Steven Strauss

Steven Strauss
Oregon State University | OSU · Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society

About

518
Publications
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Introduction
You can view and download most publications here: http://people.forestry.oregonstate.edu/steve-strauss/publications

Publications

Publications (518)
Article
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Introduction: CRISPR gene editing, while highly efficient in creating desired mutations, also has the potential to cause off-target mutations. This risk is especially high in clonally propagated plants, where editing reagents may remain in the genome for long periods of time or in perpetuity. We studied a diverse population of Populus and Eucalyptu...
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Wide variation in amenability to transformation and regeneration (TR) among many plant species and genotypes presents a challenge to the use of genetic engineering in research and breeding. To help understand the causes of this variation, we performed association mapping and network analysis using a population of 1204 wild trees of Populus trichoca...
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Plant regeneration is an important dimension of plant propagation and a key step in the production of transgenic plants. However, regeneration capacity varies widely among genotypes and species, the molecular basis of which is largely unknown. While association mapping methods such as genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have long demonstrated ab...
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Eucalyptus spp. are widely cultivated for the production of pulp, energy, essential oils, and as ornamentals. However, their dispersal from plantings, especially when grown as an exotic, can cause ecological disruptions. To provide new tools for prevention of sexual dispersal by pollen as well as to induce male-sterility for hybrid breeding, we stu...
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Plant migration and gene flow from genetically-modified or exotic trees to nearby lands or by crossing with wild relatives is a major public and regulatory concern. Many genetic strategies exist to mitigate potential gene flow, however, the long delay in onset of flowering is a severe constraint to research progress. We used heat-induced-FT-overexp...
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Adventitious rooting is critical to the propagation, breeding, and genetic engineering of trees. The capacity for plants to undergo this process is highly heritable and of a polygenic nature; however, the basis of its genetic variation is largely uncharacterized. To identify genetic regulators of adventitious rooting, we performed a genome-wide ass...
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Ectomycorrhizas are an intrinsic component of tree nutrition and responses to environmental variations. How epigenetic mechanisms might regulate these mutualistic interactions is unknown. By manipulating the level of expression of the chromatin remodeler DECREASE IN DNA METHYLATION 1 (DDM1) and two demethylases DEMETER‐LIKE (DML) in Populus tremula...
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To enhance the sensitivity of an ongoing Genome Wide Association Study (GWAS) for in vitro shoot regeneration and genetic transformation, a wide range of factors that can affect regeneration rate and, therefore, expression of genetic diversity were studied. Included were explant types and sources; direct versus indirect regeneration; nitrogen salts...
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In preparation for a major GWAS (Genome Wide Association Study) of plant regeneration and transformation, a large number of factors were examined for their effects on indirect regeneration rate in diverse wild genotypes—seeking a high rate of regeneration, but also highly genetically variable and heritable treatments. Many of the factors examined h...
Preprint
Adventitious rooting is critical to the propagation, breeding, and genetic engineering or editing of trees. The capacity for plants to undergo these processes is highly heritable; however, the basis of its genetic variation is largely uncharacterized. To identify genetic regulators of these processes, we performed a genome-wide association study (G...
Preprint
Plant regeneration is an element of natural and horticultural plant propagation, and a key step in the production of transgenic plants. However, regeneration capacity varies widely among genotypes and species, the molecular basis of which is largely unknown. To shed light on the causes of variation in natural regeneration capacity, we undertook a G...
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The abilities of plant biologists and breeders to characterize the genetic basis of physiological traits are limited by their abilities to obtain quantitative data representing precise details of trait variation, and particularly to collect this data at a high-throughput scale with low cost. Although deep learning methods have demonstrated unpreced...
Article
Perfluoroalkylation is an effective strategy for lowering the valence orbital energies of arenes and is therefore used for the design of new n-type semiconductors. Here we present a strategy for the efficient reaction of the diazaarene phenazine (PHNZ) with 1,4-C4F8I2, which finally leads to the cyclization products 1,2- and 2,3-PHNZ(c-C4F8) (c- =...
Preprint
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The abilities of plant biologists and breeders to characterize the genetic basis of physiological traits is limited by their abilities to obtain quantitative data representing precise details of trait variation, and particularly to collect this data at a high-throughput scale at low cost. Although deep learning methods have demonstrated unprecedent...
