Summary: The hyperaccumulating ecotype of Sedum alfredii Hance is a cadmium (Cd)/zinc/lead co‐hyperaccumulating species of Crassulaceae. It is a promising phytoremediation candidate accumulating substantial heavy metal ions without obvious signs of poisoning. However, few studies have focused on the regulatory roles of miRNAs and their targets in the hyperaccumulating ecotype of S. alfredii. Here, we combined analyses of the transcriptomics, sRNAs and the degradome to generate a comprehensive resource focused on identifying key regulatory miRNA‐target circuits under Cd stress. A total of 87 721 unigenes and 356 miRNAs were identified by deep sequencing, and 79 miRNAs were differentially expressed under Cd stress. Furthermore, 754 target genes of 194 miRNAs were validated by degradome sequencing. A gene ontology (GO) enrichment analysis of differential miRNA targets revealed that auxin, redox‐related secondary metabolism and metal transport pathways responded to Cd stress. An integrated analysis uncovered 39 pairs of miRNA targets that displayed negatively correlated expression profiles. Ten miRNA‐target pairs also exhibited negative correlations according to a real‐time quantitative PCR analysis. Moreover, a coexpression regulatory network was constructed based on profiles of differentially expressed genes. Two hub genes, ARF4 (auxin response factor 4) and AAP3 (amino acid permease 3), which might play central roles in the regulation of Cd‐responsive genes, were uncovered. These results suggest that comprehensive analyses of the transcriptomics, sRNAs and the degradome provided a useful platform for investigating Cd hyperaccumulation in S. alfredii, and may provide new insights into the genetic engineering of phytoremediation.

Key villages of rural tourism have become an important carrier for the high-quality development of rural tourism. The precise identification of the spatial distribution characteristics and influencing factors of rural tourism key villages is of great value in promoting the quality upgrading of rural tourism in China and realizing the goal of rural revitalization strategy. The aim is to realize the complementary coordination and integration of urban and rural areas, promote rural transformation and increase farmers’ incomes. Taking three batches of 1199 key rural tourism villages in China as research samples, the nearest neighbor index, disequilibrium index and kernel density methods were used to reveal the spatial differentiation characteristics of key rural tourism villages and the influencing factors were further analyzed using the geographical connection rate and buffer analysis. The results showed that (1) the key villages of rural tourism demonstrated a typical agglomeration in the spatial distribution, with the Hu Huanyong line as the obvious boundary. (2) The very high-density agglomeration centers were mainly located in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region and the Yangtze River Delta region, while the high-density agglomeration zones were mainly located in the North China Plain on the east side of the Taihang Mountains and the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River Basin. (3) The spatial distribution characteristics of hot regions were in the central and eastern regions; however, the cold regions were in the northwest and northeast regions. (4) The spatial distribution characteristics of key rural tourism villages were the result of the interaction and coupling of multiple factors. The key villages of rural tourism were mainly distributed in plain and hilly areas with dense river networks, dense populations, high levels of economic development, developed transportation and suburban areas.

In recent years, the survival and development of traditional villages in China have been serious challenges. Rural tourism is regarded as an important way to solve rural problems, and the combination of rural culture and tourism has become a new power point for rural development. Therefore, it is necessary to explore the spatial distribution structure between traditional villages and rural tourism. In this paper, rural tourism was represented by the rural tourism characteristic village (RTCV), and Henan Province, China, was taken as a study area to analyze the distribution pattern and spatial correlation of rural tourism and traditional village (TV) and discuss the relationship between the spatial correlation and regional natural environment and socioeconomic factors. The results show that the coupling of the spatial correlation between RTCVs and TVs in Henan was clear. They could be divided into 5 regions based on geographical factors. In addition, the research summarized 4 typical spatial structures between TVs and RTCVs in Henan based on the regional symbiosis theory, and the spatial pattern formation mechanism of TVs and RTCVs was discussed based on three driving mechanisms. The spatial structure of the two can provide reference value for other developing countries and regions to achieve sustainable rural development.

