pyIFPNI: A package for querying and downloading plant fossil data from the IFPNIOA

<正>The International Fossil Plant Names Index (IFPNI, 2014-onwards)not only serves as an online gateway to the fossil plant name registry for the global scientific community, but also serves as a comprehensive and dynamic archive of fossil plants (Doweld, 2016, 2022).Since its establishment in 2014, the IFPNI has accumulated more than 80,000 entries of fossil plant names, along with information on over 10,000 documents and over 6000 paleobotanists, all supported by exhaustive data, demonst...     

Late Pliocene diversity and distribution of Drynaria(Polypodiaceae) in western Yunnan explained by forest vegetation and humid climates

The palaeodiversity of flowering plants in Yunnan has been extensively interpreted from both a molecular and fossil perspective. However, for cryptogamic plants such as ferns, the palaeodiversity remains poorly known. In this study, we describe a new ferny fossil taxon, Drynaria lanpingensis sp. nov. Huang,Su et Zhou(Polypodiaceae), from the late Pliocene of northwestern Yunnan based on fragmentary frond and pinna with in situ spores. The frond is pinnatifid and the pinnae are entirely margined. The sori are arranged in one row on each side of the primary vein. The spores have a semicircular to bean-shaped equatorial view and a tuberculate surface. Taken together with previously described fossils, there are now representatives of three known fossil taxa of Drynaria from the late Pliocene of western Yunnan.These finds suggest that Drynaria diversity was considerable in the region at that time. As Drynaria is a shade-tolerant plant, growing preferably in wet conditions in the understory of forests, its extensive existence may indicate forest vegetation and humid climates in western Yunnan during the late Pliocene.This is in line with results from floristic investigations and palaeoclimatic reconstructions based on fossil floras.     

A NEW GENUS OF HIODONTIDAE FROM LUOZIGOU BASIN, EAST JILIN

<正> Manchurichthys (Saito, 1936) has been, for a long time, the only representative of fossil vertebrate known from the Oil-bearing member of Dalazi Formation, Luozigou Basin, East Jilin. Since 1978, some new materials have been collected there by the Regional Geological Brigade of Jilin Province and the present author. Two more forms of fossil fishes are not known to occur in the rocks of this section. One is Sinarnia luozigouensis (Li, 1984) which is referred to Amiiformes; the other, Yanbiania (gen. nov.), is described in this paper and included in the osteoglossomorphan family Hiodontidae.     

Pollen Morphology of Tundra Shrubs and Submarginal Plants from Barrow, Alaska

Investigation of plant morphological features, pollen, and habitat have been made for two shrub species from Barrow, Alaska, namely Dryas integrifoila M. Vahl and Salix rotundifolia Trautv., both of which are endemic to the Arctic floristic area. The former species has small lanceolate or plate leaves, whereas the latter has rounded leaves with distinct veins, rich in vitamin C. Both have dwarf and sprawling habits. Pollen studies showed that the pollen grains of the two species are spheroidal to sub-spheroidal or prolate. The type of aperture was tricolporate; pollen size 26.3-31.3 μm; ornamentation finely reticulate under a light microscope （LM） and strlate-reticulate under a scanning electron microscope （SEM） for D. integrafoila and finely reticulate under the LM and SEM for S. rotundifolia. Comparisons were made between the pollen from the same species from Arctic collections with those from China and Japan. Investigation of pollen morphology of tundra plants can provide significant data for comparative studies of fossil pollen and for the reconstruction of paleovegetation and paleoclimate in the Barrow area.     

The plant vascular system Ⅰ:From resource allocation,inter-organ communication and defense,to evolution of the monocot cambium

正In recent years,considerable attention has been paid to exploring the complex gene regulatory networks involved in the development of the plant vascular system.Such information is crucial to our understanding of the molecular and cellular events which give rise to the integrated tissues of the xylem and phloem,leading to     

A LEMUROID PRIMATE FROM THE EOCENE OF LANTIAN,SHENSI

From the Early Tertiary sandstones and clays underlain the Sinanthropus-bearingreddish clays at Chen-Chia-Ou,Lantian District,Shensi(Chang et al.,1964),some mam-malian fossils have recently been collected in a thin layer of intercating chocolate-coloredclays at two outcrops.One is in a ravine named Kongkouwan,from where a singlespecimen of mammalian upper jaw considered here as a new lemuroid primate has beenrecovered.The age of the Early Tertiary beds of the Lantian District,which consist of whitesandstones,buff sands and sandy clays,is not yet precisely known;but the fossil bearinghorizon may be regarded as Late Eocene on basis of the fossil primate noted here.     

