利用PHI数据进行区域性植物生理信息探测与分析

本次试验研究选择两个实验区 :沼泽地和植被茂盛区。利用 2 0 0 0年 9月上旬在黑龙江省大兴安岭地区获取的推帚式超光谱成像 ,(PHI,pushbroomhyperspectralimager)数据进行区域性植物生理量 (主要是叶绿素 )的探测与生态分析。在叶绿素含量探测中 ,结合所获取的成像光谱PHI数据的特点 ,在比较不同技术方法的基础之上 ,选用了有效而简单可靠的RARS(Ratioanalysisofreflectancespectra)指数。该色素指数与植物叶绿素a、b含量拟合的相关系数 (R)达 0 .8以上。利用PHI数据和野外实测植物光谱分别建立沼泽地和植被茂盛区的RARS指数模式 ,分别得到具有指示两试验区的叶绿素a (Chla)、叶绿素b (Chlb)以及类胡萝卜素 (Cars)的参数图像。更进一步地利用Blackburn(1998)所建立的RARS指数与叶绿素浓度之间的强拟合方程 ,相对定量估算了叶绿素a、b浓度的区域性分布 ,清晰地反映出植被生态状况和差异。这与野外实地考察较为一致。     

利用郁闭度与H J-1多光谱数据估算马尾松林叶面积指数

以福建中部的三明市、沙县和将乐县以及福建西部的长汀县为研究区,利用郁闭度(CD)与H J-1多光谱数据(B1、B2、B3和B4)并结合实地踏查数据,对马尾松(Pinus massoniana Lamb.)林叶面积指数(LAI)进行估算.结果显示:利用多光谱波段及归一化差值植被指数(NDVI),得到三明市、沙县和将乐县马尾松林郁闭度估算模型为CD=-0.008B1+0.031B2 +0.016B3-0.037B4 +0.012NDVI-O.815,平均检验精度为87.76％;长汀县马尾松林的郁闭度估算模型为CD=-0.024B1 +0.130B3-0.083B4 +0.026NDVI-2.355,平均检验精度为86.78％.采用线性、对数、二次、幂和指数模型构建了2个研究区马尾松林的LAI-CD模型,经检验分析,均以指数模型综合预测效果最佳;综合分析后获得研究区马尾松林LAI-CD模型LAI=0.193e3.259CD,检验精度达0.898.研究结果说明:利用国产HJ-1多光谱数据可较精确地估算马尾松林郁闭度,所构建的LAI-CD数学模型预测效果较好,具有较强的适用性.     

Structural and functional properties of peptides based on the N-terminus of HIV-1 gp41 and the C-terminus of the amyloid-beta protein

Given their high alanine and glycine levels, plaque formation, α-helix to β-sheet interconversion and fusogenicity, FP (i.e., the N-terminal fusion peptide of HIV-1 gp41; 23 residues) and amyloids were proposed as belonging to the same protein superfamily. Here, we further test whether FP may exhibit ‘amyloid-like’ characteristics, by contrasting its structural and functional properties with those of Aβ(26-42), a 17-residue peptide from the C-terminus of the amyloid-beta protein responsible for Alzheimer's. FTIR spectroscopy, electron microscopy, light scattering and predicted amyloid structure aggregation (PASTA) indicated that aqueous FP and Aβ(26-42) formed similar networked β-sheet fibrils, although the FP fibril interactions were weaker. FP and Aβ(26-42) both lysed and aggregated human erythrocytes, with the hemolysis-onsets correlated with the conversion of α-helix to β-sheet for each peptide in liposomes. Congo red (CR), a marker of amyloid plaques in situ, similarly inhibited either FP- or Aβ(26-42)-induced hemolysis, and surface plasmon resonance indicated that this may be due to direct CR-peptide binding. These findings suggest that membrane-bound β-sheets of FP may contribute to the cytopathicity of HIV in vivo through an amyloid-type mechanism, and support the classification of HIV-1 FP as an ‘amyloid homolog’ (or ‘amylog’).     

Independent tyrosyl contributions to the CD of Ff gene 5 protein and the distinctive effects of Y41H and Y41F mutants on protein-protein cooperative interactions

The gene 5 protein (g5p) of the Ff virus contains five Tyr, individual mutants of which have now all been characterized by CD spectroscopy. The protein has a dominant tyrosyl 229-nm L(a) CD band that is shown to be approximately the sum of the five individual Tyr contributions. Tyr41 is particularly important in contributing to the high cooperativity with which the g5p binds to ssDNA, and Y41F and Y41H mutants are known to differ in dimer-dimer packing interactions in crystal structures. We compared the solution structures and binding properties of the Y41F and Y41H mutants using CD spectroscopy. Secondary structures of the mutants were similar by CD analyses and close to those derived from the crystal structures. However, there were significant differences in the binding properties of the two mutant proteins. The Y41H protein had an especially low binding affinity and perturbed the spectrum of poly[d(A)] in 2 mM Na(+) much less than did Y41F and the wild-type gene 5 proteins. Moreover, a change in the Tyr 229 nm band, assigned to the perturbation of Tyr34 at the dimer-dimer interface, was absent in titrations with the Y41H mutant under low salt conditions. In contrast, titrations with the Y41H mutant in 50 mM Na(+) exhibited typical CD changes of both the nucleic acid and the Tyr 229-nm band. Thus, protein-protein and g5p-ssDNA interactions appeared to be mutually influenced by ionic strength, indicative of correlated changes in the ssDNA binding and cooperativity loops of the protein or of indirect structural constraints.     

Effects of precipitation on photosynthesis and water potential in Andropogon gerardii and Schizachyrium scoparium in a southern mixed grass prairie

In grassland ecosystems, spatial and temporal variability in precipitation is a key driver of species distributions and population dynamics. We experimentally manipulated precipitation to understand the physiological basis for differences in responses of species to water availability in a southern mixed grass prairie. We focused on the performance of two dominant C₄ grasses, Andropogon gerardii Vitman and Schizachyrium scoparium (Michx.) Nash, in treatments that received ambient rainfall, half of ambient rainfall (“drought” treatment), or approximately double ambient rainfall (“irrigated” treatment). Water potentials of S. scoparium were lower than A. gerardii, suggesting superior ability to adjust to water deficit in S. scoparium. Additionally, drought reduced photosynthesis to a greater extent in A. gerardii compared to S. scoparium. Leaf-level photosynthesis rates were similar in ambient and irrigated treatments, but were significantly lower in the drought treatment. Although stomatal conductance was reduced by drought, this was not limiting for photosynthesis. Leaf δ¹³C values were decreased by drought, caused by an increase in C_i/C_a. Chlorophyll fluorescence measures indicated light-harvesting rates were highest in irrigated treatments, and were lower in ambient and drought treatments. Moreover, drought resulted in a greater proportion of absorbed photon energy being lost via thermal pathways. Reductions in photosynthesis came as a result of non-stomatal limitations in the C₄ cycle. Our results provide mechanistic support for the hypothesis that S. scoparium is more drought tolerant than A. gerardii.