Abiotic stress reduces plant yield and quality.WRKY transcription factors play key roles in abiotic stress responses in plants,but the molecular mechanisms by which WRKY transcription factors mediate responses to drou...Abiotic stress reduces plant yield and quality.WRKY transcription factors play key roles in abiotic stress responses in plants,but the molecular mechanisms by which WRKY transcription factors mediate responses to drought and osmotic stresses in apple(Malus×domestica Borkh.)remain unclear.Here,we functionally characterized the apple GroupⅢWRKY gene MdWRKY115.qRT-PCR analysis showed that MdWRKY115 expression was up-regulated by drought and osmotic stresses.GUS activity analysis revealed that the promoter activity of MdWRKY115 was enhanced under osmotic stress.Subcellular localization and transactivation assays indicated that MdWRKY115 was localized to the nucleus and had a transcriptional activity domain at the N-terminal region.Transgenic analysis revealed that the overexpression of MdWRKY115 in Arabidopsis plants and in apple callus markedly enhanced their tolerance to drought and osmotic stresses.DNA affinity purification sequencing showed that MdWRKY115 binds to the promoter of the stress-related gene MdRD22.This binding was further verified by an electrophoretic mobility shift assay.Collectively,these findings suggest that MdWRKY115 is an important regulator of osmotic and drought stress tolerance in apple.展开更多
Self-charging power systems collecting energy harvesting technology and batteries are attracting extensive attention.To solve the disadvantages of the traditional integrated system,such as highly dependent on energy s...Self-charging power systems collecting energy harvesting technology and batteries are attracting extensive attention.To solve the disadvantages of the traditional integrated system,such as highly dependent on energy supply and complex structure,an airrechargeable Zn battery based on MoS_(2)/PANI cathode is reported.Benefited from the excellent conductivity desolvation shield of PANI,the MoS_(2)/PANI cathode exhibits ultra-high capacity(304.98 mAh g^(−1) in N_(2) and 351.25 mAh g^(−1) in air).In particular,this battery has the ability to collect,convert and store energy simultaneously by an airrechargeable process of the spontaneous redox reaction between the discharged cathode and O2 from air.The air-rechargeable Zn batteries display a high open-circuit voltage(1.15 V),an unforgettable discharge capacity(316.09 mAh g^(−1) and the air-rechargeable depth is 89.99%)and good air-recharging stability(291.22 mAh g^(−1) after 50 air recharging/galvanostatic current discharge cycle).Most importantly,both our quasi-solid zinc ion batteries and batteries modules have excellent performance and practicability.This work will provide a promising research direction for the material design and device assembly of the next-generation self-powered system.展开更多
High temperature(HT)is one of the most important environmental stress factors and seriously threatens plant growth,development,and production.VQ motif-containing proteins are transcriptional regulators that have been ...High temperature(HT)is one of the most important environmental stress factors and seriously threatens plant growth,development,and production.VQ motif-containing proteins are transcriptional regulators that have been reported to regulate plant growth and developmental processes,including responses to biotic and abiotic stresses.However,the relationships between VQ motif-containing proteins and HT stress have not been studied in depth in plants.In this study,transgenic apple(Malus domestica)plants overexpressing the apple VQ motif-containing protein-coding gene(MdVQ37)were exposed to HT stress,and the transgenic lines exhibited a heat-sensitive phenotype.In addition,physiological and biochemical studies revealed that,compared with WT plants,transgenic lines had lower enzymatic activity and photosynthetic capacity and lower amounts of nonenzymatic antioxidant system metabolites under HT stress.Transcriptome analysis revealed 1379 genes whose expression differed between the transgenic lines and WT plants.GO and KEGG pathway analyses showed that transcription factor activity and plant hormone signaling pathways were differentially influenced and enriched in the transgenic lines.Salicylic acid(SA)content analysis indicated that overexpression of MdVQ37 reduced the content of endogenous SA by regulating the expression of SA catabolism-related genes,which ultimately resulted in disruption of the SA-dependent signaling pathway under HT stress.The application of SA slightly increased the survival rate of the transgenic lines under HT stress.Taken together,our results indicate that apple MdVQ37 has a regulatory function in basal thermotolerance by modulating the activity of transcription factors and SA homeostasis.Overall,this study provides novel insights that improve our understanding of the various functions of VQ motif-containing proteins.展开更多
