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Passionflower (Passiflora edulis Sims) is widely distributed in tropical and subtropical areas for edible, medicinal and skin care product processing, and the market demand is large. Zinc (Zn) is a necessary trace element for plant growth and development. In many countries, the content of Zn in soil is low and/or bioavailability is low. The exogenous application of Zn has become a common agronomic measure in agriculture. However, the effect of Zn on the physiological characteristics and enzyme activity of passionflower seedlings is not clear. In this study, pot experiments were conducted to analyse the effects of different concentrations of Zn (0, 200, 400, 800 mg kg−1) on the plant growth, photosynthetic pigments, osmotic regulators, membrane system and antioxidant enzyme system of purple passionflower (Passiflora edulis Sims f. edulis) seedlings, and Pearson correlation and principal component analyses were performed. The results showed that (1) the 200 mg kg−1 Zn treatment increased the contents of chlorophyll a (37.65%), chlorophyll b (41.22%), chlorophyll a+b (38.59%) and carotenoids (29.74%). The value of chlorophyll a/b changed little and had no effect on leaf growth. (2) The contents of proline (Pro) and malondialdehyde (MDA) in P. edulis Sims f. edulis seedlings treated with 400 mg kg−1 Zn increased significantly by 116.84% and 42.69%, respectively. The activities of catalase (CAT) and peroxidase (POD) increased by 16.82% and 18.70%, respectively. Superoxide dismutase (SOD), leaf area (LA), leaf perimeter (LP) and leaf width (LW) decreased significantly by 47.20%, 19.75%, 8.32% and 11.97%, respectively. (3) 800 mg kg−1 Zn significantly increased the contents of Pro (202.56%) and MDA (26.7%) and the activities of CAT (16.00%) and POD (67.00%), while the soluble sugar (SS), SOD, LA, LP and LW decreased significantly by 36.67%, 32.86%, 23.36%, 8.32% and 11.18%, respectively. (4) There was a significant positive correlation between Pro and photosynthetic pigments and between SOD and leaf growth and a significant negative correlation between POD and SS and between SOD and MDA. (5) A low concentration (200 mg kg−1) of Zn promoted the growth of P. edulis Sims f. edulis seedlings and allowed stress caused by high Zn concentrations to be tolerated. The results of this study can provide a reference for the application of Zn fertilizer to P. edulis Sims f. edulis.

To explore the influence of topographic factors on the diversity and spatial distribution of plant species around FAST (Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope), three typical plant communities (tree layer, shrub layer, vine layer) in the karst peak-cluster depression around FAST were selected as the study objects, and ANOVA and canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) were used to investigate the species diversity and spatial distribution of plant communities under different topographic factors (altitude, slope, aspect, and gradient). The results were as follows: (1) The α-diversity index of plant communities around FAST showed a trend of shrub layer > tree layer > vine layer, and the α-diversity index of plants in the tree layer and vine layer increased with the increase of altitude (P

Abstract Improving the resistance of Saccharomyces cerevisiae to vanillin, derived from lignin, will benefit the design of robust cell factories for lignocellulosic biorefining. The transcription factor Yrr1p mediates S. cerevisiae resistance to various compounds. In this study, eleven predicted phosphorylation sites were mutated, among which 4 mutants of Yrr1p, Y134A/E and T185A/E could improve vanillin resistance. Both dephosphorylated and phosphorylated mutations at Yrr1p 134 and 185 gathered in the nucleus regardless of the presence or absence of vanillin. However, the phosphorylated mutant Yrr1p inhibited target gene expression, while dephosphorylated mutants promoted expression. Transcriptomic analysis showed that the dephosphorylated Yrr1p T185 mutant, under vanillin stress, upregulated ribosome biogenesis and rRNA processing. These results demonstrate the mechanism by which Yrr1p phosphorylation regulates the expression of target genes. The identification of key phosphorylation sites in Yrr1p offers novel targets for the rational construction of Yrr1p mutants to improve resistance to other compounds.

