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Background: Haemaphysalis longicornis is drawing attentions for its geographic invasion, extending population, and emerging disease threat. However, there are still substantial gaps in our knowledge of viral composition in relation to genetic diversity of H. longicornis and ecological factors, which are important for us to understand interactions between virus and vector, as well as between vector and ecological elements. Results: We conducted the meta-transcriptomic sequencing of 136 pools of H. longicornis and identified 508 RNA viruses of 48 viral species, 22 of which have never been reported. Phylogenetic analysis of mitochondrion sequences divided the ticks into two genetic clades, each of which was geographically clustered and significantly associated with ecological factors, including altitude, precipitation, and normalized difference vegetation index. The two clades showed significant difference in virome diversity and shared about one fifth number of viral species that might have evolved to "generalists." Notably, Bandavirus dabieense, the pathogen of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome was only detected in ticks of clade 1, and half number of clade 2-specific viruses were aquatic-animal-associated. Conclusions: These findings highlight that the virome diversity is shaped by internal genetic evolution and external ecological landscape of H. longicornis and provide the new foundation for promoting the studies on virus-vector-ecology interaction and eventually for evaluating the risk of H. longicornis for transmitting the viruses to humans and animals. 4querEumuJMtVvn4JLJ-5M Video Abstract [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an important forestry pest, Coronaproctus castanopsis (Monophlebidae) has caused serious damage to the globally valuable Gutianshan ecosystem, China. In this study, we assembled the first chromosome-level genome of the female specimen of C. castanopsis by merging BGI reads, HiFi long reads and Hi-C data. The assembled genome size is 700.81 Mb, with a scaffold N50 size of 273.84 Mb and a contig N50 size of 12.37 Mb. Hi-C scaffolding assigned 98.32% (689.03 Mb) of C. Castanopsis genome to three chromosomes. The BUSCO analysis (n = 1,367) showed a completeness of 91.2%, comprising 89.2% of single-copy BUSCOs and 2.0% of multicopy BUSCOs. The mapping ratio of BGI, second-generation RNA, third-generation RNA and HiFi reads are 97.84%, 96.15%, 97.96%, and 99.33%, respectively. We also identified 64.97% (455.3 Mb) repetitive elements, 1,373 non-coding RNAs and 10,542 protein-coding genes. This study assembled a high-quality genome of C. castanopsis, which accumulated valuable molecular data for scale insects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is of great significance to reveal the changes of grain production pattern and natural resource utilization efficiency for rational utilization of natural resources, security of national food security, and sustainable development. Base on the data of county-scale grain production and 683 meteorological stations from 1985 to 2015 in China, ArcGIS spatial analysis method was adopted to analyze the grain production pattern changes and heat resource utilization characteristics considered temperature zone division. Studies had shown that about 90% of Chinese total grain output was produced in mid temperate, warm temperate, northern subtropical, and mid subtropical zones from 1985 to 2015, accounting for 18.6%, 25.6%, 21.6%, and 25.9%, respectively. In the past 30 years, the proportion of grain production in the single cropping region had increased by 13.8%, while it had decreased by 2.7% and 11.2% in the double and triple cropping region, respectively. The proportion of grain production had increased by 13.9% in the mid temperate zone of the single cropping region which was drove by the advance of planted acreage and yield, while the proportion decreased by 13.9% in the subtropical zones of the triple-cropping system. Over the past 30 years, the annual accumulated temperature above 10 °C had continued to increase in different temperature zones, and that was more evident in southern region than northern region. However, the increased magnitude of heat utilization efficiency for grain production in southern temperature zones was lower than northern region. There was a "dislocation phenomenon" between the changes of Chinese grain production pattern and the distributions of heat resources. Therefore, it was necessary to consider the coordination of grain production and natural resources matching as well as the characteristics of resource utilization for improving resource utilization efficiency when optimizing the layout of regional grain production and formulating strategies in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ticks are important vectors of zoonotic pathogens, and represent an increasing threat for human and animal health. Considering the complex natural environments of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, China, we expect the diverse tick species in this region. Here, we conduct a field survey on parasitic and host-seeking ticks. A total of 10,419 ticks were collected, which belonged to nine species of four genera. There were significant differences in terms of vegetation index, altitude, and seven climatic factors among the four tick genera - Hyalomma, Dermacentor , Haemaphysalis, and Ixodes , except between Haemaphysalis and Ixodes , where no significant differences were observed in these factors. The ecological niche modelling revealed that the suitable habitats for Hyalomma asiaticum was in the northwest Ningxia, with annual ground surface temperature as the most important factor. The suitable area for Dermacentor nuttalli was in the southwest and eastern regions of Ningxia with elevation as the highest contribution. D. silvarum was best suited to the southern Ningxia also with elevation as the most important factor. The four tick species including Haemaphysalis longicornis , Hae. qinghaiensis , Hae. japonica , and Ixodes persulcatus were best suited to the southernmost Ningxia with annual precipitation as the main factors for Hae. longicornis and elevation for the other three ticks. The results of predicted potential distribution of different tick species provide a scientific basis for the prevention and control of ticks and tick-borne diseases in the region. Furthermore, the subsequent impacts of the Greening Program to regain forests and grasslands from former agricultural lands in Ningxia on tick population dynamics deserve further investigation., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2024 The Authors.)