Route planning of mobile robot based on improved RRT star and TEB algorithm.

This paper presents a fusion algorithm based on the enhanced RRT* TEB algorithm. The enhanced RRT* algorithm is utilized for generating an optimal global path. Firstly, proposing an adaptive sampling function and extending node bias to accelerate global path generation and mitigate local optimality. Secondly, eliminating path redundancy to minimize path length. Thirdly, imposing constraints on the turning angle of the path to enhance path smoothness. Conducting kinematic modeling of the mobile robot and optimizing the TEB algorithm to align the trajectory with the mobile robot's kinematics. The integration of these two algorithms culminates in the development of a fusion algorithm. Simulation and experimental results demonstrate that, in contrast to the traditional RRT* algorithm, the enhanced RRT* algorithm achieves a 5.8% reduction in path length and a 62.5% decrease in the number of turning points. Utilizing the fusion algorithm for path planning, the mobile robot generates a superior, seamlessly smooth global path, adept at circumventing obstacles. Furthermore, the local trajectory meticulously conforms to the kinematic constraints of the mobile robot.

Effects of microplastics on soil microorganisms and microbial functions in nutrients and carbon cycling - A review.

The harmful effects of microplastics (MPs) pollution in the soil ecosystem have drawn global attention in recent years. This paper critically reviews the effects of MPs on soil microbial diversity and functions in relation to nutrients and carbon cycling. Reports suggested that both plastisphere (MP-microbe consortium) and MP-contaminated soils had distinct and lower microbial diversity than that of non-contaminated soils. Alteration in soil physicochemical properties and microbial interactions within the plastisphere facilitated the enrichment of plastic-degrading microorganisms, including those involved in carbon (C) and nutrient cycling. MPs conferred a significant increase in the relative abundance of soil nitrogen (N)-fixing and phosphorus (P)-solubilizing bacteria, while decreased the abundance of soil nitrifiers and ammonia oxidisers. Depending on soil types, MPs increased bioavailable N and P contents and nitrous oxide emission in some instances. Furthermore, MPs regulated soil microbial functional activities owing to the combined toxicity of organic and inorganic contaminants derived from MPs and contaminants frequently encountered in the soil environment. However, a thorough understanding of the interactions among soil microorganisms, MPs and other contaminants still needs to develop. Since currently available reports are mostly based on short-term laboratory experiments, field investigations are needed to assess the long-term impact of MPs (at environmentally relevant concentration) on soil microorganisms and their functions under different soil types and agro-climatic conditions.

Soil carbon and nitrogen cycles driven by iron redox: A review.

Soil carbon and nitrogen cycles affect agricultural production, environmental quality, and global climate. Iron (Fe), regarded as the most abundant redox-active metal element in the Earth's crust, is involved in a biogeochemical cycle that includes Fe(III) reduction and Fe(II) oxidation. The redox reactions of Fe can be linked to the carbon and nitrogen cycles in soil in various ways. Investigating the transformation processes and mechanisms of soil carbon and nitrogen species driven by Fe redox can provide theoretical guidance for improving soil fertility, and addressing global environmental pollution as well as climate change. Although the widespread occurrence of these coupling processes in soils has been revealed, explorations of the effects of Fe redox on soil carbon and nitrogen cycles remain in the early stages, particularly when considering the broader context of global climate and environmental changes. The key functional microorganisms, mechanisms, and contributions of these coupling processes to soil carbon and nitrogen cycles have not been fully elucidated. Here, we present a systematic review of the research progress on soil carbon and nitrogen cycles mediated by Fe redox, including the underlying reaction processes, the key microorganisms involved, the influencing factors, and their environmental significance. Finally, some unresolved issues and future perspectives are addressed. This knowledge expands our understanding of the interconnected cycles of Fe, carbon and nitrogen in soils.

The role and molecular mechanism of flgK gene in biological properties, pathogenicity and virulence genes expression of Aeromonas hydrophila.

