普氏野马繁殖群在组建和放归初期的争斗行为与社群等级建立

2007年5月下旬至6月下旬,针对新组群并放归于卡拉麦里有蹄类保护区第二放归点的普氏野马(Equus przewalskii)繁殖群,采用焦点动物取样法和全事件记录法,观测记录了组群和放归初期繁殖群内个体间的争斗行为(攻击行为和屈服行为),以优势指数法确定繁殖群内的个体等级序列。结果表明,新组群内个体的年龄与攻击行为发出次数不存在显著的相关性(r=0.60,t=1.62,rr0.05),攻击与屈服行为次数也无显著的相关性(r=0.56,t=1.41,rr0.05)。各个体之间从最初组群到野放争斗行为日趋减少,社群等级逐渐建立并趋于稳定。     

抗体库技术与策略进展

抗体库为基因工程抗体领域带来了革命性的突破,其技术核心是将抗体的表型与基因型偶联,从抗体库中找到针对特异抗原的抗体基因。抗体库的基因可来自免疫或非免疫的策略;抗体分子形式包括Fab、单链抗体、单域抗体、微型抗体、最小识别单位等;展示平台包括噬菌体、核糖体、酵母、细菌、杆状病毒、哺乳细胞等;筛选策略包括抗原、细胞、组织切片、体内筛选等。抗体库在操作上具有高通量、工程化的特点,便于实现产业化,显示出巨大的商业开发价值。     

Genetic diversity of two Southern African cichlids (Oreochromis andersonii and O. macrochir) in the Zambezi and Congo River basins

Oreochromis andersonii and O. macrochir are two important cichlid species native to Southern Africa. We describe in this paper their genetic population structure in the Upper Zambezi River, Kafue River, and Lake Bangweulu representing part of the Congo and Zambezi River Basins. Microsatellite genetic markers were employed to analyse the genetic population structure of the two species using 177 tissue samples. The average allele richness of O. andersonii was higher in the Zambezi River (10.500) than in the Kafue River (9.583) though not statistically different. For O. macrochir, it was highest in the Zambezi River (11.170) followed by the Kafue River (9.781) and least in Lake Bangweulu (7.067) and their differences were significant. The gene diversity indices; gene diversity (hs), observed heterozygosity (H_O), expected heterozygosity (H_E) were high and similar in O. andersonii populations. However, in O. macrochir H_E was significantly lower in Lake Bangweulu (0.678) compared to the Kafue River (0.799) and Zambezi River (0.802) populations. Population differentiation estimated by R_ST and D_EST revealed high differentiation in both species (R_ST = 0.598, D_EST = 0.777 for O. andersonii; R_ST = 0.379, D_EST = 0.710 for O. macrochir). The highest source of variation was among populations (84.71%) for O. andersonii and within populations (67.09%) for O. macrochir. Comparisons of population pairs revealed a close genetic similarity between the Zambezi River and Lake Bangweulu populations of O. macrochir. Bottlenecks were observed in both species using the Two-Phase Model (T.P.M.) indicative of a recent genetic loss or reduction in effective population size. Though our results indicate that the populations of both species still maintain sufficiently high levels of genetic diversity in the sampled areas, the bottlenecks observed are a source of concern. We recommend a more robust study of genetic diversity of these species in all sections of these river systems and that some key conservation sites should be identified to protect the gene pool of these native species.     

狼毒大戟的小孢子发生与雄配子体发育

采用石蜡制片技术研究了狼毒大戟（Euphorbia fischeriana）的小孢子发生及雄配子体发育过程,结果表明：狼毒大戟的花药为四分孢子囊,花药壁为五层,发育为基本型;变形绒毡层,细胞为双核;小孢子母细胞减数分裂中的胞质分裂为同时型;四分体排列通常为四面体型,少数左右对称型;成熟花粉为三细胞型,椭球形,具三沟孔。研究结果为狼毒大戟的生物学研究及应用开发积累基础资料。     

