小蓬NeMT2基因的克隆及其植物表达载体的构建

该研究利用RACE ( Rapid amplification of cDNA ends)技术从小蓬中成功分离编码金属硫蛋白( Metal-lothionein,MT)的cDNA序列,命名为NeMT2,在GenBank中登录号为KT835290。该基因全长590 bp,开放阅读框为237 bp,编码78个氨基酸,编码的氨基酸序列中含有14个半胱氨酸残基( Cys,C),呈C-C,C-X-C,C-X-X-C排列,集中分布在肽链的N端和C端,基因编码蛋白的分子量为7.6036 kD,等电点为4.71。系统发育分析表明,小蓬金属硫蛋白NeMT2与藜科的海蓬子( AEF01492)和盐穗木( AHI62953)同源性最高,其次是甜菜( XP 010667708.1)。生物信息学分析表明,金属硫蛋白NeMT2无信号肽结构,属于非跨膜亲水性蛋白;疏水性分析表明,NeMT2蛋白的35~45个氨基酸之间有较强的疏水性,其中第41位Asp具最强的疏水性(1.444);结构预测分析该蛋白质二级结构的主要元件是无规则卷曲。通过RT-PCR对NeMT2基因的表达分析发现, NeMT2基因在铜矿区和非铜矿区的小蓬叶片中均有表达,但该基因在铜矿区小蓬叶片的表达量明显高于非铜矿区。将小蓬NeMT2基因定向克隆到植物表达载体pCAMBIA1300的35S 启动子下游,构建该基因的植物超表达载体pCAMBIA1300＋NeMT2。该研究结果为进一步研究该基因的功能和小蓬响应重金属胁迫的分子机制提供了一定基础。     

江西金盆山自然保护区种子植物区系研究

江西金盆山自然保护区位于江西省龙南县、全南县与信丰县的交汇处,为武夷山脉与南岭山脉之间的过渡区域,保护区植物种类丰富、区系地理成分复杂。经野外实地调查、查阅相关文献资料,对保护区内种子植物的科、属、种分布区类型进行统计分析。结果表明：（1）金盆山保护区共有野生种子植物161科659属1 474种,其中裸子植物6科7属7种,占江西裸子植物总种数（83种）的8.43%,被子植物155科652属1 467种,占江西被子植物总种数（4 369种）的33.58%。（2）区系分析显示,金盆山保护区内科的分布区类型中热带分布和温带分布分别占总科数（除去世界分布）的64.22%和35.77%,热带分布占优势地位;属的分布区类型中热带分布和温带分布分别占总属数（除去世界分布）的50.95%和47.55%,二者接近平衡;种的分布区类型中热带分布种和温带分布分别占总种数（除去世界分布）的33.98%和37.15%,而且中国特有种419种,占总种比的28.88%。（3）金盆山保护区种子植物具有单种属、寡种属多,植物区系起源古老的特点,其中有寡种属212属,占总属比的32.17%;单种属374属,占总属比的56.75%;其中寡种属所含种数537种,占总种比的36.43%。（4）与邻近6个保护区的植物区系比较表明,金盆山保护区与武夷山脉的联系较南岭山脉更近,而且金盆山保护区表现出比邻近的阳际峰等武夷山脉地区热带性质更明显。     

When and where plant‐soil feedback may promote plant coexistence: a meta‐analysis

Plant‐soil feedback (PSF) theory provides a powerful framework for understanding plant dynamics by integrating growth assays into predictions of whether soil communities stabilise plant–plant interactions. However, we lack a comprehensive view of the likelihood of feedback‐driven coexistence, partly because of a failure to analyse pairwise PSF, the metric directly linked to plant species coexistence. Here, we determine the relative importance of plant evolutionary history, traits, and environmental factors for coexistence through PSF using a meta‐analysis of 1038 pairwise PSF measures. Consistent with eco‐evolutionary predictions, feedback is more likely to mediate coexistence for pairs of plant species (1) associating with similar guilds of mycorrhizal fungi, (2) of increasing phylogenetic distance, and (3) interacting with native microbes. We also found evidence for a primary role of pathogens in feedback‐mediated coexistence. By combining results over several independent studies, our results confirm that PSF may play a key role in plant species coexistence, species invasion, and the phylogenetic diversification of plant communities.     

GST pull-down筛选冠突曲霉MAT的互作蛋白*

目的: 冠突曲霉(Aspergillus cristatus)是一种同宗结合菌,它的产孢受渗透压调控,与构巢曲霉的光调控产孢机制存在较大差异。冠突曲霉的有性生殖主要受MAT1-1-1和MAT1-2-1调控,但MAT基因对该菌有性生殖的调控机制仍不清楚。期望筛选得到冠突曲霉MAT的互作蛋白,为深入研究冠突曲霉有性产孢机制奠定基础。方法: 利用GST pull-down联合液相色谱-串联质谱(LC-MS/MS)技术筛选可能与冠突曲霉MAT1-1-1和MAT1-2-1互作的蛋白,结合ProteinPilot和冠突曲霉基因组注释结果进行互作蛋白的注释及GO分析,其中互作蛋白SI65_00917和SI65_03348利用RT-qPCR探索它们与有性发育的联系,并利用酵母双杂交技术初步验证它们与MAT蛋白的互作关系。结果: 成功构建了GST-MAT1-1-1、GST-MAT1-2-1表达载体,诱导表达纯化出目的诱饵蛋白,分别利用诱饵蛋白捕获冠突曲霉总蛋白中的互作蛋白,经分析、筛选共鉴定出与MAT1-1-1互作的蛋白56个,与MAT1-2-1互作的蛋白413个。GO分析表明,这些蛋白参与翻译调控、代谢过程、蛋白质转运及蛋白结合等生物学过程,具有核苷酸结合活性、催化活性、蛋白结合活性;RT-qPCR结果表明互作蛋白SI65_00917可能与有性发育相关。酵母双杂交结果表明,SI65_00917蛋白具有自激活作用,可能是转录因子;SI65_03348蛋白与MAT1-1-1、MAT1-2-1在酵母中均有互作。结论: MAT通过与其他蛋白直接或间接的相互作用调控其有性发育过程。     

