Effects of stand ages on soil enzyme activities in Chinese fir plantations and natural secondary forests.

Forest type and stand age are important biological factors affecting soil enzyme activities. However, the changes in soil enzyme activities across stand ages and underlying mechanisms under the two forest restoration strate-gies of plantations and natural secondary forests remain elusive. In this study, we investigated the variations of four soil enzyme activities including cello-biohydrolase (CBH), ß-1,4-glucosidase (ßG), acid phosphatase (AP) and ß-1,4-N-acetylglucosaminidase (NAG), which were closely associated with soil carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus cycling, across Cunninghamia lanceolata plantations and natural secondary forests (5, 8, 21, 27 and 40 years old). The results showed that soil enzyme activities showed different patterns across different forest types. The acti-vities of AP, ßG and CBH in the C. lanceolata plantations were significantly higher than those in the natural secon-dary forests, and there was no significant difference in the NAG activity. In the plantations, AP activity showed a decreasing tendency with the increasing stand ages, with the AP activity in the 5-year-old plantations significantly higher than other stand ages by more than 62.3%. The activities of NAG and CBH decreased first and then increased, and ßG enzyme activity fluctuated with the increasing stand age. In the natural secondary forests, NAG enzyme activity fluctuated with the increasing stand age, with that in the 8-year-old and 27-year-old stand ages being significantly higher than the other stand ages by more than 14.9%. ßG and CBH enzyme activities increased first and then decreased, and no significant difference was observed in the AP activity. Results of the stepwise regression analyses showed that soil predictors explained more than 34% of the variation in the best-fitting models predicting soil enzyme activities in the C. lanceolata plantations and natural secondary forests. In conclusion, there would be a risk of soil fertility degradation C. lanceolata plantations with the increasing stand age, while natural secondary forests were more conducive to maintaining soil fertility.

Natural compound Byakangelicin suppresses breast tumor growth and motility by regulating SHP-1/JAK2/STAT3 signal pathway.

Byakangelicin mostly obtained from the root of Angelica dahurica and has protective effect on liver injury and fibrosis. In addition, Byakangelicin, as a traditional medicine, is also used to treat colds, headache and toothache. Recent studies have shown that Byakangelicin exhibits anti-tumor function; however, the role of Byakangelicin in breast tumor progression and related mechanism has not yet been elucidated. Our study aims to investigate the role of Byakangelicin in breast tumor progression and the underlying mechanism. To measure the effect of Byakangelicin on JAK2/STAT3 signaling, a dual luciferase reporter assay and a Western blot assay were performed. CCK8, colony formation, apoptosis and cell invasion assays were used to examine the inhibitory potential of Byakangelicin on breast cancer cells. Additionally, SHP-1 was silenced by specific siRNA duplex and the function of SHP-1 on Byakangelicin-mediated inhibition of JAK2/STAT3 signaling was evaluated. Byakangelicin treatment significantly inhibited STAT3 transcriptional activity. In addition, Byakangelicin treatment blocked JAK2/STAT3 signaling in a dose-dependent manner. Byakangelicin-treated tumor cells showed a dramatically reduced proliferation, colony formation and invasion ability. Moreover, Byakangelicin remarkedly induced breast cancer cell apoptosis. Furthermore, Byakangelicin regulated the expression of SHP1.In conclusion, our current study indicated that Byakangelicin, a natural compound, inhibits SHP-1/JAK2/STAT3 signaling and thus blocks tumor growth and motility.

Trophic interactions in soil micro-food webs drive ecosystem multifunctionality along tree species richness.

