美国地理学家协会2014年会述评

美国地理学家协会(AAG)2014年会参与人员超过7000人,5000多个报告和展示,1300多个专题讨论会,90多个分会场。特色主题包括气候变化中的地理学、地理信息科学和公共政策、种族主义和暴力、可持续性及其尺度、美国南部的研究等。中国问题研究占有相当大比例,尤其是涉及城市化和环境问题。AAG年会涉及的学科除了地理学外,还有与地理学有关的多个学科,如生态学、环境科学、水文学等;参会者除了美国学者,还有与美国研究、美国学者有不同联系的世界各国学者。该会议拥有非常强的开放性和多样性,充分体现了地理学的学科特色。     

药食同源植物薤白的谱系地理学研究

对我国14个地区的药食同源植物薤白（Allium macrostemon）的叶绿体基因片段（psbA-trnH、rps16和trnL-F）与核基因片段（ITS）进行测序分析,揭示薤白的遗传变异分布式样、单倍型地理分布格局,并推断其在第四纪冰期的避难所。结果表明：薤白叶绿体基因（cpDNA）遗传多样性低于核基因（nrDNA）遗传多样性（cpDNA：H_T=0.868;nrDNA：H_T=0.890）。cpDNA和nrDNA的分子变异分析（AMOVA）结果显示：薤白遗传变异主要发生在居群间（cpDNA：92.84%;nrDNA：98.40%）,存在遗传分化（cpDNA：N_st=0.918,G_st=0.866,F_st=0.928;nrDNA：N_st=0.984,G_st=0.855,F_st=0.984）,且N_st均大于G_st,表明该物种具有明显的谱系地理结构。在薤白居群中,共检测到11个叶绿体单倍型和14个nrDNA基因型;单倍型网络图及地理分布图表明,叶绿体单倍型H3、核DNA基因型H1频率最高,位于网络结构图的中心位置,可能为古老单倍型。此外,冰期避难所假说认为遗传多样性高、拥有古老单倍型和较多特有单倍型的区域可能是该物种的冰期避难所,因此推测薤白在第四纪冰期时可能在大盘山、天水和通化地区存在多个冰期避难所。这些分析可为类似草本植物的进化提供参考,丰富对东亚草本植物分子系统与生物地理学的认识。     

生物地理学理论的发展

生物地理学是一门占老而又年轻的学科,近几十年来又获得了新的发展。本文较详尽地介绍了该学科的基本思想和基本研究方法,并对生物地理学理论发展的历史和各种理论的基本论点及理论假说进行了重点讨论。此外,作者对该学科的发展提出了自己的思考。     

历史生物地理学的进展

近年来历史生物地理学的进展主要是隔离分化学派的进展。对隔离分化学派的几个分支学派,特别是分支生物地理学和泛生物地理学在理论和方法方面的进展作了简要回顾和介绍。最近十年来分子手段广泛应用于历史生物地理学研究的各个方面,尤其是谱系生物地理学的快速崛起是历史生物地理学的一个明显特征。对本学科的发展做了初步的展望。     

三色(Bougainvillea peruviana‘Thimma’)在转录水平的甜菜色素和类黄酮积累比较

Bougainvillea peruviana‘Thimma’属于三角梅属,该属植物积累甜菜色素而不是像绝大多数高等植物一样积累花青素。该材料特征同株出现3种颜色：白色、洋红色和白/洋红相间。本研究首次使用3种花色特征的花序（红色Yp、混合色的Ym、白色Yw）作为研究材料进行高通量测序。并通过real-time PCR方法对探测到的花色代谢基因进行验证。共获得平均长度为616 bp的73 325条基因。3种材料的差异显示基因（DEGs）中有327个被注释到甜菜色素合成基因,308个被注释到类黄酮合成基因,466个被注释到花青素合成基因。我们选出8个基因：4个甜菜色素合成基因（PPO,CYP76AD1,cDOPA-5-GT,DODA）和4个花青素合成基因（FLS,DFR,LDOX,3-GT）进行验证。其中,4个甜菜色素合成基因在3种花色材料中的表达较好的正相关于甜菜色素含量。花青素合成途径末端的3个基因（DFR,LDOX,3-GT）在B.peruviana中首次被验证。real-time PCR的验证结果很好的吻合转录组测序的结果。同时,B.peruviana也提供了一个很好的三角梅属植物的生理、生化和分子生物学研究的工具,有效的摒除其他生物学干扰。     