Aeromonas hydrophila is a highly pathogenic aquatic resident bacterium that can cause co-morbidity in aquatic animals, waterfowl, poultry, and humans. Flagellum is the motility organ of bacteria important for bacterium tissue colonization and invasion. The flgK gene encodes a flagellar hook protein essential for normal flagellar formation. In order to explore the role of flgK in A. hydrophila, a flgK gene mutant strain of A. hydrophila (∆flgK-AH) was constructed using an efficient suicide plasmid-mediated homologous recombination method, and gene sequencing confirmed successful mutation of the flgK gene. The biological properties, pathogenicity and virulence genes expression were compared. The results showed that there was no significant difference in the growth, hemolytic, and swarming abilities, but the swimming and biofilm formation abilities of ∆flgK-AH were significantly reduced and the transmission electron microscope (TEM) results showed that the ∆flgK-AH strain did not have a flagellar structure. The median lethal dose (LD50) value of the ∆flgK-AH in Carassius auratus was 1.47-fold higher than that of the wild-type strain (WT-AH). The quantitative real-time PCR results showed that only the expression level of the lapA gene was up-regulated by 1.47 times compared with the WT-AH, while the expression levels of other genes were significantly down-regulated. In conclusion, flgK gene mutant led to a decline in the pathogenicity possibly by reducing swimming and biofilm formation abilities, these biological properties might result from the down-regulated expression of flagellate and pilus-related genes.

A comprehensive overview of graph neural network-based approaches to clustering for spatial transcriptomics.

Spatial transcriptomics technologies enable researchers to accurately quantify and localize messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) transcripts at a high resolution while preserving their spatial context. The identification of spatial domains, or the task of spatial clustering, plays a crucial role in investigating data on spatial transcriptomes. One promising approach for classifying spatial domains involves the use of graph neural networks (GNNs) by leveraging gene expressions, spatial locations, and histological images. This study provided a comprehensive overview of the most recent GNN-based methods of spatial clustering methods for the analysis of data on spatial transcriptomics. We extensively evaluated the performance of current methods on prevalent datasets of spatial transcriptomics by considering their accuracy of clustering, robustness, data stabilization, relevant requirements, computational efficiency, and memory use. To this end, we explored 60 clustering scenarios by extending the essential frameworks of spatial clustering for the selection of the GNNs, algorithms of downstream clustering, principal component analysis (PCA)-based reduction, and refined methods of correction. We comparatively analyzed the performance of the methods in terms of spatial clustering to identify their limitations and outline future directions of research in the field. Our survey yielded novel insights, and provided motivation for further investigating spatial transcriptomics.

The threat of micro/nanoplastic to aquatic plants: current knowledge, gaps, and future perspectives.

Plastics have been recognized as an emerging pollutant and have raised global concerns due to their widespread distribution in the environment and potential harm to living systems. However, research on the threat of micro/nanoplastics (MPs/NPs) to the unique group of aquatic plants is far behind, necessitating a comprehensive review to summarize current research progress and identify future research needs. This review explores the sources and distribution patterns of MPs/NPs in aquatic environments, highlighting their uptake by aquatic plants through roots and leaves, and subsequent translocation via the vascular system facilitated by the transpiration stream. Exposure to MPs/NPs elicits diverse effects on the growth, physiology, and ecological interactions of aquatic plants, with variations influenced by plastic properties, plant species, and experimental conditions. Furthermore, the presence of MPs/NPs can impact the toxicity and bioavailability of other associated toxicants to aquatic plants. This review shows critical knowledge gaps and emphasizes the need for future research to bridge the current understanding of the limitations and challenges posed by MPs/NPs in aquatic ecosystems.

Methanogenic and methanotrophic communities determine lower CH4 fluxes in a subtropical paddy field under long-term elevated CO2.

