Genome assembly of M. spongiola and comparative genomics of the genus Morchella provide initial insights into taxonomy and adaptive evolution.

Morchella spongiola is a highly prized mushroom for its delicious flavor and medical value and is one of the most flourishing, representative, and dominant macrofungi in the Qilian Mountains of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau subkingdoms (QTPs). However, the understanding of M. spongiola remains largely unknown, and its taxonomy is ambiguous. In this study, we redescribed a unique species of M. spongiola, i.e., micromorphology, molecular data, genomics, and comparative genomics, and the historical biogeography of M. spongiola were estimated for 182 single-copy homologous genes. A high-quality chromosome-level reference genome of M. spongiola M12-10 was obtained by combining PacBio HiFi data and Illumina sequencing technologies; it was approximately 57.1 Mb (contig N50 of 18.14 Mb) and contained 9775 protein-coding genes. Comparative genome analysis revealed considerable conservation and unique characteristics between M. spongiola M12-10 and 32 other Morchella species. Molecular phylogenetic analysis indicated that M. spongiola M12-10 is similar to the M. prava/Mes-7 present in sandy soil near rivers, differentiating from black morels ~ 43.06 Mya (million years ago), and diverged from M. parva/Mes-7 at approximately 12.85 Mya (in the Miocene epoch), which is closely related to the geological activities in the QTPs (in the Neogene). Therefore, M. spongiola is a unique species rather than a synonym of M. vulgaris/Mes-5, which has a distinctive grey-brown sponge-like ascomata. This genome of M. spongiola M12-10 is the first published genome sequence of the species in the genus Morchella from the QTPs, which could aid future studies on functional gene identification, germplasm resource management, and molecular breeding efforts, as well as evolutionary studies on the Morchella taxon in the QTPs.

Enhancing Hole Transport Uniformity for Efficient Inverted Perovskite Solar Cells through Optimizing Buried Interface Contacts and Suppressing Interface Recombination.

[4-(3,6-dimethyl-9H-carbazol-9yl)butyl]phosphonic acid (Me-4PACz) self-assembly material has been recognized as a highly effective approach for mitigating nickel oxide (NiOx) surface-related challenges in inverted perovskite solar cells (IPSCs). However, its uneven film generation and failure to effectively passivate the buried interface defects limit the device's performance improvement potential. Herein, p-xylylenediphosphonic acid (p-XPA) containing bilateral phosphate groups (-PO3H2) is introduced as an interface layer between the NiOx/Me-4PACz and the perovskite layer. P-XPA can flatten the surface of hole transport layer and optimize interface contact. Meanwhile, p-XPA achieves better energy level alignment and promotes interfacial hole transport. In addition, the bilateral -PO3H2 of p-XPA can chelate with Pb2+ and form hydrogen bond with FA+ (formamidinium cation),  thereby suppressing buried interface non-radiative recombination loss. Consequently, the IPSC with p-XPA buried interface modification achieves champion power conversion efficiency of 25.87% (certified at 25.45%) at laboratory scale (0.0448 cm2). The encapsulated target device exhibits better operational stability. Even after 1100 hours of maximum power point tracking at 50 ℃, its efficiency remains at an impressive 82.7% of the initial efficiency. Molecules featuring bilateral passivation groups optimize interfacial contact and inhibit interfacial recombination, providing an effective approach to enhancing the stability and efficiency of devices.

New Diffusion Abnormalities Following Endovascular Treatment for Intracranial Atherosclerosis.

