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Impact of Shifts in Vegetation Phenology on the Carbon Balance of a Semiarid Sagebrush Ecosystem
Dryland ecosystems are critical in regulating the interannual variability of the global terrestrial carbon cycle. The responses of such ecosystems to weather and environmental conditions remain important factors that limit the accurate projections of carbon balance under future climate change. Here, we investigated how shifts in vegetation phenology resulting from changes in weather and environmental conditions influenced ecosystem carbon cycling in one semiarid ecosystem in the Hanford area of central Washington, United States. We examined two years of measurements of the phenology camera, eddy covariance, and soil chamber from an upland semiarid sagebrush ecosystem. Both years had contrasting diel and seasonal patterns of CO 2 fluxes, primarily driven by differences in vegetation phenology. The net ecosystem exchange of CO 2 (NEE) and evapotranspiration (ET) in 2019 were enlarged by shifted vegetation phenology, as a cold and snow-covered winter and warm and dry winter in 2020 resulted in constrained magnitudes of NEE and ET during the summer months. The annual gross primary productivity (GPP) was much higher in 2019 than in 2020 (-211 vs. -112 gC m -2 ), whereas ecosystem respiration was comparable in these two years (164 vs. 144 gC m -2 ). Thus, the annual NEE in 2019 was negative (-47 gC m -2 ) with the sagebrush ecosystem functioning as a carbon sink, while the positive annual NEE in 2020 indicated that the sagebrush ecosystem functioned as a carbon source. Our results demonstrate that winter snowpack can be a critical driver of annual carbon uptake in semiarid sagebrush ecosystems.
Registration of the sorghum carbon–partitioning nested association mapping (CP–NAM) population
The sorghum [ Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] carbon-partitioning nested association mapping (CP_NAM) (Reg. no. MP-4, NSL 542189 MAP) population was developed at Clemson University, SC, using 11 diverse, male founder accessions, each crossed with a recurrent female parent ‘Grassl’. The male parents represent all five major botanical races and the four major agronomic types: cellulosic (5), sweet (3), grain (2) and forage (1). A set of 11 recombinant inbred line (RIL) families CP_NAM01 to CP_NAM011 were maintained, which consisted of 2,484 (F 6 ) individuals. Each RIL family contained a minimum of 193 individuals (CP_NAM01) and a maximum of 287 individuals (CP_NAM06). For the development of this population, the founder lines were judiciously selected from the sorghum Bioenergy Association Panel based on carbon-partitioning phenotypes that make this population an ideal genetic resource for dissecting a wide range of agronomic and compositional traits for basic and applied research. The founder accessions of the CP_NAM were phenotypically characterized for various traits, including agronomic, biomass and related components, and additional compositional components. Each of the 11 F 6 RIL families of the CP_NAM were genotyped using genotyping-by-sequencing analysis, and 144,087 single nucleotide polymorphisms were generated for each individual. Genotypic information along with phenotypic data were used for the characterization of this population and to explore the range of phenotypes that permits the understanding of carbon-partitioning dynamics. This population is a unique resource for researchers to study a wide range of contrasting carbon-partitioning characteristics in sorghum to understand the genetic architecture underlying whole-plant carbon partitioning and allocation.
Cell-Free Systems Biology: Characterizing Central Metabolism of Clostridium thermocellum with a Three-Enzyme Cascade Reaction
Genetic approaches have been traditionally used to understand microbial metabolism, but this process can be slow in nonmodel organisms due to limited genetic tools. An alternative approach is to study metabolism directly in the cell lysate. This avoids the need for genetic tools and is routinely used to study individual enzymatic reactions but is not generally used to study systems-level properties of metabolism. Here we demonstrate a new approach that we call “cell-free systems biology”, where we use well-characterized enzymes and multienzyme cascades to serve as sources or sinks of intermediate metabolites. This allows us to isolate subnetworks within metabolism and study their systems-level properties. To demonstrate this, we worked with a threeenzyme cascade reaction that converts pyruvate to 2,3-butanediol. Although it has been previously used in cell-free systems, its pH dependence was not well characterized, limiting its utility as a sink for pyruvate. We showed that improved proton accounting allowed better prediction of pH changes and that active pH control allowed 2,3-butanediol titers of up to 2.1 M (189 g/L) from acetoin and 1.6 M (144 g/L) from pyruvate. The improved proton accounting provided a crucial insight that preventing the escape of CO 2 from the system largely eliminated the need for active pH control, dramatically simplifying our experimental setup. We then used this cascade reaction to understand limits to product formation in Clostridium thermocellum, an organism with potential applications for cellulosic biofuel production. We showed that the fate of pyruvate is largely controlled by electron availability and that reactions upstream of pyruvate limit overall product formation.
