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Abstract Hypertension is a disease closely related to inflammation, and the systemic immunity-inflammation index (SII) is a new and easily detectable inflammatory marker. We aimed to investigate the association between SII and hypertension risk in a adult population in the US. We utilized data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey spanning from 1999 to 2018, incorporating comprehensive information from adults reporting hypertension. This included details on blood pressure monitoring, complete blood cell counts, and standard biochemical results. The SII was computed as the platelet count multiplied by the neutrophil count divided by the lymphocyte count. We employed a weighted multivariate logistic regression model to examine the correlation between SII and hypertension. Subgroup analyses were conducted to explore potential influencing factors. Furthermore, smooth curve fitting and two-piecewise logistic regression analysis were employed to describe non-linear relationships and identify inflection points. This population-based study involved 44,070 adults aged 20–85 years. Following Ln-transformation of the SII, multivariable logistic regression revealed that, in a fully adjusted model, participants in the highest quartile of Ln(SII) had a 12% increased risk of hypertension compared to those in the lowest quartile, which was statistically significant (OR:1.12; 95% CI 1.01, 1.24; P 0.05). Additionally, the association between Ln(SII) and hypertension displayed a U-shaped curve, with an inflection point at 5.89 (1000 cells/μl). Based on this research result, we found a U-shaped correlation between elevated SII levels and hypertension risk in American adults, with a inflection point of 5.89 (1000 cells)/μl). To validate these findings, larger scale prospective surveys are needed to support the results of this study and investigate potential mechanisms.

Detecting and controlling tea pests promptly are crucial for safeguarding tea production quality. Due to the insufficient feature extraction ability of traditional CNN-based methods, they face challenges such as inaccuracy and inefficiency of detecting pests in dense and mimicry scenarios. This study proposes an end-to-end tea pest detection and segmentation framework, TeaPest-Transfiner (TP-Transfiner), based on Mask Transfiner to address the challenge of detecting and segmenting pests in mimicry and dense scenarios. In order to improve the feature extraction inability and weak accuracy of traditional convolution modules, this study proposes three strategies. Firstly, a deformable attention block is integrated into the model, which consists of deformable convolution and self-attention using the key content only term. Secondly, the FPN architecture in the backbone network is improved with a more effective feature-aligned pyramid network (FaPN). Lastly, focal loss is employed to balance positive and negative samples during the training period, and parameters are adapted to the dataset distribution. Furthermore, to address the lack of tea pest images, a dataset called TeaPestDataset is constructed, which contains 1,752 images and 29 species of tea pests. Experimental results on the TeaPestDataset show that the proposed TP-Transfiner model achieves state-of-the-art performance compared with other models, attaining a detection precision (AP50) of 87.211% and segmentation performance of 87.381%. Notably, the model shows a significant improvement in segmentation average precision (mAP) by 9.4% and a reduction in model size by 30% compared to the state-of-the-art CNN-based model Mask R-CNN. Simultaneously, TP-Transfiner’s lightweight module fusion maintains fast inference speeds and a compact model size, demonstrating practical potential for pest control in tea gardens, especially in dense and mimicry scenarios.

Abstract Background Colletotrichum camelliae, one of the most important phytopathogenic fungi infecting tea plants (Camellia sinensis), causes brown blight disease resulting in significant economic losses in yield of some sensitive cultivated tea varieties. To better understand its phytopathogenic mechanism, the genetic information is worth being resolved. Results Here, a high-quality genomic sequence of C. camelliae (strain LT-3-1) was sequenced using PacBio RSII sequencing platform, one of the most advanced Three-generation sequencing platforms and assembled. The result showed that the fungal genomic sequence is 67.74 Mb in size (with the N50 contig 5.6 Mb in size) containing 14,849 putative genes, of which about 95.27% were annotated. The data revealed a large class of genomic clusters potentially related to fungal pathogenicity. Based on the Pathogen Host Interactions database, a total of 1698 genes (11.44% of the total ones) were annotated, containing 541 genes related to plant cell wall hydrolases which is remarkably higher than those of most species of Colletotrichum and others considered to be hemibiotrophic and necrotrophic fungi. It’s likely that the increase in cell wall-degrading enzymes reflects a crucial adaptive characteristic for infecting tea plants. Conclusion Considering that C. camelliae has a specific host range and unique morphological and biological traits that distinguish it from other species of the genus Colletotrichum, characterization of the fungal genome will improve our understanding of the fungus and its phytopathogenic mechanism as well.

