A NEW SPECIES OF SINOLAGOMYS(LAGOMORPHA,OCHOTONIDAE)FROM XINJIANG

<正> More than 200 upper and lower jaws of ochotonid were found in the Late Oligocene of thenorthern part of the Junggar Basin,Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region,in the summer of1982.Sinolagomys.a unique Paleogene lagomorph with rootless(?) cheek teeth,was erected byBohlin(1937)based on the collections from Shargaltien and Taben-buluk,Gansu province.Upto now,it has been recorded from Middle Oligocene to the Lower Miocene of Gansu,Ninxia,Nei Mongol,and Xinjiang of China,and the Mongolian People's Republic.     

A paradox: rapid evolution rates of germline-limited sequences are associated with conserved patterns of rearrangements in cryptic species of Chilodonella uncinata(Protista,Ciliophora)

Some of the most extreme genome wide rearrangements are found in ciliates, which are unique in possessing both germline micronucleus and somatic macronucleus in every cell/organism. A series of DNA rearrangement events, including DNA elimination, chromosomal fragmentation, gene unscrambling and alternative processing, happen during macronuclear development. To assess the molecular evolution of macronuclear and germline-limited sequences in different cryptic species of Chilodonella uncinata, we characterized the actin, α-tubulin and β-tubulin genes in the micronucleus and macronucleus genomes of USA-SC2 strain and compared them with other strains(i.e. cryptic species). Three main results are:(i) rearrangement patterns between germline and soma are conserved for each gene among the cryptic species of C. uncinata;(ii) in contrast, the germlinelimited regions are highly divergent in sequence and length among the cryptic species;(iii) pointer shifting is frequent among the cryptic species. We speculate that pointer sequences may serve as the buffer between the conserved macronuclear destined sequences and rapidly-evolving internal eliminated sequences. The data combined with previous studies demonstrate the plasticity of gene rearrangement among different groups of ciliates and add to the growing data for the role of genome rearrangements in species differentiation.     

Phylogeny,character evolution,and classification of Selaginellaceae(lycophytes)

Selaginella is the largest and most taxonomically complex genus in lycophytes.The fact that over 750 species are currently treated in a single genus makes Selaginellales/Selaginellaceae unique in pteridophytes.Here we assembled a dataset of six existing and newly sampled plastid and nuclear loci with a total of 684 accessions(74% increase of the earlier largest sampling) representing ca.300 species to infer a new phylogeny.The evolution of 10 morphological characters is studied in the new phylog...     

Some aspects of forest soil and litter ecology in the Dawyck Cryptogamic Sanctuary with a particular reference to fungi

Here we report on ecology and biodiversity of fungi in a unique mycological sanctuary in Britain, where data on species composition have been collected since 1994. To complement the biodiversity data by the information on the fungal ecological interactions and their role in the overall ecosystem functioning, soil properties and the composition of forest litter and field layer, bacterial population numbers and fungal biomass (in terms of ergosterol) were measured in 8 plots covered with different vegetations (beech, birch, birch-oak-beech, grass) over a May–Aug. period, and the results were analysed by correlation analysis and stepwise regression modelling together with data on protozoa and nematodes available from parallel research. The results highlighted the complexity of factors influencing temporal dynamics and spatial variability of fungal biomass in soil and forest litter. Most of the registered interactions appeared to be transient, and this should be taken into account while interpreting environmental observations. Interpretation of the specific relationships is given and implications for further research and overall ecosystem functioning are discussed.     

Critical thinking of Alzheimer's transgenic mouse model: current research and future perspective

Transgenic models are useful tools for studying the pathogenesis of and drug development for Alzheimer’s Disease(AD). AD models are constructed usually using overexpression or knock-in of multiple pathogenic gene mutations from familial AD. Each transgenic model has its unique behavioral and pathological features. This review summarizes the research progress of transgenic mouse models, and their progress in the unique mechanism of amyloid-β oligomers, including the first transgenic mouse model b...     

Delayed information induces oscillations in a dynamical model for infectious disease

During disease outbreak,it has been observed that information about the disease prevalence induces the individuafs behavioral changes.This information is usually assumed to be generated by the density of infective individuals and active mass media.The delay in reporting of these infective individuals may have its impact on generated information.Hence,to study the impact of delay on information generation,and therefore on the disease dynamics,a delay differential equation model is proposed and analyzed.The dynamics of information with delay effect is also modeled by a separate rate equation.Model analysis is performed and a unique infected equilibrium is obtained when the basic reproduction number(R0)is greater than one,whereas the disease free equilibrium always exists.When R0<1,the disease free equilibrium is found to be locally stable independent of delay effect.The unique infected equilibrium is found to be locally stable till delay reaches a threshold value.The global stability of the unique infected equilibrium is also established under some parametric conditions by constructing a suitable Lyapunov function.The occurrence of Hopf bifurcation is observed when the delay in information crosses the threshold value.Analytically,the direction and stability of bifurcating periodic solutions is established.Further,we observed the occurrence of Hopf-Hopf bifurcation at two different delays.At first delay threshold,the endemic equilibrium loses its st ability and produces periodic oscillations via Hopf bifurcation.It further regains its stability at second delay threshold via another Hopf bifurcation.Hence,the delay effect on information shows possibility of stability switches.Numerical experiments are carried out to support the obtained analytical results.Our study infers that the disease will show persistent oscillations if there is a significant time lag in reporting of infective after the disease outbreak.Thus,the delay in dissemination of information shows rich and complex dynamics in the model and provides important insights.We also observe numerically that the saturation in information plays a significant role on stability of infected equilibrium in presence of delay.     

