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To explore the mechanism by which the plant growth-promoting bacterium Brevibacillus sp. SR-9 improves sweet sorghum tolerance and enriches soil cadmium (Cd) under pot conditions, the effect of strain SR-9 inoculation on the microbial community of sorghum rhizosphere soil was analyzed by metagenomics. Gene expression in sweet sorghum roots was analyzed using transcriptomics. The results showed that strain SR-9 promoted the growth of sweet sorghum and improved the absorption and enrichment of Cd in the plants. Compared with the uninoculated treatment, the aboveground part and root dry weight in strain SR-9 inoculated with sorghum increased by 21.09% and 17.37%, respectively, and the accumulation of Cd increased by 135% and 53.41%, respectively. High-throughput sequencing showed that strain SR-9 inoculation altered the rhizosphere bacterial community, significantly increasing the relative abundance of Actinobacteria and Firmicutes. Metagenomic analysis showed that after inoculation with strain SR-9, the abundance of genes involved in amino acid transport metabolism, energy generation and conversion, and carbohydrate transport metabolism increased. KEGG functional classification showed that inoculation with strain SR-9 increased the abundance of genes involved in soil microbial metabolic pathways in the rhizosphere soil of sweet sorghum and the activity of soil bacteria. Transcriptome analysis identified 198 upregulated differentially expressed genes in sweet sorghum inoculated with strain SR-9, including those involved in genetic information processing, biological system, metabolism, environmental information processing, cellular process, and human disease. Most of the annotated differentially expressed genes were enriched in the metabolic category and were related to pathways such as signal transduction, carbohydrate metabolism, amino acid metabolism, and biosynthesis of other secondary metabolites. This study showed that plant growth-promoting bacteria can alter the rhizosphere bacterial community composition, increasing the activity of soil bacteria and upregulating gene expression in sweet sorghum roots. The findings enhance our understanding of the microbiological and botanical mechanisms by which plant growth-promoting bacterial inoculation improves the remediation of heavy metals by sorghum.

Heavy metal contamination affects microbial composition and diversity. The interaction between heavy metal contamination and soil microorganisms has been a hot topic in ecological research. Battery manufacturing has been going on for over six decades in Xinxiang City, resulting in severe soil heavy metal contamination due to battery wastewater runoff. Few studies have investigated the effect of heavy metal contamination due to long-term battery wastewater runoff on microbial diversity and metabolomics in Xinxiang City. In this study, we collected samples from three heavy metal contaminated sites in Xinxiang City and found that Cd and Pb exceeded the recommended thresholds by 34-66 fold and 1.5-2.32 fold, respectively. High-throughput sequencing showed that

A Gram-stain-negative, aerobic, and motile strain, TJ48T, was isolated from pakchoi-cultivated soil contaminated with Cd and Pb in Xinxiang (China). Cells of the strain were rod-shaped and colonies on LB agar were faint yellow. Strain TJ48T was positive for catalase and oxidase and the optimal condition for growth was 28 °C, with 1% (w/v) NaCl and at pH 7.0. Phylogenetic analysis based on the 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain TJ48T was closely related to the genus Rhodobacter and the closest relatives were Rhodobacter ovatus JA234T (97.4%, 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity) and Rhodobacter azotoformans KA25T (96.5%). The DNA G + C content of strain TJ48T was 64.7 mol%. Genome-to-genome distance calculations (GGDC) and ANIb values from genomic comparison between the genomes of strain TJ48T and the related reference species were less than 70% and 95%, respectively. The major cellular fatty acids were summed feature 8 (C18:1ω7c and/or C18:1ω6c) and C17:0. The only isoprenoid quinone detected was Ubiquinone-10 (Q-10). The polar lipid profile contains diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, one unidentified aminophospholipid, one unidentified phospholipids, and three unidentified lipids. Strain TJ48T significantly increased the dry weight of roots (26.2–66.3%) and shoots (16.7–37.8%) of pakchoi and reduced the Cd (50.2–60.1%) and Pb (55.6–60.9%) contents in pakchoi shoots and roots. On the basis of the physiological, genotypic and genomic characteristics, the strain TJ48T represent a novel species of the genus Rhodobacter, and the name Rhodobacter xinxiangensis sp. nov. is proposed (type strain TJ48T = CCTCC AB2019120T = KCTC 72510T).

