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Flexible solid-state supercapacitors (SCs) with hydrogel as an electrolyte and separator combine the advantages of wearability and energy storage and exhibit a broad application prospect in wearable energy textiles. However, irreversible electrolyte damage and unstable electrode-electrolyte interfaces during mechanical deformations remain bottlenecks in realizing truly wearable applications. Herein, poly(acrylic acid) (PAA)-Fe hydrogels were prepared through a simple thermal polymerization strategy. The dynamic reversible metal coordination bonds between Fe 3+ and carboxylic acids confers the hydrogels with excellent self-healing properties. As expected, the prepared hydrogels exhibited superior mechanical strength (tensile stress of 45.80 kPa), ionic conductivity (0.076 S cm -1 ), and self-healing properties. Subsequently, the SCs were constructed using composite hydrogel electrodes (MnO 2 @CC embedded in the PAA-Fe hydrogels) as symmetrical electrodes (marked as MSCs). The reversible metal coordination bonds between composite hydrogel electrodes formed an ultrastable electrode/electrolyte interface in the all-in-one MSCs, thus revealing excellent mechanical durability. The all-in-one MSCs delivered a remarkable specific capacitance (30.98 F g -1 at 0.2 A g -1 ), excellent cyclic stability (87.24% after 5000 cycles), outstanding mechanical deformation stability, and impressive electrochemical output stability after self-healing (capacitance retention of 85.34% after five cycles of cutting/self-healing). It is noteworthy that the all-in-one MSCs employed NaCl as an electrolyte, which can be obtained from human sweat. As a proof of the self-charged concept, the all-in-one MSCs can be reused in sweat, whose capacitance was maintained at 90.05% of the initial state after three repetitions. This work is expected to shine light into the design of all-in-one and fabric-based SCs and the development of wearable energy textiles.

Fermented skim milk is an ideal food for consumers such as diabetic and obese patients, but its low-fat content affects its texture and viscosity. In this study, we developed an effective pretreatment method for fermented skim milk using low-frequency ultrasound (US), and investigated the molecular mechanism of the corresponding quality improvement. The skim milk samples were treated by optimal ultrasonication conditions (336 W power for 7 min at 3 °C), which improved the viscosity, water-holding capacity, sensory attributes, texture, and microstructure of fermented skim milk (P < 0.05). Further mechanistic analyses revealed that the US treatment enhanced the exposure of fluorescent amino acids within proteins, facilitating the cross-linking between casein and whey. The increased surface hydrophobicity of fermented milk indicates that the US treatment led to the exposure of hydrophobic amino acid residues inside proteins, contributing to the formation of a denser gel network; the average particle size of milk protein was reduced from 24.85 to 18.06 µm, which also contributed to the development of a softer curd texture. This work is the first attempt to explain the effect of a low-frequency ultrasound treatment on the quality of fermented skim milk and discuss the molecular mechanism of its improvement., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: circRNA NFIX has been shown to exist as an oncogene in glioma. But its expression and role in NSCLC (non-small cell lung cancer) are still unclear. This research aimed to discover the expression and function of circRNA NFIX in NSCLC., Methods: In this research, qRT-PCR was utilized to investigate the expression levels of circRNA NFIX, miRNA-214-3p, and TRIAP1 in NSCLC tissues and cell lines. The binding sites between circRNA NFIX/TRIAP1 and miRNA-214-3p were predicted using the Starbase. These interactions were further validated using a double luciferase reporter assay. Cell proliferation and apoptosis were assessed through MTT and flow cytometry, respectively. The expression of apoptosis-related proteins was measured by western blot assay., Results: miRNA-214-3p could link with circRNA NFIX. circRNA NFIX was upregulated, while miRNA-214-3p was downregulated in NSCLC cell lines and clinical samples. Besides, suppression of circRNA NFIX repressed cell proliferation and induced apoptosis in NSCLC cells by upregulating miRNA-214-3p expression. Besides, the data indicated that TRIAP1 was a target of miRNA-214-3p, and it was negatively regulated by miRNA-214-3p in NSCLC cells. The excessive expression of miRNA-214-3p suppressed NSCLC cell proliferation and increased apoptosis. In addition, overexpression of TRIAP1 significantly reversed the effects on NSCLC cells caused by miRNA-214-3p mimic., Conclusion: circRNA NFIX silencing repressed the proliferation of NSCLC cells and induced cell apoptosis by regulating the miR-214-3p/TRIAP1 axis, which was a potential diagnostic and therapeutic target for NSCLC., (© 2024 The Author(s). The Clinical Respiratory Journal published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

In nature, spider web is an interwoven network with high stability and elasticity from silk threads secreted by spider. Inspired by the structure of spider webs, light-driven liquid crystal elastomer (LCE) active yarn is designed with super-contractile and robust weavability. Herein, a novel biomimetic gold nanorods (AuNRs) @LCE yarn soft actuator with hierarchical structure is fabricated by a facile electrospinning and subsequent photocrosslinking strategies. Meanwhile, the inherent mechanism and actuation performances of the as-prepared yarn actuator with interleaving network are systematically analyzed. Results demonstrate that thanks to the unique "like-spider webs" structure between fibers, high molecular orientation within the LCE microfibers and good flexibility, they can generate super actuation strain (≈81%) and stable actuation performances. Importantly, benefit from the robust covalent bonding at the organic-inorganic interface, photopolymerizable AuNRs molecules are uniformly introduced into the polymer backbone of electrospun LCE yarn to achieve tailorable shape-morphing under different light intensity stimulation. As a proof-of-concept illustration, light-driven artificial muscles, micro swimmers, and hemostatic bandages are successfully constructed. The research disclosed herein can offer new insights into continuous production and development of LCE-derived yarn actuator that are of paramount significance for many applications from smart fabrics to flexible wearable devices., (© 2024 The Authors. Advanced Science published by Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Plant-parasitic nematodes (PPNs) are among the most serious phytopathogens and cause widespread and serious damage in major crops. In this study, using a genome mining method, we identified nonribosomal peptide synthetase (NRPS)-like enzymes in genomes of plant-parasitic nematodes, which are conserved with two consecutive reducing domains at the N-terminus (A-T-R 1 -R 2 ) and homologous to fungal NRPS-like ATRR. We experimentally investigated the roles of the NRPS-like enzyme (MiATRR) in nematode ( Meloidogyne incognita ) parasitism. Heterologous expression of Miatrr in Saccharomyces cerevisiae can overcome the growth inhibition caused by high concentrations of glycine betaine. RT-qPCR detection shows that Miatrr is significantly upregulated at the early parasitic life stage (J2s in plants) of M. incognita . Host-derived Miatrr RNA interference (RNAi) in Arabidopsis thaliana can significantly decrease the number of galls and egg masses of M. incognita , as well as retard development and reduce the body size of the nematode. Although exogenous glycine betaine and choline have no obvious impact on the survival of free-living M. incognita J2s (pre-parasitic J2s), they impact the performance of the nematode in planta, especially in Miatrr -RNAi plants. Following application of exogenous glycine betaine and choline in the rhizosphere soil of A. thaliana , the numbers of galls and egg masses were obviously reduced by glycine betaine but increased by choline. Based on the knowledge about the function of fungal NRPS-like ATRR and the roles of glycine betaine in host plants and nematodes, we suggest that MiATRR is involved in nematode-plant interaction by acting as a glycine betaine reductase, converting glycine betaine to choline. This may be a universal strategy in plant-parasitic nematodes utilizing NRPS-like ATRR to promote their parasitism on host plants.

