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Klin Padiatr 2021 May 10. Epub 2021 May 10.

Institute of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Pir Mehar Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi, Pakistan.

Environ Pollut 2021 May 4;286:117287. Epub 2021 May 4.

College of Natural Resources and Environment, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, 712100, China. Electronic address:

Fluoride (F) and nitrate (NO) in groundwater have caused serious health problems worldwide. However, in the Chinese Loess Plateau where groundwater is the primary source of drinking water, previous studies have rarely reported the health risks from fluoride and nitrate in groundwater. Therefore, we collected 105 groundwater samples (78 from shallow aquifers and 27 from deep aquifers) from the western district of the Loess Plateau for physicochemical and isotopic analysis to investigate the sources of F and NO in groundwater and associated health risks. Read More

Plant Physiol Biochem 2021 May 5;164:73-81. Epub 2021 May 5.

Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Ecological Restoration in Shanbei Mining Area, College of Life Science, Yulin University, Yulin, China.

Cultivar replacement-induced genetic improvement is considered an important factor in enhancing crop grain yield. However, the effect of cultivar replacement of foxtail millet, an important crop in arid and semi-arid regions, on grain yield and drought resistance has rarely been considered. In the present study, we grew five millet cultivars, representative of widely cultivated varieties released from the 1950s to the 2010s in Shaanxi Province, China, in an open rainout shelter (closed during rain events) under two contrasting water treatments (35 ± 5% field water capacity (FWC), and 75 ± 5% FWC) with an aim to detect yield-related parameters, biomass accumulation, water use efficiency (WUE), and plant water-related indices. Read More

Environ Sci Technol 2021 May 10. Epub 2021 May 10.

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

There is considerable debate about the sustainability of the hydraulic fracturing (HF) water cycle in North America. Recently, this debate has expanded to China, where HF activities continue to grow. Here, we provide a critical review of the HF water cycle in China, including water withdrawal practices and flowback and produced water (FPW) management and their environmental impacts, with a comprehensive comparison to the U. Read More

Phytopathology 2021 May 10. Epub 2021 May 10.

University of California, Davis, Plant Pathology, 1636 E. Alisal St., Salinas, California, United States, 93905;

Fusarium redolens was previously reported as a plant pathogen or an endophyte that is closely related to F. oxysporum, a notoriously significant soil-borne phytopathogen. Subsequent studies demonstrated the unique nature of F. Read More

Front Plant Sci 2021 21;12:643192. Epub 2021 Apr 21.

International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid and Tropics, Patancheru, India.

Exploring the natural genetic variability and its exploitation for improved Nitrogen Use Efficiency (NUE) in sorghum is one of the primary goals in the modern crop improvement programs. The integrated strategies include high-throughput phenotyping, next generation sequencing (NGS)-based genotyping technologies, and selected candidate gene studies that help understand the detailed physiological and molecular mechanisms underpinning this complex trait. A set of sixty diverse sorghum genotypes was evaluated for different vegetative, reproductive, and yield traits related to NUE in the field (under three N regimes) for two seasons. Read More

Front Plant Sci 2021 23;12:638828. Epub 2021 Apr 23.

Laboratory of Environmental and Applied Botany, Department of Biotechnology and Life Science, University of Insubria, Varese, Italy.

Desertification of the semi-arid steppe of Mongolia is advancing very rapidly, motivating afforestation efforts. The "Green Belt" joint project (Government of Mongolia and Republic of Korea), which aims to mitigate soil degradation and develop agroforestry activities through the planting of a forest shelterbelt, is one such response. In these plantations, tree growth has been supported by different watering regimes (no watering, 2, 4, and 8 L h) and by two types of soil fertilization (NPK and Compost). Read More

J Food Sci Technol 2021 Jun 1;58(6):2406-2419. Epub 2020 Sep 1.

Food Engineering Department, Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering Faculty, Yildiz Technical University, Davutpasa Campus, 34210 Istanbul, Turkey.

The objective of the present study is developing a new technique for the preservation of natural cheese by the use of an edible biofilm based on sodium alginate in order to evaluate the effect of the essential oils ( L.) incorporated in the film on the oxidation stability, microbial spoilage, physicochemical characteristics and sensory criteria. The cheese samples coated with sodium alginate incorporated by the oils showed moderate stability in terms of oxidative stabilities of proteins and lipids during storage. Read More

ACS Biomater Sci Eng 2021 May 14;7(5):1725-1741. Epub 2020 Oct 14.