Rapid biodiversity losses under global climate change threaten forest ecosystem functions. However, our understanding of the patterns and drivers of multiple ecosystem functions across biodiversity gradients remains equivocal. To address this important knowledge gap, we measured simultaneous responses of multiple ecosystem functions (nutrient cycling, soil carbon stocks, organic matter decomposition, plant productivity) to a tree species richness gradient of 1, 4, 8, 16, and 32 species in a young subtropical forest. We found that tree species richness had negligible effects on nutrient cycling, organic matter decomposition, and plant productivity, but soil carbon stocks and ecosystem multifunctionality significantly increased with tree species richness. Linear mixed-effect models showed that soil organisms, particularly arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and soil nematodes, elicited the greatest relative effects on ecosystem multifunctionality. Structural equation models revealed indirect effects of tree species richness on ecosystem multifunctionality mediated by trophic interactions in soil micro-food webs. Specifically, we found a significant negative effect of gram-positive bacteria on soil nematode abundance (a top-down effect), and a significant positive effect of AMF biomass on soil nematode abundance (a bottom-up effect). Overall, our study emphasizes the significance of a multitrophic perspective in elucidating biodiversity-multifunctionality relationships and highlights the conservation of functioning soil micro-food webs to maintain multiple ecosystem functions.

Effects of elevated carbon dioxide (CO2)and ozone (O3)concentrations on ectoenzyme activities in rice rhizospheric soil.

Rising atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) and ozone (O3) concentrations are the main global change drivers. Soil ectoenzymes play an important role in maintaining soil ecosystem services. Exploring the responses of soil ectoenzymes to elevated CO2 and O3 concentrations is important for combating global climate change. In this study, we simulated elevated CO2 concentrations (+200 µmol·mol-1, eCO2), elevated O3 concentrations (0.04 µmol·mol-1, eO3), and their combination (eCO2+eO3) in open-top chambers (OTCs), and investigated the responses of rhizospheric soil ectoenzyme activities. The results showed that eCO2 significantly increased the ß-D-Glucosidase (ßG) activity by 73.0%, and decreased that of polyphenol oxidase (PHO), peroxidase (PEO), and acid phosphatase (AP) by 48.9%, 46.6% and 72.9% respectively, but did not affect that of cellulose hydrolase (CBH) and ß-N-Acetylglucosaminidase (NAG). eO3 significantly reduced the activities of CBH and AP by 34.2% and 30.4%, respectively. The activities of PHO and AP were reduced by 87.3% and 32.3% under the eCO2+eO3 compared with the control, respectively. Results of the principal coordinate analysis, permutation multivariate analysis of variance and redundancy analysis showed that both elevated CO2 and O3 significantly affected soil ectoenzyme activities, with stronger effects of elevated CO2 than elevated O3. Root nitrogen content, root carbon to nitrogen ratio, soil microbial biomass carbon and nitrate nitrogen were the main drivers of soil ectoenzyme activities under elevated CO2 and O3. Elevated O3 could partially neutralize the effects of elevated CO2 on soil ectoenzyme activities. In conclusion, elevated CO2 and O3 restrained the activities of most soil ectoenzyme, suggesting that climate change would threat soil ecosystem services and functions in the agroecosystem.

Scavenger receptor B2, a type III membrane pattern recognition receptor, senses LPS and activates the IMD pathway in crustaceans.

The immune deficiency (IMD) pathway is critical for elevating host immunity in both insects and crustaceans. The IMD pathway activation in insects is mediated by peptidoglycan recognition proteins, which do not exist in crustaceans, suggesting a previously unidentified mechanism involved in crustacean IMD pathway activation. In this study, we identified a Marsupenaeus japonicus B class type III scavenger receptor, SRB2, as a receptor for activation of the IMD pathway. SRB2 is up-regulated upon bacterial challenge, while its depletion exacerbates bacterial proliferation and shrimp mortality via abolishing the expression of antimicrobial peptides. The extracellular domain of SRB2 recognizes bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS), while its C-terminal intracellular region containing a cryptic RHIM-like motif interacts with IMD, and activates the pathway by promoting nuclear translocation of RELISH. Overexpressing shrimp SRB2 in Drosophila melanogaster S2 cells potentiates LPS-induced IMD pathway activation and diptericin expression. These results unveil a previously unrecognized SRB2-IMD axis responsible for antimicrobial peptide induction and restriction of bacterial infection in crustaceans and provide evidence of biological diversity of IMD signaling in animals. A better understanding of the innate immunity of crustaceans will permit the optimization of prevention and treatment strategies against the arising shrimp diseases.

