The identification of a Caenorhabditis elegans homolog of p34cdc2 kinase

We have identified a Caenorhabditis elegans homolog of p34^cdc2 kinase. The C. elegans homolog, ncc-1, is ～-60% identical to p34^cdc2 of Homo sapiens. When expressed from a constitutive yeast promoter, ncc-1 is capable of complementing a conditional lethal mutation in the CDC28 gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, indicating that this C. elegans homolog can properly regulate the cell cycle.     

世居及移居高原青少年最大有氧能力的特征

本文报道海拔３４１７ｍ和４２８０ｍ地区世居藏族和移居汉族青少年运动状态下心肺功能的对比研究。结果显示：３４１７ｍ和４２８０ｍ世居藏族的最大氧耗量、无氧阈值及最大心输出量都明显大于汉族,血氧饱和度（Ｓａｏ２）随运动负荷的增加而降低。海拔３４１７ｍ藏、汉族的△Ｓａｏ２分别为７．４６％和１０．０３％,４２８０ｍ处为８．５７％和１３．７５％,最大心率随海拔升高而下降。研究提示,藏族青少年有较高的最大有氧能力,反映了他们对低氧环境的适应优势。     

Effects of Environmental and Nutritional Factors on Production of the Polyketide Phytotoxin Coronatine by Pseudomonas syringae pv. Glycinea

Pseudomonas syringae pv. glycinea PG4180 produces the polyketide phytotoxin coronatine. The effects of environmental, nutritional, and host factors on growth and coronatine production by PG4180 were examined by varying the components of a defined basal medium which contained the following nutrients per liter: glucose (10 g), NH₄Cl (1 g), MgSO₄ · 7H₂O (0.2 g), KH₂PO₄ (4.1 g), K₂HPO₄ · 3H₂O (3.6 g), and FeCl₃ (2 μM). Bacterial growth was recorded as dry weight, and coronatine production was measured by high-performance liquid chromatography. Both growth and the quantity of coronatine synthesized were significantly affected by carbon source, nutrient levels (glucose, NH₄Cl, phosphate, Mg, and SO₄), amino acid supplements, and the presence of complex carbon and nitrogen sources. The yield of coronatine generally declined when conditions were varied from those in the basal medium. Coronatine production and growth were not affected when the pH was adjusted from 6.5 to 7.8. Increases in the osmolarity of the basal medium significantly decreased coronatine production without affecting growth. The addition of plant extracts, plant-derived secondary metabolites, or zinc did not affect growth or coronatine production, while the addition of millimolar levels of KNO₃ or micromolar levels of FeCl₃ significantly enhanced coronatine production. The yield of coronatine was maximized after a 7-day incubation at 18°C and 280 rpm. The results of the present study were used to formulate a medium which allowed for enhanced coronatine production in nearly all strains of P. syringae tested. A rapid method for extracting coronatine from small volumes of culture supernatant was also developed.     

A genetic map of soybean (Glycine max L.) using an intraspecific cross of two cultivars: ‘Minosy’ and ‘Noir 1’

Genetic markers were mapped in segregating progeny from a cross between two soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) cultivars: Minsoy (PI 27.890) and Noir 1 (PI 290.136). A genetic linkage map was constructed (LOD 3), consisting of 132 RFLP, isozyme, morphological, and biochemical markers. The map defined 1550cM of the soybean genome comprising 31 linkage groups. An additional 24 polymorphic markers remained unlinked. A family of RFLP markers, identified by a single probe (hybridizing to an interspersed repeated DNA sequence), extended the map, linking other markers and defining regions for which other markers were not available.     

Genetic variation for quantitative traits in soybean lines derived from tissue culture

Tissue culture may generate useful genetic variation for quantitative traits. The objective of this study was to analyze genetic variation for ten quantitative traits of soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] among lines derived from the tissue culture of three cultivars. The three cultivars used to obtain R0 plants from tissue culture were BSR 101, Hodgson 78, and Jilin 3. A total of 63 R0-derived lines of BSR 101, eight of Hodgson 78, and 42 of Jilin 3 was planted with the untreated controls in row plots in a randomized complete-block design with three replications at two locations for each of 2 years. The traits evaluated were days to beginning bloom (R1), beginning seed (R5), beginning maturity (R7), full maturity (R8), height, lodging, seed yield, seed weight, protein content, and oil content. Significant (P < 0.05) variation was observed among lines for each of the ten quantitative traits. There was 57.1% of the BSR 101 lines, 87.5% of the Hodgson 78 lines, and 76.2% of the Jilin 3 lines that were significantly different from the controls for at least one trait. The percentages of lines that were significantly different from the control for an individual trait ranged from 2.7% for oil content to 25.7% for R7. The magnitude of the changes was relatively small. Although this genetic variation may be useful for cultivar development, greater variability at less expense would be expected with conventional artificial hybridization.Journal Paper No. J-14958 of the Iowa Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment Station, Ames, IOWA, USA Project No. 2475.     

