基于表型性状的叶用莴苣资源多样性分析

对从国内外引进的153份叶用莴苣种质资源的15个表型性状进行了系统鉴定,主要包括叶片性状、植株性状、抽薹开花时间等。结果表明:15个表型性状的平均变异系数为28.98%,其中叶缘变异系数最大(49.85%),开花期的最小(7.05%)。15个表型性状的平均遗传多样性指数为1.08,抽薹期(1.41)、叶形(1.56)、株高(1.39)的遗传多样性指数均较大,叶裂刻的遗传多样性指数最小(0.3)。通过SAS对这些材料进行聚类分析,将153份材料分为4组群,结果表明第l I和IV组群包含资源60和65份,其余组群包含材料较少。总体来讲叶用莴苣资源型性状的变异程度和遗传多样性指数较高,具有丰富的变异程度和多样性。     

Sampling and Complementarity Effects of Plant Diversity on Resource Use Increases the Invasion Resistance of Communities

BackgroundAlthough plant diversity is postulated to resist invasion, studies have not provided consistent results, most of which were ascribed to the influences of other covariate environmental factors.Conclusions/SignificanceThe results of this study suggest that plant diversity confers resistance to invasion, which is mainly ascribed to the sampling effect of particular species and the complementarity effect among species on resources use.     

Species-Specific Effects on Throughfall Kinetic Energy in Subtropical Forest Plantations Are Related to Leaf Traits and Tree Architecture

Soil erosion is a key threat to many ecosystems, especially in subtropical China where high erosion rates occur. While the mechanisms that induce soil erosion on agricultural land are well understood, soil erosion processes in forests have rarely been studied. Throughfall kinetic energy (TKE) is influenced in manifold ways and often determined by the tree’s leaf and architectural traits. We investigated the role of species identity in mono-specific stands on TKE by asking to what extent TKE is species-specific and which leaf and architectural traits account for variation in TKE. We measured TKE of 11 different tree species planted in monocultures in a biodiversity-ecosystem-functioning experiment in subtropical China, using sand-filled splash cups during five natural rainfall events in summer 2013. In addition, 14 leaf and tree architectural traits were measured and linked to TKE. Our results showed that TKE was highly species-specific. Highest TKE was found below Choerospondias axillaris and Sapindus saponaria, while Schima superba showed lowest TKE. These species-specific effects were mediated by leaf habit, leaf area (LA), leaf pinnation, leaf margin, stem diameter at ground level (GD), crown base height (CBH), tree height, number of branches and leaf area index (LAI) as biotic factors and throughfall as abiotic factor. Among these, leaf habit, tree height and LA showed the highest effect sizes on TKE and can be considered as major drivers of TKE. TKE was positively influenced by LA, GD, CBH, tree height, LAI, and throughfall amount while it was negatively influenced by the number of branches. TKE was lower in evergreen, simple leaved and dentate leaved than in deciduous, pinnated or entire leaved species. Our results clearly showed that soil erosion in forest plantations can be mitigated by the appropriate choice of tree species.     

Yeast Colony Survival Depends on Metabolic Adaptation and Cell Differentiation Rather Than on Stress Defense

Enzymes scavenging reactive oxygen species (ROS) are important for cell protection during stress and aging. A deficiency in these enzymes leads to ROS imbalance, causing various disorders in many organisms, including yeast. In contrast to liquid cultures, where fitness of the yeast population depends on its ROS scavenging capability, the present study suggests that Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells growing in colonies capable of ammonia signaling use a broader protective strategy. Instead of maintaining high levels of antioxidant enzymes for ROS detoxification, colonies activate an alternative metabolism that prevents ROS production. Colonies of the strain deficient in cytosolic superoxide dismutase Sod1p thus developed the same way as wild type colonies. They produced comparable levels of ammonia and underwent similar developmental changes (expression of genes of alternative metabolism and center margin differentiation in ROS production, cell death occurrence, and activities of stress defense enzymes) and did not accumulate stress-resistant suppressants. An absence of cytosolic catalase Ctt1p, however, brought colonies developmental problems, which were even more prominent in the absence of mitochondrial Sod2p. sod2Δ and ctt1Δ colonies failed in ammonia production and sufficient activation of the alternative metabolism and were incapable of center margin differentiation, but they did not increase ROS levels. These new data indicate that colony disorders are not accompanied by ROS burst but could be a consequence of metabolic defects, which, however, could be elicited by imbalance in ROS produced in early developmental phases. Sod2p and homeostasis of ROS may participate in regulatory events leading to ammonia signaling.     

