Regulation of plant resistance to salt stress by the SnRK1-dependent splicing factor SRRM1L.

Most splicing factors are extensively phosphorylated but their physiological functions in plant salt resistance are still elusive. We found that phosphorylation by SnRK1 kinase is essential for SRRM1L nuclear speckle formation and its splicing factor activity in plant cells. In Arabidopsis, loss-of-function of SRRM1L leads to the occurrence of alternative pre-mRNA splicing events and compromises plant resistance to salt stress. In Arabidopsis srrm1l mutant line, we identified an intron-retention Nuclear factor Y subunit A 10 (NFYA10) mRNA variant by RNA-Seq and found phosphorylation-dependent RNA-binding of SRRM1L is indispensable for its alternative splicing activity. In the wild-type Arabidopsis, salt stress can activate SnRK1 to phosphorylate SRRM1L, triggering enrichment of functional NFYA10.1 variant to enhance plant salt resistance. By contrast, the Arabidopsis srrm1l mutant accumulates nonfunctional NFYA10.3 variant, sensitizing plants to salt stress. In summary, this work deciphered the molecular mechanisms and physiological functions of SnRK1-SRRM1L-NFYA10 module, shedding light on a regulatory pathway to fine-tune plant adaptation to abiotic stress at the post-transcriptional and post-translational levels.

Quercus wutaishanica shrub affects temperate forest community composition and soil properties under different restoration stage.

Quercus wutaishanica is the dominant tree species in the natural ecosystem restoration of temperate forests in China, and it plays an active role in maintaining ecological balance. However, little is known about how ecosystem versatility develops during the restoration of forest ecosystems dominated by Q. wutaishanica. In this study, we investigated the species composition of the Q. wutaishanica community, soil nutrients, and their functional traits at various restoration stages, and comprehensively analyzed the correlations among them. At the early stage of restoration (10 years of restoration), there were Spiraea pubescens and Syringa pubescens in Q. wutaishanica community (87% of the total species), while had a larger niche width. In the middle of restoration (30 years of restoration), shannon and evenness indices were the largest, while soil total carbon, ammonium nitrogen and chlorophyll content of Q. wutaishanica leaves were the highest; among them, soil total carbon was 15.7% higher than that in 10 years of restoration, 32.4% higher than that in 40 years of restoration, ammonium nitrogen was 71.7% higher than that in 40 years of restoration, and chlorophyll content was 217.9% higher than that in 10 years of restoration, and 51.8% higher than that in 40 years of restoration. At the later stage of restoration (40 years of restoration), Lonicera ferdinandii occupied the dominant ecological niche, and soil available nitrogen, available phosphorus content and leaf thickness were the largest; while AN was 10.9% higher than that of 10 years of restoration, 16.5% higher than that of 30 years of restoration, AP was 60.6% higher than that of 10 years of restoration, 21.6% higher than that of 30 years of restoration, leaf thickness was 22.3% higher than that of 10 years of restoration, 84.9% higher than that of 30 years of restoration. However, the restriction of various soil nutrients was reduced. Our study highlighted the effectiveness of soil resource availability in plant communities during restoration, reduced competition for light among plants, and altered species richness. Furthermore, changes in the interrelationship between plant community composition and leaf functional traits of the dominant species responded positively to community restoration. These results further deepen our understanding of forest management and restoration of forest communities. In the future, it is necessary to comprehensively consider the influence of various factors on forest community restoration.

Responses of Soil Microbial Survival Strategies and Functional Changes to Wet-Dry Cycle Events.

