Comparison of water consumption of three urban greening trees in a typical arid oasis citiy, northwest China

In order to ensure sustainable development of arid oasis cities, close attention must be paid to the rational use of limited water resources. Since urban vegetation is one important user of water, urban greening activities should be adapted to local environmental conditions. In this study, one native (Morus alba L.) and two introduced urban greening tree species (Fraxinus sogdiana Bunge and Platanus acerifolia Willd.) were selected in Aksu – a typical oasis city in northwest China. Their stem sap flow velocity (SFV) was determined and diel water consumption was calculated. In the meantime, meteorological variables were recorded to analyze the water consumption strategy of these tree species. The results show that the average SFV of M. alba, F. sogdiana and P. acerifolia were 4.1±0.3 cm h-1, 10.5±0.7 cm h-1 and 22.3±2.6 cm h-1, respectively. SFV was positively correlated with solar radiation (Rs), air temperature (Ta), vapor pressure deficit (VPD) and wind speed (Ws), and negatively correlated with air humidity (RH). Stepwise analysis showed that VPD had the highest impact on SFV of F. sogdiana (R²=0.987) and M. alba (R²=0.887), while the impact of RH was highest on P. acerifolia (R²=0.937). P. acerifolia had the highest sap flow daily accumulation (104±7 L tree-1), F. sogdiana was second (52±4 L tree-1), and third was M. alba (16±2 L tree-1). The water use efficiency (WUE) was M. alba (3.61 mmol mol-1) > F. sogdiana (3.33 mmol mol-1) > P. acerifolia (2.90 mmol mol-1). This study showed that native tree species developed certain adaptation strategies to the arid environment and thus consumed less water. Therefore, we recommend that in tree species selection by landscape planners as well as other decision makers, native tree species should be given priority in future urban greening projects

Precipitation gradient drives divergent relationship between non-structural carbohydrates and water availability in Pinus tabulaeformis of Northern China

Seasonal non-structural carbohydrate (NSC) dynamics in different organs can indicate the strategies trees use to cope with water stress; however, these dynamics remain poorly understood along a large precipitation gradient. In this study, we hypothesized that the correlation between water availability and NSC concentrations in different organs might be strengthened by decreasing precipitation in Pinus tabulaeformis Carr. forests in temperate China. Our results show that the concentrations of soluble sugars were lower in stems and coarse roots, and starch was higher in branches in the early growing season at drier sites. Throughout the growing season, the concentrations of soluble sugars increased in drier sites, especially for leaves, and remained stable in wetter sites, while starch concentrations were relatively stable in branches and stems at all sites. The NSC concentrations, mainly starch, decreased in coarse roots along the growing season at drier sites. Trees have a faster growth rate with an earlier cessation in active stem growth at drier sites. Interestingly, we also found a divergent relationship between NSCs in different organs and mean growing season water availability, and a stronger correlation was observed in drier sites. These results show that pine forests in arid and semi-arid regions of northern China exhibit different physiological responses to water availability, improving our understanding of the adaptive mechanisms of trees to water limitations in a warmer and drier climate

Peach allergen Pru p 1 content is generally low in fruit but with large variation in different varieties

Background: Pru p 1 is a major allergen in peach and nectarine, and the different content in varieties may affect the degree of allergic reactions. This study aimed to quantify Pru p 1 levels in representative peach varieties and select hypoallergenic Pru p 1 varieties. Methods: To obtain monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies, mice and rabbits, respectively, were immunized with recombinant Pru p 1.01 and Pru p 1.02. The Pru p 1 levels in fruits from 83 representative peach varieties was quantified by sandwich enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (sELISA). nPru p 1 was obtained through specific monoclonal antibody affinity purification and confirmed by Western blot and mass spectrometry. The variable Pru p 1 content of selected varieties was evaluated by Western blot and the expression level of encoding Pru p 1 genes by quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Results: A sELISA method with monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies was built for quantifying Pru p 1 levels in peach. Pru p 1 was mainly concentrated in the peel (0.20–73.44 μg/g, fresh weight), being very low in the pulp (0.05–9.62 μg/g) and not detected in wild peach. For the 78 peach and nectarine varieties, Pru p 1 content varied widely from 0.12 to 6.45 μg/g in whole fruit. We verified that natural Pru p 1 is composed of 1.01 and 1.02 isoallergens, and the Pru p 1 expression level and Pru p 1 band intensity in the immunoblots were in agreement with protein quantity determined by ELISA for some tested varieties. In some cases, the reduced levels of Pru p 1 did not coincide with low Pru p 3 in the same variety in whole fruit, while some ancient wild peach and nectarines contained low levels of both allergens, and late‐ripening yellow flesh varieties were usually highly allergenic. Conclusion: Pru p 1 content is generally low in peach compared to Pru p 3. Several hypoallergenic Pru p 1 and Pru p 3 varieties, “Zi Xue Tao,” “Wu Yue Xian,” and “May Fire,” were identified, which could be useful in trials for peach allergy patients.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Timing and Order of Extreme Drought and Wetness Determine Bioclimatic Sensitivity of Tree Growth

