Increasing knowledge of the impacts of pesticides on soil ecological communities is fundamental to a comprehensive understanding of the functional changes in the global agroecosystem industry. In... Show moreIncreasing knowledge of the impacts of pesticides on soil ecological communities is fundamental to a comprehensive understanding of the functional changes in the global agroecosystem industry. In this study, we examined microbial community shifts in the gut of the soil-dwelling organism Enchytraeus crypticus and functional shifts in the soil microbiome (bacteria and viruses) after 21 d of exposure to difenoconazole, one of the main fungicides in intensified agriculture. Our results demonstrated reduced body weight and increased oxidative stress levels of E. crypticus under difenoconazole treatment. Meanwhile, difenoconazole not only altered the composition and structure of the gut microbial community, but also interfered with the soil-soil fauna microecology stability by impairing the abundance of beneficial bacteria. Using soil metagenomics, we revealed that bacterial genes encoding detoxification and viruses encoding carbon cycle genes exhibited a dependent enrichment in the toxicity of pesticides via metabolism. Taken together, these findings advance the understanding of the ecotoxicological impact of residual difenoconazole on the soil-soil fauna micro-ecology, and the ecological importance of virus-encoded auxiliary metabolic genes under pesticide stress. Show less
The Russia-Ukraine war has disrupted global food supply chains and driven food prices up in many parts of the world. This study applies a spatially explicit modelling approach to estimate the... Show moreThe Russia-Ukraine war has disrupted global food supply chains and driven food prices up in many parts of the world. This study applies a spatially explicit modelling approach to estimate the resilience and environmental co-benefits of a transition towards the EAT-Lancet's planetary health diets across Europe.Crises related to extreme weather events, COVID-19 and the Russia-Ukraine conflict have revealed serious problems in global food (inter)dependency. Here we demonstrate that a transition towards the EAT-Lancet's planetary health diet in the European Union and the United Kingdom alone would almost compensate for all production deficits from Russia and Ukraine while yielding improvements in blue water use (4.1 Gm(3) yr(-1)), greenhouse gas emissions (0.22 GtCO(2)e yr(-1)) and carbon sequestration (17.4 GtCO(2)e). Show less
Xu, N.; Kang, J.; Ye, Y.; Zhang, Q.; Ke, M.; Wang, Y.; ... ; Qian, H. 2022
With the rapid development of nanotechnology in agriculture, there is increasing urgency to assess the impacts of nanoparticles (NPs) on the soil environment. This study merged raw high-throughput... Show moreWith the rapid development of nanotechnology in agriculture, there is increasing urgency to assess the impacts of nanoparticles (NPs) on the soil environment. This study merged raw high-throughput sequencing (HTS) data sets generated from 365 soil samples to reveal the potential ecological effects of NPs on soil microbial community by means of metadata analysis and machine learning methods. Metadata analysis showed that treatment with nanoparticles did not have a significant impact on the alpha diversity of the microbial community, but significantly altered the beta diversity. Unfortunately, the abundance of several beneficial bacteria, such as Dyella, Methylophilus, Streptomyces, which promote the growth of plants, and improve pathogenic resistance, was reduced under the addition of synthetic nanoparticles. Furthermore, metadata demonstrated that nanoparticles treatment weakened the biosynthesis ability of cofactors, carriers, and vitamins, and enhanced the degradation ability of aromatic compounds, amino acids, etc. This is unfavorable for the performance of soil functions. Besides the soil heterogeneity, machine learning uncovered that a) the exposure time of nanoparticles was the most important factor to reshape the soil microbial community, and b) long-term exposure decreased the diversity of microbial community and the abundance of beneficial bacteria. This study is the first to use a machine learning model and metadata analysis to investigate the relationship between the properties of nanoparticles and the hazards to the soil microbial community from a macro perspective. This guides the rational use of nanoparticles for which the impacts on soil microbiota are minimized. Show less
In the past decades, hundreds of antibiotics have been isolated from microbial metabolites or have been artificially synthesized for protecting humans, animals and crops from microbial infections.... Show moreIn the past decades, hundreds of antibiotics have been isolated from microbial metabolites or have been artificially synthesized for protecting humans, animals and crops from microbial infections. Their everlasting usage results in impacts on the microbial community composition and causes well-known collateral damage to the functioning of microbial communities. Nevertheless, the impact of different antibiotic properties on aquatic microbial communities have so far only poorly been disentangled. Here we characterized the environmental risk of 50 main kinds of antibiotics from 9 classes at a concentration of 10 μg/L for aquatic bacterial communities via metadata analysis combined with machine learning. Metadata analysis showed that the alpha diversity of the bacterial community increased only after treatment with aminoglycoside and β-lactam antibiotics, while its structure was changed by almost all tested antibiotics. The antibiotic treatment also disturbed the functions of the bacterial community, especially with regard to metabolic pathways, including amino acids, cofactors, vitamins, xenobiotics and carbohydrate metabolism. The critical characteristics (atom stereocenter count, number of hydrogen atoms in the antibiotic, and the adipose water coefficient) of antibiotics affecting the composition of the bacterial community in aquatic habitats were screened by machine learning. The key characteristics of antibiotics affecting the function bacterial communities were the number of hydrogen atoms, molecular weight and complexity. In summary, by developing machine learning models and by performing metadata analysis, this study provides the relationship between the properties of antibiotics and their adverse impacts on aquatic microbial communities from a macro perspective. The study also provides guidance for the rational design of antibiotics. Show less
