兼容性立木生物量非线性模型研究

1　引　言资源和环境问题,是人类社会面临的严峻挑战。森林作为一种再生资源和重要的环境资源,不仅可持续提供社会发展所必不可少的林产品,而且在全球环境保护方面占有独一无二的地位。因此,在当今森林资源监测中,森林生物量作为重要监测项目已在全球范围内得到普遍承认,并被国际林联(ＩＵＦＲＯ)在《国际森林资源监测大纲》中列为最主要的监测项目之一[1]。由于生物量测定的难度大,对于区域性的生物量清查,最切实可行的方法是将其作为清查项目兼容于已有的森林资源监测体系中。就我国情况而言,首先应建立能与立木材积模型兼容且生物总量与…     

Statistical mechanics of protein folding by exhaustive enumeration

It is hard to construct theories for the folding of globular proteins because they are large and complicated molecules having enormous numbers of nonnative conformations and having native states that are complicated to describe. Statistical mechanical theories of protein folding are constructed around major simplifying assumptions about the energy as a function of conformation and/or simplifications of the representation of the polypeptide chain, such as one point per residue on a cubic lattice. It is not clear how the results of these theories are affected by their various simplifications. Here we take a very different simplification approach where the chain is accurately represented and the energy of each conformation is calculated by a not unreasonable empirical function. However, the set of amino acid sequences and allowed conformations is so restricted that it becomes computationally feasible to examine them all. Hence we are able to calculate melting curves for thermal denaturation as well as the detailed kinetic pathway of refolding. Such calculations are based on a novel representation of the conformations as points in an abstract 12-dimensional Euclidean conformation space. Fast folding sequences have relatively high melting temperatures, native structures with relatively low energies, small kinetic barriers between local minima, and relatively many conformations in the global energy minimum's watershed. In contrast to other folding theories, these models show no necessary relationship between fast folding and an overall funnel shape to the energy surface, or a large energy gap between the native and the lowest nonnative structure, or the depth of the native energy minimum compared to the roughness of the energy landscape. Proteins 32:425–437, 1998. © 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Construction and analysis of a detailed three-dimensional model of the ligand binding domain of the human B cell receptor CD40

The interaction between the human B cell receptor CD40 and its ligand on T cells is critical for B cell proliferation and the regulation of humoral immune responses. CD40 is a member of the tumor necrosis factor receptor (TNFR) family. We report here the construction and analysis of a detailed three-dimensional model of the TNFR-homologous extracellular region of CD40. This study provides an example for structure-based model building in the presence of low sequence similarity. The assessment of model quality and sequence-structure compatibility is emphasized, and limitations of the model are discussed. The current CD40 model predicts structural details beyond the backbone level. Features of the CD40 ligand binding site are discussed in conjunction with the results of a previous mutagenesis study. Proteins 27:59–70 © 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

A statistical approach to the evaluation of characters to estimate evolutionary relationships among the species of the aquatic subterranean genus, Iberobathynella (Crustacea, Syncarida)

The 13 known species of the genus Iberobathynella were studied. Twenty-six characters with usually two or three states were revealed to have low within-species variability but show clear differences among some species. These characters were hypothesized to have states convex on the branching pattern of the phylogenetic lines that gave rise to these 13 species (i.e. be uniquely derived). Each pair of these hypotheses was tested for logical compatibility; then, for each character, a new character was created by choosing equiprobably one of the possible permutations of the 13 species to rename the species in each state. Characters created in this random way would have convex states only by chance, not by evolution. This random character was tested with each of the remaining 25 for logical compatibility as hypotheses of convexity. For each character, one thousand such random characters were created and tested. Sixteen observed characters were compatible with more other observed characters than 90% of their randomly generated counterparts, and so were considered plausibly non-random. They were used to speculate on branching patterns of the phylogenetic lines among the 13 species.     

Divergence in style length and pollen size leads to a postmating‐prezygotic reproductive barrier among populations of Silene latifolia

A central tenet of speciation research is the need to identify reproductive isolating barriers. One approach to this line of research is to identify the phenotypes that lead to reproductive isolation. Several studies on flowering plants have shown that differences in style length contribute to reproductive isolation between species, leading us to consider whether style length could act as a reproductive barrier among populations of a single species. This could occur if style length varied sufficiently and pollen size covaried with style length. Populations of Silene latifolia exhibit variation in flower size, including style length, that is negatively correlated with annual precipitation. We show that this divergence in style length has a genetic basis and acts as a reproductive barrier: males from small‐flowered populations produced relatively small pollen grains that were poor at fertilizing ovules when crossed to females from large‐flowered populations, leading to a significant reduction in seed production. Manipulating the distance pollen tubes had to travel revealed that this failure was purely mechanical and not the result of other incompatibilities. These results show that style length acts as a postmating‐prezygotic reproductive barrier and indicate a potential link between ecotypic differentiation and reproductive isolation within a species.     

Automatic imitation in budgerigars

A fully automated procedure, involving computer-controlled stimulus presentation and computer-recorded response measurement, was used for the first time to study imitation in non-human animals. After preliminary training to peck and step on a manipulandum, budgerigars were given a discrimination task in which they were rewarded with food for pecking during observation of pecking and for stepping during observation of stepping (Compatible group), or for pecking while observing stepping and for stepping while observing pecking (Incompatible group). The Incompatible group, which had to counter-imitate for food reward, showed weaker discrimination performance than the Compatible group. This suggests that, like humans, budgerigars are subject to 'automatic imitation'; they cannot inhibit online the tendency to imitate pecking and/or stepping, even when imitation of these behaviours interferes with the performance of an ongoing task. The difference between the two groups persisted over 10 test sessions, but the Incompatible group eventually acquired the discrimination, making more counter-imitative than imitative responses in the final sessions. These results are consistent with the associative sequence learning model, which suggests that, across species, the development of imitation and the mirror system depends on sensorimotor experience and phylogenetically ancient mechanisms of associative learning.     

