Genomic insights into selection for heterozygous alleles and woody traits in Populus tomentosa

Heterozygous alleles are widespread in outcrossing and clonally propagated woody plants. The variation in heterozygosity that underlies population adaptive evolution and phenotypic variation, however, remains largely unknown. Here, we describe a de novo chromosome-level genome assembly of Populus tomentosa, an economic and ecologically important native tree in northern China. By resequencing 302 natural accessions, we determined that the South subpopulation (Pop_S) encompasses the ancestral strains of P. tomentosa, while the Northwest subpopulation (Pop_NW) and Northeast subpopulation (Pop_NE) experienced different selection pressures during population evolution, resulting in significant population differentiation and a decrease in the extent of heterozygosity. Analysis of heterozygous selective sweep regions (HSSR) suggested that selection for lower heterozygosity contributed to the local adaptation of P. tomentosa by dwindling gene expression and genetic load in the Pop_NW and Pop_NE subpopulations. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) revealed that 88 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within 63 genes are associated with nine wood composition traits. Among them, the selection for the homozygous AA allele in PtoARF8 is associated with reductions in cellulose and hemicellulose contents by attenuating PtoARF8 expression, and the increase in lignin content is attributable to the selection for decreases in exon heterozygosity in PtoLOX3 during adaptive evolution of natural populations. This study provides novel insights into allelic variations in heterozygosity associated with adaptive evolution of P. tomentosa in response to the local environment and identifies a series of key genes for wood component traits, thereby facilitating genomic-based breeding of important traits in perennial woody plants.     

高寒草甸植物群落功能多样性对不同生长期干旱的响应机制

植物对干旱胁迫的响应表现为各功能性状的差异化表达。全球气候变化下,青藏高原地区降水格局发生改变,高寒草甸群落功能性状及功能多样性在不同生长期干旱事件下的响应机制对加深高寒草甸适应气候变化认知具有重要意义。以藏北高寒草甸为研究对象,设置截雨棚模拟生长季前期（ED）、中期（MD）和非生长季时期（ND）干旱事件,通过观测群落物种功能性状,分析高寒草甸群落功能多样性对不同生长期干旱的响应机制。结果表明：（1）叶片功能性状对干旱存在差异响应,表现为叶片小而厚且寿命长,同化速率降低,并受氮元素限制加剧;（2）生长季前期干旱对高寒草甸群落功能性状的影响最强,生长季中期干旱次之,非生长季干旱的影响最弱;（3）生长季干旱处理显著改变了群落的功能多样性,ED处理下功能分散度指数（FDiv）和功能分异度指数（FDis）显著降低（P<0.05）,而Rao二次熵指数（RaoQ）显著升高（P<0.05）,MD处理下功能均匀度指数（FEve）显著降低（P<0.05）;（4）相关性分析得出,群落功能性状与功能多样性对干旱的响应之间存在着联系。本研究发现高寒草甸植物功能性状与群落功能多样性对生长季前期和中期干旱存在差异化响应,指示着高寒草甸植物群落在响应不同时期干旱时可能采取不同的生存策略,即对生长季前期干旱采用耐旱策略、对生长季中期干旱采用避旱策略。探讨了高寒草甸植物群落功能多样性对不同生长时期干旱胁迫的响应机制,为预测未来季节性干旱事件对青藏高原高寒草甸植物功能性状、群落特征和功能多样性的影响提供科学依据。     

中国遥感干旱指数时空特征及其对气候和地表覆盖变化的响应

干旱严重影响植被生长,威胁粮食安全,基于遥感计算的植被状态指数（Vegetation Condition Index,VCI）、温度状态指数（Temperature Condition Index,TCI）和植被健康指数（Vegetation Health Index,VHI）是常用的干旱指数,被广泛应用于干旱监测。为了探究近年来我国干旱特征及其对气候和地表覆盖变化的响应,分析了2003-2016年期间VCI、TCI和VHI的时空变化特征;采用最小二乘（OLS）和偏相关分析方法分析了这些指数对气候和地表覆盖变化的响应。基于上述干旱指数计算的干旱频率表明,中温带中部和南温带等地区干旱发生频率高,干旱指数变化趋势表明在2003-2016年期间中国大部分地区干旱缓解,但在中温带、南温带和高原气候区等局部地区干旱加剧;总体而言,干旱指数随着年平均温度的上升和年降水量的降低而减小,VHI与温度和降水量的相关性在不同气候区的一致性优于VCI和TCI;裸土的减少和植被的增加导致干旱指数增大,树木转变为低矮植被干旱指数降低。     

春小麦对骤旱的响应特征及其阈值分析

与缓慢发展的干旱过程不同,骤旱具有发生速度快,短期内可致害的特点。目前,关于作物骤旱致害的临界阈值及其调控机制尚不清楚。以春小麦为供试作物,通过桶栽试验,模拟研究骤旱过程中小麦受旱致害的过程特征及其控制因素。结果发现,发生骤旱时土壤含水量下降呈先快后慢的变化趋势,叶片水分和叶水势则呈先慢后快的指数变化趋势。叶片光合生理指标对土壤水分的下降存在明显的阈值响应,且不同生理指标的阈值并不完全相同,其中净光合速率与表征叶片光合能力的指标（最大羧化速率）对土壤有效含水量的响应阈值为0.4,气孔导度和蒸腾速率对土壤有效含水量的响应阈值分别为0.5和0.4。而小麦光合生理指标对叶片水分和叶水势的阈值响应并不明显。同时依据各生理指标相关和通径分析结果得出,骤旱发生时引起小麦叶片净光合速率快速降低的主导因子为非气孔因素,而并不是以往作物受旱研究中的气孔因素。本研究结果有望丰富干旱影响认知,并可为科学应对干旱提供依据。     

一些海洋浮游植物量子产值的研究

现场实验以及用硅藻、金藻和绿藻所做的实验表明,在光饱和深度以下,随着深度的增加,浮游植物的量子产懂具有不变、增加和下降3种垂直变化趋势。偏离理论模式的后两种结果可能是由浮游植物的光强适应(Light-shade adaptation)等原因引起。还探讨了量子产值作为初级生产力模型和光利用效率模型中的参数的问题。     

Frog call transmission in forestry monocultures: Are there drawbacks?

