Global decline in microbial-derived carbon stocks with climate warming and its future projections.

Soil organic carbon (SOC) represents the largest terrestrial pool of organic carbon and is indispensable for mitigating climate change and sustaining soil fertility. As a major component of stable SOC, microbial-derived carbon (MDC) accounts for approximately half of the total SOC and has repercussions on climate feedback. However, our understanding of the spatial and temporal dynamics of MDC stocks is limited, hindering assessments of the long-term impacts of global warming on persistent SOC sequestration in the soil‒atmosphere carbon cycle.

Reducing the uncertainty in estimating soil microbial-derived carbon storage.

Soil organic carbon (SOC) is the largest carbon pool in terrestrial ecosystems and plays a crucial role in mitigating climate change and enhancing soil productivity. Microbial-derived carbon (MDC) is the main component of the persistent SOC pool. However, current formulas used to estimate the proportional contribution of MDC are plagued by uncertainties due to limited sample sizes and the neglect of bacterial group composition effects.

Assessing the environmental footprint of alternative green biorefinery protein extraction techniques from grasses and legumes.

The significant grasslands of Europe and its member states represents a significant feedstock opportunity for circular bioeconomy development. The development of green biorefineries (GBR), to supply protein for the feed industry from grass, could help many European member states to address significant deficits in protein availability and reduce imports. The current study assesses the environmental footprint of alternative GBR protein extraction techniques from grasses and legumes using life cycle assessment.

Mycorrhizal association controls soil carbon-degrading enzyme activities and soil carbon dynamics under nitrogen addition: A systematic review.

Recent evidence suggests that changes in carbon-degrading extracellular enzyme activities (C-EEAs) can help explain soil organic carbon (SOC) dynamics under nitrogen (N) addition. However, the factors controlling C-EEAs remain unclear, impeding the inclusion of microbial mechanisms in global C cycle models. Using meta-analysis, we show that the responses of C-EEAs to N addition were best explained by mycorrhizal association across a wide range of environmental and experimental factors.

Stability of R-phycoerythrin from Furcellaria lumbricalis - Dependence on purification strategies and purity.

R-phycoerythrin (R-PE) is the most abundant, naturally occurring phycobiliproteins found in red algae. The spectroscopic and structural properties of phycobiliproteins exhibit unique absorption characteristics with two significant absorption maxima at 498 and 565 nm, indicating two different chromophores of R-PE, phycourobilin and phycoerythrobilin respectively. This study aimed to clarify how the stability of R-PE purified from F.

Non-target analysis of Danish wastewater treatment plant effluent: Statistical analysis of chemical fingerprinting as a step toward a future monitoring tool.

In an attempt to discover and characterize the plethora of xenobiotic substances, this study investigates chemical compounds released into the environment with wastewater effluents. A novel non-targeted screening methodology based on ultra-high resolution Orbitrap mass spectrometry and nanoflow ultra-high performance liquid chromatography together with a newly optimized data-processing pipeline were applied to effluent samples from two state-of-the-art and one small wastewater treatment facility. In total, 785 molecular structures were obtained, of which 38 were identified as single compounds, while 480 structures were identified at a putative level.

Stability of individual anthocyanins from black carrots stored in light and darkness - Impact of acylation.

Black carrot anthocyanins have gained increasing attention as natural coloring agent, owing to their higher stability than anthocyanins from berries. The stability has been attributed to their higher degree of acylation. This study investigated the impact of acylation on the stability of individual anthocyanins during storage in light and darkness.

Depth-dependent responses of soil organic carbon under nitrogen deposition.

Emerging evidence points out that the responses of soil organic carbon (SOC) to nitrogen (N) addition differ along the soil profile, highlighting the importance of synthesizing results from different soil layers. Here, using a global meta-analysis, we found that N addition significantly enhanced topsoil (0-30 cm) SOC by 3.7% (±1.

In vitro post-ovulatory oocyte ageing in grass carp Ctenopharyngodon idella affects H4K12 acetylation pattern and histone acetyltransferase activity.

Delayed fertilization leads to the ageing of post-ovulatory oocytes and reduces the developmental competence of arising embryos. Little information is available about the molecular processes during fish oocyte ageing. The current study investigated the functional consequences of oocyte ageing in grass carp Ctenopharyngodon idella embryos.

Shifts in soil ammonia-oxidizing community maintain the nitrogen stimulation of nitrification across climatic conditions.

Anthropogenic nitrogen (N) loading alters soil ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) and bacteria (AOB) abundances, likely leading to substantial changes in soil nitrification. However, the factors and mechanisms determining the responses of soil AOA:AOB and nitrification to N loading are still unclear, making it difficult to predict future changes in soil nitrification. Herein, we synthesize 68 field studies around the world to evaluate the impacts of N loading on soil ammonia oxidizers and nitrification.

In vitro protein digestibility of RuBisCO from alfalfa obtained from different processing histories: Insights from free N-terminal and mass spectrometry study.

Ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate-carboxylase/oxygenase (RuBisCO) from alfalfa is a potentially climate-friendly alternative protein with a promising amino acid composition. The balance between yield and purity is a challenge for alternative plant proteins, partly due to the naturally occurring antinutrients. Therefore, measuring the in vitro protein digestibility (IVPD) of RuBisCO with various purity levels is of interest.

The microbial mechanisms by which long-term heavy metal contamination affects soil organic carbon levels.

