Synthesis and characterization of [H2NC(S)NP(S)(OiPr)2] complexes of Co(II), Ni(II), Zn(II) and Cd(II)

Reaction of the potassium salt of the N-thiophosphorylthiourea H₂NC(S)NHP(S)(OiPr)₂ (HL) with Co(II), Ni(II), Zn(II) and Cd(II) cations in aqueous EtOH leads to the chelate complexes [ML₂] all showing a 1,5-S,S′-coordination formed by the CS and PS sulfur atoms of two deprotonated ligands L⁻. The structures of the resulting compounds were studied by IR, UV-Vis, ¹H, ³¹P{¹H} NMR spectroscopy and microanalysis. The metal center is found in a tetrahedral environment in [CoL₂], [ZnL₂] and [CdL₂]. According to NMR and UV-Vis spectroscopy the metal cation of [NiL₂] exhibits square planar coordination geometry in CH₂Cl₂, CHCl₃ and C₆H₆, while tetrahedral geometry is observed in acetone, DMSO and DMF. Regardless of the solvent used for the crystallization of [NiL₂], the molecular structure in the solid is always square planar as was confirmed by XRD of single crystals and magnetic measurements of the polycrystalline material. The magnetic and photoluminescent properties of all complexes are also reported.     

Les Spatangus du Miocène et du Pliocène de l’Ouest de la France

Numerous fragments of spatangoid echinoids have been discovered in the Pliocene deposits of Challans, in Vendée (western France). In spite of the fragmentary data of the samples, a reconstitution of a complete test could be realized using the different fragments and their symetrization. The general shape of the test, and its architectural and ornemental characters allow establishing the presence of the genus Spatangus in western France during the end of Neogene. It allows to precise the biogeography of the genus Spatangus and of the morphological group S. (S.) purpureus on the Atlantic coast after the Messinian crisis. The Pliocene species is compared to the Miocene Spatangus (Phymapatagus) brittanus, abundant in Anjou, Brittany and Touraine. This older species was refered to the subgenus Phymapatagus according to the presumed lack of primary tubercles on its posterior interambulacrum. The discovery of well-preserved specimens, with primary tubercles on every parts of the test, in the Middle Miocene of Brittany allows to refute this subgeneric distinction and to refer the species brittanus to the subgenus Spatangus (Spatangus). The presence of this subgenus in western France is finally confirmed from Middle Miocene to Pliocene.     

海蜇养殖对池塘底泥营养盐和大型底栖动物群落结构的影响

2009年5-9月,对荣成靖海湾大型养殖池塘海蜇(Rhopilema esculentum Kishinouye)养殖期间与养殖期前后底泥营养盐及大型底栖动物群落结构变化进行了研究。结果表明,7月份海蜇养殖期间,由于海蜇的避光性而产生的上下浮动的行为特征造成了对水体的扰动作用, 与海蜇的生物沉积作用共同导致养殖海区(实验点)与邻近非养殖海区(对照点)之间各项底泥营养盐指标均存在显著性差异,其中,实验点氨氮(NH₄-N)、硝氮(NO₃-N)和沉降速率(sedimentation rate, SR)显著高于对照点,实验点叶绿素a(Chla)、总有机物(TOM)和总有机碳(TOC)含量显著低于对照点。多变量聚类分析结果表明,海蜇养殖对养殖池塘的大型底栖动物群落结构产生显著影响,并且7月份实验点大型底栖动物生物多样性指数(H')和均匀度指数(J) 随海蜇放养显著增大,并显著高于对照点。大型底栖动物群落多样性指数与沉降速率(SR)和底泥TOM含量分别表现出显著正相关和负相关,而与其他营养盐指标无显著相关性。     

Antioxidant metabolism of grapefruit infected with Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. citri

