Carbon uptake in Eurasian boreal forests dominates the high-latitude net ecosystem carbon budget

Arctic-boreal landscapes are experiencing profound warming, along with changes in ecosystem moisture status and disturbance from fire. This region is of global importance in terms of carbon feedbacks to climate, yet the sign (sink or source) and magnitude of the Arctic-boreal carbon budget within recent years remains highly uncertain. Here, we provide new estimates of recent (2003–2015) vegetation gross primary productivity (GPP), ecosystem respiration (R_eco), net ecosystem CO₂ exchange (NEE; R_eco − GPP), and terrestrial methane (CH₄) emissions for the Arctic-boreal zone using a satellite data-driven process-model for northern ecosystems (TCFM-Arctic), calibrated and evaluated using measurements from >60 tower eddy covariance (EC) sites. We used TCFM-Arctic to obtain daily 1-km² flux estimates and annual carbon budgets for the pan-Arctic-boreal region. Across the domain, the model indicated an overall average NEE sink of −850 Tg CO₂-C year⁻¹. Eurasian boreal zones, especially those in Siberia, contributed to a majority of the net sink. In contrast, the tundra biome was relatively carbon neutral (ranging from small sink to source). Regional CH₄ emissions from tundra and boreal wetlands (not accounting for aquatic CH₄) were estimated at 35 Tg CH₄-C year⁻¹. Accounting for additional emissions from open water aquatic bodies and from fire, using available estimates from the literature, reduced the total regional NEE sink by 21% and shifted many far northern tundra landscapes, and some boreal forests, to a net carbon source. This assessment, based on in situ observations and models, improves our understanding of the high-latitude carbon status and also indicates a continued need for integrated site-to-regional assessments to monitor the vulnerability of these ecosystems to climate change.     

Is drift ‘directional’? Unequal breeding sex ratio revisited

Unequal breeding sex ratio can significantly reduce effective population size, allowing a rare neutral allele to jump to a high frequency through genetic drift. However, this one-way alteration to allele frequency appears inconsistent with the concept that drift is non-directional. Based on binomial sampling distribution, this study developed a method to directly and exhaustively measure drift by calculating the mean deviation of change in allele frequency, then applied it to cases of unequal breeding sex ratio. The result shows that, under those cases, (1) the mean deviation can always be divided into two halves that are equal in size but opposite in direction; (2) each half consists of one or several categories represented by various allele proportions in the rare sex; (3) this proportion is another factor that determines the outcome of drift, in addition to effective population size and allele frequency; (4) drift is non-directional on a global scale, but whether an allele will drift up or down can be predicted based on the above factors. This method enables us to dissect every component of the expected change in allele frequency caused by drift and to find out the combined effect of population size, allele frequency and allele proportion in the rarer sex under neutrality but unequal breeding sex ratio.     

Intestinal cancer development in response to oral infection with high-fat diet-induced Type 2 diabetes (T2D) in collaborative cross mice under different host genetic background effects

Mammalian Genome - Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is a metabolic disease with an imbalance in blood glucose concentration. There are significant studies currently showing association between T2D and...     

Forest resistance to drought in a humid tropical dipterocarp forest in the Western Ghats of India

Droughts are linked to tree die-offs in the biodiverse humid tropics. We assessed drought response of a Dipterocarp Forest and found a marginal decrease in tree survival, indicating drought resistance. Understory and emergent species were sensitive to drought. Urgent focus is needed to understand drought impacts and plant physiological responses in South Asian forests.     

Chemical Composition and Insecticidal Activity against Tribolium Castaneum of Thapsia garganica L. Seed Essential Oil

Due to the several side effects of synthetic pesticides, including environmental pollution, threats to human health, and the development of pest resistance to insecticides, the use of alternative healthy, available and efficient agents in pest management strategies is necessary. Recently, the use of essential oil obtained from aromatic plants has shown significant potential for insect pest management. For this reason, the essential oil isolated from seeds of Thapsia garganica L. was investigated for the first time for its chemical profile, and its toxicity and repellency effects against Tribolium castaneum adults. Qualitative and quantitative analyses of the chemical composition by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC/MS) revealed the presence of 18 organic volatiles representing 96.8 % of the total constituents. The main compounds were 1,4-dimethylazulene (51.3 %) followed by methyl palmitate (8.2 %), methyl linoleate (6.2 %) and costol (5.1 %). Concerning the repellent effect, results revealed that SEO (Seed Essential Oil) was very repellent towards T. castaneum adults, with 100 % repellency after 2 h of exposure. Furthermore, the essential oil exhibited remarkable contact toxicity against T. castaneum (93.3 % of mortality) at the concentration of 10 % (v/v). The median lethal dose (LD₅₀) of the topical application of the seed essential oil was 4.4 %. These encouraging outcomes suggested that the essential oil from T. garganica seeds could be considered a potent natural alternative to residual persistent and toxic insecticides.     