Clarifying the effects of elevated CO2 concentration (e[CO2]) on CH4 emissions from paddy fields and its mechanisms is a crucial part of the research on agricultural systems in response to global climate change. However, the response of CH4 fluxes from rice fields to long-term e[CO2] (e[CO2] duration >10 years) and its microbial mechanism is still lacking. In this study, we used a long-term free-air CO2 enrichment experiment to examine the relationship between CH4 fluxes and the methanogenic and methanotrophic consortia under long- and short-term e[CO2]. We demonstrated that contrary to the effect of short-term e[CO2], long-term e[CO2] decreased CH4 fluxes. This may be associated with the reduction of methanogenic abundance and the increase of methanotrophic abundance under long-term e[CO2]. In addition, long-term e[CO2] also changed the community structure and composition of methanogens and methanotrophs compared with short-term e[CO2]. Partial least squares path modeling analysis showed that long-term e[CO2] also could affect the abundance and composition of methanogens and methanotrophs indirectly by influencing soil physical and chemical properties, thereby ultimately altering CH4 fluxes in paddy soils. These findings suggest that current estimates of short-term e[CO2]-induced CH4 fluxes from paddy fields may be overestimated. Therefore, a comprehensive assessment of climate­carbon cycle feedbacks may need to consider the microbial regulation of CH4 production and oxidation processes in paddy ecosystems under long-term e[CO2].

Comparing the variations and influencing factors of CH4 emissions from paddies and wetlands under CO2 enrichment: A data synthesis in the last three decades.

Understanding and quantifying the impact of elevated tropospheric carbon dioxide concentration (e [CO2]) on methane (CH4) globally is important for effectively assessing and mitigating climate warming. Paddies and wetlands are the two important sources of CH4 emissions. Yet, a quantitative synthetic investigation of the effects of e [CO2] on CH4 emissions from paddies and wetlands on a global scale has not been conducted. Here, we conducted a meta-analysis of 488 observation cases from 40 studies to assess the long-term effects of e [CO2] (ambient [CO2]+ 53-400 µmol mol-1) on CH4 emissions and to identify the relevant key drivers. On aggregate, e [CO2] increased CH4 emissions by 25.7% (p < 0.05) from paddies but did not affect CH4 emissions from wetlands (-3.29%; p > 0.05). The e [CO2] effects on paddy CH4 emissions were positively related to that on belowground biomass and soil-dissolved CH4 content. However, these factors under e [CO2] resulted in no significant change in CH4 emissions in wetlands. Particularly, the e [CO2]-induced abundance of methanogens increased in paddies but decreased in wetlands. In addition, tillering number of rice and water table levels affected e [CO2]-induced CH4 emissions in paddies and wetlands, respectively. On a global scale, CH4 emissions changed from an increase (+0.13 and + 0.86 Pg CO2-eq yr-1) under short-term e [CO2] into a decrease and no changes (-0.22 and + 0.03 Pg CO2-eq yr-1) under long-term e [CO2] in paddies and wetlands, respectively. This suggested that e [CO2]-induced CH4 emissions from paddies and wetlands changed over time. Our results not only shed light on the different stimulative responses of CH4 emissions to e [CO2] from paddy and wetland ecosystems but also suggest that estimates of e [CO2]-induced CH4 emissions from global paddies and wetlands need to account for long-term changes in various regions.

The Genetic and Phenotypic Diversity of Bacillus spp. from the Mariculture System in China and Their Potential Function against Pathogenic Vibrio.

Bacillus spp. could be one of the most suitable substitutes for the control and prevention of aquatic diseases. The occurrence of species population, antimicrobial character, and virulence diversity in Bacillus spp. recovered from the mariculture system in China between 2009 and 2021 were investigated, screening for probiotic Bacillus strains with good biological safety that can inhibit Vibrio parahaemolyticus, V. alginolyticus, V. harveyi, V. owensii, V. campbellii. The results showed that 116 Bacillus isolates were divided into 24 species, and the top three species were B. subtilis (37/116), B. velezensis (28/116), and B. amyloliquefaciens (10/116). Among the 116 Bacillus isolates, 32.8% were effective against V. parahaemolyticus, 30.1% for V. alginolyticus, 60.3% for V. harveyi, 69.8% for V. owensii and 74.1% for V. campbellii. More than 62% of Bacillus isolates were susceptible to florfenicol, doxycycline and tetracycline, etc., and 26/116 Bacillus isolates were found to be multiple-antibiotic-resistant (MAR), with MARI values ranging from 0 to 0.06. Eighteen kinds of antibiotic resistance genes were tested; only tetB, blaTEM, and blaZ were detected. And 9 isolates in 2 Bacillus species were excluded by 6/10 kinds of Bacillus-related toxin gene (hblA, hblC, nheB, nheC, entFM, cykK). Bio-safety testing indicated that three kinds of probiotics were good probiotic candidates to prevent Vibriosis. These results provide comprehensive genetic diversity, potential risks, and probiotic characteristics of Bacillus in the mariculture system in China, and provide basic support for green and healthy development of aquatic industry.

