Heat,sight and scent:multiple cues influence foraging site selection by an ambush-foraging snake Hoplocephalus bungaroides(Elapidae)

Most mobile organisms respond to multiple cues when selecting habitat types,and laboratory experiments that manipulate only single cues may fail to reveal the true complexity of habitat-selection behaviour.In south-eastern Australia,broad-headed snakes Hoplocephalus bungaroides(Elapidae)lie in wait under sun-warmed rocks to ambush velvet geckos Oedura leseuerii(Gekkonidae).Previous laboratory work has shown that both the geckos and the snakes actively select hotter rather than colder rocks,and that the snak...     

Site tenacity and survival rates of Wrens Troglodytes troglodytes and Treecreepers Certhia familiaris in a Nottinghamshire wood

Mark-recapture data from 20 years of standardized mist-netting were used to investigate site tenacity and adult survival rates of Wrens Troglodytes troglodytes and Treecreepers Certhia familiaris in an English woodland. Within breeding seasons, a high proportion of Wren (but not Treecreeper) recaptures occurred in the same part of the wood as the original capture. Between breeding seasons, a high proportion of recaptures of adult males (but not of adult females) occurred in the same part of the wood as the original capture. Both species experienced exceptionally high mortality during the severe winters of 1978–1979 and 1985–1986, and, in the case of Wren, all or almost all birds which had previously bred in the wood probably died. Outside of these two cold winters, apparent (minimum) adult survival rates of Wrens and Treecreepers showed very different temporal patterns of variation. Wren survival rates were negatively correlated with the number of snow days in winter, whilst Treecreeper survival was negatively correlated with the amount of winter rainfall. After allowing for the influence of winter weather, apparent survival rates of adult Wrens were density dependent, indicating that either mortality or permanent emigration out of the wood was density dependent. There was some evidence from British and Irish ringing recoveries that movements of adult Wrens may be density dependent. The apparent survival rate of adult Wrens was probably an important factor determining the size of the local breeding population.     

阿尔茨海默病早期筛查与肠道菌群变化的相关性

目的研究阿尔茨海默病(AD)早期筛查与肠道菌群(GM)变化的相关性。方法选取郑州市社区符合纳入标准的老年群体,统一接受XYDN-C-V2神经心理评估训练系统测评,依据测评结果分AD组(AD早期,n=40)、对照组(测评结果完全正常,n=40);MiSeq高通量测序检测粪便样本GM,比较α多样性、β多样性、物种门水平及属水平相对丰度,并行LEfSe分析优势菌属,比较差异物种相对丰度,绘制受试者工作特征(ROC)曲线分析差异物种相对丰度对早期AD的筛查价值。结果 AD组Chaol指数、Ace指数、Shannon指数高于对照组,Simpson指数低于对照组(Z=5.667、3.254、4.404、15.866,均P0.05);主坐标分析显示主成分1、主成分2、主成分3贡献率依次为34.6%、10.9%、8.8%,AD组与对照组样本间距离明显,差异显著;与对照组比较,AD组门水平上厚壁菌门、放线菌门、疣微菌门升高,拟杆菌门降低;而在属水平上,AD组拟杆菌属、普雷沃菌属下降,布劳特菌属、梭菌属上升;LEfSe分析显示,AD组属水平上的优势菌属分别为芽生球菌属、瘤胃球菌属2,对照组属水平上的优势菌属为毛罗菌属、Aestuariispira、支原体属;样本中共计筛选出门水平、属水平上相对丰度0.01%的差异物种5个,门水平上AD组拟杆菌门降低,厚壁菌门相对丰度高于对照组;属水平上AD组拟杆菌属、Parasutterella相对丰度低于对照组,Alistipes相对丰度高于对照组;其中拟杆菌属筛查早期AD的曲线下面积值(AUC)最高,以27.54%为Cut-off,其筛查早期AD的敏感度、特异度分别为82.50%、72.50%。结论早期AD患者肠道菌群属水平上拟杆菌属相对丰度可作为AD早期筛查的敏感指标,值得临床重视。     