Background There are limited data on new ischemic brain lesions after endovascular treatment for symptomatic intracranial atherosclerotic stenosis (ICAS). Purpose To investigate the (a) characteristics of new ischemic brain lesions at diffusion-weighted MRI (new diffusion abnormalities) after endovascular treatment, (b) characteristics between those treated with balloon angioplasty and stent placement procedures, and (c) predictors of new ischemic brain lesions. Materials and Methods Patients with symptomatic ICAS in whom maximum medical therapy failed were prospectively enrolled between April 2020 and July 2021 from a national stroke center and underwent endovascular treatment. All study participants underwent thin-section diffusion-weighted MRI (voxel size, 1.4 × 1.4 × 2 mm3 with no section gap) before and after treatment. The characteristics of new ischemic brain lesions were recorded. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed to determine potential predictors of new ischemic brain lesions. Results A total of 119 study participants (mean age, 59 years ± 11 [SD]; 81 men; 70 treated with balloon angioplasty and 49 with stent placement) were enrolled. Of the 119 participants, 77 (65%) had new ischemic brain lesions. Five of the 119 participants (4%) had symptomatic ischemic stroke. New ischemic brain lesions were located in (61%, 72 of 119) and/or beyond (35%, 41 of 119) the territory of the treated artery. Of the 77 participants with new ischemic brain lesions, 58 (75%) had lesions located in peripheral brain areas. There was no evidence of a difference in the frequency of new ischemic brain lesions between the balloon angioplasty and stent groups (60% vs 71%, P = .20). In adjusted models, cigarette smoking (odds ratio [OR], 3.6; 95% CI: 1.3, 9.7) and more than one operative attempt (OR, 2.9; 95% CI: 1.2, 7.0) were independent predictors of new ischemic brain lesions. Conclusion New ischemic brain lesions on diffusion-weighted MRI scans were common after endovascular treatment for symptomatic intracranial atherosclerotic stenosis, and occurrence may be associated with cigarette smoking and the number of operative attempts. Clinical trial registration no. ChiCTR2100052925 © RSNA, 2023 Supplemental material is available for this article. See also the editorial by Russell in this issue.

Critical Role of Removing Impurities in Nickel Oxide on High-Efficiency and Long-Term Stability of Inverted Perovskite Solar Cells.

The performance enhancement of inverted perovskite solar cells applying nickel oxide (NiOx ) as the hole transport layer (HTL) has been limited by impurity ions (such as nitrate ions). Herein, we have proposed a strategy to obtain high-quality NiOx nanoparticles via an ionic liquid-assisted synthesis method (NiOx -IL). Experimental and theoretical results illustrate that the cation of the ionic liquid can inhibit the adsorption of impurity ions on nickel hydroxide through a strong hydrogen bond and low adsorption energy, thereby obtaining NiOx -IL HTL with high conductivity and strong hole-extraction ability. Importantly, the removal of impurity ions can effectively suppress the redox reaction between the NiOx film and the perovskite film, thus slowing down the deterioration of device performance. Consequently, the modified inverted device shows a striking efficiency exceeding 22.62 %, and superior stability maintaining 92 % efficiency at a maximum power point tracking under one sun illumination for 1000 h.

Comparison of the biological activities of Saccharomyces cerevisiae-expressed intracellular EGF, extracellular EGF, and tagged EGF in early-weaned pigs.

