Novel aurone-derived piperazine sulfonamides: Development and mechanisms of action as immunostimulants against plant bacterial diseases.

Bacterial diseases pose a significant threat to the sustainable production of crops. Given the unsatisfactory performance and poor eco-compatibility of conventional bactericides, here we present a series of newly structured bactericides that are inspiringly designed by aurone found in plants of the Asteraceae family. These aurone-derived compounds contain piperazine sulfonamide motifs and have shown promising in vitro performance against Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae, Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzicola and Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. citri, in particular, compound II23 achieved minimum half-maximal effective concentrations of 1.06, 0.89, and 1.78 µg/mL, respectively. In vivo experiments conducted in a greenhouse environment further revealed that II23 offers substantial protective and curative effects ranging between 68.93 and 70.29% for rice bacterial leaf streak and 53.17-64.43% for citrus bacterial canker, which stands in activity compared with lead compound aurone and commercial thiodiazole copper. Additional physiological and biochemical analyses, coupled with transcriptomics, have verified that II23 enhances defense enzyme activities and chlorophyll levels in rice. Significantly, it also stimulates the accumulation of abscisic acid (ABA) and upregulates the expression of key genes OsPYL/RCAR5, OsBIPP2C1, and OsABF1, thereby activating the ABA signaling pathway in rice plants under biological stress from bacterial infections.

Complete mitochondrial genomic sequence of Auricularia delicata (Auriculariaceae), an edible Chinese mushroom.

Auricularia delicata (Mont.) Henn. 1893 is an edible and medicinal jelly mushroom popular in China. Here, we report the assembly and annotation of a complete A. delicata mitochondrial genome based on data sequenced using an Illumina NovaSeq 6000 platform. The length of the complete circular A. delicata mitochondrial genome is 189,696 bp, with a GC content of 34.1%. The A. delicata mitochondrial genome contains 60 genes, including 32 protein-coding genes, 26 tRNA genes, and two rRNA genes. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that A. delicata clustered with the Auricularia group, alongside A. auricula-judae and A. heimuer. Additionally, A. delicata was found to be genetically distant from other species of Polyporales, Russulales, and Agaricales. This genome will provide an invaluable reference for the continued study and utilization of A. delicata and other Auricularia species.

Efficient delivery of a large-size Cas9-EGFP vector in porcine fetal fibroblasts using a Lonza 4D-Nucleofector system.

BACKGROUND: Porcine fetal fibroblasts (PFFs) are important donor cells for generating genetically modified pigs, but the transfection efficiencies of PFFs are often unsatisfactory especially when large-size vectors are to be delivered. In this study, we aimed to optimize the transfection conditions for delivery of a large-size vector in PFFs using Lonza 4D-Nucleofector™ vessels and strips. METHODS: We firstly delivered a 13 kb Cas9-EGFP and a 3.5 kb pMAX-GFP vector into PFFs via 7 programs recommended by the Lonza basic protocol. We then tested 6 customized dual-electroporation programs for delivering the 13 kb plasmid into PFFs. In addition, we screened potential alternative electroporation buffers to the Nucleofector™ P3 solution. Finally, three CRISPR/Cas9-sgRNAs targeting Rosa26, H11, and Cep112 loci were delivered into PFFs with different single and dual-electroporation programs. RESULTS: Notably lower transfection efficiencies were observed when delivering the 13 kb vector than delivering the 3.5 kb vector in PFFs via the single-electroporation programs. The customized dual-electroporation program FF-113 + CA-137 exhibited higher transfection efficiencies than any of the single-electroporation programs using vessels (98.1%) or strips (89.1%) with acceptable survival rates for the 13 kb vector. Entranster-E buffer generated similar transfection efficiencies and 24-hour survival rates to those from the P3 solution, thus can be used as an alternative electroporation buffer. In the genome-editing experiments, the FF-113 + CA-137 and CA-137 + CA-137 programs showed significantly superior (P < 0.01) efficiencies to ones from the single-electroporation programs in vessels and strips. Entranster-E buffer produced higher indel efficiencies than the P3 buffer. CONCLUSIONS: We markedly increased the delivery efficiencies for a large vector via customized dual-electroporation programs using Lonza 4D-Nucleofector™ system, and Entranster-E buffer can be used as an alternative electroporation buffer to Nucleofector™ P3 buffer.

