Research Institute of Forestry

This study evaluated the effects of red LED (RL), blue LED (BL), and white LED (WL) on the growth, physiological responses, and hormonal regulation of Aquilaria crassna tissue-cultured plantlets. Morphological assessment revealed that both RL and BL treatments reduced growth variation, with RL significantly promoting shoot elongation and secondary root development. Compared to WL, RL also enhanced the rooting rate and aboveground biomass. Analysis of hormones and physiological indicators indicated that RL and BL treatments decreased abscisic acid (ABA), cytokinin (CTK), and malondialdehyde (MDA) contents, while increasing indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), gibberellic acid (GA), soluble sugar levels, and superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) activities, thereby altering hormone balance and antioxidant system stability. Correlation analysis revealed that light quality was significantly negatively correlated with ABA content, while root development was closely associated with hormonal balance and antioxidant capacity. A comprehensive evaluation using the entropy-weighted TOPSIS method ranked RL as the most favorable light condition for overall growth and development, with a closeness coefficient of 0.71. These findings provide a scientific basis for optimizing light quality management to improve the efficiency and quality of A. crassna tissue culture systems.

Telomeres safeguard the genome, acting as sentinels of oxidative stress and preventing chromosome ends from eliciting a DNA damage response. PROTECTION OF TELOMERES 1 (POT1) is a highly conserved telomere protein, essential for chromosome integrity and telomeric DNA replication. Arabidopsis thaliana encodes two divergent POT1 paralogs: AtPOT1a stimulates telomerase activity, but AtPOT1b function is unknown. Here we show that AtPOT1b modulates reactive oxygen species (ROS) homeostasis. Oxidative stress induces AtPOT1b expression and telomeric accumulation, while AtPOT1b inactivation elevates ROS, increases telomeric and genome-wide oxidation, and causes stochastic telomere length changes. To address how AtPOT1b controls ROS, we report its localization in nuclei and peroxisomes, and association with catalases and peroxidases that enhance ROS scavenging. Impairing AtPOT1b-CAT2 interaction increases ROS accumulation and telomeric oxidation. Moss or human POT1 rescues ROS overaccumulation in Arabidopsis pot1b mutants, but not telomere deficiency in pot1a pot1b mutants, supporting a conserved role for POT1 in modulating ROS homeostasis and genome stability, distinct from canonical telomeric functions.

Abstract The energy and nutrient costs associated with body mass, age, and sex can influence variation in primate behavior and diet. However, comparatively little is known about how these factors affect the behavioral and dietary flexibility of Asian colobines in response to intra-annual climate shifts. We collected data on an isolated population of black-and-white snub-nosed monkeys ( Rhinopithecus bieti ) at Mt. Lasha in the Yunling Provincial Nature Reserve, Yunnan, China, using instantaneous and scan sampling across 32 months between May 2008 and August 2016 to assess the association of temperature on the activity budgets and diets among and within age-sex classes. Adult females spent more time feeding, juveniles spent more time moving and less time resting, and adult males spent less time moving and more time resting than other age-sex classes. We did not detect any significant variation in diet across age-sex classes. This population spent more time feeding and less time moving and resting in colder months than in warmer months; however, we only detected these temperature-related effects within age-sex classes for moving and resting, not feeding. This population also spent more time feeding on lichen during colder months than during warmer months, a finding that cannot be explained by temperature-related dietary shifts within age-sex classes because their diets remained stable throughout the year. Our results suggest that intra-annual variation in temperature may amplify the distinct physiological demands among different age-sex classes, leading to greater shifts in activity patterns than in diet composition.

IntroductionAccurate estimation of individual tree aboveground biomass (AGB) is essential for tree species selection, carbon accounting, and precision forestry. Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) LiDAR provides rapid access to detailed tree structural information, offering a promising tool for high-frequency biomass assessment.MethodsIn this study, a nonlinear mixed-effects (NLME) model integrating UAV LiDAR and field measurements was developed to quantify the influence of genetic heterogeneity and environmental factors on AGB estimation of Catalpa bungei. Data from 2,941 trees across 79 genotypes were collected in Henan Province, including LiDAR-derived tree height (LH), LiDAR-derived crown diameter (LCD), and AGB. By incorporating genotype as a random effect and planting density as a dummy variable, the NLME model significantly outperformed traditional dummy-variable models.ResultsGenotype effects explained significant AGB variation, achieving high accuracy (R²=0.7916, RMSE = 3.7095) and reducing TRE by 23.29% compared to the basic power function model. Leave-one-genotype-out cross-validation confirmed robustness. Calibration with the four largest trees yielded the best performance (TRE = 13.09%), while a simplified scheme using only two trees per genotype maintained high accuracy (TRE = 13.24%), markedly reducing field effort.DiscussionThese results highlight the superiority of NLME AGB models over linear approaches and demonstrate that accounting for genotype effects is critical for reliable biomass estimation. The proposed framework provides an efficient and cost-effective solution for biomass monitoring, tree breeding, carbon sink assessment, and precision forestry.

