Soil fungal community has higher network stability than bacterial community in response to warming and nitrogen addition in a subtropical primary forest.

Global change factors are known to strongly affect soil microbial community function and composition. However, as of yet, the effects of warming and increased anthropogenic nitrogen deposition on soil microbial network complexity and stability are still unclear. Here, we examined the effects of experimental warming (3°C above ambient soil temperature) and nitrogen addition (5 g N m-2 year-1) on the complexity and stability of the soil microbial network in a subtropical primary forest. Compared to the control, warming increased |negative cohesion|:positive cohesion by 7% and decreased network vulnerability by 5%; nitrogen addition decreased |negative cohesion|:positive cohesion by 10% and increased network vulnerability by 11%. Warming and decreased soil moisture acted as strong filtering factors that led to higher bacterial network stability. Nitrogen addition reduced bacterial network stability by inhibiting soil respiration and increasing resource availability. Neither warming nor nitrogen addition changed fungal network complexity and stability. These findings suggest that the fungal community is more tolerant than the bacterial community to climate warming and nitrogen addition. The link between bacterial network stability and microbial community functional potential was significantly impacted by nitrogen addition and warming, while the response of soil microbial network stability to climate warming and nitrogen deposition may be independent of its complexity. Our findings demonstrate that changes in microbial network structure are crucial to ecosystem management and to predict the ecological consequences of global change in the future. IMPORTANCE: Soil microbes play a very important role in maintaining the function and health of forest ecosystems. Unfortunately, global change factors are profoundly affecting soil microbial structure and function. In this study, we found that climate warming promoted bacterial network stability and nitrogen deposition decreased bacterial network stability. Changes in bacterial network stability had strong effects on bacterial community functional potentials linked to metabolism, nitrogen cycling, and carbon cycling, which would change the biogeochemical cycle in primary forests.

Study on the epoxidation of chain olefins using biquaternary ammonium phosphotungstic acid phase transfer catalysts under no-solvent condition.

In this study, we have developed a novel catalyst synthesized by phosphotungstic acid and a gemini quaternary ammonium cation salt. This quaternary ammonium salt not only reduces the interfacial tension between olefins and hydrogen peroxide but also forms a notably stable structure with phosphotungstic acid. Dodecene was successfully epoxidized to epoxy dodecane with a selectivity of 82.9 %. The impact of initial conditions was systematically investigated such as molar ratio, temperature, reaction time, and catalyst dosage on the catalytic performance. Characterization of the catalyst morphology was performed by SEM, TEM and SAXS. Raman spectra, FT-IR and XPS spectra were employed to perform the catalyst transformation during the epoxidation reaction. This catalytic mechanism study could provide the industrial application in the epoxidation of long-chain olefins.

Canopy nitrogen addition and understory removal destabilize the microbial community in a subtropical Chinese fir plantation.

Subtropical Chinese fir plantations have been experiencing increased nitrogen deposition and understory management because of human activities. Nevertheless, effect of increased nitrogen deposition and understory removal in the plantations on microbial community stability and the resulting consequences for ecosystem functioning is still unclear. We carried out a 5-year experiment of canopy nitrogen addition (2.5 g N m-2 year-1), understory removal, and their combination to assess their influences on microbial community stability and functional potentials in a subtropical Chinese fir plantation. Nitrogen addition, understory removal, and their combination reduced soil bacterial diversity (OUT richness, Inverse Simpson index, Shannon index, and phylogenetic diversity) by 11-18%, 15-24%, and 19-31%; reduced fungal diversity indexes by 3-5%, 5-6%, and 5-7%, respectively. We found that environmental filtering and interspecific interactions together determined changes in bacterial community stability, while changes in fungal community stability were mainly caused by environmental filtering. Fungi were more stable than bacteria under disturbances, possibly from having a more stable network structure. Furthermore, we found that microbial community stability was linked to changes in microbial community functional potentials. Importantly, we observed synergistic interactions between understory removal and nitrogen addition on bacterial diversity, network structure, and community stability. These findings suggest that understory plants play a significant role in promoting soil microbial community stability in subtropical Chinese fir plantations and help to mitigate the negative impacts of nitrogen addition. Hence, it is crucial to retain understory vegetation as important components of subtropical plantations.

Congenital heart disease-associated pulmonary dysplasia and its underlying mechanisms.

