Phylum-Level Archaeal Distributions in the Sediments of Chinese Lakes With a Large Range of Salinity

Uncovering microbial diversity and their influencing factors is a primary goal for microbial ecology. In comparison with studies on bacterial diversity, limited is known about archaeal diversity and its response to influencing factors in lakes. Here, we investigated the archaeal community compositions (ACCs) and their correlation with spatial/environmental factors in the sediments from 38 Chinese lakes with a large range of salinity (0.2–363.1 g/l) and pairwise geographic distance (3–3656 km). Illumina-Miseq sequencing was employed to characterize the ACCs in the lakes samples. The results showed that Euryarchaeota, Bathyarchaeota, Thaumarchaeota, and Woesearchaeota were the dominant archaeal phyla in the studied samples, and they each can occur in the samples with a wide range of salinity (0.2–363.1 g/l) although their abundance was relatively low (<1%) in certain samples. The Thaumarchaeota and Woesearchaeota phyla dominated (up to 90% of total sequences) some lake sediments. Mantel test indicated that compositions of total archaeal community and the Euryarchaeota and Woesearchaeota populations were significantly (p < 0.05) correlated with geographic distance in the studied lake sediments. Salinity was the most important environmental factor influencing the compositions of the total archaeal community and the Euryarchaeota population, while it did not show significant influence on the distribution of the Woesearchaeota and Thaumarchaeota populations. Taken together, this survey expands our current knowledge on the ecology of lacustrine archaea and give clues for studying the archael role in biogeochemical cycles in lakes.     

High‐Throughput DNA sequencing of ancient wood

Reconstructing the colonization and demographic dynamics that gave rise to extant forests is essential to forecasts of forest responses to environmental changes. Classical approaches to map how population of trees changed through space and time largely rely on pollen distribution patterns, with only a limited number of studies exploiting DNA molecules preserved in wooden tree archaeological and subfossil remains. Here, we advance such analyses by applying high‐throughput (HTS) DNA sequencing to wood archaeological and subfossil material for the first time, using a comprehensive sample of 167 European white oak waterlogged remains spanning a large temporal (from 550 to 9,800 years) and geographical range across Europe. The successful characterization of the endogenous DNA and exogenous microbial DNA of 140 (~83%) samples helped the identification of environmental conditions favouring long‐term DNA preservation in wood remains, and started to unveil the first trends in the DNA decay process in wood material. Additionally, the maternally inherited chloroplast haplotypes of 21 samples from three periods of forest human‐induced use (Neolithic, Bronze Age and Middle Ages) were found to be consistent with those of modern populations growing in the same geographic areas. Our work paves the way for further studies aiming at using ancient DNA preserved in wood to reconstruct the micro‐evolutionary response of trees to climate change and human forest management.     

Imidazo[4,5-b]pyridine inhibitors of B-Raf kinase

This Letter details the synthesis and evaluation of imidazo[4,5-b]pyridines as inhibitors of B-Raf kinase. These compounds bind in a DFG-in, αC-helix out conformation of B-Raf, which is a binding mode associated with significant kinase selectivity. Structure–activity relationship studies involved optimization of the ATP-cleft binding region of these molecules, and led to compound 23, an inhibitor with excellent enzyme/cell potency, and kinase selectivity.     

海南岛甘什岭热带低地雨林棕榈藤空间点格局分析

以海南岛甘什岭热带低地雨林白藤(Calamus tetradactylus)、大白藤(C.faberii)、华南省藤(C.rhabdocladus)、黄藤(Daemonorops margaritae)和小钩叶藤(Plectocomia microstachys)5种棕榈藤种群为研究对象,采用点格局分析方法对棕榈藤种内和种间空间分布格局及相互关系进行分析。结果表明:(1)海南岛甘什岭热带低地雨林棕榈藤种群的空间格局与空间尺度有着密切的关系,在小尺度上,5种棕榈藤种群都更倾向于聚集分布,随着尺度的增长,各棕榈藤种群主要趋向于随机分布,形成不同的空间分布格局。(2)各藤种间的空间关联情况在整体尺度上表现出明显负关联的是白藤和黄藤、白藤和大白藤,这可能是因为它们对生存空间及养分的需求相同或相似,存在明显的竞争关系。(3)华南省藤和大白藤在整体尺度上表现出明显正关联,这可能是由于它们在生长过程中相互庇护,用于抵御动物捕食和热带雨林内多变的外部环境。(4)黄藤和小钩叶藤以及白藤和小钩叶藤呈现出明显不相关,这说明它们对环境和生存空间的依赖没有冲突性,能做到和平共存。     

