Atomic Ruthenium-Promoted Cadmium Sulfide for Photocatalytic Production of Amino Acids from Biomass Derivatives.

Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins and are widely used as important ingredients for other nitrogen-containing molecules. Here, we report the sustainable production of amino acids from biomass-derived hydroxy acids with high activity under visible-light irradiation and mild conditions, using atomic ruthenium-promoted cadmium sulfide (Ru1/CdS). On a metal basis, the optimized Ru1/CdS exhibits a maximal alanine formation rate of 26.0 molAla ⋅ gRu -1 ⋅ h-1, which is 1.7 times and more than two orders of magnitude higher than that of its nanoparticle counterpart and the conventional thermocatalytic process, respectively. Integrated spectroscopic analysis and density functional theory calculations attribute the high performance of Ru1/CdS to the facilitated charge separation and O-H bond dissociation of the α-hydroxy group, here of lactic acid. The operando nuclear magnetic resonance further infers a unique "double activation" mechanism of both the CH-OH and CH3-CH-OH structures in lactic acid, which significantly accelerates its photocatalytic amination toward alanine.

Functions and Mechanisms of Brassinosteroids in Regulating Crop Agronomic Traits.

Brassinosteroids (BRs) perform crucial functions controlling plant growth and developmental processes, encompassing many agronomic traits in crops. Studies of BR-related genes involved in agronomic traits have suggested that BRs could serve as a potential target for crop breeding. Given the pleiotropic effect of BRs, a systematic understanding of their functions and molecular mechanisms is conducive for application in crop improvement. Here, we summarize the functions and underlying mechanisms by which BRs regulate the several major crop agronomic traits, including plant architecture, grain size, as well as the specific trait of symbiotic nitrogen fixation in legume crops. For plant architecture, we discuss the roles of BRs in plant height, branching number, and leaf erectness and propose how progress in these fields may contribute to designing crops with optimal agronomic traits and improved grain yield by accurately modifying BR levels and signaling pathways.

Ultrahigh Bifunctional Photocatalytic CO2 Reduction and H2 Evolution by Synergistic Interaction of Heteroatomic Pt-Ru Dimerization Sites.

Diatomic-site catalysts (DASCs) inherit the excellent performance of single-atom catalysts (SACs) by utilizing two adjacent atomic metal species to achieve functional complementarity and synergistic effects that improve the carbon dioxide reduction reaction (CO2RR) and H2 evolution reaction (HER) kinetics. Herein, we report a method to further improve the catalytic efficiency of Pt by using Pt and Ru single atoms randomly anchored on a g-C3N4 surface, yielding partial Pt-Ru dimers. The synthesized catalyst exhibits extraordinary photocatalytic activity and stability in both the CO2RR and HER processes. In-depth experimentation, the pH-dependent chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST) imaging nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) method, and theoretical analyses reveal that the excellent performance is attributed to orbital coupling between the Pt atoms and the neighboring Ru atoms (mainly dxy and dxz), which decreases the orbital energy levels and weakens the bond strength with intermediates, resulting in improved CO2RR and HER performance. This study successfully applies the pH-dependent CEST imaging NMR method to catalytic reactions, and CO2 adsorption is directly observed using CEST 2D imaging maps. This work presents significant potential for a variety of catalytic reaction applications by systematically designing bimetallic dimers with higher activity and stability.

Carbon nitride nanosheet-supported CuO for efficient photocatalytic CO2 reduction with 100% CO selectivity.

The optimal ratio of reaction solutions resulted in excellent performance and product selectivity of CuO/g-C3N4 composites in the photocatalytic CO2 reduction reaction. A pH-dependent chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST) imaging nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) method was used to confirm that CuO modification improves the adsorption capacity of CO2.

Energy sensors: emerging regulators of symbiotic nitrogen fixation.

Legume-rhizobium symbiotic nitrogen fixation is a highly energy-consuming process. Recent studies demonstrate that nodule-specific energy sensors play important roles in modulating nodule nitrogen fixation capacity. This opens a new field in the energy regulation of symbiotic nitrogen fixation that can provide insights into designing leguminous crops with efficient nitrogen fixation.

Soluble humic acid suppresses plant immunity and ethylene to promote soybean nodulation.

