Abscisic Acid and Ethylene Antagonistically Regulate Root Endodermal Suberization to Mitigate Nonuniform Salt Stress in Cotton.

The heterogeneity of soil salinity is a critical attribute of saline agricultural environments, particularly for the physiological adaptability of cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) plants. However, the mechanisms by which cotton plants acclimate to heterogenous salinity remain poorly understood.

Defect Engineering and Carbon Supporting to Achieve Ni-Doped CoP with High Catalytic Activities for Overall Water Splitting.

This work reports the use of defect engineering and carbon supporting to achieve metal-doped phosphides with high activities and stabilities for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in alkaline media. Specifically, the nitrogen-doped carbon nanofiber-supported Ni-doped CoP with rich P defects (Pv·) on the carbon cloth (p-NiCoP/NCFs@CC) is synthesized through a plasma-assisted phosphorization method. The p-NiCoP/NCFs@CC is an efficient and stable catalyst for the HER and the OER.

Light-Mediated Electrochemical Synthesis of Manganese Oxide Enhances Its Stability for Water Oxidation.

New methods are needed to increase the activity and stability of earth-abundant catalysts for electrochemical water splitting to produce hydrogen fuel. Electrodeposition has been previously used to synthesize manganese oxide films with a high degree of disorder and a mixture of oxidation states for Mn, which has led to electrocatalysts with high activity but low stability for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) at high current densities. In this study, we show that multipotential electrodeposition of manganese oxide under illumination produces nanostructured films with significantly higher stability for the OER compared to films grown under otherwise identical conditions in the dark.

Advances in platinum-based and platinum-free oxygen reduction reaction catalysts for cathodes in direct methanol fuel cells.

Direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) have been the focus of future research because of their simple structure, abundant fuel sources, high energy conversion efficiency and low cost. Among the components in DMFC, the activity and stability of the cathode catalyst is the key to the performance and lifetime of the DMFCs. Oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is an important electrode reaction on DMFC cathode.

Cell- and noncell-autonomous AUXIN RESPONSE FACTOR3 controls meristem proliferation and phyllotactic patterns.

In cell-cell communication, noncell-autonomous transcription factors play vital roles in controlling plant stem cell fate. We previously reported that AUXIN RESPONSE FACTOR3 (ARF3), a member of the ARF family with critical roles in floral meristem maintenance and determinacy, has a distinct accumulation pattern that differs from the expression domain of its encoding gene in the shoot apical meristem (SAM). However, the biological meaning of this difference is obscure.

Clusterin inhibits Aβ aggregation through a "strawberry model" as detected by FRET-FCS.

Extracellular plaque deposits of β-amyloid peptide (Aβ) are one of the main pathological features of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The aggregation of Aβ species, especially Aβ oligomers, is still an active research field in AD pathogenesis. Secretory clusterin protein (sCLU), an extracellular chaperone, plays an important role in AD pathogenesis.

Receptor-binding domain-specific human neutralizing monoclonal antibodies against SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2.

The outbreaks of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2, respectively, have posed severe threats to global public health and the economy. Treatment and prevention of these viral diseases call for the research and development of human neutralizing monoclonal antibodies (NMAbs). Scientists have screened neutralizing antibodies using the virus receptor-binding domain (RBD) as an antigen, indicating that RBD contains multiple conformational neutralizing epitopes, which are the main structural domains for inducing neutralizing antibodies and T-cell immune responses.

Low-cost and efficient confocal imaging method for arabidopsis flower.

For an extensive period of time apical meristem (SAM) has been considered as a mysterious organ, due to its small, hidden and dynamic structure. Confocal imaging, combined with fluorescent reporters, enables researchers to unveil the mechanisms underlying cellular activities, such as gene expression, cell division, growth patterns and cell-cell communications. Recently, a series of protocols were developed for confocal imaging of inflorescence meristem (IM) and floral meristem (FM).

Influenza virus glycoprotein-reactive human monoclonal antibodies.

Influenza continues to be a significant public health challenge. Two glycoproteins on the surface of influenza virus, hemagglutinin and neuraminidase, play a prominent role in the process of influenza virus infection and release. Monoclonal antibodies targeting glycoproteins can effectively prevent the spread of the virus.

Development of small-molecule inhibitors against hantaviruses.

Hantavirus (HV), a pathogen of animal infectious diseases that poses a threat to humans, has attracted extensive attention. Clinically, HV can cause hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) and hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS), between which HFRS is mostly in Eurasia, and HPS is mostly in the Americas. This paper reviews the research progress of small-molecule inhibitors of HV.

Kinesin-1 inhibits the aggregation of amyloid-β peptide as detected by fluorescence cross-correlation spectroscopy.

Although the exact etiology and pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) are still unclear, amyloid-β (Aβ) generated by the proteolytic processing of amyloid-β precursor protein (APP) aggregate to form toxic amyloid species. Kinesin-1 is the first identified ATP-dependent axonal transport motor protein that has been proven to affect Aβ generation and deposition. In this paper, we applied dual-color fluorescence cross-correlation spectroscopy (DC-FCCS) to investigate the direct interaction of Aβ with kinesin-1 at the single-molecule fluorescence level in vitro.

[Application of liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry in the research of Alzheimer's disease].

Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) combining with both highly efficient separation and detection is widely applied to chemistry, medicine, pharmacy biochemistry etc. Particularly, the application of LC-MS to clinic chemistry opened a new chapter for diagnosis technologies. Alzheimer' s disease (AD), also called as senile dementia, is the fourth leading cause of death in modern society.