黄河中游晋陕峡谷陕西侧龙门至壶口段新发现的石制品

2019-2020年,在黄河中游晋陕峡谷陕西一侧龙门至壶口段新发现9处旷野旧石器地点,采集石制品136件,部分石制品直接采自地层剖面上。康家岭地点石制品的埋藏地层为马兰黄土底部的洪积碎屑层,时代可能为晚更新世早期。苏家岭地点有1件石制品出自MIS3阶段弱古土壤层之下的洪积碎屑层,光释光年龄为距今7.2±0.7万年。其余大部分石制品的埋藏地层为马兰黄土层,时代为晚更新世中、晚期,其中凉泉沟地点埋藏石制品的黄土地层光释光年龄大于距今5万年。古人类加工石制品的原料主要为砾石,岩性以石英岩为主,其次为石英,此外还有少量燧石、细砂岩和硅质岩。石制品类型包括石核、石片、石器和断块。个体大小以中小型为主。石核和石片以自然台面者为主,剥片主要采用硬锤锤击法直接剥片,少量应用砸击法。石器有中小型的刮削器、凹缺器和大型的砍砸器,均属简单石核-石片技术产品。本次新发现的旧石器地点进一步扩大了晋陕峡谷地区旧石器时代遗存的时空分布范围,有助于后续相关研究工作的开展。     

汾河入黄口夏季微生物群落结构分析

【背景】河流交汇区日益成为流域生态治理的焦点和热点之一。【目的】探明汾河入黄口微生物群落结构及其主要环境影响因子。【方法】应用16S rRNA基因Illumina MiSeq高通量测序技术,分析了汾河入黄口夏季微生物群落结构,并利用典范对应分析(Canonical correspondence analysis,CCA)了解影响微生物群落的主要环境因子。【结果】多样性指数分析表明该区域微生物群落多样性较高。微生物多样性分析发现优势菌门为变形菌门(Proteobacteria)、厚壁菌门(Firmicutes)、拟杆菌门(Bacteroidetes)和放线菌门(Actinobacteria);在属分类水平上,相对丰度最高的菌属为芽孢杆菌属(Bacillus),其次为乳球菌属(Lactococcus)和hgcI_clade。Spearman相关性分析及典范对应分析表明环境因子对水体微生物群落结构具有显著影响。【结论】汾河与黄河微生物群落组成具有一定的差异,不同环境因子对不同微生物的影响程度不同,p H和溶解氧(Dissolved oxygen,DO)是汾河入黄口微生物群落结构的主要影响因子。     

黄河口潮间带大型底栖动物群落特征

2013年2月、5月和8月对黄河入海口附近潮间带的大型底栖动物进行了调查,调查工作涵盖3个季节2条断面的样品,分析了黄河口潮间带大型底栖动物的群落结构特征,包括群落种类组成、丰度和生物量、优势种、多样性,采用CLUSTER聚类分析了大型底栖动物的群落结构,并用AMBI和m-AMBI对底栖群落和环境质量进行了评估。本次调查共鉴定出大型底栖动物52种,其中,多毛纲动物24种,软体动物14种,甲壳动物12种,鱼类1种,纽虫1种。多毛纲动物为该海域底栖群落的主要成分,占据了群落总种数的46.15%。从季节来看,物种数春季最高(38种),夏季则处于最低水平(16种)。群落丰度和生物量均具有明显的季节变化,丰度在春季达到最高,为3 549.33 ind/m2,远高于冬季的256.67 ind/m2和夏季的100.67 ind/m2,其中扁玉螺(Neverita didyma)是丰度的主要贡献者,贡献了全年群落总丰度的75.44%。生物量春季最高,夏季次之,冬季最低。在全年尺度上,甲壳动物的日本大眼蟹(Macrophthalmusjaponicus)是生物量的主要贡献者,占据总生物量的49.86%。群落的季节变化也得到了群落CLUSTER分析与SIMPER分析结果的验证。这与黄河入海口附近底质不稳定,易受侵蚀、环境条件如盐度等具有明显季节差异,以及一定程度的人为扰动密切相关。AMBI和m-AMBI的分析结果显示,该区域环境质量状况较好,仅受到了轻微扰动影响。     

