Antiviral flavonoids from the root bark of Morus alba L

A prenylated flavonoid, moralbanone, along with seven known compounds kuwanon S, mulberroside C, cyclomorusin, eudraflavone B hydroperoxide, oxydihydromorusin, leachianone G and alpha-acetyl-amyrin were isolated from the root bark of Morus alba L. Leachianone G showed potent antiviral activity (IC(50) = 1.6 microg/ml), whereas mulberroside C showed weak activity (IC(50) = 75.4 microg/ml) against herpes simplex type 1 virus (HSV-1). Their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic methods.     

Biological soil crusts in ecological restoration: emerging research and perspectives

Drylands encompass over 40% of terrestrial ecosystems and face significant anthropogenic degradation causing a loss of ecosystem integrity, services, and deterioration of social‐ecological systems. To combat this degradation, some dryland restoration efforts have focused on the use of biological soil crusts (biocrusts): complex communities of cyanobacteria, algae, lichens, bryophytes, and other organisms living in association with the top millimeters of soil. Biocrusts are common in many ecosystems and especially drylands. They perform a suite of ecosystem functions: stabilizing soil surfaces to prevent erosion, contributing carbon through photosynthesis, fixing nitrogen, and mediating the hydrological cycle in drylands. Biocrusts have emerged as a potential tool in restoration; developing methods to implement effective biocrust restoration has the potential to return many ecosystem functions and services. Although culture‐based approaches have allowed researchers to learn about the biology, physiology, and cultivation of biocrusts, transferring this knowledge to field implementation has been more challenging. A large amount of research has amassed to improve our understanding of biocrust restoration, leaving us at an opportune time to learn from one another and to join approaches for maximum efficacy. The articles in this special issue improve the state of our current knowledge in biocrust restoration, highlighting efforts to effectively restore biocrusts through a variety of different ecosystems, across scales and utilizing a variety of lab and field methods. This collective work provides a useful resource for the scientific community as well as land managers.     

上海市首例输入性甲型H1N1流行性感冒报道

甲型H1N1流行性感冒(简称流感)是由一种新型流感病毒引起的急性呼吸道传染性疾病。临床主要表现为流感样症状,包括发热、流涕、咽痛、咳嗽、头痛、腹泻等。奥司他韦和扎那米韦治疗甲型H1N1流感有效。本文报道上海市首例输入性甲型H1N1流感病例,以提高临床医生对这种新发流感的认识。     

StructureSelector: A web‐based software to select and visualize the optimal number of clusters using multiple methods

Inferences of population genetic structure are of great importance to the fields of ecology and evolutionary biology. The program structure has been widely used to infer population genetic structure. However, previous studies demonstrated that uneven sampling often leads to wrong inferences on hierarchical structure. The most widely used ΔK method tends to identify the uppermost hierarchy of population structure. Recently, four alternative statistics (medmedk , medmeak , maxmedk and maxmeak ) were proposed, which appear to be more accurate than the previously used methods for both even and uneven sampling data. However, the lack of easy‐to‐use software limits the use of these appealing new estimators. Here, we developed a web‐based user‐friendly software structureselector to calculate the four appealing alternative statistics together with the commonly used Ln Pr(X|K) and ΔK statistics. structureselector accepts the result files of structure , admixture or faststructure as input files. It reports the “best” K for each estimator, and the results are available as HTML or tab separated tables. The program can also generate graphical representations for specific K, which can be easily downloaded from the server. The software is freely available at http://lmme.qdio.ac.cn/StructureSelector/ .     

Effects of Cadmium on Root Growth, Cell Division and Nucleoli in Root Tip Cells of Garlic

The effects of different concentrations (10⁻⁷ to 10⁻² M) of cadmium chloride on root growth, cell division and nucleoli in root tip cells of Allium sativum L. were investigated. At lower concentrations of Cd²⁺ (10⁻⁷ to 10⁻⁶ M), Cd²⁺ did not influence the root growth, even had a stimulation effects during a short treatment. The results showed that the rate of root growth per day at the treatment groups (10⁻⁴ to 10⁻² M Cd²⁺) decreased with increasing duration of the treatment and increasing Cd²⁺ concentration. Cd²⁺ induced c-mitosis, anaphase bridges, chromosome stickiness and on nucleoli, causing some particles of similar silver-stained material scattered in the nuclei and making the silver staining reaction at the periphery of the nucleolus weaker. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

碱性成纤维细胞生长因子在苜蓿中的表达

为了降低bFGF(basic fibroblast growth factor)的生产成本,结合植物生物反应器的优点,就bFGF在转基因苜蓿中的表达进行了探索.将bFGF插入植物表达载体pBⅡ21中,获得了含有bFGF基因的植物表达pBIcbFGF,再将pBIcbFGF利用冻融法转到农杆菌中.利用农杆菌介导法将基因转化保定苜蓿,转基因苜蓿在TM-1培养基+20 mg/L卡那霉素(Kan)+200 mg/L特美汀(Tim)中诱导分化,在生根培养基中生根,获得再生植株.再生植株通过PCR检测、RT-PCR及Western blot证实外源基因已经在苜蓿中成功表达.获得含有目的蛋白的阳性植株.为苜蓿作为植物生物反应器生产bFGF奠定了理论及技术基础.     

Isolation of a novel 38 residue-hypothalamic polypeptide which stimulates adenylate cyclase in pituitary cells

A novel neuropeptide which stimulates adenylate cyclase in rat anterior pituitary cell cultures was isolated from ovine hypothalamic tissues. Its amino acid sequence was revealed as: His-Ser-Asp-Gly-Ile-Phe-Thr-Asp-Ser-Tyr-Ser-Arg-Tyr-Arg-Lys-Gln- Met-Ala- Val-Lys-Lys-Tyr-Leu-Ala-Ala-Val-Leu-Gly-Lys-Arg-Tyr-Lys-Gln-Arg-Val-Lys-Asn-Lys - NH2. The N-terminal sequence shows 68% homology with vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) but its adenylate cyclase stimulating activity was at least 1000 times greater than that of VIP. It increased release of growth hormone (GH), prolactin (PRL), corticotropin (ACTH) and luteinizing hormone (LH) from superfused rat pituitary cells at as small a dose as 10(-10)M (GH, PRL, ACTH) or 10(-9)M (LH). Whether these hypophysiotropic effects are the primary actions of the peptide or what physiological action in the pituitary is linked with the stimulation of adenylate cyclase by this peptide remains to be determined.