<i>OsASR5</i> enhances drought tolerance through a stomatal closure pathway associated with ABA and H ₂ O ₂ signalling in rice

Li, Jinjie,Li, Yang,Yin, Zhigang,Jiang, Jihong,Zhang, Minghui,Guo, Xiao,Ye, Zhujia,Zhao, Yan,Xiong, Haiyan,Zhang, Zhanying,Shao, Yujie,Jiang, Conghui,Zhang, Hongliang,An, Gynheung,Paek, Nam‐,Cho John Wiley and Sons Inc. 2017 Plant biotechnology journal Vol.15 No.2

<P><B>Summary</B></P><P>Drought is one of the major abiotic stresses that directly implicate plant growth and crop productivity. Although many genes in response to drought stress have been identified, genetic improvement to drought resistance especially in food crops is showing relatively slow progress worldwide. Here, we reported the isolation of <I>abscisic acid</I>,<I> stress</I> and <I>ripening</I> (<I>ASR</I>) genes from upland rice variety, IRAT109 (<I>Oryza sativa</I> L. ssp. <I>japonica</I>), and demonstrated that overexpression of <I>OsASR5</I> enhanced osmotic tolerance in <I>Escherichia coli</I> and drought tolerance in <I>Arabidopsis</I> and rice by regulating leaf water status under drought stress conditions. Moreover, overexpression of <I>OsASR5</I> in rice increased endogenous ABA level and showed hypersensitive to exogenous ABA treatment at both germination and postgermination stages. The production of H<SUB>2</SUB>O<SUB>2</SUB>, a second messenger for the induction of stomatal closure in response to ABA, was activated in overexpression plants under drought stress conditions, consequently, increased stomatal closure and decreased stomatal conductance. In contrast, the loss‐of‐function mutant, <I>osasr5</I>, showed sensitivity to drought stress with lower relative water content under drought stress conditions. Further studies demonstrated that OsASR5 functioned as chaperone‐like protein and interacted with stress‐related HSP40 and 2OG‐Fe (II) oxygenase domain containing proteins in yeast and plants. Taken together, we suggest that <I>OsASR5</I> plays multiple roles in response to drought stress by regulating ABA biosynthesis, promoting stomatal closure, as well as acting as chaperone‐like protein that possibly prevents drought stress‐related proteins from inactivation.</P>

Extraction of bioethanol from fermented sweet sorghum bagasse by batch distillation

Guangming Li,Jihong Li,Shizhong Li,Xu Zu,Lei Zhang,Lisong Qi,Weiliang Xu 한국화학공학회 2017 Korean Journal of Chemical Engineering Vol.34 No.1

Extraction of bioethanol, a potential alternative to fossil fuel in the transport industry, from sweet sorghum stems [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] using solid-state fermentation (SSF) technology has become a popular research topic worldwide. Because SSF technology can directly convert fermentable sugars into target products without juice squeezing and water input, this method can potentially reduce energy and water consumption. However, ethanol extraction from fermented sweet sorghum bagasse requires further investigation. We used batch solid-state distillation to investigate the optimal operating parameters in a distillation column (diameter, 400 mm) via a single-factor experiment. Results showed that the optimal steam flow rate and loading height were 8-10 kg·h−1 and 700-1,000 mm, respectively. Under optimal conditions, an energy consumption of 3.82 tons of steam per ton of ethanol and distillate concentration of 60.9% (v/v) were obtained. The pseudo-first-order rate equation was used to describe the distillation kinetics, and good correlations were obtained. Therefore, solid-state distillation can be effectively used to extract ethanol from fermented sweet sorghum bagasse.

The Amphibian and reptile Species Diversity In Jiangxi Province

Li Yankuo,Shan Jihong 한국양서·파충류학회 2014 한국양서·파충류학회 학술대회 Vol.2014 No.07

Clenbuterol Inhibits SREBP-1c Expression by Activating CREB1

Zhou, Lei,Li, Yixing,Nie, Tao,Feng, Shengqiu,Yuan, Jihong,Chen, Huaping,Yang, Zaiqing Korean Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biol 2007 Journal of biochemistry and molecular biology Vol.40 No.4

As a $\beta_2$-adrenergic agonist, clenbuterol decreases body fat, but the molecular mechanism underlying this process is unclear. In the present study, we treated 293T and L-02 cells with clenbuterol and found that clenbuterol downregulates SREBP-1c expression and upregulates CREB1 expression. Considering SREBP-1c has the function of regulating the transcription of several lipogenic enzymes, we considered that the downregulation of SREBP-1c is responsible for body fat reduction by clenbuterol. Many previous studies have found that clenbuterol markedly increases intracellular cAMP levels, therefore, we also investigated whether CREB1 is involved in this process. The data from our experiments indicate that CREB1 overexpression inhibits SREBP-1c transcription, and that this action is antagonized by CREB2, a competitive inhibitor of CREB1. Furthermore, since PPARs are able to repress SREBP-1c transcription, we investigated whether clenbuterol and CREB1 function via a pathway involving PPAR activation. However, our results showed that clenbuterol or CREB1 overexpression suppressed PPARs transcription in 293T and L-02 cells, which suggested that they impair SREBP-1c expression in other ways.