Role of protein in the primary step of the photoreaction of yellow protein

We show the unexpectedly important role of the protein environment in the primary step of the photoreaction of the yellow protein after light illumination. The driving force of the trans-to-cis isomerization reaction was analyzed by a computational method. The force was separated into two different components: the term due to the protein-chromophore interaction and the intrinsic term of the chromophore itself. As a result, we found that the contribution from the interaction term was much greater than that coming from the intrinsic term. This accounts for the efficiency of the isomerization reaction in the protein environment in contrast to that in solution environments. We then analyzed the relaxation process of the chromophore on the excited-state energy surface and compared the process in the protein environment and that in a vacuum. Based on this analysis, we found that the bond-selectivity of the isomerization reaction also comes from the interaction between the chromophore and the protein environment.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Halobacillus locisalis</Emphasis> sp. nov., a halophilic bacterium isolated from a marine solar saltern of the Yellow Sea in Korea

A Gram-positive, motile, endospore-forming and rod-shaped halophilic bacterial strain MSS-155 (KCTC 3788 and KCCM 41687) was isolated from a marine solar saltern of the Yellow Sea in Korea and was subjected to a polyphasic taxonomic study. This organism grew at temperature of 10.0–42.0°C with an optimum of 35°C. Strain MSS-155 grew optimally in the presence of 10% NaCl and did not grow in the absence of NaCl. The cell wall peptidoglycan type of strain MSS-155 was A4 based on l-Orn-d-Asp. Strain MSS-155 was also characterized chemotaxonomically by having menaquinone-7 (MK-7) as the predominant isoprenoid quinone and anteiso-C_15:0 as the major fatty acid. The DNA G+C content was 44.0 mol%. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rDNA sequences showed that strain MSS-155 falls within the radiation of the cluster comprising Halobacillus species. Levels of 16S rDNA sequence similarity between strain MSS-155 and the type strains of four Halobacillus species were in the range 97.6–98.8%. Strain MSS-155 exhibited levels of DNA-DNA relatedness of 6.2–11.2% to the type strains of Halobacillus species described previously. On the basis of phenotypic properties, phylogeny, and genomic data, strain MSS-155 should be placed in the genus Halobacillus as a member of a novel species, for which we propose the name Halobacillus locisalis sp. nov.Communicated by W.D. Grant     

Possibilities of subunit localization with fluorescent protein tags and electron microscopy examplified by a cyanobacterial NDH-1 study

Cyanobacterial NDH-1 is a multisubunit complex involved in proton translocation, cyclic electron flow around photosystem I and CO₂ uptake. The function and location of several of its small subunits are unknown. In this work, the location of the small subunits NdhL, -M, -N, -O and CupS of Synechocystis 6803 NDH-1 was established by electron microscopy (EM) and single particle analysis. To perform this, the subunits were enlarged by fusion with the YFP protein. After classification of projections, the position of the YFP tag was revealed; all five subunits are integrated in the membrane domain. The results on NDH-1 demonstrate that a GFP tag can be revealed after data processing of EM data sets of moderate size, thus showing that this way of labeling is a fast and reliable way for subunit mapping in multisubunit complexes after partial purification.     

Descending interneurones from the brain and suboesophageal ganglia and their role in the control of locust behaviour

Lesion and stimulation experiments suggest that the suboesophageal ganglion (SOG) plays a special role in the control of insect behaviour: in bilateral coordination and by maintaining ongoing motor activity. Anatomical observations indicate that there are descending interneurones (DINs) originating in the SOG in addition to those from the brain. An SOG preparation for sampling both types of DIN intracellularly in walking locusts is described. Forty-three units showing activity changes during leg movements and walking were recorded. Using dye injection six were shown to be through-running axons; one was an SOG ascending interneurone; and eight were SOG DINs, 7 contralateral, one ipsilateral. All fired before or during movements and received various sensory inputs. Many gave complex responses to different modalities, several showing directional preferences. Some SOG neurones showed spontaneous changes in activity; activity outlasting movements; or responses to passive as well as active movements. These preliminary results suggest neuronal substrates for the special functions of the SOG in behaviour. They also indicate that DINs, rather than being simple relays, are part of a dynamic network which includes the motor centres. Regulation of complex and subtle aspects of behaviour may be achieved by dynamic and sequential patterns of activity in groups of DINs, some of which may be multifunctional.     

