Jiangsu Normal University

Bacterial leaf blight (BLB) caused by Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo) has shown a high incidence rate in rice fields in recent years. Rice resistance breeding is considered as the most effective method for achieving economical and sustainable management of BLB disease. The essential basis for resistance breeding is rooted in the exploration of rice resistance genes and the clarification of the molecular mechanisms that underlie Xoo resistance. In our previous research, we showed that Xanthomonas outer protein XopZ and rice oxysterol-binding related protein ORP1C collaboratively regulate the compatible interaction between Xoo strain PXO99 and Nipponbare rice, but the deeper regulatory mechanisms remain unknown. In this study, we successfully constructed ORP1C overexpression rice using the plant binary expression vector pCAMBIA1301. Through a series of virulence and effector translocation detections in Xoo-rice interactions, we revealed that overexpression of the ORP1C gene largely increases rice resistance to multiple Xoo strains from different countries and regions. Mechanistically, ORP1C plays a Xoo resistant role through negatively regulating transcription activator-like effectors (TALEs) translocation, ORP1C has become a potential candidate gene resource for disease-resistant breeding in rice. Further studies also indicated that XopZ and ORP1C collaboratively regulate the compatible interaction of PXO99-Nipponbare by modulating TALEs translocation.

Weakly solvated electrolytes (WSE) have been proposed for potassium-ion batteries (PIBs) to address the interfacial stability issue of K-storage via weakening the cation-solvent interaction to achieve anion-rich solvation sheath for constructing anion-derived stable solid electrolyte interface (SEI) film. However, the insufficient salt dissociation capacity of the employed solvents with low solvation ability significantly limited the wide manipulation of solvation structures for realizing satisfactory K-storage performance. Herein, a dual weakly solvated electrolytes (DWSE) was developed for alloy-type Bi-based K-storage anode. The dual weakly solvated structures with abundant contact ion pair (CIP) and aggregate (AGG) were manipulated via employing a cyclic ether of tetrahydrofuran (THF) with monovalent coordination with K⁺ as the bulk solvent, and increased salt concentrations simultaneously. The prepared carbon confined Bi anode (Bi@C) in the optimized DWSE delivered a distinct three-step alloying mechanism with high reversible capacity (468 mAh/g at 50 mA/g), cycling stability (381 mAh/g after 100 cycles at 50 mA/g) and rate properties (336 mAh/g even at 400 mA/g). The fast ion transfer kinetics and anion-derived KF-rich SEI were revealed to be responsible for the excellent K-storage performance of Bi@C anode. These results provide a new thought for the electrolyte development of advanced energy storage devices.

Rechargeable zinc-ion batteries have emerged as one of the most promising candidates for large-scale energy storage applications due to their high safety and low cost. However, the use of Zn metal in batteries suffers from many severe issues, including dendrite growth and parasitic reactions, which often lead to short cycle lives. Herein, we propose the construction of functional organic interfacial layers (OIL) on the Zn metal anodes to address these challenges. Through a well-designed organic-assist pre-construction process, a densely packed artificial layer featuring the immobilized zwitterionic molecular brush can be constructed, which can not only efficiently facilitate the smooth Zn plating and stripping, but also introduce a stable environment for battery reactions. Through density functional theory calculations and experimental characterizations, we verify that the immobilized organic propane sulfonate on Zn anodes can significantly lower the energy barrier and increase the kinetics of Zn2+ transport. Thus, the Zn metal anode with the functional OIL can significantly improve the cycle life of the symmetric cell to over 3500 h stable operation. When paired with the H2V3O8 cathode, the aqueous Zn-ion full cells can be continuously cycled over 7000 cycles, marking an important milestone for Zn anode development for potential industrial applications.