Effects and Related Mechanisms of Allelopathy of 's Pollens on Corn Pollens, Stigmas, and Yield.

, a worldwide malignant invasive weed, can inhibit corn seed germination, seedling growth, and yield through allelopathy. However, it is unclear whether it can inhibit activities of corn pollens and stigmas and, thus, decrease corn yield through allelopathy. Here, we studied the allelopathic effects and related mechanisms of 's pollens on corn pollens, stigmas, and yield.

Caveolin-3 negatively regulates endocytic recycling of cardiac K channels.

Sarcolemmal ATP-sensitive potassium (K) channels play a vital role in cardioprotection. Cardiac K channels are enriched in caveolae and physically interact with the caveolae structural protein caveolin-3 (Cav3). Disrupting caveolae impairs the regulation of K channels through several signaling pathways.

Nitrogen acquisition strategy and its effects on invasiveness of a subtropical invasive plant.

Introduction: Preference and plasticity in nitrogen (N) form uptake are the main strategies with which plants absorb soil N. However, little effort has been made to explore effects of N form acquisition strategies, especially the plasticity, on invasiveness of exotic plants, although many studies have determined the effects of N levels (e.g.

Molecular bases for the stronger plastic response to high nitrate in the invasive plant Xanthium strumarium compared with its native congener.

High expressions of nitrate use and photosynthesis-related transcripts contribute to the stronger plasticity to high nitrate for the invader relative to its native congener, which may be driven by hormones. Strong phenotypic plasticity is often considered as one of the main mechanisms underlying exotic plant invasions. However, few studies have been conducted to investigate the related molecular mechanisms.

Advantages of growth and competitive ability of the invasive plant over two co-occurring natives and the effects of nitrogen levels and forms.

Introduction: Atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition has often been considered as a driver of exotic plant invasions. However, most related studies focused on the effects of soil N levels, and few on those of N forms, and few related studies were conducted in the fields.

Methods: In this study, we grew , a notorious invader in arid/semi-arid and barren habitats, and two coexisting native plants and in mono- and mixed cultures in the fields in Baicheng, northeast China, and investigated the effects of N levels and forms on the invasiveness of .

Transcripts related with ammonium use and effects of gibberellin on expressions of the transcripts responding to ammonium in two invasive and native species.

Soil nitrogen forms are important for exotic plant invasions. However, little effort has been made to study the molecular mechanisms underlying the utilization of different N forms in co-occurring invasive and native plants. The invasive plant prefers nitrate relative to ammonium, and mainly invades nitrate-dominated environments, while it co-occurring native congener prefers ammonium.

Differences and related physiological mechanisms in effects of ammonium on the invasive plant and its native congener .

Few studies explore the effects of nitrogen forms on exotic plant invasions, and all of them are conducted from the perspective of nitrogen form utilization without considering the effects of ammonium toxicity. The invasive plant prefers to use nitrate, while its native congener prefers to use ammonium, and the invader is more sensitive to high ammonium based on our preliminary observations. To further reveal the effects of nitrogen forms on invasiveness of , we studied the difference and related physiological mechanisms in sensitivity to ammonium between these species.

The native stem holoparasitic suppresses the invasive plant and related mechanisms in different light conditions in northeast China.

Increasing evidence from low-latitude ranges has demonstrated that native parasitic plants are promising biocontrol agents for some major invasive weeds. However, related mechanisms and the effect of environments on the control effect of the parasite are still unclear. In addition, few related studies have been conducted in high latitude (>40°), where the exotic plant richness is the highest in the globe, but natural enemies are relatively scarce.

Rab35 GTPase positively regulates endocytic recycling of cardiac K channels.

ATP-sensitive K (K) channel couples membrane excitability to intracellular energy metabolism. Maintaining K channel surface expression is key to normal insulin secretion, blood pressure and cardioprotection. However, the molecular mechanisms regulating K channel internalization and endocytic recycling, which directly affect the surface expression of K channels, are poorly understood.