Design and synthesis of novel PPO-inhibiting pyrimidinedione derivatives safed towards cotton.

Developing innovative and effective herbicides is of utmost importance since weed management has become a worldwide agricultural production concern, resulting in severe economic losses every year. In this study, a series of new pyrimidinedione compounds were developed via combination of pyrimidinediones with N-phenylacetamide moiety. The herbicidal activity test (37.5-150 g of ai/ha) indicated that most of the new derivatives exhibited excellent herbicidal activity against dicotyledonous weeds, but less against grasses. Among them, compound 34 was identified as the best postemergence herbicidal activities against six species of weeds (Amaranthus retrof lexus, AR; Abutilon theophrasti, AT; Veronica polita, VP; Echinochloa crusgalli, EC; Digitaria sanguinalis, DS; Setaria viridis, SV), which were comparable to the commercial control agent saflufenacil (≥90%). The protoporphyrinogen oxidase (PPO; EC. 1.3.3.4) activity experiment suggested that compound 34 could significantly reduce the PPO content in weeds, the relative expression levels of the PPO gene were verified by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR), and the results were consistent with the trend of the enzyme activity data. Molecular docking showed that compound 34 could occupy the PPO enzyme catalytic substrate pocket, which played an excellent inhibitory effect on the activity of receptor protein. Meanwhile, the tolerance of compound 34 to cotton was better than that of the commercial agent saflufenacil at 150 g of ai/ha. Thus, compound 34 exhibits the potential to be a new PPO herbicide for weed control in cotton fields. This study provided a basis for the subsequent structural modification and mechanism research of pyrimidinedione derivatives.

Ganoderma lingzhi culture enhance growth performance via improvement of antioxidant activity and gut probiotic proliferation in Sanhuang broilers.

Introduction: The experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of Ganoderma lingzhi culture (GLC) as a fermented feed on growth performance, serum biochemical profile, meat quality, and intestinal morphology and microbiota in Sanhuang broilers. In addition, the association between gut bacteria and metabolites was investigated via untargeted metabolomic analysis. Methods: A total of 192 Sanhuang broilers (112 days old) with an initial body weight of 1.62 ± 0.19 kg were randomly allocated to four treatments, six replicate pens per treatment with 8 broilers per pen. The four treatments contain a control diet (corn-soybean meal basal diet, CON), a positive control diet (basal diet + 75 mg/kg chlortetracycline, PCON), and the experimental diets supplemented with 1.5 and 3% of GLC, respectively. The trial includes phase 1 (day 1-28) and phase 2 (day 29-56). Results: The results showed that broilers in PCON and GLC-added treatments showed a lower FCR (P < 0.05) in phase 2 and overall period and a higher ADG (P < 0.05) in phase 2. On day 56, the concentrations of serum SOD (P < 0.05), and HDL (P < 0.05) and cecal SCFA contents (P < 0.05) were increased in broilers fed GLC diets. Broilers fed GLC also showed a higher microbiota diversity and an elevated abundance of SCFA-related bacteria in the caecum. The association between intestinal bacteria and metabolites was investigated via correlation analysis. The differential metabolites in the caecum, such as L-beta-aspartyl-L-aspartic acid and nicotinamide riboside, were identified. Conclusion: In summary, dietary GCL supplementation could increase growth performance to some extent. Moreover, GLC might benefit broilers' health by improving serum HDL content, antioxidant status, SCFAs contents, bacterial diversity, and probiotic proliferation in the caecum.