Species-Specific Effects of Ant Inhabitants on Bromeliad Nutrition

Predator activities may lead to the accumulation of nutrients in specific areas of terrestrial habitats where they dispose of prey carcasses. In their feeding sites, predators may increase nutrient availability in the soil and favor plant nutrition and growth. However, the translocation of nutrients from one habitat to another may depend on predator identity and diet, as well as on the amount of prey intake. Here we used isotopic (¹⁵N) and physiological methods in greenhouse experiments to evaluate the effects of the identity of predatory ants (i.e., the consumption of prey and nest sites) on the nutrition and growth of the bromeliad Quesnelia arvensis. We showed that predatory ants with protein-based nutrition (i.e., Odontomachus hastatus, Gnamptogenys moelleri) improved the performance of their host bromeliads (i.e., increased foliar N, production of soluble proteins and growth). On the other hand, the contribution of Camponotus crassus for the nutritional status of bromeliads did not differ from bromeliads without ants, possibly because this ant does not have arthropod prey as a preferred food source. Our results show, for the first time, that predatory ants can translocate nutrients from one habitat to another within forests, accumulating nutrients in their feeding sites that become available to bromeliads. Additionally, we highlight that ant contribution to plant nutrition may depend on predator identity and its dietary requirements. Nest debris may be especially important for epiphytic and terrestrial bromeliads in nutrient-poor environments.     

Community Biomass and Bottom up Multivariate Nutrient Complementarity Mediate the Effects of Bioturbator Diversity on Pelagic Production

Tests of the biodiversity and ecosystem functioning (BEF) relationship have focused little attention on the importance of interactions between species diversity and other attributes of ecological communities such as community biomass. Moreover, BEF research has been mainly derived from studies measuring a single ecosystem process that often represents resource consumption within a given habitat. Focus on single processes has prevented us from exploring the characteristics of ecosystem processes that can be critical in helping us to identify how novel pathways throughout BEF mechanisms may operate. Here, we investigated whether and how the effects of biodiversity mediated by non-trophic interactions among benthic bioturbator species vary according to community biomass and ecosystem processes. We hypothesized that (1) bioturbator biomass and species richness interact to affect the rates of benthic nutrient regeneration [dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) and total dissolved phosphorus (TDP)] and consequently bacterioplankton production (BP) and that (2) the complementarity effects of diversity will be stronger on BP than on nutrient regeneration because the former represents a more integrative process that can be mediated by multivariate nutrient complementarity. We show that the effects of bioturbator diversity on nutrient regeneration increased BP via multivariate nutrient complementarity. Consistent with our prediction, the complementarity effects were significantly stronger on BP than on DIN and TDP. The effects of the biomass-species richness interaction on complementarity varied among the individual processes, but the aggregated measures of complementarity over all ecosystem processes were significantly higher at the highest community biomass level. Our results suggest that the complementarity effects of biodiversity can be stronger on more integrative ecosystem processes, which integrate subsidiary “simpler” processes, via multivariate complementarity. In addition, reductions in community biomass may decrease the strength of interspecific interactions so that the enhanced effects of biodiversity on ecosystem processes can disappear well before species become extinct.     

Physical Heterogeneity Increases Biofilm Resource Use and Its Molecular Diversity in Stream Mesocosms

Background

Evidence increasingly shows that stream ecosystems greatly contribute to global carbon fluxes. This involves a tight coupling between biofilms, the dominant form of microbial life in streams, and dissolved organic carbon (DOC), a very significant pool of organic carbon on Earth. Yet, the interactions between microbial biodiversity and the molecular diversity of resource use are poorly understood.