Epidermal growth factor (EGF) ameliorates stress and prevents incomplete gastrointestinal development in early-weaned piglets in commercial swine farming. This study aimed to further analyze the biological activities of intracellularly expressed EGF (IE-EGF), extracellularly expressed EGF (EE-EGF), and tagged EGF (T-EGF) from Saccharomyces cerevisiae in early-weaned pigs. In this study, we assigned 24 pigs to each of 5 groups that were provided a basic diet (the control group) or a diet supplemented with empty vector-expressing S. cerevisiae [the INVSc1(EV) group], T-EGF-expressing S. cerevisiae [the INVSc1-TE(-) group], EE-EGF-expressing S. cerevisiae [the INVSc1-EE(+) group], or IE-EGF-expressing S. cerevisiae [the INVSc1-IE(+) group]. All treatments were delivered at a dose of 60 µg EGF/kg body weight (BW) everyday. All the piglets were sacrificed after 21 day to determine their physio-biochemical indexes, immune functions, and intestinal development. In the piglet experiments, recombinant S. cerevisiae survived throughout the intestinal tract. The BW and intestinal development (e.g., mean villous height, crypt depth, villous height:crypt depth ratio (IVR), and total protein, DNA, and RNA contents) of the piglets were significantly enhanced in the INVSc1-IE(+) group compared with the animals in the INVSc1-EE(+) and INVSc1-TE(-) groups (P < 0.05). In addition, increased proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) staining was observed in the piglets that received the INVSc1-IE(+) treatment (approximately 80 %) compared with those that received the INVSc1-TE(-) (approximately 70 %) and INVSc1-EE(+) treatments (approximately 70 %). The levels of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), creatine kinase (CK), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), immunoglobulin A (IgA), immunoglobulin M (IgM), and immunoglobulin G (IgG) were also significantly increased in the INVSc1-IE(+) group compared with the INVSc1-EE(+) and INVSc1-TE(-) groups (P < 0.05). Furthermore, the proliferation of piglet enterocytes was also significantly stimulated by both IE-EGF and EE-EGF compared with T-EGF in vitro (P < 0.05). Our data further demonstrate the previously reported hypothesis that IE-EGF is more suitable than EE-EGF or T-EGF for applications in early-weaned pigs.

Analysis of the biological activities of Saccharomyces cerevisiae expressing intracellular EGF, extracellular EGF, and tagged EGF in early-weaned rats.

A growing number of studies suggest that epidermal growth factor (EGF) plays an important role in early-weaned animals. The objective of this experiment was to compare the biological activity of intracellularly expressed EGF (IE-EGF), extracellularly expressed EGF (EE-EGF), and tagged EGF (T-EGF) from Saccharomyces cerevisiae (S. cerevisiae) both in vivo and in vitro. Strains of S. cerevisiae expressing IE-EGF, EE-EGF, and T-EGF were designated INVSc1-IE(+), INVSc1-EE(+), and INVSc1-TE(-), respectively. The production performance, intestinal development, physio-biochemical indexes, and immunological function of early-weaned rats were measured in vivo to evaluate the biological activity of IE-EGF, EE-EGF, and T-EGF. In addition, the proliferation of rat enterocyte was also measured in vitro. In the in vivo experiment, the recombinant S. cerevisiae was shown to survive throughout the intestinal tract. The production performance (e.g., body weight) and intestinal development (e.g., mean villous height, crypt depth, total protein, DNA, and RNA) of the rats were significantly enhanced in the INVSc1-IE(+) group compared with the INVSc1-EE(+) and INVSc1-TE(-) groups (P < 0.05). However, the levels of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), immunoglobulin A (IgA), immunoglobulin M (IgM), and immunoglobulin G (IgG) showed no difference in the INVSc1-IE(+) group compared to the INVSc1-EE(+) and INVSc1-TE(-) groups (P > 0.05), with the only significant difference being found for creatine kinase (CK) (P < 0.05). In the in vitro experiment, the proliferation of enterocyte was significantly stimulated by both IE-EGF and EE-EGF compared with T-EGF (P < 0.05). Herein, IE-EGF is more suitable for application to early-weaned animals compared with EE-EGF and T-EGF.

Influence of the donor size in D-π-A organic dyes for dye-sensitized solar cells.

