When looks can kill: the evolution of sexually dimorphic floral display and the extinction of dioecious plants

Dioecious plants (with separate male and female individuals) more often have drab, inconspicuous flowers than related bisexual plants. Models indicate, however, that similar conditions favour the evolution of showy floral displays in dioecious and bisexual plants. One difference, however, is that dioecious plants may evolve floral displays that are sexually dimorphic. We show that males are more likely to evolve showy flowers than females in animal-pollinated plants, especially when pollinators are abundant. We demonstrate that this dimorphism places showy dioecious plants at a much higher risk of extinction during years of low pollinator abundance because pollinators may fail to visit female flowers. The higher extinction risk of showy dioecious plants provides an explanation for the fact that dioecious plants that do persist tend to have inconspicuous flowers and are more often wind pollinated. It may also help explain why dioecious plants are less species-rich than related bisexual plants.     

Ecophysiological traits of terrestrial and aquatic carnivorous plants: are the costs and benefits the same?

Identification of tradeoffs among physiological and morphological traits and their use in cost–benefit models and ecological or evolutionary optimization arguments have been hallmarks of ecological analysis for at least 50 years. Carnivorous plants are model systems for studying a wide range of ecophysiological and ecological processes and the application of a cost–benefit model for the evolution of carnivory by plants has provided many novel insights into trait‐based cost–benefit models. Central to the cost–benefit model for the evolution of botanical carnivory is the relationship between nutrients and photosynthesis; of primary interest is how carnivorous plants efficiently obtain scarce nutrients that are supplied primarily in organic form as prey, digest and mineralize them so that they can be readily used, and allocate them to immediate versus future needs. Most carnivorous plants are terrestrial – they are rooted in sandy or peaty wetland soils – and most studies of cost–benefit tradeoffs in carnivorous plants are based on terrestrial carnivorous plants. However approximately 10% of carnivorous plants are unrooted aquatic plants. Here we ask whether the cost–benefit model applies equally well to aquatic carnivorous plants and what general insights into tradeoff models are gained by this comparison. Nutrient limitation is more pronounced in terrestrial carnivorous plants, which also have much lower growth rates and much higher ratios of dark respiration to photosynthetic rates than aquatic carnivorous plants. Phylogenetic constraints on ecophysiological tradeoffs among carnivorous plants remain unexplored. Despite differences in detail, the general cost–benefit framework continues to be of great utility in understanding the evolutionary ecology of carnivorous plants. We provide a research agenda that if implemented would further our understanding of ecophysiological tradeoffs in carnivorous plants and also would provide broader insights into similarities and differences between aquatic and terrestrial plants of all types.     

酸沉降对柳州主要乔灌木影响的研究

通过对既是典型的酸沉降污染区又是典型石灰岩地区的柳州进行的２次野外植物伤害考察发现,在被调查的４３６种植物中,８４种受到酸沉降污染轻度伤害,３０种受到重度伤害。经分析表明,石灰岩植物比非石灰岩植物对酸沉降敏感;落叶植物比常绿植物对酸沉降敏感。市区内近地大气中ＳＯ２含量高于远郊区是市区内行道树严重受害的主要原因之一。     

Orgenic plants: Gene‐manipulated plants compatible with organic farming

Based on recent advances in plant gene technology, I propose to develop a new category of GM plants, orgenic plants, that are compatible with organic farming. These orgenic plants do not contain herbicide resistance genes to avoid herbicide application in agriculture. Furthermore, they either contain genes that are naturally exchanged between species, or are sterile to avoid outcrossing if they received a transgene from a different species. These GM plants are likely to be acceptable to most sceptics of GM plants and facilitate the use of innovative new crops.     

深圳塘朗山郊野公园的植物资源

广东深圳塘朗山郊野公园共有野生维管植物144科423属611种,分别占广东省维管植物280科1589属5737种的51.4%、26.7%和10.65%;其中蕨类省植物21科29属33种,裸子植物3科3属4种,被子植物120科391属574种,被子植物占绝对优势。国家重点保护野生植物共计7科7属7种,占广东省国家重点保护野生植物的10.9%;珍稀濒危植物有4科5属5种,占广东省珍稀濒危植物67种的7%。公园中经济植物可分为12类,分别是药用植物321种,用材树种65种,观赏植物60种,纤维植物41种,野生水果33种,油脂植物38种,饲料植物42种,鞣料植物42种,野菜植物25种,农药植物27种,芳香植物26种,淀粉植物23种,保健植物19种,染料植物13种,有毒植物10种,蜜源植物5种。     