Performance of a Tower-Shaped Integrated Ecological Purification Device for Pollutants Removal from Domestic Sewage in Rural Areas.

With the continuous development of China's modern economy and agricultural society, the discharge of rural sewage has been recognized as a major threat to the safety of the rural ecological environment. This study discussed the purification efficiency of a tower-shaped integrated ecological purification device (TIEPD)-consisting of a measuring tank, detention tank and three-stage purification unit-towards various common pollutants in rural areas during operation and tested the stability and efficiency of the TIEPD under different rural life events (fair activity days and nonfair activity days) and different precipitation intensities (light rain, moderate rain and heavy rain). The results showed that the average removal efficiencies of the TIEPD towards chemical oxygen demand, ammonia nitrogen, total nitrogen and total phosphorus were 69%, 67%, 54% and 73%, respectively. The average effluent concentration of each pollutant can meet the standard of the discharge of pollutants in China. The system exhibited good stability in removing pollutants and good ecological and economic benefits. This study provides the treatment of domestic sewage in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River and in mountainous areas of China and strengthens the prevention and control of rural nonpoint source pollution.

Gastrointestinal Biogeography of Luminal Microbiota and Short-Chain Fatty Acids in Sika Deer (Cervus nippon).

The gut microbiota of sika deer has been widely investigated, but the spatial distribution of symbiotic microbes among physical niches in the gastrointestinal tract remains to be established. While feces are the most commonly used biological samples in these studies, the accuracy of fecal matter as a proxy of the microbiome at other gastrointestinal sites is as yet unknown. In the present study, luminal contents obtained along the longitudinal axis of deer gastrointestinal tract (rumen, reticulum, omasum, abomasum, small intestine, cecum, colon, and rectum) were subjected to 16S rRNA gene sequencing for profiling of the microbial composition, and samples from the rumen, small intestine, and cecum were subjected to metabolomic analysis to evaluate short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) profiles. Prevotella bacteria were the dominant gastric core microbes, while Christensenellaceae_R-7_group was predominantly observed in the intestine. While the eight gastrointestinal sites displayed variations in microbial diversity, abundance, and function, they could be clustered into stomach, small intestine, and large intestine segments, and the results further highlighted a specific microbial niche of the small intestine. SCFA levels in the rumen, small intestine, and cecum were significantly different, with Bacteroidetes and Spirochaetes were shown to play a critical role in SCFA production. Finally, the rectal microbial composition was significantly correlated with colonic and cecum communities but not those of the small intestine and four gastric sites. Quantification of the compositions and biogeographic relationships between gut microbes and SCFAs in sika deer should provide valuable insights into the interactions contributing to microbial functions and metabolites. IMPORTANCE Feces or specific segments of the gastrointestinal tract (in particular, the rumen) were sampled to explore the gut microbiome. The gastrointestinal biogeography of the luminal microbiota in ruminants, which is critical to guide accurate sampling for different purposes, is poorly understood at present. The microbial community of the rectal sample (as a proxy of fecal sample) showed higher correlation with those of other large intestinal sites relative to the small intestine or stomach, suggesting that the microbial composition is specifically shaped by the unique physiological characteristics of different gastrointestinal niches. In addition, significant differences in microbiomes and SCFAs were observed among the different gastrointestinal sites.

The complete mitochondrial genome of the edible mushroom Pleurotus giganteus (Agaricales, Pleurotus) and insights into its phylogeny.

Pleurotus giganteus (Berk.) Karunarathna & K.D. Hyde 2011 is one of the largest edible mushrooms integrating medicinal value and edible value. The complete mitochondrial genome of the edible fungus P. giganteus was published in this paper. It was determined using Pacbio and Illumina sequencing. The circular molecule is 102,950 bp in length, consisting of 30 protein-coding genes (PCGs), two ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes, and 24 transfer RNA (tRNA) genes. The base composition of the whole mitogenome is A (37.3%), T (37.7%), G (12.2%), and C (12.8%). The phylogenetic tree shows P. giganteus was the basal taxon in Pleurotus and closely related to Pleurotus citrinopileatus Singer 1990.

