中国亚热带不同菌根树种的根叶形态学性状特征与生长差异: 以江西新岗山为例

探究植物功能性状的种内和种间变异不仅有助于揭示植物对环境的适应, 也能够反映植物的生态策略, 但不同菌根类型树木生长过程中根叶形态学功能性状的适应策略仍有待探究。本研究依托中国亚热带森林生物多样性与生态系统功能实验研究平台(BEF-China)选取7种丛枝菌根(AM)树木和7种外生菌根(EM)树木的纯林, 测定各个树种的比叶面积、叶干物质含量、比根长、根系直径、树高生长速率、地径生长速率及细根生物量等根叶形态学功能性状和生长指标, 探讨了两种菌根类型树种间的根叶形态学特征的差异。结果表明: 与AM树种相比, EM树种具有较小的比叶面积、吸收根平均直径和生长速率, 但具有更大的叶干物质含量; 两种菌根树种之间的比根长和细根生物量无显著差异。比叶面积、叶干物质含量、树高生长速率、地径生长速率和细根生物量等功能性状及生长指标在不同菌根类型、树种及二者的交互作用中均存在显著差异; 且树种、根功能型、菌根类型及三者之间的交互作用均对根功能性状有显著影响。EM树种地上指标的种内变异均大于种间变异, 而AM树种地上指标的种内和种间变异程度类似; 但两种菌根树种细根生物量的种间变异均大于种内变异。尽管两种菌根树种地上部分生长速率较快通常表现为较低的叶干物质含量, 但AM树种通常拥有较高的吸收根比根长, 而EM树种拥有较粗的运输根平均直径。吸收根比根长越低, 两类菌根树种的细根生物量就越多。由此可见, 根叶功能性状对植物地上部分的生长具有一定的协同效应, 其中运输根主要在EM树种地上生长过程中发挥重要作用, 吸收根主要与AM树种的地上部分生长有关; 但两类菌根树种的地下细根生物量均与吸收根有关。     

不同管理模式对茶树碳氮磷含量及其生态化学计量比的影响

植物不同器官的碳(C)、氮(N)、磷(P)含量及其生态化学计量特征能够反映植物内部的养分分配与平衡关系。该研究以福建安溪3种不同管理模式的铁观音茶园为研究对象, 设置了常规管理模式下的茶园(M1)、间作套种模式下的茶园(M2)和现代技术管理模式下的茶园(M3) 3种样地, 分析茶树根、茎、叶器官的C、N、P含量及其化学计量学特征, 养分的变异特征与异速生长关系。结果表明: M2和M3管理模式下茶树根、茎、叶N、P含量均显著高于M1管理模式, C含量差异不明显; 茶树根、茎、叶C:N、C:P、N:P均表现为M1 > M2 > M3。茶树不同器官C、N、P含量差异较大, 根据变异来源分析, 管理模式因素对C、N、P含量变异的影响均达到显著水平。根茎叶N-P的异速生长关系表明茶树不同器官的养分需求存在相似性; 土壤pH和容重是影响C:N、C:P、N:P的重要因素, 而土壤含水量和盐度对茶树根和叶C含量的影响较大。总体来讲, 间作套种以及现代化滴灌、水肥等管理模式可以改善茶树对养分的吸收效率, 对解决土壤养分不均衡问题具有正面效应。     

九州虫草-半枝莲发酵产物不同极性部位与其抗A549细胞增殖活性的相关性分析

建立九州虫草-半枝莲双向固体发酵产物不同极性部位的HPLC特征图谱,并考察与其抑制肺腺癌A549细胞增殖活性的相关性。采用双向固体发酵技术制备九州虫草-半枝莲发酵产物;溶剂萃取法获得发酵产物的不同极性部位,并运用HPLC法建立不同极性部位的特征图谱;MTT法考察不同极性部位对A549细胞的增殖抑制作用;偏最小二乘回归法分析不同极性部位HPLC色谱峰与其抗增殖作用的相关性。抗增殖试验结果表明,不同极性部位对A549细胞均具有增殖抑制作用并且呈浓度依赖性;标示的9个共有色谱峰与抗增殖活性均呈正相关,其中色谱峰8、4、1、2、9分别为木犀草素、黄芩苷、对香豆酸、野黄芩苷、黄芩素。本研究建立了不同极性部位的HPLC特征图谱,极性部位中以二氯甲烷部位对A549细胞的体外抗增殖作用最佳,并借助谱效相关初步探究了发酵产物抗A549细胞增殖的药效物质基础,为双向固体发酵技术应用于菌种与传统中药提供了参考。     

Modeling vegetation greenness and its climate sensitivity with deep‐learning technology

Climate sensitivity of vegetation has long been explored using statistical or process‐based models. However, great uncertainties still remain due to the methodologies’ deficiency in capturing the complex interactions between climate and vegetation. Here, we developed global gridded climate–vegetation models based on long short‐term memory (LSTM) network, which is a powerful deep‐learning algorithm for long‐time series modeling, to achieve accurate vegetation monitoring and investigate the complex relationship between climate and vegetation. We selected the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) that represents vegetation greenness as model outputs. The climate data (monthly temperature and precipitation) were used as inputs. We trained the networks with data from 1982 to 2003, and the data from 2004 to 2015 were used to validate the models. Error analysis and sensitivity analysis were performed to assess the model errors and investigate the sensitivity of global vegetation to climate change. Results show that models based on deep learning are very effective in simulating and predicting the vegetation greenness dynamics. For models training, the root mean square error (RMSE) is <0.01. Model validation also assure the accuracy of our models. Furthermore, sensitivity analysis of models revealed a spatial pattern of global vegetation to climate, which provides us a new way to investigate the climate sensitivity of vegetation. Our study suggests that it is a good way to integrate deep‐learning method to monitor the vegetation change under global change. In the future, we can explore more complex climatic and ecological systems with deep learning and coupling with certain physical process to better understand the nature.     

