Genome-wide identification and expression pattern analysis of MIKC-Type MADS-box genes in Chionanthus retusus, an androdioecy plant.

BACKGROUND: The MADS-box gene family is widely distributed in the plant kingdom, and its members typically encoding transcription factors to regulate various aspects of plant growth and development. In particular, the MIKC-type MADS-box genes play a crucial role in the determination of floral organ development and identity recognition. As a type of androdioecy plant, Chionanthus retusus have unique gender differentiation. Manifested as male individuals with only male flowers and female individuals with only bisexual flowers. However, due to the lack of reference genome information, the characteristics of MIKC-type MADS-box genes in C. retusus and its role in gender differentiation of C. retusus remain largely unknown. Therefore, it is necessary to identify and characterize the MADS-box gene family within the genome of the C. retusus. RESULTS: In this study, we performed a genome-wide identification and analysis of MIKC-type MADS-box genes in C. retusus (2n = 2x = 46), utilizing the latest reference genome, and studied its expression pattern in individuals of different genders. As a result, we identified a total of 61 MIKC-type MADS-box genes in C. retusus. 61 MIKC-type MADS-box genes can be divided into 12 subfamilies and distributed on 18 chromosomes. Genome collinearity analysis revealed their conservation in evolution, while gene structure, domains and motif analysis indicated their conservation in structure. Finally, based on their expression patterns in floral organs of different sexes, we have identified that CrMADS45 and CrMADS60 may potentially be involved in the gender differentiation of C. retusus. CONCLUSIONS: Our studies have provided a general understanding of the conservation and characteristics of the MIKC-type MADS-box genes family in C. retusus. And it has been demonstrated that members of the AG subfamily, CrMADS45 and CrMADS60, may play important roles in the gender differentiation of C. retusus. This provides a reference for future breeding efforts to improve flower types in C. retusus and further investigate the role of MIKC-type MADS-box genes in gender differentiation.

Genome-wide identification and analysis of the SUPPRESSOR of MAX2 1-LIKE gene family and its interaction with DWARF14 in poplar.

BACKGROUND: Strigolactones (SLs) are important phytohormones that can regulate branch development in plants. Although SUPPRESSOR of MAX2 1-LIKE proteins (SMXLs) play a crucial role in SL signaling transduction, the SMXL gene family has not been well characterized in poplar. RESULTS: In this study, 12 members of the poplar SMXL gene family were identified and phylogenetically classified into four clades. Motif and 3D structural analyses revealed that PtSMXL proteins are structurally very conserved; however, the P-loop NTPase domain at the C-terminal was found to vary substantially among clades. A genomic collinearity analysis indicated that PtSMXL gene family members have expanded during recent genome doubling events in poplar, with all gene pairs subsequently undergoing purifying selection. According to a Cis-element analysis, PtSMXL promoters contain many light-responsive elements. In an expression pattern analysis, all 12 PtSMXL genes displayed tissue-specific expression, especially PtSMXL8a. PtSMXL7b expression was significantly downregulated after axillary bud growth begins. In addition, the expressions of PtSMXL7b and PtSMXL8a were highly induced by 2 µM GR24, a synthetic SL analog, thus suggesting that these genes are involved in SL-regulated axillary bud growth. In a yeast two-hybrid assay, only PtSMXL7b in clade II was able to interact with the SL receptor PtD14a in an SL dependent manner, which indicates that PtSMXL7b may be the functional homolog of D53/SMXL6/7/8 in poplar. Finally, we established its ability to affect axillary bud growth by constructing poplar overexpressing the PtSMXL7b gene. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings may inform future research on the functions of SMXLs in poplar, especially with respect to branch development.

Successive C1-C2 bond cleavage: the mechanism of vanadium(v)-catalyzed aerobic oxidation of d-glucose to formic acid in aqueous solution.

Vanadium(v)-catalyzed aerobic oxidation in aqueous solution shows high selectivity in the field of C-C bond cleavage of carbohydrates for chemicals with less carbon atoms. However, the pathway of C-C bond cleavage from carbohydrates and the conversion mechanism are unclear. In this work, we studied the pathway and the mechanism of d-glucose oxidation to formic acid (FA) in NaVO3-H2SO4 aqueous solution using isotope-labeled glucoses as substrates. d-Glucose is first transformed to FA and d-arabinose via C1-C2 bond cleavage. d-Arabinose undergoes similar C1-C2 bond cleavage to form FA and the corresponding d-erythrose, which can be further degraded by C1-C2 bond cleavage. Dimerization and aldol condensation between carbohydrates can also proceed to make the reaction a much more complicated mixture. However, the fundamental reaction, C1-C2 bond cleavage, can drive all the intermediates to form the common product FA. Based on the detected intermediates, isotope-labelling experiments, the kinetic isotope effect study and kinetic analysis, this mechanism is proposed. d-Glucose first reacts with a vanadium(v) species to form a five-membered-ring complex. Then, electron transfer occurs and the C1-C2 bond weakens, followed by C1-C2 bond cleavage (with no C-H bond cleavage), to generate the H3COO˙-vanadium(iv) complex and d-arabinose. FA is generated from H3COO˙ that is oxidized by another vanadium(v) species. The reduced vanadium species is oxidized by O2 to regenerate to its oxidation state. This finding will provide a deeper insight into the process of C-C bond cleavage of carbohydrates for chemical synthesis and provide guidance for screening and synthesizing new highly-efficient catalyst systems for FA production.

