Causes and Consequences of Changes in Nutrient Structure in the Jiaozhou Bay

Concentrations and ratios of nutrients in Jiaozhou Bay, China, have changed much in the past decades, with trends indicating an increase in nitrogen and a decrease in silicate. Statistical analysis has shown that the long-term variations of nutrients are associated with agricultural activities, precipitation, and anthropogenic factors. Stoichiometric calculations indicate that the nutrient structure has become more and more unbalanced. There has been almost no possibility for nitrogen limitation since the 1980s, the probability of P limitation has increased, and the probability of Si limitation has also increased markedly from the 1980s to the 1990s. As a consequence of changes in nutrient structure, a decrease in the abundance of net phytoplankton was evident, whereas total chlorophyll a levels have remained roughly unchanged at around 3.55μg/L. Thus, it is likely that smaller species have taken the niche vacated by the larger species. Changes in phytoplankton size and species composition may ultimately lead to various functional and structural changes at the system level.     

HIV/AIDS in Asia： The Shape of Epidemics and Their Molecular Epidemiology

The Asia-Pacific region is a home to 60% of the population in the world and to approximately one quarter of people with HIV/AIDS. Close to a million of people has been infected and a half million people died of AIDS annually in Asia,becoming the second largest epicenter of global AIDS epidemic. Molecular epidemiology has been useful tool to track a course of HIV spread. In-depth knowledge from the studies on molecular epidemiology elucidates the dynamics of HIV spread and the interrelationship of epidemics in the different regions in Asia.     

Utilization and management of organic wastes in Chinese agriculture: Past, present and perspectives

Recycling and composting of organic materials such as animal waste, crop residues and green manures has a long tradition in China. In the past, the application of organic manures guaranteed a high return of organic materials and plant mineral nutrients and thus maintained soil fertility and crop yield. As a result of rapid economic development coupled with the increasing urbanization and labour costs, the recycling rate of organic materials in Chinese agriculture has dramatically declined during the last two decades, in particular in the more developed eastern and southeastern provinces of China. Improper handling and storage of the organic wastes is causing severe air and water pollution. Because farmers are using increasing amounts of mineral fertilizer, only 47% of the cropland is still receiving organic manure, which accounted for 18% of N, 28% of P and 75% of K in the total nutrient input in 2000. Nowadays, the average proportion of nutrients (N+P+K) supplemented by organic manure in Chinese cropland is only 35% of the total amount of nutrients from both inorganic and organic sources. In China, one of the major causes is the increasing de-coupling of animal and plant production. This is occurring at a time when "re-coupling" is partly being considered in Western countries as a means to improve soil fertility and reduce pollution from animal husbandry. Re-coupling of modern animal and plant production is urgently needed in China. A comprehensive plan to develop intensive animal husbandry while taking into account the environmental impact of liquid and gaseous emissions and the nutrient requirements of the crops as well as the organic carbon requirements of the soil are absolutely necessary. As a consequence of a stronger consideration of ecological aspects in agriculture, a range of environmental standards has been issued and various legal initiatives are being taken in China. Their enforcement should be strictly monitored.     

Cloning and characterization of nanos gene in silkworm Bombyx mori

Gene nanos is a maternal posterior group gene required for normal development of abdominal segments and the germ line in Drosophila. Expression of nanos-related genes is associated with the germ line in a broad variety of other taxa. In this study, the 5＇-RACE method and the in silico cloning method are used to isolate the new nanos-like gene of Bombyx mor/and the gene obtained is analyzed with bioinformatics tools. The putative protein is expressed in Escherichia coli and the antiserum has been produced in New Zealand white rabbits. The result shows that the nanos cDNA is 1,913 bp in full length and contains a 954 bp open reading frame. The deduced protein has 317 amino acid residues, with a predicted molecular weight of 35 kDa, isoelectric point of 5.38, and contains a conserved nanos RNA binding domain. The conserved region of the deduced protein shares 73% homology with the nanos protein conserved region of Honeybee （Apis mellifera）. This gene has been registered in the GenBank under the accession number EF647589. One encoding sequence of the nanos fragment has been successfully expressed in E. coli. Western blotting analysis indicates that homemade antiserum can specifically detect nanos protein expressed in prokaryotic cells.     

