential interactors in a time-specific manner, using quantitative proteomics from a time series study of transgenicArabidopsis thalianaplants constitutively expressing an epitope-tagged GI protein. Previously-identified, direct and indirect interactors of GI were detected but no further F-box proteins related to known GI partners ZTL/FKF1/LKP2. The predominantly non-rhythmic, interacting proteins were implicated in protein folding or degradation, metabolism and chromatin modification, including a small set of partners shared with other clock-related proteins. A transcription factor homologue that we nameCYCLING DOF FACTOR 6(CDF6) was shown to interact both with GI and the ZTL/FKF1/LKP2 proteins and to control photoperiodic flowering. Our results indicate the biochemical pathways, beyond circadian and flowering regulation, that might be affected by GIGANTEA’s rhythmic, post-translational control.Significance StatementSignificance statement of up to two sentences of no more than 75 words total;The GIGANTEA protein of Arabidopsis was known for circadian and flowering functions, mediated by the FKF1/LKP2/ZTL family of GI-interacting, F-box proteins, then for a co-chaperone activity of unknown scope. We performed time-resolved, interaction proteomics, identifying CDF6 (At1g26790) as a morning-specific GI interactor that controls flowering time. Unlike FKF1 and CDF proteins, most of the 240 candidate partners were not rhythmically enriched. They link GI to proteostasis and metabolic functions that might mediate GI’s physiological functions.

To achieve machining of high-level precision, it is essential to improve the mechanical structure of the machining tool. However, the performance of the controller and network synchronization also significantly affects the machining quality. Especially, for a machining tool consists of multiple axes, network-based synchronization between axes is required to achieve a good machining quality. As it is often difficult to evaluate the network synchronization performance, several solutions have been proposed. One of the solutions is to use an established mathematical model to evaluate the performance through simulations. On the other hand, a testbed can be set up, so that the synchronization performance can be experimentally evaluated. In this study, an EtherCAT-based multi-axis testbed is established to verify the synchronization performance of the controller.

A LOV (Light, Oxygen, or Voltage) domain containing blue-light photoreceptor ZEITLUPE (ZTL) directs circadian timing by degrading clock proteins in plants. Functions hinge upon allosteric differences coupled to the ZTL photocycle; however, structural and kinetic information was unavailable. Herein, we tune the ZTL photocycle over two orders of magnitude. These variants reveal that ZTL complexes with targets independent of light, but dictates enhanced protein degradation in the dark. In vivo experiments definitively show photocycle kinetics dictate the rate of clock component degradation, thereby impacting circadian period. Structural studies demonstrate that photocycle dependent activation of ZTL depends on an unusual dark-state conformation of ZTL. Crystal structures of ZTL LOV domain confirm delineation of structural and kinetic mechanisms and identify an evolutionarily selected allosteric hinge differentiating modes of PAS/LOV signal transduction. The combined biochemical, genetic and structural studies provide new mechanisms indicating how PAS/LOV proteins integrate environmental variables in complex networks. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.21646.001, eLife digest Many living organisms track the 24-hour cycle of day and night via collections of proteins and other molecules that together act like an internal clock. These clocks, also known as circadian clocks, help these organisms to predict regular changes in their environment, like light and temperature, and adjust their activities according to the time of day. Plants use circadian clocks to predict, for example, when dawn will occur and get ready to harness sunlight to fuel their growth. A plant called Arabidopsis thaliana has a light-sensitive protein called ZEITLUPE (or ZTL for short) that helps it keep its circadian clock in sync with the cycle of night and day. Previous studies have shown that light activates this protein causing part of it to change shape and then revert back after a period of about an hour and a half. However, it was unclear if this timing was important for ZEITLUPE to allow plants to keep track of time. To help answer this question, Pudasaini et al. set out to identify a specific chemical event behind ZEITLUPE’s changes in shape. A chemical bond forms when light activates ZEITLUPE, and it turns out that how long this bond lasts before it breaks plays an important role in allowing plants to maintain a 24-hour circadian clock. This chemical bond controls the shape changes that guide the protein’s activities and, when Pudasaini et al. modified ZEITLUPE so that it took much longer for this bond to break, they could tune how fast the plant’s internal clocks run. In essence, the time between the bond forming and breaking breaks acts like a countdown on a stopwatch, and it must be precisely timed to keep the clock in pace with the environment. These findings improve our understanding of how light can regulate an internal biological clock. This improved understanding could, in the future, allow researchers to manipulate how plants and other organisms respond to their environment. This in turn could change how these organisms develop, and how much they grow. As such, extending these findings into agricultural crops may one day lead to new ways to increase crop yields. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.21646.002

