Unexploited Areas Research Articles

Insights on Evaluating Commercially Important Macroinvertebrate Species in Danjugan Island Marine Reserve, Philippines

The commercial importance of benthic macroinvertebrates like echinoderms and molluscs has led to the overexploitation of wild stocks in many areas around the Philippines. Despite their ecological and economic importance, studies on the status of wild populations of commercial macroinvertebrates in unexploited habitats such as marine protected areas (MPAs) are very scarce. The diversity and abundance of commercially valuable echinoderms and molluscs in the seagrass and reefs of Danjugan Island Marine Reserve were assessed. Shallow areas (1-3 m depth) around the island were surveyed both during the day and after dusk using belt transects. A total of 226 individuals belonging to 21 different taxa were recorded during the surveys, of which 71% were molluscs and 29% were echinoderms. In the seagrass habitat, Cypraeidae, Toxopneustidae, and Conidae were the dominant families, while molluscs from the Cardiidae family comprised more than half of the total assemblage in the reef flat. The most diverse commercial macroinvertebrate group was Holothuriidae with five different species. The densities of the families were higher during dusk than during the day in both habitats, except for Cardiidae in the seagrass. The highest values of species richness and H´ index were observed during dusk surveys in the reef habitat (H´= 1.57), while the lowest was observed in seagrass areas during morning surveys (H´= 1.37). This is the first study that assessed commercially valuable macroinvertebrates during day and night in two connected habitats within a protected area. The differences in diversity and abundance in each habitat depending on the time of day highlight the importance of considering these factors when evaluating macroinvertebrate populations in unexploited areas.

Emerging epidermal electrodes towards digital health and on-skin digitalization

Epidermal electrodes can be directly attached to the human skin for high-fidelity electrophysiological monitoring owing to their preponderance in thinness, lightweight, conformability, biocompatibility, self-adhesiveness, mechanical flexibility, gas-permeability, etc . These devices have attracted immense attention due to their emerging applications in personalized health care, human/brain-machine interfaces, and soft robotics. This Perspective focuses on the most recent significant progress in this area, especially materials, properties, and applications. Challenges and prospects are summarized to underscore the unexploited areas and future directions toward digital health and on-skin digitalization.

Driving Factors Influencing Soil Microbial Community Succession of Coal Mining Subsidence Areas during Natural Recovery in Inner Mongolia Grasslands.

Soil microorganisms significantly influence the energy flow and material cycle of soil ecosystems, making them highly susceptible to environmental changes, such as those induced by mining activities. Studying the succession of soil microbial communities after mining subsidence is crucial for comprehending the significance of soil microbes in the natural recovery process following subsidence. Therefore, the soil properties, vegetation communities, and soil microbial communities of the subsidence area, as well as unexploited areas, were analyzed during the natural restoration process (1, 2, 5, 10, and 15 years). The results demonstrate that mining subsidence has a significant impact on the aboveground vegetation community, soil properties, and microbiological community. Following an extended period of natural recovery, a new stable state has emerged, which differs from that observed in non-subsidence areas. The total nitrogen, nitrate nitrogen, and ammonium nitrogen amounts may be key factors driving the natural recovery of bacterial communities, and total potassium and available potassium may be key factors driving the natural recovery of fungal communities. The natural recovery mechanism of soil microorganisms was analyzed along with the changes related to vegetation and soil physicochemical properties. The mechanism was explained from three perspectives, namely, plant-led, soil-led, and soil-microbial-led, which could provide a theoretical basis for the natural restoration of grassland ecosystems and provide guidance for the treatment of coal mining subsidence areas.

What is needed to implement a sustainable expansion of the Antarctic krill fishery in the Southern Ocean?

