Cyclic nucleotide-gated channels (CNGCs) are a class of nonselective cationic channels that are widely found in animals and plants. Plant CNGCs participate in numerous biological functions that vary from development to stress tolerance. Most CNGC genes have been identified in plant genomes, but no such comprehensive study has yet been conducted on Chinese cabbage. In this study, thirty BrCNGC genes were identified, divided into five groups, and used for evolutionary analysis. We assigned names of all individual CNGC members on the basis of phylogenetic relationship with A. thaliana CNGCs. All BrCNGC genes were randomly distributed on chromosomes, and the A08 chromosome did not carry any CNGC gene. The CNGC genes of Chinese cabbage and A. thaliana from the same group displayed similar conserved motifs and gene structures. Especially the closer the homology, the higher the similarity. Quantitative expression analysis showed that most of the CNGC genes were expressed under four stresses, indicating that they play a key role in the stress response of Chinese cabbage. Expression patterns of 12 BrCNGC in the roots, stems, leaves, flowers, and siliques showed that BrCNGC8 and BrCNGC16 were specifically expressed only in flowers but not in other parts. This study lays a theoretical foundation for future research on the function of the CNGC gene family in Chinese cabbage.

Brominated butyl rubber (BIIR) is widely used as tire lining, medical sealing material, and so on, due to its merits like high strength, low permeability, and high vulcanization activity. However, the gas barrier properties of BIIR need to be improved further to meet the requirements of certain special conditions such as high pressure (aircraft tire: 1.5 MPa). In this work, oriented two-dimensional (2D) large-sized modified graphene oxide (mGO) barrier walls in BIIR are successfully constructed based on the following processes: three-dimensional (3D) large-sized mGO hollow spherical shells in BIIR matrix are achieved from the core (water)–shell (mGO) structure in BIIR solution, which is obtained through the Pickering emulsion template method, and then are pressed into oriented 2D large-sized mGO barrier walls in the BIIR matrix. Such oriented 2D large-sized mGO barrier walls not only have an extremely large size between 50 and 120 μm but also are aligned perpendicular to the gas diffusion direction. Thus, even only with 0.7 wt % mGO, the nitrogen permeability of the BIIR composite is reduced by 91% relative to pristine BIIR and by 40% relative to the comparing sample with small mGO sheets. Therefore, this work provides a route to regulate the distribution of GO and thus can be a useful reference to fabricate rubber composites with superior gas barrier properties.

No abstract