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Peanut root rot is a soil-borne fungal disease of peanut, which is a worldwide disease on peanut. It occurs all over our country, causing serious economic losses and restricting the development of peanut industry. This paper introduced the taxonomic status of peanut root rot pathogen and its cultural characteristics on potato glucose agar medium. The morphological characteristics of two types of conidia from the pathogen were summarized. In this paper, the symptoms of peanut root rot in the field and its pathogenesis were introduced in detail. The agricultural control measures of peanut root rot were summarized from seed screening, rational rotation and field management. The main fungicides used to control peanut root rot were summarized from the aspects of seed coating, soil treatment and fungicide spraying. It is suggested that the control of peanut root rot should be based on the agricultural control measures aimed at reducing the source of pathogen and cutting off the route of transmission, followed by carrying out chemical control measures, i.e. seed coating and fungicide spraying. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A growing body of empirical evidence suggests that land use change, and the resulting decline in both the area and quality of natural habitats, contributes to an increased incidence of disease in humans. Despite calls to leverage conservation policy to address the burden of disease linked to ecosystem change, the potential benefits are unknown. Efficiently reducing the burden of infectious disease through land use policies and conservation initiatives is challenging because it requires balancing trade-offs that depend on ecological and socioeconomic factors. To assess some of these trade-offs, we developed a dynamic model of optimal land use when ecosystem change affects the overall incidence of infectious disease. We compared the net benefits and paths of optimal policy in which the increased cost of disease resulting from natural habitat loss is included in the optimization with a base case where it is ignored. We found that ignoring the linkage between habitat degradation and infectious disease incidence in the planner's problem reduces the net benefits of land management, such as conservation efforts, and results in significantly higher rates of infection and health costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rice is one of the main food crops in the world. With the popularization of dry-raising technology of rice,the occurrence of rice seedling blight is very serious. Rice seedling blight has become a destructive disease with high incidence in rice seedling field,which greatly hinders the development of rice industry in our country and poses a serious threat to the food security of our country. It is very important to understand its occurrence regularity and integrated control technology for effectively controlling rice damping-off and ensuring our country’s grain safety production. This paper introduced the main pathogen,symptom and occurrence regularity of rice seedling blight. The occurrence factors of rice seedling blight were expounded from the aspects of pathogen accumulation,low temperature,soil moisture,air relative humidity,seedling quality and management of seedling bed. The agricultural control measures of rice seedling blight were introduced from the aspects of controlling sowing density,cultivating strong seedlings and strengthening field management. The main chemical control measures were introduced from seed treatment,seedling bed disinfection and chemical control. It is suggested that the control of rice seedling blight should be based on agricultural control measures,including rational selection of rice varieties,control of seedling raising and scientific management,and the chemical control methods, including seed treatment, seedling bed disinfection and pesticide spraying. The comprehensive prevention and control techniques should based on agricultural control and chemical control to prevent the development of rice diseases and ensure the safety of rice production in our country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Sesame is one of the main oil crops in our country. So far the cultivation history of our country is more than 2 200 years. Its seed oil content is up to 55%, and rich in vitamins, protein and fatty acids, in the Yellow and Huaihe River valley and the Yangtze River valley in our country widely planted. However, the widespread and serious occurrence of sesame wilt disease has a great impact on sesame industry in our country. It is of great significance to make clear its integrated prevention and control technology for making prevention and control strategy and doing prevention and control effectively. Therefore, this paper reviewed the latest research progress of the occurrence and integrated control of sesame Fusarium wilt from the aspects of the pathogen, symptoms, occurrence regularity and control techniques of the disease, for which this study would provide theoretical basis for effective control of sesame Fusarium wilt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Biodiversity and biodiversity-based ecosystems services are intrinsically dependent on the climate. During the twentieth century, climate change has posed major threats to biodiversity in Africa, and impacts are expected to increase as climate change continues and perhaps even accelerates.Outcomes: Our review shows that the multiple components of climate change are projected to affect all levels of biodiversity, from genes over species to biome level. Loss of biodiversity as a result of climate change can alter the structures and functions of African ecological systems. As a result, the provision of biodiversity-based ecosystem services and the well-being of people that rely on these services are being modified. Of particular concerns are “tipping points” where the exceedance of ecosystem thresholds will possibly lead to irreversible shifts of the structure of ecosystems and their services. In recent years, climate prediction models have portended continued warming and more frequent extreme weather events across the region. Such weather-related disturbances such as El Niño will place a premium on biodiversity and biodiversity-based ecosystem services that people rely on.Conclusion: As biodiversity underlies all goods and services provided by ecosystems that are crucial for human survival and well-being, this paper synthesizes and discusses observed and anticipated impacts of climate change on biodiversity and biodiversity-based ecosystem service provision and livelihoods, and what strategies might be employed to decrease current and future risks on the well-being of human in Africa.

