Evolution and applications of plant pathway resources and databases

Plants are important sources of food and plant products are essential for modern human life. Plants are increasingly gaining importance as drug and fuel resources, bioremediation tools and as tools for recombinant technology. Considering these applications, database infrastructure for plant model systems deserves much more attention. Study of plant biological pathways, the interconnection between these pathways and plant systems biology on the whole has in general lagged behind human systems biology. In this article we review plant pathway databases and the resources that are currently available. We lay out trends and challenges in the ongoing efforts to integrate plant pathway databases and the applications of database integration. We also discuss how progress in non-plant communities can serve as an example for the improvement of the plant pathway database landscape and thereby allow quantitative modeling of plant biosystems. We propose Good Database Practice as a possible model for collaboration and to ease future integration efforts.     

生物逆境和共生状态下植物的蛋白质组学研究

蛋白质组技术已广泛应用于植物遗传、发育和生理生态等诸多生物学领域,主要研究植物的遗传多样性、植物发育、组织分化、植物对非生物逆境(包括高温、低温、高盐和干旱等)和生物逆境(病虫害)的适应机制和植物与微生物(根瘤共生体)相互作用机制。本文综述了微生物与植物互作的蛋白质组研究进展,包括有害和有益的相互作用,同时对植物蛋白质组学的发展前景进行了讨论。     

植物生长调节剂的研究与应用

主要综述了植物生长调节剂的概况、植物生长调节剂的种类及其作用、植物生长调节剂的应用以及植物生长调节剂的安全使用原则,并展望了植物生长调节剂的应用前景。     

Avoidance and suppression of plant defenses by herbivores and pathogens

Plants are nutritious and hence herbivores and phytopathogens have specialized to attack and consume them. In turn, plants have evolved adaptations to detect and withstand these attacks. Such adaptations we call ‘defenses’ and they can operate either directly between the plant and the plant consumer or indirectly i.e. when taking effect via other organisms such as predators and parasitoids of herbivores. Plant defenses put selection pressure on plant-consumers and, as a result, herbivores and pathogens have evolved counter-adaptations to avoid, resist, or manipulate plant defenses. Here we review how plant consumers have adapted to cope with plant defenses and we will put special emphasis on the phenomenon of suppression of plant defenses.     

安徽宿州大方寺林区植物种类及其资源的初步调查

大方寺位于淮北平原萄丘陵地带,天然次生林属于暖温带叶阔叶林。由于自然条件复杂,植物种类丰富,木本植物130余种,草本植物100余种;植被类型多种多样,主要群落为：青檀（Pterooeltis tatarinowii）、牡荆（Witex negundo）、华隐子草（Cleistogenes chinensis）群落,栓皮栎（Quercus wvriabilis）、五角枫（Acer mono）、牡荆（Vitex negundo）裂稃草（Schizachyrium brevifolium）群落和黄连木（Pistacia chinensis）、五角枫（Acer mono）、扁担杆（Creuia biloba）、沿阶草（Ophiopogon bodinievi）群落等三种。大方寺植物资源丰富,具有用材经济植物的约60余种,药用植物200余种,香料及密源植物10余种,纤维植物30余种,庭园观赏植物40余种。     

Soil fungal pathogens and the relationship between plant diversity and productivity

One robust result from many small-scale experiments has been that plant community productivity often increases with increasing plant diversity. Most frequently, resource-based or competitive interactions are thought to drive this positive diversity-productivity relationship. Here, we ask whether suppression of plant productivity by soil fungal pathogens might also drive a positive diversity-productivity relationship. We created plant assemblages that varied in diversity and crossed this with a ± soil fungicide treatment. In control (non-fungicide treated) assemblages there was a strong positive relationship between plant diversity and above-ground plant biomass. However, in fungicide-treated assemblages this relationship disappeared. This occurred because fungicide increased plant production by an average of 141% at the lower ends of diversity but boosted production by an average of only 33% at the higher ends of diversity, essentially flattening the diversity-productivity curve. These results suggest that soil pathogens might be a heretofore unappreciated driver of diversity-productivity relationships.     

Phytotoxic Diterpenoids from Plants and Microorganisms

Phytotoxic natural products with either unique or various structures are one of the most abundant sources for the discovery of potential allelochemicals, natural herbicides, and plant growth regulators. Phytotoxic diterpenoids, a relatively large class of natural products, play an important role in the plant‐plant or plant‐microorganism interactions. This article argues that the phytotoxic diterpenoids isolated from the plants and microorganisms can either inhibit the seed germination and the growth of plant seedlings or lead to some disease symptoms on the tested plant tissues and plant seedlings.     

