Project description:Bright, iridescent colors observed in nature are often caused by light interference within nanoscale periodic lattices, inspiring numerous strategies for coloration devoid of inorganic pigments. Here, we describe and characterize the septum of the Lunaria annua plant that generates large (multicentimeter), freestanding iridescent sheets, with distinctive silvery-white reflective appearance. This originates from the thin-film assembly of cellulose fibers in the cells of the septum that induce thin-film interference-like colors at the microscale, thus accounting for the structure's overall silvery-white reflectance at the macroscale. These cells further assemble into two thin layers, resulting in a mechanically robust, iridescent septum, which is also significantly light due to its high air porosity (>70%) arising from the cells' hollow-core structure. This combination of hierarchical structure comprising mechanical and optical function can inspire technological classes of devices and interfaces based on robust, light, and spectrally responsive natural substrates.
Project description:Glucosinolates (GSLs) from Lunaria annua L. seeds were analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively by their desulfo counterparts using UHPLC-DAD-MS/MS technique and by their volatile breakdown products, isothiocyanates (ITCs), using GC-MS technique. GSL breakdown products were obtained by conventional techniques (hydrodistillation in a Clevenger type apparatus (HD), CH2Cl2 extraction after myrosinase hydrolysis (EXT) for 24 h) as well as by modern techniques, microwave-assisted distillation (MAD) and microwave hydrodiffusion and gravity (MHG). Seven GSLs were identified as follows: isopropyl GSL (1), sec-butyl GSL (2), 5-(methylsulfinyl)pentyl GSL (3), 6-(methylsulfinyl)hexyl GSL (4), 5-(methylsulfanyl)pentyl GSL (5), 6-(methylsulfanyl)hexyl GSL (6), and benzyl GSL (7). Additionally, pent-4-enyl- and hex-5-enyl ITCs were detected in the volatile extracts. However, their corresponding GSLs were not detected using UHPLC-DAD-MS/MS. Thus, they are suggested to be formed during GC-MS analysis via thermolysis of 5-(methylsulfinyl)pentyl- and 6-(methylsulfinyl)hexyl ITCs, respectively. Volatile isolates were tested for their cytotoxic activity using MTT assay. EXT and MHG showed the best cytotoxic activity against human lung cancer cell line A549 during an incubation time of 72 h (IC50 18.8, and 33.5 ?g/mL, respectively), and against breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231 after 48 h (IC50 6.0 and 11.8 ?g/mL, respectively). These activities can be attributed to the ITCs originating from 3 and 4.
Project description:As one of the hotspot regions for sympatric speciation studies, Evolution Canyon (EC) became an ideal place for its high level of microclimatic divergence interslopes. In this study, to highlight the genetic mechanisms of sympatric speciation, phenotypic variation on flowering time and transcriptomic divergence were investigated between two ecotypes of Ricotia lunaria, which inhabit the opposite temperate and tropical slopes of EC I (Lower Nahal Oren, Mount Carmel, Israel) separated by 100 m at the bottom of the slopes. Growth chamber results showed that flowering time of the ecotype from south-facing slope population # 3 (SFS 3) was significantly 3 months ahead of the north-facing slope population # 5 (NFS 5). At the same floral development stage, transcriptome analysis showed that 1,064 unigenes were differentially expressed between the two ecotypes, which enriched in the four main pathways involved in abiotic and/or biotic stresses responses, including flavonoid biosynthesis, ?-linolenic acid metabolism, plant-pathogen interaction and linoleic acid metabolism. Furthermore, based on Ka/Ks analysis, nine genes were suggested to be involved in the ecological divergence between the two ecotypes, whose homologs functioned in RNA editing, ABA signaling, photoprotective response, chloroplasts protein-conducting channel, and carbohydrate metabolism in Arabidopsis thaliana. Among them, four genes, namely, SPDS1, FCLY, Tic21 and BGLU25, also showed adaptive divergence between R. lunaria and A. thaliana, suggesting that these genes could play an important role in plant speciation, at least in Brassicaceae. Based on results of both the phenotype of flowering time and comparative transcriptome, we hypothesize that, after long-time local adaptations to their interslope microclimatic environments, the molecular functions of these nine genes could have been diverged between the two ecotypes. They might differentially regulate the expression of the downstream genes and pathways that are involved in the interslope abiotic stresses, which could further diverge the flowering time between the two ecotypes, and finally induce the reproductive isolation establishment by natural selection overruling interslope gene flow, promoting sympatric speciation.
| S-EPMC6246625 | biostudies-literature
Project description:RNA sequencing of two Swiss Botrychium lunaria populations