旧大陆的手斧与东方远古文化传统

本世纪前半叶旧石器考古学在中国生根以后,“手斧”这一名称在我国已不太陌生。这类器物主要是在旧石器初期以至中期,风靡于亚、非、欧,历久不衰,余威远及亚洲的某些地区,因此在旧大陆的古人类学和旧石器考古学上具有特殊的意义。然而时至今日,它在国际学术界仍被视为旧石器初期考古学上一个“最大的谜”(Wymer,1982)。对于它的种     

Domestication of cereal crops in the old world: in search of a new approach to solving old problem

N.I. Vavilov's theory of the centres of origin of cultivated plants is still as a methodological base for studying processes of domestication. This theory, along with archaeological, botanical, and molecular genetic data, helped to determine the most probable regions where the principal cultivated species were introduced into culture. The search for the mechanisms of origins of morphological changes in the course of domestication is one of evolutionary biology's oldest problems. Employing novd molecular biological data for solving this problem provides a key to the understanding of these mechanisms and helps to reconstruct a possible scenario of how the traits that distinguish domesticated plants from their wild relatives got involved into selection. It is hypothesized that distinct physiological and morphological differences important to ancient agrarians originated from quantitative and/or qualitative changes in the loci regulating the programmes of plant ontogeny. This hypothesis helps to reveal the mechanisms of origin of certain traits in the course of domestication, to study the connection between the direction of selection and how such traits are genetically controlled, and to outline particular ways for further detailed studies of the evolutionary aspect of domestication processes.     

Human cranial diversity and evidence for an ancient lineage of modern humans

This study examines the genetic affinities of various modern human groupings using a multivariate analysis of morphometric data. Phylogenetic relationships among these groupings are also explored using neighbor-joining analysis of the metric data. Results indicate that the terminal Pleistocene/early Holocene fossils from Australasia exhibit a close genetic affinity with early modern humans from the Levant. Furthermore, recent human populations and Upper Paleolithic Europeans share a most recent common ancestor not shared with either the early Australasians or the early Levantine humans. This pattern of genetic and phylogenetic relationships suggests that the early modern humans from the Levant either contributed directly to the ancestry of an early lineage of Australasians, or that they share a recent common ancestor with them. The principal findings of the study, therefore, lend support to the notion of an early dispersal from Africa by a more ancient lineage of modern human prior to 50 ka, perhaps as early as OIS 5 times (76-100 ka).     

Mitochondrial genomes from modern and ancient Turano-Mongolian cattle reveal an ancient diversity of taurine maternal lineages in East Asia

Turano-Mongolian cattle are a group of taurine cattle from Northern and Eastern Asia with distinct morphological traits, which are known for their ability to tolerate harsh environments, such as the Asian steppe and the Tibetan plateau. Through the analysis of 170 mitogenomes from ten modern breeds, two sub-lineages within T3 (T3₁₁₉ and T3₀₅₅) were identified as specific of Turano-Mongolian cattle. These two T3 sub-lineages, together with the previously identified T4, were also present in six Neolithic samples, dated to ~3900 years BP, which might represent the earliest domestic taurine stocks from Southwest Asia. The rare haplogroup Q, found in three Tibetan cattle, testifies for the legacy of ancient migrations from Southwest Asia and suggests that the isolated Tibetan Plateau preserved unique prehistoric genetic resources. These findings confirm the geographic substructure of Turano-Mongolian cattle breeds, which have been shaped by ancient migrations and geographic barriers.Subject terms: Animal migration, Haplotypes, Phylogenetics     

European attitudes on the regulation of modern biotechnology and their consequences

Modern biotechnology has gradually attracted ever greater interest over the past four decades, from ever-widening communities across the world--from academic scientists, of course, and then from industrialists, journalists, medical specialists, agricultural practitioners, environmental "experts," economists, trading companies--and, so far as it concerns regulation, above all from political interests whose product is indeed legislation. As the interests widened, conflicts developed: between departments, between sectors, between countries and between international agencies. The European Community made choices, bitterly contested; the battles on conducting and regulating the field release of GMOs (genetically modified organisms) were usually won--at least in Europe--by the environment ministries, often in conflict with agriculture and/or the research and science ministries. The result has been the construction over the past 30 y of an ever heavier regulatory burden on those who seek to develop and launch products based on the use of modern biotechnology. The pretense is labeled "the precautionary principle." No lives have been saved, but many jobs have been created in bureaucracies large and small around the world. So far as academia was concerned, their experiments and field trials were repeatedly wrecked by NGOs (non-governmental organizations) claiming thus to have saved mankind and the environment. This is a story of grave political failure in Europe with globally adverse consequences.     

