Rapid changes in root HvPIP2; 2 aquaporins abundance and ABA concentration are required to enhance root hydraulic conductivity and maintain leaf water potential in response to increased evaporative demand

To address the involvement of abscisic acid (ABA) in regulating transpiration and root hydraulic conductivity (Lp(Root)) and their relative importance for maintaining leaf hydration, the ABA-deficient barley mutant Az34 and its parental wild-type (WT) genotype (cv. Steptoe) were grown in hydroponics and exposed to changes in atmospheric vapour pressure deficit (VPD) imposed by air warming. WTplants were capable of maintaining leaf water potential (psi(L)) that was likely due to increased Lp(Root) enabling higher water flow from the roots, which increased in response to air warming. The increased Lp(Root) and immunostaining for HvPIP2; 2 aquaporins (AQPs) correlated with increased root ABA content of WT plants when exposed to increased air temperature. The failure of Az34 to maintain psi(L) during air warming may be due to lower Lp(Root) than WT plants, and an inability to respond to changes in air temperature. The correlation between root ABA content and Lp(Root) was further supported by increased root hydraulic conductivity in both genotypes when treated with exogenous ABA (10(-5) M). Thus the ability of the root system to rapidly regulate ABA levels (and thence aquaporin abundance and hydraulic conductivity) seems important to maintain leaf hydration

Synthesis of D-π-A′-π-A Chromophores with Quinoxaline Core as Auxiliary Acceptor and Effect of Various Silicon-Substituted Donor Moieties on Thermal and Nonlinear Optical Properties at Molecular and Material Level

Novel D-π-A′-π-A chromophores with quinoxaline cores as auxiliary acceptors and various donor moieties (aniline, carbazole, phenothiazine, tetrahydroquinoline) containing bulky tert-butyldimethylsilyloxy (TBDMSO) groups and tricyanofuranyl (TCF) acceptors with bulky cyclohexylphenyl substituents were synthesized via eight- to nine-step procedures, and their photo-physical and thermal properties were investigated. The values of the chromophores’ first hyperpolarizabilities were calculated in the framework of DFT at the M06-2X/aug-cc-pVDZ computational level; the effect of the introduction of the TBDMSO group into the donor fragment is shown to be inessential, as this group is not coupled to the π-conjugated system of the chromophore. The chromophore with the tetrahydroquinoline donor has a first hyperpolarizability value of 937 × 10−30 esu, which is the highest for the studied chromophores. Atomistic modeling of composite materials with the studied chromophores as guests demonstrated that the presence of bulky substituent in the donor fragment prevents notable aggregation of chromophores, even at high chromophore content (40 wt.%). The nonlinear optical performance of guest–host materials with 25 and 40 wt.% of suggested chromophore content was studied using a second harmonic generation technique to give the NLO coefficient, d33 up to 52 pm/V