RNA binding proteins (RBPs) are a class of intracellular proteins that bind to single-stranded or double-stranded RNA and form a ribonucleoprotein complex. RBFox (RNA binding proteins feminine gene on X chromosome) proteins are important members of the RNA-binding protein family and are expressed in specific tissue and cells of various animals, where they play important biological functions. Three members of the RBFox proteins, which are RBFoxl, RBFox2 and RBFox3, have been discovered, and all of them contain an evolutionarily highly conserved RNA recognition motif (RRM), which specifically binds to the (U)GCAUG sequence. Current studies reveal that RBFox proteins are a kind of multifunctional proteins. In addition to regulating the classical functions of alternative splicing in RNA processing, they are also widely involved in transcription, mRNA stability, miRNA metabolism and translation processes. The RBFox proteins play pathological roles in the onset and development of many diseases including heart disease, neurological diseases, diabetes and cancer. This article gives the regulatory functions of RBFox family in splicing, transcription, miRNA metabolism and mRNA stability, and its related research progresses in heart disease, neurological disease, diabetes, cancer and other diseases. It provides a reference for further study on mechanism and disease regulation of RBFox proteins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Biodiversity and biodiversity-based ecosystems services are intrinsically dependent on the climate. During the twentieth century, climate change has posed major threats to biodiversity in Africa, and impacts are expected to increase as climate change continues and perhaps even accelerates. Outcomes: Our review shows that the multiple components of climate change are projected to affect all levels of biodiversity, from genes over species to biome level. Loss of biodiversity as a result of climate change can alter the structures and functions of African ecological systems. As a result, the provision of biodiversity-based ecosystem services and the wellbeing of people that rely on these services are being modified. Of particular concerns are "tipping points" where the exceedance of ecosystem thresholds will possibly lead to irreversible shifts of the structure of ecosystems and their services. In recent years, climate prediction models have portended continued warming and more frequent extreme weather events across the region. Such weather-related disturbances such as El Niño will place a premium on biodiversity and biodiversity-based ecosystem services that people rely on. Conclusion: As biodiversity underlies all goods and services provided by ecosystems that are crucial for human survival and well-being, this paper synthesizes and discusses observed and anticipated impacts of climate change on biodiversity and biodiversity-based ecosystem service provision and livelihoods, and what strategies might be employed to decrease current and future risks on the well-being of human in Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment and other commentators have warned about the impacts that biodiversity decline will have on human health. There is no doubting that the natural world provides mankind with the majority of the resources required to sustain life and health. Many species provide food, fuel, medicines; with the potential for many more (as of yet) undiscovered uses for various species. Despite this, there have been very few attempts to actually investigate relationships between biodiversity (i.e. number of species, rather than the ability of specific species to provide health benefits) and human health. This paper reviews the available evidence and demonstrates that while the links between biodiversity and health seem intuitive, they are very difficult to prove. Socio-economics has a huge influence on health status and the exploitation of natural resources (leading to eventual biodiversity loss) tends to have a positive economic effects. More direct effects of biodiversity on health include the diversity of the internal microbiome, the effect of natural diversity on our mental health and well-being (although this has large social aspects with many people feeling fearful in very diverse environments). Still to be elucidated are the tipping points where the level of global biodiversity loss is such that human health can no longer be sustained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We highlight the overlap in Ecosystem Services frameworks and the developing One Health approach, and assert that better integration and communication between these could provide a platform for synergistic research with greater benefits for resilience and health in socioecological systems. Furthermore, we propose