Water deficit is one of the major limiting factors for apple(Malus domestica)production on the Loess Plateau,a major apple cultivation area in China.The identification of genes related to the regulation of water use e...Water deficit is one of the major limiting factors for apple(Malus domestica)production on the Loess Plateau,a major apple cultivation area in China.The identification of genes related to the regulation of water use efficiency(WUE)is a crucial aspect of crop breeding programs.As a conserved degradation and recycling mechanism in eukaryotes,autophagy has been reported to participate in various stress responses.However,the relationship between autophagy and WUE regulation has not been explored.We have shown that a crucial autophagy protein in apple,MdATG8i,plays a role in improving salt tolerance.Here,we explored its biological function in response to long-term moderate drought stress.The results showed that MdATG8i-overexpressing(MdATG8i-OE)apple plants exhibited higher WUE than wild-type(WT)plants under long-term moderate drought conditions.Plant WUE can be increased by improving photosynthetic efficiency.Osmoregulation plays a critical role in plant stress resistance and adaptation.Under long-term drought conditions,the photosynthetic capacity and accumulation of sugar and amino acids were higher in MdATG8i-OE plants than in WT plants.The increased photosynthetic capacity in the OE plants could be attributed to their ability to maintain optimal stomatal aperture,organized chloroplasts,and strong antioxidant activity.MdATG8i overexpression also promoted autophagic activity,which was likely related to the changes described above.In summary,our results demonstrate that MdATG8i-OE apple lines exhibited higher WUE than WT under long-term moderate drought conditions because they maintained robust photosynthesis,effective osmotic adjustment processes,and strong autophagic activity.展开更多
Difference expansion（DE） is one of the famous schemes in the field of reversible data hiding.With the high efficiency and simplicity,DE also has received more attention over the years.DE has a good information capac...Difference expansion（DE） is one of the famous schemes in the field of reversible data hiding.With the high efficiency and simplicity,DE also has received more attention over the years.DE has a good information capacity,but due to its major location map,the pure payload is rather low.Therefore many scholars did relevant improvements which let n pixels as a unit instead of the original two pixels as a unit and can adaptively adjust the number of embedding secret information according to the smoothness degree of the block,which achieves the result of improving the information payload or the image quality.In this paper,the study of DE-based reversible data hiding schemes is comprehensively discussed.The performance of DEbased schemes is evaluated and compared in terms of embedding capacity and stego-image quality.展开更多
Exploring zinc-free anode materials is one of the effective strategies to get the zinc dendrites problem of flexible zinc ion battery(ZIB)solved.In this work,an analogous heterostructure(AHS)is constructed from the ex...Exploring zinc-free anode materials is one of the effective strategies to get the zinc dendrites problem of flexible zinc ion battery(ZIB)solved.In this work,an analogous heterostructure(AHS)is constructed from the excellent MXene(Ti_(3)C_(2)T_(x))and TiSe_(2) nanosheets.The AHS not only possesses numerous diffu-sion paths and Zn^(2+)storage sites but also possesses a stable conductive network to accelerate charge transfer in the electrode.As a collaborative advantage,electrochemical measurement results show that MXene/TiSe_(2) electrodes display an excellent specific capacity of 177.9 mAh g^(-1) at 0.10 A g^(-1) and a long-term cycling stability of 77.4%capacity retention after 400 cycles.DFT computations further demon-strate the excellent performance of MXene/TiSe_(2) electrodes including desirable electronic conductivity and low Zn^(2+)migration barriers.The assembled flexible ZIB not only delivers a good specific capacity of 42.2μAh cm^(-2) at 0.20 mA cm^(-2) and a competitive energy density of 37.4μWh cm^(-2) but also exhibits excellent flexibility and thermostability.Furthermore,after 400 cycles at 0.60 A g^(-1),flexible ZIB shows a capacity retention of 73.8%.This work gives a successful attempt to design 2D layered materials as Zn metal-free anode for flexible ZIB.展开更多
Plant cuticular wax is an important determinant factor of fruit quality. Cuticular wax can protect the fruit from UV radiation, drought, and disease and increase the storage period of fruit. In many species, CER gene ...Plant cuticular wax is an important determinant factor of fruit quality. Cuticular wax can protect the fruit from UV radiation, drought, and disease and increase the storage period of fruit. In many species, CER gene is associated with wax and can affect plant response to stress, but no characterization of CER gene and its family has been reported in apples. In this study, we identified 10 MdCER genes in Malus domestica based on the sequences of 10 CER genes in Arabidopsis thaliana. Three-dimensional structures were then defined, and root-mean-square deviation(RMSD)scoring matrixes were used to evaluate the matches. These 10 genes were divided into three classes using phylogenetic methods; namely,class I, II, and III. The predicted MdCER genes were distributed across 7 out of 17 chromosomes with different densities. Furthermore, the gene structures and motif compositions of the MdCER genes were analyzed. The quantitative real-time PCR results indicated that MdCER family genes were mainly expressed in the leaves and stems and rarely in the roots. Most of the MdCER members responded to salicylic acid and polyethylene glycol treatment, indicating that the MdCER family is associated with disease resistance(biotic) and abiotic stress.展开更多
基金supported by grants from the Natural Science Foundation of Hebei Province(Grant No.C2022204086)the Hebei Apple Innovation Team of Modern Agricultural Industry Technology System(Grant No.HBCT2021100211)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.32072524).