Improvement of the selectivity of isophorone hydrogenation by Lewis acids.

The selective hydrogenation of isophorone (3,5,5-trimethyl-2- cyclohexen-1-one) to produce 3,3,5-trimethylcyclohexanone (TMCH), an important organic solvent and pharmaceutical intermediate, is of significance in industry. However, the over-hydrogenation to produce the by-product 3,3,5-trimethylcyclohexanol causes issues. Up to now, it is still a challenge to hydrogenate isophorone to TMCH with high selectivity. In this work, we found that Lewis acids could inhibit the hydrogenation of C=O bond on isophorone, thus greatly improving the selectivity towards TMCH. In addition, added solvents like supercritical CO2 also had a positive impact on the selectivity. Both the conversion and selectivity could be increased to more than 99% when suitable Lewis acid and solvent were employed. Nevertheless, Lewis acid also exhibited some inhibition on the hydrogenation of the C=C bond of isophorone. Hence, a relatively weak Lewis acid, ZnCl2, is suitable for the selective hydrogenation.

Conversion of Cellulose into Formic Acid by Iron(III)-Catalyzed Oxidation with O2 in Acidic Aqueous Solutions.

The conversion of abundant renewable cellulose into versatile formic acid (FA) is a potential process for efficient energy storage and application. Vanadium(V)-catalyzed oxidation with O2 in acidic aqueous media now is the most common method to realize the FA production from cellulose with both high yields and high purity. However, vanadium-based catalysts are difficult to synthesize and expensive. Thus, the seeking for cheaper catalysts with the same high efficiency is expected. In this work, after testing a variety of metal salts in acidic aqueous solution for the conversion of cellulose under O2, iron(III) was found as a cheaper and readily available catalyst for FA formation, with a comparable yield (51.2%, based on carbon) with that of vanadium(V). The effect of reaction parameters was studied. The competition between oxidation and hydrolysis was found and discussed in detail. FeCl3 and H2SO4 can accelerate oxidation and hydrolysis, respectively, whereas suppress the other. The effects can reflect on the product distribution. Intermediates were found and the pathway from cellulose to products was reasonably proposed. The reusability of the catalytic system shows good performance after four runs. The mechanism study suggests a catalytic ability by a mutual transformation between iron(III) and iron(II), where iron(III) oxidizes substrates to iron(II) that is reoxidized by O2.

Separation of the isomers of benzene poly(carboxylic acid)s by quaternary ammonium salt via formation of deep eutectic solvents.

Because of similar properties and very low volatility, isomers of benzene poly(carboxylic acid)s (BPCAs) are very difficult to separate. In this work, we found that isomers of BPCAs could be separated efficiently by quaternary ammonium salts (QASs) via formation of deep eutectic solvents (DESs). Three kinds of QASs were used to separate the isomers of BPCAs, including the isomers of benzene tricarboxylic acids (trimellitic acid, trimesic acid, and hemimellitic acid) and the isomers of benzene dicarboxylic acids (phthalic acid and isophthalic acid). Among the QASs, tetraethylammonium chloride was found to have the best performance, which could completely separate BPCA isomers in methyl ethyl ketone solutions. It was found that the hydrogen bond forming between QAS and BPCA results in the selective separation of BPCA isomers. QAS in DES was regenerated effectively by the antisolvent method, and the regenerated QAS was reused four times with the same high efficiency.

Pretreatment of wheat straw using SO2 dissolved in hot water.

Efficient pretreatment is important for complete enzymatic conversion of lignocellulosic materials. Pretreatment of wheat straw with sulfur dioxide (SO(2)) dissolved in hot water achieved xylose and total product yields of up to 61.1% and 93.9%, respectively, based on the mass of lignocellulose in wheat straw. The apparent activation energies for hemicellulose conversion and xylose dehydration were 7.8 and 9.0 kJ/mol. FT-IR spectra of the residual solid after treatment showed that the hemicellulosic components were converted, the hydrogen bonds in cellulose were broken, but the lignin structure was not changed. Importantly, the SO(2) was recovered from the product mixture by steam stripping and could be reused. Thus, the SO(2)-H(2)O system is an efficient and environmentally friendly way for the conversion of hemicellulose in wheat straw into monosaccharides, such as xylose, glucose and arabinose.