An invasive aster (Ageratina adenophora) invades and dominates forest understories in China: altered soil microbial communities facilitate the invader and inhibit natives

Exotic plant invasion may alter underground microbial communities, and invasion-induced changes of soil biota may also affect the interaction between invasive plants and resident native species. Increasing evidence suggests that feedback of soil biota to invasive and native plants leads to successful exotic plant invasion. To examine this possible underlying invasion mechanism, soil microbial communities were studied where Ageratina adenophora was invading a native forest community. The plant–soil biota feedback experiments were designed to assess the effect of invasion-induced changes of soil biota on plant growth, and interactions between A. adenophora and three native plant species. Soil analysis showed that nitrate nitrogen (NO₃⁻-N), ammonium nitrogen (NH₄⁺-N), and available P and K content were significantly higher in a heavily invaded site than in a newly invaded site. The structure of the soil microbial community was clearly different in all four sites. Ageratina adenophora invasion strongly increased the abundance of soil VAM (vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi) and the fungi/bacteria ratio. A greenhouse experiment indicated that the soil biota in the heavily invaded site had a greater inhibitory effect on native plant species than on A. adenophora and that soil biota in the native plant site inhibited the growth of native plant species, but not of A. adenophora. Soil biota in all four sites increased A. adenophora relative dominance compared with each of the three native plant species and soil biota in the heavily invaded site had greater beneficial effects on A. adenophora relative dominance index (20% higher on average) than soil biota in the non-invaded site. Our results suggest that A. adenophora is more positively affected by the soil community associated with native communities than are resident natives, and once the invader becomes established it further alters the soil community in a way that favors itself and inhibits natives, helping to promote the invasion. Soil biota alteration after A. adenophora establishment may be an important part of its invasion process to facilitate itself and inhibit native plants.     

Fusion of carbohydrate binding modules from <Emphasis Type="Italic">Thermotoga neapolitana</Emphasis> with a family 10 xylanase from <Emphasis Type="Italic">Bacillus halodurans</Emphasis> S7

Xylanase A of Thermotoga neapolitana contains binding domains both at the N- and C-terminal ends of the catalytic domain. In the N-terminal position it contains two carbohydrate-binding modules (CBM) which belong to family 22. These CBMs bind xylan but not to cellulose. The gene encoding the mature peptide of these CBMs was fused with an alkaline active GH10 xylanase from Bacillus halodurans S7 and expressed in Escherichia coli. The (His)₆ tagged hybrid protein was purified by immobilized metal affinity chromatography and characterized. Xylan binding by the chimeric protein was influenced by NaCl concentration and pH of the binding medium. Binding increased with increasing salt concentration up to 200 mM. Higher extent of binding was observed under acidic conditions. The fusion of the CBM structures enhanced the hydrolytic efficiency of the xylanase against insoluble xylan, but decreased the stability of the enzyme. The optimum temperature and pH for the activity of the xylanase did not change.     

植物中microRNA的合成及在发育和抗逆中的作用

介绍了植物microRNA（miRNA）的结构、合成、作用机制及其在植物生长发育和逆境胁迫中作用的研究进展。     

不同时期北部湾日本带鱼营养生态位差异

基于2008-2009年和2018年对北部湾 日本带鱼的采样,通过测定碳氮稳定同位素,计算其营养级、营养生态位等指标,对比分析10年前后日本带鱼营养生态位的差异,探究其生态适应能力的变动.结果表明:2个时期北部湾日本带鱼碳稳定同位素(δ13C)值差异明显,2018年δ13C值范围变窄,平均值变小,推测 日本带鱼食物来源...     

不明原因男性不育人群中睾丸特异性乳酸脱氢酶基因突变的发现及其意义

为了研究睾丸特异性乳酸脱氢酶,即乳酸脱氢酶C4(LDH-C4)基因突变在男性不育发病中的作用,利用LDH-C4特异性底物对100名不明原因男性不育症患者的精子LDH-C4进行活性显色,用变性高效液相色谱(DHPLC)技术对LDH-C4活性低下的患者进行LDHC基因PCR产物的突变筛查,对DHPLC峰形异常的PCR产物进行序列测定.筛选到一组精子LDH-C4活性明显下降的患者,其中1名患者的LDHC基因PCR产物在DHPLC中呈异常洗脱峰.对这一PCR产物进行序列测定,发现患者LDHC基因第5外显子的115位碱基发生了T→A的杂合改变(GenBank登录号GU479375),该突变使LDHC基因的178位密码子由原来的TTG(编码亮氨酸)变为TAG(终止密码子),形成截短的C亚基.T克隆-测序进一步证实了该无义突变的杂合状态.这是在人类LDHC基因上发现的第一个突变,提示LDHC基因突变可能是男性不育发病的原因之一.     

Can mobile sandy land be vegetated in the cold and dry Tibetan Plateau in China?

Desertification has taken place in the overgrazed grassland of the Tibetan Plateau,China,and the area of mobile sandy land has increased in recent decades.The challenging problem about desertification control is how to restore the vegetation of mobile sandy lands caused by severe desertification.Sand drifting is now regarded as the limiting factor of vegetation restoration in such lands.The initial phase of vegetation restoration is plant colonization,but it is often aborted due to sand drifting,and then vegetation restoration fails to proceed.For the sake of revegetation,the first step is to stop sand drifting to ensure plant colonization.In the northeastern Tibetan Plateau,China,feasible approaches have been found through long-term experiments,and the vegetation is being restored satisfactorily with these approaches in experimental sandy lands.The approaches comprise three types:enclosure,mechanical barriers and biological barriers.Different sandy lands require dissimilar combinations of these approaches.Enclosures may be adequate to revegetate inter-dunes or degraded grassland even in cold regions like the Tibetan Plateau,China,but it is deficient for revegetation of the shifting sand dunes unless mechanical and biological barriers are established simultaneously.     