Contribution of tree species to the co-occurrence network of the leaf phyllosphere and soil bacterial community in the subtropical forests.

The underlying mechanisms of the interactions between bacterial communities and tree species are still unknown, primarily attributed to a focus on the soil system while ignoring the leaf phyllosphere, which is a complex and diverse ecosystem that supports microbial diversity in the forest ecosystem. To gain insights into the mechanisms, the effects of seven common subtropical tree species, involving Pinus massoniana Lamb., Mytilaria laosensis Lecomte., Ilex chinensis Sims., Michelia macclurei Dandy., Liquidambar formosana Hance., Quercus acutissima Carruth., and Betula luminifera H.Winkler on the bacterial communities were investigated in the leaf phyllosphere and soil systems. We found that the bacterial community was dominated by Proteobacteria in the leaf phyllosphere (63.2-84.7%), and was dominated by Proteobacteria (34.3-45.0%) and Acidobacteria (32.5-40.6%) in soil. Mycorrhizal types and leaf phenology had no apparent effects on the bacterial abundance in the bacterial diversity in the leaf phyllosphere and soil. The bacterial community composition was greatly influenced by tree species in the leaf phyllosphere rather than in soil, with soil parameters (soil pH and C/N) and litter N identified as the most important factors. Ectomycorrhizal trees exerted positive effects on the complexity of the bacterial community at the expense of decreasing the robustness of the soil bacterial community, potentially threatening ecosystem stability. Evergreen trees decreased the network robustness of bacterial community by 21.9% higher than this of deciduous trees in the leaf phyllosphere. Similarly, evergreen trees decreased soil bacterial abundance by 50.8% and network robustness by 8.0% compared to deciduous trees, indicating the adverse impacts of leaf phenology on the bacterial stability in both leaf and soil. Overall, our results highlight the need for studies of leaf-associated bacteria to comprehensively understand the potential effects of tree species on microbial diversity and stability in subtropical forests.

Changes in plant nutrient status following combined elevated [CO2] and canopy warming in winter wheat.

Projected global climate change is a potential threat to nutrient utilization in agroecosystems. However, the combined effects of elevated [CO2] and canopy warming on plant nutrient concentrations and translocations are not well understood. Here we conducted an open-air field experiment to investigate the impact of factorial elevated [CO2] (up to 500 µmol mol-1) and canopy air warming (+2°C) on nutrient (N, P, and K) status during the wheat growing season in a winter wheat field. Compared to ambient conditions, soil nutrient status was generally unchanged under elevated [CO2] and canopy warming. In contrast, elevated [CO2] decreased K concentrations by 11.0% and 11.5% in plant shoot and root, respectively, but had no impact on N or P concentration. Canopy warming increased shoot N, P and K concentrations by 8.9%, 7.5% and 15.0%, but decreased root N, P, and K concentrations by 12.3%, 9.0% and 31.6%, respectively. Accordingly, canopy warming rather than elevated [CO2] increased respectively N, P and K transfer coefficients (defined as the ratio of nutrient concentrations in the shoot to root) by 22.2%, 27.9% and 84.3%, which illustrated that canopy warming played a more important role in nutrient translocation from belowground to aboveground than elevated [CO2]. These results suggested that the response of nutrient dynamics was more sensitive in plants than in soil under climate change.

Soil nitrification and denitrification in Cunninghamia lanceolata plantations with different stand ages.

