Impact of abscisic acid in overcoming the problem of albinism in horse chestnut androgenic embryos

Horse chestnut (Aesculus hyppocastanum L., Hyppocastanacea) is a relict species with a slow and complex reproductive cycle considered to have horticultural and medical importance. The cycle maybe circumvented via in vitro androgenesis. Androgenesis of horse chestnut was induced in microspores and anther culture on MS media. Some of the horse chestnut androgenic embryos were albinos. Addition of abscisic acid in media (in concentrations of 0.01, 0.1, 0.5, 1, 2, 5, 10, and 20 mg l^?1) with horse chestnut androgenic embryos has circumvented the reproduction cycle barriers. The best results were achieved on medium with the lowest abscisic acid concentration (0.01 mg l^?1) in microspore culture. The microspore culture proved to be a better model system for embryo production and albino embryo reduction than anther culture. Flow cytometry analysis after maturation treatments induced by ABA showed that 88 % of green embryos originating from microspore culture were haploid. However, 50 % of green embryos from anther culture were haploid. The remaining analyzed androgenic embryos, from both types of cultures were diploid.     

串叶松香草的核型研究

串叶松香草Silphiura perfoliatum L.系菊科(Compositae)松香草属(SilphiumL.)多年生宿根草本植物,原产北美洲。1979年由中国科学院植物研究所北京植物园首次从朝鲜引进我国,1980年引种我所栽培,通过几年的试验观察表明:串叶松香草是一种高产、质优、适应性强的饲料作物,近年来,我省广泛发展和应用。据文献报     

喀喇昆仑山-昆仑山地区植物区系组成和分布规律的研究

 喀喇昆仑山—昆仑山地区植物区系组成比较贫乏,在东经90˚以西仅有高等植物约827种,分属于60个科272属。其中,蕨类植物仅3科3属5种,禾本科植物最多,有136种。菊科、豆科、十字花科、莎草科和藜科分别排列在第二至第六位,均含50种以上。区系地理成分组成以中亚的为主,青藏高原成分居第二位。但是,不同的地段存在着明显的差异,在昆仑山主脊南侧高原和中昆仑库木库勒山间盆地青藏高原成分占有的比例高于中亚成分。随着海拔的升高,区系地理成分的组成也发生了有规律的变化,中亚成分占有的比例下降,适应高寒气候的青藏高原成分占有的比例急剧升高,在海拔4250m左右两者占有的比例相等,在海拔5000m以上青藏高原成分显著超过中亚成分。对该地区8个地段的植物区系相似性分析显示,昆仑山主脊南北两翼植物区系的差异远大于东西方向的差异。植物区系地理成分的组成与海拔高度的关系以及植物区系的地理分异规律说明,昆仑山脉作为中亚植物亚区与青藏高原植物亚区之间的分界是符合客观实际的。     

金沙江上游干旱河谷植被

为了解金沙江上游奔子栏到羊拉约130 km河段范围内干旱河谷的植被特征, 作者采用样带与典型样方相结合的方法, 对该河段进行了植物群落调查。结果显示: (1)研究区域记录到野生维管植物51科95属111种(含种下等级), 其中, 蕨类植物4科4属6种; 无裸子植物; 被子植物中双子叶植物40科71属84种; 单子叶植物7科20属21种。(2)群落物种以草本为主, 达67种, 占总物种数的60.36%; 生活型以地面芽植物为主, 占总物种数的32.43%, 矮高位芽次之, 占27.93%; 叶型以微型和小型叶为主, 微型叶有30种, 占统计总数(50种)的60%, 小型叶有11种, 占总数的22%。(3)用双向指示种分析方法可将93个样方分为5个群系。分布最广、物种丰富度最高的是小叶荆 + 小叶野丁香(Form. Vitex microphylla + Leptodermis pilosa var. microphylla)群系。(4)根据对该河谷区域的气候特点、干旱程度、植被特征(植株矮化、叶片小、植物毛被发达、植株具刺、部分植物有吸湿反应性特征等)的分析, 综合植物群落的外貌、结构、物种构成和植物形态, 可以确认金沙江上游干旱河谷植被具有亚热带荒漠植被类型的 特征。     

Natural restoration of degraded rangeland ecosystem in Heshan hilly land

This study examined the 20-yr trend of natural restoration of a degraded rangeland ecosystem after disturbance in Heshan hilly land. The results showed that herbs and shrubs were the dominant plants in the community and only a small number of the shade-intolerant tree species had invaded, showing the characteristics of assembly of pioneer communities. The organic matter content, soluble nitrogen, available phosphorus and available potassium had recovered to the level of the local climax community. Part of the ecological functions such as water and soil conservation had also recovered. While the functions of water and soil conservation recovered first, more time was needed for productivity and other functions to completely recover, suggesting the idiosyncratic nature of different ecosystem variables in response to time and microclimate change. Particularly, nutrient cycling recovered very slowly by natural restoration and artificial plantation may be necessary to accelerate the restoration process.     

