不同林龄刺槐叶功能性状差异及其与土壤养分的关系

对不同林龄刺槐群落叶功能性状差异及其与土壤养分的关系进行研究,分析刺槐对黄土丘陵区土壤环境的适应策略.结果表明: 随林龄的增大,刺槐比叶面积、叶面积、叶片含水量、叶全氮含量及叶有机碳含量呈先增大后减小的变化趋势,且在30年林龄时达到最大值,分别为279.18 cm²·g^-1、12.33 cm²、0.09%、33.01 g·kg^-1、523.08 g·kg^-1.随林龄的增大,叶组织密度、叶全磷含量、叶厚度及气孔密度呈增大趋势,气孔长度及气孔宽度呈减小趋势.主成分分析表明,叶面积、比叶面积、叶全磷含量、叶片含水量、叶厚度及气孔密度均为刺槐叶功能性状随林龄变化的主要指标.各指标间呈一定的相关性,这表明刺槐能改变自身的形态结构,形成最佳功能组合以适应环境的变化.影响叶面积、叶片含水量、比叶面积及气孔长度的主要土壤因子是土壤全氮含量,影响气孔宽度、叶组织密度、叶厚度、叶全磷含量、叶全氮含量及气孔密度的主要土壤因子是土壤有机碳含量,这表明土壤全氮含量和有机碳含量是影响不同林龄刺槐叶功能性状的主要土壤因子.随林龄的增大,刺槐群落土壤养分得到改善,进而影响刺槐叶功能性状.不同林龄刺槐叶功能性状的差异反映出刺槐具有较强的叶片形态可塑性,有利于其适应黄土丘陵区的土壤环境.     

氮磷添加对栓皮栎不同地理种源幼苗温度耐性的影响

通过氮磷添加控制试验,对湖南城步(CB) 、湖北秭归(ZG)、河南内乡(NX)、河北临城(LC)和北京平谷(PG)5个种源的栓皮栎1年生幼苗的叶片温度耐性指标(耐寒性、耐热性及耐温范围)及相关生理指标(叶片养分浓度、非结构性碳水化合物及其组分和养分利用效率)进行测定,研究养分对植物种内不同地理种源的温度耐性影响.结果表明:不同种源的栓皮栎养分吸收与氮磷利用效率对氮磷添加存在显著差异但地理趋势不明显.PG在N、P及其二者复合添加的情况下均具有较高的氮磷利用效率,NX则在不同处理下磷利用效率均处于最低水平,CB在磷添加的情况下对磷的利用效率最高.与对照相比,养分(N、P或NP)添加能明显增加PG和LC的耐寒性,但N添加降低了NX的耐寒性.同时,养分添加在一定程度上增加了ZG、NX和LC的耐热性.耐温范围与耐寒性相反,表现为养分添加降低了PG和LC的温度耐受范围, 而增加了NX的温度耐受范围.偏相关分析表明,耐寒性与叶片可溶性糖浓度呈显著正相关;耐热性与叶片P呈显著负相关,与N/P呈显著正相关;叶片耐温范围与叶片物质浓度无显著相关性.因此,不同地理种源对养分利用程度及其效率可能与源生地土壤环境条件有关,表现出一定的局域适应特征,从而增加了温度耐性对养分响应的复杂程度.     

