不同种植年限猕猴桃园土壤微生物功能多样性研究

陕西秦岭北麓是世界上最大的猕猴桃生产基地,长期相对单一的果树种植方式导致不同种植年限果园土壤微生态环境差异。研究猕猴桃园土壤微生物功能多样性随种植年限的变化特征,为果园土壤科学管理提供参考。采集不同种植年限猕猴桃根际土壤,应用平板菌落计数法和Biolog-Eco法研究土壤微生物的数量、种群以及功能多样性,并对土壤微生物功能多样性与土壤养分的相关性进行分析。结果显示,猕猴桃园土壤可培养微生物以细菌为主,其次是放线菌,真菌数量最少。随着种植年限的增加,细菌和放线菌数量显著降低,而真菌数量显著升高。微生物平均颜色变化率(average well-color development,AWCD)、微生物群落Shannon-Wiener指数(H′)、Simpson指数(D)及McIntosh指数(U)均随种植年限的增加而显著降低。主成分分析显示,不同种植年限猕猴桃园土壤微生物碳源利用特征明显不同,0～5 a、5～10 a和10～20 a的猕猴桃园土壤微生物群落分别被划分在载荷图的第一、第四和第三象限。猕猴桃园土壤微生物对糖类、氨基酸类和酯类的利用率相对较高,而对醇类、胺类和酸类的利用率相对较低。对第1主成分贡献大的碳源(|r|≥0.5)有11种,其中糖类占36%,氨基酸类和酯类均占18%。土壤微生物功能多样性与土壤养分相关性分析表明,土壤微生物功能多样性与土壤有机质正相关,与有效磷和速效钾负相关。结果表明,随种植年限的增加,猕猴桃园土壤微生物的数量和结构发生变化,微生物功能多样性降低,对碳源利用能力降低。鉴于土壤微生物功能多样性与土壤养分的相关性,应合理加大有机肥施用量,适量减少有效磷和速效钾的施用量。     

Incorporating experimental design and error into coalescent/mutation models of population history

Coalescent theory provides a powerful framework for estimating the evolutionary, demographic, and genetic parameters of a population from a small sample of individuals. Current coalescent models have largely focused on population genetic factors (e.g., mutation, population growth, and migration) rather than on the effects of experimental design and error. This study develops a new coalescent/mutation model that accounts for unobserved polymorphisms due to missing data, sequence errors, and multiple reads for diploid individuals. The importance of accommodating these effects of experimental design and error is illustrated with evolutionary simulations and a real data set from a population of the California sea hare. In particular, a failure to account for sequence errors can lead to overestimated mutation rates, inflated coalescent times, and inappropriate conclusions about the population. This current model can now serve as a starting point for the development of newer models with additional experimental and population genetic factors. It is currently implemented as a maximum-likelihood method, but this model may also serve as the basis for the development of Bayesian approaches that incorporate experimental design and error.     

Introduction of Mysis relicta (Mysida) reduces niche segregation between deep-water Arctic charr morphs

Hydrobiologia - Understanding the concordance between aquatic assemblages in ecological assessments and their responses to human-induced disturbances are fundamental steps toward achieving...     

Contrasting patterns in trophic niche evolution of polymorphic Arctic charr populations in two subarctic Norwegian lakes

Hydrobiologia - Lipid biomarkers in sediments, which are indicative of biological production, provide important information regarding the environmental conditions in and around lakes, and can be...     

Exploring trophic niches and parasite communities of sympatric Arctic charr and brown trout populations of southern Norway

Hydrobiologia - Catchment-scale variation between lake habitats has the potential to simultaneously influence the trophic niche and parasite community of fish hosts. In this study, we investigated...     

