Effects of non-uniform root zone salinity on water use, Na+ recirculation, and Na+ and H+ flux in cotton

A new split-root system was established through grafting to study cotton response to non-uniform salinity. Each root half was treated with either uniform (100/100 mM) or non-uniform NaCl concentrations (0/200 and 50/150 mM). In contrast to uniform control, non-uniform salinity treatment improved plant growth and water use, with more water absorbed from the non- and low salinity side. Non-uniform treatments decreased Na+ concentrations in leaves. The [Na+] in the ‘0’ side roots of the 0/200 treatment was significantly higher than that in either side of the 0/0 control, but greatly decreased when the ‘0’ side phloem was girdled, suggesting that the increased [Na+] in the ‘0’ side roots was possibly due to transportation of foliar Na+ to roots through phloem. Plants under non-uniform salinity extruded more Na+ from the root than those under uniform salinity. Root Na+ efflux in the low salinity side was greatly enhanced by the higher salinity side. NaCl-induced Na+ efflux and H+ influx were inhibited by amiloride and sodium orthovanadate, suggesting that root Na+ extrusion was probably due to active Na+/H+ antiport across the plasma membrane. Improved plant growth under non-uniform salinity was thus attributed to increased water use, reduced leaf Na+ concentration, transport of excessive foliar Na+ to the low salinity side, and enhanced Na+ efflux from the low salinity root

Coaxial foilless diode

A kind of coaxial foilless diode is proposed in this paper, with the structure model and operating principle of the diode are given. The current-voltage relation of the coaxial foilless diode and the effects of structure parameters on the relation are studied by simulation. By solving the electron motion equation, the beam deviation characteristic in the presence of external magnetic field in transmission process is analyzed, and the relationship between transverse misalignment with diode parameters is obtained. These results should be of interest to the area of generation and propagation of radial beam for application of generating high power microwaves

A Review of Research on Dropwise Condensation Heat Transfer

Dropwise condensation is considered to be an effective method of enhancing heat transfer due to its high heat transfer performance. However, because the effect of dropwise condensation is affected by many complex factors, there is no systematic review summarized on the law of dropwise condensation heat transfer by scholars. In this paper, the main methods and problems of promoting dropwise condensation were reviewed based on the dropwise condensation mechanism and theoretical model. The three different hypotheses about the mechanism of dropwise condensation and the heat transfer model of dropwise condensation based on the hypothesis of nucleation sites were summarized. The methods for promoting dropwise condensation and the problems that influence dropwise condensation heat transfer are introduced in this paper. The research showed that many researchers focused on how the surface fabricated forms dropwise condensation rather than whether it enhances heat transfer. In this paper, we point out that the droplet shedding rate is the key to enhancing dropwise condensation heat transfer. Much more research on droplet formation mechanisms and theoretical models of different surfaces is supposed to be carried out in the future

Salt Stress Effects on Secondary Metabolites of Cotton in Relation to Gene Expression Responsible for Aphid Development

<div><p>Many secondary metabolites have insecticidal efficacy against pests and may be affected by abiotic stress. However, little is known of how plants may respond to such stress as pertains the growth and development of pests. The objective of this study was to determine if and how salt stress on cotton plants affects the population dynamics of aphids. The NaCl treatment (50mM, 100mM, 150mM and 200mM) increased contents of gossypol in cotton by 26.8–51.4%, flavonoids by 22.5–37.6% and tannic by 15.1–24.3% at 7–28 d after salt stress. Compared with non-stressed plants, the population of aphids on 150 and 200 mM NaCl stressed plants was reduced by 46.4 and 65.4% at 7d and by 97.3 and 100% at 14 days after infestation. Reductions in aphid population were possibly attributed to the elevated secondary metabolism under salt stress. A total of 796 clones for aphids transcriptome, 412 clones in the positive- library (TEST) and 384 clones in the reverse-library (Ck), were obtained from subtracted cDNA libraries and sequenced. Gene ontology (GO) functional classification and KEGG pathway analysis showed more genes related to fatty acid and lipid biosynthesis, and fewer genes related to carbohydrate metabolism, amino acid metabolism, energy metabolism and cell motility pathways in TEST than in Ck library, which might be the reason of aphids population reduction. A comparative analysis with qRT-PCR indicated high expression of transcripts <i>CYP6A14</i>, <i>CYP6A13</i>, <i>CYP303A1</i>, NADH dehydrogenase and fatty acid synthase in the TEST group. However, <i>CYP307A1</i> and two ecdysone-induced protein genes were down regulated. The results indicate that genes of aphids related to growth and development can express at a higher level in reaction to the enhanced secondary metabolism in cotton under salinity stress. The expression of <i>CYP307A1</i> was positively correlated with the population dynamics of aphids since it was involved in ecdysone synthesis.</p></div

Population dynamics of aphids on the cotton cultivars, SCRC28 and K638 under NaCl stress.

<p>Observation was started from aphid infestation. Error bars represent ±SD. Bars bearing different letters are significantly different at <i>P</i><0.05.</p

KEGG pathway annotation of differentially expressed genes obtained from the subtracted cDNA library.

<p>KEGG pathway annotation of differentially expressed genes obtained from the subtracted cDNA library.</p

Sequence of primers used in qRT-PCR.

<p>Sequence of primers used in qRT-PCR.</p