越来越苍老的世界

中国全面推行计划生育政策,少生了3亿多人,节约了7万亿抚养费,也少了3亿可以负担养老的劳动力。由于老龄化加速,老年抚养比由1964年的6.4%上升为2002年的11.6%,离退休金平均实际递增18.9%。到2050年,中国的抚养比将可能达到70%。老龄化速度,法国用了115年,英国用了80年,美国用了60年,我国用了18年。     

一年又一年

上了年纪的人都有相似的感觉,就是年纪越大,时间好像过得越快。小时候,过了元旦盼春节,过了春节盼五一、六一,过了六一盼国庆,过了国庆再盼元旦。时间总是那么漫长,盼望的假期似乎总是姗姗来迟。而如今,似乎一眨眼,一年就过去了。我给这个现象总结了一个理论,叫做相对     

蛋白质活性计量技术研究进展

随着科学的发展和社会的进步,生命科学已经从现象描述发展到了精准定量的阶段,国际上蛋白质计量技术也已经取得了长足的进展。目前已经初步构建了蛋白质计量的框架体系,并建立了相应的量值传递方法,形成了基本固定的研究模式。综述了迄今为止蛋白质活性计量技术的研究进展以及取得的突破,重点介绍了酶催化活性浓度、蛋白质免疫亲和活性浓度计量技术及其应用。最后对蛋白质活性计量技术未来的发展方向进行了总结与展望。     

进化论本身应该进化吗？——一些生物学家呼吁重新审视进化论的原则

进化从本身来讲就是一个动态过程。而对进化的理解、阐述和定义也是一个动态的过程。走了拉马克,来了达尔文。孟德尔找出了遗传规律,之后又出现了许多孟德尔法则的例外现象,如此等等。     

近海海洋生态系统与有害赤潮的发生综述

海洋生态系统是地球生物圈的重要组成部分。目前,人类活动已经严重破坏了海洋生态系统,导致了海洋生态系统的失衡。赤潮的发生正是这种不平衡的具体体现。文章讨论了人类活动对海洋生态系统的负面影响以及对近海海域赤潮发生的推波助澜作用;主要综述了影响赤潮发生和消亡的生态条件及环境影响因子。最后,强调了学科交叉研究在管理和防范赤潮的发生,维护近海海洋生态系统健康服务功能的必要性,并提出了一些相应的对策和措施。     

蛋白质折叠机理的理论研究

简要综述了近年来蛋白质折叠机理的理论研究。首先回顾了蛋白质折叠理论的发展历程,然后对折叠中间体的研究现状作了较详细的介绍。同时,对折叠机理理论研究中的几种理论模型和模拟算法作了细致评述,分析了其现状和存在的问题。最后,总结和讨论了折叠机理理论研究的现存问题及研究热点,并展望了该领域研究的发展趋势。     

青少年心理问题不容忽视的隐患

2004年11月,一个14岁的孩子揪住了所有人的心。他叫梁攀龙,湖南省怀化人。11月11日,他爬进客机起落舱,从昆明飞到了重庆。在1个多小时的飞行中,梁攀龙蜷缩在起落舱中,经历了噪音、寒冷、缺氧的考验,如今依然健康地活着。而和梁攀龙一起爬进起落舱的束清,就没有那么幸运了,飞机起飞时,他被甩了出去。昆明机场的工作人员发现束清的时候,他已经没有了呼吸。     

邻体干扰模型的改进及其在营林中的应用

 本文研究了植物群落中优势种个体间的相互干扰问题。在前人工作基础上提出了邻体干扰指数的改进模型及野外资料搜集方法。保证了数学模型的逻辑一致性,增加了生态学的解释意义。本文还讨论了邻体干扰效应模型的选择问题,进而提出了约束条件下的材积增长的数学优化模型。以四川省重庆市缙云山马尾松林为例,进行了实例研究。     

