Effects of a forest disturbance on shredder production in southern Appalachian headwater streams

• 1 The effects of a forest disturbance were investigated by comparing production of leaf-shredding aquatic insects in three streams draining a mature hardwood forest and three streams draining an 11-year-old, cable-logged clearcut.
• 2 Reference streams contained significantly greater mean annual standing crop of leaf material and significantly more slow-processing leaf material than disturbed streams. Disturbed streams had a significantly higher mean annual standing crop of fast-processing leaf material than the reference streams.
• 3 Leaf-shredding cranefly (Tipula abdominalis), caddisfly (Pycnopsyche gentilis), and stonefly (Tallaperla maria) larvae comprised over 95% of shredder biomass in all streams. Total shredder production was significantly greater (P<0.05) in disturbed versus reference streams, but individual production rates were not significantly different between stream types.
• 4 Pycnopsyche gentilis larvae were present at higher densities and achieved significantly greater annual biomass in disturbed versus references streams, Biomass of P. gentilis was significantly correlated with the standing crop of fast-processing, early successional leaf material in samples, whereas biomass of other shredders was correlated significantly with medium or slow-processing leaf species characteristic of later stages of forest succession.

     

Genotype and phenotype associations with drought tolerance in barley tested in North Africa

A review is presented of genetic strategies deployed in a 3-yr project on drought tolerance in barley. Data were collected on genetic, physiological and agronomic traits in non-irrigated and irrigated field trials in Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia. A wide range of barley germplasm (developed from African and European cultivars, adapted landraces and wild barleys) was tested, and positive traits were found in each gene pool. The contrasting environments of the three North African countries had major effects on plant/genotype performance. Genetic effects were also detected, as were genotype × environment interactions. A range of strategies were deployed to investigate the physiology and genetics of quantitative traits associated with field performance. Quantitative trait locus (QTL) analysis was performed using backcross lines, recombinant inbred lines and doubled haploid mapping populations. A detailed genetic map was generated in the Tadmor × (ER/Apm) recombinant inbred lines, an important mapping population specifically developed by ICARDA (Centre for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas) and CIMMYT (International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center) to study drought. Quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for grain yield and other important morphological and physiological traits were also identified in a population of doubled haploids derived from F2BCj plants from a cross between a cultivar and a wild barley accession. Significantly, the wild parental line was found to contribute a number of positive alleles for yield. Effects of major developmental genes could explain many of the responses observed. QTLs were found to cluster around major genes controlling flowering time (sghI), plant stature (sdwI and arie.GP) and ear type (vrsl), and it is highly likely that the associations represent pleiotropic effects. Some QTLs were associated with candidate genes such as dehydrins and rubisco activase. One of the most significant results was the identification and generation of material that out performed the best local standards in the three participating North African countries; the selected lines have now entered local breeding programmes. The strategies adopted provided information on physiological traits, genotypes and genetic markers that could be used for marker-assisted selection. Target QTLs and their associated genetic markers may be deployed in marker assisted selection programmes to match crop phenology to the field environment.     

粉叶小檗大孢子发生和雌配子体形成

采用石蜡切片方法对粉叶小檗（Berberis pruinosa Franch.)的大孢子发生和雌配子体形成过程进行了研究。主要结果如下：雌蕊1枚,子房单心皮,边缘胎座,2枚胚珠倒生,具双珠被,厚珠心,珠孔由内外两层珠被共同形成,呈“Z”字形;单孢原,位于珠心表皮下;直线形大孢子四分体,合点端的1个大孢子发育为功能大孢子,胚囊发育类型为蓼型;成熟胚囊中,2个极核在受精前融合为次生核;3个反足细胞不发达,较早退化;"品"字形卵器,其中助细胞发达且具丝状器。     

综述——纳米材料与药物输递：基因治疗药物输递系统的研究现状及发展趋势

基因治疗是一种有效的治疗方法,可用于治疗多种严重威胁人类健康的疾病．然而,裸露的基因治疗药物存在易被核酶降解、细胞内吞效果差和细胞靶向能力差等缺点．因此,需要寻求合适的载体,将基因治疗药物有效地输递到靶细胞,实现高效的基因治疗．本文主要综述了近年来基因治疗药物输递系统的研究进展,分别总结和阐述了病毒载体,脂质体、聚合物和树状大分子等非病毒载体,以及具有示踪功能的输递系统的特点及研究和发展现状．     

研究报告：阿尔茨海默病发生发展中关键E3泛素连接酶的筛选

目的 探索阿尔茨海默病（Alzheimer’s disease,AD）发病中的关键E3泛素连接酶及其表达特征。方法 通过生物信息学方法分析筛选AD发生发展过程中的差异基因,行基因本体（GO）分析,并构建蛋白质互作网络（PPI）。继而,通过The Human Protein Atlas和Alzdata数据库,分别查找泛素-蛋白酶体系统（ubiquitin-proteasome system,UPS）中的E3泛素连接酶的组织细胞学定位和AD患者/对照不同脑区中的表达值,并通过qPCR方法在AD小鼠脑组织中验证。结果 我们发现UPS和泛素结合酶结构域UBCc分别在参与AD发生进程的生物学功能和结构域中位居首列;PPI互作网络中多个UPS分子位居关键节点;神经元中特异性高表达的E3泛素连接酶（MKRN2、NEDD4L、LNX1、RNF41、TRIM36、RNF8和DTX4）在AD患者和AD小鼠脑组织中表达量下调。结论 这7个E3泛素连接酶可能作为驱动因子参与AD进展,这对进一步寻找诊断和治疗AD的新靶点以及深入的机制探索提供了重要线索。     

