MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are indispensable regulators for development and defense in eukaryotes. However, the miRNA species have not been explored for rice (Oryza sativa) immunity against the blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae, the most devastating fungal pathogen in rice production worldwide. Here, by deep sequencing small RNA libraries from susceptible and resistant lines in normal conditions and upon M. oryzae infection, we identified a group of known rice miRNAs that were differentially expressed upon M. oryzae infection. They were further classified into three classes based on their expression patterns in the susceptible japonica line Lijiangxin Tuan Hegu and in the resistant line International Rice Blast Line Pyricularia-Kanto51-m-Tsuyuake that contains a single resistance gene locus, Pyricularia-Kanto 51-m (Pikm), within the Lijiangxin Tuan Hegu background. RNA-blot assay of nine of them confirmed sequencing results. Real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction assay showed that the expression of some target genes was negatively correlated with the expression of miRNAs. Moreover, transgenic rice plants overexpressing miR160a and miR398b displayed enhanced resistance to M. oryzae, as demonstrated by decreased fungal growth, increased hydrogen peroxide accumulation at the infection site, and up-regulated expression of defense-related genes. Taken together, our data indicate that miRNAs are involved in rice immunity against M. oryzae and that overexpression of miR160a or miR398b can enhance rice resistance to the disease.

Vegetation phenology is a key biological indicator for monitoring terrestrial ecosystems and global change, and regions with the most obvious phenological changes in vegetation are primarily located at high latitudes and altitudes. Over the past three decades, investigations of obvious phenological changes in vegetation at middle and high latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere have provided significant contributions to understanding global climate change. In this study, phenological parameters were extracted from the Global Inventory Modeling and Mapping Studies (GIMMS) Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI3g) to analyze the spatial and temporal characteristics of vegetation phenological changes above 40°N in the Northern Hemisphere from 1982-2013. The results showed that the start of season (SOS) was significantly advanced (−2.2 ± 0.6 days· decade −1 , p < 0.05) and that the end of season (EOS) was slightly delayed (0.78 ± 0.6 days· decade −1 , p = 0.21) over the entire study area in the initial 21 years . When the time scale was extended to 2013, the change rate of the SOS and EOS was significantly reduced; in addition, the SOS was delayed (3.2 ± 1.7 days· decade −1 , p < 0.05), and the EOS was advanced (4.5 ± 0.9 days· decade −1 , p < 0.05) over the entire study area in the last 11 years (2003)(2004)(2005)(2006)(2007)(2008)(2009)(2010)(2011)(2012)(2013). The trends of advanced SOS and delayed EOS over the past three decades OPEN ACCESSRemote Sens. 2015, 7 10974 were slower than those over the initial two decades on a hemispheric scale. The change trends showed obvious variability with different vegetation types and were greater for woody plants than for herbaceous plants. For broad-leaved forest, the SOS was significantly advanced (2 ± 0.5 days· decade −1 , p < 0.05) and the EOS was significantly delayed (2.7 ± 0.6 days· decade −1 , p < 0.05) from 1982-2013. The trend of delayed EOS was greater than that of advanced SOS for different vegetation types. With respect to the spatial distribution of phenological trends in the Northern Hemisphere, the trends of advanced SOS and delayed EOS were strongest in Europe followed by North America, and the trends were least significant in Asia. Coniferous forest, shrub forest, grassland, and the entire study area have the same change trends for the two time periods (1982-2002 and 2003-2013), and the increased rate of the phenology parameters has decelerated over the most recent decade. The length of season (LOS) of broad-leaved forest and mixed forest over the past 32 years shows a strong increased trend, and simultaneously, the SOS and EOS show an advanced trend and a delayed trend, respectively.