Combination stem cell therapy using dental pulp stem cells and human umbilical vein endothelial cells for critical hindlimb ischemia

Narrowing of arteries supplying blood to the limbs provokes critical hindlimb ischemia (CLI). Although CLI results in irreversible sequelae, such as amputation, few therapeutic options induce the formation of new functional blood vessels. Based on the proangiogenic potentials of stem cells, in this study, it was examined whether a combination of dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) and human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) could result in enhanced therapeutic effects of stem cells for CLI compared with those of DPSCs or HUVECs alone. The DPSCs+ HUVECs combination therapy resulted in significantly higher blood flow and lower ischemia damage than DPSCs or HUVECs alone. The improved therapeutic effects in the DPSCs+ HUVECs group were accompanied by a significantly higher number of microvessels in the ischemic tissue than in the other groups. In vitro proliferation and tube formation assay showed that VEGF in the conditioned media of DPSCs induced proliferation and vessel-like tube formation of HUVECs. Altogether, our results demonstrated that the combination of DPSCs and HUVECs had significantly better therapeutic effects on CLI via VEGF-mediated crosstalk. This combinational strategy could be used to develop novel clinical protocols for CLI proangiogenic regenerative treatments.     

Moving towards the detection of frailty with biomarkers: A population health study

Aging adults experience increased health vulnerability and compromised abilities to cope with stressors, which are the clinical manifestations of frailty. Frailty is complex, and efforts to identify biomarkers to detect frailty and pre-frailty in the clinical setting are rarely reproduced across cohorts. We developed a predictive model incorporating biological and clinical frailty measures to identify robust biomarkers across data sets. Data were from two large cohorts of older adults: “Invecchiare in Chianti (Aging in Chianti, InCHIANTI Study”) (n = 1453) from two small towns in Tuscany, Italy, and replicated in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study (ARIC) (n = 6508) from four U.S. communities. A complex systems approach to biomarker selection with a tree-boosting machine learning (ML) technique for supervised learning analysis was used to examine biomarker population differences across both datasets. Our approach compared predictors with robust, pre-frail, and frail participants and examined the ability to detect frailty status by race. Unique biomarker features identified in the InCHIANTI study allowed us to predict frailty with a model accuracy of 0.72 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.66–0.80). Replication models in ARIC maintained a model accuracy of 0.64 (95% CI 0.66–0.72). Frail and pre-frail Black participant models maintained a lower model accuracy. The predictive panel of biomarkers identified in this study may improve the ability to detect frailty as a complex aging syndrome in the clinical setting. We propose several concrete next steps to keep research moving toward detecting frailty with biomarker-based detection methods.     

Single-Atom Immobilization Boosting Oxygen Redox Kinetics of High-Entropy Perovskite Oxide Toward High-Performance Lithium-Oxygen Batteries

Understanding and modulating the unique electronic interaction between single-metal atoms and high entropy compounds are of great significance to enable their high-efficiency oxygen electrocatalysis for aprotic lithium-oxygen (Li-O₂) batteries. Herein, a novel bi-functional electrocatalyst is for the first time created by immobilizing single-atom ruthenium (Ru) on lanthanum-based high entropy perovskite oxide La(Mn_0.2Co_0.2Fe_0.2Ni_0.2Cr_0.2)O₃ (Ru@HEPO), which demonstrates high activity and stability in Li-O₂ batteries. The heteronuclear coordination between single-atom Ru and HEPO facilitates fast electron transfer from Ru to HEPO by establishing Ru-O-M (M stands for Mn, Co, Fe, Ni) bridges, which well redistributes electrons within the Ru@HEPO hence significantly improving its interfacial charge transfer kinetics and electrocatalytic activity. Additionally, the strong electron coupling between Ru and Mn atoms enhances the hybridization between Mn 3d and O 2p orbitals, which promotes the inherent affinity of Ru@HEPO toward the LiO₂ intermediate, thereby reducing the reaction energy barrier of the oxygen electrode. As a result, the Ru@HEPO-based Li-O₂ batteries deliver remarkable electrochemical performances, such as high energy efficiency (87.3% at 100 mA g⁻¹), excellent rate capability (low overpotential of 0.52 V at 100 mA g⁻¹) and durable cyclability (345 cycles at 300 mA g⁻¹). This work opens up a promising avenue for the development of high entropy-based electrocatalysts for Li-O₂ batteries by precisely tailoring the electronic distributions at an atomic scale.