Winter food availability limits winter survival of Mongolian gerbils (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Meriones unguiculatus</Emphasis>)

Food availability is important to the dynamics of animal social organizations or populations. However, the role of winter food availability in animal population dynamics is still controversial. We carried out an experimental study to test Lack’s hypothesis that reduced food in winter limits survival and spring numbers of breeding individuals of social groups, using the Mongolian gerbil (Meriones unguiculatus) as model species. We established 24 gerbil social groups in 24, 10 × 10 m, pens in September 2008. We provided wheat seeds as supplemental food in 12 enclosures from September 2008 to March 2009; the other 12 enclosures, not provided with supplemental food, served as controls. We live-trapped gerbils at a 2-week interval from September to April. Supplemental food during winter increased biweekly survival by 10% relative to that in control groups. Only four control social groups survived to the end of our study whereas all 12 food-supplemented social groups survived through our study period. Supplemental food also increased cumulative numbers of recruits and group sizes of gerbils. We conclude that winter food availability limits winter survival and spring social groups or population sizes of Mongolian gerbils.     

Tandem duplication and divergence of a sea urchin protein belonging to the troponin C superfamily

The Spec1 and Spec2 proteins of the sea urchin Strongylocentrotus purpuratus are related to calmodulin, troponin C, and myosin light chains by sequence similarity in their four calcium binding domains. These domains, the EF-hands, are distinct helix-loop-helix structures of about 40 amino acids. The Spec1 and Spec2 genes are expressed specifically in aboral ectoderm cells of the developing embryo; however, the function of the Spec proteins in these cells is unknown. To find conserved regions of the proteins that might be important for structure and function, Spec homologues from Lytechinus pictus, a distantly related sea urchin, were sought. L. pictus embryos do not synthesize detectable amounts of the 14,000-17,000-Da Spec proteins as determined by two-dimensional gel electro-phoresis, but do synthesize three 34,000-Da proteins that cross-react with Spec1 antibodies and display a similar ontogenetic pattern of expression. cDNA clones were isolated by hybridization to a synthetic oligonucleotide corresponding to the EF-hand. One clone, LpS1, encodes an mRNA with developmental properties like those of the S. purpuratus Spec mRNAs. However, LpS1 contains an open reading frame for a protein of 34,000 Da rather than 17,000 Da, and antibodies raised against part of the LpS1 reading frame demonstrate that LpS1 encodes a 34,000-Da protein in L. pictus embryos. The sequence of LpS1 reveals the presence of eight EF-hand domains, which share structural homology with the Spec1 or Spec2 EF-hands; however, little else in the protein sequence is conserved. The results support the hypothesis that the LpS1 gene arose from a duplication of an ancestral Spec gene and that the overall structural features of the Spec family of proteins are more conserved than the amino acid sequences.     

Studies on atrophic change of soleus muscle and its countermeasures in suspended rat

In the environment of microgravity, the disused atrophy of skeletal muscle, especially leg's muscle, would occur. The three purposes of this study were: 1. To observe the dynamic changes of disused atrophy of skeletal muscle under simulated weightlessness; 2. To approach the mechanism of disused atrophy of muscle; 3. To approach the countermeasures for reducing the degree of atrophy of muscle.     

High-Resolution Performance of Polycaprolactone Functionalized with Guanidinium Ionic Liquid for Gas Chromatography

This work firstly reported a new polycaprolactone based material functionalized with guanidinium ionic liquid (PCL-GIL) as the stationary phase with high resolution performance for capillary gas chromatography (GC). It is composed of polycaprolactone (PCL) and guanidinium ionic liquid (GIL) with amphiphilic conformation. The PCL-GIL capillary column coated by static method exhibited high column efficiency of 3942 plates/m and moderate polarity. As a result, the PCL-GIL column exhibited high-resolution capability. For a mixture of 27 analytes with a wide ranging polarity and outperformed the PCL-2OH and HP-35 columns, showing its advantageous separation capability for analytes of diverse types. Moreover, the PCL-GIL column showed high resolving capability for various positional isomers and cis-/trans-isomers, including alkylbenzenes, chlorobenzenes, naphthalenes, bromonitrobenzenes, chloronitrobenzenes, benzaldehydes, phenols, alcohols, respectively. In a word, PCL derivatized by GIL units as a new type of stationary phase has a promising future in GC separations.     

