Extreme climatic events change the dynamics and invasibility of semi-arid annual plant communities

Extreme climatic events represent disturbances that change the availability of resources. We studied their effects on annual plant assemblages in a semi-arid ecosystem in north-central Chile. We analysed 130 years of precipitation data using generalised extreme-value distribution to determine extreme events, and multivariate techniques to analyse 20 years of plant cover data of 34 native and 11 exotic species. Extreme drought resets the dynamics of the system and renders it susceptible to invasion. On the other hand, by favouring native annuals, moderately wet events change species composition and allow the community to be resilient to extreme drought. The probability of extreme drought has doubled over the last 50 years. Therefore, investigations on the interaction of climate change and biological invasions are relevant to determine the potential for future effects on the dynamics of semi-arid annual plant communities.     

Contrasting effects of insect and molluscan herbivores on plant diversity in a long-term field experiment

The importance of invertebrate herbivores in regulating plant communities remains unclear, due to the absence of long-term exclusion experiments. An experiment in an English grassland involving long-term exclusions of insect and mollusc herbivores, along with rabbit fencing, showed strong, but opposing, effects of the invertebrate herbivores. Plant species richness declined and biomass increased following insect exclusion, due to increased dominance by a grass species, whereas mollusc exclusion led to increased herbs abundance. The two herbivores had a compensatory interaction: molluscs had no effects in the absence of insects and large insect effects depended on the absence of molluscs. The effects of invertebrate exclusion became apparent only after 8 years, and would have been seriously underestimated in shorter studies. Our results suggest that theorists and conservation managers need to shift from their historic focus on vertebrate herbivory, to a recognition that invertebrates can be equally important drivers of plant community structure.     

Follow-up study of Wiedemann-Rautenstrauch syndrome: long-term survival and comparison with Rautenstrauch's patient "G"

BACKGROUND: Wiedemann-Rautenstrauch syndrome (WRS) characterizes a neonatal progeroid entity. In the last 30 years, 28 cases have been reported. In most cases of WRS, survival is short and long-term studies are impossible. CASE: In the present report, we describe a patient with WRS followed for 17 years at the Instituto de Genética, Universidad Nacional de Colombia; this is an exceptional survival period for a person with WRS. The information collected through 17 years for the present patient provides new knowledge about the natural evolution of this syndrome. New clinical and laboratory characteristics are compared with those reported for Rautenstrauch's patient "G." CONCLUSIONS: Our results confirm the variability of this syndrome, especially at the neurological level. However, many etiological and pathological aspects of this syndrome remain unknown.     

Short-term and long-term effects of increasing temperatures on the stability and the production of volatile sulfur compounds in full-scale thermophilic anaerobic digesters

This study compares the effect of a rapid increase of the digester temperature (from 54 degrees C to 58 degrees C in 2 weeks) with a slow increase (from 53.9 degrees C to 57.2 degrees C at a rate of 0.55 degrees C per month) on full-scale thermophilic anaerobic digestion at Hyperion Treatment Plant. The short-term test demonstrated that rapidly increasing the digester temperature caused elevated production of volatile sulfur compounds, most notably methyl mercaptan, but volatile solids destruction and methane production were not significantly affected. The increase of the volatile fatty acid to alkalinity ratio from 0.1 to over 0.3 indicated a transient change in digester biochemistry, which was reversed by lowering the temperature. In the long term-test, a slow increase of digester temperature, the production of hydrogen sulfide increased above temperatures of 56.1 degrees C, but was controlled by increased injection of ferrous chloride. Methyl mercaptan was detected in trace amounts at the highest temperature tested (57.2 degrees C). This test showed insignificant effects on other digestion parameters, although some temperature-independent changes were observed that could have been seasonal effects over the year that the long-term test lasted. Thus a slow temperature increase was preferable. This observation contrasts with previous results showing the desirability of a rapid temperature rise to first establish a thermophilic culture when converting from mesophilic operation. Further research is warranted on temperature limits and process changes to optimize thermophilic anaerobic digestion.     

野生稻抗病虫基因的研究与利用

野生稻是宝贵的种质资源,具有丰富的遗传多样性。多项研究表明,野生稻对多种病虫害有较强的抗性。但由于野生稻的远缘杂交存在许多的弊端,因而采用常规杂交技术不能选育出新的抗性品种而未能这到利用野生稻抗性基因的目的。可考虑从野生稻中提取抗性活性成分用于植物源农药的开发研究,但在实际的研究中发现其有效活性成分含量较少和基因遗传连锁障碍等两个问题。基因的分子标记定住技术可解决这两个难点。使野生稻特别是非AA组野生稻的抗病虫基因在植物源农药开发中的利用成为现实。     

Long term changes of biodiversity of benthic macroalgae in the intertidal zone of the Nanji Islands

A long term observation on biodiversity and biomass of benthic macroalgae in Point 1 of the intertidal zone of the Nanji Islands, Zhejiang were carried out during 1959–2007, including three phases, i.e. 1959–1965, 1980–1985 and 2000–2007. The results show that the species of the benthic macroalgae there disappeared by 41.7%, and decreasing trend of the biodiversity has been getting quick; the community structure clearly shifted, i.e. the proportion of subtropical and warm-temperate species increased, and that of cold-temperate species decreased in the benthic macroalgae assemblage, particularly the calcareous nullipore became an absolutely dominant group. In comparison with the second phase (1980–1985), during the third phase the average annual biomass of the benthic macroalgae decreased by 52.5%; the average spring and winter biomass decreased by 54.1% and 87.2%; while the average summer and autumn biomass increased by 11.1% and 3.2%, respectively. The causes of the decrease in the biodiversity have been discussed, and the authors considered that the climate change and increase in CO₂ concentration have been the main reasons to lead berserk growth of the nullipore, resulting in desertification tendency of the intertidal zone of the Nanji Islands.     

Bioreactor expansion of human neural precursor cells in serum‐free media retains neurogenic potential

Human neural precursor cells (hNPCs), harvested from somatic tissue and grown in vitro, may serve as a source of cells for cell replacement strategies aimed at treating neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson's disease (PD), Huntington's disease (HD), and intractable spinal cord pain. A crucial element in a robust clinical production method for hNPCs is a serum‐free growth medium that can support the rapid expansion of cells while retaining their multipotency. Here, we report the development of a cell growth medium (PPRF‐h2) for the expansion of hNPCs, achieving an overall cell‐fold expansion of 10¹³ over a period of 140 days in stationary culture which is significantly greater than other literature results. More importantly, hNPC expansion could be scaled‐up from stationary culture to suspension bioreactors using this medium. Serial subculturing of the cells in suspension bioreactors resulted in an overall cell‐fold expansion of 7.8 × 10¹³ after 140 days. These expanded cells maintained their multipotency including the capacity to generate large numbers of neurons (about 60%). In view of our previous studies regarding successful transplantation of the bioreactor‐expanded hNPCs in animal models of neurological disorders, these results have demonstrated that PPRF‐h2 (containing dehydroepiandrosterone, basic fibroblast growth factor and human leukemia inhibitory factor) can successfully facilitate the production of large quantities of hNPCs with potential to be used in the treatment of neurodegenerative disorders. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2010. 105: 823–833. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.