Water-Molecule-Induced Reversible Fluorescence in a One-Dimensional Mn-Based Hybrid Halide for Anticounterfeiting and Digital Encryption-Decryption.

Hybrid metal halides with reversible transformation of structure and luminescence properties have attracted significant attention in anticounterfeiting. However, their long transition time and slow response rate may hinder the rapid identification of confidential information. Here, a one-dimensional hybrid manganese-based halide, i.e., (C5H11N3)MnCl2Br2·H2O, is prepared and demonstrates the phenomenon of water-molecule-induced reversible photoluminescence transformation. Heating for <40 s induces a dynamic transfer of red-emissive (C5H11N3)MnCl2Br2·H2O to green-emissive (C5H11N3)MnCl2Br2. In addition, the green emission can gradually revert to red emission during a cooling process in a moist environment, demonstrating excellent reversibility. It is found that the water molecule acts as an external stimulus to realize the reversible transition between red and green emission, which also exhibits remarkable stability during repeated cycles. Furthermore, with the assistance of heating and cooling, a complex digital encryption-decryption and an optical "AND" logical gate are achieved, facilitating the development of anticounterfeiting information security.

Flexible perovskite scintillators and detectors for X-ray detection.

X-ray detection and imaging technology has been rapidly developed for various fields since 1895, offering great opportunities to scientific and industrial communities. Particularly, flexible X-ray detectors have drawn numerous attention in medical-related applications, solving the uniform issues of traditional rigid X-ray detectors. Out of all the potential materials, metal halide perovskites (MHPs) have been emerged as excellent candidates as flexible X-ray scintillators and detectors owing to the advantages including low temperature solution processable, strong X-ray absorption coefficient, large mobility lifetime product and tunable bandgap. In this review, the recent advances of MHP-based flexible X-ray detectors are comprehensively summarized, focusing on the scalable synthesis technologies of materials and diverse device architectures, and covering both direct and indirect X-ray detection. A brief outlook that highlights the current challenges impeding the commercialization of flexible MHP-based X-ray detectors is also included with possible solutions to those problem being provided.

Ferroptosis-Related Long Noncoding RNAs Have Excellent Predictive Ability for Multiomic Characteristics of Bladder Cancer.

Background: The role of ferroptosis-related long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in bladder cancer remains elusive. This study is aimed at examining the prognostic role of ferroptosis-related lncRNAs in bladder cancer. Materials and Methods: The transcriptomic matrix and clinical information of patients with bladder cancer were obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. A ferroptosis-related lncRNA signature was developed via the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) analysis using data from the training cohort, and the signature was further validated using data from the test cohort. The role of AC006160.1, the most significant lncRNA in the risk signature, was examined in various cell lines including SV-HUC-1, BIU-87, HT-1376, T24, RT4, RT-112, 5637, and UMUC3. The pcDNA3.1-AC006160.1 plasmid was constructed and transfected into the bladder cancer cell lines T24 and BIU-87. In addition, cell proliferation, colony formation, transwell, and wound healing assays were performed to examine the biological function of AC006160.1 in T24 and BIU-87 cell lines. Results: Two clusters were identified through consensus clustering based on prognostic ferroptosis-related lncRNAs. A 5-lncRNA risk signature was successfully constructed using data from the training cohort and validated using data from the test cohort. The risk signature had excellent ability to predict survival outcomes, clinical stages, pathological grades, expression of immune checkpoints, and immunotherapeutic responses in bladder cancer samples. Furthermore, AC006160.1 expression was found to be lower in the cancer cell lines BIU-87, T24, RT4, RT-112, and 5637 than in the normal control cell line SV-HUC-1. Cell proliferation, colony formation, transwell migration, and wound healing assays validated that overexpression of AC006160.1 significantly inhibited the proliferation and invasion abilities of both T24 and BIU-87 cells. Drug sensitivity analysis revealed that patients with high expression of AC006160.1 were sensitive to metformin and methotrexate, and the results were further validated via in vitro drug experiments. Conclusions: Ferroptosis-related lncRNAs play a vital role in predicting the multiomic characteristics of bladder cancer. The lncRNA AC006160.1 serves as a protective factor for the development of bladder cancer.

