A novel method of species-specific molecular target mining and accurate discrimination of Bacillus cereus sensu lato.

Bacillus cereus, a member of the Bacillus cereus sensu lato (B. cereus s.l.

Biomass allocation between reproductive and vegetative organs of Artemisia along a large environmental gradient.

Background: Biomass allocation reflects functional tradeoffs among plant organs and thus represents life history strategies. However, little is known about the patterns and drivers of biomass allocation between reproductive and vegetative organs along large environmental gradients. Here, we examined how environmental gradients affect biomass and the allocation between reproductive and vegetative organs.

The Gene Cluster - Negatively Regulates Biofilm Formation in .

() is a zoonotic foodborne pathogen that is widely distributed worldwide. Its optimal growth environment is microaerophilic conditions (5% O, 10% CO), but it can spread widely in the atmospheric environment. Biofilms are thought to play an important role in this process.

Soil salinity regulates spatial-temporal heterogeneity of seed germination and seedbank persistence of an annual diaspore-trimorphic halophyte in northern China.

Background And Aims: Seed heteromorphism is a plant strategy that an individual plant produces two or more distinct types of diaspores, which have diverse morphology, dispersal ability, ecological functions and different effects on plant life history traits. The aim of this study was to test the effects of seasonal soil salinity and burial depth on the dynamics of dormancy/germination and persistence/depletion of buried trimorphic diaspores of a desert annual halophyte Atriplex centralasiatica.

Methods: We investigated the effects of salinity and seasonal fluctuations of temperature on germination, recovery of germination and mortality of types A, B, C diaspores of A.

'Fertile island' effects on the soil microbial community beneath the canopy of Tetraena mongolica, an endangered and dominant shrub in the West Ordos Desert, North China.

Background: The fertile islands formed by shrubs are major drivers of the structure and function of desert ecosystems, affecting seedling establishment, plant-plant interactions, the diversity and productivity of plant communities, and microbial activity/diversity. Although an increasing number of studies have shown the critical importance of soil microbes in fertile island formation, how soil microbial community structure and function are affected by the different fertile island effect intensities is still unknown. As an endangered and dominant shrub species in the West Ordos Desert, Tetraena mongolica was selected for further exploration of its fertile island effect on the soil microbial community in the present study to test the following two hypotheses: (1) T.

Impacts of re-vegetation on soil water dynamics in a semiarid region of Northwest China.

Understanding how vegetation (shrub) cover in drylands affects local-to-regional soil water dynamics and associated water balances is of immense importance because of the abundance of afforestation projects worldwide. Vegetation's role in the control of soil water presents a particular challenge to soil water storage (SWS) management in the drylands of China. To address this knowledge gap, we conducted a two-year study in the Mu Us Desert of northwest China.

Vegetation-cover control of between-site soil temperature evolution in a sandy desertland.

Vegetation has an important influence on soil temperature (ST). However, the possible effects of surface vegetation on ST and their feedback on microclimate remain uncertain due to the lack of in-situ and long-term environmental records, especially for arid and semiarid regions of the world. A continuous, two-year study was implemented over a bare sand dune (BF) and two scrub-vegetation sites of variable cover in the Mu Us Desert of northwest China.

Warming in combination with increased precipitation mediate the sexual and clonal reproduction in the desert steppe dominant species Stipa breviflora.

Background: Clonal plants can successfully adapt to various ecosystems. A trade-off between sexual and clonal reproduction is generally assumed in clonal plants, which may be influenced both by the characteristics of the plant itself and environmental conditions. Currently, it is unclear how climate change, and specifically warming and increased precipitation, might affect sexual and clonal reproduction in clonal plants.

The Relationship and Influencing Factors between Endangered Plant and Soil Microorganisms in West Ordos Desert Ecosystem, Northern China.

Soil microorganisms play crucial roles in improving nutrient cycling, maintaining soil fertility in desert ecosystems such as the West Ordos desert ecosystem in Northern China, which is home to a variety of endangered plants. However, the relationship between the plants-microorganisms-soil in the West Ordos desert ecosystem is still unclear. an endangered and dominant plant species in West Ordos, was selected as the research object in the present study.

Net plant interactions are highly variable and weakly dependent on climate at the global scale.

Although plant-plant interactions (i.e. competition and facilitation) have long been recognised as key drivers of plant community composition and dynamics, their global patterns and relationships with climate have remained unclear.

Global patterns of potential future plant diversity hidden in soil seed banks.

Soil seed banks represent a critical but hidden stock for potential future plant diversity on Earth. Here we compiled and analyzed a global dataset consisting of 15,698 records of species diversity and density for soil seed banks in natural plant communities worldwide to quantify their environmental determinants and global patterns. Random forest models showed that absolute latitude was an important predictor for diversity of soil seed banks.

A Seed Mucilage-Degrading Fungus From the Rhizosphere Strengthens the Plant-Soil-Microbe Continuum and Potentially Regulates Root Nutrients of a Cold Desert Shrub.

Seed mucilage plays important roles in the adaptation of desert plants to the stressful environment. is an important pioneer plant in the Central Asian cold desert, and it produces a large quantity of seed mucilage. Seed mucilage of can be degraded by soil microbes, but it is unknown which microorganisms can degrade mucilage or how the mucilage-degrading microorganisms affect rhizosphere microbial communities or root nutrients.