We report two new molecularly engineered push-pull dyes, i.e., YA421 and YA422, based on substituted quinoxaline as a π-conjugating linker and bulky-indoline moiety as donor and compared with reported IQ4 dye. Benefitting from increased steric hindrance with the introduction of bis(2,4-dihexyloxy)benzene substitution on the quinoxaline, the electron recombination between redox electrolyte and the TiO2 surface is reduced, especially in redox electrolyte employing Co(II/III) complexes as redox shuttles. It was found that the open circuit photovoltages of IQ4, YA421, and YA422 devices with cobalt-based electrolyte are higher than those with iodide/triiodide electrolyte by 34, 62, and 135 mV, respectively. Moreover, the cells employing graphene nanoplatelets on top of gold spattered film as a counter electrode (CE) show lower charge-transfer resistance compared to platinum as a CE. Consequently, YA422 devices deliver the best power conversion efficiency due to higher fill factor, reaching 10.65% at AM 1.5 simulated sunlight. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and transient absorption spectroscopy analysis were performed to understand the electrolyte influence on the device performances with different counter electrode materials and donor structures of donor-π-acceptor dyes. Laser flash photolysis experiments indicate that even though the dye regeneration of YA422 is slower than that of the other two dyes, the slower back electron transfer of YA422 contributes to the higher device performance.

Identification of hypoxic-related lncRNAs prognostic model for revealing clinical prognostic and immune infiltration characteristic of cutaneous melanoma.

BACKGROUND: Cutaneous melanoma (CM) remains a significant threat to human health. There are clues to the potential role of hypoxia in CM progression. However, the role of hypoxia-related lncRNAs (HRLs) in CM has not been clarified. METHODS: We obtained hypoxia related genes from MSigDB database and subsequently identified HRLs by applying TCGA database. LASSO-univariate and multivariate Cox analysis were used to comprehensively analyze the survival characteristics and HRLs expressions, and a novel HRLs-related prognostic risk model was subsequently established for comprehensive analysis. RESULTS: The established risk model could evaluate the clinical outcome of CM accurately. The ability of the model-related risk score was also validated as an independent prognostic indicator of CM. Immune infiltration, TMB analysis, drug sensitivity analysis and immunotherapy evaluation were conducted to comprehensively assess the possible causes of the difference in prognosis. The reliability of bioinformatics results was partially verified by RT-qPCR. CONCLUSION: We established a new HRLs related risk model and discussed the potential role of hypoxia in the development of CM, which provided a novel basis for CM risk stratification.

Distribution of rhizosphere fungi of Kobresia humilis on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

Kobresia humilis is a major species in the alpine meadow communities of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP); it plays a crucial role in maintaining the ecological balance of these meadows. Nevertheless, little is known about the rhizosphere fungi associated with K. humilis on the Qinghai Tibet Plateau. In this study, we used Illumina Miseq to investigate the fungal diversity, community structure, and ecological types in the root and rhizosphere soil of K. humilis across eight areas on the QTP and analyzed the correlation between rhizosphere fungi of K. humilis and environmental factors. A total of 19,423 and 25,101 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were obtained from the roots and rhizosphere soil of K. humilis. These were classified into seven phyla, 25 classes, 68 orders, 138 families, and 316 genera in the roots, and nine phyla, 31 classes, 76 orders, 152 families, and 407 genera in the rhizosphere soil. There were 435 and 415 core OTUs identified in root and rhizosphere soil, respectively, which were categorized into 68 and 59 genera, respectively, with 25 shared genera. Among them, the genera with a relative abundance >1% included Mortierella, Microscypha, Floccularia, Cistella, Gibberella, and Pilidium. Compared with the rhizosphere soil, the roots showed five differing fungal community characteristics, as well as differences in ecological type, and in the main influencing environmental factors. First, the diversity, abundance, and total number of OTUs in the rhizosphere soil of K. humilis were higher than for the endophytic fungi in the roots by 11.85%, 9.85%, and 22.62%, respectively. The composition and diversity of fungal communities also differed between the eight areas. Second, although saprotroph-symbiotrophs were the main ecological types in both roots and rhizosphere soil; there were 62.62% fewer pathotrophs in roots compared to the rhizosphere soil. Thirdly, at the higher altitude sites (3,900-4,410 m), the proportion of pathotroph fungi in K. humilis was found to be lower than at the lower altitude sites (3,200-3,690 m). Fourthly, metacommunity-scale network analysis showed that during the long-term evolutionary process, ZK (EICZK = 1) and HY (EICHY = 1) were critical sites for development of the fungal community structure in the roots and rhizosphere soil of K. humilis, respectively. Fifthly, canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) showed that key driving factors in relation to the fungal community were longitude (R2 = 0.5410) for the root community and pH (R2 = 0.5226) for the rhizosphere soil community. In summary, these results show that K. humilis fungal communities are significantly different in the root and rhizosphere soil and at the eight areas investigated, indicating that roots select for specific microorganisms in the soil. This is the first time that the fungal distribution of K. humilis on the QTP in relation to long-term evolutionary processes has been investigated. These findings are critical for determining the effects of environmental variables on K. humilis fungal communities and could be valuable when developing guidance for ecological restoration and sustainable utilization of the biological resources of the QTP.

