Antibiotics Sources, Concentrations, and Risk of Antimicrobial Resistance Selection in the Three Gorges Reservoir Basin, China.

The widespread use of antibiotics in humans and animals raises significant environmental concerns. However, few approaches can simultaneously quantify their transfer from humans and animals and track their fate in soils and rivers. In this study, we developed the MARINA-Antibiotics model (Model to Assess River Inputs of pollutaNts to seAs for Antibiotics) to quantify the sources and concentrations of 30 widely used antibiotics, as well as assess their associated environmental risks, and implemented this model in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area in 2020.

Low ammonium and high nitrate input improves nitrogen use efficiency and growth in sugarcane through coordinated reprogramming of nitrogen and carbon metabolism.

Providing plants with adequate nitrogen (N) through an appropriate ammonium-to-nitrate-ratio (NH/NO-ratio) can enhance nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) and promote growth. However, how different NH/NO-ratios affect N and carbon (C) metabolic processes and growth in sugarcane, a fast-growing high-biomass crop, remain unclear. Here, a hydroponic experiment was conducted using sugarcane variety 'Yunzhe05-51', applying seven NH/NO-ratios under a constant total N supply level of 10 mmol·L.

Harnessing the phyllosphere microbiota of wild foxtail millet for designing beneficial cross-kingdom synthetic communities.

Understanding the interplay between mechanisms in plant microbiome assembly and functioning of wild ancestors has led to the proposal of a novel strategy to enhance resilience to the (a)biotic stresses of domesticated crops. The challenge is determining how to harness the diverse microbiota of wild crop ancestors in their natural habitats in order to design effective synthetic microbial communities (SynComs) that reconstitute specific microbiome-associated plant phenotypes. In this study, we profiled the phyllosphere microbiota of wild green foxtail collected from seven geographically diverse natural ecosystems and showed that variations in soil parameters and climatic conditions as well as plant genetic distance significantly correlated with bacterial and fungal community compositions.

Steering plant-soil feedback for sustainable agriculture.

The challenge of producing food at low monetary cost comes with high environmental impacts as yield maximization by excessive fertilization and chemical pest control drive farmers away from using the natural multifunctional potential of soils. We show how the ecological concept of plant-soil feedback can be used to restore the capacity of agricultural soils to provide nutrients, suppress pathogens, and enhance crop resilience sustainably. We review how recent advances in molecular and multiomic methods, soil management, and crop diversification reduce negative and promote positive plant-soil feedback, emphasizing the need for rhizosphere microbiome engineering and soil restoration strategies.

Time-series metatranscriptomics reveals differential salinity effects on the methanogenic food web in paddy soil.

Saltwater intrusion and sea level rise (SWISLR) threaten coastal agroecosystems, yet their impact on the methanogenic food web in rice paddies remains virtually unknown. Using "double-RNA" metatranscriptomics (rRNA, mRNA), we investigated salinity effects on the methanogenic community in straw-amended slurries following different preincubation periods. Our results demonstrate that salt stress significantly inhibits methane (CH) production, with the degree of inhibition varying by the community's successional stage.

Policy-driven improvements in cultivated land productivity: Changed determinants in Huang-Huai-Hai Plain, China.

Sustainably improving cultivated land productivity (CLP) contributes to food security and environmental sustainability. Over the past 30 years, a portfolio of national cultivated land improvement programs (NCLIP) has been implemented in China's important agricultural production area, the Huang-Huai-Hai Plain, to increase cultivated land productivity. Quantifying the contributions of NCLIPs and the changed determinants of productivity improvement is crucial for informing effective agroecosystem management practices to promote sustainable agriculture.

Optimising Peanut Growth: Exogenous Calcium Enhances Photosynthesis in Phosphorus-Limited Environments.

The study aimed to enhance peanut growth in phosphorus (P)-limited environments through exogenous calcium (Ca), exploring underlying mechanisms. Foliar application of calcium ions (Ca) and calmodulin (CaM) inhibitor (trifluoperazine, TFP) effects were investigated under P deficiency in a climate chamber. Parameters assessed included growth, biomass, nutrient accumulation, leaf expansion, carbohydrate metabolism, chlorophyll concentration, gas exchange, photosynthetic P-use efficiency (PPUE), chlorophyll fluorescence, and P700 redox state.

The agricultural plastic paradox: Feeding more, harming more?

Agricultural plastic film mulch (PFM) covers ca. 50 million hectares of the Earth's surface and has revolutionized agriculture, particularly in arid and semi-arid regions, by improving crop yields, water use efficiency, farmer incomes and feeding an extra 85 million people in China alone. However, concerns are growing about the impact of PFM-derived microplastics (MP) on soil quality, the food chain, and the environment.

Soil organic carbon thresholds control fertilizer effects on carbon accrual in croplands worldwide.

Initiatives to restore soil fertility and mitigate global warming rely on rebuilding soil organic carbon (SOC). Nitrogen (N) fertilization is crucial for crop yields but affects SOC unpredictably due to varying responses of particulate organic carbon (POC) and mineral-associated organic carbon (MAOC) pools to initial SOC levels. To clarify these effects, here, by combining a global meta-analysis with continental-scale field experiments, we determine that an initial SOC threshold of 15 g C kg controls the effect of N fertilization on POC and MAOC.

