Search

The gut microbiome plays a vital role in host ecological adaptation, especially dietary adaptations. Primates have evolved a variety of dietary and gut physiological structures that are useful to explore the role of the gut microbiome in host dietary adaptations. Here, we characterize gut microbiome transcriptional activity in ten fecal samples from primates with three different diets and compare the results to their previously reported metagenomic profile. Bacteria related to cellulose degradation, like Bacteroidaceae and Alcaligenaceae, were enriched and actively expressed in the gut microbiome of folivorous primates, and functional analysis revealed that the glycan biosynthesis and metabolic pathways were significantly active. In omnivorous primates, Helicobacteraceae, which promote lipid metabolism, were significantly enriched in expression, and activity and xenobiotic biodegradation and metabolism as well as lipid metabolism pathways were significantly active. In frugivorous primates, the abundance and activity of Elusimicrobiaceae, Neisseriaceae, and Succinivibrionaceae, which are associated with digestion of pectin and fructose, were significantly elevated, and the functional pathways involved in the endocrine system were significantly enriched. In conclusion, the gut microbiome contributes to host dietary adaptation by helping hosts digest the inaccessible nutrients in their specific diets.

Gut microbiome gene catalogues have advanced the knowledge of host-microbiome interactions in many mammals. Snub-nosed monkeys (Rhinopithecus spp) are folivores with foregut fermentation which is similar to ruminants, but their gut microbiota lacks a comprehensive description. In this study, we constructed a comprehensive gene catalogue by performing metagenomic analysis on 143 wild snub-nosed monkeys and compare it to that of ruminants and monogastric animals. Our results demonstrate the classification and functional characteristics of the gut microbiome of snub-nosed monkeys and identified a set of core genera in these mammals. Moreover, we found that the gut of snub-nosed monkeys and other herbivores was enriched with more bacteria and enzymes related to the degradation of structural carbohydrates, indicating the importance of gut microbiota for dietary adaptation. Our study expands resources for gut microbiome studies of nonhuman primates and provide new insights into the evolutionary route of foregut fermenting animals during dietary adaptation.

Regional sustainable development is the primary goal of regional ecological research. Regional ecology aims to support sustainable development from an ecological perspective at the regional scale. In nearly half a century of the development of the discipline, regional ecology has developed into an essential branch of ecology. However, due to the complexity of regional ecosystems and ecological problems, regional ecology does not define clear research methods and research objects. This editorial sorts out the definition, research methods, and important research contents of regional ecology, including regional ecological security evaluation, regional sustainable development evaluation, regional resource analysis represented by water-food-energy relationship, and ecosystem service value evaluation.

International audience; Metal residues are certainly one of the major sources of contamination of products in metal-catalyzed direct arylation reactions. We found that the use of only 1 mol% of the heterogeneous catalyst Pd/C promotes very efficiently the direct arylations of most heteroaromatics. In the presence of this catalyst and potassium acetate as the base, the direct arylation of thiophenes, furans, pyrroles, thiazoles, imidazoles or isoxazoles, using aryl bromides as coupling partners, proceeds highly regioselectively and in moderate to very high yields. With several heteroarenes both electron-deficient and electron-rich aryl bromides were tolerated; moreover, with the most reactive heteroarenes, the Pd/C catalyst tolerated green solvents such as diethyl carbonate, 3-methylbutan-1-ol and pentan-1-ol, affording a synthetic scheme with low environmental impact.

