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The northern corn leaf blight (NCLB) pathogen Setosphaeria turcica (Luttrell) Leonard and Suggs is one of the main biotic constraints on sweet corn (Zea mays L.) yield and quality in Fujian Province, China. Currently, however, there is comparatively little information available regarding the distribution of mating types, population genetics, and reproductive strategies of this pathogen in Fujian. In this study, we investigated the distribution of mating types and population genetics of 117 isolates of S. turcica collected from seven of the main sweet corn-growing regions in Fujian Province, based on multiple polymerase chain reaction analyses using two mating type-specific primer pairs and 11 inter-simple sequence repeat markers. Furthermore, we examined the mode of reproduction of Fujian S. turcica populations. Both MAT1-1 and MAT1-2 mating types were detected throughout all seven sampling locations. The majority of MAT1-2 isolates were detected from Dongyou, Jian'ou, Pingnan, Songxi, and Longyan, whereas a large proportion of the detected MAT1-1 isolates were among those collected from Dongfeng and Nanjing. Furthermore, we detected five shared multi-locus haplotypes among S. turcica isolates from Dongyou, Jian'ou, Pingnan, Nanjing, and Songxi, whereas no shared haplotypes were observed between the Dongfeng (or Longyan) population and these five populations. Pairwise comparisons of the indices ΦPT and Nm, and population structure and principal coordinate analyses indicated genetic differentiation between both the regional and the mating type populations of S. turcica in Fujian. The skewed mating type ratio associated with low a haplotypic diversity and evident linkage disequilibrium reveals a mixed reproductive strategy for S. turcica populations in Fujian Province. The findings of this study advance our current understanding of the genetic diversity, population structure, and reproductive strategies of S. turcica populations infecting sweet corn in Fujian Province, and will potentially contribute to further resistance breeding efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: With increasing urban area and population, global cities are playing a more important role in the alteration of the global biogeochemical cycles. The aims of this study are to understand the concentrations and stoichiometric relations of biogenic elements (C, N, and P) in urban soils, further to reveal the effects of C, N, and P accumulation on the urban environment. Materials and methods: We collected 317 surface (0–10 cm) soil samples taken from Nanjing, China, a typical city with more than 2000 years of history. These soil samples were located in different urban zones of Nanjing with different land use histories. The soil C, N, and P concentrations were determined. The stoichiometric relations of soil C, N, and P were investigated in urban soils. Meanwhile, some studies on sources of C, N, and P in diverse urban settings from literature were combined to explore the universal rule of C, N, and P cycling and their ecological and environmental effects in urban area. Results and discussion: Compared to rural soils, more C, N, and P are accumulated in the urban soils, which also change their stoichiometric relations. The concentrations of OC, TN, and TP in urban top soils are 17.0 ± 9.69 g kg−1, 1.53 ± 0.92 g kg−1, and 1.31 ± 0.67 g kg−1, respectively. The mean atomic ratio of C:N:P is 37:3:1 in the surface of urban soils that strictly differs from natural soils in China and the whole world. The mean of C:N ratio in urban soils is similar to that of agriculture, grassland, and forest soils. However, the ratios of C:P and N:P in urban soils are much lower than that in agricultural, forest, and grassland soils. This implies that P is extremely enriched in the urban soils. The high C in urban soils are considered coming from natural and anthropogenic sources. The high N and P mainly come from anthropogenic sources. Conclusions: The well-constrained C:N:P ratio in rural soils does not apply for urban soils. The abnormal C:N:P ratio of urban soils is the result of unbalanced accumulation of C, N, and P from human activities. Urban soils are already an important storage of carbon. High N and P in urban soils may bring threat of surface water eutrophication and ground water contamination. These effects are expected to increase with the city development time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Conventional classification systems based on vegetation and land use are frequently used to characterize or describe urban soils to determine the influence of urbanization on soils. In this study, the sensitivity of different grouping methods in reflecting soil variations along an urban–rural gradient was compared. The objective of this study was to determine the most sensitive grouping system in depicting and explaining variations of soil attributes around an urban area. Grouping methods, including urban–rural division, in situ vegetation type, land use types in different scales and numerical clustering, were compared for both single soil attributes and “soil set” defined by multiple variables. The result shows urbanization has a strong impact on many soil properties, especially that of gravel content, sand content, pH, phosphorus and soil compaction. In terms of the variations of soil attributes, in situ vegetation type is the most sensitive in comparison with local land use types and district-viewed land use types. In other words, soil properties in this study are not sensitive to coarser spatial resolution. Therefore, it''s hard to interpret the spatial variation of urban soil by regular methods using natural soil-landscape paradigm. Furthermore, vegetation would best proxy the delineation of single attribute of urban soils. Numerical clusters effectively reflect the land use types and their change during urbanization. All clusters were interpreted as different sets with practical meanings: soil in abandoned greenbelt, soil in ill-managed greenbelt, soil in new vegetable land, extreme urban conditioned soil, soil in well-managed greenbelt, soil in highly mellowed vegetable land, soil in common urban–peri-urban greenbelt and weak-urban-impacted soil. They can be used as bases for soil regionalization in urban and peri-urban environment. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Soils in urban areas are often artificially formed and preserved as cultural layers in which soil materials are mixed with artifacts. The vertical change of soil properties denotes the historical change of human activities, and therefore, urban soil can be considered as a record of history of urban development. We studied a deep profile of urban soil (600 cm) in Nanjing, China, by intensively sampling at every 5 cm. Soil samples were analyzed for lead content. Charcoal from several layers was found and was dated using 14C to recognize archaeological cultural layers that might be formed in different Chinese dynasties. Pb isotope ratios were determined by thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS) technology. The study found that artificial deposition, i.e., the formation of cultural layer started about 1700 years ago and lasted until recently. All cultural layers above the original loess were heavily contaminated by Pb with total content varying from 100 mg kg−1 to more than 2000 mg kg−1. There were several historical periods in which Pb content peaked, indicating significant contamination by human activities, such as ancient ore smelting for various purposes and use of Pb-containing materials for handicraft manufacture. Various Pb isotope ratios of the cultural layers differed substantially from that of the original undisturbed loess in the deepest position. 206Pb/207Pb value decreased gradually from the bottom layer to top layer, although with occasional exceptions, indicating a long-lasting mixing of extraneous sources of Pb during the entire history since ca. 300 A.D. In comparison with the isotope ratios of lead ores of different sources and that of aerosols, it was illustrated that the source of Pb in cultural layers might come from lead ores of southern China in the earlier dynasties, while Pb from north China might have contributed to the Pb source in the more recent years, suggested by the lowering of 206Pb/207Pb ratio in the near-surface cultural layers. However, the impact of petrol burning on cultural layers was basically excluded, considering the relatively short history of petroleum use in this area. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]