Cloning and expression of RING-finger E3 ubiquitin ligase CsSDIR1 gene in tea plant (Camellia sinensis)北大核心CSCD

Protein ubiquitination regulates many aspects of plant development and stress response. The RING-finger type E3 ubiquitin ligase SDIR1 (salt and drought induced ring finger 1) gene plays a key role in plant stress response. In this study, the full-length cDNA and the promoter sequences of CsSDIR1 were isolated from tea plants using the RT-PCR technology, and its bioinformatics characteristics were systematically analyzed. The expression patterns of CsSDIR1 in various tissues and in response to cold, drought, salt, and ABA treatments were also investigated by quantitative real-time RT-PCR (qRT-PCR). The sequence of CsSDIR1 contains a complete open reading frame of 831 bp, coding for a 276-long amino acid protein with a molecular weight of (Mr) 30.085 × 103 and a theoretical isoelectric point of 6.54. CsSDIR1 was predicted to be a hydrophobic protein localized on the intracellular membranes. The analysis of the amino acid sequence characteristics showed that CsSDIR1 contains two putative transmembrane domains at the N-terminus and a C3H2C3 RING-finger domain at the C-terminus; it shares high similarity with other plants' SDIR1, and has the closest relationship to Actinidia sinensis. A cis-acting regulatory elements prediction showed that the CsSDIR1 promoter contains many cis-acting elements, especially drought and salt stress response elements. The qRT-PCR analysis indicated that the CsSDIR1 gene has a high expression level in stems, followed by roots, leaves, and flowers; the expression of the CsSDIR1 gene is up-regulated by ABA, salt, and drought treatments, whereas it is down-regulated in response to cold stress. These results demonstrated that the CsSDIR1 gene might be involved in the plant stress response of tea trees. © 2018 Science Press. All rights reserved.     

杨树抗旱性研究进展

The drought resistance of woody plants, in particular, Populus, was reviewed in this paper. Studies about drought resistance of Populus mostly focused on changes in growth properties, physiological adaptation and biochemical aspects, but a few on molecular biology. The indexes of drought adaptation and productivity were analyzed and these indexes could be employed to identify drought resistance of woody plants. Combination of such different approaches will, hopefully, give us a more complete understanding of the various regulatory mechanisms in trees than what we may have today. With development of the molecular biology of woody plants, the sluties on stress resistance of Populus which was regarded as a model plant, are summarised. Ref 96     

Responses of bacterial strains isolated from drinking water environments to N-acyl-L-homoserine lactones and their analogs during biofilm formation

Often as a result ofbiofilm formation, drinking water distribution systems （DWDS） are regularly faced with the problem of microbial contamination. Quorum sensing （QS） systems play a marked role in the regulation of microbial biofilm formation; thus, inhibition of QS systems may provide a promising approach to biofilm formation control in DWDS. In the present study, 22 bacterial strains were isolated from drinking water-related environments. The following properties of the strains were investigated： bacterial biofilm formation capacity, QS signal molecule N-acyl-L-homoserine lactones （AHLs） production ability, and responses to AHLs and AHL analogs, 3-chloro-4-（dichloromethyl）-5-hydroxy-2（5H）- furanone （MX） and 2（5H）-furanone. Four AHLs were added to developed biofilms at dosages ranging from 0.1 nmol.L J to 100nmol.L1. As a result, the biofilm growth of more than 1/4 of the isolates, which included AHL producers and non-producers, were significantly promoted. Further, the biofilm biomasses were closely associated with respective AHLs concentrations. These results provided evidence to support the idea that AHLs play a definitive role in biofilm formation in many of the studied bacteria. Meanwhile, two AHLs analogs demon- strated unexpectedly minimal negative effects on biofilm formation. This suggested that, in order to find an applicable QS inhibition approach for biofilm control in DWDS, the testing and analysis of more analogs is needed.     