Spatial distribution and landscape associations of large-antlered deer

For more than a century, the Boone and Crockett Club has kept records of harvest locations for 38 categories of North American big game, which includes measurement details and sizes of enduring characteristics (e.g., antlers, skulls, horns). All white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) entered in the Club records (i.e., record deer) have large antlers because the measurements must meet or exceed a minimum size to qualify for entry. We used the records from the Club to test the hypothesis that the spatial distribution in the harvest of record deer was related to the number of antlered deer harvested, variations in land productivity, soil mineral content, and attributes of land cover for 9 states in the midwestern United States. We used a Bayesian theoretical framework to develop a spatial model that examined the influence of explanatory variables on the number of record deer harvested in each county. In our study area, 3,658 record deer were harvested in 692 of the 856 counties (80.8%). More record deer were harvested in counties that had more high-contrast edges, less contiguous land cover, and greater variation in soil productivity. These results provide information for managers and hunters to better understand the spatial distribution of record deer and factors that are correlated with their distribution. © 2019 The Wildlife Society.     

A new marine prasinophyte genus alternates between a flagellate and a dominant benthic stage with microrhizoids for adhesion

Prasinophytes (Chlorophyta) are a diverse, paraphyletic group of planktonic microalgae for which benthic species are largely unknown. Here, we report a sand‐dwelling, marine prasinophyte with several novel features observed in clonal cultures established from numerous locations around Australia. The new genus and species, which we name Microrhizoidea pickettheapsiorum (Mamiellophyceae), alternates between a benthic palmelloid colony, where cell division occurs, and a planktonic flagellate. Flagellates are short lived, settle and quickly resorb their flagella, the basal bodies then nucleate novel tubular appendages, termed “microrhizoids”, that lack an axoneme and function to anchor benthic cells to the substratum. To our knowledge, microrhizoids have not been observed in any other green alga or protist, are slightly smaller in diameter than flagella, generally contain nine microtubules, are long (3–5 times the length of flagella) and are not encased in scales. Following settlement, cell divisions result in a loose, palmelloid colony, each cell connected to the substratum by two microrhizoids. Flagellates are round to bean‐shaped with two long, slightly uneven flagella. Both benthic cells and flagellates, along with their flagella, are encased in thin scales. Phylogenies based on the complete chloroplast genome of Microrhizoidea show that it is clearly a member of the Mamiellophyceae, most closely related to Dolichomastix tenuilepsis. More taxon‐rich phylogenetic analyses of the 18S rRNA gene, including metabarcodes from the Tara Oceans and Ocean Sampling Day projects, confidently show the distinctive nature of Microrhizoidea, and that the described biodiversity of the Mamiellophyceae is a fraction of its real biodiversity. The discovery of a largely benthic prasinophyte changes our perspective on this group of algae and, along with the observation of other potential benthic lineages in environmental sequences, illustrates that benthic habitats can be a rich ground for algal biodiscovery.     

The status and conservation of the Cape Gannet Morus capensis

The Cape Gannet Morus capensis is one of several seabird species endemic to the Benguela upwelling ecosystem (BUS) but whose population has recently decreased, leading to an unfavourable IUCN Red List assessment. Application of ‘JARA’ (‘Just Another Red-List Assessment,’ a Bayesian state-space tool used for IUCN Red List assessments) to updated information on the areas occupied by Cape Gannets and the nest densities of breeding birds at their six colonies, suggested that the species should be classified as Vulnerable. However, the rate of decrease of Cape Gannets in their most-recent generation exceeded that of the previous generation, primarily as a result of large decreases at Bird Island, Lambert’s Bay, and Malgas Island, off South Africa’s west coast (the western part of their range). Since the 1960s, there has been an ongoing redistribution of the species from northwest to southeast around southern Africa, and ～70% of the population now occurs on the south coast of South Africa, at Bird Island in Algoa Bay, on the eastern border of the BUS. Recruitment rather than adult survival may be limiting the present population; however, information on the seabird’s demographic parameters and mortality in fisheries is lacking for colonies in the northern part of the BUS. Presently, major threats to Cape Gannet include: substantially decreased availability of their preferred prey in the west; heavy mortalities of eggs, chicks and fledglings at and around colonies, inflicted by Cape Fur Seals Arctocephalus pusillus and other seabirds; substantial disturbance at colonies caused by Cape Fur Seals attacking adult gannets ashore; oiling; and disease.