Responses of exchangeable base cations to continuously increasing nitrogen addition in alpine steppe: A case study of Stipa purpurea steppe北大核心CSCD

Aims Soil exchangeable base cations (BCs) play important roles in keeping soil nutrient and buffering soil acidification, which may be disturbed by anthropogenic nitrogen (N) input. Considering relatively limited evidence from alkaline soils, this study was designed to explore the effects of N addition on soil exchangeable BCs in a typical alpine steppe on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau. Methods From May 2013, eight levels of N addition (0, 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 24, 32 g·m-2·a-1) in the form of NH4NO3 were added in the alpine steppe, where soil is alkaline. During the following three years (2014-2016), we collected soil samples in mid-August in each year. By measuring the concentrations of exchangeable BCs, we examined their changes along the N addition gradient. We also explored the relationships between BCs and other plant and soil properties. Important findings Continuous N addition resulted in significant loss of exchangeable BCs, especially Mg2+ in all three years and Na+ in two years. The concentrations of BCs were found to be negatively related to above-ground biomass and the concentration of soil inorganic N (p < 0.05). These results indicated that increase in N availability stimulated plant growth, which in turn led to more uptake of BCs by plants. Moreover, enhanced NO3- leaching resulted in the loss of BCs due to the charge balance in soil solution. In addition, increased NH4+ displaced BCs binding to soil surface and made them easy to be leached out of soils. Different from acid soils, soil acidification caused by N deposition in alkaline soils is mainly buffered by calcium carbonate, having less effect on BCs. Our results suggest that N addition results in the loss of exchangeable BCs in alkaline soils, leading to poor buffering capacity and decreased plant productivity over long time period, which needs to be considered during grassland management in the future. © 2018 Editorial Office of Chinese Journal of Plant Ecology. All rights reserved.     

Testing MacArthur's minimisation principle: do communities minimise energy wastage during succession?

Robert MacArthur developed a theory of community assembly based on competition. By incorporating energy flow, MacArthur's theory allows for predictions of community function. A key prediction is that communities minimise energy wastage over time, but this minimisation is a trade‐off between two conflicting processes: exploiting food resources, and maintaining low metabolism and mortality. Despite its simplicity and elegance, MacArthur's principle has not been tested empirically despite having long fascinated theoreticians. We used a combination of field chronosequence experiments and laboratory assays to estimate how the energy wastage of a community changes during succession. We found that older successional stages wasted more energy in maintenance, but there was no clear pattern in how communities of different age exploited food resources. We identify several reasons for why MacArthur's original theory may need modification and new avenues to further explore community efficiency, an understudied component of ecosystem functioning.     

Comparative proteomic analysis of Xanthomonas citri ssp. citri periplasmic proteins reveals changes in cellular envelope metabolism during in vitro pathogenicity induction

Citrus canker is a plant disease caused by Gram‐negative bacteria from the genus Xanthomonas. The most virulent species is Xanthomonas citri ssp. citri (XAC), which attacks a wide range of citrus hosts. Differential proteomic analysis of the periplasm‐enriched fraction was performed for XAC cells grown in pathogenicity‐inducing (XAM‐M) and pathogenicity‐non‐inducing (nutrient broth) media using two‐dimensional electrophoresis combined with liquid chromatography‐tandem mass spectrometry. Amongst the 40 proteins identified, transglycosylase was detected in a highly abundant spot in XAC cells grown under inducing condition. Additional up‐regulated proteins related to cellular envelope metabolism included glucose‐1‐phosphate thymidylyltransferase, dTDP‐4‐dehydrorhamnose‐3,5‐epimerase and peptidyl‐prolyl cis–trans‐isomerase. Phosphoglucomutase and superoxide dismutase proteins, known to be involved in pathogenicity in other Xanthomonas species or organisms, were also detected. Western blot and quantitative real‐time polymerase chain reaction analyses for transglycosylase and superoxide dismutase confirmed that these proteins were up‐regulated under inducing condition, consistent with the proteomic results. Multiple spots for the 60‐kDa chaperonin and glyceraldehyde‐3‐phosphate dehydrogenase were identified, suggesting the presence of post‐translational modifications. We propose that substantial alterations in cellular envelope metabolism occur during the XAC infectious process, which are related to several aspects, from defence against reactive oxygen species to exopolysaccharide synthesis. Our results provide new candidates for virulence‐related proteins, whose abundance correlates with the induction of pathogenicity and virulence genes, such as hrpD6, hrpG, hrpB7, hpa1 and hrpX. The results present new potential targets against XAC to be investigated in further functional studies.     

Engineering Camelina sativa (L.) Crantz for enhanced oil and seed yields by combining diacylglycerol acyltransferase1 and glycerol‐3‐phosphate dehydrogenase expression

Plant seed oil‐based liquid transportation fuels (i.e., biodiesel and green diesel) have tremendous potential as environmentally, economically and technologically feasible alternatives to petroleum‐derived fuels. Due to their nutritional and industrial importance, one of the major objectives is to increase the seed yield and oil production of oilseed crops via biotechnological approaches. Camelina sativa, an emerging oilseed crop, has been proposed as an ideal crop for biodiesel and bioproduct applications. Further increase in seed oil yield by increasing the flux of carbon from increased photosynthesis into triacylglycerol (TAG) synthesis will make this crop more profitable. To increase the oil yield, we engineered Camelina by co‐expressing the Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh. diacylglycerol acyltransferase1 (DGAT1) and a yeast cytosolic glycerol‐3‐phosphate dehydrogenase (GPD1) genes under the control of seed‐specific promoters. Plants co‐expressing DGAT1 and GPD1 exhibited up to 13% higher seed oil content and up to 52% increase in seed mass compared to wild‐type plants. Further, DGAT1‐ and GDP1‐co‐expressing lines showed significantly higher seed and oil yields on a dry weight basis than the wild‐type controls or plants expressing DGAT1 and GPD1 alone. The oil harvest index (g oil per g total dry matter) for DGTA1‐ and GPD1‐co‐expressing lines was almost twofold higher as compared to wild type and the lines expressing DGAT1 and GPD1 alone. Therefore, combining the overexpression of TAG biosynthetic genes, DGAT1 and GPD1, appears to be a positive strategy to achieve a synergistic effect on the flux through the TAG synthesis pathway, and thereby further increase the oil yield.     