小鼠锌指蛋白基因ZF-12的克隆与基因结构以及5′端启动子活性的分析

人类锌指蛋白ZNF191为类krueppel转录因子,其可能与神经精神病、心血管疾病和肝癌等疾病的发生或发展有关,为了采用基因敲除模型来探讨它的生理功能,克隆和定位其在模式生物（小鼠）中的同源基因,并阐明其结构特征是必需的。通过筛选小鼠λ噬菌体基因组文库,获得了它在小鼠中的同源基因ZF－12基因组全长片段。序列分析表明：该基因含有4个外显子和3个内含子,内含子都遵循GT／AG的剪接模式;第91密码子处存在单核苷酸多态性;可能存在2种大小不同的3′端的非翻译区（3′－UTR）;与锌指蛋白基因Zfp-35相连锁,可将其定位于18号染色体的B3－C带上或附近;5′端上游存在1个约250bp高度富含GC的启动子序列。ZF－12基因的5′端系列缺失荧光素酶基因报告载体的瞬时转染实验表明:其上游序列（-762～ 70bp）具有启动子转录活性,在更上游的序列（－824～-762bp)上可能存在负调控元件。这项研究结果为进一步的基因敲除研究奠定了基础。     

东北地区中鼩鼱遗传多样性与分子系统地理学

本研究对我国东北地区3个种群（大兴安岭、小兴安岭和长白山山脉）的中鼩鼱（99个样本）Cyt b基因全序列进行分析,共获得81个单倍型。整体单倍型多态性为0.9940,显示东北地区中鼩鼱整体遗传多样性较高,3个种群的遗传多样性无明显差异。分子变异方差分析显示3个种群之间的分化占总分化的2.48%,种群内采样地的分化占总分化的0.34%,采样地内部遗传分化占总分化的97.19%。遗传分化结果显示中鼩鼱遗传分化与地理距离存在非正相关关系。结合GenBank下载欧亚其他地区中鼩鼱Cyt b基因全序列构建系统发生树,分化为3个分支：日本北海道分布的中鼩鼱构成1个小分支;韩国济州岛的中鼩鼱构成1个小分支;我国东北地区和其他欧亚大陆的中鼩鼱构成1个大分支,在这个大支上未显现进一步的遗传分化结构。中介网络分析也暗示除日本北海道和韩国济州岛外,欧亚大陆分布的中鼩鼱没有明显的地理系统分化,表现出遗传分化与地理关联性较弱。种群历史分析显示东北地区中鼩鼱经历过种群扩张。     

当前抑癌基因研究的热点分析

运用文献计量学中的引文分析法,寻找到1994年发表当年即被引用的论文,从中分析抑癌基因研究的热点;认为该主题的研究正向三个方面发展：（1）对某些癌症病因的直接研究;（2）对抑癌基因的结构与功能的基础研究;（3）有关黄曲霉素素B1（AFB1）及乙肝病毒（HBV）与肝细胞癌的研究。     

