Spring (March to May) is a crucial season for crop seeding and grass growth in Inner Mongolia (IM), China. Yearly harvests of agriculture, and animal husbandry, are controlled partially by spring precipitation. Based on the observations at 104 stations in IM, the spring precipitation during 1961–2010 was investigated and analysed. The results show that the amount of spring precipitation displays a trend associated with an increasing frequency of effective spring precipitation events (ESPE, with more than 10 stations among all observatories with over 10 mm daily precipitation). In addition, the synoptic conditions of the 141 ESPEs were studied through analysis of the sea level pressure (SLP), and 850, 700 and 500 hPa charts. They were classified into five types and named for the source positions of the frontal cyclones over the Eurasian continent on the SLP chart. Most of the Hetao, Mongolian and Huanghe cyclones in spring time, in general, bring strong wind, decreasing temperature or dust storms to IM. Sometimes they may also cause effective precipitation when the moisture transportation is favourable along the cyclone paths. The Northeast China cyclone mainly influences Northeast China and can lead to rainfall with adequate moisture supplies. In most cases, cold air from Siberia forms a frontal cyclone or a trough around Lake Baikal, and then heads eastward or southeastward, producing precipitation over large areas in IM in spring. Typical features of the synoptic evolutions of those five types are summarized and presented through analysis of representative ESPEs. Copyright © 2012 Royal Meteorological Society

Caoyuanheimo-1 (Agaricus sp.) is a delectable mushroom native to Inner Mongolia, China, belonging to the Agaricus genus and valued for both its edible and medicinal properties. Although it has been cultivated to a certain extent, the molecular mechanisms regulating its development remain poorly understood. Building on our understanding of its growth and development conditions at various stages, we conducted transcriptomic and metabolomic studies to identify the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and metabolites throughout its growth cycle. Simultaneously, we analyzed the synthesis pathways and identified several key genes involved in the production of terpenoids, which are secondary metabolites with medicinal value widely found in mushrooms. A total of 6843 unigenes were annotated, and 449 metabolites were detected in our study. Many of these metabolites and differentially expressed genes (DEGs) are involved in the synthesis and metabolism of amino acids, such as arginine, cysteine, methionine, and other amino acids, which indicates that the genes related to amino acid metabolism may play an important role in the fruiting body development of Caoyuanheimo-1. Succinic acid also showed a significant positive correlation with the transcriptional level changes of nine genes, including laccase-1 (TRINITY_DN5510_c0_g1), fruiting body protein SC3 (TRINITY_DN3577_c0_g1), and zinc-binding dihydrogenase (TRINITY_DN2099_c0_g1), etc. Additionally, seventeen terpenoids and terpenoid-related substances were identified, comprising five terpenoid glycosides, three monoterpenoids, two diterpenoids, one sesquiterpenoid, one sesterterpenoid, two terpenoid lactones, and three triterpenoids. The expression levels of the genes related to terpenoid synthesis varied across the three developmental stages.