In this article, a novel adaptive estimation is proposed for varying coefficient models. Unlike the traditional least squares based methods, the proposed approach can adapt to different error distributions. An efficient EM algorithm is provided to implement the proposed estimation. The asymptotic properties of the resulting estimator are established. Both simulation studies and real data examples are used to illustrate the finite sample performance of the new estimation procedure. The numerical results show that the gain of the new procedure over the least squares estimation can be quite substantial for non-Gaussian errors.

Cryptochromes are blue light receptors that regulate light responses in plants, including various crops. The molecular mechanism of plant cryptochromes has been extensively investigated in Arabidopsis thaliana, but it has not been reported in any crop species. Here, we report a study of the mechanism of soybean (Glycine max) cryptochrome2 (CRY2a). We found that CRY2a regulates leaf senescence, which is a life history trait regulated by light and photoperiods via previously unknown mechanisms. We show that CRY2a undergoes blue light-dependent interaction with the soybean basic helix-loop-helix transcription activator CIB1 (for cryptochrome-interacting bHLH1) that specifically interacts with the E-box (CANNTG) DNA sequences. Analyses of transgenic soybean plants expressing an elevated or reduced level of the CRY2a or CIB1 demonstrate that CIB1 promotes leaf senescence, whereas CRY2a suppresses leaf senescence. Results of the gene expression and molecular interaction analyses support the hypothesis that CIB1 activates transcription of senescence-associated genes, such as WRKY DNA BINDING PROTEIN53b (WRKY53b), and leaf senescence. CIB1 interacts with the E-box-containing promoter sequences of the WRKY53b chromatin, whereas photoexcited CRY2a interacts with CIB1 to inhibit its DNA binding activity. These findings argue that CIB-dependent transcriptional regulation is an evolutionarily conserved CRY-signaling mechanism in plants, and this mechanism is opted in evolution to mediate light regulation of different aspects of plant development in different plant species.

The dynamical governing equation of structures is the basis for solution of dynamics and control of distributed parameter systems. Until now, the refined dynamic equation of plates including the complete thermomechanical coupling has not been seen in the literature on structural dynamics. With the development of the modern aerospace technology, the refined dynamic equation of plates including the thermomechanical coupling effect is an urgent problem to be solved. But the traditional modeling method described in classical theory of plates and shells cannot be used to obtain the dynamic equation of thick plates under heating conditions because of the limitation of classical theory. In this paper, the coupled dynamical problem of plates with complete thermomechanical coupling is investigated based on the three-dimensional thermoelasticity and modern mathematics. The spectral composition method for modeling the structural dynamics is developed by combining the Vieta theorem of algebra with the classical method of operator spectra. In the time domain the refined dynamical equations of plates, which involve the bending and stretching vibrations under coupled thermomechanical conditions, are constructed by using the spectral decomposition of operators and proper gauge conditions to eliminate the non-uniqueness of unknown potential function without using the classical assumption in the theory of plates and shells. The dispersion relations from the refined equations of thermoelastic plates are presented graphically to test and verify the refined theory of thermoelastic plates. The space and time evolution of wave motion in heated plates and its dynamical stability are analyzed and discussed. We can see that the refined governing equations of thermoelastic plates are accurate, which would be used to solve the dynamics and control of thick plates with complete thermomechanical coupling, for instance, to investigate the coupling mechanism, coupled modes and dynamical response. And the modeling for the coupled dynamics of plates can be used in aerospace engineering for thermal protection system design.

Plastids (chloroplasts) possess 70S ribosomes that are very similar in structure and function to the ribosomes of their bacterial ancestors. While most components of the bacterial ribosome (ribosomal RNAs [rRNAs] and ribosomal proteins) are well conserved in the plastid ribosome, little is known about the factors mediating the biogenesis of plastid ribosomes. Here, we have investigated a putative homolog of the bacterial RbfA (for ribosome-binding factor A) protein that was identified as a cold-shock protein and an auxiliary factor acting in the 5' maturation of the 16S rRNA. The unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and the vascular plant Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) both encode a single RbfA-like protein in their nuclear genomes. By generating specific antibodies against this protein, we show that the plant RbfA-like protein functions exclusively in the plastid, where it is associated with thylakoid membranes. Analysis of mutants for the corresponding gene (termed RBF1) reveals that the gene function is essential for photoautotrophic growth. Weak mutant alleles display reduced levels of plastid ribosomes, a specific depletion in 30S ribosomal subunits, and reduced activity of plastid protein biosynthesis. Our data suggest that, while the function in ribosome maturation and 16S rRNA 5' end processing is conserved, the RBF1 protein has assumed an additional role in 3' end processing. Together with the apparent absence of a homologous protein from plant mitochondria, our findings illustrate that the assembly process of the 70S ribosome is not strictly conserved and has undergone some modifications during organelle evolution.