Grapefruit is one of the most susceptible citrus genotypes to Asiatic Citrus Canker, caused by Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. citri (Xac), that can cause severe losses in citrus yield and quality. Although much is known about citrus response to Xac, little is known of the role of antioxidant metabolism. Grapefruit leaves were artificially injected with a strain of Xac obtained from a commercial grove in Florida and components of oxidative metabolism were measured. Symptoms observed included water soaking (2 dai; days after inoculation), raised and ruptured epidermis (6-8 dai), formation of necrotic lesions (16 dai), and leaf abscission (21 dai). The Xac population increased to a maximum (≈10⁹ CFU/cm²) 8 dai and then declined to ≈10⁷ CFU/cm² by 20 dai. Lipid peroxidation was higher in infected leaves than uninoculated controls from 4 to 21 dai indicating greater oxidative stress. H₂O₂ concentration demonstrated a biphasic pattern with peak concentrations at 4 and 13 dai and minimum concentrations that were lower than the controls at 10 and 20 dai. The H₂O₂ concentration somewhat corresponded with superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity, which generates H₂O₂ via dismutase of superoxide ions. Total SOD activity in Xac-infected leaves increased to a maximum at 4 dai, the day of highest H₂O₂ concentration, and then declined and remained at or below controls. Mn-SOD and Fe-SOD activities both increased to maximum activities at 4 dai. Mn-SOD had four isoforms in Xac-infected leaves but only three in the controls. Fe-SOD had three isoforms in both infected and control plants. Suppression of H₂O₂ in Xac-infected leaves also corresponded to higher activities of the H₂O₂ catabolising enzymes catalase (CAT), ascorbate peroxidase (APOD), and peroxidase (POD). Two additional CAT isoforms were detected in infected leaves and not the controls. Three POD isoforms were detected in both control and infected leaves. Previous research has shown that Xac is sensitive to intraplant H₂O₂ concentration, however, the pattern of Xac in this study did not correspond to H₂O₂ concentration, which initially increased due to enhanced SOD activity, but was later suppressed apparently with the aid of peroxidases. In conclusion, Xac infection altered H₂O₂ metabolism in grapefruit leaves by changes in the activities and isoforms of SODs, CATs, PODs and APOD.     

Cristatopecten nov. gen. benoisti (Pectinidae, Bivalvia) du Chattien d'Aquitaine (France). Révision systématique et réflexions sur l'origine et l'évolution des Cristatopecten

The detailed study of a sample of “Pecten (Amussiopecten) benoisti” Cossmann and Peyrot (1914) from the Chattian outcrops of the Adour Basin, allowed to improve our knowledge of this species poorly known till now and to show its important ornamental variability. It follows that some nomenclatural points have been clarified at the generic level: we refute the attribution of this species to the genus Amussiopecten Sacco (1897) as used by authors—genus which was besides emended several times subsequently— and we propose its allocation to Cristatopecten nov. gen. Furthermore, this study allowed to remove the ambiguity existing originally as for the attribution of the species benoisti and burdigalensis to a same genus: our comparison of the latter two taxa shows that if benoisti has to be henceforth included in the new genus Cristatopecten (as its type species), burdigalensis (which is the type species of Amussiopecten) must be incorporated in the genus Flabellipecten Sacco (1897). The two genera Amussiopecten and Flabellipecten are therefore synonymous, as Depéret and Roman had already stated in 1910. The Cristatopecten from the Old World seem to be derived from a group of “Aequipecten” notably known in the Italian Rupelian, the group of “Aequipecten deletus” (Michelotti, 1861), of which we study here a sample from the Aquitaine Chattian. In the Aquitaine Basin, the Cristatopecten are represented, in the Chattian, by Cristatopecten benoisti (Cossmann and Peyrot, 1914); in the Lower Aquitanian, by C. praehaueri (Bongrain, Cahuzac and Freneix, 1994); in the Burdigalian-Langhian of the Saubrigues paleocanyon, by C. haueri (Michelotti, 1847) and C. miogallicus (Cossmann and Peyrot, 1914). During the whole Neogene, they spread and evolved in the Tethys and the Paratethys areas, and seem to have become extinct in the Pliocene with the disappearance of C. cristatus (Bronn, 1827), a species that we consider not as an Amusium s.s., but as the last representative of the Cristatopecten phylum.     

