The application of ionic liquids in ultra-high vacuum opens new opportunities to investigate the electrochemical reactions and interfacial properties by in situ electrochemical X-ray photoelectron ...spectroscopy (XPS). In this paper, we show with in situ electrochemical XPS that the cathodic corrosion of a gold electrode in an ionic liquid electrolyte leads to the formation of anionic gold species (Au–). This observation opens new opportunities to investigate fundamental electrochemical studies of the deposition process, corrosion behavior, and catalytic processes in a variety of low-vapor pressure ionic liquids.
This article comments on: Melatonin improves rice salinity stress tolerance by NADPH oxidase‐dependent control of the plasma membrane K+ transporters and K+ homeostasis
The phytohormone ethylene has numerous effects on plant growth and development. Its immediate precursor, 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC), is a non-proteinogenic amino acid produced by ACC ...SYNTHASE (ACS). ACC is often used to induce ethylene responses. Here, we demonstrate that ACC exhibits ethylene-independent signaling in Arabidopsis thaliana reproduction. By analyzing an acs octuple mutant with reduced seed set, we find that ACC signaling in ovular sporophytic tissue is involved in pollen tube attraction, and promotes secretion of the pollen tube chemoattractant LURE1.2. ACC activates Ca
-containing ion currents via GLUTAMATE RECEPTOR-LIKE (GLR) channels in root protoplasts. In COS-7 cells expressing moss PpGLR1, ACC induces the highest cytosolic Ca
elevation compared to all twenty proteinogenic amino acids. In ovules, ACC stimulates transient Ca
elevation, and Ca
influx in octuple mutant ovules rescues LURE1.2 secretion. These findings uncover a novel ACC function and provide insights for unraveling new physiological implications of ACC in plants.
To determine the effect of maternal age on the average number of euploid embryos retrieved during oocyte harvest as part of an in vitro fertilization (IVF) cycle, including the probability of ...retrieving at least one euploid embryo in a cohort (PrE).
Retrospective study.
Preimplantation genetic screening (PGS) laboratory.
Women aged 18 to 48 years undergoing IVF treatment.
Use of 24-chromosome single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)-based PGS of day-3 and day-5 embryo biopsies.
Relationships between maternal age and the rate of embryos that tested as euploid (hereafter referred to as “euploid embryos”), the average number and proportion of euploid embryos per IVF cycle, and PrE.
We analyzed 22,599 day-3 embryos and 15,112 day-5 embryos. In women aged 27 to 35 years, the median proportion of euploid embryos in each cycle remained constant at ∼35% in day-3 biopsies and ∼55% in day-5 biopsies, but it decreased rapidly after age 35. On average, women in their late 20s had four euploid embryos (day 3 or day 5) per cycle, but this number decreased linearly (R2 ≥ 0.983) after 35 years of age. The effect of maternal age on PrE was similar, with a rapid exponential decline (R2 = 0.986). Across all maternal ages, the euploid proportion and number of embryos per cycle were counterbalanced, so the number of euploid embryos per cycle was the same for day-3 and day-5 biopsies. This suggests that the loss of embryos from day 3 to day 5 was primarily due to aneuploidy.
Our results confirm the known inverse relationship between advanced maternal age (>35 years) and embryo euploidy, demonstrating that equal numbers of euploid embryos are available at day 3 and day 5.
