GmCBP60b Plays Both Positive and Negative Roles in Plant Immunity.

CBP60b (CALMODULIN-BINDING PROTEIN 60b) is a member of the CBP60 transcription factor family. In Arabidopsis, AtCBP60b not only regulates growth and development but also activates the transcriptions in immune responses. So far, CBP60b has only been studied extensively in the model plant Arabidopsis and rarely in crops. In this study, Bean pod mottle virus (BPMV)-mediated gene silencing (BPMV-VIGS) was used to silence GmCBP60b.1/2 in soybean plants. The silencing of GmCBP60b.1/2 resulted in typical autoimmunity, such as dwarfism and enhanced resistance to both Soybean mosaic virus (SMV) and Pseudomonas syringae pv. glycinea (Psg). To further understand the roles of GmCBP60b in immunity and circumvent the recalcitrance of soybean transformation, we generated transgenic tobacco lines that overexpress GmCBP60b.1. The overexpression of GmCBP60b.1 also resulted in autoimmunity, including spontaneous cell death on the leaves, highly induced expression of PATHOGENESIS-RELATED (PR) genes, significantly elevated accumulation of defense hormone salicylic acid (SA), and significantly enhanced resistance to Pst DC3000 (Pseudomonas syrangae pv. tomato DC3000). The transient coexpression of a luciferase reporter gene driven by the promoter of soybean SYSTEMIC ACQUIRED RESISTANCE DEFICIENT 1 (GmSARD1) (ProGmSARD1::LUC), together with GmCBP60b.1 driven by the 35S promoter, led to the activation of the LUC reporter gene, suggesting that GmCBP60b.1 could bind to the core (A/T)AATT motifs within the promoter region of GmSARD1 and, thus, activate the expression of the LUC reporter. Taken together, our results indicate that GmCBP60b.1/2 play both positive and negative regulatory roles in immune responses. These results also suggest that the function of CBP60b is conserved across plant species.

Soybean GmSAUL1, a Bona Fide U-Box E3 Ligase, Negatively Regulates Immunity Likely through Repressing the Activation of GmMPK3.

E3 ubiquitin ligases play important roles in plant immunity, but their role in soybean has not been investigated previously. Here, we used Bean pod mottle virus (BPMV)-mediated virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) to investigate the function of GmSAUL1 (Senescence-Associated E3 Ubiquitin Ligase 1) homologs in soybean. When two closely related SAUL1 homologs were silenced simultaneously, the soybean plants displayed autoimmune phenotypes, which were significantly alleviated by high temperature, suggesting that GmSAUL1a/1b might be guarded by an R protein. Interestingly, silencing GmSAUL1a/1b resulted in the decreased activation of GmMPK6, but increased activation of GmMPK3 in response to flg22, suggesting that the activation of GmMPK3 is most likely responsible for the activated immunity observed in the GmSAUL1a/1b-silenced plants. Furthermore, we provided evidence that GmSAUL1a is a bona fide E3 ligase. Collectively, our results indicated that GmSAUL1 plays a negative role in regulating cell death and immunity in soybean.

Silencing GmBIR1 in Soybean Results in Activated Defense Responses.

Receptor-like kinases (RLKs) are a large group of pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) and play a critical role in recognizing pathogens, transducing defense signals, and mediating the activation of immune defense responses. Although extensively studied in the model plant Arabidopsis, studies of RLKs in crops, including soybean, are limited. When a BAK1-interacting receptor-like kinase (BIR1) homolog (referred to as GmBIR1 hereafter) was silenced by the BPMV (Bean pod mottle virus)-induced gene silencing (BPMV-VIGS), it resulted in phenotypes that were reminiscent of constitutively activated defense responses, including a significantly stunted stature with observable cell death on the leaves of the silenced plants. In addition, both SA and H2O2 were over-accumulated in the leaves of the GmBIR1-silenced plants. Consistent with this autoimmune phenotype, GmBIR1-silenced plants exhibited significantly enhanced resistance to both Pseudomonas syringae pv. glycinea (Psg) and Soybean mosaic virus (SMV), two different types of pathogens, compared to the vector control plants. Together, our results indicated that GmBIR1 is a negative regulator of immunity in soybean and the function of BIR1 homologs is conserved in different plant species.

Status of traditional Chinese medicine healthcare services in nursing homes across China.

