First Report of Myrothecium roridum Causing Leaf Spot on Anthurium andraeanum in China

A new severe disease on Anthurium andraeanum Lind. was observed in the summer of 2011 in Beijing, China. The fungus was isolated from symptomatic leaves, and its pathogenicity was confirmed. Based on the morphological characteristics and molecular analysis, the pathogen was identified as Myrothecium roridum Tode ex Fr. This is the first report of M. roridum causing leaf spot on A. andraeanum in China.     

Implications of the behavioural immune system for social behaviour and human health in the modern world

The ‘behavioural immune system’ is composed of mechanisms that evolved as a means of facilitating behaviours that minimized infection risk and enhanced fitness. Recent empirical research on human populations suggests that these mechanisms have unique consequences for many aspects of human sociality—including sexual attitudes, gregariousness, xenophobia, conformity to majority opinion and conservative sociopolitical attitudes. Throughout much of human evolutionary history, these consequences may have had beneficial health implications; but health implications in modern human societies remain unclear. This article summarizes pertinent ways in which modern human societies are similar to and different from the ecologies within which the behavioural immune system evolved. By attending to these similarities and differences, we identify a set of plausible implications—both positive and negative—that the behavioural immune system may have on health outcomes in contemporary human contexts. We discuss both individual-level infection risk and population-level epidemiological outcomes. We also discuss a variety of additional implications, including compliance with public health policies, the adoption of novel therapeutic interventions and actual immunological functioning. Research on the behavioural immune system, and its implications in contemporary human societies, can provide unique insights into relationships between fitness, sociality and health.     

The role of miR156/SPLs modules in Arabidopsis lateral root development

miR156 is an evolutionarily highly conserved miRNA in plants that defines an age‐dependent flowering pathway. The investigations thus far have largely, if not exclusively, confined to plant aerial organs. Root branching architecture is a major determinant of water and nutrients uptake for plants. We show here that MIR156 genes are differentially expressed in specific cells/tissues of lateral roots. Plants overexpressing miR156 produce more lateral roots whereas reducing miR156 levels leads to fewer lateral roots. We demonstrate that at least one representative from the three groups of miR156 targets SQUAMOSA PROMOTER BINDING PROTEIN‐LIKE (SPL) genes: SPL3, SPL9 and SPL10 are involved in the repression of lateral root growth, with SPL10 playing a dominant role. In addition, both MIR156 and SPLs are responsive to auxin signaling suggesting that miR156/SPL modules might be involved in the proper timing of the lateral root developmental progression. Collectively, these results unravel a role for miR156/SPLs modules in lateral root development in Arabidopsis.     

Long‐term balanced fertilization increases the soil microbial functional diversity in a phosphorus‐limited paddy soil

The influence of long‐term chemical fertilization on soil microbial communities has been one of the frontier topics of agricultural and environmental sciences and is critical for linking soil microbial flora with soil functions. In this study, 16S rRNA gene pyrosequencing and a functional gene array, geochip 4.0, were used to investigate the shifts in microbial composition and functional gene structure in paddy soils with different fertilization treatments over a 22‐year period. These included a control without fertilizers; chemical nitrogen fertilizer (N); N and phosphate (NP); N and potassium (NK); and N, P and K (NPK). Based on 16S rRNA gene data, both species evenness and key genera were affected by P fertilization. Functional gene array‐based analysis revealed that long‐term fertilization significantly changed the overall microbial functional structures. Chemical fertilization significantly increased the diversity and abundance of most genes involved in C, N, P and S cycling, especially for the treatments NK and NPK. Significant correlations were found among functional gene structure and abundance, related soil enzymatic activities and rice yield, suggesting that a fertilizer‐induced shift in the microbial community may accelerate the nutrient turnover in soil, which in turn influenced rice growth. The effect of N fertilization on soil microbial functional genes was mitigated by the addition of P fertilizer in this P‐limited paddy soil, suggesting that balanced chemical fertilization is beneficial to the soil microbial community and its functions.     

中国淫羊藿属药用植物花粉特征及其分类学意义

淫羊藿属(Epimedium L.)植物多为常用药材,分类和药材鉴定较为困难。该文采用扫描电镜对中国产淫羊藿属31种药用植物花粉的形态、大小和表面纹饰等进行了比较观察。结果显示:(1)淫羊藿属植物花粉形态多为长球形,少数为球形,大小为(15.5~25.0)×(27.3~48.1)μm,极面观多为三裂圆形,具三孔沟。(2)花粉粒外壁表面纹饰有网状、条网状、条纹状等类型。(3)花粉粒外壁纹饰如网眼的形状、大小和网脊表面特征等在各物种间有一定差异。研究结果为淫羊藿属药材鉴定与植物分类提供了重要的参考。     

江苏省生态文明建设水平指标体系构建与评估

生态文明建设是近期学者、政府和公众关注的焦点,科学评价区域生态文明发展水平、明确关键制约因素是推动生态文明建设的基础。以地处中国东部沿海的江苏省为例,在全面分析已有指标体系的基础上,综合考虑关联性、针对性、适用性和可获性,构建包含生态经济、生态环境、生态生活、生态文化和生态制度在内的指标体系,对2007年、2012年江苏省生态文明建设水平和各指标的进步率进行评价。结果表明:江苏省生态文明建设水平迅速提高,生态文化和生态生活水平提升最快,生态经济和生态制度文明水平有一定增加,而生态环境改善较慢;江苏生态文明建设水平处于全国中等偏上位置,但资源消耗和污染物产生强度仍然较高、生态环境质量并未得到实质性改善、绿色生活方式尚有待提升、有利于生态建设和环境保护的生态文明制度尚未系统建立。推动发展方式转型、加强生态环境保护和完善生态制度是未来推动生态文明建设的重点工作。     

应用基于粒子群优化的支持向量机算法识别真核生物基因的RNA聚合酶II启动子序列

启动子是调节基因表达的重要元件,对其的研究对于阐明基因转录调控机制具有重要意义。作者依据RNA聚合酶Ⅱ启动子序列特性选取高效的特征提取方法,构建了基于粒子群优化的支持向量机(particle swarm optimization-support vector machine,PSO-SVM)新方法,用以识别真核生物基因RNA聚合酶Ⅱ启动子。结合5-折交叉检验方法,得到启动子-外显子、启动子-内含子和启动子-基因间序列的分类准确率分别为97.1%、96.7%和98.8%,其马修斯相关系数分别为0.962、0.934和0.976。结果说明,对比其它启动子识别方法,PSO-SVM方法更能有效地识别真核生物基因启动子。