Soil microbes play important roles in plant growth and in the biogeochemical cycling of earth's elements. However, the structure and functions of the microbial community associated with the growth of second-generation energy crops, such as Miscanthus, remain unclear. Thus, in this study, the composition and function of the bacterial and fungal communities associated with Miscanthus cultivation were analyzed by MiSeq sequencing combined with PICRUSt and FUNGUIld analyses. The results of community composition and diversity index analyses showed that Miscanthus cultivation significantly altered the bacterial and fungal community composition and reduced bacterial and fungal diversity. In addition, Miscanthus cultivation increased the soil organic matter (SOM) and total nitrogen (TN) contents. The correlation analysis between microbial community composition and environmental factors indicated that SOM and TN were the most important factors affecting bacterial and fungal communities. Miscanthus cultivation could enrich the abundances of Pseudomonas, Rhizobium, Luteibacter, Bradyrhizobium, Phenylobacterium and other common plant-promoting bacteria, while also increasing Cladophialophora, Hymenula, Magnaporthe, Mariannaea, etc., which predicted corresponded to the saprotrophic, plant pathogenic, and pathotrophic trophic modes. The PICRUSt predictive analysis indicated that Miscanthus cultivation altered the metabolic capabilities of bacterial communities, including the metabolism of carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus cycle. In addition, FUNGUIld analysis indicated that Miscanthus cultivation altered the fungal trophic mode. The effects of Miscanthus on the communities and function of bacteria and fungi varied among Miscanthus species. Miscanthus specie Xiangdi NO 1 had the greatest impact on soil bacterial and fungal communities, whereas Miscanthus specie Wujiemang NO 1 had the greatest impact on soil bacteria and fungi functions. The results of this study provide a reference for the composition and function of microbial communities during the growth of Miscanthus.

Network analysis has contributed to studies of the interactions of microorganisms and the identification of key populations. However, such analysis has rarely been conducted in the study of reservoir bacterioplankton communities. This study investigated the bacterioplankton community composition in the surface water of the Danjiangkou Reservoir using the Illumina MiSeq sequencing platform. We observed that the bacterioplankton community primarily consisted of 27 phyla and 336 genera, including Actinobacteria, Proteobacteria, and Bacteroidetes, demonstrating the richness of the community composition. Redundancy analysis of the bacterioplankton communities and environmental variables showed that the total nitrogen (TN), pH, chemical oxygen demand (COD), and permanganate index (CODMn) were important factors affecting the bacterioplankton distribution. Network analysis was performed using the relative abundances of bacterioplankton based on the phylogenetic molecular ecological network (pMEN) method. The connectivity of node i within modules (Zi), the connectivity of node i among modules (Pi), and the number of key bacteria were high at the Taizishan and Heijizui sites, which were associated with higher TN contents than at the other sites. Among the physicochemical properties of water, TN, ammonia nitrogen (NH4-N), pH, COD, and dissolved oxygen (DO) might have great influences on the functional units of the bacterial communities in bacterioplankton molecular networks. This study improves the understanding of the structure and function of bacterioplankton communities in the Danjiangkou Reservoir.

Some functional microorganisms in the soil immobilize heavy metals by adsorption and precipitation, prevent the absorption of heavy metals by crops, and play an important role in the passivation and remediation of medium and mild heavy metal-contaminated soil. A pot experiment was conducted to study the effects of the exogenous polyamine-producing bacterium

As a representative of second-generation bioenergy plants

The use of heavy metal passivators to prevent vegetables from absorbing heavy metals is an important measure to control heavy metal-polluted vegetable fields and to ensure the safe production of vegetables. A pot experiment of planting three times in succession was conducted to study the effects of

