Identification of hub genes that variate the qCSS12-mediated cold tolerance between indica and japonica rice using WGCNA.

KEY MESSAGE: Cold-tolerant QTL qCSS12-regulated 14 hub genes are involved in the chloroplastic biological processes and in the protein synthesis and degradation processes in japonica rice. Low temperature is a main constraint factor for rice growth and production. To better understand the regulatory mechanisms underlying the cold tolerance phenotype in rice, here, we selected a cold-sensitive nearly isogenic line (NIL) NIL(qcss12) as materials to identify hub genes that are mediated by the cold-tolerant locus qCSS12 through weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA). Fourteen cold-responsive genes were identified, of which, 6 are involved in regulating biological processes in chloroplasts, including the reported EF-Tu, Prk, and ChlD, and 8 are involved in the protein synthesis and degradation processes. Differential expression of these genes between NIL(qcss12) and its controls under cold stress may be responsible for qCSS12-mediated cold tolerance in japonica rice. Moreover, natural variations in 12 of these hub genes are highly correlated with the cold tolerance divergence in two rice subspecies. The results provide deep insights into a better understanding of the molecular basis of cold adaptation in rice and provide a theoretical basis for molecular breeding.

[Raman spectra of carbon fibers during electrochemical treatment].

Laser Raman spectroscopy was employed to characterize the microstructure variations of polyacrylonitrile-based carbon fibers during electrochemical treatment, and the characteristics of first-order Raman spectra of carbon fibers with different treatment time were investigated in the present paper. The results indicate that the Raman spectra of the carbon fibers can be fitted into four bands, named as D (or D1) band, G band, D2 band and D3 band, respectively. The Raman parameters to characterize surface microstructure variations of carbon fibers mainly include R(I(D2)) / I(G), area ratio of D band and G band), I(D2) / I(G) (area ratio of D2 band and G band), I(D3) / I(G) (area ratio of D3 band and G band), and I(D(S))/ I(G) (area ratio of all the disordered structure and G band). The peak separation between D band and G band becomes large after electrochemical treatment. R increases, which indicates that the surface disordered degree of carbon fibers increases. I(D3) / I(G) increases, which is caused by organic molecules, fragments or functional groups; decreases which is caused by the break of the aliphatic structures. With increasing treatment time, I(D(S)) / I(G) increases continuously, and the change trend of l(D(S)) / I(G) is consistent with that of R value, which can be used to comprehensively explain the variation of the surface structure of carbon fibers. So, the variety rules of the structure of carbon fibers can be investigated by laser Raman spectroscopy during electrochemical treatment.

The Wild Rice Locus CTS-12 Mediates ABA-Dependent Stomatal Opening Modulation to Limit Water Loss Under Severe Chilling Stress.

A near-isogenic line (NIL) DC90 which was generated by introgressing a wild rice (Oryza rufipogon Griff.) locus CTS-12 into the 9311(Oryza sativa L. ssp. indica) background confers chilling tolerance phenotype. Here, our pilot trials showed that chilling tolerance was positively correlated with abscisic acid (ABA) biosynthesis. To understand how CTS-12 mediated the ABA-dependent multi-levels of regulation, the integration of transcriptomic and metabolomic profiling using the two-way orthogonal projections to latent structures (O2PLS) and discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) modeling was performed to investigate the mechanisms underlying chilling tolerance. Our results revealed that metabolic shifts, including the activation of stachyose biosynthesis, amino acid metabolism pathways, phenylpropanoid/flavonoid biosynthesis, ABA biosynthesis, and perturbation of glycolysis, occurred under chilling treatment; in the recovery period, glutamate-related pathways, ß-alanine biosynthesis and degradation, and serotonin biosynthesis pathways were differentiated between 9311 and DC90. Particularly, the differentially accumulated metabolites (DAMs) and differentially expressed genes (DEGs), including galactinol, ß-alanine, glutamate, naringenin, serotonin, ABA, and LOC_Os03g44380 (9-cis-epoxycarotenoid dioxygenase 3, OsNCED3), might be involved in the chilling tolerance variation of 9311 and DC90. CRISPR/Cas9-edited OsNCED3 resulted in chilling sensitive of japonica rice ZH11, demonstrating the involvement of ABA pathway in chilling stress response. In addition, chilling tolerance of rice was associated with the balance of water uptake and loss that was modulated by stomatal movement under chilling stress. Therefore, we speculated that the CTS-12-mediated ABA signaling pathway leads to transcriptional regulation of chilling-responsive genes and, in turn, triggers metabolic shifts to coordinately regulate the stomatal movement of guard cells. The results of this study improve our understanding of the multilevel regulation of wild rice in response to chilling stress.

Enhancing Thermal Conductive Performance of Vertically Aligned Carbon Nanotube Array Composite by Pre-Annealing Treatment.

Vertically aligned carbon nanotube (VACNT) array/polymer composite has already been recognized as a promising candidate for advanced thermal pad in thermal management of high-power electronic devices. However, the thermal conductive performance of this composite was limited by the quality of CNTs arrays. In this study, pre-annealing treatment was used to purify CNT arrays and improve thermal conductive performance of VACNT arrays/silicone composite. The thermal conductivity of the composite was enhanced by 34.52% and the thermal interface resistance was also reduced by 65.94% at a pre-annealing temperature of 490 °C for 5 min. The annealing process could remove some amorphous carbon and open the tips of CNTs. As a result, the interfacial compatibility in composite between carbon nanotube and polymer matrix was improved. The cyclic compression and tension performance of VACNT/S160 composite was investigated for further application.

Carbon Nanotube/Cu Nanowires/Epoxy Composite Mats with Improved Thermal and Electrical Conductivity.

Polymer composites with carbon nanofillers have been regarded as a promising candidate for electronic package materials. The challenge for such materials is to increase the electrical and thermal conductivity of the composites. Herein, we reported an epoxy composite film with high thermal and electrical conductivity that were prepared by loading high volume fraction of well-dispersed multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs, around 50 nm in diameter, 1-10 µm in length) and copper nanowires (Cu NWs, 60-70 nm in diameter, 1-5 µm in length) in epoxy matrix. The MWCNT-Cu NW hybrid mats were prepared by a vacuum filtration method with an optimum Cu NW content of 50 wt%. The hybrid mats was then impregnated by epoxy solution to prepare epoxy composite films. The epoxy was modified by the toughening agent to make the composite films tough and flexible. The loading fraction of MWCNTs and Cu NWs was tuned by controlling the viscosity of epoxy solution. A remarkable synergetic effect between the MWCNTs and Cu NWs in improving the electrical and thermal conductivity of epoxy composites was demonstrated. The results showed that the electrical conductivity of nanocomposites with 42.5 wt% epoxy was 1500 S/m, and the thermal conductivity was 2.83 W/m K, which was 10.1 times of the neat epoxy. Its thermal resistance was as low as 1% of the pure epoxy. And the mechanical properties of composites were also investigated. These robust and flexible nanocomposites showed prospective applications as thermal interface materials (TIMs) in the electronic industry.