Residues within the N-terminal domain of human topoisomerase I play a direct role in relaxation

All eukaryotic forms of DNA topoisomerase I contain an extensive and highly charged N-terminal domain. This domain contains several nuclear localization sequences and is essential for in vivo function of the enzyme. However, so far no direct function of the N-terminal domain in the in vitro topoisomerase I reaction has been reported. In this study we have compared the in vitro activities of a truncated form of human topoisomerase I lacking amino acids 1-206 (p67) with the full-length enzyme (p91). Using these enzyme forms, we have identified for the first time a direct role of residues within the N-terminal domain in modulating topoisomerase I catalysis, as revealed by significant differences between p67 and p91 in DNA binding, cleavage, strand rotation, and ligation. A comparison with previously published studies showing no effect of deleting the first 174 or 190 amino acids of topoisomerase I (Stewart, L., Ireton, G. C., and Champoux, J. J. (1999) J. Biol. Chem. 274, 32950-32960; Bronstein, I. B., Wynne-Jones, A., Sukhanova, A., Fleury, F., Ianoul, A., Holden, J. A., Alix, A. J., Dodson, G. G., Jardillier, J. C., Nabiev, I., and Wilkinson, A. J. (1999) Anticancer Res. 19, 317-327) suggests a pivotal role of amino acids 191-206 in catalysis. Taken together the presented data indicate that at least part(s) of the N-terminal domain regulate(s) enzyme/DNA dynamics during relaxation most probably by controlling non-covalent DNA binding downstream of the cleavage site either directly or by coordinating DNA contacts by other parts of the enzyme.     

The importance of structural transitions of the switch II region for the functions of elongation factor Tu on the ribosome

Elongation factor Tu (EF-Tu) undergoes a large conformational transition when switching from the GTP to GDP forms. Structural changes in the switch I and II regions in the G domain are particularly important for this rearrangement. In the switch II region, helix alpha2 is flanked by two glycine residues: Gly(83) in the consensus element DXXG at the N terminus and Gly(94) at the C terminus. The role of helix alpha2 was studied by pre-steady-state kinetic experiments using Escherichia coli EF-Tu mutants where either Gly(83), Gly(94), or both were replaced with alanine. The G83A mutation slows down the association of the ternary complex EF-Tu.GTP.aminoacyl-tRNA with the ribosome and abolishes the ribosome-induced GTPase activity of EF-Tu. The G94A mutation strongly impairs the conformational change of EF-Tu from the GTP- to the GDP-bound form and decelerates the dissociation of EF-Tu.GDP from the ribosome. The behavior of the double mutant is dominated by the G83A mutation. The results directly relate structural transitions in the switch II region to specific functions of EF-Tu on the ribosome.     

Use of cryopreserved peripheral mononuclear blood cells in biomonitoring

This study was performed to investigate the effect of storing blood samples by freezing on selected biomarkers and possible implications for biomonitoring. Comparative measurements were performed in order to investigate the use of cryopreserved vs. freshly separated peripheral mononuclear blood cells (PMBC) obtained from donor blood. Measurements of DNA-repair, mutant frequency, and subcell content were included. Samples for large biomonitoring studies are usually taken from study groups within a short time period of days/weeks and storing of study material for later analysis can be necessary. We measured the DNA repair activity as dimethylsulfate induced unscheduled DNA synthesis (UDS) in PMBC incubated with either autologous plasma or fetal bovine serum (FBS). Comparison of the hprt mutant frequency by the T cell cloning assay was made in parallel. Finally the content of B/T-lymphocytes and monocytes was measured in phytohemaglutinin (PHA)-stimulated cultures at different time intervals. The results showed a higher DNA repair activity in cryopreserved samples compared with fresh samples. We also found differences in mutant frequencies with higher values in fresh samples. A significant correlation of frequencies was seen when comparing fresh with cryopreserved samples. Furthermore we recommend fresh human plasma used in UDS incubation media.     

穿山甲主要食物营养成分研究

穿山甲（Ｍａｎｉｓｐｅｎｔａｄａｃｔｙｌａ）为国家Ⅱ级保护动物,主要分布于长江以南各省区的丘陵山地。由于穿山甲被视为滋补和药用珍品,又无有效的保护措施,遭到乱捕滥猎;加上山地林木被砍伐,使穿山甲的衍生地不断减少,目前各地区穿山甲资源都面临绝境。因此,研究穿山甲的繁衍已十分必要和迫切。近年来,许多学者进行过人工养殖的研究（顾文仪,１９８３;梁庭敏,１９９６）,但迄今均没有完全成功的先例,其中关键的因素是穿山甲的人工食物难以解决。配制的人工混合饲料,往往造成穿山甲拒食或不适应,患胃肠疾病死亡。因此,…