Fertilization is an effective technique to improve soil fertility and increase crop yield. The long-term effects of different fertilizers on soil considerably vary. Over 38 consecutive years of different fertilization positioning experiments in a double cropping rice field of Qiyang Red Soil Experimental Station, seven different fertilization treatments including CK (no fertilization), NPK (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium fertilizer), M (cow manure), NPKM (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium with cow manure), NPM (nitrogen and phosphorus with cow manure), NKM (nitrogen and potassium with cow manure), and PKM (phosphorus and potassium with cow manure) were applied to study the effects on rice yield, soil fertility, and nutrient apparent balance in a paddy field. The results showed that the annual average yields of rice in NPKM, NPM, NKM, PKM, M, NPK and CK treatments ranged from 6 214 to 11 562 kg ha^–1. Yields under longterm organic and inorganic treatments (NPKM, NPM, NKM and PKM) were 22.58, 15.35, 10.53 and 4.41%, respectively, greater than under the NPK treatment. Soil organic carbon (SOC), total nitrogen (TN), available nitrogen (AN) and available potassium (AK) concentration with long-term organic and inorganic treatment (NPKM, NPM, NKM and PKM) were significantly higher than in inorganic fertilizer (NPK) treatments. Soil total phosphorus (TP) and available phosphorus (AP) contentration with organic fertilizer combined with inorganic N and P fertilizer treatment (NPKM, NPM and PKM) were significantly higher than with inorganic fertilizer alone (NPK treatments). The average annual rice yield (11 562 kg ha^–1), SOC (20.88 g kg^–1), TN (2.30 g kg^–1), TP (0.95 g kg^–1), TK (22.50 g kg^–1) and AP (38.94 mg kg^–1) concentrations were the highest in the NPKM treatment. The soil AN concentration (152.40 mg kg^–1) and AK contentration (151.00 mg kg^–1) were the highest in the NKM treatment. N and P application led to a surplus of nitrogen and phosphorus in the soil, but NPKM treatment effectively reduced the surplus compared with other treatments. Soils under all treatments were deficient in potassium. Correlation analysis showed that SOC, TN, AN, TP, and AP contentration was significantly correlated with rice yield; the correlation coefficients were 0.428, 0.496, 0.518, 0.501, and 0.438, respectively. This study showed that the combined application of N, P, and K with cow manure had important effects on rice yield and soil fertility, but balanced application of N, P, and K with cow manure was required.

The soil-borne necrotrophic fungus Rhizoctonia solani is one of destructive fungi causing severe yield losses in various important crops.  However, the host defense mechanisms against the invasion of this pathogen are poorly understood.  In this study, we employed an iTRAQ-based quantitative proteomic approach to investigate host proteins responsive to R. solani using the resistant rice cultivar YSBR1.  As a whole, we identified 319 differentially accumulated proteins (DAPs) after inoculation of rice plants with R. solani.  Functional categorization analysis indicates that these DAPs cover a broad range of functions.  Notably, a substantial portion of the DAPs are involved in cell redox homeostasis, carbohydrate metabolism, and phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, or belong to pathogenesis-related proteins, indicating that these processes/proteins play important roles in host defense against R. solani.  Interestingly, all of the DAPs involved in photosynthesis and chlorophyll biosynthetic processes, and part of the DAPs involved in phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, show reduced accumulation after R. solani infection, suggesting that R. solani probably inhibits host photosynthetic system and phenylpropanoid biosynthesis to facilitate infection and colonization.  In conclusion, our results provide both valuable resources and new insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying rice and R. solani interaction.

Heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) is one of the most important members in the heat shock protein family, and plays important roles in the thermotolerance of insect.  To explore the molecular mechanism of thermotolerance of Frankliniella occidentalis adults, the difference in the expression of HSP70s in F. occidentalis male or female adults under the thermal stress was studied under the laboratory conditions.  Two full length cDNAs of HSP70s gene (Fohsc704 and Fohsc705) were cloned from F. occidentalis by using RT-PCR and RACE.  The genomic sequence was demonstrated by genomic validation, and the position and size of the intron were analyzed by sequence analysis of cDNA.  Real-time PCR was used to analyze the HSP70 expression patterns.  The cDNA of Fohsc704 and Fohsc705 possessed 2 073 and 1 476 bp which encoded 690 and 491 amino acids (aa) with a calculated molecular weight of 75 and 54 kDa, respectively.  Four introns in Fohsc704 and six introns in Fohsc705 protein were found.  However, the HSP70 protein sequences in our study were ended with EKKN and GIFL, which were different from the reported FoHSP70s.  Various expression patterns of Fohsc704 and Fohsc705 were found in both genders of F. occidentalis under thermal stress.  The expression of Fohsc704 and Fohsc705 reached to the highest level at –12 and –8°C in male adults, respectively, and Fohsc705 expressed the highest level at 33°C in female adults.  In conclusion, HSP70s of F. occidentalis in our study are novel heat shock proteins.  There were difference in expression patterns of the two hsc70s in genders of F. occidentalis, and the two HSP70s play important roles in the thermotolerance of F. occidentalis.  

    Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) actively induces cell apoptosis both in vitro and in vivo, which can contribute critically to viral pathogenesis.  Previous studies have shown that the PRRSV nonstructural protein 4 (nsp4) is an important mediator of this process, but the underlying molecular details remain poorly understood.  In this study, we found that the PRRSV nsp4 interacted with the mitochondrial inner membrane protein cytochrome c1 (cyto.c1) and induced its proteolytic cleavage.  Interestingly, the cleaved N-terminal fragment of cyto.c1 was found to exert apoptotic activity, which could cause mitochondrial fragmentation, resulting in apoptotic cell death.  And RNA interference (RNAi) silencing experiments further confirmed the crucial role which cyto.c1 played in nsp4- and PRRSV-induced cell apoptosis.  Thus, our data provide an important piece of mechanistic clues for PRRSV-induced cell apoptosis and also elucidate a novel mechanism for the 3C-like proteases in this finding. 

    Excessive use of agro-chemicals (such as mineral fertilizers) poses potential risks to soil quality. Application of organic amendments and reduction of inorganic fertilizer are economically feasible and environmentally sound approaches to develop sustainable agriculture. This study investigated and evaluated the effects of mineral fertilizer reduction and partial substitution of organic amendment on soil fertility and heavy metal content in a 10-season continually planted vegetable field during 2009–2012. The experiment included four treatments: 100% chemical fertilizer (CF100), 80% chemical fertilizer (CF80), 60% chemical fertilizer and 20% organic fertilizer (CF60+OM20), and 40% chemical fertilizer and 40% organic fertilizer (CF40+OM40). Soil nutrients, enzyme activity and heavy metal content were determined. The results showed that single chemical fertilizer reduction (CF80) had no significant effect on soil organic matter content, soil catalase activity and soil heavy metal content, but slightly reduced soil available N, P, K, and soil urease activity, and significantly reduced soil acid phosphatase activity. Compared with CF100, 40 or 60% reduction of chemical fertilizer supplemented with organic fertilizer (CF60+OM20, CF40+OM40) significantly increased soil organic matter, soil catalase activity and urease activity especially in last several seasons, but reduced soil available P, K, and soil acid phosphatase activity. In addition, continuous application of organic fertilizer resulted in higher accumulation of Zn, Cd, and Cr in soil in the late stage of experiment, which may induce adverse effects on soil health and food safety.

    Myostatin, a member of the transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) superfamily, is a dominant inhibitor that acts to limit skeletal muscle growth and development. In this study, we generated transgenic mice that express porcine myostatin containg mutations at its cleavage site (RSRR) to evaluate its effect on muscle mass. Results showed that the weight of four skeletal muscles including gastrocnemius, rectus femoris, tibialis anterior, and pectoralis increased by 17.83 and 28.39%, 21.76 and 28.70%, 34.31 and 41.62%, 53.21 and 27.54% in transgenic male and female mice, respectively, compared to their corresponding non-transgenic control mice. Measurement of muscle fiber size and number indicated that the mean myofiber size increased by 50.73 and 61.30% in transgenic male and female mice respectively compared to the non-transgenic controls. However, there was no difference in the number of myofiber between transgenic and non-transgenic male mice. These results clearly demonstrated that the increase in skeletal muscle mass in transgenic mice is caused by hypertrophy instead of hyperplasia.