Many plants measure changes in day length to synchronize their flowering time with appropriate seasons for maximum reproductive success. In Arabidopsis, the day-length-dependent regulation of Constans (CO) protein stability is crucial to induce flowering locus T (FT) expression for flowering in long days. The flavin-binding, KELCH repeat, F-box1 (FKF1) protein binds to CO protein specifically in the long-day afternoon and stabilizes it, although the mechanism remains unknown. Here we demonstrated that the FKF1-interacting proteins Gigantea (GI) and Zeitlupe (ZTL) are involved in CO stability regulation. First, our immunoprecipitation-mass spectrometry analysis of FKF1 revealed that FKF1 forms an S-phase kinase-associated protein 1 (Skp1)/Cullin(CUL)/F-box complex through interactions with Arabidopsis Skp1-like 1 (ASK1), ASK2, and CUL1 proteins and mainly interacts with GI protein in vivo. GI interacts with CO directly and indirectly through FKF1. Unexpectedly, the gi mutation increases the CO protein levels in the morning in long days. This gi-dependent destabilization of CO protein was cancelled by the fkf1 mutation. These results suggest that there are other factors likely influenced by both gi and fkf1 mutations that also control CO stability. We found that ZTL, which interacts with GI and FKF1, may be one such factor. ZTL also interacts with CO in vivo. The CO protein profile in the ztl mutant resembles that in the gi mutant, indicating that ZTL activity also may be changed in the gi mutant. Our findings suggest the presence of balanced regulation among FKF1, GI, and ZTL on CO stability regulation for the precise control of flowering time.

This paper presents a new method to control swarm robots so that they can keep the formation while following a curved path. The main idea is to utilize the information on the instant center of gyration. For a given path, location of the instant center of the formation center is calculated, and individual robots follow the circular path around the calculated instant center. Performance of curvature-radius based method is compared with leader-follower referenced method via MATLAB simulation.

Plants monitor changes in photoperiod and temperature to synchronize their flowering with seasonal changes to maximize fitness. In the Arabidopsis photoperiodic flowering pathway, the circadian clock-regulated components, such as FLAVIN-BINDING, KELCH REPEAT, F-BOX 1 and CONSTANS, both of which have light-controlled functions, are crucial to induce the day-length specific expression of the FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) gene in leaves. Recent advances indicate that FT transcriptional regulation is central for integrating the information derived from other important internal and external factors, such as developmental age, amount of gibberellic acid, and the ambient temperature. In this review, we describe how these factors interactively regulate the expression of FT, the main component of florigen, in leaves.

Day length and ambient temperature are major stimuli controlling flowering time. To understand flowering mechanisms in more natural conditions, we explored the effect of daily light and temperature changes on Arabidopsis thaliana. Seedlings were exposed to different day/night temperature and day-length treatments to assess expression changes in flowering genes. Cooler temperature treatments increased CONSTANS (CO) transcript levels at night. Night-time CO induction was diminished in flowering bhlh (fbh)-quadruple mutants. FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) transcript levels were reduced at dusk, but increased at the end of cooler nights. The dusk suppression, which was alleviated in short vegetative phase (svp) mutants, occurred particularly in younger seedlings, whereas the increase during the night continued over 2 wk. Cooler temperature treatments altered the levels of FLOWERING LOCUS M-β (FLM-β) and FLM-δ splice variants. FT levels correlated strongly with flowering time across treatments. Day/night temperature changes modulate photoperiodic flowering by changing FT accumulation patterns. Cooler night-time temperatures enhance FLOWERING BHLH (FBH)-dependent induction of CO and consequently increase CO protein. When plants are young, cooler temperatures suppress FT at dusk through SHORT VEGETATIVE PHASE (SVP) function, perhaps to suppress precocious flowering. Our results suggest day length and diurnal temperature changes combine to modulate FT and flowering time.

Spring Into Flower In spring, plants respond to increasing day length and shifts in the spectrum of solar irradiance by releasing the flowering induction pathway, which includes expression of the FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) protein. Song et al. (p. 1045 ) have now identified a trio of controls brought to bear on FT gene expression by the FKF1 (FLAVIN-BINDING, KELCH REPEAT, F-BOX 1) protein. FKF1 removes a repressor and also stabilizes the activating CONSTANS (CO) protein in the afternoons through a binding interaction enhanced by blue light—an increasing component of solar irradiation during spring. Then FKF1 itself helps to activate transcription of the CO gene. Thus, by removing the repressor and shoring up the activator, FKF1 sets flowering on its way.

