For a decade, solution-processed functional materials and various printing technologies have attracted increasingly the significant interest in realizing low-cost flexible electronics. In this study, Cu nanoparticles are synthesized via the chemical reduction of Cu ions under inert atmosphere. To prevent interparticle agglomeration and surface oxidation, oleic acid is incorporated as a surface capping molecule and hydrazine is used as a reducing agent. To endow water-compatibility, the surface of synthesized Cu nanoparticles is modified by a mixture of carboxyl-terminated anionic polyelectrolyte and polyoxylethylene oleylamine ether. For reducing the surface tension and the evaporation rate of aqueous Cu nanoparticle inks, the solvent composition of Cu nanoparticle ink is designed as DI water:2-methoxy ethanol:glycerol:ethylene glycol = 50:20:5:25 wt%. The effects of poly(styrene-co-maleic acid) as an adhesion promoter(AP) on rheology of aqueous Cu nanoparticle inks and adhesion of Cu pattern printed on polyimid films are investigated. The 40 wt% aqueous Cu nanoparticle inks with 0.5 wt% of Poly(styrene-co-maleic acid) show the “Newtonian flow” and has a low viscosity under 10 mPa·S, which is applicable to inkjet printing. The Cu patterns with a linewidth of 50~60 μm are successfully fabricated. With the addition of Poly(styrene-co-maleic acid), the adhesion of printed Cu patterns on polyimid films is superior to those of patterns prepared from Poly(styrene-comaleic acid)-free inks. The resistivities of Cu films are measured to be 10~15 μΩ·cm at annealing temperature of 300 ˚C.

The legume family is the third largest group, including approximately 650 genera and 18,000 species, in the flowering plants and the second important crops to the Poaceae in the agricultural economy. Comparative analysis is a useful tool to understand cross-species genomic structure and alterations during organism’s evolutionary history. In this study, we constructed a composite comparative map of ten legume species, including Medicago truncatula, Medicago sativa, Lens culinaris, Pisum sativum, Lotus japonicus, Cicer arietinum, Vicia faba L, Vigna radiata, Phaseolus vulgaris and Glycine max. Of these species, M. truncatula, which is a representative model system, played a central role to develop the cross-genome amplifiable PCR gene markers for the purpose of transferring them to other related legume species. A total of 140 cross-species core markers were employed to analyze genomic colinearity across this broad array of legume species. The comparative map demonstrates a diverse array of evolutionary events, such as duplications, inversions and reciprocal translocations. It is anticipated that resulting maps would provide a broader insights into the lineage-specific genomic organization of these glalegoid/phaseoloid legumes, which are two clades containing almost all crop legumes of economic importance, and can further used for the molecular breeding through translating genomic information into other orphan legumes.

Susceptible Vitis vinifera responds to Xylella infection with a massive redirection of gene transcription. This transcriptional response is characterized by increased transcripts for phenlypropanoid and flavonoid biosynthesis, ethylene production, adaptation to oxidative stress, and homologs of pathogenesis related (PR) proteins, and decreased transcripts for genes related to photosynthesis. In addition, the results suggest that susceptible genotypes respond to Xylella infection by induction of limited, but inadequate, defense response. We also compared the transcriptional and physiological response of plants treated by pathogen infection, low or moderate water deficit, or a combination of pathogen infection and water deficit. Although the transcriptional response of plants to Xylella infection was distinct from the response of healthy plants to moderate water stress, we observed synergy between water stress and disease, such that water stressed plants exhibit a stronger transcriptional response to the pathogen. This interaction was mirrored at the physiological level for aspects of water relations and photosynthesis, and in terms of the severity of disease symptoms and pathogen colonization, providing a molecular correlation of the classical concept with the disease triangle.