Clinical observation indicates that exercise capacity, an important determinant of survival in patients with congenital heart disease (CHD), is most decreased in children with reduced pulmonary blood flow (RPF). However, the underlying mechanism remains unclear. Here, we obtained human RPF lung samples from children with tetralogy of Fallot as well as piglet and rat RPF lung samples from animals with pulmonary artery banding surgery. We observed impaired alveolarization and vascularization, the main characteristics of pulmonary dysplasia, in the lungs of RPF infants, piglets, and rats. RPF caused smaller lungs, cyanosis, and body weight loss in neonatal rats and reduced the number of alveolar type 2 cells. RNA sequencing demonstrated that RPF induced the downregulation of metabolism and migration, a key biological process of late alveolar development, and the upregulation of immune response, which was confirmed by flow cytometry and cytokine detection. In addition, the immunosuppressant cyclosporine A rescued pulmonary dysplasia and increased the expression of the Wnt signaling pathway, which is the driver of postnatal lung development. We concluded that RPF results in pulmonary dysplasia, which may account for the reduced exercise capacity of patients with CHD with RPF. The underlying mechanism is associated with immune response activation, and immunosuppressants have a therapeutic effect in CHD-associated pulmonary dysplasia.

Impaired cell-cell communication and axon guidance because of pulmonary hypoperfusion during postnatal alveolar development.

BACKGROUND: Pulmonary hypoperfusion is common in children with congenital heart diseases (CHDs) or pulmonary hypertension (PH) and causes adult pulmonary dysplasia. Systematic reviews have shown that some children with CHDs or PH have mitigated clinical outcomes with COVID-19. Understanding the effects of pulmonary hypoperfusion on postnatal alveolar development may aid in the development of methods to improve the pulmonary function of children with CHDs or PH and improve their care during the COVID-19 pandemic, which is characterized by cytokine storm and persistent inflammation. METHODS AND RESULTS: We created a neonatal pulmonary hypoperfusion model through pulmonary artery banding (PAB) surgery at postnatal day 1 (P1). Alveolar dysplasia was confirmed by gross and histological examination at P21. Transcriptomic analysis of pulmonary tissues at P7(alveolar stage 2) and P14(alveolar stage 4) revealed that the postnatal alveolar development track had been changed due to pulmonary hypoperfusion. Under the condition of pulmonary hypoperfusion, the cell-cell communication and axon guidance, which both determine the final number of alveoli, were lost; instead, there was hyperactive cell cycle activity. The transcriptomic results were further confirmed by the examination of axon guidance and cell cycle markers. Because axon guidance controls inflammation and immune cell activation, the loss of axon guidance may explain the lack of severe COVID-19 cases among children with CHDs or PH accompanied by pulmonary hypoperfusion. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggested that promoting cell-cell communication or supplementation with guidance molecules may treat pulmonary hypoperfusion-induced alveolar dysplasia, and that COVID-19 is less likely to cause a cytokine storm in children with CHD or PH accompanied by pulmonary hypoperfusion.

Deep eutectic solvent-based liquid-phase microextraction coupled with reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography for determination of α-, ß-, γ-, and δ-tocopherol in edible oils.

For simultaneous analysis of four fat-soluble tocopherols (α-, ß-, γ-, and δ-) in edible oils, an efficient and green method using deep eutectic solvent-based liquid-phase microextraction (DES-LPME) coupled with reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) was developed. The DESs formed by different quaternary ammonium salts and ethanol were used as the extractants. Tetrabutylammonium chloride (TBAC)-ethanol DES at a molar ratio of 1:2 achieved the best extraction efficiency. Under the optimized conditions, the detection limits were in the range of 2.1-3.0 ng mL-1. The intra-day and inter-day repeatability were in the ranges of 3.9-5.3% and 4.8-7.1%, respectively, and the recoveries for the real samples varied from 80.7% to 105.4%. The developed method was successfully employed for the determination of all four tocopherol homologues with an RP-HPLC system containing a COSMOSIL π-NAP column in five edible oils collected locally. Graphical abstract.

Inhibitory Effect of Astaxanthin on Testosterone-Induced Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia in Rats.