Cryptochromes (CRYs) are blue light receptors that mediate light regulation of plant growth and development. Land plants possess various numbers of cryptochromes, CRY1 and CRY2, which serve overlapping and partially redundant functions in different plant species. Cryptochromes exist as physiologically inactive monomers in darkness; photoexcited cryptochromes undergo homodimerization to increase their affinity to the CRY-signaling proteins, such as CIBs (CRY2-interacting bHLH), PIFs (Phytochrome-Interacting Factors), AUX/IAA (Auxin/INDOLE-3-ACETIC ACID), and the COP1-SPAs (Constitutive Photomorphogenesis 1-Suppressors of Phytochrome A) complexes. These light-dependent protein-protein interactions alter the activity of the CRY-signaling proteins to change gene expression and developmental programs in response to light. In the meantime, photoexcitation also changes the affinity of cryptochromes to the CRY-regulatory proteins, such as BICs (Blue-light Inhibitors of CRYs) and PPKs (Photoregulatory Protein Kinases), to modulate the activity, modification, or abundance of cryptochromes and photosensitivity of plants in response to the changing light environment.

Contents Summary 547 I. Introduction 547 II. Phytochromes mediate light-induced transcription of BICs to inactivate cryptochromes 548 III. PPKs phosphorylate light-signaling proteins and histones to affect plant development 548 IV. Prospect 550 Acknowledgements 550 References 550 SUMMARY: Plants perceive and respond to light signals by multiple sensory photoreceptors, including phytochromes and cryptochromes, which absorb different wavelengths of light to regulate genome expression and plant development. Photophysiological analyses have long revealed the coordinated actions of different photoreceptors, a phenomenon referred to as the photoreceptor coaction. The mechanistic explanations of photoreceptor coactions are not fully understood. The function of direct protein-protein interaction of phytochromes and cryptochromes and common signaling molecules of these photoreceptors, such as SPA1/COP1 E3 ubiquitin ligase complex and bHLH transcription factors PIFs, would partially explain phytochrome-cryptochrome coactions. In addition, newly discovered proteins that block cryptochrome photodimerization or catalyze cryptochrome phosphorylation may also participate in the phytochrome and cryptochrome coaction. This Tansley insight, which is not intended to make a comprehensive review of the studies of photoreceptor coactions, attempts to highlight those recent findings and their possible roles in the photoreceptor coaction.

Patulin, an emerging mycotoxin with high toxicity, poses great risks to public health. Considering the poor antibody production in patulin immunization, this study focuses on the four-dimensional data-independent acquisition (4D-DIA) quantitative proteomics to reveal the immune response of patulin in rabbits. The rabbit immunization was performed with the complete developed antigens of patulin, followed by the identification of the immune serum. A total of 554 differential proteins, including 292 up-regulated proteins and 262 down-regulated proteins, were screened; the differential proteins were annotated; and functional enrichment analysis was performed. The differential proteins were associated with the pathways of metabolism, gene information processing, environmental information processing, cellular processes, and organismal systems. The functional enrichment analysis indicated that the immunization procedures mostly resulted in the regulation of biochemical metabolic and signal transduction pathways, including the biosynthesis of amino acid (glycine, serine, and threonine), ascorbate, and aldarate metabolism; fatty acid degradation; and antigen processing and presentation. The 14 key proteins with high connectivity included G1U9T1, B6V9S9, G1SCN8, G1TMS5, G1U9U0, A0A0G2JH20, G1SR03, A0A5F9DAT4, G1SSA2, G1SZ14, G1T670, P30947, P29694, and A0A5F9C804, which were obtained by the analysis of protein-protein interaction networks. This study could provide potential directions for protein interaction and antibody production for food hazards in animal immunization.