Effects of post-fire conditions on soil respiration in boreal forests with special reference to Northeast China forests

Forest fires frequently occur in boreal forests, and their effects on forest ecosystems are often significant in terms of carbon flux related to climate changes. Soil respiration is the second largest carbon flux in boreal forests and the change in soil respiration is not negligible. Environmental factors controlling the soil respiration, for example, soil temperature, are altered by such fires. The abnormal increase in soil temperature has an important negative effect on soil microbes by reducing their activities or even by killing them directly with strong heat. On the other hand, although vegetation is directly disturbed by fires, the indirect changes in soil respiration are followed by changes in root activities and soil microbes. However, there is very limited information on soil respiration in the forests of Northeast China. This review, by combining what is known about fire influence on soil respiration in boreal forests from previous studies of post-fire effects on soil conditions, soil microbes, and forest regeneration, presents possible scenarios of the impact of anticipated post-fire changes in forest soil respiration in Northeast China.     

中国东北地区兴安落叶松林树干呼吸的研究

树干呼吸是森林碳平衡估计中的一个重要项目同时还能够显示树木的活力。对于如何准确估计森林树干呼吸释放CO2总量还存在争论。在本项研究中,2001、2002连续两年在一个33年生的兴安落叶松(Larix gmelini Rupr.)人工林内对树干呼吸进行了测定,同时测定了不同高度树干呼吸、呼吸的日变化、同龄落叶松林内不同个体的树干呼吸以及相关生长状态因子、水分因子和温度因子。结果显示：1)树干上部的呼吸速率在不同季节都高于下部呼吸速率,树下温度的差异能够一定程度上解释这种差异;2)树干呼吸有午间降低的现象,上午的测定结果树干温度与树干呼吸速率紧密相关,而下午则温度依赖性很小,土壤、空气、小枝木质部水势、叶片蒸腾速率和气孔导度都显示下午植物水分亏缺下午较上午严重,呼吸的这种上下午温度相关性的差异可能受这种水分亏缺的影响;3)在同龄林内,树木个体生长状念包括平均生长速率和树冠投影面积与树干呼吸速率有显著相关关系,而树干温度与之相关性很小。幂指数模型和S曲线模型能够产生较好的拟合效果;4)树干呼吸季节变化明显,7月份出现最大值,但同一月份的年间差异较大。自然指数模型能够较好地拟合温度与树干呼吸的季节变化规律。Q10值在2．22(2001年)和3．53(2002年)之间,与以往研究的结果相当。从以上结果可以看出,通过单一的Q10值估计森林树干呼吸总量会产牛偏差,要想得到准确的估计,至少应该考虑生长状态的差异和水分状态的差异。     

Superoxide anion increases intracellular pH, intracellular free calcium, and arachidonate release in human amnion cells.

We determined the effects of superoxide anion, produced by addition of xanthine oxidase to hypoxanthine, on the intracellular pH (pHi) and intracellular free calcium concentration ([Ca2+]i) and release of arachidonate in human cultured amnion cells. Superoxide anion induced a prompt increase of pHi and subsequent increase of [Ca2+]i. The evoked pHi was inhibited by pretreatment with anion channel blockers but not affected by omission of extracellular Na+ or addition of amiloride. The increase of [Ca2+]i was inhibited significantly by the absence of extracellular calcium or by the addition of a calcium channel blocker, cobalt. NH4Cl, which can generally increase pHi, also increased [Ca2+]i of amnion cells. But the increase of [Ca2+]i induced by the NH4Cl was significantly less than that induced by the amount of superoxide anion causing a similar increase in pHi. These results show that superoxide anion, crossed through anion channel in membrane, increased [Ca2+]i at least partially via increase of pHi and that the calcium mobilization was dependent on both extracellular and intracellular sources. Superoxide anion induced the release of arachidonate in a dose-dependent manner and this induction was inhibited by omission of extracellular calcium. These data suggest that the release of arachidonate was dependent on the increase of [Ca2+]i. We also determined the viability of cells in the presence of superoxide anion by flow cytometry. Superoxide anion at the levels used in these experiments did not change the percentage of viable cells. These findings suggested that superoxide anion may regulate biological functions in amnion cells via pHi, [Ca2+]i mobilization, and the release of arachidonate without damaging the cells.     

Hepatic collagenolytic activity in rats after carbon tetrachloride poisoning

1. Collagenolytic activity towards acid-soluble collagen labelled with [(14)C]-proline was assayed in rat liver with and without carbon tetrachloride poisoning. The products of enzymic digestion were found to be free amino acids and peptides. 2. The hepatic collagenolytic activity increased under conditions of single-dose and subacute carbon tetrachloride poisoning, and correlated with hydroxyproline content. The highest activity was found during recovery from subacute poisoning. 3. Under the same experimental conditions, hepatic acid-proteinase activity changed independently of the collagenolytic activity and also of hepatic hydroxyproline content. 4. The increased collagenolytic activity during carbon tetrachloride poisoning was found mainly in the supernatant fraction. 5. The ratio of the collagenolytic activity to hepatic hydroxyproline content increased during recovery from single-dose and subacute poisoning, and decreased during subacute poisoning.     

