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Zygnematophyceae are the algal sisters of land plants. Here we sequenced four genomes of filamentous Zygnematophyceae, including chromosome-scale assemblies for three strains of Zygnema circumcarinatum. We inferred traits in the ancestor of Zygnematophyceae and land plants that might have ushered in the conquest of land by plants: expanded genes for signaling cascades, environmental response, and multicellular growth. Zygnematophyceae and land plants share all the major enzymes for cell wall synthesis and remodifications, and gene gains shaped this toolkit. Co-expression network analyses uncover gene cohorts that unite environmental signaling with multicellular developmental programs. Our data shed light on a molecular chassis that balances environmental response and growth modulation across more than 600 million years of streptophyte evolution.

Rapid and accurate detection of pathogens and antimicrobial-resistant (AMR) genes of the pathogens are crucial for the clinical diagnosis and effective treatment of infectious diseases. However, the time-consuming steps of conventional culture-based methods inhibit the precise and early application of anti-infection therapy. For the prompt treatment of pathogen-infected patients, we have proposed a novel tube array strategy based on our previously reported FARPA (FEN1-aided recombinase polymerase amplification) principle for the ultra-fast detection of antibiotic-resistant pathogens on site. The entire process from "sample to result" can be completed in 25 min by combining quick DNA extraction from a urine sample with FARPA to avoid the usually complicated DNA extraction step. Furthermore, a 36-tube array made from commercial 384-well titre plates was efficiently introduced to perform FARPA in a portable analyser, achieving an increase in the loading sample throughput (from several to several tens), which is quite suitable for the point-of-care testing (POCT) of multiple pathogens and multiple samples. Finally, we tested 92 urine samples to verify the performance of our proposed method. The sensitivities for the detection of E. coli, K. pneumoniae, E. faecium, and E. faecalis were 92.7%, 93.8%, 100% and 88.9%, respectively. The specificities for the detection of the four pathogens were 100%. Consequently, our rapid, low-cost and user-friendly POCT method holds great potential for guiding the rational use of antibiotics and reducing bacterial resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) active materials have attracted widespread attention because of their potential applications. Nonetheless, it is still a great challenge to fabricate CPL materials with both high fluorescence quantum efficiency (Φ) and high luminescent asymmetry factor (glum). According to the unique structure characteristics of chiral layered metal–organic frameworks (CLMOFs), herein a novel strategy to construct high‐performance CPL materials, by utilizing the confinement effect of CLMOFs is developed. Conjugate dye molecules, such as fluorescent brighteners, fluorescein, and rhodamine B, which are readily subjected to aggregation‐caused quenching (ACQ) effect, are successfully intercalated into CLMOF matrix, affording blue, yellow–green, and red CPL, respectively. Both high Φ and glum values of up to 91% and 0.069 are obtained, owing to the distinct confinement effect of CLMOFs. After confining dye molecules within CLMOF, the ACQ effect is effectively inhibited, which is beneficial for fluorescence enhancement; simultaneously, the chirality transfer from CLMOF matrix to dyes by controlling their arrangement in the chiral confinement microenvironment, leading to the high glum values. Based on the full‐color and strong CPL, a multi‐dimensional code system is proposed. This work paves a new avenue to design and assemble CPL materials with high Φ and glum, which can be widely adopted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of the national ecological security development strategy, constructing regional ecological networks centered on protected areas and ecological corridors has become an urgent issue in protected areas system development of China. We focused on strengthening ecological connections between protected areas in Guangzhou, identified the ecological resource patches, ecological corridors, and ecological nodes by using Invest model, connectivity analysis, circuit theory models, and graph-theoretical network structure evaluation, and constructed an ecological network for the Guangzhou with nature reserves as the core. The results showed that 52 ecological resource patches were identified in the study area, covering a total area of 1450.01 km². Nature reserves accounted for 76.4% of the total area, forming the main part of the ecological resource patches. 115 ecological corridors were identified, with a total length of 900.56 km and an average length of 7.83 km. Furthermore, 72 ecological key points were identified, covering a total area of 17.57 km², and 81 ecological breakpoints, with a total area of 35.9 km². The network structure indices (α = 0.65, β = 2.21, and γ = 0.77) indicated a reasonably structured and well-connected network. By exploring pathways for constructing regional ecological networks under the protected areas system and enriching the application of circuit theory models in ecological network construction, this study provides scientific basis for regional ecological security and biodiversity conservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drought, especially terminal drought, severely limits wheat growth and yield. Understanding the complex mechanisms behind the drought response in wheat is essential for developing drought-resistant varieties. This study aimed to dissect the genetic architecture and high-yielding wheat ideotypes under terminal drought. An automated high-throughput phenotyping platform was used to examine 28 392 image-based digital traits (i-traits) under different drought conditions during the flowering stage of a natural wheat population. Of the i-traits examined, 17 073 were identified as drought-related. A genome-wide association study (GWAS) identified 5320 drought-related significant single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and 27 SNP clusters. A notable hotspot region controlling wheat drought tolerance was discovered, in which TaPP2C6 was shown to be an important negative regulator of the drought response. The tapp2c6 knockout lines exhibited enhanced drought resistance without a yield penalty. A haplotype analysis revealed a favored allele of TaPP2C6 that was significantly correlated with drought resistance, affirming its potential value in wheat breeding programs. We developed an advanced prediction model for wheat yield and drought resistance using 24 i-traits analyzed by machine learning. In summary, this study provides comprehensive insights into the high-yielding ideotype and an approach for the rapid breeding of drought-resistant wheat., (© 2024 The Author(s). New Phytologist © 2024 New Phytologist Foundation.)

The escalating demand for portable near-infrared (NIR) light sources has posed a formidable challenge to the development of NIR phosphors characterized by high efficiency and exceptional thermal stability. Taking inspiration from the chemical unit co-substitution strategy, high-performance tunable (Lu 3- x Ca x )(Ga 5- x Ge x )O 12 :6%Cr 3+ (x = 0-3) phosphors are designed with an emission center from 704 to 780 nm and a broadest full width at half maximum (FWHM) of up to 172 nm by introducing Ca 2+ and Ge 4+ ions into the garnet structure. In particular, Lu 3 Ga 5 O 12 :6%Cr 3+ demonstrates an anti-thermal quenching phenomenon (I 423K = 113.1%). Compared to Lu 3 Ga 5 O 12 :6%Cr 3+ , Lu 2 CaGa 4 GeO 12 :6%Cr 3+ exhibits significantly improved FWHM and IQE by 108 nm and 25.5%, respectively, while maintaining good thermal stability (I 423K = 80.4%). Finally, Lu 2 CaGa 4 GeO 12 :6%Cr 3+ phosphor is combined with a 465 nm blue LED chip to fabricate NIR LED devices, exhibiting a NIR electroluminescence efficiency of 13.31%@100 mA and demonstrating successful applications in nocturnal illumination and biomedical imaging technology. This work offers a fresh perspective on the design of highly efficient NIR garnet phosphors., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)