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Nitrogen is the most limiting nutrient for ecosystems. The natural abundance of δ氮是陆地生态系统生产力的首要限制性养分,利用自然丰度δ

Reasonable nutrient and water management is effective ways to improve productivity and biodiversity of degraded grasslands. However, little is known about the effects of nutrient and water addition on soil inorganic phosphorus (P) fractions in old-field grasslands. Based on a field experiment with nutrient addition (N: 10 g·m合理的养分和水分管理措施是提高退化草地生产力和生物多样性的有效途径,但养分和水添加对弃耕草地土壤无机磷组分的影响研究较少。本文依托内蒙古多伦县2005年建立的养分(N: 10 g·m

We summarized the effects of fertilization and water addition on some soil properties and plant community characteristics in a long-term field experiment established in 2005 in a degraded grassland in Duolun, Inner Mongolia, China. The results showed that nitrogen (N) addition resulted in surface soil acidification and decreased acid buffering capacity, increased the availability of carbon (C), N, phosphorus (P), sulfur (S) and DTPA-extractable iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), and copper (Cu) contents, depleted the sum of base cations calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), potassium (K) and sodium (Na), decreased the diversity of soil microbial community. Nitrogen addition enhanced the uptake of N, P, S, K, Mn, Cu and Zn by plants, while inhibited plant Fe uptake, but with no effect on the uptake of Ca or Mg. Nitrogen addition increased aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP) but declined plant species diversity and community stability. Phosphorus addition alone increased total P and Olsen-P contents and fungal abundance in the surface soil, and improved N, P and S uptake by leaves, but had no significant influence on other soil basic chemical properties, ANPP, and plant species diversity. Water addition could improve the resistance of plant community, but its contribution to ANPP was limited by soil N availa-bility. Water addition could buffer soil acidification and the decline of microbial and plant diversity induced by N addition. Under the treatments of N and water addition or P and water addition, the diversity and function of soil microorganisms were affected by plant community structure and function. Long-term controlled field experiments were useful for understanding ecosystem structure and functions of grasslands. However, to uncover the underlying mechanisms in grassland ecosystem ecology, single-site experiments should be incorporated with multiple-site controlled field experiments in different regions. More attentions should be paid to the linkage of above- and below-ground ecological processes.本文对内蒙古多伦退化草地2005年建立的长期野外控制试验中施肥和增水对土壤性质和植物群落特征的影响进行了总结和综合评述.结果表明:加氮导致了表土酸化并降低酸缓冲容量,提高了表土中碳氮磷硫有效性及DTPA-浸提态铁锰铜含量,导致盐基离子钙镁钾钠总量的消耗,降低了土壤微生物群落多样性,促进了优势植物物种叶片对氮磷硫钾及锰铜锌的吸收,抑制植物叶片对铁的吸收,而对钙镁吸收无显著影响,增加了植物地上净初级生产力(ANPP),降低了植物物种多样性和群落稳定性.单独加磷增加了表土全磷和Olsen-P含量及真菌丰度,促进了植物叶片对氮、磷、硫的吸收,但对其他土壤基本化学性质及ANPP、物种多样性无显著影响.增水提高了植物群落对干旱的抵抗力,但对ANPP增长的贡献受到土壤氮有效性的限制.增水对于加氮导致的土壤酸化、植物和微生物多样性降低等具有一定的缓冲作用;加氮增水和加磷增水下,土壤微生物多样性及功能受地上植物群落结构及功能变化的影响.长期野外控制试验对于深入理解草地生态系统结构和功能对环境变化的响应具有重要意义,但单点的研究结果仍需与不同区域多点控制试验的联网研究相结合,深入开展地上与地下生态过程的关联研究,才能深入理解草地生态系统生态学的相关机制.

Biosensors always suffer from passivation that prevents their reutilization. To address this issue, photocatalytically renewable sensors composed of semiconductor photocatalysts and sensing materials have emerged recently. In this work, we developed a robust and versatile method to construct different kinds of renewable biosensors consisting of ZnO nanorods and nanostructured Au. Via a facile and efficient photochemical reduction, various nanostructured Au was obtained successfully on ZnO nanorods. As-prepared sensors concurrently possess excellent sensing capability and desirable photocatalytic cleaning performance. Experimental results demonstrate that dendritic Au/ZnO composite has the strongest surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) enhancement, and dense Au nanoparticles (NPs)/ZnO composite has the highest electrochemical activity, which was successfully used for electrochemical detection of NO release from cells. Furthermore, both of the SERS and electrochemical sensors can be regenerated efficiently for renewable applications via photodegrading adsorbed probe molecules and biomolecules. Our strategy provides an efficient and versatile method to construct various kinds of highly sensitive renewable sensors and might expand the application of the photocatalytically renewable sensor in the biosensing area.