ABSTRACT The unique, recently discovered fungus Didymella theifolia specifically infects local varieties of tea plant Camellia sinensis in China, and therefore, the characterization of its mycoviruses is important. Three double-stranded (ds) RNAs (1, 2, and 3, with 6,338, 5,910, and 727 bp in size, respectively) were identified in the avirulent D. theifolia strain CJP4-1, which exhibits normal growth and morphology. Characterization of these double-stranded RNAs (dsRNAs) revealed that the two largest elements are the genomic components of a novel botybirnavirus, tentatively named Didymella theifolia botybirnavirus 1 (DtBRV1). Conversely, dsRNA3 shares no detectable similarity with sequences deposited in public databases but has high similarity with the 5′-terminal regions of dsRNAs 1 and 2 and contains a duplicated region encoding a putative small peptide. All three dsRNAs are encapsidated in isometric virions ca. 40 nm in diameter, supporting the notion that dsRNA3 is a DtBRV1 satellite. SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in combination with peptide mass fingerprint analysis revealed that the DtBRV1 capsid protein consists of polypeptides encoded by the 5′-terminal regions of both genomic components dsRNA1 and dsRNA2. Vertical transmission of DtBRV1 through conidia is efficient, while its horizontal transmission from CJP4-1 to other strains was not detected. DtBRV1, with or without dsRNA3, has no obvious effects on fungal growth and virulence, as illustrated following transfection of the virulent D. theifolia strain JYC1-6. In summary, DtBRV1 exhibits unique molecular traits and contributes to our understanding of mycovirus diversity. IMPORTANCE A novel botybirnavirus, infecting the tea plant pathogen Didymella theifolia and tentatively named Didymella theifolia botybirnavirus 1 (DtBRV1), together with an additional double-stranded RNA (dsRNA), was characterized. DtBRV1 comprises two dsRNAs (1 and 2) encapsidated in isometric virions, while dsRNA3 is a satellite. The satellite represents a unique specimen since it contains a duplicated region and has high similarity to the two botybirnavirus dsRNAs, supporting the notion that it most likely originated from a deficient genomic component. The biological characteristics of DtBRV1 were further determined. With their unique molecular traits, DtBRV1 and its related dsRNA expand our understanding of virus diversity, taxonomy, and evolution.

Satellites associated with plant or animal viruses have been largely detected and characterized, while those from mycoviruses together with their roles remain far less determined. Three dsRNA segments (dsRNA 1 to 3 termed according to their decreasing sizes) were identified in a strain of phytopathogenic fungus Pestalotiopsis fici AH1-1 isolated from a tea leaf. The complete sequences of dsRNAs 1 to 3, with the sizes of 10316, 5511, and 631 bp, were determined by random cloning together with a RACE protocol. Sequence analyses support that dsRNA1 is a genome of a novel hypovirus belonging to genus Alphahypovirus of the family Hypoviridae, tentatively named Pestalotiopsis fici hypovirus 1 (PfHV1); dsRNA2 is a defective RNA (D-RNA) generating from dsRNA1 with septal deletions; and dsRNA3 is the satellite component of PfHV1 since it could be co-precipitated with other dsRNA components in the same sucrose fraction by ultra-centrifuge, suggesting that it is encapsulated together with PfHV1 genomic dsRNAs. Moreover, dsRNA3 shares an identical stretch (170 bp) with dsRNAs 1 and 2 at their 5' termini and the remaining are heterogenous, which is distinct from a typical satellite that generally has very little or no sequence similarity with helper viruses. More importantly, dsRNA3 lacks a substantial open reading frame (ORF) and a poly (A) tail, which is unlike the known satellite RNAs of hypoviruses, as well as unlike those in association with Totiviridae and Partitiviridae since the latters are encapsidated in coat proteins. As up-regulated expression of RNA3, dsRNA1 was significantly down-regulated, suggesting that dsRNA3 negatively regulates the expression of dsRNA1, whereas dsRNAs 1 to 3 have no obvious impact on the biological traits of the host fungus including morphologies and virulence. This study indicates that PfHV1 dsRNA3 is a special type of satellite-like nucleic acid that has substantial sequence homology with the host viral genome without encapsidation in a coat protein, which broadens the definition of fungal satellite.