浅议森林有害生物生态调控策略

人工林的增加大大改善了我国的生态环境, 但也同时增加了森林有害生物发生的风险。生态调控技术克服了传统控制策略的不足, 是目前森林有害生物管理的最佳策略之一。论文回顾了森林有害生物的管理策略思想的发展历程, 简述了生态调控(Ecological regulation)策略与森林有害生物可持续控制(Sustainable pest management in forest, SPMF)的理念与核心原则。通过对有害生物的实例研究的概括, 从森林生态系统自身特征、调控对象有害物质和森林生态系统的环境条件三个方面, 综述了森林有害生物生态调控的相应策略。文章也指出了该策略的发展前景及不足之处。     

绝育昆虫与转基因棉花合灭虫害

美国亚利桑那州的农民联合使用了转基因棉花和数十亿只不育的棉红铃虫,从而几乎从田间消灭了它们。这些农民已经种植了几年的Bt棉花。这种棉花接受了遗传改造,从而产生能杀死棉红铃虫的Bt毒素。棉红铃虫是一种严重的棉花害虫。Bt棉花把这种害虫的数量减少到了原来的百万分之一。     

Negentropy and the evolution of chemical recruitment in ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

The applicability of the concept of negentropy to the study of evolution is tested by tracing the phylogeny of the information content of the communication systems used for recruitment in the Formicidae. Data from the literature is reviewed and ordered around theoretical evolutionary routes based on increasing negentropy of the chemical communication systems used. One pathway presupposes the development of chemical orientation prior to chemical attraction, i.e. signalling the presence of food; whereas the others begin with the chemical attraction of nestmates without orientation with chemical cues to the food. The results suggest that the Myrmicinae, Ponerinae, Dolichoderinae, Pseudomyrmycinae and possibly Dorylinae evolved chemical recruitment via chemical attraction, whereas the Formicinae evolved chemical recruitment via chemical orientation. These alternative patterns permit the establishment of phyletic trends based on glandular evolution for chemical recruitment. The results are compared with phylogenetic studies based on morphological and chemical characters, and it emerges that the recruitment behaviour proves to be a particularly conservative characteristic, in that it is evident in the same form in a wider range of species. The conclusion is reached that the negentropy content of living systems is a powerful tool in phylogenetic studies, even of small taxonomic groups.     

DGGE analysis of 16S rDNA of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria in chemical–biological flocculation and chemical coagulation systems

Microbial community DNA was extracted from activated sludge samples taken from a chemical bioflocculation process and a chemical coagulation process in Shanghai, China. 16S rDNA of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB)was amplified by nested polymerase chain reaction and fingerprinted by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis for microbial structure analysis. The Shannon diversity index of each sample was determined. The results indicated that the microbial structure of AOB in chemical bioflocculation process was comparable at two operational conditions. The ammonia-oxidizing bacterial communities were similar in three channels of the chemical bioflocculation process and in three serial tanks in the chemical coagulation process at the same condition. The diversity of microbial structures in the chemical bioflocculation process was higher than in the chemical coagulation process, in which the microbial structure was similar to that in the influent. Although the microbial study provides insights to the nitrification removal, higher microbial diversity of AOB does not necessarily mean higher ammonia oxidization. Molecular analysis should be combined with chemical assays to optimize operational conditions.     

Random coil chemical shift for intrinsically disordered proteins: effects of temperature and pH

Secondary chemical shift analysis is the main NMR method for detection of transiently formed secondary structure in intrinsically disordered proteins. The quality of the secondary chemical shifts is dependent on an appropriate choice of random coil chemical shifts. We report random coil chemical shifts and sequence correction factors determined for a GGXGG peptide series following the approach of Schwarzinger et al. (J Am Chem Soc 123(13):2970–2978, 2001). The chemical shifts are determined at neutral pH in order to match the conditions of most studies of intrinsically disordered proteins. Temperature has a non-negligible effect on the ¹³C random coil chemical shifts, so temperature coefficients are reported for the random coil chemical shifts to allow extrapolation to other temperatures. The pH dependence of the histidine random coil chemical shifts is investigated in a titration series, which allows the accurate random coil chemical shifts to be obtained at any pH. By correcting the random coil chemical shifts for the effects of temperature and pH, systematic biases of the secondary chemical shifts are minimized, which will improve the reliability of detection of transient secondary structure in disordered proteins.     

