A genome-wide investigation of the mechanism underlying the effect of exogenous boron application on sugar content and overall quality of "Benihoppe" strawberries.

In recent years, the widespread application of growth regulators and nutrients to boost yield and quality of strawberry fruits has led to the rapid growth of strawberry industry globally. Although the effects of major nutrients on strawberry yield have been widely studied, investigations into the effect of trace elements such as boron remain limited. This study examined the effect of boron application on the yield and quality of "Benihoppe" strawberry fruits. Nutrient solutions with varying boron concentrations (0, 0.024, 0.048, 0.072, and 0.096 mM) were applied to the plants, and their effect on fruit quality was evaluated. The results indicated that boron application enhanced the yield per plant, nutrient composition (total amino acid and vitamin C content), antioxidant properties (total phenol) and volatile components (esters) in strawberry fruits. Specifically, treatment with 0.048 mM boron concentration significantly increased the accumulation of soluble sugars, such as sucrose, whose concentration was 154.29% higher than that of the control treated with 0 mM concentration. This enhancement is attributable to the regulated expression of sucrose phosphate synthase (maker-Fvb2-2-augustus-gene-229.38) and ß-fructofuranosidase-1/2/3 (augustus-masked-Fvb5-4-processed-gene-2.0, maker-Fvb5-3-augustus-gene-272.30, and maker-Fvb5-1-augustus-gene-0.37) genes, which play crucial roles in sugar metabolism and enzyme activity. Overall, boron application enhanced the quality of "Benihoppe" strawberries. The findings of this study offer substantial theoretical and practical guidance for using boron fertilizers in strawberry farming.

Cu superparticle-based aggregation induced enhancement strategy with PVDF-HFP/CeVO4 NP sensing interface for miR-103a detection.

Aggregation-induced emission (AIE) has been widely used in research on electrochemiluminescence (ECL) due to its excellent luminescence intensity. In this work, copper superparticles (Cu SPs) were used to construct ECL biosensor to detect the microRNA-103a (miRNA-103a) in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) tumor tissues. Firstly, GSH-capped copper clusters were used as precursors to prepare Cu SPs by the AIE effect. Compared with clusters, Cu SPs possessed higher luminescence performance and energy stability, making them an ideal choice for ECL nanoprobe. The film of PVDF-HFP/CeVO4 NPs was constructed and modified with CPBA and GSH as the sensing interface (PCCG). The PCCG film displayed good conductivity and hydrophilicity, and desirable mechanical stability. Moreover, the PCCG film can induce high carrier mobility rates and dissociate large amounts of the co-reactant K2S2O8 to enhance the ECL intensity of Cu SPs. As a result, the prepared ECL sensor with the catalyzed hairpin assembly (CHA) strategy was employed to quantify miRNA-103a in the range of 100 fM to 100 nM. The biosensor provided a novel analytical approach for the clinical diagnosis of TNBC.

Solvent-Exchange Triggered Solidification of Peptide/POM Coacervates for Enhancing the On-Site Underwater Adhesion.

Peptide-based biomimetic underwater adhesives are emerging candidates for understanding the adhesion mechanism of natural proteins secreted by sessile organisms. However, there is a grand challenge in the functional recapitulation of the on-site interfacial spreading, adhesion and spontaneous solidification of native proteins in water using peptide adhesives without applied compressing pressure. Here, a solvent-exchange strategy was utilized to exert the underwater injection, on-site spreading, adhesion and sequential solidification of a series of peptide/polyoxometalate coacervates. The coacervates were first prepared in a mixed solution of water and organic solvents by rationally suppressing the non-covalent interactions. After switching to a water environment, the solvent exchange between bulk water and the organic solvent embedded in the matrix of the peptide/polyoxometalate coacervates recovered the hydrophobic effect by increasing the dielectric constant, resulting in a phase transition from soft coacervates to hard solid with enhanced bulk cohesion and thus compelling underwater adhesive performance. The key to this approach is the introduction of suitable organic solvents, which facilitate the control of the intermolecular interactions and the cross-linking density of the peptide/polyoxometalate adhesives in the course of solidification under the water line. The solvent-exchange method displays fascinating universality and compatibility with different peptide segments.

Portable smartphone platform utilizing AIE-featured carbon dots for multivariate visual detection for Cu2+, Hg2+ and BSA in real samples.

Heavy metals cause serious toxic threats to both environment and human health. The multivariate, instrument-free, portable, and rapid detection strategy is crucial for determination of heavy metals. Herein, aggregation-induced emission (AIE) featured carbon dots (SN-CDs) were fabricated hydrothermally by optimizing co-doping precursors. With bright yellow emission at 560 nm, the SN-CDs were utilized for multivariate sensing Cu2+, Hg2+ and bovine serum albumin (BSA) based on AIE behavior and static quenching effect, with detection limits of 0.46 µmol·L-1, 25.8 nmol·L-1 and 1.52 µmol·L-1. A portable smartphone platform was constructed to enable portable, prompt, and sensitive analysis for Cu2+, Hg2+, and BSA via different strategies in real water and food samples with satisfied recovery. Moreover, a logic gate circuit was designed to provide the possibilities for utilization of intelligent facility. The proposed AIE SN-CDs possessing great contribution in preferable sensing performance, present promising prospects in real-time monitoring of environment and food safety.