Dose effect of polyethylene microplastics on nitrous oxide emissions from paddy soils cultivated for different periods.

The presence of microplastics (MPs) under flooded conditions is beneficial for nitrifiers and denitrifiers to produce nitrous oxide (N2O), but their dose effect remains unclear. This study evaluated the impact of different doses of polyethylene (PE) MPs on the release of N2O from paddy soils cultivated for different years. Compared with unpolluted soils, low doses of MPs (≤ 0.1%) had a negligible influence on N2O emissions, and high amounts of MPs (≥ 0.5%) significantly (p < 0.05) increased N2O emissions from the paddy soils cultivated for 3, 15 and 40 years by 2.5-4.3, 3.9-8.5 and 8.9-27.7 times, respectively. Moreover, an exponential model indicated that a 0.2% concentration of PE MPs appeared to be the dose threshold that accelerated the release of N2O from the all soils. Increased MP concentrations accelerated N2O emissions by affecting microbial functional genes involved in N2O production and reduction, but microbial taxonomic attributes involved in nitrogen cycling played an insignificant role in controlling N2O emissions. Overall, our results indicated that high doses (≥ 0.5%) of PE MPs essentially accelerated the emission of N2O from rice soils, and a longer cultivation period (40 years) enhanced the positive effect of MPs on N2O emissions.

Effects of the water-soluble fraction of diesel oil on the sera biochemical indicators, histological changes, and immune responses of black rockfish Sebastes schlegelii.

In order to understand the physiological and immune responses of Sebastes schlegelii to the water-soluble fraction of diesel oil (WSD), S. schlegelii were used as the experimental objects to study the effect of WSD on the sera biochemical indicators, histological changes, and immune responses. Significant differences in sera biochemical indicators were observed in S. schlegelii after WSD exposure. The alkaline phosphatase (ALP), glucose (GLU), and globulin (GLB) were reduced by 3.51-fold, 3.12- fold, and 1.58-fold, respectively; however, K+ was increased by 3.55-fold. The results of HE staining showed that interstitial congestion was observed in the liver; the secondary lamellae deformity and hyperplasia, epithelial lifting, the primary lamellae hyperplasia, and aneurism were observed in the gill. Epidermis thickness increased, and epidermal hyperplasia in the skin was shown. The length of the secondary lamellae shortened significantly after WSD exposure. The results of AB-PAS staining showed that three different types of mucous cells were observed in the gill, and a significant increase in the number of all three types of mucous cells was observed after WSD exposure (P < 0.05). In addition, the results of the relative mRNA expressions in the liver of eleven immune-related genes showed that the relative expression levels of IL-1ß, IL-8, TNF receptor, BAFF, C1s, C1r, and MyD88 in the WSD group were substantially higher than those in the LPS group (P < 0.05), and the relative expression of caspase 10 was significantly lower than that in the LPS group (P < 0.05). At the same time, no significant differences were observed in the relative expression levels of IL-1, TNFα, and C1inh between the two groups (P > 0.05). This study was expected to provide essential data for health assessments of S. schlegelii and establish the foundation for the immune-related researches of S. schlegelii after WSD exposure.

Fertilizer-induced N2O and NO emissions in tea gardens and the main controlling factors: A recent three-decade data synthesis.