Enhancement of Indole-3-Acetic Acid Photodegradation by Vitamin B6

Dear Editor, The plant hormone indole-3-acetic acid （IAA） has long been used in plant culture media for practical applications and sci- entific inquiries. The use of IAA is complicated by the fact that IAA is a photo-labile compound. In Murashige and Skoog （MS） plant media （Murashige and Skoog, 1962）, the concen- trations of salts and mineral nutrients are known to hasten the photodegradation of IAA under white light （Dunlap and Robacker, 1988）. This degradation can be virtually eliminated by the use of a yellow-colored light filter that removes UV, violet, and some of the blue wavelengths from the incident light （Stasinopoulos and Hangarter, 1990）. However, the use of yellow light clearly affects the quality of light that the plants under study receive. In addition to applications in plants, IAA has been used in human health applications.     

Effects of plant hedgerows on soil erosion and soil fertility on sloping farmland in the purple soil area

Effect of using plant hedgerows on controlling soil and water losses has received wide recognition and this technology has been applied in many areas in the world. Yet, studies on the effect of using plant hedgerows on soil fertility on sloping lands are rare. Carrying out an eight-year fixed field experiment, the authors investigated the effect of two different hedgerows against the control treatment on soil fertility. Results showed that clay particles tended to accumulate in front of the plant hedgerows and began to erode downward below the hedgerows along the contour lines across the field. Distribution of soil organic matter and all plant nutrients except potassium (K) showed the same pattern as the clay particles. Potassium, however, was evenly distributed in the field without any noticeable influence from the hedgerows. Since the fixed experiment started, soil phosphorus (P) kept accumulating, while soil organic matter and K were in depletion. The results accordingly suggested better nutrient management practices on the sloping lands by using properly reduced rates of P and increased rates of farm manure and K. Taking the sloping field as a whole, special attention in nutrient management should be given to the soil strips —the portions below the plant hedgerows suffering from more serious soil erosion.     

Effects of plant hedgerows on soil erosion and soil fertility on sloping farmland in the purple soil area

Effect of using plant hedgerows on controlling soil and water losses has received wide recognition and this technology has been applied in many areas in the world. Yet, studies on the effect of using plant hedgerows on soil fertility on sloping lands are rare. Carrying out an eight-year fixed field experiment, the authors investigated the effect of two different hedgerows against the control treatment on soil fertility. Results showed that clay particles tended to accumulate in front of the plant hedgerows and began to erode downward below the hedgerows along the contour lines across the field. Distribution of soil organic matter and all plant nutrients except potassium (K) showed the same pattern as the clay particles. Potassium, however, was evenly distributed in the field without any noticeable influence from the hedgerows. Since the fixed experiment started, soil phosphorus (P) kept accumulating, while soil organic matter and K were in depletion. The results accordingly suggested better nutrient management practices on the sloping lands by using properly reduced rates of P and increased rates of farm manure and K. Taking the sloping field as a whole, special attention in nutrient management should be given to the soil strips —the portions below the plant hedgerows suffering from more serious soil erosion.     

GOING FURTHER INTO LATE MESOZOIC MESOLYGAEIDS (HETEROPTERA, INSECTA)

A large collection of fossil insects has recently been recovered from the Late Mesozoic nonmarine sediments throughout East Asia, with many specimens regarded as the mesolygaeids, representing a new family Mesolygaeidae of Heteroptera. As Lycoptera Muller and Eosestheria Chen, Mesolygaeus Ping is the common genus of the Jehol fauna Since some of them are geographically widespread and can be easily collected, they are significant to stratigraphic divisions and correlations in East Asia.     

Leaf Senescence in Plants:From Model Plants to Crops,Still so Many Unknowns

Senescence is a developmental process in the life cycle of a plant or a plant organ which has an intrinsic link with longevity.In human and animal sciences, the question of what controlsthe length of life is a fundamental biological query which has been puzzling scientists for centuries.     

How do resident stem cells repair the damaged myocardium?

It has been a decade since the monumental discovery of resident stem cells in the mammalian heart, and the following studies witnessed the continuous turnover of cardiomyocytes and vascular cells, maintaining the homeostasis of the organ. Recently, the autologous administration of c-kit-positive cardiac stem cells in patients with ischemic heart failure has led to an incredible outcome; the left ventricular ejection fraction of the celltreated group improved from 30% at the baseline to 38% after one year and to 42% after two years of cell injection. The potential underlying mechanisms, before and after cell infusion, are explored and discussed in this article. Some of them are related to the intrinsic property of the resident stem cells, such as direct differentiation, paracrine action, and immunomodulatory function, whereas others involve environmental factors, leading to cellular reverse remodeling and to the natural selection of "juvenile" cells. It has now been demonstrated that cardiac stem cells for therapeutic purposes can be prepared from tiny biopsied specimens of the failing heart as well as from frozen tissues, which may remarkably expand the repertoire of the strategy against various cardiovascular disorders, including non-ischemic cardiomyopathy and congenital heart diseases. Further translational investigations are needed to explore these possibilities.     