A time course study on dose-response relationship between alcohol exposure and its effects on lipid profile and biomarkers of tissue damage

This present research investigated variations in lipid profiles and important biomarkers of tissue damage in response to graded concentrations of alcohol administration in male Wistar rats. Group A (control) received distilled water while group B, C and D received 30%, 40% and 50% (v/v) alcohol respectively. Five rats each from groups A-D were sacrificed after day(s) 1, 7, 14, 21 and 28 of administration. A significant increase was observed at day 28 for serum cholesterol by 79% (group B), 78% (group C) and 47% (group D) together with serum phospholipid 58% (group B), 50% (group C) and 92% (group D). Serum triacylglycerol increased by 71% (group B), 43% (group C) and 16% (group D) at day 21, while concentration of serum albumin decreased at day 28 by 40.9% (group B), 50.2% (group C), 53.3% (group D) respectively when compared with control (group A). Serum aminotransferases and alkaline phosphatase specific activities, as well as creatinine and uric acid concentration increased in a concentration-dependent manner, following alcohol administration. Though most of these effects induced by alcohol were time- and concentration-dependent, 40% alcohol appear to be more stable, giving results consistent with alcohol-induced damages, with minimal mortality. This study therefore further validated dyslipidemia and imbalance in clinical biomarkers as hallmarks of tissue damage induced by excessive alcohol consumption with an insight on the time- and concentration-response relationship between alcohol consumption and its toxicity.     

Structure-activity relationships of bergenin derivatives effect on α-glucosidase inhibition

The α-glucosidase inhibitory activities of bergenin derivatives were evaluated. Bergenin derivatives were synthesized from bergenin which is a characteristic compound of B. ligulata. A new bergenin derivative, 11-O-(3′,4′-dimethoxybenzoyl)-bergenin showed the highest potent inhibitory activity among those of bergenin derivatives. The presence of substituents at 3′,4′-position in bergenin derivatives altered the α-glucosidase inhibitory activity. 11-O-(3′,4′-dimethoxybenzoyl)-bergenin was noncompetitive inhibitor for α-glucosidase. The present study reveals that bergenin derivatives could be classified as a new group of α-glucosidase inhibitors.     

Synthesis and characterization of 5,7-dihydroxyflavanone derivatives as novel protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B inhibitors

A series of 5,7-dihydroxyflavanone derivatives were synthesized and identified as reversible and competitive protein tyrosine phosphatase (PTP) 1B inhibitors with IC₅₀ values in the micromolar range. Compound 4k had the most potent in vitro inhibition activity against PTP1B (IC₅₀ = 2.37?±?0.37 μM) and the greatest selectivity (3.7-fold) for PTP1B relative to T-cell protein tyrosine phosphatase. Cell-based studies revealed that 4k was membrane-permeable and enhanced insulin receptor tyrosine phosphorylation in CHO/hIR cells.     

Enantio-Selectivity of Human Nucleoside Monophosphate Kinases

Over recent years, there has been a renewed interest in the development of l-nucleosides as safe and efficacious drugs for the treatment of viral infections. Biological activity of these compounds requires phosphorylation to their triphosphate form, involving nucleoside monophosphate kinases in the second step. In order to characterize the activation pathway of l-nucleosides of the pyrimidine series, we studied the enantio-selectivity of human uridylate-cytidylate and thymidylate kinases. The results showed that these enzymes are only weakly enantio-selective and are thus probably involved in the activation of l-nucleosides in vivo. An activation pathway for telbivudine (l-dT) was therefore proposed.     

Improving medication adherence in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a systematic review

Adherence to medication among individuals with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is suboptimal and has negative impacts on survival and health care costs. No systematic review has examined the effectiveness of interventions designed to improve medication adherence. Electronic databases Medline and Cochrane were searched using a combination of MeSH and keywords. Eligible studies were interventions with a primary or secondary aim to improve medication adherence among individuals with COPD published in English. Included studies were assessed for methodological quality using the Effective Practice and Organisation of Care (EPOC) criteria. Of the 1,186 papers identified, seven studies met inclusion criteria. Methodological quality of the studies was variable. Five studies identified effective interventions. Strategies included: brief counselling; monitoring and feedback about inhaler use through electronic medication delivery devices; and multi-component interventions consisting of self-management and care co-ordination delivered by pharmacists and primary care teams. Further research is needed to establish the most effective and cost effective interventions. Special attention should be given to increasing patient sample size and using a common measure of adherence to overcome methodological limitations. Interventions that involve caregivers and target the healthcare provider as well as the patient should be further explored.