Enhancing Phosphorus Efficiency in Calcareous Soils: Role of Polyphosphate Properties in Nutrient Solubility, Maize Nutrient Uptake, and Growth.

Polyphosphate, which can improve crop yield and phosphorus use efficiency in calcareous soils, has gained increasing global attention. However, the effects of polyphosphate properties (pH and polymerization degree) on agronomic effects are still unclear. In this study, the nutrient solubility, nutrient release, nutrient uptake, and maize growth in calcareous soil of alkaline diammonium phosphate (DAP), acidic ammonium polyphosphate (APP) with a polymerization degree of 1.

Changing patterns of global nitrogen deposition driven by socio-economic development.

Advances in manufacturing and trade have reshaped global nitrogen deposition patterns, yet their dynamics and drivers remain unclear. Here, we compile a comprehensive global nitrogen deposition database spanning 1977-2021, aggregating 52,671 site-years of data from observation networks and published articles. This database show that global nitrogen deposition to land is 92.

Optimized agricultural management reduces global cropland nitrogen losses to air and water.

Nitrogen (N) losses from croplands substantially contribute to global N pollution. Assessing the reduction in N losses through improved N management practices is complex due to varying site conditions, such as land use, climate, soil properties and local farming methods. In this Article, we conducted a meta-analysis to evaluate the effects of improved practices on N loss reduction, analysing data from 1,065 studies with 6,753 pairs of observations comparing standard and optimized practices.

ZmCCD8 regulates sugar and amino acid accumulation in maize kernels via strigolactone signalling.

How carbon (sucrose) and nitrogen (amino acid) accumulation is coordinatively controlled in cereal grains remains largely enigmatic. We found that overexpression of the strigolactone (SL) biosynthesis gene CAROTENOID CLEAVAGE DIOXYGENASE 8 (CCD8) resulted in greater ear diameter and enhanced sucrose and amino acid accumulation in maize kernels. Loss of ZmCCD8 function reduced kernel growth with lower sugar and amino acid concentrations.

Patterns and drivers of carbon stock change in ecological restoration regions: A case study of upper Yangtze River Basin, China.

Balancing ecology and human development has been a long and wide concern. The upper Yangtze River Basin (UYRB) of China has implemented large important ecological restoration projects since the last century. These restoration practices have changed land use patterns within the UYRB, consequently impacting the local carbon cycle.

Trapped Urban Phosphorus: An Overlooked and Inaccessible Stock in the Anthropogenic Phosphorus Cycle.

Urban landscapes are high phosphorus (P) consumption areas and consequently generate substantial P-containing urban solid waste (domestic kitchen wastes, animal bones, and municipal sludge), due to large population. However, urbanization can also trap P through cultivated land loss and urban solid waste disposal. Trapped urban P is an overlooked and inaccessible P stock.

Insights in to iron-based nanoparticles (hematite and magnetite) improving the maize growth (Zea mays L.) and iron nutrition with low environmental impacts.

The possible potential application of Fe-NPs on Fe nutrition, heavy metals uptake and soil microbial community needs to be investigated. In the current research, a pot experiment was used to examine the implications of Fe-NPs (α-FeO and FeO) on maize growth, Fe uptake and transportation, soil microbial community, and environmental risk. FeO, α-FeO, FeSO at a rate of 800 mg Fe kg were applied in soils with four replications under a completely randomized design for a period of 60 days.

A global assessment of glyphosate and AMPA inputs into rivers: Over half of the pollutants are from corn and soybean production.

Glyphosate is widely used in agriculture for weed control; however, it may pollute water systems with its by-product, aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA). Therefore, a better understanding of the flows of glyphosate and AMPA from soils into rivers is required. We developed the spatially explicit MARINA-Pesticides model to estimate the annual inputs of glyphosate and AMPA into rivers, considering 10 crops in 10,226 sub-basins globally for 2020.

Green production of apples delivers environmental and economic benefits in China.

Sustainable alternative farming systems are gaining popularity worldwide because of the negative effects of conventional agriculture on global climate change and the environmental degradation caused by intensive use of synthetic inputs. The green farming system in China is an integrated production strategy that focuses on reducing chemical fertilizer use while increasing organic manure inputs. Despite their rapid growth as more sustainable systems over the past decades, green farming systems have not been systematically evaluated to date.

Understanding plant-soil interactions underpins enhanced sustainability of crop production.

The Green Revolution transformed agriculture with high-yielding, stress-resistant varieties. However, the urgent need for more sustainable agricultural development presents new challenges: increasing crop yield, improving nutritional quality, and enhancing resource-use efficiency. Soil plays a vital role in crop-production systems and ecosystem services, providing water, nutrients, and physical anchorage for crop growth.

Belowground cascading biotic interactions trigger crop diversity benefits.

Crop diversification practices offer numerous synergistic benefits. So far, research has traditionally been confined to exploring isolated, unidirectional single-process interactions among plants, soil, and microorganisms. Here, we present a novel and systematic perspective, unveiling the intricate web of plant-soil-microbiome interactions that trigger cascading effects.