Response of lignin and flavonoid metabolic pathways in Capsicum annuum to drought and waterlogging stresses

Water stress is a critical factor limiting the growth and development of Capsicum annuum. Flavonoids and lignin are important secondary metabolites that serve as signaling molecules in plant stress responses. However, the effects and regulatory mechanisms of lignin and flavonoids under water stress in Capsicum annuum remain unknown. The present study focused on the effects of drought and waterlogging stress on the morphology, hydrogen peroxide, and relative chlorophyll (SPAD), as well as enzyme activities, metabolite contents, and gene expression related to lignin and flavonoid metabolic pathways in Capsicum annuum. The results showed that drought and waterlogging stresses on the Capsicum annuum variety ‘Shuyu2’ significantly reduced plant height, stem thickness, and single-fruit weight, and increased fruit shape coefficients. Drought stress increased H2O2 and SPAD content, enhanced the activity levels of metabolic enzymes (phenylalanine deaminase, cinnamate 4-hydroxylase, coenzyme A ligase, peroxidase, and polyphenol oxidase), and up-regulated the expression of related genes, phenylalanine deaminase (PAL), trans-cinnamate monooxygenase (C4H), chalcone isomerase (CHI), and mangiferyl hydroxycinnamoyltransferase (HCT), while also promoting the accumulation of metabolites (total phenolics, flavonoids, and lignin) that have a restorative effect on drought stress. The continuous accumulation of H2O2 and the increase and then decrease in SPAD under waterlogging stress was also observed. Waterlogging stress also enhanced the activities of the above-mentioned metabolic enzymes, but the related genes were selectively down-regulated, e.g., C4H, 4CL, and peroxidase (POD), which resulted in the inhibition of the synthesis of lignin, flavonoids, and total phenols. These results indicate that the Capsicum annuum variety ‘Shuyu2’ is a drought-tolerant, waterlogging-sensitive variety. Meanwhile, the lignin and flavonoid pathway is a key pathway in response to drought stress in Capsicum annuum, which improves the theory of stress tolerance breeding in Capsicum annuum

Robust fault recovery strategy for multi-source flexibly interconnected distribution networks in extreme disaster scenarios

To enhance the resilience of power distribution networks against extreme natural disasters, this article introduces a robust fault recovery strategy for multi-source, flexible interconnected power distribution networks, particularly under scenarios of extreme disasters. Initially, the comprehensive risk of system failure due to ice load on distribution lines and poles is fully considered, and a model for the overall failure rate of lines is constructed. This model addresses the diverse failure scenarios triggered by various meteorological conditions. Through the use of information entropy, typical extreme disaster failure scenarios are identified, and lines with high failure rates under these scenarios are determined. Subsequently, a box-type interval model is developed to represent the uncertainty in the output of distributed generation (DG), and on this basis, a robust fault recovery model for multi-source power distribution networks interconnected through soft open points (SOPs) is established, and use the Column and Constraint Generation (C&CG) algorithm to solve the problem. Finally, the fault recovery model and strategy proposed are validated through an illustrative example based on a modified IEEE 33-node interconnected system

Identification of Selection Signatures and Candidate Genes Related to Environmental Adaptation and Economic Traits in Tibetan Pigs

Tibetan pigs are indigenous to the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau and have been the subject of extensive genomic research primarily focused on their adaptation to high altitudes. However, genetic modifications associated with their response to low-altitude acclimation have not been thoroughly explored. To investigate the genetic basis underlying the low-altitude acclimation of Tibetan pigs, we generated and analyzed genotyping data of Tibetan pigs that inhabit high-altitude regions (average altitude 4000 m) and Tibetan pigs that have inhabited nearby low-altitude regions (average altitude 500 m) for approximately 20 generations. We found that the highland and lowland Tibetan pigs have distinguishable genotype and phenotype variations. We identified 46 and 126 potentially selected SNPs associated with 29 and 56 candidate genes in highland and lowland Tibetan pigs, respectively. Candidate genes in the highland Tibetan pigs were involved in immune response (NFYC and STAT1) and radiation (NABP1), whereas candidate genes in the lowland Tibetan pigs were related to reproduction (ESR2, DMRTA1, and ZNF366), growth and development (NTRK3, FGF18, and MAP1B), and blood pressure regulation (CARTPT). These findings will help to understand the mechanisms of environmental adaptation in Tibetan pigs and offer valuable information into the genetic improvement of Tibetan pigs pertaining to low-altitude acclimation and economic traits

Apple Valsa canker: insights into pathogenesis and disease control

Abstract Apple Valsa canker (AVC) has caused significant losses worldwide, especially in East Asia. Various fungal species from the genus Cytospora/Valsa can infect tree bark and cause tissue rot, and Valsa mali (Vm) is responsible for the most severe tree branch deaths and yield losses. Since AVC was first reported in Japan in 1903, the pathogen species, biological characteristics, infection and pathogenesis, spore dissemination, and disease cycle have been intensively investigated. Based on the new cognition of the disease dynamics, the disease control strategy has shifted from scraping diseased tissue to protecting the bark from infection. In this review, we summarize new knowledge of the Vm infection process mediated by various kinds of virulence factors, including cell wall degrading enzymes, toxins, effectors, microRNA-like RNAs, and pathogenic signaling regulators. We also introduce progress in evaluating germplasm resources and identifying disease response-related genes in apples. In addition, we elaborate current understanding of spore dissemination and disease cycles in orchards and disease prevention techniques. Finally, we provide recommendations for developing more cost-effective strategies for controlling AVC by applying genetic resistance and biological fungicides

