The Chinese pine genome and methylome unveil key features of conifer evolution

Conifers dominate the world's forest ecosystems and are the most widely planted tree species. Their giant and complex genomes present great challenges for assembling a complete reference genome for evolutionary and genomic studies. We present a 25.4-Gb chromosome-level assembly of Chinese pine (Pinus tabuliformis) and revealed that its genome size is mostly attributable to huge intergenic regions and long introns with high transposable element (TE) content. Large genes with long introns exhibited higher expressions levels. Despite a lack of recent whole-genome duplication, 91.2% of genes were duplicated through dispersed duplication, and expanded gene families are mainly related to stress responses, which may underpin conifers' adaptation, particularly in cold and/or arid conditions. The reproductive regulation network is distinct compared with angiosperms. Slow removal of TEs with high-level methylation may have contributed to genomic expansion. This study provides insights into conifer evolution and resources for advancing research on conifer adaptation and development

Stepwise Synthesis of Au@CdS-CdS Nanoflowers and Their Enhanced Photocatalytic Properties

Abstract Fabrication of hybrid nanostructures with complex morphologies and high photocatalytic activity is a difficult challenge because these particles require extremely high preparation skills and are not always practical. Here, hierarchical flower-like Au@CdS-CdS nanoparticles (Au@CdS-CdS nanoflowers) have been synthesized using a stepwise method. The Au@CdS-CdS nanoflowers are consisted of Au core, CdS shell, and CdS nanorods. The UV-Vis absorption range of the Au@CdS-CdS nanoflowers reaches up to 850 nm which covers the whole visible range (400–760 nm). Photoinduced charge transfer property of Au@CdS-CdS nanoflowers was demonstrated using photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. Compared to CdS counterparts and Au@CdS counterparts, Au@CdS-CdS nanoflowers demonstrated the highest photocatalytic degradation rate under irradiation of λ = 400–780 nm and λ = 600–780 nm, respectively. Based on structure and morphology analyses, we have proposed a possible formation mechanism of the hybrid nanostructure which can be used to guide the design of other metal-semiconductor nanostructures with complex morphologies

Contrasting arthropod communities in wolfberry orchards of different management regimes in Northwestern China.

The arthropod community structure in wolfberry orchards of different management regimes were monitored from April to August in 2012 at Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region of Northwestern China. The three different management regimes included (1) orchard free of pesticide, (2) organic orchard, and (3) conventional orchard. Totally, 167 species (4 classes, 27 orders, and 76 families) contained 61 natural enemy species and 106 pest species were recorded in the experiment. The species richness of the orchard free of pesticide, organic orchard with biological control and conventional orchard with chemical control was 61, 30 and 23 species, respectively. Moreover, the corresponding coefficients in the orchard free of pesticide, conventional orchard and organic orchard were 0.864, 0.684 and 0.733, respectively. The different modules of pests varied in their responses to environmental factors depending on different feeding types. The linkage between arthropod community and environmental factors indicated that vegetation diversity, plant coverage, pesticide application and irrigation times exerted detectable contrasting effects on arthropod community and population dynamics. Finally, we suggest that habitat management (i.e. increase in plant cover and diversity) may serve as effective tactics for preventing pest population from reaching the economic injury level which minimizing the input of pesticides and fertilizers

Dynamics and controls of ecosystem multiserviceability across the Qingzang Plateau

