Salinization has severe influences on agriculture in the whole world. The main aims of this work were to evaluate osmotic effect and ion effect of NaCl on seed germination of three sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) cultivars interacting with three alternating temperature regimes and to select the most salt tolerant cultivars to plant in the saline region. Seeds were germinated in the isotonic NaCl and polyethylene glycol (PEG) solutions of −0.45, −0.90, −1.34, −1.79, and −2.24 MPa at 10 : 20, 15 : 25, and 20 : 30°C temperature regimes. Both NaCl and PEG inhibited germination, but the effects of NaCl were less as compared to that of PEG, which means that adverse effects of PEG on germination were due to osmotic effect rather than specific ion accumulation. For the three cultivars, higher germination occurred at 10 : 20°C in NaCl treatments and at 20 : 30°C in the isotonic PEG treatments. Among the three cultivars, Sandaomei (SDM) is the most tolerant to salt and PEG stress.

As functional nanomaterials with simulating enzyme-like properties, nanozymes can not only overcome the inherent limitations of natural enzymes in terms of stability and preparation cost but also possess design, versatility, maneuverability, and applicability of nanomaterials. Therefore, they can be combined with other materials to form composite nanomaterials with superior performance, which has garnered considerable attention. Carbon dots (CDs) are an ideal choice for these composite materials due to their unique physical and chemical properties, such as excellent water dispersion, stable chemical inertness, high photobleaching resistance, and superior surface engineering. With the continuous emergence of various CDs-based nanozymes, it is vital to thoroughly understand their working principle, performance evaluation, and application scope. This review comprehensively discusses the recent advantages and disadvantages of CDs-based nanozymes in biomedicine, catalysis, sensing, detection aspects. It is expected to provide valuable insights into developing novel CDs-based nanozymes.

Leaf tissue damaging to seedlings can limit their subsequent growth, and the effects may be more extensive. Compensatory photosynthesis responses of the remnant cotyledon and primary leaf of Pharbitis purpurea to clipping and the effect of clipping on seedling growth were evaluated in a pot-cultivated experiment. Three treatments were conducted in the experiment, which were clipped cotyledon (CC), clipped second leaf (CL), and control group (CG). The area, thickness, mass, and longevity of the remaining cotyledon of CC exhibited over-compensatory growth. In contrast, seedlings of CC had under-compensatory growth in seedling height, root length, seedling mass, and root to shoot ratio. However, the traits of remnant cotyledon and seedling in CL treatment exhibited equal-compensatory growth. Net photosynthetic rate of the cotyledon of CC was significantly higher than those of CL and CG treatments, and the diurnal changes in photosynthetic rates showed significantly different patterns which were unimodal curve (CC) and bimodal curve (CL and CG), respectively. There was no significant difference between CL and CG treatment. Net photosynthetic rate of the primary leaf of CL was significantly higher than that of CG treatment. However, the photosynthetic rates of primary leaves of CL and CG treatments showed similar photosynthetic patterns characterized by a bimodal curve. P. purpurea seedlings used a compensatory growth strategy in the remaining cotyledon or the primary leaf to resist leaf loss and minimize any adverse effects.

ABSTRACT. PR genes, a type of genetic marker, are constitutively expressed at background levels, while being easily inducible by pathogenic bacteria. By using a yeast two-hybrid technique, four rice (Oryza sativa L.) OsPR1b-interacting factors were screened. Homozygous plants overexpressing OsPR1b were prepared by transgenic technology. We postulated that OsPR1b may participate in the resistance signaling pathway of rice. Of simultaneous treatments with hormones and pathogenic bacteria, exogenously applying JA and ET significantly increased the expression level of OsPR1b genes in seedlings. Compared with the control group that was inoculated with water, inoculation with a mixture of water and pathogenic bacteria hardly affected the expression level of OsPR1b gene, while cotreatment with SA and pathogenic bacteria slightly upregulated the expression level. However, cotreatment with JA or ET and pathogenic bacteria 1869 Rice (Oryza sativa L.) OsPR1b-interacting factors ©FUNPEC-RP www.funpecrp.com.br Genetics and Molecular Research 14 (1): 1868-1874 (2015 managed to significantly upregulate the expression level of the OsPR1b gene by 4.8 or 5.7 fold. PR genes, which are sensitive, are prone to many unknown factors during expression, and the detailed regulatory mechanisms in rice still require in-depth studies.