Structured diversity in octoploid strawberry cultivars: importance of the old European germplasm

Understanding genetic structure and diversity information is critical for genetic association studies. In the octoploid cultivated strawberry (Fragaria×ananassa), genetic analyses were focussed on diversity, whereas genetic structure has been poorly explored. This study investigated the genetic structure in a genetic resources collection representing a wide range of the octoploid strawberry cultivars released mainly by North America and western and southern Europe, at different breeding periods and with various pedigrees. The relationship between varieties was examined using 23 microsatellite (simple sequence repeat, SSR) markers. Eight SSR markers were diploid, useful for cultivar discrimination with polymorphic information content (PIC) values between 0.29 and 0.74. Bayesian analyses of genetic structure identified four subpopulations. Three of them, American and modern northern European cultivars (AMNECs), American and modern southern European cultivars (AMSECs) and old European cultivars (OECs), reflected the European breeding history of the cultivated octoploid strawberry. The fourth subpopulation, ‘Intermediate’ group cultivars (IGCs), comprised various origins including OECs that were introgressed with wild species such as Fragaria chiloensis or Fragaria moschata. The OEC group gathered cultivars dating before 1960s, forming the most homogenous and stable subpopulation. The unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean (UPGMA) dendrogram based on modified Nei and Li distance confirmed the separation of the AMSEC, AMNEC and OEC groups. In addition, significant differences were observed among the four subpopulations (AMNEC, AMSEC, OEC, IGC), with high variability within groups and between AMSEC and IGC. Our work underlined that the structure within the studied collection was mainly explained by the pedigree and the year of release than the geographical origin of cultivars. In addition, the important loss of diversity observed in the modern European cultivars and a trend towards using mainly American cultivars for breeding programmes led to the progressive abandonment of old European germplasm, which was revealed as a relative distinct and rich group. This European material should be protected and maintained, because it represents a potential source of original traits for broadening the genetic base of cultivated strawberry. In addition, diploid markers we identified can be used without ambiguity in phylogenetic and diversity studies, because they are genome‐specific. This study is the first step for further association studies in strawberry.     

古今演变中的云南植物若干特点探讨

云南的独特地理位置、地质历史、地形地貌和和季风气候环境等起源于印度板块与欧亚大陆碰撞并插入所产生的青藏高原隆起与古地中海西退。在这个从古到今演变的舞台上,云南不仅成为“植物王国”,而且形成了一些重要的特点。云南既是东亚、东南亚和东喜马拉雅等植物区系的交汇区,又是欧亚大陆植物区系与赤道热带的唯一陆地交流通道;它们既有丰富的古老、孑遗植物,又有数量处于我国榜首的特有分类群;在横断山区这个新分类群分布和演化中心中,新分类群的分布格局与其原始类群的起源密切相关。此外,由于地质历史变迁、第四纪冰期影响和山地垂直变化等,使云南的很多植物具有较多的生态遗传型和较强的生态适应性。     

Sequence capture by hybridization to explore modern and ancient genomic diversity in model and nonmodel organisms

The recent expansion of next-generation sequencing has significantly improved biological research. Nevertheless, deep exploration of genomes or metagenomic samples remains difficult because of the sequencing depth and the associated costs required. Therefore, different partitioning strategies have been developed to sequence informative subsets of studied genomes. Among these strategies, hybridization capture has proven to be an innovative and efficient tool for targeting and enriching specific biomarkers in complex DNA mixtures. It has been successfully applied in numerous areas of biology, such as exome resequencing for the identification of mutations underlying Mendelian or complex diseases and cancers, and its usefulness has been demonstrated in the agronomic field through the linking of genetic variants to agricultural phenotypic traits of interest. Moreover, hybridization capture has provided access to underexplored, but relevant fractions of genomes through its ability to enrich defined targets and their flanking regions. Finally, on the basis of restricted genomic information, this method has also allowed the expansion of knowledge of nonreference species and ancient genomes and provided a better understanding of metagenomic samples. In this review, we present the major advances and discoveries permitted by hybridization capture and highlight the potency of this approach in all areas of biology.     

The high-molecular glutenins of the soft winter wheats from European countries and their relationship to the glutenin composition of the ancient and modern wheat varieties of Ukraine

The sources of high-quality components of HMW glutenines determining grain quality, as initial material for breeding in the conditions of Ukraine were revealed on the base of analysis of 75 literature sources data about composition of high-molecular weight (HMW) glutenin and pedigrees of 598 European wheats from 12 countries, bred in 1923-1997, including, 449 cultivars from West and 149 East Europe. Origin of these components was observed in varieties of Great Britain, France and Germany from ancient Ukrainian wheat Red Fife and it derivative spring wheats of Canada--Marquis, Garnet, Regent, Saunders, Selkirk and of USA--spring wheat Thatcher and winter wheats--Kanred and Oro--as directly as via cultivars of European countries and Australia; in wheats of East European countries from winter wheats Myronivs'ka 808 and Bezostaya 1 (derivative of Ukrainian cultivars Ukrainka and Krymka) and their descendants; in wheats of Austria and Italy--from the both genetical sources.     