Leaf trait association in relation to herbivore defense, drought resistance, and economics in a tropical invasive plant.

Premise: Exploring how functional traits vary and covary is important to understand plant responses to environmental change. However, we have limited understanding of the ways multiple functional traits vary and covary within invasive species.

Methods: We measured 12 leaf traits of an invasive plant Chromolaena odorata, associated with plant or leaf economics, herbivore defense, and drought resistance on 10 introduced populations from Asia and 12 native populations from South and Central America, selected across a broad range of climatic conditions, and grown in a common garden.

Inherent conflicts between reaction norm slope and plasticity indices when comparing plasticity: a conceptual framework and empirical test.

Phenotypic plasticity index (PI), the slope of reaction norm (K) and relative distances plasticity index (RDPI), the most commonly used estimators, have occasionally been found to generate different plasticity rankings between groups (species, populations, cultivars or genotypes). However, no effort has been made to determine how frequent this incongruence is, and the factors that influence the occurrence of the incongruence. To address these problems, we first proposed a conceptual framework and then tested the framework (its predictions) by reanalyzing 1248 sets of published data.

Phenotypic plasticity and exotic plant invasions: Effects of soil nutrients, species nutrient requirements, and types of traits.

High-phenotypic plasticity has long been considered as a characteristic promoting exotic plant invasions. However, the results of the studies testing this hypothesis are still inconsistent. Overlooking the effects of species resource requirements and environmental resource availability may be the main reasons for the ambiguous conclusions.

Effects of the invasive plant Xanthium strumarium on diversity of native plant species: A competitive analysis approach in North and Northeast China.

Xanthium strumarium is native to North America and now has become one of the invasive alien species (IAS) in China. In order to detect the effects of the invader on biodiversity and evaluate its suitable habitats and ecological distribution, we investigated the abundance, relative abundance, diversity indices, and the number of the invasive and native plants in paired invaded and non-invaded quadrats in four locations in North and Northeast China. We also analyzed the effects of monthly mean maximum and minimum temperatures, relative humidity (%), and precipitations (mm).

Species diversity of different insect families trapped under beer-based volatile fermentation.

Background: Insect species composition is an important phenomenon playing a significant role in the ecosystem. Chemical control of insects and pests releases toxic materials to the environment. These chemicals are dangerous to human populations.

Lesser leaf herbivore damage and structural defense and greater nutrient concentrations for invasive alien plants: Evidence from 47 pairs of invasive and non-invasive plants.

Empirical evidence of enemy release is still inconsistent for invasive alien plant species, although enemy release is the key assumption for both the enemy release hypothesis (ERH) and the evolution of increased competitive ability hypothesis (EICA). In addition, little effort has been made to test this assumption in terms of defense investment using a multi-species comparative approach. Using a phylogenetically controlled within-study meta-analytical approach, we compared leaf herbivore damage, structural defenses and nutrients between 47 pairs of invasive versus native and/or non-invasive alien plants in China.

Founder effects, post-introduction evolution and phenotypic plasticity contribute to invasion success of a genetically impoverished invader.

Multiple mechanisms may act synergistically to promote success of invasive plants. Here, we tested the roles of three non-mutually exclusive mechanisms-founder effects, post-introduction evolution and phenotypic plasticity-in promoting invasion of Chromolaena odorata. We performed a common garden experiment to investigate phenotypic diversification and phenotypic plasticity of the genetically impoverished invader in response to two rainfall treatments (ambient and 50% rainfall).

Zearalenone: A Mycotoxin With Different Toxic Effect in Domestic and Laboratory Animals' Granulosa Cells.

Zearalenone (ZEA), one of the most prevalent estrogenic mycotoxins, is mainly produced by fungi and has been proven to affect the reproductive capacity of animals. Exposure of farm animals to ZEA is a global public health concern because of its toxicity and wide distribution in animal feeds. and experiments indicate that ZEA possesses estrogenic activity in mice, swine, and cattle.