Policy differences amongst CCAMLR Members are increasingly affecting decision-making with regards to management of Southern Ocean fisheries. Major differences reflect differing interpretations of the Convention’s primary objective: the conservation of marine living resources, where conservation includes rational use. The best available science historically informed decisions, but policy objectives are increasingly coming to the fore. Resolving how scientific evidence is used in decision-making is essential, given this has consequences for all management topics. In the southwest Atlantic, scientific evidence and how it is used is central to the controlled development of the Antarctic krill fishery. Much work has already been undertaken to allow catches to increase, but more is needed, including ensuring that, as yet untested, management procedures work as intended. Precautionary development should therefore now focus upon ensuring ecosystem resilience is not compromised. Generally, the area managed by CCAMLR experiences relatively light human pressures, yet with newly proposed krill catch limits, this is set to change. Before catches increase, appropriate ecosystem monitoring is needed, and spatial management tools agreed to ensure that biodiversity is adequately maintained, especially given regional climate change. Without such constraints, the krill fishery should not expand. An integrated programme could help CCAMLR adapt. In implementing this, CCAMLR should focus upon areas where economic interests are most intense, that is, over shelf areas and areas of elevated bathymetry. Large-scale remote areas with little economic interest should be set aside as closed areas, until such future time that CCAMLR has agreed appropriate ecological impact assessments and monitoring for these largely unexploited areas.

Backtracking search optimization algorithm with dual scatter search strategy for automated test case generation

It is a challenge to design an effective algorithm utilizing problem features in automated test case generation for path coverage (ATCG-PC). A feature of ATCG-PC “similar paths are usually executed by similar test cases” was touched by a few scholars and can be further exploited to design more effective algorithms. Inspired by this feature, this paper proposes a two-stage local search strategy, denoted dual scatter search (DS) strategy, which concatenates two improved scatter search strategies with different search behaviors. The first stage aims to fully exploit the discovered test cases to search for desired test cases, and the latter stage aims to mine the unexploited areas of the first stage via using less computational overhead. Then, a backtracking search optimization algorithm with dual scatter search strategy (BSA-DS) is proposed, which incorporates DS strategy into the backtracking search optimization algorithm (BSA) with strong exploration capability. BSA is first introduced into the field of ATCG-PC. The performance of BSA-DS and some state-of-the-art algorithms is tested on twelve popular benchmark programs. Experimental studies demonstrate that BSA-DS achieves the highest path coverage with the fewest test cases and running time on at least eight out of the twelve programs.

Electric Vehicle Public Charging Infrastructure Planning Using Real-World Charging Data

The current increase of electric vehicles in Germany requires an adequately developed charging infrastructure. Large numbers of public and semi-public charging stations are necessary to ensure sufficient coverage. To make the installation worthwhile for the mostly private operators as well as public ones, a sufficient utilization is decisive. An essential factor for the degree of utilization is the placement of a charging station. Therefore, the initial site selection plays a critical role in the planning process. This paper proposes a charging station placement procedure based on real-world data on charging station utilization and places of common interest. In the first step, we correlate utilization rates of existing charging infrastructure with places of common interest such as restaurants, shops, bars and sports facilities. This allows us to estimate the untapped potential of unexploited areas across Germany in a second step. In the last step, we employ the resulting geographical extrapolation to derive two optimized expansion strategies based on the attractiveness of locations for electric vehicle charging.

Status of Napoleon wrasse in Laamu Atoll, Maldives, after three decades of protection

The Napoleon or humphead wrasse Cheilinus undulatus is a large, globally threatened coral reef fish. In recognition of suspected declines and considering its ecotourism importance, the Maldives was the first country to ban its export in 1995. The present study, a quarter-century after the ban, documents the species around Laamu Atoll, southern Maldives, using dive guides and researchers to conduct surveys during commercial dive tourism trips. Data were collected on abundance, body size, and potential spawning sites in 4 habitat types: channels (reef passes to open ocean), inner reefs (reef slopes inside the atoll), outer reefs (reef slopes outside the atoll), and faros (isolated submerged reefs inside the atoll). Abundance was recorded in number of fish per hectare, and fish length was classified as <100 cm, ≥100 cm, or unknown size. Possible spawning aggregation sites were identified based on multiple occasions of temporarily increased fish density associated with large male presence. Mean densities ranged from 6.02 fish ha-1 in channels, 2.65 and 2.29 fish ha-1 in outer and inner reefs, respectively, and 0.73 fish ha-1 in faros. These densities are consistent with those found in unexploited areas in similar habitats elsewhere and indicate successful protection of the species on Laamu Atoll. The data highlight the significance of reef channel habitat for this species as important megafauna and the need for management to conserve both species and channel habitats. The value of non-specialist observers for conducting labour-intensive surveys on large, wide-ranging species is demonstrated.