Symbiotic nitrogen fixation (SNF) is a crucial process for nitrogen geochemical cycling and plant-microbe interactions. Water-soluble humic acid (WSHM), an active component of soil humus, has been shown to promote SNF in the legume-rhizobial symbiosis, but its molecular mechanism remains largely unknown. To reveal the SNF-promoting mechanism, we conducted transcriptomic analysis on soybean treated with WSHM. Our findings revealed that up- and downregulated differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were mainly involved in plant cell-wall/membrane formation and plant defence/immunity in the early stage, while the late stage was marked by the flavonoid synthesis and ethylene biosynthetic process. Further study on representative DEGs showed that WSHM could inhibit GmBAK1d-mediated immunity and BR signalling, thereby promoting rhizobial colonisation, infection, and nodulation, while not favoring pathogenic bacteria colonisation on the host plant. Additionally, we also found that the ethylene pathway is necessary for promoting the soybean nodulation by WSHM. This study not only provides a significant advance in our understanding of the molecular mechanism of WSHM in promoting SNF, but also provides evidence of the beneficial interactions among the biostimulator, host plant, and soil microbes, which have not been previously reported.

Selective electrocatalytic transformation of highly toxic phenols in wastewater to para-benzoquinone at ambient conditions.

The selective transformation of organics from wastewater to value-added chemicals is considered an upcycling process beneficial for carbon neutrality. Herein, we present an innovative electrocatalytic oxidation (ECO) system aimed at achieving the selective conversion of phenols in wastewater to para-benzoquinone (p-BQ), a valuable chemical widely utilized in the manufacturing and chemical industries. Notably, 96.4% of phenol abatement and 78.9% of p-BQ yield are synchronously obtained over a preferred carbon cloth-supported ruthenium nanoparticles (Ru/C) anode. Such unprecedented results stem from the weak Ru-O bond between the Ru active sites and generated p-BQ, which facilitates the desorption of p-BQ from the anode surface. This property not only prevents the excessive oxidation of the generated p-BQ but also reinstates the Ru active sites essential for the rapid ECO of phenol. Furthermore, this ECO system operates at ambient conditions and obviates the need for potent chemical oxidants, establishing a sustainable avenue for p-BQ production. Importantly, the system efficacy can be adaptable in actual phenol-containing coking wastewater, highlighting its potential practical application prospect. As a proof of concept, we construct an electrified Ru/C membrane for ECO of phenol, attaining phenol removal of 95.8% coupled with p-BQ selectivity of 73.1%, which demonstrates the feasibility of the ECO system in a scalable flow-through operation mode. This work provides a promising ECO strategy for realizing both phenols removal and valuable organics recovery from phenolic wastewater.

A Study on the Psychological Experience and Influential Factors of Pregnant Women Who Decided Elective Caesarean Section After Public Health Emergencies - A Cross-Sectional Survey.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic used to be a major public health emergency which affected people worldwide, and it affected individuals' body, mood, work and lifestyle to some extent. The pregnant woman affected by the unstable hormone will be more sensitive than normal ones. Long-term depression and anxiety could feedback on their body and lead to a host of pregnancy complications. Because pregnant women who choose cesarean section are awake during the perioperative period, to ensure safety, the degree of cooperation about psychology and behavior is relatively high, so we should know the psychological state of such a group of people. Objective: This study aims to explore psychological experience and influential factors of pregnant women who decided elective caesarean section after the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study carried out in a hospital in Shanghai, according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, we selected pregnant women who selected elective cesarean section as the study objects, all participants provided informed consent and completed questionnaires, including sociodemographic questionnaire, Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale (GAD-7) and General Well-Being Schedule (GWBS). Software SPSS 23.0 was used to analyze and explore the influencing factors. Results: Eligible 595 questionnaires were included in the study, the mean score of GAD-7 was 4.855 ± 3.254 and 90.699 ± 13.807 of GWBS. Generalized linear regression analysis revealed several factors that were statistically significant with the two scales, including birthplace, average monthly income, number of abortion and pregnancy complication (p < 0.01). Conclusion: The COVID-19 infection status and symptoms around infection have no statistical difference in anxiety level and general well-being after they experience the COVID-19 pandemic. However, through this study, we found some influencing factors that worth further exploration. In the future, we will expand the sample size to explore the different situation of multi-center, and we hope provide psychological nursing interventions based on existing results to offer a better delivery experience.

