Study of Wax Deposition Pattern of High Wax-Bearing Crude Oil Based on Cold Finger Experiment

In order to solve the problem of wax deposition in waxy crude oil from the Daqing oilfield, cold fingers were used in the experimentation. Compared with other methods, the cold finger method is simple, easy to operate, and takes little space. Measurements of wax deposition with temperature, temperature differences between the crude oil and the wall, deposition time, and cold finger rotation rate were made. The results showed that the deposition rate is up to 0.35 g/h at 8–24 h. The maximum deposition rate at 90 rotations/min was 0.26 g/h, which is 3% higher than the minimum deposition rate.

Cell Wall Layer Induced in Xylem Fibers of Flax Upon Gravistimulation Is Similar to Constitutively Formed Cell Walls of Bast Fibers

In the fibers of many plant species after the formation of secondary cell walls, cellulose-enriched cell wall layers (often named G-layers or tertiary cell walls) are deposited which are important in many physiological situations. Flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) phloem fibers constitutively develop tertiary cell walls during normal plant growth. During the gravitropic response after plant inclination, the deposition of a cellulose-enriched cell wall layer is induced in xylem fibers on one side of the stem, providing a system similar to that of tension wood in angiosperm trees. Atomic force microscopy (AFM), immunochemistry, and transcriptomic analyses demonstrated that the G-layer induced in flax xylem fibers was similar to the constitutively formed tertiary cell wall of bast (phloem) fibers but different from the secondary cell wall. The tertiary cell walls, independent of tissue of origin and inducibility, were twice as stiff as the secondary cell walls. In the gravitropic response, the tertiary cell wall deposition rate in xylem was higher than that of the secondary cell wall. Rhamnogalacturonan I (RG-I) with galactan side chains was a prominent component in cellulose-rich layers of both phloem and xylem flax fibers. Transcriptomic events underlying G-layer deposition in phloem and xylem fibers had much in common. At the induction of tertiary cell wall deposition, several genes for rhamnosyltransferases of the GT106 family were activated in xylem samples. The same genes were expressed in the isolated phloem fibers depositing the tertiary cell wall. The comparison of transcriptomes in fibers with both inducible and constitutive tertiary cell wall deposition and xylem tissues that formed the secondary cell walls is an effective system that revealed important molecular players involved in the formation of cellulose-enriched cell walls.

Developmental and environmental factors driving xylem anatomy and micro-density

<p>The current research on the dynamics of tree ring formation in conifers has provided new insights into how rate and duration xylem-cell production and development control the size of the xylem conduits leading to the formation of earlywood and latewood. So far, the physiology behind wood formation processes and the associated kinetics has rarely been considered, leading to the impossibility to grasp the drivers of wood density changes along the tree-rings. Despite the importance of wood density for carbon sequestration and tree hydraulics, little is known about the factors controlling variations in wood density across the tree ring, i.e. micro-density, at the intra-annual scale. We first developed a process-based mechanistic model that simulates the development of conifer tracheids from a simple sugar signal that we discuss together with the main kinetics and environmental variables leading to the formation of micro-density in black spruce, the main conifers species in the boreal forest of Canada. At the beginning of the growing season, low sugar availability in the cambium results in slow wall deposition that allows for a lengthier enlargement time thus producing large cells with thin walls (i.e. earlywood). In late summer and early autumn, high sugar availability produces narrower cells with thick cell walls (i.e. latewood). Wood formation dynamics had an indirect effect on micro-density. Micro-density increased under longer periods of cell wall deposition and shorter durations of enlargement. Cell diameter indirectly affected micro-density via cell wall thickness, which was the most important parameter affecting micro-density. Cell traits experienced the joint action of enlargement and secondary wall deposition in shaping the intra-annual patterns of tree rings. Our results point to the predictive power of a simple sugar signal. During the growing season, the amount of carbon allocated to wood formation largely influences the duration of cell differentiation, thus modulating cell diameter, cell wall thickness and by result tree-ring micro-density.</p><p> </p>

Phase transformation from PbS to PbSe:S in hot-wall deposition of nanocomposite thin film with evaporation sources of PbS and ZnSe

