With existing and emerging technologies urgently demanding the expansion of the laser wavelengths, high-performance nonlinear optical (NLO) crystals are becoming indispensable. Here, a prospective NLO crystal, LiZrTeO, is rationally designed by the element substitution of Nb for Zr and Te from LiNbO, which has been recognized as one of the most commercial NLO crystals. LiZrTeO with R3 symmetry inherits the structural merits of LiNbO (space group R3 c) and thus meets the requirements for NLO applications, including noncentrosymmetric crystal structure, moderate birefringence, and phase-matchability. Moreover, it can be exploited to achieve more outstanding optical damage resistant behavior (>1.3 GW cm), exceeding 22 times that of LiNbO, which is more suitable for high-energy laser applications. Notably, this compound displays the widest IR absorption edge (7.4 μm) among all of the noncentrosymmetric tellurates reported so far. These excellent attributes suggest that LiZrTeO is a promising candidate for providing high NLO performance. The substitution of Nb for Zr and Te from LiNbO demonstrates a viable strategy toward the rational design of NLO crystals with anticipated properties.

SummaryA dual-marker plasmid containing the selectable marker gene, manA , and the reporter gene, sgfp , was used to transform immature sorghum embryos by employing an Agrobacteriummediated system. Both genes were under the control of the ubi1 promoter in a binary vector pPZP201. The Escherichia coli phosphomannose isomerase (PMI) gene, pmi , was used as the selectable marker gene and mannose was used as the selective agent. The sgfp gene encoding green fluorescence protein (GFP) was the reporter gene and served as a visual screening marker. A total of 167 transgenic plants were obtained from nine different embryogenic callus lines grown on a selection medium containing 1% − 2% mannose. Embryoids and shoots regenerated via embryogenesis, that showed strong GFP fluorescence, were selected from two sorghum genotypes: C401, an inbred line, and Pioneer 8505, a commercial hybrid.The GFP accumulation in transgenic plants was observed with a dissecting stereomicroscope.The integration and expression of the manA gene was confirmed by Southern blot and Western blot analyses, and the feasibility of manA selection was demonstrated by the chlorophenol red (CPR) assay. Our results indicated that transgenes segregated in the Mendelian fashion in the T 1 generation. The conversion of mannose to a metabolizable fructose carbon source is beneficial to plants. In addition, except in soybean and a few legumes, no endogenous PMI activity has been detected in plant species, indicating that PMI is useful in the transformation of sorghum. In addition, PMI has no sequence homology to known allergens. Optimization of this selection system for sorghum transformation provides an efficient way to produce transgenic plants without using antibiotic or herbicidal agents as selectable markers, and our results showed that the transformation efficiency reached 2.88% for Pioneer 8505 and 3.30% for C401, both values higher than in previously published reports.

A new nonlinear optical crystal BaTeMo2O9 was grown from the TeO2−MoO3 flux system with sufficient size (30 × 23 × 18 mm3) and optical quality that allowed the characterization of its properties. It crystallizes in the noncentrosymmetrical system, space group P21 (no. 4), with a = 5.5346 Å, b = 7.4562 Å, c = 8.8342 Å, and β = 90.897°. The as-grown BaTeMo2O9 crystal has well-developed faces with the major forms {100}, {001}, {011}, and {011̅}. The transmission spectra results suggest that it can transmit well from 0.5 to 5.0 µm. The refractive indices were also measured. The smaller refractive indices nx and ny are in the ac-plane, and the largest refractive index nz polarization direction is parallel to the crystallographic b-axis.

Cryptochromes (CRYs) are photoreceptors or components of the molecular clock in various evolutionary lineages, and they are commonly regulated by polyubiquitination and proteolysis. Multiple E3 ubiquitin ligases regulate CRYs in animal models, and previous genetics study also suggest existence of multiple E3 ubiquitin ligases for plant CRYs. However, only one E3 ligase, Cul4COP1/SPAs, has been reported for plant CRYs so far. Here we show that Cul3LRBs is the second E3 ligase of CRY2 in Arabidopsis. We demonstrate the blue light-specific and CRY-dependent activity of LRBs (Light-Response Bric-a-Brack/Tramtrack/Broad 1, 2 & 3) in blue-light regulation of hypocotyl elongation. LRBs physically interact with photoexcited and phosphorylated CRY2, at the CCE domain of CRY2, to facilitate polyubiquitination and degradation of CRY2 in response to blue light. We propose that Cul4COP1/SPAs and Cul3LRBs E3 ligases interact with CRY2 via different structure elements to regulate the abundance of CRY2 photoreceptor under different light conditions, facilitating optimal photoresponses of plants grown in nature.

Supporting Information. X-ray crystallographic file in CIF format for the Cs 2 TeMo 3 O 12 single crystal. This material is available free of charge via the Internet at http://pubs.acs.org.

Ba Te Mo 2 O 9 is a noncentrosymmetric single crystal for nonlinear optical applications. In this letter, we report complete set of elastic, dielectric, and piezoelectric constants of BaTeMo2O9 single crystal determined by resonance technique and impedance analysis, the relative constants have been obtained and discussed. Our results show that BaTeMo2O9 crystal has excellent piezoelectric property (d34=30.25pC∕N, s44=36.46pm2∕N) and could be a promising candidate for piezoelectric applications.

To transform grain sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) with a visual reporter gene (gfp) and a target gene (tlp), three genotypes (two inbreds, Tx 430 and C401, and a commercial hybrid, Pioneer 8505) were used. We obtained a total of 1011 fertile transgenic plants from 61 independent callus lines, which were produced from 2463 zygotic immature embryos via Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. The reporter gene, gfp, encoding green fluorescent protein (GFP), was used as a visual screening marker, and the target gene, tlp, encoding thaumatin-like protein (TLP), was chosen for enhancing resistance to fungal diseases and drought. Both genes were under the control of the maize ubi 1 promoter in the binary vector pPZP201. A total of 320 plants showing GFP expression, derived from 45 calli, were selected and analyzed by Southern blot analysis. There was a 100% correlation between the GFP expression and the presence of the target gene, tlp, in these plants. Transgenic plants showing strong TLP expression were confirmed by Western blotting with antiserum specific for TLP. The transgene segregated in various ratios among progeny, which was confirmed by examining seedlings showing GFP fluorescence. The progeny also showed different copy numbers of transgenics. This report describes the successful use of GFP screening for efficient production of stably transformed sorghum plants without using antibiotics or herbicides as selection agents.

Oxide crystals have been widely used in nonlinear optics (NLO) in the ultraviolet-visible and near-infrared regions.M ost traditional oxide crystals are restricted to the mid-infrared region due to their narrowtransmission window. Hence,a ttempting to extend infrared cutoff wavelength of oxides has attracted muchattention. Herein, we report two new tellurates Li 2 TiTeO 6 (LTT) and Li 2 SnTeO 6 (LST) with broad transparent regions of 0.38-6.72 and 0.38-6.86 mm, respectively,asexcellent candidates for mid-infrared NLO applications. Both LTTa nd LST crystallizei nt he orthorhombic space group Pnn2. The LTTcrystal exhibits intense powder secondorder generation efficiency (26 KDP) under the fundamental wavelength of 1064 nm. First-principles calculations and dipole moments were used to illustrate the results of the powder second-harmonic generations based on the crystal structures. Our results provide an ovel oxide NLO crystal with as trong SHG and wide transparency range.T hey also pave aw ay for the design of new oxide mid-IR NLO crystals.