Communities of ground‐dwelling arthropods in conventional and transgenic maize: background data for the post‐market environmental monitoring

To verify the validity of concerns about environmental safety of maize expressing insecticidal Cry toxins (referred to as Bt maize), we compared communities of ground beetles (Carabidae), rove beetles (Staphylinidae) and spiders (Araneae) in plots planted either with Bt maize cultivar YieldGard^® or with the non‐transgenic parental cultivar Monumental. Each cultivar was grown on 5 plots of 0.5 ha for three consecutive years. To increase the field load of Cry toxin, the fully grown maize of the first study year was shredded to small pieces that were ploughed into the soil. Arthropods were collected in pitfall traps and determined to the species level. The abundance and species richness of all studied groups greatly varied over the season and between the seasons but without statistically significant differences between the Bt and non‐Bt plots. A single spider species and three ground beetle species dominated in the catches every year, whereas a set of 1–4 most abundant rove beetle species changed every year. Frequently occurring species were typical for most of Europe. The total counts of ground beetles, rove beetles and spiders collected once or twice per season are proposed to serve as bioindicators in the post‐market environmental monitoring (PMEM).     

五种菊科植物种子萌发对温度的响应及其入侵性

以粤东地区4种菊科入侵植物三叶鬼针草(Bidens pilosa)、微甘菊(Mikania micrantha)、南美蟛蜞菊(Wedelia trilobata)、藿香蓟(Ageratum conyzoides)和1种本土植物醴肠(Eclipta prostrata)为材料,研究了种子扩散时的萌发率以及种子经历低温(15℃、湿润)和常温(25℃和25/15℃、湿润)后的萌发响应特点。结果表明:种子扩散时,三叶鬼针草、醴肠、藿香蓟种子萌发率分别为100%、98%和62%~78%,微甘菊为44%~52%,南美蟛蜞菊为2%(25℃)和86%(25/15℃);5种菊科植物种子在15℃培养期间,平均萌发率由高至低依次是三叶鬼针草(82%~91%)、微甘菊(19%~26%)、醴肠(9%~12%)、南美蟛蜞菊(0~1%)、藿香蓟(0);在25℃和25/15℃下,藿香蓟种子萌发率为35%~49%,醴肠为58%~68%,南美蟛蜞菊为4%(25℃)和55%(25/15℃)。种子快速萌发、高萌发率,以及宽泛的萌发温度需求是1年生草本入侵种的主要入侵特性。     

长期不同施肥对玉米根茬生物量及养分累积量的影响

以黄土高原南部两个长期定位试验（分别开始于1990和2003年）为研究对象,探讨了不同肥料处理对玉米根茬生物产量和养分累积的影响.于2011年10月玉米收获后采集0～20 cm土层不同施肥处理玉米根茬.结果表明：与不施肥及偏施N、NK、PK化肥相比,氮磷配施（NP）、氮磷钾平衡施肥（NPK）、有机无机配施（M₁NPK、M₂NPK）及化肥配合秸秆（SNPK）处理均显著提高了玉米根茬干质量.根茬固碳量及氮、磷、钾养分累积量在NP、NPK、M₁NPK、M₂NPK、SNPK处理显著高于不施肥和偏施N、NK、PK化肥处理,其中以有机无机配施处理效果最好.与不施氮肥（N₀）相比,施氮120 kg N·hm^-2（N₁₂₀）和240 kg N·hm^-2（N₂₄₀）处理根茬干质量分别提高38%和45%,高量氮肥对根茬增量效果不显著.施用氮肥也显著提高了根茬碳、氮、磷、钾累积量.根茬可溶性有机碳、可溶性总氮含量在NP、NPK、M₁NPK、M₂NPK、SNPK及N₁₂₀和N240处理中较高.氮磷钾平衡施肥、有机无机配施以及秸秆还田处理降低了根茬的纤维素、木质素含量.根茬C/N、木质素/N在CK、PK、N₀处理间显著高于其他施肥处理.因此,氮磷配施、氮磷钾平衡施肥、有机无机配施及秸秆还田处理能够促进玉米根生长,提高营养成分含量,有利于土壤培肥和固碳.     

Carbon and nitrogen dynamics in bioenergy ecosystems: 1. Model development,validation and sensitivity analysis

Biofuel made from conventional (e.g., maize (Zea mays L.)) and cellulosic crops (e.g., switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) and Miscanthus (Miscanthus × giganteus)) provides alternative energy to fossil fuels and has been considered to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. To estimate the large‐scale carbon and nitrogen dynamics of these biofuel ecosystems, process‐based models are needed. Here, we developed an agroecosystem model (AgTEM) based on the Terrestrial Ecosystem Model for these ecosystems. The model was incorporated with biogeochemical and ecophysiological processes including crop phenology, biomass allocation, nitrification, and denitrification, as well as agronomic management of irrigation and fertilization. It was used to estimate crop yield, biomass, net carbon exchange, and nitrous oxide emissions at an ecosystem level. The model was first parameterized for maize, switchgrass, and Miscanthus ecosystems and then validated with field observation data. We found that AgTEM well reproduces the annual net primary production and nitrous oxide fluxes of most sites, with over 85% of total variation explained by the model. Local sensitivity analysis indicated that the model sensitivity varies among different ecosystems. Net primary production of maize is sensitive to temperature, precipitation, cloudiness, fertilizer, and irrigation and less sensitive to atmospheric CO₂ concentrations. In contrast, the net primary production of switchgrass and Miscanthus is most sensitive to temperature among all factors. Nitrous oxide fluxes are sensitive to management in maize ecosystems, and sensitive to climate factors in cellulosic ecosystems. The developed model should help advance our understanding of carbon and nitrogen dynamics of these biofuel ecosystems at both site and regional levels.     