The leaves of plants are colonized by various microorganisms. In comparison to the rhizosphere, less is known about the characteristics and ecological functions of phyllosphere microorganisms.... Show moreThe leaves of plants are colonized by various microorganisms. In comparison to the rhizosphere, less is known about the characteristics and ecological functions of phyllosphere microorganisms. Phyllosphere microorganisms mainly originate from soil, air, and seeds. The composition of phyllosphere microorganisms is mainly affected by ecological and abiotic factors. Phyllosphere microorganisms execute multiple ecological functions by influencing leaf functions and longevity, seed mass, fruit development, and homeostasis of host growth. A plant can respond to phyllosphere microorganisms by secondary metabolite secretion and its immune system. Meanwhile, phyllosphere microorganisms play an important role in ecological stability and environmental safety assessment. However, as a result of the instability of the phyllosphere environment and the poor cultivability of phyllosphere microorganisms in the current research, there are still many limitations, such as the lack of insight into the mechanisms of plant–microorganism interactions, the roles of phyllosphere microorganisms in plant growth processes, the responses of phyllosphere microorganisms to plant metabolites, etc. This review summarizes the latest progress made in the research of the phyllosphere in recent years. This is beneficial for deepening our understanding of phyllosphere microorganisms and promoting the research of plant–atmosphere interactions, plant pathogens, and plant biological control. Show less
Plant physiological and metabolic processes are modulated by rhythmic gene expression in a large part. Meanwhile, plants are also regulated by rhizosphere microorganisms, which are fed by root... Show morePlant physiological and metabolic processes are modulated by rhythmic gene expression in a large part. Meanwhile, plants are also regulated by rhizosphere microorganisms, which are fed by root exudates and provide beneficial functions to their plant host. Whether the biorhythms in plants would transfer to the rhizosphere microbial community is still uncertain and their intricate connection remains poorly understood. Here, we investigated the role of the Arabidopsis circadian clock in shaping the rhizosphere microbial community using wild-type plants and clock mutants (cca1-1 and toc1-101) with transcriptomic, metabolomic and 16S rRNA gene sequencing analysis throughout a 24-h period. Deficiencies of the central circadian clock led to abnormal diurnal rhythms for thousands of expressed genes and dozens of root exudates. The bacterial community failed to follow obvious patterns in the 24-h period, and there was lack of coordination with plant growth in the clock mutants. Our results suggest that the robust rhythmicity of genes and root exudation due to circadian clock in plants is an important driving force for the positive succession of rhizosphere communities, which will feedback on plant development. Show less
Zhang, C.; Hu, M.; Dong, L.; Xiang, P.; Zhang, Q.; Wu, J.; ... ; Shi, S. 2018
Rapid urbanization drives massive construction, which, in return, leads to ever increasing urban metabolism challenges on the provision of raw materials, as well as the disposal of construction and... Show moreRapid urbanization drives massive construction, which, in return, leads to ever increasing urban metabolism challenges on the provision of raw materials, as well as the disposal of construction and demolition waste. Due to its large volume, the transporting and processing of these materials cause considerable greenhouse gas emissions and land use change. With this circumstance, shortening the supply chains of urban construction by efficient recycling of construction and demolition waste becomes a frontier field for the circular transition of cities. It is particularly important in current China, where the concrete recycling is still rare. This paper aims to map the opportunities and potentials of concrete recycling on the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions and land use change, with an integrated material flow analysis and life cycle assessment for the case study city – Chongqing, China. For the baseline year 2015, four scenarios representing various recycling routes in Chongqing have been explored: (1) improving brick manufacturing; (2) recycling on-site for road base filling; (3) recycling aggregate for prefabricated concrete component and (4) recycling concrete aggregate for structure use. Results highlighted that different technological routes have different potentials to increase recycling rates but all generate co-benefits on greenhouse gases mitigation and land transformation reduction. Recycling of stony construction and demolition waste for high value concrete aggregate has the biggest potential to bring the co-benefits on greenhouse gases mitigation and land use reduction. Besides, on-site recycling for road-base aggregates also presents a high performance, especially on greenhouse gases mitigation in transport. Based on the sensitivity analysis, policy implications were discussed, highlighting the necessity of to develop the recycling routes that substitute primary gravel with aggregates recycled from the stony waste; unlocking the existing recycling capacity and restricting landfilling. Show less
Zhang, Z.; Ke, M.; Qu, Q.; Peijnenburg, W.J.G.M.; Lu, T.; Zhang, Q.; ... ; Qian, H. 2018