文摘Abiotic stress reduces plant yield and quality.WRKY transcription factors play key roles in abiotic stress responses in plants,but the molecular mechanisms by which WRKY transcription factors mediate responses to drought and osmotic stresses in apple(Malus×domestica Borkh.)remain unclear.Here,we functionally characterized the apple GroupⅢWRKY gene MdWRKY115.qRT-PCR analysis showed that MdWRKY115 expression was up-regulated by drought and osmotic stresses.GUS activity analysis revealed that the promoter activity of MdWRKY115 was enhanced under osmotic stress.Subcellular localization and transactivation assays indicated that MdWRKY115 was localized to the nucleus and had a transcriptional activity domain at the N-terminal region.Transgenic analysis revealed that the overexpression of MdWRKY115 in Arabidopsis plants and in apple callus markedly enhanced their tolerance to drought and osmotic stresses.DNA affinity purification sequencing showed that MdWRKY115 binds to the promoter of the stress-related gene MdRD22.This binding was further verified by an electrophoretic mobility shift assay.Collectively,these findings suggest that MdWRKY115 is an important regulator of osmotic and drought stress tolerance in apple.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.12274151)。
文摘Self-charging power systems collecting energy harvesting technology and batteries are attracting extensive attention.To solve the disadvantages of the traditional integrated system,such as highly dependent on energy supply and complex structure,an airrechargeable Zn battery based on MoS_(2)/PANI cathode is reported.Benefited from the excellent conductivity desolvation shield of PANI,the MoS_(2)/PANI cathode exhibits ultra-high capacity(304.98 mAh g^(−1) in N_(2) and 351.25 mAh g^(−1) in air).In particular,this battery has the ability to collect,convert and store energy simultaneously by an airrechargeable process of the spontaneous redox reaction between the discharged cathode and O2 from air.The air-rechargeable Zn batteries display a high open-circuit voltage(1.15 V),an unforgettable discharge capacity(316.09 mAh g^(−1) and the air-rechargeable depth is 89.99%)and good air-recharging stability(291.22 mAh g^(−1) after 50 air recharging/galvanostatic current discharge cycle).Most importantly,both our quasi-solid zinc ion batteries and batteries modules have excellent performance and practicability.This work will provide a promising research direction for the material design and device assembly of the next-generation self-powered system.
基金This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China(2018YFD1000303)earmarked funds for the China Agriculture Research System(CARS-27)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(31401852 and 31701894)。
文摘High temperature(HT)is one of the most important environmental stress factors and seriously threatens plant growth,development,and production.VQ motif-containing proteins are transcriptional regulators that have been reported to regulate plant growth and developmental processes,including responses to biotic and abiotic stresses.However,the relationships between VQ motif-containing proteins and HT stress have not been studied in depth in plants.In this study,transgenic apple(Malus domestica)plants overexpressing the apple VQ motif-containing protein-coding gene(MdVQ37)were exposed to HT stress,and the transgenic lines exhibited a heat-sensitive phenotype.In addition,physiological and biochemical studies revealed that,compared with WT plants,transgenic lines had lower enzymatic activity and photosynthetic capacity and lower amounts of nonenzymatic antioxidant system metabolites under HT stress.Transcriptome analysis revealed 1379 genes whose expression differed between the transgenic lines and WT plants.GO and KEGG pathway analyses showed that transcription factor activity and plant hormone signaling pathways were differentially influenced and enriched in the transgenic lines.Salicylic acid(SA)content analysis indicated that overexpression of MdVQ37 reduced the content of endogenous SA by regulating the expression of SA catabolism-related genes,which ultimately resulted in disruption of the SA-dependent signaling pathway under HT stress.The application of SA slightly increased the survival rate of the transgenic lines under HT stress.Taken together,our results indicate that apple MdVQ37 has a regulatory function in basal thermotolerance by modulating the activity of transcription factors and SA homeostasis.Overall,this study provides novel insights that improve our understanding of the various functions of VQ motif-containing proteins.
