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Fusarium crown rot and wheat sharp eyespot are major soil-borne diseases of wheat, causing serious losses to wheat yield in China. We applied high-throughput sequencing combined with qPCR to determine the effect of winter wheat seed dressing, with either Trichoderma atroviride HB20111 spore suspension or a chemical fungicide consisting of 6% tebuconazole, on the fungal community composition and absolute content of pathogens Fusarium pseudograminearum and Rhizoctonia cerealis in the rhizosphere at 180 days after planting. The results showed that the Trichoderma and chemical fungicide significantly reduced the amount of F. pseudograminearum in the rhizosphere soil (p < 0.05), and also changed the composition and structure of the fungal community. In addition, field disease investigation and yield measurement showed that T. atroviride HB20111 treatment reduced the whiteheads with an average control effect of 60.1%, 14.9% higher than the chemical treatment; T. atroviride HB20111 increased yield by 7.7%, which was slightly more than the chemical treatment. Therefore, T. atroviride HB20111 was found to have the potential to replace chemical fungicides to control an extended range of soil-borne diseases of wheat and to improve wheat yield. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Schistosomiasis is a chronic parasitic disease, which affects the quality of daily life of patients and imposes a huge burden on society. Hepatic fibrosis in response to continuous insult of eggs to the liver is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality. However, the mechanisms of hepatic fibrosis in schistosomiasis are largely undefined. The purpose of our study is to detect the indicator to hepatic fibrosis in schistosomiasis. A total of 488 patients with chronic schistosomiasis japonica were enrolled in our study. The patients were divided into two groups according to liver ultrasound examination, which could indicate liver fibrosis of schistosomiasis with unique reticular changes. Logistic regression analysis showed that globulin, albumin/globulin, GGT levels and anti-Schistosoma IgG were independently associated with liver fibrosis in patients with schistosomiasis and IgG was the largest association of liver fibrosis (OR 2.039, 95% CI 1.293–3.213). We further compared IgG+ patients with IgG− patients. IgG+ patients (ALT 25 U/L, GGT 31 U/L) slightly higher than IgG− patients (ALT 22 U/L, GGT 26 U/L) in ALT and GGT. However, the fibrosis of liver in IgG+ patients (Grade II(19.7%), Grade III(7.3%)) were more severe than that in IgG− patients(Grade II(12.5%), Grade III(2.9%)) according to the grade of liver ultrasonography. Our results showed anti-Schistosoma IgG was independently associated with liver fibrosis in patients with chronic schistosomiasis japonica and patients with persistent anti-Schistosoma IgG might have more liver fibrosis than negative patients despite no obvious clinical signs or symptoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]