Environmental regulation and marine economic resilience: An institutional synergy perspective.

Growing economic and industrial activities have put a large strain on the marine environment and ecosystem, presenting the marine economy with a tradeoff between economic expansion and environmental conservation. Though the Porter hypothesis depicts a win-win situation, it is crucial to consider the conditions under which environmental regulations generate positive effects. This paper is to study how the synergy between market-based and government-based environmental regulations affects marine economic resilience, whereas maintaining economic resilience is a prerequisite for promoting innovation and productivity. The findings indicate that each 1 % increase in the synergistic level of environmental regulations resulted in a 0.234 % improvement in marine economic resilience. The heterogeneity tests indicate that the relationship is still significant if the marine economy characterizes high industrial diversity, high industrial upgrading, and large scale, while environmental regulation in coastal provinces that marine industrial structure is not advanced negatively affects marine economic resilience.

Using the dominant mutation gene Ae1-5180 (amylose extender) to develop high-amylose maize.

Maize amylose is a type of high value-added starch used for medical, food, and chemical applications. Mutations in the starch branching enzyme (SBEIIb), with recessive ae (amylose extender) and dominant Ae1-5180 alleles, are the primary way to improve maize endosperm amylose content (AC). However, studies on Ae1-5180 mutation are scarce, and its roles in starch synthesis and breeding potential are unclear. We found that the AC of the Ae1-5180 mutant was 47.23%, and its kernels were tarnished and glassy and are easily distinguished from those of the wild type (WT), indicating that the dominant mutant has the classical characteristics of the ae mutant. Starch granules of Ae1-5180 became smaller, and higher in amount with irregular shape. The degree of amylopectin polymerisation changed to induce an increase in starch thermal stability. Compared with WT, the activity of granule-bound starch synthase and starch synthase was higher in early stages and lower in later stages, and other starch synthesis enzymes decreased during kernel development in the Ae1-5180 mutant. We successfully developed a marker (mu406) for the assisted selection of 17 Ae1-5180 near isogenic lines (NILs) according to the position of insertion of the Mu1 transposon in the SBEIIb promoter of Ae1-5180. JH214/Ae1-5180, CANS-1/Ae1-5180, CA240/Ae1-5180, and Z1698/Ae1-5180 have high breeding application potential with their higher AC (> 40%) and their 100-kernel weight decreased to < 25% compared to respective recurrent parents. Therefore, using the dominant Ae1-5180 mutant as a donor can detect the kernel phenotype and AC of Ae1-5180-NILs in advance, thereby accelerating the high-amylose breeding process. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11032-022-01323-7.

[Effects of water limiting and nitrogen reduction on nitrogen use and apparent balance of winter wheat in the Guanzhong Plain, Northwest China]. / é™æ°´å‡æ°®å¯¹å ³ä¸­å¹³åŽŸå†¬å°éº¦æ°®ç´ åˆ©ç”¨å’Œæ°®ç´ è¡¨è§‚å¹³è¡¡çš„å½±å“.

Effects of water limiting and nitrogen reduction on yield, nitrogen use efficiency and nitrogen apparent balance of wheat were investigated to explore whether it would be feasible to restrict water and reduce nitrogen in wheat production of the Guanzhong Plain and thus to provide scientific supports for yield-stable, high-efficiency, and environment-friendly developments in the irrigated production of winter wheat. Following a split-plot design with two water regimes as the main plots and four N addition rates as sub-plot factors, a field experiment (2017-2019) was conducted in Yangling, Shaanxi. The two water regimes were conventionally irrigating at the rate of 60 mm during the overwinter period and at the jointing stage, respectively (W2, a conventional practice) and irrigating at a rate of 60 mm during the overwintering period (W1, a restrictive irrigation practice). The four nitrogen addition rates were 300 kg·hm-2(N300, a conventional N rate), 225 kg·hm-2 (N225, a nitrogen rate of 25% less than the convention), 150 kg·hm-2(N150, a nitrogen rate 50% of less than the convention), and 0 kg·hm-2(N0, no nitrogen applied). The decreased irrigation rate and nitrogen rate significantly increased nitrogen content in the plants and grains, yield, N output, nitrogen use efficiency, nitrogen harvest index, nitrogen recovery efficiency, and nitrogen agronomic efficiency, reduced nitrate leaching and N surpluses, and maintained nitrogen balance. With both W1 and N150 adopted, the increased irrigation rate and nitrogen rate did not affect yield and N output of winter wheat in 2017-2019. Plant nitrogen content with both W1 and N150 adopted increased by 0.1%-25.5% and 14.0%-31.6% and the grain nitrogen content increased by 0.1% and 4.6%, compared with those with both W2 and N300 adopted in 2017-2018 and 2018-2019, respectively. Nitrogen use efficiency, nitrogen harvest index, nitrogen recovery efficiency, and nitrogen agronomic efficiency were averagely increased by 95.3%, 4.2%, 81.7% and 33.0% respectively. The N surplus was decreased by 97.2% and 95.1%, which effectively alleviated soil nitrate leaching. Considering all the indicators, irrigating at 600 m3·hm-2 during the overwintering period plus applying nitrogen at 150 kg·hm-2 could achieve high yield, high efficiency, and environment friendly development of winter wheat in the Guanzhong Plain of Shaanxi.

