BackgroundCotton (Gossypium spp.) is the most important fiber and oil crop in the world. With the emergence of huge -omics data sets, it is essential to have an integrated functional genomics database that allows worldwide users to quickly and easily fetch and visualize genomic information. Currently available cotton-related databases have some weakness in integrating multiple kinds of -omics data from multiple Gossypium species. Therefore, it is necessary to establish an integrated functional genomics database for cotton.DescriptionWe developed CottonFGD (Cotton Functional Genomic Database, https://cottonfgd.org), an integrated database that includes genomic sequences, gene structural and functional annotations, genetic marker data, transcriptome data, and population genome resequencing data for all four of the sequenced Gossypium species. It consists of three interconnected modules: search, profile, and analysis. These modules make CottonFGD enable both single gene review and batch analysis with multiple kinds of -omics data and multiple species. CottonFGD also includes additional pages for data statistics, bulk data download, and a detailed user manual.ConclusionEquipped with specialized functional modules and modernized visualization tools, and populated with multiple kinds of -omics data, CottonFGD provides a quick and easy-to-use data analysis platform for cotton researchers worldwide.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12870-017-1039-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Genetic modification plays a vital role in breeding new crops with excellent traits. Almost all the current genetic modification methods require regeneration from tissue culture, involving complicated, long and laborious processes. In particular, many crop species such as cotton are difficult to regenerate. Here, we report a novel transformation platform technology, pollen magnetofection, to directly produce transgenic seeds without regeneration. In this system, exogenous DNA loaded with magnetic nanoparticles was delivered into pollen in the presence of a magnetic field. Through pollination with magnetofected pollen, transgenic plants were successfully generated from transformed seeds. Exogenous DNA was successfully integrated into the genome, effectively expressed and stably inherited in the offspring. Our system is culture-free and genotype independent. In addition, it is simple, fast and capable of multi-gene transformation. We envision that pollen magnetofection can transform almost all crops, greatly facilitating breeding processes of new varieties of transgenic crops.

In this article, carbon black nanofluids were prepared by dispersing the pretreated carbon black powder into distilled water. The size and morphology of the nanoparticles were explored. The photothermal properties, optical properties, rheological behaviors, and thermal conductivities of the nanofluids were also investigated. The results showed that the nanofluids of high-volume fraction had better photothermal properties. Both carbon black powder and nanofluids had good absorption in the whole wavelength ranging from 200 to 2,500 nm. The nanofluids exhibited a shear thinning behavior. The shear viscosity increased with the increasing volume fraction and decreased with the increasing temperature at the same shear rate. The thermal conductivity of carbon black nanofluids increased with the increase of volume fraction and temperature. Carbon black nanofluids had good absorption ability of solar energy and can effectively enhance the solar absorption efficiency.

Insensitive 2 (BIN2), photoautotrophic growth, Ribosomal protein S6 kinase 2 (S6K2), target of rapamycin (TOR). SummaryThe components of the target of rapamycin (TOR) signaling pathway have been well characterized in heterotrophic organisms from yeast to humans. However, because of rapamycin insensitivity, embryonic lethality in tor null mutants and a lack of reliable ways of detecting TOR protein kinase in higher plants, the key players upstream and downstream of TOR remain largely unknown in plants.Using engineered rapamycin-sensitive Binding Protein 12-2 (BP12-2) plants, the present study showed that combined treatment with rapamycin and active-site TOR inhibitors (asTORis) results in synergistic inhibition of TOR activity and plant growth in Arabidopsis.Based on this system, we revealed that TOR signaling plays a crucial role in modulating the transition from heterotrophic to photoautotrophic growth in Arabidopsis. Ribosomal protein S6 kinase 2 (S6K2) was identified as a direct downstream target of TOR, and the growth of TOR-suppressed plants could be rescued by up-regulating S6K2. Systems, genetic, and biochemical analyses revealed that Brassinosteriod Insensitive 2 (BIN2) acts as a novel downstream effector of S6K2, and the phosphorylation of BIN2 depends on TOR-S6K2 signaling in Arabidopsis.By combining pharmacological with genetic and biochemical approaches, we determined that the TOR-S6K2-BIN2 signaling pathway plays important roles in regulating the photoautotrophic growth of Arabidopsis.