Tea gardens have been widely documented to be hotspots for nitrogen (N) oxide emissions (i.e., nitrous oxide (N2O) and nitric oxide (NO)). However, a quantitative understanding of N oxide emissions related to different fertilizer regimes and the main controlling factors is lacking. Here, we performed a meta-analysis of 56 peer-reviewed publications on N oxide emissions from global tea gardens over the past three decades. Overall, fertilization increased N2O and NO emissions (p < 0.001) by 584 % and 790 %, respectively. The stimulating effect of fertilizer on N2O and NO emissions was mainly related to high N application rates. Furthermore, organic fertilizer treatment, combined fertilizer treatment, biochar amendment, and inhibitor amendment reduced N2O emissions (p < 0.05) by 63 %, 64 %, 69 %, and 94 %, respectively, relative to chemical fertilizer treatment. For NO emissions, only biochar amendment decreased fertilizer-driven stimulation (by 80 %, p < 0.05). Notably, the dominant factors that influenced fertilizer-induced N2O and NO emissions in tea gardens were fertilization regimes, climatic conditions, and soil properties. On a global scale, fertilization increased mean N2O and NO emissions (p < 0.05) from global tea gardens by 44.5 Gg N yr-1 and 34.3 Gg N yr-1, respectively, whereas compared with no amendment application, inhibitors reduced N2O emissions (p < 0.05) by 32.2 Gg N yr-1 and biochar reduced NO emissions (p < 0.05) by 23.6 Gg N yr-1. Our results suggest that to obtain maximum ecological and economic benefits, appropriate N fertilizer and biochar and inhibitor amendments should be applied for site-specific mitigation purposes, and long-term, multiarea, in situ experiments and microbial mechanism studies should be conducted.

Virulence and antimicrobial resistance characteristics assessment of Vibrio isolated from shrimp (Penaeus vannamei) breeding system in south China.

The diseases caused by Vibrio during shrimp breeding program have the risk of spreading in different aquatic areas through larvae transportation between different regions. Therefore, the population distribution and the virulence and antibiotic resistance risk of 5 pathogenic Vibrio in shrimp (Penaeus vannamei) breeding system in China were evaluated for the first time. A total of 418 isolates were recovered from shrimp, breeding water and biological baits samples, and 312 isolates were identified as Vibrio genus based on 16s rDNA, among which V. alginolyticus, V. harveyi, V. parahaemolyticus, V. cholerae and V. campbellii were the dominant species. And 10/20 kinds of virulence genes (chiA, luxR, vhh, tlh, chxA, sepro, flaA, vch, VAC and rpoS) were detected among the 5 Vibrio species. Multiple antibiotic resistance (MAR) index of the 5 dominant Vibrio isolates were 0.13-0.88 %, and 36.5 % isolates with MAR < 0.2. But the antibiotic resistance pattern abundance (ARPA) index ranged from 0.25 to 0.56, which indicated the antibiotic phenotypes of Vibrio species in the shrimp breeding system in China were homogeneity. Furthermore, resistance quotients (RQs) calculation results displayed that the dominant Vibrio species in the shrimp breeding system in China showed no or low selection pressure for resistance to cefoperazone/sulbactam, enrofloxacin, ciprofloxacin, fluoroquine, florfenicol, tetracycline and doxycycline. But only 5 resistance genes were detected, which were strA (43.8 %), strB (11.7 %), QnrVC (2.9 %), sul2 (8.8 %) and Int4 (8.8 %), respectively, and the antimicrobial resistance genotypes were not previously correlated with their phenotypes. The relevant research results provide theoretical basis for epizootic tracking in aquatic system in China, and targeting its final risk in aquatic ecosystem and public health perspectives.

Abundances of agricultural microplastics and their contribution to the soil organic carbon pool in plastic film mulching fields of Xinjiang, China.

Plastic mulched agricultural fields in Xinjiang are regarded as potential "hotspots" of microplastic (MP) contamination in China, whereas the abundance of MPs in this region is still unclear. As a carbonaceous material, current conventional methods for measuring soil organic carbon (SOC) generally do not separate the MPs from soils, which probably overestimated the soil carbon (C) sequestration. In this study, 77 agricultural soil samples under plastic film mulching were collected in Xinjiang. Afterward, the average abundance of agricultural MPs and the contribution of microplastic-carbon (MP-C) to the SOC pool were evaluated. The abundance of MPs was 12,589 pieces kg-1 soil (ranging from 4198 to 47,420 pieces kg-1 soil), and small-sized (<0.5 mm) plastic particles accounted for 93.3% of the total MPs. Interestingly, the soil salt content was positively related to the proportion of 0.1-0.5 mm MP but negatively correlated with the proportion of 0.02-0.1 mm MP, indicating that soil salinization probably controlled the degradation process of plastic residues. The average content of MP-C in the 0-20 cm layer was 25.33 kg ha-1 (ranging from 1.60 to 192.57 kg ha-1), which had a contribution of 1.59‰ (ranging from 0.05 to 14.24‰) to the SOC pool. Accordingly, we roughly estimated that the MP-C storage (0-20 cm layer) was approximately 88.66 Gg in the plastic film mulching fields of Xinjiang. Although MP is undeniably organic C, this environmental pollution cannot be regarded as "true" soil C storage, which induces the overestimation of soil C sequestration in agricultural fields. Therefore, our results highlighted that MP-C should be subtracted when estimating SOC sequestration in plastic film mulching fields of Xinjiang.