University campus green spaces function as critical microcosms of urban building environments, directly advancing Sustainable Development Goals 3 (Good Health and Well-being) and 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities) through evidence-based landscape design. Taking a large university in China as the research object, this study integrates virtual reality (VR) simulations with synchronized psychophysiological measurements and perceptual scales to quantify how three planting modes—clustered, scattered, and regular—influence restorative experiences across teaching, living, and administrative areas. Rigorous data processing ensured robustness. The results revealed functional-area-specific restoration pathways: clustered planting enhanced relaxation in living zones, scattered planting elevated vitality in teaching areas, and regular planting reinforced security perception in administrative spaces. A path model was used to elucidate how four-dimensional (4D) landscape indicators (openness, pleasantness, diversity, focus) mediate psychological and physiological responses. Theoretically, this 4D framework translates abstract restorative experiences into operable design dimensions; methodologically, VR-based multi-source measurement offers a replicable technical pathway for scheme verification; practically, it serves as a quantitative tool for planting optimization. Critically, these campus-derived insights offer transferable design principles for enhancing well-being across urban building environments, delivering a replicable VR-assisted framework that directly contributes to sustainable cities through human-centered, evidence-based landscape solutions.

The bHLH transcription factor BoMYC2 played a critical role in regulating branching in ornamental kale via the BoMYC2-BoD27 cascade by transcriptionally repressing BoD27 to reduce strigolactone (SL) biosynthesis and promote branching. Branching plays a vital role in plant morphology. Ornamental kale is an emerging cold-season flower, branching is of great significance on its ornamental value. While the functional genes and corresponding mechanism of branching in ornamental kale remains unclear. Previously, we conducted transcriptome sequencing with a single-branched inbred line 'P29' and its multi-branched mutant. Among the differentially expressed genes, BoD27, a homologous gene of AtD27, was a candidate. In this study, we cloned the full-length and promoter sequences of the BoD27 gene between the single- and the multi-branched materials. The differences within the coding sequences led to eleven amino acids mutations, where three mutated amino acids located in the functional domain. The BoD27 protein localized in chloroplast under the laser scanning confocal microscope. Knockout and knockdown of the BoD27 gene both led to SLs content decrease and promoted the outgrowth of axillary buds. BoMYC2 was identified as an upstream inhibitory factor of BoD27 gene via Y1H and DLR assays.Overexpression of BoMYC2 promoted the numbers of branches by inhibiting Sls synthesis. This study revealed a novel regulatory cascade comprising BoD27 and its upstream inhibitor BoMYC2 that regulates branching in ornamental kale.

Soil extracellular enzyme activity reflects microbial resource acquisition and metabolic efficiency. However, applying enzyme stoichiometry to explore microbial metabolic limitations and carbon use efficiency (CUE) in rhizosphere and bulk soils under saline conditions remains limited. In this study, rhizosphere and bulk soils of Tamarix austromongolica were sampled along a salinity gradient in the Yellow River Delta to assess microbial metabolic limitation and CUE. Results showed that increasing salinity intensified microbial metabolic limitations and markedly reduced CUE, identifying salinity as the dominant factor constraining microbial efficiency. Rhizosphere soils consistently exhibited phosphorus limitation, whereas bulk soils shifted from balanced N-P limitation to pronounced N limitation with increasing salinity. Despite stronger microbial C limitation, CUE remained significantly higher in the rhizosphere than in the bulk soils, suggesting that continuous carbon inputs and enhanced enzyme activity partially mitigated salinity-induced stress. These findings highlight the complex interplay between salinity stress and rhizosphere effects in regulating microbial nutrient acquisition and carbon metabolism. Overall, this study demonstrates the utility of enzyme stoichiometry for evaluating microbial functional adaptation in saline habitats and provides insights that may contribute to the theoretical basis for vegetation restoration in saline-alkali ecosystems.