The Laoguan River is the tributary of Danjiangkou Reservoir located nearest to the water diversion outlet, and water quality here directly affects the safety of the diverted water. To explore the community composition and functional change of bacterioplankton in the Laoguan River before and after the flood season, four representative sites were sampled in the main stream before (May) and after (October) the 2018 and 2019 flood seasons. Water quality was assessed and high-throughput sequencing of bacterioplankton was performed. Yanghe (YH) was slightly disturbed, Xixiabei (XX) was moderately disturbed, Dangziling (DZL) was heavily disturbed, and Zhangying (ZY) was moderately disturbed. In total, 599 genera from 40 phyla were collected. The diversity of bacterioplankton before the flood season was higher than afterwards, and moderate levels of disturbance increased the Shannon-Wiener diversity index. LEfSe analysis indicated that significant differences existed in some dominant phyla; Armatimonadete in Yanghe, Epsilonbacteraeota and Firmicutes in Xixiabei, and Cyanophyta in Dangziling dominated before flood season, while significant differences only occurred in Firmicutes and Cyanophyta in Dangziling after the flood season. The PCoA of the bacterioplankton community showed that the sampling points were distinct before and after the flood season, and that differences among samples were greater before the flood season. The RDA and CCA indicated that total nitrogen and ammonia nitrogen were the main environmental factors causing declines in bacterioplankton diversity. PICRUSt showed a total of ten dominant categories of COG function genes. A total of 30 KO function genes related to nitrogen metabolism group also different between the two periods, with greater differences before flood season. The genes

Aim: We explored the potential for over-compression from current paediatric chest compression depth guidelines using chest computed tomography(CT) images of a large, heterogenous, Asian population. Methods: A retrospective review of consecutive children, less than 18-years old, with chest CT images performed between from 2005 to 2017 was done. Demographic data were extracted from the electronic medical records. Measurements for internal and external anterior-posterior diameters (APD) were taken at lower half of the sternum. Simulated chest compressions were performed to evaluate the proportion of the population with residual internal cavity dimensions less than 0 mm (RICD < 0 mm, representing definite over-compression; with chest compression depth exceeding internal APD), and RICD less than 10 mm (RICD < 10 mm, representing potential over-compression). Results: 592 paediatric chest CT studies were included for the study. Simulated chest compressions of one-third external APD had the least potential for over-compression; no infants and 0.3% children had potential over-compression (RICD < 10 mm). 4 cm simulated chest compressions led to 18% (95% CI 13%–24%) of infants with potential over-compression, and this increased to 34% (95% CI 27%–41%) at 4.4 cm (upper limit of “approximately” 4 cm; 4 cm + 10%). 5 cm simulated compressions resulted in 8% (95% CI 4%–12%) of children 1 to 8-years-old with potential over-compression, and this increased to 22% (95% CI 16%–28%) at 5.5 cm (upper limit of “approximately” 5 cm, 5 cm + 10%). Conclusion: In settings whereby chest compression depths can be accurately measured, compressions at the current recommended chest compression of approximately 4 cm (in infants) and 5 cm (in young children) could result in potential for over-compression.

Planktonic fungi are important components of aquatic ecosystems, and analyses of their community composition and function have far-reaching significance for the ecological management and maintenance of the Danjiangkou reservoir. The composition and function of the planktonic fungal community in the surface water layer of the Danjiangkou Reservoir in October 2019 was investigated using Illumina MiSeq sequencing combined with FUNGuild analyses. According to the results, the reservoir community is primarily composed of 6 phyla 213 genera, with Ascomycota and Basidiomycota being the dominant phyla. The water quality monitoring results for the Danjiangkou Reservoir met the Grade Ⅰ or Ⅱ water quality standards for the Environmental Quality Standards for Surface Water (GB 38382-2002). A redundancy analysis (RDA) of the planktonic fungal community and environmental factors showed that TN, TP

Planktonic eukaryotes are widespread in aquatic ecosystems, and the study of their community composition and driving factors is of great significance to protecting and maintaining the balance of these ecosystems. This study evaluates five typical ecological sites in the Danjiangkou Reservoir&mdash, the water source for the project. This was done to comprehensively understand the composition of Danjiangkou Reservoir planktonic eukaryotes, and ensure the ecological balance of the water source for the South-to-North Water Diversion Project. The diversity of the planktonic eukaryotes in surface water and the factors driving changes in their abundance are analyzed with an 18S ribosomal DNA sequencing approach. Monitoring shows that the Danjiangkou Reservoir has good water quality. The Danjiangkou Reservoir planktonic eukaryote community is mainly composed of 11 phyla, of which Cryptomonadales is dominant, accounting for an average percentage of 65.19% of the community (47.2&ndash, 84.90%). LEFSe analysis shows significant differences among samples in the abundances of 13 phyla, 20 classes, 23 orders, 26 families, and 27 genera, and there are also significant differences in the diversity of planktonic eukaryotes at different temporal and spatial scales. Redundancy analysis (RDA) show that water temperature, DO, SD, TN, and Chla are significant factors that affect the composition of the planktonic eukaryote community. Spearman rank correlation analysis combined with taxonomic difference analysis shows that Kathablepharidae and Choanoflagellida are not sensitive to environmental or physicochemical factors and that the interannual variations in their abundance are not significant. Network analysis shows that Protalveolata, Basidiomycota, P1-31, Bicosoecida, and Ochrophyta represent important nodes in the single-factor network, while Chytridiomycota, P1-31, Cryptomycota, Ochrophyta, Ichthyosporea, Bicosoecida, Protalveolata, and physicochemical factors (ORP, TN, WT, DO, SD, NH3-N, and NO3-N) represent important nodes in the two-factor network.

