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A fiber loop mirror (FLM) temperature sensor using a long-period grating (LPG) written in a photonic crystal fiber (PCF) and a band-pass filter as a demodulator is proposed. By utilizing the stable filtering function of the LPG in the PCF, the resonant wavelength variation of the FLM with temperature is transferred effectively to the intensity variation of the output light. By monitoring the light intensity of the band-pass of the filter, temperature applied on the FLM is deduced by an optical power meter. Experiment results show that the temperature sensitivity is high as ~1.742 dB/ °C when a filter with a full width at half maximum 3 nm and the center at 1545 nm is used.

Many functionally promiscuous plant 2,3-oxidosqualene cyclases (OSCs) have been found, but complete functional reshaping is rarely reported. In this study, we have identified two new plant OSCs: a unique protostadienol synthase ( Ao PDS) and a common cycloartenol synthase ( Ao CAS) from Alisma orientale (Sam.) Juzep. Multiscale simulations and mutagenesis experiments revealed that threonine-727 is an essential residue responsible for protosta-13 (17),24-dienol biosynthesis in Ao PDS and that the F726T mutant completely reshapes the native function of Ao CAS into a PDS function to yield almost exclusively protosta-13 (17),24-dienol. Unexpectedly, various native functions were uniformly reshaped into a PDS function by introducing the phenylalanine → threonine substitution at this conserved position in other plant and non-plant chair-boat-chair–type OSCs. Further computational modeling elaborated the trade-off mechanisms of the phenylalanine → threonine substitution that leads to the PDS activity. This study demonstrates a general strategy for functional reshaping by using a plastic residue based on the decipherment of the catalytic mechanism.