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Ecophysiological Leaf Traits of Forty-Seven Woody Species under Long-Term Acclimation in a Botanical Garden
No full textEx situ conservation plays an important role in the conservation and utilization of plant resources. In recent years, botanical gardens have greatly improved the ex situ conservation of plants, and research has mainly focused on morphological characteristics, reproduction technology, and conservation value. There are few studies on the ecophysiological traits of plants after conservation. Forty-seven plants that are frequently used in North China and were grown in the Beijing Botanic Garden were selected to measure their photosynthetic traits, light-use efficiency (LUE), water-use efficiency (WUE), specific leaf area (SLA), relative chlorophyll content (SPAD), and leaf water potential (phi). An analysis of variance showed that there were significant differences in the ecophysiological traits of the leaves of 47 woody species. The light saturation point (LSP), net photosynthetic rate at light saturation (Pnmax), phi, and SLA had significant differences among different plant life forms. The SLA and SPAD of leaves were significantly different among the families. The LUE of all species reached its maximum under a low light intensity, and species with a large difference between the light saturation point and light compensation point had larger Pnmax values. This research further adds to the understanding of the adaptation mechanisms of plants to the environment under the conditions of a botanical garden as well as the environmental fitness in a long-term ex situ domestication and then helps with scientifically setting up artificial management conditions
A globally relevant stock of soil nitrogen in the Yedoma permafrost domain
No full textNitrogen regulates multiple aspects of the permafrost climate feedback, including plant growth, organic matter decomposition, and the production of the potent greenhouse gas nitrous oxide. Despite its importance, current estimates of permafrost nitrogen are highly uncertain. Here, we compiled a dataset of >2000 samples to quantify nitrogen stocks in the Yedoma domain, a region with organic-rich permafrost that contains similar to 25% of all permafrost carbon. We estimate that the Yedoma domain contains 41.2 gigatons of nitrogen down to similar to 20metre for the deepest unit, which increases the previous estimate for the entire permafrost zone by similar to 46%. Approximately 90% of this nitrogen (37 gigatons) is stored in permafrost and therefore currently immobile and frozen. Here, we show that of this amount, 3/4 is stored >3 metre depth, but if partially mobilised by thaw, this large nitrogen pool could have continental-scale consequences for soil and aquatic biogeochemistry and global-scale consequences for the permafrost feedback
Anti-Inflammatory Functions of Methanol Extract from Malus baccata (L.) Borkh. Leaves and Shoots by Targeting the NF-κB Pathway
No full textMalus baccata (L.) Borkh. is a widely used medical plant in Asia. Since the anti-inflammatory mechanism of this plant is not fully understood, the aim of this study was to explore the anti-inflammatory function and mechanism of Malus baccata (L.) Borkh. methanol extract (Mb-ME). For in vitro experiments, nitric oxide production assay, PCR, overexpression strategy, immunoblotting, luciferase reporter assay, and immunoprecipitation were employed to explore the molecular mechanism and the target proteins of Mb-ME. For in vivo experiments, an HCl/EtOH-induced gastritis mouse model was used to confirm the anti-inflammatory function. Mb-ME showed a strong ability to inhibit the production of nitric oxide and the expression of inflammatory genes. Mb-ME decreased NF-kappa B luciferase activity mediated by MyD88 and TRIF. Moreover, Mb-ME blocked the activation of Src, Syk, p85, Akt, p50, p60, IKK alpha/beta, and I kappa B alpha in LPS-induced RAW264.7 cells. Overexpression and immunoprecipitation analyses suggested Syk and Src as the target enzymes of Mb-ME. In vitro results showed that Mb-ME could alleviate gastritis and relieve the protein expression of p-Src, p-Syk, and COX-2, as well as the gene expression of COX-2 and TNF-alpha. In summary, this study implied that Mb-ME performs an anti-inflammatory role by suppressing Syk and Src in the NF-kappa B signaling pathway, both in vivo and in vitro
Installing a Green Engine To Drive an Enzyme Cascade: A Light-Powered In Vitro Biosystem for Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) Synthesis
No full textMany existing in vitro biosystems harness power from the chemical energy contained in substrates and co-substrates, and light or electric energy provided from abiotic parts, leading to a compromise in atom economy, incompatibility between biological and abiotic parts, and most importantly, incapability to spatiotemporally co-regenerate ATP and NADPH. In this study, we developed a light-powered in vitro biosystem for poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) synthesis using natural thylakoid membranes (TMs) to regenerate ATP and NADPH for a five-enzyme cascade. Through effective coupling of cofactor regeneration and mass conversion, 20 mM PHB was yielded from 50 mM sodium acetate with a molar conversion efficiency of carbon of 80.0 % and a light-energy conversion efficiency of 3.04 %, which are much higher than the efficiencies of similar in vitro PHB synthesis biosystems. This suggests the promise of installing TMs as a green engine to drive more enzyme cascades