Abstract To date, viroids have been found to naturally infect only plants, resulting in substantial losses for some crops. Whether viroids or viroid‐like RNAs naturally infect non‐plant hosts remains unknown. Here the existence of a set of exogenous, single‐stranded circular RNAs, ranging in size from 157 to 450 nucleotides, isolated from the fungus Botryosphaeria dothidea and nominated B. dothidea RNAs (BdcRNAs) is reported. BdcRNAs replicate autonomously in the nucleus via a rolling‐circle mechanism following a symmetric pathway. BdcRNA infection induces symptoms, because BdcRNAs can apparently modulate, to different degrees, specific biological traits (e.g., alter morphology, decrease growth rate, attenuate virulence, and increase or decrease tolerance to osmotic and oxidative stress) of the host fungus. Overall, BdcRNAs have genome characteristics similar to those of viroids and exhibit pathogenic effects on fungal hosts. It is proposed that these novel fungus infecting RNAs should be termed mycoviroids. BdcRNA(s) may be considered additional inhabitants at the frontier of life in terms of genomic complexity, and represent a new class of acellular entities endowed with regulatory functions, and novel epigenomic carriers of biological information.

Species of Diaporthe infect a wide range of plants and live in vivo as endophytes, saprobes or pathogens. However, those in peach plants are poorly characterized. In this study, 52 Diaporthe strains were isolated from peach branches with buds, showing constriction canker symptoms. Phylogenetic analyses were conducted using five gene regions: internal transcribed spacer of the ribosomal DNA (ITS), translation elongation factor 1-α (TEF), ß-tubulin (TUB), histone (HIS), and calmodulin (CAL). These results coupled with morphology revealed seven species of Diaporthe, including five known species (D. caryae, D. cercidis, D. eres, D. hongkongensis, and D. unshiuensis). In addition, two novel species D. jinxiu and D. zaofenghuang are introduced. Except for the previously reported D. eres, this study represents the first characterization of Diaporthe species associated with peach constriction canker in China, and contributes useful data for practicable disease management.

A dsRNA segment was identified in the fungus Melanconiella theae isolated from tea plants. The complete dsRNA sequence, determined by random cloning together with RACE protocol, is 2,461 bp in length with an AU-rich content (62.37%) and comprises a single ORF of 2,265-nucleotides encoding an RNA-dependent RNA-polymerase (RdRp, 754 amino acids in size). The terminus sequences can fold into predicted stable stemloop structures. A BLASTX and phylogenetic analysis revealed the dsRNA genome shows similarities with the RdRp sequences of mitoviruses, with the highest identity of 48% with those of grapevine-associated mitovirus 20 and Colletotrichum fructicola mitovirus 1. Our results reveal a novel member, tentatively named Melanconiella theae mitovirus 1 (MtMV1), belongs to the family Mitoviridae. MtMV1 is capsidless as examined by transmission electron microscope, efficiently transmitted through conidia as 100 conidium-generated colonies were analyzed, and easily eliminated by hyphal tipping method combined with green-leaf tea powder. MtMV1 has a genomic sequence obviously divergent from those of most members in the family Mitoviridae and some unique characteristics unreported in known members. This is the first report of a mycovirus infecting Melanconiella fungi to date. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Colletotrichum fructicola infects pear leaves, resulting in two major symptoms: tiny black spots (TS) followed by severe early defoliation and big necrotic lesions (BnL) without apparent damage depending on the pathotypes. How the same fungal species causes different symptoms remains unclear. To understand the molecular mechanism underlying the resulting diseases and the diverse symptoms, two C. fructicola pathogenetic strains (PAFQ31 and PAFQ32 responsible for TS and BnL symptoms, respectively) were inoculated on Pyrus pyrifolia leaves and subjected to transcriptome sequencing at the quiescent stage (QS) and necrotrophic stage (NS), respectively. In planta, the genes involved in the salicylic acid (SA) signaling pathway were upregulated at the NS caused by the infection of each strain. In contrast, the ethylene (ET), abscisic acid (ABA), and jasmonic acid (JA) signaling pathways were specifically related to the TS symptoms caused by the infection of strain PAFQ31, corresponding to the yellowish and early defoliation symptoms triggered by the strain infection. Correspondingly, SA was accumulated in similar levels in the leaves infected by each strain at NS, but JA was significantly higher in the PAFQ31-infected as measured using high-performance liquid chromatography. Weighted gene co-expression network analysis also reveals specific genes, pathways, phytohormones, and transcription factors (TFs) associated with the PAFQ31-associated early defoliation. Taken together, these data suggest that specific metabolic pathways were regulated in P. pyrifolia in response to the infection of two C. fructicola pathotypes resulting in the diverse symptoms: JA, ET, and ABA accumulated in the PAFQ31-infected leaves, which negatively affected the chlorophyll metabolism and photosynthesis pathways while positively affecting the expression of senescence-associated TFs and genes, resulted in leaf yellowing and defoliation; whereas SA inhibited JA-induced gene expression in the PAFQ32-infected leaves, which led to hypersensitive response-like reaction and BnL symptoms.

