Spectrophotometric determination of bromopyruvate by reaction with 2-nitro-5-thiobenzoic acid

A spectrophotometric method for determination of bromopyruvate, based on the reaction with 2-nitro-5-thiobenzoic acid, is described. The reaction is complete in 30 min at room temperature in 0.1 m Tris-MES, 1 mm EDTA, pH 8.0. The method is sensitive to at least 1 × 10^?5m bromopyruvate. Reagents are stable, easy to prepare, and specific for β-halopyruvate. Bromopyruvate solutions must be prepared fresh daily. Solutions of bromopyruvate at pH 8.0 and 23°C have a half-life of 3 hr.     

花尾榛鸡冬季活动区及社群行为

无线电遥测结果表明,长白山冬季花尾榛鸡的月活动区大小为22.5～6.52hm~2。11月至1月,随着天气变冷,花尾榛鸡的活动区面积明显减小(P<0.001)。冬季花尾榛鸡的日活动范围很小,平均466±127m~2。整个冬季花尾榛鸡的活动中心区出现阶段性改变。花角榛鸡对其活动区有一定的依赖性。花尾榛鸡冬季不存在明显的领域,出现集群行为,这与其栖息地食物丰富与抵御天敌有关。花尾榛鸡集群的组织结构是松散的,缺乏义务性,集群中的个体关系有亲疏,存在2只或2只以上个体组成的小组,同组个体之间的距离大多数情况在150～200m以内的联系范围内。推测花尾榛鸡集群时的活动区面积增大。     

基于生态系统服务价值重构的干旱内陆河流域生态安全格局优化——以张掖市甘州区为例

干旱区内陆河流域的生态环境极为脆弱,生态系统的微小变化也可能给流域生态安全带来巨大影响。甘州区位于干旱内陆河流域,生态问题突出,重视生态系统自身安全、构建合理的生态安全格局是保障该地区生态安全的有效措施。通过当量因子法估算2000、2005、2010年甘州区生态系统服务的静态价值,在充分考虑各项生态系统服务功能变化率及空间集聚程度对功能发挥影响的基础上,采用生态系统服务优先指数和空间丰富度指数,对甘州区2010年生态系统服务静态价值的估算结果进行动态重构。利用重构后的生态系统服务价值构建了甘州区3种不同安全水平情景下的生态安全格局。结果表明:1)甘州区生态系统服务价值总量逐步上升,各项服务多年变化率差异不大。2)重构后生态系统服务价值量为1438.21—390993元/hm~2,大部分地区为中低值。3)低、中、高安全水平生态安全格局中,生态源地面积分别为155.75 km~2,191.25 km~2和224.5 km~2。基于生态系统服务价值构建的生态安全格局是立足于生态系统服务现状提出的规划策略,可为区域生态保护规划和生态文明建设提供重要依据。     

践踏干扰对碧塔海高寒草甸植被茎叶性状、物种多样性和功能多样性的影响

高寒草甸具有重要的生态服务功能,然而固有脆弱性使其极易遭受气候变化和人为干扰等多重因素的影响。作为滇西北旅游资源中重要的组分之一,高寒草甸吸引了大批游客前往开展徒步旅行活动,但伴随着的践踏干扰作用会不可避免地对高寒草甸生态系统带来负面影响。然而,目前关注践踏干扰对滇西北高寒草甸植被的影响,特别是植被功能性状和功能多样性如何发生变化方面的研究还十分欠缺。以云南省香格里拉市碧塔海自然保护区内的典型高寒草甸生态系统为研究对象,采用实验践踏的方式(一共5种不同强度的践踏处理)来模拟旅游活动对草甸植被的干扰作用,并以草甸植被的茎叶性状特征为切入点,重点探讨践踏干扰对茎叶性状的平均大小和变异程度的影响,以及物种丰富度(以物种形态分类为基础)和功能丰富度(以功能性状为基础)之间的关系。研究结果显示,随着践踏强度的增加,植株高度和叶片大小的平均值,而不是茎叶性状的变异程度,出现明显下降趋势。此外,物种丰富度和功能丰富度均随践踏强度的增强而减小,且两者之间呈现显著正相关关系。然而,较之轻度践踏实验组,重度践踏实验组中的功能均匀度和功能分离度水平均有所增加,表明践踏干扰可能会在短期内打破优势种对资源的绝对占有格局和减少物种间的生态位重叠程度。尽管高寒草甸对人类践踏活动有一定的承受能力,但气候变化和人为干扰等多重因素势必会改变和影响高寒草甸群落的结构和功能可持续性,这也对高寒草甸的保护与管理工作提出了更加紧迫的要求。     

