Decreases in the flux of energetic (>30 keV) electrons and protons followed by very rapid increases are characteristic of the magnetospheric substorms observed on ATS 6 at synchronous orbit in the region about midnight. By using proton gradient information from the University of Minnesota electron‐proton spectrometer the decreases are interpreted as a physical motion of the trapped particle outer boundary from the satellite toward a region equatorward and earthward of the satellite. The particle recoveries are found to be associated with an expansion phase onset of a magnetospheric substorm. The motion corresponding to these flux increases may be organized into three types according to the direction of the gradient. In the most common type of recovery the flux increase is observed first on guiding centers north and tailward of the spacecraft and represents motion, presumably of the plasma sheet, from north and tailward to south and earthward of ATS 6. This motion is observed most frequently near local midnight. Recoveries are also observed over a broad local time range on the nightside, in which the indicated motion is from earthward and equatorward of the satellite to a region above and tailward. For other particle increases observed in the evening sector a recovery associated with motion from beneath the satellite to above the satellite frequently is followed by a second increase enveloping the satellite from north and tailward.

Bioluminescence is a powerful biological signal that scientists have repurposed as a reporter for gene expression in plants and animals. However, there are downsides associated with the need to provide a substrate to these reporters, including its high cost and non-uniform tissue penetration. In this work we reconstitute a fungal bioluminescence pathway (FBP) in planta using a composable toolbox of parts. We demonstrate that the FBP can create luminescence across various tissues in a broad range of plants without external substrate addition. We also show how our toolbox can be used to deploy the FBP in planta to build auto-luminescent reporters for the study of gene-expression and hormone fluxes. A low-cost imaging platform for gene expression profiling is also described. These experiments lay the groundwork for future construction of programmable auto-luminescent plant traits, such as light driven plant-pollinator interactions or light emitting plant-based sensors.

A statistical study of over 1600 events has established that a close temporal correlation exists between the start of energetic electron directional intensity changes observed at synchronous orbit and the intensification of electrojet currents in the polar ionosphere. This result provides strong evidence that both phenomena are physically linked as part of a large-scale disturbance and that the electrojet system is closely coupled to other current systems in the distant magnetosphere. The statistical pattern in local time of these electrojet-associated electron intensity variations consists of decreases observed in the premidnight sector, increases observed over a broad region symmetrical about midnight and spectrum softening increases observed post-midnight. in the local evening sector intensity decreases and increases are observed with equal probability and typically occur as two parts of a single time sequence such that the decrease directly precedes the increase. Furthermore, while the start times for the decrease and the subsequent increase are both well-correlated with a marked electrojet intensification the increase is also well-correlated with a mid-latitude positive bay but the decrease is not. This difference together with the fact that decreases systematically precede increases in the local time region where both are observed strongly suggests that the decrease corresponds to a distinct 'precursor' of the increase event which follows. These results are important for understanding the temporal development of magnetospheric disturbances and are also not consistent with 'the fault-line' concept which suggests that the pre-midnight decrease corresponds to a simultaneous increase event occurring further eastward in local time. The intensity decreases are closely correlated with a decrease in the local magnetic field and have been interpreted in terms of the electrons responding to a diamagnetic reconfiguration resulting from an enhancement of the particle energy density due to convection of plasma sheet protons into the premidnight region. The subsequent intensity increases are accompanied by an increase in the local magnetic field and can be associated with a tail-field collapse at expansion onset.It is of course obvious that the magnetic perturbation due to an auroral zone electrojet current is felt only close to the earth and cannot in itself be the cause of the various changes observed in the distant particle populations at synchronous orbit. The particle intensity changes must be due to changes in the magnetic and electric fields in the vicinity of the satellite orbit.Thus there is the immediate implication that the electrojet Paper number 8A0942.

Bioluminescence is a powerful biological signal that scientists have repurposed to design reporters for gene expression in plants and animals. However, there are some downsides associated with the need to provide a substrate to these reporters, such as its high cost and non-uniform tissue penetration. In this work we reconstitute a fungal bioluminescence pathway (FBP) in planta using an easily composable toolbox of parts. We demonstrate that the FBP can create luminescence across various tissues in a broad range of plants without external substrate addition. We also show how our toolbox can be used to deploy the FBP in planta to build auto-luminescent reporters for the study of gene-expression and hormone fluxes. A low-cost imaging platform for gene expression profiling is also described. These experiments lay the groundwork for the future construction of programmable auto-luminescent plant traits, such as creating light driven plant-pollinator interactions or light emitting plant-based sensors.

Synthetic transcription factors have great promise as tools to help elucidate relationships between gene expression and phenotype by allowing tunable alterations of gene expression without genomic alterations of the loci being studied. However, the years-long timescales, high cost, and technical skill associated with plant transformation have limited their use. In this work we developed a technology called VipariNama (ViN) in which vectors based on the Tobacco Rattle Virus (TRV) are used to rapidly deploy Cas9-based synthetic transcription factors and reprogram gene expression in planta. We demonstrate that ViN vectors can implement activation or repression of multiple genes systemically and persistently over several weeks in Nicotiana benthamiana, Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), and tomato (Solanum lycopersicum). By exploring strategies including RNA scaffolding, viral vector ensembles, and viral engineering, we describe how the flexibility and efficacy of regulation can be improved. We also show how this transcriptional reprogramming can create predictable changes to metabolic phenotypes, such as gibberellin biosynthesis in N. benthamiana and anthocyanin accumulation in Arabidopsis, as well as developmental phenotypes, such as plant size in N. benthamiana, Arabidopsis, and tomato. These results demonstrate how ViN vector-based reprogramming of different aspects of gibberellin signaling can be used to engineer plant size in a range of plant species in a matter of weeks. In summary, VipariNama accelerates the timeline for generating phenotypes from over a year to just a few weeks, providing an attractive alternative to transgenesis for synthetic transcription factor-enabled hypothesis testing and crop engineering.