Timing and pacing of the Late Devonian mass extinction event regulated by eccentricity and obliquity.

The Late Devonian envelops one of Earth's big five mass extinction events at the Frasnian-Famennian boundary (374 Ma). Environmental change across the extinction severely affected Devonian reef-builders, besides many other forms of marine life. Yet, cause-and-effect chains leading to the extinction remain poorly constrained as Late Devonian stratigraphy is poorly resolved, compared to younger cataclysmic intervals. In this study we present a global orbitally calibrated chronology across this momentous interval, applying cyclostratigraphic techniques. Our timescale stipulates that 600 kyr separate the lower and upper Kellwasser positive δ13C excursions. The latter excursion is paced by obliquity and is therein similar to Mesozoic intervals of environmental upheaval, like the Cretaceous Ocean-Anoxic-Event-2 (OAE-2). This obliquity signature implies coincidence with a minimum of the 2.4 Myr eccentricity cycle, during which obliquity prevails over precession, and highlights the decisive role of astronomically forced "Milankovitch" climate change in timing and pacing the Late Devonian mass extinction.

Biogenic Iron-Rich Filaments in the Quartz Veins in the Uppermost Ediacaran Qigebulake Formation, Aksu Area, Northwestern Tarim Basin, China: Implications for Iron Oxidizers in Subseafloor Hydrothermal Systems.

Fe-(oxyhydr)oxide-encrusted filamentous microstructures produced by microorganisms have been widely reported in various modern and ancient extreme environments; however, the iron-dependent microorganisms preserved in hydrothermal quartz veins have not been explored in detail because of limited materials available. In this study, abundant well-preserved filamentous microstructures were observed in the hydrothermal quartz veins of the uppermost dolostones of the terminal-Ediacaran Qigebulake Formation in the Aksu area, northwestern Tarim Basin, China. These filamentous microstructures were permineralized by goethite and hematite as revealed by Raman spectroscopy and completely entombed in chalcedony and quartz cements. Microscopically, they are characterized by biogenic filamentous morphologies (commonly 20-200 µm in length and 1-5 µm in diameter) and structures (curved, tubular sheath-like, segmented, and mat-like filaments), similar to the Fe-oxidizing bacteria (FeOB) living in modern and ancient hydrothermal vent fields. A previous study revealed that quartz-barite vein swarms were subseafloor channels of low-temperature, silica-rich, diffusive hydrothermal vents in the earliest Cambrian, which contributed silica to the deposition of the overlying bedded chert of the Yurtus Formation. In this context, this study suggests that the putative filamentous FeOB preserved in the quartz veins might have thrived in the low-temperature, silica- and Fe(II)-rich hydrothermal vent channels in subseafloor mixing zones and were rapidly fossilized by subsequent higher-temperature, silica-rich hydrothermal fluids in response to waning and waxing fluctuations of diffuse hydrothermal venting. In view of the occurrence in a relatively stable passive continental margin shelf environment in Tarim Block, the silica-rich submarine hydrothermal vent system may represent a new and important geological niche favorable for FeOB colonization, which is different from their traditional habitats reported in hydrothermal vent systems at oceanic spreading centers or volcanic seamounts. Thus, these newly recognized microfossils offer a new clue to explore the biological signatures and habitat diversity of microorganisms on Earth and beyond.