The constraint of a rotating earth has led to the evolution of a circadian clock that drives anticipation of future environmental changes. During this daily rotation, the circadian clock of Arabidopsis thaliana (Arabidopsis) intersects with the diurnal environment to orchestrate virtually all transcriptional processes of the plant cell, presumably by detecting, interpreting, and anticipating the environmental alternations of light and temperature. To comparatively assess differential inputs toward phenotypic and physiological responses on a circadian parameter, we surveyed clock periodicity in a recombinant inbred population modified to allow for robust periodicity measurements after entrainment to respective photic vs. thermal cues, termed zeitgebers. Lines previously thermally entrained generally displayed reduced period length compared to those previously photically entrained. This differential zeitgeber response was also detected in a set of diverse Arabidopsis accessions. Thus, the zeitgebers of the preceding environment direct future behavior of the circadian oscillator. Allelic variation at quantitative trait loci generated significant differences in zeitgeber responses in the segregating population. These were important for periodicity variation dependent on the nature of the subsequent entrainment source. Collectively, our results provide a genetic paradigm for the basis of environmental memory of a preceding environment, which leads to the integrated coordination of circadian periodicity.

The plant circadian clock allows the synchronization of internal physiological responses to match the predicted environment. HSP90.2 is a molecular chaperone that has been previously described as required for the proper functioning of the Arabidopsis oscillator under both ambient and warm temperatures. Here, we have characterized the circadian phenotype of the hsp90.2-3 mutant. As previously reported using pharmacological or RNA interference inhibitors of HSP90 function, we found that hsp90.2-3 lengthens the circadian period and that the observed period lengthening was more exaggerated in warm-cold-entrained seedlings. However, we observed no role for the previously identified interactors of HSP90.2, GIGANTEA and ZEITLUPPE, in HSP90mediated period lengthening. We constructed phase-response curves (PRCs) in response to warmth pulses to identify the entry point of HSP90.2 to the oscillator. These PRCs revealed that hsp90.2-3 has a circadian defect within the morning. Analysis of the cca1, lhy, prr9, and prr7 mutants revealed a role for CCA1, LHY, and PRR7, but not PRR9, in HSP90.2 action to the circadian oscillator. Overall, we define a potential pathway for how HSP90.2 can entrain the Arabidopsis circadian oscillator.

More than 100 Nobel laureates recently signed a letter urging Greenpeace to end its opposition to genetically modified organisms (GMOs). With an ever-increasing demand for food, China finds itself confronted with the same question: is it time to rethink and reassess its stance towards GMO? Rice is one of the most important food crops in China and around the world. In recent years, Chinese scientists have made important progress in rice functional genomics research including identifying genes and regulatory mechanisms and platforms and technologies for breeding new varieties. However, in contrast to the progress in scientific research, the commercial, social and policy framework remains largely unresolved. National Science Review (NSR) spoke with Qifa Zhang (Zhang), Professor at Huazhong Agricultural University, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Foreign Associate of National Academy of Sciences, USA. In this interview, Prof. Zhang shares with us his views and insights on the frontier research in rice studies and commercialization of transgenic rice in China.

Rare‐earth‐doped inorganic luminescent materials are widely used in white light‐emitting diodes (WLEDs), lasers and forensic sciences due to their outstanding optical characteristics. However, it is still a challenge to obtain such materials with better thermal stability for application in WLEDs on account of their serious thermal quenching properties. In addition, there is still room for improvement in some respects such as higher sensitivity and contrast for application in latent fingerprint development. Herein, a series of novel Gd3BW1‐xMoxO9 : Eu3+ phosphors have been synthesized via high‐temperature solid‐state reaction process. Compared with different Mo6+ ions doping concentrations, Gd3BW0.7Mo0.3O9 : Eu3+ phosphor has optimal photoluminescence properties. Meanwhile, the emission intensity of Gd3BW0.7Mo0.3O9 : Eu3+ phosphor is over 3 times higher than that of commercial red phosphor. More impressive is its excellent resistance against thermal quenching; when heated up to 150 °C, the Gd3BW0.7Mo0.3O9 : Eu3+ phosphor still preserves about 98 % emission intensity of that at room temperature. Furthermore, the latent fingerprints (LFPs) developed by Gd3BW0.7Mo0.3O9 : Eu3+ phosphor exhibited the excellent visualization on various nonporous substrates, and level 1–3 features were well identified with high contrast and sensitivity. The obtained results suggested that the as‐prepared phosphor has great potential for application in both WLEDs and latent fingerprint detection.