Rare-earth complexes are vital for separation chemistry and useful in many advanced applications including emission and energy upconversion. Here, 2D rare-earth clusters having net charges are formed on a metal surface, enabling investigations of their structural and electronic properties on a one-cluster-at-a-time basis using scanning tunneling microscopy. While these ionic complexes are highly mobile on the surface at ≈100 K, their mobility is greatly reduced at 5 K and reveals stable and self-limiting clusters. In each cluster, a pair of charged rare-earth complexes formed by electrostatic and dispersive interactions act as a basic unit, and the clusters are chiral. Unlike other non-ionic molecular clusters formed on the surfaces, these rare-earth clusters show mechanical stability. Moreover, their high mobility on the surface suggests that they are in a 2D liquid-like state., (© 2024 UChicago Argonne, LLC and The Authors. Advanced Science published by Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Insomnia, which is highly prevalent among college students, has been identified as one of the negative consequences of childhood maltreatment. While prior studies have uncovered distinct correlations between childhood maltreatment, insomnia, and other variables, the potential underlying mechanisms need to be further explored. This study focused on the chain-mediating role of alexithymia and psychological distress in the relationship between childhood maltreatment and insomnia. An online cross-sectional survey was conducted among Chinese college students, yielding 999 valid questionnaires that included demographic information, the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire-Short Form (CTQ-SF), the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS), the 21-item Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21), and the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI). A chain-mediating model was then tested. The results revealed significant positive correlations between each pair of the four variables. Alexithymia and psychological distress separately mediated the link between childhood maltreatment and insomnia (effect of alexithymia was 0.06 with 95 % CI [0.03, 0.09]; effect of psychological distress was 0.24 with 95 % CI [0.19, 0.29]). Additionally, a chain-mediating effect of alexithymia and psychological distress was observed (chain-mediating effect was 0.12 with 95 % CI [0.09, 0.15]). The findings suggest that emotional interventions may mitigate the long-term effect of childhood maltreatment on sleep problems among college students, by improving the ability to recognize emotions and decreasing emotional problems., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no competing interests., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

The endoparasitic fungus Hirsutella rhossiliensis is an important biocontrol agent of cyst nematodes in nature. To determine the potential parasitism of the fungus on a non-natural host, the pinewood nematode ( Bursaphelenchus xylophilus ) living in pine trees and the endophytic ability of the fungus on plants, in this paper, we first constructed and utilized a green fluorescent protein (GFP)-tagged H. rhossiliensis HR02 transformant to observe the fungal infection process on B . xylophilus and its colonization on Arabidopsis roots. Then, we compared the fungal parasitism on three species of nematodes with different lifestyles, and we found that the fungal parasitism is correlated with nematode species and stages. The parasitic effect of H. rhossiliensis on adults of B. xylophilus is similar to that on second-stage juveniles (J2) of the root-knot nematode Meloidogyne incognita after 24 h of inoculation, although the virulence of the fungus to second-stage juveniles of M. incognita is stronger than that to those of B. xylophilus and Caenorhabditis elegans . Moreover, the endophytism of H. rhossiliensis was confirmed. By applying an appropriate concentration of H. rhossiliensis conidial suspension (5 × 10 6 spores/mL) in rhizosphere soil, it was found that the endophytic fungus can promote A. thaliana growth and reproduction, as well as improve host resistance against M. incognita. Our results provide a deeper understanding of the fungus H. rhossiliensis as a promising biocontrol agent against plant-parasitic nematodes.

