RESUMEN
Diapause is one of the survival strategies of insects for confronting adverse environmental conditions. Bombyx mori displays typical embryonic diapause, and offspring diapause depends on the incubation environment of the maternal embryo in the bivoltine strains of the silkworm. However, the molecular mechanisms of the diapause induction process are still poorly understood. In this study, we compared the differentially expressed miRNAs (DEmiRs) in bivoltine silkworm embryos incubated at diapause- (25 °C) and non-diapause (15 °C)-inducing temperatures during the blastokinesis (BK) and head pigmentation (HP) phases using transcriptome sequencing. There were 411 known miRNAs and 71 novel miRNAs identified during the two phases. Among those miRNAs, there were 108 and 74 DEmiRs in the BK and HP groups, respectively. By the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis of the predicted target genes of the DEmiRs, we found that aside from metabolism, the targets were also enriched in phototransduction-fly and insect hormone biosynthesis in the BK group and the HP group, respectively. Dual luciferase reporter assay illustrated that bmo-miR-6497-3p directly regulated Bmcycle and subsequently regulated the expression of circadian genes. These results imply that microRNAs, as vitally important regulators, respond to different temperatures and participate in the diapause induction process across species.
RESUMEN
Large-scale isolation of nanocrystals of rare-earth-polyoxometalates (RE-POMs) catalysts is important in fundamental research and applications. Here, we synthesized a family of monomeric RE-POMs by the self-assembly of Ta/W mixed-addendum POM {P2W15Ta3O62} and rare-earth (RE) ions. These RE-POMs with molecular formulas of [RE(H2O)7]3P2W15Ta3O62· nH2O (RE = Y, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, and Lu) are all electroneutral molecular clusters, insoluble in water and common organic solvents. The electronic structures, electrochemical properties, and catalytic activities of them have been investigated by experimental and computational methods. In particular, based on a mild and controllable synthetic process, a convenient and controllable approach to prepare nanocrystals and self-organized aggregates of these monomers has been developed. They exhibit remarkable heterogeneous catalytic activity for cyanosilylation. Both the increased Lewis acid strength of RE in the title compounds, as indicated by theoretical calculations, and the decreased particle size contribute to their high catalytic performances.
RESUMEN
Boron compounds are well-known electrophiles. Much less known are their nucleophilic properties. By recognition of the nucleophilicity of the B-H bond, the formation mechanism of octahydrotriborate (B3H8-) was elucidated on the bases of both experimental and computational investigations. Two possible routes from the reaction of BH4- and THF·BH3 to B3H8- were proposed, both involving the B2H6 and BH4- intermediates. The two pathways consist of a set of complicated intermediates, which can convert to each other reversibly at room temperature and can be represented by a reaction circle. Only under reflux can the B2H6 and BH4- intermediates be converted to B2H5- and BH3(H2) via a high energy barrier, from which H2 elimination occurs to yield the B3H8- final product. The formation of B2H6 from THF·BH3 by nucleophilic substitution of the B-H bond was captured and identified, and the reaction of B2H6 with BH4- to produce B3H8- was confirmed experimentally. On the bases of the formation mechanisms of B3H8-, we have developed a facile synthetic method for MB3H8 (M = Li and Na) in high yields by directly reacting the corresponding MBH4 salts with THF·BH3. In the new synthetic method for MB3H8, no electron carriers are needed, allowing convenient preparation of MB3H8 in large scales and paving the way for their wide applications.
RESUMEN
To identify genes related to plant mitochondrial morphology and dynamics, novel mutants with respect to mitochondrial morphology were isolated from an ethyl methane sulphonate (EMS)-mutated population of Arabidopsis thaliana. Mitochondria were visualized by transforming Arabidopsis with a gene for a fusion protein consisting of GFP and a mitochondria-targeting pre-sequence. From 19,000 M2 populations, 17 mutants were isolated by fluorescent microscopic observations. All mitochondria in these mutants were longer and/or larger than wild-type mitochondria. The approximate chromosomal loci of the mutations of seven mutants that grew well were determined. The mitochondrial phenotypes of six of the mutants were recessive but the mitochondrial phenotype of the seventh mutant was dominant. Chromosomal rough mapping of the seven mutants showed that the mutations occurred at four different loci. At least one of these loci was novel, i.e., it was different from loci of other known mitochondrial morphology mutants of Arabidopsis and different from loci of Arabidopsis homologues of yeast genes related to mitochondrial morphology.
