Effect of Rhizobium Symbiosis on Low-Temperature Tolerance and Antioxidant Response in Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.).

Low temperature-induced stress is a major environmental factor limiting the growth and development of plants. Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) is a legume well known for its tolerance of extreme environments. In this study, we sought to experimentally investigate the role of rhizobium symbiosis in alfalfa's performance under a low-temperature stress condition. To do this, alfalfa "Ladak+" plants carrying active nodules (AN), inactive nodules (IN), or no nodules (NN) were exposed to an imposed low temperature stress and their survivorship calculated. The antioxidant defense responses, the accumulation of osmotic regulation substances, the cell membrane damage, and the expression of low temperature stress-related genes were determined in both the roots and the shoots of alfalfa plants. We found that more plants with AN survived than those with IN or NN under the same low temperature-stress condition. Greater activity of oxidation protective enzymes was observed in the AN and IN groups, conferring higher tolerance to low temperature in these plants. In addition, rhizobia nodulation also enhanced alfalfa's ability to tolerate low temperature by altering the expression of regulatory and metabolism-associated genes, which resulted in the accumulation of soluble proteins and sugars in the nodulated plants. Taken together, the findings of this study indicate that rhizobium inoculation offers a practical way to promote the persistence and growth potential of alfalfa "Ladak+" in cold areas.

Sodium-Related Adaptations to Drought: New Insights From the Xerophyte Plant Zygophyllum xanthoxylum.

Understanding the unusual physiological mechanisms that enable drought tolerance in xerophytes will be of considerable benefit because of the potential to identify novel and key genetic elements for future crop improvements. These plants are interesting because they are well-adapted for life in arid zones; Zygophyllum xanthoxylum, for example, is a typical xerophytic shrub that inhabits central Asian deserts, accumulating substantial levels of sodium (Na+) in its succulent leaves while growing in soils that contain very low levels of this ion. The physiological importance of this unusual trait to drought adaptations remains poorly understood, however. Thus, 2-week-old Z. xanthoxylum plants were treated with 50 mM NaCl (Na) for 7 days in this study in order to investigate their drought tolerance, leaf osmotic potential (Ψs) related parameters, anatomical characteristics, and transpiration traits. The results demonstrated that NaCl treatment significantly enhanced both the survivability and durability of Z. xanthoxylum plants under extreme drought conditions. The bulk of the Na+ ions encapsulated in plants was overwhelmingly allocated to leaves rather than roots or stems under drought conditions; thus, compared to the control, significantly more Na+ compared to other solutes such as K+, Ca2+, Cl-, sugars, and proline accumulated in the leaves of NaCl-treated plants and led to a marked decrease (31%) in leaf Ψs. In addition, the accumulation of Na+ ions also resulted in mesophyll cell enlargement and leaf succulence, enabling the additional storage of water; Na+ ions also reduced the rate of water loss by decreasing stomatal density and down-regulating stomatal aperture size. The results of this study demonstrate that Z. xanthoxylum has evolved a notable ability to utilize Na+ ions to lower Ψs, swell its leaves, and decrease stomatal aperture sizes, in order to enable the additional uptake and storage of water and mitigate losses. These distinctive drought adaption characteristics mean that the xerophytic plant Z. xanthoxylum presents a fascinating case study for the potential identification of important and novel genetic elements that could improve crops. This report provides insights on the eco-physiological role of sodium accumulation in xerophytes adapted to extremely arid habitats.

[Study on the Properties of the Pc-Si Films Prepared by Magnetron Co-Sputtering at Low Temperature].

The polycrystalline silicon thin films play an important role in the field of electronics. In the paper, α-SiAl composite membranes on glass substrates was prepared by magnetron co-sputtering. The contents of Al radicals encapsulated-in the α-Si film can be adjusted by changing the Al to Si sputtering power ratios. The as-prepared α-Si films were converted into polycrystalline films by using a rapid thermal annealing (RTP) at low temperature of 350 degrees C for 10 minutes in N2 atmosphere. An X-ray diffractometer, and Raman scattering and UV-Visible-NIR Spectrometers were used to characterize the properties of the Pc-Si films. The influences of Al content on the properties of the Pc-Si films were studied. The results showed that the polycrystalline silicon films were obtained from α-SiAl composite films which were prepared by magnetron co-sputtering at a low temperature following by a rapid thermal annealing. The grain size and the degree of crystallization of the Pc-Si films increased with the increase of Al content, while the optical band gap was reduced. The nc-Si films were prepared when the Al to Si sputtering power ratio was 0.1. And a higher Crystallization rate (≥ 85%) of polycrystalline silicon films were obtained when the ratio was 0.3. The band gaps of the polycrystalline silicon films can be controlled by changing the aluminum content in the films.