This study aimed to elucidate the status of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) healthcare services provided in nursing homes across China. We investigated 484 nursing homes using self-compiled questionnaires with a convenient sampling method. Chi-squared and Wilcoxon rank-sum tests were used for univariate analysis and binary logistic regression for multi-factor analysis. Of the 443 nursing homes finally included, 215 (48.5%) provided TCM healthcare services. Nursing home leaders majored in integrated TCM and Western medicine, leaders with a better understanding of TCM and government policies, nursing homes charging over 5,000 CNY/month, and those with ≥500 beds were more likely to provide improved TCM healthcare services. Massage, moxibustion, cupping or scraping, plaster therapy, decocting pieces, and acupuncture were the most prevalent and popular TCM services. Lack of professionals, financial investment, and policy support were the most common factors limiting the provision of TCM healthcare services in Chinese nursing homes.

Pressure-induced isostructural phase transition in Ti3AlC2: experimental and theoretical investigation.

The structural stability of Ti3AlC2 under high pressure is important for understanding its mechanical properties. Here, we conducted a high hydrostatic pressure synchrotron X-ray diffraction experiment and no structural phase transition was observed. Like most other MAX phases, Ti3AlC2 showed an anisotropic compression behavior. Most importantly, an anomaly in c/a ratio was observed at 20.3 GPa, indicating that a pressure-induced isostructural phase transition occurred here. Analysis of the electronic band structure and Fermi surface revealed that three bands crossed the Fermi surface under compression, which suggested that this isostructural phase transition can be considered to be motivated by an electronic topological transition. The subsequent Hall-effect measurements reconfirmed this variation of the electronic band at the Fermi surface, which can be regarded as the electronic origin for the observed isostructural phase transition. These results enrich the basic property data of Ti3AlC2 and would benefit the further understanding of this promising material.

[Silencing GmATG10 results in activation of immune responses in soybean].

Autophagy is a highly conserved mechanism for material degradation and recycling in eukaryote cells, and plays important roles in growth, development, stress tolerance and immune responses. ATG10 plays a key role in autophagosome formation. To understand the function of ATG10 in soybean, two homologous GmATG10 genes, namely GmATG10a and GmATG10b, were silenced simultaneously by bean pod mottle virus (BPMV) induced gene silencing. The carbon starvation induced by dark treatment and Western blotting analysis of GmATG8 accumulation level indicated that concurrent silencing GmATG10a/10b resulted in the impairment of autophagy in soybean; disease resistance and kinase assays demonstrated that GmATG10a/10b participated in the immune responses by negatively regulating the activation of GmMPK3/6, indicating that GmATG10a/10b plays a negative regulatory role in immune response in soybean.

Synthesis of Ni-B Compounds by High-Pressure and High-Temperature Method.

Nickel borides are promising multifunctional materials for high hardness and excellent properties in catalysis and magnetism. However, it is still a blank of intrinsic properties in Ni-B compounds, because crystallization of the single phases of Ni-B compounds with micro-size is a challenge. In this work, single phases of Ni2B (I4/mcm), α-Ni4B3 (Pnma), ß-Ni4B3 (C2/c), and NiB (Cmcm) are synthesized by high pressure and high temperature (HPHT). The results indicate that synthesizing α-Ni4B3 and ß-Ni4B3 requires more energy than Ni2B and NiB. The growth process of Ni-B compounds is that Ni covers B to form Ni-B compounds under HPHT, which also makes the slight excess of B necessary. So, generating homogeneous distribution of starting materials and increasing the interdiffusion between Ni and B are two keys to synthesize well crystallized and purer samples by HPHT. This work uncovers the growth process of Ni-B compounds, which is significant to guide the synthesis of highly crystalline transition metal borides (TMBs) in the future.

Pressure-induced bandgap engineering and photoresponse enhancement of wurtzite CuInS2 nanocrystals.

Wurtzite CuInS2 exhibits great potential for optoelectronic applications because of its excellent optical properties and good stability. However, exploring effective strategies to simultaneously optimize its optical and photoelectrical properties remains a challenge. In this study, the bandgap of wurtzite CuInS2 nanocrystals is successfully extended and the photocurrent is enhanced synchronously using external pressure. The bandgap of wurtzite CuInS2 increases with pressure and reaches an optimal value (1.5 eV) for photovoltaic solar energy conversion at about 5.9 GPa. Surprisingly, the photocurrent simultaneously increases nearly 3-fold and reaches the maximum value at this critical pressure. Theoretical calculation indicates that the pressure-induced bandgap extention in wurtzite CuInS2 may be attributed to an increased charge density and ionic polarization between the In-S atoms. The photocurrent preserves a relatively high photoresponse even at 8.8 GPa, but almost disappears above 10.3 GPa. The structural evolution demonstrates that CuInS2 undergoes a phase transformation from the wurtzite phase (P63mc) to the rock salt phase (Fm3̄m) at about 10.3 GPa, which resulted in a direct to indirect bandgap transition and fianlly caused a dramatic reduction in photocurrent. These results not only map a new route toward further increase in the photoelectrical performance of wurtzite CuInS2, but also advance the current research of AI-BIII-CVI2 materials.