The role of climate and plant functional trade‐offs in shaping global biome and biodiversity patterns

Aim Two of the oldest observations in plant geography are the increase in plant diversity from the poles towards the tropics and the global geographic distribution of vegetation physiognomy (biomes). The objective of this paper is to use a process‐based vegetation model to evaluate the relationship between modelled and observed global patterns of plant diversity and the geographic distribution of biomes. Location The global terrestrial biosphere. Methods We implemented and tested a novel vegetation model aimed at identifying strategies that enable plants to grow and reproduce within particular climatic conditions across the globe. Our model simulates plant survival according to the fundamental ecophysiological processes of water uptake, photosynthesis, reproduction and phenology. We evaluated the survival of an ensemble of 10,000 plant growth strategies across the range of global climatic conditions. For the simulated regional plant assemblages we quantified functional richness, functional diversity and functional identity. Results A strong relationship was found (correlation coefficient of 0.75) between the modelled and the observed plant diversity. Our approach demonstrates that plant functional dissimilarity increases and then saturates with increasing plant diversity. Six of the major Earth biomes were reproduced by clustering grid cells according to their functional identity (mean functional traits of a regional plant assemblage). These biome clusters were in fair agreement with two other global vegetation schemes: a satellite image classification and a biogeography model (kappa statistics around 0.4). Main conclusions Our model reproduces the observed global patterns of plant diversity and vegetation physiognomy from the number and identity of simulated plant growth strategies. These plant growth strategies emerge from the first principles of climatic constraints and plant functional trade‐offs. Our study makes important contributions to furthering the understanding of how climate affects patterns of plant diversity and vegetation physiognomy from a process‐based rather than a phenomenological perspective.     

Plant phenology and global climate change: Current progresses and challenges

Plant phenology, the annually recurring sequence of plant developmental stages, is important for plant functioning and ecosystem services and their biophysical and biogeochemical feedbacks to the climate system. Plant phenology depends on temperature, and the current rapid climate change has revived interest in understanding and modeling the responses of plant phenology to the warming trend and the consequences thereof for ecosystems. Here, we review recent progresses in plant phenology and its interactions with climate change. Focusing on the start (leaf unfolding) and end (leaf coloring) of plant growing seasons, we show that the recent rapid expansion in ground‐ and remote sensing‐ based phenology data acquisition has been highly beneficial and has supported major advances in plant phenology research. Studies using multiple data sources and methods generally agree on the trends of advanced leaf unfolding and delayed leaf coloring due to climate change, yet these trends appear to have decelerated or even reversed in recent years. Our understanding of the mechanisms underlying the plant phenology responses to climate warming is still limited. The interactions between multiple drivers complicate the modeling and prediction of plant phenology changes. Furthermore, changes in plant phenology have important implications for ecosystem carbon cycles and ecosystem feedbacks to climate, yet the quantification of such impacts remains challenging. We suggest that future studies should primarily focus on using new observation tools to improve the understanding of tropical plant phenology, on improving process‐based phenology modeling, and on the scaling of phenology from species to landscape‐level.     

Increased incorporation of dietary plant sterols and cholesterol correlates with decreased expression of hepatic and intestinal Abcg5 and Abcg8 in diabetic BB rats

The aim of this study was to determine the impact of dietary plant sterols and stanols on sterol incorporation and sterol-regulatory gene expression in insulin-treated diabetic rats and nondiabetic control rats. Diabetic BioBreeding (BB) and control BB rats were fed a control diet or a diet supplemented with plant sterols or plant stanols (5 g/kg diet) for 4 weeks. Expression of sterol-regulatory genes in the liver and intestine was assessed by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Diabetic rats demonstrated increased tissue accumulation of cholesterol and plant sterols and stanols compared to control rats. This increase in cholesterol and plant sterols and stanols was associated with a marked decrease in hepatic and intestinal Abcg5 (ATP-binding cassette transporter G5) and Abcg8 (ATP-binding cassette transporter G8) expressions in diabetic rats, as well as decreased mRNA levels of several other genes involved in sterol regulation. Plant sterol or plant stanol supplementation induced the accumulation of plant sterols and stanols in tissues in both rat strains, but induced a greater accumulation of plant sterols and stanols in diabetic rats than in control rats. Surprisingly, only dietary plant sterols decreased cholesterol levels in diabetic rats, whereas dietary plant stanols caused an increase in cholesterol levels in both diabetic and control rats. Therefore, lower expression levels of Abcg5/Abcg8 in diabetic rats may account for the increased accumulation of plant sterols and cholesterol in these rats.     