The quantitative identification of areas at risk for such pollution is conducive to allocating limited government funds to critical areas and the efficient and economical management of water environments. Here, the Baihua Lake watershed, an important drinking water source for Guiyang City, was taken as the study area. The location-weighted landscape contrast index (LCI) and non-point source pollution risk index (NSPRI) were developed based on the ‘source–sink’ landscape theory. The method takes into account the risk of pollution source formation and pollutant transport. A total of 348 natural sub-watersheds were used as assessment units by estimating the nitrogen and phosphorus pollution emission (absorption) potentials of different landscape types in the sub-watersheds and considering the influence of vegetation cover, distance from the reservoir, and slope in the transmission process, a quantitative assessment of Baihua Lake's pollution was carried out; the reliability of the method was verified by comparing the assessment results with measured water quality data and field surveys. The results indicate (1) 132 sub-watersheds (37.93%) dominated by source effects, mainly distributed in Yanshanhong Township, Yeya Township, and the Qinglong Subdistrict, with construction land and farmland as the main landscape types, and 216 sub-watersheds (62.07%) dominated by sink effects, mainly distributed in Zhanjie and Baihuahu Townships, with forests as the primary landscape type. (2) Additionally, 17 sub-watersheds (4.89%) show extremely high risk for non-point source pollution; these watersheds are mainly distributed in the Qinglong Subdistrict and mainly consist of urban residential areas and schools. These sub-watersheds discharge a large volume of sewage, which threatens the water quality of the upper reaches of Baihua Lake and must be managed. (3) The rivers corresponding to relatively high-risk, high-risk, and extremely high-risk sub-watersheds include the Dongmenqiao, Limu, Changchong, and Maixi Rivers. HIGHLIGHTS A risk assessment method is proposed to simulate non-point source (NPS) pollution in small-scale catchments.; A total of 348 natural sub-watersheds was used as assessment units.; The moderate risk, high-risk, and extremely high-risk sub-watershed areas of NPS pollution were identified.; The high reliability of the assessment results was confirmed by comparing them with the measured water quality data.;

Water resource vulnerability in ecologically vulnerable karst areas is a key issue for regional sustainable development and the sustainable use of water resources. In this study, geographical information system (GIS) and remote sensing (RS) technology were employed to explore the vulnerability characteristics and spatial distribution of water resources in Guiyang City. The water resource vulnerability indicator in Guiyang ranged from 0.10 to 0.59, with an average value of 0.26. Yanglongsi Town, in Xifeng County, in the northern and main central urban area exhibited the highest water resource vulnerability, whereas Huaxi District in the south, and regions around Hongfeng Lake and Baihua Lake, in Qingzhen City, exhibited the lowest water resource vulnerability. Water resource vulnerability was predominantly mild, accounting for 35.85% of the total land area, followed by moderate (28.99%), with some non-vulnerable areas (13.60%) and very few extremely vulnerable areas (3.20%). Compared with traditional methods, the proposed index selection and assessment methods, based on GIS/RS, are both scientific and intuitive. In addition, the results are presented in detail, accurately reflecting the actual situation of water resource system vulnerability. HIGHLIGHTS GIS spatial analysis technology was better in identifying the characteristics and spatial differences in water resource vulnerability than traditional assessment methods.; The spatial distribution of water resources and water resource vulnerability in Guiyang is highly uneven.; The water resource vulnerability index of Guiyang ranged from 0.10 to 0.59, and predominantly belonged to the mildly vulnerable category.;

Studying the mechanisms of resistance to vanillin in microorganisms, which is derived from lignin and blocks a major pathway of DNA double-strand break repair in yeast, will benefit the design of robust cell factories that produce biofuels and chemicals using lignocellulosic materials. A high vanillin-tolerant Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain EMV-8 carrying site mutations compared to its parent strain NAN-27 was selected for the analyses. The dynamics of the chromatin structure of eukaryotic cells play a critical role in transcription and the regulation of gene expression and thus the phenotype. Consequently, Hi-C and transcriptome analyses were conducted in EMV-8 and NAN-27 in the log phase with or without vanillin stress to determine the effects of mutations and vanillin disturbance on the dynamics of three-dimensional chromosome organization and the influence of the organization on the transcriptome. The outcomes indicated that the chromosome interaction pattern disturbed by vanillin stress or genetic mutations in the log phase was similar to that in mouse cells. The short chromosomes contact the short chromosomes, and the long chromosomes contact the long chromosomes. In response to vanillin stress, the boundaries of the topologically associating domain (TAD) in the vanillin-tolerant strain EMV-8 were more stable than those in its parent strain NAN-27. The motifs of SFL1, STB3, and NHP6A/B were enriched at TAD boundaries in both EMV-8 and NAN-27 with or without vanillin, indicating that these four genes were probably related to TAD formation. The Indel mutation of YRR1, whose absence was confirmed to benefit vanillin tolerance in EMV-8, caused two new interaction sites that contained three genes, WTM2, PUP1, and ALE1, whose overexpression did not affect vanillin resistance in yeast. Overall, our results revealed that in the log phase, genetic mutations and vanillin disturbance have a negligible effect on three-dimensional chromosome organization, and the reformation or disappearance of TAD boundaries did not show an association with gene expression, which provides an example for studying yeast chromatin structure during stress tolerance using Hi-C technology.