化学品生物合成专刊序言

以酶及微生物细胞催化剂结合工程学方法将廉价、废弃原料进行高效生物转化可实现化学品的可持续生产。近年来,合成生物学、系统生物学及酶工程等技术的快速发展大大推动了化学品的可持续生物制造,既实现了多种新型化学品的生物合成,又显著提高化学品的生物合成效率。为展示化学品生物合成的最新进展并促进绿色生物制造的发展,《生物工程学报》特组织出版化学品生物合成专刊,从酶催化与生物合成机制、微生物细胞合成、一碳生物炼制以及关键核心技术等方面,介绍化学品生物合成的最新前沿、挑战以及潜在解决方案。     

Structural analysis of silk with 13C NMR chemical shift contour plots.

The polymorphic structures of silk fibroins in the solid state were examined on the basis of a quantitative relationship between the 13C chemical shift and local structure in proteins. To determine this relationship, 13C chemical shift contour plots for C alpha and C beta carbons of Ala and Ser residues, and the C alpha chemical shift plot for Gly residues were prepared using atomic co-ordinates from the Protein Data Bank and 13C NMR chemical shift data in aqueous solution reported for 40 proteins. The 13C CP/MAS NMR chemical shifts of Ala, Ser and Gly residues of Bombyx mori silk fibroin in silk I and silk II forms were used along with 13C CP/MAS NMR chemical shifts of Ala residues of Samia cynthia ricini silk fibroin in beta-sheet and alpha-helix forms for the structure analyses of silk fibroins. The allowed regions in the 13C chemical shift contour plots for C alpha and C beta carbons of Ala and Ser residues for the structures in silk fibroins, i.e. Silk II, Silk I and alpha-helix, were determined using their 13C isotropic NMR chemical shifts in the solid state. There are two area of the phi,psi map which satisfy the observed Silk I chemical shift data for both the C alpha and C beta carbons of Ala and Ser residues in the 13C chemical shift contour plots.     

Nearest-neighbor effects on backbone alpha and beta carbon chemical shifts in proteins

We present a method for analyzing the chemical shift database to yield information on nearest-neighbor effects on carbon-13 chemical shift values for alpha and beta carbons of amino acids in proteins. For each amino acid sequence XYZ, we define two correction factors, Delta(XY) s and Delta(YZ) s , representing the effects on (delta13 Calpha-delta13 Cbeta) for residue Y from the preceding residue (X) and the following residue (Z), where X, Y, and Z represent one of the 20 naturally occurring amino acids, Delta designates the change in value or the correction factor (in ppm), and s is an index standing for one of three "pseudo secondary structure states" derived from chemical shift dispersions, which we show represent residues in primarily alpha-helix, beta-strand, and non-alphabeta(coil). The correction factors were obtained from maximum likelihood fitting of (delta13 Calpha-delta13 Cbeta) values from the chemical shifts of 651 proteins to a mixture of three Gaussians. These correction factors were derived strictly from the analysis of assigned chemical shifts, without regard to the three-dimensional structures of these proteins. The corrections factors were found to differ according to the secondary structural environment of the central residue (deduced from the chemical shift distribution) as well as by different identities of the nearest neighboring residues in the sequence. The areas subsumed by the sequence-dependent chemical shift distributions report on the relative energies of the sequences in different pseudo secondary structural environments, and the positions of the peaks indicate the chemical shifts of lowest energy conformations. As such, these results have potential applications to the determination of dihedral angle restraints from chemical shifts for structure determination and to more accurate predictions of chemical shifts in proteins of known structure. From a database of chemical shifts associated well-defined three-dimensional structures, comparisons were made between DSSP designations derived from three-dimensional structure and pseudo secondary structure designations derived from nearest-neighbor corrected chemical shift analysis. The high level of agreement between the two approaches to classifying secondary structure provides a measure of confidence in this chemical shift-based approach to the analysis of protein structure.     

