Genome-wide analysis and expression pattern of the ZoPP2C gene family in Zingiber officinale Roscoe.

BACKGROUND: Protein phosphatases type 2C (PP2C) are heavily involved in plant growth and development, hormone-related signaling pathways and the response of various biotic and abiotic stresses. However, a comprehensive report identifying the genome-scale of PP2C gene family in ginger is yet to be published. RESULTS: In this study, 97 ZoPP2C genes were identified based on the ginger genome. These genes were classified into 15 branches (A-O) according to the phylogenetic analysis and distributed unevenly on 11 ginger chromosomes. The proteins mainly functioned in the nucleus. Similar motif patterns and exon/intron arrangement structures were identified in the same subfamily of ZoPP2Cs. Collinearity analysis indicated that ZoPP2Cs had 33 pairs of fragment duplicated events uniformly distributed on the corresponding chromosomes. Furthermore, ZoPP2Cs showed greater evolutionary proximity to banana's PP2Cs. The forecast of cis-regulatory elements and transcription factor binding sites demonstrated that ZoPP2Cs participate in ginger growth, development, and responses to hormones and stresses. ZoERFs have plenty of binding sites of ZoPP2Cs, suggesting a potential synergistic contribution between ZoERFs and ZoPP2Cs towards regulating growth/development and adverse conditions. The protein-protein interaction network displayed that five ZoPP2Cs (9/23/26/49/92) proteins have robust interaction relationship and potential function as hub proteins. Furthermore, the RNA-Seq and qRT-PCR analyses have shown that ZoPP2Cs exhibit various expression patterns during ginger maturation and responses to environmental stresses such as chilling, drought, flooding, salt, and Fusarium solani. Notably, exogenous application of melatonin led to notable up-regulation of ZoPP2Cs (17/59/11/72/43) under chilling stress. CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, our investigation provides significant insights of the ginger PP2C gene family and establishes the groundwork for its functional validation and genetic engineering applications.

Argon-Plasma Reinforced Superamphiphobic Fabrics.

A novel method for preparing durable superamphiphobic fabrics is reported, which involves preapplying a solution consisting of perfluoroalkyl acrylate, epoxide-containing silane, and silica nanoparticles onto fabric and subsequent argon-plasma treatment. The coated fabrics show superphobic to both water and oil fluids (surface tension >21.5 mN m-1 ). The coating is durable to withstand repeated laundries and multicycles of abrasion without apparently altering the superamphiphobicity. The coating is also very stable in boiling water, strong acid, and base, but has little effect on the fabric handle and air permeability. The argon-plasma-enhanced coating may offer a facile way to prepare durable superamphiphobic fabrics.

Needle electrode design of pulsed high voltage discharge reactor for performance enhancement of 4-chlorophenol degradation in highly conductive solution.

In this paper, a pulsed high voltage discharge (PHVD) reactor composed of a new type of high-voltage (HV) needle electrode and mesh grounding electrode was utilized to degrade 4-chlorophenol (4-CP). The effect of needle installation position on 4-CP degradation efficiency in solution systems with different conductivities was studied. It is verified that the recessed- and flush-tip structures could effectively overcome the main technical problem of protruded-tip HV electrode, which is that how to maintain stable discharge in the solution with high conductivity. When the conductivity of solution surpassed 116 µS cm-1, the recessed-tip and flush-tip electrodes possessed higher energy efficiency than that of the protruded-tip electrode. Within 40 min, the flush-tip electrode had the highest 4-CP removal rate (86.2%) in pure water, which could further increased to 95.8% via increasing immersion depth of net electrode. Comprehensively considering the experimental results of 4-CP removal rate, discharge characteristic and tail gas emission, it is indicated that the optimal installation positions were 0-F and 5-R. Meanwhile, the increase in immersion depth could reduce the generation of tail gas (e.g. O3 and NOX) obviously. The possible mechanism of 4-CP degradation via PHVD was proposed.

The Effect of Polyaniline (PANI) Coating via Dielectric-Barrier Discharge (DBD) Plasma on Conductivity and Air Drag of Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) Yarn.

In this paper, a simple method to prepare PANI-coated conductive PET yarn is reported, which involves pre-applying aniline and HCl vapors on PET surface and subsequent dielectric-barrier discharge (DBD) plasma treatment of the coated yarn under atmospheric pressure. The volume resistivity of the optimal sample was about 1.8 × 105 times lower than that of the control. Moreover, with the increase of coating amount of PANI, the air drag of PET yarns improved gradually. The surface chemistry of the treated yarn was analyzed by Fourier transform-infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), while the morphology was observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). This study offers a new method to prepare conductive fabric via air-jet loom and is expected to increase the weaving efficiency of air-jet loom.

[Spectrophotometric determination of vanadium(V) through the formation of a tungstovanadophosphate-TMBPS charge transfer complex].

A new spectrophotometric method was developed for the determination of vanadium(V). The method was based on the formation of tungstovanadophosphate-3,3',5,5'-tetramethylbenzidine-N-propanesulfonic (TMBPS) charge transfer complex. The spectrophotometric measurements were directly carried out at 450 nm and the apparent molar absorptivity was 2.74 x 10(4) L.mol-1cm-1. The linear range of the determination was 0.02-1 microgram.mL-1. The sensitivity was enhancement with a flotation-extraction preconcentration method and the apparent molar absorptivity was 3.10 x 10(5) L.mol-1cm-1.

The intermediate products in the degradation of 4-chlorophenol by pulsed high voltage discharge in water.

Degradation of 4-chlorophenol by pulsed high voltage discharge is an intricate process involving a series of complex chemical reactions. Hydroxylation of 4-chlorophenol to form hydroquinone, 4-chlororesorcinol and 4-chlorocatechol is the first step, though a very small amount of direct cleavage products of the C(1)-C(2) or C(5)-C(6) bond are observed. The yield of 4-chlorocatechol is about twice as much as that of hydroquinone. Less 4-chloresorcinol is produced. The free chloride ions dropped from the 4-chlorophenol degradation can obtain reactivity again from the discharge, and react with undegraded 4-chlorophenol to form 2,4-dichlorophenol. Some ring-opened products have also been identified and their possible reaction routes are proposed. Several compounds are verified by use of authentic samples. The more stable ring-opened products are low molecular weight (LMW) acids such as formic, acetic, oxalic, malonate, maleic and malic acid. By discharging 4-chlorophenol aqueous solution for 36 min, the amount of carbons obtained from organic acids is more than 50% while that of carbons from aromatic products less than 20% in the carbons of degraded 4-chlorophenol, which is about 94% of initial carbons. After 60 min of discharge, all the 4-chlorophenol and its aromatic intermediates have been removed completely and the organic carbons are mainly presented as organic acid such as acetic and oxalate acid. At the end of the 120 min discharge, the amount of the remaining organic carbons is not more than 14% of the initial carbons.