Search Results (7)

Root-knot nematodes (RKNs; Meloidogyne incognita) pose a significant threat to tomato crops, necessitating sustainable control methods. This study investigated the inoculation efficacy of co-cultured Burkholderia vietnamiensis B418 and Trichoderma harzianum T11W compared with single-strain treatments for RKNs suppression and their influence on the structure and function of the rhizosphere microbiome. Co-inoculation with B418 + T11W achieved a 71.42% reduction in the disease index, significantly outperforming single inoculations of B418 (54.46%) and T11W (58.93%). Co-inoculation also increased plant height by 38.51% and fresh weight by 76.02% compared to the RKNs infested plants control, promoting robust tomato growth. Metagenomic analysis reveals that co-inoculation enhanced bacterial diversity, with 378 unique bacterial species and a high Shannon index, while fungal diversity decreased with Trichoderma dominance (83.31% abundance). Actinomycetota (46.42%) and Ascomycota (97.92%) were enriched in the co-inoculated rhizosphere, showing negative correlations with RKNs severity. Functional analysis indicates enriched metabolic pathways, including streptomycin and unsaturated fatty acid biosynthesis, enhancing microbial antagonism. Single inoculations altered pathways like steroid degradation (B418) and terpenoid biosynthesis (T11W), but co-inoculation uniquely optimized the rhizosphere microenvironment. These findings highlight co-inoculation with B418 + T11W effectively suppressing RKNs and fostering plant health by reshaping microbial communities and functions, offering a promising approach for sustainable agriculture. Full article

Salt stress poses a major threat to plant growth, and breeding for salt-tolerant varieties is not always successful to ameliorate this threat. In the present experiment, the effect of T. asperellum 22043 inoculation on the growth of salt-stressed tomatoes and the mechanisms by which it improves salt tolerance were investigated. It was observed that tomato plants treated with T. asperellum 22043 spore suspension under salt tress (50 and 100 mM NaCl) consistently exhibited higher seeds germination, seedling survival rate, plant height, and chlorophyll content, but lower malondialdehyde and proline contents than the plants treated without the Trichoderma. T. asperellum 22043 effectively improved the stress resistance of tomato through regulating the transcriptional levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging enzyme gene expression to modulate the activity of ROS scavenging enzymes and the expression of the genes related to transporter and aquaporin to maintain the balance of cell Na⁺. In conclusion, T. asperellum 22043 can enhance tomato seedlings’ salt tolerance by activating the antioxidant system and regulating the expression of stress-resistant genes. Full article

This study aimed to investigate the efficiency of the secondary metabolites (SMs) produced by a co-culture of Trichoderma harzianum TW21990 and Burkholderia vietnamiensis B418 in the control of Colletotrichum siamense CM9. A fermentation filtrate of B418 + TW21990 co-culture (BT21) produced a notable increase in the inhibition rate of CM9 compared to those of TW21990 and B418 monocultures, which reached 91.40% and 80.46% on PDA plates and strawberry leaves, respectively. The BT21 fermentation broth exhibited high control efficiency on strawberry root rot of 68.95% in a pot experiment, which was higher than that in the monocultures and fluazinam treatment. In addition, BT21 treatment promoted strawberry root development, improved antioxidative enzyme activities in the leaves and roots, and enhanced the total chlorophyll content of the strawberry leaves. UHPLC-MS/MS analysis of fermentation filtrates was performed to elucidate SM variations, revealing 478 and 795 metabolites in BT21 co-culture in positive and negative ion modes, respectively. The metabolomic profiles suggested abundant SMs with antagonistic capabilities and growth-promoting effects: 3-(propan-2-yl)-octahydropyrrolo [1,2-a]pyrazine-1,4-dione (cyclo(L-Pro-L-Val)), 3-[(4-hydroxyphenyl)methyl]-octahydropyrrolo[1,2-a]pyrazine-1,4-dione (cyclo(L-Pro-L-Tyr)), 3-indoleacetic acid (IAA), 2-hydroxycinnamic acid, 4-aminobutyric acid (GABA), bafilomycin B1, and DL-indole-3-lactic acid (ILA) were significantly enhanced in the co-culture. Overall, this study demonstrates that a co-culture strategy is efficient for inducing bioactive SMs in T. harzianum and B. vietnamiensis, which could be exploited as a novel approach for developing biocontrol consortia. Full article

