A new design for second near-infrared window (NIR-II) molecular fluorophores based on a shielding unit-donor-acceptor-donor-shielding unit (S-D-A-D-S) structure is reported. With 3,4-ethylenedioxy thiophene as the donor and fluorene as the shielding unit, the best performance fluorophores IR-FE and IR-FEP exhibit an emission quantum yield of 31% in toluene and 2.0% in water, respectively, representing the brightest organic dyes in NIR-II region reported so far.

ToC figure Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a leading cause of death and disability worldwide, therefore important to understanding pathogenesis. Here, we designed a bright, renal-excreted and biocompatible near infrared II molecular fluorophore for in vivo imaging of TBI. We observed a transient hypoperfusion in the injured cerebral region, followed by fluorophore leakage. NIR-II fluorophores can provide a non-invasive assessment to TBI.

Fluorescence imaging multiplicity of biological systems is an area of intense focus, currently limited to fluorescence channels in the visible and first near-infrared (NIR-I; ∼700–900 nm) spectral regions. The development of conjugatable fluorophores with longer wavelength emission is highly desired to afford more targeting channels, reduce background autofluorescence, and achieve deeper tissue imaging depths. We have developed NIR-II (1,000–1,700 nm) molecular imaging agents with a bright NIR-II fluorophore through high-efficiency click chemistry to specific molecular antibodies. Relying on buoyant density differences during density gradient ultracentrifugation separations, highly pure NIR-II fluorophore-antibody conjugates emitting ∼1,100 nm were obtained for use as molecular-specific NIR-II probes. This facilitated 3D staining of ∼170-μm histological brain tissues sections on a home-built confocal microscope, demonstrating multicolor molecular imaging across both the NIR-I and NIR-II windows (800–1,700 nm).

Temporally regulated microRNAs have been identified as master regulators of developmental timing in both animals and plants. In plants, vegetative development is regulated by a temporal decrease in miR156 level, but how this decreased expression is initiated and then maintained during shoot development remains elusive. Here, we show that miR159 is required for the correct timing of vegetative development in Loss of miR159 increases miR156 level throughout shoot development and delays vegetative development, whereas overexpression of miR159 slightly accelerated vegetative development. The repression of miR156 by miR159 is predominantly mediated by MYB33, an R2R3 MYB domain transcription factor targeted by miR159. Loss of led to subtle precocious vegetative phase change phenotypes in spite of the significant downregulation of miR156. MYB33 simultaneously promotes the transcription of and, as well as their target, , by directly binding to the promoters of these three genes. Rather than acting as major players in vegetative phase change in Arabidopsis, our results suggest that miR159 and MYB33 function as modifiers of vegetative phase change; i.e., miR159 facilitates vegetative phase change by repressing MYB33 expression, thus preventing MYB33 from hyperactivating miR156 expression throughout shoot development to ensure correct timing of the juvenile-to-adult transition in Arabidopsis.

Background: NOD26-like intrinsic proteins (NIPs) that belong to the aquaporin superfamily are plant-specific and exhibit a similar three-dimensional structure. Experimental evidences however revealed that functional divergence should have extensively occurred among NIP genes. It is therefore intriguing to further investigate the evolutionary mechanisms being responsible for the functional diversification of the NIP genes. To better understand this process, a comprehensive analysis including the phylogenetic, positive selection, functional divergence, and transcriptional analysis was carried out.

After germination, plants progress through juvenile and adult phases of vegetative development before entering the reproductive phase. The character and timing of these phases vary significantly between different plant species, which makes it difficult to know whether temporal variations in various vegetative traits represent the same, or different, developmental processes. miR156 has been shown to be the master regulator of vegetative development in plants. Overexpression of miR156 prolongs the juvenile phase of development, whereas knocking-down the level of miR156 promotes the adult phase of development. Therefore, artificial modulation of miR156 expression is expected to cause corresponding changes in vegetative-specific traits in different plant species, particularly in those showing no substantial difference in morphology during vegetative development. To identify specific traits associated with the juvenile-to-adult transition in tobacco, we examined the phenotype of transgenic tobacco plants with elevated or reduced levels of miR156. We found that leaf shape, the density of abaxial trichomes, the number of leaf veins, the number of stomata, the size and density of epidermal cells, patterns of epidermal cell staining, the content of chlorophyll and the rate of photosynthesis, are all affected by miR156. These newly identified miR156-regulated traits therefore can be used to distinguish between juvenile and adult phases of development in tobacco, and provide a starting point for future studies of vegetative phase change in the family Solanaceae.

No abstract

GDP-mannose pyrophosphorylase (GMPase: EC 2.7.7.22) plays a crucial role in the synthesis of L-ascorbate (AsA) and the consequent detoxification of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Herein, a GMPase (accession ID DQ449030) was identified and cloned from tomato. The full-length cDNA sequence of this gene contains 1,498 bp nucleotides encoding a putative protein with 361 amino acid residues of approximate molecular weight 43 kDa. Northern blot analysis revealed that the GMPase was expressed in all examined tomato tissues, but its expression level was up-regulated in tomato plants subjected to abnormal temperatures. We then overexpressed this tomato GMPase in tobacco plants and observed that the activity of GMPase and the content of AsA were significantly increased by two- to fourfold in the leaves of transgenic tobacco plants. The effect of this gene overexpression was superimposed by the treatments of high or low temperature in tobacco, since the activities of both chloroplastic SOD (superoxide dismutase EC 1.15.1.1), APX (ascorbate peroxidase EC 1.11.1.7) and the content of AsA in leaves were significantly higher in transgenic plants than those of WT, while the contents of H(2)O(2) and O(2)(-·) were reduced. Meanwhile, relative electric conductivity increased less in transgenic plants than that in WT, and the net photosynthetic rate (P(n)) and the maximal photochemical efficiency of PSII (F(v)/F(m)) of transgenic plants were notably higher than those of WT under temperature stresses. In conclusion, the overexpression of GMPase increased the content of AsA, thereby leading to the increase in tolerance to temperature stress in transgenic plants.