Plants constantly survey the surrounding environment using several sets of photoreceptors. They can sense changes in the quantity (=intensity) and quality (=wavelength) of light and use this information to adjust their physiological responses, growth, and developmental patterns. In addition to the classical photoreceptors, such as phytochromes, cryptochromes, and phototropins, ZEITLUPE (ZTL), FLAVIN-BINDING, KELCH REPEAT, F-BOX 1 (FKF1), and LOV KELCH PROTEIN 2 (LKP2) proteins have been recently identified as blue-light photoreceptors that are important for regulation of the circadian clock and photoperiodic flowering. The ZTL/FKF1/LKP2 protein family possesses a unique combination of domains: a blue-light-absorbing LOV (Light, Oxygen, or Voltage) domain along with domains involved in protein degradation. Here, we summarize recent advances in our understanding of the function of the Arabidopsis ZTL/FKF1/LKP2 proteins. We summarize the distinct photochemical properties of their LOV domains and discuss the molecular mechanisms by which the ZTL/FKF1/LKP2 proteins regulate the circadian clock and photoperiodic flowering by controlling blue-light-dependent protein degradation.

This study investigated the process of thermal-induced growth of micro-crack developed at the crystalline solar cell using EL image, determined the output characteristic according to the pattern of micro-crack, analyzed the I-V characteristic according to the pattern of crack growth, and predicted the output value using simulation. The purpose of this study was, therefore, to investigate the process of thermal-induced growth of micro-crack developed at the early stage of PV module completion using EL image, to analyze the resulting decrement of output and predict the output value using simulation. It was observed that the crack grew increasingly by the thermal condition, and accordingly the lowering of output was accelerated. The output values of crack patterns with various direction were predicted using simulation, resulting in close I-V curve with only around 4% of error rate. It is considered that it is possible to predict the electric characteristic of solar cell module using only pattern of micro-crack occurred at solar cell based on our results.

Unmanned autonomous forklifts have a great potential to enhance the productivity of material handling in various applications because these forklifts can pick up and deliver loads without an operator and any fixed guide. There are, however, many technical difficulties in developing such forklifts including localization, map building, sensor fusion, control and so on. Implementation, which is often neglected, is one of practical issues in developing such an autonomous device. This is because the system requires numerous sensors, actuators, and controllers that need to be connected with each other, and the number of connections grows very rapidly as the number of devices grows. Another requirement on the integration is that the system should allow changes in the system design so that modification and addition of system components can be accommodated without too much effort. This paper presents a network-based distributed approach where system components are connected to a shared CAN network, and control functions are divided into small tasks that are distributed over a number of microcontrollers with a limited computing capacity. This approach is successfully applied to develop an unmanned forklift.

Regulation of protein turnover mediated by ZEITLUPE (ZTL) constitutes an important mechanism of the circadian clock in Arabidopsis thaliana. Here, we report that FLAVIN BINDING, KELCH REPEAT, F-BOX1 (FKF1) and LOV KELCH PROTEIN2 (LKP2) play similar roles to ZTL in the circadian clock when ZTL is absent. In contrast with subtle circadian clock defects in fkf1, the clock in ztl fkf1 has a considerably longer period than in ztl. In ztl fkf1 lkp2, several clock parameters were even more severely affected than in ztl fkf1. Although LATE ELONGATED HYPOCOTYL (LHY) and CIRCADIAN CLOCK ASSOCIATED1 (CCA1) expression levels are lower in ztl than in the wild type, introducing both fkf1 and lkp2 mutations into the ztl mutant dramatically diminished LHY expression without further affecting CCA1 expression. This demonstrates different contributions of ZTL, FKF1, and LKP2 in the regulation of LHY and CCA1 expression. In addition, FKF1 and LKP2 also interacted with TIMING OF CAB EXPRESSION1 (TOC1) and PSEUDO-RESPONSE REGULATOR5 (PRR5), and both proteins were further stabilized in ztl fkf1 and ztl fkf1 lkp2 compared with in ztl. Our results indicate that ZTL, FKF1, and LKP2 together regulate TOC1 and PRR5 degradation and are major contributors to determining the period of circadian oscillation and enhancing robustness.