Advances in Perovskite Quantum Dots and Their Devices: A New Open Special Issue in Materials.

'Advances in Perovskite Quantum Dots and Their Devices' is a new open Special Issue of Materials in which original and review papers on the novel findings of synthesis, deep understandings of properties, and advanced potentials of applications in perovskite quantum dots are reported and published [...].

Transcriptome analysis provides insights into the bases of salicylic acid-induced resistance to anthracnose in sorghum.

Key Message Transcriptome analysis of SA sensitive and tolerant lines indicates that SA enhances anthracnose resistance in sorghum by upregulating the expression of some immune-related genes and pathways.Abstract Anthracnose caused by the hemibiotrophic pathogen Colletotrichum sublineolum is one of the most destructive diseases of sorghum, the fifth most important cereal crop in the world. Salicylic acid (SA) is a phytohormone essential for plant immunity; however, the role of SA in sorghum resistance to anthracnose has not been well explored. In this study, we found that Colletotrichum sublineolum infection induced the expression of SA-responsive genes and that exogenous SA enhanced resistance to anthracnose in the sorghum line BTx623. To rule out the possibility that SA triggers anthracnose resistance in sorghum by its direct toxic function on pathogen, an SA-tolerant line, WHEATLAND, was identified, and we found that SA treatment could not induce anthracnose resistance in WHEATLAND. Then, SA-induced transcriptome changes during Colletotrichum sublineolum infection in BTx623 and WHEATLAND were analyzed to explore the molecular mechanism of SA-triggered resistance. SA pretreatment regulated the expression of 2125 genes in BTx623 but only 524 genes in WHEATLAND during Colletotrichum sublineolum infection. The cutin, suberine and wax biosynthesis pathway involved in the plant immune response and the flavonoid biosynthesis pathway involved in anthracnose resistance were enriched in BTx623-specifically upregulated genes. Additionally, some immune-related genes, including multiple resistance genes, were differentially expressed in BTx623 and WHEATLAND. Taken together, our results revealed the mechanisms of SA-induced anthracnose resistance in sorghum at the transcriptional level and shed light on the possibility of enhancing sorghum resistance to anthracnose by activating the SA signaling pathway by molecular breeding.

All-Inorganic Lead-Free Perovskite(-Like) Single Crystals: Synthesis, Properties, and Applications.

Due to their nontoxicity, stability, and unique optoelectronic properties, all-inorganic lead-free halide semiconductors with perovskite and perovskite-like structures have successfully emerged as promising optoelectronic materials for various applications, such as solar cells, light-emitting diodes (LEDs), photodetectors, and X-ray detectors. To further explore their practical potentials, researchers have paid more attention in all-inorganic lead-free perovskite (-like) (ILFP) single crystals. For these single crystals, the advantages of large sizes, uniform surface morphology, and few defects can facilitate their excellent performances and practical applications. Besides, compared with the low dimensional and polycrystalline ILFP materials, the ILFP single crystals feature enhanced performances, including a longer carrier diffusion length and a larger light absorption coefficient, which attract a great deal of attention. Therefore, focus is on the researching progress of ILFP single crystals and the development of their preparation methods, as well as the novel properties of ILFP single crystals. In addition, the reported applications of ILFP single crystals are proposed to highlight their practical importance. With the perspective of the evolution and challenges, the current limitations of the materials and devices are discussed, followed by an inspirational outlook on their future development directions.

Deciphering Ultrafast Carrier Dynamics of Eco-Friendly ZnSeTe-Based Quantum Dots: Toward High-Quality Blue-Green Emitters.

