MeGT2.6 increases cellulose synthesis and active gibberellin content to promote cell enlargement in cassava.

Cassava, a pivotal tropical crop, exhibits rapid growth and possesses a substantial biomass. Its stem is rich in cellulose and serves as a crucial carbohydrate storage organ. The height and strength of stems restrict the mechanised operation and propagation of cassava. In this study, the triple helix transcription factor MeGT2.6 was identified through yeast one-hybrid assay using MeCesA1pro as bait, which is critical for cellulose synthesis. Over-expression and loss-of-function lines were generated, and results revealed that MeGT2.6 could promote a significant increase in the plant height, stem diameter, cell size and thickness of SCW of cassava plant. Specifically, MeGT2.6 upregulated the transcription activity of MeGA20ox1 and downregulated the expression level of MeGA2ox1, thereby enhancing the content of active GA3, resulting in a large cell size, high plant height and long stem diameter in cassava. Moreover, MeGT2.6 upregulated the transcription activity of MeCesA1, which promoted the synthesis of cellulose and hemicellulose and produced a thick secondary cell wall. Finally, MeGT2.6 could help supply additional substrates for the synthesis of cellulose and hemicellulose by upregulating the invertase genes (MeNINV1/6). Thus, MeGT2.6 was found to be a multiple regulator; it was involved in GA metabolism and sucrose decomposition and the synthesis of cellulose and hemicellulose.

3D printed microstructured ultra-sensitive pressure sensors based on microgel-reinforced double network hydrogels for biomechanical applications.

Hydrogel-based wearable flexible pressure sensors have great promise in human health and motion monitoring. However, it remains a great challenge to significantly improve the toughness, sensitivity and stability of hydrogel sensors. Here, we demonstrate the fabrication of hierarchically structured hydrogel sensors by 3D printing microgel-reinforced double network (MRDN) hydrogels to achieve both very high sensitivity and mechanical toughness. Polyelectrolyte microgels are used as building blocks, which are interpenetrated with a second network, to construct super tough hydrogels. The obtained hydrogels show a tensile strength of 1.61 MPa, and a fracture toughness of 5.08 MJ m-3 with high water content. The MRDN hydrogel precursors exhibit reversible gel-sol transitions, and serve as ideal inks for 3D printing microstructured sensor arrays with high fidelity and precision. The microstructured hydrogel sensors show an ultra-high sensitivity of 0.925 kPa-1, more than 50 times that of plain hydrogel sensors. The hydrogel sensors are assembled as an array onto a shoe-pad to monitor foot biomechanics during gaiting. Moreover, a sensor array with a well-arranged spatial distribution of sensor pixels with different microstructures and sensitivities is fabricated to track the trajectory of a crawling tortoise. Such hydrogel sensors have promising application in flexible wearable electronic devices.

Chromosome-scale genome assembly provides insights into speciation of allotetraploid and massive biomass accumulation of elephant grass (Pennisetum purpureum Schum.).

Elephant grass (Pennisetum purpureum Schum) is an important forage, biofuels and industrial plant widely distributed in tropical and subtropical areas globally. It is characterized with robust growth and high biomass. We sequenced its allopolyploid genome and assembled 2.07 Gb into A' and B subgenomes of 14 chromosomes with scaffold N50 of 8.47 Mb, yielding a total of 77,139 genes. The allotetraploid speciation occurred approximately 15 Ma after the divergence between Setaria italica and Pennisetum glaucum, according to a phylogenetic analysis of Pennisetum species. Double whole-genome duplication (WGD) and polyploidization events resulted in large-scale gene expansion, especially in the key steps of growth and biomass accumulation. Integrated transcriptome profiling revealed the functional divergence between subgenomes A' and B. A' subgenome mainly contributed to plant growth, development and photosynthesis, whereas the B subgenome was primarily responsible for effective transportation and resistance to stimulation. Some key gene families related to cellulose biosynthesis were expanded and highly expressed in stems, which could explain the high cellulose content in elephant grass. Our findings provide deep insights into genetic evolution of elephant grass and will aid future biological research and breeding, even for other grasses in the family Poaceae.

Appropriate hearing screening in the pediatric patient with head trauma.

PURPOSE: To develop an algorithm for the appropriate audiologic screening of in children with head trauma. METHODS: Participants were the first consecutive 50 children admitted to a children's hospital trauma service after October 1, 2005, whose injuries resulted in a Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score ≤13 and/or loss of consciousness (LOC) but no history of hearing loss. Screening tympanometry, otoacoustic emissions testing, and/or routine audiometric evaluation were performed as soon as possible after admission. Age, GCS score, Pediatric Trauma Score, Injury Severity Score, presence of head and neck soft tissue injury, temporal bone fracture, skull fracture not involving the temporal bone, midface/mandible fractures, intracranial abnormality on computed tomography, and cervical fracture were analyzed as risk factors for hearing loss. RESULTS: Seventeen (34%) of the 50 children had abnormal hearing test results. Fischer's exact test showed abnormal test results were most strongly related to temporal bone fracture (p=0.0041), non-temporal bone skull fracture (p=0.0211) and younger age (p=0.0638). CONCLUSIONS: Any child with head trauma and clinical or radiologic evidence of temporal bone fracture should have early hearing evaluation. Using the proposed algorithm to test children with head trauma and GCS ≤13 and/or LOC and age <3 years or any type of skull fracture may help identify children with hearing loss in a more cost effective manner.