Anuran males emit advertisement calls for the purpose of attracting females and repelling conspecific males. Call transmission is influenced by the acoustics of the propagation environment, including vegetation. Thus, forestry monocultures of non-native trees represent artificial environments that could modify call transmission. These monocultures have substituted large areas of Atlantic Forest in southern Brazil, representing a conservation challenge. Considering this context, we hypothesized that anurans have calls that are less attenuated in their native environment than in forest plantations. To test it, we performed sound transmission experiments using calls of three anuran species native to southern Brazil: Boana bischoffi, B. leptolineata, and Hylodes meridionalis. We compared sound attenuation between the native forest and forestry monocultures (Eucalyptus sp. and Pinus sp. forests), and included distance from the sound source, air temperature, humidity, and vegetation density as cofactors in linear mixed models. Our results show that the advertisement calls of the two tree frogs (Boana) attenuate less in tree plantations than in native forests, while the third species shows either no differences or less attenuation in native forests. Our results can be understood according to differences in natural history and microhabitat use among the studied species. The two tree frog species vocalize perched from vegetation so their calls become better transmitted in forestry monocultures, which have fewer trees than the native forest. On the other hand, H. meridionalis calls from rocks on streams and the propagation is finely tuned to this peculiar microhabitat. We discuss the conservation implications of our findings for anurans and for the Atlantic Forest. Abstract in Portuguese and Spanish are available with online material.     

Responses of the desert green algae,Chlorella sp. to drought stress

Desert algae are important components of the desert soil crust and play an essential role in desert soil ecosystem development. Owing to their special habitat, desert algae are often exposed to harsh environments, among which drought represents the most common stress. Green algae are considered to have drought tolerance potential; however, only a few studies have investigated this. In this study, we selected the green alga Chlorella sp., which was isolated from desert soil, and studied its physiological response to polyethylene glycol (PEG) 6000-induced drought stress. The results showed that drought stress can affect the photosynthetic efficiency of Chlorella sp., reduce its water retention ability, and destroy its ultrastructure. However, Chlorella sp. can cope with drought stress through a series of physiological regulatory strategies. Protective strategies include quick recovery of photosynthetic efficiency and increased chlorophyll content. In addition, induced synthesis of soluble proteins, lipids, and extracellular polysaccharide (EPS), and accumulation of osmotic regulatory substances, such as sucrose and trehalose, also contribute to improving drought tolerance in Chlorella sp. This study provides insights into the physiological responses of Chlorella sp. to drought stress, which may be valuable for understanding the underlying drought adaptation mechanisms of desert green algae.     

Melatonin Promotes Rice Seed Germination under Drought Stress by Regulating Antioxidant Capacity

Drought stress is a serious threat to the germination of plant seeds and the growth of seedlings. Melatonin has been proven to play an important role in alleviating plant stress. However, its effect on seed germination under drought conditions is still poorly understood. Therefore, we studied the effects of melatonin on rice seed germination and physiological characteristics under drought stress. Rice seeds were treated with different concentrations of melatonin (i.e., 0, 20, 100, and 500 μM) and drought stress was simulated with 5% polyethylene glycol 6000 (PEG6000). The results showed that 100 μM melatonin can effectively improve the germination potential, rate and index; the vigor index of rice seeds; and the length of the shoot and root. In addition, that treatment also increased the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD) and catalase (CAT), and reduced the content of malondialdehyde (MDA). The grey relational grade between the shoot MDA content and the melatonin seed-soaking treatment was the highest, which could be useful for evaluating the effect of melatonin on drought tolerance. Two-way analysis of variance showed that the effect of single melatonin treatment on rice seeds was more significant than that of single drought stress and interaction treatment of drought and melatonin (p < 0.05). The subordinate function results showed that 100 μM melatonin significantly improved the germination and physiological indexes of rice seeds and effectively alleviated the adverse effects of drought stress on rice seedlings. The results helped to improve the understanding of the morphological and physiological involvement of melatonin in promoting seed germination and seedling development under drought stress.     

An ancient enzyme finds a new home: Prevalence and neofunctionalization of trypsin in marine phytoplankton

Trypsin is an ancient protease best known as a digestive enzyme in animals, and traditionally believed to be absent in plants and protists. However, our recent studies have revealed its wide presence and important roles in marine phytoplankton. Here, to gain a better understanding on the importance of trypsin in phytoplankton, we further surveyed the distribution, diversity, evolution and potential ecological roles of trypsin in global ocean phytoplankton. Our analysis indicated that trypsin is widely distributed both taxonomically and geographically in marine phytoplankton. Furthermore, by systematic comparative analyses we found that algal trypsin could be classified into two subfamilies (trypsin I and trypsin II) and exhibited highly duplicated and diversified during evolution. We also observed markedly different domain sequences and organizations between and within the subfamilies, suggesting potential neofunctionalization. Diatoms contain both subfamilies of trypsin, with higher numbers of genes and more environment-responsive expression of trypsin than other lineages. The duplication and subsequent neofunctionalization of the trypsin family may be important in diatoms for adapting to dynamical environmental conditions, contributing to diatoms' dominance in the coastal oceans. This work advances our knowledge on the distribution and neofunctionalization of this ancient enzyme and creates a new window of research on phytoplankton biology.