竹节虫的断足再生观察

竹节虫的断足再生现象,是生物学上很有趣的问题。蔡邦华先生(1956)指出:“腿节与转节间有缝,使足易于脱落。”[1]忻介六等(1985)说,断足在蜕皮时又能长出,但明显短小。[2]戚永和等(1992)发现金平巨树Ｔｉｒａｃｈｉｄｅａｗｅｓｔｗｏｏｄｉ(ＷｏｏｄＭａｓｏｎ)的雌虫或雄虫常会缺少一只或两只足,有些个体则在断足的基部长出了细弱弯曲的“肢芽”,并能够逐渐发育成一只完整的足,但是,看上去比原有那只弱小一些。[3]ＧＯＢｅｄｆｏｒｄ(1978)援引ＪＴＳａｌｍｏｎ(1955)的文章,竹节虫若虫的附肢,蜕皮时可能被损坏(或实验性损坏),在随后的…     

Permanence and Global Stability for Two-Species Cooperative System with Time Delays in Two-Patch Environment

IIntroductionA。ebasicandimport。tbiologicalquestiontoaskiswhetherornotthOSein、Ivedpopu－lati。willbealiveandwellinthelOng。Therefore，po～ceand印出llityofag。Sys－temareInterestingandimPO～bilolgitallyaswellasInathernatically．Sincethep；oneerlflgtheoretitalworkbyShell—t‘），－yworkshwe由以旧dmtheeffectof叩analfaCtOYswhi山playacrucialroleinpennanenceandst北ilityOfp水＂lations．Infa戊，the山S严rsalbtweenpat山esdtenco。r。Inecologi］envi。t，and。er」lstlcmeddssh讪dincludethedisp四油p…     

UPGMA树的不惟一性问题及其解决方法

对于一组给定的DNA或蛋白质序列,UPGMA算法构建的二叉进化树可能是不惟一的,其具体拓扑结构与序列输入顺序相关,这一现象通常被称为"tied trees"。提出了UPGMA的一种改进算法——不加权算术平均组群方法(UMGMA),用以解决UPGMA树的不惟一问题。在UPGMA树惟一时,该方法产生的进化树与UPGMA树相同;而在UPGMA树不惟一时,该方法可以产生一棵惟一的、与序列输入顺序无关的多叉进化树,而且该算法还具有一个可调的容差参数,来控制生成进化树的主要分枝结构,这对于突出大规模进化树的总体脉络具有重要意义。     

与木葡聚糖合成的糖基转移酶基因研究进展

半纤维素多糖木葡聚糖(XyG)存在于大多数植物的初生细胞壁中, 对细胞壁的结构组织和生长发育具有重要的调控作用。XyG在植物进化中存在结构的多样性。该文概述了参与XyG合成的糖基转移酶的最新研究进展, XyG合成需要多种糖基转移酶参与, 这些酶类很可能以蛋白酶复合体的形式存在并发挥作用, XyG的结构和组成的改变对植物的生长发育也产生影响。     

A method to derive vegetation distribution maps for pollen dispersion models using birch as an example

Detailed knowledge of the spatial distribution of sources is a crucial prerequisite for the application of pollen dispersion models such as, for example, COSMO-ART (COnsortium for Small-scale MOdeling-Aerosols and Reactive Trace gases). However, this input is not available for the allergy-relevant species such as hazel, alder, birch, grass or ragweed. Hence, plant distribution datasets need to be derived from suitable sources. We present an approach to produce such a dataset from existing sources using birch as an example. The basic idea is to construct a birch dataset using a region with good data coverage for calibration and then to extrapolate this relationship to a larger area by using land use classes. We use the Swiss forest inventory (1 km resolution) in combination with a 74-category land use dataset that covers the non-forested areas of Switzerland as well (resolution 100 m). Then we assign birch density categories of 0%, 0.1%, 0.5% and 2.5% to each of the 74 land use categories. The combination of this derived dataset with the birch distribution from the forest inventory yields a fairly accurate birch distribution encompassing entire Switzerland. The land use categories of the Global Land Cover 2000 (GLC2000; Global Land Cover 2000 database, 2003, European Commission, Joint Research Centre; resolution 1 km) are then calibrated with the Swiss dataset in order to derive a Europe-wide birch distribution dataset and aggregated onto the 7 km COSMO-ART grid. This procedure thus assumes that a certain GLC2000 land use category has the same birch density wherever it may occur in Europe. In order to reduce the strict application of this crucial assumption, the birch density distribution as obtained from the previous steps is weighted using the mean Seasonal Pollen Index (SPI; yearly sums of daily pollen concentrations). For future improvement, region-specific birch densities for the GLC2000 categories could be integrated into the mapping procedure.     