20世纪初以前西方学者对中国冬虫夏草的记载和研究

冬虫夏草在中国是一种著名的药材。最早记录它的文献是15世纪的藏医籍《千万舍利》。随着法国传教士巴多明(Parennin)于1723年将冬虫夏草标本从北京寄往法兰西科学院,西方学术界开始了对这种中国药材的认识和研究历程。在1841年英国昆虫学家韦斯特伍德(Westwood)开始鉴定这种真菌以前,西方学者认为冬虫夏草的真菌子实体是植物的根。此后,英国真菌学家贝克莱(Berkeley)分别在1843和1856年将其定名为"Sphaeria Sinensis"和"Cordyceps sinensis"。但是为学界广泛使用并沿用至今的,却是意大利植物学家萨卡多(Saccardo)在其1883年的专著中为冬虫夏草的定名"Cordyceps sinensis(Berk.)Sacc."。在20世纪初以前,西方人对中国冬虫夏草的记录和描述具有多重价值,对于了解中国冬虫夏草的使用历史而言是重要的补充资料。     

The Tie-dyed pathway promotes symplastic trafficking in the phloem

The tie-dyed1 (tdy1) and tdy2 mutants of maize exhibit leaf regions with starch hyperaccumulation and display unusual genetic interactions, suggesting they function in the same physiological process. Tdy2 encodes a putative callose synthase and is expressed in developing vascular tissues of immature leaves. Radiolabelling experiments and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) revealed symplastic trafficking within the phloem was perturbed at the companion cell/sieve element interface. Here, we show that as reported for tdy2 mutants, tdy1 yellow leaf regions display an excessive oil-droplet phenotype in the companion cells. Based on the proposed function of Tdy2 as a callose synthase, our previous work characterizing Tdy1 as a novel, transmembrane-localized protein, and the present findings, we speculate how TDY1 and TDY2 might interact to promote symplastic transport of both solutes and developmentally instructive macromolecules during vascular development at the companion cell/sieve element interface.     

Development and Characterization of Simple Sequence Repeat Markers Providing Genome-Wide Coverage and High Resolution in Maize

Simple sequence repeats (SSRs) have been widely used in maize genetics and breeding, because they are co-dominant, easy to score, and highly abundant. In this study, we used whole-genome sequences from 16 maize inbreds and 1 wild relative to determine SSR abundance and to develop a set of high-density polymorphic SSR markers. A total of 264 658 SSRs were identified across the 17 genomes, with an average of 135 693 SSRs per genome. Marker density was one SSR every of 15.48 kb. (C/G)n, (AT)n, (CAG/CTG)n, and (AAAT/ATTT)n were the most frequent motifs for mono, di-, tri-, and tetra-nucleotide SSRs, respectively. SSRs were most abundant in intergenic region and least frequent in untranslated regions, as revealed by comparing SSR distributions of three representative resequenced genomes. Comparing SSR sequences and e-polymerase chain reaction analysis among the 17 tested genomes created a new database, including 111 887 SSRs, that could be develop as polymorphic markers in silico. Among these markers, 58.00, 26.09, 7.20, 3.00, 3.93, and 1.78% of them had mono, di-, tri-, tetra-, penta-, and hexa-nucleotide motifs, respectively. Polymorphic information content for 35 573 polymorphic SSRs out of 111 887 loci varied from 0.05 to 0.83, with an average of 0.31 in the 17 tested genomes. Experimental validation of polymorphic SSR markers showed that over 70% of the primer pairs could generate the target bands with length polymorphism, and these markers would be very powerful when they are used for genetic populations derived from various types of maize germplasms that were sampled for this study.     

Biochemical characterization of maize (Zea mays L.) for salt tolerance

The inherent differences for salt tolerance in two maize cultivars (Agatti-2002 and Sahiwal-2002) were evaluated in pot experiments. Plants were grown in half-strength of Hoagland nutrient solution added with 0, 80, 100, 120, 140 and 160 mM of NaCl. Salt stress markedly reduced the shoot and root lengths and fresh and dry masses. Reduction in growth attributes was more pronounced in cv. Agatti-2002 than cv. Sahiwal-2002. Both maize cultivars exhibited significant perturbations in important biochemical attributes being employed for screening the crops for salt tolerance. Cultivar Sahiwal-2002 was found salt tolerant as compared to cv. Agatti-2002 because it exhibited lower levels of H₂O₂, malondialdehyde (MDA) and higher activities of antioxidant enzymes. In addition, cultivar Sahiwal-2002 exhibited less salt-induced degradation of photosynthetic pigments, lower levels of toxic Na⁺ and Cl^?  and higher endogenous levels of K⁺ and K⁺/Na⁺ ratio. The results indicate that salt stress induced a marked increase in MDA, H₂O₂, relative membrane permeability, total soluble proteins and activities of antioxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase, peroxidase, catalase andascorbate peroxidase). Moreover, increase in endogenous levels of Na⁺ and Cl^?  and decrease in K⁺ and K⁺/Na⁺ ratio and photosynthetic pigments were recorded in plants grown under salinity regimes.