哈尔滨和湛江雄性褐家鼠Gsk3β差异甲基化区域DNA序列多态性分析与调控功能鉴定

糖原合成酶激酶-3β（glycogen synthase kinase 3β, Gsk3β）基因能够参与多条细胞周期信号传导通路,从而通过调控细胞分裂过程,影响组织与器官的发育。本实验室前期研究发现,与湛江褐家鼠种群相比,哈尔滨褐家鼠种群在秋冬季存在睾丸发育受抑制的现象,并通过基因组与甲基化组联合分析,在Gsk3β基因内含子区域筛选到1个差异甲基化区域（differentially methylated region, DMR）。为分析该DMR 的DNA序列多态性及其在Gsk3β基因表达调控中的可能作用,本研究选取了哈尔滨（n=52）和湛江（n=39）共91个性成熟褐家鼠睾丸样品。采用PCR测序方法在群体水平上分析了该DMR的DNA序列多态性,在2个褐家鼠亚种的分化特征,并选取2个群体中具有代表性的单倍型,通过荧光素酶基因报告系统在293T细胞中检测该DMR不同单倍型的调控活性。结果表明,该DMR存在2个SNP位点,共组成3个单倍型、6个基因型。卡方检验表明,其频率在2个群体间发生显著分化（单倍型,P=1.13E-29;基因型,P=1.15E-14）。Gsk3β基因的-2 218/+238 bp区具有明显启动子活性（P<0.05）;哈尔滨和湛江2个单倍型都显示显著的沉默子活性（P<0.05）,同时表现显著的调控活性差异（P<0.05）,表明这2个单倍型可以在293T细胞中作为沉默子抑制Gsk3β基因的启动子活性。2个单倍型调控活性差异,可能与SNP导致的转录因子结合位点的获得/丢失,以及2个单倍型在不同种群中甲基化状态差异有关。本研究结果表明,该DMR可能通过调控褐家鼠Gsk3β基因表达,在睾丸发育过程中发挥作用。2个种群主要单倍型的调控活性差异,及其甲基化状态差异可能是2个种群睾丸发育表型差异的重要调控因素之一。     

蝴蝶兰全长cDNA文库构建及F3′H基因克隆

以红色蝴蝶兰为材料,利用SMARTer技术构建蝴蝶兰全长cDNA文库,分析从文库中获得的EST序列,获得蝴蝶兰类黄酮3′羟化酶基因（PhF3′H）的全长,并对其进行生物信息学分析;采用实时荧光定量PCR方法,研究PhF3′H基因在红色蝴蝶兰和黄色蝴蝶兰花瓣中的表达情况。结果表明:（1）从构建的蝴蝶兰文库中随机挑选24个单克隆进行测序,结果显示均含有插入片段,重组率为100.0%,其中扩增片段长度在750bp以上的克隆有22个,占91.7%。（2）获得的PhF3′H基因编码的氨基酸序列与大丽花（Dahlia pinnata,ADB₇7826.1）、毛油点草（Tricyrtis hirta,BAH₂2519.1）等多种观赏植物F3′H编码的氨基酸序列均具有较高的一致性。（3）实时荧光定量PCR检测结果显示,PhF3′H在红色蝴蝶兰中的表达量大约是黄色蝴蝶兰的19倍,说明该基因对蝴蝶兰花青素苷的积累有重要影响。该研究结果为蝴蝶兰新基因的挖掘及花色育种奠定了理论基础。     

啮齿动物分子系统地理学研究进展

系统地理学是研究种间及种内不同种群的形成、现有分布格局的历史原因和演化过程的一门学科。基于分子水平,能够更准确地界定物种分布格局,促进分子系统地理学的形成和发展。近年来,分子系统地理研究的开展,促进了对啮齿动物物种分布格局形成机制的理解。对啮齿动物的种内及种上分类阶元的系统演化关系、起源中心与演化历程、影响系统地理格局的因素、鼠害防控和保护生物学等分子系统地理学方面的研究进行了综述。并提出了啮齿动物分子系统地理学未来发展的四点展望:1)综合性系统地理学研究;2)区域系统地理学研究;3)物种演化的全面系统研究;4)新型分子标记和分析方法的发展。     

The molecular phylogenetics of endangerment: cryptic variation and historical phylogeography of the California tiger salamander, Ambystoma californiense