There are many types of bacteria in heavy metal-contaminated soils, including plant growth-promoting bacteria and heavy metal-immobilizing bacteria, which may potentially be used for the bioremediation of contaminated soil. In this study, the Cd-contaminated soil around a battery factory in Xinxiang City was collected and its bacterial community composition was analyzed using high-throughput sequencing (HTS) and the plate lineation separation method. The traditional culture method showed that bacteria isolated from contaminated soil belonged to four phyla (Firmicutes, Actinobacteria, Proteobacteria, and Bacteroidetes) and 30 genera including

Microbial immobilization is considered as a novel and environmentally friendly technology that uses microbes to reduce heavy metals accumulation in plants. To explore microbial resources which are useful in these applications, three water spinach rhizosphere soils polluted by different levels of heavy metals (heavy pollution (CQ), medium pollution (JZ), and relative clean (NF)) were collected. The community composition of heavy metal-immobilizing bacteria in rhizosphere soils and its effects on reducing the Cd2+ and Pb2+ concentrations in water spinach were evaluated. Four hundred strains were isolated from the CQ (belonging to 3 phyla and 14 genera), JZ (belonging to 4 phyla and 25 genera) and NF (belonged to 6 phyla and 34 genera) samples, respectively. In the CQ sample, 137 strains showed a strong ability to immobilize Cd2+ and Pb2+, giving Cd2+ and Pb2+ removal rates of greater than 80% in solution, Brevundimonas, Serratia, and Pseudoarthrobacter were the main genera. In total, 62 strains showed a strong ability to immobilize Cd2+ and Pb2+ in the JZ sample and Bacillus and Serratia were the main genera. A total of 22 strains showed a strong ability to immobilize Cd2+ and Pb2+ in the NF sample, and Bacillus was the main genus. Compared to the control, Enterobacter bugandensis CQ-7, Bacillus thuringensis CQ-33, and Klebsiella michiganensis CQ-169 significantly increased the dry weight (17.16&ndash, 148%) of water spinach and reduced the contents of Cd2+ (59.78&ndash, 72.41%) and Pb2+ (43.36&ndash, 74.21%) in water spinach. Moreover, the soluble protein and Vc contents in the shoots of water spinach were also significantly increased (72.1&ndash, 193%) in the presence of strains CQ-7, CQ-33 and CQ-169 compared to the control. In addition, the contents of Cd and Pb in the shoots of water spinach meet the standard for limit of Cd2+ and Pb2+ in vegetables in the presence of strains CQ-7, CQ-33 and CQ-169. Thus, the results provide strains as resources and a theoretical basis for the remediation of Cd- and Pb-contaminated farmlands for the safe production of vegetables.

Aim: This study explored how body habitus in the paediatric population might potentially affect the use of one-third external anterior-posterior (APD) diameter when compared to age-appropriate absolute chest compression depth targets. It also explored how body habitus could potentially affect the relationship between one-third external and internal APD (compressible space) and if body habitus indices were independent predictors of internal APD at the lower half of the sternum. Methods: This was a secondary analysis of a retrospective study of chest computed tomography (CT) scans of infants and children (>24-hours-of-life to less-than-18-years-old) from 2005 to 2017. Patients’ scan images were reviewed for internal and external APDs at the mid-point of the lower half of the sternum. Body habitus and epidemiological data were extracted from the electronic medical records. Results: Chest CT scans of 193 infants and 398 children were evaluated. There was poor concordance between one-third external APD measurements and age-specific absolute chest compression depth targets, especially in infants and overweight/obese adolescents. There was a co-dependent relationship between one-third external APD and internal APD measurements. Overweight/obese children’s and adolescents’ internal and external APDs were significant different from the normal/underweight groups. Body-mass-index (BMI) of children and adolescents (p = 0.009), but not weight-for-length (WFL) of infants (p = 0.511), was an independent predictor of internal APD at the compression landmark. Conclusion: This study demonstrated correlations between external and internal APDs which were affected by BMI but not WFL (infants). Clinical studies are needed to validate current chest compression guidelines especially for infants and overweight/obese adolescents.(250 words)

