Spatiotemporal Variation and Circulation Characteristics of Extreme Maximum Temperature Events in East China (1961–2020)

This study analyzed the spatiotemporal variation characteristics of extreme maximum temperature events (EMTEs) in East China in the last 60 years and investigated the relationship between EMTEs and atmospheric circulation. The arithmetic mean, linear trend, and the Mann–Kendall test were applied to daily maximum temperature (DMT) data (1961–2020) from 345 meteorological observation stations with complete observation records in East China to compile four characteristic indexes of EMTEs: intensity, consecutive days, first days, and last days. The analysis of these indexes revealed the following: (1) The annual number of days with a DMT ≥ 35 °C increased at the rate of 1.45 d/decade (p ≤ 0.05); the mutation occurred in 2009 with a growth rate before and after the mutation of 0.4 and 2.8 d/10a, respectively. Most of the region showed an increasing trend, with the most significant increase to the east of the Yangtze River Delta, in coastal areas of Zhejiang and Fujian, and south of Jiangxi. (2) The EMTE intensity rose at the rate of 0.15 °C/decade (p ≤ 0.05). Most areas showed a significant upward trend, and the historical extreme values of EMTEs mostly appeared in the 21st century. (3) The annual mean growth rate of consecutive EMTE days was 0.24 d/10a, which increased significantly after 2003. In comparison with 1961–2002, consecutive EMTE days increased by 35% during 2003–2020. The rate of increase was significant (p ≤ 0.05) for most areas east of the Yangtze River Delta, coastal areas of Zhejiang and Fujian, and areas south of Jiangxi. The mean mutation time was 2003, and the growth rate before and after the mutation was 0.4 and 1.4 d/10a, respectively. (4) The mean first EMTE day advanced and the mean last EMTE day became delayed, especially in the 21st century. Over the study period, the mean first EMTE day advanced by 12 days and the mean last EMTE day became delayed by 7 days. (5) The analysis of National Centers for Environmental Prediction/National Center for Atmospheric Research reanalysis data indicated that an increasing number of EMTEs have occurred in East China. The reason is that this region experiences atmospheric subsidence resulting from the intensification and westward extension of the subtropical high coupled with the weakening and northward displacement of the mid-latitude westerly trough

Evaluation and Analysis of Soil Temperature Data over Poyang Lake Basin, China

Soil temperature reflects the impact of local factors, such as the vegetation, soil, and atmosphere of a region. Therefore, it is important to understand the regional variation of soil temperature. However, given the lack of observations with adequate spatial and/or temporal coverage, it is often difficult to use observational data to study the regional variation. Based on the observational data from Nanchang and Ganzhou stations and ERA-Interim/Land reanalysis data, this study analyzed the spatiotemporal distribution characteristics of soil temperature over Poyang Lake Basin. Four soil depths were examined, 0–7, 7–28, 28–100, and 100–289 cm, recorded as ST1, ST2, ST3, and ST4, respectively. The results showed close correlations between observation data and reanalysis data at different depths. Reanalysis data could reproduce the main spatiotemporal distributions of soil temperature over the Poyang Lake Basin but generally underestimated their magnitudes. Temporally, there was a clear warming trend in the basin. Seasonally, the temperature increase was the most rapid in spring and the slowest in summer, except for ST4, which increased the fastest in spring and the slowest in winter. The temperature increase was faster for ST1 than the other depths. The warming trend was almost the same for ST2, ST3, and ST4. An abrupt change of annual soil temperature at all depths occurred in 1997, and annual soil temperatures at all depths were abnormally low in 1984. Spatially, annual soil temperature decreased with latitude, except for the summer ST1. Because of the high temperature and precipitation in summer, the ST1 values were higher around the lake and the river. The climatic trend of soil temperature generally increased from south to north, which was opposite to the distribution of soil temperature. These findings provide a basis for understanding and assessing the variation of soil temperature in the Poyang Lake Basin

Circadian Rhythm Regulates Reactive Oxygen Species Production and Inhibits Al-Induced Programmed Cell Death in Peanut

Peanut is among the most important oil crops in the world. In the southern part of China, peanut is highly produced; however, the arable land is acidic. In acidic soils, aluminum (Al) inhibits plant growth and development by changing the properties of the cell wall and causing the disorder of the intracellular metabolic process. Circadian rhythm is an internal mechanism that occurs about every 24 h and enables plants to maintain internal biological processes with a daily cycle. To investigate the effect of photoperiod and Al stress on the Al-induced programmed cell death (PCD), two peanut varieties were treated with 100 μM AlCl3 under three photoperiodic conditions (8/16, SD; 12/12, ND; 16/8 h, LD). The results show that Al toxicity was higher in ZH2 than in 99-1507 and higher under LD than under SD. Root length decreased by 30, 37.5, and 50% in ZH2 and decreased by 26.08, 34.78, and 47.82% in 99-1507 under SD, ND, and LD, respectively, under Al stress. Photoperiod and Al induced cell death and ROS production. MDA content, PME activity, and LOX activity increased under SD, ND, and LD, respectively, under Al stress both in ZH2 and 99-1507. APX, SOD, CAT, and POD activities were higher under SD, ND, and LD, respectively. Al stress increased the level of AhLHY expression under SD and ND but decreased it under LD in both ZH2 and 99-1507. Contrastingly, AhSTS expression levels increased exponentially and were higher under SD, LD, and ND, respectively, under Al stress. Our results will be a useful platform to research PCD induced by Al and gain new insights into the genetic manipulation of the circadian clock for plant stress response

Study of optimal layout based on integrated probabilistic framework (IPF): Case of a crude oil tank farm