Soil microbial taxa have different functional ecological characteristics that influence the direction and intensity of plant-soil feedback responses to changes in the soil environment. However, the responses of soil microbial survival strategies to wet and dry events are poorly understood. In this study, soil physicochemical properties, enzyme activity, and high-throughput sequencing results were comprehensively anal0079zed in the irrigated cropland ecological zone of the northern plains of the Yellow River floodplain of China, where Oryza sativa was grown for a long period of time, converted to Zea mays after a year, and then Glycine max was planted. The results showed that different plant cultivations in a paddy-dryland rotation system affected soil physicochemical properties and enzyme activity, and G. max field cultivation resulted in higher total carbon, total nitrogen, soil total organic carbon, and available nitrogen content while significantly increasing α-glucosidase, ß-glucosidase, and alkaline phosphatase activities in the soil. In addition, crop rotation altered the r/K-strategist bacteria, and the soil environment was the main factor affecting the community structure of r/K-strategist bacteria. The co-occurrence network revealed the inter-relationship between r/K-strategist bacteria and fungi, and with the succession of land rotation, the G. max sample plot exhibited more stable network relationships. Random forest analysis further indicated the importance of soil electrical conductivity, total carbon, total nitrogen, soil total organic carbon, available nitrogen, and α-glucosidase in the composition of soil microbial communities under wet-dry events and revealed significant correlations with r/K-strategist bacteria. Based on the functional predictions of microorganisms, wet-dry conversion altered the functions of bacteria and fungi and led to a more significant correlation between soil nutrient cycling taxa and environmental changes. This study contributes to a deeper understanding of microbial functional groups while helping to further our understanding of the potential functions of soil microbial functional groups in soil ecosystems.

Quantitative Phosphoproteomic Analysis Provides Insights into the Sodium Bicarbonate Responsiveness of Glycine max.

Sodium bicarbonate stress caused by NaHCO3 is one of the most severe abiotic stresses affecting agricultural production worldwide. However, little attention has been given to the molecular mechanisms underlying plant responses to sodium bicarbonate stress. To understand phosphorylation events in signaling pathways triggered by sodium bicarbonate stress, TMT-labeling-based quantitative phosphoproteomic analyses were performed on soybean leaf and root tissues under 50 mM NaHCO3 treatment. In the present study, a total of 7856 phosphopeptides were identified from cultivated soybeans (Glycine max L. Merr.), representing 3468 phosphoprotein groups, in which 2427 phosphoprotein groups were newly identified. These phosphoprotein groups contained 6326 unique high-probability phosphosites (UHPs), of which 77.2% were newly identified, increasing the current soybean phosphosite database size by 43.4%. Among the phosphopeptides found in this study, we determined 67 phosphopeptides (representing 63 phosphoprotein groups) from leaf tissue and 554 phosphopeptides (representing 487 phosphoprotein groups) from root tissue that showed significant changes in phosphorylation levels under sodium bicarbonate stress (fold change >1.2 or <0.83, respectively; p < 0.05). Localization prediction showed that most phosphoproteins localized in the nucleus for both leaf and root tissues. GO and KEGG enrichment analyses showed quite different enriched functional terms between leaf and root tissues, and more pathways were enriched in the root tissue than in the leaf tissue. Moreover, a total of 53 different protein kinases and 7 protein phosphatases were identified from the differentially expressed phosphoproteins (DEPs). A protein kinase/phosphatase interactor analysis showed that the interacting proteins were mainly involved in/with transporters/membrane trafficking, transcriptional level regulation, protein level regulation, signaling/stress response, and miscellaneous functions. The results presented in this study reveal insights into the function of post-translational modification in plant responses to sodium bicarbonate stress.

Volatile fatty acids changed the microbial community during feammox in coastal saline-alkaline paddy soil.

In order to indicate the effect of volatile fatty acids (VFAs) on the characteristics of feammox and dissimilatory iron reducing bacteria (DIRB) in paddy soils, different VFAs were selected with paddy soils for anaerobic cultivation. Five treatments were set up, respectively, only adding N and both adding N and C (formate + NH4+ (Fo-N), acetate + NH4+ (Ac-N), propionate + NH4+ (Pr-N), and butyrate + NH4+ (Bu-N)) treatments. The concentration of Fe(II), Fe(III), NH4+, and VFAs was assessed within 45 d, and the bacterial community was determined after cultivation. The oxidation rates of NH4+ were the highest in N treatment, while it was the lowest in Fo-N treatment. Under the four C treatments, the consumption of NH4+ and Fe(III) was the fastest in Pr-N treatment, which was consumed by 31.2% and 76.3%, respectively. Different VFAs selected for distinct DIRB. Compared with N treatment, Ac-N and Bu-N treatment increased the relative abundance of DIRB, such as Geobacter and Clostridia, which increased the consumption of VFAs during incubation. Overall, VFAs, especially formate, could promote Fe(III) reduction and compete with the feammox process for the electron acceptors to decrease the feammox reaction, and prohibited soil NH4+ loss. Therefore, VFAs, which was released from organic fertilizer, could reduce NH4+ loss in feammox process of saline-alkaline paddy soils.

