The thermal time and hydrotime models accurately predicted the germination time course of scarified seeds of most of the eight species in response to temperature and water potential; thus, they can be useful tools in comparative studies on germination of seeds with physical dormancy. Habitat temperatures but not rainfall is closely related to germination requirements of these species.
The
manipulation of individual intrinsic point defects is crucial
for boosting the thermoelectric performances of n-Bi2Te3-based thermoelectric films, but was not achieved in previous
studies. In this work, we realize the independent manipulation of
Te vacancies VTe and antisite defects of TeBi and BiTe in molecular beam epitaxially grown n-Bi2Te3 films, which is directly monitored by a scanning
tunneling microscope. By virtue of introducing dominant TeBi antisites, the n-Bi2Te3 film can achieve the
state-of-the-art thermoelectric power factor of 5.05 mW m–1 K–2, significantly superior to films containing
VTe and BiTe as dominant defects. Angle-resolved
photoemission spectroscopy and systematic transport studies have revealed
two detrimental effects regarding VTe and BiTe, which have not been discovered before: (1) The presence of BiTe antisites leads to a reduction of the carrier effective
mass in the conduction band; and (2) the intrinsic transformation
of VTe to BiTe during the film growth results
in a built-in electric field along the film thickness direction and
thus is not beneficial for the carrier mobility. This research is
instructive for further engineering defects and optimizing electronic
transport properties of n-Bi2Te3 and other technologically
important thermoelectric materials.
The various crop species are major agricultural products and play an indispensable role in sustaining human life. Over a long period, breeders strove to increase crop yield and improve quality through traditional breeding strategies. Today, many breeders have achieved remarkable results using modern molecular technologies. Recently, a new gene-editing system, named the clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/Cas9 technology, has also succeeded in improving crop quality. It has become the most popular tool for crop improvement due to its versatility. It has accelerated crop breeding progress by virtue of its precision in specific gene editing. This review summarizes the current application of CRISPR/Cas9 technology in crop quality improvement. It includes the modulation in appearance, palatability, nutritional components and other preferred traits of various crops. In addition, the challenge in its future application is also discussed.
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