Methodology/Principal Findings

Using six 40-m-long streamside flumes, we created a gradient of streambed landscapes with increasing spatial flow heterogeneity to assess how physical heterogeneity, inherent to streams, affects biofilm diversity and DOC use. We determined bacterial biodiversity in all six landscapes using 16S-rRNA fingerprinting and measured carbon uptake from glucose and DOC experimentally injected to all six flumes. The diversity of DOC molecules removed from the water was determined from ultrahigh-resolution Fourier Transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance mass spectrometry (FTICR-MS). Bacterial beta diversity, glucose and DOC uptake, and the molecular diversity of DOC use all increased with increasing flow heterogeneity. Causal modeling and path analyses of the experimental data revealed that the uptake of glucose was largely driven by physical processes related to flow heterogeneity, whereas biodiversity effects, such as complementarity, most likely contributed to the enhanced uptake of putatively recalcitrant DOC compounds in the streambeds with higher flow heterogeneity.

Conclusions/Significance

Our results suggest biophysical mechanisms, including hydrodynamics and microbial complementarity effects, through which physical heterogeneity induces changes of resource use and carbon fluxes in streams. These findings highlight the importance of fine-scale streambed heterogeneity for microbial biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in streams, where homogenization and loss of habitats increasingly reduce biodiversity.     

Untangling the Tangled Bank: A Novel Method for Partitioning the Effects of Phylogenies and Traits on Ecological Networks

Understanding how evolutionary and ecological processes shape species interaction networks remains as one of the main challenges in eco-evolutionary studies. Here, we present an integrative analytical framework to partition the effects of phylogenies and functional traits on the structure of ecological networks. The method combines fuzzy set theory and matrix correlation, implemented under a Monte Carlo framework. We designed a simulation study in order to estimate the accuracy of the methods proposed here, measuring Type I Error rates. The simulation study shows that the method is accurate, i.e., incorrectly rejecting a true null hypothesis in ~5% of the cases and falling within the confidence interval. We illustrate our framework using data from a seed dispersal network from southern Brazil. Our analyses suggest that birds must have specific traits in order to consume their plant resources, and that phylogenetic resemblance has no explanatory power for species traits and species interactions in this seed-dispersal network.     

Male Music Frogs Compete Vocally on the Basis of Temporal Sequence Rather Than Spatial Cues of Rival Calls

Male-male vocal competition in anuran species may be influenced by cues related to the temporal sequence of male calls as well by internal temporal, spectral and spatial ones. Nevertheless, the conditions under which each type of cue is important remain unclear. Since the salience of different cues could be reflected by dynamic properties of male-male competition under certain experimental manipulation, we investigated the effects of repeating playbacks of conspecific calls on male call production in the Emei music frog(Babina daunchina). In Babina, most males produce calls from nest burrows which modify the spectral features of the cues. Females prefer calls produced from inside burrows which are defined as highly sexually attractive(HSA) while those produced outside burrows as low sexual attractiveness(LSA). In this study HSA and LSA calls were broadcasted either antiphonally or stereophonically through spatially separated speakers in which the temporal sequence and/or spatial position of the playbacks was either predictable or random. Results showed that most males consistently avoided producing advertisement calls overlapping the playback stimuli and generally produced calls competitively in advance of the playbacks. Furthermore males preferentially competed with the HSA calls when the sequence was predictable but competed equally with HSA and LSA calls if the sequence was random regardless of the availability of spatial cues, implying that males relied more on available sequence cues than spatial ones to remain competitive.     