Étude de Pseudanogmius maiseyi gen. et sp. nov., poisson marin (Teleostei, Tselfatiiformes) du Crétacé supérieur du Kansas (États-Unis)

The osteology of Pseudanogmius maiseyi gen. and sp. nov., a marine teleost of the Upper Cretaceous of Kansas, is studied. This fish belongs to the order Tselfatiiformes and more particularly to the group with a more or less flat skull roof and with large, quadrangular and joined parietals. Pseudanogmius maiseyi, formerly named Anogmius sp. by Hay (1903), differs from Bananogmius and the other genera known in the order by three autapomorphies: an elongated and very narrow vomer, a peculiar relief of the toothed part of the parasphenoid, and transverse processes on the caudal vertebrae. Within the order, it shows a few evolved characters, such as the loss of the preural 1 hemal arch and of the sixth autogenous hypural and by the shortening of the preural 1 neural spine.     

NMR characterization of endogenously O-acetylated oligosaccharides isolated from tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) xyloglucan

Eight oligosaccharide subunits, generated by endoglucanase treatment of the plant polysaccharide xyloglucan isolated from the culture filtrate of suspension-cultured tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) cells, were structurally characterized by NMR spectroscopy. These oligosaccharides, which contain up to three endogenous O-acetyl substituents, consist of a cellotetraose core with alpha-D-Xylp residues at O-6 of the two beta-D-Glcp residues at the non-reducing end of the core. Some of the alpha-D-Xylp residues themselves bear either an alpha-L-Arap or a beta-D-Galp residue at O-2. O-Acetyl substituents are located at O-6 of the unbranched (internal) beta-D-Glcp residue, O-6 of the terminal beta-D-Galp residue, and/or at O-5 of the terminal alpha-L-Arap residue. Structural assignments were facilitated by long-range scalar coupling interactions observed in the high-resolution gCOSY spectra of the oligosaccharides. The presence of five-bond scalar coupling constants in the gCOSY spectra provides a direct method of assigning O-acetylation sites, which may prove generally useful in the analysis of O-acylated glycans. Spectral assignment of these endogenously O-acetylated oligosaccharides makes it possible to deduce correlations between their structural features and the chemical shifts of diagnostic resonances in their NMR spectra.     

Les associations des calpionelles du Berriasien et du Valanginien inférieur de la Tunisie septentrionale. Comparaison avec les associations du Rif externe (Maroc)

The study of ten thin sections from outcrops from Lower Cretaceous deposits and several thin sections obtained from three petroleum wells, allow us to better characterize the associations of calpionellid zones and subzones of the Berriasian and Lower Valanginian in northern Tunisia. The B and C zones, respectively, show three and two levels with calpionellid associations corresponding to B1, B2, B3 and C1, C2 subzones. In the D zone, associations of the D1 and D2 subzones were identified. The E zone has been characterized for the first time in Tunisia and in southern-Tethyan margin of North Africa, on the basis of its index specie and associated species.     

外源钙（Ca）对毛葱耐镉（Cd）胁迫能力的影响

以对环境敏感的毛葱(Allium cepa var.agrogarum L.)为材料,通过水培试验分别研究不同浓度Ca(0、0.1、1、10 mmol/L)对Cd(10μmol/L、100μmol/L和300μmol/L)胁迫下毛葱幼苗生长、叶片光合特性、体内Cd积累和矿质营养的变化,探讨Ca缓解敏感植物Cd毒害的生理生化机制。结果表明:(1)Cd显著抑制了毛葱的生长并导致其根端弯曲、发黄,叶片绿色加深;外源Ca显著削弱了Cd的毒害,缓解了其对毛葱生长的抑制;(2)Cd导致毛葱叶片光合色素含量大幅度上升却显著降低了毛葱的光合作用;外源Ca延缓了光合色素上升的速度,提高了毛葱的净光合速率、气孔导度和蒸腾速率;(3)Cd胁迫导致毛葱体内Cd含量显著增加,并造成明显的矿质营养失衡,主要表现为显著降低了毛葱根中Mg、Mn,叶中Ca、Mg、Mn、Zn等元素的含量,毛葱根中Ca、Fe、Zn,叶中Fe元素含量的显著增加,扰乱了毛葱体内矿质营养的内稳态;外源Ca削弱了毛葱对Cd的积累,减轻了Cd胁迫所造成的矿质营养失衡。因此,外源Ca能通过抑制Cd的吸收,促进叶片光合作用及气体交换速率,维持植物体的含水量、植物叶片光合色素含量及矿质营养的平衡等途径来增强毛葱对Cd胁迫的耐性。     