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The spread of transgenes and exotic germplasm from planted crops into wild or feral species is a difficult problem for public and regulatory acceptance of genetically engineered plants, particularly for wind-pollinated trees such as poplar. We report that overexpression of a poplar homolog of the floral repressor SHORT VEGETATIVE PHASE-LIKE (SVL),...
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Populus has a wide ecogeographical range spanning the Northern Hemisphere, and interspecific hybrids are common. Populus tomentosa Carr. is widely distributed and cultivated in the eastern region of Asia, where it plays multiple important roles in forestry, agriculture, conservation, and urban horticulture. Reference genomes are available for sever...
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The central floral development gene LEAFY (LFY), whose mutation leads to striking changes in flowering and often sterility, is commonly expressed in non-floral structures; however, its role in vegetative development is poorly understood. Sterility associated with suppression of LFY expression is an attractive means for mitigating gene flow by both...
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Trees are long‐lived organisms that continuously adapt to their environments, a process in which epigenetic mechanisms are likely to play a key role. Via downregulation of the chromatin remodeler DECREASED IN DNA METHYLATION 1 (DDM1) in poplar (Populus tremula × Populus alba) RNAi lines, we examined how DNA methylation coordinates genomic and physi...
Preprint
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Populus has a wide ecogeographical range spanning the Northern Hemisphere, and exhibits abundant distinct species and hybrids globally. Populus tomentosa Carr. is widely distributed and cultivated in the eastern region of Asia, where it plays multiple important roles in forestry, agriculture, conservation, and urban horticulture. Reference genomes...
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Eucalyptus is among the most widely planted taxa of forest trees worldwide. However, its spread as an exotic or genetically engineered form can create ecological and social problems. To mitigate gene flow via pollen and seeds, we mutated the Eucalyptus ortholog of LEAFY (LFY) by transforming a Eucalyptus grandis x urophylla hybrid and two Flowering...
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Plants transition through juvenile and adult phases of vegetative development in a process known as vegetative phase change (VPC). In poplars (genus Populus) the differences between these stages are subtle, making it difficult to determine when this transition occurs. Previous studies of VPC in poplars have relied on plants propagated in vitro, lea...
Article
In this work, the photostability of certain organic photovoltaic (OPV) active layers was demonstrated to improve by as much as a factor of five under white light illumination in air with the use of 1,7-bis-trifluoromethylfullerene (C60(CF3)2) as the acceptor in place of PC60BM. However, the results were highly dependent on the structure and functio...
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For decades, plants have been the subject of genetic engineering to synthesize novel, value-added compounds. Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs), a large class of biodegradable biopolymers naturally synthesized in eubacteria, are among the novel products that have been introduced to make use of plant acetyl-CoA metabolic pathways. It was hoped that renewa...
Article
Fullerenes and their derivatives are among the most commonly used electron transport materials. However, the use of fullerenes is limited by their low stability in ambient air. Here, we test the hypothesis that the air-stability of fullerene-based electron transport materials can be improved by adding fluorinated functional groups, making the mater...
Preprint
Full-text available
Plants transition through juvenile and adult phases of vegetative development in a process known as vegetative phase change (VPC). In poplars (genus Populus ) the differences between these stages are subtle, making it difficult to determine when this transition occurs. Previous studies of VPC in poplars have relied on plants propagated in vitro , s...
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Sweetgums (Liquidambar ), members of the family Altingiaceae (Altingiales), have inflorescences and floral organs that are distinctive in structure compared with other angiosperms in which the roles of floral homeotic genes have been studied. To begin to understand the role of AGAMOUS (AG)—a floral homeotic gene that has a major role in stamen and...
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Populus tremuloides is the widest‐ranging tree species in North America and an ecologically important component of mesic forest ecosystems displaced by the Pleistocene glaciations. Using phylogeographic analyses of genome‐wide SNPs (34,796 SNPs, 183 individuals) and ecological niche modeling, we inferred population structure, ploidy levels, admixtu...
Preprint
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As fixed and long living organisms subjected to repeated environmental stresses, trees have developed mechanisms such as phenotypic plasticity that help them to cope with fluctuating environmental conditions. Here, we tested the role DNA methylation as a hub of integration, linking plasticity and physiological response to water deficit in the shoot...