© 2022 The Authors. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.Tree resistance to extreme droughts and post-drought recovery are sensitive to the drought timing. However, how the bioclimatic sensitivity of tree growth may vary with the timing and order of extreme droughts and wetness is still poorly understood. Here, we quantified the bioclimatic sensitivity of tree growth in the period of 1951–2013 under different seasonal extreme drought/wetness regimes over the extra-tropical Northern Hemisphere, using 1,032 tree ring chronologies from 121 gymnosperm and angiosperm species. We found a negative asymmetry in tree growth under regimes with seasonal extreme droughts. With extreme drought, tree growth in arid and temperate dry regions is more negatively impacted by pre-growing-season (PGS) extreme droughts. Clade-wise, angiosperms are more sensitive to PGS water availability, and gymnosperms to legacy effects of the preceding tree growth conditions in temperate dry and humid regions. Our finding of divergent bioclimatic legacy effects underscores contrasting trends in forest responses to drought across different ecoregions and functional groups in a more extreme climate.This study is financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41922001), the Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research Program (STEP) (2019QZKK0306), the Strategic Priority Research Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences (XDA20100102), and the Swedish Formas (2018-02858).Peer reviewe

Decreased sensitivity of tree growth to temperature in Southeast China after the 1976/’77 regime shift in Pacific climate

The climatic regime shift that occurred in the North Pacific Basin during 1976/’77 have been linked to a decadal mode of climate variability, which long-term behavior could be reconstructed from tree-ring records. We analyzed radial growth patterns of five subtropical tree species in Southeast China in relation to air and sea surface temperature, the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) and El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) indices 25 years before and after 1977. In 1953-1977, tree-ring chronologies showed higher correlations with air temperature than in 1978-2002, so that their time-series graphs showed divergence after 1977. The first principal component of the five tree-ring chronologies was significantly correlated with ENSO and PDO indices in 1978-2002, while it had no significant correlations with these variables during 1953-1977. Correlation maps of PC1, PDO and ENSO indices with surface air temperature showed different patterns before and after 1977. Based on these comparisons, altered sensitivity of tree growth to temperature in recent decades could depend on basin-wide climatic shift in the North Pacific, which either changed the effects of local climatic factors on tree growth or modified the relationships between local and regional climate

Recent advances on extracellular vesicles in central nervous system diseases

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are particles released by multiple cells, encapsulated by lipid bilayers and containing a variety of biological materials, including proteins, nucleic acids, lipids and metabolites. With the advancement of separation and characterization methods, EV subtypes and their complex and diverse functions have been recognized. In the central nervous system (CNS), EVs are involved in various physiological and pathological processes, such as regulation of neuronal firing, synaptic plasticity, formation and maintenance of myelin sheath, propagation of neuroinflammation, neuroprotection, and spread and removal of toxic protein aggregates. Activity-dependent alteration of constituents enables EVs to reflect the change of cell and tissue states, and the wide distribution of EVs in biological fluids endows them with potential as diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers for CNS diseases, including neurodegenerative disease, cerebrovascular disease, traumatic brain disease, and brain tumor. Favorable biocompatibility, ability of crossing the blood-brain barrier and protecting contents from degradation, give promising therapeutic effects of EVs, either collected from mesenchymal stem cells culture conditioned media, or designed as drug delivery vehicles loaded with specific agents. In this review, we summarized EVs\u27 basic biological properties, and mainly focused on their applications in CNS diseases

Decreased Sensitivity of Tree Growth to Temperature in Southeast China after the 1976/'77 Regime Shift in Pacific Climate

The climatic regime shift that occurred in the North Pacific Basin during 1976/'77 have been linked to a decadal mode of climate variability, which long-term behavior could be reconstructed from tree-ring records. We analyzed radial growth patterns of five subtropical tree species in Southeast China in relation to air and sea surface temperature, the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) and El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) indices 25 years before and after 1977. In 1953-1977, tree-ring chronologies showed higher correlations with air temperature than in 1978-2002, so that their time-series graphs showed divergence after 1977. The first principal component of the five tree-ring chronologies was significantly correlated with ENSO and PDO indices in 1978-2002, while it had no significant correlations with these variables during 1953-1977. Correlation maps of PC1, PDO and ENSO indices with surface air temperature showed different patterns before and after 1977. Based on these comparisons, altered sensitivity of tree growth to temperature in recent decades could depend on basin-wide climatic shift in the North Pacific, which either changed the effects of local climatic factors on tree growth or modified the relationships between local and regional climate