DNA diversity in modern East European human populations in view of demographic history and adaptation

The interaction of the human genome with the changing environment moulds the genetic structure of human populations. The variability of autosomal loci and the haplotype diversity was studied in geographically diverse populations from Russia and neighboring countries. Basic tendencies in variability were investigated concerning specific types of polymorphism. The results reveal marked differences between East European populations and those from the Asian part of Russia. The possible effects of climatic-geographic factors on the allele and haplotype frequencies have been studied for some loci. The existences of these correlations provide evidence of possible effect of both adaptation to natural environmental factors and large-scale population movements on the specificity and diversity of gene pool.     

Emil Starkenstein--one of the most important personalities of European continental pharmacology in the period between the two world wars

Emil Starkenstein (1884-1942), professor of pharmacology at the German Medical Faculty of Charles University in Prague, was not only an experimental pharmacologist, but also the pioneer of clinical pharmacology. During the World War I (1914-1918) he took advantage of his knowledge of experimental pharmacology for the new approaches to the treatment of bacillary dysentery, cholera and of epidemic typhus fever. In 1918 he published the article "Clinical Pharmacology--Theory and Praxis at the Patient's Bedside", in which he defined the main task of clinical pharmacology as the implementation and verification of experimental pharmacology achievements in clinical therapy. During the period 1921-1933, his scientific interests involved namely analgesic combinations, seasickness therapy and pharmacology of iron. He published more than 240 scientific articles and three textbooks. Emil Starkenstein died on November 6, 1942 as a victim of Holocaust. Starkenstein s collection of more than 20,000 reprints of scientific studies, which has been deposited recently in the Archives of Charles University in Prague is very valuable.     

Processes in the formation of ancient world systems

Thomas C. Patterson is Professor of Anthropology and History at Temple University, Philadelphia.     

Cryptic diversity within the choanoflagellate morphospecies complex Codosiga botrytis - Phylogeny and morphology of ancient and modern isolates

Choanoflagellates are closely related to metazoans and fungi according to recent phylogenetic studies; therefore the systematics of these organisms is of particular interest. The choanoflagellate morphospecies Codosiga botrytis is the first described choanoflagellate, and is one of the most frequently reported choanoflagellate species. In this study we present phylogenetic and morphological data on eight different strains of Codosiga botrytis. Among these there are five ancient strains; these cultures have been established from up to 43,000 years old cysts from Siberian permafrost. We found that based on the variable V4 region of the small subunit (SSU) of the rDNA, all the investigated freshwater isolates of Codosiga botrytis, together with Sphaeroeca volvox, form a cluster at the base of all other choanoflagellate species. Moreover, the morphospecies described classically as Codosiga botrytis contains at least four different genotypes separated by considerably high genetic distance. All these 'cryptic species' have identical general morphology and cell structure. Strains have a similar life cycle with several different life forms and large morphological plasticity. For the first time we were able to establish cultures from cryo-conserved cysts of choanoflagellates. The ancient strains did not differ significantly in partial SSU rDNA from the modern ones. Besides, no biogeographically pattern could be established. This fact and the low genetic distances of some strains from remote locations support the distribution of dormant stages via air.     

Digest: The contribution of historical climate events in shaping the modern latitudinal diversity gradient of ancient reptiles

It is recognized that biodiversity changes across the planet latitudinally; however, the timing of and reasons for diversity loss at higher latitudes are not well understood. Meseguer and Condamine investigate phylogenies and fossil evidence of reptilian species and determine that global warming and cooling events allowed asymmetric extinction and dispersion across latitudes, suggesting a hypothesis where climate profoundly shapes the latitudinal diversity gradient in certain taxa.     

Industrialization and ethnic change in the modern world

Despite the large recent attention given to ethnicity within the social sciences, the sources of modern ethnic change have remained opaque. Drawing upon social theory from Marx and Gellner, I argue here that industrialization incentivizes ethnic homogenization by lowering the relative value of land. Using carbon emissions per capita as a proxy for industrialization, I show that cross-country changes in ethno-linguistic fractionalization between 1961 and 1985 are negatively correlated with industrialization, and that this result is robust to the use of a variety of control variables, sub-samples and alternative measures of industrialization such as cement production, urbanization and agriculture as a percentage of GDP. In particular, I find no evidence for the direct role of the state in promoting ethnic homogenization, which adds to other recent evidence on how economic incentives may trump political ones as regards identity change, at least in the short- to medium term.     