The variations in soil nitrification and denitrification processes, together with the abundances of functional microbes were investigated in Cunninghamia lanceolata plantations with different stand ages of 5, 8, 21, 27, and 40 years old. The results showed that the net nitrification rate fluctuated with increasing forest ages, with that of 8-year- and 27-year-old C. lanceolata plantations being significantly lower than other stand ages. The abundance of ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) amoA in the 27-year-old plantation was significantly lower than that of the 40-year-old plantation, while there was no significant difference among the other stand ages. There was no significant difference in the abundance of AOB amoA gene, denitrifying functional genes or soil denitrification potential among different stand ages. The results of stepwise regression analysis showed that the abundance of AOA amoA gene was not significantly affected by soil physical and chemical properties. In addition, the abundance of AOB was positively associated with soil total carbon content and soil pH. The abundance of denitrifying functional genes including narG, nirK and nosZ increased with increasing soil pH. The abundance of nirK and nirS was influenced by soil total carbon. Stand age influenced soil net nitrification rate through the AOA amoA abundance. Moreover, soil denitrification potential was directly affected by stand age, or indirectly affected by stand age through soil microbial biomass carbon, soil pH and denitrifying gene abundance of narG and nirK. Compared with the denitrification process, soil nitrification and associated AOA amoA gene abundance were more sensitive to the development of C. lanceolata plantations. The rotation period sould be appropriately extended to reduce the risk of nitrogen losses resulting from soil nitrification.

Effects of common afforestation tree species on soil bacterial community and microbial functional guilds in subtropical forests.

To understand the effects of common afforestation tree species on soil microbial community in subtropical forests, seven different tree species were selected as the research object, including Pinus massoniana, Mytilaria laosensis, Liquidambar formosana, Ilex chinensis, Michelia macclurei, Quercus acutissima and Betula luminifera. Based on 16S rRNA high-throughput sequencing and real-time quantitative PCR techniques, we explored the effects of different tree species on soil bacterial community composition, diversity and microbial functional guilds. The results showed that Acidobacteria, Proteobacteria, and Actinobacteria were the dominant bacterial phyla, and that there was no significant difference in bacterial diversity or richness index among different tree species. Results of redundancy analysis suggested that soil bulk density, soil C/N, litter nitrogen content, and litter C/N were the predominant factors determining soil bacterial community composition. The afforestation tree species had significant effects on functional gene abundances of ammonia oxidizing archaea, ammonia oxidizing bacteria and complete ammonia oxidation. Comammox were dominant in abundance. Ammonia oxidizing archaea amoA gene was the only type whose abundance showed significant correlation with soil nitrate content, suggesting that ammonia oxidizing archaea could play a dominant role in the autotrophic nitrification in the acidic subtropical forest soils. The afforestation tree species had significant effects on functional gene abundances of ammonia oxidizing microorganisms. Results of correlation analysis showed that litter nitrogen content was the driving factor for the abundance of ammonia oxidizing microorganisms. Our study provided strong evidence that the responses of soil microbial functional guilds to tree species were more sensitive than bacterial community composition. Future studies should explore the mechanisms of tree plantations on forest ecosystem functioning from the perspective of microbial functional guilds.

Elevated O3 Exerts Stronger Effects than Elevated CO2 on the Functional Guilds of Fungi, but Collectively Increase the Structural Complexity of Fungi in a Paddy Soil.

Global climate change is characterized by altered global atmospheric composition, including elevated CO2 and O3, with important consequences on soil fungal communities. However, the function and community composition of soil fungi in response to elevated CO2 together with elevated O3 in paddy soils remain largely unknown. Here we used twelve open-top chamber facilities (OTCs) to evaluate the interactive effect of CO2 (+ 200 ppm) and O3 (+ 40 ppb) on the diversity, gene abundance, community structure, and functional composition of soil fungi during the growing seasons of two rice cultivars (Japonica, Wuyujing 3 vs. Nangeng 5055) in a Chinese paddy soil. Elevated CO2 and O3 showed no individual or combined effect on the gene abundance or relative abundance of soil fungi, but increased structural complexity of soil fungal communities, indicating that elevated CO2 and/or O3 promoted the competition of species-species interactions. When averaged both cultivars, elevated CO2 showed no individual effect on the diversity or abundance of functional guilds of soil fungi. By contrast, elevated O3 significantly reduced the relative abundance and diversity of symbiotrophic fungi by an average of 47.2% and 39.1%, respectively. Notably, elevated O3 exerts stronger effects on the functional processes of fungal communities than elevated CO2. The structural equation model revealed that elevated CO2 and/or O3 indirectly affected the functional composition of soil fungi through community structure and diversity of soil fungi. Root C/N and soil environmental parameters were identified as the top direct predictors for the community structure of soil fungi. Furthermore, significant correlations were identified between saprotrophic fungi and root biomass, symbiotrophic fungi and root carbon, the pathotroph-symbiotroph and soil pH, as well as pathotroph-saprotroph-symbiotroph and soil microbial biomass carbon. These results suggest that climatic factors substantially affected the functional processes of soil fungal, and threatened soil function and food production, highlighting the detrimental impacts of high O3 on the function composition of soil biota.