A primary goal of conservation genetics is the discovery, delimitation and protection of phylogenetic lineages within sensitive or endangered taxa. Given the importance of lineage protection, a combination of phylogeography, historical geology and molecular clock analyses can provide an important historical context for overall species conservation. We present the results of a range-wide survey of genetic variation in the California tiger salamander, Ambystoma californiense, as well as a summary of the past several million years of inundation and isolation of the Great Central Valley and surrounding uplands that constitute its limited range. A combination of population genetic and phylogenetic analyses of mitochondrial DNA variation among 696 samples from 84 populations revealed six well-supported genetic units that are geographically discrete and characterized by nonoverlapping haplotype distributions. Populations from Santa Barbara and Sonoma Counties are particularly well differentiated and geographically isolated from all others. The remaining units in the Southern San Joaquin Valley, Central Coast Range, Central Valley and Bay Area are separated by geological features, ecological zone boundaries, or both. The geological history of the California landscape is consistent with molecular clock evidence suggesting that the Santa Barbara unit has been isolated for at least 0.74-0.92 Myr, and the Sonoma clade is equally ancient. Our work places patterns of genetic differentiation into both temporal- and landscape-level contexts, providing important insights into the conservation genetics of the California tiger salamander.     

Making evolutionary history count: biodiversity planning for coral reef fishes and the conservation of evolutionary processes

Anthropogenic activities are having devastating impacts on marine systems with numerous knock-on effects on trophic functioning, species interactions and an accelerated loss of biodiversity. Establishing conservation areas can not only protect biodiversity, but also confer resilience against changes to coral reefs and their inhabitants. Planning for protection and conservation in marine systems is complex, but usually focuses on maintaining levels of biodiversity and protecting special and unique landscape features while avoiding negative impacts to socio-economic benefits. Conversely, the integration of evolutionary processes that have shaped extant species assemblages is rarely taken into account. However, it is as important to protect processes as it is to protect patterns for maintaining the evolutionary trajectories of populations and species. This review focuses on different approaches for integrating genetic analyses, such as phylogenetic diversity, phylogeography and the delineation of management units, temporal and spatial monitoring of genetic diversity and quantification of adaptive variation for protecting evolutionary resilience, into marine spatial planning, specifically for coral reef fishes. Many of these concepts are not yet readily applied to coral reef fish studies, but this synthesis highlights their potential and the importance of including historical processes into systematic biodiversity planning for conserving not only extant, but also future, biodiversity and its evolutionary potential.     

Integrating GIS-based environmental data into evolutionary biology

Many evolutionary processes are influenced by environmental variation over space and time, including genetic divergence among populations, speciation and evolutionary change in morphology, physiology and behaviour. Yet, evolutionary biologists have generally not taken advantage of the extensive environmental data available from geographic information systems (GIS). For example, studies of phylogeography, speciation and character evolution often ignore or use only crude proxies for environmental variation (e.g. latitude and distance between populations). Here, we describe how the integration of GIS-based environmental data, along with new spatial tools, can transform evolutionary studies and reveal new insights into the ecological causes of evolutionary patterns.     

Comparative phylogeography of woodland reptiles in California: repeated patterns of cladogenesis and population expansion