人造血干/祖细胞多态性的研究:Ⅷ.人正常骨髓 CD34~ 造血细胞体视学的特征

人CD34~ 造血细胞是具有高度自我更新、多向分化及重建长期造血与免疫学功能的独特体细胞。为系统探索CD34~ 造血细胞的形态、细胞化学及超微结构特征,新近我们设计组合并建立了CIMS-100-FACS 440无菌二次分选术,可使所获CD34~ 造血细胞的纯度达100%。在此基础上,本研究采用Cambri-dge Quantimet 970全自动图像分析仪对光学显微镜、扫描电镜及透射电镜下的CD34~ 造血细胞进行了体视学方面的某些探讨,进一步从三维结构信息中深刻揭示CD34~ 造血细胞的形态计量学特征。经扫描→模数转换←阴影校正→图像暂存←统计分析等检测,结果表明:CD34~ 造血细胞的直径3.490—6.741μm,周长11.776—26.240μm,面积9.565—35.686μm~2,形状因子1.048—1.840,核浆比0.58—0.72,平均光密度0.17675—0.65100,积分光密度2717.217—9870.643。由此可见CD34~ 造血细胞的确为非均一细胞群,这可能与CD34~ 造血细胞的功能亚群与分化阶段密切相关。据我们所知,这是国际上首次有关人CD34~ 造血细胞体视学特征的报道。     

Pyrosequencing analysis of bacterial diversity in 14 wastewater treatment systems in china

To determine if there is a core microbial community in the microbial populations of different wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) and to investigate the effects of wastewater characteristics, operational parameters, and geographic locations on microbial communities, activated sludge samples were collected from 14 wastewater treatment systems located in 4 cities in China. High-throughput pyrosequencing was used to examine the 16S rRNA genes of bacteria in the wastewater treatment systems. Our results showed that there were 60 genera of bacterial populations commonly shared by all 14 samples, including Ferruginibacter, Prosthecobacter, Zoogloea, Subdivision 3 genera incertae sedis, Gp4, Gp6, etc., indicating that there is a core microbial community in the microbial populations of WWTPs at different geographic locations. The canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) results showed that the bacterial community variance correlated most strongly with water temperature, conductivity, pH, and dissolved oxygen (DO) content. Variance partitioning analyses suggested that wastewater characteristics had the greatest contribution to the bacterial community variance, explaining 25.7% of the variance of bacterial communities independently, followed by operational parameters (23.9%) and geographic location (14.7%). Results of this study provided insights into the bacterial community structure and diversity in geographically distributed WWTPs and discerned the relationships between bacterial community and environmental variables in WWTPs.     

Leaf epidermal features of Rhododendron (Ericaceae)from China and their systematic significance

Rhododendron is the largest genus within the subfamily Rhododendroideae, which has about 1000 known species in the world and more than 500 species in China. Since the genus was established by Linnaeus, its infrageneric relationships have been well studied by many taxonomists on the basis of morphological characters and molecular data. In 1996, Chamberlain et al. proposed a new system of Rhododendron with eight subgenera, i.e., Azaleastrum, Candidastrum, Hymenanthes, Mumeazalea, Pentanthera, Rhododendron, Therorhodion, and Tsutsusi. In this paper, micromorphological characters of leaf epidermis in 4 varieties, 48 species, 6 subgenera of Rhododendron from China were examined using light microscopy (LM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Leaf epidermal features are described and micromorphological types are distinguished here according to morphological characters such as scale, gland, foliar trichome and stomatal apparatus of leaf epidermis. It is shown that the leaf epidermal cells are usually irregular or polygonal in shape. The patterns of anticlinal walls are straight, arched or undulate. The stomatal apparatuses are anomocytic and are usually found on abaxial, not adaxial, epidermis. The results also show that: (1) the lepidote rhododendron (i.e., subgen. Rhododendron), which has both scales and papillae on leaf epidermis, differs distinctly from the elepidote rhododendron; (2) three types of leaf epidermis are identified in subgen. Hymenanthes (i.e., R. fortunei-type, R. chihsinianum-type and R. simiarum-type), whereas four in subgen. Tsutsusi (i.e., R. mariesii-type, R. simsii-type, R. mariae-type and R. flosculum-type); (3) except for R. westlandii and R. henryi, the species of subgen. Azaleastrum show similar morphological characters, i.e., dense stomatal apparatuses surrounded by ringed or discontinuous striates; (4) R. molle of subgen. Pentanthera differs from the species of other subgenera on morphological characters such as foliar trichomes, dense stomatal apparatuses with asymmetrical outer stomatal rims surrounded by undulate-striates, and no gland; (5) only R. redowskianum is found with distinct T-pieces at the polar region of guard cells in Rhododendron. The results support the conclusion inferred from molecular systematic studies that subgen. Therorhodion is the basal clade of Rhododendron. Finally, the relationships between the closely related species are also discussed on the basis of leaf epidermal features.     