Zearalenone Exposure Enhanced the Expression of Tumorigenesis Genes in Donkey Granulosa Cells via the // Signaling Pathway.

Zearalenone (ZEA) is a natural contaminant existing in food and feed products that exhibits a negative effect on domestic animals' reproduction. Donkeys possess high economic value in China and are at risk of exposure to ZEA. However, few information is available on ZEA-induced toxicity and no report on toxicity in donkeys can be found in scientific literature.

Higher photosynthesis, nutrient- and energy-use efficiencies contribute to invasiveness of exotic plants in a nutrient poor habitat in northeast China.

The roles of photosynthesis-related traits in invasiveness of introduced plant species are still not well elucidated, especially in nutrient-poor habitats. In addition, little effort has been made to determine the physiological causes and consequences of the difference in these traits between invasive and native plants. To address these problems, we compared the differences in 16 leaf functional traits related to light-saturated photosynthetic rate (P ) between 22 invasive and native plants in a nutrient-poor habitat in northeast China.

De Novo Assembly of the Donkey White Blood Cell Transcriptome and a Comparative Analysis of Phenotype-Associated Genes between Donkeys and Horses.

Prior to the mechanization of agriculture and labor-intensive tasks, humans used donkeys (Equus africanus asinus) for farm work and packing. However, as mechanization increased, donkeys have been increasingly raised for meat, milk, and fur in China. To maintain the development of the donkey industry, breeding programs should focus on traits related to these new uses.

Integrating novel chemical weapons and evolutionarily increased competitive ability in success of a tropical invader.

The evolution of increased competitive ability (EICA) hypothesis and the novel weapons hypothesis (NWH) are two non-mutually exclusive mechanisms for exotic plant invasions, but few studies have simultaneously tested these hypotheses. Here we aimed to integrate them in the context of Chromolaena odorata invasion. We conducted two common garden experiments in order to test the EICA hypothesis, and two laboratory experiments in order to test the NWH.

Evolutionary increases in defense during a biological invasion.

Invasive plants generally escape from specialist herbivores of their native ranges but may experience serious damage from generalists. As a result, invasive plants may evolve increased resistance to generalists and tolerance to damage. To test these hypotheses, we carried out a common garden experiment comparing 15 invasive populations with 13 native populations of Chromolaena odorata, including putative source populations identified with molecular methods and binary choice feeding experiments using three generalist herbivores.

Differences in competitive ability between plants from nonnative and native populations of a tropical invader relates to adaptive responses in abiotic and biotic environments.

The evolution of competitive ability of invasive plant species is generally studied in the context of adaptive responses to novel biotic environments (enemy release) in introduced ranges. However, invasive plants may also respond to novel abiotic environments. Here we studied differences in competitive ability between Chromolaena odorata plants of populations from nonnative versus native ranges, considering biogeographical differences in both biotic and abiotic environments.

The evolution of increased competitive ability, innate competitive advantages, and novel biochemical weapons act in concert for a tropical invader.

There are many non-mutually exclusive mechanisms for exotic invasions but few studies have concurrently tested more than one hypothesis for the same species. Here, we tested the evolution of increased competitive ability (EICA) hypothesis in two common garden experiments in which Chromolaena odorata plants originating from native and nonnative ranges were grown in competition with natives from each range, and the novel weapons hypothesis in laboratory experiments with leachates from C. odorata.

Synergistic interactions of CO2 enrichment and nitrogen deposition promote growth and ecophysiological advantages of invading Eupatorium adenophorum in Southwest China.

Global environmental change and ongoing biological invasions are the two prominent ecological issues threatening biodiversity worldwide, and investigations of their interaction will aid to predict plant invasions and inform better management strategies in the future. In this study, invasive Eupatorium adenophorum and native congener E. stoechadosmum were compared at ambient and elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO(2)) concentrations combined with three levels of nitrogen (N; reduced, control and increased) in terms of growth, energy gain, and cost.