CONTROLLED METHOD OF DETERMINE GOLD MINERALIZATION POTENTIALS IN AN UNEXPLOITED AREA; A CASE STUDY OF ITAGUNMODI AND OSU, SOUTHWESTERN, NIGERIA

The research was conducted to open up further unexploited areas for gold mineral exploitation in part of Ilesha schist belt using geological and geophysical approach. Itagunmodi was used as a control in order to determine the mineralization potentials of Osu as a case study. Both towns lie within Ilesha schist Belt, Southwestern Nigeria. The residual magnetic anomaly map of the study area revealed magnetic low in the two towns indicating the presence of geological structure serving as a conduit for mineralizing fluid. Airborne radiometry interpretation showed that both Itagunmodi and Osu are affected by hydrothermal alteration which is an indication of gold mineralization. Overall interpretation of aeromagnetic and airborne radiometry datasets show that hydrothermal alteration generally is associated with fault and shear zones in the study area. The isolated altered zones were subjected to further investigation by using six samples of stream sediment collected along Imo (Itagunmodi) and Olomumu (Osu) stream channels for the grain size and geochemical analyses. The results from the grain size analysis revealed that sediments in both areas are fine to medium grained, poorly sorted, fine to moderately fine skewed, which implied fluvial depositional settings, and revealed that the occurrences of gold mineralization in both areas are of secondary deposits (alluvial). The concentration of identified trace elements as related to their threshold values revealed similar contents of low to high concentrations in both areas. The results of the analyses observed in Itagunmodi are similar to that of Osu, which implies that Osu is also mineralized will gold deposit.

Digitization in Human Resource - Literature Review and Future Research Agenda

Purpose: The aim of this paper is to present a study of available literature on the digitization of HR, the current scenarios, limitations and to provide a path for future research for this field of study. Design/Methodology/Approach: Research papers were collected on Digitization of HR from various journals available at different online databases. Papers were classified in different categories and tabulated under various classes. A total of 50 research paper sources were studied and assessed in terms of nature of research, level of analysis and application. Findings: As organizations continue to search for ways to be more responsive, flexible, strategic and efficient, HR managers are being forced to explore more innovative methods of performing their HR activities to support these strategic initiatives. An architectural framework can be used to understand and map the underlying structure of virtual HR. Research Limitations/Implications: The findings of this paper can be generalized only to the specific population of online databases selected for this research for a given period of time and not for the entire universe of the digitization literature. There may be various unexploited areas for future research in terms of different variables.

Isolation and Characterization of Potential Antibiotic-Producing Actinomycetes from Water and Soil Sediments of Different Regions of Nepal.

Introduction The actinomycetes are diversely distributed microorganisms in nature. The geographical diversity of Nepal is suitable for adaptation of various species of actinomycetes. The distribution of the actinomycetes is dependent upon the altitude and nature of the soil and water. Methods A total of 22 water and soil samples were collected from different regions of Nepal and were processed. Different isolates were characterized by observing colony characteristics and microscopic characteristics. Screening of the antimicrobial property was based upon perpendicular line streaking and submerged-state fermentation for antibiotic production. Results From the identification tool used, 12 were found to be Micromonospora, 9 were Nocardia, and 7 were Streptomyces. Out of total samples, 8 isolates of actinomycetes were tested effective against the tested bacteria by primary screening using the well diffusion method. Among the primarily screened, all isolates were subjected to submerged-state fermentation methods to produce crude extracts and 4 were found to be effective against the tested bacterial group. The actinomycetes identified from a water source showed better antimicrobial property towards the tested bacteria than the soil sample. Most isolates were found to be Micromonospora followed by Nocardia and Streptomyces with higher antimicrobial activities. Conclusion The water source and soil sediments of Nepal provide suitable environments for actinomycetes towards obtaining a novel antimicrobial agent. The study of actinomycetes from various unexploited areas of Nepal is necessary. Thus, exploitation of various regions of Nepal for the discovery of an effective antimicrobial agent is helpful in providing a solution to the cost-effective therapy and action against antibiotic resistance.