A preliminary study on the inorganic carbon sink function of mineral weathering during sediment transport in the Yangtze River mainstream.

This study proposed that the dissolution of calcium and magnesium minerals in river sediment could sequester CO2 and function as a carbon sink. Based on the published study, "the contents and chemical and mineral compositions of the suspended particulate materials in the Yangtze River and their geological environmental implications" by Ding Tiping, the contents of CaO, MgO, calcite and dolomite in suspended sediment collected from 25 sampling points in the mainstream and 13 sampling points in the tributaries of the Yangtze River in 4 sampling campaigns during 2003-2007 were used to calculate the total inorganic carbon sink (TCS) capacity and nonsubstantial and substantial inorganic carbon sink (NSCS and SCS) capacities of suspended sediment along the river. Due to the reduction in the sediment yield, the TCS, NSCS and SCS of the Cuntan-Datong section during 2006-2019 decreased by 18.52 × 106 tons, 12.24 × 106 tons and 8.72 × 106 tons, respectively, compared to the period before 2002. The average annual sedimentation of the Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR) was 114.5 × 106 tons, and the related TCS and SCS losses were 6.76 × 106 tons and 2.29 × 106 tons, respectively, which were equivalent to 7.9 and 2.7 percent of the 85.8 × 106 tons of CO2 emissions reduced by the clean energy production of the Three Gorges Hydropower Station. The TCS of global rivers was estimated as 757 × 106 tons (the SCS was more than one quarter of the TCS), which is equivalent to 71.6% of the TCS by global rock weathering with 1.06 × 109 tons of sequestered CO2. The collision and erosion of river sediment caused by turbulence in the processes of sediment transport (off-site rock weathering) could promote the dissolution of minerals. Therefore, it is reasonable that the dissolution rate of calcium and magnesium minerals for offsite rock weathering was much higher than that for in situ rock weathering.

The quality of wild Salvia miltiorrhiza from Dao Di area in China and its correlation with soil parameters and climate factors.

INTRODUCTION: Salvia miltiorrhiza is a frequently used herb in traditional Chinese medicine, and tanshinone IIA (Tan IIA) and salvianolic acid B (Sal Acid B) are two major extracts obtained from its dried root. The quality of herbal ingredients can be affected by environmental factors. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the quality of wild S. miltiorrhiza and investigate the influence of soil constituents and parameters as well as climatic conditions and factors on the content of Tan IIA and Sal Acid B. METHODOLOGY: We collected samples in 12 natural locations in the Dao Di area in China, the area in which S. miltiorrhiza grows, that results in a distinctive higher quality of medicinal materials from the harvested plant. The concentrations of Tan IIA and Sal Acid B were measured by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Soil total carbon, total nitrogen, available nitrogen, available phosphorus, available potassium, and particle size distribution were determined. We also collected climate data using ArcGIS from the WorldClim database, and correlation tests, redundancy, and regression analyses were conducted to analyse the relationship and cluster the samples according to their chemical profile. RESULTS: The content of Tan IIA and Sal Acid B in most of the samples was significantly different (P < 0.05). Soil available phosphorus was considered as a key factor that influenced the quality of wild S. miltiorrhiza, and we found a significant negative association between the concentration of Tan IIA in roots and soil available phosphorus. Moreover, the accumulation of Tan IIA in S. miltiorrhiza was also significantly associated with precipitation in April, May, and October, maximum temperature in January, and standard deviation of temperature seasonality. There was no significant correlation between the content of Sal Acid B and ecological factors. In addition, samples collected from Mengshan, Hexian, and Lushi locations were rich in Tan IIA and tended to cluster together, whereas samples collected from Longquan and Huoshan locations tended to cluster and were poor in Tan IIA. CONCLUSION: The Tan IIA content in samples collected from southern Anhui was significantly lower than that in other Dao Di locations. The content of Tan IIA was related more to the soil than the temperature. Compared with Tan IIA, Sal Acid B was less influenced by soil and climate factors. The findings of this study may provide helpful references for quality control of medicinal plants that exert pharmacological effects in humans.

