The three faces of paramyxovirus attachment proteins

Enveloped viruses encode membrane-associated glycoproteins that direct the initial stages of virus infection. These usually oligomeric structures bind virions to cell surface receptors and, subsequently, direct fusion of viral membranes with cellular membranes. These structures are also the primary targets of neutralizing antibody as well as potential targets for antiviral agents. In several systems, solving the structure of a virus surface glycoprotein has been enormously valuable to our understanding of virus entry and the mechanisms of entry inhibition. The recent report of the structure of a paramyxovirus attachment protein should clarify the mechanism of cell entry by these viruses.     

抗真菌转基因水稻生态适合度评价

在田间自然条件下,通过两年两季单独种植(非竞争)和混合种植(竞争)试验,分析比较抗真菌转基因水稻E121-2-1和E122-2-9与其非转基因受体亲本E32和常规稻粤香占在农艺性状、繁殖能力、花粉活力、种子活力、种子库持久力和自生性等适合度成分上的差异,评价抗真菌转基因水稻的生态适合度。结果表明,在竞争情形下,E121-2-1和E122-2-9的株高、千粒重和每穗总粒数在两年均显著降低或在其中一年显著降低,E121-2-1和E122-2-9农艺性状的竞争能力总体上低于E32和粤香占。E121-2-1和E122-2-9的净替代率在竞争态势下两年均呈下降趋势,其中E121-2-1在其中一年下降显著,而E32和粤香占的净替代率随不同年份升高或下降,但变化不显著。E121-2-1和E122-2-9的花粉萌发率、种子发芽势两年均显著低于E32和粤香占,种子发芽率和田间自生苗率在其中一年显著低于E32和粤香占,种子库持久力与E32和粤香占相比两年均无显著差异。只有E121-2-1和E122-2-9种子的休眠期两年均显著高于对照E32和粤香占。结果说明转四价抗真菌基因水稻E121-2-1和E122-2-9的生态适合度优势不强,其种群在自然界中的生存竞争和延续能力不会超越非转基因水稻。     

三种稻飞虱在恒定高温胁迫下的生态表现

对揭飞虱、白背飞虱、灰飞虱等3种稻飞虱的不同虫态在38℃恒温下,暴露不同时间后的生存率进行了研究。结果表明,随高温处理时间的延长．卵孵化率明显下降,卵历期延长。褐飞虱、白背飞虱卵在38℃恒温下暴露12h后．卵孵化率比对照分别低34%和45%;暴露24h后,两种稻飞虱的卵孵化率均比对照低25％;致死中时值LT50分别为11h和10h。3种稻飞虱8日龄若虫及羽化后3天的雌雄成虫的生存率,随处理时间的延长而呈显著下降趋势,褐飞虱、自背飞虱和灰飞虱若虫的致死中时值LT50依次为15．6h、17．8h和25．9h,长翅型雌成虫依次为34．7h、17．1h和43．2h．长翅型雄成虫依次为28．9h、23．2h和54．5h。另外,高温处理过的若虫,其羽化出成虫的体重明显下降,在高温下暴露30h后,白背飞虱长趣型雌成虫的体重比对照低32％,褐飞虱短翅型雌成虫低50％;高温处理后存活的白背飞虱雌成虫产出的卵块较小,总产卵量也明显下降。     

Mutational collapse of fitness in marginal habitats and the evolution of ecological specialisation

In spatially heterogeneous environments, natural selection for maintenance of adaptation to habitats that contribute little to the population's reproduction is weak. In this paper we model a mechanism that can result in loss of fitness in such marginal habitats, and thus lead to specialisation on the main habitat. It involves accumulation of mutations that are deleterious in the marginal habitat but neutral or nearly so in the main habitat (mutations deleterious in the main habitat and neutral in the marginal habitat have a negligible influence). If the contribution of the marginal habitat to total reproduction in the absence of the mutations is less than a threshold value, selection is too weak to counter accumulation of such mutations. A positive feedback then results in loss of fitness in the marginal habitat. This mechanism does not require antagonistic pleiotropy in adaptation to different habitats, although antagonistic pleiotropy facilitates the mutational collapse of fitness in the marginal habitat. We suggest that deleterious mutations with habitat-specific expression may play a role in the evolution of ecological specialisation and promote evolutionary conservatism of ecological niches.     