A trait‐based approach predicting community assembly and dominance of microbial invasive species

Understanding the mechanisms underlying community assembly helps to define success and susceptibility to biological invasions. Here, we explored phytoplankton community assembly following niche and neutral paradigms and using a trait‐based approach. Under the hypothesis that the morphology‐based functional groups (MBFG) clusters species with similar niche, we analysed how trait‐related differences in fitness influence dominance of an invasive species. This was based on literature review, field data and model simulations. We predict that invading species can be dominant if: 1) do not belong to the local MBFG but use unexploited areas of the niche, or 2) belong to the resident MBFG but exhibit a higher fitness due to a particular combination of traits. The invasive dinoflagellate Ceratium furcoides was used as the model species to evaluate these hypotheses, its morphological (e.g. volume) and physiological (e.g. growth rates) traits were compared with species from the same (V: photosynthetic flagellates) and different (VII: colonial cyanobacteria) MBFG. Fitness was estimated using models parametrized with MBFG rates (R*, ability to draw down phosphate) under different environmental conditions (i.e. flushing). Results contributed to support both hypotheses. First, the alternation of C. furcoides and cyanobacteria dominance was explained by the use of different niches. Secondly, species from MBFG V were dominant under similar environments. Within this group V C. furcoides showed higher fitness under low flushing and high predation, advantage provided by a distinctive combination of traits. The application of trait‐based approaches to represent the niche and estimate fitness along environmental gradients was useful to evaluate community assembly and can be used to predict the dominance of microbial species invasions.

Sustainable infrastructure assessments in remote areas in Egypt

ABSTRACT Remote societies often have a local economy that depend on natural resources, which attract tourists, but the problem lies in the difficult accessibility to remote areas and lack of interest in its infrastructure, so they have become unexploited areas and wasting wealth. The research aims to provide a methodology for assessing the most appropriate ways to develop remote areas and to apply this methodology to different remote areas in Egypt to measure their effectiveness. The methodology of the research depends on the theoretical, analytical and applied approach; the theoretical approach reviews the definition of remote areas, and then studies the elements of sustainable infrastructure in remote areas, concludes criteria for assessing sustainable infrastructure in remote areas, then uses the analytical approach to analysis three remote areas in Egypt, which are Shali in Siwa Oasis, Basaysa in South Sinai, and the village of Wadi Rayyan in Fayoum, then applies approach to apply the checklist on these areas. The research concludes that the new Basaysa village achieves the highest infrastructure sustainability assessment, Rayan Valley has the lowest infrastructure sustainability rating as a remote area. As for Siwa Oasis – after the success of the Al-Babenshal Hotel experience, and Adrère Amellal – infrastructure sustainability has been published in all service buildings, such as Banque du Cairo. Although from the Wadi Al-Rayyan region is a research tourist area like Siwa Oasis, it found no attention from investors, the government or researchers, many remote areas in Egypt are in the same condition.