A bioinspired approach for adaptive solid-solid phase change material coatings with optimized surface features for passive thermal regulation
The necessity to reduce global energy consumption calls for innovative strategies in building thermal management. Passive thermal regulation, particularly through bio-inspired designs, offers a promising avenue by mimicking nature's efficient control of optical properties. This research introduces a novel, climate-responsive coating that integrates optimized bio-inspired surface features with a solid-solid phase change material (SS-PCM) to dynamically manage solar absorptivity without adding additional thickness, enabling both heating and cooling as needed. Drawing on the photonic architectures of the Saharan silver ant and Morpho Didius butterfly, we employed a modeling and multi-objective optimization framework to tailor these surface features. Simulations reveal that surface texture, rather than the intrinsic phase transition of the SS PCM, dominates optical control. Relative to a flat SS PCM coating, optimized isotropic random roughness and broader range features yielded the highest passive heating power increase of about 144 % and 319 % respectively suitable for cold climates. Saharan ant-inspired features enhanced passive cooling for hot climates, achieving a 21.8 % improvement. For moderate climates, Butterfly-wing-inspired surface features provided a balanced enhancement of 19 % for heating and 7 % for cooling. Across all cases, the optimized surface features reduced combined heating and cooling energy demand more effectively than the baseline coating, while preserving material thickness. These findings demonstrate that climate-adaptive, optimized bio-inspired surface features can unlock the full potential of SS PCM coatings, providing a versatile pathway to significant energy savings in buildings and other applications. The methodology establishes a framework for designing next-generation adaptive envelopes that leverage natural photonic principles for high-impact, low-cost thermal regulation.
Effects of Saccharomyces cerevisiae quorum sensing signal molecules on ethanol production in bioethanol fermentation process
Here in this study, the concentrations of Saccharomyces cerevisiae quorum sensing signal molecules (QSMs) were determined, not to mention the exploration of the effects of exogenous S. cerevisiae QSMs on the sole fermentation of S. cerevisiae and co-fermentation of S. cerevisiae and Lactobacillus plantarum. The results showed that the concentrations of three signal molecules (2-phenylethanol (2-PE), tyrosol and tryptophan) produced by S. cerevisiae increased with a higher bacteria density, which tends to become stable up to 118.02, 32.05 and 1.93 mg/L respectively when cultivating for 144 h. Among the three signaling molecules, only 2-PE promoted the ethanol production capacity of S. cerevisiae. The ethanol concentration of the sole fermentation of S. cerevisiae loaded with 120 mg/L 2-PE reached 3.2 g/L in 9 h, which was 58.7% higher than that of the group without 2-PE addition. Moreover, 2-PE reduced the negative impact of L. plantarum on S. cerevisiae. Within 12 h of the co-fermentation of L. plantarum and S. cerevisiae, the ethanol concentration in the co-fermentation group loaded with 2-PE reached 5.6 g/L, similar to that in the group fermenting with sole S. cerevisiae, and the yeast budding rate was also restored to 28.51%. qRT-PCR results of S. cerevisiae which was in sole fermentation with 2-PE addition for 9 h showed that the relative expression levels of ethanol dehydrogenase gene ADH1 in S. cerevisiae decreased by 25% and the relative expression levels of MLS1, CIT2, IDH1,CIT1 decreased by 26%, 30%, 22%,18%, respectively, meant that the glyoxylic and tricarboxylic acid cycles were greatly inhibited, which promotes the accumulation of ethanol. The results of this study provide basic data for using QSMs more than antibiotics in the the prevention of contamination during the industrialized bioethanol production.