基金the National Key Research and Development Program of China(2019YFD1000102)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(31972391)the earmarked fund for the China Agricultural Research System(CARS-27)。
文摘Water deficit is one of the major limiting factors for apple(Malus domestica)production on the Loess Plateau,a major apple cultivation area in China.The identification of genes related to the regulation of water use efficiency(WUE)is a crucial aspect of crop breeding programs.As a conserved degradation and recycling mechanism in eukaryotes,autophagy has been reported to participate in various stress responses.However,the relationship between autophagy and WUE regulation has not been explored.We have shown that a crucial autophagy protein in apple,MdATG8i,plays a role in improving salt tolerance.Here,we explored its biological function in response to long-term moderate drought stress.The results showed that MdATG8i-overexpressing(MdATG8i-OE)apple plants exhibited higher WUE than wild-type(WT)plants under long-term moderate drought conditions.Plant WUE can be increased by improving photosynthetic efficiency.Osmoregulation plays a critical role in plant stress resistance and adaptation.Under long-term drought conditions,the photosynthetic capacity and accumulation of sugar and amino acids were higher in MdATG8i-OE plants than in WT plants.The increased photosynthetic capacity in the OE plants could be attributed to their ability to maintain optimal stomatal aperture,organized chloroplasts,and strong antioxidant activity.MdATG8i overexpression also promoted autophagic activity,which was likely related to the changes described above.In summary,our results demonstrate that MdATG8i-OE apple lines exhibited higher WUE than WT under long-term moderate drought conditions because they maintained robust photosynthesis,effective osmotic adjustment processes,and strong autophagic activity.
基金supported in part by MOST under Grants No.105-2221-E-324-015 and No.103-2632-E-324-001-MY3
文摘Difference expansion（DE） is one of the famous schemes in the field of reversible data hiding.With the high efficiency and simplicity,DE also has received more attention over the years.DE has a good information capacity,but due to its major location map,the pure payload is rather low.Therefore many scholars did relevant improvements which let n pixels as a unit instead of the original two pixels as a unit and can adaptively adjust the number of embedding secret information according to the smoothness degree of the block,which achieves the result of improving the information payload or the image quality.In this paper,the study of DE-based reversible data hiding schemes is comprehensively discussed.The performance of DEbased schemes is evaluated and compared in terms of embedding capacity and stego-image quality.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos.12004002 and 12274151)Anhui Provincial Natural Science Foundation (No.1908085QF251)Foundation for Introduction of High-Level Talents of Anhui University (No.S020118002/061).
文摘Exploring zinc-free anode materials is one of the effective strategies to get the zinc dendrites problem of flexible zinc ion battery(ZIB)solved.In this work,an analogous heterostructure(AHS)is constructed from the excellent MXene(Ti_(3)C_(2)T_(x))and TiSe_(2) nanosheets.The AHS not only possesses numerous diffu-sion paths and Zn^(2+)storage sites but also possesses a stable conductive network to accelerate charge transfer in the electrode.As a collaborative advantage,electrochemical measurement results show that MXene/TiSe_(2) electrodes display an excellent specific capacity of 177.9 mAh g^(-1) at 0.10 A g^(-1) and a long-term cycling stability of 77.4%capacity retention after 400 cycles.DFT computations further demon-strate the excellent performance of MXene/TiSe_(2) electrodes including desirable electronic conductivity and low Zn^(2+)migration barriers.The assembled flexible ZIB not only delivers a good specific capacity of 42.2μAh cm^(-2) at 0.20 mA cm^(-2) and a competitive energy density of 37.4μWh cm^(-2) but also exhibits excellent flexibility and thermostability.Furthermore,after 400 cycles at 0.60 A g^(-1),flexible ZIB shows a capacity retention of 73.8%.This work gives a successful attempt to design 2D layered materials as Zn metal-free anode for flexible ZIB.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(31772275,31701894)the Natural Science Fund for Excellent Young Scholars of Shandong Province(ZR2018JL014)
文摘Plant cuticular wax is an important determinant factor of fruit quality. Cuticular wax can protect the fruit from UV radiation, drought, and disease and increase the storage period of fruit. In many species, CER gene is associated with wax and can affect plant response to stress, but no characterization of CER gene and its family has been reported in apples. In this study, we identified 10 MdCER genes in Malus domestica based on the sequences of 10 CER genes in Arabidopsis thaliana. Three-dimensional structures were then defined, and root-mean-square deviation(RMSD)scoring matrixes were used to evaluate the matches. These 10 genes were divided into three classes using phylogenetic methods; namely,class I, II, and III. The predicted MdCER genes were distributed across 7 out of 17 chromosomes with different densities. Furthermore, the gene structures and motif compositions of the MdCER genes were analyzed. The quantitative real-time PCR results indicated that MdCER family genes were mainly expressed in the leaves and stems and rarely in the roots. Most of the MdCER members responded to salicylic acid and polyethylene glycol treatment, indicating that the MdCER family is associated with disease resistance(biotic) and abiotic stress.