Developing non-toxic and high-performance colloidal semiconductor quantum dots (CQDs) represents the inevitable route toward CQD-enabled technologies. Herein, the spectral and dynamic properties of heavy-metal-free ZnSeTe-based CQDs are investigated by transient absorption spectroscopy and theoretical modeling. We for the first time decode the ultrafast hot carrier trapping (<2 ps) and band-edge carrier trapping processes (∼6 ps) in the CQD system, which plagues the emission performance. The ZnSe/ZnSeS/ZnS shell engineering greatly suppresses the non-radiative trapping process and results in a high photoluminescence quantum yield of 88%. We demonstrate that the core/shell nano-heterostructure forms the quasi-type II configuration, in contrast to the presumed type I counterpart. Moreover, the Auger recombination and hot carrier cooling processes are revealed to be ∼454-405 ps and 160-370 fs, respectively, and their relationship with the composition in the spectral range of 470-525 nm is clarified. The above merits render these ZnSeTe CQDs as outstanding blue-green emitters for optoelectronic applications, exemplified by the white light-emitting diodes.

Room temperature synthesis of Sn2+ doped highly luminescent CsPbBr3 quantum dots for high CRI white light-emitting diodes.

With a high photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) being able to exceed 90% for those prepared by the hot injection method, CsPbBr3 quantum dots (QDs) have attracted intensive attention for white light-emitting diodes (WLEDs). However, the whole process is carried out in a 3-neck flask via air isolation and at a relatively high temperature. In addition, CsPbBr3 QDs suffer from poor stability under ambient atmosphere. In this work, an effective strategy through doping of Sn2+ ions at room-temperature is proposed to improve the emission efficiency and stability of CsPbBr3 QDs. Compared with pure CsPbBr3 QDs, a higher PLQY and a better stability are obtained. The detailed physical mechanism for this performance enhancement is discussed and described. An optimum result is found at an Sn2+ doping amount of 20%, which shows a high PLQY of 82.77%. WLEDs based on these 20% Sn2+ doped CsPbBr3 QDs are also studied, exhibiting a high color rendering index of 89 and a correlated color temperature (CCT) of 3954. The method proposed here provides an effective strategy to enhance the fluorescence and stability of CsPbBr3 QDs, which might have promising potential in the lighting fields.

Room-temperature doping of ytterbium into efficient near-infrared emission CsPbBr1.5Cl1.5 perovskite quantum dots.

Herein, we present a two-step method to dope various amounts of Yb into CsPbBr1.5Cl1.5 QDs at room temperature. It is found that the CsPbBr1.5Cl1.5 QDs can exhibit strong ∼990 nm near-infrared (NIR light) emission, and the NIR photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) is able to reach ∼90% when 10% Yb is doped in the CsPbBr1.5Cl1.5 QDs.

Hand-in-Hand Reinforced rGO Film Used as an Auxiliary Functional Layer for High-Performance Li-S Batteries.

For lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries, a promising candidate for future high-energy storage devices, several prominent problems still need to be solved urgently, such as limited rate capability and poor cycle life caused by the insulating nature of sulfur and the shuttle of soluble polysulfides produced during battery operation. In this work, a facile vacuum filtration method is employed to graft polyethyleneimine to reduced graphene oxide (rGO) in a "hand-in-hand" way using the amino and catechol groups from polydopamine. The resulting polymer-reinforced rGO (PPG) film is applied as a free-standing auxiliary functional layer for Li-S batteries. It has been confirmed by both theoretical calculations and experimental methods that, benefiting from the rich amine groups and oxygen-containing functional groups, the as-prepared PPG composite film shows great ability to capture polysulfides. Moreover, its high conductivity enables itself to function as a polysulfide reservoir, thus facilitating the successive reutilization of the trapped active materials and improving sulfur utilization. For this reason, the PPG film can also be regarded as a cathode material, serving as a novel "SPPG cathode" together with the pure sulfur cathode. The cell assembled with the pure sulfur cathode and the PPG auxiliary functional layer displays high reversible capacity, excellent Coulombic efficiency, and good cycling stability, suggesting that the rational auxiliary functional layer design ensures a good match with pure sulfur cathodes and shows the potential to achieve energy-dense Li-S batteries.

Light-Emitting Diodes Based on Colloidal Silicon Quantum Dots with Octyl and Phenylpropyl Ligands.