The next-generation sequencing method was developed in the second half of the 2000s and marked the beginning of high-throughput sequencing (HTS) analyses of viral communities [...]

A dsRNA segment was identified in the fungus Melanconiella theae isolated from tea plants. The complete dsRNA sequence, determined by random cloning together with RACE protocol, is 2,461 bp in length with an AU-rich content (62.37%) and comprises a single ORF of 2,265-nucleotides encoding an RNA-dependent RNA-polymerase (RdRp, 754 amino acids in size). The terminus sequences can fold into predicted stable stem-loop structures. A BLASTX and phylogenetic analysis revealed the dsRNA genome shows similarities with the RdRp sequences of mitoviruses, with the highest identity of 48% with those of grapevine-associated mitovirus 20 and Colletotrichum fructicola mitovirus 1. Our results reveal a novel member, tentatively named Melanconiella theae mitovirus 1 (MtMV1), belongs to the family Mitoviridae. MtMV1 is capsidless as examined by transmission electron microscope, efficiently transmitted through conidia as 100 conidium-generated colonies were analyzed, and easily eliminated by hyphal tipping method combined with green-leaf tea powder. MtMV1 has a genomic sequence obviously divergent from those of most members in the family Mitoviridae and some unique characteristics unreported in known members. This is the first report of a mycovirus infecting Melanconiella fungi to date.

In this study, we describe a novel positive, single-stranded (+ss) RNA mycovirus, named Botryosphaeria dothidea botrexvirus 1 (BdBV1), from a phytopathogenic fungus Botryosphaeria dothidea showing abnormal morphology and attenuated virulence. BdBV1 is phylogenetically related to Botrytis virus X (BotVX) and is the second potential member of the proposed genus Botrexvirus in the family Alphaflexiviridae. However, it differs from the monopartite BotVX in that BdBV1 possesses a bipartite genome comprised of two ssRNA segments (RNA1 and RNA2 with lengths of 5,035 and 1,063 nt, respectively). BdBV1 RNA1 and RNA2 encode putative RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) and coat protein (CP) genes, which share significant identity with corresponding genes in both fungal and plant viruses. Moreover, open reading frames (ORFs) 2–4 of BdBV1 RNA1 shared no detectable identity with any known viral proteins. Immunosorbent electron microscopy (ISEM) analysis using an antibody against the virus CP generated in vitro revealed that BdBV1 is encapsidated in filamentous particles. A comparison of the biological effects of BdBV1 infection on symptoms and growth in isogenic lines of virus-free and virus-infected B. dothidea revealed that BdBV1 is probably involved in reduced growth and virulence of the host fungus. This study describes and characterizes a novel bipartite botrexvirus, which is closely related to uni- and multi-partite fungal and plant viruses and contributes useful information to a better understanding of virus evolution.

Amplicon sequencing is a powerful tool for analyzing the fungal composition inside plants, whereas its application for the identification of etiology for plant diseases remains undetermined. Here, we utilize this strategy to clarify the etiology responsible for tea leaf brown-black spot disease (LBSD), a noticeable disease infecting tea plants etiology that remains controversial. Based on the ITS-based amplicon sequencing analysis, Didymella species were identified as separate from Pestalotiopsis spp. and Cercospora sp., which are concluded as the etiological agents. This was further confirmed by the fungal isolation and their specific pathogenicity on diverse tea varieties. Based on the morphologies and phylogenetic analysis constructed with multi-loci (ITS, LSU, tub2, and rpb2), two novel Didymella species—tentatively named D. theae and D. theifolia as reference to their host plants—were proposed and characterized. Here, we present an integrated approach of ITS-based amplicon sequencing in combination with fungal isolation and fulfillment of Koch’s postulates for etiological identification of tea plant disease, revealing new etiology for LBSD. This contributes useful information for further etiological identification of plant disease based on amplicon sequencing, as well as understanding, prevention, and management of this economically important disease.

Environmental leadership has received continuous attention from the business sector in recent years, yet few studies have examined the internal mechanisms and contingent conditions that link environmental leadership to firm performance. The aim of this article is to advance research by investigating the relationship between environmental leadership and firm performance by considering the mediating role of green innovation practices and the moderating role of environmental knowledge learning. A questionnaire survey is used to collect data from 353 agricultural products corporations in China. Empirical results show that environmental leadership has a positive relationship with the two dimensions of firm performance, namely, environmental performance and financial performance. Results also indicate that green innovation practices (including green innovation strategy and actions) play a mediating role between environmental leadership and firm performance. Meanwhile, it is also found that environmental knowledge learning positively moderates the effect of environmental leadership on green innovation practices. This study adds value to the environmental management literature by introducing leadership style as an antecedent variable to examine the impact of environmental leadership on firm performance in China. And the study also highlights the important moderating effect of environmental knowledge learning on the relationship between environmental leadership and green innovation practices. The findings of this article could be important in terms of both management and policy implications.