Simultaneous evaporation of PbS and ZnSe using hot-wall deposition was investigated to prepare nanocomposite thin films. X-ray diffraction patterns indicated that the films formed a phase mixture of ZnSe and PbSe, suggesting that an evaporation source of PbS phase-transformed to PbSe during a film deposition. Wavelength-dispersive spectroscopy indicated that the composite contains a small amount of S below 1 at.%. High-angle annular dark-field scanning transmission electron microscopy and line scan analysis in electron energy-loss spectroscopy indicated that PbSe nanocrystals were dispersed in a ZnSe, while S tended to segregate in ZnSe matrix. Photocurrent spectra indicated that peak position at approximately 460 nm shifted toward a shorter wavelength as Pb concentration increased.

Evidences of Different Drought Sensitivity in Xylem Cell Developmental Processes in South Siberia Scots Pines

Research Highlights: This study emphasized the importance of multi-parameter analyses along ecological gradients for a more holistic understanding of the complex mechanism of tree-ring formation. Background and Objectives: The analysis of climatic signals from cell anatomical features measured along series of tree-rings provides mechanistic details on how environmental drivers rule tree-ring formation. However, the processes of cell development might not be independent, limiting the interpretation of the cell-based climatic signal. In this study, we investigated the variability, intercorrelations and climatic drivers of wood anatomical parameters, resulting from consequent cell developmental processes. Materials and Methods: The study was performed on thin cross-sections from wood cores sampled at ~1.3 m stem height from mature trees of Pinus sylvestris L. growing at five sampling sites along an ecological gradient from cold and wet to hot and dry within continental Southern Siberia. Tracheid number per radial file, their diameters and wall thicknesses were measured along the radial direction from microphotographs for five trees per site. These parameters were then averaged at each site for earlywood and latewood over the last 50 tree rings to build site chronologies. Their correlations among themselves and with 21-day moving climatic series were calculated. Results: Our findings showed that wood formation was not simply the result of environmentally driven independent subprocesses of cell division, enlargement and wall deposition. These processes appear to be interconnected within each zone of the ring, as well as between earlywood and latewood. However, earlywood parameters tend to have more distinctive climatic responses and lower intercorrelations. On the other hand, there are clear indications that the mechanisms of cell division and enlargement share similar climatic drivers and are more sensitive to water limitation than the process of wall deposition. Conclusions: Indications were provided that (i) earlywood formation left a legacy on latewood formation, (ii) cell division and enlargement shared more similar drivers between each other than with wall deposition, and (iii) the mechanism of cell division and enlargement along the gradient switch from water to heat limitations at different thresholds than wall deposition.

XND1 regulates secondary wall deposition in xylem vessels through inhibition of VND functions

Secondary wall deposition in xylem vessels is activated by Vascular-Related NAC Domain proteins (VNDs) that belong to a group of secondary wall NAC (SWN) transcription factors. In contrast, Xylem NAC Domain1 (XND1) negatively regulates secondary wall deposition in xylem vessels when overexpressed. The mechanism by which XND1 exerts its functions remains elusive. We employed the promoter of the fiber-specific Secondary Wall-Associated NAC Domain1 (SND1) gene to ectopically express XND1 in fiber cells to investigate its mechanism of action on secondary wall deposition. Ectopic expression of XND1 in fiber cells severely diminished their secondary wall deposition and drastically reduced the expression of SWN-regulated downstream transcription factors and secondary wall biosynthetic genes but not that of the SWN genes themselves. Transactivation analyses revealed that XND1 specifically inhibited SWN-activated expression of these downstream genes but not their MYB46-activated expression. Both the NAC domain and the C-terminus of XND1 were required for its inhibitory function and its NAC domain interacted with the DNA-binding domains of SWNs. XND1 was shown to be localized in the cytoplasm and the nucleus and its co-expression with VND6 resulted in cytoplasmic sequestration of VND6. Furthermore, the C-terminus of XND1 was indispensable for the XND1-mediated cytoplasmic retention of VND6 and its fusion to VND6 was able to direct VND6 to the cytoplasm and render it unable to activate gene expression. Since the XND1 gene is specifically expressed in xylem cells, these results indicate that XND1 acts through inhibiting VND functions to negatively regulate secondary wall deposition in xylem vessels.