A Microbial Link between Elevated CO2 and Methane Emissions that is Plant Species-Specific

Rising atmospheric CO₂ levels alter the physiology of many plant species, but little is known of changes to root dynamics that may impact soil microbial mediation of greenhouse gas emissions from wetlands. We grew co-occurring wetland plant species that included an invasive reed canary grass (Phalaris arundinacea L.) and a native woolgrass (Scirpus cyperinus L.) in a controlled greenhouse facility under ambient (380 ppm) and elevated atmospheric CO₂ (700 ppm). We hypothesized that elevated atmospheric CO₂ would increase the abundance of both archaeal methanogen and bacterial methanotroph populations through stimulation of plant root and shoot biomass. We found that methane levels emitted from S. cyperinus shoots increased 1.5-fold under elevated CO₂, while no changes in methane levels were detected from P. arundincea. The increase in methane emissions was not explained by enhanced root or shoot growth of S. cyperinus. Principal components analysis of the total phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) recovered from microbial cell membranes revealed that elevated CO₂ levels shifted the composition of the microbial community under S. cyperinus, while no changes were detected under P. arundinacea. More detailed analysis of microbial abundance showed no impact of elevated CO₂ on a fatty acid indicative of methanotrophic bacteria (18:2ω6c), and no changes were detected in the terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) relative abundance profiles of acetate-utilizing archaeal methanogens. Plant carbon depleted in ¹³C was traced into the PLFAs of soil microorganisms as a measure of the plant contribution to microbial PLFA. The relative contribution of plant-derived carbon to PLFA carbon was larger in S. cyperinus compared with P. arundinacea in four PLFAs (i14:0, i15:0, a15:0, and 18:1ω9t). The δ¹³C isotopic values indicate that the contribution of plant-derived carbon to microbial lipids could differ in rhizospheres of CO₂-responsive plant species, such as S. cyperinus in this study. The results from this study show that the CO₂–methane link found in S. cyperinus can occur without a corresponding change in methanogen and methanotroph relative abundances, but PLFA analysis indicated shifts in the community profile of bacteria and fungi that were unique to rhizospheres under elevated CO₂.     

砀山酥梨不同程度缺铁叶片生长素抑制蛋白基因表达分析

以‘砀山酥梨’为材料,采用酶联免疫分析法(ELISA),测定叶片中内源IAA的含量.依据已构建的缺铁叶片SSH文库中生长素抑制蛋白(ARP)基因片段的序列信息,应用RACE技术克隆其cDNA全长,通过实时荧光定量(qRT-PCR)技术,分析ARP基因的相对表达量.结果表明:(1)ARP基因cDNA全长为707 bp,其中开放阅读框为351 bp,编码116个氨基酸,推测的蛋白质分子量为12.82 kD;该蛋白可能定位于微体,属于非分泌型、非跨膜蛋白类,并具有ARP基因家族的保守结构域.(2)在不同程度缺铁叶片中ARP基因的表达量存在差异,随着缺铁程度的增加,表达量显著升高,同时叶片中内源IAA含量逐渐降低.据此推测,ARP基因可能负反馈调节缺铁黄化叶片中IAA的水平,从而调控叶片的生长发育.     

痘病毒宿主范围因子及其作用机制研究进展

痘病毒是已知病毒中基因组最大、宿主谱最广和危害最严重的人兽共患病病原之一。随着病原和宿主互作的分子生物学、功能基因组学以及免疫学相关技术的发展,痘病毒宿主范围因子及其相关作用机制被相继发现和研究,这为痘病毒的组织嗜性和宿主特异性的阐明奠定了分子基础。本文将通过对脊椎动物重要痘病毒属主要成员的宿主范围因子及其作用机制的介绍,以加深对痘病毒的分子遗传演化、组织嗜性和跨宿主种间感染机制的理解和认识。     

黑文衣属地衣一新种——福建黑文衣

发现并描述黑文衣属一新种,即福建黑文衣Phaeographis fujianensis,该种含有牛皮衣酸,子囊孢子相对较小。提供了新种的拉丁文特征集要、中文描述和讨论以及特征照片。     