Modeling plant growth and development

Computational plant models or 'virtual plants' are increasingly seen as a useful tool for comprehending complex relationships between gene function, plant physiology, plant development, and the resulting plant form. The theory of L-systems, which was introduced by Lindemayer in 1968, has led to a well-established methodology for simulating the branching architecture of plants. Many current architectural models provide insights into the mechanisms of plant development by incorporating physiological processes, such as the transport and allocation of carbon. Other models aim at elucidating the geometry of plant organs, including flower petals and apical meristems, and are beginning to address the relationship between patterns of gene expression and the resulting plant form.     

浙江植物引种驯化研究进展与思考

引种驯化是增加植物资源的一种传统育种方法。本文从浙江省农业科学院亚热带作物研究所引种驯化研究发展回顾入手,剖析了温州植物引种结果,以方法的改进反映浙江现代引种驯化学术水平的进步,最后讨论了植物引种驯化研究的若干问题。     

植物基因工程的应用与研究进展及潜在风险性分析

简要综述近年来植物基因工程在改善植物性状,提高植物抗性等遗传育种方面的应用与研究进展。重点介绍了植物基因工程的应用,如改良农产品品质,提高农作物抗病虫毒、抗除草剂、抗自然灾害的能力,开发疫苗等。分析了植物基因工程在农作物育种方面的应用前景及其潜在的风险性。     

Negative relationship between diversity and productivity under plant invasion

The relationship between diversity and productivity of plant community under plant invasion has been not well known up to now. Here, we investigated the relationship between diversity and productivity under plant invasion and studied the response of species level plant mass to species richness in native and invaded communities. A field experiment from 2008 to 2013 and a pot experiment in 2014 were conducted to study the effects of plant invasion on the relationship between diversity and productivity and the response of species level plant mass to species richness in native and invaded communities. The community level biomass was negatively correlated to plant species richness in invaded communities while the same relationship was positive in native communities. The species level plant mass of individual species responded differently to overall plant species richness in the native and invaded communities, namely, most of the species’ plant mass increased in native communities, but decreased in invaded communities with increasing species richness. The complementarity or selection effects might dominate in native communities while competition effects might dominate in invaded communities. Accordingly, the negative relationship between diversity and productivity under plant invasion is highlighted in our experiments.     

Spatial and temporal patterns of caterpillar performance and the suitability of two host plant species

Abstract. 1. The butterfly Melitaea cinxia uses two host plant species in the Åland Islands of south-west Finland. Survey data show that host plant use is spatially variable and that the two species are not used (fed on by M . cinxia larvae) in proportion to their abundances. The pattern of host plant use by M . cinxia has been attributed in part to plant distribution and spatial variation of butterfly oviposition preference.
2. The additional roles that may be played by spatial variation in host plant quality and larval physiology (performance ability) were investigated. Seven years of field survey data and a series of laboratory experiments were used to demonstrate that neither of these variables contributed measurably to the observed pattern of host plant use.
3. Specifically, while there was great variation among individuals in both the performance ability of caterpillars and host plant suitability, the two plant species appeared equally suitable, there was no within-species geographic variation in plant suitability, and there was no evidence for adaptation of caterpillars to the locally used host plants.     

Functional features and ontogenetic changes in reproductive allocation and partitioning strategies of plant modules

In the concept of modularity, plant modules are considered as iterative units and their changes are analyzed in terms of number or size. This paper, however, analyses changes with respect to the reproductive functional performance of modules and individual plant age. Patterns of resource allocation and partitioning in reproductive modules (fruits) are compared between two different age groups of a bushy perennial plant, Cistus ladanifer.Although modules do not differ in their allocation strategies (young plant modules produce the same seed and packing/protective structure biomass as old plant modules), their partitioning strategies change with plant age: young plant modules produce a larger number of lighter seeds than old plants. These differences have a direct consequence on the plant pre-dispersal fitness, which is not counteracted by insect predation on reproductive modules. These results are empirical evidence of a differentiation in the performance of reproductive modules with the ontogenetic development of this plant species. We think that the consideration of such kind of changes in module features is essential in the analysis of the iterative construction of plants.     