Background: Smoking is a known trigger of asthma exacerbation. Yet some patients with asthma continue to smoke. Little is known about their smoking literacy, which is defined as an individual’s capacity to comprehend and use healthcare information relating to smoking. This study aimed to determine the level of smoking literacy amongst patients with asthma, who were smokers (S) and non-smokers (NS). Methods: Standardised questionnaires were administered by trained research assistants to adult multi-ethnic Asian patients with asthma, who were managed in three public primary care clinics (polyclinics) in Singapore. Demographic data and information on a subject’s understanding and effects of smoking on health and complications were collected. The latter were computed into knowledge scores and the mean scores between S and NS were compared using the independent two-sample t-test with adjustment for potential confounders via multiple linear regression. Results: A total of 174 S and 183 NS were recruited with a higher proportion of younger male S. Overall, the knowledge score for S was significantly lower than NS (absolute mean difference (AMD) = −0.95, 95% confidence interval (CI) −1.58 to −0.33, p = 0.003). This was particularly for smoking associated specific respiratory disease (AMD = −0.23, 95% CI −0.44 to −0.02, p =0.034) and asthma symptoms (AMD = −0.73, 95% CI −0.98 to −0.47, p < 0.001). The differences persisted after adjusting for other important factors such as gender and education level. Conclusions: Compared with NS, S generally reported lower scores in their overall knowledge, and the knowledge in the association between smoking and specific respiratory diseases and asthma symptoms. Smoker patients may require measures to raise their smoking literacy during the counselling to optimise their smoking cessation success rates.

To investigate the diversity of culturable bacteria and heavy metal-immobilizing bacteria in vegetable rhizosphere soil with high concentrations of heavy metals and explore these microbial resources, two samples of Italian lettuce rhizosphere soil with high heavy metal concentration (HY) and low heavy metal concentration (DK) were collected from Xinxiang, Henan Province. The diversity of culturable bacteria and heavy metal-immobilizing bacteria in the rhizosphere soil of lettuce was compared by culturable separation technology and a solution adsorption experiment. The enhancement of Cd and Pb immobilization and lettuce growth by the strains was also investigated in a hydroponic experiment. The results showed that 400 strains belonging to 3 phyla and 14 genera were isolated from the HY sample, with

Miscanthus is a promising candidate species of second-generation energy crops. To our knowledge, the composition and function of Miscanthus rhizosphere bacterial communities has not yet been reported. In this study, rhizosphere soil samples were collected from Miscanthus (Xiangzamang No. 1) which was grown in Nanyang City for five years and bareground (as the control) to analyze the bacterial community structure and diversity using 16S rRNA gene sequencing on the Illumina MiSeq platform. PICRUSt was used to determine the metabolic and functional abilities of soil bacterial communities. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that sol bacteria could be divided into 23 phyla and 231 genera, with high richness of the community composition. The dominant phyla were Proteobacteria, Acidobacteria, Actinobacteria, Chloroflexi, Bacteroidetes and Gemmatimonadetes. The bacterial community diversity in the rhizosphere samples of Xiangzamang No. 1 was lower than that in unplanted samples. Rhizosphere bacterial communities were affected by Miscanthus crops. Based on the PICRUSt analysis of bacterial community functions, our results revealed a wide genetic diversity of organisms involved in various essential processes,such as amino acid transport and metabolism, cell wall/membrane/envelope biogenesis, signal transduction mechanisms. Based on the 16S rRNA gene copy number of the detected phylotypes, 22 bacterial metabolic function in the rhizosphere samples of Miscanthus was higher than that in bareground. Results from N- and P-cycling gene analysis showed that Miscanthus planting altered the N- and P-cycling metabolic capacities of soil bacteria.芒草作为第二代能源植物的代表,其生长过程中根际土壤细菌群落的结构与功能尚不清楚.本研究以种植5年的芒草(湘杂芒1号)为研究对象,选取裸地作为对照,采用16S rRNA基因Miseq测序技术研究其细菌群落组成,同时采用PICRUSt功能预测分析其功能.结果表明: 芒草根际细菌由变形菌门、酸杆菌门、放线菌门、绿弯菌门、拟杆菌门和芽单胞菌门等23个门、231个属的细菌组成,表现出群落组成的丰富性.细菌群落分析表明,种植湘杂芒1号改变了根际细菌群落结构,其细菌群落多样性低于裸地对照.PICRUSt功能预测分析表明,湘杂芒1号根际细菌主要涉及氨基酸运输和代谢、细胞壁/细胞膜/膜结构的生物合成、信号转导机制等24个基因功能家族,表现出功能上的丰富性,并有22个基因功能家族预测基因相对丰度高于裸地,表明种植湘杂芒1号提高了根际细菌功能.对氮、磷循环相关基因进行分析表明,种植湘杂芒1号改变了土壤氮、磷代谢能力.

