Cell wall invertase 3 plays critical roles in providing sugars during pollination and fertilization in cucumber.

In plants, pollen-pistil interactions during pollination and fertilization mediate pollen hydration and germination, pollen tube growth, and seed set and development. Cell wall invertases (CWINs) help provide the carbohydrates for pollen development; however, their roles in pollination and fertilization have not been well established. In cucumber (Cucumis sativus), CsCWIN3 showed the highest expression in flowers, and we further examined CsCWIN3 for functions during pollination to seed set. Both CsCWIN3 transcript and CsCWIN3 protein exhibited similar expression patterns in the sepals, petals, stamen filaments, anther tapetum, and pollen of male flowers, as well as in the stigma, style, transmitting tract, and ovule funiculus of female flowers. Notably, repression of CsCWIN3 in cucumber did not affect the formation of parthenocarpic fruit but resulted in an arrested growth of stigma integuments in female flowers and a partially delayed dehiscence of anthers with decreased pollen viability in male flowers. Consequently, the pollen tube grew poorly in the gynoecia after pollination. In addition, CsCWIN3-RNA interference plants also showed affected seed development. Considering that sugar transporters could function in cucumber fecundity, we highlight the role of CsCWIN3 and a potential close collaboration between CWIN and sugar transporters in these processes. Overall, we used molecular and physiological analyses to determine the CsCWIN3-mediated metabolism during pollen formation, pollen tube growth, and plant fecundity. CsCWIN3 has essential roles from pollination and fertilization to seed set but not parthenocarpic fruit development in cucumber.

Triflic Acid-Promoted 1,2-Amino Migration Reactions in α-Arylaminoacrylamides: Access to Substituted ß-Aminoamides.

A straightforward synthesis of substituted ß-aminoamides from α-arylamino-ß-hydroxyacrylamides, α-arylamino-ß-oxoamides, or their tautomeric mixture has been described. The (E)-enol triflate intermediates are readily generated in situ from these substrates in the presence of triflic anhydride (Tf2O) and triethylamine (Et3N) in a chemoselective manner and undergo triflic acid (TfOH)-promoted cyclization and ring-opening reactions with alcohols to deliver the desired products. The one-pot two-step synthetic protocol features the use of readily available starting materials, mild reaction conditions, high chemoselectivity, operational simplicity, and a wide range of synthetic potential of the products.

Direct observation of tunable thermal conductance at solid/porous crystalline solid interfaces induced by water adsorbates.

Improving interfacial thermal transport is crucial for heat dissipation in devices with interfaces, such as electronics, buildings, and solar panels. Here, we design a strategy by utilizing the water adsorption-desorption process in porous metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) to tune the interfacial heat transfer, which could benefit their potential in cooling or heat dissipation applications. We observe a changeable thermal conductance across the solid/porous MOF interfaces owing to the dense water channel formed by the adsorbed water molecules in MOFs. Our experimental and/or modeling results show that the interfacial thermal conductance of Au/Cu3(BTC)2, Au/Zr6O4(OH)4(BDC)6 and Au/MOF-505 heterointerfaces is increased up to 7.1, 1.7 and 3.1 folds by this strategy, respectively, where Cu3(BTC)2 is referred to as HKUST-1 and Zr6O4(OH)4(BDC)6 is referred to as UiO-66. Our molecular dynamics simulations further show that the surface tension of Au layer will cause the adsorbed water molecules in MOFs to gather at the interfacial region. The dense water channel formed at the interfacial region can activate the high-frequency lattice vibrations and act as an additional thermal pathway, and then enhance heat transfer across the interfaces significantly. Our findings revealed the underlying mechanisms for tailoring thermal transport at the solid/porous MOF heterointerfaces by water adsorbates, which could motivate and benefit the new cooling system design based on MOFs.