Iminium cations generated by the coupling of aldehydes, N-trimethylsilylamines and TMSOTf or by the methylation of imines with MeOTf smoothly react with silanes of a general formula Me3SiRf (Rf = CF3, CCl2F, C6F5) to afford the corresponding tertiary amines having a fluorinated substituent. The key step, involving C–C bond formation, is promoted by NaOAc or KF in DMF as a solvent.

LONG HYPOCOTYL5 (HY5) is a bZIP (basic leucine zipper) transcription factor that activates photomorphogenesis and root development in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana). Previously, STF1 (soybean [Glycine max] TGACG-motif binding factor 1), a homologous legume protein with a RING-finger motif and a bZIP domain, was reported in soybean. To investigate the role of STF1, the phenotypes of transgenic Arabidopsis plants overexpressing STF1 and HY5 were compared. In addition, the DNA-binding properties of STF1 and HY5 were extensively studied using random binding site selection and electrophoretic mobility shift assay. Overexpression of STF1 in the hy5 mutant of Arabidopsis restored wild-type photomorphogenic and root development phenotypes of short hypocotyl, accumulation of chlorophyll, and root gravitropism with partial restoration of anthocyanin accumulation. This supports that STF1 is a homolog of HY5 with a role in light and hormone signaling. The DNA-binding properties of STF1 and HY5 are shown to be similar to each other in recognizing many ACGT-containing elements with a consensus sequence motif of 5′-(G/A)(G/A) TGACGT(C/G/A)(A/T/G)-3′. The motif represents a characteristically strong preference for flanking sequence to TGACGT and a larger sequence than the sequences recognized by the G-box binding factor and TGA protein families. The finding of C-box, hybrid C/G-, and C/A-boxes as high-affinity binding sites over the G-box and parameters associated with HY5 recognition define the criteria of HY5/STF1 protein-DNA interaction in the promoter regions. This study helps to predict the precise in vivo binding sites of the HY5 protein from the vast number of putative HY5 genomic binding sites analyzed by chromatin immunoprecipitation on chip.

Real-time industrial network performance is very critical affected by the jitter. EtherCAT is one of powerful industrial Ethernet base network. The network performance of EtherCAT is dependent on master system. Many Industrial network controllers use embedded OS, and some of them has weakness of real-time performance. This paper shows the network performance of real-time embedded system of computational delay side of view.

Clock-regulated pathways coordinate the response of many developmental processes to changes in photoperiod and temperature. We model two of the best-understood clock output pathways in Arabidopsis, which control key regulators of flowering and elongation growth. In flowering, the model predicted regulatory links from the clock to CYCLING DOF FACTOR 1 (CDF1) and FLAVIN-BINDING, KELCH REPEAT, F-BOX 1 (FKF1) transcription. Physical interaction data support these links, which create threefold feed-forward motifs from two clock components to the floral regulator FT. In hypocotyl growth, the model described clock-regulated transcription of PHYTOCHROME-INTERACTING FACTOR 4 and 5 (PIF4, PIF5), interacting with post-translational regulation of PIF proteins by phytochrome B (phyB) and other light-activated pathways. The model predicted bimodal and end-of-day PIF activity profiles that are observed across hundreds of PIF-regulated target genes. In the response to temperature, warmth-enhanced PIF4 activity explained the observed hypocotyl growth dynamics but additional, temperature-dependent regulators were implicated in the flowering response. Integrating these two pathways with the clock model highlights the molecular mechanisms that coordinate plant development across changing conditions.

Photoperiod, or the duration of light in a given day, is a critical cue that flowering plants utilize to effectively assess seasonal information and coordinate their reproductive development in synchrony with the external environment. The use of the model plant, Arabidopsis thaliana, has greatly improved our understanding of the molecular mechanisms that determine how plants process and utilize photoperiodic information to coordinate a flowering response. This mechanism is typified by the transcriptional activation of FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) gene by the transcription factor CONSTANS (CO) under inductive long-day conditions in Arabidopsis. FT protein then moves from the leaves to the shoot apex, where floral meristem development can be initiated. As a point of integration from a variety of environmental factors in the context of a larger system of regulatory pathways that affect flowering, the importance of photoreceptors and the circadian clock in CO regulation throughout the day has been a key feature of the photoperiodic flowering pathway. In addition to these established mechanisms, the recent discovery of a photosynthate derivative trehalose-6-phosphate as an activator of FT in leaves has interesting implications for the involvement of photosynthesis in the photoperiodic flowering response that were suggested from previous physiological experiments in flowering induction.