Microbial communities play crucial roles in the global biogeochemical nitrogen cycle. To our knowledge, the compositions and functions of rhizosphere communities in riparian buffer strips have not been reported. In this study, rhizosphere soil samples were collected from herbs (

In this study, a Gram-negative, rod-shaped, endophytic bacterial strain (RS1T) capable of producing large amounts of exopolysaccharides was isolated from a stem of Miscanthus sinensis. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that strain RS1T is closely related to Mucilaginibacter kameinonensis NBRC 102645T (98.72%), followed by Mucilaginibacter gossypiicola Gh-48T (97.56%) and Mucilaginibacter oryzae DSM 19975T (97.36%). The DNA G + C content of strain RS1T was determined to be 42.80 mol%. ANIb and GGDC values from genomic comparison between the genomes of strain RS1T and the related reference species were less than 95% and 70%, respectively. The major cellular fatty acids (more than 10% of total fatty acids) were identified as iso-C15: 0, C16:0, iso-C17:0-3OH and summed feature 3 (C16: 1ω7c and/or iso-C15:02-OH). The only isoprenoid quinone detected was MK-7. Based on the physiological, genotypic and genomic characteristics, strain RS1T is concluded to represent a novel species of the genus Mucilaginibacter, for which the name Mucilaginibacter endophyticus sp. nov. is proposed (type strain RS1T = KCTC 62785T = GDMCC 1.1414T).

Reservoir/lake sediments are potential pollutant acceptors and sources of pollution. The Danjiangkou Reservoir, as the largest drinking water source in China, is the source water area for the Mid-route Project of the South-North Water Diversion. To illustrate the temporal and spatial changes in the environmental risks of both nutrients and heavy metals in the surface sediments of Danjiangkou Reservoir, the levels of pH, OM, TP, TN, and six kinds of metal elements during the period 2011-2016 were measured at five ecological sites. Canadian freshwater sediment quality guidelines for aquatic environments (from the CCME) were used to assess the potential ecological risks. The results showed that the contents of OM, TP, and TN in the surface sediments were 25.85, 0.57, and 1.34 g·kg

Planktonic fungi are important components of aquatic ecosystems, and analyses of their community composition and function have far-reaching significance for the ecological management and maintenance of reservoir environments. However, few studies have investigated the composition, distribution, and function of planktonic fungi in reservoir ecosystems and their relationship with water quality. Here, the composition of the planktonic fungal community in the surface water layer of the Danjiangkou Reservoir is investigated using Illumina MiSeq sequencing. According to the results, the reservoir community is primarily composed of 7 phyla, including Ascomycota, Rozellomycota, Basidiomycota, Chytridiomycota, and Zygomycota, comprising 294 genera, demonstrating the rich diversity of this community. Redundancy analysis (RDA) of the planktonic fungal community and environmental factors showed dissolved oxygen (DO), chemical oxygen demand (COD), total nitrogen (TN), chlorophyll a (Chl a), and permanganate (CODMn) to be important factors influencing the distribution of planktonic fungi. Spearman correlation analysis of the planktonic fungal community composition and diversity indices with physical and chemical water quality parameters showed that the impacts of TN, COD and DO were the most significant. The results of this study on the planktonic fungal community in the Danjiangkou Reservoir area using high-throughput sequencing revealed that the community is sensitive to water quality parameters. This result provides a reference for studying the composition and distribution of the planktonic fungal community in Danjiangkou Reservoir and its role in the biogeochemical cycle.