Ecosystem-level effects of re-oligotrophication and N:P imbalances in rivers and estuaries on a global scale

Trends and ecological consequences of phosphorus (P) decline and increasing nitrogen (N) to phosphorus (N:P) ratios in rivers and estuaries are reviewed and discussed. Results suggest that re-oligotrophication is a dominant trend in rivers and estuaries of high-income countries in the last two–three decades, while in low-income countries widespread eutrophication occurs. The decline in P is well documented in hundreds of rivers of United States and the European Union, but the biotic response of rivers and estuaries besides phytoplankton decline such as trends in phytoplankton composition, changes in primary production, ecosystem shifts, cascading effects, changes in ecosystem metabolism, etc., have not been sufficiently monitored and investigated, neither the effects of N:P imbalance. N:P imbalance has significant ecological effects that need to be further investigated. There is a growing number of cases in which phytoplankton biomass have been shown to decrease due to re-oligotrophication, but the potential regime shift from phytoplankton to macrophyte dominance described in shallow lakes has been documented only in a few rivers and estuaries yet. The main reasons why regime shifts are rarely described in rivers and estuaries are, from one hand the scarcity of data on macrophyte cover trends, and from the other hand physical factors such as peak flows or high turbidity that could prevent a general spread of submerged macrophytes as observed in shallow lakes. Moreover, re-oligotrophication effects on rivers may be different compared to lakes (e.g., lower dominance of macrophytes) or estuaries (e.g., limitation of primary production by N instead of P) or may be dependent on river/estuary type. We conclude that river and estuary re-oligotrophication effects are complex, diverse and still little known, and in some cases are equivalent to those described in shallow lakes, but the regime shift is more likely to occur in mid to high-order rivers and shallow estuaries.     

Causal inference and large-scale expert validation shed light on the drivers of SDM accuracy and variance

Aim

To develop a causal understanding of the drivers of Species distribution model (SDM) performance.

Location

United Kingdom (UK).

Methods

We measured the accuracy and variance of SDMs fitted for 518 species of invertebrate and plant in the UK. Our measure of variance reflects variation among replicate model fits, and taxon experts assessed model accuracy. Using directed acyclic graphs, we developed a causal model depicting plausible effects of explanatory variables (e.g. species' prevalence, sample size) on SDM accuracy and variance and quantified those effects using a multilevel piecewise path model.

Results

According to our model, sample size and niche completeness (proportion of a species' niche covered by sampling) directly affect SDM accuracy and variance. Prevalence and range completeness have indirect effects mediated by sample size. Challenging conventional wisdom, we found that the effect of prevalence on SDM accuracy is positive. This reflects the facts that sample size has a positive effect on accuracy and larger sample sizes are possible for widespread species. It is possible, however, that the omission of an unobserved confounder biased this effect. Previous studies, which reported negative correlations between prevalence and SDM accuracy, conditioned on sample size.

Main conclusions

Our model explicates the causal basis of previously reported correlations between SDM performance and species/data characteristics. It also suggests that niche completeness has similarly large effects on SDM accuracy and variance as sample size. Analysts should consider niche completeness, or proxies thereof, in addition to sample size when deciding whether modelling is worthwhile.     

Scale dependence of vegetation-environment correlations: A case study of a North Carolina piedmont woodland

Abstract. Vegetation and its correlation with environment has been traditionally studied at a single scale of observation. If different ecological processes are dominant at different spatial and temporal scales, the results obtained from such observations will be specific to the single scale of observation employed and will lack generality. Consequently, it is important to assess whether the processes that determine community structure and function are similar at different scales, or whether, how rapidly, and under what circumstances the dominant processes change with scale of observation. Indeed, early work by Greig-Smith and associates (Greig-Smith 1952; Austin & Greig-Smith 1968; see Greig-Smith 1979; Kershaw & Looney 1985; Austin & Nicholls 1988) suggested that plant-plant interactions are typically important at small scales, but that the physical environment dominates at large scales. Using a gridded and mapped 6.6 ha portion of the Duke Forest on the North Carolina piedmont for a case study, we examined the importance of scale in vegetation studies by testing four hypotheses. First, we hypothesized that the correlation between vegetation composition and environment should increase with increasing grain (quadrat) size. Our results support this hypothesis. Second, we hypothesized that the environmental factors most highly correlated with species composition should be similar at all grain sizes within the 6.6-ha study area, and should be among the environmental factors strongly correlated with species composition over the much larger extent of the ca. 3500 ha Duke Forest. Our data are not consistent with either portion of this hypothesis. Third, we hypothesized that at the smaller grain sizes employed in this study (< 256 m²), the composition of the tree canopy should contribute significantly to the vegetation pattern in the under-story. Our results do not support this hypothesis. Finally, we predicted that with increased extent of sampling, the correlation between environment and vegetation should increase. Our data suggest the opposite may be true. This study confirms that results of vegetation analyses can depend greatly on the grain and extent of the samples employed. Whenever possible, sampling should include a variety of grain sizes and a carefully selected sample extent so as to ensure that the results obtained are robust. Application of the methods used here to a variety of vegetation types could lead to a better understanding of whether different ecological processes typically dominate at different spatial scales.     

Inherited prion disease (PrP lysine 200) in Britain: two case reports.

OBJECTIVE--To identify cases of inherited prion diseases in Britain and to assess their phenotypic features. DESIGN--Screening study of patients suspected clinically to have Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and other neurodegenerative diseases by prion protein gene analysis. SETTING--Biochemical research department. SUBJECTS--Patients suspected to have Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and other neurodegenerative diseases. RESULTS--Two patients with symptoms characteristic of sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease were found to have inherited prion protein disease (PrP lysine 200), with a mutation at codon 200 of the prion protein gene. Both were homozygous at codon 129 of the gene. One patient was a man aged 58 of British descent while the other was of Libyan Jewish origin. CONCLUSION--Two foci of inherited prion disease are known, among Libyan Jews and in Slovakia. A separate British focus of the disease may also exist. Heterozygosity at codon 129 may lead to reduced penetrance of the mutation.