Autophagy and cancer

Autophagy is a homeostatic and evolutionarily conserved mechanism of self-digestion by which the cells degrade and recycle long-lived proteins and excess or damaged organelles.Autophagy is activated in response to both physiological and pathological stimuli including growth factor depletion,energy deficiency or the upregulation of Bcl-2 protein expression.A novel role of autophagy in various cancers has been proposed.Interestingly,evidence that supports both a positive and negative role of autophagy in the pathogenesis of cancer has been reported.As a tumor suppression mechanism,autophagy maintains genome stability,induces senescence and possibly autophagic cell death.On the other hand,autophagy participates in tumor growth and maintenance by supplying metabolic substrate,limiting oxidative stress,and maintaining cancer stem cell population.It has been proposed that the differential roles of autophagy in cancer are disease type and stage specific.In addition,substrate selectivity might be involved in carrying out the specific effect of autophagy in cancer,and represents one of the potential directions for future studies.     

A journey to a brighter future

It has been 15 years since Cell Research was launched in 1990. At that time, Chinese scientists rarely published their work in non-Chinese journals, and China did not have a major English journal of its own in life sciences. In a way, Cell Research was born at the right time, in the right place, and with the right kind of people guiding its development. The rise of Cell Research as China＇s leading journal publishing peer-reviewed articles in basic life sciences has paralleled the rapid development of the Chinese economy in general and the science and technology sector in particular over the same period. The current economic trend should allow even more rapid advances in the life sciences which will ensure a healthy growth of Cell Research in years to come. Thus, we are confident that Cell Research has a brighter future.     

Cysteine and Cysteine-Related SignalingPathways in Arabidopsis thaliana

Cysteine occupies a central position in plant metabolism because it is a reduced sulfur donor moleculeinvolved in the synthesis of essential biomolecules and defense compounds. Moreover, cysteine per se and its deriva-tive molecules play roles in the redox signaling of processes occurring in various cellular compartments. Cysteine issynthesized during the sulfate assimilation pathway via the incorporation of sulfide to O-acetylserine, catalyzed byO-acetylserine（thiol）lyase （OASTL）. Plant cells contain OASTLs in the mitochondria, chloroplasts, and cytosol, resultingin a complex array of isoforms and subcellular cysteine pools, in recent years, significant progress has been made inArabidopsis, in determining the specific roles of the OASTLs and the metabolites produced by them. Thus, the dis-covery of novel enzymatic activities of the less-abundant, like DES1 with L-cysteine desulfhydrase activity and SCSwith S-sulfocysteine synthase activity, has provided new perspectives on their roles, besides their metabolic functions.Thereby, the research has been demonstrated that cytosolic sulfide and chloroplastic S-sulfocysteine act as signalingmolecules regulating autophagy and protecting the photosystems, respectively. In the cytosol, cysteine plays an essentialrole in plant immunity; in the mitochondria, this molecule plays a central role in the detoxification of cyanide, which isessential for root hair development and plant responses to pathogens.     

Translational Bioinformatics:Past,Present, and Future

Though a relatively young discipline, translational bioinformatics (TBI) has become a key component of biomedical research in the era of precision medicine. Development of high-throughput technologies and electronic health records has caused a paradigm shift in both healthcare and biomedical research. Novel tools and methods are required to convert increasingly voluminous datasets into information and actionable knowledge. This review provides a definition and contex-tualization of the term TBI, describes the discipline’s brief history and past accomplishments, as well as current foci, and concludes with predictions of future directions in the field.     

The Dutch N-cascade in the European perspective

The Netherlands is "well known" for its nitrogen problems; it has one of the highest reactive nitrogen (Nr) emission densities in the world. It is a small country at the delta of several large European rivers. Ever since the industrial revolution, there has been a growing excess of nutrients and related emissions into the atmosphere (ammonia, nitrogen oxides and nitrous oxide) and into groundwater and surface water (nitrate), leading to a large range of cascading environmental impacts. Vehicular traffic, sewage and animal husbandry are the main sources of oxidized and reduced forms of Nr. This paper provides an overview of the origin and fate of nitrogen in the Netherlands, the various reported impacts of nitrogen, the Dutch and European policies to reduce nitrogen emissions and related impacts. In addition, ways are presented to go forward to potentially solve the problems in a European perspective. Solutions include the improvement of nitrogen efficiencies in different systems, technological options and education.     