Radioimmunoassay of nivalenol in barley

Antibodies against nivalenol (NIV) tetraacetate (Tetra-Ac-NIV) were prepared by immunizing rabbits with a hemisuccinate derivative of 8-hydroxy-3,4,7,15-tetraacetyl-12, 13-epoxytrichothece-9-en conjugated to bovine serum albumin. A radioimmunoassay system with one of these sera was developed to measure NIV contamination in barley. The detection limit for Tetra-Ac-NIV was about 0.5 ng/ml. The relative cross-reactivities of the antiserum with Tetra-Ac-NIV, acetyl T-2 toxin, and scirpenol triacetate, which were determined by the competitive radioimmunoassay, were 1, 0.78, and 0.56, respectively. Other derivatives showed no cross-reactivity. For the determination of NIV in a barley sample, NIV was extracted from the sample with acetonitrile-water (7:3), defatted with hexane, and then acetylated with acetic anhydride to form Tetra-Ac-NIV. The reaction mixture was loaded onto a C18 cartridge to remove excess reagents and impurities. Tetra-Ac-NIV was eluted from the cartridge with 50% methanol in water, and the eluate was subjected to radioimmunoassay. Analysis of six naturally contaminated barley samples for NIV revealed that radioimmunoassay results agreed well with gas chromatographic analyses.     

Deletion mutagenesis of stem cell factor defines the C-terminal sequences essential for its biological activity.

We constructed a series of murine stem cell factor (mSCF) cDNAs which were sequentially truncated at the 3' termini. The resultant six mutant cDNA encode N-terminal 183, 179, 162, 149, 142 and 133 amino acid residues of the mature mSCF protein fused to the heterogeneous C-terminal peptides derived from the linker sequences. Each mutant cDNA was transiently expressed in COS cells, and the cultured supernatant was assayed for its ability to support the growth of a human factor-dependent cell line, TF-1 and to enhance colony formation by murine hematopoietic progenitor cells. The results showed that as few as N-terminal 142 but not 133 amino acid residues of mSCF remained biologically active in vitro, suggesting that the region of 9 amino acids from Asp134 to Ser142 containing a Cys138-mediated disulfide bond may contribute to the C-terminal end of the active subdomain of mSCF.     

Mercuric and cadmium ions stimulate phosphorylation of band 4.2 protein on human erythrocyte membranes

In this study, we found that Hg2+ and Cd2+ enhanced the phosphorylation of human erythrocyte membranous proteins, especially band 4.2 protein, which was hardly phosphorylated in the absence of the metal ions. p-Chloromercuribenzenesulfonate and p-chloromercuribenzoate had effects similar to those of Hg2+ and Cd2+ on band 4.2 protein phosphorylation, while other metal ions and sulfhydryl agents, such as N-ethylmaleimide, 5,5'-dithiobis-(2-nitrobenzoic acid), or iodoacetate, did not. The Hg2+-stimulated phosphorylation of band 4.2 protein required a millimolar concentration of Mg2+, and it was inhibited by Ca2+ dose-dependently. Phosphoserine was identified from a hydrolysate of the phosphorylated band 4.2 protein by high-voltage electrophoresis. A specific protein inhibitor against cAMP-dependent protein kinase decreased the Hg2+-stimulated phosphorylation of band 4.2 protein. This protein had more binding sites for 203Hg2+ than any other membrane proteins. A spectrin complex from the Hg2+-treated membranes contained the band 4.2 protein, which was not detected in the complex from untreated membranes. Furthermore, protein kinase, which could phosphorylate the band 4.2 protein, was also contained in the cytoskeletal fraction from the Hg2+-treated membranes. These results suggest that Hg2+ may bind certain sulfhydryl groups of band 4.2 and other proteins to make band 4.2 protein susceptible to the endogenous cAMP-dependent protein kinase.     

Antiphonal Vocalization of a Subterranean Rodent, the Naked Mole-Rat (Heterocephalus glaber)

Acoustic signalling is one of the most common communication mediums in a broad range of social animals, and it often encodes attributes of the signaller such as sex, kin relatedness and dominance rank. Particularly, antiphonal vocalization has been regarded to have an important function in animals living in an environment where visual cues are unreliable. Antiphony enables to acknowledge that one's signal was received with certainty. We show the first evidence of such acoustic signals among rodents: the naked mole‐rat. The society of this eusocial subterranean species is organized hierarchically according to body size. Naked mole‐rats are functionally blind, and rely highly on acoustic communication. We focused on one of their vocalizations: the soft chirp (SC). SCs are the most frequent sounds, and are often emitted upon physical contact. We expected the SC to be antiphonal, and if so, SC may function to distinguish colony members from intruders, and/or identify social rank and individuality. To examine our predictions, we placed pairs of individuals of different size together, and recorded their vocal behaviour. The intervals between the SCs of two individuals were shorter than expected intervals which were based on the assumption that animals vocalized without reference of the preceding SC. The acoustic properties of SCs varied among individuals according to body weight and colony of origin. The emission rate was positively related to the relative difference in body weight. Therefore, SCs have an antiphonal nature and may function as expected. These characteristics of SC were highly similar to those of antiphonal sounds in other social species.