BackgroundWRKY proteins are a large family of transcriptional regulators in higher plant. They are involved in many biological processes, such as plant development, metabolism, and responses to biotic and abiotic stresses. Prior to the present study, only one full-length cucumber WRKY protein had been reported. The recent publication of the draft genome sequence of cucumber allowed us to conduct a genome-wide search for cucumber WRKY proteins, and to compare these positively identified proteins with their homologs in model plants, such as Arabidopsis.ResultsWe identified a total of 55 WRKY genes in the cucumber genome. According to structural features of their encoded proteins, the cucumber WRKY (CsWRKY) genes were classified into three groups (group 1-3). Analysis of expression profiles of CsWRKY genes indicated that 48 WRKY genes display differential expression either in their transcript abundance or in their expression patterns under normal growth conditions, and 23 WRKY genes were differentially expressed in response to at least one abiotic stresses (cold, drought or salinity). The expression profile of stress-inducible CsWRKY genes were correlated with those of their putative Arabidopsis WRKY (AtWRKY) orthologs, except for the group 3 WRKY genes. Interestingly, duplicated group 3 AtWRKY genes appear to have been under positive selection pressure during evolution. In contrast, there was no evidence of recent gene duplication or positive selection pressure among CsWRKY group 3 genes, which may have led to the expressional divergence of group 3 orthologs.ConclusionsFifty-five WRKY genes were identified in cucumber and the structure of their encoded proteins, their expression, and their evolution were examined. Considering that there has been extensive expansion of group 3 WRKY genes in angiosperms, the occurrence of different evolutionary events could explain the functional divergence of these genes.

As natural plant growth stimulators, amino acids are widely used to improve the yield and quality of crops. Several studies have illustrated the effects of different amino acids on lettuce plant parts. However, the effects of applying single amino acids on root growth remain elusive. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of root application of L-methionine on the growth of lettuce. In this study, two successive experiments on butterhead lettuce were conducted under hydroponic conditions. Three amino acids, L-methionine (20 mg/L), L-glycine (210 mg/L), and L-tryptophan (220 mg/L), were applied separately. L-methionine significantly increased the growth performance by 23.60%, whereas growth using L-tryptophan and L-glycine decreased by 98.78% and 27.45%, respectively. Considering the results of the first experiment, a second experiment was established with different concentrations of L-methionine (2200 mg/L, 220 mg/L, 22 mg/L, 2.2 mg/L, 0.2 mg/L, and 0.02 mg/L). The plants were allowed to grow for four weeks. Leaf width, plant area, leaf area, chlorophyll contents, etc., were evaluated. The results show that plant growth significantly improved by applying L-methionine at the lowest concentrations of 0.2 mg/L and 0.02 mg/L, which can, therefore, improve hydroponic production of lettuce and, accordingly, human nutrition.

Raspberry-like (RB) polymer particles were prepared, fluorinated, and cast onto glass plates to yield highly water- and oil-repellant superamphiphobic particulate coatings. To procure the RB particles, glycidyl-bearing 212 and 332 nm particles (abbreviated as s-GMA and l-GMA, respectively) were first prepared via surfactant-free free radical emulsion polymerization. Reacting the glycidyl groups of the l-GMA particles with 2,2'-(ethylenedioxy)bis(ethylamine) (EDEA) produced large amine-functionalized particles (l-NH2). The l-NH2 particles were then reacted with an excess of the s-GMA particles to create RB particles. For surface fluorination, the residual glycidyl groups of the smaller s-GMA particles surrounding the central l-NH2 core of the RB particles were first converted to amino groups by reaction with EDEA. The purified amino-bearing particles were subsequently reacted with an excess of a statistical copolymer poly(2-(perfluorooctyl)ethyl methacrylate-co-glycidyl methacrylate), P(FOEMA-co-GMA). Casting these particles onto glass plates yielded particulate films that exhibited static contact angles of 165 ± 2°, 155 ± 3°, 152 ± 4°, and 143 ± 1° and droplet rolling angles of <1 °, <1 °, 7 ± 2°, and 13 ± 2° for water, diiodomethane, corn-based cooking oil, and hexadecane droplets, respectively. These results demonstrated that this practical bottom-up approach could be used to produce superamphiphobic coatings.