宁波北仑植物资源及珍稀保护植物研究

宁波市北仑区蕴藏着丰富的植物资源,据调查有野生维管植物158科454属712种,在这些植物中,有药用植物276种、用材树种95种、观赏植物87种、纤维植物60种、防护植物55种、薪炭植物52种、油脂植物48种、饲料植物42种、野生水果38种、芳香植物30种、淀粉植物25种、蜜源植物24种、野菜植物18种等,大多具有开发和可持续利用的价值;此外,北仑还有国家野生重点保护植物4科5属5种、古树名木15科17属17种,这些植物对开发建设中的北仑来说,是极其宝贵的自然资源.因此,为使北仑区的植物资源得到可持续的利用,对其开发利用和保护提出了建议.     

Morphological Adaptation of Inflorescences in Plants that Develop at Low Temperatures in Early Spring: The Convergent Evolution of "Downy Plants"

Abstract: A new category of plants that exhibit convergent evolution, namely "downy plants", is described and discussed here on the bais of natural selection. So-called snowball plants can be represented by Saussurea gossypiphora D. Don (Compositae), which has extremely dense trichomes on well-developed bracts that are tightly packed around floral buds. Plants whose morphology is similar to that of S. gossypiphora are found at high elevations of alpine zones in the Nepalese Himalayas, where temperatures are low and precipitation is high (frequent rain) in summer. Nonetheless, we noticed that plants with a morphology similar to that of Himalaya snowball plants are commonly distributed from temperature to Arctic zones, and are even found in Alaska where precipitation is very limited. Willows ( Salix spp.: Salicaceae) and deciduous magnolias (Magnoliaceae) are typical examples of such plants. Measurements of temperature inside and outside the inflorescences of Salix (pussy willow or catkin) and of Magnolia suggested that the pubescent bracts might play a role in keeping the interior of buds warm, but that the effect depends on light intensity. Our examination of such species led us to extend the concept of "snowball plants" to a larger group of plants, namely "downy plants", that are characterized by very dense trichomes on tightly packed bracts of inflorescences. Downy plants are thereby considered to represent a convergent adaptation that allows blooming at low temperatures.     

害虫天敌的植物支持系统

保护天敌,使天敌长期有效地控制害虫是保护性生物防治的核心内容。其中,植物在维持和促进天敌控制害虫中的重要性和作用越来越受到关注。本文概述了各种支持天敌发挥效能的植物类群,论述了蜜源植物、储蓄植物、栖境植物、诱集植物、指示植物、护卫植物等在支持天敌生存和繁殖方面的生物功能,评述了研究和应用这些植物时需注意的问题,提出了科学利用这些植物以维持和增强农业生态系统中天敌发挥控害作用的植物支持系统,并指出了由于对这些植物类别的界定和定义模糊所带来的不便,给出了相应的建议。     

种子植物的起源及其早期演化

迄今为止世界上最早的种子植物发现于北美和欧洲西北部的晚泥盆纪地层。这些种子植物可能起源于前裸子植物，即解剖构造上较为进化的一类蕨类植物。然而，从目前的证据来看尚无法确切判断这些种子植物起源于前裸子植物中的某个特定类群，比如古羊齿目和戟枝木目。作者总结了种子植物祖先的有关证据，并对目前已知的最早的种子植物的形态进行了概述。由于种子植物自出现起即表现出丰富的形态多样性，因而尚无法对某个可能的祖先形态作出判断。目前的研究尚不能确切回答种子植物起源的全部问题，仍需寻找有关前裸子植物与种子植物过渡类型的新证据。作者对未来的研究提出了建议     

Leaf beetle larvae,Plagiodera versicolora (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), show decreased performance on uninfested host plants exposed to airborne factors from plants infested by conspecific larvae