Species-Specific Effects on Ecosystem Functioning Can Be Altered by Interspecific Interactions

Biological assemblages are constantly undergoing change, with species being introduced, extirpated and experiencing shifts in their densities. Theory and experimentation suggest that the impacts of such change on ecosystem functioning should be predictable based on the biological traits of the species involved. However, interspecific interactions could alter how species affect functioning, with the strength and sign of interactions potentially depending on environmental context (e.g. homogenous vs. heterogeneous conditions) and the function considered. Here, we assessed how concurrent changes to the densities of two common marine benthic invertebrates, Corophium volutator and Hediste diversicolor, affected the ecological functions of organic matter consumption and benthic-pelagic nutrient flux. Complementary experiments were conducted within homogenous laboratory microcosms and naturally heterogeneous field plots. When the densities of the species were increased within microcosms, interspecific interactions enhanced effects on organic matter consumption and reduced effects on nutrient flux. Trait-based predictions of how each species would affect functioning were only consistently supported when the density of the other species was low. In field plots, increasing the density of either species had a positive effect on organic matter consumption (with no significant interspecific interactions) but no effect on nutrient flux. Our results indicate that species-specific effects on ecosystem functioning can be altered by interspecific interactions, which can be either facilitative (positive) or antagonistic (negative) depending on the function considered. The impacts of biodiversity change may therefore not be predictable based solely on the biological traits of the species involved. Possible explanations for why interactions were detected in microcosms but not in the field are discussed.     

基于DUS测试性状的玉米自交系形态多样性分析

利用DUS测试中的47个性状对15份普通玉米自交系和13份糯玉米骨干自交系进行了形态多样性研究。结果表明:本研究所选用的普通玉米自交系较糯玉米自交系的形态变异更为丰富;47个性状的Shannon-Weaver多样性指数存在较大差异。聚类分析表明,糯玉米自交系紧密地聚在一起,与普通玉米自交系存在较大形态差别。DUS测试性状涵盖的信息量大且受环境影响相对较小,可应用于玉米自交系的形态多样性分析。     

基于表型性状的孔雀草种质遗传多样性分析

为了了解孔雀草种质间的亲缘关系,提高孔雀草种质的利用效率,从18个形态特征对40份孔雀草种质进行了遗传变异分析、主成分分析及聚类分析。结果表明,孔雀草表型多样性丰富,种质间表型性状变异程度高,变异系数(CV值)范围3.92%~46.25%,以花朵数最大,其次是冠幅和株高;Shannon-Weaver多样性指数则以叶片性状及花性状较高,平均2.0以上。国内种质比国外种质多样性更丰富。通过主成分分析,筛选出对总体方差累计贡献率达78.949%的4个主成分,并筛选出综合性状表现良好的种质10份。参试的40份种质在欧氏距离阈值为7.29处可分为两大类,一类植株生长势较强包含2份种质(水星黄色和橙色);其余38份种质为一类,在欧氏距离阈值为6.0处,又以花色差异可进一步划分为2个类群,说明生长势及花色可作为孔雀草种质依据表型性状分类的重要指标。     

贵州柿地方品种表型性状遗传多样性分析

采用文献查阅、实地踏查和异地保存相结合的方法,对88份贵州地方柿资源的34个表型性状进行了研究,并用主成分分析和聚类分析的方法对贵州地方柿资源的遗传多样性和亲缘关系进行分析,为地方优良资源的开发利用奠定基础。结果表明:(1)88份贵州地方柿种质资源的数量性状和质量性状均具有较大的变异,呈现出丰富的多样性。(2)主成分分析获得了一个16因子模型,可解释81.41%试验数据,其中前6个主因子的方差累积贡献率达50.57%,对应的16个性状依次为:着色期果面油渍、叶先端形状、叶基部形状、柿蒂形状、萼片形状、果实颜色、果实纵沟、果顶形状、蒂洼、皮孔密度、叶横径、叶柄长、叶片颜色、单果重、可滴定酸含量、可溶性总糖含量、糖酸比,这些性状可作为评价贵州柿资源多样性的主要指标。(3)88份资源的Shannon遗传多样性指数平均值为1.57,遗传多样性在地区间差异明显,根据遗传多样性指数可初步推断贵州地方柿资源是由黔中、黔南和黔西区域向黔北和黔东区域演化。(4)Q型系统聚类分析显示,表型性状遗传距离最远为13.76,说明贵州柿资源的多样性丰富;88份资源被聚为6个类群,不同类群间表型性状差异较大,表明不同类群的亲缘关系较远,各类群或亚群可能具有相互独立的遗传背景。     