The importance of rare versus abundant phoD-harboring subcommunities in driving soil alkaline phosphatase activity and available P content in Chinese steppe ecosystems
No full textThe alkaline phosphatase-harboring community (the phoD community hereafter) plays an important role in organic P mineralization. Here, we comparatively studied the biogeographical patterns of abundant and rare phoD subcommunities and their roles in mediating soil phosphatase (ALP) activity and available P content in three representative steppe regions in China, namely the Inner Mongolian Plateau, the Loess Plateau, and the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. The results indicated that soil ALP activity, available P content, soil and microbial biomass C:P, N:P ratios varied significantly among steppe regions. Significant differences in diversity, metabolic energy and assembly processes were observed between abundant and rare phoD subcommunities. First, richness of the rare taxa was significantly higher than that of the abundant subcommunities. Second, testing of metabolic theory of ecology showed that rare subcommunities had a higher metabolic activation energy than the abundant taxa. Thirdly, deterministic other than stochastic processes dominated in the community assembly of both subcommunities. Soil pH was the key environmental determinant in community assembly processes for both subcommunities. The relationships among P-cycling parameters and between these parameters and phoD diversity were scale-dependent. The phylogenetic beta diversity of the rare phoD taxa had higher correlations with P-cycling parameters than that with the abundant taxa. More rare than abundant genera were significantly correlated with P limitation and ALP activity at different spatial scales. The rare Frankia was the key genus detecting P limitation, producing ALP and enhancing soil available P in Qinghai-Tibet
Highly efficient activation of endogenous gene in grape using CRISPR/dCas9-based transcriptional activators
No full textOverexpression and knockout (or knockdown) of gene of interest are two commonly used strategies for gene functional study. Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/Cas9 system-mediated gene knockout has been applied in most plant species, including grapevine. However, CRISPR/dCas9 (deactivated Cas9)-based transcriptional activation is still unreported in fruit crops, although a few studies have been documented in Arabidopsis and rice. Here, we tested two transcriptional activators VP64 and TV for transcriptional activation of endogenous genes in grape. Both the dCas9-VP64 and dCas9-TV systems are efficient enough for transcriptional activation of the UDP-glucose flavonoid glycosyltransferases (UFGT) gene in grape cells. The effectiveness of the dCas9-VP64 system in UFGT activation was about 1.6- to 5.6-fold, while the efficiency of the dCas9-TV system was around 5.7- to 7.2-fold. Moreover, in grapevine plants, highly efficient activation of the cold-responsive transcription factor gene CBF4 was achieved by using the dCas9-TV system. The expression of CBF4 was increased 3.7- to 42.3-fold in transgenic plants. Compared with the wild-type plants, the CBF4-activated plants exhibited lower electrolyte leakage after cold treatment. Our results demonstrate the effectiveness of the dCas9-VP64 and dCas9-TV systems in gene activation in grape, which will facilitate application of transcriptional activation in this economically important species
Digital Technology-and-Services-Driven Sustainable Transformation of Agriculture: Cases of China and the EU
No full textChina's sustainable development goals and carbon neutrality targets cannot be achieved without revolutionary transitions of the agricultural sector. The rapid development of digital technologies is believed to play a huge role in this revolution. The ongoing prevention and control of COVID-19 has greatly boosted the penetration of digital technology services in all areas of society, and sustainable transformation driven by digital technologies and services is rapidly becoming an area of innovation and research. Studies have shown that the rapid advancement of digitalization is also accompanied by a series of new governance challenges and problems: (1) unclear strategic orientation and inadequate policy and regulatory responses; (2) various stakeholders have not formed a sustainable community of interest; (3) information explosion is accompanied by information fragmentation and digital divide between countries and populations within countries. Meanwhile, current research has focused more on the role of digital services in urban governance and industrial development and lacks systematic research on its role in sustainable agricultural and rural development. To address the realities faced by different stakeholders in the process of digital transformation of agriculture, this paper aims to propose an inclusive analytical framework based on the meta-governance theory to identify and analyze the demand, supply, actor networks, and incentives in the digital