Comparative wood anatomy of epacrids (Styphelioideae,Ericaceae s.L.)

The wood anatomy of 16 of the 37 genera within the epacrids (Styphelioideae, Ericaceae s.l.) is investigated by light and scanning electron microscopy. Several features in the secondary xylem occur consistently at the tribal level: arrangement of vessel-ray pits, distribution of axial parenchyma, ray width, and the presence and location of crystals. The primitive nature of Prionoteae and Archerieae is supported by the presence of scalariform perforation plates with many bars and scalariform to opposite vessel pitting. The wood structure of Oligarrheneae is similar to that of Styphelieae, but the very narrow vessel elements, exclusively uniseriate rays and the lack of prismatic crystals in Oligarrheneae distinguish these two tribes. The secondary xylem of Monotoca tamariscina indicates that it does not fit in Styphelieae; a position within Oligarrheneae is possible. Like most Cosmelieae, all Richeeae are characterized by exclusively scalariform perforation plates with many bars, a very high vessel density and paratracheal parenchyma, although they clearly differ in ray width (exclusively uniseriate rays in Cosmelieae vs. uniseriate and wide multiseriate rays in Richeeae). Several wood anatomical features confirm the inclusion of epacrids in Ericaceae s.l. Furthermore, there are significant ecological implications. The small vessel diameter and high vessel frequency in many epacrids are indicative of a high conductive safety to avoid embolism caused by freeze-thaw cycles, while the replacement of scalariform by simple vessel perforation plates and an increase in vessel diameter would suggest an increased conductive efficiency, which is especially found in mesic temperate or tropical Styphelieae.     

Neurobiological constraints and fly systematics: how different types of neural characters can contribute to a higher level dipteran phylogeny

Much uncertainty still exists regarding higher level phylogenetic relationships in the insect order Diptera, and the need for independent analyses is apparent. In this paper, I present a parsimony analysis that is based on details of the nervous system of flies. Because neural characters have received little attention in modern phylogenetic analyses and the stability of neural traits has been debated, special emphasis is given to testing the robustness of the analysis itself and to evaluating how neurobiological constraints (such as levels of neural processing) influence the phylogenetic information content. The phylogenetic study is based on 14 species in three nematoceran and nine brachyceran families. All characters used in the analysis are based on anatomical details of the neural organization of the fly visual system. For the most part they relate to uniquely identifiable neurons, which are cells or cell types that can be confidently recognized as homologues among different species and thus compared. Parsimony analysis results in a phylogenetic hypothesis that favors specific previously suggested phylogenetic relationships and suggests alternatives regarding other placements. For example, several heterodactylan families (Bombyliidae, Asilidae, and Dolichopodidae) are supported in their placement as suggested by Sinclair et al. (1993), but Tipulidae and Syrphidae are placed differently. Tipulidae are placed at a derived rather than ancestral position within the Nematocera, and Syrphidae are placed within the Schizophora. The analysis suggests that neural characters generally maintain phylogenetic information well. However, by "forcing" neural characters onto conventional phylogenetic analyses it becomes apparent that not all neural centers maintain such information equally well. For example, neurons of the second-order visual neuropil, the medulla, contain stronger phylogenetic "signal" than do characters of the deeper visual center, the lobula plate. These differences may relate to different functional constraints in the two neuropils.     

The features of cotyledon areoles in Leguminosae and their systematic utility

The cotyledon areole, which is a spot with granular projections of epidermal cells, appears on the abaxial surface and on the midvein of some legume seed cotyledons. The distribution and systematic utility of cotyledon areoles were studied by observation of 132 legume species, which represent 100 genera and are classified into 34 tribes of three subfamilies, i.e., Caesalpinioideae, Mimosoideae, and Papilionoideae. The cotyledon areole is found in many species of Papilionoideae but not in the other two subfamilies. Presence of a cotyledon areole is presumed to be an apomorphic character state in Papilionoideae from the outgroup rule.     

Distributed torsion angle grid search in high dimensions: A systematic approach to NMR structure determination

Two complementary approaches for systematic search in torsion angle space are described for the generation of all conformations of polypeptides which satisfy experimental NMR restraints, hard-sphere van der Waals radii, and rigid covalent geometry. The first procedure is based on a recursive, tree search algorithm for the examination of linear chains of torsion angles, and uses a novel treatment to propagate the search results to neighboring regions so that the structural consequences of the restraints are fully realized. The second procedure is based on a binary combination of torsion vector spaces for connected submolecules, and produces intermediate results in Cartesian space for a more robust restraint analysis. Restraints for NMR applications include bounds on torsion angles and internuclear distances, including relational and degenerate restraints involving equivalent and nonstereoassigned protons. To illustrate these methods, conformation search results are given for the tetrapeptide APGA restrained to an idealized -turn conformation, an alanine octapeptide restrained to a right-handed helical conformation, and the structured region of the peptide SYPFDV.     

