A novel isophorone-based fluorescent probe for recognizing Al3+ and its bioimaging in plants.

Aluminium ions (Al3+) are widely present in industries and daily life and are closely related to human health and environmental protection. Therefore, it is crucial to detect their concentration. In this paper, a convenient and reliable small molecule fluorescent probe based on a dicyanoisophorone Schiff base and 2-pyridinecarbohydrazide has been developed. The probe is capable of selectively detecting Al3+ with the advantages of near-infrared emission (maximum emission wavelength of 625 nm), good selectivity, high sensitivity (detection limit of 2.18 × 10-7 M) and fast response time (15 s). It has good potential for rapid detection and visual tracking of Al3+ in aqueous solutions and plant bodies.

Electrodeposited Poly(5-Amino-2-Naphthalenesulfonic Acid-co-o-Aminophenol) as the Electrode Material for Flexible Supercapacitor.

Copolymers of 5-amino-2-naphthalenesulfonic acid (ANS) and o-aminophenol (oAP) are electropolymerized on carbon cloth substrate from aqueous solutions, and the electropolymerization process is investigated using electrochemical quartz-crystal microbalance. The surface of the copolymer (PANS-co-oAP) appears rough and is capable to store charge as the battery-type electrode in 1 m H2 SO4 (102.9 mAh g-1 at 1 A g-1 ) or in 1 m ZnSO4 (79.75 mAh g-1 at 1 A g-1 ) aqueous solutions. Compared with PANS and PoAP, the high specific capacity of the PANS-co-oAP is originated from the increased number of electrochemically active sites and increased diffusion rates of ions. Evidence of amino/imino and hydroxyl/carbonyl groups redox processes and cation insertion and extraction are given by ex situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. When used as the electrode material in the flexible solid-state supercapacitors, the specific capacitance is at 37.9 F g-1 which does not significantly alter with the bending angle. The flexible solid-state supercapacitor shows a specific energy of 5.4 Wh kg-1 and a power density of 250.3 W kg-1 at 0.5 A g-1 , and a high capacitance retention (88.2%) after 3000 cycles at 5 A g-1 is achieved.

Complete Genome Sequence of Bacillus subtilis GQJK2, a Plant Growth-Promoting Rhizobacterium with Antifungal Activity.

Bacillus subtilis GQJK2 is a plant growth-promoting rhizobacterium with antifungal activity which was isolated from Lycium barbarum L. rhizosphere. Here, we report the complete genome sequence of B. subtilis GQJK2. Ten gene clusters involved in the biosynthesis of antagonistic compounds were predicted.

[Study on mitochondrial DNA D-loop polymorphism in Chinese donkeys].

The mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) D-loop sequences with 399 bp in 26 individuals from 5 donkey breeds in China were analyzed. Aligned by Clustal W software,the results showed that 23 polymorphic nucleotide sites and only transition with the percentage of 5.76% in 399 bp were observed. In reference to mtDNA D-loop sequences of European domestic donkey as a control, the average percentage of mtDNA D-loop nucleotide variation in 5 Chinese donkey breeds was 1.80%. The average percentages of D-loop nucleotide variation from Liangzhou donkey (LZ), Yunnan donkey (YN), Guanzhong donkey (GZ), Xinjiang donkey (XJ) and Jiami donkey (JM) were 0. 35%, 1.25%, 2.30%, 2.91% and 2.20% respectively. The average sequence divergence estimated from D-loop sequences varied from 0.25% - 5.01% within breeds and 4.51% - 5.51% among breeds, respectively, demonstrating that there existed rather abundant mitochondrial genetic diversity in Chinese donkeys. Comparisons of the 26 sequences revealed 11 mitochondrial haplotypes; the percentage of haplotype was 42.31%. This phenomenon demonstrated that the mitochondrial genetic diversity in Chinese donkey breeds is being reduced. It is urgent to protect the genetic resources of Chinese donkey. The molecular phylogenetic tree of mtDNA D-loop sequences in 5 Chinese donkey breeds,6 sequences of Asian wild ass (Equus asinus kiang, Equus asinus kulan, Equus asinus hemionus;) and 4 sequences of European domestic donkeys from GenBank was constructed by Neighbor-Joining method. It was the first time proved in molecular level that the origin of Chinese donkey breeds was from African wild ass (Equus africanus africanus and Equus africanus somaliensis), not from Asian wild ass as bescribed in the paper.