This study investigates the inhibitory effect of astaxanthin (AST) on testosterone-induced benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) in rats. Except for the sham operation, BPH model rats were randomly assigned to five groups: the BPH model control rats, AST-treated BPH model rats (20 mg/kg, 40 mg/kg, and 80 mg/kg), and epristeride (EPR)-treated BPH model rats. After treatment, as compared with the BPH model control rats, the prostate and ventral prostate weights of the AST-treated rats decreased, while there was a marked decline in the 80 mg/kg AST-treated rats. The same effect was also observed in the prostate index and ventral prostate index. The proliferation characteristics of epithelia observed in the BPH model control group were gradually alleviated in the AST-treated rats. As compared with the BPH model control rats, lower epithelial thicknesses of prostates and fewer secretory granules in epithelia were observed in the AST-treated rats. The superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity of prostates increased in all the AST-treated rats with a significant increase in the 40 mg/kg and 80 mg/kg AST-treated rats. The testosterone (T) and dihydrotestosterone (DHT) levels of prostates in the AST-treated groups were lower than those in the BPH model control group, and a significant decline was found in the T level of prostates in the 40 g/kg and 80 mg/kg AST-treated rats and the DHT level of prostates in the 40 mg/kg AST-treated rats. These results indicate that AST might have an inhibitory effect on T-induced BPH in rats, possibly due to SOD activity regulation and T and DHT levels.

Mechanism of TGF-ß3 promoting chondrogenesis in human fat stem cells.

Clinically deficient cartilage is difficult to regenerate, and the availability of chondrocytes is very limited. However, human adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) can be obtained easily and in sufficient quantities. Therefore, we will find a way of replacing chondrocytes with fat stem cells to solve the problem of seed cell origin. Previous studies have revealed that transforming growth factor-ß (TGF-ß) can promote chondrocyte differentiation and maturation. In this study, we found that TGF-ß3 in the transforming growth factor family can effectively promote the transformation process from fat stem cells to chondrocytes, thus promoting chondrogenesis. At the same time, we also further reviewed and considered the mechanism of this process. Through flow cytometry, immunohistochemical, fluorescent microscopy, qRCR, Wb etc., we found that TGF-ß3 mainly plays a role through wnt5a/ß-catenin, promoting human fat stem cell growing into the cartilage. This discovery is expected to provide new ideas in the field of cartilage regeneration.

Atomically Dispersed Semimetallic Selenium on Porous Carbon Membrane as an Electrode for Hydrazine Fuel Cells.

Electrochemically functional porous membranes of low cost are appealing in various electrochemical devices used in modern environmental and energy technologies. Herein we describe a scalable strategy to construct electrochemically active, hierarchically porous carbon membranes containing atomically dispersed semi-metallic Se, denoted SeNCM. The isolated Se atoms were stabilized by carbon atoms in the form of a hexatomic ring structure, in which the Se atoms were located at the edges of graphitic domains in SeNCM. This configuration is different from that of previously reported transition/noble metal single atom catalysts. The positively charged Se, enlarged graphitic layers, robust electrochemical nature of SeNCM endow them with excellent catalytic activity that is superior to state-of-the-art commercial Pt/C catalyst. It also has long-term operational stability for hydrazine oxidation reaction in practical hydrazine fuel cell.

CB3E2q (q = ±1): a family of "hyparene" analogues with a planar pentacoordinate carbon.

A CB3 moiety extracted from the building units of milestone "hyparenes" (families of species with a planar pentacoordinate carbon (ppC)) was found to be a more basic building block, which can be employed to design a family of "hyparene" analogues CB3E2q (q = ±1) also with a ppC. The majority of main group elements can feasibly serve as the E atom. Despite the number of valence electrons, the ppC atoms in the CB3E2q (q = ±1) species were involved in three delocalized σ orbitals and a delocalized π orbital, so the carbon atom obeys the octet rule. The NICS studies indicated that these ppC structures are σ and π double aromatic. Given that most of them are less favourable in energy than their boron-centered isomers, it is remarkable that the global minimum of CB3Mg2- adopts the ppC arrangement. Such a ppC structure is also kinetically stable. Compared to previously reported anionic ppC global minima, CB3Mg2- does not contain hyper toxic beryllium and thus is much more attractive to our experimental colleagues for realizing the ppC species using negative ion photoelectron detachment spectroscopy.

Ambient Electrosynthesis of Ammonia: Electrode Porosity and Composition Engineering.

