White to brown fat phenotypic switch induced by genetic and environmental activation of a hypothalamic-adipocyte axis

Living in an enriched environment with complex physical and social stimulation leads to improved cognitive and metabolic health. In white fat, enrichment induced the upregulation of the brown fat cell fate determining gene Prdm16, brown fat-specific markers, and genes involved in thermogenesis and β-adrenergic signaling. Moreover, pockets of cells with prototypical brown fat morphology and high UCP1 levels were observed in the white fat of enriched mice associated with resistance to diet-induced obesity. Hypothalamic overexpression of BDNF reproduced the enrichment-associated activation of the brown fat gene program and lean phenotype. Inhibition of BDNF signaling by genetic knockout or dominant-negative trkB reversed this phenotype. Our genetic and pharmacologic data suggest a mechanism whereby induction of hypothalamic BDNF expression in response to environmental stimuli leads to selective sympathoneural modulation of white fat to induce "browning" and increased energy dissipation.     

Multiscale modeling of red blood cell mechanics and blood flow in malaria

Red blood cells (RBCs) infected by a Plasmodium parasite in malaria may lose their membrane deformability with a relative membrane stiffening more than ten-fold in comparison with healthy RBCs leading to potential capillary occlusions. Moreover, infected RBCs are able to adhere to other healthy and parasitized cells and to the vascular endothelium resulting in a substantial disruption of normal blood circulation. In the present work, we simulate infected RBCs in malaria using a multiscale RBC model based on the dissipative particle dynamics method, coupling scales at the sub-cellular level with scales at the vessel size. Our objective is to conduct a full validation of the RBC model with a diverse set of experimental data, including temperature dependence, and to identify the limitations of this purely mechanistic model. The simulated elastic deformations of parasitized RBCs match those obtained in optical-tweezers experiments for different stages of intra-erythrocytic parasite development. The rheological properties of RBCs in malaria are compared with those obtained by optical magnetic twisting cytometry and by monitoring membrane fluctuations at room, physiological, and febrile temperatures. We also study the dynamics of infected RBCs in Poiseuille flow in comparison with healthy cells and present validated bulk viscosity predictions of malaria-infected blood for a wide range of parasitemia levels (percentage of infected RBCs with respect to the total number of cells in a unit volume).     

植物功能基因组学研究技术及其在林木中的应用

介绍了近年来植物功能基因组学研究技术包括表达序列标签、基因表达的系列分析、DNA微阵列、反向遗传学的发展及其在植物,特别是在林木中的应用进展.     

植物中的磷脂酶D

介绍了植物磷脂酶D(PLD)的生化性质、克隆、基因组结构、氨基酸序列结构、活性调控、信号转导和细胞生理功能的研究进展.     

基于地形限制特征的泾河流域遥感地表覆被分类

由于在分类方法和空间分辨率等方面存在局限性,基于粗分辨率遥感数据的传统非监督分类结果在不同地物过渡带内往往误差较大。该文提出了基于地形限制特征的分类方法,在非监督分类的基础上,将非监督分类结果按照像元进行细分,并运用地形限制条件对细分后的像元进行二次判别分类。结果表明,分类精度明显提高,其中,农田和居民点分类精度的提高最为明显。这一方法使得完全同质的单元可以进行属性的变更,改善了像元空间分辨率差造成的误差;而地形限制特征的引入减少了传统非监督分类的不确定性,使模糊区域的分类有了较为明确的区分特征,提高了分类的精度。     

培养条件对里氏木霉306菌体形态和t-PA生物合成的影响

里氏木霉（Trichoderrna reesei）306是能够生物合成组织型纤溶酶原激活剂（t-PA）的基因工程菌株。在对其液态深层培养时,发现随培养夸件和培养时间的变化,其菌体能以松散和菌丝球的两种形态存在。菌体形态和t-PA的产生密切相关。培养基中无机盐和表面活性剂的种类和添加量以及接种量和pH等培养条件是影响里氏木霉306菌体形态和t-PA合成的主要因素。在液态深层培养过程中,菌体以松散的菌丝体形态生长,形成纸浆状发酵液,利于t-PA的合成。     

Molecular Genetic Variation in a Clonal Plant Population of Leymus chinensis (Trin.) Tzvel.

Randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis was used to investigate the genetic variation among populations, between populations, and within populations, relationships between genetic distance and geographic distance, and the molecular variation and population size. The effects of geographic and genetic distances, as well as of genetic differentiation and population size, on genetic variations of Leymus chinensis (Trin.) Tzvel. are discussed. The present study showed that there was significant RAPD variation between the Baicheng region population and the Daqing region population, with a molecular variance of 6.35% (P ＜ 0.04), and for differentiation among area populations of the Daqing region, with a molecular variance of 8.78% (P ＜ 0.002). A 21.06% RAPD variation among all 16 populations among two regions was found (P ＜ 0.001), as well as 72.59% variation within populations (P ＜ 0.001). Molecular variation within populations was significantly different among 16 populations.     

Response of Seed Germination in Three Genera of Compositae to White Light of Varying Photon Flux Density and Photoperiod

Various photon doses (net number of photons per unit area perday), provided by varying both photon flux density and photoperiod,were applied to imbibing seeds of seven lots of four speciesof Compositae in various germination test regimes. In all fourspecies germination was dependent upon photon dose, the productof photon flux density and daily duration of exposure. The responsewas quantified by linear relations between the probit of percentagegermination and the logarithm of photon dose. In general, photonflux density and photoperiod only influenced the stimulationof germination by the low energy reaction indirectly (as factorsof daily photon dose), whereas there was a tendency for photoperiodto have a direct influence on the inhibition of germinationby the high irradiance reaction. Reducing the germination testtemperature from 25?C to 20?C and 15?C not only increased thedark germination of L. sativa L., but also broadened the photondose range at which full germination occurred by reducing theminimum value necessary for the germination of the most dormantseeds, and increasing the maximum value which failed to inhibitthe germination of any seeds. Differences between L. sativaand L. serriola L. in the response of germination to white lightwere only quantitative, rather than qualitative. The singlemost promotory dose for all four species was 3 ? 10^–3mol m^–2 d^–1, although the inhibitory action of dosesup to 10– mol m– d– was generally only slight. Key words: Light, seed germination, seed dormancy, Compositae