Division of Pharmacoengineering and Molecular Pharmaceutics, Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, United States.

Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is a deadly, vector-borne, neglected tropical disease endemic to arid parts of the world and is caused by a protozoan parasite of the genus . Chemotherapy is the primary treatment for this systemic disease, and multiple potent therapies exist against this intracellular parasite. However, several factors, such as systemic toxicity, high costs, arduous treatment regimen, and rising drug resistance, are barriers for effective therapy against VL. Read More

Oecologia 2021 May 8. Epub 2021 May 8.

Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China.

While the effects of incubation environment on embryonic development and offspring traits have been extensively studied in oviparous vertebrates, studies into how genetic inheritance (population origin), maternal effects, and incubation environment interact to produce varying phenotypes, are rare. To elucidate the interactive role of those three factors during incubation in shaping offspring phenotypes through hydric conditions, we conducted a fully factorial experiment [arid and semiarid populations × maternal dry and wet treatments (MDT and MWT) × embryonic dry and wet treatments (EDT and EWT)] with a desert-dwelling lacertid lizard (Eremias argus). Female lizards in dry conditions produced larger clutch sizes but smaller eggs. Read More

Cryo Letters 2019 Nov-Dec;40(6):347-351

Department of Zoology, Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi-46300, Pakistan.

Background: The quality of cryopreserved buffalo semen is low due to high susceptibility of sperm membranes to cold shock.

Objective: The present study was designed to investigate the effect of recombinant type-III antifreeze protein from the eel pout Macrozoarces americanus (rAFPIII) on freezability of buffalo semen.

Materials And Methods: Semen was collected from three buffalo bulls for three weeks (replicates). Read More

J Surg Res 2021 May 6;265:297-302. Epub 2021 May 6.

Department of Surgery, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee; Department of Surgery, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Le Bonheur Children's Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee. Electronic address:

Background: Management of children with snakebites may vary based on subjective criteria, geographic, and climatic factors. We reviewed the incidence and management of snakebite injuries in children at two tertiary referral centers in separate geographic and climatic location to assess differences in management and outcomes of these patients.

Methods: After institutional review board approval, a retrospective chart review was performed for patients ≤18 years with snakebite injuries at emergency departments (ED) of two American College of Surgeons verified trauma centers (2006-2013). Read More

J Microbiol Methods 2021 May 6:106233. Epub 2021 May 6.

Graduate School of Environmental and Symbiotic Sciences, Prefectural University of Kumamoto, Tsukide 3-1-100, Higashi-ku, Kumamoto 862-8502, Japan.

Ralstonia solanacearum is a soil-borne pathogen that causes bacterial wilt in plants. The wild-type strain of R. solanacearum undergoes spontaneous phenotype conversion (PC), from a fluidal to non-fluidal colony morphology. Read More

Mol Ecol 2021 May 9. Epub 2021 May 9.

Departamento de Biología Animal, Biología Vegetal y Ecología, Universidad de Jaén, E-23071, Jaén, Spain.

Our knowledge of the impact of landscape fragmentation on gene flow patterns is mainly drawn from tropical and temperate ecosystems, where landscape features, such as the distance of a tree to the forest edge, drive connectivity and mating patterns. Yet, the structure of arid and semiarid plant communities - with open canopies and a scattered distribution of trees - differs greatly from those that are well-characterized in the literature. As a result, we ignore whether the documented consequences of landscape fragmentation on plant mating and gene flow patterns also hold for native plant communities in arid and semiarid regions. Read More

Sci Total Environ 2021 Apr 30;786:147450. Epub 2021 Apr 30.

Faculty of Life and Environmental Science, Shimane University, Shimane, Matsue 690-0823, Japan.

Improving our understanding of how different land uses and management practices affect soil nutrient outflows in sub-Saharan Africa could aid in developing sustainable practices. The objective of this study was to analyse the variation in outflows of soil total nitrogen (TN) and available phosphorus (P) as influenced by land use types (cropland, grazing land, and bushland) and land management practices (soil bunds for cropland and exclosures for non-croplands) in the three contrasting agro-ecological zones of the Upper Blue Nile basin, Ethiopia. Field data were collected for TN and P outflows by water erosion (Eo), leaching (Lo), product harvest (Ho), and gaseous emissions (Go) from 18 runoff plots (30 m × 6 m) for two years (2018-2019). Read More

Plant Physiol Biochem 2021 Apr 30;164:63-72. Epub 2021 Apr 30.

