Nonpathogenic Pseudomonas syringae derivatives and its metabolites trigger the plant "cry for help" response to assemble disease suppressing and growth promoting rhizomicrobiome.

Plants are capable of assembling beneficial rhizomicrobiomes through a "cry for help" mechanism upon pathogen infestation; however, it remains unknown whether we can use nonpathogenic strains to induce plants to assemble a rhizomicrobiome against pathogen invasion. Here, we used a series of derivatives of Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato DC3000 to elicit different levels of the immune response to Arabidopsis and revealed that two nonpathogenic DC3000 derivatives induced the beneficial soil-borne legacy, demonstrating a similar "cry for help" triggering effect as the wild-type DC3000. In addition, an increase in the abundance of Devosia in the rhizosphere induced by the decreased root exudation of myristic acid was confirmed to be responsible for growth promotion and disease suppression of the soil-borne legacy. Furthermore, the "cry for help" response could be induced by heat-killed DC3000 and flg22 and blocked by an effector triggered immunity (ETI) -eliciting derivative of DC3000. In conclusion, we demonstrate the potential of nonpathogenic bacteria and bacterial elicitors to promote the generation of disease-suppressive soils.

Plant commensal type VII secretion system causes iron leakage from roots to promote colonization.

Competition for iron is an important factor for microbial niche establishment in the rhizosphere. Pathogenic and beneficial symbiotic bacteria use various secretion systems to interact with their hosts and acquire limited resources from the environment. Bacillus spp. are important plant commensals that encode a type VII secretion system (T7SS). However, the function of this secretion system in rhizobacteria-plant interactions is unclear. Here we use the beneficial rhizobacterium Bacillus velezensis SQR9 to show that the T7SS and the major secreted protein YukE are critical for root colonization. In planta experiments and liposome-based experiments demonstrate that secreted YukE inserts into the plant plasma membrane and causes root iron leakage in the early stage of inoculation. The increased availability of iron promotes root colonization by SQR9. Overall, our work reveals a previously undescribed role of the T7SS in a beneficial rhizobacterium to promote colonization and thus plant-microbe interactions.

Changes in nutrient balance, environmental effects, and green development after returning farmland to forests: A case study in Ningxia, China.

Returning sloping farmland (>25°) to forest/grassland (RFTF) is an effective ecological measure for soil and water conservation. However, changes in nutrient cycles and green development are still unclear. Ningxia, in Northwestern China, began to implement RFTF in 2000. Here, we used the NUFER model to calculate the input and loss of nitrogen and phosphorus, utilization efficiency, production and consumption at food-chain scale in Ningxia for the period 1985-2015. Five aspects comprised the evaluation of green development: society, economy, resources, environment, and productivity. Results showed that forest coverage rate increased from 7.74% to 33.2%, while cropping area decreased by 6.6%. NH3 loss increased from 53,000 to 83,000 tons (56%), N2O increased from 1200 to 2300 tons (92%) and leaching loss from 18,000 to 62,000 tons (240%). Phosphorus leaching loss increased from 13,000 to 35,000 tons (130%). The environmental cost of food nitrogen per unit of production decreased from 8 to 6.7 kg/kg (19.4%). Nitrogen and phosphorus use efficiencies decreased by 4.8% and 58% in crops-animal systems, respectively, but increased by 652% and 430% in animal husbandry systems. The proportion of animal protein production increased from 18.3% to 39.0% (113%). The major source of organic waste was livestock and poultry manure and urine (70%). Indicators for achieving green development level increased from 14 to 18 (14.7%). Improving the level of scientific and technological management of aquaculture system, increasing the proportion of organic matter returned to farmlands, and paying attention to the combination of planting and breeding will effectively promote future cycling efficiency of nitrogen and phosphorus in the food chain, and the sustainability of agriculture towards green development.

Achievement of Both Mechanical Properties and Intrinsic Self-Healing under Body Temperature in Polyurethane Elastomers: A Synthesis Strategy from Waterborne Polymers.

Inspired by the growing demand for smart and environmentally friendly polymer materials, we employed 2,2'-disulfanediyldianiline (22DTDA) as a chain extender to synthesize a waterborne polyurethane (WPUR). Due to the ortho-substituted structure of the aromatic disulfide, the urea moieties formed a unique microphase structure in the WPUR, its mechanical strength was enhanced more 180 times relative to that of the material prepared without 22DTDA, and excellent self-healing abilities at body temperature in air or under ultrasound in water were obtained. If the self-healing process was carried out at 37 °C, 50 °C or under ultrasound, the ultimate tensile strength and elongation at break of the healed film could reach 13.8 MPa and 1150%, 15.4 MPa and 1215%, or 16 MPa and 1056%, respectively. Moreover, the WPUR films could be re-healed at the same fracture location over three cutting-healing cycles, and the recovery rates of the tensile strength and elongation at break remained almost constant throughout these cycles.