Phospholipid surface density determines the partitioning and permeability of acetic acid in DMPC:cholesterol bilayers

Relationships between the permeability coefficient (P_HA) and partition coefficient (K _m/w) of acetic acid and the surface density of DMPC:cholesterol bilayers have been investigated. Permeability coefficients were measured in large unilamellar vesicles by NMR line broadening. Bilayer surface density, , was varied over a range of 0.5–0.9 by changing cholesterol concentration and temperature. The temperature dependence of P_HA for acetic acid exhibits Arrhenius behavior with an average apparent activation energy (E _a ) of 22±3 kcal/mole over a cholesterol mole fraction range of 0.00–0.40. This value is much greater than the enthalpy change for acetic acid partitioning between bulk decane and water (H° = 4.8±0.8 kcal/mole) and the calculated E _a (= 8.0 kcal/mole) assuming a bulk phase permeability model which includes the enthalpy of transfer from water to decane and the temperature dependence of acetic acid's diffusion coefficient in decane. These results suggest that dehydration, previously considered to be a dominant component, is a minor factor in determining E _a . Values of 1n P_HA decrease linearly with the normalized phospholipid surface density with a slope of = -12.4±1.1 (r = 0.90). Correction of P_HA for those temperature effects considered to be independent of lipid chain order (i.e., enthalpy of transfer from water to decane and activation energy for diffusion in bulk hydrocarbon) yielded an improved correlation ( = -11.7±0.5 (r = 0.96)). The temperature dependence of K_m/w is substantially smaller than that for P_HA and dependent on cholesterol composition. Values of 1n K_m/w decrease linearly with the surface density with a slope of = -4.6±0.3 (r = 0.95), which is 2.7-fold smaller than the slope of the plot of 1n P_HA vs. . Thus, chain ordering is a major determinant for molecular partitioning into and transport across lipid bilayers, regardless of whether it is varied by lipid composition or temperature.This work was supported by grants from Glaxo, INTERx/Merck, and University of Utah Research Committee.     

Nuclear migration advances in fungi

Nuclear migration encompasses three areas: separation of daughter nuclei during mitosis, congress of parental nuclei before they fuse during fertilization, and positioning of nuclei in interphase cells. This review deals primarily with interphase nuclear migration, which is crucial for events as disparate as vertebrate embryonic development and growth of fungal mycelia. Mutants of Aspergillus nidulans, Neurospora crassa and Saccharomyces cerevisiae have been particularly informative, and a detailed molecular analysis of this process is now well under way.     

不同胃疾患胃内微生态变化的研究

本文对75例不同胃疾患胃液内的菌群及影响胃内微生态环境的因素进行了研究,发现健康胃内基本无菌或只有少量口腔细菌,未发现厌氧菌。而不同胃疾患胃内均分离到细菌(log10~n/ml),慢性萎缩性胃炎:3.89±0.99,残胃炎:4.45±0.16,胃癌:4.23,十二指肠球部溃疡治疗前(2.8±0.62)与抗酸治疗后(4.35±0.61)差别显著,慢性浅表性胃炎:3.39±0.98,胃溃疡:3.42±0.29。所分离到的细菌既有来自于口腔的细菌,也有来自于肠道的细菌。影响胃内细菌增殖的主要因素是胃液的PH值,幽门功能失调及幽门切除亦可使胃内细菌过度生长。本研究提示对胃病的治疗亦应进行生态防治。     

