Anthropogenic contamination of Cd(II) and phosphate becomes a crucial environmental issue on a global scale. In the current study, a promising Ca/pyro-hydrochar (Ca/Py-HyC) was fabricated based on invasive species biomass of Amaranthus retroflexus and Pomacea canaliculata shell to remove Cd and phosphate. According to the non-linear fitting results of Langmuir isotherm model, the adsorption capacity of Cd(II) and phosphate achieved 717.77 mg/g and 623.37 mg/g, respectively, which greatly exceeded the documented biochar/hydrochar based materials. Ca/Py-HyC showed an excellent adsorption performance in a wide range of pH (4.0 – 8.0) and ionic strength (0 – 0.5). Precipitation was the primary adsorption mechanism, which may further reduce the bioavailability of the contaminants and facilitate their recyclability and regeneration of the metal and nutrient resources. According to life cycle assessment, in comparison with Ca/PyC, and Ca/HyC, Ca/Py-HyC exhibited the lowest overall environmental impacts in term of per kg adsorbent, particularly in the categories related to ecosystems. Economic analysis suggested that the removal costs were 0.02 /Cd kg and 0.05/P kg. Thereby, as a sustainable and eco-friendly functional material, Ca/Py-HyC may provide a strategy which can not only create net revenue, but also achieve optimization benefits in both eco-environmental and economic aspects.
Psyllids are small (2.5–4 mm), phytophagous, plant sap-feeding insects. Several species, in the genus Cacopsylla, are known as pests of fruit trees in Europe and adjacent countries. Interestingly, some species are multivoltine, such as the pear psyllids Cacopsylla pyri and C. pyricola, while closely related psyllid species of pear, plum, and apple (C. pyrisuga, C. pruni, and C. picta, resp.) are univoltine and migrate between Rosaceae fruit tree species and evergreen conifers in higher regions. Therefore, the latter species have to cover great distances between their two diverging habitats. To uncover adaptations of the flight behavior and ability to the different life-history strategies, the flight of migrating (C. pruni) and non-migrating (C. pyri and C. pyricola) psyllids is investigated with a flight mill, showing that the seasonal migration of C. pruni correlates with the motivation to initiate long straight distance flights, indeed. Interestingly, C. pyri and C. pyricola showed great differences in their flight motivation and performance, indicating a greater dispersal propensity of C. pyri than C. pyricola. In addition, the determination of the protein, soluble carbohydrate, and glycogen content of pear psyllids revealed the consumption of carbohydrates during the psyllids’ flight. The content of the energetic resources is discussed in relation to their flight propensity.
Mitochondria are inherited maternally in the vast majority of eukaryotes. Occasional transmission of paternal mitochondria (paternal leakage) can lead to heterochondriomy and recombination between maternal and paternal mitochondrial genomes. Despite its potential physiological and evolutionary consequences, the extent of paternal leakage and the cellular processes governing mitochondrial inheritance remain largely unknown. Here we have established a robust genetic screen to detect paternal mitochondrial inheritance in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum). Our data reveal an unexpectedly high paternal transmission frequency of 0.18%, which increased markedly to 7.34% when the organellar exonuclease DPD1 was disrupted and pollen development occurred at low temperature. Notably, paternally transmitted mitochondria restored growth, development and male fertility in progeny that inherited dysfunctional mitochondria from the maternal parent. Together, our findings uncover molecular mechanisms underlying maternal mitochondrial inheritance, and highlight the potential of biparental transmission to rescue mitochondrial function and generate novel mitochondrial genotypes through recombination.
We used domestication as an in vivo replicated experiment to investigate how divergent selection has shaped the evolution of multivariate phenotypic spaces. We measured 11-57 qualitative and quantitative traits in 13 species, either unique or shared between species, and established a framework for cross-species comparisons. Our results revealed significant convergence that translated into a cross-species domestication syndrome. Most species exhibited a reduction of the multivariate phenotypic space during domestication. We brought evidence that Near-Infrared spectra measured on leaves reflect phenotypic evolution unrelated to domestication, enabling its use as a control for sampling effects across species. Building on this, we developed a multivariate phenotypic divergence index (mPDI) to rank species by the extent of phenotypic divergence under domestication. We found a high disjunction of wild and domestic phenotypic spaces in all species. Neither the mPDI nor the relative size of wild vs domestic multivariate phenotypic spaces was influenced by the domestication timing or mating system. Lastly, we observed a progressive decoupling of trait correlations with increasing time since domestication. In addition to introducing a new index that can be applied for cross-species comparisons, our study uncovers recurring patterns shared among species, pointing to general principles underlying plant domestication.
Eutrophication and chemical pollution often co-occur in coastal ecosystems, where their combined effects impact model sentinel sessile organisms like bivalves. We investigated the interactive effects of the serotonin re-uptake inhibitor fluoxetine (FLX) and hypoxia on metabolic and reproductive processes in the blue mussel Mytilus edulis. Given the central role of serotonin in regulating bivalve metabolism and reproduction, we hypothesized that FLX, alone and combined with hypoxia, will disrupt these functions. Mussels were exposed for three weeks to environmentally relevant FLX concentrations (targets 20 and 200 ng/L, "low" and "high") under normoxia (8.8 mg O2/L) or hypoxia (0.9 mg O2/L). Metabolic and reproductive status were evaluated using histological indicators of tissue condition and gonadal development, supported by biochemical and molecular markers. FLX exposure reduced egg density and promoted digestive gland atrophy. Hypoxia accelerated gonadal development, reduced sperm density and stimulated the electron transport system activity, indicating metabolic compensation for reduced oxygen availability, while energy reserves remained stable. Molecular and metabolite responses to FLX were dependent on concentration and oxygen regime: FLX-induced changes in catecholamine (low FLX) and nucleotide metabolism (high FLX) in normoxia were absent under hypoxia condition. Hypoxia also impacted catecholamine and tricarboxylic acid cycle metabolism, but only at the low FLX concentration. Low FLX reduced mussel β-catenin expression in the gonad, but expression patterns of genes related to gonad development or apoptosis did not consistently align with histological changes, reflecting complex interactions between FLX, oxygen regime, and sex. These findings show that pharmaceutical pollution exerts context-dependent effects through interactions with hypoxia in a habitat-forming marine species.