Dynamics-aware Adversarial Attack of 3D Sparse Convolution Network

In this paper, we investigate the dynamics-aware adversarial attack problem in deep neural networks. Most existing adversarial attack algorithms are designed under a basic assumption -- the network architecture is fixed throughout the attack process. However, this assumption does not hold for many recently proposed networks, e.g. 3D sparse convolution network, which contains input-dependent execution to improve computational efficiency. It results in a serious issue of lagged gradient, making the learned attack at the current step ineffective due to the architecture changes afterward. To address this issue, we propose a Leaded Gradient Method (LGM) and show the significant effects of the lagged gradient. More specifically, we re-formulate the gradients to be aware of the potential dynamic changes of network architectures, so that the learned attack better "leads" the next step than the dynamics-unaware methods when network architecture changes dynamically. Extensive experiments on various datasets show that our LGM achieves impressive performance on semantic segmentation and classification. Compared with the dynamic-unaware methods, LGM achieves about 20% lower mIoU averagely on the ScanNet and S3DIS datasets. LGM also outperforms the recent point cloud attacks.Comment: We have improved the quality of this work and updated a new version to address the limitations of the proposed metho

Exogenous Xyloglucan Oligosaccharides Alleviate Cadmium Toxicity in <i>Boehmeria nivea</i> by Increasing the Cadmium Fixation Capacity of Cell Walls

Xyloglucan is an important component of hemicellulose, and xyloglucan oligosaccharides (Xh), which are metabolized by xyloglucan, play an important role in plant growth and development. However, the regulatory effects of the external application of Xh under cadmium (Cd) stress have not been determined. In this study, we evaluated the mechanism by which Xh contributes to resistance to Cd stress in ramie, a candidate plant species for toxic ion removal. The external application of Xh effectively attenuated the effects of Cd on ramie growth and photosynthetic pigments. Cd stress can also inhibit the activity of antioxidant enzymes such as superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), peroxidase (POD), and ascorbate peroxidase (APX), resulting in a significant increase in the extent of membrane lipid peroxidation. After the external application of Xh, antioxidant enzyme activity was up-regulated, and damage to membranes in plants was reduced. In addition, the external application of Xh increased Cd retention in roots, thereby significantly decreasing Cd content in shoots. The external application of Xh also regulated the subcellular distribution of Cd and increased the Cd content of the cell wall. In particular, a root cell wall analysis revealed that Cd+Xh treatment significantly increased the hemicellulose content in the cell wall and the amount of Cd retained. In summary, the external application of Xh alleviates Cd toxicity in ramie by increasing the hemicellulose content and the Cd fixation ability of the cell wall and by reducing membrane lipid peroxidation via antioxidant enzymes

The Damage to Thick Steel Plates by Local Contact Explosions

The paper presents the damage results of thick steel plates subjected to local blast loading using experimental and numerical approaches. Three steel plates with a thickness of 17 mm under the local contact explosion of trinitrotoluene (TNT) explosives were tested, and the damaged parts of the steel plates were scanned using a scanning electron microscope (SEM). ANSYS LS-DYNA software was used to simulate the damage results of the steel plate. By analyzing and comparing the experimental results with the numerical simulation results, the influence law of the TNT acting on the steel plate, the damage mode of the steel plate, the reliability verification of the numerical simulation, and the criterion for judging the damage mode of the steel plate were obtained. Results show that the damage mode of the steel plate changes with the changes in the explosive charge. The diameter of the crater on the surface of the steel plate is mainly related to the diameter of the contact surface between the explosive and the steel plate. The fracture mode of the steel plate in the process of generating cracks is a quasi-cleavage fracture, and the process of generating craters and perforations in the steel plate is a ductile fracture. The damage mode of the steel plates can be divided into three types. The numerical simulation results have minor errors and high reliability, and numerical simulation can be used as an auxiliary tool for experiments. A new criterion is proposed to predict the damage mode of the steel plates under contact explosion

Genotype data of Tibetan pigs

The genotype datasets of high-altitude and low-altitude Tibetan pigs. After removing duplicates, 149 samples were remaining.</p

Heterogeneous Metal-Activated Persulfate and Electrochemically Activated Persulfate: A Review

The problem of organic pollution in wastewater is an important challenge due to its negative impact on the aquatic environment and human health. This review provides an outline of the research status for a sulfate-based advanced oxidation process in the removal of organic pollutants from water. The progress for metal catalyst activation and electrochemical activation is summarized including the use of catalyst-activated peroxymonosulfate (PMS) and peroxydisulfate (PDS) to generate hydroxyl radicals and sulfate radicals to degrade pollutants in water. This review covers mainly single metal (e.g., cobalt, copper, iron and manganese) and mixed metal catalyst activation as well as electrochemical activation in recent years. The leaching of metal ions in transition metal catalysts, the application of mixed metals, and the combination with the electrochemical process are summarized. The research and development process of the electrochemical activation process for the degradation of the main pollutants is also described in detail

Genotype data of Chenghua pigs and Neijiang pigs.

The genotype datasets of 21 Chenghua pigs and 49 Neijiang pigs.</p