The Role of GmSnRK1-GmNodH Module in Regulating Soybean Nodulation Capacity.

SnRK1 protein kinase plays hub roles in plant carbon and nitrogen metabolism. However, the function of SnRK1 in legume nodulation and symbiotic nitrogen fixation is still elusive. In this study, we identified GmNodH, a putative sulfotransferase, as an interacting protein of GmSnRK1 by yeast two-hybrid screen. The qRT-PCR assays indicate that GmNodH gene is highly expressed in soybean roots and could be induced by rhizobial infection and nitrate stress. Fluorescence microscopic analyses showed that GmNodH was colocalized with GsSnRK1 on plasma membrane. The physical interaction between GmNodH and GmSnRK1 was further verified by using split-luciferase complementary assay and pull-down approaches. In vitro phosphorylation assay showed that GmSnRK1 could phosphorylate GmNodH at Ser193. To dissect the function and genetic relationship of GmSnRK1 and GmNodH in soybean, we co-expressed the wild-type and mutated GmSnRK1 and GmNodH genes in soybean hairy roots and found that co-expression of GmSnRK1/GmNodH genes significantly promoted soybean nodulation rates and the expression levels of nodulation-related GmNF5α and GmNSP1 genes. Taken together, this study provides the first biological evidence that GmSnRK1 may interact with and phosphorylate GmNodH to synergistically regulate soybean nodulation.

An Enhanced Quantum K-Nearest Neighbor Classification Algorithm Based on Polar Distance.

The K-nearest neighbor (KNN) algorithm is one of the most extensively used classification algorithms, while its high time complexity limits its performance in the era of big data. The quantum K-nearest neighbor (QKNN) algorithm can handle the above problem with satisfactory efficiency; however, its accuracy is sacrificed when directly applying the traditional similarity measure based on Euclidean distance. Inspired by the Polar coordinate system and the quantum property, this work proposes a new similarity measure to replace the Euclidean distance, which is defined as Polar distance. Polar distance considers both angular and module length information, introducing a weight parameter adjusted to the specific application data. To validate the efficiency of Polar distance, we conducted various experiments using several typical datasets. For the conventional KNN algorithm, the accuracy performance is comparable when using Polar distance for similarity measurement, while for the QKNN algorithm, it significantly outperforms the Euclidean distance in terms of classification accuracy. Furthermore, the Polar distance shows scalability and robustness superior to the Euclidean distance, providing an opportunity for the large-scale application of QKNN in practice.

Functional characterization of wild soybean (Glycine soja) GsSnRK1.1 protein kinase in plant resistance to abiotic stresses.

Protein kinases play crucial roles in the regulation of plant resistance to various stresses. In this work, we determined that GsSnRK1.1 was actively responsive to saline-alkali, drought, and abscisic acid (ABA) stresses by histochemical staining and qRT-PCR analyses. The wild-type GsSnRK1.1 but not the kinase-dead mutant, GsSnRK1.1(K49M), demonstrated in vitro kinase activity by phosphorylating GsABF2. Intriguingly, we found that GsSnRK1.1 could complement the loss of SNF1 kinase in yeast Msy1193 (-snf1) mutant, rescue growth defects of yeast cells on medium with glycerol as a carbon resource, and promote yeast resistance to NaCl or NaHCO3. To further elucidate GsSnRK1.1 function in planta, we knocked out SnRK1.1 gene from the Arabidopsis genome by the CRISPR/Cas9 approach, and then expressed GsSnRK1.1 and a series of mutants into snrk1.1-null lines. The transgenic Arabidopsis lines were subjected to various abiotic stress treatments. The results showed that GsSnRK1.1(T176E) mutant with enhanced protein kinase activity significantly promoted, but GsSnRK1.1(K49M) and GsSnRK1.1(T176A) mutants with disrupted protein kinase activity abrogated, plant stomatal closure and tolerance to abiotic stresses. In conclusion, this study provides the molecular clues to fully understand the physiological functions of plant SnRK1 protein kinases.