Undamaged plants are known to suffer less damage from herbivores when previously exposed to airborne factors from neighboring plants that are either infested or artificially damaged. However, to date, the effects of such a defensive phenomenon on performance of herbivorous insects have not been clearly shown. Here, we studied such effects in an interaction between a willow plant, Salix eriocarpa Franchet et Savatier (Salicales: Salicaceae), and a specialist leaf beetle, Plagiodera versicolora (Laicharting) (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae). In a wind tunnel, uninfested willow plants were placed downwind of willow plants infested by leaf beetle larvae for 4 days. As a control, we placed uninfested plants downwind of uninfested plants in the tunnel. After exposure, downwind plants were served to leaf beetle larvae. Pupal weight, larval survival rates, and the leaf area consumed by larvae all decreased significantly, and larval developmental duration increased significantly, when larvae fed on willow plants downwind of infested plants were compared with those downwind of uninfested plants. These results showed that airborne factors from infested willow plants negatively affected the performance of leaf beetle larvae. Further studies are needed to identify the active factor(s) from the infested willow plants affecting the performance of leaf beetle larvae.     

Hexokinase as a sugar sensor in higher plants.

The mechanisms by which higher plants recognize and respond to sugars are largely unknown. Here, we present evidence that the first enzyme in the hexose assimilation pathway, hexokinase (HXK), acts as a sensor for plant sugar responses. Transgenic Arabidopsis plants expressing antisense hexokinase (AtHXK) genes are sugar hyposensitive, whereas plants overexpressing AtHXK are sugar hypersensitive. The transgenic plants exhibited a wide spectrum of altered sugar responses in seedling development and in gene activation and repression. Furthermore, overexpressing the yeast sugar sensor YHXK2 caused a dominant negative effect by elevating HXK catalytic activity but reducing sugar sensitivity in transgenic plants. The result suggests that HXK is a dual-function enzyme with a distinct regulatory function not interchangeable between plants and yeast.     

Transformation of Lotus corniculatus Plants with Escherichia coli Asparagine Synthetase A: Effect on Nitrogen Assimilation and Plant Development

Asparagine and glutamine are major forms of nitrogen in the phloem sap of many higher plants. In vascular plants, glutamine-dependent asparagine synthetase (AS) is the primary source of asparagine. In Escherichia coli, asparagine is synthesized by the action of two distinct enzymes, AS-A which utilizes ammonia as a nitrogen donor, and AS-B which utilizes both glutamine and ammonia as substrates, but with a preference for glutamine. In this study, the possibility to endow plants with ammonia-dependent AS activity was investigated by heterologous expression of E. coli asnA gene with the aim to introduce a new ammonium assimilation pathway in plants. The bacterial gene is placed under the control of light-dependent promoters, and introduced by transformation into Lotus corniculatus plants. Analysis of transgenic plants has revealed a phenomenon of transgene silencing which has prevented asnA expression in several transgenics. The asnA-expressing plants are characterized by premature flowering and reduced growth. A significant reduction of the total free amino acid accumulation in transgenic plants is observed. Surprisingly, the content of asparagine in wild-type plants is about 2.5-fold higher than that of transgenic plants. While glutamine levels in transgenic plants are about 3–4-fold higher than those in wild-type plants, aspartate levels are significantly lower. Transformation with asnA also induced a significant reduction of photosynthesis when measured under saturated light and ambient CO₂ conditions.     

湿地植物的丛枝菌根（AM）

随着对湿地重要性认识的增加,湿地植物的丛枝菌根（arbuscular mycorrhiza,AM）结构研究受到了关注。研究表明,AM结构在多种湿地类型和湿地植被类型中存在,但AM形成受植被生长地水文状况的影响;从湿地植物上的AM真菌种类看,球囊霉属（Glomus）是湿地环境的常有属。同陆生植物相比,有关湿地植物AM结构的研究尽管已取得了一些进展,但还有很大差距,尤其在我国还几乎处于空白状态。鉴此,从形成AM的湿地植被类型、湿地环境中的AM真菌种类、AM对湿地植物生长的影响,以及影响湿地植物AM形成的因素等方面进行了详细阐述,并对今后的研究方向做了展望,以期为我国开展湿地植物AM结构研究提供参考。     

浙江瑞安红双林场植物资源及其利用前景

浙江瑞安红双林场共有维管植物167科538属1055种,其中已知有一定利用价值的资源植物715种,隶属于157科429属。按其性质和用途可分为材用植物、药用植物、油脂植物、纤维植物、淀粉植物、食用植物、芳香植物、栲胶植物、保健饮料植物、牧草及饲料植物、保护与改造环境植物、观赏植物、土农药植物、蜜源植物等14类,其中药用植物种类最为丰富。以常见药用植物234种为例,根据植物资源可利用量估量法估量当地植物资源利用前景,结果表明,其中46.2%的常见药用植物可利用量估量值在12以上,可供开发利用。文后提出红双林场植物资源保护与利用建议。     