Preprint
Populus tomentosa is widely distributed and cultivated in the Northern and Central China, where it is of great economic and ecological importance. However, the origin of P. tomentosa remains controversial. Here, we used a PacBio+Hi-C+Illumina strategy to sequence and assemble its 740.2 Mb (2n) genome. The assembly accounts for greater than 92.1% of...
Article
Synthesis of a new family of fluorous perylenes is reported here that involves direct substitution of perfluorobenzyl groups in a solution-phase copper-promoted high-temperature reaction. Formation of the molecules with up to five substituents was observed, and five major products with one, two, and three perfluorobenzyl groups were isolated with h...
Article
We report the synthesis and excited-state dynamics for a series of homoleptic copper(I) trifluoromethylated phenanthroline complexes with two, three, and four trifluoromethyl functional groups. Our analysis of the steady-state absorbance and emission, transient-absorption spectroscopy, and electronic-structure-theory calculations results enable in-...
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Hybrid-poplar tree plantations provide a source for biofuel and biomass, but they also increase forest isoprene emissions. The consequences of increased isoprene emissions include higher rates of tropospheric ozone production, increases in the lifetime of methane, and increases in atmospheric aerosol production, all of which affect the global energ...
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Singlet fission promises to surpass the Shockley–Queisser limit for single-junction solar cell efficiency through the production of two electron–hole pairs per incident photon. However, this promise has not been fulfilled because singlet fission produces two low-energy triplet excitons that have been unexpectedly difficult to dissociate into free c...
Article
Room-temperature ATR-FTIR spectra of the structurally characterized crystalline lithium salt Li2(H2O)4(B12F12), which contains a cyclic S4 symmetry (H2O)4 cluster, and several partially or completely deuterated isotopologs, suggest the following conclusions: (i) B and E normal modes gave rise to two distinguishable ν(OHbound) bands, separated by 42...
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FTIR spectra of microcrystalline samples of 11 metal ion salt hydrates of a variety of weakly coordinating fluoroanions are reported. The compounds studied were Li(H2O)4(Al(OC(CF3)3)4), Li(H2O)(B(3,5-C6H3(CF3)2)4), Li(H2O) n (Ga(C2F5)4), Li(H2O)(PF6), Li2(H2O)2(TiF6), Li2(H2O)4(B12F12), Na(H2O)(PF6), Na2(H2O)2(B12F12), K2(H2O)2(B12F12), Rb2(H2O)2(B...
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A solution, solid‐state, and computational study is reported of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon PAH/PAH(CF3)n donor/acceptor (D/A) charge‐transfer complexes that involve six PAH(CF3)n acceptors with known gas‐phase electron affinities that range from 2.11(2) to 2.805(15) eV and four PAH donors, including seven CT co‐crystal X‐ray structures that ex...
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Mycorrhizal fungi form mutualistic associations with the roots of most land plants and provide them with mineral nutrients from the soil in exchange for fixed carbon derived from photosynthesis. The common symbiosis pathway (CSP) is a conserved molecular signaling pathway in all plants capable of associating with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi . It i...
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Root sprouts-the formation of new shoots from roots-is an important mechanism for local gene flow from poplar (Populus spp). An effective strategy to reduce root sprout formation could therefore help to ensure containment during field research and commercial deployment of poplar when grown as exotic or transgenic forms. We used a flavonoid glycosyl...
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Faux‐hawk fullerenes are promising candidates for high‐performance organic field‐effect transistors (OFETs). They show dense molecular packing and high thermal stability. Furthermore, in contrast to most other C60 derivates, functionalization of the fullerene core by the fluorinated group C6F4CF2 does not increase their lowest unoccupied orbital po...
Article
The first successful example of vacuum‐deposited organic photovoltaic cells (OPVs) based on a fullerene derivative and a small‐molecule donor is reported here. A series of thermally robust fluorous fullerene acceptors with experimental gas‐phase electron affinities ranging from 2.8 to 3.3 eV are paired with a new dicyanovinyl thiophene‐based molecu...
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Genome‐wide association studies (GWAS) have great promise for identifying the loci that contribute to adaptive variation, but the complex genetic architecture of many quantitative traits presents a substantial challenge. We measured 14 morphological and physiological traits and identified single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)‐phenotype associations...
