Responses and regulation mechanisms of microbial decomposers to substrate carbon,nitrogen, and phosphorus stoichiometry

The survival and growth strategies, community structure and functions of microbial decomposers vary with substrate stoichiometry, which profoundly influences substrate decomposition, turnover, and hence the carbon and nutrient cycles of terrestrial ecosystems. It is crucial to understand the relationships among microbial metabolism, community structure and ecosystem processes of terrestrial ecosystems and their responses and feedbacks to global changes. In this review, we first introduced the significance of microbial decomposers in the carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus cycles of terrestrial ecosystems from perspectives of ecological stoichiometry and metabolic theories. Then we synthesized four potential mechanisms of microbial response and control on substrate stoichiometric variations, i.e., through (1) modifying microbial stoichiometry, (2) shifting microbial community structure, (3) producing extracellular enzymes to acquire limiting resources, and (4) changing microbial carbon, nitrogen, and phosphor use efficiencies. Finally, we proposed three research directions in this field: (1) to comprehensively explore various microbial mechanisms in response to changes in substrate stoichiometry and the relative importance of these mechanisms; (2) to examine influences of global changes on microbial-driven cycles of carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus; and (3) to explore spatiotemporal changes in the strategies of microbial adaptation to changes in the substrate stoichiometry.     

The responses of a funnel‐web weaving spider,Agelena labyrinthica,to elevated CO2 concentration

The effects of elevated CO₂ concentration on the growth and development of the funnel‐web weaving spider Agelena labyrinthica (Clerck) (Araneae: Agelenidae) were studied in climate chambers with low (370 μl l^?1) or high (750 μl l^?1) CO₂ concentration. Seventh‐instar A. labyrinthica cultured under each of these CO₂ concentrations were randomly selected to determine nutrient composition (total protein, total amino acid, and free fatty acid) and digestive or detoxification enzymes activity (peroxidase, amylase, and superoxide dismutase) using test kits. When reared under high CO₂ concentration, total development of A. labyrinthica was significantly faster. Carapace length and width and body weight did not differ between CO₂ concentrations, nor the levels of protein and total amino acids in seventh‐instar A. labyrinthica. However, free fatty acid levels were significantly lower under high CO₂ concentration. Specific activities of peroxidase and superoxide dismutase in seventh‐instar A. labyrinthica did not differ between CO₂ concentrations. The specific activity of amylase under high CO₂ concentration was higher than that of the low CO₂ group. The effects of elevated CO₂ on A. labyrinthica varied from those on the wandering spider Pardosa astrigera L Koch, as found in an earlier study. Apparently, elevated CO₂ has a species‐specific impact on spiders.     

Contrasting effects of fire frequency on plant traits of three dominant perennial herbs from Chaco Serrano

Fire frequencies are currently increasing in many regions across the world as a result of anthropic activities, affecting ecological processes and plant population dynamics. Fire can generate important changes in soil properties, altering nutrient dynamics and thereby plant growth. Here we analyse fire frequency effects on soil quality and plant traits of three native perennial herbaceous plants (Cologania broussonetii, Desmodium uncinatum and Rhynchosia edulis; Fabaceae) with the capacity for biological N₂ fixation that resprouts and are abundant after fire in Chaco Serrano forests. Based on 22‐year fire history, we assessed plant traits in sites with low and high fire frequencies along with unburned scenarios. We found significantly lower water content, nitrates and electrical conductivity in frequently burned soils. As a result, the three species showed consistently lower leaf area and specific leaf area in both fire frequencies, implying lower growth rates in comparison to unburned sites. However, total leaf biomass was not affected by fire, leaf phosphorus concentration was higher in R. edulis in high fire frequency and leaf N concentration was twice as large in plants growing in sites of high fire frequency in C. broussonetii and R. edulis. Such an increase in N and phosphorus concentrations is likely a result of both their conservative use of resources and their biological N₂ fixation capacity. To our knowledge, this is the first record of such contrasting fire effects observed consistently in three co‐occurring species: while plant growth decreased with fire frequency, leaf nutritional traits remain unchanged or increased in frequently burned sites. Quality‐depleted and drier soils that result from increased fire frequencies may not only affect trait variation at the intraspecific level but can also drive to a homogenization of the plant community, selecting species with particular combinations of morphological and functional traits.     

Bridging factorial and gradient concepts of resource co‐limitation: towards a general framework applied to consumers

Organism growth can be limited either by a single resource or by multiple resources simultaneously (co‐limitation). Efforts to characterise co‐limitation have generated two influential approaches. One approach uses limitation scenarios of factorial growth assays to distinguish specific types of co‐limitation; the other uses growth responses spanned over a continuous, multi‐dimensional resource space to characterise different types of response surfaces. Both approaches have been useful in investigating particular aspects of co‐limitation, but a synthesis is needed to stimulate development of this recent research area. We address this gap by integrating the two approaches, thereby presenting a more general framework of co‐limitation. We found that various factorial (co‐)limitation scenarios can emerge in different response surface types based on continuous availabilities of essential or substitutable resources. We tested our conceptual co‐limitation framework on data sets of published and unpublished studies examining the limitation of two herbivorous consumers in a two‐dimensional resource space. The experimental data corroborate the predictions, suggesting a general applicability of our co‐limitation framework to generalist consumers and potentially also to other organisms. The presented framework might give insight into mechanisms that underlie co‐limitation responses and thus can be a seminal starting point for evaluating co‐limitation patterns in experiments and nature.     

