Integrated optimization modelling framework for low-carbon and green regional transitions through resource-based industrial symbiosis.

The development and utilization of bulk resources provide the basic material needs for industrial systems. However, most current resource utilization patterns are unsustainable, with low efficiencies and high carbon emissions. Here, we report a quantitative tool for resource-based industries to facilitate sustainable and low-carbon transitions within the regional economy. To evaluate the effectiveness of this tool, the saline Qinghai Lake region was chosen as a case study. After optimizing the industrial structure, the benefits of economic output, resource efficiency, energy consumption, solid waste reduction, and carbon emission reduction can be obtained. The scenario analyses exhibit disparities in different transition paths, where the carbon mitigation, economic output, and resource efficiency that benefit from optimal development paths are significantly better than those of the traditional path, indicating the urgency of adopting cleaner technology and industrial symbiosis for regional industries.

Direct embryotoxicity of chromium (III) exposure during preimplantation development.

Chromium in its trivalent form (chromium (III)) is an essential component of a balanced diet, and its deficiency disturbs glucose and lipid metabolism in humans and animals. The prevailing view is that chromium (III) is notably less toxic than chromium (VI), which is genotoxic and carcinogenic. Thus, the biotransformation of environmental chromium (VI) to chromium (III) is a promising and environmentally friendly detoxification method. However, increasing evidence suggests that chromium (III) induces considerable cytotoxicity. However, the toxicity of chromium (III) to early embryos remains largely unknown. In the present study, we used in vitro fertilization (IVF) to produce mouse embryos and identified the direct embryotoxicity of chromium (III). On exposure to high concentrations of CrCl3, blastocyst formation almost completely failed and a large proportion of embryos were arrested at the 2- to 4-cell stage. At low concentrations of CrCl3, IVF embryos showed a significant decrease in blastocyst formation, reduced total cell numbers, aberrant lineage differentiation, increased oxidative stress, and apoptosis. We also found that chromium (III) exposure during the preimplantation stage, even at low concentrations, led to impaired post-implantation development. Thus, our study substantiates the direct embryotoxicity of chromium (III) during preimplantation development and prolonged impairment of development potential. The results further highlight the potential adverse effects of chromium (III) on public reproductive health with respect to increased environmental enrichment of and dietary supplementation with chromium (III) complexes.

Improved interactive inference approach for constructing a complex multi-industrial symbiosis network.

The development of industrial parks is an important avenue to promote economic growth in the context of modernization. Industrial symbiosis (IS), mainly characterized by the physical exchange of product, by-product, and waste, has been established worldwide in industrial parks for better economic, environmental, and resource-consuming performances. The suitable design of input-output matching builds the base of IS practice. This paper aims to table an improved constructing approach based on interactive inference processes for a complex multi-industrial symbiosis network (MISN). Interactive reasoning rules are simplified, material group reduction is introduced, and the multi-industrial stepwise constructing process is established. The proposed approach has been applied to an assumed district in Qaidam Circular Economy Experiment Area (QCEEA). Three new node information databases are collected. A MISN which is across four industries and includes 79 nodes is built through four steps of constructing and 22 rounds of interaction. Results and comparisons confirm its superiority on designing complex network with numerous resource- and non-resource-based nodes over previous methods. Specifically, this new approach reduces the amount of inference calculation, improves the construction efficiency, and can be utilized in non-resource industries. Preliminary discussions are made to the sequences of target industries when constructing a MISN and implicate which would lower manual workload of extra adjustment and supplement.

Rice NIN-LIKE PROTEIN 4 plays a pivotal role in nitrogen use efficiency.

Nitrogen (N) is one of the key essential macronutrients that affects rice growth and yield. Inorganic N fertilizers are excessively used to boost yield and generate serious collateral environmental pollution. Therefore, improving crop N use efficiency (NUE) is highly desirable and has been a major endeavour in crop improvement. However, only a few regulators have been identified that can be used to improve NUE in rice to date. Here we show that the rice NIN-like protein 4 (OsNLP4) significantly improves the rice NUE and yield. Field trials consistently showed that loss-of-OsNLP4 dramatically reduced yield and NUE compared with wild type under different N regimes. In contrast, the OsNLP4 overexpression lines remarkably increased yield by 30% and NUE by 47% under moderate N level compared with wild type. Transcriptomic analyses revealed that OsNLP4 orchestrates the expression of a majority of known N uptake, assimilation and signalling genes by directly binding to the nitrate-responsive cis-element in their promoters to regulate their expression. Moreover, overexpression of OsNLP4 can recover the phenotype of Arabidopsis nlp7 mutant and enhance its biomass. Our results demonstrate that OsNLP4 plays a pivotal role in rice NUE and sheds light on crop NUE improvement.

Overexpression of Arabidopsis NLP7 improves plant growth under both nitrogen-limiting and -sufficient conditions by enhancing nitrogen and carbon assimilation.

Nitrogen is essential for plant survival and growth. Excessive application of nitrogenous fertilizer has generated serious environment pollution and increased production cost in agriculture. To deal with this problem, tremendous efforts have been invested worldwide to increase the nitrogen use ability of crops. However, only limited success has been achieved to date. Here we report that NLP7 (NIN-LIKE PROTEIN 7) is a potential candidate to improve plant nitrogen use ability. When overexpressed in Arabidopsis, NLP7 increases plant biomass under both nitrogen-poor and -rich conditions with better-developed root system and reduced shoot/root ratio. NLP7-overexpressing plants show a significant increase in key nitrogen metabolites, nitrogen uptake, total nitrogen content, and expression levels of genes involved in nitrogen assimilation and signalling. More importantly, overexpression of NLP7 also enhances photosynthesis rate and carbon assimilation, whereas knockout of NLP7 impaired both nitrogen and carbon assimilation. In addition, NLP7 improves plant growth and nitrogen use in transgenic tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum). Our results demonstrate that NLP7 significantly improves plant growth under both nitrogen-poor and -rich conditions by coordinately enhancing nitrogen and carbon assimilation and sheds light on crop improvement.

Arabidopsis enhanced drought tolerance1/HOMEODOMAIN GLABROUS11 confers drought tolerance in transgenic rice without yield penalty.

Enhancing drought tolerance without yield decrease has been a great challenge in crop improvement. Here, we report the Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) homodomain-leucine zipper transcription factor Enhanced Drought Tolerance/HOMEODOMAIN GLABROUS11 (EDT1/HDG11) was able to confer drought tolerance and increase grain yield in transgenic rice (Oryza sativa) plants. The improved drought tolerance was associated with a more extensive root system, reduced stomatal density, and higher water use efficiency. The transgenic rice plants also had higher levels of abscisic acid, proline, soluble sugar, and reactive oxygen species-scavenging enzyme activities during stress treatments. The increased grain yield of the transgenic rice was contributed by improved seed setting, larger panicle, and more tillers as well as increased photosynthetic capacity. Digital gene expression analysis indicated that AtEDT1/HDG11 had a significant influence on gene expression profile in rice, which was consistent with the observed phenotypes of transgenic rice plants. Our study shows that AtEDT1/HDG11 can improve both stress tolerance and grain yield in rice, demonstrating the efficacy of AtEDT1/HDG11 in crop improvement.