Effect of Fe-based substance on Cr leaching behavior in hazardous waste incineration fly ash after thermal treatment.

This study investigated the influence of the interaction between Fe-based substances and thermal treatment parameters on the leaching behavior of Cr in hazardous waste incineration fly ash (HWIFA) after thermal treatment. The results revealed that the interaction between the addition of Fe-based substance and the thermal treatment parameters and their effects on static and dynamic leaching behaviors of Cr had significant differences when Fe2O3, Fe3O4, and Fe were added, respectively. Specifically, when Fe2O3 or Fe was added, the thermal treatment temperature was the most significant factor affecting the static leaching of Cr in thermal treated HWIFA, and the interaction effect of other factors was not significant. The most important influence on the dynamic leaching behavior of Cr was the interaction between the thermal treatment temperature and the addition of Fe2O3. Different from the addition of Fe2O3, the effect of the addition of Fe3O4 on the static leaching of Cr in thermal treated HWIFA was more significant than that of thermal treatment temperature; meanwhile, the interaction between the thermal treatment temperature and the addition of Fe3O4 was also significant. However, when Fe3O4 was added, the effect of interaction between factors on the dynamic leaching of Cr in thermal treated HWIFA was consistent with that when Fe2O3 was added.

A Hybrid Quantum Image-Matching Algorithm.

Image matching is an important research topic in computer vision and image processing. However, existing quantum algorithms mainly focus on accurate matching between template pixels, and are not robust to changes in image location and scale. In addition, the similarity calculation of the matching process is a fundamentally important issue. Therefore, this paper proposes a hybrid quantum algorithm, which uses the robustness of SIFT (scale-invariant feature transform) to extract image features, and combines the advantages of quantum exponential storage and parallel computing to represent data and calculate feature similarity. Finally, the quantum amplitude estimation is used to extract the measurement results and realize the quadratic acceleration of calculation. The experimental results show that the matching effect of this algorithm is better than the existing classical architecture. Our hybrid algorithm broadens the application scope and field of quantum computing in image processing.

Valorization of hexoses into 5-hydroxymethylfurfural and levulinic acid in acidic seawater under microwave hydrothermal conditions.

Typical value-added platform chemicals 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) and levulinic acid (LA) can be obtained from hexoses under microwave hydrothermal (MHT) conditions. This study explored the detailed transformation process regarding the MHT products in acidic seawater obtained using glucose and fructose as raw materials. The facile conversion of fructose compared with glucose was mainly ascribed to their different activation energies (56.721 and 88.594 kJ mol-1, respectively). The HMF and LA product yields were strongly affected by the MHT temperature and holding time in two types of hexose solution. Undesirable humins were found to inevitably form under each set of reaction conditions. The carbon balance results for reactants and products showed that up to 60% of fructose carbon was converted into value-added chemicals, while 47% of glucose carbon underwent the same conversion in acidic seawater under the optimal MHT conditions. This study provides further knowledge regarding the role of microwave heating combined with acidic seawater in green chemistry and is a useful reference for the biorefinery industry.

A comparison of microbial composition under three tree ecosystems using the stochastic process and network complexity approaches.