Ammonia, a key precursor for fertilizer production, convenient hydrogen carrier, and emerging clean fuel, plays a pivotal role in sustaining life on Earth. Currently, the main route for NH3 synthesis is by the heterogeneous catalytic Haber-Bosch process (N2 +3 H2 →2 NH3 ), which proceeds under extreme conditions of temperature and pressure with a very large carbon footprint. Herein we report that a pristine nitrogen-doped nanoporous graphitic carbon membrane (NCM) can electrochemically convert N2 into NH3 in an acidic aqueous solution under ambient conditions. The Faradaic efficiency and rate of production of NH3 on the NCM electrode reach 5.2 % and 0.08 g m-2 h-1 , respectively. Functionalization of the NCM with Au nanoparticles dramatically enhances these performance metrics to 22 % and 0.36 g m-2 h-1 , respectively. As this system offers the potential to be scaled to industrial levels it is highly likely that it might displace the century-old Haber-Bosch process.

Formation of C2 oxygenates and ethanol from syngas on an Fe-decorated Cu-based catalyst: insight into the role of Fe as a promoter.

In this study, the formation mechanism of C2 oxygenates and ethanol from syngas on Fe-decorated Cu bimetallic catalyst was investigated using density functional theory (DFT) calculations together with microkinetic modeling. The results showed that CH2 was the most favored monomer among all the CHx (x = 1-3) species over the FeCu bimetallic catalyst, which was more favorable than CH3OH formation. Namely, the FeCu catalyst exhibited a good selectivity toward CH2 formation instead of CH3OH formation in syngas conversion. Starting from the CH2 monomer, CH2CO and CH3CO via CO insertion into CH2 and CH2CO hydrogenation were the major products instead of C2 hydrocarbons or methane, CH3CO was successively hydrogenated to ethanol via CH3CHO and CH3CH2O intermediates. Moreover, the microkinetic modeling showed that the FeCu bimetallic catalyst had a high selectivity toward ethanol rather than methanol and methane. Further, the addition of Fe into the Cu catalyst promoted CHx formation by accelerating C-O bond cleavage, suppressed methanol formation, and facilitated C2 oxygenate formation rather than methane formation, suggesting that the synergetic effect between Fe and Cu played an important role in the formation of C2 oxygenates and ethanol. In addition, it is believed that the insights derived from this study can provide clues for the catalyst design of oxygenate synthesis and other bimetallic catalytic systems.

Efficient Electrocatalytic Reduction of CO2 by Nitrogen-Doped Nanoporous Carbon/Carbon Nanotube Membranes: A Step Towards the Electrochemical CO2 Refinery.

Herein we introduce a straightforward, low cost, scalable, and technologically relevant method to manufacture an all-carbon, electroactive, nitrogen-doped nanoporous-carbon/carbon-nanotube composite membrane, dubbed "HNCM/CNT". The membrane is demonstrated to function as a binder-free, high-performance gas diffusion electrode for the electrocatalytic reduction of CO2 to formate. The Faradaic efficiency (FE) for the production of formate is 81 %. Furthermore, the robust structural and electrochemical properties of the membrane endow it with excellent long-term stability.

Constructing Hierarchically Hollow Core-Shell MnO2 /C Hybrid Spheres for High-Performance Lithium Storage.

Hierarchical MnO2 /C hybrid spheres (MCS@MnO2 ), consisting of numerous hollow core-shell MnO2 @C nanospheres, are developed via a facile deposition process. The well-defined inner voids and robust carbon framework endow MCS@MnO2 with excellent mechanical stability, efficient utilization of MnO2 , and enhanced reaction kinetics for Li-ion batteries, therefore leading to large specific capacities, superior rate capability, and long-term cycling stability.

Insight into both coverage and surface structure dependent CO adsorption and activation on different Ni surfaces from DFT and atomistic thermodynamics.