Sustainable use of Taxus media cell cultures through minimal growth conservation and manipulation of genome methylation

Yields of paclitaxel decreased with repeated subculturing of Taxus media cells. We used minimal growth conservation and manipulation of genome methylation to sustain paclitaxel production by Taxus media cell cultures. The subculture period of Taxus cells can be prolonged to 180 d by incubating them at a low temperature (5 °C). Paclitaxel levels increased in the cells after conservation and during the first recovery subculture cycle, and then decreased during the subsequent recovery subculture cycle. Analysis of genetic variations in these cultures using amplified fragment-length polymorphism (AFLP) technology identified only two polymorphic bands associated with the second and sixth recovery cycle cultures. However, the results of high-performance liquid chromatography indicated that DNA methylation increased during the course of repeated subculturing. A decrease in DNA methylation level caused by treatment with 5-Aza-2′-deoxycytidine coincided with an increase in paclitaxel levels. Simultaneous exposure to both methyl jasmonate and 5-Aza-2′-deoxycytidine increased paclitaxel levels to 320.43 μg g^?1 (dry weight), which is more than six times the paclitaxel content before conservation. To our knowledge, this is the first report about improving paclitaxel production by ensuring sustainable use of Taxus cells.     

Studies on the intermediary carbohydrate metabolism of aquatic animals; the distribution of acid-soluble phosphorus and certain enzymes in dolphin tissues

1. Liver, kidney, brain, skeletal muscle, and cardiac muscle from one newborn and three adult long-snouted dolphins (Stenella plagiodon) were obtained for enzyme studies. 2. All of the dolphin tissues exhibited cytochrome oxidase, succinic dehydrogenase, and malic dehydrogenase activity. Considerable differences in the enzyme activities of the various tissues were noted, with cardiac muscle exhibiting the highest respiratory enzyme activity. The enzyme activities of dolphin tissues were lower than those of the corresponding rat tissues. 3. All of the dolphin tissues exhibited adenosine triphosphatase activity which was accelerated by magnesium and manganese but, in contrast to rat tissues, was only slightly activated by calcium. 4. Measurements of the distribution of acid-soluble phosphorus in dolphin tissues indicated that glycolysis in all of the tissues examined proceeded through the Emden-Meyerhof phosphorylation scheme. 5. The average glycogen content of dolphin skeletal muscle was 0.98 per cent as compared with 0.16 to 0.20 per cent for rat skeletal muscle. The high glycogen content of dolphin skeletal muscle indicates a ready source of substrate for glycolysis even during submergence when the blood supply may be differentially shunted to other organs. 6. Measurements of the organ weights of dolphins showed that the lungs occupy over three times and the liver one-half as much of the total body weight as do these organs in the rat. The heart and the thyroid gland of the dolphin are also larger in proportion to the total body weight than in the rat while the relative weights of the other tissues in the two species are about the same.     

一株支气管炎鲍特杆菌国家标准菌种的再鉴定

通过生化试验、质谱鉴定、16S rRNA基因序列分析、全基因组序列测定及生物信息学分析等方法对国家标准菌种CMCC(B)40001进行再鉴定。对菌株的毒力、耐药和MLST进行分析，并对鲍特杆菌（Bordetella spp.）的群体进化进行分析。结合不同方法，CMCC(B)40001再鉴定为支气管炎鲍特杆菌（Bordetella bronchiseptica），且其作为标准菌种能够发挥国家标准描述的质控作用。同时获取该菌株的新ST型，在进化关系上，其与百日咳鲍特杆菌(Bordetella pertussis)和副百日咳鲍特杆菌(Bordetella parapertussis)遗传距离近。本研究再鉴定了国家标准菌种CMCC(B)40001为支气管炎鲍特杆菌，并分析了其遗传特征，为国家标准菌种的应用提供资源描述支持。