Biochar could be got from crop straw which contain rich carbon under oxygen free or oxygen limited conditions at low temperature. The application of biochar into soil is beneficial to ease the pressure of handling straw, reduce pollution, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve soil quality. This study was carried out in a cornfield containing meadow brown soil at the lower reaches of Liao River which was treated with different amounts of biochar (0, 360, 1 800, 3 600 kg·ha-1) and fertilizer. We investigated the contents of soil available phosphorus (AP), organic P (OP) and total P (TP). We also investigated the enzyme activities of soil acid phosphatase (AcP), alkaline phosphatase (AlP) and phosphodiesterase (PD) via a fluorescence spectroscopy method by using a fluorescent conjugated polymer as the substrate. Soil AP contents increased drastically with the increasing application of biochar, whereas the OP and TP contents exhibited little change. The increase in AP contents was ascribed to the introduction of P into the soil via biochar. Soil AlP and PD activities increased with increasing biochar application. Soil AcP activity increased significantly after the application of the appropriate amount of biochar (1 800 kg·ha-1), whereas it was inhibited by the application of high levels of biochar (3 600 kg·ha-1), perhaps due to the intrinsic alkalinity of biochar. The effect of Biochar inputs on soil phosphorus element and phosphatase activity is the comprehensive embodiment of the soil physical properties, chemical properties, and microbial community structure and metabolic capacity. We should further study such item. The fluorescent microplate method used in this study has many advantages, such as accuracy, rapidness and simple to perform.

Extensive evidence indicates that oxidative stress plays a pivotal role in the development of osteoporosis. We show that naringin, a natural antioxidant and anti-inflammatory compound, effectively protects human adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hADMSCs) against hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)-induced inhibition of osteogenic differentiation. Naringin increased viability of hAMDSCs and attenuated H2O2-induced cytotoxicity. Naringin also reversed H2O2-induced oxidative stress. Oxidative stress induced by H2O2 inhibits osteogenic differentiation by decreasing alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity, calcium content and mRNA expression levels of osteogenesis marker genes RUNX2 and OSX in hADMSCs. However, addition of naringin leads to a significant recovery, suggesting the protective effects of naringin against H2O2-induced inhibition of osteogenic differentiation. Furthermore, the H2O2-induced decrease of protein expressions of β-catenin and clyclin D1, two important transcriptional regulators of Wnt-signaling, was successfully rescued by naringin treatment. Also, in the presence of Wnt inhibitor DKK-1, naringin is no longer effective in stimulating ALP activity, increasing calcium content and mRNA expression levels of RUNX2 and OSX in H2O2-exposed hADMSCs. These data clearly demonstrates that naringin protects hADMSCs against oxidative stress-induced inhibition of osteogenic differentiation, which may involve Wnt signaling pathway. Our work suggests that naringin may be a useful addition to the treatment armamentarium for osteoporosis and activation of Wnt signaling may represent attractive therapeutic strategy for the treatment of degenerative disease of bone tissue.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a common cause of functional deterioration in older adults, and altered chondrogenesis is the most common pathophysiological process involved in the development of OA. MicroRNA‑145 (miR‑145) has been shown to regulate chondrocyte homeostasis. However, the function of miR‑145 in OA remains to be elucidated. In the present study, the expression levels of miR‑145 were examined in cartilage specimens from 25 patients with knee OA using reverse transcription‑quantitative polymerase chain reaction analysis. The effects of miR‑145 on the proliferation and fibrosis of the C‑20/A4 and CH8 cell lines were also investigated using 3-(4,5-dimethylth-iazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide and western blot assays in vitro. The results revealed that the expression of miR-145 was decreased in the OA cartilage tissues, compared with normal cartilage tissues. The overexpression of miR‑145 by transfection of cells with miR‑145 mimics significantly inhibited C‑20/A4 and CH8 cell proliferation and fibrosis. Furthermore, tumor necrosis factor receptor superfamily, member 11b (TNFRSF11B) was identified as a direct target of miR‑145 in chondrocytes, which was confirmed using a dual‑luciferase reporter assay. The expression level of TNFRSF11B was markedly upregulated in the patients with OA, and the ectopic expression of miR‑145 was capable of suppressing the expression of TNFRSF11B. In addition, the knock down of TNFRSF11B using specific small interfering RNA also inhibited the proliferation and fibrosis of C‑20/A4 and CH8 cells in vitro. These data provide the first evidence, to the best of our knowledge, to suggest the critical function of miR‑145 in regulating the expression of TNFRSF11B, which may have important implications on the regulation of chondrocyte proliferation and fibrosis in OA.