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a prevalent neurodevelopmental condition characterized by diminished attentional control. Critically, these difficulties are related to negative ...consequences in real-life functioning both during development and into adulthood. There is now growing evidence that modulating the underlying neural circuits related to attention can improve behavior and brain function in children with ADHD. We have previously shown that game-based digital therapeutics targeting a key neural marker of attention-midline frontal theta (MFT)-yield positive effects on attentional control in several populations. However, the effects of such digital therapeutics in children with ADHD and no other comorbidities has not been yet examined. To address this gap, we assessed a sample of 25 children with ADHD (8-12 years old) on neural, behavioral, and clinical metrics of attention before and after a 4-week at-home intervention on an iPad targeting MFT circuitry. We found that children showed enhancements on a neural measure of attention (MFT power), as well as on objective behavioral measures of attention and parent reports of clinical ADHD symptoms. Importantly, we observed relationships between the neural and behavioral cognitive improvements, demonstrating that those children who showed the largest intervention-related neural gains were also those that improved the most on the behavioral tasks indexing attention. These findings provide support for using targeted, digital therapeutics to enhance multiple features of attentional control in children with ADHD. Study registration: ClinicalTrials.gov registry (NCT03844269) https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03844269.
Glutamate receptor-like channels (GLRs) play vital roles in various physiological processes in plants, such as wound response, stomatal aperture control, seed germination, root development, innate ...immune response, pollen tube growth, and morphogenesis. Despite the importance of GLRs, knowledge about their molecular organization is limited. Here we use X-ray crystallography and single-particle cryo-EM to solve structures of the Arabidopsis thaliana GLR3.4. Our structures reveal the tetrameric assembly of GLR3.4 subunits into a three-layer domain architecture, reminiscent of animal ionotropic glutamate receptors (iGluRs). However, the non-swapped arrangement between layers of GLR3.4 domains, binding of glutathione through S-glutathionylation of cysteine C205 inside the amino-terminal domain clamshell, unique symmetry, inter-domain interfaces, and ligand specificity distinguish GLR3.4 from representatives of the iGluR family and suggest distinct features of the GLR gating mechanism. Our work elaborates on the principles of GLR architecture and symmetry and provides a molecular template for deciphering GLR-dependent signaling mechanisms in plants.
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•Cryo-EM structure of Arabidopsis thaliana glutamate receptor-like channel GLR3.4•Glutathione regulates channel activity by binding to C205 in amino-terminal domain•Crystal structures of GLR3.4 ligand-binding domain illustrate ligand promiscuity•Amino-terminal and ligand-binding domain layers show non-swapped domain arrangement
Green et al. solve structures of Arabidopsis thaliana glutamate receptor-like channel GLR3.4 that shows tetrameric subunit assembly with three-layer architecture, similar to its mammalian homologs, ionotropic glutamate receptors, but with distinct symmetry, inter-domain interfaces, ligand specificity, and non-swapped domain arrangement between layers of ligand-binding and glutathione-bound amino-terminal domains.
Plant glutamate receptor-like (GLR) genes encode ion channels with demonstrated roles in electrical and calcium (Ca
2+
) signaling. The expansion of the GLR family along the lineage of land plants, ...culminating in the appearance of a multiclade system among flowering plants, has been a topic of interest since their discovery nearly 25 years ago. GLRs are involved in many physiological processes, from wound signaling to transcriptional regulation to sexual reproduction. Emerging evidence supports the notion that their fundamental functions are conserved among different groups of plants as well. In this review, we update the physiological and genetic evidence for GLRs, establishing their role in signaling and cell-cell communication. Special emphasis is given to the recent discussion of GLRs' atomic structures. Along with functional assays, a structural view of GLRs' molecular organization presents a window for novel hypotheses regarding the molecular mechanisms underpinning signaling associated with the ionic fluxes that GLRs regulate. Newly uncovered transcriptional regulations associated with GLRs-which propose the involvement of genes from all clades of
Arabidopsis thaliana
in ways not previously observed-are discussed in the context of the broader impacts of GLR activity. We posit that the functions of GLRs in plant biology are probably much broader than anticipated, but describing their widespread involvement will only be possible with (
a
) a comprehensive understanding of the channel's properties at the molecular and structural levels, including protein-protein interactions, and (
b
) the design of new genetic approaches to explore stress and pathogen responses where precise transcriptional control may result in more precise testable hypotheses to overcome their apparent functional redundancies.