Special Issue on ‘‘Metagenomics of Marine Environments”

<正>We are pleased to announce a special issue on‘‘Metagenomics of Marine Environments’’of the journal Genomics,ProteomicsBioinformatics(GPB),aiming to provide a platform for high-quality papers focusing on the topic and we invite submissions for this special issue(to be published in the fall of 2015).With most microbes being difficult or impossible to culture,metagenomic approaches based on culture-independent genomic sequencing provide the first real insight of the magnitude and diversity of     

Special Issue on“Metagenomics of Marine Environments”

<正>We are pleased to announce a special issue on‘‘Metagenomics of Marine Environments’’of the journal Genomics,ProteomicsBioinformatics(GPB),aiming to provide a platform for high-quality papers focusing on the topic and we invite submissions for this special issue(to be published in the fall of 2015).With most microbes being difficult or impossible to culture,metagenomic approaches based on culture-independent genomic sequencing provide the first real insight of the magnitude and diversity of     

Call for Papers Special Issue on “Metagenomics of Marine Environments”

正We are pleased to announce a special issue on"Metagenomics of Marine Environments"of the journal Genomics,ProteomicsBioinformatics(GPB),aiming to provide a platform for high-quality papers focusing on the topic and we invite submissions for this special issue(to be published in August of 2015).With most microbes being difficult or impossible to culture,metagenomic approaches based on culture-     

Computational identification and evolutional analysis of Piwi subfamily in 11 Drosophila species

The complete genome sequences of 11 Drosophila species provide an opportunity to investigate the gene family evolution in closely related species. Drosophila Piwi subfamily, including three members, piwi, Aub and Ago3, has attracted increasing attention as it participates in the biogenesis of piRNA. Here, we identified 33 Piwi homologs from the genome of 11 Drosophila species. The full-length cDNA sequences ofpiwi and Aub genes were obtained by using New GENSCAN Web Server. The Ago3 homologs were difficult regarding full-length information because they had long introns. The genomic structure of Piwi subfamily genes are highly conserved among diverse Drosophila species. Insect piwi and Aub genes have long first introns. The average length of the first intron is 1 284 bp for piwi and 840 bp for Aub, which is much larger than those of other introns （93 bp for Piwi and 54 bp for Aub）. However, this phenomenon is not observed in mammalian piwi genes. We also found that there were abundant repeat sequences in both exons and introns of insect Ago3 genes. Due to recent insertions of long terminal repeat elements in four Drosophila species, part of the third introns exhibit higher conservation than adjacent exons and other introns. An evolutional tree created by Minimum Evolution method indicates that mammalian piwi genes are more closely related to the insect Ago3 Piwi subfamily.     

Special Issue on‘‘Metagenomics of Marine Environments’’

<正>We are pleased to announce a special issue on‘‘Metagenomics of Marine Environments’’of the journal Genomics,ProteomicsBioinformatics(GPB),aiming to provide a platform for high-quality papers focusing on the topic and we invite submissions for this special issue(to be published in the fall of 2015).With most microbes being difficult or impossible to culture     

Recovering threatened plant species and their habitats: The need for integrated action

As an introduction to the Special Issue on the restoration of threatened plant species and their habitats,this editorial shows how the various papers in the issue address the range of in situ interventions involved in species population management and restoration of their habitat, together with examples of case studies implementing these actions. It stresses the need for integrating these various interventions.It highlights the importance of protected areas in providing a degree of protection for threatened species but also the need to complement this with actions at the species level to ensure the effective conservation and long term persistence of these species. It emphasizes that ecological restoration is a complement to, not a substitute for conservation, and that the balance of effort and allocation of resources between them is a key issue.     

Conservation and behavior of Africa＇s ＂Big Five＂

We examine the conservation status of Africa＇s ＂Big Five＂： lion, leopard, buffalo, black and white rhinoceros and elephant, and the role of behavioral knowledge in their conservation. Efforts to conserve these flagship species consist of in situ conservation, captive breeding and reintroductions. With a few exceptions, we find limited evidence that knowledge of behavior informs conservation programs targeted at these species. For management in the wild, knowledge of infanticide and ranging can provide guidelines for realistic hunting quotas and corridors between protected areas, respectively. For ex situ and reintroduction programs, behavioral knowledge is chiefly focused on improved animal husbandry. Despite a formidable understanding of these species＇ behavior, the practicalities of using such knowledge may be diminished because exploitation of these species is so forceful and the bulk of efforts aimed at conserving these species （and indeed most other African species） are primarily in situ where behaviorally driven interventions are limited. Our comparative findings suggest that behavior has been of rather narrow use in the conservation of these flagship species [Current Zoology 60 （4）： 486--499, 2014].     

Animal personality and the ecological impacts of freshwater non-native species

While the ecological impacts of invasive species have been demonstrated for many taxonomic groups, the potential effects of behavioural variation among nonnative individuals （i.e. personality） on these impacts have been largely overlooked. This is despite the fact that recent studies have demonstrated that, by nature, the three first stages of biological invasions （i.e. transport, establishment and spread） can lead to personalitybiased populations. Freshwater ecosystems provide a unique oppor tunity to investigate this issue, notably because the ecological impacts of nonnative species have been extensively documented and because animal personality has been widely studied using freshwater model species. Here, we aim at developing some per spectives on the potential effects of animal personality on the ecological impacts of freshwater nonnative species across levels of biological organizations. At the individual level, personality types have been demonstrated to affect the physiolo gy, metabolism, life history traits and fitness of individuals. We used these effects to discuss how they could subsequently impact invaded popula tions and, in turn, recipient communities. We also discussed how these might translate into changes in the structure of food webs and the functioning of invaded ecosystems. Finally we discussed how these perspectives could interact with the management of invasive species .     

Special Issue on ＂Biomarkers for Diseases＂

The journal Genomics Proteomics ＆ Bioinformatics （GPB） is now inviting submissions for a special issue （to be published in June of 2015） on the topic of ＂Biomarkers for Diseases＂.
As an emerging index, disease biomarkers have demonstrated the potential application in diagnosis and prognosis. The detection of the disease indicators at molecular level, DNA, RNA, protein or metabolites, could gain highly sensitive and specific signals that truly reflect the pathological changes and fully facilitate diagnostic analysis at early phase with invasive mode. Revolution of high-throughput techniques, such as genome-sequencing and mass spectrometers, greatly promotes the discovery and application of the disease biomarkers. The existing disease biomarkers have covered nearly all the macromolecular categories as well as their variants and modifications, including predisposing genetic variations （such as SNPs）, mutations, epigenetic modifications, miRNAs, splice isoforms, abnormal proteins and autoantibodies. Although some biomarkers have been adopted in clinical practice, there are still great needs for studies on identifying new ones, understanding the existing ones and applying the well-studied ones in practice.     

中国高等植物编目信息系统进展(英文)

Biodiversity research increasingly relies on distribution networks for dealing with large-scale primary data.Up-to-date information on biodiversity is critical for the proper management and conservation of any area.The first step towards conservation should be to compile an authoritative species inventory or checklist.Catalogue of Life:Higher Plants in China(CNPC) is an ongoing biodiversity informatics project with the aim to integrate existing higher plants inventory data,and provide access via an internet based web service to public user and the scientific community.The CNPC,for the first time,provides integrated and authoritative taxonomic information on higher plant species found in China,and this database will be permanent,free and continously updated.Presently,a total of 34 377 species have been included in the database.Among of them,16 620 species are only found in China.Taxa are classified into 432 families and 3 941 genera.The CNPC will be an important source for scientists working on Chinese flora,and will play an important role in helping to achieve the targets set under the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation in the future.     

Cloning and Expression of Low Molecular Weight Glutenin Genes from the Chinese Elite Wheat Cultivar ＂Xiaoyan 54＂

The low molecular weight （LMW） glutenln subunlts account for 40% of wheat gluten protein content by mass and these proteins are considered to significantly affect dough quality characteristics. Five new full-length LMW glutenln genes （designated LMW-5, LMW-7, LMW-42, LMW-58, and LMW-34） were isolated from the Chinese elite wheat cultivar ＂Xlaoyan 54＂ by PCR amplification of genomlc DNA using a pair of degenerate primers designed from the conserved sequences of the N- and C-terminal regions of published LMW glutenln genes. Deduced amino acid sequence analysis showed that LMW-5 belongs to the LMW-i type genes and that the other four belong to LMW-m type genes. Sequence comparisons revealed that point mutations occasionally occurred in signal peptide and N-terminus domains and often existed in domain III and domain V. Small insertions and deletions are represented in the repetitive domain. There is a stop codon after amino acid position 110 In the repetitive domain of LMW.34, indicating that It is a pseudogene. The other four genes have complete open reading frames and the putative mature regions of these genes were subcloned Into pET-30a expression vector and successfully expressed in Escherlchla coll. Protein sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamlde gel electro- phoresls analysis showed that all proteins expressed in E. coil by the four genes could be related to B-group LMW glutenln subunits of wheat.