Non-point source pollution is an important source of ecological risk in karst lakes. The process of source–sink landscapes is the main pathway of pollution migration and plays an important role in water quality. In this study, the ecological risk evolution in the past 30 years was studied in a karst lake watershed with 495 sub-basins as the basic evaluation unit, and the risk assessment model of non-point source pollution was improved by using rainfall and fertilizer application. The results show that (1) the area of cultivated land shrank significantly, with forest land and construction land showing an upward trend in general; (2) the layout of the sink landscape continuously shrank, while the source landscape gradually expanded, and the space of high load values further increased and shifted from a flower-like layout distribution to concentrated contiguity, with some values exceeding 0.5; (3) the 252 sub-watersheds of the sink landscape migrated from very low risk to low risk, while the risk of the source landscape changed from medium risk to high and very high risk in 48 sub-watersheds; and (4) in terms of the overall trend of ecological risk transformation of the source–sink landscape, the transformation of sink landscapes to source landscapes was greater than that of source landscapes to sink landscapes, and the overall ecological risk showed an increasing trend.

Abstract Background Vanillin is one of the important phenolic inhibitors in Saccharomyces cerevisiae for bioconversion of lignocellulosic materials and has been reported to inhibit the translation process in cells. In our previous studies, it was confirmed that the deletion of the transcription factor gene YRR1 enhanced vanillin resistance by promoting some translation-related processes at the transcription level. In this work, we investigated the effects of proteomic changes upon induction of vanillin stress and deletion of YRR1 to provide unique perspectives from a transcriptome analysis for comprehending the mechanisms of YRR1 deletion in the protective response of yeast to vanillin. Results In wild-type cells, vanillin reduced two dozens of ribosomal proteins contents while upregulated proteins involved in glycolysis, oxidative phosphorylation, and the pentose phosphate pathway in cells. The ratios of NADPH/NADP+ and NADH/NAD+ were increased when cells responded to vanillin stress. The differentially expressed proteins perturbed by YRR1 deletion were much more abundant than and showed no overlaps with transcriptome changes, indicating that Yrr1 affects the synthesis of certain proteins. Forty-eight of 112 upregulated proteins were involved in the stress response, translational and transcriptional regulation. YRR1 deletion increased the expression of HAA1-encoding transcriptional activator, TMA17-encoding proteasome assembly chaperone and MBF1-encoding coactivator at the protein level, as confirmed by ELISA. Cultivation data showed that the overexpression of HAA1 and TMA17 enhanced resistance to vanillin in S. cerevisiae. Conclusions Cells conserve energy by decreasing the content of ribosomal proteins, producing more energy and NAD(P)H for survival in response to vanillin stress. Yrr1 improved vanillin resistance by increasing the protein quantities of Haa1, Tma17 and Mbf1. These results showed the response of S. cerevisiae to vanillin and how YRR1 deletion increases vanillin resistance at the protein level. These findings may advance our knowledge of how YRR1 deletion protects yeast from vanillin stress and offer novel targets for genetic engineering of designing inhibitor-resistant ethanologenic yeast strains.

Polypropylene (PP) blends with the other polymer, like polyethylene (PE), is normally used as for improving PP impact strength. In this paper, we wanted to improve the PP/high density polyethylene (HDPE) impact strength by increasing the compatibility of PP/HDPE with gamma irradiation process that the un-irradiated ones were also used for comparison. It was obvious that the impact strength increased when the HDPE (10 phr) was added into the PP matrix, compared with neat PP. Meanwhile, the irradiated ones had higher impact strength than that of un-irradiated PP/HDPE blends. This was contributed to the finer compatibility in γ-irradiated PP/HDPE blends, seen from the SEM. Furthermore, the FTIR data also confirmed that the 1,4-butanediol diacrylate (BDDA) was grafted on the backbone of PP/HDPE blends by γ radiation. It speculated that this correlated with the compatibilization improvement in γ-irradiated PP/HDPE blends. Finally, the possible mechanism after γ-irradiation was also proposed in this paper. Keywords: PP, HDPE, Gamma irradiation, Impact strength