Although alkaline sulfite activation of ferrate (Fe(VI)) has advantages of fast response and high activity for degradation of organic contaminants, the specific production pathways of active species and the pH conditions still hinder its widespread application. Based on this, our study constructed a novel advanced oxidation process of calcium sulfite (CaSO 3 ) could activated Fe(VI) continuously by Ca 2+ buffering and investigated the mechanism under different pH values and CaSO 3 dosages with ciprofloxacin as a target organic pollutant. The results showed that Ca 2+ stabilized the process at a neutral/weakly alkaline microenvironment of pH 7-8, which could alleviate the hydrolysis of ≡Fe IV =O by protons and iron hydroxyl groups. Besides, the removal of pollutants occurred efficiently when sulfate (SO 3 2- ) was excessive and had a 3:1 ratio of SO 3 2- to Fe(VI), achieving more than 99% removal of electron-rich phenolic organic pollutants within 2 min. By adding different radical scavengers and combining electrochemical analysis methods and electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy techniques to revealed that the main active species in Fe(VI)/CaSO 3 process were ≡Fe IV =O/≡Fe V =O. Furthermore, the reactivity of various sulfate species (such as SO 3 2- , SO 3 •- , SO 4 •- , SO 5 •- ) with Fe(VI) was calculated using density functional theory (DFT), and it was found that Fe(VI)-SO 3 2- reaction has a much lower energy barrier (-36.08 kcal/mol), indicating that SO 3 2- can readily activate Fe(VI) and generate ≡Fe IV =O to attack the atoms with high Fukui index (f - ) in organic pollutants. The above results confirm the feasibility of Fe(VI)/CaSO 3 process. Thus, this study can theoretically and practically prove that the main active species is ≡Fe IV =O, rather than SO 4 •- or • OH in Fe(VI)/CaSO 3 process., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Fiber-based supercapacitors (FSCs) exhibit desirable application potential and development prospects in wearable energy storage devices because of their flexibility and wearability. However, the low capacity in the unit volume and insufficient fiber strength hinder their further development in practical application. Herein, the MnO 2 nanomaterials with regulatable crystalline structure were synthesized by one-step hydrothermal strategy. The formation of the MnO 2 crystalline structure involved the "crimp-phase transition" process. Among them, the 2 × 2 tunnel type α-MnO 2 nanowires exhibited excellent electrochemical capacitance (43.8 F g -1 ), high rate performance (61%, 0.25 to 6 A g -1 ), and remarkable cyclic stability (99%), which can be attributed to their good symmetry in space and high shared vertices proportion. On this basis, the α-MnO 2 nanowires were coblended with GO to construct MnO 2 /rGO hybrid fibers by scalable continuous wet spinning and in situ acid reduction. Noteworthily, in MnO 2 /rGO hybrid fibers, the doping amount of MnO 2 nanowires as high as 50 wt % could be achieved, while the strength reached 11.73 MPa, which can be ascribed to the superior surface morphology of MnO 2 nanowires and the unique cement wall structure of hybrid fibers. Finally, the obtained hybrid fiber electrodes were assembled into symmetrical FSCs. Notably, the FSCs delivered remarkable volume specific capacitance (129.5 F cm -3 ) and impressive energy density (18 mWh cm -3 ) at 1.75 A cm -3 . In addition, the assembled all-solid-state FSCs indicated excellent deformability and application potential. This work offers some insight for promoting the continuous preparation of fiber electrodes, the development of FSCs, and practical application in wearable energy textile.

We investigate the limit of X-ray detection at room temperature on rare-earth molecular films using lanthanum and a pyridine-based dicarboxamide organic linker as a model system. Synchrotron X-ray scanning tunneling microscopy is used to probe the molecules with different coverages on a HOPG substrate. X-ray-induced photocurrent intensities are measured as a function of molecular coverage on the sample, allowing a correlation of the amount of La ions with the photocurrent signal strength. X-ray absorption spectroscopy shows cogent M 4,5 absorption edges of the lanthanum ion originated by the transitions from the 3d 3/2 and 3d 5/2 to 4f orbitals. X-ray absorption spectra measured in the tunneling regime further reveal an X-ray excited tunneling current produced at the M 4,5 absorption edge of the La ion down to the ultimate atomic limit at room temperature., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest., (© 2023 UChicago Argonne, LLC, Operator of Argonne National Laboratory. Published by American Chemical Society.)

Stroke patients may have dysphagia and frequent aspiration increasing exposure to antibiotics and the chance of multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria infection. This study investigated clinical risk factors and related antibiotic use of MDR bacteria infection in stroke patients in the rehabilitation ward, hoping that it can help prevent and reduce the condition of MDR bacteria. A retrospective cohort study was conducted using the database of stroke patients with pneumonia admitted to the rehabilitation ward from January 1, 2020, to June 30, 2022. The selected stroke patients were divided into the MDR and non-MDR groups. Analyze the infection bacteria of the 2 groups. Forward logistic regression was applied to identify possible independent MDR bacteria infection risk factors. A total of 323 patients were included. The top 3 common MDR pathogens were Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Acinetobacter baumannii. Almost all Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Acinetobacter baumannii are resistant to ertapenem. National Institute of Health stroke scale at admission was associated with MDR bacteria infection pneumonia (OR [odds ratio] = 1.078, 95%CI [1.017, 1.142]). Long-term tracheotomy (OR = 2.695, 95%CI [1.232, 5.897]), hypoalbuminemia (OR = 473, 95%CI [1.318, 4.642]), and bilateral cerebral hemisphere stroke (OR = 4.021, 95%CI [2.009, 8.048]) were significant clinical risk factors of MDR pneumonia after stroke. The detection rate of MDR bacteria has increased. Understanding the distribution and drug resistance of MDR bacteria in stroke patients with pneumonia in the neurological rehabilitation ward and the related susceptibility of MDR bacteria infection is necessary. This way, the treatment plan can be adjusted more timely, avoiding the abuse of antibiotics., Competing Interests: This study analyzes count data has been approved by the Ethics Committee of the institution within which this study was undertaken. Moreover, it conforms to the provisions of the Declaration of Helsinki. This clinical study is a retrospective study, which only collects the clinical data of patients, does not interfere with the treatment plan of patients, and will not bring risks to the physiology of patients. Research data collection complies with national laws, regulations, and social ethics. The authors received the approval of the institutional review board: The patient consent to review the medical records in this research was not required because the study design of this research is a retrospective study. It only collects the patient clinical data, does not interfere with the patient treatment plan, will not bring risks to the patient physiology, has no harm to patients, and has no conflict of interest. The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose., (Copyright © 2023 the Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.)

Since the discovery of X-rays by Roentgen in 1895, its use has been ubiquitous, from medical and environmental applications to materials sciences 1-5 . X-ray characterization requires a large number of atoms and reducing the material quantity is a long-standing goal. Here we show that X-rays can be used to characterize the elemental and chemical state of just one atom. Using a specialized tip as a detector, X-ray-excited currents generated from an iron and a terbium atom coordinated to organic ligands are detected. The fingerprints of a single atom, the L 2,3 and M 4,5 absorption edge signals for iron and terbium, respectively, are clearly observed in the X-ray absorption spectra. The chemical states of these atoms are characterized by means of near-edge X-ray absorption signals, in which X-ray-excited resonance tunnelling (X-ERT) is dominant for the iron atom. The X-ray signal can be sensed only when the tip is located directly above the atom in extreme proximity, which confirms atomically localized detection in the tunnelling regime. Our work connects synchrotron X-rays with a quantum tunnelling process and opens future X-rays experiments for simultaneous characterizations of elemental and chemical properties of materials at the ultimate single-atom limit., (© 2023. This is a U.S. Government work and not under copyright protection in the US; foreign copyright protection may apply.)