Heritability of acute low salinity survival in the Eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica)

On the US east coast, Eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) aquaculture has grown substantially over the last century. As aquaculture expands into previously unexploited areas, there is a need for oyster lines bred for specific environmental conditions. In the Maryland portion of the Chesapeake Bay, and in other coastal areas, salinity tends to be below optimal for typical aquaculture productivity, and these areas frequently experience periods of acute low salinity following heavy rain events. While these areas may hinder oyster growth, they provide a refuge from common oyster diseases. Selective breeding focusing on survival in acute low salinity conditions could expand areas suitable for aquaculture, but the genetic framework underlying this trait is currently unknown. In this study, we estimated the heritability of survival at acute low salinity (< 3) by conducting two month-long low salinity exposure experiments with fifty half-sibling families. Hemolymph osmolality was analyzed during the first eight days of the second exposure experiment to track osmoconformation behavior and investigate potential physiological differences underlying variation in salinity survival among families. There were significant differences in mortality among families for both low salinity exposure experiments, with the majority of mortality occurring between 8 and 14 days of exposure for both experiments. Higher overall mortality was observed during the second experiment (53% in experiment 2 versus 23% in experiment 1), which was conducted during the summer when animals were reproductively active. Narrow-sense heritability estimates for survival were moderate to high using both a Bayesian (MCMCglmm, h2 = 0.34 for experiment 1 and 0.59 for experiment 2) and a likelihood-based (ASReml-R, h2 = 0.4 for both experiments) approach, and estimates from ASReml-R appeared to be lower compared to MCMCglmm for experiment 2 (ASReml-R h2 = 0.4, MCMCglmm h2 = 0.59). Finally, there were no differences in osmolality among families on either sampling day, but all families remained slightly hyperosmotic after salinity was held static at our desired level (2.5). This study provides the first quantitative genetic analysis of acute low salinity survival in C. virginica and results suggest that this trait is heritable and could be selectable in a breeding program.

Effects of mining on the molybdenum absorption and translocation of plants in the Luanchuan molybdenum mine.

BackgroundThere is a critical need to examine whether mining of molybdenum (Mo) ore will affect Mo absorption and translocation by plants at a community level.MethodsIndigenous plants and their rhizospheric soil (0–20 cm) growing in two different areas including the mining and the unexploited areas were collected from the Luanchuan Mo mine—one of the largest Mo mines in Asia. The concentrations of Mo and other heavy metals of plants or soil were measured by ICP-AES. Mo absorption and translocation in plants growing in two areas were investigated and compared. Heavy metal pollution in soil was also evaluated by the potential ecological hazard index method.ResultsMo concentration in mining soils was higher with the changes from 108.13 to 268.13 mg kg−1 compared to unexploited area. Mo concentrations in shoots and roots of plants growing in the mining area were also significant higher than those growing in the unexploited area with 2.59 and 2.99 times, respectively. The Mo translocation factor of plants growing in the unexploited area was 1.61, which reached 1.69 times that of plants growing in the mining area. Mo was the main heavy metal pollutant in the soil of both the mining and the unexploited areas.ConclusionMining of Mo had changed not only the Mo concentration in soil but also Mo absorption and translocation in plants. Plants growing in the mining area absorbed more Mo from the soil but translocated relatively less to shoots than plants of the unexploited area. However, the mechanisms of Mo absorption and translocation of plants in mining area should be further studied in the future.

Avoiding Drug Resistance by Substrate Envelope Guided Design: Toward Potent and Robust HCV NS3/4A Protease Inhibitors