In ethnic areas, plant utilization is an essential component of traditional ecological knowledge and an important intersection between biodiversity and cultural diversity. Multipurpose plants play an important role in diversity of plant utilization and can be used as an indicator of regional biocultural diversity. Different uses of the same multipurpose plant correspond to different gathering methods and have different impacts on plant resources. Although important in both daily life and scientific studies, multipurpose plants are rarely specifically studied. In this study, multipurpose plant utilization by Miao and Buyi people in Guizhou, China, was investigated using semi-structured interviews. Plant uses were classified into eight categories: food, medicine, timber, fuel, technological, recreation, ornamental and symbolic. Three indices, Joint Plant and Use (JPU), Joint Uses (JU), and Joint Index (JI), were proposed to analyze overall utilization for multipurpose plants and the relationships among their different uses. A total of 58 species of non-cultivated multipurpose plants and 140 corresponding JPUs were recorded. With the decrease in use number, the corresponding species number of multipurpose plants increased. Two-use plants were most common among multipurpose plants, and food–medicinal plants were most frequent among two-use plants. Moreover, medicinal use and food use have the highest JI value, representing the close relationship between these two uses. Multipurpose plants are essentially determined from the attributes of plants themselves. Trees tend to have more uses than herbaceous plants. Different uses of the same plant represent different cultural or economic values, which determine the importance of a specific use. Socio-economic conditions and policies also have impacts on multipurpose plant utilization. While socio-economic conditions, policies, and plant resources vary, people might choose among different uses; hence, some key multipurpose plants and their JPUs will reflect the variations. The JPU used in this study can be regarded as a basic biocultural diversity unit. Using JPU, JU or JI allows multipurpose plants and their uses to be analyzed quantitatively. Multipurpose plants should be valued in research and management and, for further research, it is important to establish a standard plant use categorization.

As an important way to innovate the pattern of land reform, the land system pilots serve as the crucial driving force in promoting rural economic development under the background of rural revitalization. Based on the panel data of 10 pilots along the Yellow River basin, this paper chose 111 near and distant neighboring regions from 2009 to 2018. This paper tested the spillover effects and regional heterogeneity characteristics of the land system pilots using the propensity score matching-difference-in-differences (PSM-DID) method and regression discontinuity design (RDD). The results are as follows: first, the land system pilots have a significant and general impact on regional economic development, second, the establishment of the land system pilots has different impacts on the economic development of near and distant neighboring regions, which shows obvious policy-effect spillovers, and third, the land system pilots have the strongest stimulating effect on the economic development of the middle reaches of the Yellow River basin, as well as the weakest stimulating effect on upstream regional economic development, which shows the significant spatial heterogeneity of policy effects. The results of the research study are of great significance for the exploration of regionally differentiated system-supply pilots under the background of rural revitalization. Additionally, this study has important implications for further land system improvements and rural economic developments.

International audience; A modular approach for the synthesis of planar pi-extended selenium containing molecules from selenophene has been developed. Different combinations of Pd-catalyzed desulfitative C-H bond arylations with (2-bromo)arylsulfonyl chlorides and Pd-catalyzed intra- or/and inter-molecular C-H bond arylations with aryl bromides allowed the extension of the selenophene-containing aromatic skeleton at the [b]-, [c]- or [bd]-junctions to give phenanthro[b]selenophenes, phenanthro[c]selenophenes or diphenanthro[bd]selenophenes.

International audience; The potential of the heterogeneous catalyst 10 % Pd/C in the direct arylation of (poly)fluorobenzene derivatives with aryl bromides has been investigated. In general, high yields of biaryl derivatives were obtained by using tri-, tetra-, and pentafluorobenzenes, whereas mono- and difluorobenzenes exhibited poor reactivity. The regioselectivities of the arylation reactions were similar to those observed with homogeneous palladium catalysts. Both electron-withdrawing and -donating substituents, such as nitrile, nitro, acetyl, ester, trifluoromethyl, tert-butyl, methoxy, or methyl, on the aryl bromide were tolerated. Unexpectedly, tetrafluoro-substituted [1,1′-biphenyl]-4-ols were obtained from pentafluorobenzene at 150 °C due to a formal regioselective hydroxylation, whereas at lower temperatures the expected pentafluorobiphenyls were obtained. However, no C−F bond cleavage was observed with the other polyfluorobenzene derivatives. These arylation reactions were carried out with only 1 mol % Pd/C as the catalyst and KOAc as an inexpensive base. Therefore, this protocol represents a very attractive access to (poly)fluoro-substituted biphenyls in terms of cost, simplicity, and sustainable chemistry because the Pd/C catalyst can be easily removed at the end of the reaction, there is no contamination with phosphine ligand residues, and the major side-product of the reaction is KOAc⋅HBr.

