Search

Some plant-associated microorganisms could improve host plants biotic and abiotic stress tolerance. Imperata cylindrica is a dominant pioneer plant in some abandoned mine lands with higher concentrations of heavy metal (HM). To discover the specific microbiome of I. cylindrica in this extreme environment and evaluate its role, the microbiome of I. cylindrica 's seeds and rhizosphere soils from HM heavily contaminated (H) and lightly contaminated (L) sites were studied. It was found that HM-contamination significantly reduced the richness of endophytic bacteria in seeds, but increased the abundance of resistant species, such as Massilia sp. and Duganella sp. Spearman's rank correlation coefficient analysis showed that both Massilia sp. and Duganella sp. showed a significant positive correlation with Zn concentration, indicating that it may have a strong tolerance to Zn. A comparison of the microbiome of rhizosphere soils (RS) and adjacent bare soils (BS) of site H showed that I. cylindrica colonization significantly increased the diversity of fungi in rhizosphere soil and the abundance of Ascomycota associated with soil nutrient cycling. Spearman's rank correlation coefficient analysis showed that Ascomycota was positively correlated with the total nitrogen. Combined with the fact that the total nitrogen content of RS was significantly higher than that of BS, we suppose that Ascomycota may enhance the nitrogen fixation of I. cylindrica , thereby promoting its growth in such an extreme environment. In conclusion, the concentration of HM and nutrient contents in the soil significantly affected the microbial community of rhizosphere soils and seeds of I. cylindrica , in turn, the different microbiomes further affected soil HM concentration and nutrient contents. The survival of I. cylindrica in HM severely contaminated environment may mainly be through recruiting more microorganisms that can enhance its nutrition supply., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Mao, Wu, Li, Xiang, Tang, Hu, Ji and Li.)

Introduction: Many studies have collected normative developmental EEG data to better understand brain function in early life and associated changes during both aging and pathology. Higher cognitive functions of the brain do not normally stem from the workings of a single brain region that works but, rather, on the interaction between different brain regions. In this regard studying the connectivity between brain regions is of great importance towards understanding higher cognitive functions and its underlying mechanisms., Methods: In this study, EEG data of children ( N  = 253; 3-10 years old; 113 females, 140 males) from pre-school to schoolage was collected, and the weighted phase delay index and directed transfer function method was used to find the electrophysiological indicators of both functional connectivity and effective connectivity. A general linear model was built between the indicators and age, and the change trend of electrophysiological indicators analyzed for age., Results: The results showed an age trend for the functional and effective connectivity of the brain of children., Discussion: The results are of importance in understanding normative brain development and in defining those conditions that deviate from typical growth trajectories., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Kang, Mao, Wu, Huang, Casanova, Sokhadze, Li and Geng.)