Soil nematode abundances drive agroecosystem multifunctionality under short-term elevated CO2 and O3.

The response of soil biotas to climate change has the potential to regulate multiple ecosystem functions. However, it is still challenging to accurately predict how multiple climate change factors will affect multiple ecosystem functions. Here, we assessed the short-term responses of agroecosystem multifunctionality to a factorial combination of elevated CO2 (+200 ppm) and O3 (+40 ppb) and identified the key soil biotas (i.e., bacteria, fungi, protists, and nematodes) concerning the changes in the multiple ecosystem functions for two rice varieties (Japonica, Nanjing 5055 vs. Wuyujing 3). We provided strong evidence that combined treatment rather than individual treatments of short-term elevated CO2 and O3 significantly increased the agroecosystem multifunctionality index by 32.3% in the Wuyujing 3 variety, but not in the Nanjing 5055 variety. Soil biotas exhibited an important role in regulating multifunctionality under short-term elevated CO2 and O3 , with soil nematode abundances better explaining the changes in ecosystem multifunctionality than soil biota diversity. Furthermore, the higher trophic groups of nematodes, omnivores-predators served as the principal predictor of agroecosystem multifunctionality. These results provide unprecedented new evidence that short-term elevated CO2 and O3 can potentially affect agroecosystem multifunctionality through soil nematode abundances, especially omnivores-predators. Our study demonstrates that high trophic groups were specifically beneficial for regulating multiple ecosystem functions and highlights the importance of soil nematode communities for the maintenance of agroecosystem functions and health under climate change in the future.

Simplifying network complexity of soil bacterial community exposed to short-term carbon dioxide and ozone enrichment in a paddy soil.

Global atmospheric changes are characterized by increases in carbon dioxide (CO2) and ozone (O3) concentrations, with important consequences for the soil microbial community. However, the influences of CO2 and O3 enrichment on the biomass, diversity, composition, and functioning of the soil bacterial community remain unclear. We investigated the effects of short-term factorial combinations of CO2 (by 200 ppm) and O3 (by 40 ppb) enrichment on the dynamics of soil bacterial community in paddy soils with two rice varieties (Japonica, Nangeng 5055 (NG5055) vs. Wuyujing 3 (WYJ3)) in an open top chamber facility. When averaged both varieties, CO2 and O3 enrichment showed no individual or combined effect on the abundance or diversity of soil bacterial community. Similarly, CO2 enrichment did not exert any significant effect on the relative abundance of bacterial phyla. However, O3 enrichment significantly reduced the relative abundance of Myxococcota phylum by a mean of 37.5%, which negatively correlated to root N content. Compared to ambient conditions, soil bacterial community composition was separated by CO2 enrichment in NG5055, and by both CO2 and O3 enrichment in WYJ3, with root N content identified as the most influential factor. These results indicated that root N was the top direct predictor for the community composition of soil bacteria. The COG (cluster of orthologous groups) protein of cell motility was significantly reduced by 5.8% under CO2 enrichment, and the COG protein of cytoskeleton was significantly decreased by 14.7% under O3 enrichment. Furthermore, the co-occurrence network analysis indicated that both CO2 and O3 enrichment decreased the network complexity of the soil bacterial community. Overall, our results highlight that continuous CO2 and O3 enrichment would potentially damage the health of paddy soils through adverse impacts on the associations and functional composition of soil microbial communities.

The sORF-Encoded Peptides, ATP Synthase Subunits, Facilitate WSSV Duplication in Shrimp.

