Insight into the carbon turnover in soil aggregates and density fractions is essential for reducing the uncertainty in estimating carbon pools on the Tibetan Plateau, and how they vary with land use type is unclear.  In this study, the effect of land use type on carbon storage and fractionation was quantified based on organic carbon and its ¹³C abundance at the microscale of soil aggregates and density fractions in Tibetan alpine ecosystems.  The sequence of soil aggregate destruction in the land use types of plantation (13.1%)<shrubland (32.7%)<grassland (47.9%)<farmland (61.8%) shows that plantations strengthen the soil structure.  Plantation land had a greater contribution of light fraction organic carbon (28.3%) but a lower contribution of mineral-associated organic carbon (40.6%) to the carbon stock compared to farmland (13.5 and 70.3%).  Interestingly, plantation land enhanced the aggregational differentiation of organic carbon and ¹³C in each density fraction, whereas no such phenomenon existed in the soil organic carbon.  Carbon isotope analyses revealed that carbon transfer in the plantation land occurred from the light fraction in macroaggregates (–24.9‰) to the mineral-associated fraction in microaggregates (–19.9‰).  When compared to the other three land use types, the low transferability of carbon in aggregates and density fractions in plantation land provides a stable carbon pool for the Tibetan Plateau.  This study shows that plantations can mitigate global climate change by slowing carbon transfer and increasing carbon storage at the microscale of aggregates and density fractions in alpine regions.

Pepper fruit is highly favored for its spicy taste, diverse flavors, and significant nutritional benefits.  The proper development of flowers and fruits directly determines the quality of pepper fruit.  The YABBY gene family exhibits diverse functions in growth and development, which is crucial to the identity of flower organs.  However, the specific functions of these genes in pepper remain unclear.  In this study, nine CaYABBY genes were identified and characterized in pepper.  Most CaYABBY genes were highly expressed in reproductive organs, albeit with varying expression patterns.  The CaYABBY5 gene, uniquely expressed in petals and carpels, has been demonstrated to modulate floral organ determinacy and fruit shape through gene silencing in pepper and ectopic expression in tomato.  Protein interaction analysis revealed an interacting protein SEPALLATA3-like protein (SEP3), exhibiting a similar expression profile to CaYABBY5.  These findings suggest that CaYABBY5 may modulate the morphogenesis of floral organs and fruits by interacting with CaSEP3.  This study provided valuable insights into the classification and function of CaYABBY genes in pepper.

Uneven crop stands arise from natural variations in emergence time, which are influenced by different irrigation measures applied post-sowing.  In the pursuit of high-yielding maize populations, the emergence rate and uniformity of maize stands are critical factors.  This study investigates the effects of different irrigation methods and drip irrigation at various days after sowing on the emergence uniformity and yield of summer maize.  The experiment consisted of six treatments: drip irrigation on the 0th, 3rd, 6th, 9th, and 12th days after sowing (DAS0, DAS3, DAS6, DAS9, and DAS12), and sprinkling irrigation on the 0th day after sowing (SI0).  Agronomic traits, ear characteristics, harvest yield, and indices of population uniformity were evaluated at critical growth stages. Results indicated that timely drip irrigation (DAS0-3) significantly increased the emergence rate and number of harvestable ears by 9.57% (8621.61 plants ha^-1) and 10.54% (8017.05 ears ha^-1) compared to the SI treatment.  Treatment with DAS0-3 resulted in a significant increase of 13.50% in ear length and 24.85% in kernel weight per ear compared to the SI treatment.  Maize populations subjected to delayed drip irrigation (DAS6-12) demonstrated a progressive decline in quality throughout the growth period.  At the silk stage, the uniformity of plant height and ear height decreased by 47.19 and 44.85%, respectively, compared to the DAS0-3 treatment.  Furthermore, at harvest, the uniformity of dry matter accumulation and leaf area index (LAI) was reduced by 28.24 and 41.83%, respectively, relative to the DAS0-3 treatment.  Correlation analysis reveals that the uniformity of kernel weight per ear is most significantly associated with yield, as indicated by a correlation coefficient of 0.90^**.  The yield in the DAS0-3 treatment was significantly higher than that in the SI treatment by 23.71%.  The yields of the DAS6-12 treatments were notably lower than those of the DAS0-3 treatment, ranging from 13.18 to 23.97% lower, and were comparable to the yields observed in the SI treatment.  The suboptimal implementation of drip irrigation technology has prevented it from realizing its potential for increasing crop yields.  Each day’s delay in initiating drip irrigation after the third day post-sowing reduces yield by an average of 0.32 Mg ha^-1.  Timely drip irrigation following maize seeding significantly enhances emergence rate and population uniformity, increases the number of harvestable ears and kernel weight per ear, ultimately leading to higher final yields.  Drip irrigation for seedling emergence within three days after sowing can better bring out the yield-increasing potential of drip irrigation.