Detailed identification of desert-originated bacteria carried by Asian dust storms to Japan

Several halotolerant bacteria were isolated from dust allowed to settle passively on saline medium in Higashi-Hiroshima, Japan during Asia dust events in 2005–2006. The primary identification, based on the sequence similarity of the 16S rRNA gene, revealed that these isolates were strains of Bacillus subtilis, B. licheniformis, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Gracillibacillus sp., and Halomonas venusta. A parallel investigation carried out on desert sand collected directly from sand dunes in Dunhuang, Gobi Desert, China resulted in the revivification of seven bacterial strains that were highly identical to the B. subtilis and B. licheniformis strains obtained in Higashi-Hiroshima (99.7 and 100% of 16S rDNA sequence similarity, respectively). A subsequent genetic analysis on the group of B. licheniformis isolates based on the universally house-keeping genes, gyrB and parE, revealed high sequence similarities in both genes among the strains of both locations (99.0–99.4%), which clustered them in a monophyletic line. Phenotype characterized by numerical taxonomy for 150 physiological tests confirmed the close relatedness between strains (similarity coefficient S _SM = 96.0%). The remarkable agreement between phenotype and genotype of the bacterial isolates allows us to conclude that there may have been an aerosolized dispersion of a Gobi Desert B. licheniformis by dust storms to Japan. This study provides evidence of microbial transport by yellow dust events in North-East Asia.     

宁夏河东沙地生物土壤结皮对土壤性质及入渗过程的影响

为了揭示沙漠化治理过程中生物土壤结皮覆盖对土壤入渗过程的影响规律,以宁夏河东沙地人工沙漠治理区4种典型地表覆盖类型：裸沙(BS)、藻类结皮(AC)、藓类结皮(MC)、草本-藓类结皮(H-MC)为研究对象,基于野外双环入渗试验与室内模拟,分析了3种生物土壤结皮覆盖下土壤性质的变化与土壤入渗特征。结果表明：(1)与BS相比,3种结皮覆盖下表层土壤砂粒含量减少2.0%-5.1%,粉粒含量增加3.6%-5.8%,有机质含量增加了5-6倍,AC和MC覆盖下土壤总孔隙度与饱和含水量降低,而H-MC与之相反;(2)平均入渗速率表现为BS>H-MC>AC>MC,1h累计入渗量表现为H-MC>BS>AC>MC,与BS相比,AC、MC和H-MC的初渗速率依次减少了14.3%、37.2%、11.8%,AC、MC的稳渗速率分别降低了14.4%和18.3%,H-MC的稳渗速率增加了4.5%;(3)三种模型中,Kostiakov模型最适用于模拟生物土壤结皮覆盖下土壤水分入渗过程。综上,研究区内不同发育程度生物土壤结皮改变了下层土壤的性质以及土壤的入渗特征,MC与AC阻碍水分入渗,H-MC促进水分入渗。     

黄海夏季虾类群落结构及其与环境因子的关系

根据2014年8月在黄海进行的渔业资源和环境综合调查数据,应用相对重要性指数、生物多样性指数和多元统计分析等方法对黄海夏季虾类群落结构及其与环境因子的关系进行了研究.结果表明： 本次调查共捕获虾类20种,隶属于3目10科16属.各调查站点虾类相对资源丰度为13～45047 g·h^-1,平均资源丰度为6838 g·h^-1.优势种为脊腹褐虾,常见种为中华安乐虾,偶见种为戴氏赤虾、葛氏长臂虾、口虾蛄.各站点多样性指数(H)变化范围为0.007～1.538,平均值为0.391;丰富度指数(D)变化范围为0.101～1.138,平均值为0.374;均匀度指数(J)变化范围为0.006～0.947,平均值为0.298.等级聚类分析(Cluster)与非度量多维标度分析(MDS)表明,调查范围基本以45 m等深线为界将所有站点分成两个组群：冷水团组群(Ⅰ)和沿岸组群(Ⅱ),ANOSIM分析表明两组群差异极显著.BIOENV分析表明,影响黄海夏季虾类群落空间结构的最主要环境因子是底层水温与底层盐度.黄海夏季虾类群落以冷水团组群占绝对优势,黄海冷水团对黄海夏季虾类群落的分布格局具有决定性的影响.