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2025-08-22Soil microbial metabolic limitations were depth-dependent under chronic nitrogen deposition in primary tropical forestsTwo decades of high nitrogen inputs enhanced microbial phosphorus limitation but alleviated carbon limitation at surface soil layers, while the deeper soils exhibited the opposite response patterns in N-rich primary tropical forests. Soil microorganisms play an important role in soil biogeochemical cycles and ecosystem stability. Elevated atmospheric N deposition has greatly accelerated terrestrial N cycling processes and altered elemental stoichiometry of substrates, leading to changes in soil microbial metabolic limitation. The traditional view holds that tropical forests ...Read More -
2025-08-20Scientists discover how phytoplankton pump the global oceanic dissolved organic carbon poolsZhe Lu et al. reveal that phytoplankton taxa and seasonal changes shape ocean surficial carbon. Machine learning and satellite data show that diatoms dominate surface DOC, with more recalcitrant DOC produced during growth than decline seasons. Phytoplankton, the microscopic algae that power ocean food webs, have always been cast as fleeting carbon players: they bloom, die, and their carbon quickly recycles. But a research team led by Prof. WANG Faming from the South China Botanical Garden of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, has discovered that these tiny organisms hold a surprising se...Read More -
2025-08-20Secrets of the Deep: How Heat Awakens Ancient Ocean Carbon—A Reverse Microbial Carbon Pump?Beneath the ocean floor, a giant carbon pool 'awakens': Scientists have discovered how Earth's oven-like heat transforms ancient seafloor carbon into a microbial feast, potentially unlocking carbon trapped deep within Earth for millions of years. Deep beneath the ocean lies Earth’s largest carbon reservoir: marine sediments that have been accumulating organic matter for millions of years. Long thought to be permanently “locked away,” this vast carbon pool is now revealed to be more dynamic than expected.A team from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, together with international collabora...Read More -
2025-08-20Reveals Molecular Mechanism of Phytochrome phyA Dynamic Acetylation in Regulating Far-Red Light Signal TransductionThe switch from skotomorphogenesis to photomorphogenesis, a key developmental transition in the life cycle of seed plants, involves dramatic proteomic changes. Lysine acetylation (Lys-Ac) is an evolutionarily conserved and widely recognized post-translational modification that plays an important role in plant development, whereas its role in see... Recently, the team led by LIU Xuncheng from the South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, published a research paper titled "HDT2-mediated lysine deacetylation promotes phytochrome A degradation during photomorphogenesis in Arabidopsis" inthe renowned plant science journal Molecular Plant. This study elucidates that the stabilit...Read More -
2025-08-14Unveils "Plant-Mycorrhiza Synergy" Framework to Revolutionize Forest RestorationWe synthesize evidence demonstrating that diverse plant-mycorrhizal associations enhance soil carbon pools and support multiple ecosystem functions. Based on this, we propose a restoration framework integrating these functional traits to build resilient, multifunctional forests and address the linked biodiversity and climate crises. Groundbreaking approach solves carbon-biodiversity trade-off in degraded forestsConfronting the dual crises of global forest degradation and climate change, traditional forest restoration strategies focused solely on aboveground carbon storage face significant limitations, including slow soil carbon recovery and inadequate ecosystem functionalit...Read More -
2025-08-02Scutellaria yangchunensis and S. albovillosa (Lamiaceae), two new species from Yangchun, Guangdong, Chinalocated in the southwest of Guangdong province, China, is an insufficiently botanized region, with several new species being discovered in recent years owing to more and more intensive field investigation, including Cladopus yangjiangensis X.T.Liu, G.Di Chen & B.Hua Chen, Lagerstroemia yangchunensis B.H.Wu & G.Di Chen, Peliosanthes yangchunensis... Scutellaria L. is a large genus in the family Lamiaceae, comprising ca. 350 species worldwide, and ca. 100 species in China (13 species and 4 varieties in Guangdong). For those Scutellaria species from China, few have wide distribution area, such as S. indica L. and S. baicalensis Georgi, but most are narrowly distributed in several provinces, a...Read More -
2025-08-02Unravels Regulatory Mechanism of Polysaccharide Biosynthesis in Dendrobium officinalePlants produce mannans, which compose a class of polysaccharides with considerable potential for health-related applications. DoWOX4 promotes mannan biosynthesis via activation of DoGMP1, whereas DoERF5 inhibits this process by repressing DoWOX4 in Dendrobium officinale. As a precious medicinal herb, Dendrobium officinale is rich in bioactive mannans. Studies indicate that these mannans possess antioxidant properties, enhance immune function, and ameliorate type II diabetes. However, the molecular regulatory mechanisms governing mannan biosynthesis remain unclear, significantly impeding the genetic improvement a...Read More -
2025-08-02Response of primary saltmarsh succession on a tropical coral island in the South China Sea to human disturbanceThe reclamation project and biological diffusion together facilitated the early establishment of pioneer grasses, initiating primary saltmarsh succession. The accelerated transition to shrub-dominated communities was likely driven by dike construction and the introduction of stress-tolerant shrub species. In 2023, the research team from South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences discovered a near-natural saltmarsh ecosystem on a tropical coral island region undergoing reclamation in the South China Sea (Figure 1). The related domestic journals reported this finding, stating that it marks a significant transition from artificial int...Read More