Cytological characterization of isolated sperm cells of perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.)

Summary The cytoplasmic content and the distribution of intramembrane particles (IMPs) of the plasma membrane of isolated sperm cells of perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) have been characterized using flow cytometry, transmission electron microscopy, confocal scanning laser microscopy and freeze-fracture studies. The isolated haploid sperm cells contain a variety of cell organelles with the exception of microtubules. Proplastids and plastids with starch were observed, although only rarely. Vacuoles containing remnants of organelles and stacked lamellae of endoplasmic reticulum with cytoplasmic inclusions were observed frequently, indicating that autophagy takes place. The number of mitochondria varies from 11 to 26 with an average of 17. Generally, the nucleus has a lobed shape and displays various interphasic stages of chromatin condensation. The analysis of the number of mitochondria and the nuclear state did not show evidence of sperm cell dimorphism. The cytological variability observed, could be explained by differences in developmental stages already present in vivo at the moment of isolation. No correlation between the number of mitochondria and the nuclear cross-sectioned area and/or the condensation state of the chromatin could be found. The density of intramembrane particles of the plasma membrane on the exoplasmic fracture face is more than twice that on the protoplasmic fracture face. That is the opposite of what was found for sporophytic cells of perennial ryegrass. These results are discussed in relation to the potential use of these cells for biotechnology and developmental studies.     

Enhancement of extractable ethylene at light/dark transition in primary leaves of paclobutrazol-treated Phaseolus vulgaris seedlings

Paclobutrazol [(2RS,3RS)-1-(4-chlorophenyl)-4,4-dimethyl-2-(1,2,4-triazol-1-yl)pentan-3-ol], a triazole growth retardant, increased the 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) level and resulted in reduced ethylene production, estimated as ethylene release in a closed system or by vacuum-extraction, in the primary leaves of Phaseolus vulgaris L. cv. Juliska seedlings exposed to light. At the light/dark transition, a definite enhancement of the endogenous ethylene level was observed by vacuum-extraction of primary leaves of treated plants and the ethylene deficiency of retardant-treated leaves ceased. The concentration of ACC after the light/dark transition followed the pattern for ethylene, and the increase in ACC content was paralleled by a decrease in malonyl-ACC.
It is concluded that the internal level of ethylene is not necessarily lower in the primary leaves of paclobutrazol-treated bean plants, but under special environmental conditions in vivo it may reach that of the control.     

旋毛虫肌幼虫ES抗原的基因克隆及高效表达

作者对编码旋毛虫肌幼虫ES抗原的部分结构基因进行了克隆、鉴定和表达。用RNA PCR技术直接从旋毛虫肌幼虫总RNA中反转录并扩增出0．7kh的靶DNA,酶切分析后将其克隆到融合表达载体pEx3lC中。SDS—PAGE电泳表明,含重组子的大肠杆菌能够表达出一分子量为37kDa的融合蛋白(P37),后者占菌体总蛋白的22%以上,并以包含体形式存在于菌体中。经对纯化后表达蛋白的ELlSA检测,证明它能被猪旋毛虫病阳性血清和抗旋毛虫单克隆抗体识别。研究结果揭示,重组蛋白P37对于研制旋毛虫病诊断抗原和免疫抗原具有潜在的应用价值。     

转化生长因子α－绿脓杆菌外毒素融合蛋白TGFα－PE40高效表达质粒的构建和表达

利用基因工程技术,将质粒pYX382用xbaI和EcoRl切下插入的TGFa—PE40融合 基因片段-连接到可表达载体pCB604的XbaⅠ／EcoR Ⅰ位点中,构建成新的重组质粒p2x—TP1。P2x—TP1转化E.coli BL2l感受志菌后,在ⅠPTG诱导下Ⅰpp启动子转录表达TGFα—PE40融合蛋白。表达产物主要以包涵体形式沉积在细胞内。融合蛋白表达量的高低与诱导时的细胞密度,诱导的温度以及培养基有关。在一定范围内与诱导剂的剂量以及诱导时间的长短无关。P2x—TPl重组质粒在工程菌中的表达TGFα－PE40融合蛋白量约为50mg／L。     

Avian diversity and function across the world's most populous cities

Understanding the composition of urban wildlife communities is crucial to promote biodiversity, ecosystem function and links between nature and people. Using crowdsourced data from over five million eBird checklists, we examined the influence of urban characteristics on avian richness and function at 8443 sites within and across 137 global cities. Under half of the species from regional pools were recorded in cities, and we found a significant phylogenetic signal for urban tolerance. Site-level avian richness was positively influenced by the extent of open forest, cultivation and wetlands and avian functional diversity by wetlands. Functional diversity co-declined with richness, but groups including granivores and aquatic birds occurred even at species-poor sites. Cities in arid areas held a higher percentage of regional species richness. Our results indicate commonalities in the influence of habitat on richness and function, as well as lower niche availability, and phylogenetic diversity across the world's cities.     

Environmental,geographical and time-related impacts on avian malaria infections in native and introduced populations of house sparrows (Passer domesticus), a globally invasive species

Aim

The increasing spread of vector-borne diseases has resulted in severe health concerns for humans, domestic animals and wildlife, with changes in land use and the introduction of invasive species being among the main possible causes for this increase. We explored several ecological drivers potentially affecting the local prevalence and richness of avian malaria parasite lineages in native and introduced house sparrows (Passer domesticus) populations.

Location

Global.

Time period

2002–2019.

Major taxa studied

Avian Plasmodium parasites in house sparrows.

