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Viticultural Suitability Analysis Based on Multi-Source Data Highlights Climate-Change-Induced Decrease in Potential Suitable Areas: A Case Analysis in Ningxia, China
No full textAs a perennial plant with long productive span of 30-50 years, grapevine may experience cross-lifespan climate change, which can modify wine quality and challenge viticultural sustainability. Therefore, it is essential to evaluate the viticultural suitability by considering both current and future climate conditions. To this end, a maximum entropy model was proposed to delimitate potentially suitable areas for viticulture based on multi-source data in a novel wine region, Ningxia, China, considering both current and future climate conditions. Firstly, we combined traditional data of climate, soil, and topography with remote sensing data to screen predictors that best characterize current geographical distribution of vineyards. Then, we used those predictors to assess current suitability (2001-2020) in Ningxia. The results indicated altitude, aridity index during April-September (K0409), precipitation during July-September (P0709), normalized difference vegetation index during July-September (NDVI0709), soil organic carbon (SOC), and precipitation in September (P09) were key predictors to assess potential suitability for viticulture, and their threshold values ranged from 1075 m to 1648 m, 2.93 to 4.83, 103.1 mm to 164.1 mm, 0.1 to 0.89, 0.07 g/kg to 11 g/kg and 28.4 mm to 45.0 mm, respectively. Suitability maps revealed a total suitable area of 12029 km(2), among which the highly and moderately suitable areas accounted for 6.1% and 23.1%, respectively. Finally, the alteration in proportion of potential suitable areas due to changing climate was estimated. The potential suitable areas varied from 8742 km(2) to 10623 km(2) over the next 40 years (2022-2060) and decreased to 8826-9184 km(2) under a short-term sustainability (suitable only during current-2040). To further consider long-term and sustainable development of the wine industry (current-2060), total suitable areas dropped by 26.7-29.2% under different climate scenarios compared with current suitable areas (2001-2020). The conclusions provide indispensable guidance for vineyard zoning considering long-term climate change
Historical long-term cultivarxclimate suitability data to inform viticultural adaptation to climate change
No full textGrape quality is regulated by complex interactions between environments and cultivars. Growing suitable cultivars in a given region is essential for maintaining viticulture sustainability, particularly in the face of climate change. We created a database composed of three different subsets of data. The first subset was created by digitizing and curating the seminal report of Amerine and Winkler (1944), which provided grape harvest dates (GHDs), the quality of musts and wines, and wine tasting notes for 148 cultivars from 1935-1941 across five contrasting climatic regions of California. To put this dataset into a climate change context, we collected GHDs and must sugar content (degrees Brix) records from 1991 to 2018 for four representative cultivars in one of the five studied regions (Napa). Finally, we integrated meteorological data of the five regions during 1911-2018 and calculated bioclimatic indices important for grape. The resulting database is unique and valuable for assessing the fitness between cultivars across environments in order to mitigate the effects of climate change
Chilling tolerance in rice: Past and present
No full textRice is generally sensitive to chilling stress, which seriously affects growth and yield. Since early in the last century, considerable efforts have been made to understand the physiological and molecular mechanisms underlying the response to chilling stress and improve rice chilling tolerance. Here, we review the research trends and advances in this field. The phenotypic and biochemical changes caused by cold stress and the physiological explanations are briefly summarized. Using published data from the past 20 years, we reviewed the past progress and important techniques in the identification of quantitative trait loci (QTL), novel genes, and cellular pathways involved in rice chilling tolerance. The advent of novel technologies has significantly advanced studies of cold tolerance, and the characterization of QTLs, key genes, and molecular modules have sped up molecular design breeding for cold tolerance in rice varieties. In addition to gene function studies based on overexpression or artificially generated mutants, elucidating natural allelic variation in specific backgrounds is emerging as a novel approach for the study of cold tolerance in rice, and the superior alleles identified using this approach can directly facilitate breeding
Environmental heterogeneity regulates species-area relationships through the spatial distribution of species
No full textSpecies-area relationships (SARs), also known as species-area curves, are fundamental scaling tools for biodi-versity research. Sampling design and taxonomic groups affect the widely cited forms of species-area curves. However, the influence of sampling design and related environmental heterogeneity on SAR curves is rarely considered. Here, we investigated the SAR among different plant life forms (herbaceous plants, shrubs, and trees) in a 25.2-ha ForestGEO plot, the Wanglang Plot, in Sichuan, southwestern China, using a non-contiguous quadrat sampling method and power-law model. We compared the estimated parameters (the intercept c and the slope z) of the power-law models among different plant life forms, tested whether the SAR curve forms varied with sampling starting location, and assessed the effect of environmental heterogeneity accumulating with sampling area on curve variation. We found a wider range of variations in the SARs. The estimated c, z-values of power SAR were higher for the herbaceous plants than for the woody plants. A wider variation of SARs for the herbaceous plants than those for the woody plants. The selection of sampling starting location affected the SAR curve forms because of the roles of soil and topographic heterogeneity. We concluded that environmental heterogeneity regulates SAR curves sampled from different starting locations through spatial distribution of plant life forms. Thus, we recommend considering the design of sampling starting location when constructing SAR curves, espe-cially in a heterogeneous habitat with unrandom distribution patterns of species
