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ABSTRACTPlant heme oxygenases (HOs) regulate biosynthesis of phytochrome which accounts for photo‐acceptance and ‐morphogenesis. Recent studies have demonstrated that plant HOs also regulate many other physiological processes including response to environmental stimuli. To elucidate the mechanism by which HOs regulate plant adaptation to heavy metal exposure, three novel HOs genes were isolated from rapeseed (Brassica napus) and their expression patterns were analysed. Alignment of deduced protein sequences revealed that the three BnHOs share high identity with their corresponding orthologos (AtHO1‐3) from Arabidopsis. To investigate whether the BnHO regulates plant tolerance to Hg toxicity, we constructed B. napus transgenic plants overexpressing BnHO‐1. Under Hg stress, the transgenic plants had 1.41–1.59 folds higher biomass than the untransformants. However, overexpression of BnHO‐1 resulted in less accumulation of Hg in some lines of transformants than in untransformants. The transgenic plants show lower abundance of reactive oxygen species and attenuated oxidative injury compared with the untransgenic plants. We cloned the promoter sequences of BnHO‐1 from B. napus. Analysis revealed that the 1119 bp fragment contains a conserved Cd responsive element (CdRE) and others responding to multiple environmental stimuli. Transient expression in tobacco leaves showed differential responses to heavy metals (Zn, Cu, Pb, Hg and Cd).

Abstract Separating the effects of environmental factors and spatial distance on microbial composition is difficult when these factors covary. We examined the composition of ectomycorrhizal (EM) fungi along elevation gradients on geographically distant mountains to clarify the effect of climate at the regional scale. Soil cores were collected from various forest types along an elevation gradient in southwestern Japan. Fungal species were identified by the internal transcribed spacer regions of the rDNA using direct sequencing. The occurrence of fungal species in this study was compared with a previous study conducted on a mountain separated by ∼550 km. In total, we recorded 454 EM fungi from 330 of 350 soil cores. Forty-seven fungal species (∼20% of the total excluding singletons) were shared between two mountains, mostly between similar forest types on both mountains. Variation partitioning in redundancy analysis revealed that climate explained the largest variance in EM fungal composition. The similarity of forest tree composition, which is usually determined by climatic conditions, was positively correlated with the similarity of the EM fungal composition. However, the lack of large host effects implied that communities of forest trees and EM fungi may be determined independently by climate. Our data provide important insights that host plants and mutualistic fungi may respond to climate change idiosyncratically, potentially altering carbon and nutrient cycles in relation to the plant–fungus associations.

Public policy requires public support, which in turn implies a need to enable the public not just to understand policy but also to be engaged in its development. Where complex science and technology issues are involved in policy making, this takes time, so it is important to identify emerging issues of this type and prepare engagement plans. In our horizon scanning exercise, we used a modified Delphi technique. A wide group of people with interests in the science and policy interface (drawn from policy makers, policy adviser, practitioners, the private sector and academics) elicited a long list of emergent policy issues in which science and technology would feature strongly and which would also necessitate public engagement as policies are developed. This was then refined to a short list of top priorities for policy makers. Thirty issues were identified within broad areas of business and technology; energy and environment; government, politics and education; health, healthcare, population and aging; information, communication, infrastructure and transport; and public safety and national security.

Yeast volatiles double starvation survival in Drosophila .

Most of the world’s mountain glaciers have been retreating for more than a century in response to climate change. Glacier retreat is evident on all continents, and the rate of retreat has accelerated during recent decades. Accurate, spatially explicit information on the position of glacier margins over time is useful for analyzing patterns of glacier retreat and measuring reductions in glacier surface area. This information is also essential for evaluating how mountain ecosystems are evolving due to climate warming and the attendant glacier retreat. Here, we present a non-comprehensive spatially explicit dataset showing multiple positions of glacier fronts since the Little Ice Age (LIA) maxima, including many data from the pre-satellite era. The dataset is based on multiple historical archival records including topographical maps; repeated photographs, paintings, and aerial or satellite images with a supplement of geochronology; and own field data. We provide ESRI shapefiles showing 728 past positions of 94 glacier fronts from all continents, except Antarctica, covering the period between the Little Ice Age maxima and the present. On average, the time series span the past 190 years. From 2 to 46 past positions per glacier are depicted (on average: 7.8).

It is increasingly acknowledged that climate change is influencing terrestrial ecosystems by increased drought and rainfall intensities. Soil microbes are key drivers of many processes in terrestrial systems and rely on water in soil pores to fulfill their life cycles and functions. However, little is known on how drought and rainfall fluctuations, which affect the composition and structure of microbial communities, persist once original moisture conditions have been restored. Here, we study how simulated short-term drying and re-wetting events shape the community composition of soil fungi and prokaryotes. In a mesocosm experiment, soil was exposed to an extreme drought, then re-wetted to optimal moisture (50% WHC, water holding capacity) or to saturation level (100% WHC). Composition, community structure and diversity of microbes were measured by sequencing ITS and 16S rRNA gene amplicons 3 weeks after original moisture content had been restored. Drying and extreme re-wetting decreased richness of microbial communities, but not evenness. Abundance changes were observed in only 8% of prokaryote OTUs, and 25% of fungal OTUs, whereas all other OTUs did not differ between drying and re-wetting treatments. Two specific legacy response groups (LRGs) were observed for both prokaryotes and fungi. OTUs belonging to the first LRG decreased in relative abundance in soil with a history of drought, whereas OTUs that increased in soil with a history of drought formed a second LRG. These microbial responses were spread among different phyla. Drought appeared to be more important for the microbial community composition than the following extreme re-wetting. 16S profiles were correlated with both inorganic N concentration and basal respiration and ITS profiles correlated with fungal biomass. We conclude that a drying and/or an extreme re-wetting history can persist in soil microbial communities via specific response groups composed of members with broad phylogenetic origins, with possible functional consequences on soil processes and plant species. As a large fraction of OTUs responding to drying and re-wetting belonged to the rare biosphere, our results suggest that low abundant microbial species are potentially important for ecosystem responses to extreme weather events.