Soil seed bank in different vegetation types in the Loess Plateau region and its role in vegetation restoration

In the Loess Plateau region, soil erosion is a serious problem. Vegetation restoration is an effective approach to control soil erosion and improve ecosystems. The soil seed bank generally plays an important role in vegetation restoration after disturbance. Thus, we reviewed soil seed bank studies to reveal the soil seed bank characteristics and its role in vegetation restoration in three vegetation types (forest, forest‐steppe, and steppe). We selected 38 seed bank studies and analyzed several seed bank characteristics, such as seed density, species composition, and the relationship between seed size and seed bank. We also assessed the role of the soil seed bank in vegetation restoration. The soil seed bank density ranged from 2,331 ± 1,993 to 6,985 ± 4,047 seeds/m² among the different vegetation types. In the soil seed bank, perennial herbs and grasses accounted for 51.5% of the total species. Native species that were dominant or common in the standing vegetation usually had relatively high seed bank densities. Moreover, species with smaller seeds generally had higher soil seed bank densities. The present study indicates that the soil seed bank plays a significant role in spontaneous vegetation restoration, especially during the early successional stages in abandoned slope farmlands and grazing‐excluded grasslands. However, species with large seeds or transient soil seed banks should be reintroduced through seeding to accelerate target species restoration. More studies on soil seed banks need to be conducted to comprehensively reveal their characteristics.     

LINC00667 promotes Wilms’ tumor metastasis and stemness by sponging miR‐200b/c/429 family to regulate IKK‐β

Wilms' tumor, also known as nephroblastoma, is a kind of pediatric renal cancer. Previous studies have indicated that microRNAs (miRNAs) regulate various cancers progression. However, whether miR‐200 family regulated Wilms' tumor progression remains to be elucidated. In our study, miR‐200b/c/429 expression was downregulated in Wilms' tumor tissue samples from 25 patients. And data from three independent analyses of quantitative real‐time polymerase chain reaction revealed that the expression of miR‐200b/c/429 was downregulated in Wilms' tumor cell lines. Functionally, Cell counting kit‐8 assay revealed that cell viability was reduced by overexpressing miR‐200b/c/429. Transwell assay manifested that cell migration and invasion was hindered by miR‐200b/c/429 overexpression. Sphere‐forming and western blot assays demonstrated that miR‐200b/c/429 overexpression suppressed the sphere formation ability. Mechanically, nuclear factor‐κB (NF‐κB) pathway was confirmed to be associated with Wilms' tumor progression; miR‐200b/c/429 overexpression inactivated NF‐κB pathway as miR‐200b/c/429 was identified to target IκB kinase β (IKK‐β), an NF‐κB pathway‐related gene. Moreover, miR‐200b/c/429 was sponged by LINC00667 in Wilms' tumor cells. LINC00667 competitively bound with miR‐200b/c/429 to regulate IKK‐β expression and then activated NF‐κB pathway in Wilms' tumor. Subsequently, rescue assays illustrated that silencing of IKK‐β could reverse the effect of miR‐200b/c/429 inhibition on the progression of sh‐LINC00667‐transfected Wilms' tumor cells. In summary, LINC00667 promoted Wilms' tumor progression by sponging miR‐200b/c/429 family to regulate IKK‐β.     

Probiotic Lactobacillus johnsonii BS15 Promotes Growth Performance,Intestinal Immunity,and Gut Microbiota in Piglets

Probiotics and Antimicrobial Proteins - Numerous studies have investigated the beneficial effects of Lactobacillus johnsonii strain BS15 on mice and broilers. This study aimed to understand the...     

Genetic basis of kernel nutritional traits during maize domestication and improvement

The nutritional traits of maize kernels are important for human and animal nutrition, and these traits have undergone selection to meet the diverse nutritional needs of humans. However, our knowledge of the genetic basis of selecting for kernel nutritional traits is limited. Here, we identified both single and epistatic quantitative trait loci (QTLs) that contributed to the differences of oil and carotenoid traits between maize and teosinte. Over half of teosinte alleles of single QTLs increased the values of the detected oil and carotenoid traits. Based on the pleiotropism or linkage information of the identified single QTLs, we constructed a trait–locus network to help clarify the genetic basis of correlations among oil and carotenoid traits. Furthermore, the selection features and evolutionary trajectories of the genes or loci underlying variations in oil and carotenoid traits revealed that these nutritional traits produced diverse selection events during maize domestication and improvement. To illustrate more, a mutator distance–relative transposable element (TE) in intron 1 of DXS2, which encoded a rate‐limiting enzyme in the methylerythritol phosphate pathway, was identified to increase carotenoid biosynthesis by enhancing DXS2 expression. This TE occurs in the grass teosinte, and has been found to have undergone selection during maize domestication and improvement, and is almost fixed in yellow maize. Our findings not only provide important insights into evolutionary changes in nutritional traits, but also highlight the feasibility of reintroducing back into commercial agricultural germplasm those nutritionally important genes hidden in wild relatives.     