Arginine-Rich Manganese Silicate Nanobubbles as a Ferroptosis-Inducing Agent for Tumor-Targeted Theranostics

Wang, Shuaifei,Li, Fangyuan,Qiao, Ruirui,Hu, Xi,Liao, Hongwei,Chen, Lumin,Wu, Jiahe,Wu, Haibin,Zhao, Meng,Liu, Jianan,Chen, Rui,Ma, Xibo,Kim, Dokyoon,Sun, Jihong,Davis, Thomas P.,Chen, Chunying,Tian, American Chemical Society 2018 ACS NANO Vol.12 No.12

<P>Ferroptosis, an iron-based cell-death pathway, has recently attracted great attention owing to its effectiveness in killing cancer cells. Previous investigations focused on the development of iron-based nanomaterials to induce ferroptosis in cancer cells by the up-regulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated by the well-known Fenton reaction. Herein, we report a ferroptosis-inducing agent based on arginine-rich manganese silicate nanobubbles (AMSNs) that possess highly efficient glutathione (GSH) depletion ability and thereby induce ferroptosis by the inactivation of glutathione-dependent peroxidases 4 (GPX4). The AMSNs were synthesized <I>via</I> a one-pot reaction with arginine (Arg) as the surface ligand for tumor homing. Subsequently, a significant tumor suppression effect can be achieved by GSH depletion-induced ferroptosis. Moreover, the degradation of AMSNs during the GSH depletion contributed to <I>T</I><SUB>1</SUB>-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) enhancement as well as on-demand chemotherapeutic drug release for synergistic cancer therapy. We anticipate that the GSH-depletion-induced ferroptosis strategy by using manganese-based nanomaterials would provide insights in designing nanomedicines for tumor-targeted theranostics.</P> [FIG OMISSION]</BR>

Preliminary study on the effect of using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to control Spodoptera frugiperda

Lu Hui,Li Fen,Zhu Xiaoming,Tang Jihong,Lyu Baoqian,Wu Shaoying 한국곤충학회 2021 Entomological Research Vol.51 No.9

Spraying insecticides by unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is an effective method to prevent and control Spodoptera frugiperda. This study investigated the influences of different UAV types, spray adjuvants, spray times, maize growth periods, and insecticides on S. frugiperda in three cities, Hainan Province, China. The results showed that at least two times are needed to spray insecticides using UAVs when controlling the S. frugiperda. Both UAVs had a substantially higher control effect and lower cost than artificial spray methods. Oil spray adjuvant Refei was more suitable for both UAVs than Tiancheng to control pests. Chlorantraniliprole had the best control effect of up to 90%. The control effects at the seedling stage and small bell stage of S. frugiperda were 94.3% and 91.3%, respectively. Spraying at 7:00 am and 7:00 pm by UAVof T20 had good control effect on S. frugiperda in three cities.

First Principles Study of Structural and Electronic Properties of Pentagonal and Hexagonal Noble Metal Nanowires

Zhijian Fu,Li-Jun Jia,JIHONG XIA,Hai-Bo Ruan,Ke Tang,Yong Pu,Zhao-Yi Zeng,Dian-Yong Tang,Bo Kong,Qi-Feng Chen 성균관대학교(자연과학캠퍼스) 성균나노과학기술원 2016 NANO Vol.11 No.6

The equilibrium structure and electronic properties of four ultrathin free-standing pentagonal and hexagonal noble metal nanowires, that is, copper nanowires (CuNWs), silver nanowires (AgNWs), gold nanowires (AuNWs) and platinum nanowires (PtNWs), have been studied comprehensively by adopting a first-principles simulation based on the density-functional theory. The staggered topologies are more stable than the eclipsed ones by analyzing the bonding energy. The staggered ones with a linear atom chain in the center of the pentagonal or hexagons topologies are the preferred structures for CuNWs and AgNWs, but the staggered ones without a linear atom chain in the center of the pentagon or hexagon are the preferred structures for AuNWs and PtNWs due to the increasing core–core repulsions. The calculated electronic band structures and density of states present that all the noble metal nanowires are metallic. The projected densities of states (PDOS) of dominant d-states and the charge density show that the narrower d-state moved to the Fermi energy and metallic bonding character for all the noble metal nanowires.