表达血管内皮生长因子-siRNA及双自杀基因yCDglyTK的联合基因载体构建及其应用研究

构建了新型联合基因载体pcDNA3.1(-)VEGF-siRNA/yCDglyTK,研究其在人胃癌细胞系SGC7901细胞中的表达和杀伤作用.构建靶向血管内皮生长因子(VEGF)的干扰质粒pGenesil-VEGF-siRNA,采用PCR法从中扩增siRNA表达框(含U6启动子),亚克隆至双自杀基因载体pcDNA3.1(-)CV-yCDglyTK,构建联合基因质粒pcDNA3.1(-)VEGF-siRNA/yCDglyTK;通过酶切、测序等鉴定重组质粒;以磷酸钙纳米颗粒为载体,将干扰质粒、双自杀基因质粒及联合基因质粒转染SGC7901细胞,RT-PCR、Western-blot验证目的基因表达;MTT法检测转染细胞对5-氟胞嘧啶(5-FC)的敏感性.结果表明:酶切及测序证实联合基因载体pcDNA3.1(-)VEGF-siRNA/yCDglyTK构建成功;SGC7901细胞转染联合基因质粒后,RT-PCR、Western-blot证实融合自杀基因表达,而VEGF基因表达下调;在前体药物5-FC作用下,转染联合基因组细胞存活率最低,与其他组比较有统计学差异.成功构建联合基因载体pcDNA3.1(-)VEGF-si...     

珍珠菜属四种植物的核型分析

对珍珠菜属4种植物的核型进行了研究。结果表明,叶头过路黄(Lysimachia phyllocephala Hand.-Mazz.)的核型为:2n=2x=24=2m 6sm 2st 14t,茂汶过路黄(L. stellarioidesHand.-Mazz.)的核型为:2n=2x=24=4m 2sm 18t,均属首次报道。矮桃(L. clethroidesDuby)的核型为:2n=2x=24=16m 8sm(1SAT),腺药珍珠菜(L. stenosepala Hemsl.)的核型为:2n=2x=24=10m 12sm 2st,与前人报道的有所不同。还对该属已报道的23种植物的核型进行了比较。     

Quantifying soil organic carbon in complex landscapes: an example of grassland undergoing encroachment of woody plants

The invasion of woody plants into grass‐dominated ecosystems has occurred worldwide during the past century with potentially significant impacts on soil organic carbon (SOC) storage, ecosystem carbon sequestration and global climate warming. To date, most studies of tree and shrub encroachment impacts on SOC have been conducted at small scales and results are equivocal. To quantify the effects of woody plant proliferation on SOC at broad spatial scales and to potentially resolve inconsistencies reported from studies conducted at fine spatial scales, information regarding spatial variability and uncertainty of SOC is essential. We used sequential indicator simulation (SIS) to quantify spatial uncertainty of SOC in a grassland undergoing shrub encroachment in the Southern Great Plains, USA. Results showed that both SOC pool size and its spatial uncertainty increased with the development of woody communities in grasslands. Higher uncertainty of SOC in new shrub‐dominated communities may be the result of their relatively recent development, their more complex above‐ and belowground architecture, stronger within‐community gradients, and a greater degree of faunal disturbance. Simulations of alternative sampling designs demonstrated the effects of spatial uncertainty on the accuracy of SOC estimates and enabled us to evaluate the efficiency of sampling strategies aimed at quantifying landscape‐scale SOC pools. An approach combining stratified random sampling with unequal point densities and transect sampling of landscape elements exhibiting strong internal gradients yielded the best estimates. Complete random sampling was less effective and required much higher sampling densities. Results provide novel insights into spatial uncertainty of SOC and its effects on estimates of carbon sequestration in terrestrial ecosystem and suggest effective protocol for the estimating of soil attributes in landscapes with complex vegetation patterns.     

Effects of fire on regional evapotranspiration in the central Canadian boreal forest

Changes in fire regimes are driving the carbon balance of much of the North American boreal forest, but few studies have examined fire‐driven changes in evapotranspiration (ET) at a regional scale. This study used a version of the Biome‐BGC process model with dynamic and competing vegetation types, and explicit spatial representation of a large (10⁶ km²) region, to simulate the effects of wildfire on ET and its components from 1948 to 2005 by comparing the fire dynamics of the 1948–1967 period with those of 1968–2005. Simulated ET averaged, over the entire temporal and spatial modeling domain, 323 mm yr⁻¹; simulation results indicated that changes in fire in recent decades decreased regional ET by 1.4% over the entire simulation, and by 3.9% in the last 10 years (1996–2005). Conifers dominated the transpiration (E_C) flux (120 mm yr⁻¹) but decreased by 18% relative to deciduous broadleaf trees in the last part of the 20th century, when increased fire resulted in increased soil evaporation, lower canopy evaporation, lower E_C, and a younger and more deciduous forest. Well‐ and poorly drained areas had similar rates of evaporation from the canopy and soil, but E_C was twice as high in the well‐drained areas. Mosses comprised a significant part of the evaporative flux to the atmosphere (22 mm yr⁻¹). Modeled annual ET was correlated with net primary production, but not with temperature or precipitation; ET and its components were consistent with previous field and modeling studies. Wildfire is driving significant changes in hydrological processes by affecting mean stand age, forest species, and energy balance. These changes, particularly in poorly drained areas, may control the future carbon balance of the boreal forest.