Impacts of de-icing salt pollution on urban road greenspace: a case study of Beijing

De-icing salt contamination of urban soil and greenspace has been a common issue of concern in many countries for years. In the 2009/2010 winter, Beijing experienced a contamination accident resulting from the overuse of deicing salt, reported as almost 30000 tons, which severely damaged urban vegetation alongside roadways. The methods of sampling and rating for both soil contamination and response of the plant populations were developed to rapidly assess this emergency environmental event. Results showed that the shrubs were more severely damaged than the arbors in terms of both degree and extent, as almost all of the surveyed shrubs were severely damaged from the salt contamination, while only about 1/4 of the recorded arbors were rated as ＂severely injured＂ according to the integral plant injury index. The rating of the injury level showed that the trees like Pinus bungeana, Sophora japonica, and the shrubs like Euonymus japonicus, Sabina vulgaris showed less tolerance to de-icing salt pollution. The patterns of vegetation damage demonstrated that the ever-green shrubs alongside roads and the deciduous arbors in the center of roads were most vulnerable to the salt damage.     

Occurrence and fate of antibiotics in advanced wastewater treatment facilities and receiving rivers in Beijing,China

The occurrence and removal of 13 antibiotics were investigated in five wastewater treatment plants （WWTPs） with advanced wastewater treatment processes in Beijing, China. Most of the target antibiotics were detected in the secondary and tertiary effluents, with the concentrations of 4.8-1106.0 and 0.3-505.0ng·L^-1. Fluoroquinolone antibiotics showed relatively high concentrations in all samples （782-1814ng·L^-1）. Different tertiary treatment processes showed discrepant antibiotics removal performances. Ozonation process was found more effective in removing target antibiotics compared to the coagulation-flocculation-sedimentation process and sand filtration process. Investigation of the target antibiotics in three typical urban rivers in Beijing was carried out to understand antibiotics occurrence in surface water environment. Eight antibiotics were detected in the studied rivers, with highest concentration of antibiotics in the fiver which was mainly replenished by reclaimed water. This study showed the necessity of employing more effective advanced treatment facilities to further reduce the discharge amount of antibiotics.     

Comparisons in subcellular and biochemical behaviors of cadmium between Iow-Cd and high-Cd accumulation cultivars of pakchoi （Brassica chinensis L.）

Subcellular distributions and chemical forms of cadmium （Cd） in the leaves, stems and roots were investigated in low-Cd accumulation cultivars and high-Cd accumulation cultivars ofpakchoi （Brassica chinensis L.）. Root cell wall played a key role in limiting soil Cd from entering the protoplast, especially in the low-Cd cultivars. The high-Cd cultivars had significantly higher leaf and stem Cd concentrations than the low-Cd cultivars in cell wall fraction, chloroplast/trophoplast fraction, organelle fraction and soluble fraction. In low-Cd cultivars, which were more sensitive and thus had greater physiological needs of Cd detoxification than high-Cd cultivars, leaf vacuole sequestrated higher proportions of Cd. Cd in the form of pectate/protein complexes （extracted by 1 tool. L~ NaC1） played a decisive role in Cd translocation from root to shoot, which might be one of the mechanisms that led to the differences in shoot Cd accumulation between the two types of cultivars. Furthermore, the formation of Cd- phosphate complexes （extracted by 2% HAc） was also involved in Cd detoxification within the roots of pakchoi under high Cd stress, suggesting that the mechanisms of Cd detoxification might be different between low- and high-Cd cultivars.     

Protective effect of exogenous nitric oxide and salicylic acid on the photosynthetic apparatus of tomato seedling leaves under NaCl stress北大核心CSCD

