[Effects of N, P, and K application rates on distribution of 13C assimilates, starch accumulation in grains and fertilizer utilization of wheat]. / 氮磷钾施用量对小麦旗叶13CåŒåŒ–ç‰©åˆ†é ã€ç±½ç²’æ·€ç²‰ç§¯ç´¯å’Œè‚¥æ–™åˆ©ç”¨çš„å½±å“.

Clarifying the appropriate application rates of N, P, and K fertilizers and the physiological mechanisms of wheat under water-saving recharge irrigation in the North China Plain would provide a theoretical basis for formulating reasonable fertilization plans for high-yield and high-efficiency wheat production. We established four treatments with different amounts of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P2O5), and potassium (K2O) application: 0, 0, and 0 kg·hm-2 (F0), 180, 75, and 60 kg·hm-2 (F1), 225, 120, and 105 kg·hm-2 (F2), and 270, 165, and 150 kg·hm-2 (F3). During the jointing and anthesis stages of wheat, the relative water content of each treatment in the 0-40 cm soil layer was replenished to 70%, to investigate the differences in wheat flag leaf photosynthetic characteristics, distribution of 13C assimilates, grain starch accumulation, and fertilizer utilization. The results showed that the relative chlorophyll content of flag leaves, photosynthetic and chlorophyll fluorescence parameters, 13C assimilate allocation in each organ, enzyme activities involved in starch synthesis, and starch accumulation in the F1 treatment were significantly higher than that in F0 treatment, which was an important physiological basis for the 20.9% increase in grain yield. The above parameters and yield in the F2 and F3 treatments showed no significant increase compared to F1 treatment, while fertilizer productivity and agronomic efficiency of N, P, and K decreased by 17.5%-58.4% and 12.7%-50.7%, respectively. Therefore, F1 could promote flag leaf photosynthetic assimilate production and grain starch accumulation under water-saving supplementary irrigation conditions, resulting in higher grain yield and fertilizer utilization efficiency.

Deciphering Multidrug-Resistant Plasmids in Disinfection Residual Bacteria from a Wastewater Treatment Plant.

Current disinfection processes pose an emerging environmental risk due to the ineffective removal of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, especially disinfection residual bacteria (DRB) carrying multidrug-resistant plasmids (MRPs). However, the characteristics of DRB-carried MRPs are poorly understood. In this study, qPCR analysis reveals that the total absolute abundance of four plasmids in postdisinfection effluent decreases by 1.15 log units, while their relative abundance increases by 0.11 copies/cell compared to investigated wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) influent. We obtain three distinctive DRB-carried MRPs (pWWTP-01-03) from postdisinfection effluent, each carrying 9-11 antibiotic-resistant genes (ARGs). pWWTP-01 contains all 11 ARGs within an ∼25 Kbp chimeric genomic island showing strong patterns of recombination with MRPs from foodborne outbreaks and hospitals. Antibiotic-, disinfectant-, and heavy-metal-resistant genes on the same plasmid underscore the potential roles of disinfectants and heavy metals in the coselection of ARGs. Additionally, pWWTP-02 harbors an adhesin-type virulence operon, implying risks of both antibiotic resistance and pathogenicity upon entering environments. Furthermore, some MRPs from DRB are capable of transferring and could confer selective advantages to recipients under environmentally relevant antibiotic pressure. Overall, this study advances our understanding of DRB-carried MRPs and highlights the imminent need to monitor and control wastewater MRPs for environmental security.

Genome-based analysis to understanding rapid resuscitation of cryopreserved anammox consortia via sequential supernatant addition.

Simple cryopreservation of anaerobic ammonium-oxidation (anammox) consortia has become a promising preservation technology for the fast start-up of the anammox process. Here, we use genome-resolved metagenomics and metatranscriptomics to understand of the microbial interaction in a simple and effective resuscitation process for long-term cryopreserved anammox consortia by sequential addition of anammox SBR supernatant. Performance results showed that sequential addition of anammox supernatant significantly reduced the resuscitation time of the granule-based anammox process from 40 to 20 days. Genome-centric metagenomics were used to recover 19 high-quality draft genomes of anammox and heterotrophic bacteria. Comparative metatranscriptomic analysis was conducted to examine the gene expression of Candidatus Kuenenia stuttgartiensis, the dominant anammox bacterium, and heterotrophic bacteria to better understand their potential interactions. Proteobacteria-affiliated bacteria found in the supernatant were highly active in producing the secondary metabolites molybdopterin cofactor and folate which are needed for growth of the auxotrophic anammox bacteria. In addition, the significantly higher expression levels of hzsA and CO2-fixtion genes in the Candidatus Kuenenia genome indicated the anammox bacteria were likely more active and growing faster after sequential anammox supernatant addition during the resuscitation process. The resuscitation treatment pulse assays confirmed that sequential addition of supernatant was an effective way for the rapid resuscitation of anammox consortia. Our findings offer the first evidence of cross-feeding during the rapid resuscitation of cryopreserved anammox consortia.

Effect of self-alkalization on nitrite accumulation in a high-rate denitrification system: Performance, microflora and enzymatic activities.

The self-alkalization of denitrifying automatic circulation (DAC) reactor resulted in a large increase of pH up to 9.20 and caused a tremendous accumulation of nitrite up to 451.1 ± 49.0 mgN L(-1) at nitrate loading rate (NLR) from 35 kgN m(-3) d(-1) to 55 kgN m(-3) d(-1). The nitrite accumulation was greatly relieved even at the same NLR once the pH was maintained at 7.6 ± 0.2 in the system. Enzymatic assays indicated that the long-term bacterial exposure to high pH significantly inhibited the activity of copper type nitrite reductase (NirK) rather than the cytochrome cd1 type nitrite reductase (NirS). The terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) analysis revealed that the dominant denitrifying bacteria shifted from the NirS-containing Thauear sp. 27 to the NirK-containing Hyphomicrobium nitrativorans strain NL23 during the self-alkalization. The significant nitrite accumulation in the high-rate denitrification system could be therefore, due to the inhibition of Cu-containing NirK by high pH from the self-alkalization. The results suggest that the NirK-containing H. nitrativorans strain NL23 could be an ideal functional bacterium for the conversion of nitrate to nitrite, i.e. denitritation, which could be combined with anaerobic ammonium oxidation (Anammox) to develop a new process for nitrogen removal from wastewater.