Globally, reducing carbon emissions and mitigating soil heavy metal pollution pose pressing challenges. We evaluated the effects of lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) contamination in the field over 20 years. The five treatment groups featured Pb concentrations of 40 and 250 mg/kg, Cd concentrations of 10 and 60 mg/kg, and a combination of Pb and Cd (60 and 20 mg/kg, respectively); we also included a pollution-free control group.

Mowing accelerates phosphorus cycling without depleting soil phosphorus pool.

Mowing, as a common grassland utilization strategy, affects nutrient status in soil by plant biomass removal. Phosphorus (P) cycle plays an important role in determining grassland productivity. However, few studies have addressed the impacts of mowing on P cycling in grassland ecosystems.

Depth-dependent effects of tree species identity on soil microbial community characteristics and multifunctionality.

Soil microbes play key roles that support forest ecosystem functioning, while their community characteristics are strongly determined by tree species identity. However, the majority studies primarily focus on soil microorganisms in the topsoil, resulting in limited understanding of the linkages between tree species identity and the microbial communities that inhabit deep soils. Here we investigated the diversity, structure, function, and co-occurrence networks of soil bacterial and fungal communities, as well as related soil physicochemical properties, to a depth of two meters in dryland forests dominated by either Pinus tabuliformis, a native coniferous species, Robinia pseudoacacia, an exotic broadleaf and nitrogen-fixing species, or both.

Divergent coupling mechanism of precipitation on plant community multifunction across alpine grassland on the Tibetan Plateau.

Introduction: It is essential to understand plant adaptive strategies on plant stoichiometric traits at the species level rather than at the community level under various environmental conditions across the Tibetan Plateau (TP).

Methods: Here, plant community function and edaphic and meteorological factors were collected at 111 sites along an extensive water-heat gradient during the peak growing season in 2015. Community-weighted mean trait (CWM) was introduced to illuminating dynamics of the functional trait at the community level.

Differential responses of the seed germination of three functional groups to low temperature and darkness in a typical steppe, Northern China.

Seed germination is a key stage in the life history of plants, which has a crucial effect on plant community structure. Climate change has substantially altered the surface soil temperature and light availability, which can affect seed germination. However, whether the seed germination of different functional groups is affected by the interactions of light and temperature remains unclear.

Clipping decreases plant cover, litter mass, and water infiltration rate in soil across six plant community sites in a semiarid grassland.

Water infiltration in the soil is a crucial hydrological function in the land water cycle, especially in the semiarid region where water is relatively scarce. The semiarid grassland in Northern China represents the regional vegetation in the vast area of Eurasian continent and is sensitive to land use change. However, no clear patterns exist regarding the comprehensive examination of water infiltration in relation to clipping across six plant community sites.

Challenges in upscaling laboratory studies to ecosystems in soil microbiology research.

Soil microbiology has entered into the big data era, but the challenges in bridging laboratory-, field-, and model-based studies of ecosystem functions still remain. Indeed, the limitation of factors in laboratory experiments disregards interactions of a broad range of in situ environmental drivers leading to frequent contradictions between laboratory- and field-based studies, which may consequently mislead model development and projections. Upscaling soil microbiology research from laboratory to ecosystems represents one of the grand challenges facing environmental scientists, but with great potential to inform policymakers toward climate-smart and resource-efficient ecosystems.

Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungus "Rhizophagus irregularis" impacts on physiological and biochemical responses of ryegrass and chickpea plants under beryllium stress.

Heavy metals such as beryllium (Be) have been identified as toxic for plants with a negative impact on plant growth. Therefore, there is an urgent need for environmentally friendly techniques to reduce Be toxicity on plant growth and productivity. To this end, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are widely applied to induce plant growth and stress tolerance.

Oxygen availability regulates the quality of soil dissolved organic matter by mediating microbial metabolism and iron oxidation.

Dissolved organic matter (DOM) plays a vital role in biogeochemical processes and in determining the responses of soil organic matter (SOM) to global change. Although the quantity of soil DOM has been inventoried across diverse spatio-temporal scales, the underlying mechanisms accounting for variability in DOM dynamics remain unclear especially in upland ecosystems. Here, a gradient of SOM storage across 12 croplands in northeast China was used to understand links between DOM dynamics, microbial metabolism, and abiotic conditions.

Elevational shifts in foliar-soil δ N in the Hengduan Mountains and different potential mechanisms.

The natural abundance of stable nitrogen isotopes (δ N) provides insights into the N dynamics of terrestrial ecosystems, the determination of which is considered an effective approach for gaining a better understanding ecosystem N cycling. However, there is currently little information available regarding the patterns and mechanisms underlying the variation in foliar-soil δ N among mountain ecosystems. In this study, we examined the determinants of foliar-soil δ N in association with N transportation rates along an elevational gradient in the Hengduan Mountains.

Mycorrhizal fungi alleviate acidification-induced phosphorus limitation: Evidence from a decade-long field experiment of simulated acid deposition in a tropical forest in south China.

South China has been experiencing very high rate of acid deposition and severe soil acidification in recent decades, which has been proposed to exacerbate the regional ecosystem phosphorus (P) limitation. We conducted a 10-year field experiment of simulated acid deposition to examine how acidification impacts seasonal changes of different soil P fractions in a tropical forest with highly acidic soils in south China. As expected, acid addition significantly increased occluded P pool but reduced the other more labile P pools in the dry season.