Article
The X-ray and DFT-optimized structures of the electron acceptor 2,3,6,7,9,10-anthra-cene(CF 3 ) 6 (ANTH-6-1) and the 1/2 donor/acceptor co-crystal pyrene/(ANTH-6-1) 2 are reported. These structures, along with extensive DFT calculations on various conformations of ANTH-6-1 and 9,10-ANTH(CF 3 ) 2 , suggest that the degree of bending of the aromatic...
Book
This Research Topic addresses research in genomics and biotechnology to improve the growth and quality of forest trees for wood, pulp, biorefineries and carbon capture. Forests are the world’s greatest repository of terrestrial biomass and biodiversity. Forests serve critical ecological services, supporting the preservation of fauna and flora, and...
Article
Eight M(H2O) n(Z) salt hydrates were characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction (Z2- = B12F122-): M = Ca, Sr, n = 7; M = Mg, Co, Ni, Zn, n = 6; M = Ba, n = 4, 5. Weak O-H···F hydrogen bonding between the M(H2O) n2+ cations and Z2- resulted in room-temperature Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra having sharp ν(OH) bands, with full width...
Article
Invited for this month's cover are the groups of Steven Strauss/Olga Boltalina at Colorado State University, and Yu‐Sheng Chen at the NSF's ChemMatCARS. The cover picture shows the evolution of fluorous triphenylene crystal packing motifs against the backdrop of the Very Large Array near Magdalena in New Mexico, where scientists study the evolution...
Article
The front cover shows the evolution of fluorous triphenylene crystal packing motifs against the backdrop of the Very Large Array near Magdalena, New Mexico, USA, where scientists study the evolution of the universe. The stepwise structural evolution in columnar packing observed was possible because of the development of a one‐step selective synthes...
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The incorporation of DNA into plant genomes followed by regeneration of non-chimeric stable plants (transformation) remains a major challenge for most plant species. Forest trees are particularly difficult as a result of their biochemistry, aging, desire for clonal fidelity, delayed reproduction, and high diversity. We review two complementary appr...
Article
Use of D3h‐symmetrical triphenylene (TRPH) as a substrate for high‐temperature radical reactions with C4F8I2 under varying conditions resulted in the introduction of four types of fluorinated substituents: ω‐C4F8H, c‐C4F8, c‐C4F4, or c‐C4F3H. In contrast to the previous work on direct (poly)substitutions with RF groups in PAHs, in this work regiosp...
Article
We report attenuated total reflection FTIR spectra of microcrystalline samples of M2(H2O)n(B12F12) (M[dbnd]Na, K, Rb, Cs) and Na2(H2O)6(B12Cl12). The ν(OH) bands are unusually narrow compared to the spectra of other alkali metal salt hydrates, with most full widths at half-max less than 20 cm⁻¹ and some less than 10 cm⁻¹. In addition, these bands a...
Preprint
Full-text available
Populus tremuloides is the widest-ranging tree species in North America, and an ecologically important component of mesic forest ecosystems displaced by the Pleistocene glaciations. Using phylogeographic analyses of genome-wide SNPs (34,796 SNPs, 183 individuals) and ecological niche modeling, we inferred population structure, admixture, and Pleist...
Preprint
Full-text available
Populus tremuloides is the widest-ranging tree species in North America, and an ecologically important component of mesic forest ecosystems displaced by the Pleistocene glaciations. Using phylogeographic analyses of genome-wide SNPs (34,796 SNPs, 183 individuals) and ecological niche modeling, we inferred population structure, admixture, and Pleist...
Article
The photobleaching dynamics of a series of three organic photovoltaic (OPV) donor polymer blends with five different fullerenes are presented. The fullerenes studied include PC60BM and four perfluoroalkylfullerenes with relatively large electron affinities, namely C60(CF3)2, C60(i-C3F7)2, C60(CF3)4, and C60(CF3)8. The donor polymers were all based...
Article
The Front Cover shows a striking pentagon‐shaped inflorescence of early blooms of Lantana camara overlaid by the unprecedented pentagonal array of stacks of corannulene (CORA) bowls in the structure of 1,3,5,7,9‐CORA(CF3)5. Each stack is comprised of a gear‐like meshing of CF3 groups with alternating chirality; molecules with C5 symmetry lead to es...