First report of Cedecea neteri Causing Yellow rot Disease in Pleurotus pulmonarius in China.

Pleurotus pulmonarius is a popular edible fungus and widely cultivated in many areas of China. In June 2018, yellow rot (more than 10% incidence) was found on the first crop of P. pulmonarius fruiting bodies in a mushroom factory in Nanning, Guangxi Province, China. At first, yellow water-soaked lesions appeared in the infected fruiting bodies. Lesions then spread and purulent tissues were formed. Severe rot induced production of deformed fruiting bodies and offensive odor. Internal sections of the diseased tissue (approximately 0.5 × 0.5 cm) were sterilized in 75% alcohol for 30 s, rinsed three times with sterilized and deionized water, crushed and suspended in sterilized and deionized water. The suspension was spread on the Luria-Bertani (LB) medium. After incubation at 30°C for 2 days, dominant bacterial colonies were oyster white, smooth, convex, and circular. Individual colonies were transferred two times to LB medium using the conventional streak plate techniques to obtain the pure cultures. The cells were gram-negative, short rods, motile, and no capsules or endospores were observed. Using a BoJian Gram-negative bacteria biochemical analysis kit (5 CARDS, Hopebio, Qingdao, China), data were obtained and analyzed, showing that the isolated strain belongs to the Cedecea genus (positive for ß-galactosidase, citric acid, arginine, sucrose, mannitol, sorbitol, D-glucose, gelatin hydrolysis and VP test but negative for H2S, urease, oxidase, indole, rhamnose, melibiose, amygdalin, lysine, ornithine, lactose, inositol and arabinose). Amplified 16S rDNA gene sequences (1,424 bp, GenBank accession No. MT925570) of the isolate using the universal primers 27f and 1492r (Lane 1991) exhibited 99.86% identity with Cedecea neteri M006 (CP009458.1). Based on its morphological characteristics, 16S rDNA sequences, and biochemical test results, the strain was identified as C. neteri. Pathogenicity tests for this strain were performed with bacterial suspensions (approximately 1 × 108 CFU/ml) after growing for 24 h in LB medium at 30°C. Mycelia of P. pulmonarius were cultivated for 60 days in plastic bags. Then young fruiting bodies were formed after induced with low temperature stimulation to serve as a host source. The prepared bacterial suspensions were directly sprayed onto the surface of three bags of fruiting bodies; another three bags were sprayed with sterilized and deionized water as negative control. All inoculated fruiting bodies were then incubated at 20°C with 90 to 95% relative humidity. All experiments were repeated three times. After 2 days, all the fruiting bodies inoculated with the bacterial suspensions showed yellow water-soaked lesions, and the normal growth of the fruiting bodies was inhibited. An offensive odor then developed along with a severe soft rot that was similar to the disease symptoms observed under natural conditions. The fruiting bodies of negative control were growing healthily with no symptoms. Koch's postulates were fulfilled by isolating bacteria from lesions on artificially inoculated fruiting bodies that were identical to the original isolates based on morphological characteristics, 16S rDNA sequences and biochemical test results. C. neteri was formally reported as a pathogen to humans that could cause bacteremia (Farmer et al. 1982). Recently, it has also been reported causing soft rot disease on mushrooms of Pholiota nameko (Yan et al. 2018) and yellow sticky disease on mushrooms of Flammulina velutipes (Yan et al. 2019). However, to the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of C. neteri-induced yellow rot disease of P. pulmonarius in China.

Pooled CRISPR/Cas9 reveals redundant roles of plastidial phosphoglycerate kinases in carbon fixation and metabolism.

