Long-term monocultures of tea and the excessive use of chemical fertilizer lead to the degradation of soil quality. Improving the soil quality of ex-tea plantations through vegetation restoration is ...an important task. However, the changes in soil nutrients, fungal communities, and the effects of microorganisms on soil nutrients after reforestation remain unclear. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to explore the effects of Pinus and Chinese fir on soil nutrients and fungal communities in ex-tea plantation areas that were subjected to the reforestation modes of pure forest and mixed forest by measuring soil chemical properties and ITS rRNA gene sequences. The results showed that (1) after reforestation, the relative normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) of the Mixed forest, Mixed Pine and Mixed Fir areas increased (p < 0.05) compared to that of pure forest; (2) the soil organic carbon (SOC), total nitrogen (TN), and N:P ratios of the mixed forest increased by an average of 54%, 90%, and 299% (p < 0.05) compared to pure forest, whereas the total phosphorus (TP) and available potassium (AK) decreased by an average of 39% and 89% (p < 0.05); and (3) there was no significant difference in the diversity of the fungal communities of the pure and mixed forests, but the fungal phyla Mucoromycota, Glomeromycota, and Rozellomycota were significantly different in the pure and mixed forests. This differing microbial composition led to a significant increase (p < 0.05) in symbiotrophs (ecotomycorhizal, ericoid mycorhizal) in the mixed forest, which was negatively correlated with the soil TP and positively correlated with the TN and the N:P ratio. In addition, there was also a significant decrease (p < 0.05) in complex nutrient types (ectomycorrhizal-fungal parasite-plant saprotroph-wood saprotroph), which were negatively correlated with the SOC and TN, and arbuscular mycorrhizas, which were positively correlated with the TP. Our results show that the chemical properties of soils and the structure of the fungal communities changed significantly due to the reforestation of Chinese fir and Pinus, and the mixed forest mode of reforestation was more conducive to improving the soil quality; therefore, a mixed forest of Chinese fir and Pinus can be used to improve degraded soils in ex-tea planting areas.
The accumulation of fluid in the wellbore of a natural gas well can seriously affect the production of the well and can even lead to the well flooding and stopping production. The conventional ...cyclone tool has low kinetic energy, serious energy loss and short effective distance of spiral flow in the process of gas well drainage and gas recovery, thus affecting the efficiency of gas well drainage and gas recovery. In response to the above problems, this paper proposes a new cyclonic drainage solution combining self‐excited oscillating pulse jet and cyclonic flow. The liquid‐carrying air flow through the oscillating chamber forms a large vortex ring and the flow pattern squeezes the central air flow inwards, allowing the return vortex at the wall to develop effectively, increasing the return vortex velocity and increasing the velocity at the centre of the squeezed pulsating flow. In this paper, based on theoretical analysis and experimental research, the numerical simulation results are compared with the various drainage performance of conventional cyclone tools. The results show that the pressure drop and critical fluid‐carrying velocity of the cyclone section are significantly reduced, and the average tangential velocity of the cyclone section and the effective action distance of the cyclone tool are significantly increased, indicating that the new cyclone tool can improve the fluid‐carrying capacity of gas wells by changing the flow pattern of the gas–liquid medium without increasing energy consumption.
Arid ecosystems are an important component of the global carbon cycle. In these ecosystems, plant functional types are particularly important in realizing many ecosystem processes such as the ...dynamics and regulations of net ecosystem exchange of CO2 (NEE) to the changing environment. Here, we measured the diurnal dynamics of NEE in patches of succulent and non-succulent shrubs over two growing seasons (2012 and 2013) in the Alxa Desert, located in northern China. We find that the interannual difference of NEE was greater for the non-succulent shrub than that for he succulent shrub species. Diurnal NEE changes were similar for all species and were more strongly influenced by soil moisture than by temperature. Nonetheless, these environmental factors had a greater influence on non-succulent shrubs than succulent shrubs. Our findings highlight that species with different life history traits have different NEE dynamics and vary by time scales. These dynamics are strongly tied to water availability and plant type-specific water storage capacity, with plants possessing large water storage organs maintaining their physiological functioning better under stressful conditions. Our findings on the interaction between plant type and environment could be used to improve estimates of terrestrial carbon uptake in critical desert ecosystems.
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•Xeric shrubs with different phenotypes (succulent vs. non-succulent) have different NEE dynamics over the growing season.•Changes in NEE were similar across shrub species on a diurnal scale.•The dynamics of all NEE metrics at the plant-patch level are likely related to plant type-specific water using strategy.
