A field study was conducted to understand the physiological responses, yield and grain quality of an old (HUW234) and a modern (HD3118) wheat cultivar exposed to elevated ozone (O₃). The cultivars were grown under ambient O₃ (NF) and ambient +20 ppb O₃ (NF+) conditions using open-top chambers (OTCs). The comparative study of an old and a modern cultivar showed variable physiological responses under elevated O₃ exposure. Elevated O₃ in old cultivar caused high reductions in Rubisco activity (Vcₘₐₓ) and electron transport rate (J) compared to modern cultivar with simultaneous reductions in the rate of photosynthesis and chlorophyll fluorescence. In modern cultivar, high stomatal density and conductance caused higher O₃ uptake thereby triggering more damage to the adjacent stomatal cells and photosynthetic pigments coupled with reductions in photosynthetic rate and photosynthetic nitrogen use efficiency (PNUE). Modern cultivar also showed relatively high reduction in grain yield compared to old one under NF + treatment. Furthermore, grain quality traits (such as starch, protein and amino acids) of modern cultivar were better than old cultivar under ambient O₃, but showed more deterioration under NF + treatment. Results thus indicated that modern cultivar is relatively more susceptible to O₃ and showed more negative impacts on plant performance, yield and quality of grains compared to old cultivar.

Sea level rise induced-salinization is lowering coastal soils productivity. In order to assess the effects that increased salinity may provoke in terrestrial plants, using as model species: Trifolium pratense, Lolium perenne, Festuca arundinacea and Vicia sativa, two specific objectives were targeted: i) to determine the sensitivity of the selected plant species to increased salinity (induced by seawater-SW or by NaCl, proposed as a surrogate of SW) and, ii) to assess the influence of salinization in total biomass under different agricultural practices (mono- or polycultures).The four plant species exhibited a higher sensitivity to NaCl than to SW. Festuca arundinacea was the most tolerant species to NaCl (EC₅₀,ₛₑₑd gₑᵣₘᵢₙₐₜᵢₒₙ and EC₅₀,gᵣₒwₜₕ of 18.6 and 10.5 mScm⁻¹, respectively). The other three species presented effective conductivities in the same order of magnitude and, in general, with 95% confidence limits overlapping. Soil moistened with SW caused no significant adverse effects on seed germination and growth of L. perenne. Similar to NaCl, the other three species, in general, presented a similar sensitivity to SW exposure with EC₅₀,ₛₑₑd gₑᵣₘᵢₙₐₜᵢₒₙ and EC₅₀,gᵣₒwₜₕ within the same order of magnitude and with confidence limits overlapping.The agricultural practice (mono-vs polyculture) showed some influence on the biomass of each plant species. When considering total productivity, for aerial and root biomass, it was higher in control comparatively to salinization conditions. Under salinization stress, the practice of polyculture was associated with a higher aerial and root total biomass than monocultures (for instance with combinations with T. pratense and F. arundinacea).Results suggest that the effects of salinity stress on total productivity may be minimized under agricultural practices of polyculture. Thus, this type of cultures should be encouraged in low-lying coastal ecosystems that are predicted to suffer from salinization caused by seawater intrusions.

The application of surfactants is an effective way to inhibit the migration of organic contaminants (OCs) from soil to plants, and thus would be a great candidate method for producing safe agricultural products in organic-contaminated farmland. In this study, it was found that cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTMAB) reduced the OCs in cabbage by 22.0–64.1%, and those in lettuce by 18.8–36.5%. We developed a mathematical model to predict the accumulation of OCs in plants in the presence of surfactants. The successive partitioning of OCs among three phases, namely, soil, soil water and plant roots, was considered. The equilibrium of OC between the soil and soil water was scaled using the sorption coefficient of OCs on soils normalized by the soil organic carbon (Kₒc) and carbon-normalized OCs sorption coefficient with the sorbed surfactants (Kₛₛ). To precisely calculate the Kₒc and Kₛₛ, the bioavailable and bound OCs were measured using a sequential extraction method. Linear positive correlations between the logarithm of Kₒc (or Kₛₛ) and the logarithm of the octanol-water partition coefficient (log Kₒw) of OCs were established for laterite soils, paddy soils and black soils. In the presence of CTMAB, the equilibrium of OCs between the soil water and plant roots was scaled using the carbon-normalized OC sorption coefficient with the sorbed surfactants (Kₛf), whose logarithmic value was linearly correlated with the log Kₒw of the OCs. A three-phase-successive partition-limited model was developed based on these relationships, demonstrating an average prediction accuracy of 76.6 ± 36.8%. Our results indicated that the decrease in bioavailable OCs in soils and the increase in sorption of OCs on roots should be taken into consideration when predicting plant uptake. This research provides a validated mathematical model for predicting the concentration of OCs in plants in the presence of surfactants.