Drinking water safety is increasingly perceived as one of the top global environmental issues. Plankton has been commonly used as a bioindicator for water quality in lakes and reservoirs. Recently, DNA sequencing technology has been applied to bioassessment. In this study, we compared the effectiveness of the 16S and 18S rRNA high throughput sequencing method (HTS) and the traditional optical microscopy method (TOM) in the bioassessment of drinking water quality. Five stations reflecting different habitats and hydrological conditions in Danjiangkou Reservoir, one of the largest drinking water reservoirs in Asia, were sampled May 2016. Non-metric multi-dimensional scaling (NMDS) analysis showed that plankton assemblages varied among the stations and the spatial patterns revealed by the two methods were consistent. The correlation between TOM and HTS in a symmetric Procrustes analysis was 0.61, revealing overall good concordance between the two methods. Procrustes analysis also showed that site-specific differences between the two methods varied among the stations. Station Heijizui (H), a site heavily influenced by two tributaries, had the largest difference while station Qushou (Q), a confluence site close to the outlet dam, had the smallest difference between the two methods. Our results show that DNA sequencing has the potential to provide consistent identification of taxa, and reliable bioassessment in a long-term biomonitoring and assessment program for drinking water reservoirs.

Two energy crops (maize and soybean) were used in the remediation of cadmium-contaminated soils. These crops were used because they are fast growing, have a large biomass and are good sources for bioenergy production. The total accumulation of cadmium in maize and soybean plants was 393.01 and 263.24μg pot-1, respectively. The rhizosphere bacterial community composition was studied by MiSeq sequencing. Phylogenetic analysis was performed using 16S rRNA gene sequences. The rhizosphere bacteria were divided into 33 major phylogenetic groups according to phyla. The dominant phylogenetic groups included Proteobacteria, Acidobacteria, Actinobacteria, Gemmatimonadetes, and Bacteroidetes. Based on principal component analysis (PCA) and unweighted pair group with arithmetic mean (UPGMA) analysis, we found that the bacterial community was influenced by cadmium addition and bioenergy cropping. Three molecular ecological networks were constructed for the unplanted, soybean- and maize-planted bacterial communities grown in 50mgkg-1 cadmium-contaminated soils. The results indicated that bioenergy cropping increased the complexity of the bacterial community network as evidenced by a higher total number of nodes, the average geodesic distance (GD), the modularity and a shorter geodesic distance. Proteobacteria and Acidobacteria were the keystone bacteria connecting different co-expressed operational taxonomic units (OTUs). The results showed that bioenergy cropping altered the topological roles of individual OTUs and keystone populations. This is the first study to reveal the effects of bioenergy cropping on microbial interactions in the phytoremediation of cadmium-contaminated soils by network reconstruction. This method can greatly enhance our understanding of the mechanisms of plant-microbe-metal interactions in metal-polluted ecosystems.

Introduction: Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (HT) can present as focal nodular disease. This study aimed to determine the distinguishing sonographic features of nodules in biopsy-proven focal HT. Materials and Methods: The study included 388 thyroid nodules from 310 patients who underwent ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB). There were 28 focal HT, 27 malignant and 333 other benign nodules. Sonographic features of focal HT nodules on prebiopsy ultrasound were compared with malignant nodules and other benign nodules using multinomial logistic regression adjusting for the correlation between multiple nodules obtained from the same patient. Results: Most focal HT nodules were purely solid (92.8%), iso-hyperechoic (70.4%), had regular margins (75.0%) and central vascularity (85.7%). Hypoechogenicity (29.6% vs 42.3%; P = 0.017) and microcalcifications (3.6% vs 44.4%; P = 0.003) were significantly less common in focal HT than malignant nodules. None of the focal HT nodules demonstrated marked hypoechogenicity, irregular margins or cervical lymphadenopathy, which are traditionally associated with malignancy. Compared to other benign nodules, focal HT nodules were significantly more likely to be purely solid (92.8% vs 49.0%; P = 0.016), ill-defined (25.0% vs 7.0%; P = 0.004) and lack comet-tail artefacts (92.9% vs 66.1%; P = 0.012), which in combination were 17.9% sensitive and 94.6% specific for focal HT. Conclusion: Awareness of the above-described sonographic appearances of focal HT may aid in differentiating them from malignant nodules and risk-stratify for FNAB. While there is substantial overlap with other benign nodules, a combination of the above-mentioned 3 ultrasound features is highly specific for focal HT and can prompt further serological evaluation in clinically unsuspected HT. Key words: FNAB, Ultrasound-guided thyroid biopsy