植物病原-媒介昆虫互作:研究进展与展望

大多数植物病毒及一些植物病原细菌由介体昆虫传播。植物病原与介体昆虫关系的研究有助于找到防控介体传播病原的关键环节,因此植物病原与介体昆虫的互作关系是植物病原传播机理研究中的核心问题。本文概述了国内外在植物病原与介体昆虫互作研究的最新进展,推介了本专辑论文的主要内容,并在此基础上,从生态和进化的角度提出了在植物病原-媒介昆虫互作研究中以下3个值得关注的研究方向:(1)植物病原与介体昆虫互作对生态系统的影响;(2)昆虫介体传播植物病毒的不同方式之间的关联性以及病毒、介体和植物之间的协同进化关系;(3)自然条件下植物病原-媒介昆虫互作的机理。植物病原与媒介昆虫互作的研究,既是生态和进化的理论问题,也和植物病原及其介体昆虫的绿色防控密切相关。     

Correlated evolution of herbivory and food chemical discrimination in iguanian and ambush foraging lizards

To efficiently locate and assess foods, animal sensory capacitiesand behavioral discriminations based on them must be appropriatefor the diet and method of hunting. In lizards, actively foraginginsectivores identify animal prey using lingually sampled chemicalcues, but ambush foragers do not. Among plant eaters derivedfrom active foragers, plant chemical discrimination is addedto prey chemical discrimination, resulting in correlated evolutionof plant diet and plant chemical discrimination. Here I presentcomparative evidence on the relationships between plant dietand food chemical discrimination in Iguania, which consistsprimarily of ambush foragers and is one of two major lizardclades, and for ambushing lizards in general. Comparative analysesconducted using phylogenetic methods show that (1) all but onespecies of omnivore studied exhibited both prey and plant chemicaldiscrimination, whereas ambush foragers exhibited neither; (2)significant correlated evolution occurred between plant dietand plant chemical discrimination in Iguania and in omnivoresand herbivores derived from ambush foragers; and (3) correlatedevolution has occurred between prey and plant chemical discriminationin Iguania and, more generally, in taxa derived from ambushforagers. These results are explained by selection on planteaters to assess the nutritional value and possible toxicityof plants and by continued consumption of some animal prey evenin herbivores combined with freedom from factors that selectagainst prey chemical discrimination in ambush foragers.     

高原湿地纳帕海水生植物群落分布格局及变化

采用3S技术与植物群落研究法,对高原湿地纳帕海24a来的湿地植物群落分布格局及变化的研究结果表明：与24a前水生植物群落相比较。纳帕海水生植物群落类型、数量改变,原生群落不断减少或消失,耐污、喜富营养类群如水葱群落（Com．Scirpus tabernaemontani）、茭草群落（Com．Zizania caduciflora）、穗状狐尾藻群落（Com．Myriophyllum spicatum）、满江红（Com．Azolla imbricata）群落等大量出现;群落总数由24a前的9个增至当前的12个,其中挺水植物群落增加2个,浮叶植物群落增加1个,挺水植物群落增幅最大。由东向西、由南向北,纳帕海水生植物群落分布大致呈现出浮叶群落、挺水群落、沉水群落斑块状依次配置的水平格局规律。挺水植物群落分布面积最大,达528．42hm^2,其次是沉水植物群落,分布面积为362．50hm^2,浮叶植物群落分布面积最小,为70．23hm^2。随沉水群落、浮叶群落向挺水群落的演替,群落伴生种数量增加、优势种优势度减小、层次类型改变,群落结构变得更为复杂。纳帕海湿地水生植物群落分布格局及变化是对湿地环境变化的响应,表明了在人为干扰作用影响下,纳帕海湖岸线内移、水量减少、水质恶化等湿地水文条件的改变,致使湿地生态系统功能不断退化。     

活性氧调控植物生长发育的研究进展

活性氧(ROS)是植物有氧代谢过程中的副产物, 它在植物的许多生命过程中均具有有害和有利的双重功能。ROS对细胞的氧化损伤作用和信号转导诱导植物防卫反应已有详尽的研究。近年来, 越来越多的关于ROS调控植物生长发育的证据开始引起了人们的广泛关注。细胞的生长是植物发育的重要部分, ROS通过直接或间接调节细胞的生长来控制植物的发育, 成为植物发育的重要调节剂。该文综述了羟自由基(.OH)及其前体超氧阴离子自由基(O2^–. )和过氧化氢(H₂O₂)调控植物生长发育的研究进展, 包括ROS调控植物不同器官生长的证据和机理、ROS产生的途径及其检测方法, 同时对今后的研究进行了展望。