The lithium sputtering yield from lithium and tin-lithium surfaces in the liquid state under bombardment by low-energy, singly charged particles as a function of target temperature is measured by using the Ion-surface Interaction Experiment facility. Total erosion exceeds that expected from conventional collisional sputtering after accounting for lithium evaporation for temperatures between 200...

A broad class of “local response” theories seeks to predict morphology evolution during energetic particle irradiation in terms of average surface height response to individual impacts—an approach that has been generalized by the crater function formalism of Norris et al. [J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 21, 224017 (2009); Nat. Commun. 2, 276 (2011)]. Keeping only the terms in the crater function for...

Transient expression via particle bombardment is widely used as a means of gene transfer to bacteria, yeast, animals, and plants. In this study we describe the use of the Hepta adaptor for the PDS-1000/He biolistic system for transformation and transient expression of Mlo in single epidermal cells of detached barley leaves. Barley Mlo is known to dampen plant defense and its expression in singl...

We revisit the validity of the presence of H2O and O3 in the atmosphere of an extra-solar planet as a criterion for the presence of biological activity in progress. We consider different objections to the criterion and specify the conditions for it to apply. Noll et al. (1997) have recently suggested a new process: the synthesis of O2 by particle bombardment of pre-cometary icy grains in the pr...

Particle bombardment and Agrobacterium-mediated transformation are two popular methods currently used for producing transgenic maize. Agrobacterium-mediated transformation is expected to produce transformants carrying fewer copies of the transgene and a more predictable pattern of integration. These putative advantages, however, tradeoff with transformation efficiency in maize when a standard b...

Lilium species (Liliaceae) are a significant floriculture commodity and one of the three major bulb crops in the commercial market. Lilies are monocotyledonous plants that have been generally recalcitrant to molecular genetic manipulation because of limitations that restrict utilization of transformation technologies that are routinely applied to dicotyledonous plants. Cucumber mosaic virus (CM...

The early stages of C(60) bombardment of octane and octatetraene crystals are modeled using molecular dynamics simulations with incident energies of 5-20 keV. Using the AIREBO potential, which allows for chemical reactions in hydrocarbon molecules, we are able to investigate how the projectile energy is partitioned into changes in potential and kinetic energy as well as how much energy flows in...

Scanning tunnelling microscopy has been used to study the effect of ion bombardment at different angles of incidence on a graphite surface. The 246 MeV energy of Kr+ ions was selected in the medium energy range, where the electronic and nuclear stopping is nearly balanced. The low dose (1 x 10(12)/cm2) of ions allows the characterization of single features caused by bombardment in perpendicular...

Sago palm (Metroxylon sagu) is a perennial plant native to Southeast Asia and exploited mainly for the starch content in its trunk. Genetic improvement of sago palm is extremely slow when compared to other annual starch crops. Urgent attention is needed to improve the sago palm planting material and can be achieved through nonconventional methods. We have previously developed a tissue culture m...