Antibiotic resistance, virulence and genetic characteristics of Vibrio alginolyticus isolates from aquatic environment in costal mariculture areas in China.

Vibrio alginolyticus has been the second most common Vibrio species in the world and mainly grows in the ocean or estuary environment, which can induce epidemics outbreaks under marine organisms, and causing serious economic losses in aquaculture industry. In this study, the genetic populations and evolutionary relationship analysis of V. alginolyticus isolated from different geographical locations in China with typical interannual differences were exhibited originally genetic diversity. Then the virulence genes prevalence, antibiotic resistance phenotype, and antimicrobial resistance genes risk diversity of V. alginolyticus were analyzed by phenotypic and molecular typing methods. And they were complex correlations among antibiotic phenotypes, resistance and virulence genes under different genotype of V. alginolyticus. The results provide a theoretical foundation for further understanding the genetic and metabolic diversity among V. alginolyticus in China, and lay a theoretical foundation for the transmission risk assessment and regional diagnosis of Vibrio in aquatic animals.

Effects of biochar addition on nitrous oxide emission during soil freeze-thaw cycles.

Biochar applied to soil can reduce nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions produced by freeze-thaw processes. Nonetheless, how biochar modification affects N2O emissions during freeze-thaw cycles is not completely clear. In our research, during freeze-thaw cycles, microcosm experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of maize straw biochar (MB) or rice straw biochar (RB) addition on soil N2O emissions under different water conditions. The N2O emissions peaked at the initial stage of thawing in all the soils, and the total N2O emissions were considerably greater in the flooded soils than in the nonflooded soils. Compared with the soils without biochar addition, RB and MB amendments inhibited N2O emissions by 69 and 67%, respectively. Moreover, after biochar addition, the abundance of AOB amoA genes decreased by 9-13%. Biochar addition significantly decreased the content of microbial biomass nitrogen (MBN) in flooded soil during thawing, which was significantly correlated with N2O emissions and nitrification and denitrification communities. The PLS-PM further revealed that biochar can inhibit the production and emission of soil N2O by reducing soil MBN during soil thawing. In addition, soil moisture directly significantly affects N2O emissions and indirectly affects N2O emissions through its influence on soil physicochemical properties. Our results revealed the important function of biochar in decreasing the emission of N2O in flooded soil during freeze-thaw cycles.

Microplastics in soil can increase nutrient uptake by wheat.

Microplastics can perturb microbial nutrient-mining strategies. However, the mechanism by which microplastics affect the resource-acquisition strategies of crops in agricultural systems remains unknown. The nutrient-acquisition potential of crops and microbes was investigated under treatments with two common microplastics (polyethylene [PE] and polyvinyl chloride [PVC]) at 0%, 1%, and 5% (w/w). Different root resource-acquisition strategies disturbed microbial nutrient turnover in the rhizosphere in response to microplastic addition. Specifically, the ß-1,4-glucosidase (BG) hotspot expanded, whereas the rhizosphere expansion of BG activity decreased. A decrease of less than PE1% (w/w) and an expansion of less than PE5% (w/w) in the 1,4-N-acetyl-glucosaminidase (NAG) hotspot with wider rhizosphere expansion of NAG activity indicated that higher doses of PE allow roots to uptake additional N. The phosphomonoesterase (PHOS) hotspot decreased in PE1% (w/w) and expanded in PE5% (w/w), but rhizosphere expansion did not change under PE treatments. However, both NAG and PHOS hotspots expanded with decreasing rhizosphere expansion under PVC treatments, indicating that PVC limits the utilization of available N and P, forcing the crop to obtain nutrients from the narrow root zone. These results indicate that adding PE microplastics increases the demand for and consumption of NH4+-N and NO3--N by wheat.

