BackgroundWater stress seriously constrains plant growth and yield. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) serve as versatile regulators in various biological regulatory processes. To date, the systematic screening and potential functions of lncRNA have not yet been characterized in Cleistogenes songorica, especially under water stress conditions.ResultsIn this study, we obtained the root and shoot transcriptomes of young C. songorica plants subjected to different degrees of water stress and recovery treatments by Illumina-based RNA-seq. A total of 3397 lncRNAs were identified through bioinformatics analysis. LncRNA differential expression analysis indicated that the higher response of roots compared to shoots during water stress and recovery. We further identified the 1644 transcription factors, 189 of which were corresponded to 163 lncRNAs in C. songorica. Though comparative analyses with major Poaceae species based on blast, 81 water stress-related orthologues regulated to lncRNAs were identified as a core of evolutionary conserved genes important to regulate water stress responses in the family. Among these target genes, two genes were found to be involved in the abscisic acid (ABA) signalling pathway, and four genes were enriched for starch and sucrose metabolism. Additionally, the 52 lncRNAs were predicted as target mimics for microRNAs (miRNAs) in C. songorica. RT-qPCR results suggested that MSTRG.43964.1 and MSTRG.4400.2 may regulate the expression of miRNA397 and miRNA166, respectively, as target mimics under water stress and during recovery. Finally, a co-expression network was constructed based on the lncRNAs, miRNAs, protein-coding genes (PCgenes) and transcription factors under water stress and during recovery in C. songorica.ConclusionsIn C. songorica, lncRNAs, miRNAs, PCgenes and transcription factors constitute a complex transcriptional regulatory network which lncRNAs can regulate PCgenes and miRNAs under water stress and recovery. This study provides fundamental resources to deepen our knowledge on lncRNAs during ubiquitous water stress.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12870-018-1626-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The yellow peach moth (YPM), Conogethes punctiferalis (Guenée), is a multivoltine insect pest of crops and fruits. Antennal-expressed receptors are important for insects to detect olfactory cues for host finding, mate attraction and oviposition site selection. However, few olfactory related genes were reported in YPM until now. In the present study, we sequenced and characterized the antennal transcriptomes of male and female YPM. In total, 15 putative odorant binding proteins (OBPs), 46 putative odorant receptors (ORs) and 7 putative ionotropic receptors (IRs) were annotated and identified as olfactory-related genes of C. punctiferalis. Further analysis of RT-qPCR revealed that all these olfactory genes are primarily or uniquely expressed in male and female antennae. Among which, 3 OBPs (OBP4, OBP8 and PBP2) and 4 ORs (OR22, OR26, OR44 and OR46) were specially expressed in male antennae, whereas 4 ORs (OR5, OR16, OR25 and OR42) were primarily expressed in female antennae. The predicted protein sequences were compared with homologs in other lepidopteran species and model insects, which showed high sequence homologies between C. punctiferalis and O. furnacalis. Our work allows for further functional studies of pheromone and general odorant detection genes, which might be meaningful targets for pest management.

Precisely controlling the spatial location and alignment of functional nanoparticles (NPs) on polymeric scaffolds is of great importance to not only create novel nanostructures but also enhance the properties of the hybrid nanomaterials. Herein, we demonstrate a strategy of tailoring the entropic and enthalpic contributions to precisely position gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) on block copolymer (BCP) scaffolds through the confined coassembly of BCPs and AuNPs within the emulsion droplet. According to this strategy, entropic effect arisen by the loss in conformational entropy and the enthalpic attraction between ligands on AuNPs and surfactants at the oil/water interface induce the solid AuNPs to move to the BCP surface, while the enthalpic interaction between the ligands on AuNPs and the corresponding polymer chains guides the AuNPs to position at the appropriate place. By this strategy, both the location and alignment of AuNPs on BCP scaffolds can be controlled at will, such as at the two terminals or along the lamellar boundary of the pupa-like scaffolds, or at the bases of pinecone-like or bud-like scaffolds, or at the head of one hemisphere, the entire hemisphere, or along the boundary between the two distinct hemispheres of the Janus-like scaffolds. We believe that this methodology can offer a universal route to achieve the precise positioning of functional NPs on the BCP scaffolds.