Sl‐lncRNA15492 interacts with Sl‐miR482a and affects Solanum lycopersicum immunity against Phytophthora infestans

Long non‐coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are involved in the resistance of plants to infection by pathogens via interactions with microRNAs (miRNAs). Long non‐coding RNAs are cleaved by miRNAs to produce phased small interfering RNAs (phasiRNAs), which, as competing endogenous RNAs (ceRNAs), function as decoys for mature miRNAs, thus inhibiting their expression, and contain pre‐miRNA sequences to produce mature miRNAs. However, whether lncRNAs and miRNAs mediate other molecular mechanisms during plant resistance to pathogens is unknown. In this study, as a positive regulator, Sl‐lncRNA15492 from tomato (Solanum lycopersicum Zaofen No. 2) plants affected tomato resistance to Phytophthora infestans. Gain‐ and loss‐of‐function experiments and RNA ligase‐mediated 5′‐amplification of cDNA ends (RLM‐5′ RACE) also revealed that Sl‐miR482a was negatively involved in tomato resistance by targeting Sl‐NBS‐LRR genes and that silencing of Sl‐NBS‐LRR1 decreased tomato resistance. Sl‐lncRNA15492 inhibited the expression of mature Sl‐miR482a, whose precursor was located within the antisense sequence of Sl‐lncRNA15492. Further degradome analysis and additional RLM‐5′ RACE experiments verified that mature Sl‐miR482a could also cleave Sl‐lncRNA15492. These results provide a mechanism by which lncRNAs might inhibit precursor miRNA expression through antisense strands of lncRNAs, and demonstrate that Sl‐lncRNA15492 and Sl‐miR482a mutually inhibit the maintenance of Sl‐NBS‐LRR1 homeostasis during tomato resistance to P. infestans.     

气候变化和经济发展对肾综合征出血热发生的影响

肾综合征出血热(hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome, HFRS)是一种啮齿动物传播的自然疫源性疾病, 危害严重, 已成为全球重要的公共卫生问题。本研究采用数理统计模型及小波分析方法, 对陕西省西安市鄠邑区1984-2016年HFRS的发生与鼠类、气候和经济因素的关系进行分析, 探讨气候和经济因素对HFRS发生的影响。小波分析结果表明, 该地区的HFRS暴发史可能分为两个时期, 推测每个时期具有不同的主要宿主, 在2002年褐家鼠(Rattus norvegicus)可能取代黑线姬鼠(Apodemus agrarius)成为HFRS疫源地的主要宿主。广义可加模型模拟结果表明, HFRS的发生与1984-2001年黑线姬鼠密度间存在极显著非线性效应(F_2.06,9.02 = 102.415, P < 0.01), 两者间显现为正相关; 与2002-2016年的褐家鼠密度间呈正相关(F_1.67,9.02 = 73.929, P < 0.01); HFRS主要宿主的这种变化可能与当地气候变化和经济发展有关: HFRS的发生与年平均温度存在极显著的非线性效应(F_2.93,9.02 = 12.164, P < 0.01), 两者间呈负相关; 同样, HFRS的发生与上一年的国内生产总值(GDP)也存在显著非线性效应(F_1.70,9.02 = 2.917, P < 0.05), 两者间也呈负相关。结构方程模型通过直接和间接的影响途径证明了这种转移机制, 发现温度对HFRS发生有显著的直接负向影响以及通过褐家鼠的间接正向影响; GDP对HFRS发生有直接的负向影响。本研究表明HFRS的发生与气候变化和经济发展相关, 两者均能影响HFRS的暴发, 该结论有助于今后更好地对HFRS疾病进行预防和控制。     