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infects millions of people worldwide, causing chronic liver disease that can lead to cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma, and liver transplant. In the last several years, the advent of direct‐acting antivirals, including NS3/4A protease inhibitors (PIs), has remarkably improved treatment outcomes of HCV‐infected patients. However, selection of resistance‐associated substitutions and polymorphisms among genotypes can lead to drug resistance and in some cases treatment failure. A proactive strategy to combat resistance is to constrain PIs within evolutionarily conserved regions in the protease active site. Designing PIs using the substrate envelope is a rational strategy to decrease the susceptibility to resistance by using the constraints of substrate recognition. We successfully designed two series of HCV NS3/4A PIs to leverage unexploited areas in the substrate envelope to improve potency, specifically against resistance‐associated substitutions at D168. Our design strategy achieved better resistance profiles over both FDA‐approved NS3/4A PI grazoprevir and the parent compound against the clinically relevant D168A substitution. Crystallographic structural analysis and inhibition assays confirmed that optimally filling the substrate envelope is critical to improve inhibitor potency while avoiding resistance. Specifically, inhibitors that enhanced hydrophobic packing in the S4 pocket and avoided an energetically frustrated pocket performed the best. Thus, the HCV substrate envelope proved to be a powerful tool to design robust PIs, offering a strategy that can be translated to other targets for rational design of inhibitors with improved potency and resistance profiles.Support or Funding InformationThis work was supported by a grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the NIH (R01 AI085051). JZ and ANM were also supported by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the NIH (F31 GM119345 and F31 GM131635 respectively). This research used resources of the Advanced Photon Source, a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science User Facility operated for the DOE Office of Science by Argonne National Laboratory under Contract No. DE‐AC02‐06CH11357.

Avoiding Drug Resistance by Substrate Envelope-Guided Design: Toward Potent and Robust HCV NS3/4A Protease Inhibitors.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infects millions of people worldwide, causing chronic liver disease that can lead to cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma, and liver transplant. In the last several years, the advent of direct-acting antivirals, including NS3/4A protease inhibitors (PIs), has remarkably improved treatment outcomes of HCV-infected patients. However, selection of resistance-associated substitutions and polymorphisms among genotypes can lead to drug resistance and in some cases treatment failure. A proactive strategy to combat resistance is to constrain PIs within evolutionarily conserved regions in the protease active site. Designing PIs using the substrate envelope is a rational strategy to decrease the susceptibility to resistance by using the constraints of substrate recognition. We successfully designed two series of HCV NS3/4A PIs to leverage unexploited areas in the substrate envelope to improve potency, specifically against resistance-associated substitutions at D168. Our design strategy achieved better resistance profiles over both the FDA-approved NS3/4A PI grazoprevir and the parent compound against the clinically relevant D168A substitution. Crystallographic structural analysis and inhibition assays confirmed that optimally filling the substrate envelope is critical to improve inhibitor potency while avoiding resistance. Specifically, inhibitors that enhanced hydrophobic packing in the S4 pocket and avoided an energetically frustrated pocket performed the best. Thus, the HCV substrate envelope proved to be a powerful tool to design robust PIs, offering a strategy that can be translated to other targets for rational design of inhibitors with improved potency and resistance profiles.IMPORTANCE Despite significant progress, hepatitis C virus (HCV) continues to be a major health problem with millions of people infected worldwide and thousands dying annually due to resulting complications. Recent antiviral combinations can achieve >95% cure, but late diagnosis, low access to treatment, and treatment failure due to drug resistance continue to be roadblocks against eradication of the virus. We report the rational design of two series of HCV NS3/4A protease inhibitors with improved resistance profiles by exploiting evolutionarily constrained regions of the active site using the substrate envelope model. Optimally filling the S4 pocket is critical to avoid resistance and improve potency. Our results provide drug design strategies to avoid resistance that are applicable to other quickly evolving viral drug targets.

The Maria Field, Block 16/29a, UK North Sea

Abstract The Maria oilfield is located on a fault-bounded terrace in Block 16/29a of the UK sector of the North Sea, at the intersection of the South Viking Graben and the eastern Witch Ground Graben. The field was discovered in December 1993 by the 16/29a-11Y well and was confirmed by two further appraisal wells. The reservoir consists of shoreface sandstones of the Jurassic Fulmar Formation. The Jurassic sandstones, ranging from 100 to 180 ft in thickness, have variable reservoir properties, with porosities ranging from 10 to 18% and permeabilities from 1 to 300 mD. Hydrocarbons are trapped in a truncated rotated fault block, striking NW–SE. The reservoir sequence is sealed by Kimmeridge Clay Formation and Heather Formation claystones. Geochemical analysis suggests that Middle Jurassic Pentland Formation and Upper Jurassic Kimmeridge Clay Formation mudstones have been the source of the Maria hydrocarbons. Estimated recoverable reserves are 10.6 MMbbl and 67 bcf (21.8 MMboe). Two further production wells were drilled in 2018 to access unexploited areas.

