No abstract

[1] Decreases in pan evaporation (E p ) over the last decades have been reported in many regions of the world. In this study, we investigated E p dynamics in the hyper-arid region of China during the period 1958-2010 using a generic physical model based on long-term meteorological data collected at 81 ground-based meteorological stations. We also quantified the contribution of climatic factors to the E p change using partial derivatives. We found that E p in the region exhibited an obvious decreasing trend until early 1990s (1993), at a rate of À6.0 mm yr À2 . However, the downward trend reversed in 1993, and the rate of increase after that was 10.7 mm yr À2. We also assessed the sensitivity of rates of evaporative demand to changes in aerodynamic and radiative components, and found that pan evaporation could be mostly attributed to changes in the aerodynamic component, with some regional contributions from solar irradiance. Observed near-surface wind speed is the primary contributor to the decline of pan evaporation during 1958-1993, while wind speed (WS) and vapor pressure deficit (VPD) were both major contributors to the increase of pan evaporation after 1993.

Cycads represent one of the most ancient lineages of living seed plants. Identifying genomic features uniquely shared by cycads and other extant seed plants, but not non-seed-producing plants, may shed light on the origin of key innovations, as well as the early diversification of seed plants. Here, we report the 10.5-Gb reference genome of Cycas panzhihuaensis, complemented by the transcriptomes of 339 cycad species. Nuclear and plastid phylogenomic analyses strongly suggest that cycads and Ginkgo form a clade sister to all other living gymnosperms, in contrast to mitochondrial data, which place cycads alone in this position. We found evidence for an ancient whole-genome duplication in the common ancestor of extant gymnosperms. The Cycas genome contains four homologues of the fitD gene family that were likely acquired via horizontal gene transfer from fungi, and these genes confer herbivore resistance in cycads. The male-specific region of the Y chromosome of C. panzhihuaensis contains a MADS-box transcription factor expressed exclusively in male cones that is similar to a system reported in Ginkgo, suggesting that a sex determination mechanism controlled by MADS-box genes may have originated in the common ancestor of cycads and Ginkgo. The C. panzhihuaensis genome provides an important new resource of broad utility for biologists.

Global crop production has doubled since the Green Revolution on the average, but crop yield has stagnated or even declined in some regions. In the same time, food demand has highly increased due to population growth and higher living standards. The use of pesticides and mineral fertilizers has improved crop yields but also contaminated food and the environment, thus leading to a global food crisis. Here, we reviewed the historical trends of global pesticide and fertilizer application, cereal yields, and production. Our main findings are as follows: (1) fertilizer and pesticide consumption increased for 35-40 % of the countries; (2) cereal production in 38 % of countries and yields in 47 % of countries either stagnated or decreased from 1961 to 2010; (3) countries showing stagnated or decreased yields are countries with low gross domestic product per capita, mainly situated in Africa, South America, and West Asia. Our findings thus evidence a global imbalance in food production and the usage of fertilizers and pesticides.

m6A RNA modification is implicated in multiple cellular responses. However, its function in the innate immune cells is poorly understood. Here, we identified major m6A “writers” as the top candidate genes regulating macrophage activation by LPS in an RNA binding protein focused CRISPR screening. We have confirmed that Mettl3-deficient macrophages exhibited reduced TNF-α production upon LPS stimulation in vitro. Consistently, Mettl3flox/flox;Lyzm-Cre mice displayed increased susceptibility to bacterial infection and showed faster tumor growth. Mechanistically, the transcripts of the Irakm gene encoding a negative regulator of TLR4 signaling were highly decorated by m6A modification. METTL3 deficiency led to the loss of m6A modification on Irakm mRNA and slowed down its degradation, resulting in a higher level of IRAKM, which ultimately suppressed TLR signaling–mediated macrophage activation. Our findings demonstrate a previously unknown role for METTL3-mediated m6A modification in innate immune responses and implicate the m6A machinery as a potential cancer immunotherapy target.