支持物倾角对攀援植物栝楼形态和生长的影响

支持物倾角的变化将引起攀援植物“自遮荫”程度的改变 ,从而影响植物的生长和行为。以攀援植物栝楼 ( Trichosantheskirilowii)为材料 ,通过实验生态学的方法 ,研究了 4种支持物倾角下植株的生长和觅食行为的差异。结果表明 :( 1 )不同生长发育期栝楼植株形态对自遮荫差异的可塑性反应程度不一 ,不同角度攀援生长植株在生长前期均比生长后期有较敏感的形态可塑性反应。 ( 2 )自遮荫程度随支持物倾角的增大而增强 ,较强自遮荫环境下植株比较弱自荫环境下的植株有更大的形态可塑性。 ( 3)比主茎长、比叶面积、生物量对叶片和叶柄的配置在 4种攀援生长形式间差异均不显著。不同角度攀援植株主要通过改变分枝数量、分枝形态和分枝生物量配置以适应支持物倾角的变化 ,这说明 ,自遮荫对植株形态和生物量配置仅产生有限的影响。 ( 4 )分枝能力、分枝数量以及分枝生物量配置均在大角度攀援生长中最大 ,且与小角度攀援生长植株间有显著差异。 ( 5 )水平攀援生长植株主要通过增大主茎生物量投资以充分占有生境 ,而大角度攀援生长植株则主要通过分枝茎扩展以占据有利生境 ,不同攀援生长植株有不同的觅食行为。     

Novel chemistry of invasive exotic plants

Of the many exotic plants that have become naturalized in North America, only a small proportion are pests capable of invading and dominating intact natural communities. In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that the most invasive plants are phytochemically unique in their new habitats. A comparison of exotic plant species that are highly invasive in North America with exotics that are widespread, but non-invasive revealed that the invasive plants were more likely to have potent secondary compounds that have not been reported from North American native plants. On average, the compounds found in the invasive plants were reported from fewer species, fewer genera and fewer families than those from non-invasive plants. Many of the unique phytochemicals from invasive plants have been reported to have multiple activities, including antiherbivore, antifungal, antimicrobial and allelopathic (phytotoxic) effects, which may provide the plants with several advantages in their new environments.     

柽柳科（Tamaricaceae）植物的研究历史

柽柳科（Tamaricaceae)是一个古老的科,起源于第三纪,包括亚洲中部的内的“古地中海”沿岸地区,该科植物主要为旱生植物,其中大多数种是防风、固沙造林和水土保持的优良树种,对改造沙漠和改善气候条件具有重要的生态意义。同时,该科植物在荒漠地区还具有广泛的经济用途。     

广西蜜源植物概况

本文扼要介绍了广西的地理位置与气候特点,简述了广西富饶的蜜源植物对养蜂生产的意义,将分属于100余科内的360余种蜜源植物,整理成表格形式。内容包括科名、种名、花期、蜜粉量和该植物在广西的分布等,主要蜜源植物27种,注以“*”号,有毒蜜源植物4种,以文字注明。     

“To dryness and beyond” – Preparation for the dried state and rehydration in vegetative desiccation-tolerant plants

The ability of vegetative plant tissues to survive desiccation is an uncommon trait, although plants that are able to do this represent all major classes of plants. Two classes of vegetative desiccation-tolerant plants exist; those that are modified desiccation-tolerant and can only survive desiccation if drying rates are slow, and those that are fully desiccation-tolerant and can survive even rapid drying rates. Investigations into the cellular level responses of these two types of plants has lead to an understanding of the underlying mechanisms of desiccation-tolerance. The following proposed mechanisms for desiccation-tolerance are presented. Modified desiccation-tolerant plants utilize inducible cellular protection systems supplemented in part by a minor rehydration induced repair component. Fully desiccation-tolerant plants utilize a rehydration induced repair system that is complemented by a constitutive protection component. This minireview explores the evidence for these proposed mechanisms in an attempt to lay the theoretical ground work for future work in this area.