Maternal environment alters dead pericarp biochemical properties of the desert annual plant Anastatica hierochuntica L.

The dead organs enclosing embryos (DOEEs) emerge as central components of the dispersal unit (DU) capable for long-term storage of active proteins and other substances that affect seed performance and fate. We studied the effect of maternal environment (salt and salt+heat) on progeny DU (dry indehiscent fruit) focusing on pericarp properties of Anastatica hierochuntica. Stressed plants displayed increased seed abortion and low level and rate of germination.

Amphicarpic plants: definition, ecology, geographic distribution, systematics, life history, evolution and use in agriculture.

Although most plants produce all of their fruits (seeds) aboveground, amphicarpic species produce fruits (seeds) both above- and belowground. Our primary aims were to determine the number of reported amphicarpic species and their taxonomic, geographic, life form and phylogenetic distribution, to evaluate differences in the life history of plants derived from aerial and subterranean seeds, to discuss the ecological and evolutionary significance of amphicarpy, to explore the use of amphicarpic plants in agriculture, and to suggest future research directions for studies on amphicarpy. Amphicarpy occurs in at least 67 herbaceous species (31 in Fabaceae) in 39 genera and 13 families of angiosperms distributed in various geographical regions of the world and in various habitats.

Dynamics of the diaspore and germination stages of the life history of an annual diaspore-trimorphic species in a temperate salt desert.

Individuals of the annual halophyte Atriplex centralasiatica produce three kinds of diaspores that differ in dispersal, dormancy/germination response and type of seed bank formed, which likely is a bet-hedging strategy in the rainfall-unpredictable environment on the semi-arid, saline Ordos Plateau in Inner Mongolia, China. Seasonal fluctuations in environmental conditions provide germination cues for the establishment of seedlings at the right time and place to ensure plant survival and population regeneration. Diaspore heteromorphism is a phenomenon in which diaspores with stark qualitative differences in morphology and ecology are produced by the same maternal plant.

Hydrothermal sensitivities of seed populations underlie fluctuations of dormancy states in an annual plant community.

Plant germination ecology involves continuous interactions between changing environmental conditions and the sensitivity of seed populations to respond to those conditions at a given time. Ecologically meaningful parameters characterizing germination capacity (or dormancy) are needed to advance our understanding of the evolution of germination strategies within plant communities. The germination traits commonly examined (e.

Downward Rotation of the Capsulopalpebral Fascia, Orbital Septum, and Orbital Fat Complex: A New Technique for Lower Eyelid Rejuvenation.

Unlabelled: Filling of the orbitomalar sulcus through fat conservation and relocation is important for the lower eyelid rejuvenation procedure and has been reported on extensively. This study aimed to introduce a new technique-downward rotation of the capsulopalpebral fascia, septum, and fat complex in lower eyelid blepharoplasty to correct orbitomalar sulcus depression.

Methods: Eighty-six patients who underwent transcutaneous lower eyelid blepharoplasty for cosmetic purposes from March 2015 to March 2016 were included in this study.

Responses of community structure and diversity to nitrogen deposition and rainfall addition in contrasting steppes are ecosystem-dependent and dwarfed by year-to-year community dynamics.

Background And Aims: Long-term studies to disentangle the multiple, simultaneous effects of global change on community dynamics are a high research priority to forecast future distribution of diversity. Seldom are such multiple effects of global change studied across different ecosystems.

Methods: Here we manipulated nitrogen deposition and rainfall at levels realistic for future environmental scenarios in three contrasting steppe types in Mongolia and followed community dynamics for 7 years.

Sand burial helps regulate timing of seed germination of a dominant herb in an inland dune ecosystem with a semiarid temperate climate.

Sand burial plays important role in the life history of species in sandy areas of arid and semi-arid temperate regions, by affecting seed germination, seedling growth and survival and plant community. However, few studies have focused on the effects of sand burial on the dynamics of seed dormancy in such areas. In this study, seed germination characteristics of Allium tenuissimum, a dominant perennial herb in the dune ecosystem in Ordos Plateau in northern China, was investigated.

Seed germination responses to seasonal temperature and drought stress are species-specific but not related to seed size in a desert steppe: Implications for effect of climate change on community structure.

Investigating how seed germination of multiple species in an ecosystem responds to environmental conditions is crucial for understanding the mechanisms for community structure and biodiversity maintenance. However, knowledge of seed germination response of species to environmental conditions is still scarce at the community level. We hypothesized that responses of seed germination to environmental conditions differ among species at the community level, and that germination response is not correlated with seed size.

Arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis and achene mucilage have independent functions in seedling growth of a desert shrub.

Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) symbiosis can play a role in improving seedling establishment in deserts, and it has been suggested that achene mucilage facilitates seedling establishment in sandy deserts and that mucilage biodegradation products may improve seedling growth. We aimed to determine if AM symbiosis interacts with achene mucilage in regulating seedling growth in sand dunes. Up to 20 A M fungal taxa colonized Artemisia sphaerocephala roots in the field, and mycorrhizal frequency and colonization intensity exhibited seasonal dynamics.