Accurate in situ measurements of thermoelectric transport properties at high pressure and high temperature.

Regulating electron structure and electron-phonon coupling by means of pressure and temperature is an effective way to optimize thermoelectric properties. However, in situ testing of thermoelectric transport performance under pressure and temperature is hindered by technical constraints that obscure the intrinsic effects of pressure and temperature on thermoelectric properties. In the present study, a new reliable assembly was developed for testing the in situ thermoelectric transport performance of materials at high pressure and high temperature (HPHT). This reduces the influence of thermal effects on the test results and improves the success rate of in situ experiments at HPHT. The Seebeck coefficient and electrical resistivity of α-Cu2Se were measured under HPHT, and the former was found to increase with increasing pressure and temperature; for the latter, although an increase in the pressure acted to lower the electrical resistivity, an increase in the temperature acted to increase it. On increasing pressure from 0.8 to 3 GPa at 333 K, the optimal power factor of α-Cu2Se was increased by ∼76% from 2.36 × 10-4-4.15 × 10-4 W m-1 K-2, and the higher pressure meant that α-Cu2Se had its maximum power factor at lower temperature. The present work is particularly important for understanding the thermoelectric mechanism under HPHT.

Superconductivity above 200 K discovered in superhydrides of calcium.

Searching for superconductivity with Tc near room temperature is of great interest both for fundamental science & many potential applications. Here we report the experimental discovery of superconductivity with maximum critical temperature (Tc) above 210 K in calcium superhydrides, the new alkali earth hydrides experimentally showing superconductivity above 200 K in addition to sulfur hydride & rare-earth hydride system. The materials are synthesized at the synergetic conditions of 160~190 GPa and ~2000 K using diamond anvil cell combined with in-situ laser heating technique. The superconductivity was studied through in-situ high pressure electric conductance measurements in an applied magnetic field for the sample quenched from high temperature while maintained at high pressures. The upper critical field Hc(0) was estimated to be ~268 T while the GL coherent length is ~11 Å. The in-situ synchrotron X-ray diffraction measurements suggest that the synthesized calcium hydrides are primarily composed of CaH6 while there may also exist other calcium hydrides with different hydrogen contents.

Modulating Band Gap of Boron Doping in Amorphous Carbon Nano-Film.

Amorphous carbon (a-C) films are attracting considerable attention to due their large optical band gap (Eopt) range of 1-4 eV. But the hopping conducting mechanism of boron doping a-C (a-C:B) is still mysterious. To exploring the intrinsic reasons behind the semiconductor properties of a-C:B, in this work, the boron doping a-C (a-C:B) nano-film was prepared, and the growth rate and Eopt changing were analyzed by controlling the different experimental conditions of magnetron sputtering. A rapid deposition rate of 10.55 nm/min was obtained. The Eopt is reduced from 3.19 eV to 2.78 eV by improving the substrate temperature and sputtering power. The proportion of sp2/sp3 increasing was uncovered with narrowing the Eopt. The shrinking Eopt can be attributed to the fact that boron atoms act as a fluxing agent to promote carbon atoms to form sp2 hybridization at low energy. Furthermore, boron atoms can impede the formation of σ bonds in carbon atom sp3 hybridization by forming B-C bonds with high energy, and induce the sp3 hybridization transfer to sp2 hybridization. This work is significant to further study of amorphous semiconductor films.

Carious status and supragingival plaque microbiota in hemodialysis patients.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the carious status and the microbial profiles of supragingival plaque in patients with chronic kidney disease undergoing hemodialysis. METHODS: This study included 30 patients with chronic kidney disease undergoing hemodialysis as well as 30 control subjects. Dental examination was performed and the decayed-missing-filled-teeth was recorded. Supragingival plaque was taken and analyzed using 16S rRNA gene amplicon by Illumina MiSeq sequencing to detect microbial composition and community diversity and structure. RESULTS: The level of decayed-missing-filled-teeth was higher in the hemodialysis group than that in the control group. Microbial analysis showed a decrease in α diversity and a increase in relative abundance and prevalence of many acidogenic and aciduric caries related species in the supragingival plaque samples of the hemodialysis patients, including Streptococcus mutans, Lactobacillus salivarius, Lactobacillus fermentum, Lactobacillus vaginalis, Scardovia wiggsiae F0424, and Actinomyces naeslundii. CONCLUSION: Our results suggested that the hemodialysis patients were more susceptible to caries. More attentions for caries prevention and treatment should be paid to improve their life quality, and even to reduce their cardiovascular events and survival.