The choice of rice rotation system affects the composition of the soil fungal community and functional traits.

Plant rotation is a common practice in upland rice production. However, the effects of plant rotation on the interactions between rice plants, soil and underground ecosystems need to be studied further. Here, quantitative PCR and high-throughput pyrosequencing of the ITS region was applied to investigate the fungal abundance, diversity, and composition of fungal functional guilds in rice field soils and after different rotation practices ((rice-fallow (RF), rice-Chinese milk vetch (RV) and rice-wheat (RW)) and their relationship with rice yields. The results showed that the six-year RV and RW rotations increased fungal abundance by 42.7 %-69.2 % relative to RF, but decreased the soil bacterial-to-fungi ratio and fungal diversity. For the functional guilds, RV rotation significantly increased the relative abundance of soil saprotrophs and pathotrophs by 73.30 % and 32.94 %, respectively, while that of symbiotrophs was decreased by 35.96 %, compared to RF. RW rotation was found to significantly decrease all three fungal functional guilds, but increased the symbiotroph-saprotroph ratio. A structure equal model analysis indicated that the diversity of saprotrophs was significantly and negatively correlated with rice yield. Altogether, this work provides a detailed description of how the soil fungal community, including saprotrophic, symbiotrophic and pathotrophic functional guilds, responded to different upland rice rotation practices after eight years of application.

Valorisation of fresh waste grape through fermentation with different exogenous probiotic inoculants.

The disposal of fresh waste grape berries restraining the sustainable development of vineyards. The aims of this study were to evaluate the effects of different exogenous probiotic inoculants on the fermentation of fresh waste grape berries. In the fermentation process, the variations of pH and EC value, chemical characteristics of the fermentation products, as well as the microbial communities' composition were simultaneously observed. In addition, the feasibility of using the fermentation products as chemical fertilizer substitute in agricultural production also has been verified in this study. The results indicated that the different probiotic inoculants has shown clear impacts on the variation trends of pH and EC value in the grape waste fermentation. Lactobacillus casei and Zygosaccharomyces rouxii are ideal probiotics for the fermentation of waste grape, which enhanced the contents of free Aa and other nutrients in fermentation products. Compared with Fn treatment (without exogenous inoculants), the total free Aa contents in Fs (inoculation with Z. rouxii) and Fm (inoculation with L. casei and Z. rouxii mixture) treatments have improved by 199.1% and 325.5%, respectively. The microbial communities' composition during the fermentation process also been greatly influenced by the different inoculants. At the genus level, Lactobacillus and Pseudomonas were the dominant bacteria, while Saccharomyces and Candida were the dominant fungi in the fermentation. Using the fermentation products as chemical fertilizer substitute has enhanced the quality of Kyoho grape. Compared with traditional chemical fertilization treatment (T1), application with fermented grape waste (T2) has significantly improved VC and soluble solid contents in grape berries by 16.89% and 20.12%, respectively. In conclusion, fermentation with suitable probiotics was an efficient approach for the disposal and recycling of fresh waste grape in vineyards.

Mitochondrial Protein UCP1 Inhibits the Malignant Behaviors of Triple-negative Breast Cancer through Activation of Mitophagy and Pyroptosis.

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a massive threat to women's health due to its high morbidity, malignancy, and the refractory, effective therapeutic option of TNBC is still deficient. The mitochondrial protein showed therapeutic potential on breast cancer, whereas the mechanism and downstream pathway of mitochondrial uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1) was not fully elucidated. We found that UCP1 was negatively regulated to the process of TNBC. Overexpressing UCP1 could inhibit the proliferation and metastasis of TNBC, meanwhile inducing the mitochondrial swelling and activation of mitophagy in vitro. Mitophagy activation was then assessed to elucidate whether it was downstream of UCP1 in TNBC metastasis. GSDME is the core of pyroptosis. We found that GSDME was activated in the TNBC cells when UCP1 levels were high. It regulates TNBC cell proliferation potential instead of the apoptosis process in vitro and in vivo. Our results suggested that UCP1 could inhibit the process of TNBC by activating mitophagy and pyroptosis. Impaired activation of mitophagy weakens the regulation effect of UCP1 on metastasis of TNBC, similar to the impairment of GSDME activation on the proliferation regulation of UCP1 on TNBC. UCP1 might be a novel therapeutic target of TNBC.

Insight into how fertilization strategies increase quality of grape (Kyoho) and shift microbial community.