Correlation of Gut Microbiome Between ASD Children and Mothers and Potential Biomarkers for Risk Assessment

Variation of maternal gut microbiota may increase the risk of autism spectrum disorders(ASDs) in offspring. Animal studies have indicated that maternal gut microbiota is related to neurodevelopmental abnormalities in mouse offspring, while it is unclear whether there is a correlation between gut microbiota of ASD children and their mothers. We examined the relationships between gut microbiome profiles of ASD children and those of their mothers, and evaluated the clinical discriminatory power of discovered bacterial biomarkers. Gut microbiome was profiled and evaluated by 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing in stool samples of 59 mother–child pairs of ASD children and 30 matched mother–child pairs of healthy children. Significant differences were observed in the gut microbiome composition between ASD and healthy children in our Chinese cohort. Several unique bacterial biomarkers, such as Alcaligenaceae and Acinetobacter, were identified. Mothers of ASD children had more Proteobacteria, Alphaproteobacteria, Moraxellaceae, and Acinetobacter than mothers of healthy children. There was a clear correlation between gut microbiome profiles of children and their mothers; however, children with ASD still had unique bacterial biomarkers, such as Alcaligenaceae, Enterobacteriaceae, and Clostridium. Candidate biomarkers discovered in this study had remarkable discriminatory power. The identified patterns of mother–child gut microbiome profiles may be important for assessing risks during the early stage and planning of personalized treatment and prevention of ASD via microbiota modulation.     

The Drosophila ovary: an active stem cell community

Only a small number of cells in adult tissues (the stem cells) possess the ability to self-renew at every cell division,while producing differentiating daughter cells to maintain tissue homeostasis for an organism's lifetime.The Drosophilaovary harbors three different types of stem cell populations (germline stem cell (GSC),somatic stem cell (SSC) andescort stem cell (ESC)) located in a simple anatomical structure known as germarium,rendering it one of the best modelsystems for studying stem cell biology due to reliable stem cell identification and available sophisticated genetic toolsfor manipulating gene functions.Particularly,the niche for the GSC is among the first and best studied ones,and studieson the GSC and its niche have made many unique contributions to a better understanding of relationships between stemcells and their niche.So far,both the GSC and the SSC have been shown to be regulated by extrinsic factors originatingfrom their niche and intrinsic factors functioning within.Multiple signaling pathways are required for controlling GSCand SSC self-renewal and differentiation,which provide unique opportunities to investigate how multiple signals fromthe niche are interpreted in the stem cell.Since the Drosophila ovary contains three types of stem cells,it also providesoutstanding opportunities to study how multiple stem cells in a given tissue work collaboratively to contribute to tissuefunction and maintenance.This review highlights recent major advances in studying Drosophila ovarian stem cells andalso discusses future directions and challenges.     

Differences in Variation of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Sequences from Henan and Shanghai Regions of China

Illegally paid blood donation was a risk factor for HIV acquisition exclusively in Henan and Hubei Provinces of China,and not in Shanghai.Nucleotide sequences in the gag and env genes of HIV-1 were compared between isolates from Henan and Shanghai regions of China to test whether an expected higher degree of a common source of infections from this unique blood donation transmission risk would be evident as decreased variation among Henan isolates in an exploratory cross-sectional analysis.Among 38 isolates studied,23 of 23(100%)from Henan and 8 of 15(54%)from Shanghai were subtype B.In addition,fewer sequence differences were found in gp41 of subtype B isolates from Henan than from Shanghai isolates.Further studies with additional controls are therefore warranted to confirm the role of the degree of a common source of infections in differences in HIV variation across populations.     

Physiological and Biochemical Changes in Microcystis aeruginosa Qutz. in Phosphorus Limitation

Effects of phosphorus limitation on the physiological and biochemical changes of the freshwater bloom alga Microcystis aeruginosa Qutz. are reported in the present study. As a result of phosphorus limitation, biomass was controlled to some extent and the protein content per cell in vivo decreased. However,the carbohydrate content per cell was higher in phosphorus limitation over the 8d of cultivation. Soluble proteins were distinct in the media, whereas phosphorus deficiency induced the presence of a unique protein (16.2 kDa). Under conditions of phosphorus limitation, the activities of both superoxide dismutase and peroxidase per cell in vivo were lower than under normal conditions in the last cultivation. The in vivo absorption spectra of cells showed chlorophyll absorption peaks at 676 and 436nm, over 10nm red-shifted from the normal position; cells showed an absence of a chlorophyll c with an in viva absorption peak at 623nm and an extraction absorption peak at 617nm. The chlorophyll a/carotene and chlorophyll a/xanthophylls ratios decreased under conditions of phosphorus limitation, photosynthetic efficiency (Fv/Fm) was clearly lower, and the low-temperature fluorescence emission spectra indicated a higher peak at 683nm and a lower peak at 721nm relatively, with the 721nm peak drifting slightly to the red and the 683 nm peak strengthened with a weakened 692nm shoulder peak.     