Using the tomato variety 'Qin Feng Bao Guan' as experimental material, and by the hydroponics nutrient solution method, we investigated the effects of single and compound applications of nitric oxide (NO) donor sodium nitroprusside (SNP) and salicylic acid (SA) on the gas exchange and chlorophyll fluorescence parameters, RuBisCO activation, CO2 response curve, photosynthetic pigment content, and xanthophyll cycle in seedling leaves under an NaCl stress of 100 mmol/L. The main findings were as follows: (1) Single or combined applications of SNP and SA could increase the net photosynthetic rate (Pn), stomatal conductance (Gs), PS II maximal photochemistry efficiency (Fv/Fm), antenna conversion efficiency (Fv'/Fm'), practical photochemical efficiency (φPS?), photochemical fluorescence quenching coefficient (qP), and chlorophyll fluorescence decay rate (Rfd) of tomato seedling leaves at different rates, and significantly reduce the intercellular CO2 concentration (Ci), original fluorescence (Fo), and PS II non-photochemical fluorescence quenching coefficient (NPQ), after NaCl stress treatment. The strongest effect was observed after applying a combination of SNP and SA. (2) Under NaCl stress, the decrease of CO2 carboxylation efficiency (CE), RuBP maximum regeneration rate (Jmax), RuBisCO and its activation enzyme activity, and the maximum carboxylation rate (Vc max) in tomato seedling leaves could be effectively relieved by SNP, SA, or SNP + SA applications; however, SNP + SA treatment had the strongest effect. (3) Single or combined applications of SNP and SA could effectively inhibit the decrease of the contents of photosynthetic pigments (chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, and carotenoids), the ratio of chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b, xanthophyll cycle pool size (V + A + Z), and the increase of the de-epoxidation extent of the xanthophyll cycle (A + Z)/(V + A + Z). The combined application of SNP and SA had the most prominent effect. In conclusion, the heat dissipation of the antenna, which is dependent on the xanthophyll cycle, is not the physiological mechanism for the protection of the photosynthetic apparatus by exogenous NO, SA alone, or compound treatment in tomato seedling leaves under NaCl stress. It is the main reason for the increase of photosynthetic function and enhanced salt tolerance of leaves tomato seedlings that the protection of PS II and its primary electron acceptor quinone (QA) downstream electron transfer patency, and the improvement of CO2 assimilation activity by application of exogenous NO, SA alone, or a combination of the two; synergistic effects were observed after using a combination of SNP and SA. © 2018 Science Press. All rights reserved.     

Relationship between herbaceous community distribution and soil environmental factors in the riparian zone of the Baiyangdian River Basin北大核心CSCD

Riparian zone vegetation is an important part of the riparian ecosystem and plays an important role in the riparian zone functioning. Herbs, which are one of the main types of riparian vegetation, are extremely sensitive to environmental changes and human activities and have become a hot spot of riparian vegetation research. In this study, the herbaceous communities of four representative rivers (Xiaoyi, Baohe, Fuhe, and Baigouyin River) entering Baiyangdian Lake in China were researched. The herbaceous species in their riparian zones were systematically investigated using the sample plot method. The Shannon-Wiener diversity (H’), Pielou evenness (J), and Patrick richness (R) indices were estimated to examine the species composition and diversity of the herb communities, following which redundancy analysis (RDA) was conducted. The relationship between species diversity, distribution patterns of herbaceous plant communities, and soil environmental factors in the riparian zone of the four rivers is discussed. (1) Eighty-three species of herbaceous plants belonging to 66 genera and 27 families in the riparian zone entering Baiyangdian Lake. Most herbaceous plants, including Poaceae, Compositae, and Chenopodiaceae, were weeds or associated plants. Riparian vegetation was greatly affected by human disturbance. (2) All the three estimated indices of the Xiaoyi, Baigouyin, and Fuhe rivers were better than those of the Baohe River. (3) The vegetation coverage and species diversity of riparian herbaceous communities were positively correlated with soil organic matter and water content but negatively correlated with pH, total nitrogen, and total phosphorus. Therefore, these communities are conducive to the restoration of vegetation and the stability of biodiversity in the riparian core area to reduce the disturbance of human activities and increase humidity. © 2022 Science Press. All rights reserved.     