Organic and bioorganic fertilizers were increasingly used for agricultural soil. However, little is known on what kind of organic fertilizer application strategies can promote grape production well and how appropriate fertilization strategies improve soil properties and shift microbial community. This study investigated the improvement in soil physicochemical properties as well as their relations with microbial community structure and grape quality under different fertilization strategies. Our results found that (bio)organic fertilizer (CF1, CF2, and BF) especially combined application of organic and bioorganic fertilization (CBF) had smaller effects on electrical conductivity (EC) and pH, while it improved soil nutrients including N, P, K, and organic matter (OM) well, thereby promoting the grape quality comparing to the group without any fertilizer (CK) and with chemical fertilizer (NPK). Especially, the concentrations of Cr, Hg, Zn, and Cu were reduced by 13.63%, 12.50%, 12.52%, and 11.75% in CBF, respectively. Additionally, CF1, CF2, and BF, especially CBF, optimized the communities' composition and increased the abundance of some plant probiotics such as Solirubrobacter and Lysobacter. Nevertheless, excessive application of organic fertilizer derived from livestock manure could cause the accumulation of heavy metals such as Zn and Cu in soil and leaves, which could further influence the grape quality. Additionally, the structure of microbial communities was also changed possibly because some bacterial genera showed distinct adaptability to the stress of heavy metals or the utilization capacity of N, P, K, and OM. Our results demonstrated that combined application of organic and bioorganic fertilization showed a great influence on soil physicochemical properties, whose positive changes could further optimize microbial communities and facilitate the promotion of grape quality.

Soil bacterial community composition in rice-fish integrated farming systems with different planting years.

The high productivity and efficient nutrient utilization in rice-fish integrated farming system are well reported. However, the characteristics of soil bacterial communities and their relationship with soil nutrient availability in rice-fish field remain unclear. In this study, we selected three paddy fields, including a rice monoculture field and two rice-fish fields with different planting years, to investigate the soil bacterial community composition with Illumina MiSeq sequencing technology. The results indicated that the soil properties were significantly different among different rice farming systems. The soil bacterial community composition in the rice-fish field was significantly different from that in the rice monoculture field. Five of the top 15 phyla were observed with significant differences and Nitrospirae was the most significant one. However, no taxa observed with significance between the rice planting area and aquaculture area no matter in the 1st or 5th year of rice-fish field. RDA analysis showed that the soil bacterial community differentiation in the 5th year of rice-fish field was positively correlated with soil properties, such as AN and OM contents, EC and pH value. Although the rice yields in rice-fish field decreased, the net economic benefit of the rice-fish system enhanced obviously due to the high value of aquaculture animals.

Influence of 37 Years of Nitrogen and Phosphorus Fertilization on Composition of Rhizosphere Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi Communities in Black Soil of Northeast China.

Increased inorganic nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) additions expected in the future will endanger the biodiversity and stability of agricultural ecosystems. In this context, a long-term fertilizer experiment (37 years) was set up in the black soil of northeast China. We examined interaction impacts of elevated fertilizer and host selection processes on arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) communities in wheat rhizosphere soil using the Illumina MiSeq platform. The soil samples were subjected to five fertilization regimes: no fertilizer (CK) and low N (N1), low N plus low P (N1P1), high N (N2), and high N plus high P (N2P2) fertilizer. Long-term fertilization resulted in a significant shift in rhizosphere soil nutrient concentrations. The N fertilization (N1 and N2) did not significantly change rhizosphere AMF species diversity, but N plus P fertilization (N1P1 and N2P2) decreased it compared with CK. Non-metric multidimensional scaling showed that the rhizosphere AMF communities in CK, N1, N2, N1P1 and N2P2 treatments were distinct from each other. The AMF communities were predominantly composed of Glomeraceae, accounting for 30.0-39.1% of the sequences, and the relative abundance of family Glomeraceae was more abundance in fertilized soils, while family Paraglomeraceae were increased in N1 and N2 compared with CK. Analysis shown that AMF diversity was directly affected by soil C:P ratio but indirectly affected by plant under long-term fertilization. Overall, the results indicated that long-term N and P fertilization regimes changed rhizosphere AMF diversity and community composition, and rhizosphere AMF diversity was both affected by soil C:P ratio and plant.

Ameliorative effects of silicon fertilizer on soil bacterial community and pakchoi (Brassica chinensis L.) grown on soil contaminated with multiple heavy metals.