Plants not only use light as an energy source for photosynthesis, but also have to monitor the light quality and quantity input to execute appropriate physiological and developmental responses, such as cell differentiation, structural and functional changes, as well as the formation of tissues and organs. The process is referred to as photomorphogenesis. Arabidopsis QUA1 (QUASIMODO1), which functions in pectin synthesis, is identified as a member of glycosyltransferases. Previously, the hypocotyl elongation of the qua1-1 mutant was shown to be inhibited under dark conditions. In this study, we used the qua1-1/cry1 and qua1-1/phyB double mutants as the materials to study the function of the QUA1 gene in light signal transduction. The results showed that QUA1 not only participated in hypocotyl elongation under dark conditions, but also in blue light, red light and far red light conditions. In qua1-1 mutant seedlings, both the cell length of hypocotyl and the light-regulated gene expression were affected. Compared with cry1 and phyB mutants, qua1-1/cry1 and qua1-1/phyB double mutants had the shorter hypocotyl. Light-regulated gene expression was also affected in the double mutants. These data indicated that QUA1 might participate in the light signal transduction regulated by CRY1 and PHYB. Hence, the QUA1 gene may play multiple roles in light signal transduction by regulating the cell elongation and light-regulated gene expression.

Thirteen copper-resistant bacteria were isolated from copper-tolerant plant species growing on a copper mine wasteland. The isolates were identified by 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis and characterized by their resistance to heavy metals and plant growth-promoting characteristics. The assessment of the bacterial communities in the rhizosphere soils of copper-tolerant plants was measured as bands in denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) obtained directly from rhizosphere soil DNA extracts. The isolates were found to exhibit different multiple heavy metal resistance characteristics. Strains SZY6, YJ7 and JYC17 were found to produce indole acetic acid (IAA), siderophore, 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate (ACC) deaminase or to solubilize phosphate. Root elongation assay conducted on rape under gnotobiotic conditions with strains MT16, JYC17, SZY6, GZC24, and YJ7 demonstrated increase (from 16 to 41%) in root elongation of inoculated rape seedlings compared to the control plants. In the rhizosphere soil samples the DGGE profiles of the direct DNA extracts were similar. The DGGE profiles indicated that there was no significant correlation between the concentration of available copper in the rhizosphere soils and the number of the visible bands in the DGGE pattern.

Objective(s) To explore the use of competing risk (CR) as compared to the commonly used Kaplan–Meier (KM) methodology in estimating the cumulative live-birth rate (CLBR) after IVF Treatment in a context of high dropout rates and informative censoring. Study design We compare the KM and CR methodologies for estimating 2-year CLBR in a retrospective cohort of 2779 patients undergoing 5002 embryo transfers over a period of 9 years, from 2000 to 2008, at KKIVF Centre. Results We observed a total of 1105 LB (39.8%), and a dropout rate of 44.2% (1228 patients). The overall CLBR is lower with CR compared with KM method (39% vs 52%) after up to nine embryo-transfer cycles over a period of two years. The highest CLBR was achieved for ovulation disorders (57% vs 49%, KM vs CR) followed by male factors (54% vs 43%, KM vs CR), with poorer outcomes from patients with decreased ovarian reserve (37% vs 16%, KM vs CR) and endometriosis (36% vs 25%, KM vs CR). As dropouts in our cohort are generally older and more likely to have poorer ovarian reserves, the CR method, which accounted for these dropouts, is likely to give more meaningful estimation of IVF success rates. Conclusion(s) The CR method should be considered as a useful alternative in deriving CLBR for IVF treatment where dropout rates are high and when informative censoring is involved.