Endophytic Communities of Transgenic Poplar Were Determined by the Environment and Niche Rather Than by Transgenic Events

Microbial communities associated with plants represent key determinants of plant health, survival, and growth. However, a good understanding of the structural composition of the bacterial and fungal microbiome present in different plant tissues and growing environments, especially in transgenic woody plants, is required. In the present study, we hypothesized that environmental conditions, ecological niches, and transgenic events could influence the community structure of plant-associated microorganisms (bacterial and fungal endophytes). We sampled the root and stem endospheres of field-grown transgenic and non-transgenic poplar trees (Populus alba × P. berolinensis) and applied 16S rRNA and internal transcribed spacer amplicon Illumina MiSeq sequencing to determine the bacterial and fungal communities associated with the different plant habitats and tissues. We found that actinobacteria, proteobacteria, bacteroidetes, and firmicutes were the dominant endophytic bacteria, and the fungal community was dominated by dothideomycetes, agaricomycetes, leotiomycetes, and sordariomycetes. In conclusion, transgenic events did not affect the endophytic bacterial and fungal diversity of poplar trees. The bacterial and fungal community structure depends on the pH and the soil organic matter content. Each plant tissue represents a unique ecological niche for the microbial communities. Finally, we identified the indicator operational taxonomic units (OTUs) and core microbiome associated with the different plant tissues of Populus and different environmental conditions. The results provide a basis for further study of host-microbial interactions with the identified abundant OTUs of Populus

Network embeddedness, entrepreneurial bricolage, and family farm sustainability

Family farm sustainability is an essential guarantee for increasing the resilience of food systems. Based on the network embeddedness theory and entrepreneurial bricolage theory, an exploratory longitudinal case study was adopted. The value-creating behaviors of family farms in different entrepreneurial periods were described and a process model of family farms sustainability with network embeddedness and entrepreneurial bricolage was constructed. The study revealed that family farms faced resource constraints such as shortage of element resources, insufficient market resources and lack of knowledge resources during the induction, start-up, and growth periods, respectively. In order to overcome resource constraints in different entrepreneurial periods, family farms employed multiple network embeddedness ways including relational embeddedness, structural embeddedness and cognitive embeddedness to seek help from actors in the rural social network. Family farms embedded in multiple networks used the entrepreneurial bricolage strategy of “element bricolage – market bricolage – institutional bricolage” to continuously acquire production elements, improve brand awareness, optimize processing techniques and promote the convergence of three industries. Family farms benefited from a win-win result with actors through network embeddedness and entrepreneurial bricolage, and created economic, social and ecological values eventually. The study offers fresh insights into the dynamics of rural entrepreneurship

Relationships between Landscape Patterns and Hydrological Processes in the Subtropical Monsoon Climate Zone of Southeastern China

With rapid economic development, extensive human activity has changed landscape patterns (LPs) dramatically, which has further influenced hydrological processes. However, the effects of LPs changes on hydrological processes, especially for the streamflow–sediment relationship in the subtropical monsoon climate zone, have not been reported. In our study, 10 watersheds with different sizes in the subtropical monsoon climate zone of southeastern China were chosen as the study area, and the effect of the 14 most commonly used landscape metrics (LMs) on 4 typical hydrological indices (water yields (WY), the runoff coefficient (RC), the soil erosion modulus (SEM), and the suspended sediment concentration (SSC)) were analyzed based on land use maps and hydrological data from 1990 to 2019. The results reveal that the LP characteristics within the study area have changed significantly. The number of patches and landscape shape indices were significantly positively correlated with watershed size (p &lt; 0.01). For most watersheds, the largest patch index was negatively correlated with WY, RC, and SEM, and the perimeter area fractal dimension was positively correlated with WY, RC, SEM, and SSC. The effects of several LMs on the hydrological indices had scale effects. WY/RC and the interspersion and juxtaposition index were negatively correlated in most larger watersheds but were positively correlated in most smaller watersheds. Similar results were found for Shannon’s diversity/evenness index and SEM. In general, an increase in a small patch of landscape and in landscape diversity would increase WY, the fragmentation of LPs would result in more soil erosion, and LPs would affect the relationship between streamflow and sediment yield. As a result, a proper decrease in landscape fragmentation and physical connectivity in the subtropical monsoon climate zone of southeastern China would benefit soil erosion prevention. These results enhance the knowledge about the relationship between LPs and hydrological processes in the subtropical monsoon climate zone of southeastern China and benefit local water and soil conservation efforts.</p

Distressed yet bonded: A longitudinal investigation of the COVID-19 pandemic’s silver lining effects on life satisfaction.