Biotransformation of 4‐fluoro‐N‐(1‐{2‐[(propan‐2‐yl)phenoxy]ethyl}‐8‐azabicyclo[3.2.1]octan‐3‐yl)‐benzenesulfonamide,a novel potent 5‐HT7 receptor antagonist with antidepressant‐like and anxiolytic properties: In vitro and in silico approach

The aim of the study was to investigate the metabolism of 4‐fluoro‐N‐(1‐{2‐[(propan‐2‐yl)phenoxy]ethyl}‐8‐azabicyclo[3.2.1]octan‐3‐yl)‐benzenesulfonamide (PZ‐1150), a novel 5‐HT₇ receptor antagonist with antidepressant‐like and anxiolytic properties, by the following three ways: in vitro with microsomes; in vitro employing Cunninghamella echinulata, and in silico using MetaSite. Biotransformation of PZ‐1150 with microsomes resulted in five metabolites, while transformation with C. echinulata afforded two metabolites. In both models, the predominant metabolite occurred due to hydroxylation of benzene ring. In silico data coincide with in vitro experiments, as three MetaSite metabolites matched compounds identified in microsomal samples. In human liver microsomes PZ‐1150 exhibited in vitro half‐life of 64 min, with microsomal intrinsic clearance of 54.1 μL/min/mg and intrinsic clearance of 48.7 mL/min/kg. Therefore, PZ‐1150 is predicted to be a high‐clearance agent. The study demonstrated the applicability of using microsomal model coupled with microbial model to elucidate the metabolic pathways of compounds and comparison with in silico metabolite predictions.     

过表达CDX1蛋白对直肠癌细胞增殖及能量代谢的影响及机制研究

目的:探讨过表达尾侧同源盒转录因子1(CDX1)蛋白对直肠癌细胞增殖及能量代谢的影响。方法:以直肠癌细胞SW117为研究对象,细胞转染pIRES(空载体组)、pIRES-CDX1(过表达组),同时设置对照组(只加入转染试剂)。培养48 h后,Western blot检测细胞中CDX1、活化的含半胱氨酸的天冬氨酸蛋白水解酶3(Cleaved Caspase-3)、蛋白激酶B(Akt)、磷酸化蛋白激酶B(p-Akt)表达水平,噻唑蓝(MTT)检测细胞增殖,流式细胞术检测细胞凋亡,试剂盒检测细胞中三磷酸腺苷(ATP)含量、丙酮酸激酶活性、己糖激酶活性及培养液上清中乳酸含量。结果:空载体组细胞中CDX1、Cleaved Caspase-3、Akt、p-Akt表达水平及细胞存活率、凋亡率、ATP含量、丙酮酸激酶活性、己糖激酶活性及培养液上清中乳酸含量与对照组相比均没有明显差异。过表达组细胞存活率、p-Akt水平、ATP含量、丙酮酸激酶活性、己糖激酶活性及培养液上清中乳酸含量与对组相比均明显下降,凋亡率及细胞中Cleaved Caspase-3表达水平均明显高于对照组。结论:过表达CDX1蛋白能够促进直肠癌细胞凋亡,抑制直肠癌细胞增殖,影响直肠癌细胞能量代谢,作用机制可能与p-Akt水平有关。     

活血化瘀方对糖尿病模型大鼠糖脂代谢、血管内皮生长因子和血管紧张素II1型受体表达的影响

目的:探讨活血化瘀方对糖尿病模型大鼠糖脂代谢、血管内皮生长因子(VEGF)和血管紧张素Ⅱ1型受体(AT1R)表达的影响。方法:选取健康雄性SD大鼠50只,适应性喂养7 d后以随机数字表法分成对照组10只、模型组13只、中药组14只、西药组13只。其中模型组与对照组予以纯净水灌胃,中药组予以活血化瘀通络中药配方颗粒灌胃,西药组则予以厄贝沙坦灌胃,1次/d,连续灌胃16周。分别比较各组大鼠的糖脂代谢指标水平及24 h尿蛋白定量、糖化血红蛋白、血清肌酐水平,并检测肾组织VEGF和AT1R表达情况。结果:模型组、中药组、西药组大鼠空腹血糖(FBG)、总胆固醇(TC)、甘油三酯(TG)、高密度脂蛋白胆固醇(HDL-C)、低密度脂蛋白胆固醇(LDL-C)水平均高于对照组,中药组、西药组大鼠LDL-C水平低于模型组,中药组大鼠FBG水平低于模型组与西药组(P0.05)。模型组、中药组、西药组大鼠24 h尿蛋白定量与糖化血红蛋白均高于对照组,中药组、西药组大鼠24 h尿蛋白定量低于模型组(P0.05)。模型组、中药组、西药组大鼠VEGF、AT1R水平均高于对照组,中药组、西药组大鼠VEGF、AT1R水平低于模型组,中药组大鼠AT1R水平低于西药组(P0.05)。结论:活血化瘀方可有效改善糖尿病大鼠糖脂代谢状态,通过抑制VEGF与AT1R的表达水平,延缓糖尿病的发生与发展。