Phase I/II Clinical Study of PRaG Regimen Combined With Intraperitoneal Infusion of PD-1 Inhibitor for Advanced Refractory Solid Tumors With Cancerous Ascites (PRaG4.0P Study).

Objective: The prognosis of malignant tumors with peritoneal metastases and cancerous ascites has generally been poor, with limited treatment options. The PRaG regimen, which comprised of hypofractionated radiotherapy, programmed cell death-1 (PD-1) inhibitor, and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), showed a survival advantage in patients with advanced solid tumors who failed at least the first line of standard systemic treatment. Intraperitoneal infusion of PD-1 inhibitors may be a novel therapeutic strategy for managing malignant ascites. Integrating the PRaG regimen with intraperitoneal perfusion of a PD-1 inhibitor might control malignant ascites and provide further survival benefits in these patients. This proposed study aims to investigate the safety and efficacy of intraperitoneal infusion of serplulimab in combination with the PRaG regimen in patients with simultaneous advanced solid tumors and cancerous ascites who fail at least the first-line treatment. Methods: This proposed study is a prospective, single-arm, open-label, multicenter clinical trial. All eligible patients will receive 2 cycles of intensive treatment, a combination of PRaG regimen with an intraperitoneal infusion of PD-1 inhibitor. The patients who are beneficially treated with intensive treatment will receive consolidation treatment every 2 weeks until ascites disappear, disease progression occurs, intolerable toxicity occurs, or for up to 1 year. Phase I of this study will be conducted using a modified 3 + 3 design. The dose of intraperitoneal infusion of PD-1 inhibitor for phase II will be determined according to dose-limiting toxicity evaluation in the phase I study. Conclusion: This prospective, open-label, multicenter study will potentially lead to intraperitoneal perfusion of a PD-1 inhibitor being a new strategy for malignant ascites patients and provide a meaningful efficacy and safety of the combination of PRaG regimen with an intraperitoneal infusion of PD-1 inhibitor for these patients.

Weyl spin-momentum locking in a chiral topological semimetal.

Spin-orbit coupling in noncentrosymmetric crystals leads to spin-momentum locking - a directional relationship between an electron's spin angular momentum and its linear momentum. Isotropic orthogonal Rashba spin-momentum locking has been studied for decades, while its counterpart, isotropic parallel Weyl spin-momentum locking has remained elusive in experiments. Theory predicts that Weyl spin-momentum locking can only be realized in structurally chiral cubic crystals in the vicinity of Kramers-Weyl or multifold fermions. Here, we use spin- and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy to evidence Weyl spin-momentum locking of multifold fermions in the chiral topological semimetal PtGa. We find that the electron spin of the Fermi arc surface states is orthogonal to their Fermi surface contour for momenta close to the projection of the bulk multifold fermion at the Γ point, which is consistent with Weyl spin-momentum locking of the latter. The direct measurement of the bulk spin texture of the multifold fermion at the R point also displays Weyl spin-momentum locking. The discovery of Weyl spin-momentum locking may lead to energy-efficient memory devices and Josephson diodes based on chiral topological semimetals.

PD-1 inhibitor combined with radiotherapy and GM-CSF in MSS/pMMR metastatic colon cancer: a case report.