GmBES1-1 dampens the activity of GmNSP1/2 to mediate brassinosteroid inhibition of nodulation in soybean.

Soybean (Glycine max) forms root nodules to house rhizobial bacteria for biological nitrogen fixation. The development of root nodules is intricately regulated by endogenous and exogenous cues. The phytohormones brassinosteroids (BRs) have been shown to negatively regulate nodulation in soybean, but the underlying genetic and molecular mechanisms remain largely unknown. Here, we performed transcriptomic analyses and revealed that BR signaling negatively regulates nodulation factor (NF) signaling. We found that BR signaling inhibits nodulation through its signaling component GmBES1-1 by dampening NF signaling and nodule formation. In addition, GmBES1-1 can directly interact with both GmNSP1 and GmNSP2 to inhibit their interaction and the DNA-binding activity of GmNSP1. Furthermore, BR-induced nuclear accumulation of GmBES1-1 is essential for inhibiting nodulation. Taken together, our results demonstrate that regulation of GmBES1-1 subcellular localization by BRs plays a key role in the legume-rhizobium symbiosis and plant development, indicating a crosstalk mechanism between phytohormone and symbiosis signaling pathways.

A multi-trait GWAS-based genetic association network controlling soybean architecture and seed traits.

Ideal plant architecture is essential for enhancing crop yields. Ideal soybean (Glycine max) architecture encompasses an appropriate plant height, increased node number, moderate seed weight, and compact architecture with smaller branch angles for growth under high-density planting. However, the functional genes regulating plant architecture are far not fully understood in soybean. In this study, we investigated the genetic basis of 12 agronomic traits in a panel of 496 soybean accessions with a wide geographical distribution in China. Analysis of phenotypic changes in 148 historical elite soybean varieties indicated that seed-related traits have mainly been improved over the past 60 years, with targeting plant architecture traits having the potential to further improve yields in future soybean breeding programs. In a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of 12 traits, we detected 169 significantly associated loci, of which 61 overlapped with previously reported loci and 108 new loci. By integrating the GWAS loci for different traits, we constructed a genetic association network and identified 90 loci that were associated with a single trait and 79 loci with pleiotropic effects. Of these 79 loci, 7 hub-nodes were strongly linked to at least three related agronomic traits. qHub_5, containing the previously characterized Determinate 1 (Dt1) locus, was associated not only with plant height and node number (as determined previously), but also with internode length and pod range. Furthermore, we identified qHub_7, which controls three branch angle-related traits; the candidate genes in this locus may be beneficial for breeding soybean with compact architecture. These findings provide insights into the genetic relationships among 12 important agronomic traits in soybean. In addition, these studies uncover valuable loci for further functional gene studies and will facilitate molecular design breeding of soybean architecture.

Phosphoenolpyruvate reallocation links nitrogen fixation rates to root nodule energy state.

Legume-rhizobium symbiosis in root nodules fixes nitrogen to satisfy the plant's nitrogen demands. The nodules' demand for energy is thought to determine nitrogen fixation rates. How this energy state is sensed to modulate nitrogen fixation is unknown. Here, we identified two soybean (Glycine max) cystathionine ß-synthase domain-containing proteins, nodule AMP sensor 1 (GmNAS1) and NAS1-associated protein 1 (GmNAP1). In the high-nodule energy state, GmNAS1 and GmNAP1 form homodimers that interact with the nuclear factor-Y C (NF-YC) subunit (GmNFYC10a) on mitochondria and reduce its nuclear accumulation. Less nuclear GmNFYC10a leads to lower expression of glycolytic genes involved in pyruvate production, which modulates phosphoenolpyruvate allocation to favor nitrogen fixation. Insight into these pathways may help in the design of leguminous crops that have improved carbon use, nitrogen fixation, and growth.

Characterization of two constitutive promoters RPS28 and EIF1 for studying soybean growth, development, and symbiotic nodule development.