亚香棒虫草菌丝体金属硫蛋白的提纯及性质

【目的】探讨锌离子诱导亚香棒虫草(Cordyceps hawkesii)菌丝体金属硫蛋白的产生及性质。【方法】亚香棒虫草菌丝体以18 g/L Zn2+在10 L发酵罐中诱导培养64 h后收集菌丝体,产率为每升发酵液收集12.2 g菌丝体(干重),细胞破碎取上清液通过2次凝胶柱层析,冷冻干燥得到亚香棒虫草菌丝体金属硫蛋白纯品。利用考马斯亮蓝法(Bradford法)进行含量测定,用银饱和分析法结合原子吸收光谱(AAS)测定MT含量,用Ellman’s方法和火焰原子吸收法分别测得巯基含量和结合锌原子数,用电喷雾质谱仪测得分子量,全自动氨基酸分析仪测氨基酸组成。通过对羟基自由基、DPPH自由基和超氧阴离子自由基的清除率试验探讨亚香棒虫草金属硫蛋白的抗氧化活性。【结果】发酵终点金属硫蛋白产量为15.3 mg/g菌丝体湿重。金属硫蛋白的分子量为7 680 Da,每分子蛋白质含有18个巯基、结合4个Zn原子。氨基酸组成分析结果显示,每分子蛋白质共含60个氨基酸,其中含有15个半胱氨酸,且含有组氨酸和芳香族氨基酸。亚香棒虫草金属硫蛋白的抗氧化活性稍强于谷胱甘肽,弱于动物金属硫蛋白。【结论】亚香棒虫草在Zn2+胁迫下能够大量合成金属硫蛋白,且其金属硫蛋白的性质与哺乳动物金属硫蛋白有相似性。     

Diet drives convergent evolution of gut microbiomes in bamboo-eating species

Gut microbiota plays a critical role in host physiology and health. The coevolution between the host and its gut microbes facilitates animal adaptation to its specific ecological niche. Multiple factors such as host diet and phylogeny modulate the structure and function of gut microbiota. However, the relative contribution of each factor in shaping the structure of gut microbiota remains unclear. The giant(Ailuropoda melanoleuca) and red(Ailurus styani) pandas belong to different families of order Carnivora. They have evolved as obligate bamboo-feeders and can be used as a model system for studying the gut microbiome convergent evolution. Here, we compare the structure and function of gut microbiota of the two pandas with their carnivorous relatives using 16S rRNA and metagenome sequencing. We found that both panda species share more similarities in their gut microbiota structure with each other than each species shares with its carnivorous relatives. This indicates that the specialized herbivorous diet rather than host phylogeny is the dominant driver of gut microbiome convergence within Arctoidea.Metagenomic analysis revealed that the symbiotic gut microbiota of both pandas possesses a high level of starch and sucrose metabolism and vitamin B12 biosynthesis. These findings suggest a diet-driven convergence of gut microbiomes and provide new insight into host-microbiota coevolution of these endangered species.     

Oxidized high-density lipoprotein promotes CD36 palmitoylation and increases lipid uptake in macrophages

Oxidized high-density lipoprotein (oxHDL) reduces the ability of cells to mediate reverse cholesterol transport and also shows atherogenic properties. Palmitoylation of cluster of differentiation 36 (CD36), an important receptor mediating lipoprotein uptake, is required for fatty acid endocytosis. However, the relationship between oxHDL and CD36 has not been described in mechanistic detail. Here, we demonstrate using acyl-biotin exchange analysis that oxHDL activates CD36 by increasing CD36 palmitoylation, which promotes efficient uptake in macrophages. This modification increased CD36 incorporation into plasma lipid rafts and activated downstream signaling mediators, such as Lyn, Fyn, and c-Jun N-terminal kinase, which elicited enhanced oxHDL uptake and foam cell formation. Furthermore, blocking CD36 palmitoylation with the pharmacological inhibitor 2-bromopalmitate decreased cell surface translocation and lowered oxHDL uptake in oxHDL-treated macrophages. We verified these results by transfecting oxHDL-induced macrophages with vectors expressing wildtype or mutant CD36 (mCD36) in which the cytoplasmic palmitoylated cysteine residues were replaced. We show that cells containing mCD36 exhibited less palmitoylated CD36, disrupted plasma membrane trafficking, and reduced protein stability. Moreover, in ApoE^−/−CD36^−/− mice, lipid accumulation at the aortic root in mice receiving the mCD36 vector was decreased, suggesting that CD36 palmitoylation is responsible for lipid uptake in vivo. Finally, our data indicated that palmitoylation of CD36 was dependent on DHHC6 (Asp-His-His-Cys) acyltransferase and its cofactor selenoprotein K, which increased the CD36/caveolin-1 interaction and membrane targeting in cells exposed to oxHDL. Altogether, our study uncovers a causal link between oxHDL and CD36 palmitoylation and provides insight into foam cell formation and atherogenesis.     

流溪河流域景观空间特征与河流水质的关联分析

人类活动影响或改变流域景观空间结构,并有可能对河流水质产生不同程度的影响,以流溪河流域为研究区,分析流域景观空间格局特征与水质指数之间的相关关系。将流域划分为27个子流域,采集水样分析水质状况,所选用的水质指标有氨氮(NH3-N)、硝态氮-亚硝态氮(NO3-N+NO2-N)、总磷(TP)、化学需氧量(CODCr)。结果表明:1)该流域土地利用结构与水质具有显著相关性,其中居住用地对水质的影响作用最强,林地对河流水质具有净化功能,与水质指标之间的关系表现为负相关,园地与水质指标关系具有不确定性;2)流域景观特征从上游到下游之间表现为城市化增强的梯度,水质状况响应这个梯度变化表现为上游优于下游,人类活动及城市化发展引起的土地利用变化及土地管理方式对水质变化有显著影响;(3)景观破碎度与水质呈现显著正相关性,是影响水质的重要指标,景观聚集程度和斑块形状复杂程度与水质有负相关关系;子流域尺度和河岸带尺度景观空间特征对水质的影响差异不明显。