Patients with chemo-refractory metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) have poor prognoses. The application of programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1)/programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) inhibitors encouragingly improved the survival of mCRC patients with microsatellite instability-high (MSI-H)/mismatch repair-deficient (dMMR). Unfortunately, it was ineffective for mCRC with microsatellite-stable (MSS)/proficient mismatch repair (pMMR), which accounted for 95% of mCRC. Radiotherapy can promote local control by directly killing tumor cells and inducing positive immune activities, which might help synergistically with immunotherapy. We present the report of an advanced MSS/pMMR mCRC patient who had progressive disease (PD) after first-line chemotherapy, palliative surgery and second-line chemotherapy combined with targeted therapy. Then the patient received the therapy of PD-1 inhibitor combined with radiotherapy and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF). According to Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors version 1.1 (RECIST1.1), the patient showed a complete response (CR) after triple-combined therapy with progression-free survival (PFS) for more than 2 years so far. The patient had no other significant adverse reactions except for fatigue (Grade 1). The triple-combination therapy provided a promising strategy for metastatic chemo-refractory MSS/pMMR mCRC patients.

Room temperature nondestructive encapsulation via self-crosslinked fluorosilicone polymer enables damp heat-stable sustainable perovskite solar cells.

Encapsulation engineering is an effective strategy to improve the stability of perovskite solar cells. However, current encapsulation materials are not suitable for lead-based devices because of their complex encapsulation processes, poor thermal management, and inefficient lead leakage suppression. In this work, we design a self-crosslinked fluorosilicone polymer gel, achieving nondestructive encapsulation at room temperature. Moreover, the proposed encapsulation strategy effectively promotes heat transfer and mitigates the potential impact of heat accumulation. As a result, the encapsulated devices maintain 98% of the normalized power conversion efficiency after 1000 h in the damp heat test and retain 95% of the normalized efficiency after 220 cycles in the thermal cycling test, satisfying the requirements of the International Electrotechnical Commission 61215 standard. The encapsulated devices also exhibit excellent lead leakage inhibition rates, 99% in the rain test and 98% in the immersion test, owing to excellent glass protection and strong coordination interaction. Our strategy provides a universal and integrated solution for achieving efficient, stable, and sustainable perovskite photovoltaics.

In situ photocatalytically enhanced thermogalvanic cells for electricity and hydrogen production.

High-performance thermogalvanic cells have the potential to convert thermal energy into electricity, but their effectiveness is limited by the low concentration difference of redox ions. We report an in situ photocatalytically enhanced redox reaction that generates hydrogen and oxygen to realize a continuous concentration gradient of redox ions in thermogalvanic devices. A linear relation between thermopower and hydrogen production rate was established as an essential design principle for devices. The system exhibited a thermopower of 8.2 millivolts per kelvin and a solar-to-hydrogen efficiency of up to 0.4%. A large-area generator (112 square centimeters) consisting of 36 units yielded an open-circuit voltage of 4.4 volts and a power of 20.1 milliwatts, as well 0.5 millimoles of hydrogen and 0.2 millimoles of oxygen after 6 hours of outdoor operation.

Corrigendum: Out of the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau: origin, evolution and historical biogeography of Morchella (both Elata and Esculenta clades).

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.1078663.].

New bithiazole-based sensitizers for efficient and stable dye-sensitized solar cells.