Soil microbes act as "players" in regulating biogeochemical cycles, whereas environmental heterogeneity drives microbial community assembly patterns and is influenced by stochastic and deterministic ecological processes. Currently, the limited understanding of soil microbial community assembly patterns and interactions under temperate forest stand differences pose a challenge in studying the soil microbial involvement during the succession from coniferous to broad-leaved forests. This study investigated the changes in soil bacterial and fungal community diversity and community structure at the regional scale and identified the pathways influencing soil microbial assembly patterns and their interactions. The results showed that broad-leaved forest cover in temperate forests significantly increased soil pH, and effectively increased soil water content, total carbon (TC), total nitrogen (TN), and total phosphorus (TP) contents. Both soil bacterial and fungal alpha diversity indices were correlated with soil physicochemical properties, especially in broad-leaved forest. The bacterial and fungal community composition of coniferous forest was dominated by deterministic process (bacteria: 69.4%; fungi: 88.9%), while the bacterial community composition of broad-leaved forest was dominated by stochastic process (77.8%) and the fungal community composition was dominated by deterministic process (52.8%). Proteobacteria, Acidobacteriota, Actinobacteriota, and Verrucomicrobiota were the dominant phyla of soil bacterial communities in temperate forests. Whereas Ascomycota, Mortierellomycota, Basidiomycota, and Rozellomycota were the dominant phyla of soil fungal communities in temperate forests. Most members of dominant phylum were regulated by soil physical and chemical properties. In addition, the succession from temperate coniferous forest to broad-leaved forest was conducive to maintaining the complex network of soil bacteria and fungi, and the top 20 degree of the major taxa in the network reflected the positive response of microbial interactions to the changes of soil nutrients during forest succession. This study not only shows the mechanism by which species differences in temperate forests of northern China affect soil microbial community assembly processes, but also further emphasizes the importance of the soil microbiome as a key ecosystem factor through co-occurrence network analysis.

Development of nitrile rubber/eucommia ulmoides gum composites for controllable dynamic damping and sound absorption performance.

Aiming at enhancing the damping and sound absorption performances of nitrile rubber (NBR) incorporated Eucommia ulmoides gum (EUG), a series of NBR/EUG composites were successfully fabricated using an open mixing mill. The co-vulcanization behaviors, fracture surface morphology observations, mechanical and thermal properties and damping and sound absorption performances of NBR/EUG composites were investigated systematically. It was shown that the crystalline area and the amorphous area in NBR/EUG composites displayed a sea-island phase distribution and most of the EUG crystals were ß-form crystals. Compared to that of neat NBR, the tensile strength and storage modulus of NBR/EUG composites increased dramatically with the increasing EUG content, owing to the gradually increasing number of crystals in the NBR/EUG composites. In addition, the incorporation of EUG into the NBR matrix distinctly improved the sound absorption performance of NBR/EUG composites. This work is expected to provide a new insight into the fabrication of other composite materials with controllable damping and sound absorption properties.

Epigenetic Regulation of Plant Tolerance to Salt Stress by Histone Acetyltransferase GsMYST1 From Wild Soybean.

Salt stress is one of the most devastating environmental factors threatening soybean growth and yield. However, the molecular link between salt stress and epigenetics has not been well-elucidated in soybean. In this study, from the wild soybean cDNA library, we isolated a GsSnRK1 kinase interacting protein (GsMSTY1) which is phylogenetically homologous with histone acetyltransferase MYST family with unknown function. GsMSTY1 gene is dominantly expressed in wild soybean roots and is highly responsive to abiotic stresses. GsMYST1 was able to be phosphorylated at the Ser44 site by GsSnRK1 and demonstrated in vivo acetyltransferase activity in transgenic soybean roots revealed by an anti-H4ace antibody. A transcription factor protein GsNAC83 was identified to interact with both GsMYST1 and GsSnRK1, and GsNAC83 could recruit the GsMYST1-GsSnRK1 module to COR15B gene promoter determined by ChIP-qPCR assay. To dissect the molecular functions of this ternary complex, we treated the transgenic soybean roots with salt stress and found that the stress could activate GsSnRK1, and the activated GsSnRK1 subsequently phosphorylated GsMYST1 to enhance its acetyltransferase activity which may epigenetically promote the target gene expression. To explore the physiological functions, we coexpressed GsSnRK1 and GsMYST1 genes in soybean hairy roots and found that only GsSnRK1(wt)/GsMYST1(wt) but not the mutant genes could promote soybean resistance to salt stress, implicating that phosphorylation of GsMYST1 is required for it to acetylate histone H4 on the target genes to upregulate expression of the stress-related genes. Our data shed new light on the functions of the GsSnRK1-GsMYST1-GsNAC83 module and its regulatory mechanism on plant tolerance to abiotic stresses.

