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Phytohormones, epigenetic regulation and environmental factors regulate fruit ripening but their interplay during strawberry fruit ripening remains to be determined. In this study, bagged strawberry fruit exhibited delayed ripening compared with fruit grown in normal light, correlating with reduced abscisic acid (ABA) accumulation. Transcription of the key ABA catabolism gene, ABA 8′‐hydroxylase FaCYP707A4, was induced in bagged fruit. With light exclusion whole genome DNA methylation levels were up‐regulated, corresponding to a delayed ripening process, while DNA methylation levels in the promoter of FaCYP707A4 were suppressed, correlating with increases in transcript and decreased ABA content. Experiments indicated FaCRY1, a blue light receptor repressed in bagged fruit and FaAGO4, a key protein involved in RNA‐directed DNA methylation, could bind to the promoter of FaCYP707A4. The interaction between FaCRY1 and FaAGO4, and an increased enrichment of FaAGO4 directed to the FaCYP707A4 promoter in fruit grown under light suggests FaCRY1 may influence FaAGO4 to modulate the DNA methylation status of the FaCYP707A4 promoter. Furthermore, transient overexpression of FaCRY1, or an increase in FaCRY1 transcription by blue light treatment, increases the methylation level of the FaCYP707A4 promoter, while transient RNA interference of FaCRY1 displayed opposite phenotypes. These findings reveal a mechanism by which DNA methylation influences ABA catabolism, and participates in light‐mediated strawberry ripening. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highly sensitive and selective electrochemical sensors are essential for human health, especially for monitoring the state of environmental pollutant content. Here, Cu2O nanocubes uniformly decorated with Ag nanoparticles were synthesized by a tractable wet‐chemical method. The electrochemical studies confirm that the Cu2O‐Ag‐16 composite shows increased electrochemical activity for catechol determination compared with either the bare Cu2O or the other two as‐proposed Cu2O−Ag catalysts (Cu2O−Ag‐8, Cu2O−Ag‐24). More specifically, the Cu2O−Ag‐16 presents excellent electrochemical responses towards catechol detection over wide linear ranges of 0.05 μM – 1 mM and 1 mM – 5 mM, with high sensitivity and low detection limits (50 nM). Furthermore, the as‐proposed sensor also displays good reproducibility, with a relative standard deviation of 2.3 % (n=3). Satisfactory recoveries in the range of 98.3 % to 101.2 % or 98 % to 100.7 % for lake water and/or tap water indicate the reliability of the sensor for catechol detection in practical applications. Constructing such composite structures to manipulate the local charge distribution for outstanding electrochemical sensing properties would provide us with an innovative strategy to explore other highly efficient electrode materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two kinds of triphenylamine‐derived solid‐state emissive carbon dots (CDs) with orange and yellow color are facilely synthesized through solvothermal treatment, taking advantage of the nonplanar structure and good carrier mobility of triphenylamine unit. Theoretical calculations show that the triphenylamine structure could greatly inhibit the direct π–π stacking of aromatic skeletons and enhance the fluorescence properties of CDs in aggregation state. By adopting the CDs as single emissive layer, high‐performance orange‐color and green‐color electroluminescent light‐emitting diodes (LEDs) are successfully fabricated, with maximum brightness of 9450/4236 cd m−2, high current efficiency of 1.57/2.34 cd A−1 and low turn‐on voltage of 3.1/3.6 eV are respectively achieved. Significantly, white‐color LED device is further prepared. This work provides a universal platform for the construction of novel solid‐state emissive CDs with significant applications in photoelectric device. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In two experiments conducted over a 2-year period, oat straw was ensiled with different levels of perennial ryegrass and wet hulless-barley distillers' grains ( WHDG) to improve utilization efficiency of oat straw as ruminants feed. Firstly, oat straw was ensiled with varying proportions of perennial ryegrass (0, 20, 40 or 60% of fresh weight [FW]). The lactic acid ( LA) and lactic/acetic acid ( LA/ AA) were increased (L, Q, P < 0.01) whereas pH value, propionic acid, butyric acid and volatile fatty acids were decreased (L, Q, P < 0.01) with increasing perennial ryegrass levels. From the perspective of maximum use oat straw, it was suggested that 40% perennial ryegrass inclusions was proper for further study. Then, mixtures of oat straw and perennial ryegrass (60/40) were ensiled with WHDG at 0, 100, 200 or 300 g kg-1 FW (defined as WHDG0, WHDG100, WHDG200 and WHDG300, respectively), the fermentation characteristics and in vitro rumen degradability were analyzed. The dry matter ( DM) and pH value declined (L, Q, P < 0.01), while the LA increased (L, Q, P < 0.01) with the increase of WHDG ratios. The inclusion of WHDG significantly decreased ammonia nitrogen concentrations (L, Q, P < 0.01). The crude protein content linearly increased ( P < 0.01), whereas the acid detergent fiber ( ADF) content linearly decreased ( P < 0.01) with increasing levels of WHDG. The WHDG inclusion significantly increased in vitro neutral detergent fiber degradability (L, Q, P < 0.01) with the highest value in WHDG200. The in vitro DM and ADF degradability had a Q effect ( P < 0.01) in response to increasing WHDG levels. Overall inclusion of WHDG can improve the fermentation and in vitro degradability of mixed silages of oat straw and perennial ryegrass. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of efficient red bandgap emission carbon quantum dots (CQDs) for realizing high‐performance electroluminescent warm white light‐emitting diodes (warm‐WLEDs) represents a grand challenge. Here, the synthesis of three red‐emissive electron‐donating group passivated CQDs (R‐EGP‐CQDs): R‐EGP‐CQDs‐NMe2, ‐NEt2, and ‐NPr2 is reported. The R‐EGP‐CQDs, well soluble in common organic solvents, display bright red bandgap emission at 637, 642, and 645 nm, respectively, reaching the highest photoluminescence quantum yield (QY) up to 86.0% in ethanol. Theoretical investigations reveal that the red bandgap emission originates from the rigid π‐conjugated skeleton structure, and the ‐NMe2, ‐NEt2, and ‐NPr2 passivation plays a key role in inducing charge transfer excited state in the π‐conjugated structure to afford the high QY. Solution‐processed electroluminescent warm‐WLEDs based on the R‐EGP‐CQDs‐NMe2, ‐NEt2, and ‐NPr2 display voltage‐stable warm white spectra with a maximum luminance of 5248–5909 cd m−2 and a current efficiency of 3.65–3.85 cd A−1. The warm‐WLEDs also show good long‐term operational stability (L/L0 > 80% after 50 h operation, L0: 1000 cd m−2). The electron‐donating group passivation strategy opens a new avenue to realizing efficient red bandgap emission CQDs and developing high‐performance electroluminescent warm‐WLEDs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]