Assessing impact of elevated CO on heavy metal accumulation in crops: meta-analysis and implications for food security.

Human activities led to elevation in carbon dioxide (CO) concentrations in atmosphere. While such increase per se may be beneficial for the growth of some crops, it comes with a caveat of affecting crop nutritional status. Here, we present a comprehensive analysis of changes in concentration of essential (Cu, Fe, Mn, Zn, Mo, Ni) and non-essential (Ba, Cd, Cr, Hg, Pb, and Sr) heavy metals in response to elevated CO, drawing on a meta-analysis of 1216 paired observations.

Genome-wide analysis of MYB transcription factor family and AsMYB1R subfamily contribution to ROS homeostasis regulation in Avena sativa under PEG-induced drought stress.

Background: The myeloblastosis (MYB) transcription factor (TF) family is one of the largest and most important TF families in plants, playing an important role in a life cycle and abiotic stress.

Results: In this study, 268 Avena sativa MYB (AsMYB) TFs from Avena sativa were identified and named according to their order of location on the chromosomes, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis of the AsMYB and Arabidopsis MYB proteins were performed to determine their homology, the AsMYB1R proteins were classified into 5 subgroups, and the AsMYB2R proteins were classified into 34 subgroups.

Exogenous zinc application mitigates negative effects of salinity on barley () growth by improving root ionic homeostasis.

Detrimental effects of salinity could be mitigated by exogenous zinc (Zn) application; however, the mechanisms underlying this amelioration are poorly understood. This study demonstrated the interaction between Zn and salinity by measuring plant biomass, photosynthetic performance, ion concentrations, ROS accumulation, antioxidant activity and electrophysiological parameters in barley (Hordeum vulgare L.).

Climate-resilient crops: Lessons from xerophytes.

Developing climate-resilient crops is critical for future food security and sustainable agriculture under current climate scenarios. Of specific importance are drought and soil salinity. Tolerance traits to these stresses are highly complex, and the progress in improving crop tolerance is too slow to cope with the growing demand in food production unless a major paradigm shift in crop breeding occurs.

Unravelling the physiological basis of salinity stress tolerance in cultivated and wild rice species.

Wild rice species provide a rich source of genetic diversity for possible introgression of salinity stress tolerance in cultivated rice. We investigated the physiological basis of salinity stress tolerance in Oryza species by using six rice genotypes (Oryza sativa L.) and four wild rice species.

AFB1 controls rapid auxin signalling through membrane depolarization in Arabidopsis thaliana root.

The membrane potential reflects the difference between cytoplasmic and apoplastic electrical potentials and is essential for cellular operation. The application of the phytohormone auxin (3-indoleacetic acid (IAA)) causes instantaneous membrane depolarization in various cell types, making depolarization a hallmark of IAA-induced rapid responses. In root hairs, depolarization requires functional IAA transport and TIR1-AFB signalling, but its physiological importance is not understood.

Facile synthesis of nitrogen-doped graphene supported AuPd-CeO2 nanocomposites with high-performance for hydrogen generation from formic acid at room temperature.

AuPd-CeO2 nanocomposites directly nucleated and grown on nitrogen-doped reduced graphene oxide, exhibit excellent catalytic activity and 100% hydrogen selectivity toward formic acid decomposition for hydrogen generation without any additives at room temperature.

DNA-directed growth of ultrafine CoAuPd nanoparticles on graphene as efficient catalysts for formic acid dehydrogenation.

Ultrafine and well dispersed CoAuPd nanoparticles grown on a DNA-reduced-graphene-oxide (DNA-rGO) composite have been successfully synthesized using a DNA-directed method. The resultant CoAuPd/DNA-rGO composite exhibits high activity and 100% H2 selectivity toward the dehydrogenation of formic acid without any additive at 298 K.

Pd/C synthesized with citric acid: an efficient catalyst for hydrogen generation from formic acid/sodium formate.

A highly efficient hydrogen generation from formic acid/sodium formate aqueous solution catalyzed by in situ synthesized Pd/C with citric acid has been successfully achieved at room temperature. Interestingly, the presence of citric acid during the formation and growth of the Pd nanoparticles on carbon can drastically enhance the catalytic property of the resulted Pd/C, on which the conversion and turnover frequency for decomposition of formic acid/sodium formate system can reach the highest values ever reported of 85% within 160 min and 64 mol H(2) mol(-1) catalyst h(-1), respectively, at room temperature. The present simple, low cost, but highly efficient CO-free hydrogen generation system at room temperature is believed to greatly promote the practical application of formic acid system on fuel cells.

Upregulation of molecules associated with T-regulatory function by thymoglobulin pretreatment of human CD4+ cells.

Background: This study evaluated the immunologic effects of thymoglobulin in modulating human CD4+ cells.

Methods: Human CD4+ cells were purified from peripheral blood mononuclear cells by negative selection method. CD4+ cells were pretreated with thymoglobulin and incubated for 72 hr.