DO THE LATERAL FIELDS EXIST IN SOME GALEASPIDS (JAWLESS FISHES)?

<正> Pan et Wang (1981) reported that the dorsal shield of the galeaspid, Qingmenaspis, held a large opening on each side, but owing to the ill preservation they reservedly assumed it likely to be a dorsal branchial opening. This structure was also recognized later in Lungmenshanaspis by Wang Nian-zhong (1991). He considered its function to remain obscure. More recently Pan (1992) described the structure in a number of new galeaspids and renamed it fenestra. He distingushed the structure into two kinds: the lateral dorsal fenestra, which is narrow and small, existing in Pentathyraspis and Microhoplonaspis, and the dorsal fenestra, which is broad, found in Macrothyraspis, Sinoszechuanaspis as well as Qingmenaspis. Pan assumed the fenestra to be coverd by the skin when the creatures were alive, and to play a role in hydrodynamic. He regarded this structure as a unique character for the fenestra galeaspids.     

Activation of phospholipase D activity in transforming growth factor—beta—induced cell growth inhibition

Cells regulate phospholipase D(PLD) activity in response to numerous extracellular signals.Here,we investigated the involvement of PLD activity in transforming growth factor-β(TGF-β1)-mediated growth inhibition of epithelial cells.TGF-β1)-mediated growth inhibition of epithelial cells.TGF-β1 inhibits the growth of MDCK,Mv1Lu,and A-549 cells.In the presence of 0.4% butanol,TGF-β1 induces an increase in the formation of phosphatidylbutanol,a unique product catalyzed by PLD.TGF-β1 also induces an increase in phosphatidic acid (PA) level in A-549 and MDCK cells.TGF-β1 induces an increase in the levels of DAG labeled with [^3H]-myristic acid in A-549 and MDCK cells but not in Mv1Lu cells.No increase of DAG was observed in cells prelabeled with [^3H]-arachidonic acid.The data presented suggest that PLD activation is involved in the TGF-β1-induced cell growth inhibition.     

Identification and characterization of genes involved in the jasmonate biosynthetic and signaling pathways in mulberry(Morus notabilis)

Jasmonate(JA) is an important phytohormone regulating growth, development, and environmental response in plants, particularly defense response against herbivorous insects. Recently, completion of the draft genome of the mulberry(Morus notabilis) in conjunction with genome sequencing of silkworm(Bombyx mori) provides an opportunity to study this unique plant‐herbivore interaction. Here, we identified genes involved in JA biosynthetic and signaling pathways in the genome of mulberry for the first time, with the majority of samples showing a tissue‐biased expression pattern. The analysis of the representative genes 12‐oxophytodienoic acid reductase(OPRs) and jasmonate ZIM‐domain(JAZs) was performed and the results indicated that the mulberry genome contains a relatively small number of JA biosynthetic and signaling pathway genes. A gene encoding animportant repressor, MnNINJA, was identified as an alternative splicing variant lacking an ethylene‐responsive element binding factor‐associated amphiphilic repression motif. Having this fundamental information will facilitate future functional study of JA‐related genes pertaining to mulberry‐silkworm interactions.     

Niche interactions in epidermal stem cells

Within the epidermis and dermis of the skin, cells secrete and are surrounded by the extracellular matrix(ECM), which provides structural and biochemical support. The ECM of the epidermis is the basement membrane, and collagen and other dermal components constitute the ECM of the dermis. There is significant variation in the composition of the ECM of the epidermis and dermis, which can affect "cell to cell" and "cell to ECM" interactions. These interactions, in turn, can influence biological responses, aging, and wound healing; abnormal ECM signaling likely contributes toskin diseases. Thus, strategies for manipulating cellECM interactions are critical for treating wounds and a variety of skin diseases. Many of these strategies focus on epidermal stem cells, which reside in a unique niche in which the ECM is the most important component; interactions between the ECM and epidermal stem cells play a major role in regulating stem cell fate. As they constitute a major portion of the ECM, it is likely that integrins and type Ⅳ collagens are important in stem cell regulation and maintenance. In this review, we highlight recent research-including our previous work-exploring the role that the ECM and its associated components play in shaping the epidermal stem cell niche.     

人巨细胞病毒形态转化区的鉴定

DNA of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) contains three transforming fragments, which have been mapped in the long unique region of the viral genome(see Fig.1). A minimal region of 558 base pairs(bp) (pCM4127) was localized in the XbaI-Hindlll fragment of HCMV strain AD169 (mapunit 0.123—0.140)and designated morphological transforming region Ⅰ (mtrⅠ). MtrⅠwas reported to cause one-step focal transformation of primary Wistar