Excessive accumulation of auxin inhibits protocorm development during germination of Paphiopedilum spicerianum.

Excessive auxin accumulation inhibits protocorm development during germination of Paphiopedilum spicerianum, delaying shoot meristem formation by downregulating boundary genes (CUC1, CUC2, CLV3) and promoting fungal colonization, essential for seedling establishment. Paphiopedilum, possess high horticultural and conservational value. Asymbiotic germination is a common propagation method, but high rates of protocorm developmental arrest hinder seedling establishment.

Mortality Rate from Circulatory Diseases, Ischemic Heart Disease and Cerebrovascular Diseases in Serbia, 1998-2021.

Background: According to World Health Organisation data, on the top ten causes of death in the world in 2019, ischemic heart diseases ranked first, followed by stroke and chronic respiratory diseases. This study aimed to make cross-section of the current mortality rates of indicators of circulatory diseases, ischemic heart diseases and cerebrovascular diseases, access the trends of indicators in Serbia more than two decades and to find the correlation of these observed indicators between males and females.

Methods: Medical indicators were taken from the publicly available Health for all databases that deals with long-term evaluation and monitoring of indicators obtained from national authorities.

Evolution of competitive ability and the response to nutrient availability: a resurrection study with the calcareous grassland herb, Leontodon hispidus.

Rapid environmental changes across Europe include warmer and increasingly variable temperatures, changes in soil nutrient availability, and pollinator decline. These abiotic and biotic changes can affect natural plant populations and force them to optimize resource use against competitors. To date, the evolution of competitive ability in the context of changes in nutrient availability remains understudied.

Land Use Change Consistently Reduces α- But Not β- and γ-Diversity of Bees.

Land use change threatens global biodiversity and compromises ecosystem functions, including pollination and food production. Reduced taxonomic α-diversity is often reported under land use change, yet the impacts could be different at larger spatial scales (i.e.

Mechanistic evaluation of enhanced graphene toxicity to Bacillus induced by humic acid adsorption.

The extensive application of graphene nanosheets (GNSs) has raised concerns over risks to sensitive species in the aquatic environment. The humic acid (HA) corona is traditionally considered to reduce GNSs toxicity. Here, we evaluate the effect of sorbed HA (GNSs-HA) on the toxicity of GNSs to Gram positive Bacillus tropicus.

Early allelopathic input and later nutrient addition mediated by litter decomposition of invasive affect native plant and facilitate its invasion.

Litter decomposition is essential for nutrient and chemical cycling in terrestrial ecosystems. Previous research on litter decomposition has often underestimated its impact on soil nutrient dynamics and allelopathy. To address this gap, we conducted a comprehensive study involving both field and greenhouse experiments to examine the decomposition and allelopathic effects of the invasive L.

Relationship between wind speed and plant hydraulics at the global scale.

Wind is an important ecological factor for plants as it can increase evapotranspiration and cause dehydration. However, the impact of wind on plant hydraulics at a global scale remains unclear. Here we compiled plant key hydraulic traits, including water potential at 50% loss of hydraulic conductivity (P), xylem-specific hydraulic conductivity (K), leaf area to sapwood area ratio (A/A) and conduit diameter (D) with 2,786 species-at-site combinations across 1,922 woody species at 469 sites worldwide and analysed their correlations with wind speed.

Regional patterns and climatic predictors of viruses in honey bee (Apis mellifera) colonies over time.

Honey bee viruses are serious pathogens that can cause poor colony health and productivity. We analyzed a multi-year longitudinal dataset of abundances of nine honey bee viruses (deformed wing virus A, deformed wing virus B, black queen cell virus, sacbrood virus, Lake Sinai virus, Kashmir bee virus, acute bee paralysis virus, chronic bee paralysis virus, and Israeli acute paralysis virus) in colonies located across Canada to describe broad trends in virus intensity and occurrence among regions and years. We also tested climatic variables (temperature, wind speed, and precipitation) as predictors in an effort to understand possible drivers underlying seasonal patterns in viral prevalence.

Reduced ATP turnover during hibernation in relaxed skeletal muscle.

Hibernating brown bears, due to a drastic reduction in metabolic rate, show only moderate muscle wasting. Here, we evaluate if ATPase activity of resting skeletal muscle myosin can contribute to this energy sparing. By analyzing single muscle fibers taken from the same bears, either during hibernation or in summer, we find that fibers from hibernating bears have a mild decline in force production and a significant reduction in ATPase activity.

Titanium nitride sensor for selective NO detection.

Efficient detection methods are needed to monitor nitrogen dioxide (NO), a major NO pollutant from fossil fuel combustion that poses significant threats to both ecology and human health. Current NO detection technologies face limitations in stability and selectivity. Here, we present a transition metal nitride sensor that exhibits exceptional selectivity for NO, demonstrating a sensitivity 30 times greater than that of the strongest interfering gas, NO.

Tissue-specific vitellogenesis and 17β-estradiol facilitate ovarian maturation of the swimming crab Portunus trituberculatus.

The present study investigated the changes of expression and localization of PtVg mRNA, tissue Vg/ Vn concentrations, the contents of progesterone and 17ß-estradiol during the ovarian development of P. trituberculatus. The results showed that: 1) The most abundant mRNA levels of PtVg were found in stage IV, and hepatopancreatic PtVg mRNA was markedly greater than that in ovaries from stage II to stage V.

Geometric series exists in nature: Evidence from sorted area sequences of floral parts and leaves.

The concept of a geometric series (GS) plays an important role in mathematics. However, it has been neglected in describing biological size series. Herein, we show that a GS describes the nonreproductive (perianth) parts of the flowers of four Magnoliaceae species and two Rosaceae species and the leaves of 60 Alangium chinense and 60 Shibataea chinensis shoots.