GmMKK4-activated GmMPK6 stimulates GmERF113 to trigger resistance to Phytophthora sojae in soybean.

Phytophthora root and stem rot is a worldwide soybean (Glycine max) disease caused by the soil-borne pathogen Phytophthora sojae. This disease is devastating to soybean production, so improvement of resistance to P. sojae is a major target in soybean breeding. Mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascades are important signaling modules that convert environmental stimuli into cellular responses. Compared with extensive studies in Arabidopsis, the molecular mechanism of MAPK cascades in soybean disease resistance is barely elucidated. In this work, we found that the gene expression of mitogen-activated protein kinase 6 (GmMPK6) was potently induced by P. sojae infection in the disease-resistant soybean cultivar 'Suinong 10'. Overexpression of GmMPK6 in soybean resulted in enhanced resistance to P. sojae and silencing of GmMPK6 led to the opposite phenotype. In our attempt to dissect the role of GmMPK6 in soybean resistance to phytophthora disease, we found that MAPK kinase 4 (GmMKK4) and the ERF transcription factor GmERF113 physically interact with GmMPK6, and we determined that GmMKK4 could phosphorylate and activate GmMPK6, which could subsequently phosphorylate GmERF113 upon P. sojae infection, suggesting that P. sojae can stimulate the GmMKK4-GmMPK6-GmERF113 signaling pathway in soybean. Moreover, phosphorylation of GmERF113 by the GmMKK4-GmMPK6 module promoted GmERF113 stability, nuclear localization and transcriptional activity, which significantly enhanced expression of the defense-related genes GmPR1 and GmPR10-1 and hence improved disease resistance of the transgenic soybean seedlings. In all, our data reveal that the GmMKK4-GmMPK6-GmERF113 cascade triggers resistance to P. sojae in soybean and shed light on functions of MAPK kinases in plant disease resistance.

Heavy metal and nutrient concentrations in top- and sub-soils of greenhouses and arable fields in East China - Effects of cultivation years, management, and shelter.

Although greenhouse vegetable production in China is rapidly changing, consumers are concerned about food quality and safety. Studies have shown that greenhouse soils are highly eutrophicated and potentially contaminated by heavy metals. However, to date, no regional study has assessed whether greenhouse soils differ significantly in their heavy metal and nutrient loads compared to adjacent arable land. Our study was conducted in Shouguang County, a key region of greenhouse vegetable production in China. Soil samples down to soil depths of 3 m were taken from 60 greenhouse vegetable fields of three different ages (5, 10, and 20 years) and from 20 adjacent arable fields to analyze the concentrations of heavy metals, nutrients, and soil physio-chemical parameters. A comparison of greenhouse soils with adjacent arable fields revealed that for greenhouses, (a) micro (heavy metals: Cu, Zn, and Mn) and macronutrients (Nmin, Olsen-P, available K) were significantly higher by a factor of about five, (b) N:P:K ratios were significantly imbalanced towards P and K, and (c) topsoil (0-30 cm) concentrations of the above-mentioned micro- and macronutrients increased with years of vegetable cultivation. In contrast, the soil concentrations of the heavy metals Cr and Pb were lower in greenhouse soils. Heavy metal concentrations did not vary significantly with soil depth, except for the micronutrients Cu and Zn, which were between 1- and 3-fold higher in the topsoil (0-30 cm) than in the subsoil (30-300 cm). The Nemerow pollution index (PN) was 0.37, which was below the recommended environmental threshold value (PN < 1). Structural equation model analysis revealed that soil nutrient concentrations in greenhouse soils are directly related to the input of fertilizers and agrochemicals. Lower values of soil Pb and Cr concentrations in greenhouses were due to the sheltering effect of the greenhouse roof, which protected soils from atmospheric deposition due to emissions from nearby industrial complexes.

Quantitative phosphoproteomics reveals the role of wild soybean GsSnRK1 as a metabolic regulator under drought and alkali stresses.