The ultimate goal of comparative phylogeographical analyses is to infer processes of diversification from contemporary geographical patterns of genetic diversity. When such studies are employed across diverse groups in an array of communities, it may be difficult to discover common evolutionary and ecological processes associated with diversification. In order to identify taxa that have responded in a similar fashion to historical events, we conducted comparative phylogeographical analyses on a phylogenetically and ecologically limited set of taxa. Here, we focus on a group of squamate reptiles (snakes and lizards) that share similar ecological requirements and generally occupy the same communities in the western USA. At a gross level, deep genetic division in Contia tenuis, Diadophis punctatus, Elgaria multicarinata, the Charina bottae complex, and Lampropeltis zonata are often concordant in the Transverse Ranges, the Monterey Bay and Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta region, and the southern Sierra Nevada in California. Molecular clock estimates suggest that major phyletic breaks within many of these taxa roughly coincide temporally, and may correspond to important geological events. Furthermore, significant congruence between the phylogeographies of E. multicarinata and L. zonata suggests that the succession of vicariance and dispersal events in these species progressed in concert. Such congruence suggests that E. multicarinata and L. zonata have occupied the same communities through time. However, across our entire multi-taxon data set, the sequence of branching events rarely match between sympatric taxa, indicating the importance of subtle differences in life history features as well as random processes in creating unique genetic patterns. Lastly, coalescent and noncoalescent estimates of population expansion suggest that populations in the more southerly distributed clades of C. tenuis, D. punctatus, E. multicarinata, and L. zonata have been stable, while populations in more northerly clades appear to have recently expanded. This concerted demographic response is consistent with palaeontological data and previous phylogeographical work that suggests that woodland habitat has become more restricted in southern California, but more widespread in the North during Holocene warming. Future phylogeographical work focusing on allied and ecologically associated taxa may add insight into the ecological and evolutionary processes that yield current patterns of genetic diversity.     

Discordant patterns of evolutionary differentiation in two Neotropical treefrogs

Comparative studies of codistributed taxa test the degree to which historical processes have shaped contemporary population structure. Discordant patterns of lineage divergence among taxa indicate that species differ in their response to common historical processes. The complex geologic landscape of the Isthmus of Central America provides an ideal setting to test the effects of vicariance and other biogeographic factors on population history. We compared divergence patterns between two codistributed Neotropical frogs ( Dendropsophus ebraccatus and Agalychnis callidryas ) that exhibit colour pattern polymorphisms among populations, and found significant differences between them in phenotypic and genetic divergence among populations. Colour pattern in D. ebraccatus did not vary with genetic or geographic distance, while colour pattern co-varied with patterns of gene flow in A. callidryas . In addition, we detected significant species differences in the phylogenetic history of populations, gene flow among them, and the extent to which historical diversification and recent gene flow have been restricted by five biogeographic barriers in Costa Rica and Panama. We inferred that alternate microevolutionary processes explain the unique patterns of diversification in each taxon. Our study underscores how differences in selective regimes and species-typical ecological and life-history traits maintain spatial patterns of diversification.     

The importance of an evolutionary perspective in conservation policy planning

Prioritization of taxa for conservation must rest on a foundation of correctly identified species boundaries, enhanced by an understanding of evolutionary history and phylogenetic relationships. Therefore, we can incorporate both evolutionary and ecological processes into efforts to sustain biodiversity. In this issue of Molecular Ecology, Malaney & Cook ( 2013 ) highlight the critical value of an evolutionary biogeographical approach, combining multilocus phylogeography with climatic niche modelling to infer phylogenetically weighted conservation priorities for evolutionary lineages of jumping mice across North America. Remarkably, they find that the Preble's meadow jumping mouse (Zapus hudsonius preblei), long debated as a threatened taxon, in fact represents the southern terminus of a relatively uniform lineage that expanded well into Alaska during the Holocene. By contrast, some other relictual and phylogenetically divergent taxa of jumping mice likely warrant greater conservation priority. This study highlights the value of integrative approaches that place current taxonomy in a broader evolutionary context to identify taxa for conservation assessment, but also highlights the challenges in maintaining potential for adaptive responses to environmental change.     

Insights into historical drainage evolution based on the phylogeography of the chevron snakehead fish (Channa striata) in the Mekong Basin

