As important energy storage systems, lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) and sodium ion battery (SIBs) have attracted great attentions in the past decades. Much effort has been devoted to developing different materials and strategies for LIBs and SIBs. Many electrode materials have been extensively studied, such as the metal oxide compounds, [1] polyanions, [2] alloy materials, [3] carbon-based materials, [4] etc. However, the increasing concerns on product price, battery safety, energy efficiencies, and so on greatly restrict their developments. Compared with these nonaqueous batteries, the high intrinsic safety and facile manufacturing of the aqueous rechargeable batteries, such as the aqueous lithium/sodium batteries (e.g., LiMn 2 O 4 /LiV 3 O 8 , Na 0.44 MnO 2 / NaTi 2 (PO 4 ) 3 ), [5] metal-ion (e.g., Mg 2+ , Zn 2+ , Ca 2+ , and Al 3+ ) batteries, [6] alkaline or acid batteries (e.g., Ni/MH and Cd/Ni, Pd-acid), [7] etc. have attracted increased attentions. Among these systems, the Zn-ion batteries (ZIBs) have attracted particular interests due to their abundant resource, low cost, easy manufacturing, and high theoretical energy densities.To date, the design and fabrication of high-performance cathodes are one of the most important issues for Zn-ion batteries. A variety of materials, including the manganese based oxides (e.g., α-MnO 2 , Mn 2 O 3 , and Mn 3 O 4 ), [8] Prussian blue (PB) and its analogy (e.g., CuHCF, ZnHCF), [9] polyanions (e.g., Na 3 V 2 (PO 4 ) 3 , LiV 2 (PO 4 ) 3 ), [10] vanadium based composites, etc. have been employed as cathode materials for ZIBs. Among these candidates, the vanadate based complex with large interlayer/tunnel spaces and multiple valence states show great superiority on ion transport and energy storage. Since the introduction of the V 2 O 5 /Zn system in 2016, a series of vanadium oxides, such as the V 2 O 5 , [11] Zn 2 V 2 O 7 , [12] H 2 V 3 O 8 , [13] LiV 3 O 8 , [14] Na 0.33 V 2 O 5 , [15] VO 2 , [16] V 2 O 5 nH 2 O, [17] etc., have been successfully applied as cathode materials in ZIBs. Very recently, a new vanadate based complex, i.e., the vanadate oxynitride (VN x O y ), have been introduced as cathodes by Zhou's [18] and Yang's [19] groups. The abundant vacancies/defects induced by the substitution of low-valent oxygen with high-valent nitrogen provide more efficient ion diffusion channels and effectively improved Diverse reproduction modes of bio-organisms open new intriguing opportunities for biochemistry-enabled materials. Herein, a new strategy is developed to explore biodirected structures for functional materials via controlling the reproduction mode. Yeast with sexual or asexual reproduction mode are employed in this work. They result in two different biodirected structures, from bowl-like hollow hemisphere to "bubble-in-sphere" (BIS) structure, for the VN x O y /C composites. Benefitting from the hierarchical structure, nanoscale particles and conductive biomass-derived carbon base, both VN x O y /C biocomposites achieve high power/energy density, good rel...

A novel Gram-positive, aerobic, non-motile strain, designated strain M1, was isolated from sunflower root (Helianthus annuus L.) and characterised using a polyphasic taxonomic approach. The morphological and chemotaxonomic properties of the isolate were typical of those of members of the genus Rhodococcus. Phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rRNA gene sequence showed that strain M1 belongs to the genus Rhodococcus and clustered with Rhodococcus canchipurensis MBRL 353 (99.1%, sequence similarity) and Rhodococcus pedocola UC12 (98.7%). However, the DNA-DNA hybridizations between strain M1 and R. canchipurensis MBRL 353 and R. pedocola UC12 were found to be 52.8 ± 0.7 and 41.8 ± 0.2%, respectively. The optimal growth temperature and pH for strain M1 was found to be at 28 °C and at pH 7.0. The peptidoglycan was found to contain meso-diaminopimelic acid; galactose, glucose and arabinose were detected as diagnostic sugars. The main polar lipids were identified as diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylinositol and phosphatidylinositol mannoside; MK-8(H) was found to be the dominant menaquinone. The major fatty acids were identified as C, 10-methyl C and C ω9c. Mycolic acids were found to be present. The G+C content of the genomic DNA was determined to be 69.5 mol%. Based on a comparative analysis of phenotypic and genotypic characteristics, in combination with DNA-DNA hybridization results, the isolate is concluded to represent a novel species of the genus Rhodococcus, for which the name Rhodococcus gannanensis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is M1 (=CGMCC 1.15992 = DSM 104003).