Phosphoglycerate kinase (PGK) is a highly conserved reversible enzyme that participates in both glycolysis and photosynthesis. In Arabidopsis thaliana, one cytosolic PGK (PGKc) and two plastidial PGKs (PGKp) are known. It remains debatable whether the two PGKp isozymes are functionally redundant or specialized in plastidial carbon metabolism and fixation. Here, using a pooled clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated protein 9 (Cas9) strategy, we found that plants with single mutations in pgkp1 or pgkp2 were not significantly affected, whereas a pgkp1pgkp2 double mutation was lethal due to retarded carbon fixation, suggesting that PGKp isozymes play redundant functional roles. Metabolomic analysis demonstrated that the sugar-deficient pgkp1pgkp2 double mutation was partially complemented by exogenous sugar, although respiration intermediates were not rescued. Chloroplast development was defective in pgkp1pgkp2, due to a deficiency in glycolysis-dependent galactoglycerolipid biosynthesis. Ectopic expression of a plastid targeting PGKc did not reverse the pgkp1pgkp2 double-mutant phenotypes. Therefore, PGKp1 and PGKp2 play redundant roles in carbon fixation and metabolism, whereas the molecular function of PGKc is more divergent. Our study demonstrated the functional conservation and divergence of glycolytic enzymes.

Afforestation and deforestation enhanced soil CH4 uptake in a subtropical agricultural landscape: Evidence from multi-year and multi-site field experiments.

The impact of afforestation and deforestation on the carbon cycle and carbon sequestration in agricultural landscape has been well studied, while the direction and magnitude of the effects on soil CH4 fluxes remain uncertain in particular in the subtropical region. Thus, multi-site and multi-year field experiments were conducted to measure soil CH4 fluxes from an afforestation chronosequence (cropland [wheat-maize rotation], 15-year old forest, 20-year old forest and 30-year forest) and a deforestation chronosequence (secondary forest, grassland, cropland without fertilization and cropland with fertilization [wheat-maize rotation]) in a subtropical agricultural landscape from 2012 to 2017. The soil at all land uses functioned exclusively as a sink for atmospheric CH4 through the whole experimental years. Soil CH4 uptakes showed great seasonal and inter-annual variations along with those of temporal patterns of soil environmental variables. At the afforestation chronosequence, annual CH4 uptake rates averaged 1.37, 1.68, 1.80 and 2.97 kg C ha-1 yr-1 for cropland, 15-year old forest, 20-year old forest and 30-year old forest. Compared to cropland, afforestation increased annual CH4 uptake by 23 to 117%. Soil CH4 uptake decreased with increasing soil content, soil NH4+ content and soil NO3- content but increased with increasing soil DOC content at the afforestation chronosequence (P < 0.05). At the deforestation chronosequence, annual CH4 uptake rates were 1.37, 1.70, 1.77 and 2.01 kg C ha-1 yr-1 for secondary forest, grassland, cropland without fertilization and cropland with fertilization. Compared to secondary forest, deforestation increased annual CH4 uptake by 24 to 47%. Soil CH4 uptakes were negatively correlated with soil water content and positively correlated with soil NO3- content. We conclude that both afforestation and deforestation have the potential to increase the sink capacities of atmospheric CH4 in the subtropical agricultural landscape and consequently provide the negative feedbacks to climate system.

THBS1 Is a Novel Serum Prognostic Factors of Acute Myeloid Leukemia.