片段化森林群落构建的生态过程及其检验方法

鉴于全球森林均呈现片段化(破碎化)的分布状态, 理解片段化森林群落构建的过程很有必要。该文通过综述群落构建的主要生态过程如生态漂变、扩散、选择和物种形成等在片段化森林群落构建中的相对作用, 发现因片段化森林形成方式的不同, 重构群落(片段化生境中通过次生演替重新形成的森林群落)和解构群落(原有森林被片段化后形成的森林群落)在不同演替阶段所受到的主要生态过程的相对作用有所不同。虽然利用基于群落内物种分布格局推测构建过程(如物种多度分布、零模型结合β多样性的方法、功能特征的收敛和发散等)、人工控制实验、群落结构动态分析等方法对片段化森林中群落构建的过程进行了有效的检验, 但是针对片段化森林群落构建过程的实验性研究仍然不足。未来有待在理论模型、群落构建过程的检验以及理论与物种保护相结合等方面继续开展深入的研究。     

鳜胰岛素样生长因子-I cDNA全长克隆及组织表达分析

采用RT-PCR、cDNA末端快速扩增法(RACE)等技术克隆了鳜(Siniperca chuatsi)肝组织胰岛素样生长因子-I(IGF-I)cDNA全长序列.结果表明,鳜IGF-I cDNA全长1 784 bp,包括5'端非翻译区233bp,3'端非翻译区990 bp和开放阅读框561 bp,共编码186个氨基酸;前肽由信号肽、成熟肽、E肽三部分组成,其中,信号肽44个氨基酸,成熟肽68个氨基酸,E肽74个氨基酸;成熟肽由B、C、A、D 4个区域组成,E肽分析表明,鳜IGF-I属Ea-4型.鳜IGF-I氨基酸序列与其他脊椎动物IGF-I氨基酸序列相似度达81%～99%,表明IGF-I在脊椎动物进化中较为保守.运用实时荧光定量RT-PCR技术检测了鳜IGF-I在成鱼不同组织中的表达水平,其中,肝中表达量最高,肾、脑、后肠、皮肤、性腺表达量次之,胃、脾、前肠、鳃、心、肌肉表达量较低.本研究结果为该基因的时序表达、生长调控等研究奠定了分子基础.     

害虫抗药性的显性水平与抗性进化

对杀虫剂的代谢抗性和主要靶标抗性的显性水平作了理论解释,其中包括昆虫对Bt抗性的显性水平的解释。并对抗性显性具有的多变性作了阐述。分析抗性显性水平与抗药性进化的关系,认为在抗性进化早期抗性表现为显性的基因频率上升快于抗性表现为隐性时;但在抗性等位基因频率较高且出现抗性纯合子个体时,抗性表现为隐性的基因频率上升显著快于抗性表现为显性时。最后论述抗性显性在抗性治理中的应用。     

Periostin: a putative mediator involved in tumour resistance to anti‐angiogenic therapy?

Despite advances in the development of anti-angiogenic agents for cancer treatment, the increase in the survival duration of cancer patients is still rather modest. One major obstacle in anti-angiogenic therapy is the emergence of drug resistance. Understanding the molecular mechanisms that enable a tumour to evade anti-angiogenic treatment is valuable to improve therapeutic efficacy. Targeting blood supply usually causes hypoxic responses of tumours that trigger a series of adaptive changes leading to a resistant phenotype. Periostin, a secreted ECM (extracellular matrix) protein, is mainly produced by CAFs (cancer-associated fibroblasts) on hypoxic stress. As CAFs have been casually linked to tumour resistance to angiogenesis blockade and periostin can influence many aspects of tumour biology, we hypothesized that periostin might be a crucial mediator involved anti-angiogenic resistance in cancer treatment. This hypothesis is indirectly supported by the following facts: (a) high levels of periostin promote tumour angiogenesis; (b) periostin improves cancer cell survival under hypoxic conditions; and (c) genetic modulation of periostin induces EMT (epithelial-mesenchymal transition) and enhances cancer cell invasion and metastasis, which represents an escape mechanism from anticancer treatment. Testing and confirmation of this hypothesis will give more insight into the resistance mechanisms and provide the rationale for improvement of therapeutic outcome of anti-angiogenic therapy.