F-box proteins play critical roles in plant responses to biotic/abiotic stresses. In the present study, a total of 68 wheat F-box/Kelch (TaFBK) genes, unevenly distributed across 21 chromosomes and encoding 74 proteins, were identified in EnsemblPlants. Protein sequences were compared with those of Arabidopsis and three cereal species by phylogenetic and domain analyses, where the wheat sequences were resolved into 6 clades. In silico analysis of a digital PCR dataset revealed that TaFBKs were expressed at multiple developmental stages and tissues, and in response to drought and/or heat stresses. The TaFBK19 gene, a homolog of the Attenuated Far-Red Response (AFR) genes in other plant species, and hence named TaAFR, was selected for further analysis. Reverse-transcription quantitative real-time PCR (RT-qPCR) was carried out to determine tissue-specific, hormone and stress (abiotic/biotic) responsive expression patterns. Of interest, TaAFR was expressed most abundantly in the leaves, and its expression in response to leaf rust variants suggests a potential role in compatible vs incompatible rust responses. The protein was predicted to localize in cytosol, but it was shown experimentally to localize in both the cytosol and the nucleus of tobacco. A series of protein interaction studies, starting with a yeast-2-hybrid (Y2H) library screen (wheat leaf infected with incompatible leaf rust pathogens), led to the identification of three TaAFR interacting proteins. Skp1/ASK1-like protein (Skp1) was found to interact with the F-box domain of TaAFR, while ADP-ribosylation factor 2-like isoform X1 (ARL2) and phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) were shown to interact with its Kelch domain. The data presented herein provides a solid foundation from which the function and metabolic network of TaAFR and other wheat FBKs can be further explored.

Fusarium avenaceum is a generalist pathogen responsible for diseases in numerous crop species. The fungus produces a series of mycotoxins including the cyclohexadepsipeptide enniatins. Mycotoxins can be pathogenicity and virulence factors in various plant−pathogen interactions, and enniatins have been shown to influence aggressiveness on potato tubers. To determine the role of these mycotoxins in other F. avenaceum−host interactions, ENNIATIN SYNTHASE 1 (ESYN1) disruption and overexpression mutants were generated and their ability to infect wheat and peas investigated. As a preliminary study, the transformants were screened for their ability to cause potato tuber necrosis and, consistent with a previous report, enniatin production increased necrotic lesion size on the tubers. By contrast, when the same mutants were assessed in their ability to cause disease in pea roots or durum wheat spikes, no changes in disease symptoms or virulence were observed. While it is known that, at least in the case of wheat, exogenously applied enniatins can cause tissue necrosis, this group of mycotoxins does not appear to be a key factor on its own in disease development on peas or durum wheat.

Studying the differences in water purification services under land use/cover changes at different spatiotemporal scales is of great significance. The basin of Hongfeng Lake, Baihua Lake, and Aha Reservoir (referred to as two lakes and one reservoir) in Guiyang City is an important economic development area in the middle reaches of the Wujiang River, so human activities may affect the water quality of this area in a variety of ways. Based on the land use data in 2000, 2010, and 2020, the integrated valuation of ecosystem services and tradeoffs (InVEST) model was applied to simulate the spatiotemporal patterns of total nitrogen export and total phosphorus export from the basin of two lakes and one reservoir and quantitatively revealed the response relationship between land use changes and water purification services. Through multiangle analysis, the ecological and hydrological processes in the basin of two lakes and one reservoir are revealed to some extent, and the research results can provide a scientific basis for the optimization and adjustment of land use patterns, water quality protection, water pollution control, and measures for water ecological restoration in the basin of two lakes and one reservoir. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To investigate the expression of COL6A1 in sarcoma tissue and its significance based on bioinformatics analysis. Methods The GEO database was used to download the GSE16088, GSE21122, and GSE49972 datasets to analyze the expression level of COL6A1-3. The Kaplan-Meier survival curves were used to analyze the impact of the expression level of COL6A1-3 on the prognosis of patients with sarcoma. A Spearman correlation analysis was performed using GSVA package to investigate the correlation between the expression level of COL6A1 and immune cell infiltration. The LinkedOmics database was used to analyze the genes co-expressed with COL6A1, and the ggstatsplot package of R software was used to investigate the correlation between COL6A1 and COL6A2. The ClusterProfiler package of R software was used to perform GO functional enrichment analysis and KEGG pathway analysis of the genes co-expressed with COL6A1. The GSEA analysis was used to investigate the important kinase, miRNA, and transcription factor targets of the genes co-expressed with COL6A1. Results Compared with normal tissue, there was a significant increase in the expression level of COL6A1 in osteosarcoma, soft tissue sarcoma, and clear cell sarcoma of the kidney. The survival analysis showed that the high expression of COL6A1 was associated with low overall survival rate and di-sease-specific survival rate (χ2=6.37,4.57,P