产电微生物Shewanella菌厌氧呼吸代谢网络研究进展

以模式菌株Shewanella oneidensis MR-1为代表的Shewanella菌属产电微生物广泛分布于自然水体环境中。作为兼性厌氧菌,Shewanella菌除了能进行有氧呼吸外,还能利用多种电子受体进行厌氧呼吸。通过多种细胞色素所组成的复杂电子传递网络,Shewanella菌不仅能利用渗入到周质空间的可溶性电子受体进行厌氧呼吸,更为特殊的是其能够借助电子的跨膜传递实现对胞外不溶性电子受体的异化还原代谢。本文概述了近年来Shewanella菌厌氧代谢途径的研究进展,探讨电子传递网络对Shewanella菌呼吸多样性及环境适应性的影响。     

尺度整合视角下伊犁河谷地区生态安全格局构建——以昭苏县为例

构建生态安全格局是一种协调区域生态保护与经济发展关系的有效途径。由于生态系统服务供需差异,不同等级的行政区在生态安全格局构建中出现了空间结构错位脱节的问题。从整合视角出发,尝试整合伊犁河谷地区州级和县级两级尺度构建昭苏县生态安全格局。首先基于生态系统服务评价确定生态源地,再构建综合阻力面并采用电路理论模型识别生态廊道。研究结果显示,整合州级和县级两级尺度昭苏县共确定了24个生态源地,面积2504.47km²,主要分布于昭苏中部盆地以及北部、南部山区,土地利用类型主要为耕地、草地和林地;识别生态廊道50条,总长度200.17km。与单一尺度下生态安全格局构建相比,整合不同尺度构建生态安全格局能显著改善区域生境破碎化的问题,提高区域景观连通性。本研究提供了一种整合不同尺度下生态安全格局构建的技术框架,研究结果可为伊犁河谷地区国土空间格局优化提供有效参考。     

基于分布式水文模型的水源涵养不同功能评估方法——以渭河涵养区为例

为了实现水源涵养量计算和不同功能的综合评估,基于分布式水文模型(WEP-L)提出了一种新方法,即利用WEP-L模型计算次降水过程中降水量和地表产流、冠层截留量的差值作为水源涵养量,并分别评估削洪(地表径流量)、补枯(地下径流量)、维持植被生态系统用水(植被蒸腾量)等不同水源涵养功能的评估方法。为了验证该方法的合理性,以渭河流域咸阳站以上区域为例,对比了该方法和InVEST模型方法的计算结果,由于两种方法在评估内容和使用模型上都存在差异,为了保证计算结果的可比性,先对比了基于相同评价内容的WEP-L模型法I和InVEST模型方法,再对比了基于不同评价内容的WEP-L模型法I和WEP-L模型法II,结论如下:基于相同评价内容的WEP模型法I和InVEST模型法计算结果数值接近,研究区2000-2018年水源涵养量年均值分别为12.43 mm(5.76亿m³)和12.08 mm(5.6亿m³),两种方法所得结果空间分布特征相似,稍有差异之处与InVEST模型的参数没有经过本地化处理有关;基于不同评价内容的WEP-L模型法Ⅰ和WEP-L模型法II计算结果数值相差较大,研究区2000-2018年水源涵养量均值分别为12.43 mm和432.57 mm,空间分布特征上有差异的地方分布于研究区的北部、东部及东北部,主要与两种方法评价时是否考虑蒸散发有关。WEP-L模型法II评估结果中削洪、补枯、维持植被生态系统用水等功能多年变化趋势分别为:2006-2010年期间增加、2012年以后下降以及增加。2012年后补枯功能和维持植被生态系统用水功能之间可能存在权衡关系。通过不同方法计算结果差异原因分析,证明了基于WEP-L模型的不同涵养功能评估方法的合理性,其结果也可为渭河涵养区水资源和生态保护策略的制定提供更多依据。