Quantile-dependent expressivity of serum C-reactive protein concentrations in family sets
“Quantile-dependent expressivity” occurs when the effect size of a genetic variant depends upon whether the phenotype (e.g., C-reactive protein, CRP) is high or low relative to its distribution. We have previously shown that the heritabilities ( h 2 ) of coffee and alcohol consumption, postprandial lipemia, lipoproteins, leptin, adiponectin, adiposity, and pulmonary function are quantile-specific. Whether CRP heritability is quantile-specific is currently unknown. Methods Serum CRP concentrations from 2,036 sibships and 6,144 offspring-parent pairs were analyzed from the Framingham Heart Study. Quantile-specific heritability from full-sib (β FS , h 2 ={(1 + 8r spouse β FS ) 0.5 - 1}/(2r spouse )) and offspring-parent regression slopes (β OP , h 2 = 2β OP /(1 + r spouse )) were estimated robustly by quantile regression with nonparametric significance determined from 1,000 bootstrap samples. Results Quantile-specific h 2 (±SE) increased with increasing percentiles of the offspring’s age- and sex-adjusted CRP distribution when estimated from β OP ( P trend = 0.0004): 0.02 ± 0.01 at the 10th, 0.04 ± 0.01 at the 25th, 0.10 ± 0.02 at the 50th, 0.20 ± 0.05 at the 75th, and 0.33 ± 0.10 at the 90th percentile, and when estimated from β FS ( P trend = 0.0008): 0.03±0.01 at the 10th, 0.06 ± 0.02 at the 25th, 0.14 ± 0.03 at the 50th, 0.24 ± 0.05 at the 75th, and 0.53 ± 0.21 at the 90th percentile. Conclusion Heritability of serum CRP concentration is quantile-specific, which may explain or contribute to the inflated CRP differences between CRP (rs1130864, rs1205, rs1800947, rs2794521, rs3091244), FGB (rs1800787), IL-6 (rs1800795, rs1800796), IL6R (rs8192284), TNF- α (rs1800629) and APOE genotypes following CABG surgery, stroke, TIA, curative esophagectomy, intensive periodontal therapy, or acute exercise; during acute coronary syndrome or Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia; or in patients with chronic rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, peripheral arterial disease, ankylosing spondylitis, obesity or inflammatory bowel disease or who smoke.
Delayed access to feed early post-hatch affects the development and maturation of gastrointestinal tract microbiota in broiler chickens
Background: The first two weeks of post-hatch (PH) growth in broilers (meat-type birds) are critical for gut development and microbiota colonization. In the current broiler production system, chicks may not receive feed and water for 24 to 72 h due to variations in hatching time and hatchery management. Post-hatch feed delay affects body weight, feed efficiency, mortality, and gut development. The goal of this study was to investigate changes in the microbiome in broiler chickens early PH and the effect of delayed access to feed on the microbiota. Results: Chicks either received feed and water immediately after hatch or access to feed was delayed for 48 h to mimic commercial hatchery settings (treatment, TRT). Both groups were sampled (n = 6) at -48, 0, 4 h, and 1 (24 h), 2 (48 h), 3 (72 h), 4 (96 h), 6 (144 h), 8 (192 h), 10 (240 h), 12 (288 h) and 14 (336 h) days PH. Ileal (IL) and cecal (CE) epithelial scrapings (mucosal bacteria, M) and digesta (luminal bacteria, L) were collected for microbiota analysis. Microbiota was determined by sequencing the V3-V4 region of bacterial 16S rRNA and analyzed using QIIME2. The microbiota of early ileal and cecal samples were characterized by high abundance of unclassified bacteria. Among four bacterial populations (IL-L, IL-M, CE-L, CE-M), IL-M was the least affected by delayed access to feed early PH. Both alpha and beta diversities were affected by delayed access to feed PH in IL-L, CE-M and CE-L. However, the development effect was more pronounced. In all four bacterial populations, significant changes due to developmental effect (time relative to hatch) was observed in taxonomic composition, with transient changes of bacterial taxa during the first two weeks PH. Delayed access to feed has limited influence on bacterial composition with only a few genera and species affected in all four bacterial populations. Predicted function based on 16S rRNA was also affected by delayed access to feed PH with most changes in metabolic pathway richness observed in IL-L, CE-L and CE-M. Conclusions: These results show transient changes in chicken microbiota biodiversity during the first two weeks PH and indicate that delayed access to feed affects microbiota development. Proper microbiota development could be an important factor in disease prevention and antibiotic use in broiler chickens. Moreover, significant differences in response to delayed access to feed PH between luminal and mucosal bacterial populations strongly suggests the need for separate analysis of these two populations.