Comparative analysis is a typically useful tool for translating genomic information from one species to another. However, currently available softwares are relatively difficult to directly use for researchers that are not familiar with use of bioinformatic tools. Therefore, we intended to develop a new platforms and/or interface through which one can use in more comfortable way, based on the concept of interactive comparative analysis. Towards this direction, we, firstly, constructed relational database to store the information on abiotic stress genes identified from multiple plant species using various resources, such as the TAIR (http://www.arabidopsis.org), gene expression profiles and relevant literatures, and linked with comparative analysis interface. For purposes of comparative analysis and identification of synteny blocks, cross-species orthologous genes were determined using a combination of tBlastX and BlastP homology searches. We adapted and developed a Circos-like format to present resulting comparative maps. Users can readily choose analysis parameters, for example individual genes and specific chromosomes for chosen species, in the pane of analysis DB, which is useful feature to avoid complexity of comparative genomic analysis. This DB-associated comparative analysis tool, developed in this study, will be able to provide customer-friendly interface for comparative analysis and extend its utility across a broader range of plant genomes.

Comparative analysis is a typically useful tool for translating genomic information from one species to another. However, currently available softwares are relatively difficult to directly use for researchers that are not familiar with use of bioinformatic tools. Therefore, we intended to develop a new platforms and/or interface through which one can use in more comfortable way, based on the concept of interactive comparative analysis. Towards this direction, we, firstly, constructed relational database to store the information on abiotic stress genes identified from multiple plant species using various resources, such as the TAIR (http://www.arabidopsis.org), gene expression profiles and relevant literatures, and linked with comparative analysis interface. For purposes of comparative analysis and identification of synteny blocks, cross-species orthologous genes were determined using a combination of tBlastX and BlastP homology searches. We adapted and developed a Circos-like format to present resulting comparative maps. Users can readily choose analysis parameters, for example individual genes and specific chromosomes for chosen species, in the pane of analysis DB, which is useful feature to avoid complexity of comparative genomic analysis. This DB-associated comparative analysis tool, developed in this study, will be able to provide customer-friendly interface for comparative analysis and extend its utility across a broader range of plant genomes.

Cross-species translation of genomic information may play a crucial role in applying biological knowledge gained from one species to other genomes. To screen and identify a broad range of abiotic stress-responsive genes, we employed a diverse array of resources, including Arabidopsis databases (http://www.arabidopsis.org), expression profiling data and previously reported literatures. As a result, a total of 1,377 genes were identified and classified into 18 different functional criteria based on biological processes of gene ontology. The gene set was translated into M. truncatula, which is a representative model system in the Fabaceae, by identifying orthologous genes between these two genomes with a combination of tBlastx and BlastP analyses. It is shown that approximately 82% of genes were estimated to be translated between the two genomes below the E-value of 10-30. These orthologous loci were used to construct comparative maps by developing a user-friendly analysis platform, resulting in a total of 52 synteny blocks. Furthermore, to discover central genes by which control responses to the abiotic stresses, a combination of AraNet (http://www.functionanet.org) and the Cytoscape program was used for the gene network analysis. The analysis resulted in the identification of 240 potential key genes. We anticipate that these genes may impact molecular breeding programs by discovering trait-associated SNPs followed by marker development.

The legume family is the third largest group, including approximately 650 genera and 18,000 species, in the flowering plants and the second important crops to the Poaceae in the agricultural economy. Comparative analysis is a useful tool to understand cross-species genomic structure and alterations during organism’s evolutionary history. In this study, we constructed a composite comparative map of ten legume species, including Medicago truncatula, Medicago sativa, Lens culinaris, Pisum sativum, Lotus japonicus, Cicer arietinum, Vicia faba L, Vigna radiata, Phaseolus vulgaris and Glycine max. Of these species, M. truncatula, which is a representative model system, played a central role to develop the cross-genome amplifiable PCR gene markers for the purpose of transferring them to other related legume species. A total of 108 cross-species core markers were employed to analyze genomic colinearity across this broad array of legume species. The comparative map demonstrates a diverse array of evolutionary events, such as duplications, inversions and reciprocal translocations. It is anticipated that resulting maps would provide a broader insights into the lineage-specific genomic organization of these glalegoid/phaseoloid legumes, which are two clades containing almost all crop legumes of economic importance, and can further used for the molecular breeding through translating genomic information into other orphan legumes.