Phylogenomics and biogeography of Catalpa (Bignoniaceae) reveal incomplete lineage sorting and three dispersal events
No full textCatalpa Scop. (Bignoniaceae) is a small genus (8 spp.) of trees that is disjunctly distributed among eastern Asia, eastern United States, and the West Indies. Catalpa bears beautiful inflorescences and have been cultivated as important ornamental trees for landscaping, gardening, and timber. However, the phylogenetic relationships and biogeographic history of the genus have remained unresolved. In this study, we used a large genomic dataset that includes data from the chloroplast (plastomes), and nuclear genomes (ITS and 5,759 single-copy nuclear genes) to reconstruct phylogenetic relationship within Catalpa, test interspecific gene flow events within the genus, and infer its biogeographic history. Our phylogenetic results indicate that Catalpa is monophyletic containing two main clades, section Catalpa and section Macrocatalpa. Section Catalpa is further divided into three subclades. While most relationships are congruent between the chloroplast and nuclear datasets, the position of C. ovata differs, likely due to incomplete lineage sorting. Interspecific gene flow events include C. bungei s.s. with vectors of inheritance from C. duclouxii and C. fargesii, supporting a combination of these three species and recognizing a broadly circumscribed C. bungei s.l. Our biogeographic study suggests three main dispersal events, two of which occurred during the Oligocene. The first dispersal event occurred from southwestern North America and Mexico into the Greater Antilles giving rise to the ancestor of the section of Macrocatalpa. The second dispersal event also occurred from southwestern North America and Mexico, but led to central and northern North America, subsequently reaching China through the Bering land bridge, and also reaching Europe through the North Atlantic land bridge. The third dispersal event took place in the Miocene from China to North America and gave rise to a clade composed of C. bignonioides and C. speciosa. This study uses a phylogenomic approach and biogeographical methods to infer the evolutionary history of Catalpa, highlighting issues associated with gene tree discordance, and suggesting that incomplete lineage sorting likely played an important role in the evolutionary history of Catalpa
Influence of Lactobacillus plantarum inoculation on the silage quality of intercropped Lablab purpureus and sweet sorghum grown in saline-alkaline region
No full textEnsiling legume with cereal is an effective method to ensure the energy rich-feed, but no information is available on the microbial fermentation mechanism of intercropped Lablab purpureus (Lablab) and sweet sorghum in the saline-alkaline region. Therefore, the present study investigated the silage quality and microbial community of intercropped Lablab and sweet sorghum silages grown in the saline-alkaline region with or without inoculation of Lactobacillus plantarum (LP). The experimental treatments were prepared according to the Lablab and sweet sorghum planting patterns: Lablab and sweet sorghum sowing seed ratios were 1:1 (L), 5:1 (M), and 9:1 (H). After harvesting, each mixture was treated with LP or sterilized water (CK), followed by 60 days of fermentation. Results showed that both LP inoculation and intercropping significantly raised the lactic acid (LA) content and decreased the pH value, acetic acid (AA), and ammonia-N in intercropped silages. The LP addition and intercropping also improved the relative feed value by reducing structural carbohydrates. Moreover, LP silages had a greater relative abundance of Lactobacillus than CK silages, and its relative abundance increased with an increased seed-sowing ratio of Lablab in intercropping. LP was the prevalent species in LP silages compared to CK silages, and its relative abundance also increased with an increased seed-sowing ratio of Lablab in intercropping. The genus Lactobacillus was negatively correlated with ammonia-N (R = -0.6, p = 0.02) and AA (R = -0.7, p = 5:1 with LP inoculation resulted in better fermentation quality and preservation of nutritional components providing theoretical support and guidance for future intercropped protein-rich silage production in the saline-alkaline region
2,3-Butanedione suppresses gray mold of postharvest fruit by activating the autophagy of Botrytis cinerea