A series of new push-pull organic dyes (BT-I-VI), incorporating electron-withdrawing bithiazole with a thiophene, furan, benzene, or cyano moiety, as π spacer have been synthesized, characterized, and used as the sensitizers for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). In comparison with the model compound T1, these dyes containing a thiophene moiety between triphenylamine and bithiazole display enhanced spectral responses in the red portion of the solar spectrum. Electrochemical measurement data indicate that the HOMO and LUMO energy levels can be tuned by introducing different π spacers between the bithiazole moiety and cyanoacrylic acid acceptor. The incorporation of bithiazole substituted with two hexyl groups is highly beneficial to prevent close π-π aggregation, thus favorably suppressing charge recombination and intermolecular interaction. The overall conversion efficiencies of DSSCs based on bithiazole dyes are in the range of 3.58 to 7.51 %, in which BT-I-based DSSCs showed the best photovoltaic performance: a maximum monochromatic incident photon-to-current conversion efficiency (IPCE) of 81.1 %, a short-circuit photocurrent density (J(sc)) of 15.69 mA cm(-2), an open-circuit photovoltage (V(oc)) of 778 mV, and a fill factor (ff) of 0.61, which correspond to an overall conversion efficiency of 7.51 % under standard global AM 1.5 solar light conditions. Most importantly, long-term stability of the BT-I-III-based DSSCs with ionic-liquid electrolytes under 1000 h of light soaking was demonstrated and BT-II with a furan moiety exhibited better photovoltaic performance of up to 5.75 % power conversion efficiency.

Genome-wide analysis of the WSD family in sunflower and functional identification of HaWSD9 involvement in wax ester biosynthesis and osmotic stress.

The wax esters are important cuticular wax composition that cover the outer surface of plant organs and play a critical role in protection and energy metabolism. Wax ester synthesis in plant is catalyzed by a bifunctional wax ester synthase/acyl-CoA: diacylglycerol acyltransferase (WSD). Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) is an important oil crop in the world; however, little is known about WSD in sunflower. In this study, we identified and performed a functional analysis of twelve HaWSD genes from sunflower genome. Tissue-specific expression revealed that 12 HaWSD genes were differentially expressed in various organs and tissues of sunflower, except seeds. HaWSD genes were highly induced by salinity, drought, cold, and abscisic acid (ABA) in sunflower. To ascertain their function, HaWSD9, with highly expressed levels in stems and leaves, was cloned and expressed in a yeast mutant defective in triacylglycerol (TAG) biosynthesis. HaWSD9 complemented the phenotype by producing wax ester but not TAG in vivo, indicating that it functions as a wax ester synthase. Subcellular localization analysis indicated that HaWSD9 was located in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Heterologous introduction of HaWSD9 into Arabidopsis wsd1 mutant exhibited increased epicuticular wax crystals and cuticular wax contents on the stems. As compared with the wsd1 mutant, HaWSD9 overexpressing transgenic Arabidopsis showed less cuticle permeability, chlorophyll leaching and water loss rate. Further analysis showed that the HaWSD9 transgenics enhanced tolerance to ABA, mannitol, drought and salinity, and maintained higher leaf relative water content (RWC) than the wsd1 mutant under drought stress, suggesting that HaWSD9 play an important physiological role in stress response as well as wax synthase. These results contribute to understanding the function of HaWSD genes in wax ester synthesis and stress tolerance in sunflower.

Experimental Study on OH*, CH*, and CO2* Chemiluminescence Diagnosis of CH4/O2 Diffusion Flame with CO2-Diluted Fuel.

OH* and CH* chemiluminescence in hydrocarbon flames are often applied to characterize flame structure, equivalence ratio, strain rate, heat release rate, etc. In this study, chemiluminescence images of OH*, CH*, and CO2* in the CH4/O2 diffusion flame were obtained using a CCD camera imaging system. The effect of CO2 dilution on the flame structure, strain rate, and other flame characteristics of CH4/O2 diffusion flame was discussed. The results show that CO2 dilution greatly affects flame morphology and chemiluminescence intensity. There are quantitative functions between the chemiluminescence peak intensity of OH* and CH* and the CO2 dilution level. The CO2* average intensity in the flame zone is better suited to characterize the dilution level than the CO2* peak intensity. Moreover, the strain rate of CO2-diluted laminar flame is defined. It is found that there is a linear relationship between the thickness of the OH* reaction zone and the square root of the strain rate.