Biochar alleviates apple replant disease by reducing the growth of Fusarium oxysporum and regulating microbial communities

Apple replant disease(ARD)negatively affects plant growth and reduces yields in replanted orchards.In this study,biochar was applied to apple replant soil with Fusarium oxysporum.Our aim was to investigate whether biochar could promote plant growth and alleviate apple replant disease by reducing the growth of harmful soil microorganisms,changing soil microbial community structure and improving the soil environment.This experiment included five treatments:apple replant soil(CK),methyl bromide fumigation apple replant soil(FM),replant soil with biochar addition(2%),replant soil with F.oxysporum spore solution(8×10^(7)spores·mL^(-1)),and replant soil with biochar and F.oxysporum spore solution addition.Seedling biomass,the activity of antioxidant enzymes in the leaves and roots,and soil environmental variables were measured.Microbial community composition and community structure were analyzed using 16SrDNA and ITS2 gene sequencing.Biochar significantly reduced the abundance of F.oxysporum and increased soil microbial diversity and richness.Biochar also increased the soil enzyme activities(urease,invertase,neutral phosphatase,and catalase),the biomass(plant height,fresh weight,dry weight)and the activity of antioxidant enzymes(superoxide dismutase,peroxidase,and catalase).The root indexes of apple seedlings was also increased in replant soil by biochar.In sum,biochar promoted the growth of plants,improved the replant soil environment,and alleviated apple replant disease.

Wheat morphological and biochemical responses to copper oxide nanoparticles in two soils

The widespread application of copper oxide nanoparticles(CuO NPs)in agricultural production has caused growing concerns about their impact on crops.In this study,wheat root elongation was used to evaluate the toxic effect concentrations of CuO NPs in two soils with differing properties,collected from farmlands in Guangdong(GD)and Shandong(SD)provinces,China.Plant morphological and biochemical properties were also assessed to explore the toxicity mechanism of CuO NPs on wheat seedlings.The root elongation results revealed lower toxic effect concentration values in the plants grown in GD soil than in SD soil.Furthermore,the treatment with CuO NPs at 200 mg Cu kg^(-1) significantly reduced wheat root and shoot biomass by 35.8%and 15.8%,respectively,in GD soil.Electron microscopy showed that CuO NPs deformed wheat roots and entered leaf cells,causing deformation and damaging the cell structure.The CuO NP treatments also decreased chlorophyll content,increased antioxidant enzyme activity,and increased membrane lipid peroxidation in wheat leaves.The addition of CuO NPs significantly reduced the Zn(by 17.3%)and Fe(by 26.9%)contents in the leaves of plants grown in GD and SD soils,respectively.However,the contents of Cu,Mg,and Mn were increased by 27.4%–52.5%in GD soil and by 17.9%–71.6%in SD soil.These results suggested that CuO NPs showed greater toxicity to wheat plants grown in acidic soil than in alkaline soil and that the adverse effects of CuO NP treatments on wheat seedlings were due to a combination of CuO NPs and released Cu^(2+).

Integrating Zeolite and Layered Double Hydroxide for Highly Selective Catalytic Production ofγ-Valerolactone

The production ofγ-valerolactone(GVL)from biomass derivatives levulinic acid(LA)based on acidbase metallic catalysts offers a sustainable pathway to the synthesis of valuable chemicals and biofuels.However,the development of efficient metallic catalysts with tunable Lewis acid–base and Brønsted acid sites remains a challenge.Herein,for the first time,we integrated zeolite and layered double hydroxide(LDH),in a core–shell structure,wherein zeolite and CoFe-LDH provided the Brønsted acidic sites and Lewis acid sites,respectively.Meanwhile,oxygen vacancies(OV_(x))acting as Lewis bases were generated on the surface of LDH via Ga doping.An efficient cascade catalytic reaction from LA to GVL was successfully achieved over the designed Beta@LDH-OVx catalyst,affording a superior conversion of LA(>99.9%)and an impressive selectivity to GVL(89.18%).Importantly,the“memory effect”of LDH endowed the catalyst with excellent regeneration of metal active sites.Density functional theory calculations revealed that the introduced OVx facilitated the adsorption of carbonyl oxygen in LA and boosted the production of GVL through the synergistic effect of acid/base sites in the composite catalyst.This work presents a rational design route for the construction of multifunctional catalysts by coupling zeolites and LDHs for highly selective catalytic conversion of biomass.