| 1. |
- Zhong, Ziqian, 1995, et al.
(author)
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Disentangling the effects of vapor pressure deficit on northern terrestrial vegetation productivity
- 2023
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In: Science Advances. - 2375-2548. ; 9:32
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The impact of atmospheric vapor pressure deficit (VPD) on plant photosynthesis has long been acknowledged, but large interactions with air temperature (T) and soil moisture (SM) still hinder a complete understanding of the influence of VPD on vegetation production across various climate zones. Here, we found a diverging response of productivity to VPD in the Northern Hemisphere by excluding interactive effects of VPD with T and SM. The interactions between VPD and T/SM not only offset the potential positive impact of warming on vegetation productivity but also amplifies the negative effect of soil drying. Notably, for high-latitude ecosystems, there occurs a pronounced shift in vegetation productivity's response to VPD during the growing season when VPD surpasses a threshold of 3.5 to 4.0 hectopascals. These results yield previously unknown insights into the role of VPD in terrestrial ecosystems and enhance our comprehension of the terrestrial carbon cycle's response to global warming.
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| 2. |
- Groenen, M. A., et al.
(author)
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Analyses of pig genomes provide insight into porcine demography and evolution
- 2012
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In: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 491:7424, s. 393-398
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- For 10,000 years pigs and humans have shared a close and complex relationship. From domestication to modern breeding practices, humans have shaped the genomes of domestic pigs. Here we present the assembly and analysis of the genome sequence of a female domestic Duroc pig (Sus scrofa) and a comparison with the genomes of wild and domestic pigs from Europe and Asia. Wild pigs emerged in South East Asia and subsequently spread across Eurasia. Our results reveal a deep phylogenetic split between European and Asian wild boars approximately 1 million years ago, and a selective sweep analysis indicates selection on genes involved in RNA processing and regulation. Genes associated with immune response and olfaction exhibit fast evolution. Pigs have the largest repertoire of functional olfactory receptor genes, reflecting the importance of smell in this scavenging animal. The pig genome sequence provides an important resource for further improvements of this important livestock species, and our identification of many putative disease-causing variants extends the potential of the pig as a biomedical model.
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| 3. |
- Sarà, G., et al.
(author)
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The Synergistic Impacts of Anthropogenic Stressors and COVID-19 on Aquaculture : A Current Global Perspective
- 2022
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In: Reviews in Fisheries Science & Aquaculture. - : Informa UK Limited. - 2330-8249 .- 2330-8257. ; 30:1, s. 123-135
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The rapid, global spread of COVID-19, and the measures intended to limit or slow its propagation, are having major impacts on diverse sectors of society. Notably, these impacts are occurring in the context of other anthropogenic-driven threats including global climate change. Both anthropogenic stressors and the COVID-19 pandemic represent significant economic challenges to aquaculture systems across the globe, threatening the supply chain of one of the most important sources of animal protein, with potential disproportionate impacts on vulnerable communities. A web survey was conducted in 47 countries in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic to assess how aquaculture activities have been affected by the pandemic, and to explore how these impacts compare to those from climate change. A positive correlation between the effects of the two categories of drivers was detected, but analysis suggests that the pandemic and the anthropogenic stressors affect different parts of the supply chain. The immediate measurable reported losses varied with aquaculture typology (land vs. marine, and intensive vs. extensive). A comparably lower impact on farmers reporting the use of integrated multitrophic aquaculture (IMTA) methods suggests that IMTA might enhance resilience to multiple stressors by providing different market options under the COVID-19 pandemic. Results emphasize the importance of assessing detrimental effects of COVID-19 under a multiple stressor lens, focusing on areas that have already locally experienced economic loss due to anthropogenic stressors in the last decade. Holistic policies that simultaneously address other ongoing anthropogenic stressors, rather than focusing solely on the acute impacts of COVID-19, are needed to maximize the long-term resilience of the aquaculture sector.
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| 4. |
- Davies, Stuart J., et al.
(author)
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ForestGEO: Understanding forest diversity and dynamics through a global observatory network
- 2021
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In: Biological Conservation. - : Elsevier BV. - 0006-3207. ; 253
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- ForestGEO is a network of scientists and long-term forest dynamics plots (FDPs) spanning the Earth's major forest types. ForestGEO's mission is to advance understanding of the diversity and dynamics of forests and to strengthen global capacity for forest science research. ForestGEO is unique among forest plot networks in its large-scale plot dimensions, censusing of all stems ≥1 cm in diameter, inclusion of tropical, temperate and boreal forests, and investigation of additional biotic (e.g., arthropods) and abiotic (e.g., soils) drivers, which together provide a holistic view of forest functioning. The 71 FDPs in 27 countries include approximately 7.33 million living trees and about 12,000 species, representing 20% of the world's known tree diversity. With >1300 published papers, ForestGEO researchers have made significant contributions in two fundamental areas: species coexistence and diversity, and ecosystem functioning. Specifically, defining the major biotic and abiotic controls on the distribution and coexistence of species and functional types and on variation in species' demography has led to improved understanding of how the multiple dimensions of forest diversity are structured across space and time and how this diversity relates to the processes controlling the role of forests in the Earth system. Nevertheless, knowledge gaps remain that impede our ability to predict how forest diversity and function will respond to climate change and other stressors. Meeting these global research challenges requires major advances in standardizing taxonomy of tropical species, resolving the main drivers of forest dynamics, and integrating plot-based ground and remote sensing observations to scale up estimates of forest diversity and function, coupled with improved predictive models. However, they cannot be met without greater financial commitment to sustain the long-term research of ForestGEO and other forest plot networks, greatly expanded scientific capacity across the world's forested nations, and increased collaboration and integration among research networks and disciplines addressing forest science.