The Long Road to Understanding the Baculovirus PIO Protein

The baculovirus P 10 protein has always represented a mystery in the field of insect virology. Like the baculovirus polyhedrin protein it is expressed at high levels very late in infection. Homologues of the Autographa californica nucleopolyhedrovirus p10 gene are conserved in all Alphabaculoviruses and in other viruses of lepidopteran hosts yet is completely dispensable for virus replication and transmission. PIO is a microtubule interacting protein whose expression has been associated with the formation of a variety of complex and extensive cytoplasmic and nuclear structures. PIO has been associated with a number of roles during infection ranging from the formation of virus occlusion bodies, to affecting the rate of cellular and/or nuclear lysis during the final stages of the virus replication cycle. In this article we review recent work aimed at understanding the role of this enigmatic protein, putting them into context with recent advances in understanding of protein structure and function. We look back at a number of historical studies and observations, reanalysing their conclusions based on recent data and our own observations. The role of the P 10 protein during baculovirus replication remains elusive, however, novel avenues of investigation have been identified that will, we are sure, eventually lead to an understanding of this protein.     

The yins and yangs of ceramide

Since their discovery over 100 years ago,sphingolipids have caught the eyes and the imagination of scientists.Modern science has made many new insights on the cell biology and day-to-day functions of many integral sphingolipids,especially those of ceramids.Ceramide is recognized as a vital second messenger in the signal transduction process mediated by receptors of many cytokines and growth factors.A great part of our current understanding of ceramide has been achieved from apoptosis-related studies,however recent data in the fields of immunology,endocrinology and neurobiology,also suggest a fundamental involvement of ceramide in the onset of diseases.Therefore,understanding the diology of ceramide could be a key to unraveling many biological mechanisms and provide information for the treatment of some common diseases.     

CFD Simulation of Fish-like Body Moving in Viscous Liquid

The study of fish-like bodies moving in liquid is an interesting and challenging research subject in the fields of biolocomotion and biomimetics. Typically the effect of tail oscillation on fluid flow around such a body is highly unsteady, generating vortices and requiring detailed analysis of fluid-structure interactions. An understanding of the complexities of such flows is of interest not only to biologists but also to engineers interested in developing vehicles capable of emulating the high performance of fish propulsion and manoeuvring. In the present study, a computational fluid dynamic （CFD） simulation of a three-dimensional biomimetic fish-like body has been developed to investigate the fluid flows around this body when moving in a viscous liquid. A parametric analysis of the variables that affect the flow surrounding the body is presented, along with flow visualisations, in an attempt to quantify and qualify the effect that these variables have on the performance of the body. The analysis provided by the unsteady transient simulation of a fish-like body has allowed the flow surrounding a fish-like body undergoing periodic oscillations to be studied. The simulation produces a motion of the tail in the （x, y） plane, with the tail oscillating as a rigid body in the form of a sinusoidal wave.     

Melatonin: A master regulator of plant development and stress responses

Melatonin is a pleiotropic molecule with multiple functions in plants. Since the discovery of melatonin in plants, numerous studies have provided insight into the biosynthesis, catabolism, and physiological and biochemical functions of this important molecule. Here, we describe the biosynthesis of melatonin from tryptophan, as well as its various degradation pathways in plants. The identification of a putative melatonin receptor in plants has led to the hypothesis that melatonin is a hormone involved in regulating plant growth,aerial organ development, root morphology, and the floral transition. The universal antioxidant activity of melatonin and its role in preserving chlorophyll might explain its anti-senescence capacity in aging leaves. An impressive amount of research has focused on the role of melatonin in modulating postharvest fruit ripening by regulating the expression of ethylene-related genes.Recent evidence also indicated that melatonin functions in the plant's response to biotic stress,cooperating with other phytohormones and wellknown molecules such as reactive oxygen species and nitric oxide. Finally, great progress has been made towards understanding how melatonin alleviates the effects of various abiotic stresses, including salt, drought, extreme temperature, and heavy metal stress. Given its diverse roles, we propose that melatonin is a master regulator in plants.     

A new baculovirus of cultured shrimps

By means of ultrathin section, negative staining and sucrose gradient ultra-centrifugation, a new baculovirus has been discovered and purified in lymphoid organs and such tissues as muscles of the shrimps which have been spontaneously attacked by diseases and artificially infected. With a diameter of 96-112 nm, this is the thickest baculovirus of shrimps ever known. In the center is the high-density nucleus. Between the capsid and the envelope is a broad space, which is not found in any of the baculoviruses of the prawns ever reported. On the surface of the puri-fied nucleocapsid, there is a subunit of the spiral arrangement, which is also characteristic of this virus. It has not been observed and found in the epithelial cells of the livers, intestines and cheeks, which is quite different from the fact that prawn baculoviruses infect a certain epithepilial cell of the above-mentioned ones without exception. The viruses only multiplicate inside the core of target cells, which will not form occluded bodie     