It is a common understanding that the 2019 coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) significantly harmed mental health. However, findings on changes in overall life satisfaction have been mixed and inconclusive. To address this puzzling phenomenon, we draw upon the domain specific perspective of well-being and research on catastrophe compassion and propose thatthe pandemic can have opposing effects on mental health and communal satisfaction, which then differently relate to people’s overall life satisfaction. Longitudinal analyses of the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics (HILDA) Survey of Australia (N = 12,093) showed that while there was a greater decrease in mental health in the first COVID-19 pandemic year (2019-2020) than in previous years (2017-2019), an increase in communal satisfaction also occurred, demonstrating a potential silver lining effect of the pandemic on people’s satisfaction with family, community and neighborhood. Moreover, consistent with socioemotional selectivity theory, changes in mental health, communal satisfaction and life satisfaction were related to age such that older adults generally reported less harmful and more beneficial psychological changes. We further found that age was associated with stronger associations of mental health and communal satisfaction with life satisfaction during the pandemic year. Overall, our findings speak to the importance of communal life in life satisfaction during the pandemic and age-related differences in the process, shedding light on the need to devise customized support to address inequalities in pandemic effects on public well-being

ATGL promotes the proliferation of hepatocellular carcinoma cells via the p‐AKT signaling pathway

Abnormal metabolism, including abnormal lipid metabolism, is a hallmark of cancer cells. Some studies have demonstrated that the lipogenic pathway might promote the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the role of adipose triglyceride lipase (ATGL) in hepatocellular carcinoma cells has not been elucidated. We evaluated the function of ATGL in hepatocellular carcinoma using methyl azazolyl blue and migration assay through overexpression of ATGL in HepG2 cells. Quantitative reverse‐transcription polymerase chain reaction and Western blot analyses were used to assess the mechanisms of ATGL in hepatocellular carcinoma. In the current study, we first constructed and transiently transfected ATGL into hepatocellular carcinoma cells. Secondly, we found that ATGL promoted the proliferation of hepatoma cell lines via upregulating the phosphorylation of AKT, but did not affect the metastatic ability of HCC cells. Moreover, the p‐AKT inhibitor significantly eliminated the effect of ATGL on the proliferation of hepatoma carcinoma cells. Taken together, our results indicated that ATGL promotes hepatocellular carcinoma cells proliferation through upregulation of the AKT signaling pathway

Effects of Simulated Nitrogen Deposition on the Bacterial Community of Urban Green Spaces

Continuing nitrogen (N) deposition has a wide-ranging impact on terrestrial ecosystems. To test the hypothesis that, under N deposition, bacterial communities could suffer a negative impact, and in a relatively short timeframe, an experiment was carried out for a year in an urban area featuring a cover of Bermuda grass (Cynodon dactylon) and simulating environmental N deposition. NH4NO3 was added as external N source, with four dosages (N0 = 0 kg N ha−2 y−1, N1 = 50 kg N ha−2 y−1, N2 = 100 kg N ha−2 y−1, N3 = 150 kg N ha−2 y−1). We analyzed the bacterial community composition after soil DNA extraction through the pyrosequencing of the 16S rRNA gene amplicons. N deposition resulted in soil bacterial community changes at a clear dosage-dependent rate. Soil bacterial diversity and evenness showed a clear trend of time-dependent decline under repeated N application. Ammonium nitrogen enrichment, either directly or in relation to pH decrease, resulted in the main environmental factor related to the shift of taxa proportions within the urban green space soil bacterial community and qualified as a putative important driver of bacterial diversity abatement. Such an impact on soil life induced by N deposition may pose a serious threat to urban soil ecosystem stability and surrounding areas

Parameter Optimization of a Discrete Scattering Model by Integration of Global Sensitivity Analysis Using SMAP Active and Passive Observations

Active and passive microwave signatures respond differently to the land surface and provide complementary information on the characteristics of the observed scenes. The objective of this paper is to explore the synergy of active radar and passive radiometer observations at the same spatial scale to constrain a discrete radiative transfer model, the Tor Vergata (TVG) model, to gain insights into the microwave scattering and emission mechanisms over grasslands. The TVG model can simultaneously simulate the backscattering coefficient and emissivity with a set of input parameters. To calibrate this model, in situ soil moisture and temperature data collected from the Maqu area in the northeastern region of the Tibetan Plateau, interpolated leaf area index (LAI) data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer LAI eight-day products, and concurrent and coincident Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) radar and radiometer observations are used. Because this model needs numerous input parameters to be driven, the extended Fourier amplitude sensitivity test is first applied to conduct global sensitivity analysis (GSA) to select the sensitive and insensitive parameters. Only the most sensitive parameters are defined as free variables, to separately calibrate the active-only model (TVG-A), the passive-only model (TVG-P), and the active and passive combined model (TVG-AP). The accuracy of the calibrated models is evaluated by comparing the SMAP observations and the model simulations. The results show that TVG-AP can well reproduce the backscattering coefficient and brightness temperature, with correlation coefficients of 0.87, 0.89, 0.78, and 0.43 and root-mean-square errors of 0.49 dB, 0.52 dB, 7.20 K, and 10.47 K for &#x03C3; HH&#x2070; , &#x03C3; VV&#x2070; , TBH, and TBV, respectively. In contrast, TVG-A and TVG-P can only accurately model the backscattering coefficient and brightness temperature, respectively. Without any modifications of the calibrated parameters, the error metrics computed from the validation data are slightly worse than those of the calibration data. These results demonstrate the feasibility of the synergistic use of SMAP active radar and passive radiometer observations under the unified framework of a physical model. In addition, the results demonstrate the necessity and effectiveness of applying GSA in model optimization. It is expected that these findings can contribute to the development of model-based soil moisture retrieval methods using active and passive microwave remote sensing data