Differences in relative air humidity affect responses to soil salinity in freshwater and salt marsh populations of the dominant grass species Phragmites australis

Hydrobiologia - Soil salinity diminishes the dominance of species and affects their distribution. Phragmites australis is a dominant ecosystem engineer with broad distribution, high intraspecific...     

Spatial variations in aboveground net primary productivity along a climate gradient in Eurasian temperate grassland: effects of mean annual precipitation and its seasonal distribution

Concomitant changes of annual precipitation and its seasonal distribution within the context of global climate change have dramatic impacts on aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP) of grassland ecosystems. In this study, combining remote sensing products with in situ measurements of ANPP, we quantified the effects of mean annual precipitation (MAP) and precipitation seasonal distribution (PSD) on the spatial variations in ANPP along a climate gradient in Eurasian temperate grassland. Our results indicated that ANPP increased exponentially with MAP for the entire temperate grassland, but linearly for a specific grassland type, i.e. the desert steppe, typical steppe, and meadow steppe from arid to humid regions. The slope of the linear relationship appeared to be steeper in the more humid meadow steppe than that in the drier typical and desert steppes. PSD also had significant effect on the spatial variations in ANPP. It explained 39.4% of the spatial ANPP for the entire grassland investigated, being comparable with the explanatory power of MAP (40.0%). On the other hand, the relative contribution of PSD and MAP is grassland type specific. MAP exhibited a much stronger explanatory power than PSD for the desert steppe and the meadow steppe at the dry and wet end, respectively. However, PSD was the dominant factor affecting the spatial variation in ANPP for the median typical steppe. Our results imply that altered pattern of PSD due to climate change may be as important as the total amount in terms of effects on ANPP in Eurasian temperate grassland.     

Genetically Encoded FRET Biosensor Detects the Enzymatic Activity of Prostate-Specific Antigen

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among men beyond 50 years old, and ranked the second in mortality. The level of Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in serum has been a routine biomarker for clinical assessment of the cancer development, which is detected mostly by antibody-based immunoassays. The proteolytic activity of PSA also has important functions. Here a genetically encoded biosensor based on fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) technology was developed to measure PSA activity. In vitro assay showed that the biosensor containing a substrate peptide ‘RLSSYYSGAG’ had 400% FRET change in response to 1 µg/ml PSA within 90 min, and could detect PSA activity at 25 ng/ml. PSA didn’t show enzymatic activity toward the biosensor in serum solution, likely reflecting the existence of other inhibitory factors besides Zn2+. By expressing the biosensor on cell plasma membrane, the FRET responses were significant, but couldn’t distinguish well the cultured prostate cancer cells from non-prostate cancer cells under microscopy imaging, indicating insufficient speci- ficity to PSA. The biosensor with the previously known ‘HSSKLQ’ substrate showed little response to PSA in solution. In summary, we developed a genetically encoded FRET biosensor to detect PSA activity, which may serve as a useful tool for relevant applications, such as screening PSA activation substrates or inhibitors; the purified biosensor protein can also be an alternative choice for measuring PSA activity besides currently commercialized Mu-HSSKLQ-AMC substrate from chemical synthesis.     

Noninvasive ultrasound deep brain stimulation of nucleus accumbens induces behavioral avoidance

Ultrasound stimulation is an emerging noninvasive option in treating neuropsychiatric disorders. The present study investigates the behavioral alterations resulting from ultrasound stimulation on the nucleus accumbens(NAc) in freely moving mice. Our results show that an acute ultrasound stimulation on the NAc, rather than the visual cortex or auditory cortex, led to a pronounced avoidance behavior, while repeated NAc ultrasound stimulation resulted in an obvious conditioned place aversion with changes in synaptic protein(Glu A1/2 subunit) expression. Notably, NAc ultrasound stimulation suppressed the morphine-induced conditioned place preference. The results provide evidence that NAc ultrasound stimulation can be applied as a potential noninvasive therapeutic option in treating psychiatric disorders.     

Extraradical hyphae exhibit more plastic nutrient-acquisition strategies than roots under nitrogen enrichment in ectomycorrhiza-dominated forests

