Proanthocyanidins, also known as condensed tannins, are a class of flavonoid polymers with multiple health benefits such as antioxidant, anti-tumor, and eye-protective effects. Now, researchers have discovered that the TaMYB10 gene controls the presence or absence of condensed tannins in wheat grains. Their findings reveal that TaMYB10 directly activates the expression of core flavonoid pathway genes CHS and DFR, initiating condensed tannin synthesis.

De-Wei Gao's research group at ShanghaiTech University has developed a new method for efficient and highly selective boron-heteroatom functional group exchange reactions. Their method overcomes the inherent difficulty of primary radical instability in traditional free radical chemistry and can achieve highly selective conversion of primary carbon-boron bonds to a variety of heteroatom functional groups. This strategy has been successfully applied to a sugar-derived 1,n-diboron compound system, achieving modular modification and efficient synthesis of sugar molecules and has shown to have potential application in the rapid construction of bioactive molecules. These results were published as an open access article in CCS Chemistry, the flagship journal of the Chinese Chemical Society.

In a groundbreaking study that explores the complex interactions between cyanobacterial blooms and aquatic ecosystems, researchers are examining the effects of cyanobacterial growth and decline on dissolved organic matter and endogenous nutrient release at the sediment–water interface. The study, titled "Effects of Cyanobacterial Growth and Decline on Dissolved Organic Matter and Endogenous Nutrients Release at the Sediment–Water Interface," is led by Prof. Tao Huang from the School of Resources and Environmental Engineering at Anhui University in Hefei, China, and the Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Wetland Ecosystem Protection and Restoration. This research offers valuable insights into the ecological and environmental impacts of cyanobacterial blooms.