In this study, we measured the responses of soil bacterial diversity and community structure to nitrogen (N) and water addition in the typical temperate grassland in northern China. Results showed that N addition significantly reduced microbial biomass carbon (MBC) and microbial biomass nitrogen (MBN) under regular precipitation treatment. Similar declined trends of MBC and MBN caused by N addition were also found under increased precipitation condition. Nevertheless, water addition alleviated the inhibition by N addition. N addition exerted no significant effects. on bacterial α-diversity indices, including richness, Shannon diversity and evenness index under regular precipitation condition. Precipitation increment tended to increase bacterial α-diversity, and the diversity indices of each N gradient under regular precipitation were much lower than that of the corresponding N addition rate under increased precipitation. Correlation analysis showed that soil moisture, nitrate (NO3(-)-N) and ammonium (NH4+-N) were significantly negatively correlated with bacterial evenness index, and MBC and MBN had a significant positive correlation with bacterial richness and evenness. Non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) ordination illustrated that the bacterial communities were significantly separated by N addition rates, under both water ambient and water addition treatments. Redundancy analysis (RDA) revealed that soil MBC, MBN, pH and NH4+-N were the key environmental factors for shaping bacterial communities.

The vertical variation and storage of nitrogen in the depth of 0–150 cm of an aquic brown soil were studied under 14 years of four land use patterns, i.e., paddy field, maize field, fallow field and woodland in Shenyang Experimental Station of Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences in November of 2003. The results showed that different land uses had different profile distributions of soil total nitrogen (STN), alkali N, ammonium (NH4 +-N) and nitrate (NO3 −-N). The sequence of STN storage was woodland>maize field>fallow field>paddy field, while that of NO3 −-N content was maize field>paddy field>woodland>fallow field, suggesting the different root biomass and biological N cycling under various land uses. The STN storage in the depth of 0–100 cm of woodland averaged to 11.41 t·hm−1, being 1.65 and 1.25 times as much as that in paddy and maize fields, respectively, while there was no significant difference between maize and fallow fields. The comparatively higher amount NO3 −-N in maize and paddy fields may be due to nitrogen fertilization and anthropogenic disturbance. Soil alkali N was significantly related with STN, and the correlation could be expressed by a linear regression model under each land use (R 2≥0.929,p

A method to determine soil exchangeable calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), potassium (K), and sodium (Na) by using atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS) and extraction with ammonium acetate was developed. Results showed that the accuracy of exchangeable base cation data with AAS method fits well with the national standard referential soil data. The relative errors for parallel samples of exchangeable Ca and Mg with 66 pair samples ranged from 0.02%-3.14% and 0.06%-4.06%, and averaged to be 1.22% and 1.25%, respectively. The relative errors for exchangeable K and Na with AAS and flame photometer (FP) ranged from 0.06%-8.39% and 0.06-1.54, and averaged to be 3.72% and 0.56%, respectively. A case study showed that the determination method for exchangeable base cations by using AAS was proven to be reliable and trustable, which could reflect the real situation of soil cation exchange properties in farmlands.

The study on the vertical distribution and latitudinal differentiation of soil total and organic phosphorus (P) down to 100 cm depth in maize belt farmlands of Northeast China showed that in Hailun and Harbin of Heilongjiang Province, Gongzhuling of Jilin Province, and Dashiqiao of Liaoning Province, soil total P decreased with soil depth, being significant higher in 0-40 cm than in 40-100 cm (P0.01). In Dehui of Jilin Province and in Changtu and Shenyang of Liaoning Province, soil total P was relatively lower in 40-60 cm, but no significant difference was observed among different layers. Soil organic P was significantly higher in 0-20 cm than below 20 cm (P0.05). Soil total and organic P increased with increasing latitude (P0.05). The differences in climate conditions and soil types were considered as the main reasons induced the latitudinal differentiation of soil P. Soil total and organic P were significantly correlated with soil organic carbon (P0.01), indicating that soil organic matter was one of the most important factors affecting the soil P content and its distribution in maize belt farmlands of Northeast China.

A comparative study was made on the profile distribution of exchangeable Ca and Mg and Ca/Mg ratio at the depth of 0-150 cm in an aquic brown soil under four land use patterns, i. e., paddy field, maize field, fallow field, and woodland. The results showed that less difference was observed in the soil exchangeable Ca content and storage among different land use patterns. For soil exchangeable Mg, it was significantly higher in woodland than in paddy field, and its storage was in the sequence of woodlandmaize fieldfallow fieldpaddy field (P0.05). The exchangeable Ca/Mg ratio tended to decrease with soil depth, and was significantly lower in paddy field than in other three land use patterns in the soil layers below 40 cm (P0.05). The preferential retention of Mg in soil ecosystem, soil management practices, and plant characteristics, e. g., biomass cycling rate, biomass above- and below-ground allocation, root distribution, and maximum rooting depth) might play important roles in shaping soil exchangeable Ca and Mg profiles and in reconstructing soil exchangeable Ca and Mg pools.