A scheme combining alkali‑oxygen cooking and ultrasonic etching cleaning was developed for the short range preparation of CNF from bagasse pith, which has a soft tissue structure and is rich in parenchyma cells. This scheme expands the utilization path of sugar waste sucrose pulp. The effect of NaOH, O 2 , macromolecular carbohydrates, and lignin on subsequent ultrasonic etching was analyzed, and it was found that the degree of alkali‑oxygen cooking was positively correlated with the difficulty of subsequent ultrasonic etching. The mechanism of ultrasonic nano-crystallization was found to be the bidirectional etching mode from the edge and surface cracks of the cell fragments by ultrasonic microjet in the microtopography of CNF. The optimum preparation scheme was obtained under the condition of 28 % NaOH content and 0.5 MPa O 2 , which solves the problem of low-value utilization of bagasse pith and environmental pollution, providing a new possibility for the source of CNF., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Background: About 75% of patients with cerebral infarction suffer from sensory impairment in varying degrees. It prolongs the time for patients to resume normal life and work. The aim of this study was to retrospectively investigate the clinical characteristics affecting the recovery of sensory impairment., Materials and Methods: This was a retrospective case-control study. Data of inpatients at the First Affiliated Hospital of Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine were investigated. We collected information on the patients with sensory disturbances after cerebral infarction. Cases were defined according to whether the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) and visual analogue scale (VAS) scores improved. A total of 1078 inpatients from January 1, 2019, to December 31, 2021, were screened. Among those, 187 cases included in this study were divided into no improvement and improvement groups. We compared the clinical characteristics affecting the rehabilitation of these patients., Results: The number of patients aged between 63 and 73 years in the no improvement group were significantly higher ( P <0.05). The incidence of coronary heart disease and thalamus infarction was significantly higher in patients in the no improvement cohort ( P <0.05). Furthermore, coronary heart disease [odds ratio=0.466, 95% confidence interval (0.252, 0.863), P =0.015] and thalamic infarction [odds ratio=0.457, 95% confidence interval (0.230, 0.908), P =0.025] were the independent risk factors against the recovery of sensory disturbance after cerebral infarction., Conclusions: Patients with thalamus infarction and coronary heart disease may be more inclined to recover poorly from somatosensory deficits., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Limb motor disorders after stroke are very common, and the clinical related factors of improving limb motor function are still unclear. As a part of comprehensive rehabilitation strategy, acupuncture has been widely used in rehabilitation after stroke in China. But more evidence is needed for the influence of acupuncture and some other clinical factors on post-stroke motor disorders., Patients and Methods: A retrospective study was conducted using the database of patients with post-stroke motor disorders admitted to the Neurological Rehabilitation Unit of the First Teaching Hospital of Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine. The included patients were grouped according to whether NIHSS improved or muscle strength improved. The positive logistic regression was used to analyze the influencing factors of possible NIHSS improvement. Combined with the influencing factors of NIHSS improvement and muscle strength improvement, the influencing factors of limb motor function recovery after stroke were obtained., Results: When analyzing the baseline of the included patients, it was found that patients with NIHSS improvement had earlier acupuncture intervention time (M, (IQR):13.5 (14), OR=0.716, 95% CI [0.591-0.869], p=0.001), more cumulative acupuncture treatment times (M,(IQR):29 (12), OR=0.744, 95% CI [0.608-0.910], p=0.004), and less hypertension history (OR=0.256, 95% CI [0.082-0.801], p=0.019). Smoking history only has positive significance in univariate and multivariate analysis of NIHSS, not muscle strength (OR=0.274, 95% CI [0.097-0.779], p=0.015)., Conclusion: The earlier acupuncture intervention and the more cumulative acupuncture treatment times are, the more beneficial the limb function of stroke patients with motor disorders will be. The previous history of hypertension is the influencing factor of limb motor function not improving in patients with limb motor disorder after a stroke. The effect of smoking history on limb movement function of patients with limb motor disorder after stroke needs further study., Competing Interests: The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest regarding the publication of this article., (© 2023 Wu et al.)

An effective selection marker is necessary for genetic engineering and functional genomics research in the post-genomic era. Isaria javanica is an important entomopathogenic fungus with a broad host range and prospective biocontrol potentials. Given that no antibiotic marker is available currently in this fungus, developing an effective selection marker is necessary. In this study, by applying overlap PCR and split-marker deletion strategy, combining PEG-mediated protoplasm transformation method, the uridine auxotrophy gene ( ura3 ) in the I. javanica genome was knocked out. Then, using this transformation system, the pH response transcription factor gene ( IjpacC ) was disrupted successfully. Loss of IjpacC gene results in an obvious decrease in conidial production, but little impact on mycelial growth. The virulence of the Δ IjpacC mutant on caterpillars is similar to that of the wild-type strain. RT-qPCR detection shows that expression level of an acidic-expressed S53 gene (IF1G&#95;06234) in Δ IjpacC mutant is more significantly upregulated than in the wild-type strain during the fungal infection on caterpillars. Our results indicate that a markerless transformation system based upon complementation of uridine auxotrophy is successfully developed in I. javanica , which is useful for exploring gene function and for genetic engineering to enhance biological control potential of the fungus.