Contamination of soil with heavy metals seriously harms the growth of crops. Silicon fertilizer is known to promote growth of crops and alleviate heavy metals stresses in vegetables. However, little is known about the effects of silicon fertilizer on pakchoi vegetable growth and soil microbial community in soil contaminated with multiple heavy metals. In order to elucidate this question, current study was designed to analyze the impact of different silicon fertilizer doses on the growth of pakchoi, heavy metals accumulation in pakchoi, and diversity and composition of bacterial community in heavy metals contaminated soil. Results of the study showed that, silicon fertilizer application significantly improved the yield of pakchoi and reduced the content of heavy metals in pakchoi. Moreover, the silicon fertilizer led to the heterogeneity of bacterial community structure in soil. Linear discriminant analysis (LDA) effect size (LEfSe) test showed the change of soil bacterial community structures under the higher silicon fertilizer doses (0.8-3.2%). Similarly, soil bacteria associated with heavy metal resistance and carbon/nitrogen metabolism showed a more active response to medium fertilizer dose (0.8% w/w). In addition, Mantel test and Redundancy analysis (RDA) showed that both the soil bacterial community structures and pakchoi growth were significantly correlated with soil EC, available K and pH. Study suggested that the application of silicon fertilizer provided richer bacteria associated with heavy metal resistance and plant growth, and more favorable soil physicochemical environment for the growth of pakchoi under multiple heavy metal contamination, and the impact was dependent on fertilizing dose.

Effects of different fertilizer formulas on the growth of loquat rootstocks and stem lignification.

Grafting is a common method of variety propagation in loquat breeding, the slow growth of rootstocks is a main factor limiting the expansion of this technique. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of seven different fertilizer formulas on the growth of loquat rootstock seedlings, five water-soluble fertilizer formulas, as well as organic fertilizer and controlled-release fertilizer were evaluated. An unfertilized control (CK) was also performed. Growth indicators including plant height, stem thickening and lignification, leaf area, root development, dry matter accumulation, spatial distribution of nutrient elements, and cross-sectional anatomy of stem were measured. The results showed that the addition of microelements in fertilizer could significantly delay the lignification process of the cambium, which exhibiting the greatest improvement in stem thickening. Phosphorus nutrition could significantly promote the occurrence of fibrous roots, while excessive phosphorus supply might disturb the absorption and utilization of nitrogen of roots, intensify the lignification process of the main stem, and then affect the growth of the aboveground part. The findings of this research could provide a theoretical basis for identifying an optimum fertilization formula and technique for promoting the rapid growth and accelerating the lignification process at different stages of loquat rootstock seedling growth.

Soil nutrient status and the relation with planting area, planting age and grape varieties in urban vineyards in Shanghai.

Soil nutrient characteristics are key factors that regulate grape growth and fruit quality. To investigate soil nutrient characteristics, 73 typical vineyards in Shanghai suburbs were selected for this study. The impacts of different planting areas, planting ages and grape varieties on soil characteristics were studied. The Agro Services International (ASI) analysis method was adopted to measure the levels of soil nutrients. The results indicated that soil nutrient characteristics varied greatly across the 73 selected vineyards in Shanghai suburbs. Planting area and planting age were the major factors that significantly affected soil nutrient characteristics. However, no significant differences were observed among the 5 major cultivated grape varieties. Significant differences in soil pH were only observed in different planting areas. Soil nutrients in the selected vineyards were mainly at a high level or extra-high level, which means that the current amount of fertilizer in these vineyards exceeds the actual demands of the grapevines and should be reduced. Meanwhile, the intermediate soil organic matter (OM) content indicated that more organic fertilizer should be applied to the soil in these vineyards. Optimized fertilization based on soil nutrient levels plays an essential role in sustaining production resources, increasing economic benefits and improving environmental conditions of vineyards.

Celastrol protects kidney against ischemia-reperfusion-induced injury in rats.

BACKGROUND: Ischemia-reperfusion (IR) causes various damages in renal tissues, which is exacerbated by hypoxia-induced excessive inflammation and deteriorates the prognosis of patients after kidney surgery. Celastrol is a potent inflammation inhibitor that has little toxicity. In this report, we investigated whether celastrol protects against IR-induced renal injury in rats. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Renal IR injury was induced by occlusion of the bilateral renal pedicles for 45 min followed by reperfusion for 6 h. Celastrol or vehicle solution was intraperitoneally injected 30 min before renal ischemia, respectively. Renal histology, function, and pro-inflammatory cytokines and mediators were assessed. The effect of celastrol on nuclear translocation of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) was also measured. RESULTS: Celastrol significantly suppressed elevation of the renal function markers and the lipid peroxidation level, alleviated renal tubular damage, and decreased the levels of tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin-1ß, and monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1) messenger RNA in kidney caused by IR. Moreover, celastrol prevented IR-induced expression of pro-inflammatory mediators, which was associated with suppression of nuclear translocation of NF-κB subunit p65. CONCLUSIONS: Celastrol ameliorated the acute kidney injury caused by IR, which was associated with inhibiting local NF-κB activation and inflammation. Our findings suggest that celastrol could be useful for preventing IR-induced renal injury.