<i>Seeing the Forest for the Trees</i> Sequel I: An Extension of the 1985–2017 Bibliometric Analysis of Environmental and Resource Sociology

Twenty years after the organized sessions on environmental sociology (ES) and natural resource sociology (NRS) at the 2000 International Symposium on Society and Resource Management, a featured collection on environmental and resource sociology came out in Society and Natural Resources. The four commentaries included in the special section provide insightful responses that help to clarify, strengthen, and expand the points we made in our bibliometric analysis article. Here, we present an extension of the previous analysis using more recent journal article collections (2017–2022), while incorporating responses to colleagues’ major comments on our original article. The new bibliometric analysis of environmental and resource sociology suggests increasing cross-linkages between the ES and NRS subfields. It would be meaningful to conduct similar analyses of non-English counterpart literature in future research. Further dialogues should also shift the focus to diverse perspectives, experience, and practices of individual researchers, particularly emerging ES/NRS scholars.</p

The activation of OsEIL1 on <i>YUC8</i> transcription and auxin biosynthesis is required for ethylene-inhibited root elongation in rice early seedling development

<div><p>Rice is an important monocotyledonous crop worldwide; it differs from the dicotyledonous plant <i>Arabidopsis</i> in many aspects. In <i>Arabidopsis</i>, ethylene and auxin act synergistically to regulate root growth and development. However, their interaction in rice is still unclear. Here, we report that the transcriptional activation of OsEIL1 on the expression of <i>YUC8/REIN7</i> and indole-3-pyruvic acid (IPA)-dependent auxin biosynthesis is required for ethylene-inhibited root elongation. Using an inhibitor of YUC activity, which regulates auxin biosynthesis <i>via</i> the conversion of IPA to indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), we showed that ethylene-inhibited primary root elongation is dependent on YUC-based auxin biosynthesis. By screening phenotypes of seedling primary root from mutagenesis libraries following ethylene treatment, we identified a rice ethylene-insensitive mutant, <i>rein7-1</i>, in which YUC8/REIN7 is truncated at its C-terminus. Mutation in <i>YUC8/REIN7</i> reduced auxin biosynthesis in rice, while <i>YUC8/REIN7</i> overexpression enhanced ethylene sensitivity in the roots. Moreover, YUC8/REIN7 catalyzed the conversion of IPA to IAA, truncated version at C-terminal end of the YUC8/REIN7 resulted in significant reduction of enzymatic activity, indicating that YUC8/REIN7 is required for IPA-dependent auxin biosynthesis and ethylene-inhibited root elongation in rice early seedlings. Further investigations indicated that ethylene induced <i>YUC8/REIN7</i> expression and promoted auxin accumulation in roots. Addition of low concentrations of IAA rescued the ethylene response in the <i>rein7-1</i>, strongly demonstrating that ethylene-inhibited root elongation depends on IPA-dependent auxin biosynthesis. Genetic studies revealed that YUC8/REIN7-mediated auxin biosynthesis functioned downstream of OsEIL1, which directly activated the expression of <i>YUC8/REIN7</i>. Thus, our findings reveal a model of interaction between ethylene and auxin in rice seedling primary root elongation, enhancing our understanding of ethylene signaling in rice.</p></div

<i>Seeing the Forest for the Trees</i> Sequel II: An Exploratory Bibliometric Analysis of the Chinese Environmental and Resource Sociology/Social Science Literature

Research on societal–environmental interactions has gained increasing currency in China during the past several decades. Unlike relevant fields of study in the United States, environmentally oriented sociological research in China has not evolved into two separate subdisciplines—environmental sociology (ES) and natural resource sociology (NRS). However, it is not clear how Chinese sociological/social science research communities associated with environmental and natural resource problems are linked with each other. We conducted an exploratory bibliometric analysis to examine scholarly networks in selected Chinese literature. The results reveal the coexistence of two distinct subfields representing the sociological and resource/environmental science traditions in environmental and natural resource social sciences. Closer collaborations across research lineages will not only contribute to the development of integrative environmental and resource sociology/social science in China, but furnish meaningful implications for the ES–NRS dialogue in the United States and global contexts as well.</p

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More results on control devices and discussion on mechanis

YUC8/REIN7 genetically functions downstream of OsEIL1.

<p>(A) Phenotypes of Nip, <i>oseil1</i>, <i>oseil1</i> REIN7-OX and REIN7-OX dark-grown seedlings in the presence or absence of 10 ppm ethylene for 3 d. Bars = 10 mm. (B) Root length and relative root length (ethylene-treated versus untreated in each genotype, respectively) in (A). (C) Phenotypes of KT, <i>rein7-1</i>, <i>rein7-1</i> EIL1-OX, EIL1-OX and Nip dark-grown seedlings in the presence or absence of 10 ppm ethylene for 3 d. Bars = 10 mm. (D) Root length and relative root length (ethylene-treated versus untreated in each genotype, respectively) in (C). In (B) and (D), each column is the average of 20–30 seedlings, and bars indicate ± SD. * and ** indicates a significant difference compared to air at <i>P</i> < 0.05 and <i>P</i> < 0.01. (E) A proposed model of ethylene-inhibited primary root elongation in rice. Ethylene signaling acts upstream of the auxin biosynthesis to regulate primary root elongation. YUC8/REIN7 is a key regulator required for ethylene-inhibited primary root elongation.</p

OsEIL1 directly binds to <i>YUC8/REIN7</i> promoter region.

