BackgroundIn farmland, microbes in soils are affected by exogenous carbon, nitrogen, and soil depth and are responsible for soil organic carbon (SOC) mineralization. The cherry industry has been evolving rapidly in northwest China and emerged as a new source of income for local farmers to overcome poverty. Accordingly, it is highly imperative to probe the effect of defoliation and nitrogen addition on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and microbial communities in soils of dryland cherry orchards.MethodsCO2 emissions and microbial communities were determined in soil samples at three depths, including 0–10 cm, 10–30 cm, and 30–60 cm, from a 15-year-old rain-fed cherry orchard. The samples were respectively incubated with or without 1% defoliation under three input levels of nitrogen (0 mg kg−1, 90 mg kg−1, and 135 mg kg−1) at 25°C in the dark for 80 days.ResultsDefoliation and nitrogen addition affected CO2 emissions and microbial communities and increased microbial biomass carbon (MBC), the activity of soil catalase, alkaline phosphatase, and cellulase in soils of the dryland cherry orchard. The culture with defoliation significantly promoted CO2 emissions in soils at the three depths mainly by increasing the MBC, catalase, alkaline phosphatase, and cellulase activities, resulted in positive priming index. Nitrogen addition elevated the MBC and changed soil enzymes and reduced CO2 emissions in soils at the three depths. Moreover, the priming index was higher in deep soils than in top and middle soils under the condition of defoliation and nitrogen addition. No significant differences were observed in the soil bacterial diversity (Chao1, Shannon, and Simpson) among all treatments. Meanwhile, the relative abundance of Proteobacteria was markedly increased and that of Acidobacteria was substantially diminished in soils at the three depths by defoliation and nitrogen addition. The results sustained that defoliation and nitrogen can regulate SOC dynamics by directly and indirectly affecting soil microbial activities and communities. As a result, the combination of defoliation return and nitrogen fertilization management is a promising strategy to increase SOC and promote soil quality in dryland cherry orchards.

ObjectiveThe effect of fetal oval foramen restriction and premature contraction of the arterial catheter for the right heart function of fetuses and infants was studied by evaluating the right and left ventricular (RV/LV) ratios, the tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE) value, and the Tei index of right heart function parameters.MethodsThis study was approved by the Ethics Committee of First Affiliated Hospital of Hebei North University (K20190116). We collected 257 fetuses between March 2020 and December 2021. Among these, 98 fetuses that did not have any heart abnormalities were assigned to group A, 91 fetuses with restriction of the left and right atrial channels were assigned to group B, and 68 fetuses with premature contraction of the arterial catheter were assigned to group C. The ventricular transverse diameter, the right heart TAPSE value and the Tei index of fetuses in late pregnancy and 90 days after birth were measured in the three groups, and the diagnostic value of each index for the right heart function injury was evaluated. P < 0.05 indicates significant.ResultsThe P-value of the TAPSE value and Tei index of infants in BC and AC groups and postnatal infants were less than 0.05, which was significant. In the BC group, the RV/LV ratio of fetuses was compared when P 0.05, which was not significant; however, P < 0.05 after birth was considered significant. For fetuses and postnatal infants in the BC group, the RV/LV ratio was negatively associated with the TAPSE value. However, it was positively associated with the Tei index; Diagnostic test results. To predict impaired right heart function after birth, TAPSE had low diagnostic value, RV/LV and Tei index had high diagnostic value.ConclusionsOval foramen restriction and premature contraction of the arterial catheter may affect the right heart function after birth and be related to the degree of the right heart enlargement. Although TAPSE prediction of the fetal and postnatal right heart function is limited, the RV/LV ratio and the Tei index can be used to predict impaired right heart function after birth.

Climate change may lead to adverse effects on agricultural crops, plant microbiomes have the potential to help hosts counteract these effects. While plant–microbe interactions are known to be sensitive to temperature, how warming affects the community composition and functioning of plant microbiomes in most agricultural crops is still unclear. Here, we utilized a 10-year field experiment to investigate the effects of warming on root zone carbon availability, microbial activity and community composition at spatial (root, rhizosphere and bulk soil) and temporal (tillering, jointing and ripening stages of plants) scales in field-grown wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). The dissolved organic carbon and microbial activity in the rhizosphere were increased by soil warming and varied considerably across wheat growth stages. Warming exerted stronger effects on the microbial community composition in the root and rhizosphere samples than in the bulk soil. Microbial community composition, particularly the phyla Actinobacteria and Firmicutes, shifted considerably in response to warming. Interestingly, the abundance of a number of known copiotrophic taxa, such as Pseudomonas and Bacillus, and genera in Actinomycetales increased in the roots and rhizosphere under warming and the increase in these taxa implies that they may play a role in increasing the resilience of plants to warming. Taken together, we demonstrated that soil warming along with root proximity and plant growth status drives changes in the microbial community composition and function in the wheat root zone.

Ectomycorrhizal (EM) fungi play a vital role in ensuring plant health, plant diversity, and ecosystem function. However, the study on fungal diversity and community assembly of EM fungi associated with herbaceous plants remains poorly understood. Thus, in our study, Carex pediformis and Polygonum divaricatum in the subalpine meadow of central Inner Mongolia, China were selected for exploring EM fungal diversity and community assembly mechanisms by using llumina MiSeq sequencing of the fungal internal transcribed spacer 2 region (ITS2). We evaluated the impact of soil, climatic, and spatial variables on EM fungal diversity and community turnover. Deterministic vs. stochastic processes for EM fungal community assembly were quantified using β-Nearest taxon index scores. The results showed that a total of 70 EM fungal OTUs belonging to 21 lineages were identified, of which Tomentella-Thelephora, Helotiales1, Tricholoma, Inocybe, Wilcoxina were the most dominant EM fungal lineages. EM fungal communities were significantly different between the two herbaceous plants and among the two sampling sites, and this difference was mainly influenced by soil organic matter (OM) content and mean annual precipitation (MAP). The neutral community model (NCM) explained 45.7% of the variations in EM fungi community assembly. A total of 99.27% of the β-Nearest Taxa Index (βNTI) value was between −2 and 2. These results suggest that the dominant role of stochastic processes in shaping EM fungal community assembly. In addition, RCbray values showed that ecological drift in stochastic processes dominantly determined community assembly of EM fungi. Overall, our study shed light on the EM fungal diversity and community assembly associated with herbaceous plants in the subalpine region of central Inner Mongolia for the first time, which provided a better understanding of the role of herbaceous EM fungi.