Beyond tumorigenesis： cancer stem cells in metastasis

The importance of cancer stem cells （CSCs） in tumor-initiation has been firmly established in leukemia and recently reported for a variety of solid tumors. However, the role of CSCs in multistage cancer progression, particularly with respect to metastasis, has not been well-defined. Cancer metastasis requires the seeding and successful colonization of specialized CSCs at distant organs. The biology of normal stem cells and CSCs share remarkable similarities and may have important implications when applied to the study of cancer metastasis. Furthermore, overlapping sets of molecules and pathways have recently been identified to regulate both stem cell migration and cancer metastasis. These molecules constitute a complex network of cellular interactions that facilitate both the initiation of the pre-metastasis niche by the primary tumor and the formation of a nurturing organ microenvironment for migrating CSCs. In this review, we surveyed the recent advances in this dynamic field and propose a unified model of cancer progression in which CSCs assume a central role in both tumorigenesis and metastasis. Better understanding of CSCs as a fundamental component of the metastatic cascade will lead to novel therapeutic strategies against metastatic cancer.     

Recent Progress Using High-throughput Sequencing Technologies in Plant Molecular Breeding

High-throughput sequencing is a revolutionary technological innovation in DNA sequencing.This technology has an ultra-low cost per base of sequencing and an overwhelmingly high data output.High-throughput sequencing has brought novel research methods and solutions to the research fields of genomics and post-genomics.Furthermore,this technology is leading to a new molecular breeding revolution that has landmark significance for scientific research and enables us to launch multi-level,multi-faceted,and multi-extent studies in the fields of crop genetics,genomics,and crop breeding.In this paper,we review progress in the application of high-throughput sequencing technologies to plant molecular breeding studies.     

Challenges of reducing excess nitrogen in Japanese agroecosystems

Fertilizer N use in Japan has decreased by about 30% from 1960 to 2000, while keeping a little increase in cereal yields. This has resulted in a significant increase in apparent nitrogen use efficiency, in particular for rice. On the other hand, national N load on the environment associated with the production and consumption of domestic and imported agricultural products has almost tripled during this period, mainly due to the dramatic increase of imports of food and feedstuffs. The environmental problems, including water and air pollution, caused by the excessive loads of N are serious public concerns and there is an urgent need to minimize N losses from agricultural production. In order to meet the necessity for reducing the environmental impacts by excess N, political and technological measures have been taken at regional and country levels. In recent years, the Japanese government has embarked on a series of policies to encourage transition to an environmentally conscious agriculture. Promoting proper material circulation with reducing fertilizer impact and utilizing biomass and livestock wastes is emphasized in these policies. The effectiveness of environmental assessment and planning for reducing regional and national N load has been discussed. Implementation of environmentally friendly technologies and management, both conventional and innovational, have been developed and adopted in Japanese agriculture. The effectiveness of conventional technologies in reducing environmental reactive N has been re-evaluated. Innovative technologies, such as use of controlled availability fertilizers and livestock wastes compost pellets, are being investigated and extended. A comprehensive approach that applies political and technological measures with closer cooperation is necessary to control reactive N in the environment.     

Changes in DNA base sequences in the mutant of Arabidopsis thaliana induced by low-energy N+ implantation

Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh has many advantages for genome analysis, including a short generation time, small size, large number of offspring, and a relatively small nuclear genome in comparison to other angiosperms and contains a low proportion of repetitive DNA comparatively. Furthermore, the analysis of the completed genome sequence of A. thaliana has been reported[1]. Low-energy ion implantation has attracted more and more attention from researchers in China and Japan since recent s…     

Current progress of China＇s free ART program

China＇s Free ART Program was initiated in 2002 as an emergency response to save and improve the lives of AIDS patients living mainly in impoverished rural regions of central China. With little experience in HIV/AIDS treatment and care and resource limitations, China＇s efforts to provide widespread access to free antiretroviral therapy has been a process fraught with difficulty. However, the Free ART Program is progressing from an emergency response to a standardized treatment and care system. The development of national guidelines, training programs, a laboratory support network, a national patient database, programs for special populations such as children and patients living with coinfections, and operational research has improved the scope and quality of the free treatment program. As of June 30, 2005, a total of 19,456 patients in 28 provinces, autonomous regions, and special municipalities had received free ART. Challenges stemming from the nature of China＇s health system and patient population persist, but with strong government support and a diverse set of resources, China has the capacity to overcome these challenges and to provide nationwide access to high quality treatment and care.