A Putative Calcium-Permeable Cyclic Nucleotide-Gated Channel, CNGC18, Regulates Polarized Pollen Tube Growth

A tip-focused Ca^2＋ gradient is tightly coupled to polarized pollen tube growth, and tip-localized influxes of extracellular Ca^2＋ are required for this process. However the molecular identity and regulation of the potential Ca^2＋ channels remains elusive. The present study has implicated CNGC18 （cyclic nucleotide-gated channel 18） in polarized pollen tube growth, because its overexpression induced wider and shorter pollen tubes. Moreover, CNGC18 overexpression induced depolarization of pollen tube growth was suppressed by lower extracellular calcium （[Ca^2＋]ex）. CNGC18-yellow fluorescence protein （YFP） was preferentially localized to the apparent post-Golgi vesicles and the plasma membrane （PM） in the apex of pollen tubes. The PM localization was affected by tip-localized ROP1 signaling. Expression of wild type ROP1 or an active form of ROP1 enhanced CNGC18-YFP localization to the apical region of the PM, whereas expression of RopGAP1 （a ROP1 deactivator） blocked the PM localization. These results support a role for PM-Iocalized CNGC18 in the regulation of polarized pollen tube growth through its potential function in the modulation of calcium influxes.     

ω-3 多不饱和脂肪酸对母婴健康结局影响的研究进展

综述了国内外研究中ω-3 PUFAs补充与妊娠期间母婴健康结局的关系以及目前推荐摄入的国家的现状和推荐后所带来的健康效益，为我国妇女在妊娠期间是否需要补充剂ω-3 PUFAs以及其推荐摄入量提供科学依据。     

科研快讯

PNAS:科学家开发出新型的流感可吸入疫苗近日,一篇发表于国际杂志Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences上的研究论文中,来自北卡罗来纳州立大学的研究人员利用纳米颗粒开发出了一种制造可吸入疫苗的新技术,该研究或可用于靶向治疗肺部特异性疾病,比如流感、肺炎和肺结核。文章中,研究者Cathy Fromen表示,这种颗粒的表面电荷在刺激肺部免疫反应上扮演着重要角色,利用非润湿模板粒子复制技术(PRINT),我们就可以对装载蛋白的颗粒表面的电荷进行特异性修饰,同时也可以避免其它颗粒特性的破坏,这就表明,PRINT技术具有独立修饰纳米颗粒     

The relationship between the reduction of nonstructural carbohydrate induced by defoliator and the growth and mortality of trees

Large scale herbivorous insect outbreaks can cause death of regional forests, and the events are expected to be exacerbated with climate change. Mortality of forest and woodland plants would cause a series of serious consequences, such as decrease in vegetation production, shifts in ecosystem structure and function, and transformation of forest function from a net carbon sink into a net carbon source. There is thus a need to better understand the impact of insects on trees. Defoliation by insect pests mainly reduces photosynthesis (source decrease) and increases carbon consumption (sink increase), and hence causes reduction of nonstructural carbohydrate (NSC). When the reduction in NSC reaches to a certain level, trees would die of carbon starvation. External environment and internal compensatory mechanisms can also positively or negatively influence the process of tree death. At present, the research of carbon starvation is a hotspot because the increase of tree mortality globally with climate change, and carbon starvation is considered as one of the dominating physiological mechanisms for explaining tree death. In this study, we reviewed the definition of carbon starvation, and the relationships between the reduction of NSC induced by defoliation and the growth and death of trees, and the relationships among insect outbreaks, leaf loss and climate change. We also presented the potential directions of future studies on insect-caused defoliation and tree mortality.     

气候变化和人类活动对中国北方旱区植被变绿的定量贡献

气候变化和大规模的生态恢复使中国北方旱区植被发生了显著变化，量化气候变化和人类活动对植被动态的相对贡献，对于旱区生态系统管理和应对未来气候变化具有重要意义。目前，中国北方旱区植被变化影响因素的时间动态（2000年大规模生态恢复工程实施前后）和空间异质性（沿干旱梯度）仍需进一步的定量研究。基于多源数据，采用趋势分析、偏相关分析和随机森林模型等方法，分析了1981-2018年中国北方旱区气候和植被的时空变化规律，量化了2000年前后气候变化和人类活动对植被动态的相对贡献并分析其在干旱梯度上的空间差异性。结果表明：（1）1981-2018年期间，中国北方旱区的叶面积指数（LAI）平均增加速率为（0.0037±0.0443） a^-1，且增加速率沿干旱梯度增大。2000年前仅10.46%（P<0.05）的地区显著变绿，而2000年后达到36.84%，且植被变绿主要归因于非树木植被。（2）2000年后降水对植被变绿的正效应在不同干旱梯度均增加，而在半干旱区和亚湿润干旱区，温度对植被变绿由正向促进转为负向抑制，而辐射在干旱区由负效应转向正效应。（3）2000年前后，气候变化均主导着植被的动态，贡献率分别为96.07%和73.72%，人类活动的贡献在2000年后进一步增强（从3.93%增加到26.28%），且沿着干旱梯度而增加，其中人类活动对植被变绿的贡献在半干旱地区增加最显著（+0.0289 m² m^-2 a^-1，P<0.05）。研究结果可为未来气候变化下中国北方旱区的植被恢复和可持续发展提供科学依据。     

硒对金黄滴虫生长谷胱甘肽过氧化物酶及超微结构的影响

金黄滴虫在含硒1ppm的培养液中的生长情况和超微结构与对照组的细胞基本相同。在含硒6ppm的培养液中,前48小时细胞生长正常,以后容器中出现类似硫化氢的气味,细胞数量急剧下降,细胞变圆,运动缓慢,叶绿体变小并且绿色减退,金藻糖泡增大,在干涉显微镜下可见核仁中央下陷,成一小凹。在电镜下,核仁的中央区电子密度很低,这一区域可能相当于干涉镜下所见的小凹。在另一切面上可以看出这一区域是有开口与核基质相通的。电镜照片还揭示叶绿体结构松散,类囊体减少,在稀薄的基质中出现一些直径约为0.4—0.5μ的核仁样小体。部分细胞的线粒体形态异常,内质网及管状纤维增多。此外,作者测定了细胞谷胱甘肽过氧化物酶的活性的变化,并对硒的作用、核仁和叶绿体的变化以及核仁样小体的性质进行了讨论。