Rechargeable aluminum ion batteries (RABs) have attracted much attention due to their high charge density, low cost and low flammability. However, the traditional cathodes used in RABs had limited intercalation ability of Al 3+ ion, leading to a low capacity. We report for the first time a rechargeable aluminum/iodine (Al/I 2 ) battery. The unique conversion reaction mechanism of the Al/I 2 battery chemistry avoids the cathode material disintegration during repeatedly charge/discharge process, and this system successfully suppresses the shuttle of dissolved polyiodide in ionic liquid because of the hydrogen-bonding interaction, resulting in a robust rechargeable RABs system. The rechargeable Al/I 2 battery based on the I 3 − /I − redox chemistry demonstrates highly reversible in Al 3+ ion storage, providing a high capacity of > 200 mAhg -1 at 0.2 C, and high stability for even over 150 cycles at 1 C. This work provides a new insight in designing RABs system based on redox chemistry. TOC graphic 50 100 150 200 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0 1.1 Capacity(mAh/g) Voltage(V) 80 120 160 200Raman shift (cm-1) , E413-E423.(33) Sherwood, P. M. A. X-ray photoelectron Spectroscopic Studies of Some Iodine Compounds.

We reconstructed a phylogenetic tree of Chinese vascular plants (Tracheophyta) using sequences of the chloroplast genes atpB, matK, ndhF, and rbcL and mitochondrial matR. We produced a matrix comprising 6098 species and including 13 695 DNA sequences, of which 1803 were newly generated. Our taxonomic sampling spanned 3114 genera representing 323 families of Chinese vascular plants, covering more than 93% of all genera known from China. The comprehensive large phylogeny supports most relationships among and within families recognized by recent molecular phylogenetic studies for lycophytes, ferns (monilophytes), gymnosperms, and angiosperms. For angiosperms, most families in Angiosperm Phylogeny Group IV are supported as monophyletic, except for a paraphyletic Dipterocarpaceae and Santalaceae. The infrafamilial relationships of several large families and monophyly of some large genera are well supported by our dense taxonomic sampling. Our results showed that two species of Eberhardtia are sister to a clade formed by all other taxa of Sapotaceae, except Sarcosperma. We have made our phylogeny of Chinese vascular plants publically available for the creation of subtrees via SoTree (http://www.darwintree.cn/flora/index.shtml), an automated phylogeny assembly tool for ecologists.

Rechargeable lithium/iodine (Li/I) batteries have attracted much attention because of their high gravimetric/volumetric energy densities, natural abundance and low cost. However, problems of the system, such as highly unstable iodine species under high temperature, their subsequent dissolution in electrolyte and continually reacting with lithium anode prevent the practical use of rechargeable Li/I cells. A polymer-iodine composite (polyvinylpyrrolidone-iodine) with high thermostability is employed as cathode material in rechargeable Li/I battery with an organic electrolyte. Because of the chemical interaction between polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and polyiodide, most of the polyiodide in the cathode could be effectively trapped during charging/discharging. In-situ Raman observation revealed the evolution of iodine species in this system could be controlled during the process of I ↔ I ↔ I. Herein, the Li/I battery delivered a high discharge capacity of 278 mAh g at 0.2 C and exhibited a very low capacity decay rate of 0.019% per cycle for prolonged 1100 charge/discharge cycles at 2 C. More importantly, a high areal capacity of 4.1 mAh cm was achieved for the electrode with high iodine loading of 21.2 mg cm. This work may inspire new approach to design the Li/I (or Li/polyiodide) system with long cycle life.

A porous interconnected 3D boron-doped graphene aerogel (BGA) was prepared via a one-pot hydrothermal treatment. The BGA material was first loaded with sulfur to serve as cathode in lithium-sulfur batteries. Boron was positively polarized on the graphene framework, allowing for chemical adsorption of negative polysufide species. Compared with nitrogen-doped and undoped graphene aerogel, the BGA-S cathode could deliver a higher capacity of 994 mA h g(-1) at 0.2 C after 100 cycles, as well as an outstanding rate capability, which indicated the BGA was an ideal cathode material for lithium-sulfur batteries.