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Iron (Fe) and (Mn) are essential for the plant but are toxic when in excess. Vacuolar iron transporters (VITs) are involved in plant metal storage and detoxication. In this study, we screened two soybean cultivars (HN51 and SN37) with different responses to iron stress. From HN51 and SN37, we identified a new gene GmVIT1, for which expression is closely related to iron stress response by transcriptomic and quantitative analysis. We obtained GmVIT1 and GmVIT1 promoter from the iron deficiency-tolerant soybean variety Heinong51. Sequence analysis showed that GmVIT1 contained a conserved 170-residue VIT domain and localized at the tonoplast. Moreover, GmVIT1 is expressed in soybean leaves, stems, and roots. The expression of GmVIT1 was significantly induced by excessive Fe/Mn in leaves and stems. GUS assay showed that excess Fe/Mn enhanced GmVIT1 promoter activity. Furthermore, overexpression of GmVIT1 in Arabidopsis seedlings showed reduced phytotoxic effects induced by excess Fe/Mn stress, including yellowing in leaves, decreased chlorophyll content, and accumulated MDA. GmVIT1 overexpression in Arabidopsis showed relatively higher soluble sugar content and SOD, POD, and CAT activity. In addition, the ferric reductase activity in GmVIT1 overexpression in Arabidopsis decreased under excess Fe, while it increased under excess Mn. By integrating all these results, we found that GmVIT1 plays a vital role in plant response to excess Fe/Mn. The results showed that GmVIT1 was worthy of metal homeostasis mechanism research in plants and could be applied in the metal toxic-tolerance improvement in crops.

Nitrobenzene, although widely used in industry, is a highly toxic environmental pollutant. To evaluate the toxicity of nitrobenzene to tobacco seedlings, seedlings were exposed to varying concentrations of nitrobenzene (0-100 mg/L) for 24 h. The contents of reactive oxygen species (hydrogen peroxide [H(2)O(2)] and superoxide anion [O2(-)]) and the activities of antioxidative enzymes (superoxide dismutase [SOD], guaiacol peroxidase [POD], and catalase [CAT]) were measured in leaf cells. Damage to DNA was assessed by single-cell gel electrophoresis (comet assay). Compared with the control, the contents of H(2) O(2) increased significantly with nitrobenzene concentrations ranging from 5 to 100 mg/L. Activity of SOD was induced by 50 to 100 mg/L of nitrobenzene but not by 10 to 25 mg/L. Activity of POD was stimulated by nitrobenzene at 10 to 50 mg/L but inhibited at 100 mg/L. Activity of CAT was increased significantly only by 100 mg/L. Lipid peroxidation increased with 50 to 100 mg/L, which indicated that nitrobenzene induced oxidative stress in tobacco leaf cells. Comet assay of the leaf cells showed a significant enhancement of the head DNA (H-DNA), tail DNA (T-DNA), and olive tail moment (OTM) with increasing doses of nitrobenzene. The values of H-DNA, T-DNA, and OTM exhibited significant differences from the control when stress concentrations were higher than 10 mg/L. The results indicated that nitrobenzene caused oxidative stress, which may be one of the mechanisms through which nitrobenzene induces DNA damage.