SUMMARYAlthough research has extensively illustrated the molecular basis of plant responses to salt and high-pH stresses, knowledge on carbonate alkaline stress is poor and the specific responsive mechanism remains elusive. We have previously characterized a Glycine soja Ca 2+ /CAM-dependent kinase GsCBRLK that could increase salt tolerance. Here, we characterize a methionine sulfoxide reductase (MSR) B protein GsMSRB5a as a GsCBRLK interactor by using Y2H and BiFc assays. Further analyses showed that the N-terminal variable domain of GsCBRLK contributed to the GsMSRB5a interaction. Y2H assays also revealed the interaction specificity of GsCBRLK with the wild soybean MSRB subfamily proteins, and determined that the BoxI/ BoxII-containing regions within GsMSRBs were responsible for their interaction. Furthermore, we also illustrated that the N-terminal basic regions in GsMSRBs functioned as transit peptides, which targeted themselves into chloroplasts and thereby prevented their interaction with GsCBRLK. Nevertheless, deletion of these regions allowed them to localize on the plasma membrane (PM) and interact with GsCBRLK. In addition, we also showed that GsMSRB5a and GsCBRLK displayed overlapping tissue expression specificity and coincident expression patterns under carbonate alkaline stress. Phenotypic experiments demonstrated that GsMSRB5a and GsCBRLK overexpression in Arabidopsis enhanced carbonate alkaline stress tolerance. Further investigations elucidated that GsMSRB5a and GsCBRLK inhibited reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation by modifying the expression of ROS signaling, biosynthesis and scavenging genes. Summarily, our results demonstrated that GsCBRLK and GsMSRB5a interacted with each other, and activated ROS signaling under carbonate alkaline stress.

Dynamically responsive liquid-infused interfacial materials have broad technological implications in manipulating droplet motions. However, present works are mainly about reversible tuning of the isotropic slippery surface; the reversible switching between isotropic and anisotropic sliding has not been deeply explored. Here, we report a kind of liquid-infused elastic-grooved surface (LIEGS) by femtosecond laser ablation and realize reversible switching between isotropic and anisotropic sliding by one-direction mechanical stretching. Under mechanical stretching and strain release, droplet motion can be reversibly switched between the sliding and pinned states along the perpendicular direction to the grooves, whereas the droplet keeps sliding along the parallel direction to the grooves. The mechanism of reversible switching mainly contributes to the decrease of film thickness during the stretching process in which the film thickness decreases from 13 to 4 μm with the increase of the strain from 0 to 60%. Finally, we demonstrate the realtime flexible control over a droplet sliding/pinned on the strain-changing LIEGS.

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In order to help reduce the agglomeration of TiO nanoparticles in polyurethane coatings while enhancing their photoactivity and mechanical/physical properties, this work examined encapsulating TiO nanoparticles in a thin layer of SiO, prior to their nanocomposite polymerization. By applying a Stöber process, varying thicknesses of SiO were successfully coated onto the surface of anatase and rutile TiO nanoparticles. The methylene blue results showed that different loadings of SiO onto the TiO surface significantly influenced their photocatalytic activity. When the loading weight of SiO was lower than 3.25 wt%, the photocatalytic activity was enhanced, while with higher loadings, it gave lower photocatalytic activity. When the rutile phase TiO surface was fully covered with SiO, an enhanced photocatalytic activity was observed. When these silica coated nanoparticles were applied in polyurethane coatings, increasing the amount of SiO on the titania surface increased the coatings contact angle from 75° to 87° for anatase phase and 70°-78° for rutile phase. The Young's modulus was also increased from 1.06 GPa to 2.77 GMPa for anatase phase and 1.06-2.17 GPa for rutile phase, attributed to the silica layer giving better integration. The thermal conductivity of the polyurethane coatings was also successfully decreased by encapsulating SiO on the titania surface for next generation high performance coatings.

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