The potato tuberworm, Phthorimaea operculella Zeller, is an oligophagous pest feeding on crops mainly belonging to the family Solanaceae. It is one of the most destructive pests of potato worldwide and attacks foliage and tubers in the field and in storage. However, the lack of a high-quality reference genome has hindered the association of phenotypic traits with their genetic basis. Here, we report on the genome assembly of P. operculella at the chromosomal level. Using Illumina, Nanopore and Hi-C sequencing, a 648.2 Mb genome was generated from 665 contigs, with an N50 length of 3.2 Mb, and 92.0% (596/648.2 Mb) of the assembly was anchored to 29 chromosomes. In total, 16619 genes were annotated, and 92.4% of BUSCO genes were fully represented. The chromosome-level genome of P. operculella will provide a significant resource for understanding the genetic basis for the biological study of this insect, and for promoting the integrative management of this pest in future., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Defects and vacancies are the essential reasons for the removal of heavy metal ions from wastewater by low-cost biochar materials. This study aimed to use chemically activated hemp stem core alkali extraction residue biochar as an adsorbent to remove nickel (Ni) and copper (Cu) ions from the simulated waste liquid. A large number of defects and vacancies were introduced into the pyrolysis process to study the efficient removal of heavy metal ions Cu and Ni by hemp rod biomass carbon material (HSR-BC) with different carbon base mass ratios and temperatures. The specific surface area of the prepared hemp rod active biochar was highly correlated with the aperture and carbon base ratio and temperature, and reached the maximum value (1429 m 2 /g) at 600 °C with the ratio of carbon to base (1:3.5). The removal rates of heavy metals Ni(II) and Cu(II) were as high as 94.25% and 99.54%, respectively, and the adsorption capacities were up to 7.85 mg/g and 24.88 mg/g. The adsorption isotherm follows the Langmuir equation and chemo-adsorption was the main adsorption process. Comparing the surface defects and vacancies of biochar materials before and after adsorption showed that the defects of sp-C and oxygen vacancies produced on the edge of the carbon were the main active sites of the biochar material, an amount of carbon defects would become an anchor site for the Lewis acidic groups, the defective acid site strengthened the electron transfer between the functional group and the Ni(II)/Cu(II), promoted the strong cooperation of Ni(II)/Cu(II) ions with -COOH group to enable efficient and rapid adsorption removal. In addition, a large number of carbon-deficient structures could quickly anchor the Ni(II)/Cu(II) due to their local electron deficiency state, which was difficult to desorb. This study provided an in-depth understanding and guidance for the development of low-cost biochar materials with excellent removal performance of heavy metal ions., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Complexes containing rare-earth ions attract great attention for their technological applications ranging from spintronic devices to quantum information science. While charged rare-earth coordination complexes are ubiquitous in solution, they are challenging to form on materials surfaces that would allow investigations for potential solid-state applications. Here we report formation and atomically precise manipulation of rare-earth complexes on a gold surface. Although they are composed of multiple units held together by electrostatic interactions, the entire complex rotates as a single unit when electrical energy is supplied from a scanning tunneling microscope tip. Despite the hexagonal symmetry of the gold surface, a counterion at the side of the complex guides precise three-fold rotations and 100% control of their rotational directions is achieved using a negative electric field from the scanning probe tip. This work demonstrates that counterions can be used to control dynamics of rare-earth complexes on materials surfaces for quantum and nanomechanical applications., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Peptidases are very important to parasites, which have central roles in parasite biology and pathogenesis. In this study, by comparative genome analysis, genome-wide peptidase diversities among plant-parasitic nematodes are estimated. We find that genes encoding cysteine peptidases in family C13 (legumain) are significantly abundant in pine wood nematodes Bursaphelenchus genomes, compared to those in other plant-parasitic nematodes. By phylogenetic analysis, a clade of B. xylophilus -specific legumain is identified. RT-qPCR detection shows that these genes are highly expressed at early stage during the nematode infection process. Utilizing transgene technology, cDNAs of three species-specific legumain were introduced into the Arabidopsis γvpe mutant. Functional complementation assay shows that these B. xylophilus legumains can fully complement the activity of Arabidopsis γVPE to mediate plant cell death triggered by the fungal toxin FB1. Secretory activities of these legumains are experimentally validated. By comparative transcriptome analysis, genes involved in plant cell death mediated by legumains are identified, which enrich in GO terms related to ubiquitin protein transferase activity in category molecular function, and response to stimuli in category biological process. Our results suggest that B. xylophilu -specific legumains have potential as effectors to be involved in nematode-plant interaction and can be related to host cell death.

The coordinated proliferation and apoptosis of granulosa cells plays a critical role in follicular development. To identify the exact mechanisms of how stress-driven glucocorticoid production suppresses reproduction, granulosa cells were isolated from chicken follicles at different developmental stages and then treated with corticosterone. Using CCK-8, EDU and TUNEL assays, we showed that corticosterone could trigger both anti-proliferative and pro-apoptotic effects in granulosa cells from 6 to 8 mm follicles only, while depicting no influence on granulosa cells from any preovulatory follicles. High-throughput transcriptomic analysis identified 1362 transcripts showing differential expression profiles in granulosa cells from 6 to 8 mm follicles after corticosterone treatment. Interestingly, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes enrichment analysis revealed that 17 genes were enriched in the TGF-β signaling pathway, and 13 showed differential expression patterns consistent with corticosterone-induced effects. The differential expression profiles of these 13 genes were examined by quantitative real-time PCR in cultured chicken ovarian granulosa cells at diverse developmental stages following corticosterone challenge for a short (8 h) or long period (24 h). After 24 h of treatment, INHBB, FST, FMOD, NOG, ACVR1, SMAD1 and ID3 were the genes that responded consistently with corticosterone-induced proliferative and apoptotic events in all granulosa cells detected. However, only ACVR1, SMAD1 and ID3 could initiate coincident expression patterns after being treated for 8 h, suggesting their significance in corticosterone-mediated actions. Collectively, these findings indicate that corticosterone can inhibit proliferation and cause apoptosis in chicken ovarian prehierarchical, but not preovulatory granulosa cells, through impeding ACVR1-SMAD1-ID3 signaling presumptively., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The fungus Isaria javanica is an important entomopathogen that parasitizes various insects and is effective for pest control. In this study, we sequenced and assembled the genomes (IJ1G and IJ2G) of two I. javanica strains isolated from different insects. The genomes were approximately 35 Mb in size with 11,441 and 11,143 protein-coding genes, respectively. Using a phylogenomic approach, we evaluated genome evolution across five entomopathogenic fungi in Cordycipitaceae. By comparative genome analysis, it was found that family S53 serine peptidases were expanded in Cordycipitaceae entomopathogens, particularly in I. javanica. Gene duplication events were identified based on phylogenetic relationships inferred from 82 S53 peptidases within six entomopathogenic fungal genomes. Moreover, we found that carbohydrate-active enzymes and proteinases were the largest secretory protein groups encoded in the I. javanica genome, especially chitinases (GH18), serine and aspartic peptidases (S53, S08, S10, A01). Pathogenesis-related genes and genes for bacterial-like toxins and secondary metabolites were also identified. By comparative transcriptome analysis, differentially expressed genes in response to insect nutrients (in vitro) were identified. Moreover, most S53 peptidases were detected to be significantly upregulated during the initial fungal infection process in insects (in vivo) by RT-qPCR. Our results provide new clues about understanding evolution of pathogenic proteases and may suggest that abundant S53 peptidases in the I. javanica genome may contribute to its effective parasitism on various insects.

