BnMs3 is required for tapetal differentiation and degradation, microspore separation, and pollen-wall biosynthesis in Brassica napus

7365AB, a recessive genetic male sterility system, is controlled by BnMs3 in Brassica napus, which encodes a Tic40 protein required for tapetum development. However, the role of BnMs3 in rapeseed anther development is still largely unclear. In this research, cytological analysis revealed that anther development of a Bnms3 mutant has defects in the transition of the tapetum to the secretory type, callose degradation, and pollen-wall formation. A total of 76 down-regulated unigenes in the Bnms3 mutant, several of which are associated with tapetum development, callose degeneration, and pollen development, were isolated by suppression subtractive hybridization combined with a macroarray analysis. Reverse genetics was applied by means of Arabidopsis insertional mutant lines to characterize the function of these unigenes and revealed that MSR02 is only required for transport of sporopollenin precursors through the plasma membrane of the tapetum. The real-time PCR data have further verified that BnMs3 plays a primary role in tapetal differentiation by affecting the expression of a few key transcription factors, participates in tapetal degradation by modulating the expression of cysteine protease genes, and influences microspore separation by manipulating the expression of BnA6 and BnMSR66 related to callose degradation and of BnQRT1 and BnQRT3 required for the primary cell-wall degradation of the pollen mother cell. Moreover, BnMs3 takes part in pollen-wall formation by affecting the expression of a series of genes involved in biosynthesis and transport of sporopollenin precursors. All of the above results suggest that BnMs3 participates in tapetum development, microspore release, and pollen-wall formation in B. napus

A reaction and movement of vacancy and solute atom in metals under elastic tensile stress

In the 17th century, Robert Hooke, an English physicist, proposed Hooke’s law. Since then, the theory of elastic deformation in metals has been restricted to a macroscopic frame that is normalized by Hooke’s law. From the start of the 21st century, Xu has established a microscopic theory of elastic deformation based on Hooke’s law to describe the reaction and movement of vacancy and solute atom in metals under elastic tensile stress [1,2]

Measurement Uncertainty and Representation of Tensile Mechanical Properties in Metals

The International Organization for Standardization Technical Committee for Metallic Materials—Tensile Testing stated in 2011 that temperature and strain rate variations would induce a change in the results of tensile tests, termed as the measurement uncertainty of tensile mechanical properties in metals. The uncertainty means that the tensile testing results of a specimen at a temperature and strain rate are not the original mechanical properties possessed prior to the testing. Hence, since the time of Galileo the results of tensile testing have been incorrectly interpreted as the original mechanical properties of specimens, thereby forming a paradox. At the turn of the 21st century, the micro-theory of metallic elastic deformation was proposed, identifying that a change in microstructure at atomic level could occur during elastic deformation, leading to a change in the concentration of solute (impurity) at grain boundaries/around dislocations. The micro-theory has been used to explain the mechanism of the measurement uncertainty. Different tensile temperatures and strain rates correspond to different durations of elastic deformation during tensile testing, different concentrations of solute at grain boundaries/dislocations, and thus different mechanical properties. On this basis, a new technology system of tensile testing is suggested, i.e., a “mechanical property–tensile strain rate” curve at a given test temperature can be used to evaluate the original mechanical property. The higher the strain rate is, the closer the property on the curve is to the original property. Therefore, to determine the original mechanical property of the tested metal, a sufficiently high strain rate is required. The curve can also characterize the property variation of the tested metal in service with the service time. In addition, the property characterized by a point on the curve can represent the property of the tested metal when processing-deformed with the corresponding strain rate. As an example of the application of the new technology system, the property of high-entropy alloys is represented with a curve. The results show that the new technology system could change the conceptual framework and testing technology system of metallic mechanics