The Efficacy of Plant-Based Ionizers in Removing Aerosol for COVID-19 Mitigation.

Small-sized droplets/aerosol transmission is one of the factors responsible for the spread of COVID-19, in addition to large droplets and surface contamination (fomites). While large droplets and surface contamination can be relatively easier to deal with (i.e.

Plant-based release system of negative air ions and its application on particulate matter removal.

Particulate matter (PM, especially PM with diameter 2.5 microns) has been regarded as the major air pollutant. Negative air ions (NAIs) could electrically charge PM and remove it much more efficiently.

A Comprehensive Survey on the Terpene Synthase Gene Family Provides New Insight into Its Evolutionary Patterns.

Terpenes are organic compounds and play important roles in plant growth and development as well as in mediating interactions of plants with the environment. Terpene synthases (TPSs) are the key enzymes responsible for the biosynthesis of terpenes. Although some species were employed for the genome-wide identification and characterization of the TPS family, limited information is available regarding the evolution, expansion, and retention mechanisms occurring in this gene family.

Negative Air Ions and Their Effects on Human Health and Air Quality Improvement.

Negative air ions (NAIs) have been discovered for more than 100 years and are widely used for air cleaning. Here, we have carried out a comprehensive reviewing on the effects of NAIs on humans/animals, and microorganisms, and plant development. The presence of NAIs is credited for increasing psychological health, productivity, and overall well-being but without consistent or reliable evidence in therapeutic effects and with controversy in anti-microorganisms.

Valine-glutamine (VQ) motif coding genes are ancient and non-plant-specific with comprehensive expression regulation by various biotic and abiotic stresses.

Background: Valine-glutamine (VQ) motif containing proteins play important roles in abiotic and biotic stress responses in plants. However, little is known about the origin and evolution as well as comprehensive expression regulation of the VQ gene family.

Results: In this study, we systematically surveyed this gene family in 50 plant genomes from algae, moss, gymnosperm and angiosperm and explored their presence in other species from animals, bacteria, fungi and viruses.

Improving protein content and quality by over-expressing artificially synthetic fusion proteins with high lysine and threonine constituent in rice plants.

Rice grains are rich in starch but low in protein with very low level of both lysine and threonine. Thus, it is important to further improve protein quality and quantity, especially to increase lysine and threonine content in rice grains. We artificially synthesized two new genes by fusing endogenous rice genes with lysine (K)/threonine (T) motif (TKTKK) coding sequences.

Expansion Mechanisms and Evolutionary History on Genes Encoding DNA Glycosylases and Their Involvement in Stress and Hormone Signaling.

DNA glycosylases catalyze the release of methylated bases. They play vital roles in the base excision repair pathway and might also function in DNA demethylation. At least three families of DNA glycosylases have been identified, which included 3'-methyladenine DNA glycosylase (MDG) I, MDG II, and HhH-GPD (Helix-hairpin-Helix and Glycine/Proline/aspartate (D)).

Sucrose metabolism gene families and their biological functions.

Sucrose, as the main product of photosynthesis, plays crucial roles in plant development. Although studies on general metabolism pathway were well documented, less information is available on the genome-wide identification of these genes, their expansion and evolutionary history as well as their biological functions. We focused on four sucrose metabolism related gene families including sucrose synthase, sucrose phosphate synthase, sucrose phosphate phosphatase and UDP-glucose pyrophosphorylase.

Identification and molecular characterization of tissue-preferred rice genes and their upstream regularly sequences on a genome-wide level.

Background: Gene upstream regularly sequences (URSs) can be used as one of the tools to annotate the biological functions of corresponding genes. In addition, tissue-preferred URSs are frequently used to drive the transgene expression exclusively in targeted tissues during plant transgenesis. Although many rice URSs have been molecularly characterized, it is still necessary and valuable to identify URSs that will benefit plant transformation and aid in analyzing gene function.

Engineering geminivirus resistance in Jatropha curcus.

Background: Jatropha curcus is a good candidate plant for biodiesel production in tropical and subtropical regions. However, J. curcus is susceptible to the geminivirus Indian cassava mosaic virus (ICMV), and frequent viral disease outbreaks severely limit productivity.

A novel binary T-vector with the GFP reporter gene for promoter characterization.

Several strategies have been developed to clone PCR fragments into desired vectors. However, most of commercially available T-vectors are not binary vectors and cannot be directly used for Agrobacterium-mediated plant genetic transformation. In this study, a novel binary T-vector was constructed by integrating two AhdI restriction sites into the backbone vector pCAMBIA 1300.

Genome-wide survey on genomic variation, expression divergence, and evolution in two contrasting rice genotypes under high salinity stress.