CO adsorption and activation on Ni(100), (110) and (111) surfaces have been systematically investigated to probe the effect of coverage and surface structure on CO adsorption and activation. Herein, dispersion-corrected density functional theory calculations (DFT-D) were employed, and the related thermodynamic energies at 523 K were calculated by including the zero-point energy, thermal energy and entropic corrections; the results show that the saturated coverage of CO on the Ni(111), (100) and (110) surfaces correspond to 8/9, 9/12 and 9/9 ML, respectively. As the coverage increases, the stepwise adsorption free energies decrease on the flat (111) and (100) surfaces, whereas small changes occur on the corrugated (110) surface. CO migrates from the three-fold hollow site to the top site on the (111) surface, and from the four-fold hollow to the two-fold bridge site on the (100) surface, while all the CO molecules remain at the short-bridge site on the (110) surface. As a result, the obtained intermolecular CO-CO repulsive interactions on the flat surface are stronger than the interactions on the corrugated surface. Furthermore, the computed CO vibrational frequencies at different levels of coverage over the Ni surfaces agree well with the experimental results. On the other hand, kinetic analyses were utilized to compare the stepwise CO desorption with the dissociation at different degrees of coverage on the three Ni surfaces. CO desorption is more favorable than its dissociation at all coverage levels on the most exposed Ni(111) surface. Analogously, CO desorption becomes more favorable than its dissociation on the Ni(110) surface at higher coverage, except for coverage of 1/9 ML, in which CO desorption competes with its dissociation. However, on the Ni(100) surface, CO dissociation is more favorable than its desorption at 1/12 ML; when the coverage increases from 2/12 to 3/12 ML, equilibrium states exist between dissociation and desorption over the surface; when the coverage is greater than or equal to 4/9 ML, CO desorption becomes more favorable than dissociation. By applying the atomistic thermodynamics method, the determination of stable coverage as a function of temperature and partial pressure provides useful information, not only for surface science studies under ultrahigh vacuum conditions, but also for practical applications at high temperature and pressure in exploring reactions.

Insight into the mechanism about the initiation, growth and termination of the C-C chain in syngas conversion on the Co(0001) surface: a theoretical study.

The initiation, growth and termination mechanism of the C-C chain from syngas on the Co(0001) surface have been investigated using DFT calculations. Our results show that CHx (x = 1-3) formation is easier than CH3OH, both CH and CH2 species are the dominant forms of CHx (x = 1-3), both CH and CH2 species dominantly interact with CHO to form CHCHO and CH2CHO, and realizes the initial C-C chain formation. Then, CHCHO and CH2CHO prefer to be successively hydrogenated to CH3CHO, followed by C-O bond cleavage to give CH3CH; subsequently, CHO insertion into CH3CH can realize the further chain growth to form CH3CHCHO, followed by dissociation and hydrogenation to give CH3CHCH and CH3CH2CHO, respectively; further, CH3CHCH hydrogenation or CH3CH2CHO dissociation via the C-O bond cleavage can form the CH3CH-like species CH3CH2CH intermediate. Thus, the mechanism of a C-C chain growth cycle has been proposed that starts from a CH3CH2CH intermediate, followed by repeating the above C-C chain growth cycle via CH3CH intermediates, and the C-C chain growth to higher C2+ hydrocarbons and oxygenates can be realized, in which RCH2CH prefers to interact with CHO to form RCH2CHCHO, followed by its C-O bond cleavage and its hydrogenation to form R'CHCH (R' = RCH2) and R'CH2CHO (R' = RCH2), respectively, where R'CHCH hydrogenation and C-O bond cleavage of R'CH2CHO will produce R'CH2CH. Moreover, aldehyde intermediates R'CH2CHO are expected to undergo C-O bond cleavage to five R'CH2CH (R' = RCH2) rather than its desorption and its hydrogenation to alcohol. The C-C chain termination occurs at three possible positions along the growth cycle: R'CH2CHO desorption, R'CHCH with successive hydrogenation steps to alkanes or alkenes, and R'CH2CH hydrogenation to alkanes, in which the relative importance of termination of R'CHCH and R'CH2CH with hydrocarbons will depend strongly on the hydrogen coverage on the metal surface. The results of this work not only illustrate the initiation, growth and termination mechanism of the C-C chain involved in FTS on the Co(0001) surface, but also serve as a basis for the rational design of other Co surfaces toward desirable higher hydrocarbons or oxygenates.

The degree of π electron delocalization and the formation of 3D-extensible sandwich structures.

