Abstract Background Transferring herbicide resistance genes to plant cultivars is one of the most effective methods for managing weed growth in agricultural land. The RePAT gene, previously isolated from the marine bacterium Rhodococcus sp . strain YM12, was found to provide glufosinate resistance to plants. Objective In this study, we further investigated the protein structure and function of RePAT isolated from the marine. Methods The physicochemical properties, two-dimensional structure, three-dimensional structure, and functional domains of the RePAT protein were analyzed and predicted using bioinformatics tools, and RePAT was optimized according to codon bias present in Arabidopsis thaliana . Site-directed mutagenesis of RePAT was performed, and the wild-type ( RePAT ) and mutant ( RePAT V120I ) genes were successfully transferred into A. thaliana . Results Our results showed that RePAT was an unstable hydrophilic protein, and six phosphorylation sites and two N-glycosylation sites were predicted. In addition, conserved domains containing the NAT_SF super family and coenzyme A-binding pocket were predicted in RePAT. Transgenic experiments and glufosinate resistance assays showed that the glufosinate resistance of A. thaliana containing the mutant gene ( RePAT V120I ) was lower than that of plants containing the wild-type gene, indicating that the missense mutation in RePAT V120I had a significant effect on its glufosinate resistance. Conclusions Our study provided improvement result for knowing the transferring herbicide resistance gene RePAT .

Abstract The aim of this study was to clarify the influence of inter-metallic compounds (IMCs) on the electrical conductivity of Cu/Al joint. The longitudinal resistance and the lateral current distribution at flash welded and diffusion brazed Cu/Al joint interfaces were investigated using four-point method and conductive atomic force microscopy, respectively. A 2μm Cu9Al4/CuAl2 layer was formed in both joints. The IMCs layer was homogenous and the current distribution interface was planar at diffusion brazed joint. However, the IMCs layer was discontinuous and the current distribution interface was non-planar at flash welded joint. After heat treatment at 350°C for 500h, the thickness of interfacial layer was increased to 50μm. CuAl and a short crack were newly formed in the diffusion brazed joint. CuAl, (Cu,Al)xOy and a long crack were newly formed in the flash welded joint. A multilayer current distribution was found at both heat treated joints. The resistivity of all Cu/Al joints was higher than that of copper and lower than that of aluminum. The resistivity of diffusion brazed joint was the lowest, which was lower than the theoretical value. The resistivity of the heat treated flash welded joint was the highest among all the joints.