1. The phylogeography of freshwater taxa is often integrally linked with landscape changes such as drainage re‐alignments that may present the only avenue for historical dispersal for these taxa. Classical models of gene flow do not account for landscape changes and so are of little use in predicting phylogeography in geologically young freshwater landscapes. When the history of drainage formation is unknown, phylogeographical predictions can be based on current freshwater landscape structure, proposed historical drainage geomorphology, or from phylogeographical patterns of co‐distributed taxa. 2. This study describes the population structure of a sedentary freshwater fish, the chevron snakehead (Channa striata), across two river drainages on the Indochinese Peninsula. The phylogeographical pattern recovered for C. striata was tested against seven hypotheses based on contemporary landscape structure, proposed history and phylogeographical patterns of co‐distributed taxa. 3. Consistent with the species ecology, analysis of mitochondrial and microsatellite loci revealed very high differentiation among all sampled sites. A strong signature of historical population subdivision was also revealed within the contemporary Mekong River Basin (MRB). Of the seven phylogeographical hypotheses tested, patterns of co‐distributed taxa proved to be the most adequate for describing the phylogeography of C. striata. 4. Results shed new light on SE Asian drainage evolution, indicating that the Middle MRB probably evolved via amalgamation of at least three historically independent drainage sections and in particular that the Mekong River section centred around the northern Khorat Plateau in NE Thailand was probably isolated from the greater Mekong for an extensive period of evolutionary time. In contrast, C. striata populations in the Lower MRB do not show a phylogeographical signature of evolution in historically isolated drainage lines, suggesting drainage amalgamation has been less important for river landscape formation in this region.     

Phylogeographic patterns of steppe species in Eastern Central Europe: a review and the implications for conservation

The phylogeography of species associated with European steppes and extrazonal xeric grasslands is poorly understood. This paper summarizes the results of recent studies on the phylogeography and conservation genetics of animals (20 taxa of beetles, butterflies, reptiles and rodents) and flowering plants (18 taxa) of such, "steppic" habitats in Eastern Central Europe. Most species show a similar phylogeographic pattern: relatively high genetic similarity within regional groups of populations and moderate-to-high genetic distinctiveness of populations from currently isolated regions located in the studied area. This distinctiveness of populations suggests a survival here during glacial maxima, including areas north of the Bohemian Massif-Carpathians arc. Steppic species generally do not follow the paradigmatic patterns known for temperate biota (south-north “contraction–expansion”), but to some extent are similar to those of arctic-alpine taxa. There are three main groups of taxa within Eastern Central Europe that differ in their contemporary distribution pattern, which may reflect historical origin and expansion routes. Present diversity patterns of the studied steppic species suggest that they share a unique genetic signature and distinct assemblages exist in each of the now isolated areas rich in steppic habitats. At least some of these areas probably act as present “interglacial refugia” for steppic species. This study strongly supports the need to protect steppic species throughout their entire ranges in the region, as the continuous destruction of steppic habitats in some areas may lead not only to the disappearance of local populations, but also to the extinction of unique evolutionary units.     

Scrophularia arguta,a widespread annual plant in the Canary Islands: a single recent colonization event or a more complex phylogeographic pattern?

Many studies have addressed evolution and phylogeography of plant taxa in oceanic islands, but have primarily focused on endemics because of the assumption that in widespread taxa the absence of morphological differentiation between island and mainland populations is due to recent colonization. In this paper, we studied the phylogeography of Scrophularia arguta, a widespread annual species, in an attempt to determine the number and spatiotemporal origins of dispersal events to Canary Islands. Four different regions, ITS and ETS from nDNA and psbA‐trnH and psbJ‐petA from cpDNA, were used to date divergence events within S. arguta lineages and determine the phylogenetic relationships among populations. A haplotype network was obtained to elucidate the phylogenetic relationships among haplotypes. Our results support an ancient origin of S. arguta (Miocene) with expansion and genetic differentiation in the Pliocene coinciding with the aridification of northern Africa and the formation of the Mediterranean climate. Indeed, results indicate for Canary Islands three different events of colonization, including two ancient events that probably happened in the Pliocene and have originated the genetically most divergent populations into this species and, interestingly, a recent third event of colonization of Gran Canaria from mainland instead from the closest islands (Tenerife or Fuerteventura). In spite of the great genetic divergence among populations, it has not implied any morphological variation. Our work highlights the importance of nonendemic species to the genetic richness and conservation of island flora and the significance of the island populations of widespread taxa in the global biodiversity.