Background.Chinese fir [Cunninghamia lanceolata (Lamb.) Hook.] is one of the most important native tree species for timber production in southern China. An understanding of overall fast growing stage, stem growth stage and senescence stage cambium transcriptome variation is lacking. We used transcriptome sequencing to identify the repertoire of genes expressed during development of xylem tissue in Chinese fir, aiming to delineate the molecular mechanisms of wood formation. Results. We carried out transcriptome sequencing at three different cultivation ages (7Y, 15Y and 21Y) generating 68.71 million reads (13.88 Gbp). A total of 140,486 unigenes with a mean size of 568.64 base pairs (bp) were obtained via de novo assembly. Of these, 27,427 unigenes (19.52%) were further annotated by comparison to public protein databases. A total of 5,331 (3.79%) unigenes were mapped into 118 pathways by searching against the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes Pathway database (KEGG). Differentially expressed genes (DEG) analysis identified 3, 16 and 5,899 DEGs from the comparison of 7Y vs. 15Y, 7Y vs. 21Y and 15Y vs. 21Y, respectively, in the immature xylem tissues, including 2,638 significantly up-regulated and 3,280 significantly down-regulated genes. Besides, five NAC transcription factors, 190 MYB transcription factors, and 34 WRKY transcription factors were identified respectively from Chinese fir transcriptome. Conclusion. Our results revealed the active transcriptional pathways and identified the DEGs at different cultivation phases of Chinese fir wood formation. This transcriptome dataset will aid in understanding and carrying out future studies on the molecular basis of Chinese fir wood formation and contribute to future artificial production and applications.

Medium-sized cities are increasingly committed to the planning and construction of urban public spaces to meet people’s demand for high-quality urban life. Parks and squares are important parts of urban public spaces, and their vitality represents the quality of public spaces to a certain extent and reflects the happiness index of urban residents. At present, the functional areas and transportation networks of medium-sized cities are still developing. Due to the influence of urban construction, the planning of parks and squares in medium-sized cities has not yet caught up to that in larger cities. This study analyzed a medium-sized city, Jiaozuo, as an example, with the help of point of interest (POI) data, OpenStreetMap road network density data and WorldPop population data. The vitality of parks and squares in different functional spaces in the main urban area in Jiaozuo was quantitatively evaluated in terms of the four following aspects: urban space functional area characteristics, travel vitality index of urban residents, park and square attractiveness and the regional service levels of parks and squares. The effects of functional mixing, traffic network density, population density and spatial distribution on the vitality of parks and squares in medium-sized cities were also studied. The results showed that (1) the functional mixing in the main urban area in Jiaozuo was characterized by a spatial distribution of high in the center and low in the surrounding areas, with the highest functional mixing in the central part of the Jiefang District; (2) the travel dynamics of urban residents were characterized by a clear development of concentric circles radiating in a circular pattern; (3) the levels of service in parks and squares were particularly high in Jiefang District, with a spatial distribution of Jiefang District > Shanyang District > Macun District > Zhongzhan District; (4) under the condition that the service levels of each district were the same, the vitality values of the existing parks and squares in each district were compared and, from high to low, were Jiefang District (1.0–3.5), Shanyang District (0.2–2.0), Macun District (0–1.4) and Zhongzhan District (0–1.2). Functional mixing, road networks and population density had significant impacts on the vitality of parks and squares. Based on our study on the division of urban functional areas, we expanded the study to include urban microspaces. By evaluating the vitality of existing parks and squares and analyzing the influencing factors of spatial vitality, we found that it would be helpful to adopt targeted strategies to improve spatial vitality. Considering the spatial layouts of parks and squares, planning and constructing high-vitality parks and squares would be conducive to the future development of medium-sized cities. The existence of high-vitality spaces could also help to realize the sustainable development of cities.

Industrial heritage is a valuable spatial resource for urban stock updates, and its preservation and reuse play an important role in the transmission of urban history and culture. Typological analysis, descriptive statistical analysis, relevant spatial analysis using ArcGIS 10.8, and geographic probes were employed to explore the spatial distribution characteristics and influencing factors regarding the current status of the reuse of 196 heritage sites selected from five batches of China’s National Industrial Heritage (NIH) lists. The results reveal the following: (1) The spatial distribution of China’s NIH sites is uneven and cohesive, forming a dense circle with the Yangtze River Delta region and the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region at its core. (2) Three-fourths of the NIH sites have entered the reuse stage, and high-density and relatively high-density clusters have formed in the eastern and central regions. (3) The conservation and reuse directions of China’s NIH sites are mainly divided into publicization and marketization. (4) The spatial distribution differentiation of the reuse of NIH sites is not due to a single cause but, rather, a combination of various contributing factors. Natural geographic and socio-economic factors exert varying degrees of influence on the spatial distribution of reused heritage sites, with tourism resources and government support playing primary roles in shaping this distribution. These findings establish a fundamental database of China’s NIH sites and provide guidance for the current conservation and reuse of industrial heritage.