Ecosystem multiserviceability (EMS), a comprehensive and significant ecological indicator, reflects the capacity of ecosystems to offer multiple services concurrently. Intensified climate change and human activity are continuously altering ecosystem functions, services, and EMSs. However, numerous studies have only focused on one or a few ecosystem services, rarely taking into account spatial-temporal distribution and drivers of EMS on behalf of different agencies. We calculated EMS including pastoralist (PA), environmental protection agency (EPA), biodiversity conservation agency (BCA), and climate change mitigation agency (CCMA) using grassland production, habitat quality, water conservation, and carbon sequestration. Then, the effects of geographical features, climate factors, and human activities on spatial-temporal patterns of EMS were explored. The result indicated that EMS showed a decreasing tendency from the southeast to northwest on the Qingzang Plateau (QZP). Meanwhile, there were no obvious fluctuations in four simulated scenarios (PA, EPA, BCA and CCMA) among different vegetation types during 2000 to 2015. Notably, EMS of all simulated scenarios decreased in the alpine steppe ecosystem, but negligible changes were found in other ecosystems from 2015 to 2020. Moreover, the relative importance of precipitation in annual mean value (from 2000 to 2020) of PA, EPA, BCA and CCMA were 0.13, 0.11, 0.30 and 0.19, respectively. Overall, precipitation played the dominant role on the dynamics of EMS, followed by elevation and human footprint. Our findings highlighted that understanding the patterns and drivers of EMS could provide a reference for the regional management and maintenance of ecosystem stability on QZP

High Glucose Induces Late Differentiation and Death of Human Oral Keratinocytes

Keratinocytes are essential cells for wound repair. Impaired oral wound healing is common in diabetic patients with periodontal disease. High glucose, or hyperglycemia, impairs the cellular function of different cell types. However, it is unknown whether high glucose has a detrimental effect on the functions of oral keratinocytes. In the current study, a human gingival keratinocyte cell line, telomerase immortalized gingival keratinocytes (TIGK), was treated with high glucose (24 and 48 mM) for up to 120 h. Proliferation, migration, cell viability, and production of markers of differentiation, growth factors and enzymatic antioxidants were assessed after high glucose treatment. The results showed that high glucose significantly inhibited TIGK proliferation and migration. High glucose also induced significant cell death through apoptosis and necrosis as determined by flow cytometry, especially at 120 h after high glucose treatment. Necrosis was the dominant form of cell death induced. Real-time PCR showed that high glucose treatment upregulated mRNA expression of late keratinocyte differentiation makers, such as keratin 1, 10, 13 and loricrin, and downregulated enzymatic antioxidants, including superoxide dismutase 1, catalase, nuclear factor erythroid 2 -related factor 2, heme oxygenase 1. In conclusion, high glucose impairs the proliferation and migration of oral keratinocytes and likely induces cell death through the promotion of late cell differentiation and down-regulation of enzymatic antioxidants

Additional file 1: Figure S1–Figure S2 of Copper Nanoparticle-Incorporated Carbon Fibers as Free-Standing Anodes for Lithium-Ion Batteries

and Table S1. Figure S1. SEM image of (a) electrospinning Cu(NO3)2/PAN fibers and (b) the amplified image. Figure S2. The 1st, 2nd and 10th charge/discharge curves of (a) CF-600, (b) CF-700 and (c) CF-800 electrodes vs. Li at a current density of 100 mA g−1 in the voltage range of 0.005-3 V. Table S1. The comparison of LIBs performance of some typical carbon nanofiber/metal in the literature. (DOC 823 kb

Au-WO₃ Nanowire-Based Electrodes for NO₂ Sensing

In this work, a selective and highly sensitive gas sensor using tungsten oxide (WO3) nanofibers was fabricated via electrospinning. WO3 was functionalized with gold nanoparticles by magnetron sputtering at different sputtering times to obtain Au films with thicknesses of 1, 5, 10, and 15 nm. The sensing performance of Au film composite nanomaterials with different Au layer thicknesses was tested at 100–250 °C and different nitrogen dioxide (NO2) concentrations ranging from 200 to 1000 ppb. The findings showed that the 10 nm Au–WO3 composite nanomaterial sensor had the most significant improvement in the performance of the pristine WO3 sensor compared with other Au–WO3 composite nanomaterial sensors, and the optimal operating temperature of the sensor was 175 °C. The composite nanomaterial sensor exhibited excellent selectivity when exposed to different gases and also exhibited high sensibility when exposed to low concentrations of NO2 under high humidity (80%). The mechanism of gas sensor performance improvement was also investigated