稻鱼系统中田鱼对资源的利用及对水稻生长的影响

稻田为鱼类等水产生物提供生境,稻田养鱼在提高水稻产量的同时,通过控制病虫害的暴发以及充分利用养分来降低化肥农药的使用.但田鱼对稻田资源的摄食(浮游植物、杂草、浮萍、田螺)及利用后转化成养分对水稻生长发育的促进作用尚缺乏研究.本研究设计了2个田间试验,通过摄像观察稻鱼系统中田鱼的活动,采用稳定性同位素分析田鱼对稻田资源的摄食,并测定水稻的生长发育进程和水稻产量.结果表明: 与鱼单养处理相比,稻田养鱼显著地促进了田鱼的活动频率并扩大了田鱼的活动范围.在稻鱼共作不投喂饲料处理下,稻田中3类水生生物(浮萍、浮游植物、田螺)对田鱼食谱的贡献率分别为22.7%、34.8%和30.0%;而投喂饲料处理下,这3种水生生物对田鱼食谱的贡献率分别为8.9%、5.9% 和1.6%,饲料的贡献率为71.0%.与水稻单作比较,稻鱼共作处理显著增加水稻分蘖期和灌浆期的叶片氮含量,延长分蘖期10~12 d,并显著提高成穗率和产量.表明稻鱼系统通过田鱼摄食稻田资源并转化为水稻可利用养分,促进了水稻生长,实现了水稻产量的提升.     

基于NDVI时间序列轨迹的草原露天矿区植被时空动态特征

采矿作用下草原露天矿区植被时空动态特征尚不明确.以胜利露天矿区为例,选取MODIS和Landsat影像,利用ESTARFM构建2001—2015年植被生长期一致的年际Landsat时间序列,以时间分割算法拟合像元NDVI时间序列轨迹,结合轨迹形态特征提取早期扰动型、持续扰动型、扰动稳定型、扰动稳定恢复型和扰动恢复型5种植被动态类型及各类型的时间特征.结果表明:胜利矿区植被动态类型以扰动恢复型为主,占各类型像元总数的55.2%,扰动稳定型和持续下降型次之,分别为25.6%和11.0%,早期扰动型和扰动稳定恢复型较小,分别为3.5%和4.7%.扰动多发于2004—2009年,稳定期多始于2008年,空间上多分布于露天采场和排土场,恢复期多始于2008年和2010年,其空间范围较小且集中于矿井外围和排土场.扰动持续时长以1年为主,稳定期持续时长以7年为主,恢复期持续时长中稳定恢复型为2～5年,扰动恢复型为8年.     

Live‐cell CRISPR imaging in plants reveals dynamic telomere movements

Elucidating the spatiotemporal organization of the genome inside the nucleus is imperative to our understanding of the regulation of genes and non‐coding sequences during development and environmental changes. Emerging techniques of chromatin imaging promise to bridge the long‐standing gap between sequencing studies, which reveal genomic information, and imaging studies that provide spatial and temporal information of defined genomic regions. Here, we demonstrate such an imaging technique based on two orthologues of the bacterial clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)–CRISPR associated protein 9 (Cas9). By fusing eGFP/mRuby2 to catalytically inactive versions of Streptococcus pyogenes and Staphylococcus aureus Cas9, we show robust visualization of telomere repeats in live leaf cells of Nicotiana benthamiana. By tracking the dynamics of telomeres visualized by CRISPR–dCas9, we reveal dynamic telomere movements of up to 2 μm over 30 min during interphase. Furthermore, we show that CRISPR–dCas9 can be combined with fluorescence‐labelled proteins to visualize DNA–protein interactions in vivo. By simultaneously using two dCas9 orthologues, we pave the way for the imaging of multiple genomic loci in live plants cells. CRISPR imaging bears the potential to significantly improve our understanding of the dynamics of chromosomes in live plant cells.     

Design,synthesis and biological evaluation of novel oseltamivir derivatives as potent neuraminidase inhibitors

Neuraminidase (NA) is one of the particular potential targets for novel antiviral therapy. In this work, a series of neuraminidase inhibitors with the cyclohexene scaffold were studied based upon the combination of 3D-QSAR, molecular docking, and molecular dynamics techniques. The results indicate that the built 3D-QSAR models yield reliable statistical information: the correlation coefficient (r²) and cross-validation coefficient (q²) of CoMFA (comparative molecular field analysis) are 0.992 and 0.819; the r² and q² of CoMSIA (comparative molecular similarity analysis) are 0.992 and 0.863, respectively. Molecular docking and MD simulations were conducted to confirm the detailed binding mode of enzyme-inhibitor system. The new NA inhibitors had been designed, synthesized, and their inhibitory activities against group-1 neuraminidase were determined. One agent displayed excellent neuraminidase inhibition, with IC₅₀ value of 39.6?μM against NA, while IC₅₀ value for oseltamivir is 61.1?μM. This compound may be further investigated for the treatment of infection by the new type influenza virus.     

