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BACKGROUND: The biodegradable poly(lactic acid) (PLA) has been used for a wide range of applications such as food packaging, household engineering, drug delivery and tissue engineering because of increasingly serious environmental pollution and declining petroleum resources. The incorporation of nanofillers into PLA matrix offers the opportunity to develop nanocomposites with enhanced mechanical, dynamic mechanical, anti-UV and antibacterial properties.RESULTS: Graphene oxide loaded with ZnO nanoparticles (GO-ZnO) was prepared and mixed with PLA by a solution-blending method. Tensile tests show that the prepared PLA/GO-ZnO nanocomposite films have increased tensile strength compared with the unreinforced PLA film. The results from dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) exhibit a significant enhancement in storage modulus and glass transition temperature (T g ) of the nanocomposite film. In addition, UV-visible spectra and antibacterial testing results show that the prepared nanocomposite films exhibit strong ultraviolet resistance and antimicrobial ability at very low GO-ZnO loading. CONCLUSION:The results demonstrate that these novel nanocomposite films with multiple properties (mechanical, dynamic mechanical, anti-UV and antibacterial) could be a good candidate material for antimicrobial packaging or anti-UV areas.

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Leaf rust, caused by Puccinia triticina, is one of the most widespread diseases in common wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) worldwide. With the objective of identifying and mapping new genes for resistance to leaf rust, F(1), F(2) plants and F(3) lines from a cross between resistant line Zhou 8425B and susceptible line Chinese Spring were inoculated with Chinese P. triticina races THTT and MBHP in the greenhouse. A total of 793 pairs of SSR primers were used to test the parents and resistant and susceptible bulks. Seven polymorphic chromosome 1B markers were used for genotyping the F(2) and F(3) populations. Zhou 8425B carried a single dominant resistance gene, temporarily designated LrZH84, linked to SSR markers gwm582 and barc8 with genetic distances of 3.9 and 5.2 cM, respectively. The Xbarc8 allele co-segregated with Lr26 in the F(3) population. The Xgwm582 allele associated with LrZH84 was identified as a leaf rust resistance gene and shown to be present in the Predgornaia 2 parent of Zhou 8425B. The seedling reaction pattern of LrZH84 was different from those of lines with Lr26, Lr33, Lr44 and Lr46, all of which are located in chromosome 1B. It was concluded that LrZH84 is likely to be a new leaf rust resistance gene.

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