Understandings and future challenges in soybean functional genomics and molecular breeding

Soybean(Glycine max) is a major source of plant protein and oil.Soybean breeding has benefited from advances in functional genomics.In particular,the release of soybean reference genomes has advanced our understanding of soybean adaptation to soil nutrient deficiencies,the molecular mechanism of symbiotic nitrogen(N) fixation,biotic and abiotic stress tolerance,and the roles of flowering time in regional adaptation,plant architecture,and seed yield and quality.Nevertheless,many challenges remain...     

Elevational changes in vascular plants richness,diversity, and distribution pattern in Abune Yosef mountain range,Northern Ethiopia

The aim of this research is to investigate the patterns of vascular plant species richness,diversity,and distribution along an elevation gradient in the Abune Yosef mountain range,Ethiopia.Preferential systematic sampling was employed to collect vegetation and environmental data along the elevation gradient.We found that plant species richness declines monotonically from low to high elevations.Specifically,vascular plant species richness and diversity were lower in the Afroalpine grassland(high elevation)than in the Dry evergreen Afromontane forest and Ericaceous forest(low elevations).In contrast,endemic vascular plant richness was significantly higher in the Afroalpine grassland than in the Dry evergreen Afromontane forest and Ericaceous forest.Elevation showed a significant impact on the richness,diversity,and endemism of vascular plants.According to Sorensen's coefficient,the similarity between Dry evergreen Afromontane forest and Ericaceous forest vegetation types is higher(32%)than the similarity between Ericaceous forest and Afroalpine grassland(18%).Only 5%similarity was recorded between the Dry evergreen Afromontane forest and Afroalpine grassland.Growth forms showed different elevationai richness patterns.Trees and liana increased monotonically up to 3300 m.Shrub and herb richness patterns followed a hump-shaped and inverted hump-shaped pattern along the elevation gradient.The elevation patterns of vascular plant species richness,diversity,and growth form in the present study may be attributed to differences in management intensity,spatial heterogeneity,microclimatic variations,and anthropogenic disturbances.     

CONCHOSTRACAN ASSEMBLAGE FROM BOTTOM OF ERMAYIN FORMATION, SHAANXI

This paper deals with characteristics of the conchostracan assemblage and describes some new species of fossil conchostracan collected from the bottom of the Ermayin Formation near Changjiayan of Wupu County, Shaanxi in 1983.After studying and comparing this conchostracan assemblage, the writer here suggests that (1) this assemblage is characterized by leading members of Protomonocarina and Euestheria, rare but very important members of Xiangxiella and many members of Palaeolimnadiopsis and Diaplexa; (2) this fossil fauna has a close relation to that of the Heshanggou Formation, but itis more different from that of the Tongchuan Formation.It is of great significance to compare the regional stratigraphical sequence, because the strata containing this conchostracan fauna are more stable in North China.This fossil fauna may be called the Protomonocarina-Euesteria fauna, representing the conchostracan fauna of early Middle Triassic in North China and resembling the Xiangxiella fauna in South China.     

Late Oligocene fossil acorns and nuts of Quercus section Cyclobalanopsis from the Nanning Basin,Guangxi,South ChinaOA

Quercus is the largest genus within the Fagaceae and has a rich fossil record.Most of the fossil material is attributed to the subgenus Quercus based on leaves,pollen or rarely acorns and nuts.Fossil records of Q.section Cyclobalanopsis characterized by ring-cupped acorns are relatively few and especially those described based on nuts are scant.In this study,we described four new species of Quercus section Cyclobalanopsis based on mummified acorns and nuts:Q.paleodisciformis X.Y.Liu et J.H.Jin s...     

1-氨基环丙烷-1-羧酸合成酶:从酶学研究蛋白质纯化到分子克隆(英文)

Ethylene is a plant hormone which regulates many aspects of plant growth, development and senescence. The biosynthesis of ethylene in higher plants has been elucidated to proceed by the following pathway (Aadams and Yang 1979): Met→AdoMet→ACC→C_2H_4. 1-Aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate (ACC) synthase catalyzes the conver-     

Coryphoid palms from the K-Pg boundary of central India and their biogeographical implications:Evidence from megafossil remainsOA

Ten palm leaf impressions are documented from the latest Maastrichtian(late Cretaceous) to early Danian(earliest Paleocene) sediments(K-Pg,c.66-64 Ma) of the Mandla Lobe of the Deccan Intertrappean Beds,Madhya Pradesh,central India.The palmate leaf shape along with a definite wellpreserved costa support their placement in the subfamily Coryphoideae of the family Arecaceae.We place all recovered palm leaf specimens in the fossil genus Sabalites,report seven species of coryphoid palms and describe...