Genome-wide investigation reveals high evolutionary rates in annual model plants

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Rates of molecular evolution vary widely among species. While significant deviations from molecular clock have been found in many taxa, effects of life histories on molecular evolution are not fully understood. In plants, annual/perennial life history traits have long been suspected to influence the evolutionary rates at the molecular level. To date, however, the number of genes investigated on this subject is limited and the conclusions are mixed. To evaluate the possible heterogeneity in evolutionary rates between annual and perennial plants at the genomic level, we investigated 85 nuclear housekeeping genes, 10 non-housekeeping families, and 34 chloroplast genes using the genomic data from model plants including <it>Arabidopsis thaliana </it>and <it>Medicago truncatula </it>for annuals and grape (<it>Vitis vinifera</it>) and popular (<it>Populus trichocarpa</it>) for perennials.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>According to the cross-comparisons among the four species, 74-82% of the nuclear genes and 71-97% of the chloroplast genes suggested higher rates of molecular evolution in the two annuals than those in the two perennials. The significant heterogeneity in evolutionary rate between annuals and perennials was consistently found both in nonsynonymous sites and synonymous sites. While a linear correlation of evolutionary rates in orthologous genes between species was observed in nonsynonymous sites, the correlation was weak or invisible in synonymous sites. This tendency was clearer in nuclear genes than in chloroplast genes, in which the overall evolutionary rate was small. The slope of the regression line was consistently lower than unity, further confirming the higher evolutionary rate in annuals at the genomic level.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The higher evolutionary rate in annuals than in perennials appears to be a universal phenomenon both in nuclear and chloroplast genomes in the four dicot model plants we investigated. Therefore, such heterogeneity in evolutionary rate should result from factors that have genome-wide influence, most likely those associated with annual/perennial life history. Although we acknowledge current limitations of this kind of study, mainly due to a small sample size available and a distant taxonomic relationship of the model organisms, our results indicate that the genome-wide survey is a promising approach toward further understanding of the mechanism determining the molecular evolutionary rate at the genomic level.</p

Correlated states in twisted double bilayer graphene

Electron-electron interactions play an important role in graphene and related systems and can induce exotic quantum states, especially in a stacked bilayer with a small twist angle. For bilayer graphene where the two layers are twisted by a "magic angle", flat band and strong many-body effects lead to correlated insulating states and superconductivity. In contrast to monolayer graphene, the band structure of untwisted bilayer graphene can be further tuned by a displacement field, providing an extra degree of freedom to control the flat band that should appear when two bilayers are stacked on top of each other. Here, we report the discovery and characterization of such displacement-field tunable electronic phases in twisted double bilayer graphene. We observe insulating states at a half-filled conduction band in an intermediate range of displacement fields. Furthermore, the resistance gap in the correlated insulator increases with respect to the in-plane magnetic fields and we find that the g factor according to spin Zeeman effect is ~2, indicating spin polarization at half filling. These results establish the twisted double bilayer graphene as an easily tunable platform for exploring quantum many-body states

Observation of first-order quantum phase transitions and ferromagnetism in twisted double bilayer graphene

Twisted graphene multilayers are highly tunable flatband systems for developing new phases of matter. Thus far, while orbital ferromagnetism has been observed in valley polarized phases, the long-range orders of other correlated phases as well as the quantum phase transitions between different orders mostly remain unknown. Here, we report an observation of Coulomb interaction driven first-order quantum phase transitions and ferromagnetism in twisted double bilayer graphene (TDBG). At zero magnetic field, the transitions are revealed in a series of step-like abrupt resistance jumps with prominent hysteresis loop when either the displacement field (D) or the carrier density (n) is tuned across symmetry-breaking boundary near half filling, indicating a formation of ordered domains. It is worth noting that the good turnability and switching of these states gives a rise to a memory performance with a large on/off ratio. Moreover, when both spin and valley play the roles at finite magnetic field, we observe abundant first-order quantum phase transitions among normal metallic states from charge neutral point, orbital ferromagnetic states from quarter filling, and spin-polarized states from half filling. We interpret these first-order phase transitions in the picture of phase separations and spin domain percolations driven by multi-field tunable Coulomb interactions, in agreement with Lifshitz transition from Hartree-Fock calculations. The observed multi-filed tunable domain structure and its hysteresis resembles the characteristics of multiferroics, revealing intriguing magnetoelectric properties. Our result enriches the correlated phase diagram in TDBG for discovering novel exotic phases and quantum phase transitions, and it would benefit other twisted moir\'e systems as well

What has affected the governance effect of the whole population coverage of medical insurance in China in the past decade? Lessons for other countries