Differential expression of miRNAs in the body wall of the sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus under heat stress.

MicroRNAs, as one of the post-transcriptional regulation of genes, play an important role in the development process, cell differentiation and immune defense. The sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus is an important cold-water species, known for its excellent nutritional and economic value, which usually encounters heat stress that affects its growth and leads to significant economic losses. However, there are few studies about the effect of miRNAs on heat stress in sea cucumbers. In this study, high-throughput sequencing was used to analyze miRNA expression in the body wall of sea cucumber between the control group (CS) and the heat stress group (HS). A total of 403 known miRNAs and 75 novel miRNAs were identified, of which 13 miRNAs were identified as significantly differentially expressed miRNAs (DEMs) in response to heat stress. A total of 16,563 target genes of DEMs were predicted, and 101 inversely correlated target genes that were potentially regulated by miRNAs in response to heat stress of sea cucumbers were obtained. Based on these results, miRNA-mRNA regulatory networks were constructed. The expression results of high-throughput sequencing were validated in nine DEMs and four differentially expressed genes (DEGs) by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). Moreover, pathway enrichment of target genes suggested that several important regulatory pathways may play an important role in the heat stress process of sea cucumber, including ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis, notch single pathway and endocytosis. These results will provide basic data for future studies in miRNA regulation and molecular adaptive mechanisms of sea cucumbers under heat stress.

Polyethylene microplastics alter the microbial functional gene abundances and increase nitrous oxide emissions from paddy soils.

The accumulation of microplastics (MPs) in terrestrial ecosystems can affect greenhouse gases (GHGs) production by changing soil structure and microbial functions. In this study, microcosm experiments were conducted to investigate the impact of polyethylene (PE) MP addition on soil carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from paddy soils and their associated microbial functional genes. Methane was not considered due to the negligible emissions throughout the incubation. The amendment of both virgin and aged PE MPs did not significantly (p > 0.05) affect soil CO2 emissions, but significantly (p < 0.05) increased the abundances of microbial functional genes encoding enzymes involved in hemicellulose (abfA) and lignin (mnp) decomposition, indicating plastic particle has potential to stimulate soil organic carbon decomposition. The presence of PE MP significantly increased N2O emissions by 3.7-fold, which was probably due to PE MP increased the abundances of nirS gene involved in nitrite reductase. In addition, compared with virgin PE MP treatment, artificially aged PE MP did not significantly (p > 0.05) influence soil CO2 and N2O emissions. Our results provide evidence that PE MP likely cause a high risk of N2O emission from paddy soils, this factor should be considered in future estimates of GHGs emissions from rice fields.

Microplastics shape microbial communities affecting soil organic matter decomposition in paddy soil.

Microplastics (MPs) can alter microbial communities and carbon (C) cycling in agricultural soils. However, the mechanism by which MPs affect the decomposition of microbe-driven soil organic matter remains unknown. We investigated the bacterial community succession and temporal turnover during soil organic matter decomposition in MP-amended paddy soils (none, low [0.01% w/w], or high [1% w/w]). We observed that MPs reduced the CO2 efflux rate on day 3 and subsequently promoted it on day 15 of incubation. This increased CO2 emission in MP-amended soil may be related to (i) enhanced hydrolase enzyme activities or; (ii) shifts in the Shannon diversity, positive group interactions, and temporal turnover rates (from 0.018 to 0.040). CO2 efflux was positively correlated (r > 0.8, p < 0.01) with Ruminiclostridium_1, Mobilitalea, Eubacterium xylanophilum, Sporomusa, Anaerobacteriu, Papillibacter, Syntrophomonadaceae, and Ruminococcaceae_UCG_013 abundance in soil with high MPs, indicating that these genera play important roles in soil organic C mineralization. These results demonstrate how microorganisms adapt to MPs and thus influence the C cycle in MP-polluted paddy ecosystems.