96 research outputs found
Swelling of acetylated wood in organic liquids
To investigate the affinity of acetylated wood for organic liquids, Yezo
spruce wood specimens were acetylated with acetic anhydride, and their swelling
in various liquids were compared to those of untreated specimens. The
acetylated wood was rapidly and remarkably swollen in aprotic organic liquids
such as benzene and toluene in which the untreated wood was swollen only
slightly and/or very slowly. On the other hand, the swelling of wood in water,
ethylene glycol and alcohols remained unchanged or decreased by the
acetylation. Consequently the maximum volume of wood swollen in organic liquids
was always larger than that in water. The effect of acetylation on the maximum
swollen volume of wood was greater in liquids having smaller solubility
parameters. The easier penetration of aprotic organic liquids into the
acetylated wood was considered to be due to the scission of hydrogen bonds
among the amorphous wood constituents by the substitution of hydroxyl groups
with hydrophobic acetyl groups.Comment: to be published in J Wood Science (Japanese wood research society
Responsive glyco-poly(2-oxazoline)s: synthesis, cloud point tuning, and lectin binding
A new sugar-substituted 2-oxazoline monomer was prepared using the copper-catalyzed alkyne-azide cycloaddition (CuAAC) reaction. Its copolymerization with 2-ethyl-2-oxazoline as well as 2-(dec-9-enyl)-2-oxazoline, yielding well-defined copolymers with the possibility to tune the properties by thiol-ene "click" reactions, is described. Extensive solubility studies on the corresponding glycocopolymers demonstrated that the lower critical solution temperature behavior and pH-responsiveness of these copolymers can be adjusted in water and phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) depending on the choice of the thiol. By conjugation of 2,3,4,6-tetra-O-acetyl-1-thio-beta-D-glucopyranose and subsequent deprotection of the sugar moieties, the hydrophilicity of the copolymer could be increased significantly, allowing a cloud-point tuning in the physiological range. Furthermore, the binding capability of the glycosylated copoly(2-oxazoline) to concanavalin A was investigated
Identification and Characterization of NF-Y Transcription Factor Families in the Monocot Model Plant Brachypodium distachyon
BACKGROUND: Nuclear Factor Y (NF-Y) is a heterotrimeric transcription factor composed of NF-YA, NF-YB and NF-YC proteins. Using the dicot plant model system Arabidopsis thaliana (Arabidopsis), NF-Y were previously shown to control a variety of agronomically important traits, including drought tolerance, flowering time, and seed development. The aim of the current research was to identify and characterize NF-Y families in the emerging monocot model plant Brachypodium distachyon (Brachypodium) with the long term goal of assisting in the translation of known dicot NF-Y functions to the grasses. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We identified, annotated, and further characterized 7 NF-YA, 17 NF-YB, and 12 NF-YC proteins in Brachypodium (BdNF-Y). By examining phylogenetic relationships, orthology predictions, and tissue-specific expression patterns for all 36 BdNF-Y, we proposed numerous examples of likely functional conservation between dicots and monocots. To test one of these orthology predictions, we demonstrated that a BdNF-YB with predicted orthology to Arabidopsis floral-promoting NF-Y proteins can rescue a late flowering Arabidopsis mutant. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The Brachypodium genome encodes a similar complement of NF-Y to other sequenced angiosperms. Information regarding NF-Y phylogenetic relationships, predicted orthologies, and expression patterns can facilitate their study in the grasses. The current data serves as an entry point for translating many NF-Y functions from dicots to the genetically tractable monocot model system Brachypodium. In turn, studies of NF-Y function in Brachypodium promise to be more readily translatable to the agriculturally important grasses
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