Expression profiling is one of the most important tools for dissecting biological functions of genes and the upregulation or downregulation of gene expression is sufficient for recreating phenotypic differences. Expression divergence of genes significantly contributes to phenotypic variations. However, little is known on the molecular basis of expression divergence and evolution among rice genotypes with contrasting phenotypes.

Genome-wide survey and comparative analysis of LTR retrotransposons and their captured genes in rice and sorghum.

Long terminal repeat (LTR) retrotransposons are the major class I mobile elements in plants. They play crucial roles in gene expansion, diversification and evolution. However, their captured genes are yet to be genome-widely identified and characterized in most of plants although many genomes have been completely sequenced.

Comparative genomic and transcriptomic analysis of tandemly and segmentally duplicated genes in rice.

Tandem and segmental duplications significantly contribute to gene family expansion and genome evolution. Genome-wide identification of tandem and segmental genes has been analyzed before in several plant genomes. However, comparative studies in functional bias, expression divergence and their roles in species domestication are still lacking.

Genetic variation and expression diversity between grain and sweet sorghum lines.

Background: Biological scientists have long sought after understanding how genes and their structural/functional changes contribute to morphological diversity. Though both grain (BT×623) and sweet (Keller) sorghum lines originated from the same species Sorghum bicolor L., they exhibit obvious phenotypic variations.

Functional genomics of bio-energy plants and related patent activities.

With dwindling fossil oil resources and increased economic growth of many developing countries due to globalization, energy driven from an alternative source such as bio-energy in a sustainable fashion is the need of the hour. However, production of energy from biological source is relatively expensive due to low starch and sugar contents of bioenergy plants leading to lower oil yield and reduced quality along with lower conversion efficiency of feedstock. In this context genetic improvement of bio-energy plants offers a viable solution.

Oryza sativa cytochrome P450 family member OsCYP96B4 reduces plant height in a transcript dosage dependent manner.

Background: Plant cytochromes P450 are involved in a wide range of biosynthetic reactions and play various roles in plant development. However, little is known about the biological functions of the subfamily CYP96 in plants.

Methodology/principal Findings: Here, we report a novel semi-dwarf rice mutant, in which a single copy of transposon dissociator (Ds) was inserted into the gene OsCYP96B4 (Oryza sativa Cytochrome P450 96B4).

Over-expression of OSRIP18 increases drought and salt tolerance in transgenic rice plants.

Both drought and high salinity stresses are major abiotic factors that limit the yield of agricultural crops. Transgenic techniques have been regarded as effective ways to improve crops in their tolerance to these abiotic stresses. Functional characterization of genes is the prerequisite to identify candidates for such improvement.

Functional genomics of rice pollen and seed development by genome-wide transcript profiling and Ds insertion mutagenesis.

Rice pollen and seed development are directly related to grain yield. To further improve rice yield, it is important for us to functionally annotate the genes controlling pollen/seed development and to use them for rice breeding. Here we first carried out a genome-wide expression analysis with an emphasis on genes being involved in rice pollen and seed development.

Genome-wide expansion and expression divergence of the basic leucine zipper transcription factors in higher plants with an emphasis on sorghum.

Plant bZIP transcription factors play crucial roles in multiple biological processes. However, little is known about the sorghum bZIP gene family although the sorghum genome has been completely sequenced. In this study, we have carried out a genome-wide identification and characterization of this gene family in sorghum.

Expansion mechanisms and functional divergence of the glutathione s-transferase family in sorghum and other higher plants.

Glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) exist in various eukaryotes and function in detoxification of xenobiotics and in response to abiotic and biotic stresses. We have carried out a genome-wide survey of this gene family in 10 plant genomes. Our data show that tandem duplication has been regarded as the major expansion mechanism and both monocot and dicot plants may have practiced different expansion and evolutionary history.

Assigning biological functions to rice genes by genome annotation, expression analysis and mutagenesis.

Rice is the first cereal genome to be completely sequenced. Since the completion of its genome sequencing, considerable progress has been made in multiple areas including the whole genome annotation, gene expression profiling, mutant collection, etc. Here, we summarize the current status of rice genome annotation and review the methodology of assigning biological functions to hundreds of thousands of rice genes as well as discuss the major limitations and the future perspective in rice functional genomics.

Natural and artificial mutants as valuable resources for functional genomics and molecular breeding.

With the completion of rice genome sequencing, large collection of expression data and the great efforts in annotating rice genomes, the next challenge is to systematically assign functions to all predicted genes in the genome. The generations and collections of mutants at the genome-wide level form technological platform of functional genomics. In this study, we have reviewed currently employed tools to generate such mutant populations.

Evolutionary history and stress regulation of the lectin superfamily in higher plants.

Background: Lectins are a class of carbohydrate-binding proteins. They play roles in various biological processes. However, little is known about their evolutionary history and their functions in plant stress regulation.