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| 5. |
- Cao, L., et al.
(author)
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The Glycine soja NAC transcription factor GsNAC019 mediates the regulation of plant alkaline tolerance and ABA sensitivity
- 2017
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In: Plant Molecular Biology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0167-4412 .- 1573-5028. ; 95:3, s. 253-268
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Wild soybean (Glycine soja) has a high tolerance to environmental challenges. It is a model species for dissecting the molecular mechanisms of salt-alkaline stresses. Although many NAC transcription factors play important roles in response to multiple abiotic stresses, such as salt, osmotic and cold, their mode of action in alkaline stress resistance is largely unknown. In our study, we identified a G. soja NAC gene, GsNAC019, which is a homolog of the Arabidopsis AtNAC019 gene. GsNAC019 was highly up-regulated by 50 mM NaHCO3 treatment in the roots of wild soybean. Further investigation showed that a well-characterized transcription factor, Gshdz4 protein, bound the cis-acting element sequences (CAATA/TA), which are located in the promoter of the AtNAC019/GsNAC019 genes. Overexpression of Gshdz4 positively regulated AtNAC019 expression in transgenic Arabidopsis, implying that AtNAC019/GsNAC019 may be the target genes of Gshdz4. GsNAC019 was demonstrated to be a nuclear-localized protein in onion epidermal cells and possessed transactivation activity in yeast cells. Moreover, overexpression of GsNAC019 in Arabidopsis resulted in enhanced tolerance to alkaline stress at the seedling and mature stages, but reduced ABA sensitivity. The closest Arabidopsis homolog mutant plants of Gshdz4, GsNAC019 and GsRD29B containing athb40, atnac019 and atrd29b were sensitive to alkaline stress. Overexpression or the closest Arabidopsis homolog mutant plants of the GsNAC019 gene in Arabidopsis positively or negatively regulated the expression of stress-related genes, such as AHA2, RD29A/B and KIN1. Moreover, this mutation could phenotypically promoted or compromised plant growth under alkaline stress, implying that GsNAC019 may contribute to alkaline stress tolerance via the ABA signal transduction pathway and regulate expression of the downstream stress-related genes.
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| 6. |
- Duan, X. B., et al.
(author)
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GsSLAH3, a Glycine soja slow type anion channel homolog, positively modulates plant bicarbonate stress tolerance
- 2018
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In: Physiologia Plantarum. - : Wiley. - 0031-9317. ; 164:2, s. 145-162
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Alkaline stress is a major form of abiotic stress that severely inhibits plant growth and development, thus restricting crop productivity. However, little is known about how plants respond to alkali. In this study, a slow-type anion channel homolog 3 gene, GsSLAH3, was isolated and functionally characterized. Bioinformatics analysis showed that the GsSLAH3 protein contains 10 transmembrane helices. Consistently, GsSLAH3 was found to locate on plasma membrane by transient expression in onion epidermal cells. In wild soybeans, GsSLAH3 expression was induced by NaHCO3 treatment, suggesting its involvement in plant response to alkaline stress. Ectopic expression of GsSLAH3 in yeast increased sensitivity to alkali treatment. Dramatically, overexpression of GsSLAH3 in Arabidopsis thaliana enhanced alkaline tolerance during the germination, seedling and adult stages. More interestingly, we found that transgenic lines also improved plant tolerance to KHCO3 rather than high pH treatment. A nitrate content analysis of Arabidopsis shoots showed that GsSLAH3 overexpressing lines accumulated more NO3- than wild-type. In summary, our data suggest that GsSLAH3 is a positive alkali responsive gene that increases bicarbonate resistance specifically.
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| 7. |
- Jin, Y. K., et al.
(author)
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A Dual-Promoter Gene Orchestrates the Sucrose-Coordinated Synthesis of Starch and Fructan in Barley
- 2017
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In: Molecular Plant. - : Elsevier BV. - 1674-2052 .- 1752-9867. ; 10:12, s. 1556-1570
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Sequential carbohydrate synthesis is important for plant survival because it guarantees energy supplies for growth and development during plant ontogeny and reproduction. Starch and fructan are two important carbohydrates in many flowering plants and in human diets. Understanding this coordinated starch and fructan synthesis and unraveling how plants allocate photosynthates and prioritize different carbohydrate synthesis for survival could lead to improvements to cereals in agriculture for the purposes of greater food security and production quality. Here, we report a system from a single gene in barley employing two alternative promoters, one intronic/exonic, to generate two sequence-overlapping but functionally opposing transcription factors, in sensing sucrose, potentially via sucrose/glucose/fructose/trehalose 6-phosphate signaling. The system employs an autoregulatory mechanism in perceiving a sucrose-controlled trans activity on one promoter and orchestrating the coordinated starch and fructan synthesis by competitive transcription factor binding on the other promoter. As a case in point for the physiological roles of the system, we have demonstrated that this multitasking system can be exploited in breeding barley with tailored amounts of fructan to produce healthy food ingredients. The identification of an intron/exon-spanning promoter in a hosting gene, resulting in proteins with distinct functions, adds to the complexity of plant genomes. ERYSTWYTH, WALES, V123, P453
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