1-Deoxynojirimycin (DNJ), a representative polyhydroxylated alkaloids, is widely used in the field of antidiabetic, antitumor, and anti-HIV. The present study tried to clarify the interaction ...mechanism of DNJ with glucoamylase by multi-spectroscopic techniques, dynamic light scattering in combination with molecular modeling strategies from biophysics point of view. Fluorescence and UV–vis data indicated that fluorescence quenching mechanism of glucoamylase and DNJ was a dynamic manner. The association constant, binding site and thermodynamic parameters were also obtained from fluorescence spectrum at different temperatures. Synchronous fluorescence, circular dichroism and dynamic light scattering methods demonstrated that their interaction induced microenvironment changes around tryptophan residue and protein conformational alteration. The main driving force was hydrophobic interaction and hydrogen bonding. In addition, molecular docking study indicated that 1-deoxynojirimycin could bind in the catalytic domain of glucoamylase and interact with amino acid residues Arg78, Asp79, Glu203 and Glu424 by forming hydrogen bonds. Molecular dynamics simulation demonstrated that profiles of atomic fluctuation remained the rigidity of ligand binding site. This study elucidated the detailed interaction mechanism of DNJ with glucoamylase, which will be helpful for pharmaceutical companies to design new α-glucosidase inhibitor drugs based on polyhydroxylated alkaloids compound like DNJ.
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•Interaction mechanism was investigated by spectroscopic and molecular modeling.•Interaction of DNJ and glucoamylase was a dynamic quenching mechanism.•Binding of DNJ with glucoamylase induced conformational change.•DNJ can bind in the catalytic domain of glucoamylase.
Decreased oocyte quality is a significant contributor to the decline in female fertility that accompanies aging in mammals. Oocytes rely on mRNA stores to support their survival and integrity during ...the protracted period of transcriptional dormancy as they await ovulation. However, the changes in mRNA levels and interactions that occur during porcine oocyte maturation and aging remain unclear. In this study, the mRNA expression profiles of porcine oocytes during the GV, MII, and aging (24 h after the MII stage) stages were explored by transcriptome sequencing to identify the key genes and pathways that affect oocyte maturation and postovulatory aging. The results showed that 10,929 genes were coexpressed in porcine oocytes during the GV stage, MII stage, and aging stage. In addition, 3037 genes were expressed only in the GV stage, 535 genes were expressed only in the MII stage, and 120 genes were expressed only in the aging stage. The correlation index between the GV and MII stages (0.535) was markedly lower than that between the MII and aging stages (0.942). A total of 3237 genes, which included 1408 upregulated and 1829 downregulated genes, were differentially expressed during porcine oocyte postovulatory aging (aging stage vs. MII stage). Key functional genes, including ATP2A1, ATP2A3, ATP2B2, NDUFS1, NDUFA2, NDUFAF3, SREBF1, CYP11A1, CYP3A29, GPx4, CCP110, STMN1, SPC25, Sirt2, SYCP3, Fascin1/2, PFN1, Cofilin, Tmod3, FLNA, LRKK2, CHEK1/2, DDB1/2, DDIT4L, and TONSL, and key molecular pathways, such as the calcium signaling pathway, MAPK signaling pathway, TGF-β signaling pathway, PI3K/Akt signaling pathway, FoxO signaling pathway, gap junctions, and thermogenesis, were found in abundance during porcine postovulatory aging. These genes are mainly involved in the regulation of many biological processes, such as oxidative stress, calcium homeostasis, mitochondrial function, and lipid peroxidation, during porcine oocyte postovulatory aging. These results contribute to a more in-depth understanding of the biological changes, key regulatory genes and related biological pathways that are involved in oocyte aging and provide a theoretical basis for improving the efficiency of porcine embryo production in vitro and in vivo.
•The biological activities of oocyte gradually weaken during postovulatory aging.•Redox homeostasis played crucial roles in oocyte postovulatory aging.•Calcium ion homeostasis played crucial roles in oocyte postovulatory aging.•Mitochondrial function played crucial roles in oocyte postovulatory aging.•Lipid metabolism played crucial roles in oocyte postovulatory aging.
•Ce–Mo–Ti mixed oxide catalysts were prepared by a homogeneous precipitation method.•Excellent SCR activity at 250–450 °C.•Strong resistance to high gas hourly space velocity, 10% H2O or/and 1000 ppm ...SO2.•Introduction of Mo could enhance redox property and increase the amount of Ce3+ and surface adsorbed oxygen.
A series of Ce–Mo–Ti mixed oxide catalysts prepared by a homogeneous precipitation method were evaluated for selective catalytic reduction (SCR) of NO with NH3. These catalysts were characterized by BET, XRD, XPS, SEM, TEM and H2-TPR. The experimental results indicated that the optimal Ce–Mo–Ti mixed oxide catalyst (Ce40Mo10Ti) exhibited excellent SCR activity in a wide temperature range of 250–450 °C as well as strong resistance to high gas hourly space velocity, 10% H2O or/and 1000 ppm SO2. The introduction of Mo could enhance redox property and increase the amount of Ce3+, accompanied by the increment of oxygen vacancies and adsorbed oxygen species on the catalyst surface, which were advantageous to the SCR reaction over Ce–Mo–Ti oxide catalyst. In addition, good dispersion of Ce and Mo species on TiO2 and their synergetic interaction also contributed to its remarkable NH3–SCR performance.