Methods

We analysed data from 2,220 samples from 69 localities across all continents, except Antarctica. The influence of environment (urbanization index and human density), geography (altitude, latitude, hemisphere) and time (bird breeding season and years since introduction) were analysed using generalized additive mixed models (GAMMs) and random forests.

Results

Overall, 670 sparrows (30.2%) were infected with 22 Plasmodium lineages. In native populations, parasite prevalence was positively related to urbanization index, with the highest prevalence values in areas with intermediate urbanization levels. Likewise, in introduced populations, prevalence was positively associated with urbanization index; however, higher infection occurred in areas with either extreme high or low levels of urbanization. In introduced populations, the number of parasite lineages increased with altitude and with the years elapsed since the establishment of sparrows in a new locality. Here, after a decline in the number of parasite lineages in the first 30 years, an increase from 40 years onwards was detected.

Main conclusions

Urbanization was related to parasite prevalence in both native and introduced bird populations. In invaded areas, altitude and time since bird introduction were related to the number of Plasmodium lineages found to be infecting sparrows.     

家燕营巢特征及其对城市环境的适应性

城市面积在全球范围内迅速扩张,一些鸟类种群通过改变营巢特征,在与自然生境截然不同的城市中筑巢繁殖。但目前城市环境对于鸟类营巢影响的研究较缺乏。为了解鸟类营巢对城市环境的适应,于2016、2019年在黑龙江哈尔滨的城市与乡村环境,分别测量家燕（Hirundo rustica）巢（如,大小及形状）及巢址特征等（如,距地面和屋顶距离）参数,以探究：（1）家燕巢特征在乡村及城市生境是否存在差异？（2）家燕巢特征在年际间是否存在变化？并为城市家燕种群的保护提供理论依据及合理建议。研究采用Kruskal-Wallis秩和检验以及Wilcoxon秩和检验比较分析所测量的巢特征参数在城乡之间、年际间的差异,并对组间参数进行线性判别分析（LDA,Linear Discriminant Analysis）。结果发现,城乡间具有显著差异：（1）与乡村相比,城市巢距离屋顶更远,距地相对更近（P<0.05）;（2）城市巢更浅（P<0.05）;（3）从2016到2019年,城市和乡村巢都变得更深,半径更大（P<0.05）。根据这些发现,推测城市楼房建筑的楼道为家燕繁殖提供了相对更为封闭、安全的环境,旧巢及较为丰富的支撑物为家燕提供了适宜的巢址,有可能节省亲鸟在营巢上的繁殖投入;但同时应当警惕门窗关闭、资源受限、人为干扰等不利因素可能造成的生态陷阱。     

长三角地区植被覆盖演变城乡差异及其原因

城市生态环境和城市化之间的关系是城市可持续发展的关键。研究不同城市化水平下植被覆盖的长时间演变趋势,对理解城市化过程对植被生长动态的影响,城市更新以及推进城市绿化的科学管理具有重要意义。然而,目前对城市内部沿城乡梯度植被生长趋势差异的认识还比较有限。以我国城市化发展最为强烈的长三角地区为研究对象,基于2000-2020年长三角归一化植被指数数据,采用趋势分析和地理探测器方法,探究了长三角地区城市内部植被覆盖演变城乡差异,并从土地利用/覆被变化和城市化发展的角度解析其成因。研究结果表明：（1）2000-2020年长三角地区植被总体呈绿化趋势,植被明显绿化占最大比例（52.06%）,轻微绿化与稳定不变地区占31.68%,零星分布的褐化区占6.82%。（2）城市老城区植被覆盖变化总体呈现返绿趋势（0.016/10 a）,新城区褐化明显（-0.019/10 a）,农郊区绿化突出（0.023/10 a）。在上海、南京和杭州等人口城市化水平较高的城市中,老城区土地利用变化强度最高,其绿化趋势也最高,体现了城市更新过程对绿地空间的促进作用;而在人口城市化水平相对较低的宣城、蚌埠和阜阳等城市,土地利用变化强度相对较低的农郊区也呈现明显的绿化趋势,更多的是受到区域生态保护的影响。（3）土地城市化是长三角地区老城区和新城区植被覆盖变化的主导因子,而城市化因子对农郊区解释程度总体不显著。从长三角总体区域看,城镇人口比重、不透水面积/总面积以及地区生产总值三者对植被覆盖演变存在显著影响,其中城镇人口比重影响最大。     

基于不同网格尺度福州主城区鸟类多样性与景观特征的关系研究

理解城市鸟类多样性与景观特征的关系对城市生物多样性保护和可持续发展具有重要意义。通过爬取中国观鸟记录中心网站2020年福州主城区436份观鸟报告数据计算鸟类丰富度指数(S)、Shannon-Wiener多样性指数(H)和Simpson多样性指数(D);基于谷歌地球引擎和高分辨率Worldview影像量化景观特征因子;在此基础上,采用Mann-Whitney U检验了两个网格尺度(300 m和1000 m)下S、H和D指数的差异性;运用广义线性模型探究了两个尺度下影响鸟类多样性指数的关键景观因子及其重要性。结果表明：(1)2020年研究区内共观测到242种鸟类,隶属19目59科,雀形目鸟类为优势种;数量占比从高到低依次为留鸟、冬候鸟、旅鸟和夏候鸟,分别为63.53%、25.83%、6.71%和3.93%;(2)两个尺度下鸟类多样性指数差异明显,1000 m尺度下S和H指数均显著高于300 m尺度(0.05相似文献