Cotton is one of the major cash crops widely planted in over 80 countries mainly for fiber. Cotton fibers, the most important natural material for textile industry, are extremely long, single-celled seed-born trichomes. Research group led by Professor CHEN Xiaoya at the Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences of the Chinese Academy of Sciences isolated a cotton fiber elongation gene, GhHOX3.
Earlier studies from the formal Shanghai Institute of Plant Physiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences suggested that auxin is involved in leaf polarity (Ni et al., 1999, Cell Res. 9:27-35). Following this direction, researchers from JIAO Yuling's group, at the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, together with colleagues from Caltech and ENS-Lyon, showed the existence of a transient low auxin zone in the adaxial side that contributes to adaxial development.
Riparian protection forests provide numerous ecosystem services including natural scenery improvement, pollutant filtration, wildlife habitat. It is vital to screen suitable winter-flood-tolerant woody species for riparian protection forests construction in the TGR WLFZ. Dr. YANG Fan, Prof. WANG Yong and Prof. CHAN Zhulong from Wuhan Botanical Garden of Chinese Academy of Sciences investigated the distribution of woody species in the TGR WLFZ. The results showed that 39 woody species belonging to 37 genera of 24 families distributed in the TGR WLFZ. Most of them existed as annual seedlings, which were unsuitable for riparian protection forests construction.
CHINA is holding back the desert, for now. The Great Green Wall – a massive belt of trees being planted across China's arid north in what might be the largest ecological engineering project on the planet – seems to work, according to a new study. "Vegetation has improved and dust storms have decreased significantly in the Great Green Wall region, compared with other areas," says Minghong Tan of the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resource Research in Beijing. But whether planting trees is a long-term solution remains disputed.
Soil dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and nitrogen (DN) are the most labile C and N fractions in biogeochemical cycling of forest soil. Litter, as the key link of nutrient cycle between soil and flora, is an important factor on the soil DOC and DN dynamics. Prof. ZHANG Yiping and his team of Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden (XTBG) of Chinese Academy of Sciences carried out a one-year in situ field litter decomposition experiment at the northern-most edge of Asian tropical rainforest in Xishuangbanna, SW China. Their aim was to clarify the dynamics and main factors affecting soil dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and nitrogen (DN) during litter degradation and decomposition in field settings in tropical rainforest.
In addition to chemical synthesis and enzymatic catalysis, Glucosylglycerol can be produced as a protective osmolyte in salt-stressed bacteria. However, low efficiency and high cost makes the scalable production difficult. QIBEBT researchers have reported an efficient glucosylglycerol production and secretion by genetically modified and encapsulated Synechocystis cells grown in a semi-continuous manner.
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