The pinewood nematode (PWN), Bursaphelenchus xylophilus, is an important plant-parasitic nematode that can cause severe mortality of pine trees. This PWN-induced harm to plants may be closely related to the abundance and diversity of the symbiotic microorganisms of the parasitic nematode. In this study, nematodes were divided into untreated and antibiotic-treated groups. Nematodes were treated by fumigation with different amounts of α-pinene, and the resultant mortality rates were analyzed statistically. Concentrations of symbiotic bacteria were calculated as colony-forming units per nematode. High-throughput sequencing was used to investigate the bacterial community structure. The results showed that the mortality of nematodes increased slightly with an increasing concentration of α-pinene, and nematodes untreated with antibiotics were more sensitive to α-pinene than those treated with antibiotics. The highest abundance of symbiotic bacteria was obtained via medium and low levels of α-pinene, but for which community diversity was the lowest (Shannon and Simpson indexes). The proportion of Pseudomonas spp. in the symbiotic bacteria of nematodes without antibiotics was relatively high (more than 70%), while that of Stenotrophomonas spp. was low (6%-20%). However, the proportion of Stenotrophomonas spp. was larger than that of Pseudomonas spp in the symbiotic bacteria associated with the antibiotic-treated nematodes. Pseudomonas sp. increased after pinene treatment, whereas Stenotrophomonas spp. decreased. These results indicate that although α-pinene has low toxicity to PWNs over a short time period, α-pinene ultimately influences the abundance and community diversity of the symbiotic bacteria of these nematodes; this influence may potentially disturb the development and reproduction of nematodes in the process of infecting pine trees., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Chemical investigation of fungus Pochonia chlamydosporia strain 170, derived from rice fermentation sediment samples, afforded seven radicicol analogues, including two new compounds, monocillin VI (1) and monocillin VII (2), and five known compounds, monocillin II (3), monorden D (4), monocillin IV (5), monocillin V (6), and pochonin M (7). The structures of compounds 1-7 were established primarily by analysis of nuclear magnetic resonance data, and the absolute configurations of the secondary alcohol in compounds 1 and 2 were assigned by the modified Mosher method. All seven compounds have modest antibacterial activities, with a minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 25.6 μg/mL for compounds 1 and 3-7 and 51.2 μg/mL for compound 2, on inhibition of the growth of the plant pathogen Xanthomonas campestris (the positive control ampicillin showed a MIC value of 12.8 μg/mL), indicating that the fungus has the potential to control bacterial disease. The biosynthetic gene cluster and putative biosynthetic pathways of these radicicol analogues in the P. chlamydosporia genome were proposed. These findings increase our knowledge of the chemical potential of P. chlamydosporia and may allow us to better utilize the fungus as a biological control agent.

Meloidogyne incognita is highly specialized parasite that interacts with host plants using a range of strategies. The effectors are synthesized in the esophageal glands and secreted into plant cells through a needle-like stylet during parasitism. In this study, based on RNA-seq and bioinformatics analysis, we predicted 110 putative Meloidogyne incognita effectors that contain nuclear localization signals (NLSs). Combining the Burkholderia glumae -pEDV based screening system with subcellular localization, from 20 randomly selected NLS effector candidates, we identified an effector MiISE6 that can effectively suppress B. glumae -induced cell death in Nicotiana benthamiana , targets to the nuclei of plant cells, and is highly expressed in early parasitic J2 stage. Sequence analysis showed that MiISE6 is a 157-amino acid peptide, with an OGFr&#95;N domain and two NLS motifs. Hybridization in situ verified that MiISE6 is expressed in the subventral esophageal glands. Yeast invertase secretion assay validated the function of the signal peptide harbored in MiISE6. Transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana plants expressing MiISE6 become more susceptible to M. incognita . Inversely, the host-derived RNAi of MiISE6 of the nematode can decrease its parasitism on host. Based on transcriptome analysis of the MiISE6 transgenic Arabidopsis samples and the wild-type samples, we obtained 852 differentially expressed genes (DEGs). Integrating Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analyses, we found that expression of MiISE6 in Arabidopsis can suppress jasmonate signaling pathway. In addition, the expression of genes related to cell wall modification and the ubiquitination proteasome pathway also have detectable changes in the transgenic plants. Results from the present study suggest that MiISE6 is involved in interaction between nematode-plant, and plays an important role during the early stages of parasitism by interfering multiple signaling pathways of plant. Moreover, we found homologs of MiISE6 in other sedentary nematodes, Meloidogyne hapla and Globodera pallida . Our experimental results provide evidence to decipher the molecular mechanisms underlying the manipulation of host immune defense responses by plant parasitic nematodes, and transcriptome data also provide useful information for further study nematode-plant interactions.

Pochonia chlamydosporia infects eggs and females of economically important plant-parasitic nematodes. The fungal isolates parasitizing different nematodes are genetically distinct. To understand their intraspecific genetic differentiation, parasitic mechanisms, and adaptive evolution, we assembled seven putative chromosomes of P. chlamydosporia strain 170 isolated from root-knot nematode eggs (~44 Mb, including 7.19% of transposable elements) and compared them with the genome of the strain 123 (~41 Mb) isolated from cereal cyst nematode. We focus on secretomes of the fungus, which play important roles in pathogenicity and fungus-host/environment interactions, and identified 1,750 secreted proteins, with a high proportion of carboxypeptidases, subtilisins, and chitinases. We analyzed the phylogenies of these genes and predicted new pathogenic molecules. By comparative transcriptome analysis, we found that secreted proteins involved in responses to nutrient stress are mainly comprised of proteases and glycoside hydrolases. Moreover, 32 secreted proteins undergoing positive selection and 71 duplicated gene pairs encoding secreted proteins are identified. Two duplicated pairs encoding secreted glycosyl hydrolases (GH30), which may be related to fungal endophytic process and lost in many insect-pathogenic fungi but exist in nematophagous fungi, are putatively acquired from bacteria by horizontal gene transfer. The results help understanding genetic origins and evolution of parasitism-related genes.