DFT B3LYP/6-31G(d) calculations were performed to examine the feasibility of graphene-like C42H18 and starbenzene C6(BeH)6 (SBz) polymers as ligands of 3D-extensible sandwich compounds (3D-ESCs) with uninterrupted sandwich arrays. The results revealed that sandwich compounds with three or more C42H18 ligands were not feasible. The possible reason may be the localization of π electrons on certain C6 hexagons due to π-metal interactions, which makes the whole ligand lose its electronic structure basis (higher degree of π electron delocalization) to maintain the planar structure. For comparison, with the aid of benzene (Bz) molecules, the SBz polymers can be feasible ligands for designing 3D-ESCs because the C-Be interactions in individual SBz are largely ionic, which will deter the π electrons on one C6 ring from connecting to those on neighbouring C6 rings. This means that high degree of π electron delocalization is not necessary for maintaining the planarity of SBz polymers. Such a locally delocalized π electron structure is desirable for the ligands of 3D-ESCs. Remarkably, the formation of a sandwich compound with SBz is thermodynamically more favourable than that found for bis(Bz)chromium. The assembly of 3D-ESCs is largely exothermic, which will facilitate future experimental synthesis. The different variation trends on the HOMO-LUMO gaps in different directions (relative to the sandwich axes) suggest that they can be developed to form directional conductors or semiconductors, which may be useful in the production of electronic devices.

Determination of total phthalates in edible oils by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with photodiode array detection.

The previously reported procedure for the determination of the total phthalate in fatty food involved the extraction of phthalates using chloroform/methanol followed by the removal of the solvents before alkaline hydrolysis requiring 20 h and derivatization of phthalic acid. In this study, a phase-transfer catalyst (tetrabutylammonium chloride) was used in the liquid-liquid heterogeneous hydrolysis of phthalates in oil matrix shortening the reaction time to within 25 min. The resulting phthalic acid in the hydrolysate was extracted by a novel molecular complex based dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction method coupled with back-extraction before high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with photodiode array detection. Under the optimal experimental conditions, the linearity of the method was in the range of 0.5-12 nmol/g with the correlation coefficients (r) >0.997. The detection limit (S/N = 3) was 0.11 nmol/g. Intraday and interday repeatability values expressed as relative standard deviation were 3.9 and 7.1%, respectively. The recovery rates ranged from 82.4 to 99.0%. The developed method was successfully applied for the analysis of total phthalate in seven edible oils.

Controlled Synthesis of N-Doped Carbon Nanospheres with Tailored Mesopores through Self-Assembly of Colloidal Silica.

Limited strategies have been established to prepare monodisperse mesoporous carbon nanospheres (MCNs) with tailored pore sizes. In this work, a method is reported to synthesize MCNs by combining polymerization of aniline with co-assembly of colloidal silica nanoparticles. The controlled self-assembly behavior of colloidal silica enables the formation of uniform composite nanospheres and convenient modulation over mesopores. After carbonization and removal of sacrificial templates, the resultant MCNs possess tunable mesopores (7-42 nm) and spherical diameters (90-300 nm), as well as high surface area (785-1117 m(2) g(-1) ), large pore volume (1.46-2.01 cm(3) g(-1) ) and abundant nitrogen moieties (5.54-8.73 at %). When serving as metal-free electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), MCNs with an optimum pore size of 22 nm, compared to those with 7 and 42 nm, exhibit the best ORR performance in alkaline medium.

Co-expression of RCH10 and AGLU1 confers rice resistance to fungal sheath blight Rhizoctonia solani and blast Magnorpathe oryzae and reveals impact on seed germination.

Rice sheath blight and blast caused by Rhizoctonia solani Kühn and Magnorpathe oryzae respectively, are the two most destructive fungal diseases in rice. With no genetic natural traits conferring resistance to sheath blight, transgenic manipulation provides an obvious approach. In this study, the rice basic chitinase gene (RCH10) and the alfalfa ß-1,3-glucanase gene (AGLU1) were tandemly inserted into transformation vector pBI101 under the control of 35S promoter with its enhancer sequence to generate a double-defense gene expression cassette pZ100. The pZ100 cassette was transformed into rice (cv. Taipei 309) by Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. More than 160 independent transformants were obtained and confirmed by PCR. Northern analysis of inheritable progenies revealed similar levels of both RCH10 and AGLU1 transcripts in the same individuals. Disease resistance to both sheath blight and blast was challenged in open field inoculation. Immunogold detection revealed that RCH10 and AGLU1 proteins were initially located mainly in the chloroplasts and were delivered to the vacuole and cell wall upon infection, suggesting that these subcellular compartments act as the gathering and execution site for these anti-fungal proteins. We also observed that transgenic seeds display lower germination rate and seedling vigor, indicating that defense enhancement might be achieved at the expense of development.