[The Influence of Deposition Pressure on the Properties of Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon Thin Films].

Hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) thin films on soda-lime glass substrates were deposited by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) using disilane and hydrogen as source gases. To study the influence of deposition pressure on the deposition rate, optical band gap and structure factor, a surface profilometer, an ultraviolet-visible spectrometer, a Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometer and a scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to characterize the deposited thin films. It is found that the deposition rate firstly increased and then decreased and the optical band gap monotonically decreased with the increasing deposition pressure. Moreover, the formation of SiH bond was preferable to the formation of SH2 or SiH3 bond when the deposition pressure was less than 210 Pa, while it was opposite when the deposition pressure is higher than 210 Pa. Finally, the deposition pressure in the range of 110~210 Pa was found to be more suitable for the preparation of high quality a-Si:H thin films.

[Spectral Characteristics of Si Quantum Dots Embedded in SiN(x) Thin Films Prepared by Magnetron Co-Sputtering].

The silicon-rich SiN(x) films were fabricated on Si(100) substrate and quartz substrate at different substrate temperatures varying from room temperature to 400 degrees C by bipolar pulse ane RF magnetron co-sputtering deposition technique. After deposition, the films were annealed in a nitrogen atmosphere by rapid photothermal annealing at 1050 degrees C for 3 minutes. This thermal step allows the formation of the silicon quantum dots. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, grazing incidence X-ray diffraction and photoluminescence spectroscopy were used to analyze the bonding configurations, microstructures and luminescence properties of the films. The experimental results showed that: silicon-rich Si-N bonds were found in Fourier transform infrared spectra, suggesting that the silicon-rich SiN, films were successfully prepared; when the substrate temperature was not lower than 200 degrees C, the Raman spectra of the films showed the transverse optical mode of Si-Si vibration, while the significant diffraction peaks of Si(111) and Si(311) were shown in grazing incidence X-ray diffraction spectra, confirming the formation of silicon quantum dots; our work indicated that there was an optimal substrate temperature (300 degrees C), which could significantly increase the amount and the crystalline volume fraction of silicon quantum dots; three visible photoluminescence bands can be obtained for both 30 degrees C sample and 400 degrees C sample, and in combination with Raman results, the emission peaks were reasonably explained by using the quantum confinement effect and radiative recombination defect state of Si nanocrystals; the average size of the silicon quantum dots is 3.5 and 3.4 nm for the 300 degrees C sample and 400 degrees C sample, respectively. These results are useful for optimizing the fabrication parameters of silicon quantum dots embedded in SiN. thin films and have valuable implications for silicon based photoelectric device applications.

[Research on the phase and optical properties of nc-Si films prepared by low temperature aluminum induced crystallization].

In the present paper, nanocrystalline silicon thin films on glass substrates were prepared by rapid thermal annealing (RTA) of RF magnetron sputtered system and alpha-Si/Al films at a low temperature in Nz atmosphere. Optical metallographic microscope, confocal optical microscopy, X-ray diffractometer, Raman scattering and UV-Vis-NIR spectrometers were used to characterize the surface morphology and the phase and optical properties of nc-Si films. The influence of annealing process on the nc-Si films properties was studied. The results showed that nc-Si films were obtained after aluminum induced crystallization of the alpha-Si/Al films at 300 degrees C, withthe crystallization rate 15.56% and the grain size 1.75 nm. The surface uniformity and lattice distortion of nc-Si films reduced, while grain size, degree of crystallization and the optical band gap of the films increased with increasing annealing temperature from 300 to 400 degrees C. As the annealing temperature increased from 400 to 500 degrees C, although the degree of crystallization and grain size increased, the tendencies of all other characteristics were opposite. On the contrary, the surface uniformity and the lattice distortion increased, but the optical band gap of nc-Si films reduced. The optical properties of the resulting films were confirmed by the absorption model of nc-Si thin films, where the tendency of band gap changes is in consistent with the optical modeling.