Avian circoviruses and hepadnaviruses identified in tissue samples of various waterfowl.

North America is home to over 40 species of migratory waterfowl. Utilizing tissue and cloacal-swab sampling from hunter-harvested carcasses in 2021-2023, we identified circular DNA viruses associated with 116 waterfowl samples from nine species (American wigeons, Mexican ducks, northern shovelers, northern pintails, canvasbacks, mallards, American black ducks, gadwalls, and green-winged teals). We determined the genome sequences of viruses in the families Circoviridae (n = 18) and Hepadnaviridae (n = 2) from the 13 virus-infected birds.

"": physicians' perceptions on climate change information and adaptation strategies - qualitative study in Portugal.

Background: Climate change presents several challenges to public health and its professionals. This article aims to fill a significant gap in the current literature by understanding physicians' perceptions of their role in educating others about health adaptation to climate change. It also explores their knowledge of health policies related to this issue in Portugal and their perceived influence on the development of adaptation policies at both local and national levels within the health sector.

Zinc finger proteins facilitate adaptation of a global insect pest to climate change.

Background: Global climate change significantly impacts ecosystems, particularly through temperature fluctuations that affect insect physiology and behavior. As poikilotherms, insect pests such as the globally devastating diamondback moth (DBM), Plutella xylostella, are especially vulnerable to rising temperatures and extreme heat events, necessitating effective adaptive mechanisms.

Results: Here we demonstrate the roles of zinc finger proteins (ZFPs) in mediating thermal adaptability in DBM.

Unraveling the drivers of optimal stomatal behavior in global C plants: A carbon isotope perspective.

Understanding the drivers of stomatal behavior is critical for modeling terrestrial carbon cycle and water balance. The unified stomatal optimization (USO) model provides a mechanistic linkage between stomatal conductance (g) and photosynthesis (A), with its slope parameter (g) inversely related to intrinsic water use efficiency (iWUE), providing a key proxy to characterize the differences in iWUE and stomatal behavior. While many studies have identified multiple environmental factors influencing g, the potential role of evolutionary history in shaping g remains incompletely understood.

Global spatiotemporal characterization factors for freshwater eutrophication under climate change scenarios.

Nutrient enrichment of water bodies can lead to eutrophication, which poses a global threat to freshwater ecosystems, affecting biodiversity and water quality. While human activities have accelerated eutrophication, climate change further complicates the dynamics of nutrient cycling and ecosystem responses. Here, we provide global, spatially explicit freshwater eutrophication characterization factors, at an annual resolution from 2021 up to 2099 based on eight different climate change scenarios.

Concentrations, composition profiles, and in vitro-in silico-based mixture risk assessment of bisphenol A and its analogs in plant-based foods.

The substitution of bisphenol A (BPA) with structurally similar analogs has raised concerns due to their comparable estrogenic activities. Considering the high consumption of plant-based foods, assessing the risks posed by bisphenols (BPs) in such dietary sources is essential. However, limited exposure and animal toxicological data on BP analogs hinder comprehensive risk assessments.

Personalized modeling of gut microbiome metabolism throughout the first year of life.

Background: Early-life exposures including diet, and the gut microbiome have been proposed to predispose infants towards multifactorial diseases later in life. Delivery via Cesarian section disrupts the establishment of the gut microbiome and has been associated with negative long-term outcomes. Here, we hypothesize that Cesarian section delivery alters not only the composition of the developing infant gut microbiome but also its metabolic capabilities.

Biotechnological advances in plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria for sustainable agriculture.

The rhizosphere, the soil zone surrounding plant roots, serves as a reservoir for numerous beneficial microorganisms that enhance plant productivity and crop yield, with substantial potential for application as biofertilizers. These microbes play critical roles in ecological processes such as nutrient recycling, organic matter decomposition, and mineralization. Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) represent a promising tool for sustainable agriculture, enabling green management of crop health and growth, being eco-friendly alternatives to replace chemical fertilizers and pesticides.

Hydrological modeling applied to water synergy evaluation in Castanhão Reservoir, Ceará, Brazil.

Arid and semiarid regions have particularities that make more difficult hydrological modeling, such as shallow soils, pronounced temporal and spatial irregularity of precipitation, and sometimes, lack of consistent data. In order to contribute to the hydrological studies in these regions, this research used the CAWM IV model (Campus Agreste Watershed Model Version IV), specially developed for applications in these areas. This model was used to simulate the input of natural flows in the Castanhão reservoir, the most important reservoir in the state of Ceará, northeast of Brazil.

Essential oil of (L.) ssp. (Apiaceae) flower: chemical composition, antimicrobial potential, and insecticidal activity on (L.).

In order to search for new chemotypes and to carry out a comparative study with the literature, the current study investigated the chemical composition of the essential oil of the flowers of (L.) ssp. using gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS).

Calibrated Ecosystem Models Cannot Predict the Consequences of Conservation Management Decisions.

Ecosystem models are often used to predict the consequences of management interventions in applied ecology and conservation. These models are often high-dimensional and nonlinear, yet limited data are available to calibrate or validate them. Consequently, their utility as decision-support tools is unclear.

Environmental Conditions Modulate Warming Effects on Plant Litter Decomposition Globally.

Empirical studies worldwide show that warming has variable effects on plant litter decomposition, leaving the overall impact of climate change on decomposition uncertain. We conducted a meta-analysis of 109 experimental warming studies across seven continents, using natural and standardised plant material, to assess the overarching effect of warming on litter decomposition and identify potential moderating factors. We determined that at least 5.