Streptococcus suis (S. suis) is an important global zoonotic pathogen that can cause meningitis, arthritis, and even death in humans and pigs. Hainan, as the only tropical island in China, experiences a year-round prevalence of S. suis in swine and a high risk of human infection. This work aimed to investigate the molecular epidemiological and phenotypic characteristics of S. suis isolates from pigs in Hainan. Between 2022 and 2024, a total of 298 S. suis isolates were recovered from 639 samples (629 from healthy pigs and 10 from sick pigs) collected across Hainan Island. Serotype 16 (22.15%) and 2 (11.74%) strains exhibited the highest prevalence, followed by serotypes 7 (6.04%) and 31 (5.37%), while 17.79% of the strains belonged to non-classical serotypes. Whole-genome sequencing was conducted on 63 representative strains, and the genome data showed that 65.08% of the strains belonged to novel sequence types, which reflects the distinctive evolutionary relationships of strains originating from Hainan. Notably, D74-2 and D77-1, isolated from healthy pigs, exhibited high virulence with 106 virulence-associated genes (VAGs), and had the closest evolutionary relationship to the human strains 98HAH33 and 05ZYH33, which were responsible for two human outbreaks in China. Further, two new NCL subtypes (NCL3-3, NCL29-2) were identified from diseased pig-derived strains. Furthermore, 98.41% of sequenced strains exhibited multidrug resistance, irrespective of whether they originated from healthy or diseased pigs. Interestingly, all SS2/ST1 and SS7/ST29 strains were classified as highly virulent, whereas all SS16 strains were categorized as lowly virulent in zebrafish infection experiments. Nevertheless, our data showed that some strains lacking combinations of virulence markers (mrp/sly/epf, srtF/ofs, and NisR/K) still exhibited high virulence. In conclusion, the results presented above illustrate the diverse molecular epidemiological and phenotypic characteristics of S. suis in Hainan, providing a targeted scientific basis for the development of prevention and control strategies for this zoonotic pathogen in the Chinese tropical region

Heading date is one of the most important indicators to evaluate adaptation in wheat. In this study, we used three association panels to construct a genome-wide recombination landscape consisting of 97 recombination hotspots regions (RHR) in wheat. We further identified 1,043 RHR in six bi-parental populations, and 88 recombination hotspots overlapped with association panels. We next identified 2223 significant SNPs forming 55 clusters for heading date by phenotype-based genome-wide association studies (pGWAS), and 53 stable SNPs associated with 13 candidate genes were detected in at least two environments. Twenty-one QTLs were mapped in bi-parental populations and five QTL intervals overlapped RHR. By integration of collinearity analysis, recombination hotspots, and haplotype analysis, five homoeologous interval pairs were discovered, of which 7D_Hap1 advanced heading by 8.7 days. Further analysis showed that heading date-network genes were involved into transcription regulation and post-translational modification (PTM). Meanwhile, expression GWAS (eGWAS) on heading date regulatory core module identified 307 potential novel genes acting in heading date regulatory network. These findings provide new insights into wheat phenological adaptation and developed resources for developing climate-resilient wheat cultivars.

Leaf angle critically influences maize canopy structure and yield. NAC transcription factors regulate various developmental processes, yet their role in maize leaf angle remains poorly understood. In this study, we demonstrate that modulating the expression level of ZmNF-YC13 significantly alters the expression of ZmNAC118, suggesting that these two genes likely function within a common regulatory pathway. ZmNAC118 shows preferential expression in leaf tissues and encodes a nuclear-localized protein capable of transcriptional activation. Phenotypic analyses demonstrated that overexpression of ZmNAC118 leads to a pronounced reduction in auricle size and leaf angle. Transcriptomic profiling further revealed that ZmNAC118 modulates the expression of CYP450 genes associated with brassinosteroid (BR) and auxin (IAA) metabolic pathways. These CYP450 genes clustered into hormone-related phylogenetic clades, with a subset overlapping targets of ZmNF-YC13, indicating co-regulation within a shared pathway. Our study identifies ZmNAC118 as a key regulator of leaf angle and a promising candidate for maize architectural improvement.