黄土高原小流域治理效益评价与系统评估研究——以宁夏西吉县黄家二岔为例

根据黄土高原地区小流域及其治理的特点,提出了效益评价指标体系和评价方法,以生产力,均衡性,稳定性和持续性４基参数共８个指标从整体上系统平估了小流域在不 原状态,以黄家二岔小流域为例作了说明。     

Selection of DNA aptamers against epidermal growth factor receptor with high affinity and specificity

Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR/HER1/c-ErbB1), is overexpressed in many solid cancers, such as epidermoid carcinomas, malignant gliomas, etc. EGFR plays roles in proliferation, invasion, angiogenesis and metastasis of malignant cancer cells and is the ideal antigen for clinical applications in cancer detection, imaging and therapy. Aptamers, the output of the systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment (SELEX), are DNA/RNA oligonucleotides which can bind protein and other substances with specificity. RNA aptamers are undesirable due to their instability and high cost of production. Conversely, DNA aptamers have aroused researcher’s attention because they are easily synthesized, stable, selective, have high binding affinity and are cost-effective to produce. In this study, we have successfully identified DNA aptamers with high binding affinity and selectivity to EGFR. The aptamer named TuTu22 with K_d 56 ± 7.3 nM was chosen from the identified DNA aptamers for further study. Flow cytometry analysis results indicated that the TuTu22 aptamer was able to specifically recognize a variety of cancer cells expressing EGFR but did not bind to the EGFR-negative cells. With all of the aforementioned advantages, the DNA aptamers reported here against cancer biomarker EGFR will facilitate the development of novel targeted cancer detection, imaging and therapy.     

南海永暑礁晚全新世微型腹足类——仁螺目,古腹足目,盘足目

南海南沙群岛永暑礁南永3井揭示了1 680年以来礁泻湖的沉积变化。沉积柱样主要由沉积遗壳组成,其中腹足类是最主要的类型之一。对该井88个样品分析共发现了159个种类和一些难以归入属种的胎壳,大多数种类为该海区首次记录的类型,有四个种是新发现的种类,即Astraea armata sp .nov .,Munditiella flammea sp .nov .,Serpulorbis spiralis sp .nov .,Cerithiopsis bellatulus sp .nov .,主要的优势种包括Acteocina coarctata , Ac-teocinaexilis , Alvania sp .,Boschitestella eloiseae , Cerithidium fusca , Cerithiopsis ingens , Cerithium( Therici-um) elegantulum, Circumstella biconcave , Clathrofenella reticulata , Diniatys dentifer , Granulina cotamago , Lophocochlias minutissi mus , Merelina wanawana , Omalogyra cf .atomus, Ondina elachisinoides , Orbitestella bermudezi , Orbitestella decorata , Plesiotrochus acutangulus , Retusa ( Ventomnestia) bizonata, Ringicula durodai ,Ringicula columnifera , Ringicula niinoi , Scissurella coronata , Tricoliavariabilis , Turbonilla eupellucida。这些种类个体非常微小,大多数小于2 mm。绝大多数种类为典型的热带海区分子,它们具有广泛的地理分布。本文按Okutani(2000)分类系统进行了分类,主要描述了仁螺目,古腹足目和盘足目共40个种的形态特征、地理分布和生态习性,包括2个新种,绝大多数种类系南沙群岛海区首次记录。     

植物分类学实验教学模式改革

以使学生通过实验学习顺利掌握“鉴别植物种类所需的基本技能”的训练为出发点,来对植物分类学实验教学体系进行重新构建,并根据新体系对实验教学方法和考核方法进行改革和调整,从而提高了教学效果,促进了学生综合素质的提高。     

Lack of resolution in the animal phylogeny: closely spaced cladogeneses or undetected systematic errors?

A recent phylogenomic study reported that the animal phylogeny was unresolved despite the use of 50 genes. This lack of resolution was interpreted as "a positive signature of closely spaced cladogenetic events." Here, we propose that this lack of resolution is rather due to the mutual cancellation of the phylogenetic signal (historical) and the nonphylogenetic signal (due to systematic errors) that results from inadequate taxon sampling and/or model of sequence evolution. Starting with a data set of comparable size, we use 3 different strategies to reduce the nonphylogenetic signal: 1) increasing the number of species; 2) replacing a fast-evolving species by a slowly evolving one; and 3) using a better model of sequence evolution. In all cases, the phylogenetic resolution is markedly improved, in agreement with our hypothesis that the originally reported lack of resolution was artifactual.     

Effects of amino acid composition, finite size of proteins, and sparse statistics on distance-dependent statistical pair potentials

Statistical distance dependent pair potentials are frequently used in a variety of folding, threading, and modeling studies of proteins. The applicability of these types of potentials is tightly connected to the reliability of statistical observations. We explored the possible origin and extent of false positive signals in statistical potentials by analyzing their distance dependence in a variety of randomized protein-like models. While on average potentials derived from such models are expected to equal zero at any distance, we demonstrate that systematic and significant distortions exist. These distortions originate from the limited statistical counts in local environments of proteins and from the limited size of protein structures at large distances. We suggest that these systematic errors in statistical potentials are connected to the dependence of amino acid composition on protein size and to variation in protein sizes. Additionally, atom-based potentials are dominated by a false positive signal that is due to correlation among distances measured from atoms of one residue to atoms of another residue. The significance of residue-based pairwise potentials at various spatial pair separations was assessed in this study and it was found that as few as approximately 50% of potential values were statistically significant at distances below 4 A, and only at most approximately 80% of them were significant at larger pair separations. A new definition for reference state, free of the observed systematic errors, is suggested. It has been demonstrated to generate statistical potentials that compare favorably to other publicly available ones.