Ectomycorrhizal (ECM) functional traits related to nutrient acquisition are impacted by nitrogen (N) deposition. However, less is known about whether these nutrient-acquisition traits associated with roots and hyphae differentially respond to increased N deposition in ECM-dominated forests with different initial N status. We conducted a chronic N addition experiment (25 kg N ha⁻¹ year⁻¹) in two ECM-dominated forests with contrasting initial N status, that is, a Pinus armandii forest (with relatively low N availability) and a Picea asperata forest (with relatively high N availability), to assess nutrient-mining and nutrient-foraging strategies associated with roots and hyphae under N addition. We show that nutrient-acquisition strategies of roots and hyphae differently respond to increased N addition. Root nutrient-acquisition strategies showed a consistent response to N addition, regardless of initial forest nutrient status, shifting from organic N mining toward inorganic N foraging. In contrast, the hyphal nutrient-acquisition strategy showed diverse responses to N addition depending on initial forest N status. In the Pinus armandii forest, trees increased belowground carbon (C) allocation to ECM fungi thus enhancing hyphal N-mining capacity under increased N availability. By comparison, in the Picea asperata forest, ECM fungi enhanced both capacities of P foraging and P mining in response to N-induced P limitation. In conclusion, our results demonstrate that ECM fungal hyphae exhibit greater plasticity in nutrient-mining and nutrient-foraging strategies than roots do in response to changes of nutrient status induced by N deposition. This study highlights the importance of ECM associations in tree acclimation and forest function stability under changing environments.     

Metagenomic insights into the alteration of soil N-cycling-related microbiome and functions under long-term conversion of cropland to Miscanthus

Miscanthus spp. show excellent application prospects due to its bioenergy potential and multiple ecological services. Annual N export with biomass harvest from Miscanthus, even without fertilizer supplement, do not reduce soil N levels. The question arises regarding how Miscanthus can maintain stable soil N levels. Metagenomic strategies were used to reveal soil N-cycling-related microbiome and their functional contributions to processes of soil N-cycling based on the comparison among the bare land, cropland, 10-year Miscanthus × giganteus, and 15-year Miscanthus sacchariflorus fields. The results showed that, after long-term cropland-to-Miscanthus conversion (LCMC), 16 of 21 bacterial phyla and all the archaeal phyla exhibited significant changes. Soil microbial denitrification and nitrification functions were significantly weakened, and N fixation (NF) was significantly enhanced. The biosynthesis of amino acids, especially alanine, aspartate, and glutamate metabolism, in soil N-cycling-related microbiome was dramatically promoted. The genus Anaeromyxobacter contributed largely to the NF process after LCMC. Variations in the soil available potassium, available N, organic C, and total N contents drove a functional shift of soil microbiome from cropland to Miscanthus pattern. We conclude that Miscanthus can recruit Anaeromyxobacter communities to enhance NF benefiting its biomass sustainability and soil N balance.     

高糖通过诱导自噬障碍促进心肌细胞H9c2凋亡

目的探讨自噬对高糖（HG）诱导的心肌细胞H9c2凋亡的影响。 方法MTT法检测H9c2细胞活力;hoechst33258染色法检测凋亡细胞;Western Blot检测H9c2细胞促凋亡蛋白Bax和自噬相关蛋白（Beclin-1和P62）的表达。各组的OD值和蛋白条带灰度值均采用析因设计的方差分析,各组间差异用单因素ANOVA分析。 结果HG能诱导H9c2细胞活力降低：12、24、48 mmol/L的HG细胞活力分别为Control组（100%）的[（79.5±2.23）%]（t = 3.143,P = 0.043）、[（54.6±3.08）%]（t = 12.425,P = 0.000）和[（37.2±2.59）%]（t = 13.761,P = 0.000）;与Control组（100%）比较,甘露醇等渗对照组的细胞活力值为[（101.0±1.27）%]（t = 0.012,P = 0.094）。HG诱导H9c2细胞hoechst33258阳性细胞增加,且能诱导促凋亡蛋白Bax表达增加：与Control组比较,12、24、48 mmol/L的HG处理组凋亡蛋白Bax/β-actin灰度值分别为（1.29±0.25,t = 2.32,P = 0.045）、（1.42±0.23,t = 10.247,P = 0.000）和（1.81±0.29,t = 16.324,P = 0.000）。HG诱导自噬障碍：与Control组比较,自噬相关蛋白Beclin-1/β-actin灰度值分别为（0.82±0.16,t = 4.243,P = 0.032）、（0.78±0.19,t = 11.341,P = 0.000）和（0.62±0.11,t = 13.455,P = 0.000）,P62蛋白/β-actin蛋白灰度值分别为（1.29±0.25,t = 4.442,P = 0.014）、（1.42±0.23,t = 13.341,P = 0.000）和（1.81±0.29,t = 15.851,P = 0.000）。自噬诱导剂雷帕霉素可逆转HG诱导的hoechst33258阳性细胞增加,且逆转HG诱导的Bax表达升高：与control组比较,HG组、HG和雷帕霉素共处理组、雷帕霉素组的Bax/β-actin灰度值分别为（1.51±0.31,t = 14.342,P = 0.000）、（1.42±0.23,t = 9.621,P = 0.004）和（1.81±0.12,t = 0.172,P = 0.124）。 结论HG可促进心肌细胞H9c2凋亡,且能诱导自噬障碍,自噬诱导剂的运用逆转了HG对H9c2细胞的凋亡作用,表明自噬障碍是HG诱导H9c2细胞凋亡的重要机制。