植物络合素及其合酶在重金属抗性中的功能研究进展

Under heavy metal stress, higher plants initiate a set of defense responses, among which biosynthesis of phytochelatins (PCs) is important. PCs are rich in cystein and biosynthesized by phytochelatin synthase. The chemical structure of PCs and their ability to form complexes with a large range of metal ions is clear. Up to now, these peptides are known to play an important role in both endogenous metal ion homeostasis and heavy metal ion detoxification. The mechanism of cadmium tolerance is illustrated in detail. A model of this mechanism suggested that the detoxification process of cadmium include such steps as PCs induction, transport of cadmium into the tonoplast, formation of the HMW-Cd-PCs complexes and sequestration in vacuole. At the same time, PCs also have other functions, such as detoxification of arsenic, protecting enzyme from metal ion inhibition and supplying metal ion as a cofactor to the enzyme potentially. However, a lot of questions about its biological function remain to be answered. In 1999, three independent labs isolated the genes encoding the PCs synthase. This breakthrough of plant heavy metal tolerance research gave us a chance to further study the heavy metal tolerance mechanism. All the results from the reserch of PCs have a ffreat application potential in phytoremidation. Fig 1, Ref 25     

The physiological response and iron and potassium contents in the hairy roots of Brassica rape L. Under cadmium stress北大核心CSCD

The experiments were conducted to investigate the tolerance and enrichment capabilities by elucidating the physiological response and cadmium impact on iron and potassium accumulation amounts of brassica rape hairy roots under different cadmium concentrations by using liquid suspension culture method. The results showed the following. (1) The growth of hairy roots was not significantly different under low cadmium concentrations (below 100 μmol/L), whereas it was obviously inhibited under high cadmium concentrations (more than 100 μmol/L). Further, the maximum fresh weight of brassica rape hairy roots reached 4.34 g under 25 μmol/L cadmium stress after 7 days. (2) The content of ROS in brassica rape hairy roots increased with increasing concentrations of cadmium; the antioxidant enzyme activities of brassica rape hairy roots (SOD, POD, and CAT) decreased first and then increased with increasing cadmium concentrations under 1-day stress, whereas showed an opposite trend under 7-day stress. (3) PI staining and MDA content indicated that cellular damage was more serious with increasing cadmium concentrations. (4) With the increase of cadmium concentrations, cadmium content of hairy roots increased and reached maximum of 2.97 mg/g under 400 μmol/L cadmium stress after 7 days. The iron content also increased significantly with the maximal weight of 14.52 mg/g after 1-day cadmium stress, whereas no significant difference was noted under 7-day cadmium stress. The potassium content under 7-day cadmium stress was 1.6 times of that after 1-day stress (15.73 mg/g). The study showed that the physiological response of Brassica rape hairy roots was correlated with the concentration and time of cadmium stress. Moreover, cadmium stress caused metabolic disorders of iron and potassium in the hairy roots, but the hairy roots of Brassica rape had better enrichment effect on cadmium. © 2018 Science Press. All rights reserved.     

Screening and degradation characteristics of a tetracycline-degrading bacterial strain北大核心CSCD

Tetracycline is widely used in livestock and poultry breeding industry, which can cause serious problems to the environment. Antibiotic pollution has become an important environmental issue. This study aimed to isolate and identify a well-functioning tetracycline-degrading bacteria strain from activated sludge and to investigate its optimum degradation conditions. The strain was identified through morphological features, Gram staining, and the sequence analysis of 16S rRNA. Furthermore, the temperature, initial pH of the medium, inoculation amount, and type of metallic salt were analyzed to investigate the tetracycline degradation performance of the isolated strain. Based on the single factor test, the method of response surface analysis was adopted to optimize the degradation condition. The strain was named TTC-1 and identified as Klebsiella pneumoniae. The optimum condition for tetracycline degradation was determined as follows: temperature of 34.4 °C, pH of 7.22, and MnSO4 concentration of 0.32 g/L. Under this optimum condition, the predicted tetracycline degradation rate was 93.77%, whereas the observed value was 94.26%. The experimental results showed that the proposed model had high accuracy. TTC-1 showed a good performance in degrading tetracycline, which can provide reference for the bacteria during the biological treatment of tetracycline containing wastewater. © 2018 Science Press. All rights reserved.     

