Constituents leached by tomato seeds regulate the behavior of root-knot nematodes and their antifungal effects against seed-borne fungi

Germinating seeds can release diverse phytochemicals that repel, inhibit, or kill pathogens such as root-knot nematodes and seed-borne fungi. However, little is known about the composition of these phytochemicals and their effects on pathogens. In this study, we demonstrated that tomato seed exudates can attract the nematode Meloidogyne incognita using a dual-choice assay. Eighteen compounds were then isolated and identified from the exudates. Of these, esters (1-3), fatty acids (4-6), and phenolic acids (10-12) were proven to be the signaling molecules that facilitated the host-seeking process of second-stage juveniles (J2s) of nematodes, while alkaloids (17 and 18) disrupted J2s in locating their host. Furthermore, some phenolic acids and alkaloids showed antifungal effects against seed-borne fungi. In particular, ferulic acid (12) showed obvious activity against Aspergillus flavus (minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), 32 μg/mL), while dihydrocapsaicin (17) showed noticeable activity against Fusarium oxysporum (MIC, 16 μg/mL). Overall, this study presents the first evidence that M. incognita can be attracted to or deterred by various compounds in seed exudates through identification of the structures of the compounds in the exudates and analysis of their effects on nematodes. Furthermore, some antifungal compounds were also found. The findings of this work suggest that seed exudates are new source for finding insights into the development of plant protective substances with nematocidal and antifungal effects

Importance of Solvent Removal Rate on the Morphology and Device Performance of Organic Photovoltaics with Solvent Annealing

Solvent vapor annealing has been widely used in organic photovoltaics (OPV) to tune the morphology of bulk heterojunction active layer for the improvement of device performance. Unfortunately, the effect of solvent removal rate (SRR) after solvent annealing, which is one of the key factors that impact resultant morphology, on the morphology and device performance of OPV has never been reported. In this work, the nanoscale morphology of small molecule (SM):fullerene bulk heterojunction (BHJ) solar cell from different SRRs after solvent annealing was examined by small-angle neutron scattering and grazing incidence X-ray scattering. The results clearly demonstrate that the nanoscale morphology of SM:fullerene BHJ especially fullerene phase separation and concentration of fullerene in noncrystalline SM was significantly impacted by the SRR. The enhanced fullerene phase separation was found with a decrease of SRR, while the crystallinity and molecular packing of SM remained unchanged. Correlation to device performance shows that the balance between pure fullerene phase and mixing phase of SM and fullerene is crucial for the optimization of morphology and enhancement of device performance. Moreover, the specific interfacial area between pure fullerene phase and mixing phase is crucial for the electron transport and thus device performance. More importantly, this finding would provide a more careful and precise control of morphology of SM:fullerene BHJ and offers a guideline for further improvement of device performance with solvent annealing

Impact of Fullerene Structure on Nanoscale Morphology and Miscibility and Correlation of Performance on Small Molecules: Fullerene Solar Cell

This manuscript reports the impact of fullerene structure on the morphology and miscibility of small molecules via a fullerene bulk heterojunction solar cell. The small angle neutron scattering and neutron reflectometry measurements were analyzed to provide quantifiable measures of the morphology of the resultant mixtures, offering miscibility, domain sizes, interfacial area between the small molecule and fullerene, and depth profiles in the mixtures. These results indicate that the bis-adduct fullerenes exhibit lower miscibility in small molecules. Correlation of miscibility and morphology to photovoltaic properties indicates that small molecule/fullerene miscibility is crucial to rationally optimize the design of fullerenes for use in small molecule organic photovoltaics. A higher open circuit voltage was obtained for bis-adduct fullerene devices which, however, does not translate to an increased power conversion efficiency. This decrease in performance is associated with the lower miscibility of bis-fullerene, which decreases the probability of the dissociation of excitons and enhances charge recombination rate in the miscible region. A quantitative analysis shows that an increase in the average separation of fullerenes in the miscible region is detrimental to electron transport in the miscible region, especially for a distance greater than ∼11 Å