Various functions of detoxification enzymes against insecticides in Nilaparvata lugens selected by toxicity assays and RNAi methods.

The brown planthopper (BPH), Nilaparvata lugens is a devastating agricultural pest of rice, and they have developed resistance to many pesticides. In this study, we assessed the response of BPH nymphs to nitenpyram, imidacloprid, and etofenprox using contact and dietary bioassays, and investigated the underlying functional diversities of BPH glutathione-S-transferase (GST), carboxylesterase (CarE) and cytochrome P450 monooxygenase (P450) against these insecticides. Both contact and ingestion toxicity of nitenpyram to BPH were significantly higher than either imidacloprid or etofenprox.

The Ankyrin-Repeat Gene Confers Drought and Salt Tolerance in and Soybean.

Ankyrin repeat (ANK) proteins are essential in cell growth, development, and response to hormones and environmental stresses. In the present study, 226 genes were identified and classified into nine subfamilies according to conserved domains in the soybean genome ( L.).

Functional Analysis of the Soybean Gene Responding to Drought and Salt Stresses.

Plants have a series of response mechanisms to adapt when they are subjected to external stress. Calcium-dependent protein kinases (CDPKs) in plants function against a variety of abiotic stresses. We screened 17 CDPKs from drought- and salt-induced soybean transcriptome sequences.

The E-Subgroup Pentatricopeptide Repeat Protein Family in and Confirmation of the Responsiveness to Abiotic Stresses.

Pentatricopeptide repeat (PPR) proteins are extensive in all eukaryotes. Their functions remain as yet largely unknown. Mining potential stress responsive PPRs, and checking whether known PPR editing factors are affected in the stress treatments.

Curved singular beams for three-dimensional particle manipulation.

For decades, singular beams carrying angular momentum have been a topic of considerable interest. Their intriguing applications are ubiquitous in a variety of fields, ranging from optical manipulation to photon entanglement, and from microscopy and coronagraphy to free-space communications, detection of rotating black holes, and even relativistic electrons and strong-field physics. In most applications, however, singular beams travel naturally along a straight line, expanding during linear propagation or breaking up in nonlinear media.

Three-dimensional nonparaxial beams in parabolic rotational coordinates.

We introduce a class of three-dimensional nonparaxial optical beams found in a parabolic rotational coordinate system. These beams, representing exact solutions of the nonparaxial Helmholtz equation, have inherent parabolic symmetries. Assisted with a computer-generated holography, we experimentally demonstrate the generation of different modes of these beams.

Observation of self-accelerating Bessel-like optical beams along arbitrary trajectories.

We experimentally demonstrate self-accelerating Bessel-like optical beams propagating along arbitrary trajectories in free space. With computer-generated holography, such beams are designed to follow different controllable trajectories while their main lobe transverse profiles remain nearly invariant and symmetric. Examples include parabolic, snake-like, hyperbolic, hyperbolic secant, and even three-dimensional spiraling trajectories.