Colloidal silicon quantum dots (Si QDs) hold ever-growing promise for the development of novel optoelectronic devices such as light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Although it has been proposed that ligands at the surface of colloidal Si QDs may significantly impact the performance of LEDs based on colloidal Si QDs, little systematic work has been carried out to compare the performance of LEDs that are fabricated using colloidal Si QDs with different ligands. Here, colloidal Si QDs with rather short octyl ligands (Octyl-Si QDs) and phenylpropyl ligands (PhPr-Si QDs) are employed for the fabrication of LEDs. It is found that the optical power density of PhPr-Si QD LEDs is larger than that of Octyl-Si QD LEDs. This is due to the fact that the surface of PhPr-Si QDs is more oxidized and less defective than that of Octyl-Si QDs. Moreover, the benzene rings of phenylpropyl ligands significantly enhance the electron transport of QD LEDs. It is interesting that the external quantum efficiency (EQE) of PhPr-Si QD LEDs is lower than that of Octyl-Si QD LEDs because the benzene rings of phenylpropyl ligands suppress the hole transport of QD LEDs. The unbalance between the electron and hole injection in PhPr-Si QD LEDs is more serious than that in Octyl-Si QD LEDs. The currently obtained highest optical power density of ∼0.64 mW/cm2 from PhPr-Si QD LEDs and highest EQE of ∼6.2% from Octyl-Si QD LEDs should encourage efforts to further advance the development of high-performance optoelectronic devices based on colloidal Si QDs.

The heterologous expression in Arabidopsis thaliana of sorghum transcription factor SbbHLH1 downregulates lignin synthesis.

Basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) genes are important regulators of development in plants. SbbHLH1, a Sorghum bicolor bHLH sequence, was isolated from a suppression subtractive hybridization library constructed using 13 independent brown midrib (bmr) mutants as the tester and wild-type sorghum as the driver. The gene was upregulated in at least five of the mutants at the five- to seven-leaf stage. Using a yeast expression system, the N-terminal portion of SbbHLH1 was shown to be required for proper transactivation. Its heterologous expression in Arabidopsis thaliana markedly reduced the plant's lignin content. It downregulated the lignin synthesis genes 4CL1, HCT, COMT, PAL1, and CCR1, and upregulated the transcription factors MYB83, MYB46, and MYB63. The hypothesis is proposed that SbbHLH1 has stronger effect on the regulation of lignin synthesis than the various MYB transcription factors, with a possible feedback mechanism acting on the MYB transcriptional regulators.

Identification of differentially expressed genes in sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) brown midrib mutants.

Sorghum, a species able to produce a high yield of biomass and tolerate both drought and poor soil fertility, is considered to be a potential bioenergy crop candidate. The reduced lignin content characteristic of brown midrib (bmr) mutants improves the efficiency of bioethanol conversion from biomass. Suppression subtractive hybridization combined with cDNA microarray profiling was performed to characterize differential gene expression in a set of 13 bmr mutants, which accumulate significantly less lignin than the wild-type plant BTx623. Among the 153 differentially expressed genes identified, 43 were upregulated and 110 downregulated in the mutants. A semi-quantitative RT-PCR analysis applied to 12 of these genes largely validated the microarray analysis data. The transcript abundance of genes encoding l-phenylalanine ammonia lyase and cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase was less in the mutants than in the wild type, consistent with the expectation that both enzymes are associated with lignin synthesis. However, the gene responsible for the lignin synthesis enzyme cinnamic acid 4-hydroxylase was upregulated in the mutants, indicating that the production of monolignol from l-phenylalanine may involve more than one pathway. The identity of the differentially expressed genes could be useful for breeding sorghum with improved efficiency of bioethanol conversion from lignocellulosic biomass.

TaCHP: a wheat zinc finger protein gene down-regulated by abscisic acid and salinity stress plays a positive role in stress tolerance.

