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Soil microbes can profoundly affect species coexistence and alien plant invasion via plant–soil feedbacks (PSFs). Theoretically, plants can modify soil biotic communities (e.g. fungal and bacterial communities) sequentially via rhizo-inputs in the growing season and via litter decomposition in the non-growing season, and in this way affect the performance of plant individuals that establish in the same soil in the following growing season. However, how plants affect soil microbes via sequential rhizosphere and litter inputs and how these soil microbial legacies feedback to subsequent plants remains unclear.Here, we first explored the sequential effects of living individuals and their leaf litter on soil fungal communities, using 42 common alien and native species in China, and then estimated their PSF effects on three common test species.Our results show that living plants growing in field soil developed distinct rhizosphere fungal communities within one season. After the removal of conditioning plants, the fungal communities in these conditioned soils changed more dramatically in the absence than in the presence of leaf litter, suggesting that leaf litter inputs prolonged the species-specific legacies that conspecific living individuals exerted in the soil. Moreover, leaf litter induced general negative effects on all test species in the second growing season. Conditioning plant origin (native vs. alien) and life cycle (annual vs. perennial), respectively, had a slight or no impact on fungal community composition, and conditioning plant origin did not affect PSF responses of the test species.Synthesis: These findings show that leaf litter prolongs soil fungal legacies of conspecific living individuals, which can lead to carryover effects on heterospecific plant growth in the next season. Our findings highlight the importance of leaf litter for plant–soil interactions and thereby stress the potential importance of plant litter as a driver of plant community dynamics.

Additional file 3: Table S1. Characteristics of samples positive for A. phagocytophilum in M. himalayana. Grey column: samples screened for A. phagocytophilum. √: Positive samples for A. phagocytophilum, confirmed by both 16s rRNA and groESL gene sequences. *: Positive samples had a 1380-bp cloned sequence of groESL. a: Y, marmots found dead in the environment. N, marmots captured for plague surveillance.

Additional file 2: Figure S2. Collinearity between marmot-derived A. phagocytophilum (JAHLEX000000000) and 13 worldwide strains.

Additional file 5: Table S3. Characteristics of 13 A. phagocytophilum strains compared in this study.

Additional file 4: Table S2. Nucleotide sequence identity matrix for groEL genes within the Anaplasma genus.

Additional file 1: Figure S1. Sequencing depth and G+C content of the whole-genome sequenced marmot-derived A. phagocytophilum (JAHLEX000000000).

A new electrochemical biosensor for the determination of mycobacterium tuberculosis in clinical samples is reported. A sandwich hybridization layer system with magnetite on a silica nanocomposite was employed as the biosensor. The use of DNA-functionalized gold nanoparticles enhanced the signal of target 16 s ribosomal RNA of mycobacterium tuberculosis in clinical samples. When compared with the commonly used real-time fluorescent polymerase chain reaction, the analysis time was significantly reduced. A linear relationship was obtained for 16 s ribosomal RNA concentrations from 0 to 130 µM. This electrochemical biosensor provides rapid and simple determination of mycobacterium tuberculosis in clinical samples with high sensitivity and low cost.

Xinmin Lu,1 Xiaodong Sun1–31Department of Ophthalmology, Shanghai First People’s Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China; 2Eye Research Institute of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China; 3Shanghai Key Laboratory of Fundus Disease, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China Abstract: In developed countries, age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of irreversible blindness in individuals over the age of 65 years. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) plays a vital role in the formation of neovascular AMD. VEGF regulates angiogenesis, enhances vascular permeability, and drives the formation of choroidal neovascularization. As a result of the introduction of anti-VEGF drugs, the incidence of blindness from neovascular AMD has greatly reduced. Anti-VEGF drugs are used as a first-line treatment for neovascular AMD. The most recent anti-VEGF drug is conbercept, also named KH902, which was approved for the treatment of neovascular AMD by the China Food and Drug Administration in December 2013. In this review, recent clinical information regarding the use of conbercept to treat neovascular AMD is summarized. Conbercept is a soluble receptor decoy that blocks all isoforms of VEGF-A, VEGF-B, VEGF-C, and PlGF, which has a high binding affinity to VEGF and a long half-life in vitreous. Preclinical studies have demonstrated its anti-angiogenesis activity in both ocular neovascular disease models and tumor models. Clinical trials of conbercept have shown its superior efficacy and safety. Patients respond well even with 3-month treatment intervals following loading doses once a month for 3 months. The potential therapeutic effect of conbercept on the treatment of polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy, a special type of neovascular AMD, is also promising. In summary, conbercept is a new treatment option for ophthalmologists and their patients and may help address the limitations of current anti-VEGF drugs.Keywords: conbercept, KH902, age-related macular degeneration, vascular endothelial growth factor, neovascularization

A distributive lattice $L$ with minimum element $0$ is called decomposable if $a$ and $b$ are not comparable elements in $L$ then there exist $\overline{a},\overline{b}\in L$ such that $a=\overline{a}\vee(a\wedge b), b=\overline{b}\vee(a\wedge b)$ and $\overline{a}\wedge \overline{b}=0$. The main purpose of this paper is to study the structure of decomposable lattices determined by their prime ideals. The properties for five special decomposable lattices are derived., 21 pages

A distributive lattice $L$ with minimum element $0$ is called decomposable lattice if $a$ and $b$ are not comparable elements in $L$ there exist $\overline{a},\overline{b}\in L$ such that $a=\overline{a}\vee(a\wedge b), b=\overline{b}\vee(a\wedge b)$ and $\overline{a}\wedge \overline{b}=0$. The main purpose of this paper is to investigate prime ideals, minimal prime ideals and special ideals of a decomposable lattice. These are keys to understand the algebraic structure of decomposable lattices., 21 pages