华北蓟属植物的化学分类初探

本文对华北地区蓟属ＣｉｒｓｉｕｍＡｄａｎｓ．１６种植物的甲醇提取液紫外吸收光谱（ＵＶ）进行了比较研究。结果表明,蓟属植物的叶较其它部位的ＵＶ具有较好的稳定性和代表性,其光谱的特征可以作为属下分类的重要依据,其化学分类结果与形态分类基本一致。根据光谱特征,结合形态学及有关的细胞学和同工酶方面的资料,重新确立了Ｓｅｃｔ．Ｐｓｅｕｄｏ－Ｅｒｉｏｌｅｐｉｓ（Ｎａｋａｉ）Ｋｉｔａｍ．和Ｃ．ｓｅｇｅｔｕｍＢｇｅ．的组级和种级地位,最后,作者进一步讨论了光谱特征在化学分类中的意义。     

Identification and quantitative determination of 3-chloro-2-hydroxypropylmercapturic acid and α-chlorohydrin in urine of rats treated with epichlorohydrin

Epichlorohydrin (ECH) is used in many industrial processes. Different toxic effects of ECH were found in rodents. The metabolism of ECH was investigated before in rats using [¹⁴C]ECH. The aim of this investigation was the development of non-radioactive quantitative analytical methods for measuring two urinary metabolites of ECH, namely 3-chloro-2-hydroxypropylmercapturic acid (CHPMA) and α-chlorohydrin (α-CH). The identity of CHPMA and α-CH excreted in urine of rats treated with 5 to 35 mg/kg ECH was confirmed by GC-MS. The quantitative analysis of CHPMA, involving ethyl acetate extraction from acidified urine and subsequent methylation and analysis by gas chromatography-flame photometric detection (GC-FPD), showed a method limit of detection of 2 μg/ml. The analysis of α-CH, based on ethyl acetate extraction and subsequent analysis by GC-ECD, showed a method limit of detection of 2 μg/ml. CHPMA and α-CH derivatives could be determined quantitatively down to concentrations of 0.5 and 0.4 μg/ml urine, respectively, by selected-ion monitoring GC-MS under EI conditions. Cumulative urinary excretion of CHPMA and α-CH by rats treated with ECH were found to be 31 ± 10 and 1.4 ± 0.6% (n = 13) of the ECH dose, respectively. For CHPMA, the dose-excretion relationship suggested partially saturated ECH metabolism. For α-CH, the dose-excretion relationship was linear. With fractionated urine collection it was found that approximately 74 and 84% of the total cumulative excretion of CHPMA and α-CH, respectively, took place within the first 6 h after administration of ECH. From these investigations it is concluded that the GC-FPD and GC-ECD based methods developed are sufficiently sensitive to measure urinary excretion of CHPMA and α-CH in urine from rats administered 5 to 35 mg/kg ECH. It is anticipated that the analysis of CHPMA and α-CH based on GC-MS may be sufficiently sensitive to investigate urinary excretion from humans occupationally exposed to ECH.     

矮嵩草草甸植物群落的光合特性研究

 矮嵩草草甸植物群落的光合、暗呼吸和土壤呼吸的研究表明：光合作用的日变化在6月份接近平坦型,7、8月份呈午间降低型。矮嵩草草甸植物群落的光合作用受较低的光合面积指数及冠层叶片的受光势态的影响,存在着明显的光饱和现象,光补偿点及光饱和点相对于全日照光合有效辐射均较低,接近于单叶的光响应特性。裸露地面的土壤呼吸和植物与土壤体系的暗呼吸不仅与温度有关,而且与土壤水分状况和降雨量也有密切联系。影响草甸群落光合特性的主要因素有：高原地区强烈的太阳辐射,较低的光合面积指数和植物根系与土壤紧密结合所形成的草结皮层结构。