No full textThe volatile organic compounds produced by plants and microorganisms have been widely used for postharvest disease control due to their high antifungal capacity. In this research, a volatile product of citrate metabolism, 2,3-butanedione, was assayed against gray mold caused by Botrytis cinerea on postharvest fruit. 2,3-Butanedione treatment exhibited a distinct inhibitory effect on colony growth, conidial germination rate and germ tube length of B. cinerea in vitro and efficiently mitigated the disease prevalence of inoculated fruit under both artificial and natural inoculation conditions. Transcriptome analysis displayed that 2,3-butanedione treatment led to down-regulated expression of genes associated with arginine biosynthesis, ribosome biogenesis and several pathogenicity-related genes, including Bcpg1-3, BcNEP1, Bcboa2 and Bmpl. Furthermore, treatment led to increased genes expression related to proteolysis, peroxisome and autophagy. Among them, the autophagy pathway was most prominent, and key genes in this pathway (BcATGs and BcVPS45) were activated by 2,3-butanedione treatment. Moreover, numerous autophagic vacuoles containing cytoplasmic components were observed in the 2,3-butanedione-treated fungal cells. These results suggest that 2,3-butanedione inhibits gray mold on postharvest fruit by not only interfering the gene expression of fungal growth and pathogenicity in B. cinerea, but also inducing autophagic activity. Collectively, these results provide a theoretical basis for elucidating the underlying antifungal mechanism of 2,3-butanedione against B. cinerea
A recent burst of gene duplications in Triticeae
No full textGene duplication provides raw genetic materials for evolution and potentially novel genes for crop improve-ment. The two seminal genomic studies of Aegilops tauschii both mentioned the large number of genes independently duplicated in recent years, but the duplication mechanism and the evolutionary significance of these gene duplicates have not yet been investigated. Here, we found that a recent burst of gene dupli-cations (hereafter abbreviated as the RBGD) has probably occurred in all sequenced Triticeae species. Further investigations of the characteristics of the gene duplicates and their flanking sequences suggested that transposable element (TE) activity may have been involved in generating the RBGD. We also character-ized the duplication timing, retention pattern, diversification, and expression of the duplicates following the evolution of Triticeae. Multiple subgenome-specific comparisons of the duplicated gene pairs clearly sup-ported extensive differential regulation and related functional diversity among such pairs in the three sub-genomes of bread wheat. Moreover, several duplicated genes from the RBGD have evolved into key factors that influence important agronomic traits of wheat. Our results provide insights into a unique source of gene duplicates in Triticeae species, which has increased the gene dosage together with the two polyploid-ization events in the evolutionary history of wheat
Global patterns and predictors of soil microbial biomass carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus in terrestrial ecosystems
No full textSoil microbes play key roles in driving and regulating nutrient cycling in terrestrial ecosystems. However, a lack of global-scale information regarding the distribution of soil microbial biomass carbon (SMB C), nitrogen (SMB N), and phosphorus (SMB P) in terrestrial ecosystems has limited our ability to incorporate the broad-scale soil microbial nutritional properties and the associated processes into biogeochemical models. Here, we synthesized a global dataset including 3801 observations for SMB C, 3154 observations of SMB N, and 2429 observations of SMB P in the top 0-30 cm soil depth. Based on this comprehensive global dataset, we generated quantitative and spatially explicit maps of SMB C, N, and P across terrestrial ecosystems using a random forest approach. We also quantified the relative importance of multiple environmental variables in predicting the spatial variation of SMB C, N, and P concentrations and then made further predictions at a global scale. Soil organic carbon (SOC) was the most important factor in predicting SMB C, N, and P at a global scale. At the global scale, the storage of SMB C, N, and P were estimated to be 23.13 Pg C, 3.93 Pg N and 2.16 Pg P in the top 0-30 cm soil surface, respectively. Our global maps of SMB C, N, and P presented here can be used to constraint Earth system models, and provide the first step forward to predict the roles of soil microbial nutrients in terrestrial nutrient cycling
High aerosol loading decreases the transpiration of poplars both in the day- and night-time
No full textAerosols alter plant photosynthesis and ecosystem carbon uptake through radiative effects. These effects inevi-tably change plant transpiration and ecosystem water use as CO2 and water exchange couple through leaf sto-matal conductance. However, because of lacking field observations, we know poorly about how elevated aerosols could affect plant transpiration, which greatly hinders our confidence in projecting aerosol's climate impacts. In this study, taking the advantage of aerosol loading in northern China fluctuated periodically over a wide range, we conducted five year-site observations of the stem sap flow of poplar saplings (Populus euramericana Neva.), and simultaneously monitored environmental factors such as PM2.5 concentration, total and diffuse radiation, air temperature, humidity, and soil water content. These observations enabled us to comprehensively explore how aerosols affect the daily dynamics of plant canopy transpiration in the field. We found that high aerosol loading significantly decreased the sap flow density of poplars both in the day-and night-time, indicating that aerosols decreased canopy transpiration. Furthermore, during the day-time, a reduction in total solar radiation and moisture demand (vapor pressure deficit, VPD) dominated the decrease of sap flow density, but an increase in diffuse radiation had an insignificant impact. In the night-time, VPD significantly decreased under high aerosol loading conditions, thereby reducing nocturnal sap flow density. Our in-situ observations revealed that different from the positive response of canopy photosynthesis associated with the diffuse fertilization effect, aerosols inhibit canopy transpiration mainly because of the declined VPD. Our findings highlighted that plant carbon and water fluxes are governed by different meteorological factors under elevated aerosol