Dysregulation of cytokines and growth factors is a general feature of tumor microenvironment, and unraveling the expression spectrum of cytokine and growth factor in niche is of utmost importance. Here, we evaluated cytokine profiling of bone marrow serum samples in AML patients and healthy controls. Protein expression profiling of serum from nine AML patients and five healthy controls was obtained using a biotinylated antibody chip. A total of 507 cytokines and growth factors were analyzed. Compared with healthy people, AML patients expressed 31 signature proteins, among which, 27 were significantly higher expressed and 4 proteins were lower. When patients were divided into favorable and poor prognosis, 12 signature proteins were significantly differentially expressed between these two groups. Furthermore, in order to identify the accuracy of cytokine expression profiles, we verified and analyzed the expression of THBS1 (Thrombospondin 1) in 116 patients and 9 healthy people. We found that THBS1 was lowly expressed in AML patients, which might be induced by promoter methylation, and patients with low THBS1 possessed shorter survivor time. Our data indicated that we successfully unveil differentially expressed proteins in AML patients using a biotinylated antibody chip; among them, THBS1 may be a potential therapeutic target for AML patients' treatment.

Land use change effects on ecosystem carbon budget in the Sichuan Basin of Southwest China: Conversion of cropland to forest ecosystem.

In the humid subtropics, conversion of cropland to forest has been recognized to influence carbon cycling (e.g., soil CO2 emissions) and the associated ecosystem carbon balance. A three-year field study was conducted in situ to quantitatively evaluate effects of land use change on carbon budget in a cropland (under winter wheat-summer maize rotation) comparison with the adjacent forest ecosystem. During the three-year experimental period, on average, soil heterotrophic respirations were 35.19mgC·m-2·h-1 for the cropland and 40.02mgC·m-2·h-1 for the adjacent forest ecosystem. The quantified net primary production (NPP) were 8724.78kgC·ha-1·year-1 for the cropland (3218.14kgC·ha-1 for winter wheat season and 5506.64kgC·ha-1 for summer maize season) and 6478.99kgC·ha-1·year-1 for the adjacent forest ecosystem. Thus, the average positive net ecosystem production (NEP) of 5139.33kgC·ha-1·year-1 and 2790.43kgC·ha-1·year-1 were gained in the cropland and the adjacent forest ecosystem, respectively. Nonetheless, if take into consideration of crop grain harvest (i.e., removal), the mean NEP was only 976.69kgC·ha-1·year-1 for cropland which were over three-fold lower than for the adjacent forest ecosystem. The practice of conversion of cropland (maize-wheat rotation system) to forest consequently resulted in an average annual net carbon sequestration of 1813.74kgC·ha-1·year-1 in the study. Therefore, our findings highlight that practices of conversion of subtropical cropland to forest commonly conducted in the last decades act as sinks of atmospheric CO2 in southwest China.

Metabolomics Reveals Distinct Carbon and Nitrogen Metabolic Responses to Magnesium Deficiency in Leaves and Roots of Soybean [Glycine max (Linn.) Merr.].

Magnesium (Mg) deficiency, a widespread yet overlooked problem in agriculture, has been reported to retard plant growth and development, through affecting key metabolic pathways. However, the metabolic responses of plant to Mg deficiency is still not fully understood. Here we report a metabolomic study to evaluate the metabolic responses to Mg deficiency in soybean leaves and roots. Hydroponic grown soybean were exposed to Mg starvation for 4 and 8 days, respectively. Metabolic changes in the first mature trifoliolate leaves and roots were quantified by conducting GC-TOF-MS based metabolomic analysis. Principal component analysis (PCA) showed that Mg deficient plants became distinguishable from controls at 4 days after stress (DAS) at metabolic level, and were clearly discriminated at 8 DAS. Mg deficiency could cause large metabolite alterations on carbon and nitrogen metabolism. At 8 DAS, carbon allocation from shoot to root is decreased by Mg deficiency. Remarkably, most amino acids (such as phenylalanine, asparagine, leucine, isoleucine, glycine, glutamine, and serine) showed pronounced accumulation in the leaves, while most organic acids (including pyruvic acid, citric acid, 2-keto-glutaric acid, succinic acid, fumaric acid, and malic acid) were significantly decreased in the roots. Our study shows that the carbon and nitrogen metabolic responses are distinct in leaves and roots under Mg deficiency.