气候因素对黑线姬鼠种群动态影响的非线性效应

受全球气候变化的影响,气候因素与害鼠种群变化之间的关系成为害鼠防治研究中的热点问题。以西安市长安区周边分布的黑线姬鼠为研究对象,通过标志重捕法进行种群动态监测,掌握其种群数量的动态变化规律,并结合非线性的统计方法广义可加模型,对该地区2015—2018年黑线姬鼠种群密度和气候因素数据进行分析,探讨该鼠种群变化与气候因素之间的关系。结果表明,该地区黑线姬鼠种群数量总体显现为下降趋势。黑线姬鼠种群密度存在显著的正向自我调节效应(F_(1.00, 5.77)=27.062,P0.01),且与上一月种群密度存在线性的正相关。当月平均温度与该鼠种群密度之间存在显著的非线性效应(F_(1.90, 5.77 )=4.696,P0.05),两者之间显现为钟型关系,当温度21℃时,两者之间显现为正相关,黑线姬鼠种群密度随温度的升高而升高,反之显现为负相关。当月累计降雨量与其种群密度之间也存在显著的非线性效应(F_(1.87, 5.77)=3.879,P0.05),同样,两者之间也显现为钟型关系,当降雨量90 mm时,两者之间显现为负相关,种群密度随降雨量的增加而降低,反之显现为正相关。因此,温度和降雨对黑线姬鼠种群变化具有调节作用,低温干旱和高温多雨均不适合该鼠的繁殖与生长。     

不同类型高寒草地群落结构与生产对施氮的响应及其敏感性

大气氮沉降增加被认为是目前重要的环境问题,会引起生物多样性的丧失和生态系统稳定性的降低。但作为草地改良的管理措施,养分添加被广泛应用于退化草地的恢复。但由于不同类型草地所处气候与群落组成的差异,对氮输入的响应可能不同。通过在藏北高原高寒草甸与高寒草甸草原设定长期氮添加梯度试验(对照, 25, 50, 100, 200 kg N hm~(-2) a~(-1)),来探讨氮输入对生物多样性与生产的影响,并估算不同类型高寒草地的氮饱和阈值。施氮对高寒草甸物种多样性指数无影响,而随着施氮量的提高高寒草甸草原植物物种数和多样性指数均逐渐降低。开始施肥前两年,随着施氮量提高高寒草甸地上生物量呈现逐渐增加趋势,随着施肥时间的延长地上生物量呈现先增加后降低的趋势。在高寒草甸草原随着施氮量提高地上生物量均呈现先增加后降低的趋势。随着施氮量提高,开始施氮前三年高寒草甸禾草植物地上生物量逐渐提高;随着施氮时间的延长,禾草和豆科植物地上生物量呈现先增加后降低的趋势。高寒草甸莎草植物地上生物量由施氮开始时的逐渐增加转变为先增加后降低趋势,最后变为逐渐降低的趋势,这说明施氮不利于莎草植物的生长。施氮只在施肥第四年显著提高杂草植物地上生物量。高寒草甸草原呈现不同的规律,开始施氮前三年随着施氮量提高,禾草植物地上生物量呈现先增加后降低的趋势;随着施氮时间的延长,禾草地上生物量逐渐提高。莎草和杂草植物地上生物量呈现先增加后降低趋势。利用对氮输入响应最敏感的植物功能群禾草生物量估算的高寒草甸和高寒草甸草原的氮饱和阈值分别是109.5、125.8 kg N hm~(-2) a~(-1),这说明高寒草甸氮敏感性显著高于高寒草甸草原。由此可见,未来氮沉降增加会对不同类型高寒草地产生不同的影响,在不同类型高寒草地进行施肥恢复时也应将氮饱和阈值的差异考虑在内。     

冬季升温对高山生态系统碳氮循环过程的影响

全球温度升高是目前面临的重要环境问题,但存在明显的季节差异性,即冬季升温幅度显著高于夏季的季节非对称性趋势,这在高纬度和高海拔地区更加显著。冬季升温会直接影响积雪覆盖与冰冻层厚度,并引起冻融交替循环的增加,而冬季植物处于休眠状态,这会直接影响土壤中有效氮的吸收与损失,引起土壤有效氮可利用性的变化。然而,关于冬季增温对后续生长季节植物活动、土壤碳氮循环过程的影响等方面的研究仍存在诸多不确定。综述了冬季升温对积雪覆盖与冻融交替循环改变对高山生态系统物质循环的影响,以及冬季升温对土壤碳氮循环、微生物与酶活性的影响,并由此引起的植物物候期、群落结构、生产与养分循环与凋落物分解等生理、生态过程方面的研究进展。在未来的研究中,应针对不同生态系统特点选择合适的冬季增温方式,加强非极地苔原地区关于冬季升温的研究,注重关注冬季升温对植物-土壤微生物之间反馈作用的影响,重点关注冬季升温对生态系统的延滞效应。