泌尿生殖道非淋菌性感染的病原学以及耐药性分析

目的：探究泌尿生殖道非淋茵性感染的病原学以及耐药性,指导临床合理用药。方法：对我院2006年3月．2011年12月确诊的2136例非淋菌性泌尿生殖道感染患者进行标本采集,对病原体及其耐药性进行检测分析。结果：淋茵感染泌尿生殖道病原茵主要为CT及支原体,男性患者CT感染率高于女性患者,女性患者支原体感染率高于男性患者,此外,念珠茵、滴虫及其他难以检出细菌亦属于致病病原茵的一种;在12种抗生素中,多西环素、米诺环素及交沙霉素敏感率较高,均〉80％,罗红霉素、红霉素及环丙沙星敏感度较低,均〈20％。结论：非淋茵感染泌尿生殖道病原菌主要为CT及支原体,男性患者CT感染率高于女性患者,女性患者支原体感染率高于男性患者,病原茵对多西环素、米诺环素及交沙霉素耐药性较低,但不同地域病原茵耐药性亦存在差异,应按照实际情况进行耐药性检测,指导临床合理用药。     

Evaluating Purifying Selection in the Mitochondrial DNA of Various Mammalian Species

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), the circular DNA molecule inside the mitochondria of all eukaryotic cells, has been shown to be under the effect of purifying selection in several species. Traditional testing of purifying selection has been based simply on ratios of nonsynonymous to synonymous mutations, without considering the relative age of each mutation, which can be determined by phylogenetic analysis of this non-recombining molecule. The incorporation of a mutation time-ordering from phylogeny and of predicted pathogenicity scores for nonsynonymous mutations allow a quantitative evaluation of the effects of purifying selection in human mtDNA. Here, by using this additional information, we show that purifying selection undoubtedly acts upon the mtDNA of other mammalian species/genera, namely Bos sp., Canis lupus, Mus musculus, Orcinus orca, Pan sp. and Sus scrofa. The effects of purifying selection were comparable in all species, leading to a significant major proportion of nonsynonymous variants with higher pathogenicity scores in the younger branches of the tree. We also derive recalibrated mutation rates for age estimates of ancestors of these various species and proposed a correction curve in order to take into account the effects of selection. Understanding this selection is fundamental to evolutionary studies and to the identification of deleterious mutations.     

阿维菌素对半闭弯尾姬蜂保护酶系和解毒酶系的影响

为明确阿维菌素对半闭弯尾姬蜂保护酶系和解毒酶系的影响,采用试管药膜法以阿维菌素亚致死浓度(LC10和LC25)处理半闭弯尾姬蜂成虫,分别于处理后1、12、24和48 h测定其体内保护酶和解毒酶活性变化。结果表明,阿维菌素亚致死浓度处理后,随着时间的延长,对寄生蜂体内超氧化物歧化酶(SOD)和过氧化物酶(POD)活性总体表现为诱导作用;对过氧化氢酶(CAT)活性表现为先抑制后诱导作用;对酯酶(EST)、谷胱甘肽S-转移酶(GST)和多功能氧化酶(MFO)具有显著的抑制作用。研究结果为深入了解半闭弯尾姬蜂对阿维菌素的防御机理提供了一定的理论基础。     

Access to Bacteriologic-Based Diagnosis in Smear Positive Retreatment Tuberculosis Patients in Rural China: A Cross-Sectional Study in Three Geographic Varied Provinces

Objective

To determine factors influencing the utilization and accessibility to bacteriologic-based tuberculosis (TB) diagnosis among sputum smear positive (SS+) retreatment TB patients, and to develop strategies for improving the case detection rate of MDR-TB in rural China.

Study Design and Setting

A cross-sectional study of SS+ TB retreatment patients was conducted in eight counties from three provinces with different implementation period and strategy of MDR-TB program in China. Demographic and socioeconomic parameters were collected by self-reporting questionnaires. Sputum samples were collected and cultured by the laboratory of county-designated TB clinics and delivered to prefectural Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) labs for DST with 4 first-line anti-TB drugs.

Results

Among the 196 SS+ retreatment patients, 61.22% received culture tests during current treatment. Patients from more developed regions (OR = 24.0 and 3.6, 95% CI: 8.6–67.3 and 1.1–11.6), with better socio-economic status (OR = 3. 8, 95% CI: 1.3–10.7), who had multiple previous anti-TB treatments (OR = 5.0, 95% CI: 1.6–15.9), and who failed in the most recent anti-TB treatment (OR = 2.6, 95% CI: 1.0–6.4) were more likely to receive culture tests. The percentage of isolates resistant to any of first-line anti-TB drugs and MDR-TB were 50.0% (95% CI: 39.8%-60.2%) and 30.4% (95% CI: 21.0%-39.8%) respectively.

Conclusions

Retreatment SS+ TB patients, high risk MDR-TB population, had poor utilization of access to bacteriologic-based TB diagnosis, which is far from optimal. The next step of anti-TB strategy should be focused on how to make bacteriological-based diagnosis cheaper, safer and more maneuverable, and how to assure the DST-guided treatment for these high-risk TB patients.