Biogenesis of the plant secondary cell wall involves many important aspects, such as phenolic compound deposition and often silica encrustation. Previously, we demonstrated the importance of the exocyst subunit EXO70H4 for biogenesis of the trichome secondary cell wall, namely for deposition of the autofluorescent and callose-rich cell wall layer. Here, we reveal that EXO70H4-driven cell wall biogenesis is constitutively active in the mature trichome, but also can be activated elsewhere upon pathogen attack, giving this study a broader significance with an overlap into phytopathology. To address the specificity of EXO70H4 among the EXO70 family, we complemented the exo70H4-1 mutant by 18 different Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) EXO70 paralogs subcloned under the EXO70H4 promoter. Only EXO70H4 had the capacity to rescue the exo70H4-1 trichome phenotype. Callose deposition phenotype of exo70H4-1 mutant is caused by impaired secretion of PMR4, a callose synthase responsible for the synthesis of callose in the trichome. PMR4 colocalizes with EXO70H4 on plasma membrane microdomains that do not develop in the exo70H4-1 mutant. Using energy-dispersive x-ray microanalysis, we show that both EXO70H4- and PMR4-dependent callose deposition in the trichome are essential for cell wall silicification.

The discovery and exploration of cryptic species have been profoundly expedited thanks to developments in molecular biology and phylogenetics. In this study, we apply a reverse taxonomy approach to the Brachionus calyciflorus species complex, a commonly studied freshwater monogonont rotifer. By combining phylogenetic, morphometric and morphological analyses, we confirm the existence of four cryptic species that have been recently suggested by a molecular study. Based on these results and according to an exhaustive review of the taxonomic literature, we name each of these four species and provide their taxonomic description alongside a diagnostic key.

In this paper, the microstructure of the Czech bentonite B75 was investigated by three methods: water retention curve (WRC) measurements, mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP) measurements and environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM) investigation. The experiments were performed on samples at various compaction levels (between 1·27 and 1·90 g/cm³) and at various suctions (between 3·3 and 290 MPa) along both drying and wetting hydraulic paths. In the ESEM observations, target relative humidities (and thus total suctions) were imposed directly in the ESEM chamber to observe the effect of the hydraulic path on the microstructure. Apart from the inter-lamellar pores, which are not accessible to the adopted experimental techniques, two pore families were identified: micropores and macropores. The transition pore size between the micropores and macropores was found to be suction dependent. The microporosity was practically insensitive to compaction and only the largest micropores were sensitive to suction. Smaller macropores were sensitive to compaction only, whereas larger macropores were sensitive to both compaction and suction. It was observed that, during wetting from the as-compacted state, the macropores remained completely dry up to very low values of suction, whereas the micropores were found to be unsaturated up to the suctions between 10 to 60 MPa. Both macropores and micropores contributed to sample volume changes during drying and wetting. Although the microstructural volume change appeared to be reversible, the macrostructure exhibited permanent deformation.

An environmental scanning electron microscope (ESEM) was used for the first time to obtain well-resolved images, in both temporal and spatial dimensions, of lab-prepared frost flowers (FFs) under evaporation within the chamber temperature range from −5 to −18 °C and pressures above 500 Pa. Our scanning shows temperature-dependent NaCl speciation: the brine covering the ice was observed at all conditions, whereas the NaCl crystals were formed at temperatures below −10 °C as the brine oversaturation was achieved. Finger-like ice structures covered by the brine, with a diameter of several micrometres and length of tens to 100 µm, are exposed to the ambient air. The brine-covered fingers are highly flexible and cohesive. The exposure of the liquid brine on the micrometric fingers indicates a significant increase in the brine surface area compared to that of the flat ice surface at high temperatures; the NaCl crystals formed can become sites of heterogeneous reactivity at lower temperatures. There is no evidence that, without external forces, salty FFs could automatically fall apart to create a number of sub-particles at the scale of micrometres as the exposed brine fingers seem cohesive and hard to break in the middle. The fingers tend to combine together to form large spheres and then join back to the mother body, eventually forming a large chunk of salt after complete dehydration. The present microscopic observation rationalizes several previously unexplained observations, namely, that FFs are not a direct source of sea-salt aerosols and that saline ice crystals under evaporation could accelerate the heterogeneous reactions of bromine liberation.