The 2015 Paris Agreement aims to limit global warming to well below 2 K above preindustrial levels, and to pursue efforts to limit global warming to 1.5 K, in order to avert dangerous climate change. However, current greenhouse gas emissions targets are more compatible with scenarios exhibiting end‐of‐century global warming of 2.6–3.1 K, in clear contradiction to the 1.5 K target. In this study, we use a global climate model to investigate the climatic impacts of using solar geoengineering by stratospheric aerosol injection to stabilize global‐mean temperature at 1.5 K for the duration of the 21st century against three scenarios spanning the range of plausible greenhouse gas mitigation pathways (RCP2.6, RCP4.5, and RCP8.5). In addition to stabilizing global mean temperature and offsetting both Arctic sea‐ice loss and thermosteric sea‐level rise, we find that solar geoengineering could effectively counteract enhancements to the frequency of extreme storms in the North Atlantic and heatwaves in Europe, but would be less effective at counteracting hydrological changes in the Amazon basin and North Atlantic storm track displacement. In summary, solar geoengineering may reduce global mean impacts but is an imperfect solution at the regional level, where the effects of climate change are experienced. Our results should galvanize research into the regionality of climate responses to solar geoengineering.

Rice false smut has become an increasingly serious disease in rice (Oryza sativa L.) production worldwide. The typical feature of this disease is that the fungal pathogen Ustilaginoidea virens (Uv) specifically infects rice flower and forms false smut ball, the ustiloxin‐containing ball‐like fungal colony, of which the size is usually several times larger than that of a mature rice seed. However, the underlying mechanisms of Uv‐rice interaction are poorly understood. Here, we applied time‐course microscopic and transcriptional approaches to investigate rice responses to Uv infection. The results demonstrated that the flower‐opening process and expression of associated transcription factors, including ARF6 and ARF8, were inhibited in Uv‐infected spikelets. The ovaries in infected spikelets were interrupted in fertilization and thus were unable to set seeds. However, a number of grain‐filling‐related genes, including seed storage protein genes, starch anabolism genes and endosperm‐specific transcription factors (RISBZ1 and RPBF), were highly transcribed as if the ovaries were fertilized. In addition, critical defense‐related genes like NPR1 and PR1 were downregulated by Uv infection. Our data imply that Uv may hijack host nutrient reservoir by activation of the grain‐filling network because of growth and formation of false smut balls.

The Greenland ice sheet is expected lose at least 90% of its current volume if ice sheet summer temperatures warm by around 1.8°C above pre-industrial. Geoengineering by stratospheric sulfate aerosol injection might slow Greenland ice sheet melting and sea level rise by reducing summer temperature and insolation; however, such schemes could also reduce precipitation and affect large-scale climate drivers such as the Atlantic Meridional Over-turning Circulation (AMOC). Earlier work found that AMOC increased under geoengineering and that might lead to greater mass loss from Greenland than under greenhouse gas forcing alone. We simulated Greenland ice sheet climates using four Earth system models running the stratospheric sulfate aerosol injection experiment GeoMIP G4 and the CMIP RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 greenhouse gas scenarios that were then used to drive the surface energy and mass balance model, SEMIC. Simulated runoff is 20% lower under G4 than RCP4.5, while under RCP8.5 it is 17% higher. The mechanism is through increased Arctic sea ice concentration and reduced humidity leading to surface cooling of the ablation zone. Reduced absorption of outgoing longwave radiation caused by hydrological cycle weakening dominates associated decreases in precipitation under geoengineering and stronger AMOC than under RCP4.5. An ice dynamics model simulates 15% lower ice losses under G4 than RCP4.5. Thus, total sea level rise by 2070 from the Greenland ice sheet under G4 geoengineering is about 15-20% lower than under the RCP4.5 scenario. Plain Language SummaryMass loss from the Greenland ice sheet is expected to raise sea levels by tens of centimeters this century and far more in the further future. Rising seas are one of the most damaging aspects of the warming climate, affecting hundreds of millions, and costing $ trillions by 2100, and geoengineering might be one approach that could be used against this threat. But the North Atlantic climate is a complex region where the flux of warm tropical waters is being reduced by greenhouse warming, which geoengineering would reverse. Hence, how Greenland would likely respond is a key factor in deciding the potential utility of doing geoengineering. We examine the impact of stratospheric aerosol geoengineering on both the surface ice sheet water runoff (which accounts for half of present-day ice loss) and the dynamic loss of ice from fast-flowing glaciers that are being accelerated by warming ocean currents (accounting for the other half). We find that aerosol injection equivalent to about ¼ Pinatubo volcanic eruption per year can slow mass loss from Greenland by 15-20% compared with greenhouse gas forcing alone, mainly due to reduced surface melting.

