Introduction: Invasive alien plants (IAPs) are major hazards to biodiversity, human health, and the agricultural economy. As one of the most aggressive species of IAPs, the distribution area of Centaurea solstitialis L. has increased exponentially in the past two years since its invasion into Xinjiang, China, in July 2014. Predicting the potential geographic distributions (PGDs) of C. solstitialis in China can provide theoretical support for preventing the continued spread of this weed.Methods: In this study, based on 5,969 valid occurrence records of C. solstitialis and 33 environmental variables, we constructed an ensemble model to predict suitable habitats for C. solstitialis under climate change scenarios.Results: Our results showed that the mean true skill statistic (TSS) values, area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC), and Cohen’s Kappa (KAPPA) for the ensemble model were 0.954, 0.996, and 0.943, respectively. The ensemble model yielded more precise predictions than those of the single model. Temperature seasonality (Bio4), minimum temperature of the coldest month (Bio6), precipitation of the driest month (Bio14), and human influence index (HII) have significantly disrupted the PGDs of C. solstitialis in China. The total (high) suitability habitat area of C. solstitialis in China was 275.91 × 10⁴ (67.78 × 10⁴) km², accounting for 71.26 (7.06)% of China. The PGDs of C. solstitialis in China under the current climate were mainly in East China (Shandong, Jiangsu, Shanghai, Zhejiang, and Anhui), Central China (Henan, southwestern Shanxi, southern Shaanxi, southern Gansu, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Chongqing, and Guizhou), and South China (southern Tibet, eastern Sichuan, Yunnan, Guangxi, Guangdong, Fujian, and Taiwan). Under future climate scenarios, the total suitability habitat area for C. solstitialis will expand, whereas the high suitability habitat area will decrease.Discussion: The main manifestation is that the shift of southeast China into a moderate suitability habitat, and the total suitability habitats will be extended to northwest China. More focus needs to be placed on preventing further spread of C. solstitialis in northwest China.

Wuyi Mountain in Southeast China is the origin of black tea and oolong tea. It is also considered the ‘treasure trove of tea cultivars’ because of its rich tea germplasm resources. In the present study, the population structure and genetic diversity of 137 tea germplasms from Wuyi Mountain and its adjacent areas were analyzed by SNPs. The information index (I), observed heterozygosity (Ho), expected heterozygosity (He) and fixation index (F) polymorphisms of the selected SNPs were high, stable and reliable. Ho had an average of 0.389, while He had an average of 0.324, indicating that Wuyi Mountain tea germplasms had rich genetic diversity. The AMOVA results showed that genetic variation came mainly from intrapopulation variation, accounting for 66% of the total variation. The differences in the Fst and Nei values of tea germplasm between Wuyi Mountain and its adjacent areas are similar to the geographical differences. Multiple analyses based on high-quality SNPs found that the landraces of tea plants on Wuyi Mountain had different genetic backgrounds from the wild-type landraces and the landraces of Wuyi Mountain tea plants underwent population differentiation. This study provides a basis for the effective protection and utilization of tea germplasms on Wuyi Mountain and lays a foundation for identifying potential parents to optimize tea cultivation.

Solanum viarum has become extensively invasive owing to international trade, climate change, and land–use change. As it is classified as a quarantine weed by countries such as the U.S. and Mexico, it is critical to understand the prevailing historical dispersal, ecological niche dynamics, and distribution patterns. We reconstructed the historical invasion countries and analyzed the ecological niche shift of S. viarum. Using MaxEnt based on the conservativeness of ecological niches, we studied variations in the potential geographical distributions (PGDs) of S. viarum in ecosystems and variations in suitability probabilities along latitudinal gradients. The invasion history in six continents involved three phases: lag (before 1980), spread (1980–2010), and equilibrium (2010–present). The ecological niche remains conserved. The area of S. viarum PGDs had increased by 259 km²; the PGDs will expand to reach a maximum in the 2050s, SSP5–8.5. The PGDs of S. viarum will migrate to higher latitudes under the same future climate scenarios. The latitudes subject to high threats range from 20° to 30° in forest and cropland ecosystems, 15.5° to 27.5° (northern hemisphere) and 33.1° to 42.8° (southern hemisphere) in grassland ecosystems, and 20° to 35° in urban ecosystems. Global change has led to an increased threat of S. viarum at high latitudes. These findings provide a theoretical basis to monitor and control S. viarum.

Soy products are among the most common sources of protein, and large volumes of wastewater are produced from legume processing. In this study, the Priestia aryabhattai FM5 strain, isolated from soil, was found to be capable of nitrogen assimilation. The NH₄⁺ and NO₃⁻ removal characteristics of P. aryabhattai FM5 were investigated to better understand its removal capability. The optimal conditions for NH₄⁺ removal were pH 8.0, temperature—25 °C, and C/N ratio—20, with sodium succinate as the carbon source. Under the conditions of pH 7.0, temperature—35 °C, and C/N ratio—10, with sodium acetate as the carbon source, strain FM5 reached the highest NO₃⁻ removal efficiency. The genome of FM5 revealed genes involved in assimilatory nitrate reduction and glutamate metabolism, such as nasA, nirA, nrt, glnA, gltB/D, and gdhA. When cultured in wastewater from soymilk processing with activated carbon for 72 h (h), the NH₄⁺ concentration and chemical oxygen demand (COD) decreased from 29.5 to 4.8 mg·L⁻¹ and 2058.3 mg·L⁻¹ to 295.3 mg·L⁻¹, respectively. This study provides deeper insights into the NH₄⁺ and NO₃⁻ removal-capable bacterial strain FM5 and improves the application of Priestia in wastewater.