Insight into insulator-to-metal transition of sulfur-doped silicon by DFT calculations.

Using density functional theory calculations, the mechanism of insulator-to-metal transition of S-doped Si has been systematically investigated. The calculated crystal structure indicates that the gentle lattice distortion is caused by sulfur doping, and this doping effect is gradually weakened with the increase of sulfur concentration. Two distinct impurity energy levels in the band gap are induced by sulfur doping, and their position and width are linearly varying along with the increase of sulfur concentration. Owing to the overlap and dispersion of these impurity energy levels, the insulator-to-metal transition occurs at the sulfur concentration of 2.095 × 10(20) cm(-3), which is consistent with the experimental measurement. Moreover, the defect states related with sulfur doping show delocalization features and are more outstanding at the higher sulfur concentration. The calculated results suggest that S-hyperdoped Si is a suitable candidate for intermediate band solar cells.

[Study of scintillating luminescence spectra of lead tungstate scintillation crystal doped with ions].

The light yield of the as-grown PbWO4, annealed PbWO4 and BaF2:PbWO4 crystals were raised by utilizing our improved crystal growth instrument and technique. Their scintillating properties including transmittance, decay time and light yield were studied. Results reveal that the scintillating performances of the crystals were improved evidently by using the crystal annealing technique and the ions doping technique, especially the negative ions doping technique. The influence results of the two techniques are different. The ions doping technique raises their transmittance intensity in the whole measuring wavelength range. But the influence of annealing PbWO4 crystal on their transmittance is complicated. It improves its transmittance intensity at the wavelength above 360 nm, but weakens the transmittance intensity of the annealed PbWO4 crystal in the wavelength range from 320 to 360 nm. These phenomena should be related to the crystal defects which have absorption peaks in this wavelength range, especially for V(Pb)3+ defect which has characterized absorption peaks in this wavelength range. Also, the absorption of the defects influences the character of the decay time of these crystals. The big defect concentration relates to the short decay time. It should be mentioned that the ions doping technique reduces the defect content in the crystal, which is beneficial to the high transmittance intensity but induces slightly longer decay time than that of as-grown crystal and well annealed PbWO4 crystal. Also, the ions doping technique of the F- ion doped crystal leads to high light yield. The annealing technique and ions doping technique improve the light yield of crystals. The light yield of BaF2:PbWO4 reaches 65 p.e./MeV, which is near to the requirement of PET. The good result is related to the degeneration of the [WO4]2- tetrahedron induced by the F- occupying the O2- site in the crystal cell.

[The spectrum characterization of non-stoichiometry potassium lithium niobate crystals].

A batch of potassium lithium niobate (KLN) crystals with different compositions were grown by using TSSG technique. Samples with three different compositions were well polished. By using near infrared cw:Ti-sapphire laser, their Second Harmonic Generation (SHG) properties were investigated. The results showed that the SHG effect is related to the composition of the samples, and their frequency-doubling efficiency enhanced with the raise of Li ions content in the crystal. By using infrared Raman technique, the properties of nonlinear lattice vibration of thee samples were investigated, and the character of Raman spectrum were analyzed, as well the effect of composition on the SHG properties were discussed. The analysis results showed the striking effects of Li content for these Raman peaks. For KLN sample with small Li content, the three character peaks belonged to [NbO6]7- octahedron show simple peak. With the raise of Li content in crystal, the peaks belonged to v2 mode were partly split, and the peak belongs to v5 mode was broadened. When the Li content approach to the chemical composition KLN crystal, and the structure of [NbO6]7- octahedron is almost to be disorganized, the peaks belonged to v5 mode were split, and the peaks belonged to v1 mode and v2 mode were partly split also, with more distinct weak peaks in the wavelength range of 100-400 cm(-1). These effects were caused by the raise of Li content, which leads to the severer aberrance of [NbO6]7- octahedron in KLN crystal, and disturbing the lattice vibration of the octahedron. This phenomenon is agreed with the nonlinear properties of potassium lithium niobate crystal.