β2-Adrenergic receptor polymorphisms: pharmacogenetic response to bronchodilator among African American asthmatics

Beta2-adrenergic receptor (beta2AR) gene polymorphisms have been reported to be associated with various asthma-related traits in different racial/ethnic populations. However, it is unknown whether beta2AR genetic variants are associated with asthma in African Americans. In this study, we have examined whether there is association between beta2AR genetic variants and asthma in African Americans. We have recruited 264 African American asthmatic subjects and 176 matched healthy controls participating in the Study of African Americans, Asthma, Genes and Environments (SAGE). We genotyped seven known and recently identified beta2AR SNP variants, then tested genotype and haplotype association of asthma-related traits with the beta2AR SNPs in our African American cohort with adjustment of confounding effect due to admixture background and environmental risk factors. We found a significant association of the SNP -47 (Arg-19Cys) polymorphism with DeltaFEF(25-75), a measure of bronchodilator drug responsiveness, in African American asthmatics after correction for multiple testing (P = 0.001). We did not observe association of the SNP +46 (Arg16Gly) variant with asthma disease diagnosis and asthma-related phenotypes. In contrast to previous results between the Arg16Gly variant and traits related to bronchodilator responsiveness, our results indicate that the Arg-19Cys polymorphism in beta upstream peptide may play an important role in bronchodilator drug responsiveness in African American subjects. Our findings highlight the importance of investigating genetic risk factors for asthma in different populations.     

游仆虫信息素Er-1和Er-2对四膜虫的种间作用

信息素是生物体向外释放的化学物质,在细胞及生物体中具有种内信息传递的生理学功能。信息素这一类分子广泛分布于系统发生史中,它们的特异活性在单细胞生物、昆虫以及脊椎动物中均有报道。脊椎动物中信息素的信号传输已被证实是一嗅觉依赖过程,7TM-受体被认为是信号传输过程中的信号转换器。在低等单细胞生物(例如:来可夫游仆虫)的细胞膜上存在有信息素异构体,作为信息素分子的有效结合位点而行使其功能。本研究主要探讨单细胞的信息素(Er-1和Er-2)的基础细胞生理学作用是仅限于产生该信息素的物种,还是对其它的原生动物(例如:四膜虫)或对系统发育中分类地位较高的细胞(例如:MRC5成纤维细胞或J774巨噬细胞)均具有调节活性。研究结果表明,游仆虫的两种信息素对梨形四膜虫GL的生长调节有显著不同的作用:当信息素浓度为10-11M时,Er-1具有正调控作用,而Er-2具有抑制剂的作用。这两种配体的趋化作用也有很不同:Er-1具有一种广范的化学排斥特性,而Er-2具有一个双峰的化学吸引剂的性质。计算机检测发现,与Er-2的作用不同,Er-1可略微降低被测细胞的游动速率。趋化现象的选择特性表明Er-2信息素的受体有一种“短期”的特性;而Er-1是不能选择任何亚种群的,这也支持了我们先前的研究数据,即这两种信息素在四膜虫GL内产生两种不同的信号。四膜虫对信息素特异性的反应表明四膜虫能辨别非常近似但带有微小差异的配体(如Er-1和Er-2的电荷差异)。