Lead-based halide perovskite semiconductors have demonstrated considerable potential in optoelectronic applications. However, the lack of high-quality crystals suitable for research has led to rare reports on CsPbF₃ single crystals. Good quality CsPbF₃ single crystals were successfully grown using the Bridgman method. The structure, luminescence, and electrical properties of crystals were investigated. At room temperature, the crystal structure was determined to be cubic perovskite, with a calculated bandgap of 3.68 eV. The measured emission spectrum showed one broad emission peak at approximately 400 nm. Three decay time constants were obtained from a sum of exponential functions fit to the fluorescence decay curve: 0.4 ns, 2.4 ns, and 15.0 ns for fast, middle, and slow decay times, respectively. The decay times excited by pulsed X-ray were measured to be 2.2 ns and 10.2 ns, indicating that CsPbF₃ is an ultrafast scintillator. Furthermore, the electrical properties demonstrated that CsPbF₃ exhibits high ion mobility, which is approximately 20 times that of electron mobility. Full article

Maneuvering target imaging based on inverse synthetic aperture radar (ISAR) imaging has recently drawn significant attention. Among the many autofocusing technologies which are crucial in ISAR imaging, minimum-entropy-based autofocusing (MEA) is highly robust. However, traditional MEA is not suitable for terahertz (THz) ISAR imaging. For one thing, the iterative process in traditional MEA is too complicated to be utilized for THz-ISAR imaging with tremendous data. For another, THz wavelengths are very short and extremely sensitive to phase errors, so the compensation accuracy of the traditional MEA method can hardly meet the requirements of THz radar high-resolution imaging. Therefore, in this paper, the MEA algorithm based on the damped Newton method is proposed, which improves computational efficiency by approximating the first- and second-order partial derivatives of the image entropy function with respect to the phase errors, as well as by the fast Fourier transform (FFT). The search step size factor is introduced to ensure that the algorithm can converge along the declination direction of the entropy function and obtain the globally optimal ISAR image. The experimental results validated the efficiency of the proposed algorithm, which is promising in THz-ISAR imaging of maneuvering targets. Full article

Soil nitrification (microbial oxidation of ammonium to nitrate) can lead to nitrogen leaching and environmental pollution. A number of plant species are able to suppress soil nitrifiers by exuding inhibitors from roots, a process called biological nitrification inhibition (BNI). However, the BNI activity of perennial grasses in the nutrient-poor soils of Australia and the effects of BNI activity on nitrifying microbes in the rhizosphere microbiome have not been well studied. Here we evaluated the BNI capacity of bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon L.), St. Augustinegrass (Stenotaphrum secundatum (Walt.) Kuntze), saltwater couch (Sporobolus virginicus), seashore paspalum (Paspalum vaginatum Swartz.), and kikuyu grass (Pennisetum clandestinum) compared with the known positive control, koronivia grass (Brachiaria humidicola). The microbial communities were analysed by sequencing 16S rRNA genes. St. Augustinegrass and bermudagrass showed high BNI activity, about 80 to 90% of koronivia grass. All the three grasses with stronger BNI capacities suppressed the populations of Nitrospira in the rhizosphere, a bacteria genus with a nitrite-oxidizing function, but not all of the potential ammonia-oxidizing archaea. The rhizosphere of saltwater couch and seashore paspalum exerted a weak recruitment effect on the soil microbiome. Our results demonstrate that BNI activity of perennial grasses played a vital role in modulating nitrification-associated microbial populations. Full article

Mushrooms have been valued as a traditional source of natural bioactive compounds for centuries and have recently been exploited for potential components in the cosmetics industry. Numerous mushrooms and their ingredients have been known to be beneficial to the skin and hair. The representative ingredients are as follows: phenolics, polyphenolics, terpenoids, selenium, polysaccharides, vitamins, and volatile organic compounds. These compounds show excellent antioxidant, anti-aging, anti-wrinkle, skin whitening, and moisturizing effects, which make them ideal candidates for cosmetics products. This review provides some perspectives of mushrooms (and/or extracts) and their ingredients presently used, or patented to be used, in both cosmeceuticals for topical administration and nutricosmetics for oral administration. With the small percentage of mushrooms presently identified and utilized, more mushroom species will be discovered, verified, and cultivated in the future, boosting the development of relevant industry. Combining with progress in genomics, proteomics, metabolomics, and systems pharmacology, mushrooms can find their way into cosmetics with multiple approaches. Full article