Taxonomic identity determines N2 fixation by canopy trees across lowland tropical forests

Legumes capable of fixing atmospheric N₂ are abundant and diverse in many tropical forests, but the factors determining ecological patterns in fixation are unresolved. A long‐standing idea is that fixation depends on soil nutrients (N, P or Mo), but recent evidence shows that fixation may also differ among N₂‐fixing species. We sampled canopy‐height trees across five species and one species group of N₂‐fixers along a landscape P gradient, and manipulated P and Mo to seedlings in a shadehouse. Our results identify taxonomy as the major determinant of fixation, with P (and possibly Mo) only influencing fixation following tree‐fall disturbances. While 44% of trees did not fix N₂, other trees fixed at high rates, with two species functioning as superfixers across the landscape. Our results raise the possibility that fixation is determined by biodiversity, evolutionary history and species–specific traits (tree growth rate, canopy stature and response to disturbance) in the tropical biome.     

Nutrient loading alters the performance of key nutrient exchange mutualisms

Nutrient exchange mutualisms between phototrophs and heterotrophs, such as plants and mycorrhizal fungi or symbiotic algae and corals, underpin the functioning of many ecosystems. These relationships structure communities, promote biodiversity and help maintain food security. Nutrient loading may destabilise these mutualisms by altering the costs and benefits each partner incurs from interacting. Using meta‐analyses, we show a near ubiquitous decoupling in mutualism performance across terrestrial and marine environments in which phototrophs benefit from enrichment at the expense of their heterotrophic partners. Importantly, heterotroph identity, their dependence on phototroph‐derived C and the type of nutrient enrichment (e.g. nitrogen vs. phosphorus) mediated the responses of different mutualisms to enrichment. Nutrient‐driven changes in mutualism performance may alter community organisation and ecosystem processes and increase costs of food production. Consequently, the decoupling of nutrient exchange mutualisms via alterations of the world's nitrogen and phosphorus cycles may represent an emerging threat of global change.     

Element distribution and iron speciation in mature wheat grains (Triticum aestivum L.) using synchrotron X‐ray fluorescence microscopy mapping and X‐ray absorption near‐edge structure (XANES) imaging

Several studies have suggested that the majority of iron (Fe) and zinc (Zn) in wheat grains are associated with phytate, but a nuanced approach to unravel important tissue‐level variation in element speciation within the grain is lacking. Here, we present spatially resolved Fe‐speciation data obtained directly from different grain tissues using the newly developed synchrotron‐based technique of X‐ray absorption near‐edge spectroscopy imaging, coupling this with high‐definition μ‐X‐ray fluorescence microscopy to map the co‐localization of essential elements. In the aleurone, phosphorus (P) is co‐localized with Fe and Zn, and X‐ray absorption near‐edge structure imaging confirmed that Fe is chelated by phytate in this tissue layer. In the crease tissues, Zn is also positively related to P distribution, albeit less so than in the aleurone. Speciation analysis suggests that Fe is bound to nicotianamine rather than phytate in the nucellar projection, and that more complex Fe structures may also be present. In the embryo, high Zn concentrations are present in the root and shoot primordium, co‐occurring with sulfur and presumably bound to thiol groups. Overall, Fe is mainly concentrated in the scutellum and co‐localized with P. This high resolution imaging and speciation analysis reveals the complexity of the physiological processes responsible for element accumulation and bioaccessibility.     

食物营养对黑腹果蝇中肠干细胞的影响

【目的】研究市场上常见的几种儿童、青少年较为喜爱的小食品的主要营养成分,及其对黑腹果蝇Drosophila melanogaster的体重、发育等的影响,进而探讨膳食中营养均衡的重要性。【方法】采用双缩脲法、苏丹Ⅲ染色法及碘酒染色法分别对食物中的蛋白质、脂肪及淀粉含量进行测定。分别用基础培养基或实验用食品配制的培养基培养黑腹果蝇,待果蝇卵孵化后,取一定数量果蝇个体进行称重,并对果蝇中肠进行解剖和免疫荧光染色,观察果蝇肠道发育情况。【结果】基础食物(培养基)中的蛋白质、脂肪及淀粉含量配比较为均衡,而实验用零食有些脂肪含量较高,有些蛋白质含量较高,有些淀粉含量较高,配比严重失衡。淀粉及脂肪含量均较高的食物能引起果蝇体重超重;同时果蝇肠道细胞Arm/Pros的染色显著增加,显示肠道干细胞数目显著增加,另外果蝇肠壁明显加厚;而食物中淀粉或蛋白质严重缺失的食物则引起果蝇发育障碍。其中,在高碳水化合物但几乎没有蛋白质存在的食物中,果蝇干细胞数目同样增加很多,肠壁加厚,但其体重显著降低,同时发育迟缓。在高蛋白高脂肪低碳水化合物的食物中,中肠干细胞数目明显减少,果蝇肠壁变薄,发育受到影响。将几种实验组食物按照基础食物的蛋白质、脂肪及淀粉含量进行配比混合,模拟营养的均衡配比,喂养果蝇后发现,营养成分配比均衡极大地缓解配比失衡后所造成的中肠损伤,并使果蝇的个体发育恢复均衡。【结论】食物中的营养失衡会显著影响果蝇的体重以及肠壁和肠道干细胞的数目,导致果蝇体重下降或上升,肠道细胞增殖功能紊乱,对果蝇发育产生严重影响。这些结果提示了儿童偏好零食引起的营养不良和过度肥胖及肠道功能障碍,因此建议青少年儿童不能偏好零食,要做到合理膳食,营养均衡。