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Background Abiotic stress severely influences plant growth and development. MYB transcription factors (TFs), which compose one of the largest TF families, play an important role in abiotic stress responses. Result We identified 139 soybean MYB-related genes; these genes were divided into six groups based on their conserved domain and were distributed among 20 chromosomes (Chrs). Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) indicated that GmMYB118 highly responsive to drought, salt and high temperature stress; thus, this gene was selected for further analysis. Subcellular localization revealed that the GmMYB118 protein located in the nucleus. Ectopic expression (EX) of GmMYB118 increased tolerance to drought and salt stress and regulated the expression of several stress-associated genes in transgenic Arabidopsis plants. Similarly, GmMYB118 -overexpressing (OE) soybean plants generated via Agrobacterium rhizogenes ( A. rhizogenes )-mediated transformation of the hairy roots showed improved drought and salt tolerance. Furthermore, compared with the control (CK) plants, the clustered, regularly interspaced, short palindromic repeat (CRISPR)-transformed plants exhibited reduced drought and salt tolerance. The contents of proline and chlorophyll in the OE plants were significantly greater than those in the CK plants, whose contents were greater than those in the CRISPR plants under drought and salt stress conditions. In contrast, the reactive oxygen species (ROS) and malondialdehyde (MDA) contents were significantly lower in the OE plants than in the CK plants, whose contents were lower than those in the CRISPR plants under stress conditions. Conclusions These results indicated that GmMYB118 could improve tolerance to drought and salt stress by promoting expression of stress-associated genes and regulating osmotic and oxidizing substances to maintain cell homeostasis.

Background The calcineurin B-like protein (CBL)-interacting protein kinase (CIPK) signaling pathway responds to various abiotic stresses in plants. Results Wheat CIPK23, isolated from wheat drought transcriptome data set, was induced by multiple abiotic stresses, including drought, salt, and abscisic acid (ABA). Compared with wild-type plants, TaCIPK23 -overexpression wheat and Arabidopsis showed an higher survival rate under drought conditions with enhanced germination rate, developed root system, increased accumulation of osmolytes, and reduced water loss rate. Over-expression of TaCIPK23 rendered transgenic plants ABA sensitivity, as evidenced by delayed seed germination and the induction of stomatal closure. Consistent with the ABA-sensitive phenotype, the expression level of drought- and ABA-responsive genes were increased under drought conditions in the transgenic plants. In addition, using yeast two-hybrid system, pull-down and bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFc) assays, TaCIPK23 was found to interact with TaCBL1 on the plasma membrane. Conclusions These results suggest that TaCIPK23 plays important roles in ABA and drought stress responses, and mediates crosstalk between the ABA signaling pathway and drought stress responses in wheat.

WRKYs are important regulators in plant development and stress responses. However, knowledge of this superfamily in soybean is limited. In this study, we characterized the drought- and salt-induced gene GmWRKY12 based on RNA-Seq and qRT-PCR. GmWRKY12, which is 714 bp in length, encoded 237 amino acids and grouped into WRKY II. The promoter region of GmWRKY12 included ABER4, MYB, MYC, GT-1, W-box and DPBF cis-elements, which possibly participate in abscisic acid (ABA), drought and salt stress responses. GmWRKY12 was minimally expressed in different tissues under normal conditions but highly expressed under drought and salt treatments. As a nucleus protein, GmWRKY12 was responsive to drought, salt, ABA and salicylic acid (SA) stresses. Using a transgenic hairy root assay, we further characterized the roles of GmWRKY12 in abiotic stress tolerance. Compared with control (Williams 82), overexpression of GmWRKY12 enhanced drought and salt tolerance, increased proline (Pro) content and decreased malondialdehyde (MDA) content under drought and salt treatment in transgenic soybean seedlings. These results may provide a basis to understand the functions of GmWRKY12 in abiotic stress responses in soybean.