Zearalenone (ZEA), an estrogen-like mycotoxin, is commonly detected in animal feeds including improperly stored grains. It has been well demonstrated that ovarian granulosa cells (GCs) perform vital roles during follicular development, however, the competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) network in GCs after ZEA exposure remains to be well described. Here, for the first time, we adopted whole-transcriptome sequence technology to explore the molecular mechanism of ZEA toxicology on porcine GCs. The results provide evidence that the cell cycle of porcine GCs is arrested in the G2/M phase after exposure to ZEA. Furthermore, bioinformation analysis found that cell cycle arrest related genes were perturbed, including CDK1, CCNB1, CDC25A, and CDC25C, which was consistent with the results of RT-qPCR, immunofluorescence, and Western Blotting. Based on the whole-transcriptome sequence data, by constructing ceRNA networks related to cell cycle arrest, we observed that ZEA exposure arrested cell cycle progression at the G2/M phase in porcine GCs, and non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) played an important role in this process via regulating the expressions of cell cycle arrest related genes. Taken together, our data here provides strong data to support that the toxicological mechanism regarding the widely distributed toxicant ZEA acts through ceRNA networks in porcine granulosa cells.

Coral reefs worldwide are degrading at alarming rates due to local and global stressors. There are ongoing needs for bioindicator systems that can be used to assess reef health status, the potential for recovery following destructive events such as tropical storms, and for the success of coral transplants. Benthic foraminiferal shells are ubiquitous components of carbonate sediment in reef environments that can be sampled at minimal cost and environmental impact. Here we review the development and application of the FoRAM Index (FI), which provides a bioindicator metric for water quality that supports reef accretion. We outline the strengths and limitations of the FI, and propose how it can be applied more effectively across different geographical regions.

Acid rain is a serious threat to terrestrial ecosystems. To provide more accurate early warning information for acid rain prevention, urban planning, and travel planning, a novel air pollutant prediction model was proposed in this paper to predict NO₂ and SO₂. First, the data were decomposed into several sub-sequences by a complete ensemble empirical mode decomposition with adaptive noise. Second, the subsequences are reconstructed by variational mode decomposition and sample entropy. Then, the new subsequences are predicted by the extreme learning machine combined with the whale optimization algorithm. The empirical analysis was carried out through 8 data sets. According to the experimental results, three main conclusions can be drawn. First, the proposed model in this paper has excellent prediction performance and robustness. In all the comparison experiments, the R² and RMSE of the proposed model are the best among all the models. Second, data preprocessing is very necessary. After adding the decomposition algorithm, the average improvement levels of R² and RMSE were 897.57% and 50.78%, respectively. Third, the re-decomposition of IMF1 is an effective method to improve prediction accuracy. After the re-decomposition of IMF1, R² can be improved by 13.64% on average on the original basis, and RMSE can be reduced by 31.99% on average. The results of this study can provide a valuable reference for the research of air pollutant prediction. In future work, the application of the proposed model in other air pollutants or other regions can be explored.

Information on the occurrence and trophodynamics of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) in the Antarctic region is limited. We investigated the occurrence of PFASs in an ecosystem in the Fildes Peninsula at King George Island and Ardley Island, Antarctica. The profiles, spatial distribution, and trophic transfer behavior of PFASs were further studied. ∑PFASs ranged from 0.50 ± 38.0 ng/g dw (dry weight) in algae to 4.97 ± 1.17 ng/g dw in Neogastropoda (Ngas), which was lower than those in the low- and mid-latitude regions and even Arctic regions. Perfluorobutyric acid (PFBA) was predominant with detection frequencies above 50% in all types of samples, and the relative contribution of PFBA ranged from 22% to 57% in the biota samples. The biomagnification factors of PFBA, perfluoroheptanoate (PFHpA), perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHxS), and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) between Archaeogastropoda (Agas) and Ngas were 0.67 ± 0.54, 0.77 ± 0.38, 1.04 ± 1.56, 3.30 ± 4.07, and 1.61 ± 0.89, respectively. The trophic magnification factors of PFHxS and PFOS were 2.09 and 2.92, respectively, which indicated that they could be biomagnified through the food chain. Considering the increasing production and uncertain toxicological risks of emerging PFASs and the sensitive ecosystems in Antarctic regions, more attention should be paid, especially for the short-chain ones in the Antarctic region.

Toluene is a highly volatile organic solvent present in gasoline. Exposure mainly occurs by absorption via the pulmonary tract and easily reaches the central nervous system, which causes toxic effects. Toluene toxicity has been described but not well established. The present work aimed to evaluate the effects of airborne exposure to toluene, the in vivo model Caenorhabditis elegans was assessed to determine whether nematode could be used to evaluate the effects of exposure to toluene and the possible mechanisms of toxicity of the solvent. Worms at the first or fourth larval stages were exposed to toluene for 48 or 24 h, respectively, in a laboratory-developed vapor chamber at concentrations of 450, 850, 1250 and 1800 ppm. We observed increases in worm mortality and significant developmental delays that occurred in a concentration-dependent manner. An increased incidence of apoptotic events in treated germline cells was shown, which was consistent with observed reductions in reproductive capacity. In addition, toluene promoted significant behavioural changes affecting swimming movements and radial locomotion, which were associated with changes in the fluorescence intensity and morphology of GABAergic and cholinergic neurons. We conclude that toluene exposure was toxic to C. elegans, with effects produced by the induction of apoptosis and neuronal damage.