Short open reading frames (sORFs) are a newly identified family of genes, and the functions of most sORF genes and their encoded peptides (SEPs) are still unknown. In this study, two ATP synthase subunits were identified in kuruma shrimp (Marsupenaeus japonicus) as SEPs, namely MjATP5I and MjATP5L. They were widely distributed in all of the tested tissues of shrimp and upregulated in hemocytes and intestines in response to WSSV challenge. The injection of recombinant proteins (rMjATP5I and rMjATP5L) increased the expression of Ie1 and Vp28, while the knockdown of MjATP5I and MjATP5L decreased the expression of Ie1 and Vp28. All of the results suggest that MjATP5I and MjATP5L were beneficial for WSSV replication. Further exploration found that MjATP5I and MjATP5L RNAi significantly improved the shrimp survival rates, reduced ATP production, and upregulated the expression of antimicrobial peptide genes post viral challenge, and the two ATPase subunits and Relish negatively regulated each other. These results reveal that MjATP5I and MjATP5L facilitated WSSV duplication by regulating the production of ATP contents and the expression of antimicrobial peptide genes in shrimp.

Corrigendum: Changes in the abundance and community complexity of soil nematodes in two rice cultivars under elevated ozone.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.916875.].

Changes in the Abundance and Community Complexity of Soil Nematodes in Two Rice Cultivars Under Elevated Ozone.

The atmospheric ozone concentrations have substantially increased in the surface layer over the past decades, and consequently exhibited a strong influence on soil microbial communities and functions. However, the effect of elevated ozone (eO3) on the abundance, diversity, and structural complexity of soil nematode communities are elusive under different rice (Oryza sativa L.) cultivars. Here, the soil nematode community was investigated in two rice cultivars (Hybrid, Shanyou 63 vs. Japonica, Wuyujing 3) under open-top chambers (OTC) with control and eO3 conditions. The results showed that the abundance of soil nematode community was altered by eO3, but the responses were dependent on crop cultivars. The eO3 decreased the total abundance and simplified the network complexity of the soil nematode community for both cultivars. However, eO3 increased the abundance of c-p 4 in Shanyou 63, rather than Wuyujing 3, indicating that the hybrid rice cultivar could tradeoff the adverse impacts of eO3 on the functional group of soil nematodes. Similarly, bacterivores belonging to K-strategy (c-p 4) increased under eO3 in Shanyou 63, suggesting that the soil food web formed a bacteria-dominated channel under eO3 for the hybrid rice cultivar. This study shed new light on the critical importance of rice cultivars in shaping the impacts of eO3 on the soil micro-food web. Therefore, breeding and biotechnological approaches may become valuable pathways to improve soil health by shaping the community structures of the soil micro-food web in response to climate change in the future.

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The growth of roots towards aboveground litter layer is a common phenomenon in forest ecosystems. It is of great significance to examine the effects of root presence on litter decomposition for understanding nutrient cycling in forest ecosystems. We explored the effects of root growth on leaf litter decomposition, nutrient release and enzyme activities by establishing treatments with and without root with a one year field decomposition experiment in Phoebe zhennan and Castanopsis kawada-mii forests at Sanming, Fujian. The results showed that after 360 days decomposition, leaf litter mass remaining ratio in the treatment with root was 8.4% and 19.7% lower than control, respectively. The presence of root exhibited significant effect on litter decomposition during the 90-180 days. Compared with the control, the remaining ratio of leaf litter carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus were 6.0%, 19.1% and 20.6% lower in the treatment with root in the P. zhennan forest, and were 21.3%, 23.2% and 20.5% lower in the C. kawadamii forest, respectively. During the whole decomposition process, root presence did not affect the hydrolytic enzyme activity. After 180 days decomposition, the peroxidase activities in the treatment with root were 111.4% and 92.4% higher than control in the P. zhennan and C. kawadamii forests, respectively. The remaining ratio of leaf litter carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus were negatively correlated with the activities of cellobiohydrolase, ß-glucosidase, acid phosphatase, and peroxidase. Root presence in litter layer could accelerate litter decomposition and nutrient release through nutrient uptake and stimulation of oxidase activity.