Melatonin (N-acetyl-5-methoxytryptamine) is involved in many developmental processes and responses to various abiotic stresses in plants. Most of the studies on melatonin focus on its functions and physiological responses in plants, while its regulation mechanism remains unknown. Caffeic acid 3-O-methyltransferase (COMT) functions at a key step of the biosynthesis process of melatonin. In this study, a COMT-like gene, TaCOMT (Traes_1AL_D9035D5E0.1) was identified in common wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). Transient transformation in wheat protoplasts determined that TaCOMT is localized in cytoplasm. TaCOMT in wheat was induced by drought stress, gibberellin (GA)3 and 3-Indoleacetic acid (IAA), but not by ABA. In TaCOMT transgenic Arabidopsis, melatonin contents were higher than that in wild type (WT) plants. Under D-Mannitol treatment, the fresh weight of the transgenic Arabidopsis was significantly higher than WT, and transgenic lines had a stronger root system compared to WT. Drought tolerance assays in pots showed that the survival rate of TaCOMT-overexpression lines was significantly higher than that of WT lines. this phenotype was similar to that the WT lines treated with melatonin under drought condition. In addition, the TaCOMT transgenic lines had higher proline content and lower malondialdehyde (MDA) content compared to WT lines after drought treatment. These results indicated that overexpression of the wheat TaCOMT gene enhances drought tolerance and increases the content of melatonin in transgenic Arabidopsis. It could be one of the potential genes for agricultural applications.

Piezotronics with capacity of constructing adaptive and seamless interactions between electronics/machines and human/ambient are of value in Internet of Things, artificial intelligence and biomedical engineering. Here, we report a kind of highly sensitive strain sensor based on piezotronic tunneling junction (Ag/HfO 2 /n-ZnO), which utilizes the strain-induced piezoelectric potential to control the tunneling barrier height and width in parallel, and hence to synergistically modulate the electrical transport process. The piezotronic tunneling strain sensor has a high on/off ratio of 478.4 and high gauge factor of 4.8 × 10 5 at the strain of 0.10%, which is more than 17.8 times larger than that of a conventional Schottky-barrier based strain sensor in control group as well as some existing ZnO nanowire or nanobelt based sensors. This work provides in-depth understanding for the basic mechanism of piezotronic modulation on tunneling junction, and realizes the highly sensitive strain sensor of piezotronic tunneling junction on device scale, which has great potential in advanced micro/nano-electromechanical devices and systems. Strain-induced piezoelectric polarization can be used to modulate the interface electrical transport. Here, the authors achieved a piezotronic tunneling strain sensor at device scale with optimized performance based on the structure of Ag/HfO2/n-ZnO.

In our previous study, microvesicles (MVs) released from human Wharton's jelly mesenchymal stem cells (hWJ-MSCs) retard the growth of bladder cancer cells. We would like to know if MVs have a similar effect on human renal cell carcinoma (RCC). By use of cell culture and the BALB/c nu/nu mice xeno-graft model, the influence of MVs upon the growth and aggressiveness of RCC (786-0) was assessed. Cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) assay, incidence of tumor, tumor size, Ki-67 or TUNEL staining was used to evaluate tumor cell growth in vitro or in vivo. Flow cytometry assay (in vitro) or examination of cyclin D1 expression (in vivo) was carried out to determine the alteration of cell cycle. The aggressiveness was analyzed by Wound Healing Assay (in vitro) or MMP-2 and MMP-9 expression (in vivo). AKT/p-AKT, ERK1/2/p-ERK1/2 or HGF/c-MET expression was detected by real-time PCR or western blot. Our data demonstrated that MVs promote the growth and aggressiveness of RCC both in vitro and in vivo. In addition, MVs facilitated the progression of cell cycle from G0/1 to S. HGF expression in RCC was greatly induced by MVs, associated with activation of AKT and ERK1/2 signaling pathways. RNase pre-treatment abrogated all effects of MVs. In summary, induction of HGF synthesis via RNA transferred by MVs activating AKT and ERK1/2 signaling is one of crucial contributors to the pro-tumor effect.

Ceramic aerogels are attractive for thermal insulation but plagued by poor mechanical stability and degradation under thermal shock. In this study, we designed and synthesized hyperbolic architectured ceramic aerogels with nanolayered double-pane walls with a negative Poisson’s ratio (−0.25) and a negative linear thermal expansion coefficient (−1.8 × 10−6 per °C). Our aerogels display robust mechanical and thermal stability and feature ultralow densities down to ∼0.1 milligram per cubic centimeter, superelasticity up to 95%, and near-zero strength loss after sharp thermal shocks (275°C per second) or intense thermal stress at 1400°C, as well as ultralow thermal conductivity in vacuum [∼2.4 milliwatts per meter-kelvin (mW/m·K)] and in air (∼20 mW/m·K). This robust material system is ideal for thermal superinsulation under extreme conditions, such as those encountered by spacecraft.