<p>(A) Schematic diagrams of putative EIN3 binding site (EBS) in the promoter of <i>YCU8/REIN7</i>. Black boxes indicate the positions of the EBS. P1-P4 are fragments of the <i>YUC8/REIN7</i> promoter. (B) Anti-myc ChIP assays with DNA from 3-d-old etiolated seedling roots of Nip and overexpressing <i>OsEIL1</i> with myc-tag (EIL1-myc) transgenic plants. (C) EMSA assay for binding to EBS sequence in the promoter of <i>YUC8/REIN7</i> by OsEIL1 protein <i>in vitro</i>. Glutathione <i>S</i>-transferase (GST)-tagged OsEIL1 N-terminal fusion protein was incubated with biotin-labeled DNA fragments (Probe). Competition for the biotin-labeled promoter region was done by adding an excess of unlabeled probe (Competitor). Three biological replicates were performed with similar results. (D) The activation of OsEIL1 on the promoter activity of <i>YUC8/REIN7</i> by transient expression assay in tobacco leaves. ‘EV’ represents empty vector. Three biological replicates were performed with similar results. (E) Quantitative analysis of luminescence intensity for each comparison in (D).</p

The <i>rein7-1</i>, a truncation of YUC8 at the C-terminus, displays rolled leaves and salt tolerance.

<p>(A) Plant morphology of Kitaake (KT) and <i>rein7-1</i> at the heading stage. Bar = 10 cm. (B) Typical image of rolled leaf. (C) The 1000-grain weight. Each value is the average of 30–50 plants. (D) Phenotypes of KT and <i>rein7-1</i> under salt stress. Control indicates that rice seedlings were grown under normal conditions, and NaCl indicates that seedlings were treated with 150 mM NaCl aqueous solution. Bar = 10 cm. (E) Survival rate after salt treatment in (D). Approximately 50–60 seedlings were used in each experiment. Bars indicate ± SD of three independent assays. ** indicates a significant difference compared to KT at <i>P</i> < 0.01. (F) Map-based cloning of the <i>YUC8</i>/<i>REIN7</i> gene. The locus was mapped to chromosome 3 within a 63 kb region between M0721 and M0728. ‘n’ indicates the number of samples used for map-based cloning, ‘M’ represents marker. (G) Mutation sites of two allelic mutants are indicated in the schematic diagram of the YUC8/REIN7 protein. (H) Functional complementation of the <i>rein7</i> mutant. The KT, <i>rein7-1</i> and complementary lines were treated with 10 ppm ethylene for 3 d under dark conditions. Bar = 10 mm.</p

YUC8/REIN7 is mainly required for IPA-dependent auxin biosynthesis.

<p>(A) The simplified liner pathway of IAA biosynthesis. The red arrows indicate the function of YUC. Enzymatic assays with GST-AtYUC2, GST- REIN7, GST-REIN7m and the product IAA (B), the substrate TAM (C) were analyzed by LC-ESI-MS/MS. The bars represent ± SD from three independent experiments. (D) The content of remained NADPH in (C). The bars represent ± SD from three independent experiments. (E) Expression of auxin-inducible genes in 7-d-old normal grown seedlings. The bars represent ± SD from five independent experiments. (F) IAA content of 7-d-old normal grown seedlings. The bars represent ± SD from three independent experiments. ** indicates a significant difference compared to KT or HY at <i>P</i> < 0.01.</p

Mutation of OsEIL1 abolishes ethylene-induced <i>YUC8</i>/<i>REIN7</i> transcription.

<p>(A) Expression of <i>YUC8</i>/<i>REIN7</i> in response to ethylene. The wild-type seedlings were grown in the dark for 3 d and then treated with 10 ppm ethylene. The RNAs from roots and shoots were isolated and used for qPCR. (B) Ethylene-induced GUS activity in roots of transgenic plants harboring <i>REIN7p-GUS</i>. Etiolated seedlings of 3-d-old plants were treated with or without 10 ppm ethylene for 8 h before GUS activity was assayed. Bar = 10mm. (C) Root tip and elongation zone in (B). ‘RT’ represents root tip, ‘EZ’ represents elongation zone. Bar = 100 μm. (D) qPCR analysis of <i>YUC8</i>/<i>REIN7</i> expression in primary roots and shoots of Nip, <i>oseil1</i> and EIL1-OX seedlings grown in the dark for 3 d. (E) Expression of <i>YUC8</i>/<i>REIN7</i> in primary roots of Nip, <i>oseil1</i> and EIL1-OX seedlings grown in the dark for 3 d and then treated with 10 ppm ethylene. The data are shown as the mean ± SD of five biological replicates. * and ** indicate significant differences compared to 0 h at <i>P</i> < 0.05 and <i>P</i> < 0.01, respectively.</p

YUC-dependent auxin production is required for ethylene-inhibited root growth.

<p>(A) Primary root phenotypes of Nipponbare (Nip), overexpressing <i>OsEIN2</i> (EIN2-OX) and overexpressing <i>OsEIL1</i> (EIL1-OX) transgenic lines treated with or without 10 ppm ethylene, in the absence or presence of 10 μM yucasin. Rice seedlings were grown in the dark for 3 d. Bar = 10 mm. (B) Root length of the plants shown in (A). Values are shown as the mean ± SD of 20–30 seedlings. The experiment was repeated at least three times with similar results. ** indicates significant difference compared to air at <i>P</i> < 0.01. (C) Expression of YUC genes in 3-d-old etiolated seedling roots. 3-d-old etiolated seedlings were treated with or without 10 ppm ethylene for 3 h. The RNAs from roots were isolated for qPCR. The experiment was repeated at least five times with similar results. Bars indicate ± SD.</p