International audience; The palladium‐catalyzed functionalization of 5‐membered ring heteroaromatics, through a C−H bonds activation, for access to arylated heteroaromatics represent a very attractive alternative to more classical cross‐coupling reactions, as it saves steps and reduces the amount of wastes. Despite these advantages, these transformations initially suffered from major limitations in terms of sustainable chemistry concerning the reaction media, the nature of the catalyst, the catalyst loading, the aryl source or the regioselectivity control. Tremendous improvements allowing more sustainable reaction conditions using greener solvents, new aryl sources or employing easily removable catalysts and lower catalyst loadings have been described during the last decades. This review summarizes some of the most important contributions made in these directions.

China’s Grand Canal is a giant water engineering project and has become a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Since its initial construction in the Zhou Dynasty (486 B.C.), the Canal had played great role in transportation and regional economic development. However, those historical functions of the Grand Canal have been almost abandoned during the past century in part due to problems like water pollution and ecological deterioration. While the environmental and ecological functions of China’s Grand Canal have been severely damaged, its socio-economic functions have been crippled. The Xianghe Segment of China’s Grand Canal (XSCGC) is the north end of China’s Grand Canal. Connecting Beijing and Tianjin, XSCGC is an important component of China’s Grand Canal. With the implementation of China’s Strategy for Promoting Ecological Progress and Beijng–Tianjin–Hebei Integration Development Strategy, the restoration of environment, ecosystems, and socio-economic functions of XSCGC has become an urgent task for nat...

The gut microbiome is expected to adapt to the varying energetic and nutritional pressures in females of different reproductive states. Changes in the gut microbiome may lead to varying nutrient utilizing efficiency in pregnant and lactating female primates. In this study, we examined variation in the gut bacterial community composition of wild female Tibetan macaques (Macaca thibetana) across different reproductive states (cycling, pregnancy and lactation). Fecal samples (n = 25) were collected from ten adult females harvested across different reproductive states. Gut microbial community composition and potential functions were assessed using 16 S rRNA gene sequences. We found significant changes in gut bacterial taxonomic composition, structure and their potential functions in different reproductive states of our study species. In particular, the relative abundance of Proteobacteria increased significantly during pregnancy and lactation. In addition, the relative abundance of Succinivibrionaceae and Succinivibrio (Succinivibrionaceae) were overrepresented in pregnant females, whereas Bifidobacteriaceae and Bifidobacterium (Bifidobacteriaceae) were overrepresented in lactating females. Furthermore, the relative abundance of predicted functional genes of several metabolic pathways related to host&rsquo, s energy and nutrition, such as metabolism of carbohydrates, cofactors and vitamins, glycans and other amino acids, were enriched in pregnancy and lactation. Our findings suggest that changes in the gut microbiome may play an important role in meeting the energetic needs of pregnant and lactating Tibetan macaques. Future studies of the &ldquo, microbial reproductive ecology&rdquo, of primates that incorporate food availability, reproductive seasonality, female reproductive physiology and gut inflammation are warranted.

Rural household livelihood research of ethnic minorities is urgent to the development of ethnic areas in China and achieve the world poverty reduction goal. To improve ethnic rural household livelihood, it is fundamental to figure out what are the types, characteristics as well as impact factors of their livelihood strategies. In the study, we explored the household livelihood strategy choices and livelihood diversity of the main ethnic minorities (Tujia and Miao) in Chongqing, as well as how livelihood capitals impact livelihood strategy through methods of clustering, livelihood diversity index and multiple logistic regression under the framework of sustainable livelihood approach. The results show that: (1) Full-time job, both full-time and part-time job, part-time agriculture, part-time job and subsidized livelihood strategy are livelihood strategies adopted by Tujia and Miao rural households in Chongqing, China. (2) The characteristics of the identified livelihood strategies are diversified and various in natural, financial, human and finance capital. (3) A number of livelihood capitals impact the way that household choose their livelihood strategies, but the livelihood capitals have no significant impact on the livelihood diversity. By detailed analysis of the characteristic of rural ethnic household livelihood strategy, especial livelihood diversity, the research enriched sustainable livelihood literature and provided useful information for policymakers and practitioners in designing effective programs for regional sustainable development and ecological protection.