Cloning and characterization of a cDNA encoding human differentiation antigen 5D4

A 1 846 bp cDNA is isolated from a human tonsil cell λgt 11 cDNA library (ATCC No. 37546) with mAb 5D4 reactive strongly with human B cell line 3D5, but weakly with human B cell line Daudi and human T cell line Jurkat as a probe. RT-PCR also shows a strong reaction in 3D5 cell and a weak reaction in Daudi and Jurkat cell for 5D4 mRNA. There is an open reading frame from 88 to 1 209 bp in 5D4 cDNA encoding a 374 AA protein. Both the Northern blot analysis and the two consecutive stop codens before start coden demonstrate that the cDNA is a full-length cDNA. Secondary structure prediction suggests that there are a region from 295 to 334 AA in the protein with strong hydrophobicity and a transmembrane helix region with high score from 313 to 334 AA with an orientation from the inside to the outside of the cell.     

The Economics of Dementia-Care Mapping in Nursing Homes: A Cluster-Randomised Controlled Trial

Background

Dementia-care mapping (DCM) is a cyclic intervention aiming at reducing neuropsychiatric symptoms in people with dementia in nursing homes. Alongside an 18-month cluster-randomized controlled trial in which we studied the effectiveness of DCM on residents and staff outcomes, we investigated differences in costs of care between DCM and usual care in nursing homes.

Methods

Dementia special care units were randomly assigned to DCM or usual care. Nurses from the intervention care homes received DCM training, a DCM organizational briefing day and conducted the 4-months DCM-intervention twice during the study. A single DCM cycle consists of observation, feedback to the staff, and action plans for the residents. We measured costs related to health care consumption, falls and psychotropic drug use at the resident level and absenteeism at the staff level. Data were extracted from resident files and the nursing home records. Prizes were determined using the Dutch manual of health care cost and the cost prices delivered by a pharmacy and a nursing home. Total costs were evaluated by means of linear mixed-effect models for longitudinal data, with the unit as a random effect to correct for dependencies within units.

Results

34 units from 11 nursing homes, including 318 residents and 376 nursing staff members participated in the cost analyses. Analyses showed no difference in total costs. However certain changes within costs could be noticed. The intervention group showed lower costs associated with outpatient hospital appointments over time (p = 0^.05) than the control group. In both groups, the number of falls, costs associated with the elderly-care physician and nurse practitioner increased equally during the study (p<0^.02).

Conclusions

DCM is a cost-neutral intervention. It effectively reduces outpatient hospital appointments compared to usual care. Other considerations than costs, such as nursing homes’ preferences, may determine whether they adopt the DCM method.

Trial Registration

Dutch Trials Registry NTR2314     

Initial Characterization of the FlgE Hook High Molecular Weight Complex of Borrelia burgdorferi

The spirochete periplasmic flagellum has many unique attributes. One unusual characteristic is the flagellar hook. This structure serves as a universal joint coupling rotation of the membrane-bound motor to the flagellar filament. The hook is comprised of about 120 FlgE monomers, and in most bacteria these structures readily dissociate to monomers (∼ 50 kDa) when treated with heat and detergent. However, in spirochetes the FlgE monomers form a large mass of over 250 kDa [referred to as a high molecular weight complex (HMWC)] that is stable to these and other denaturing conditions. In this communication, we examined specific aspects with respect to the formation and structure of this complex. We found that the Lyme disease spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi synthesized the HMWC throughout the in vitro growth cycle, and also in vivo when implanted in dialysis membrane chambers in rats. The HMWC was stable to formic acid, which supports the concept that the stability of the HMWC is dependent on covalent cross-linking of individual FlgE subunits. Mass spectrometry analysis of the HMWC from both wild type periplasmic flagella and polyhooks from a newly constructed ΔfliK mutant indicated that other proteins besides FlgE were not covalently joined to the complex, and that FlgE was the sole component of the complex. In addition, mass spectrometry analysis also indicated that the HMWC was composed of a polymer of the FlgE protein with both the N- and C-terminal regions remaining intact. These initial studies set the stage for a detailed characterization of the HMWC. Covalent cross-linking of FlgE with the accompanying formation of the HMWC we propose strengthens the hook structure for optimal spirochete motility.     

MicroRNA-7 arrests cell cycle in G1 phase by directly targeting CCNE1 in human hepatocellular carcinoma cells

Growing evidence has demonstrated that the aberrant expression of miRNA is a hallmark of malignancies, indicating the important roles of miRNA in the development and progression of cancer. MiR-7 is considered as a tumor suppressor miRNA in multiple types of cancer. However, the role of miR-7 in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and its underlying mechanism remain elusive. In this study, we found that overexpression of miR-7 arrested cell cycle at G1 to S transition in HCC. By combinational use of bioinformatic prediction, reporter assay, quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) and Western blot, we confirmed that CCNE1, an important mediator in G1/S transition is one of new direct target genes of miR-7. Further studies revealed that silencing of CCNE1 recapitulated the effects of miR-7 overexpression, whereas enforced expression of CCNE1 reversed the suppressive effects of miR-7 in cell cycle regulation. Finally, analysis of qRT-PCR showed a reciprocal relationship between miR-7 and CCNE1 in clinical cancer tissues and multiple types of tumor cell lines. These findings indicate that miR-7 exerts tumor-suppressive effects in hepatocarcinogenesis through the suppression of oncogene CCNE1 expression and suggest a therapeutic application of miR-7 in HCC.