Chemoattraction of macrophages, T lymphocytes, and mast cells is evolutionarily conserved within the human alpha-defensin family

Human defensins are natural peptide antibiotics. On the basis of the position and bonding of six conserved cysteine residues, they are divided into two families, designated alpha- and beta-defensins. Human alpha-defensins are expressed predominantly in neutrophils (human neutrophil peptides (HNP) 1-4) or intestinal Paneth cells (human defensins (HD) 5 and 6). Although alpha-defensins have been implicated in the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease, their immunomodulatory functions are poorly understood. In the present study, HNP-1, HNP-3, and HD5 were found to be potent chemotaxins for macrophages but not dendritic cells using Galphai proteins and MAPK as signal transducers. Alpha-defensins were also chemoattractive for the human mast cell line HMC-1 but lacked, in contrast to beta-defensins, the ability to induce intracellular calcium fluxes. Furthermore, HNP-1, HNP-3, and HD5 comparably mobilized naive as well as memory T lymphocytes. Using the protein kinase C (PKC) inhibitors GF109 and G?6976, we observed a PKC-independent functional desensitization to occur between human alpha-defensins, which suggests a common receptor for HNP-1, HNP-3, and HD5 on immune cells. This alpha-defensin receptor was subject to heterologous desensitization by the PKC activator PMA and to PKC-dependent cross-desensitization by human beta-defensins. Conversely, alpha-defensins desensitized beta-defensin-mediated migration of immune cells in a PKC-dependent manner, suggesting unique receptors for both defensin families. Taken together, our observations indicate that chemoattraction of macrophages, T lymphocytes, and mast cells represents an immunomodulatory function which is evolutionarily conserved within the human alpha-defensin family and tightly regulated by beta-defensins.     

Developmental exposure to noninherited maternal antigens induces CD4+ T regulatory cells: relevance to mechanism of heart allograft tolerance

We hypothesize that developmental exposure to noninherited maternal Ags (NIMA) results in alloantigen-specific natural and adaptive T regulatory (T(R)) cells. We compared offspring exposed to maternal H-2(d) (NIMA(d)) with nonexposed controls. In vitro assays did not reveal any differences in T cell responses pretransplant. Adoptive transfer assays revealed lower lymphoproliferation and greater cell surface TGF-beta expression on CD4(+) T cells of NIMA(d)-exposed vs control splenocytes. NIMA(d)-exposed splenocytes exhibited bystander suppression of tetanus-specific delayed-type hypersensitivity responses, which was reversed with Abs to TGF-beta and IL-10. Allospecific T effector cells were induced in all mice upon i.v. challenge with B6D2F1 splenocytes or a DBA/2 heart transplant, but were controlled in NIMA(d)-exposed mice by T(R) cells to varying degrees. Some (40%) NIMA(d)-exposed mice accepted a DBA/2 allograft while others (60%) rejected in delayed fashion. Rejector and acceptor NIMA(d)-exposed mice had reduced T effector responses and increased Foxp3(+) T(R) cells (CD4(+)CD25(+)Foxp3(+) T(R)) in spleen and lymph nodes compared with controls. The key features distinguishing NIMA(d)-exposed acceptors from all other mice were: 1) higher frequency of IL-10- and TGF-beta-producing cells primarily in the CD4(+)CD25(+) T cell subset within lymph nodes and allografts, 2) a suppressed delayed-type hypersensitivity response to B6D2F1 Ags, and 3) allografts enriched in LAP(+), Foxp3(+), and CD4(+) T cells, with few CD8(+) T cells. We conclude that the beneficial NIMA effect is due to induction of NIMA-specific T(R) cells during ontogeny. Their persistence in the adult, and the ability of the host to mobilize them to the graft, may determine whether NIMA-specific tolerance is achieved.     

Studies on the phospholipid composition of pathogenic cell membranes of Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae

The membrane phospholipid and fatty acid compositions of Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae, a pathogen of porcine enzootic pneumoniae isolated in China, was studied by thin-layer chromatography and gas chromatography. The results showed that membrane phospholipids consisted predominantly of diphosphatidylglycerol. The percentage of C16 - C18 fatty acids comprised 79% of the total fatty acids, of which oleic acid as well as palmitic acid are the major fatty acids. Some differences were shown in fatty acid composition as compared with membranes of other species of Mycoplasma.