In the context of general household energy transition, identifying different household energy consumption patterns is of great significance for the formulation of refined energy conservation and emission reduction policies. For historical reasons, the households of ethnic minorities in China tend to face more severe energy poverty problems. In this study, we proposed the concept and research method of characteristic energy, a new method to depict household energy use pattern. Combined with the diversity analysis, the energy use pattern of Tujia and Miao rural households in Chongqing, China, were studied. Households in research area were clustered into four groups with different characteristic energy sources: firewood, electricity, coal and gasoline, representing four types of household energy use pattern. The main impact factors of rural household energy use pattern are electrical appliances and amount of pig raising, indicating that household production and lifestyle play a decisive role in household energy use patterns. In addition, the research depicts the energy consumption characteristics of rural households with different incomes, ethnic groups and in different regions. The study puts forward corresponding energy saving countermeasures for different energy use pattern, helps to identify the heterogeneity of rural household energy use and promote the formulation of refined regional energy conservation and emission reduction policies.

Benthic algae, especially diatoms, are commonly used to assess water quality in rivers. However, algal-based assessments are challenging at the river system scale because longitudinal variation in physical habitat conditions may obscure algal responses to changes in water quality. In the present study, we surveyed benthic diatoms and environmental variables from a mountainous Chinese river system. Hierarchical clustering, discrimination analysis, and indicator species analysis were used together to explore associations between distribution patterns of diatom assemblages and water quality variables. Study sites were clustered into five groups based on their diatom community composition, with sites grouped by the sampling months. Chemical oxygen demand (COD), elevation, and total nitrogen (TN) were the most important predictors for site classification. Site groups with higher elevations had higher TN concentrations, however, COD concentrations were higher in lower elevation groups. Moreover, COD concentrations significantly differed between temporally separated groups. In total, 49 indicator species were identified for individual groups, with most taxa indicating the eutrophic condition. Additionally, we found that European diatom indices are not closely associated with water quality variables. We conclude that the identification of algal patterns and their driving forces can provide valuable information to aid bioassessment at the river system scale.

The higher reactivity of the C4-H bond as compared to the C5-H bond of 1,2,3-trifluorobenzene in palladium-catalyzed direct arylation allows the selective synthesis of 4-aryl-1,2,3-trifluorobenzenes in moderate to high yields. In most cases, phosphine-free Pd(OAc)2 catalyst and inexpensive KOAc base were employed. Then, from these 4-aryl-1,2,3-trifluorobenzenes, the palladium-catalyzed C–H bond functionalization of the C6-position allows the synthesis of the corresponding 4,6-diarylated 1,2,3-trifluorobenzenes. We also applied these reaction conditions to the regioselective direct C3-arylation of 1,2,4-trifluorobenzene.

The accessibility, quantity, and quality of water resources are the basic requirements for guaranteeing water resource security. Research into regional water resource accessibility will contribute to improving regional water resource security and effective water resource management. In this study, we used a water resource accessibility index model considering five spatial factors to evaluate the grid-scale water resource accessibility and constructed the spatial pattern of water resource accessibility in Southwest China. Then, we analyzed the coupling coordination degree between county-level water resource accessibility and eco-socio-economic water demand elements. The water resource accessibility showed obvious regional differences, and the overall trend gradually decreased from Southeast to Northwest. The coupling coordination degree between county-level water resource accessibility and eco-socio-economic water demand elements was between 0.26 and 0.84, and was relatively low overall, whereas the counties (districts) with high coordination, moderate coordination, low coordination, reluctant coordination, and incoordination accounted for 0.92%, 5.31%, 21.06%, 59.71%, and 13.00% of total counties (districts), respectively. Therefore, the Southwest region needs to further strengthen the construction of its agricultural irrigation facilities, protect the water resources, and coordinate the relationship between water resource management and water demand elements to comprehensively guarantee regional sustainable development.