Female Fecundity Is Dependent on Substrate, Rather Than Male Abundance, in the Wind-Pollinated, Dioecious Understory Palm Chamaedorea radicalis

We examined the impact of substrate, population density, and sexual composition on female reproductive success in harvested populations of the tropical understory palm Chamaedorea radicalis . Leaf harvest for the international floral greenery trade does not kill palms, but has been shown to reduce flowering frequency and has been projected to reduce population growth. Because C. radicalis is dioecious and wind-pollinated, a reduction in flowering density from leaf harvest or other anthropogenic factors may lower pollen movement between flowering conspecifics and lower fruit production. Such reduced fecundity in harvested populations can contribute to an Allee effect, where the per capita rate of population growth declines at low density. We tested for these effects by sampling C. radicalis along transects in ten populations, spanning a range of densities, during May (flowering peak) and August (fruiting peak) 2002. We applied path analysis using structural equation modeling (SEM) to test a set of hypothesized relationships between substrate, female size, several population parameters, and female fecundity. SEM models revealed that female fecundity was not dependent on any measure of population density or sexual composition, providing no evidence for an Allee effect. The strongest model ( R ²= 92.9%) related C. radicalis reproductive output only to substrate, female size, flower number, and proportional fruit set. This model revealed that palms on rock outcrops were larger, produced more flowers, and had higher proportional fruit set than palms on the forest floor. This finding suggests that protection of females on outcrops should enhance population growth and viability.     

欧洲山芥种质资源的表型遗传多样性分析

欧洲山芥是研究抗虫皂苷生物合成及植食昆虫与植物协同进化机制的理想模式植物,是极具开发潜力的十字花科植物。为加强欧洲山芥种质资源的研究利用,对保存于国家蔬菜种质资源中期库中引自欧洲的33份欧洲山芥种质和1份杂交材料进行了物候期观测、主要形态学性状测定和小菜蛾抗性鉴定。结果表明:多数材料的表型性状的差异较大,材料间现蕾期最早(BV13-BAR13)和最晚(BV13-BAR9)的2份材料相差达47 d;从始花期到末花期的天数分布在17~46 d之间,总体上花期较短;叶表光滑的种质居多;还发现4份角果抱茎的种质;极差和变异系数最大的性状是株高、角果长和花序长。34份材料中仅9份感小菜蛾,其他均具有很高的田间抗性。基于所有表型性状的聚类分析将34份欧洲山芥分为3个类群,抗虫和感虫材料分属不同的类群(F1、BV13-BAR8和BV13-BAR22除外),基本反映出各类群的亲缘关系。本研究结果将为欧洲山芥的遗传改良以及欧洲山芥种质资源在十字花科作物生产和育种上的应用提供基本依据。     

濒危植物水青树叶表型性状多样性分析

通过对水青树(Tetracentron sinense)24个居群161株个体的10个叶形态性状与7个叶表皮微形态性状进行观测,采用描述性统计、相关性分析、主成分分析以及聚类分析对其叶表型性状多样性进行研究。结果表明,水青树叶表型性状变异系数的变化幅度为4.21%～49.23%,Shannon-wiener多样性指数在0.82～2.07之间,其中叶最长(LLEST)性状最高,叶先尖削(LBPI)性状最低,平均1.80;叶形态性状相关性分析表明,性状之间存在密切联系,有47对性状呈极显著正相关,15对性状呈极显著负相关;主成分分析中前三个主成分的贡献率可达83.712%,可靠地代表了水青树表型性状的分布;Q型聚类分析发现,当阈值为15时,24个水青树居群可分为3类。水青树总体表现出较低表型多样性,唐家河、虹口、佛坪三个居群应作为保护与管理的重点群体。