Review on Quantitative Measures of Robustness for Building Structures Against Disproportionate Collapse

Jiang, Jian,Zhang, Qijie,Li, Liulian,Chen, Wei,Ye, Jihong,Li, Guo-Qiang Council on Tall Building and Urban Habitat Korea 2020 International journal of high-rise buildings Vol.9 No.2

Disproportionate collapse triggered by local structural failure may cause huge casualties and economic losses, being one of the most critical civil engineering incidents. It is generally recognized that ensuring robustness of a structure, defined as its insensitivity to local failure, is the most acceptable and effective method to arrest disproportionate collapse. To date, the concept of robustness in its definition and quantification is still an issue of controversy. This paper presents a detailed review on about 50 quantitative measures of robustness for building structures, being classified into structural attribute-based and structural performance-based measures (deterministic and probabilistic). The definition of robustness is first described and distinguished from that of collapse resistance, vulnerability and redundancy. The review shows that deterministic measures predominate in quantifying structural robustness by comparing the structural responses of an intact and damaged structure. The attribute-based measures based on structural topology and stiffness are only applicable to elastic state of simple structural forms while the probabilistic measures receive growing interest by accounting for uncertainties in abnormal events, local failure, structural system and failure-induced consequences, which can be used for decision-making tools. There is still a lack of generalized quantifications of robustness, which should be derived based on the definition and design objectives and on the response of a structure to local damage as well as the associated consequences of collapse. Critical issues and recommendations for future design and research on quantification of robustness are provided from the views of column removal scenarios, types of structures, regularity of structural layouts, collapse modes, numerical methods, multiple hazards, degrees of robustness, partial damage of components, acceptable design criteria.

Renal-Clearable Hollow Bismuth Subcarbonate Nanotubes for Tumor Targeted Computed Tomography Imaging and Chemoradiotherapy

Hu, Xi,Sun, Jihong,Li, Fangyuan,Li, Ruiqing,Wu, Jiahe,He, Jie,Wang, Nan,Liu, Jianan,Wang, Shuaifei,Zhou, Fei,Sun, Xiaolian,Kim, Dokyoon,Hyeon, Taeghwan,Ling, Daishun American Chemical Society 2018 Nano letters Vol.18 No.2

<P>Although metallic nanomaterials with high X-ray attenuation coefficients have been widely used as X-ray computed tomography (CT) contrast agents, their intrinsically poor biodegradability requires them to be cleared from the body to avoid any potential toxicity. On the other hand, extremely small-sized nanomaterials with outstanding renal clearance properties are not much effective for tumor targeting because of their too rapid clearance in vivo. To overcome this dilemma, here we report on the hollow bismuth subcarbonate nanotubes (BNTs) assembled from renal-clearable ultrasmall bismuth subcarbonate nanoclusters for tumor-targeted imaging and chemoradiotherapy. The BNTs could be targeted to tumors with high efficiency and exhibit a high CT contrast effect. Moreover, simultaneous radio- and chemotherapy using drug-loaded BNTs could significantly suppress tumor volumes, highlighting their potential application in CT imaging-guided therapy. Importantly, the elongated nanotubes could be disassembled into isolated small nanoclusters in the acidic tumor microenvironment, accelerating the payload release and kidney excretion. Such body clearable CT contrast agent with high imaging performance and multiple therapeutic functions shall have a substantial potential for biomedical applications.</P>

Highly Sensitive Diagnosis of Small Hepatocellular Carcinoma Using pH-Responsive Iron Oxide Nanocluster Assemblies

Lu, Jingxiong,Sun, Jihong,Li, Fangyuan,Wang, Jin,Liu, Jianan,Kim, Dokyoon,Fan, Chunhai,Hyeon, Taeghwan,Ling, Daishun American Chemical Society 2018 JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY - Vol.140 No.32

<P>Iron oxide nanoparticle (IONP)-based magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agents have been widely used for the diagnosis of hepatic lesions. However, current IONP-based liver-specific MRI contrast agents rely on single-phase contrast enhancement of the normal liver, which is not sensitive enough to detect early stage small hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs). We herein report i-motif DNA-assisted pH-responsive iron oxide nanocluster assemblies (termed RIAs), which provide an inverse contrast enhancemt effect to improve the distinction between normal liver and target HCC tissues. The acidic pH of the tumor microenvironment triggers the disassembly of the RIAs, which leads to a drastic decrease in their relaxivity ratio (<I>r</I><SUB>2</SUB>/<I>r</I><SUB>1</SUB>), thus converting the RIAs from a T2 to T1 contrast agent. This inverse contrast enhancement of normal liver darkening and HCC brightening under T1 imaging mode was validated on an orthotopic HCC model. Our design provides a novel strategy for the exploitation of the next-generation intelligent MRI contrast agents.</P> [FIG OMISSION]</BR>