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Full-text available
Genetic engineering of trees to improve productivity, wood quality, and resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses has been the primary goal of the forest biotechnology community for decades. We review the extensive progress in these areas and their current status with respect to commercial applications. Examples include novel methods for lignin mod...
Article
Fullerene C60 was reacted with SF5CF2CF2I and SF5CF2I in the presence of Cu powder at 140–180 °C resulting in the successful production of the first pentafluorosulfanyl-functionalized fullerenes. In contrast to perfluoroalkyl iodides, which typically form (poly)perfluoroalkylfullerenes upon heating, the SF5CF2CF2I reagent produced three types of pr...
Article
The compound (SiEt3)2(B12F12) was generated in hexane by reacting SiHEt3 with (CPh3)2(B12F12) in a 2:1 mole ratio. A small crop of crystals of the very reactive compound (SiEt3)2(B12F12) suitable for diffraction was isolated and its structure was determined by X-ray crystallography (Pbca, a = 16.67(1) Å, b = 17.77(1) Å, c = 18.53(1) Å). Two SiR3⁺ c...
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New insights into the process of high‐temperature trifluoromethylation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were gained in a detailed study of reactions between corannulene (CORA, C20H10) and CF3I gas. Ten new poly(trifluoromethyl)corannulenes were made in these reactions and were fully characterized, several by X‐ray crystallography. One of...
Article
Two organic photovoltaic (OPV) donor materials (one polymer and one small molecule) are synthesized from the same constituent building blocks, namely thiophene units, cyclopentathiophene dione (CTD), and cyclopentadithiophene (CPDT). Photobleaching dynamics of these donor materials are then studied under white light illumination in air with blends...
Article
A new, easily scalable reactor for trifluoromethylation of carbon-rich thermally stable substrates has been designed, built, and tested in this work. This reactor can withstand temperatures up to 520 °C and pressures up to 10⁶ Torr (20,000 psi). Several proof-of-concept experiments with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and fullerenes were performed...
Article
The interdigitated and layered structures of the tetraalkylferrocenium salts [DEC][CB11H12], [DEC]2[B12F12], [DEC][BF4], [DEC][PF6], and [DEC][ClO3] were determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction (DEC⁺ = 1,1′,3,3′-tetrakis(2-methyl-2-nonyl)ferrocenium(1+)). The structures of the salts of the two smaller anions were similar to the previously pu...
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Aims Plant stature can be strongly modified via regulation of endog-enous levels and signalling of the plant hormone gibberellin (GA). Down-regulation of GA can produce semi-dwarf tree varieties with improved qualities such as reduced susceptibility to wind damage, enhanced root growth and more compact cultivation. However, these modifications may...
Article
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In a context of global climate change, trees as sessile and long lifespan organisms need to develop mechanisms enabling them to adapt and to survive. These last years, epigenetic mechanisms such as DNA methylation have been proposed as a valuable resource since they can be triggered by the environmental conditions in a reversible-way. However, evid...
Article
Designed synthesis of a new crystalline donor-acceptor organic hybrid has been accomplished by using two bowl-shaped polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) having complementary structures and properties, namely, C20H10 and C5-C20H5(CF3)5. The X-ray structural characterization of the product, [(C20H10)·(C20H5(CF3)5)]·C6H4Cl2, revealed the formation...
Article
Two series of aromatic compounds with perfluoroalkyl (RF) groups of increasing length, 1,3,5,7-naphthalene(RF)4 and 1,3,5,7,9-corannulene(RF)5, have been prepared and their electronic properties studied by low-temperature PES (i.e., gas-phase electron affinity measurements). These and many related compounds were also studied by DFT calculations. Th...
Article
Structures of the alkali-metal hydrates Li2(H2O)4Z, LiK(H2O)4Z, Na2(H2O)3Z, and Rb2(H2O)2Z, unit cell parameters for Rb2Z and Rb2(H2O)2Z, and the density functional theory (DFT)-optimized structures of K2Z, K2(H2O)2Z, Rb2Z, Rb2(H2O)2Z, Cs2Z, and Cs2(H2O)Z are reported (Z(2-) = B12F12(2-)) and compared with previously reported X-ray structures of Na...