Soil and fine root-associated microbial communities are niche dependent and influenced by copper fungicide treatment during tea plant cultivation

Dear Editor,Fungicide treatment has a profound effect on controlling plant pathogens in modern agriculture,however,it also carries the risk of undesirable outcomes.For decades,scientists have been concerned about the harmful impacts of heavy metals like copper(Cu)on crop performance and soil microorganisms.Use of various copper fungicides,like Bordeaux mixture,have been a component of conventional agricultural practices to control fungal and bacterial pathogens,especially in vineyards,tea gardens,or fruit tree orchards[9,10].This treatment increases the accumulation of high levels of Cu in surface soils,and despite the critical role of Cu as an essential trace element in wide biological and metabolic processes,it becomes toxic to plants when applied at high levels[4].The regular application of copper fungicides has also been linked to affecting microbial communities at the levels of diversity[8],population structure[2],abundance,and growth[1,3].Understanding the undesired effects of fungicides on microorganisms’beneficial activities is therefore important for evaluating the hazards associated with the fungicide used in agriculture.Yet,the effects of copper fungicide on full microbial communities remains relatively understudied,especially in tea plants.Thus,we herein explored the inf luence of Bordeaux mixture under different management regimes(raking or without raking leaf litter)on microbial communities of root,bulk soil,and rhizosphere compartments of tea plants planted in a ten-year-old tea garden.We provided insights into the ecological consequences of tea management practices that might help to identify specific fungicide treatment regimens,environmental characteristics,and microbial community members to minimize the negative environmental outcomes and optimize the positive anti-pathogen aspects of fungicide treatment.

A 31-year Global Diurnal Sea Surface Temperature Dataset Created by an Ocean Mixed-Layer Model

A dataset of hourly sea surface temperature(SST) from the period 1 January 1982 to 31 December 2012, and covering the global ocean at a resolution of 0.3°× 0.3°, was created using a validated ocean mixed-layer model(MLSST). The model inputs were heat flux and surface wind speed obtained from the Coupled Forecast System Reanalysis dataset. Comparisons with in-situ data from the Tropical Atmosphere Ocean array and the National Data Buoy Center showed that the MLSST fitted very well with observations, with a mean bias of 0.07℃, and a root-mean-square error(RMSE) and correlation coefficient of 0.37℃ and 0.98, respectively. Also, the MLSST fields successfully reproduced the diurnal cycle of SST in the in-situ data, with a mean bias of -0.005℃ and RMSE of 0.26℃. The 31-year climatology revealed that the diurnal range was small across most regions, with higher values in the eastern and western equatorial Pacific, northern Indian Ocean, western Central America, northwestern Australia, and several coastal regions. Significant seasonal variation of diurnal SST existed in all basins. In the Atlantic and Pacific basins, this seasonal pattern was oriented north–south, following the variation in solar insolation, whereas in the Indian basin it was dominated by monsoonal variability. At the interannual scale, the results highlighted the relationship between diurnal and interannual variations of SST, and revealed that the diurnal warming in the central equatorial Pacific could be a potential climatic indicator for ENSO prediction.

Dark tea: A popular beverage with possible medicinal application

Tea is a famous beverage that is produced from leaves of Camellia sinensis.Amongst the six major tea categories in China,dark tea is the only one that involves microbial fermentation in the manufacturing process,which contributes unique flavors and functions for the tea.In the recent decade,the reports about the biofunctions of dark teas have increased rapidly.Therefore it may be the proper time to consider dark tea as one potential homology of medicine and food.In this viewpoint,our current understanding of the chemical constituents,biological activities and possible health beneficial effects of dark teas were introduced.Some future directions and challenges to the development perspectives of dark teas were also discussed.

Corrigendum to "Dark tea: A popular beverage with possible medicinal application" [Chinese Herbal Medicines 15 (2023) 33-36]

When this paper was first published,the authors'name Miamoiao Lea was incomplete.The corrected author name has been shown above.The authors would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused.