四川乐山市发现较大群的家燕及一例斑头雁留此越冬

2008年1月17日下午4时左右,笔者在四川乐山市水口镇大渡河边发现1只家燕正在河面低空飞行捕食.2008年1月25日西华师范大学杨志松博士在该市岷江边天池村及金灯村一带先后发现5小群家燕,分别为4只、1只、10只、1只和3只;同日,胡杰博士在该市青衣江边(金水湾至乐山高新区江段)也发现2小群家燕,分别为4只和6只.     

微生物在水环境污染物降解中的应用

每年有大量来自工业、农业、养殖业和城市污水处理厂的废水被排入到水环境中,因此,地球上的水环境面临大量来自生活废水、工农业废水、非法排放的废水及其它废水的污染物质(如抗生素、杀虫剂,除草剂、烃等)的严重挑战,特别是近年来随着集约化养殖的发展,废水污染问题日益突出,并且随着分析手段的进步,能够检测到被排入水环境中的化学污染物质也越来越多,这些化学污染物对水环境中的生物产生有害影响.但是,微生物在污染控制上具有许多重要的作用.因此,本文对微生物在水环境污染物降解中的应用进行了评论.结果表明微生物主要是应用在水产养殖水中,而在其它的水体系(如河、湖、海)的应用较少.     

Effects of environmental stressors on stem cells

Environmental toxicants are ubiquitous,and many are known to cause harmful health effects.However,much of what we know or think we know concerning the targets and long-term effects of exposure to environmental stressors is sadly lacking.Toxicant exposure may have health effects that are currently mischaracterized or at least mechanistically incompletely understood.While much of the recent excitement about stem cells(SCs)focuses on their potential as therapeutic agents,they also offer a valuable resource to give us insight into the mechanisms and risks of toxicant effects.Not only as a response to the increasing ethical pressure to reduce animal testing,SC studies allow us valuable insight into the true effects of human exposure to environmental stressors under controlled conditions.We present a review of the history of publications on the effects of environmental stressors on SCs,followed by a consolidation of the literature over the past five years on a subset of key environmental stressors of importance to human health and their effects on both embryonic and tissue SCs.The review will make constructive suggestions as to areas of toxicant research where further studies are needed,as well as making indications of the potential utility for advancing knowledge and directing research on environmental toxicology.     

莴苣授粉前后中央细胞中钙的分布(简报)

Ca2 作为植物生长发育过程中的必需元素之一,通过特定的时、空分布参与调控植物生长发育的诸多发育过程[1].中央细胞是胚囊中体积最大的细胞,与卵器共同构成雌性生殖单位.在被子植物双受精作用中,卵细胞与一个精细胞融合形成胚,中央细胞与另一个精细胞融合并发育成胚乳,为胚的发育提供营养.     

水果湖湾蓝藻水华的形成及其对东湖影响的评价

东湖是武汉市最重要的湖泊,位于湖北省武汉市武昌区,属中型浅水湖泊,它集饮用水源、旅游、疗养、气候调节、水产养殖和水上运动等多功能于一体[1].因此,东湖水质的好坏与武汉人民的生活密切相关.     

走进内蒙

2015年8月1日,我们每一个人收拾好行囊,整装待发,在邓涛老师带领下踏上了去往内蒙古的征程,拉开了探索灰色生命之旅的序幕. 队伍由两辆车、8人组成,我们早晨7点从中国科学院古脊椎动物与古人类研究所出发,披着清晨的阳光,摆脱城市的拥挤,缓缓地“逃离”了北京城.直到抵达张北之后我们的车子才能像矫健的马儿一样驰骋在广袤的公路上,沿途没有了城市的喧闹,没有了交通的堵塞,伴随我们的只有那一眼望去蓝蓝的天空、随风摆动的小草,以及那迷人的风景,偶尔打开车窗,一股凉爽的清风扑面而来,沁人心脾.经过一路的颠簸,我们在傍晚时刻到达锡林浩特,当地文物保护站的同志为我们安顿好了一切.     

例谈2007年高考"现代生物科技专题"

通过现代生物科技专题及相关高考试题的介绍与分析,以开拓学生视野,增强科技意识,激发学生探索生命奥妙和热爱生物科学的情感,为进一步学习现代生物学奠定基础.同时,借助现代生物科技专题作试题背景,具有能力的开放性和情境的新颖性,也有利于考查和培养学生独立获取新知识、收集和处理信息的能力.所选试题涉及现代生物科技前沿的领域有:基因工程、细胞工程、蛋白质工程、癌症和克隆技术等,均体现出对现代生物技术发展的关注.     

Formidable females redux:male social integration into female networks and the value of dynamic multilayer networks

The development of multilayer network techniques is a boon for researchers who wish to understand how different interaction layers might influence each other,and how these in turn might influence group dynamics.Here,we investigate how integration between male and female grooming and aggression interaction networks influences male power trajectories in vervet monkeys Chlorocebus pygerythrus.Our previous analyses of this phenomenon used a monolayer approach,and our aim here is to extend these analyses using a dynamic multilayer approach.To do so,we constructed a temporal series of male and female interaction layers.We then used a multivariate multilevel autoregression model to compare cross-lagged associations between a male's centrality in the female grooming layer and changes in male Elo ratings.Our results confirmed our original findings:changes in male centrality within the female grooming network were weakly but positively tied to changes in their Elo ratings.However,the multilayer network approach offered additional insights into this social process,identifying how changes in a male's centrality cascade through the other network layers.This dynamic view indicates that the changes in Elo ratings are likely to be short-lived,but that male centrality within the female network had a much stronger impact throughout the multilayer network as a whole,especially on reducing intermale aggression(i.e.,aggression directed by males toward other males).We suggest that multilayer social network approaches can take advantage of increased amounts of social data that are more commonly collected these days,using a variety of methods.Such data are inherently multilevel and multilayered,and thus offer the ability to quantify more precisely the dynamics of animal social behaviors.     

Plant infection by two different viruses induce contrasting changes of vectors fitness and behavior

Insect-vectored plant viruses can induce changes in plant phenotypes,thus influencing plant-vector interactions in a way that may promote their dispersal according to their mode of transmission (i.e.,circulative vs.noncirculative).This indirect vector manipulation requires host-virus-vector coevolution and would thus be effective solely in very specific plant-virus-vector species associations.Some studies suggest this manipulation may depend on multiple factors relative to various intrinsic characteristics of vectors such as transmission efficiency.In anintegrative study,we tested the effects of infection of the Brassicaceae Camelina sativa with the noncirculative Cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV)or the circulative Turnip yellows virus (TuYV)on the host-plant colonization of two aphid species differing in their virus transmission efficiency:the polyphagous Myzus persicae,efficient vector of both viruses,and the Brassicaceae specialist Brevicoryne brassicae,poor vector of TuYV and efficient vector of CaMV.Results confirmed the important role of virus mode of transmission as plant-mediated effects of CaMV on the two aphid species induced negative alterations of feeding behavior (i.e.,decreased phloem sap ingestion)and performance that were both conducive for virus fitness by promoting dispersion after a rapid acquisition.In addition,virus transmission efficiency may also play a role in vector manipulation by viruses as only the responses of the efficient vector to plant-mediated effects of TuYV,that is,enhanced feeding behavior and performances,were favorable to their acquisition and further dispersal.Altogether,this work demonstrated that vector transmission efficiency also has to be considered when studying the mechanisms underlying vector manipulation by viruses.Our results also re- inforce the idea that vector manipulation requires coevolution between plant,virus and vector.     

Stem cell therapy applied for digestive anastomosis: Current state and future perspectives

BACKGROUND Digestive tract resections are usually followed by an anastomosis.Anastomotic leakage,normally due to failed healing,is the most feared complication in digestive surgery because it is associated with high morbidity and mortality.Despite technical and technological advances and focused research,its rates have remained almost unchanged the last decades.In the last two decades,stem cells(SCs)have been shown to enhance healing in animal and human studies;hence,SCs have emerged since 2008 as an alternative to improve anastomoses outcomes.AIM To summarise the published knowledge of SC utilisation as a preventative tool for hollow digestive viscera anastomotic or suture leaks.METHODS PubMed,Science Direct,Scopus and Cochrane searches were performed using the key words“anastomosis”,“colorectal/colonic anastomoses”,“anastomotic leak”,“stem cells”,“progenitor cells”,“cellular therapy”and“cell therapy”in order to identify relevant articles published in English and Spanish during the years of 2000 to 2021.Studies employing SCs,performing digestive anastomoses in hollow viscera or digestive perforation sutures and monitoring healing were finally included.Reference lists from the selected articles were reviewed to identify additional pertinent articles.METHODS Given the great variability in the study designs,anastomotic models,interventions(SCs,doses and vehicles)and outcome measures,performing a reliable meta-analysis was considered impossible,so we present the studies,their results and limitations.RESULTS Eighteen preclinical studies and three review papers were identified;no clinical studies have been published and there are no registered clinical trials.Experimental studies,mainly in rat and porcine models and occasionally in very adverse conditions such as ischaemia or colitis,have been demonstrated SCs as safe and have shown some encouraging morphological,functional and even clinical results.Mesenchymal SCs are mostly employed,and delivery routes are mainly local injections and cell sheets followed by biosutures(sutures coated by SCs)or purely topical.As potential weaknesses,animal models need to be improved to make them more comparable and equivalent to clinical practice,and the SC isolation processes need to be standardised.There is notable heterogeneity in the studies,making them difficult to compare.Further investigations are needed to establish the indications,the administration system,potential adjuvants,the final efficacy and to confirm safety and exclude definitively oncological concerns.CONCLUSION The future role of SC therapy to induce healing processes in digestive anastomoses/sutures still needs to be determined and seems to be currently far from clinical use.     

Phylogenetic definitions and taxonomic philosophy

An examination of the post-Darwinian history of biological taxonomy reveals an implicit assumption that the definitions of taxon names consist of lists of organismal traits. That assumption represents a failure to grant the concept of evolution a central role in taxonomy, and it causes conflicts between traditional methods of defining taxon names and evolutionary concepts of taxa. Phylogenetic definitions of taxon names (de Queiroz and Gauthier 1990) grant the concept of common ancestry a central role in the definitions of taxon names and thus constitute an important step in the development of phylogenetic taxonomy. By treating phylogenetic relationships rather than organismal traits as necessary and sufficient properties, phylogenetic definitions remove conflicts between the definitions of taxon names and evolutionary concepts of taxa. The general method of definition represented by phylogenetic definitions of clade names can be applied to the names of other kinds of composite wholes, including populations and biological species. That the names of individuals (composite wholes) can be defined in terms of necessary and sufficient properties provides the foundation for a synthesis of seemingly incompatible positions held by contemporary individualists and essentialists concerning the nature of taxa and the definitions of taxon names.     

Échinodermes de l'Ordovicien supérieur (Ashgill) de Sardaigne et d'Algérie

Research on the influence of sea level variations on the benthic faunas have been carried out in the Upper Ordovician of Sardinia. Study of the depositional facies and sequence analysis of the upper part (Lower Ashgill) of the Portixeddu Formation led to the identification of the sedimentary environments. Cystoids and crinoids are associated to bryozoans and brachiopods in most levels. The numerical analysis of associations and megaguilds shows that crinoids and cystoids have a higher frequency in the proximal and median facies of the upper offshore. The columnal association characterized by Conspectocrinus celticus and the coronoid Mespilocystites tregarvanicus has been discovered in the upper part of the formation. This material and complementary samples from Upper Ordovician of Sardinia and Kabylia (Algeria) bring additional data on the systematic and show the wide distribution of this fauna outside of the Ibero-armorican domain. The distribution of this echinoderm association supports a palaeogeographical position of the Ibero-armorican domain and Sardinia within the north gondwanan margin during the Lower Palaeozoic.     

Des Miliolacea aux Alveolinacea (grands foraminifères): la faune du Crétacé supérieur et du Tertiaire inférieur du Chiapas (S.E. Mexique)

Found in Chiapas (South-East of Mexico), Praealveolina michaudi nov. sp. and Chubbina jamaicensis (of Campanian-Maestrichtian age) are described, both evolved from Nummoloculina sp. while Raadshoovenia guatemalensis (upper Paleocene-lower Eocene) arises from Quinqueloculina. We precisely analyze and modelize the nepionic coiling during the evolutionary change from Miliolacea to Alveolinacea. During ontogenesis as well as during phylogenesis, quinqueloculine coiling progresses to streptospiral and then to planispiral chamber arrangement with the increase of volume of embryo and of chambers. Appearance of these large foraminifers are understood as a consequence of the rise of K-strategies in their mode of life, following the development of photosynthetic symbioses.     

人工合成多样性突变文库研究进展*

突变文库的构建是定向进化研究过程中一个关键步骤,主要利用天然存在的系统或者人工合成的分子技术来产生多样性核酸分子文库,为制备和筛选具有一定特性的蛋白酶、多肽、人工抗体等提供庞大的遗传基因库,也可用于合成生物学中相关基因元件的研究与筛选,为目标生物制品的高效工业化生产提供动力。随着对突变文库构建技术研究的日益深入,各种文库构建策略相继被开发出来,并在生物能源、生物化工、生物医药、生物试剂和食品工业等方面得到了广泛的应用。然而,定向进化中的文库构建策略多有不同,各种突变文库构建技术的核心方法也在不断创新。主要介绍近年来实验室中人工合成多样性文库的前沿技术,并对文库构建技术在自动化和智能化方向的发展进行了展望。     

A phylogenetic analysis of basal Anseriformes, the fossil Presbyornis, and the interordinal relationships of waterfowl

A phylogenetic analysis of 123 morphological characters of basal waterfowl (Aves: Anseriformes) and other selected avian orders confirmed that the screamers (Anhimae: Anhitn-idae) are the sister-group of other waterfowl (Anseres), and that the magpie goose (Anseranatidae: Anseranas semipalmata) is the sister group of other modern waterfowl exclusive of screamers (Anatidae sensu stricto). The analysis also supports the traditional hypothesis of the gallinaceous birds (Galliformes) as the sister group of the Anseriformes. Presbyornis, a fossil from the early Eocene of Wyoming and averred by Olson & Feduccia as showing that the Anseriformes were derived from shorebirds (Charadriiformes), was found to represent the sister group of the Anatidae. Associated hypotheses by Olson & Feduccia concerning the implications of Presbyornis for the phylogenetic relationships of flamingos (Phoenicopteriformes), the position of the Anhimidae within the waterfowl, relationships among modern Anatidae, and a plausible evolutionary scenario for waterfowl also are rejected. Analyses revealed that cranial characters were critical to the establishment of the Galliformes as the sister group of the Anseriformes; exclusion of the Anhimidae, especially in combination with Anseranas, also undermined the support for this inference. Placement of Presbyornis as the sister group of the Anatidae casts doubt on the role suggested by Feduccia of ‘transitional shorebirds' in the origin of modern avian orders, and calls into question the concept of ‘fossil mosaics’. The phylogenetic hypothesis is used to reconstruct an evolutionary scenario for selected ecomorphological characters in the galliform-anseriform transition, to predict the most parsimonious states of these characters for Presbyornis, and to propose a phylogenetic classification of the higher-order taxa of waterfowl. This re-examination of Presbyornis also is used to exemplify the fundamental methodological shortcomings of the intuitive approach to the reconstruction of phylogenetic relationships.     

L’habitat en grotte au Néolithique : vers une estimation de l’intensité des occupations

The archaeological excavation of the cave of the Gardon has brought to light a dilated and nearly continuous stratigraphy for the Neolithic era. The analysis of lithic industry has showed the existence of variations between those neolithic layers, which are independents of the technological processes of tools productions. Four criteria allow us to characterize the occupation’s type of each layer. Compared to the excavations data and to sedimentological analysis, these results allow us to display the evolution of the intensity of occupations of the cave throughout the whole Neolithic.     

The Natural Host Range of Steinernema and Heterorhabditis spp. and Their Impact on Insect Populations

The natural host range of entomopathogenic nematodes of the genera Steinernema and Heterorhabditis can be defined as the range of insects which indigenous nematode populations use for propagation. Information on the natural host range is rare. However, based on records of insects found to be naturally infected with nematodes, some conclusions regarding the natural host range of some Steinernema spp. and Heterorhabditis spp. are presented. Reports of indigenous nematode populations impacting on insect populations can be divided between relatively balanced, long-lasting nematode-host associations and unbalanced, short-lasting epizootics. Examples of the augmentation and inoculative introduction of nematodes in agriculture and forestry ecosystems are presented. Based on current knowledge, nematode reproduction strategies are discussed and indications of the risk involved in the release of non-indigenous nematodes are given.     

Concentration of 17 trace elements in serum and whole blood of plains viscachas (Lagostomus maximus) by ICP-MS, their reference ranges, and their relation to cataract

The reference ranges of the trace elements Al, As, Be, B, Cd, Co, Cu, Fe, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, Li, Rb, Se, Sr, and Zn were determined by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) in sera of a group of free-ranging plains viscachas of the pampa grasslands of Argentina. The values were compared with those of a small group of captive plains viscachas of the Zurich Zoo with diabetes and bilateral cataracts. In addition, a method for digestion of whole-blood samples is described for the trace element determination. Significant differences in the concentration of trace elements in the two groups of animals are discussed. No correlation was found between the levels of selenium and of other trace elements compared to the formation of cataracts.     

A Species-specific Monoclonal Antibody System for Detecting the Remains of Field Slugs, Deroceras reticulatum (Muller) (Mollusca: Pulmonata), in Carabid Beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae)

The field slug, Deroceras reticulatum (Muller), is probably the most damaging and widespread species of slug, causing severe economic losses in a broad range of crops in temperate zones throughout the world. Investigations into the role of predation in the population dynamics of this species required a biochemical system which was capable of identifying the remains of this slug in the crop contents of predators, and distinguishing them from those of other molluscs. A monoclonal antibody was developed (IgM isotype). This was capable of separating, in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, D. reticulatum from the related D. caruanae (Pollonera) and all molluscs and other invertebrates tested, with the unexpected exceptions of New Zealand flatworms, Artioposthia triangulata (Deny) and the millipede Polymicrodon polydesmoides (Leach). Characterization of the antibody and assay demonstrated that the system could clearly detect as little as 11.6 ng of D. reticulatum protein in 200 mu l of buffer. Slug remains could be identified as such in the crops of the carabid predator Pterostichus melanarius Illiger for 38.1 h, while the antibody-antigen reaction declined to half of that measured immediately following consumption, after 12.9 h. A practical and highly sensitive system was therefore developed, using the first species-specific monoclonal antibody available for the investigation of predation on slugs.     

Freeliving nematodes from the Salton Sea

Thirteen species, or putative species, of freeliving nematodes are recorded from a variety of habitats in the hypersaline Salton Sea, the largest inland lake in California. This doubles the number of species of multicellular invertebrates known to occur in the lake. All species are referable to known marine genera, and are regarded as having a marine coastal origin. The range of taxa present is representative of the full taxonomic spread found in marine coastal habitats, suggesting that a wide range of marine nematode taxa are capable of adapting to the hypersaline conditions. The broad spectrum of feeding types present suggests that nematodes play a variety of ecological roles within the lake.