Effects of Combined Exposure to Formaldehyde and PM2.5 on the Brain of Balb/c Mice Asthma Model

Epidemiological studies have shown that there is a link between asthma and brain damage,but toxicological studies have not fully confirmed yet,especially the effects of asthma on the brain. In this study,at first,we explore the effects of asthma on the brain through the establishment of an allergic asthma model. Then PM_(2.5),a typical outdoor air pollutant and formaldehyde,a typical indoor air pollutant were selected to be closer to the true environment and find whether there is any synergism between them. In this study,an ovalbumin( OVA)-sensitized mice asthma model was established. 30 male Balb/c mice were randomly divided into 5 groups:( 1) saline control group,( 2) OVA-sensitized group,( 3) OVA-combined with formaldehyde exposure group,( 4) OVA-combined with PM_(2.5) exposure group,( 5) Combination of OVA,formaldehyde and PM_(2.5) exposure group. The mice were inhaled with formaldehyde or/and instilled with PM_(2.5) from day 1 to 18. The mice asthma model was developed by OVA sensitization and challenge. The mice were sensitized with OVA+Al( OH)3( 5 mg OVA and 175 mg Al( OH)3 in 30 m L saline each time) or saline( 30 m L saline each time) by intraperitoneal injection on day 1,7 and 14.This was then followed by an aerosol challenge in 1% OVA( 30 min·d~(-1)) from day 19 to 25( 7 times) using an ultrasonic nebulizer. On the 26 th day,the organ coefficient of mice brain was counted,then the contents of oxidative stress of mice brain were measured,including reactive oxygen species( ROS),glutathione( GSH) and malondialdehyde( MDA),and the concentrations of NF-κB and interleukin-1β( IL-1β) were detected by using ELISA kits.Detection of interleukin-6( IL-6) was made with immunohistochemical method. Histological assay for brain was also conducted. In our results,all the OVA treated groups showed a significant increase of ROS and a significant decrease of GSH contents when compared with the control group. Except OVA-sensitized group,other OVA treated groups also showed a significant increase of MDA contents when compared with the control group,and MDA contents of OVA-sensitized group showed significant change when compared to the combined exposure group. In ROS and GSH,combined exposure showed some joint effect compared with single exposure. When OVA was applied in combination with formaldehyde and PM_(2.5),NF-κB was activated. And all the OVA treated groups showed increased levels of IL-1β and IL-6 compared with the control group. And the combined exposure showed an aggravated effect when compared with OVA-sensitized group. Histopathological observation of the hippocampus in mice brain clearly showed the difference of eosin( EO) stained neurons in the combined exposure group compared with the control group and OVA-sensitized group. The pyramidal neurons of the mice with allergic asthma exposed to formaldehyde and/or PM_(2.5) had been reduced in number,the cells were swollen and the dendrites had disappeared. Allergic asthma can cause damage to the brain through oxidative stress. Exposure to formaldehyde and PM_(2.5) will increase the damage caused by allergic asthma to the brain,which may be mediated by oxidative stress and NF-κB activation.This promotes the release of the inflammatory factors,resulting in increased inflammation.     

Heavy metal accumulation and phytostabilization potential of dominant plant species growing on manganese mine tailings

Screening plants that are hypertolerant to and excluders of certain heavy metals plays a fundamental role in a remediation strategy for metalliferous mine tailings. A field survey of terrestrial higher plants growing on Mn mine tailings at Huayuan, Hunan Province, China was conducted to identify candidate species for application in phytostabilization of the tailings in this region. In total, 51 species belonging to 21 families were recorded and the 12 dominant plants were investigated for their potential in phytostabilization of heavy metals. Eight plant species, Alternanthera philoxeroides, Artemisia princeps, Bidens frondosa, Bidens pilosa, Cynodon dactylon, Digitaria sanguinalis, Erigeron canadensis, and Setaria plicata accumulated much lower concentrations of heavy metals in shoots and roots than the associated soils and bioconcen- tration factors （BFs） for Cd, Mn, Pb and Zn were all 〈 1, demonstrating a high tolerance to heavy metals and poor metals translocation ability. The field investigation also found that these species grew fast, accumulated biomass rapidly and developed a vegetation cover in a relatively short time. Therefore, they are good candidates for phytostabilization purposes and could be used as pioneer species in phytoremediation of Mn mine tailings in this region of South China.     