Molecular diversity analysis of Rhizoctonia solani isolates infecting various pulse crops in different agro-ecological regions of India

Genetic diversity of 89 isolates of Rhizoctonia solani isolated from different pulse crops representing 21 states from 16 agro-ecological regions of India, 49 morphological, and 7 anastomosis groups (AGs) was analyzed using 12 universal rice primers (URPs), 22 random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD), and 23 inter-simple sequence repeats (ISSR) markers. Both URPs and RAPD markers provided 100?% polymorphism with the bands ranging from 0.1 to 5?kb in size, whereas ISSR markers gave 99.7?% polymorphism with the bands sizes ranging from 0.1 to 3?kb. The marker URP 38F followed by URP13R, URP25F, and URP30F, RAPD marker R1 followed by OPM6, A3 and OPA12 and ISSR3 followed by ISSR1, ISSR4, and ISSR20 produced the highest number of amplicons. R. solani isolates showed a high level of genetic diversity. Unweighted pair group method with an arithmetic average (UPGMA) analysis grouped the isolates into 7 major clusters at 35?% genetic similarity using the three sets of markers evaluated. In spite of using three different types of markers, about 95?% isolates shared common grouping patterns. The majority of the isolates representing various AGs were grouped together into different sub-clusters using all three types of markers. Molecular groups of the isolates did not correspond to agro-ecological regions or states and crops of the origin. An attempt was made for the first time in the present study to determine the genetic diversity of R. solani populations isolated from different pulse crops representing various AGs and agro-ecological regions.     

Morphological diversity of some old accessions of Cupressus sempervirens L. in Iran

The aim of this research was to evaluate some old accessions of Cupressus sempervirens L. in Iran and identify any possible relationships exist among them based on phenotypical characteristics. A total of 17 Cupressus accessions mostly grown in situ, from Kerman and Yazd provinces were used. Twenty characteristics (11 quantitative and 9 qualitative) were measured for evaluating the chosen samples. Results from simple correlation analysis showed significant positive and negative correlations for certain important characteristics. Seed length and width were in significant correlation with cone width. There was a close relationship between seed length and width with cone width. Also seed length, seed width and number of total seeds were in significant correlation with cone circumference. The number of seeds per cone was in positive correlation with scale number per cone and number of seed per scale. Factor analysis was used to determine the effective characteristics and the number of main factors. For each factor, a loading value of more than 0.65 was judged as being significant. Effective characteristics were categorized into seven main factors that contributed to 85.5 % of the overall variance. Cone and seed characteristics were defined mainly by the first factor contributing to 25.62 % of the total variance. Cluster analysis divided the trees into two main clusters each consisting of genotypes with lanceolate leaves and ovate, respectively, exception to the thirty sub cluster of the first main cluster that had ovate leaves. The oldest accessions such as Y.A, Y.M, Y.Ch, Y.T₁, Y.T₂ and K.J1 were located in the first cluster. Most of the accessions, especially the oldest ones, in main first cluster had the open growth habit or semi-open, so that growth habit was semi-closed in second main cluster.     

墓室酥碱砖壁画及其环境的真菌多样性分析

【背景】酥碱是威胁古代墓室砖壁画保存的主要病害之一,水分和盐分共同作用下壁画产生酥碱病害,而其中真菌类群、来源及耐盐性鲜有报道。【目的】比较敦煌汉墓、晋墓和嘉峪关五号墓内砖壁画酥碱样品及其赋存环境空气中可培养真菌的群落组成、多样性及耐盐性,为砖壁画的防护提供理论依据。【方法】运用扫描电镜观察酥碱样品微观形貌,并结合能谱、X射线衍射进行成分分析;对样品培养、分离、纯化获得真菌纯菌株,运用形态和分子生物学技术鉴定种属;利用梯度含盐培养基研究菌株的耐盐性。【结果】墓室酥碱样品及环境空气中青霉属(Pencillium)、曲霉属(Aspergillus)和枝孢属(Cladosporium)丰度较高,为优势属;其他菌属包括镰孢菌属(Fusarium)和毛壳菌属(Chaetomium)为稀有属。三座墓室砖壁画酥碱中均存在烟曲霉(A.fumigatus)、花斑曲霉(A.versicolor)以及黄灰青霉(P.aurantiogriseum);酥碱样品与墓室内外空气中分离获得的真菌类群间有一定相似性。多数菌株可在含15%NaCl的培养基上生长,一株产黄青霉(P. chrysogenum)甚至可在30%盐浓度条件下生长。【结论】青霉属和曲霉属为墓室共有优势菌,多数菌株有较强的耐盐性。