Lecanicillium saksenae CGMCC5329 is a useful biological control agent against plant-parasitic nematodes. The complete mitogenome sequence of L. saksenae is reported for the first time. The mitochondrial genome is 25 919 bp long with 14 typical protein-coding genes, an intronic ORF coding for a putative ribosomal protein (rps3), 2 ribosomal RNA genes and a set of 26 transfer RNA genes. The phylogeny based on 12 protein-coding genes (except the loss of other two genes in Acremonium implicatum) suggests the close phylogenetic relationship between L. saksenae and L. muscarium. Comparative analysis reveals that mitogenome of L. saksenae is 1420 bp larger than L. muscarium, mainly due to the intergenic region between cox2 and trnR. The trnC between cob and cox1 is conserved in the mitogenomes of three nematophagous fungus of Pochonia chlamydosporia, A. implicatum and L. saksenae, but absent in L. muscarium. This study may provide valuable information for further research on mitochondrial evolution of nematophagous fungus and Lecanicillium species.

RNA interference (RNAi) is a valuable tool for studying gene function in vivo and provides a functional genomics platform in a wide variety of organisms. The pinewood nematode, Bursaphelenchus xylophilus, is a prominent invasive plant-parasitic nematode and has become a serious worldwide threat to forest ecosystems. Presently, the complete genome sequence of B. xylophilus has been published, and research involving genome-wide functional analyses is likely to increase. In this study, we describe the construction of an effective silencing vector, pDH-RH, which contains a transcriptional unit for a hairpin loop structure. Utilising this vector, double-stranded (ds)RNAs with sequences homologous to the target genes can be expressed in a transformed filamentous fungus via Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation technology, and can subsequently induce the knockdown of target gene mRNA expression in B. xylophilus by allowing the nematode to feed on the fungal transformants. Four dumpy genes (Bx-dpy-2, 4, 10 and 11) were used as targets to detect RNAi efficiency. By allowing the nematode to feed on target gene-transformed Fusarium oxysporum strains, target transcripts were knocked down 34-87% compared with those feeding on the wild-type strain as determined by real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR). Morphological RNAi phenotypes were observed, displaying obviously reduced body length; weak dumpy or small (short and thin) body size; or general abnormalities. Moreover, compensatory regulation and non-specific silencing of dpy genes were found in B. xylophilus. Our results indicate that RNAi delivery by feeding in B. xylophilus is a successful technique. This platform may provide a new opportunity for undertaking RNAi-based, genome-wide gene functional studies in vitro in B. xylophilus. Moreover, as B. xylophilus feeds on endophytic fungi when a host has died, RNAi feeding technology will offer the prospect for developing a novel control strategy for the nematode. Furthermore, this platform may also be applicable to other parasitic nematodes that have a facultative, fungivorous habit., (Copyright © 2016 Australian Society for Parasitology Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

MicroRNAs play important regulatory roles in eukaryotic lineages. In this paper, we employed deep sequencing technology to sequence and identify microRNAs in M. incognita genome, which is one of the important plant parasitic nematodes. We identified 102 M. incognita microRNA genes, which can be grouped into 71 nonredundant miRNAs based on mature sequences. Among the 71 miRANs, 27 are known miRNAs and 44 are novel miRNAs. We identified seven miRNA clusters in M. incognita genome. Four of the seven clusters, miR-100/let-7, miR-71-1/miR-2a-1, miR-71-2/miR-2a-2 and miR-279/miR-2b are conserved in other species. We validated the expressions of 5 M. incognita microRNAs, including 3 known microRNAs (miR-71, miR-100b and let-7) and 2 novel microRNAs (NOVEL-1 and NOVEL-2), using RT-PCR. We can detect all 5 microRNAs. The expression levels of four microRNAs obtained using RT-PCR were consistent with those obtained by high-throughput sequencing except for those of let-7. We also examined how M. incognita miRNAs are conserved in four other nematodes species: C. elegans, A. suum, B. malayi and P. pacificus. We found that four microRNAs, miR-100, miR-92, miR-279 and miR-137, exist only in genomes of parasitic nematodes, but do not exist in the genomes of the free living nematode C. elegans. Our research created a unique resource for the research of plant parasitic nematodes. The candidate microRNAs could help elucidate the genomic structure, gene regulation, evolutionary processes, and developmental features of plant parasitic nematodes and nematode-plant interaction.

Background: The fungus Pochonia chlamydosporia parasitizes nematode eggs and has become one of the most promising biological control agents (BCAs) for plant-parasitic nematodes, which are major agricultural pests that cause tremendous economic losses worldwide. The complete mitochondrial (mt) genome is expected to open new avenues for understanding the phylogenetic relationships and evolution of the invertebrate-pathogenic fungi in Hypocreales., Results: The complete mitogenome sequence of P. chlamydosporia is 25,615 bp in size, containing the 14 typical protein-coding genes, two ribosomal RNA genes, an intronic ORF coding for a putative ribosomal protein (rps3) and a set of 23 transfer RNA genes (trn) which recognize codons for all amino acids. Sequence similarity studies and syntenic gene analyses show that 87.02% and 58.72% of P. chlamydosporia mitogenome sequences match 90.50% of Metarhizium anisopliae sequences and 61.33% of Lecanicillium muscarium sequences with 92.38% and 86.04% identities, respectively. A phylogenetic tree inferred from 14 mt proteins in Pezizomycotina fungi supports that P. chlamydosporia is most closely related to the entomopathogenic fungus M. anisopliae. The invertebrate-pathogenic fungi in Hypocreales cluster together and clearly separate from a cluster comprising plant-pathogenic fungi (Fusarium spp.) and Hypocrea jecorina. A comparison of mitogenome sizes shows that the length of the intergenic regions or the intronic regions is the major size contributor in most of mitogenomes in Sordariomycetes. Evolutionary analysis shows that rps3 is under positive selection, leading to the display of unique evolutionary characteristics in Hypocreales. Moreover, the variability of trn distribution has a clear impact on gene order in mitogenomes. Gene rearrangement analysis shows that operation of transposition drives the rearrangement events in Pezizomycotina, and most events involve in trn position changes, but no rearrangement was found in Clavicipitaceae., Conclusions: We present the complete annotated mitogenome sequence of P. chlamydosporia. Based on evolutionary and phylogenetic analyses, we have determined the relationships between the invertebrate-pathogenic fungi in Hypocreales. The invertebrate-pathogenic fungi in Hypocreales referred to in this paper form a monophyletic group sharing a most recent common ancestor. Our rps3 and trn gene order results also establish a foundation for further exploration of the evolutionary trajectory of the fungi in Hypocreales.