Native promoters that can drive high and stable transgene expression are important tools for modifying plant traits. Although several such promoters have been reported in soybean (Glycine max), few of them function at multiple growth and development stages and during nodule development. Here, we report that the promoters of 40S RIBOSOMAL PROTEIN SMALL SUBUNIT S28 (RPS28) and EUKARYOTIC TRANSLATION INITIATION FACTOR 1 (EIF1) are ideal for high expression of transgene. Through bioinformatic analysis, we determined that RPS28 and EIF1 were highly expressed during soybean growth and development, nodule development, and various biotic and abiotic stresses. Fusion of both RPS28 and EIF1 promoters, with or without their first intron, with the reporter gene ß-GLUCURONIDASE (uidA) in transgenic soybean, resulted in high GUS activity in seedlings, seeds, and nodules. Fluorimetric GUS assays showed that the RPS28 promoter and the EIF1 promoter yielded high expression, comparable to the soybean Ubiquitin (GmUbi) promoter. RPS28 and EIF1 promoters were also highly expressed in Arabidopsis thaliana and Nicotiana benthamiana. Our results indicate the potential of RPS28 and EIF1 promoters to facilitate future genetic engineering and breeding to improve the quality and yield of soybean, as well as in a wide variety of other plant species. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s42994-022-00073-6.

Transfer Hydrogenation with a Carbon-Nitride-Supported Palladium Single-Atom Photocatalyst and Water as a Proton Source.

Solar-driven transfer hydrogenation of unsaturated bonds has received considerable attention in the research area of sustainable organic synthesis; however, water, the ultimate green source of hydrogen, has rarely been investigated due to the high barrier associated with splitting of water molecules. We report a carbon-nitride-supported palladium single-atom heterogeneous catalyst with unparalleled performance in photocatalytic water-donating transfer hydrogenation compared to its nanoparticle counterparts. Isotopic-labeling experiments and operando nuclear magnetic resonance measurements confirm the direct hydrogenation mechanism using in situ-generated protons from water splitting under visible-light irradiation. Density functional theory calculations attribute the high activity to lower barriers for hydrogenation, facilitated desorption of ethylbenzene, and facile hydrogen replenishment from water on the atomic palladium sites.

Brassinosteroids promote thermotolerance through releasing BIN2-mediated phosphorylation and suppression of HsfA1 transcription factors in Arabidopsis.

High temperature adversely affects plant growth and development. The steroid phytohormones brassinosteroids (BRs) are recognized to play important roles in plant heat stress responses and thermotolerance, but the underlying mechanisms remain obscure. Here, we demonstrate that the glycogen synthase kinase 3 (GSK3)-like kinase BRASSINOSTEROID INSENSITIVE2 (BIN2), a negative component in the BR signaling pathway, interacts with the master heat-responsive transcription factors CLASS A1 HEAT SHOCK TRANSCRIPTION FACTORS (HsfA1s). Furthermore, BIN2 phosphorylates HsfA1d on T263 and S56 to suppress its nuclear localization and inhibit its DNA-binding ability, respectively. BR signaling promotes plant thermotolerance by releasing the BIN2 suppression of HsfA1d to facilitate its nuclear localization and DNA binding. Our study provides insights into the molecular mechanisms by which BRs promote plant thermotolerance by strongly regulating HsfA1d through BIN2 and suggests potential ways to improve crop yield under extreme high temperatures.

Full-Length Transcriptome Sequencing Reveals Alternative Splicing and lncRNA Regulation during Nodule Development in Glycine max.

Alternative splicing (AS) is a ubiquitous phenomenon among eukaryotic intron-containing genes, which greatly contributes to transcriptome and proteome diversity. Here we performed the isoform sequencing (Iso-Seq) of soybean underground tissues inoculated and uninoculated with Rhizobium and obtained 200,681 full-length transcripts covering 26,183 gene loci. It was found that 80.78% of the multi-exon loci produced more than one splicing variant. Comprehensive analysis of these identified 7874 differentially splicing events with highly diverse splicing patterns during nodule development, especially in defense and transport-related processes. We further profiled genes with differential isoform usage and revealed that 2008 multi-isoform loci underwent stage-specific or simultaneous major isoform switches after Rhizobium inoculation, indicating that AS is a vital way to regulate nodule development. Moreover, we took the lead in identifying 1563 high-confidence long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in soybean, and 157 of them are differentially expressed during nodule development. Therefore, our study uncovers the landscape of AS during the soybean-Rhizobium interaction and provides systematic transcriptomic data for future study of multiple novel directions in soybean.

Direct Atomic Observation of Reversible Orientation Switch in Monoatomic-Layered Gold Membrane Conducted by Dynamic Vortex.