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The mechanisms of species coexistence within a community have always been the focus in ecological research. Community phylogenetic structure reflects the relationship of historical processes, ...regional environments, and interactions between species, and studying it is imperative to understand the formation and maintenance mechanisms of community composition and biodiversity. We studied the phylogenetic structure of the shrub communities in arid and semiarid areas of the Mongolian Plateau. First, the phylogenetic signals of four plant traits (height, canopy, leaf length, and leaf width) of shrubs and subshrubs were measured to determine the phylogenetic conservation of these traits. Then, the net relatedness index (NRI) of shrub communities was calculated to characterize their phylogenetic structure. Finally, the relationship between the NRI and current climate and paleoclimate (since the Last Glacial Maximum, LGM) factors was analyzed to understand the formation and maintenance mechanisms of these plant communities. We found that desert shrub communities showed a trend toward phylogenetic overdispersion; that is, limiting similarity was predominant in arid and semiarid areas of the Mongolian Plateau despite the phylogenetic structure and formation mechanisms differing across habitats. The typical desert and sandy shrub communities showed a significant phylogenetic overdispersion, while the steppified desert shrub communities showed a weak phylogenetic clustering. It was found that mean winter temperature (i.e., in the driest quarter) was the major factor limiting steppified desert shrub phylogeny distribution. Both cold and drought (despite having opposite consequences) differentiated the typical desert to steppified desert shrub communities. The increase in temperature since the LGM is conducive to the invasion of shrub plants into steppe grassland, and this process may be intensified by global warming.
Limiting similarity rather than habitat filtering is the main mechanism of community composition in temperate arid and semiarid areas desert. Low temperature is the main factor limiting shrub phylogeny distribution.
A series of Ca doped Ce–Ti oxides prepared by a single step sol–gel method were investigated for the selective catalytic reduction of NO with NH
3
. The results show that Ca doping had both positive ...and negative effects on the activities of Ce–Ti oxide. Ca
0.1
CT possessed the best catalytic activity and widest temperature window. Further investigations on BET, XRD, XPS, H
2
-TPR and NH
3
-TPD demonstrated that the good SCR performance of Ca
0.1
CT could be attributed to the increase in the amount of Ce
3+
and surface adsorbed oxygen as well as the enhancement of Brønsted acidity and redox ability. In addition, the good dispersion of active Ce species, the alleviation of support sintering, and the interaction among Ce, Ti and Ca species were also responsible for its enhanced activity.
Graphical Abstract
6-Gingerol, the main active ingredient in ginger, exhibits a variety of biological activities, such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer activities, and can affect cell development. ...However, the effects of 6-gingerol on mammalian reproductive processes, especially early embryonic development, are unclear. This study explored whether 6-gingerol can be used to improve the quality of in vitro-cultured porcine embryos. The results showed that 5 μM 6-gingerol significantly increased the blastocyst formation rates of porcine early embryos. 6-Gingerol attenuated intracellular reactive oxygen species accumulation and autophagy, increased intracellular glutathione levels, and increased mitochondrial activity. In addition, 6-gingerol upregulated
, SRY-box transcription factor 2, cytochrome c oxidase subunit II, mechanistic target of rapamycin kinase, and RPTOR independent companion of MTOR complex 2 while downregulating Caspase 3, baculoviral IAP repeat containing 5, autophagy related 12, and Beclin 1. Most importantly, 6-gingerol significantly increased the levels of p-extracellular regulated protein kinase 1/2 while reducing the levels of p-c-Jun N-terminal kinase 1/2/3 and p-p38. These results indicate that 6-gingerol can promote the development of porcine early embryos in vitro.
Kirsten rat sarcoma viral oncogene homolog (
), or guanosine triphosphatase
, is a proto-oncogene that encodes the small guanosine triphosphatase transductor protein. Previous studies have found that
...can promote cytokine secretion, cell chemotaxis, and survival. However, its effects on milk fat synthesis in bovine mammary epithelial cells are unclear. In this study, the effects of
inhibition on cell metabolism, autophagy, oxidative stress, endoplasmic reticulum stress, mitochondrial function, and lipid composition as well as the potential mechanisms were detected in an immortalized dairy cow mammary epithelial cell line (MAC-T). The results showed that inhibition of
changed the lipid composition (especially the triglyceride level), mitochondrial functions, autophagy, and endoplasmic reticulum stress in cells. Moreover,
inhibition regulated the levels of the mammalian target of rapamycin and mitogen-activated protein kinase (extracellular regulated protein kinases, c-Jun N-terminal kinases, p38) activation. These results indicated that regulation of
would affect the synthesis and composition of milk fat. These results are also helpful for exploring the synthesis and secretion of milk fat at the molecular level and provide a theoretical basis for improving the percentage of fat in milk and the yield of milk from cows.
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