Drought and alkali stresses cause detrimental effects on plant growth and development. SnRK1 protein kinases act as key energy and stress sensors by phosphorylation-mediated signaling in the regulation of plant defense reactions against adverse environments. To understand SnRK1-dependent phosphorylation events in signaling pathways triggered by abiotic factors, we employed quantitative phosphoproteomics to compare the global changes in phosphopeptides and phosphoproteins in 2kinm mutant Arabidopsis (SnRK1.1 T-DNA knockout and SnRK1.2 knockdown by ß-estradiol-induced RNAi) complemented with wild soybean GsSnRK1(wt) or dominant negative mutant GsSnRK1(K49M) in response to drought and alkali stresses. Among 4014 phosphopeptides (representing 2380 phosphoproteins) identified in this study, we finalized 74 phosphopeptides (representing 61 phosphoproteins), and 75 phosphopeptides (representing 57 phosphoproteins) showing significant changes in phosphorylation levels under drought and alkali treatments respectively. Function enrichment and protein-protein interaction analyses indicated that the differentially-expressed phosphoproteins (DPs) under drought and alkali stresses were mainly involved in signaling transduction, stress response, carbohydrate and energy metabolism, transport and membrane trafficking, RNA splicing and processing, DNA binding and gene expression, and protein synthesis/folding/degradation. These results provide assistance to identify bona fide and novel SnRK1 phosphorylation substrates and shed new light on the biological functions of SnRK1 kinase in responses to abiotic stresses. SIGNIFICANCE: These results provide assistance to identify novel SnRK1 phosphorylation substrates and regulatory proteins, and shed new light on investigating the potential roles of reversible phosphorylation in plant responses to abiotic stresses.

Biochar combined with phosphate fertilizer application reduces soil cadmium availability and cadmium uptake of maize in Cd-contaminated soils.

Cadmium (Cd) has become the primary pollution factor in farmland, which seriously threatens crop growth and food safety. A pot experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of combined application with biochar and P fertilizer on soil Cd availability and translocation, in which biochar was 0 (C0) and 20 g kg-1 (C20), P fertilizer was 0 (P0), 20 (P20), and 40 mg P kg-1 (P40). Results showed that, compared with C0 level, the content of DTPA-Cd in soil was significantly decreased with biochar addition after 60 days of cultivation, under C20 level, soil DTPA-Cd in C20P40 treatment were significantly increased. Under both C levels, the percentage of exchangeable Cd fraction at P40 rate was significantly lower than that at P20 rate, because the excess P in soil could precipitate Cd. The percentage of residual-Cd fraction was significantly increased with the combined addition of biochar and P fertilizer, particularly in C20P40 treatment, which was 75.95%, while it was only 61.65% in C0P0 treatment. The Cd translocation factor (TF) and bioconcentration factor (BCF) were also significantly reduced in C20P20 and C20P40 treatments compared with C0P0 treatment. Therefore, the combined high P and biochar application was a good choice in inhibiting soil Cd availability and plant Cd uptake, which benefited to the safe utility of the Cd contaminated soil.

Characterization of the complete chloroplast genome of Astragalus galactites (Fabaceae).

Astragalus galactites is a medicinal plant. The total plastome length of A. galactites is 126,117 bp. It contains a large single-copy region of 69,805 bp, two inverted repeat regions of 20,638 bp, and a small single-copy region of 15,036 bp. The cp genome contains 110 complete genes, including 75 protein-coding genes (75 PCGs), 4 ribosomal RNA genes (4 rRNAs), and 30 tRNA genes (30 tRNAs). The overall GC content of cp DNA is 33.9%, the corresponding values of the LSC, SSC, and IR regions are 33.0%, 30.4%, and 43.3% respectively. The phylogenetic tree shows that A. galactites has the closest relationship with A. laxmannii.

Research Progress and Development Trends of Acoustic Metamaterials.

Acoustic metamaterials are materials with artificially designed structures, which have characteristics that surpass the behavior of natural materials, such as negative refraction, anomalous Doppler effect, plane focusing, etc. This article mainly introduces and summarizes the related research progress of acoustic metamaterials in the past two decades, focusing on meta-atomic acoustic metamaterials, metamolecular acoustic metamaterials, meta-atomic clusters and metamolecule cluster acoustic metamaterials. Finally, the research overview and development trend of acoustic metasurfaces are briefly introduced.