Effect of coupled reduced irrigation and nitrogen fertilizer on soil mite community composition in a wheat field

Groundwater and nitrogen fertilizer overuse severely threatens crop productions; thus, current ecological agriculture requires low irrigation and nitrogen fertilizer inputs. The effects of combined reduced irrigation and nitrogen fertilizer addition on soil organism (e.g., mite) community and biodiversity remain poorly understood. We analyzed soil mite community composition, wheat grain yield, and soil characteristics in a 10‐year manipulation experiment with two levels of irrigation (reduced and conventional irrigation) and five nitrogen fertilizer levels (0, 70, 140, 210, and 280 kg N/ha). Reduced irrigation (20% reduction, from 280 to 220 mm) and nitrogen fertilizer (25% reduction, from 280 to 210 kg N/ha) addition did not significantly influence soil mite community and wheat yield. The relative abundances of fungivores and predators showed negative quadratic relationships with wheat yield, while that of plant parasites showed a positive relationship. The relationships between soil mite trophic groups and wheat yield revealed that we can evaluate the impacts of reduced irrigation and nitrogen fertilizer addition from the perspective of soil fauna. Soil mite community composition was altered by soil abiotic factors prior to reduced irrigation and nitrogen fertilizer addition. Overall, moderate reductions of irrigation and nitrogen fertilizer may not threaten to soil mite community and diversity or decrease crop production; in contrast, such reductions will benefit mite community development and the sustainable agriculture.     

Combined Single-Cell Profiling of lncRNAs and Functional Screening Reveals that H19 Is Pivotal for Embryonic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Development

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摇瓶培养条件下雷公藤不定根生长及次生代谢产物含量的研究

以雷公藤(Tripterygium wilfordii Hook. f.)不定根为材料,研究摇瓶悬浮培养条件下接种密度、装液比例、逐级放大、消泡剂、大孔吸附树脂种类及浓度对雷公藤不定根增长量、不定根及培养基中雷公藤内酯醇、雷公藤吉碱、雷公藤次碱含量的影响。结果显示,接种密度在15 g/L (FW)时较适合不定根的继代培养和次生代谢产物的积累。250 m L摇瓶中装入100 m L培养基,即装液量为2/5时,培养基利用率最高。随着摇瓶体积的逐渐放大,不定根增长量和3种次生代谢产物含量略有下降,5 L摇瓶中不定根增长量为对照的91.6%,内酯醇、吉碱和次碱的含量分别为对照的91.8%、91.7%和96.9%。6种大孔吸附树脂中,XAD-7处理对不定根的生长有明显促进作用,培养结束时,3种次生代谢产物产量显著提高,当XAD-7浓度为0.5 g/瓶时不定根增长量为对照的1.2倍,内酯醇、吉碱和次碱产量最高,分别为对照的2.9、2.4和2.2倍。培养基中添加消泡剂后不定根增长量、3种次生代谢产物总产量均不同程度下降,其中,LX-603处理后,虽然不定根增长量为对照的85%,内酯醇、吉碱和次碱产量分别为对照的78%、64%和87%,但明显抑制了培养过程中泡沫的产生。研究结果表明筛选的摇瓶逐级放大培养雷公藤不定根的方法效果较好,可为雷公藤不定根生物反应器放大培养奠定基础。     

Mechanically Activated Piezo Channels Mediate Touch and Suppress Acute Mechanical Pain Response in Mice

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OsRLCK160 contributes to flavonoid accumulation and UV-B tolerance by regulating OsbZIP48 in rice

Science China Life Sciences - Plants produce specialized metabolites to adapt to the ever-changing environments. Flavonoids are antioxidants essential for growth, development, and breeding with...     

Fruit and vegetable consumption,cardiovascular disease,and all-cause mortality in China

Science China Life Sciences - Evidence about the response patterns of fruit and vegetable consumption with the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and all-cause mortality was inconsistent. These...     

