Heavy metal contamination poses a critical environmental challenge and biochar is a promising remediation material. The goal was to explore a preferable material among peanut shell biochar (BC), potassium phosphate-modified biochar (BCKP) and magnesium chloride-modified biochar (BCMg) to remediate contaminated environment. Characterization of BC and batch adsorption experiments were conducted to investigate the adsorption performance of biochar for Cd2+ or Pb2+ in aqueous solution. A soil incubation experiment was carried out to assess the immobilization efficiency of BCKP and BCMg on Cd and Pb in soil. Cd²⁺ or Pb²⁺ in solution, TCLP-Cd and TCLP-Pb in soil, as well as fractions of Cd and Pb in soil were determined. The specific surface area of BCKP increased by 29.4
Mitigating the adverse effects of waterlogging in farmland caused by heavy rainfall and poor drainage is essential for maintaining agricultural productivity and ensuring global food security. This study conducted a two-year field experiment to evaluate different straw blind ditch drainage spacings (2, 3, 4, and 5 m) and subsurface pipe drainage spacings (6, 9, and 12 m), with open ditch drainage as the control (CK). The results indicated that, compared to CK, straw blind ditch drainage reduced the groundwater table and soil water content by 28.0
Silicon (Si) can mitigate aluminum (Al) toxicity in rice (Oryza sativa L.), but the underlying mechanisms still remain unclear, particularly under prolonged Al stress. This study aims to elucidate the interaction between Si and Al in rice and to explore the role of Si accumulation in enhancing resistance to Al toxicity. Three rice genotypes were used: a low Si-accumulating mutant (lsi2), its wild type (cv. Taichung-65), and a conventional cultivar (cv. Wuyunjing 30). We investigated the effects of endogenous Si on the acquisition, translocation, and distribution of Al in rice through 22-day experiments involving both Si-Al coexistence and Si-Al separation. Si accumulation in roots decreased Al acquisition and root Al concentration by inhibiting Al radial transport in roots and reducing the Al-binding capacity of root cell walls. The consequent reduction in shoot Al concentration was primarily due to this decrease in root Al acquisition rather than a lower root-to-shoot Al translocation factor. Meanwhile, Al stress inhibited Si acquisition by roots and reduced shoot Si concentration, but significantly enhanced root Si concentration which increased with rising Al concentration in the culture medium. Furthermore, a positive Si-Al interaction was observed, substantially improving rice growth, with OsLsi2 playing a critical role in this process. Under prolonged Al stress, the accumulation of Si in roots is a key to reduce Al acquisition by roots, decrease Al concentration in rice, and promote plant growth.
Drought is a severe constraint that affects growth and limits plant productivity on a global scale and its impact is increasing with climate change. To adapt to moisture gradients in soil, plants alter their growth and physiology. A comprehensive understanding of the effects of drought stress on plants at the morphological, physiological and biochemical levels, and an understanding of the drought resistance mechanism of plants, especially forest trees, are expected to provide a theoretical basis and technical reference for the genetic improvement of forest trees. Here, we have reviewed the effects of drought stress on the morphological, physiological and molecular mechanisms of drought stress on plants and the research progress in plant drought resistance. It provides a reference for research directions such as understanding the mechanism of plant drought resistance, genetic improvement of drought resistance, and directional cultivation of drought-resistant varieties.
BackgroundDrought is a major abiotic stress that affects the growth and yield of maize. Alternative transcripts are crucial in abiotic stress responses in plants. However, the genetic basis of alternative transcripts mediated drought response in maize remains largely unknown.ResultsWe characterize thousands of drought-responsive genes based on the transcriptomic dataset of 197 maize association population under well-watered and drought-stressed conditions. We perform mRNA profiling of the seedlings at six-leaf stage under drought stress. Through co-expression analysis and experimental validation, we identify a splicing associated factor ZmMBF1, which positively regulates drought response in maize. We also detect thousands of alternative transcript QTLs (atQTLs) and expression QTLs (eQTLs), some of them are linked with stress responsive genes under well-watered and drought-stressed conditions, respectively. Co-localization analysis demonstrates that most of the natural variations in alternative transcripts and gene expression levels are regulated independently by different sequence variations. Variations in transposons, inverted repeats, and UA-rich sequences are significantly associated with atQTLs, suggesting important roles of these variations in regulating alternative transcripts and drought response. As proof of concept, we demonstrate that variations in UA-rich sequence of ZmPYL8 intron regulate drought resistance by affecting ZmPYL8 alternative transcripts, generating two transcripts that function antagonistically in regulating ABA signaling and drought response.ConclusionsThis study reveals the response of maize alternative transcripts to drought at the population level, illustrating the pivotal roles of intron variations in regulating maize alternative transcripts and drought response. It also provides genetic resources and theoretical basis for breeding maize with drought-resistance.