Temporal and spatial evolution characteristics of sunshine duration over Qinghai-Tibet Plateau from 1961 to 2020北大核心CSCD

Based on observation data of daily sunshine duration from 1961 to 2020 at 175 meteorological observation stations over Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and its surrounding areas, spatial transformation analysis, climate trend analysis and M-K mutation test were used to analyze the temporal and spatial variation characteristics of the seasonal and annual sunshine duration in the region in the last 60 years. The results show that (1) annual average sunshine duration was 2 323 h, the maximum was 3 487 h in Gaer, Tibet, and the minimum was 771 h in Ya'an, Sichuan. The high-value areas were mostly located in western Tibet, northern Qinghai, western Gansu, and Xinjiang, and the low-value areas were mostly located in Nyingchi in Tibet, the mountainous area on the western edge of the Sichuan Basin, and northwestern Yunnan. The highest sunshine duration was recorded in winter (631 h), and the lowest was recorded in autumn (555 h) among the four seasons. (2) The average decrease in annual sunshine duration was 10.27 h/10 a. The largest rates of decrease were mainly in Gannan of Gansu and Ganzi of Sichuan, with the largest rate of decrease of 130 h/10 a. The areas with large rates of increase were mainly in Hotan area of Xinjiang, Liangshan of Sichuan and Lhasa of Tibet, with the largest increase of 61 h/10 a. Among the four seasons, spring exhibited an upward trend, and the remainder exhibited a downward trend. (3) Before 2017, the annual sunshine duration increased but declined after 2017. Spring sunshine duration had the largest number of mutation years, and the earliest mutation time was 1963. Winter had the fewest number of mutation years and the latest mutation time occurred in 2015. In summary, the annual and seasonal sunshine duration of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau vary greatly in space, but with the general characteristics of more sunshine in the northwest and less in the southeast, and sunshine hours were mainly decreasing, with 2017 as a mutation point of annual sunshine duration. Most areas of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau have great potential for photosynthetic production and are suitable for the development of light-loving plants and high-density planting. Shade-loving or shade-tolerant plants, including tea, are suitable for development in remote mountainous areas with low sunshine values in the western part of the basin, including Ya’an, Sichuan, and other areas, such as Medog, Tibet. © 2022 Science Press. All rights reserved.     

An overview of the environmental finance policies in China: retrofitting an integrated mechanism for environmental management

Considering the significant roles of the policies in developing environmental finance, an overview is conducted on the environmental finance policies （EFPs） in China. This paper analyzed the definition, scope, evolution and main instruments of EFPs. The implementation progress of financial activities on each instrument are investigated respectively. Then the experiences learned from and failures discovered in the development of the EFPs are discussed well recommendations for further improvement of the EFPs and their implementation are provided. Our study found that the EFPs have been established in China after a four-phase evolution since the early 1980s. The policies have played a critical role in leading to a rapid development in environmental finance by involving more financial instruments to accomplish the objective-led environmental plans. Driven by the policies, the new green credit （GC）, green security （GS）, and green insurance （GI） instruments have been phased in as supplements to the conventional command and control approaches to improve the environmental governance of financial activities and pollution sources. However, the market mechanism of financial institution is limited due to their defensive and incapable performance on implementation some of EFP instruments. To further strengthen the effectiveness of EFPs in facilitating environmental man- agement, recommendations are made mainly on the aspects including developing more specific policy guidelines, enhancing information sharing and disclosure, providing sufficient economic incentives, establishing environmental liabilities with financial activities, and involving issues related to climate change, and biodiversity and ecosystem service.