Identification of low micromolar dual inhibitors for aldose reductase (ALR2) and poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP-1) using structure based design approach

Clinical studies have revealed that diabetic retinopathy is a multifactorial disorder. Moreover, studies also suggest that ALR2 and PARP-1 co-occur in retinal cells, making them appropriate targets for the treatment of diabetic retinopathy. To find the dual inhibitors of ALR2 and PARP-1, the structure based design was carried out in parallel for both the target proteins. A series of novel thiazolidine-2,4-dione (TZD) derivatives were therefore rationally designed, synthesized and their in vitro inhibitory activities against ALR2 and PARP-1 were evaluated. The experimental results showed that compounds 5b and 5f, with 2-chloro and 4-fluoro substitutions, showed biochemical activities in micromolar and submicromolar range (IC₅₀ 1.34–5.03 μM) against both the targeted enzymes. The structure-activity relationship elucidated for these novel inhibitors against both the enzymes provide new insight into the binding mode of the inhibitors to the active sites of enzymes. The positive results of the biochemical assay suggest that these compounds may be further optimized and utilized for the treatment of diabetic retinopathy.     

Homology modeling in a dynamical world

A key concept in template‐based modeling (TBM) is the high correlation between sequence and structural divergence, with the practical consequence that homologous proteins that are similar at the sequence level will also be similar at the structural level. However, conformational diversity of the native state will reduce the correlation between structural and sequence divergence, because structural variation can appear without sequence diversity. In this work, we explore the impact that conformational diversity has on the relationship between structural and sequence divergence. We find that the extent of conformational diversity can be as high as the maximum structural divergence among families. Also, as expected, conformational diversity impairs the well‐established correlation between sequence and structural divergence, which is nosier than previously suggested. However, we found that this noise can be resolved using a priori information coming from the structure‐function relationship. We show that protein families with low conformational diversity show a well‐correlated relationship between sequence and structural divergence, which is severely reduced in proteins with larger conformational diversity. This lack of correlation could impair TBM results in highly dynamical proteins. Finally, we also find that the presence of order/disorder can provide useful beforehand information for better TBM performance.     

Intrinsically disordered inhibitor of glutamine synthetase is a functional protein with random‐coil‐like pKa values

The sequential action of glutamine synthetase (GS) and glutamate synthase (GOGAT) in cyanobacteria allows the incorporation of ammonium into carbon skeletons. In the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803, the activity of GS is modulated by the interaction with proteins, which include a 65‐residue‐long intrinsically disordered protein (IDP), the inactivating factor IF7. This interaction is regulated by the presence of charged residues in both IF7 and GS. To understand how charged amino acids can affect the binding of an IDP with its target and to provide clues on electrostatic interactions in disordered states of proteins, we measured the pK_a values of all IF7 acidic groups (Glu32, Glu36, Glu38, Asp40, Asp58, and Ser65, the backbone C‐terminus) at 100 mM NaCl concentration, by using NMR spectroscopy. We also obtained solution structures of IF7 through molecular dynamics simulation, validated them on the basis of previous experiments, and used them to obtain theoretical estimates of the pK_a values. Titration values for the two Asp and three Glu residues of IF7 were similar to those reported for random‐coil models, suggesting the lack of electrostatic interactions around these residues. Furthermore, our results suggest the presence of helical structure at the N‐terminus of the protein and of conformational changes at acidic pH values. The overall experimental and in silico findings suggest that local interactions and conformational equilibria do not play a role in determining the electrostatic features of the acidic residues of IF7.