State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Biology in Arid Areas, College of Horticulture, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, 712100, China; Key Laboratory of Horticultural Plant Biology and Germplasm Innovation in Northwest China, Ministry of Agriculture, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, 712100, China. Electronic address:

Grapevine (Vitis vinifera), as one of the potential gardening fruit have important economic and nutritional values. Seedless grapes are popular due to their convenience and excellent taste. As multifunctional proteins, the NAC family involves hormonal pathways, plant aging, and biological stress. Read More

J Environ Radioact 2021 May 5;234:106627. Epub 2021 May 5.

Flinders University, College of Science and Engineering, Adelaide, SA, 5001, Australia; University of Melbourne, School of Geography, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Melbourne, VIC, 3010, Australia. Electronic address:

Data on the uptake of elements and radionuclides by flora from soils in arid environments are underrepresented in international databases, especially when comparing across seasons. This study improved the understanding on the uptake of natural uranium-series radionuclides, as well as more than 30 elements, in a range of Australian native flora species that are internationally representative of an arid/semi-arid zone (e.g. Read More

J Contam Hydrol 2021 Apr 30;241:103815. Epub 2021 Apr 30.

Key Laboratory of Agricultural Soil and Water Engineering in Arid and Semiarid Areas, Ministry of Education, Northwest A&F University, Xianyang, China.

In the contaminant remediation of groundwater, the release history of contaminant sources and hydraulic conductivity field are two key parameters that need to know, but their actual values are difficult to obtain and can only be inversely identified by limited measured data. However, the process of solving the inverse problem needs to repeatedly call the forward model of contaminant transport, which is very time-consuming, especially for the high-dimensional inverse problems. In this study, based on the training data generated from a prior range of parameters (the release strength of contaminant sources and hydraulic conductivity at pilot points), the self-organizing maps (SOM) algorithm was employed to construct the surrogate model for the numerical model of contaminant transport in a simplified hypothetical aquifer, then the surrogate model was used to retrieve jointly the contaminant strength of sources and the hydraulic conductivity at pilot points, and the Kriging method of geostatistics was further used to process the estimated K-values at pilot points to obtain the hydraulic conductivity field. Read More

Physiol Plant 2021 May 8. Epub 2021 May 8.

Department of Agricultural Microbiology, Faculty of Agriculture, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt.

The present study aimed to evaluate the effect of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens and/or Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (AMF) as natural biofertilizers on biomass, yield and seed nutritive quality of soybean (Giza 111). The conditions investigated include a well-watered (WW) control and irrigation withholding at the seed development stage (R5, after 90 days from sowing) (DS). Co-inoculation with B. Read More

Trop Anim Health Prod 2021 May 8;53(2):310. Epub 2021 May 8.

Livestock Farm Complex, Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, 600 051, India.

Hydroponics is one of the widely adopted technologies for fodder production in arid and semi-arid regions. In addition to the benefits such as shorter growth period and minimal water and land use, it also produces nutritious fodder that contains essential nutrients required for the growth and reproduction of livestock. This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of feeding hydroponic maize fodder on the reproductive performance of buck kids. Read More

Sci Rep 2021 May 7;11(1):9746. Epub 2021 May 7.

Institute of Arid Ecology and Environment, Xinjiang University, Urumqi, 830046, China.

Soil salt crust can change the structure of aeolian soil and improve its resistance to wind erosion. Four ions (Na, Ca, Cl, and SO) with high contents in aeolian soil were selected for a salt crust experiment. The experiment set a variety of gradients of soil salt contents and salt mixing ratios of NaSO and CaCl. Read More

Mol Plant 2021 May 4. Epub 2021 May 4.

State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology, Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Resources, Institute of Crop Science, College of Agriculture and Biotechnology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China. Electronic address:

Drought has been the leading environmental threat affecting the productivity of crops, and plants have evolved a series of mechanisms to adapt to drought stress. The FT-INTERACTING PROTEINs (FTIPs) and phosphatidylethanolamine-binding proteins (PEBPs) play key roles in developmental processes, whereas their roles in the regulation of stress response are still largely unknown. Here, we report that OsFTIP1 negatively affects drought response. Read More

Phytopathology 2021 May 7. Epub 2021 May 7.

Northwest A&F University, College of Plant Protection; State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Biology for Arid Areas, Yangling, China;

Barley yellow dwarf virus-GAV (BYDV-GAV) is one of the most prevalent viruses causing yellow dwarf disease in wheat in China. The biology and pathology of BYDV-GAV are well studied; however, gene functions and molecular mechanisms of BYDV-GAV disease development are unclear due to the lack of a reverse genetics system. In this study, a full-length cDNA clone of BYDV-GAV was constructed and expressed using Agrobacterium-mediated inoculation of Nicotiana benthamiana. Read More

Trop Anim Health Prod 2021 May 7;53(2):308. Epub 2021 May 7.

