21:T540,Rice grains are rich in starch but low in protein with very low level of both lysine and threonine. Thus, it is important to further improve protein quality and quantity, especially to increase lysine and threonine content in rice grains. We artificially synthesized two new genes by fusing endogenous rice genes with lysine (K)/threonine (T) motif (TKTKK) coding sequences. They were designated as TKTKK1 and TKTKK2 and their encoded proteins consist of 73.1% and 83.5% of lysine/threonine, respectively. These two genes were under the control of 35S promoter and were independently introduced into the rice genome to generate transgenic plants. Our data showed that overexpression of TKTKK1 generated stable proteins with expected molecular weight and the transgenic rice seeds significantly increased lysine, threonine, total amino acids and crude protein content by 33.87%, 21.21%, 19.43% and 20.45%, respectively when compared with wild type control; significant improvement was also observed in transgenic rice seeds overexpressing TKTKK2. However, limited improvement in protein quality and quantity was observed in transgenic seeds carrying tandom array of these two new genes. Our data provide the basis and alternative strategy on further improving protein quality and quantity in other crops or vegetable plants by synthetic biology.22:T413,Particulate matter (PM, especially PM_2.5 with diameter 2.5 microns) has been regarded as the major air pollutant. Negative air ions (NAIs) could electrically charge PM and remove it much more efficiently. In this study, a bio-generator of NAIs has been developed, which helps plants to generate NAIs at around 100 × 10⁶ ions/cm³ under pulsed electrical field (PEF) treatment. By using the bio-generator, PM_2.5 concentration in a growth chamber could be reduced from around 500 to near 0 µg/m³ within 5 minutes. It could also be used to remove continuously generated PM. Upon PEF treatment, genes encoding oxidoreductases and other enzymes were up-regulated, some of which might contribute to the generation of superoxide anions (one of NAIs). On the other hand, the emission of large numbers of electrons from the surface/edge of plant leaves has been detected upon PEF treatment and these electrons might be captured by surrounding air molecules to generate high concentration of NAIs.23:T64c,

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