With the outbreak of COVID-19, the importance of rural areas has been gradually highlighted, and the importance of rural ecological livability has been gradually recognized. A growing body of literature recognizes the importance of building a rural ecological livability (REL) system. It is urgent that we clarify the status quo and spatial-temporal differences in and distributional characteristics of rural ecological livability and that we carry out targeted and differentiated construction to promote rural ecological livability in post-epidemic China. This study proposes a conceptual model that incorporates various economic, social and environmental factors and develops a comprehensive multifactor (production-living-ecology) evaluation system. Using Fujian Province as an example, the entropy weight method is used to measure the REL level of 55 counties and cities, which are comprehensively evaluated from 2015 to 2019. Moran's I and Getis-Ord Gi* are used to analyze the spatial and distributional characteristics of the REL level in Fujian. The results show that the level of REL in Fujian Province has been relatively flat over the past five years, with a slight downward trend. The overall value of the rural ecological livability index in 2015 was 0.345, and its overall value in 2019 was 0.334, with an average value of 0.343. The REL of Fujian Province is spatially correlated, with high levels of livability in the southeast and low levels in the northeast. The autocorrelation in the level of ecological livability in Fujian's counties and cities continues to increase.

Viruses with double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) genomes form typically isometric particles or are capsid-less. Here, the authors identify a mycovirus with an eight-segmented dsRNA genome that forms exceptionally long filamentous particles and could represent an evolutionary link between ssRNA and dsRNA viruses.

Banana trees, citrus fruit trees, pome fruit trees, grapevines, mango trees, and stone fruit trees are major fruit trees cultured worldwide and correspond to nearly 90% of the global production of woody fruit trees. In light of the above, the present manuscript summarizes the viruses that infect the major fruit trees, including their taxonomy and morphology, and highlights selected viruses that significantly affect fruit production, including their genomic and biological features. The results showed that a total of 163 viruses, belonging to 45 genera classified into 23 families have been reported to infect the major woody fruit trees. It is clear that there is higher accumulation of viruses in grapevine (80/163) compared to the other fruit trees (each corresponding to less than 35/163), while only one virus species has been reported infecting mango. Most of the viruses (over 70%) infecting woody fruit trees are positive-sense single-stranded RNA (+ssRNA), and the remainder belong to the -ssRNA, ssRNA-RT, dsRNA, ssDNA and dsDNA-RT groups (each corresponding to less than 8%). Most of the viruses are icosahedral or isometric (79/163), and their diameter ranges from 16 to 80 nm with the majority being 25−30 nm. Cross-infection has occurred in a high frequency among pome and stone fruit trees, whereas no or little cross-infection has occurred among banana, citrus and grapevine. The viruses infecting woody fruit trees are mostly transmitted by vegetative propagation, grafting, and root grafting in orchards and are usually vectored by mealybug, soft scale, aphids, mites or thrips. These viruses cause adverse effects in their fruit tree hosts, inducing a wide range of symptoms and significant damage, such as reduced yield, quality, vigor and longevity.

Citrus yellow vein clearing virus is a newly accepted member of the genus Mandarivirus in the family Alphaflexiviridae. The triple gene block proteins (TGBp1, TGBp2 and TGBp3) encoded by plant viruses in this family function on facilitating virus movement. However, the protein function of citrus yellow vein clearing virus (CYVCV) have never been explored. Here, we showed in both yeast two-hybrid (Y2H) and bimolecular fluorescence (BiFC) assays that the coat protein (CP), TGBp1 and TGBp2 of CYVCV are self-interacting. Its CP also interacts with all three TGB proteins, and TGBp1 and TGBp2 interact with each other but not with TGBp3. Furthermore, the viral CP colocalizes with TGBp1 and TGBp3 at the plasmodesmata (PD) of epidermal cells of Nicotiana benthamiana leaves, and TGBp1 can translocate TGBp2 from granular-like structures embedded within ER networks to the PD. The results suggest that these proteins could coexist at the PD of epidermal cells of N. benthamiana. Using Agrobacterium infiltration-mediated RNA silencing assays, we show that CYVCV CP is a strong RNA silencing suppressor (RSS) triggered by positive-sense green fluorescent protein (GFP) RNA. The presented results provide insights for further revealing the mechanism of the viral movement and suppression of RNA silencing.