Novel N-benzenesulfonyl sophocarpinic acid/ester and sophocarpinol derivatives were synthesized and evaluated for their antienteroviral activities against coxsackievirus type B3 (CVB3) from sophocarpine (1), a natural medicine isolated from Chinese herb. Structure-activity relationship (SAR) analysis revealed that the double bond and its geometrical configuration and position at the C-11 attachment did not greatly affect the potency. Among these derivatives, sophocarpinol 24d exerted the promising activities against not only CVB3 but also CVB1, CVB2, CVB5, and CVB6 with IC50 ranging from 0.62 to 3.63 μM (SI from 46 to 275), indicating a broad-spectrum antienteroviral characteristic. The SAR results provided the powerful information for further strategic optimization and development of a novel scaffold of broad-spectrum antiviral candidates against enteroviruses.

Social-economic factors are considered as the key to understand processes contributing to biological invasions. However, there has been few quantified, statistical evidence on the relationship between economic development and biological invasion on a worldwide scale. Herein, using principal factor analysis, we investigated the relationship between biological invasion and economic development together with biodiversity for 91 economies throughout the world. Our result indicates that the prevalence of invasive species in the economies can be well predicted by economic factors (R(2) = 0.733). The impact of economic factors on the occurrence of invasive species for low, lower-middle, upper-middle and high income economies are 0%, 34.3%, 46.3% and 80.8% respectively. Greenhouse gas emissions (CO(2), Nitrous oxide, Methane and Other greenhouse gases) and also biodiversity have positive relationships with the global occurrence of invasive species in the economies on the global scale. The major social-economic factors that are correlated to biological invasions are different for various economies, and therefore the strategies for biological invasion prevention and control should be different.

Bursaphelenchus mucronatus is a plant-parasitic nematode widely existing in Eurasian pine forests. To analyze the diversity and role of bacteria associated with the nematode, culture-dependent and culture-independent methods were used to identify and characterize the composition of bacterial community. A total of 13 bacterial isolates were obtained from B. mucronatus by the culture-dependent method. Sixty-four species of bacteria were identified from two 16S rDNA clone libraries constructed from the nematodes of a Chinese and a Japanese population. These bacteria were clustered into four groups: Alphaproteobacteria, Betaproteobacteria, Gammaproteobacteria, and Bacteroidetes. Comparison of the two libraries showed that the Chinese library had a higher diversity than that of the Japanese library, and the dominant group and species in each library were also different. In the Japanese library, Alphaproteobacteria group was obviously dominant (60.3%), and Rhizobium sp. was the most dominant species. Whereas in the Chinese library the proportion of each group was similar (from 19.4 to 23.6%), and Pedobacter sp. was a slightly dominant species. Moreover, 18 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were obtained from each of the two libraries according to a 97% sequence similarity. Metabolic analysis showed that 61.5 and 38.5% of the bacterial isolates could have protease and lipase activities, respectively. But only one had cellulase activity. Testing of reproductive parameter showed that the wild-type nematodes (bacteria carried) could produce more progeny than the bacterium-free nematodes did. So, we speculated that bacteria could promote the propagation and development of the nematode B. mucronatus.

This paper summarizes the results of our study of the pinewood nematode (Bursaphelenchus xylophilus). By population genetic analysis, it was determined that there was no genetic bottle caused by the founder effect and genetic drift in the Chinese invasive population. Multiple invasions with large amounts of nematodes from different sources led to rich genetic diversity in the invasive population. Keeping high genetic diversity in the invasive process may be one of the genetic mechanisms in its successful invasion. By testing interspecies competition, it was shown that, with high fecundity and a strong competitive ability, B. xylophilus outcompeted the native species B. mucronatus in the natural ecosystem during the invasion process. Competitive displacement may be one of the ecological mechanisms of B. xylophilus's invasion. In addition, an unequal interspecific hybridization with introgress was in favor of the invasive species which also accelerated the replacement of B. mucronatus by B. xylophilus. The structures, functions and evolutions of a few important genes that are closely related to the ecological adaptation of pinewood nematodes were studied to explore the molecular mechanism of its ecological adaptations. Further, the resistance and resilience mechanism of the pine ecosystem invaded by pinewood nematodes was also investigated. The results of these studies uncovered a portion of the genetic and ecological mechanisms of PWN's successful invasion and laid a foundation for further study to obtain a comprehensive interpretation of the mechanisms of the nematode invasion. The results also provided a scientific basis for effectively controlling the occurrence and spread of pine wilt disease which is caused by nematodes. Various aspects requiring further investigation are considered.

Increasing levels of global trade and intercontinental travel have been cited as the major causes of biological invasion. However, indirect factors such as economic development that affect the intensity of invasion have not been quantitatively explored. Herein, using principal factor analysis, we investigated the relationship between biological invasion and economic development together with climatic information for China from the 1970s to present. We demonstrate that the increase in biological invasion is coincident with the rapid economic development that has occurred in China over the past three decades. The results indicate that the geographic prevalence of invasive species varies substantially on the provincial scale, but can be surprisingly well predicted using the combination of economic development (R(2) = 0.378) and climatic factors (R(2) = 0.347). Economic factors are proven to be at least equal to if not more determinant of the occurrence of invasive species than climatic factors. International travel and trade are shown to have played a less significant role in accounting for the intensity of biological invasion in China. Our results demonstrate that more attention should be paid to economic factors to improve the understanding, prediction and management of biological invasions.