Northeast China is located at high northern latitudes and is a typical region of relatively high sensitivity to global climate change. Studies of the land surface phenology in Northeast China and its response to climate change are important for understanding global climate change. In this study, the land surface phenology parameters were calculated using the third generation dataset from the Global Inventory Modeling and Mapping Studies (GIMMS 3g) that was collected from 1982 to 2013 were estimated to analyze the variations of the land surface phenology in Northeast China at different scales and to discuss the internal relationships between phenology and climate change. We examined the phonological changes of all ecoregions. The average start of the growing season (SOS) did not exhibit a significant trend throughout the study area; however, the end of the growing season (EOS) was significantly delayed by 4.1 days or 0.13 days/year (p < 0.05) over the past 32 years. The SOS for the Hulunbuir Plain, Greater Khingan Mountains and Lesser Khingan Mountains was earlier, and the SOS for the Sanjing, Songnen and Liaohe Plains was later. In addition, the EOS of the Greater Khingan Mountains, Lesser Khingan Mountains and Changbai Mountains was later than the EOS of the Liaohe Plain. The spring temperature had the greatest impact on the SOS. Precipitation had an insignificant impact on forest SOS and a relatively large impact on grassland SOS. The EOS was affected by both temperature and precipitation. Furthermore, although temperature had a lag effect on the EOS, no significant lag effect was observed for the SOS.

Rice blast caused by Magnaporthe oryzae ( M. oryzae ) is a major threat to global rice production. In recent years, small interference RNAs (siRNAs) and host-induced gene silencing (HIGS) has been shown to be new strategies for the development of transgenic plants to control fungal diseases and proved a useful tool to study gene function in pathogens. We here tested whether in vitro feeding artificial siRNAs (asiRNAs) could compromise M. oryza e virulence and in vivo HIGS technique could improve rice blast resistance. Our data revealed that silencing of M. oryzae MoAP1 by feeding asiRNAs targeting MoAP1 (i.e., asiR1245, asiR1362, and asiR1115) resulted in inhibited fungal growth, abnormal spores, and decreased pathogenicity. Among the asiRNAs, asiR1115 was the most inhibitory toward the rice blast fungus. Conversely, the asiRNAs targeting three other genes (i.e., MoSSADH , MoACT , and MoSOM1 ) had no effect on fungal growth. Transgenic rice plants expressing RNA hairpins targeting MoAP1 exhibited improved resistance to 11 tested M. oryzae strains. Confocal microscopy also revealed profoundly restricted appressoria and mycelia in rice blast-infected transgenic rice plants. Our results demonstrate that in vitro asiRNA and in vivo HIGS were useful protection approaches that may be valuable to enhance rice blast resistance.

Devastating floods due to Atlantic hurricanes are relatively rare events. However, the frequency of the most intense storms is likely to increase with rises in sea surface temperatures. Geoengineering by stratospheric sulfate aerosol injection cools the tropics relative to the polar regions, including the hurricane Main Development Region in the Atlantic, suggesting that geoengineering may mitigate hurricanes. We examine this hypothesis using eight earth system model simulations of climate under the Geoengineering Model Intercomparison Project (GeoMIP) G3 and G4 schemes that use stratospheric aerosols to reduce the radiative forcing under the Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 4.5 scenario. Global mean temperature increases are greatly ameliorated by geoengineering, and tropical temperature increases are at most half of those temperature increases in the RCP4.5. However, sulfate injection would have to double (to nearly 10 teragrams of SO2 per year) between 2020 and 2070 to balance the RCP4.5, approximately the equivalent of a 1991 Pinatubo eruption every 2 y, with consequent implications for stratospheric ozone. We project changes in storm frequencies using a temperature-dependent generalized extreme value statistical model calibrated by historical storm surges and observed temperatures since 1923. The number of storm surge events as big as the one caused by the 2005 Katrina hurricane are reduced by about 50% compared with no geoengineering, but this reduction is only marginally statistically significant. Nevertheless, when sea level rise differences in 2070 between the RCP4.5 and geoengineering are factored into coastal flood risk, we find that expected flood levels are reduced by about 40 cm for 5-y events and about halved for 50-y surges.