The plant response to abiotic stresses involves both abscisic acid (ABA)-dependent and ABA-independent signaling pathways. Here we describe TaCHP, a CHP-rich (for cysteine, histidine, and proline rich) zinc finger protein family gene extracted from bread wheat (Triticum aestivum), is differentially expressed during abiotic stress between the salinity-sensitive cultivar Jinan 177 and its tolerant somatic hybrid introgression cultivar Shanrong No.3. TaCHP expressed in the roots of seedlings at the three-leaf stage, and the transcript localized within the cells of the root tip cortex and meristem. TaCHP transcript abundance was higher in Shanrong No.3 than in Jinan 177, but was reduced by the imposition of salinity or drought stress, as well as by the exogenous supply of ABA. When JN17, a salinity hypersensitive wheat cultivar, was engineered to overexpress TaCHP, its performance in the face of salinity stress was improved, and the ectopic expression of TaCHP in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) also improved the ability of salt tolerance. The expression level of a number of stress reporter genes (AtCBF3, AtDREB2A, AtABI2, and AtABI1) was raised in the transgenic lines in the presence of salinity stress, while that of AtMYB15, AtABA2, and AtAAO3 was reduced in its absence. The presence in the upstream region of the TaCHP open reading frame of the cis-elements ABRE, MYBRS, and MYCRS suggests that it is a component of the ABA-dependent and -independent signaling pathways involved in the plant response to abiotic stress. We suggest that TaCHP enhances stress tolerance via the promotion of CBF3 and DREB2A expression.

[Prokaryotic expression of OC-IdeltaD86 (Oryzacystatin-IdeltaD86) gene and analysis of its activity].

According to the amino acids sequence of OC-IdeltaD86 gene and Escherichia coli codon usage, we synthesized this gene by overlap extension PCR method with 7 oligonucleotides DNA fragments. The PCR fragment was inserted into pGEM-T-easy vector and the recombined plasmid was named pGEM-T-OC-IdeltaD86. Two oligonucleotides into which the BamH I and Xho I sites were introduced were designed and synthesized based on pGEM-T-OC-IdeltaD86 and pet21b, and the PCR fragment into which the BamH I and Xho I sites were introduced was obtained. After digesting it with BamH I and Xho I, OC-IdeltaD86 gene was cloned into the corresponding sites of pet21b and obtained prokaryotic expression vector pet21b-OC-IdeltaD86. OC-IdeltaD86 gene was expressed in E. coli (BL21(DE3)plysS) after IPTG(Isopropyl beta-D-1-thiogalactopyranoside) inducement for 5 hours. The fusion protein of OC-IdeltaD86:6His gene accounted for 11.4% of total protein and 16.4% of soluble protein, which had been successfully purified by Ni-NTA and concentrated by PEG20000. This protein can effectively inhibit papain activity in vitro and may be used in anti-nematode research in vivo.

A Bowman-Birk type protease inhibitor is involved in the tolerance to salt stress in wheat.

A salt-responsive gene WRSI5 was characterized from salt-tolerant cultivar Shanrong No. 3 (SR3), an introgression line via asymmetric somatic hybrid between Triticum aestivum L. cv. Jinan177 (JN177) and Thinopyrum ponticum Podp. The peptide encoded by WRSI5 contains a Bowman-Birk domain sharing a high level of sequence identity to monocotyledonous protease inhibitors. When expressed in vitro, the WRSI5 gene product exhibited trypsin, but not chymotrypsin inhibition. The expression level of WRSI5 was increased in SR3 roots exposed to salt, drought or oxidative stress. In situ hybridization showed that it is induced in the endodermal cells of the mature region of the SR3 root tip, with no signal detectable in the corresponding region of the salt-susceptible cultivar JN177. SR3 has a higher selectivity for K(+) over Na(+), and therefore limits the transport of Na(+) from the root to the shoot. When overexpressed in Arabidopsis thaliana, WRSI5 improves the ability of seedlings to grow on a medium containing 150 mM NaCl. We suggest that WRSI5 plays an important role in regulating the plant growth rate or long-distance Na(+) transport in SR3 plants exposed to salt stress.

Late-bolting transgenic Chinese cabbage obtained by RNA interference technique.