International audienceThis paper gives an integrated probabilistic framework (IPF) that deals with the optimal layout of facilities in an industrial plant. The specific case of a crude oil tank farm is detailed in this present paper, which includes the tank fire as well as the corresponding optimal layout based on inherent safety and evacuation.The tank fire can be caused by the oxidative self-heating of pyrophoric iron sulfides which extensively exist on the inner wall of the crude oil tank, especially in the respiratory/safety valves. Oxidative self-heating, or spontaneous combustion of iron sulfides is a process of oxidation and generally influenced by five external factors including water content, mass per unit area of iron sulfides, operating temperature of tank, flow rate and concentration of oxygen facing the iron sulfides. According to the previous literature about self-heating process of iron sulfides, the maximum temperature (TmaxTmax) of solid phase is a vital indicator representing the pyrophoric feature of iron sulfides in specific circumstances. And the maximum temperature (TmaxTmax) can be predicted by the model developed from support vector machine (SVM) technique. While the predicted maximum temperature (TmaxTmax) is compared with a defined threshold value, it can be revealed whether the oxidative self-heating of iron sulfides will lead to explosion and then cause tank fire. On this grounds, the probability of tank fire due to the oxidative self-heating of iron sulfides can be obtained by Monte Carlo simulations.For tank fire, the major physical damage to the surrounding tanks and workers is thermal radiation rather than overpressure or missile projection. Considering the worst case scenario, that is the vapor-liquid interface in the tank covered with fire, then the thermal radiation flux passing through a receiver at a specified distance away from the tank can be derived. In reverse, the critical horizontal distance between tank and receiver can be obtained if the critical thermal radiation flux through a receiver is given. Assuming that the minimum and maximum risks of thermal radiation to a receiver are separately 0 and 1 corresponding to different thermal radiation fluxes, then the risk of a tank or worker receiving a given thermal radiation flux can be determined by the thermal radiation flux equation.In a crude oil tank farm containing more than one tank, the potential thermal radiation flux received by an object at an arbitrary location is the superposition of those from different tanks. For the optimization of space collocation and floor area of tank farm from inherently safe design, if the damage risk of an object from other overall tanks equals to the critical acceptable damage risk, and the corresponding floor area of tank farm is the minimum, it will certainly result in an optimal space collocation. The handling method for the mentioned problem inherently reduces property loss and casualty to some extent

Integration of Small RNA and Degradome Sequencing Reveals the Regulatory Network of Al-Induced Programmed Cell Death in Peanut

Peanut is one of the most important oil crops in the world. In China, the peanut is highly produced in its southern part, in which the arable land is dominated by acid soil. At present, miRNAs have been identified in stress response, but their roles and mechanisms are not clear, and no miRNA studies have been found related to aluminum (Al)-induced programmed cell death (PCD). In the present study, transcriptomics, sRNAs, and degradome analysis in the root tips of two peanut cultivars ZH2 (Al-sensitive, S) and 99-1507 (Al-tolerant, T) were carried out. Here, we generated a comprehensive resource focused on identifying key regulatory miRNA-target circuits that regulate PCD under Al stress. Through deep sequencing, 2284 miRNAs were identified and 147 miRNAs were differentially expressed under Al stress. Furthermore, 19237 target genes of 749 miRNAs were validated by degradome sequencing. GO and KEGG analyses of differential miRNA targets showed that the pathways of synthesis and degradation of ketone bodies, citrate cycle (TCA cycle), and peroxisome were responded to Al stress. The combined analysis of the degradome data sets revealed 89 miRNA-mRNA interactions that may regulate PCD under Al stress. Ubiquitination may be involved in Al-induced PCD in peanut. The regulatory networks were constructed based on the differentially expressed miRNAs and their targets related to PCD. Our results will provide a useful platform to research on PCD induced by Al and new insights into the genetic engineering for plant stress response

Comparative Transcriptome Analysis Provides Insights into the Resistance in Pueraria [<i>Pueraria lobata (Willd.) Ohwi</i>] in Response to Pseudo-Rust Disease

Pueraria lobata is an important medicinal and edible homologous plant that is widely cultivated in Asian countries. However, its production and quality are seriously threatened by its susceptibility to pseudo-rust disease. The underlying molecular mechanisms are poorly known, particularly from a transcriptional perspective. Pseudo-rust disease is a major disease in pueraria, primarily caused by Synchytrium puerariae Miy (SpM). In this study, transcriptomic profiles were analyzed and compared between two pueraria varieties: the disease-resistant variety (GUIGE18) and the susceptible variety (GUIGE8). The results suggest that the number of DEGs in GUIGE18 is always more than in GUIGE8 at each of the three time points after SpM infection, indicating that their responses to SpM infection may be different, and that the active response of GUIGE18 to SpM infection may occur earlier than that of GUIGE8. A total of 7044 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified, and 406 co-expressed DEGs were screened out. Transcription factor analysis among the DEGs revealed that the bHLH, WRKY, ERF, and MYB families may play an important role in the interaction between pueraria and pathogens. A GO and KEGG enrichment analysis of these DEGs showed that they were mainly involved in the following pathways: metabolic, defense response, plant hormone signal transduction, MAPK signaling pathway-plant, plant pathogen interaction, flavonoid biosynthesis, phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, and secondary metabolite biosynthesis. The CPK, CESA, PME, and CYP gene families may play important roles in the early stages after SpM infection. The DEGs that encode antioxidase (CAT, XDH, and SOD) were much more up-regulated. Defense enzyme activity, endogenous hormones, and flavonoid content changed significantly in the two varieties at the three infection stages. Finally, we speculated on the regulatory pathways of pueraria pseudo-rust and found that an oxidation-reduction process, flavonoid biosynthesis, and ABA signaling genes may be associated with the response to SpM infection in pueraria. These results expand the understanding of pueraria resistance and physiological regulations by multiple pathways