Department of Agronomic Sciences, Faculty of Sciences of Nature and Life, Chadli Bendjedid University of El-Tarf, PB 73, 36000, El Tarf, Algeria.

Several works have been dedicated to the study of the composition of camel milk around the world. In this review, camel milk basic nutrients (protein, fat, lactose, minerals, and vitamin) have been reviewed. Many researchers stated that camel milk has several therapeutic properties due to its particular composition, especially its low cholesterol content and high content of vitamin C. Read More

Evid Based Complement Alternat Med 2021 19;2021:6675657. Epub 2021 Apr 19.

State Key Laboratory Basis of Xinjiang Indigenous Medicinal Plants Resource Utilization, and Key Laboratory of Plant Resources and Chemistry in Arid Regions, Xinjiang Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, China.

Background: Kursi Karwiya or caraway tablet (CWT), a traditional medicine formula, is widely used in Xinjiang, China, for treating vitiligo, a common autoimmune disease for which there is currently no satisfactory cure. Clinical interventions include pharmacological treatment with psoralens, often in conjunction with UVA radiation, but toxic side effects limit this application. Studies on the activities and mechanisms of CWT are scarce. Read More

Front Microbiol 2021 20;12:648455. Epub 2021 Apr 20.

United States Geological Survey, Southwest Biological Science Center, Moab, UT, United States.

Dryland ecosystems are sensitive to perturbations and generally slow to recover post disturbance. The microorganisms residing in dryland soils are especially important as they contribute to soil structure and nutrient cycling. Disturbance can have particularly strong effects on dryland soil structure and function, yet the natural resistance and recovery of the microbial components of dryland soils has not been well documented. Read More

BMC Biol 2021 May 6;19(1):96. Epub 2021 May 6.

State Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change, Institute of Botany, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.

Background: Medicago ruthenica, a wild and perennial legume forage widely distributed in semi-arid grasslands, is distinguished by its outstanding tolerance to environmental stress. It is a close relative of commonly cultivated forage of alfalfa (Medicago sativa). The high tolerance of M. Read More

Sci Total Environ 2021 Apr 28;785:147373. Epub 2021 Apr 28.

College of Resources and Environmental Science, Xinjiang University, Urumqi 830046, China.

The scientific evaluation of carrying capacity and the formulation of adaptive regulation policies are powerful ways to achieve sustainable development goals. In order to quantitatively and accurately diagnose the sustainable development state of urban agglomeration, this paper responds to the "Future Earth" framework; takes the carrying capacity as the breakthrough point; embeds the conjugate thought; considers the elements of the resources, the environment, the ecology, and the development; and establishes the conjugate evaluation model and the evaluation index system of sustainable carrying capacity. In order to solve the actual bottleneck problem of urban agglomeration, this work identifies the key obstacle factors, constructs the multi-scenario dynamic coupling (MSDC) model, recognizes the sensitivity policies, and proposes the adaptive regulation polices. Read More

Sci Total Environ 2021 Apr 24;785:147319. Epub 2021 Apr 24.

AgFE Department, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, Kharagpur 721 302, India.

In the 21st century, groundwater depletion is posing a serious threat to humanity throughout the world, particularly in developing nations. India being the largest consumer of groundwater in the world, dwindling groundwater storage has emerged as a serious concern in recent years. Consequently, the judicious and efficient management of vital groundwater resources is one of the grand challenges in India. Read More

Phytochemistry 2021 May 3;187:112705. Epub 2021 May 3.

The State Key Laboratory Basis of Xinjiang Indigenous Medicinal Plants Resource Utilization and Key Laboratory of Plant Resources and Chemistry of Arid Zone, Xinjiang Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing South Road 40-1, Urumqi, 830011, China. Electronic address:

Phytochemical study on the ethanolic extract of the dried roots of Ferula samarkandica Korovin led to the isolation of nine undiscribed sesquiterpene coumarins, samarcandicins A-I, along with thirteen known sesquiterpene coumarins. Their structures were characterized by detailed spectroscopic analysis including NMR and HR-ESI-MS. Mogoltacin and nevskin exhibited high inhibitory activity against MV-4-11 cell with IC values of 3. Read More