LEAFY (LFY) gene plays an important role in determining plant flowering mainly by controlling the timing of phase transition. Constitutive under-expression of LFY in Arabidopsis resulted in the formation of a late-flowering and highly branching phenotype. In this paper, an RNAi approach was used in down-regulated LFY gene expression to delay Chinese cabbage (Brassica rapa L. ssp. pekinensis) bolting and flowering. The results show that transgenic plant has a later transition to the reproductive phase, and the transgenic plants have more branches, more leaves, but a lower height. Results of RQ-RT-PCR analysis show that LFY gene expression was greatly reduced in transgenic plants. These results suggest that inhibiting LFY gene expression by RNA interference can delay bolting in a cold-sensitive long-day (LD) condition. Late flowering of Chinese cabbage can be used as a good genetic resource for the breeding late-bolting Chinese cabbage.

Generation of novel high quality HMW-GS genes in two introgression lines of Triticum aestivum/Agropyron elongatum.

BACKGROUND: High molecular weight glutenin subunits (HMW-GS) have been proved to be mostly correlated with the processing quality of common wheat (Triticum aestivum). But wheat cultivars have limited number of high quality HMW-GS. However, novel HMW-GS were found to be present in many wheat asymmetric somatic hybrid introgression lines of common wheat/Agropyron elongatum. RESULTS: To exploit how these new subunits were generated, we isolated HMW-GS genes from two sib hybrid lines (II-12 and 11-4-6) and compared them with those from their parents. The result shows that two genes of hybrid (H11-3-3 and H11-4-3) are directly introgressed from the donor parent Agropyron elongatum; one hybrid gene (H1Dx5) comes from point mutation of a parental wheat gene (1Dx2.1); two other hybrid genes (H1By8 and H1By16) are likely resulting from unequal crossover or slippage of a parental wheat gene (1By9.1); and the sixth novel hybrid gene (H1Dy12) may come from recombination between two parental genes. CONCLUSION: Therefore, we demonstrate that novel HMW-GS genes can be rapidly created through asymmetric somatic hybridization in a manner similar with the evolution mechanism of these genes supposed before. We also described gene shuffling as a new mechanism of novel HMW-GS gene formation in hybrids. The results suggest that asymmetric somatic hybridization is an important approach for widening HMW-GS genebank of wheat quality improvement.

Transgenic wheat progeny resistant to powdery mildew generated by Agrobacterium inoculum to the basal portion of wheat seedling.

To improve the transformation efficiency of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) mediated by Agrobacterium tumefaciens, we explored the possibility of employing the basal portion of wheat seedling (shoot apical meristem) as the explants. Three genotypes of wheat were transformed by A. tumefaciens carrying beta-1, 3-glucanase gene. After vernalization, the seeds to be transformed were germinated. When these seedlings grew up to 2 approximately 5 cm, their coleoptile and half of the cotyledon were cut out, and the basal portions were infected by A. tumefaciens. A total 27 T(0) transgenic plants were obtained, and the average transformation efficiency was as high as 9.82%. Evident segregation occurred in some of the T(1) plants, as was indicated by PCR and Southern blotting analysis. Investigation of the T(2) plants revealed that some transformed plants had higher resistance to powdery mildew than the controls. Northern blotting revealed that beta-1, 3-glucanase gene was normally expressed in the T(2) plants, which showed an increased resistance to powdery mildew. The results above indicate that the exogenous gene has been successfully integrated into the genome of wheat, transmitted and expressed in the transgenic progeny. From all the results above, it can be concluded that Agrobacterium inoculum to the basal portion of wheat seedling is a highly efficient and dependable transformation method. It can be developed into a practicable method for transfer of target gene into wheat.

[Research advances on the mechanism of RNA silencing in plants].

RNA silencing is a supervising mechanism in eukaryote which can prevent virus duplication, repress transposition of transposon and regulate gene expression. Compared with that in animals, RNA silencing in plants shows some differences in the function of RdRP, in bi-directional transitive RNAi, and in systemic propagation, etc. Meanwhile,the endogenous small RNAs in plants are more diverse than those in animals. In this paper, it is reviewed of the mechanism of RNA silencing in plants and the possibility of its use in plant functional Genomics.