Integrin alphavbeta3 enhances ß-catenin signaling in acute myeloid leukemia harboring Fms-like tyrosine kinase-3 internal tandem duplication mutations: implications for microenvironment influence on sorafenib sensitivity.

Binding of leukemia cells to the bone marrow extracellular matrix (ECM) through integrins might influence drug response and the survival of acute myeloid leukemia (AML). However, the functions of integrin in AML are needed to be clarified. Data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) were retrieved and integrin ß3 (ITGB3) expression and prognostic significance for AML were analyzed. Integrin alphavbeta3 (αvß3) in sorafenib sensitivity and signaling pathway of FLT3-ITD AML cells was evaluated in vitro. The level of ITGB3 expression was positively correlated with risk stratification and prognosis of AML patients, especially in cytogenetic-normal patients with Fms-like tyrosine kinase-3 internal tandem duplication (FLT3-ITD) mutation. Integrin αvß3 decreased sorafenib sensitivity when co-culture of MV4-11 cells and bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs), and it is crucial for osteopontin (OPN) induced sorafenib insensitivity in FLT3-ITD mutated AML cells. Mechanically, αvß3 enhance ß-catenin activation through phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt/Glycogen synthase kinase-3 beta (GSK3ß) pathway. Moreover, genetic inhibition of ß-catenin by shRNA could increase sorafenib sensitivity in MV4-11 cells. Taken together, our study revealed a novel mechanism in microenvironment influence on sorafenib sensitivity in AML with FLT3-ITD mutation that was caused by activating integrin αvß3/PI3K/Akt/GSK3ß/ß-catenin pathway. Integrin αvß3/ß-catenin could be considered as a new therapeutic target for AML especially for FLT3-ITD mutated AML.

Synthesis and antitumor activity of novel quinazoline derivatives containing thiosemicarbazide moiety.

Series of novel derivatives of quinazoline containing thiosemicarbazide moiety 5 and 9 have been synthesized and tested for their antitumor activities in vitro against a panel of five human cancer cell lines. Bioassay results indicated that most of the prepared compounds exhibited cytotoxicity against various cancer cells. From the structure-activity relationships it was found that unsubstituted quinazoline ring and benzene ring or halogen substituted benzene ring in quinazoline derivatives 5 and 9 would be the most favorable for their antitumor activity.

DNA barcodes for discriminating the medicinal plant Scutellaria baicalensis (Lamiaceae) and its adulterants.

Scutellaria baicalensis GEORGI (Lamiaceae) is the botanical origin of the well-known traditional Chinese medicine "Huang Qin" (Radix Scutellariae). Due to overexploitation that had induced a decline in natural sources, the dried roots of its congeners, S. amoena, S. rehderiana, and S. viscidula, have been used to adulterate it in recent years. This practice may cause a series of inconsistent therapeutic effects and quality control problems in the herbal medicine industry. Hence, we sequenced and analyzed three candidate DNA barcodes, the ribosomal RNA maturase gene (matK), the ribulose-1,4-bisphosphate carboxylase large subunit gene (rbcL), and the psbA-trnH intergenic spacer (psbA-trnH), to discriminate S. baicalensis and its adulterants. All candidate DNA barcodes had been successfully amplified from leaf samples. Comparatively, only psbA-trnH had been yielded from commercially prepared crude drug samples. Based on the sequence divergence, rbcL can assign S. baicalensis and its adulterants into the correct family and genus, whereas, either matK or psbA-trnH can accurately discriminate S. baicalensis and its adulterants. We proposed the multilocus barcodes rbcL+psbA-trnH for the species identification of S. baicalensis and its adulterants, and the unique barcode psbA-trnH for the authentication of commercial Radix Scutellariae. The DNA barcoding technique could be applied to the quality control of "Huang Qin"-based medicinal preparations and to the management of medicinal herb trade in the markets.