Controlling the material structure at an atomic scale to tune their physicochemical and nanoengineering properties is a major driving force of nanotechnology. However, manipulating the structural variation in monoatomic-layered metals remains a challenge, hindering the full application of their novel properties. Here, we show by experiments and simulations that a reversible orientation rotation of monoatomic-layered gold membrane embedded in the gold crystal is performed through dynamic vortexing that is comprised of the circular motion of atoms. A pair of dynamic vortices are successively generated and together span the entire gold membrane to accomplish the orientation switch. Density functional theory calculations demonstrate that the gold membrane exhibits a Rashba-type spin splitting, while the spin direction reversibly flips with the switching orientation of the gold membrane. The results provide a conceptual approach for constructing a novel electronic system with monoatomic-layered metals and the reversible spin-flip has inspiring applications for future spintronics.

Surface Passivation and Energetic Modification Suppress Nonradiative Recombination in Perovskite Solar Cells.

Surface passivation via post-treatment is an important strategy for improving power conversion efficiency and operational stability of perovskite solar cells. However, so far the interaction mechanisms between passivating additive and perovskite are not well understood. Here, we report the atomic-scale interaction of surface passivating additive 2,2-difluoroethylammonium bromine (2FEABr) on the MAPbI3. It is found that the bulky 2FEA+ cations tend to distribute at film surface, while the Br- anions diffuse from surface into bulk. A combination of 19F, 207Pb, and 2H solid-state NMR further reveal the Br- anions' partial substitution for the I- sites, the restricted motion of partial MA+ cations, and the firmed perovskite lattices, which would improve charge transport and stability of the perovskite films. Optical spectroscopy and ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy demonstrate that the 2FEABr induced surface passivation and energetic modification suppress the nonradiative recombination loss. These findings enable the efficiency of the p-i-n structured PSC significantly increasing from 19.44 to 21.06%, accompanied by excellent stability. Our work further establishes more knowledge link between passivating additive and PSC performance.

Genome assembly of the JD17 soybean provides a new reference genome for comparative genomics.

Cultivated soybean (Glycine max) is an important source for protein and oil. Many elite cultivars with different traits have been developed for different conditions. Each soybean strain has its own genetic diversity, and the availability of more high-quality soybean genomes can enhance comparative genomic analysis for identifying genetic underpinnings for its unique traits. In this study, we constructed a high-quality de novo assembly of an elite soybean cultivar Jidou 17 (JD17) with chromosome contiguity and high accuracy. We annotated 52,840 gene models and reconstructed 74,054 high-quality full-length transcripts. We performed a genome-wide comparative analysis based on the reference genome of JD17 with 3 published soybeans (WM82, ZH13, and W05), which identified 5 large inversions and 2 large translocations specific to JD17, 20,984-46,912 presence-absence variations spanning 13.1-46.9 Mb in size. A total of 1,695,741-3,664,629 SNPs and 446,689-800,489 Indels were identified and annotated between JD17 and them. Symbiotic nitrogen fixation genes were identified and the effects from these variants were further evaluated. It was found that the coding sequences of 9 nitrogen fixation-related genes were greatly affected. The high-quality genome assembly of JD17 can serve as a valuable reference for soybean functional genomics research.

Rhizobial infection of 4C cells triggers their endoreduplication during symbiotic nodule development in soybean.

Symbiosis between legumes and rhizobia results in the formation of nitrogen-fixing root nodules. Endoreduplication is essential for nodule development and efficient nitrogen fixation; however, the cellular mechanism by which rhizobial infection causes endoreduplication in symbiotic nodules and the roles of the resulting polyploid cells in nitrogen fixation remain largely unknown. Here, we developed a series of different approaches to separate infected cells (ICs) and uninfected cells (UCs) and determined their ploidy levels in soybean (Glycine max) developing nodules. We demonstrated that 4C nuclei exist in both UCs and ICs of developing nodules and that these 4C cells are primarily invaded by rhizobia and subsequently undergo endoreduplication. Furthermore, RNA-sequencing analysis of nuclei with different ploidy levels from soybean nodules at 12 d post-infection (dpi) and 20 dpi showed that 4C cells are predominantly ICs in 12-dpi nodules but UCs in 20-dpi nodules. We conclude that the infection of 4C cells by rhizobia is critical for initiating endoreduplication. These findings provide significant insight into rhizobial infection, nodule endoreduplication and nitrogen fixation in symbiotic nodules.