植物-微生物联合修复化学农药污染土壤的研究进展

化学农药的高毒性、生物积累性和扩散性极易对环境及人类健康造成危害,环境中化学农药的去除尤为重要。植物-微生物联合修复技术因其高效、环境友好和修复成本低等优点受到越来越多的关注,植物-微生物联合修复化学农药污染土壤是一种很有前景的方法。植物为根际和内生细菌提供养分,而细菌通过化学农药的降解和解毒来支持植物生长。本文综述了影响化学农药在植物体内吸收和转运的因素以及植物-微生物修复技术的原理,并讨论了植物与微生物在化学农药污染土壤修复中的协同效应,并对植物-微生物联合修复法在化学农药污染土壤修复中的应用前景进行了展望。     

Chemical variability of the volatile metabolites from the Caribbean corals of the genus Gorgonia

The chemical composition of the investigated gorgonians showed a high level of individual variation and the colonies, according to their major contributors, were assigned to 10 distinct chemical profiles, among which A, C, E, and G were the most abundant ones. From the metabolites identified in the present study, either by means of GC/MS or using NMR techniques after conventional separation procedures, the novel cyclic ether 5,10-epoxymuurolane is found in significant quantities in D and I chemical profiles. Furanotriene, isofuranotriene and furanodiene could be referred as the most common metabolites of the genus, since they are found in 6 out of 10 chemical profiles. Isosericenine is, also, a significant contributor of H and I chemical profiles. A number of sesquiterpene hydrocarbons, such as curzerene, bicyclogermacrene, valencene, beta-bourbonene and beta-elemene, along with the oxygenated sesquiterpenes elemanolide and furoventalene, are present at varying concentrations in the majority of the chemical profiles. Metabolites of high discriminant value are: alpha-himachalene for the K chemical profile, alpha-santalene and its oxygenated derivatives for the G chemical profile and the three geometrical isomers of germacrone for the F chemical profile. Several chemical profiles showed narrow geographic distribution. Most of the chemical profiles are located in the north, while F inhabits mainly southern sites and the others are equally distributed. Finally, 91% of the chemical profiles of the gorgonian colonies appeared to grow in all depths, while 9% did not inhabit deep-water environments. Most chemical profiles are less frequent at higher water depths with the exception of chemical profiles A and C.     

Chemical defensive substances of soft corals and gorgonians

Despite lack of efficient physical protection in the highly competitive and hostile environment, the marine invertebrates including soft corals and gorgonians can survive, mainly relying on their chemical defensive system by a series of secondary metabolites accumulating in their bodies or releasing to their surroundings. The chemical defensive functions of these secondary metabolites were found to serve as antipredatory, antimicrobial, allelopathy and antifouling agents. Study on chemical defensive substances from corals and gorgonians is one of the most important topics in marine chemical ecology. The research results could help us to understand the chemical ecological relationships between corals and their surrounding organisms. The research strategy and methodology played an enlightening role in the discovery of bioactive natural products and the generation of new drug lead compounds from marine sources. The chemical defensive substances from soft corals and gorgonians were reviewed. This review focused on the structures of these secondary metabolites as well as their functions including antipredatory, allelopathy and antifouling activities.     

Chemical defensive substances of soft corals and gorgonians

Despite lack of efficient physical protection in the highly competitive and hostile environment, the marine invertebrates including soft corals and gorgonians can survive, mainly relying on their chemical defensive system by a series of secondary metabolites accumulating in their bodies or releasing to their surroundings. The chemical defensive functions of these secondary metabolites were found to serve as antipredatory, antimicrobial, allelopathy and antifouling agents. Study on chemical defensive substances from corals and gorgonians is one of the most important topics in marine chemical ecology. The research results could help us to understand the chemical ecological relationships between corals and their surrounding organisms. The research strategy and methodology played an enlightening role in the discovery of bioactive natural products and the generation of new drug lead compounds from marine sources. The chemical defensive substances from soft corals and gorgonians were reviewed. This review focused on the structures of these secondary metabolites as well as their functions including antipredatory, allelopathy and antifouling activities.