A Paper-Fiber-Supported 3D SERS Substrate

Plasmonics - Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectroscopy is an effective approach for trace-level detection of molecular substance. Plasmonic metallic nanostructures with high...     

Interface Engineering of Hierarchical Branched Mo‐Doped Ni3S2/NixPy Hollow Heterostructure Nanorods for Efficient Overall Water Splitting

Rational design and construction of bifunctional electrocatalysts with excellent activity and durability is imperative for water splitting. Herein, a novel top‐down strategy to realize a hierarchical branched Mo‐doped sulfide/phosphide heterostructure (Mo‐Ni₃S₂/Ni_xP_y hollow nanorods), by partially phosphating Mo‐Ni₃S₂/NF flower clusters, is proposed. Benefitting from the optimized electronic structure configuration, hierarchical branched hollow nanorod structure, and abundant heterogeneous interfaces, the as‐obtained multisite Mo‐Ni₃S₂/Ni_xP_y/NF electrode has remarkable stability and bifunctional electrocatalytic activity in the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER)/oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in 1 m KOH solutions. It possesses an extremely low overpotential of 238 mV at the current density of 50 mA cm^?2 for OER. Importantly, when assembled as anode and cathode simultaneously, it merely requires an ultralow cell voltage of 1.46 V to achieve the current density of 10 mA cm^?2, with excellent durability for over 72 h, outperforming most of the reported Ni‐based bifunctional materials. Density functional theory results further confirm that the doped heterostructure can synergistically optimize Gibbs free energies of H and O‐containing intermediates (OH*, O*, and OOH*) during HER and OER processes, thus accelerating the catalytic kinetics of electrochemical water splitting. This work demonstrates the importance of the rational combination of metal doping and interface engineering for advanced catalytic materials.     

Overexpression of Small Heat Shock Protein LimHSP16.45 in Arabidopsis hsp17.6II Mutant Enhances Tolerance to Abiotic Stresses

Russian Journal of Plant Physiology - Organisms can produce heat shock proteins (HSPs) in response to elevated temperatures and other abiotic stresses. However, the function of HSPs, including...     

Transient silencing of VvCSN5 enhances powdery mildew resistance in grapevine (Vitis vinifera)

As one of the most economically important fruit crops in the world, the grapevine (Vitis vinifera) suffers significant yield losses from various pathogens including powdery mildew caused by Erysiphe necator. In contrast, several wild Chinese grapevines, including Vitis pseudoreticulata accession Baihe-35-1, are highly resistant to powdery mildew pathogens. Here, we identified a grapevine gene CSN5 (COP9 signalosome complex subunit 5), designated VvCSN5, that was differentially expressed between the resistant ‘Baihe-35-1’ and susceptible ‘Thompson Seedless’ during powdery mildew isolate Erysiphe necator NAFU1 infection. Moreover, transient silencing of VvCSN5 in ‘Thompson Seedless’ leaves enhanced resistance to En NAFU1. This resistance manifested in cell wall callose deposition at attempted infection sites and hypersensitive response-like cell death of penetrated epidermal cells. Several defense-related marker genes (VvPR1, VvPR3, VvPAD4, and VvRBOHD) had higher basal expression levels in VvCSN5-silenced leaves. In addition, we found the structure and activity of CSN5 promoters in ‘Thompson Seedless’ and ‘Baihe-35-1’ were different, which may have been behind their different resistances to powdery mildew infection. Taken together, these results implied that grapevine CSN5 plays an important role in the response to powdery mildew infection.

     

Multivariate analysis of volatile profiles in tea plant infested by tea green leafhopper Empoasca onukii Matsuda

Plant Growth Regulation - The tea green leafhopper (Empoasca onukii Matsuda) is a severe pest for the tea plant (Camellia sinensis (L.) O. Ktze), which significantly reduces the tea yields and...     

The optimum dietary methionine requirement of juvenile humpback grouper (Cromileptes altivelis): effects on growth,micromorphology, protein and lipid metabolism

An 8-week feeding trial was conducted to evaluate optimum dietary methionine (Met) requirement of juvenile humpback grouper (Cromileptes altivelis) and the influence of dietary methionine (Met) supplementations on growth, gut micromorphology, protein and lipid metabolism. Seven isoproteic (48.91%) and isolipidic diets (10%) were made to contain 0.70, 0.88, 1.04, 1.27 1.46, 1.61 and 1.76% of dry matter Met levels. Results showed that lower survival, weight gain (WG%), protein efficiency ratio (PER), protein productive value (PPV) but higher daily feed intake (DFI) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were observed in the Met deficient groups (0.70 and 0.88%). Optimum dietary Met requirement for humpback grouper was found to be 1.07% through the straight-broken line analysis of WG% against Met. Fish fed Met deficient diets (0.70, 0.88%) exhibited lower mRNA levels of growth hormone (GH), growth hormone receptor (GHR), insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-1), target of rapamycin (TOR) as well as S6 kinase 1 (S6K1) than other dietary groups. Whereas, expression of genes related to general control nonderepressible (GCN2) kinase i.e., GCN2 and C/EBPβ enhancer-binding protein β was upregulated in fish fed low Met diets (P < 0.05). The mRNA expression of hepatic fatty acid synthase (FAS) and sterol regulatory element-binding protein-1 (SREBP-1) were higher in fish fed 0.70 and 0.88% dietary Met group and the lipolytic genes, hepatic peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α (PPARα) and carnitine palmitoyl transferase-1 (CPT-1) showed an opposite variation tendency as FAS or SREBP1. Generally, the optimum Met requirement for humpback grouper was predicted to be 1.07% of dry matter.

     

A Metabonomics Study of Guan-Xin-Shu-Tong Capsule against Diet-Induced Hyperlipidemia in Rats

Russian Journal of Bioorganic Chemistry - Guan-Xin-Shu-Tong capsule is a widely used traditional Chinese medicine for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. However, little knowledge about the...     

Overexpression of a C-type lectin enhances bacterial resistance in red swamp crayfish Procambarus clarkii

C-type lectins play important roles in the innate immune system of crustaceans. In this study, a novel C-type lectin gene, designated as PcLec4, was obtained from the red swamp crayfish (Procambarus clarkii). Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction revealed that PcLec4 is mainly expressed in the crayfish hepatopancreas and intestine, and the PcLec4 mRNA expression is upregulated after challenged with the bacteria Vibrio anguillarum. PcLec4 was recombinantly expressed in Escherichia coli and anti-PcLec4 polyclonal antiserum was prepared. Binding experiments revealed that the recombinant PcLec4 binds to various bacteria and polysaccharides on the bacterial surface, which suggests that PcLec4 recognizes bacterial pathogens. Overexpression of PcLec4 in crayfish using the pIeLec4 vector was performed. The results show that the crayfish overexpressing PcLec4 eliminate injected V. anguillarum more quickly than the control, which suggests that PcLec4 elicits further immune response for removing invading bacteria. The results of the survival experiment confirmed the function of PcLec4 in resisting V. anguillarum because PcLec4 overexpression in crayfish significantly increased the crayfish survival rate. These results reveal that PcLec4 has an important role in the antibacterial immunity of crayfish, and in vivo PcLec4 overexpression might be used as a disease control strategy in aquiculture.