思茅松天然林树冠结构模型

以云南省普洱市思茅区思茅松天然林为研究对象,采用枝解析调查了34株思茅松样木的树冠数据,分析了一级枝枝长、枝径、着枝角度、弦长和树冠半径5个树冠形状变量的变化规律,分别构建其预估模型;分析了树冠结构变化,分别构建了一级枝轮枝高度预估模型、一级枝枝条数量预估模型和一级枝枝条数量累积预估模型,并采用独立样本进行模型统计精度检验。结果表明:8个预估模型的预测效果良好,精度达到91%以上,尤其是一级枝着枝角度模型和一级枝轮枝高度模型预测精度达到97%以上。研究结果合理准确描述思茅松树冠结构的变化,为思茅松天然林的经营管理提供科学依据。     

Reconstitution 3D par Computerized-tomography (CT) et endocrâne virtuel du crâne 5 du site de la Sima de Los Huesos (Atapuerca)

The 3d Ct reconstruction and virtual brain endocast of Cranium 5 from the site of “La Sima de los Huesos” (Atapuerca), allows us to get new information to increase the study and knowledge of Homo heidelbergensis population, and to compare this specimen with others in the fossil record, in order to understand the evolutionary process of the brain, focusing on the middle Pleistocene period. Furthermore, we can observe the changes this species (Homo heidelbergensis) has undergone, at least in Sima de los Huesos population making comparative studies with African and Asian middle Pleistocene specimens. We have used the new data to compare European Homo heidelbergensis represented by SH5 with Kabwe, a controversial specimen considered by some authors like the African Homo heidelbergensis representative, in order to establish the similarities and differences between both specimens.     

Diaceratherium massiliae nov. sp. des argiles oligocènes de Saint-André et Saint-Henri à Marseille et de Les Milles près d’Aix-en-Provence (SE de la France), premier grand Rhinocerotidae brachypode européen

A revision of all previously collected mammalian fossils from the two Late Oligocene sites of Saint-André and Saint-Henri in Marseille (both from the MP 26 reference-level) allows us to identify three Rhinocerotoidea species: Protaceratherium albigense, Ronzotherium romani, Diaceratherium massiliae nov. sp., and maybe a fourth one, Eggysodon cf. gaudryi. Only the first two were previously known there. D. massiliae nov. sp. is found together with R. romani; it is the first case of sympatry ever known between the two genera. D. massiliae nov. sp. is then the most ancient Diaceratherium in Europe, where the genus was previously unknown before the MP 29 reference-level. It is a very large species whose limb bones proportions foreshadow these of the later species of the genus, especially D. lemanense from the Late Oligocene-Early Miocene. This suggests a possible phylogenetic link between D. massiliae nov. sp. and D. lemanense, and the coexistence of at least two different but partially contemporaneous lineages among the European Diaceratherium. In Les Milles near Aix-en-Provence, also from the MP 26 reference-level, the three species P. albigense, R. romani and D. massiliae nov. sp. were also found.     

Ectopic expression of FaesAP3, a Fagopyrum esculentum (Polygonaceae) AP3 orthologous gene rescues stamen development in an Arabidopsis ap3 mutant

Arabidopsis thaliana APETALA3 (AP3) and Antirrhinum majus DEFICIENS (DEF) MADS box genes are required to specify petal and stamen identity. AP3 and DEF are members of the euAP3 lineage, which arose by gene duplication coincident with radiation of the core eudicots. In order to investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying organ development in early diverging clades of core eudicots, we isolated and identified an AP3 homolog, FaesAP3, from Fagopyrum esculentum (buckwheat, Polygonaceae), a multi-food-use pseudocereal with healing benefits. Protein sequence alignment and phylogenetic analyses revealed that FaesAP3 grouped into the euAP3 lineage. Expression analysis showed that FaesAP3 was transcribed only in developing stamens, and differed from AP3 and DEF, which expressed in developing petals and stamens. Moreover, ectopic expression of FaesAP3 rescued stamen development without complementation of petal development in an Arabidopsis ap3 mutant. Our results suggest that FaesAP3 is involved in the development of stamens in buckwheat. These results also suggest that FaesAP3 holds some potential for biotechnical engineering to create a male sterile line of F. esculentum.     