that soil stewardship could act as the nexus for such integration and present potential research avenues with existing positive examples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hantavirus Cardiopulmonary Syndrome (HCPS) is a disease with high human lethality rates, whose transmission risk is directly related to the abundance of reservoir rodents. In the Brazilian Atlantic forest, the main reservoirs species, Oligoryzomys nigripes and Necromys lasiurus , are thought to increase in abundance with deforestation. Therefore, forest restoration may contribute to decrease HCPS transmission risk, a topic still unexplored, especially in tropical regions. Aiming at filling this research gap, we quantified the potential of forest restoration, as required by the current environmental legislation, to reduce the abundance of Hantavirus reservoir rodents in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Using a dataset on small mammal communities sampled at 104 sites, we modeled how the abundance of these two rodent species change with the percentage of forest cover and forest edge density. From the best model, we extrapolated rodent abundance to the entire Atlantic Forest, considering two scenarios: current and restored forest cover. Comparing the estimated abundance between these two scenarios, we show that forest restoration can reduce the abundance of O. nigripes up to 89.29% in 43.43% of Atlantic forest territory. For N. lasiurus , abundance decreased up to 46% in 44% of the Atlantic forest. To our knowledge, this is the first study linking forest restoration and zoonotic diseases. Our results indicate that forest restoration would decrease the chance of HCPS transmission in ~45% of the Atlantic forest, making the landscape healthier to ~2,8 million people living within this area. This positive effect of restoration on disease regulation should be considered as an additional argument to encourage and promote forest restoration in tropical areas around the world. Unlabelled Image • Forest restoration can decrease the abundance of Hantavirus reservoir rodents. • Forest restoration can probably have an important effect on disease regulation. • Forest restoration can make landscapes healthier for 2.8 million people. • This evidence should be considered as an additional argument to encourage and promote restoration in different places. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In complex coffee-based agroforestry systems, quantifying the impact of shade trees on coffee disease regulation and coffee yield is crucial for improving these systems and designing more sustainable ones. To this end, we analyzed interactions amongst shade trees, coffee plants (cv. Catimor), the coffee foliar disease complex and soil characteristics. We studied systems characterized by 40 variables measured in 60 plots located on three farms (monitored for 2 years) in Nicaragua. These variables characterized six system components grouped in six statistical blocks: shade trees (shade percentage and species abundancy), soil characteristics (fertility), foliar diseases, coffee plant characteristics (age and size), coffee growth and yield. We used partial least square path modelling (PLS-PM), i.e. a structural equation modelling approach used to understand and quantify interactions between the six blocks. Shade trees (mostly the associated shade percentage) had direct positive effects on foliar disease severity and incidence and soil quality, while having negative effects on coffee growth and yield. Soil characteristics (carbon, nitrogen, litter index, water infiltration potential) were negatively correlated with foliar diseases. An excessive shade percentage then had an indirect negative effect on coffee growth and yield due to the increased prevalence of foliar diseases. Finding the optimal shade cover can help reduce foliar diseases and enhance coffee berry production. The 'dose effect' of shade cover must also be considered because excessive shade, as well as lack of shade, have negative impacts on coffee growth and yield. Overall, effective shade management requires an analysis of trade-offs between soil quality, disease regulation and yield gains. In conclusion, PLS-PM turned out to be a good tool for studying agroecosystem networks and enabled us to put forward some foliar disease management and coffee yield enhancement guidelines. • Shade (percentage and tree species) increase soil fertility and diseases, and reduce coffee growth and yield. • Shade cover has antagonistic effects on coffee foliar diseases regulation. • Actual coffee yield is the result of interactions between shade trees, soil and diseases. • PLS-PM is a good tool to describe interactions between agroforestry system components. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]