Different responses of soil bacterial and fungal communities to nitrogen deposition in a subtropical forest.

China has experienced a widespread increase in N deposition due to intensive anthropogenic activities, particularly in the subtropical regions. However, the effects of long-term N deposition on soil bacterial and fungal abundance, diversity, and community composition remain largely unclear. We assessed the effects of N deposition on soil microbial communities in summer and winter, using quantitative polymerase chain reaction and Illumina Miseq sequencing of bacterial 16S rRNA and fungal ITS genes from subtropical natural forest soils. The abundance of both soil bacteria and fungi exhibited a decreasing pattern with increasing N deposition rates. Nitrogen deposition increased bacterial diversity in both summer and winter, whereas fungal diversity was significantly decreased in summer, but greatly increased under the highest level of N deposition (150 kg N ha-1 yr-1) in winter. Nitrogen deposition significantly increased the relative abundance of bacterial phyla Actinobacteria, Chloroflexi, and WPS-2, but decreased that of Acidobacteria and Verrucomicrobia. In addition, N deposition significantly decreased the relative abundance of Ascomycetes, but did not exert any significant effect on Basidiomycetes. The bacterial and fungal community compositions were greatly influenced by N deposition, with soil N availability and soil pH identified as the two most influential soil properties. This study demonstrates that the fungal community was more sensitive than the bacterial community to N deposition, and further emphasizes the importance of simultaneously evaluating soil bacterial and fungal communities in response to global environmental changes.

Mitochondrial ATPase inhibitor factor 1, MjATPIF1, is beneficial for WSSV replication in kuruma shrimp (Marsupenaeus japonicus).

ATPase Inhibitory Factor 1 (IF1) is a mitochondrial protein that functions as a physiological inhibitor of F1F0-ATP synthase. In the present study, a mitochondrial ATPase inhibitor factor 1 (MjATPIF1) was identified from kuruma shrimp (Marsupenaeus japonicus), which was demonstrated to participate in the viral immune reaction of white spot syndrome virus (WSSV). MjATPIF1 contained a mitochondrial ATPase inhibitor (IATP) domain, and was widely distributed in hemocytes, heart, hepatopancreas, gills, stomach, and intestine of shrimp. MjATPIF1 transcription was upregulated in hemocytes and intestines by WSSV. WSSV replication decreased after MjATPIF1 knockdown by RNA interference and increased following recombinant MjATPIF1 protein injection. Further study found that MjATPIF1 promoted the production of superoxide and activated the transcription factor nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB, Dorsal) to induce the transcription of WSSV RNAs. These results demonstrate that MjATPIF1 benefits WSSV replication in kuruma shrimp by inducing superoxide production and NF-κB activation.

Thymosins participate in antibacterial immunity of kuruma shrimp, Marsupenaeus japonicus.

Thymosins ß are actin-binding proteins that play a variety of different functions in inflammatory responses, wound healing, cell migration, angiogenesis, and stem cell recruitment and differentiation. In crayfish, thymosins participate in antiviral immunology. However, the roles of thymosin during bacterial infection in shrimp remain unclear. In the present study, four thymosins were identified from kuruma shrimp, Marsupenaeus japonicus, and named as Mjthymosin2, Mjthymosin3, Mjthymosin4, and Mjthymosin5 according the number of their thymosin beta actin-binding motifs. Mjthymosin3 was selected for further study because its expression level was the highest in hemocytes. Expression analysis showed that Mjthymosin3 was upregulated in hemocytes after challenged by Vibrio anguillarum or Staphylococcus aureus. The recombinant Mjthymosin3 protein could inhibit the growth of certain bacteria in an in vitro antibacterial test. Mjthymosins could facilitate external bacterial clearance in shrimp, and were beneficial to shrimp survival post V. anguillarum or S. aureus infection. The results suggested that Mjthymosins played important roles in the antibacterial immune response of kuruma shrimp.