technology-and-services-driven sustainable agricultural transformation, starting from the goals and connotations of sustainable agricultural and rural transformation and the interactions among different stakeholders in governing information flows. This analytical framework is further applied to analyze the cases of China and the EU. Although China and the EU represent different development phases and policy contexts, the framework is valid for capturing the characteristics of information flows and actor networks along the flows. It is concluded that a common information platform based on the stakeholder network would benefit all stakeholders, help reach common framing of issues, and maintain a dynamic exchange of information. Depending on the country context, different types of stakeholders may play different roles in creating, supervising, and maintaining such platforms. Digital infrastructures/products as hardware and farmers digital capacity as 'software' are the two wings for digital sustainable transformation. Innovative incentives from different countries may inspire each other. In any case, farmers' actual farming behavior changes should be an important criterion for evaluating the effects and effectiveness of digital transition governance
Phylogenetic relatedness, functional traits, and spatial scale determine herbivore co-occurrence in a subtropical forest
No full textThe mechanisms driving species co-occurrence are varied and include biotic interactions, abiotic factors, and scale-dependent processes. Based on a comprehensive dataset of lepidopteran herbivores recorded from a large-scale forest biodiversity experiment, we tested the contribution to herbivore species co-occurrence of herbivore phylogenetic relatedness, plant diversity and functional traits, and spatial scale. We found that Lepidoptera co-occurrence was negatively associated with their phylogenetic relatedness, tree diversity, and defensive traits, but positively associated with nutritional functional traits. Furthermore, species co-occurrence was higher at larger spatial scales (tree species or plot) than at smaller scale (individual trees). Our results provide evidence supporting both environmental filtering and competition exclusion hypotheses, and highlight the significance of functionality in shaping species coexistence of herbivores in plant-arthropod systems
Opposite impact of DOM on ROS generation and photoaging of aromatic and aliphatic nano- and micro-plastic particles
No full textDissolved organic matter (DOM) plays a significant role in the photochemical behavior of nano-and micro-plastic particles (NPs/MPs). We investigated the influence of DOM on the mechanism on the photoaging of NPs/MPs with different molecular structures under UV365 irradiation in water. DOM components used in this study are mainly humic acid and fulvic acid. The results showed that DOM promoted the weathering of aliphatic NPs/MPs (polypropylene (PP)), but inhibited or had only a minor effect on the photoaging of aromatic NPs/MPs (poly-styrene (PS) NPs/MPs, carboxyl-modified PS NPs, amino-modified PS NPs, and polycarbonate MPs). NPs with a large surface area may adsorb sufficient DOM on the particle surfaces through pi-pi interactions, which competes with NPs for photon absorption sites, thus, can delay the photoaging of PS NPs. Aromatic MPs may release phenolic compounds that quench center dot OH, thereby weakening the photoaging process. For aliphatic MPs, the detection of peracid, aldehyde, and ketone groups on the polymer surface indicated that DOM promoted weathering of PP MPs, which was primarily because the generation of center dot OH due to DOM photolysis may attack the polymer by C-C bond cleavage and hydrogen extraction reactions. This study provides insight into the UV irradiation weathering process of NPs/MPs of various compositions and structures, which are globally distributed in water
Mushroom alcohol controls gray mold caused by Botrytis cinerea in harvested fruit via activating the genes involved in jasmonic acid signaling pathway
No full textMushroom alcohol (also called 1-octen-3-ol) is a natural volatile product derived mainly from the enzymatic breakdown of linoleic acid in plants and fungi. In this study, the efficacy of mushroom alcohol on control of postharvest gray mold caused by Botrytis cinerea was investigated. Mushroom alcohol vapor treatment at 3, 6 or 12 mu L L-1 exhibited a marked inhibitory effect on mycelial growth of B. cinerea in vitro and disease severity of gray mold on harvested fruit in a concentration-dependent manner. Likewise, mushroom alcohol efficiently reduced the natural disease incidence of sweet cherry fruit, while no adverse effect was observed on fruit weight loss, soluble solid and titratable acid contents during storage. The mode of action of mushroom alcohol was attributed to its direct inhibition on B. cinereavia mediating the expression of genes related to spore germination and pathogenicity. Furthermore, the inhibitory effect of mushroom alcohol on gray mold in sweet cherry fruit was also dependent on activating the expression levels of key genes participating in jasmonic acid signaling pathway. These results demonstrated the beneficial effect of mushroom alcohol in inhibiting B. cinerea, which may be used as an alternative to control gray mold