Effects of Cd and Zn on the development of annual xylem rings of young Norway spruce (Picea abies) plants

Three-year-old spruce (Picea abies) saplings were planted and cultivated for 2 years in pots with 3 1 substrate, consisting of a homogenized mixture of sand, peat and forest soil with a high organic content (volume ratio 11.52). This substrate was amended with 10–180 mol Cd [kg soil dry weight (DW)]^–1, 50–7500 mol Zn (kg soil DW)^–1 (determined with 1 M ammonium acetate extracts) or combinations of both elements. Annual xylem growth rings in stems of plants treated with 50 mol Cd (kg soil DW)^–1 or 7500 mol Zn (kg soil DW)^–1 were significantly narrower than in control plants. Growth reductions were more pronounced in the second year of the experiment. The contents of Cd and Zn in stem wood and needles were positively correlated with the substrate concentrations. The Mg contents of the spruce needles were inversely correlated with soil concentrations of Cd and Zn. Root development was impeded at moderate concentrations of Cd (50 mol kg^–1) or Zn (1000 mol kg^–1) in the substrate. The adverse effects of potentially toxic trace elements, like Cd or Zn, on xylem growth of spruce plants are discussed with regard to possible growth reductions in forest trees under field conditions.     

草原沙蜥秋季食性分析

利用剖胃法对采自内蒙古自治区鄂尔多斯库布齐沙漠的草原沙蜥(Phrynocephalus frontalis)进行食性分析研究。结果表明,该地区的草原沙蜥在8～9月间,以昆虫类动物为主要食物,占全部食物的95.8%。不同性别草原沙蜥取食的食物种类差异不显著,雌雄个体的食物百分率相似性指数及营养生态位重叠值均较大,雄性的食物多样性指数(IFD)及营养生态位宽度(BTN)均大于雌性。成体和亚成体之间以及亚成体和幼体之间食物种类存在差异但不显著,而成体和幼体间的食物种类差异极显著,不同年龄草原沙蜥的食物百分率相似性指数较小,IFD值与BTN值均是成体最大,幼体最小。总有益系数、不同性别的有益系数分别为V总=22.44%,V雌=12.76%,V雄=9.83%,草原沙蜥是对荒漠化草原有益的类群。     

Heterosteginapapyracea Seguenza du Miocène du Corridor Sud-Rifain (Maroc) : biométrie et particularités paléoécologiques

Biometric study of the inner features of Heterostegina specimens preserved in tortonian sediments of the oued Yhoudi member allows to confirm the presence of species Heterostegina papyracea Seguenza, 1880. Analysis of both large and small components of the foraminiferal assemblage in all examined samples establishes the dominant character of species Heterostegina papyracea Seguenza (more than 60% of total benthic foraminifera). The assemblage of small benthic foraminifera associated with the Heterostegina is different from that described from Recent sediments, as well as from Miocene sediments of Calabria and Spain. In order to explain this result, two hypotheses can be put forward: (1) the Tortonian Heterostegina from Morocco proliferated abundantly in very shallow environments in association with small foraminifera (i.e. abundant Ammonia beccarii). (2) Because of powerful tidal currents in the South Rifian Corridor, Heterostegina tests were probably transferred after death. This transfer could possibly be due to the narrowness of the South Rifian Corridor in the Early Late Tortonian and its position between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. Similar cases foraminiferal displacements are also known from modern basins. This study illustrates the difficulties in reconstructing the paleogeography of the studied area and the importance of considering all available components of the assemblage.