Fifty years of character compatibility concepts at work

In the mid 19th century,systematic biologists realized that observable similarities and differences among a group of related species could be the basis for hypotheses about the evolutionary relationships among the species and their ancestors.Such hypotheses Can be expressed as characters.A character is comprised of two or more character states of species considered to be similar with respect to a basis for comparison.The states of a character may also be arranged into a character state tree to hypothesize speciation events associated with changes from one character state to another.In the mid 20th century.some systematists realized that sometimes paxrs of characters(or character state trees)could be incompatible as hypotheses,i.e.,they could not both be true.Through the 1950s,'60s and'70s,tests for,and ways to resolve,incompatibilities were used to estimate an ancestor relation based on mutually compatible characters.An estimate was often shown as a diagram connecting ancestors to their immediate descendants(not quite correctly)called a phylogenetic tree.More recently,other applications of compatibility concepts have been developed,including:identify characters that appear to be random in the context of their data set;combine estimates of ancestor relations for subsets of taxa in a larger collection into a single estimate(a so-called supertree)for the whole collection;and interpret geographic patterns in an evolutionary context.     

Pattern of differentiation in the annual killifish genus Austrolebias (Cyprinodontiformes: Rivulidae) from a biosphere reserve site in South America: a multidisciplinary approach

The annual killifish genus Austrolebias includes approximately 38 species distributed throughout the Paraná-Plata basin and Patos-Merín system. Within the Austrolebias adloffi species complex, the Uruguayan populations of Austrolebias charrua were considered as an intergradation between A. adloffi and Austrolebias viarius populations. Austrolebias charrua presents an intermediate phenotype between both taxa and high levels of morphological and chromatic variability. In the present study, we incorporate different methodological approaches (molecular, morphology, and gamete ultrastructure) to elucidate the pattern of differentiation among the parapatric taxa ( A. charrua , Austrolebias reicherti , A. viarius ) distributed in a Biosphere Reserve Site. Analyses of cytochrome b sequences show high values of DNA polymorphism, in particular for A. charrua. This is in accordance with both morphological and gametic variation. Using a statistical parsimony network based on these sequences and analysis of morphological data, past fragmentation and range expansion involving perhaps secondary contact between A. charrua and A. reicherti could be proposed. Coloration pattern and morphometric analyses showed an unexpected higher similarity between the most distantly-related taxa, A. viarius and A. charrua . This could be the result of retention of ancestral polymorphisms, especially in A. charrua populations from ponds of higher elevation, or to directional selection acting in similar ecological environments. Because these annual killifish species are considered endangered, our work reinforces the high priority need to include them in a conservation programme.  © 2009 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society , 2009, 98 , 620–635.     

生态系统管理的多目标体系和方法

20世纪90年代以来,人们开始采用“生态系统管理”这种基于生态系统原理的综合方法管理自然资源和生态环境,促进人类与自然的和谐发展。然而,生态系统自身的复杂性、动态性及不确定性特点使得“生态系统管理”难以形成明确的定义和方法体系,系统的多重尺度和目标也增加了管理的难度。近20年兴起的系统工程主要针对大规模复杂系统进行研究,实现系统的总体优化。多目标决策和决策支持系统是系统工程的常用技术方法,生态系统管理是“基于目标”的管理模式。本文概述了生态系统管理的概念和要素,从构建管理体系的角度着重阐述了生态系统管理目标体系的结构、构建过程及目标间的相互关系,针对生态系统的复杂特性探讨了多目标决策方法和决策支持系统在生态系统管理中的应用,以期能够对形成具有普遍意义和实际操作性的生态系统管理方法体系起到借鉴作用。     

Chemically moderated gamete preferences predict offspring fitness in a broadcast spawning invertebrate

Sperm chemoattraction, where sperm locate unfertilized eggs by following a concentration gradient of egg-derived chemoattractants, has been widely documented across numerous taxa. While marine invertebrates are favoured models for understanding the underlying mechanisms of sperm chemoattraction, the evolutionary forces underpinning the process remain enigmatic. Here, we show that in mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis), chemically moderated gamete preferences promote assortative fertilizations between genetically compatible gametes. When offered the choice of egg clutches from two females, sperm exhibited consistent but differential ‘preferences’ for chemical cues secreted from conspecific eggs. Critically, our data reveal that the preferences shown by sperm during the egg-choice trials are highly predictive of early embryonic viability when eggs and sperm from the same individuals are mixed during standard (no-choice) fertilization assays. Moreover, we demonstrate that by experimentally separating chemoattractants from eggs, sperm swimming behaviour is differentially regulated by egg-derived chemoattractants, and that these changes in sperm behaviour are highly consistent with observed patterns of gamete preferences, fertilization and larval survival. Together, this integrated series of experiments reveals that the behaviour of sperm is fine-tuned to respond differentially to the chemical signals emitted from different conspecific eggs, and that these choices have measurable fitness benefits.