Effect of natural conditions and mining activities on vegetation variations in arid and semiarid mining regions

Abstract Variation in vegetation can provide fundamental information about environment and resources management, especially in mining areas with vulnerable ecosystems. Research has demonstrated that vegetation patterns across river basins, plateaus, and mountains have been affected by climate change. However, variation in vegetation caused by natural conditions and mining activities in arid and semiarid mining areas is rarely examined. Using the Yushenfu mining area as a case study, based on the Sen + Mann–Kendall method, spatiotemporal characteristics of variation in vegetation were first analyzed using normal difference vegetation index (NDVI) time series data from 2006 to 2015. For comparison, a traditional linear regression method was applied to characterize NDVI trends, indicating the feasibility of the Sen + Mann–Kendall method. Subsequently, the effect of geomorphology, groundwater depth, and drought index on NDVI was assessed. The same geomorphology or groundwater depth did not correspond to a specific NDVI value, and a relationship between the drought index and NDVI was obtained. Then, unexploited areas and mined areas were compared, revealing that mining activities have a very obvious negative impact on vegetation ecology. Furthermore, the buried depth of the eco-safety groundwater table was determined to be 1.5–5.0 m based on the curve describing the relationship between groundwater depth and NDVI. This analysis produced an ecological sensitivity map with four key zones: primary, secondary, and tertiary sensitive areas and non-sensitive areas. These results provide a theoretical basis for developing fair and equitable outcomes for mineral resource development and environmental protection.

The Tug-of-War between Plants and Viruses: Great Progress and Many Remaining Questions.

Plants are persistently challenged by various phytopathogens. To protect themselves, plants have evolved multilayered surveillance against all pathogens. For intracellular parasitic viruses, plants have developed innate immunity, RNA silencing, translation repression, ubiquitination-mediated and autophagy-mediated protein degradation, and other dominant resistance gene-mediated defenses. Plant viruses have also acquired diverse strategies to suppress and even exploit host defense machinery to ensure their survival. A better understanding of the defense and counter-defense between plants and viruses will obviously benefit from the development of efficient and broad-spectrum virus resistance for sustainable agriculture. In this review, we summarize the cutting edge of knowledge concerning the defense and counter-defense between plants and viruses, and highlight the unexploited areas that are especially worth investigating in the near future.

Discovery and prospecting significance of metal-bearing nanoparticles within natural invertebrate tissues

Prospecting methods for detecting deep-seated mineralization have become a focus of attention along with the gradual depletion of surface exposures. The correct interpretation of anomalies has always been a major challenge for traditional biogeochemical prospecting. In this study, natural invertebrate samples (earthworms, ants and spiders) were collected from the Chinese Fankou deposit and a background area, and earthworms were also collected in the unexploited areas of the Liushutang and Kangjiawan deposits for comparison. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (TEM) was used to analyze the nanoparticles contained in the tissues of these invertebrate samples, including the morphological features and chemical compositions. In this report, we present evidence of mineralization-related elements contained within living invertebrate tissues in the form of nanoparticles. Nanoparticles contained in the samples from three ore deposits were dominatly composed of the ore-forming elements of their corresponding deposits, namely, metal-bearing nanoparticles. Nanoparticles from the background area have morphological features similar to the nanoparticles from the ore district, but they show obvious disparities in their chemical compositions, with no special ore-forming elements being detected. Thus, a close relationship between the metal-bearing nanoparticles found in invertebrate tissues and the known ore-body beneath the sampling site was confirmed. Additionally, this research establishes a new method for biogeochemical prospecting using nanoparticles contained in invertebrate tissues, which provides a new indicator for blind ore prediction.