The relative fitness of parental and hybrid Kunzea (Myrtaceae): The interaction of reproductive traits and ecological selection

Up to 22% of plant species are the result of breeding among species-hybridization-directly conflicting with the prediction that hybrids, compared to parental species, are intermediate in character and of low fitness and little consequence. Few studies, however, have compared the fitness of hybrids and parental species under field conditions. This study evaluates components of fitness in the field for naturally occurring hybrids of the shrub Kunzea, relative to the parental speciesKunzea rupestris. Hybrid plants did not differ from the parental species in the level of effective pollination. Thus, we found no support for Grant's model (Evolution: International Journal of Organic Evolution3: 82-97) of reduced fitness of hybrids via reduced pollination level (the intermediate hypothesis). Hybrids displayed variable fitness across the measured fitness components. Seed set levels for hybrids were structured among populations, suggesting genetic structuring for this fitness component at this scale. The response of hybrids to fire (a major selective force in the study system) was partly consistent with a resource trade-off model. Hybrids were large robust plants but most did not resprout after fire. Hence, the fitness of hybrids was complex. We developed a model for relative fitness to estimate fitness for species and hybrids with complex life histories.     

无瓣海桑与三种乡土红树植物混交的生态效应

为了解人工种植红树林的生态效应,对2001年种植于广州市南沙区的三种人工混交红树林进行了群落结构和土壤理化性状的调查分析。结果表明:由于红海榄的不耐荫导致样地3无法形成复层结构,但也不排除是红海榄化感作用的影响;无瓣海桑+木榄群落、无瓣海桑+秋茄群落的群落结构和对土壤中重金属的吸收效果优于无瓣海桑+红海榄群落,因此在该实验的立地条件下营造红树林混交林时可以考虑无瓣海桑与秋茄、木榄混交,不应将无瓣海桑与红海榄混交;随着演替的进行,该实验地在无重大干扰的情况下将向着近天然红树林生态系统演化。     

Modeling the fitness of plant morphologies across three levels of complexity

Linking together disparate biological models has the potential to provide insights that cannot be gained from studying the models in isolation. Computational modeling provides the means to integrate and test theories that span different temporal and spatial scales, and thus provides an ideal platform for forging this link. This paper describes a model that combines three key levels of biological theory. A computational model of gene regulation is integrated with a model of early land plant morphology, and placed in an evolutionary environment of competing fitness pressures. Simulation results indicate that each of these sub-models constrain possible phenotypic fitness. This work provides a methodological scaffold upon which increasingly complex models at each level of genotype, phenotype and environment can be built.     

FMR1: A gene with three faces

The FMR1 gene is involved in three different syndromes, the fragile X syndrome (FXS), premature ovarian insufficiency (POI) and the fragile X-associated tremor/ataxia syndrome (FXTAS) at older age. Fragile X syndrome is caused by an expansion of a CGG repeat above 200 units in the FMR1 gene resulting in the absence of the FMR1 mRNA and protein. The FMR1 protein is proposed to act as a regulator of mRNA transport and of translation of target mRNAs at the synapse. FXS is seen as a loss of function disorder. POI and FXTAS are found in individuals with an expanded repeat between 50 and 200 CGGs and are associated with increased FMR1 mRNA levels. The presence of elevated FMR1 mRNA in FXTAS suggests that FXTAS may represent a toxic RNA gain-of-function effect. The molecular basis of POI is yet unknown. The role of the FMR1 gene in these disorders is discussed.     

Estimating individual contributions to population growth: evolutionary fitness in ecological time

Ecological and evolutionary change is generated by variation in individual performance. Biologists have consequently long been interested in decomposing change measured at the population level into contributions from individuals, the traits they express and the alleles they carry. We present a novel method of estimating individual contributions to population growth and changes in distributions of quantitative traits and alleles. An individual's contribution to population growth is an individual's realized annual fitness. We demonstrate how the quantities we develop can be used to address a range of empirical questions, and provide an application to a detailed dataset of Soay sheep. The approach provides results that are consistent with those obtained using lifetime estimates of individual performance, yet is substantially more powerful as it allows lifetime performance to be decomposed into annual survival and fecundity contributions.     

The hormetic zone: an ecological and evolutionary perspective based upon habitat characteristics and fitness selection.

Fitness varies nonlinearly with environmental variables such as temperature, water availability, and nutrition, with maximum fitness at intermediate levels between more stressful extremes. For environmental agents that are highly toxic at exposures that substantially exceed background levels, fitness is maximized at concentrations near zero--a phenomenon often referred to as hormesis. Two main components are suggested: (1) background hormesis, which derives from the direct adaptation of organisms to their habitats; and (2) stress-derived hormonesis, which derives from metabolic reserves that are maintained as an adaptation to environmental stresses through evolutionary time. These reserves provide protection from lesser correlated stresses. This article discusses illustrative examples, including ethanol and ionizing radiation, aimed at placing hormesis into an ecological and evolutionary context. A unifying approach comes from fitness-stress continua that underlie responses to abiotic variables, whereby selection for maximum metabolic efficiency and hence fitness in adaptation to habitats in nature underlies hormetic zones. Within this reductionist model, more specific metabolic mechanisms to explain hormesis are beginning to emerge, depending upon the agent and the taxon in question. Some limited research possibilities based upon this evolutionary perspective are indicated.