High-quality genome assembly of Huazhan and Tianfeng,the parents of an elite rice hybrid Tian-you-hua-zhan

High-quality rice reference genomes have accelerated the comprehensive identification of genome-wide variations and research on functional genomics and breeding. Tian-you-hua-zhan has been a leading hybrid in China over the past decade. Here, de novo genome assembly strategy optimization for the rice indica lines Huazhan (HZ) and Tianfeng (TF), including sequencing platforms, assembly pipelines and sequence depth, was carried out. The PacBio and Nanopore platforms for long-read sequencing were utilized, with the Canu, wtdbg2, SMARTdenovo, Flye, Canu-wtdbg2, Canu-SMARTdenovo and Canu-Flye assemblers. The combination of PacBio and Canu was optimal, considering the contig N50 length, contig number, assembled genome size and polishing process. The assembled contigs were scaffolded with Hi-C data, resulting in two “golden quality” rice reference genomes, and evaluated using the scaffold N50, BUSCO, and LTR assembly index. Furthermore, 42,625 and 41,815 non-transposable element genes were annotated for HZ and TF, respectively. Based on our assembly of HZ and TF, as well as Zhenshan97, Minghui63, Shuhui498 and 9311, comprehensive variations were identified using Nipponbare as a reference. The de novo assembly strategy for rice we optimized and the “golden quality” rice genomes we produced for HZ and TF will benefit rice genomics and breeding research, especially with respect to uncovering the genomic basis of the elite traits of HZ and TF.

     

Ultrasound-induced biophysical effects in controlled drug delivery

Ultrasound is widely used in biomedical engineering and has applications in conventional diagnosis and drug delivery. Recent advances in ultrasound-induced drug delivery have been summarized previously in several reviews that have primarily focused on the fabrication of drug delivery carriers. This review discusses the mechanisms underlying ultrasound-induced drug delivery and factors affecting delivery efficiency, including the characteristics of drug delivery carriers and ultrasound parameters. Firstly, biophysical effects induced by ultrasound, namely thermal effects, cavitation effects, and acoustic radiation forces, are illustrated. Secondly, the use of these biophysical effects to enhance drug delivery by affecting drug carriers and corresponding tissues is clarified in detail. Thirdly, recent advances in ultrasound-triggered drug delivery are detailed. Safety issues and optimization strategies to improve therapeutic outcomes and reduce side effects are summarized. Finally, current progress and future directions are discussed.

     

Testing genome skimming for species discrimination in the large and taxonomically difficult genus Rhododendron

Standard plant DNA barcodes based on 2–3 plastid regions, and nrDNA ITS show variable levels of resolution, and fail to discriminate among species in many plant groups. Genome skimming to recover complete plastid genome sequences and nrDNA arrays has been proposed as a solution to address these resolution limitations. However, few studies have empirically tested what gains are achieved in practice. Of particular interest is whether adding substantially more plastid and nrDNA characters will lead to an increase in discriminatory power, or whether the resolution limitations of standard plant barcodes are fundamentally due to plastid genomes and nrDNA not tracking species boundaries. To address this, we used genome skimming to recover near-complete plastid genomes and nuclear ribosomal DNA from Rhododendron species and compared discrimination success with standard plant barcodes. We sampled 218 individuals representing 145 species of this species-rich and taxonomically difficult genus, focusing on the global biodiversity hotspots of the Himalaya-Hengduan Mountains. Only 33% of species were distinguished using ITS+matK+rbcL+trnH-psbA. In contrast, 55% of species were distinguished using plastid genome and nrDNA sequences. The vast majority of this increase is due to the additional plastid characters. Thus, despite previous studies showing an asymptote in discrimination success beyond 3–4 plastid regions, these results show that a demonstrable increase in discriminatory power is possible with extensive plastid genome data. However, despite these gains, many species remain unresolved, and these results also reinforce the need to access multiple unlinked nuclear loci to obtain transformative gains in species discrimination in plants.