ObjectiveThis study aimed to explore the current state of governance of full population coverage of health insurance in China and its influencing factors to provide empirical references for countries with similar social backgrounds as China.MethodsA cross-sectional quantitative study was conducted nationwide between 22 January 2020 and 26 January 2020, with descriptive statistics, analysis of variance, and logistic regression models via SPSS 25.0 to analyze the effectiveness and influencing factors of the governance of full population coverage of health insurance in China.ResultsThe effectiveness of the governance relating to the total population coverage of health insurance was rated as good by 59% of the survey respondents. According to the statistical results, the governance of the public's ability to participate in insurance (OR = 1.516), the degree of information construction in the medical insurance sector (OR = 2.345), the government's governance capacity (OR = 4.284), and completeness of the government's governance tools (OR = 1.370) were all positively correlated (p &lt; 0.05) on the governance effect of the whole population coverage of health insurance.ConclusionsThe governance of Chinese health insurance relating to the total population coverage is effective. To effectively improve the effectiveness of the governance relating to the total population coverage of health insurance, health insurance information construction, governance capacity, and governance tools should be the focus of governance to further improve the accurate expansion of and increase the coverage of health insurance

Layer-by-Layer Epitaxy of Multilayer MoS2 Wafers

Two-dimensional (2D) semiconductor of MoS2 has great potential for advanced electronics technologies beyond silicon1-9. So far, high-quality monolayer MoS2 wafers10-12 are already available and various demonstrations from individual transistors to integrated circuits have also been shown13-15. In addition to the monolayer, multilayers have narrower band gaps but improved carrier mobilities and current capacities over the monolayer5,16-18. However, achieving high-quality multilayer MoS2 wafers remains a challenge. Here we report the growth of high quality multilayer MoS2 4-inch wafers via the layer-by-layer epitaxy process. The epitaxy leads to well-defined stacking orders between adjacent epitaxial layers and offers a delicate control of layer numbers up to 6. Systematic evaluations on the atomic structures and electronic properties were carried out for achieved wafers with different layer numbers. Significant improvements on device performances were found in thicker-layer field effect transistors (FETs), as expected. For example, the average field-effect mobility ({\mu}FE) at room temperature (RT) can increase from ~80 cm2V-1s-1 for monolayer to ~110/145 cm2V-1s-1 for bilayer/trilayer devices. The highest RT {\mu}FE=234.7 cm2V-1s-1 and a record-high on-current densities of 1.704 mA{\mu}m-1 at Vds=2 V were also achieved in trilayer MoS2 FETs with a high on/off ratio exceeding 107. Our work hence moves a step closer to practical applications of 2D MoS2 in electronics.Comment: 13 pages,4 Figure

Room-temperature correlated states in twisted bilayer MoS2_2

Moir\'e superlattices have emerged as an exciting condensed-matter quantum simulator for exploring the exotic physics of strong electronic correlations. Notable progress has been witnessed, but such correlated states are achievable usually at low temperatures. Here, we report the transport evidences of room-temperature correlated electronic states and layer-hybridized SU(4) Hubbard model simulator in AB-stacked MoS$_2$ homo-bilayer moir\'e superlattices. Correlated insulating states at moir\'e band filling factors v = 1, 2, 3 are unambiguously established in twisted bilayer MoS$_2$. Remarkably, the correlated electronic states can persist up to a record-high critical temperature of over 285 K. The realization of room-temperature correlated states in twisted bilayer MoS$_2$ can be understood as the cooperation effects of the stacking-specific atomic reconstruction and the resonantly enhanced interlayer hybridization, which largely amplify the moir\'e superlattice effects on electronic correlations. Furthermore, extreme large non-linear Hall responses up to room-temperature are uncovered near correlated insulating states, demonstrating the quantum geometry of moir\'e flat conduction band.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figure

Draft genome sequence of the mulberry tree Morus notabilis

Human utilization of the mulberry–silkworm interaction started at least 5,000 years ago and greatly influenced world history through the Silk Road. Complementing the silkworm genome sequence, here we describe the genome of a mulberry species Morus notabilis. In the 330-Mb genome assembly, we identify 128 Mb of repetitive sequences and 29,338 genes, 60.8% of which are supported by transcriptome sequencing. Mulberry gene sequences appear to evolve ~3 times faster than other Rosales, perhaps facilitating the species’ spread worldwide. The mulberry tree is among a few eudicots but several Rosales that have not preserved genome duplications in more than 100 million years; however, a neopolyploid series found in the mulberry tree and several others suggest that new duplications may confer benefits. Five predicted mulberry miRNAs are found in the haemolymph and silk glands of the silkworm, suggesting interactions at molecular levels in the plant–herbivore relationship. The identification and analyses of mulberry genes involved in diversifying selection, resistance and protease inhibitor expressed in the laticifers will accelerate the improvement of mulberry plants