Self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) have become pivotal in achieving high-performance perovskite solar cells (PSCs) and organic solar cells (OSCs) by significantly minimizing interfacial energy losses. In this study, we propose a co-adsorb (CA) strategy employing a novel small molecule, 2-chloro-5-(trifluoromethyl)isonicotinic acid (PyCA-3F), introducing at the buried interface between 2PACz and the perovskite/organic layers. This approach effectively diminishes 2PACz’s aggregation, enhancing surface smoothness and increasing work function for the modified SAM layer, thereby providing a flattened buried interface with a favorable heterointerface for perovskite. The resultant improvements in crystallinity, minimized trap states, and augmented hole extraction and transfer capabilities have propelled power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) beyond 25% in PSCs with a p-i-n structure (certified at 24.68%). OSCs employing the CA strategy achieve remarkable PCEs of 19.51% based on PM1:PTQ10:m-BTP-PhC6 photoactive system. Notably, universal improvements have also been achieved for the other two popular OSC systems. After a 1000-hour maximal power point tracking, the encapsulated PSCs and OSCs retain approximately 90% and 80% of their initial PCEs, respectively. This work introduces a facile, rational, and effective method to enhance the performance of SAMs, realizing efficiency breakthroughs in both PSCs and OSCs with a favorable p-i-n device structure, along with improved operational stability. Self-assembled monolayers are essential for achieving high performance solar cells by minimizing interfacial energy losses. Here, authors the develop a co-adsorb strategy with a small molecule to provide a favorable heterointerface, realizing high efficiency in p-i-n perovskite and organic devices.

The low output current density of piezoelectric nanogenerators (PENGs) severely restricts their application for ambient mechanical energy harvest. This has been a key challenge in the development of PENG. Here, to conquer this, based on a piezoelectric material with high piezoelectric coefficient (Sm-PMN-PT), a new design of PENG with a three-dimensional intercalation electrode (IENG) is proposed. By creating many boundary interfaces inside the piezoelectric material, the total amount of surface polarization charges increased, which contributes to an increased current density. The IENG can output a maximum peak short-circuit current of 320 μA, and the corresponding current density 290 μA cm −2 is 1.93 and 1.61 times the record values of PENG and triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG), respectively. It can also charge a 1 μF capacitor from 0 V to 8 V in 21 cycles, and the equivalent surface charge density 1690 μC m −2 is 1.35 times the record value of TENG. Increasing the output current density is the key challenge for nanogenerators. Here, a new piezoelectric nanogenerator with a three-dimensional intercalation electrode is developed to reach 290 μA cm −2 by creating and utilizing many boundary interfaces.

Soccer video analysis has significant application value in sports broadcasting, tactical research, and athlete training, with accurate object detection serving as the key foundation for automated analysis. Soccer object detection typically improves performance through enhanced feature representation and optimized network architectures, but these methods assume that models can automatically learn discriminative features of targets. Through experiments, we reveal the “feature collapse” phenomenon in soccer detection, where features of players from the same team are excessively clustered in high-dimensional space, and soccer ball features degenerate to near background noise. Furthermore, existing methods lack progressive feature evolution mechanisms, resulting in insufficient discriminative capability when handling dense scenes. To address these issues, we propose DeCon-Net, which contains a Decoupled Feature Learning Module (DFLM) and a Hierarchical Contrastive Constraint Module (HCCM). Specifically, DFLM designs dual-stream encoders to extract appearance features and identity features separately, forcing the identity stream to learn truly discriminative representations through mutual exclusivity constraints. HCCM adopts dynamic threshold contrastive learning, adaptively adjusting learning intensity based on feature distances between sample pairs, achieving progressive optimization from coarse to fine granularity. Experimental results demonstrate that DeCon-Net achieves significant performance improvements on the SportsMOT and SoccerNet-Tracking datasets, particularly showing substantial gains in ball detection.