羟自由基诱导的烟草原生质体的凋亡:流式细胞法的新证据

用1.0 mmol/L FeSO4/0.5 mmol/L H202处理烟草(Nicotiana tabacum L.cultivar BY 2)原生质体,发现羟自由基能够诱导烟草原生质体的凋亡.具体表现为细胞核皱缩、DNA Ladder、TUNEL阳性反应等典型的凋亡特征.在动物细胞凋亡过程中,线粒体起着非常重要的作用,其中膜电位(△ψm)的变化以及由其引起的位于线粒体膜上的通透性孔(PTP)的开放与Cyt c的释放有关.另外,在动物凋亡细胞中,磷脂酰丝氨酸(phosphatidyl serine,PS)会从细胞膜内侧向外翻转.为了判断植物细胞凋亡过程中膜电位的变化情况以及PS的外翻程度,我们采用了流式细胞法.结果表明,随着处理时间的延长,烟草原生质体线粒体的膜电位逐渐降低;膜内PS大量外翻.说明由羟自由基和烟草原生质体组成的凋亡体系是一种可靠的凋亡组合,可以用来对植物细胞凋亡机理做进一步研究.     

Relationships between biological soil crusts,bacterial diversity and abundance,and ecosystem functioning: Insights from a semi‐arid Mediterranean environment

Questions: To what degree do biological soil crusts (BSCs), which are regulators of the soil surface boundary, influence associated microbial communities? Are these associations important to ecosystem functioning in a Mediterranean semi‐arid environment? Location: Gypsum outcrops near Belmonte del Tajo, Central Spain. Methods: We sampled a total of 45 (50 cm × 50 cm) plots, where we estimated the cover of every lichen and BSC‐forming lichen species. We also collected soil samples to estimate bacterial species richness and abundance, and to assess different surrogates of ecosystem functioning. We used path analysis to evaluate the relationships between the richness/abundance of above‐ and below‐ground species and ecosystem functioning. Results: We found that the greatest direct effect upon the ecosystem function matrix was that of the biological soil crust (BSC) richness matrix. A few bacterial species were sensitive to the lichen community, with a disproportionate effect of Collema crispum and Toninia sedifolia compared to their low abundance and frequency. The lichens Fulgensia subbracteata and Toninia spp. also had negative effects on bacteria, while Diploschistes diacapsis consistently affected sensitive bacteria, sometimes positively. Despite these results, very few of the BSC effects on ecosystem function could be ascribed to changes within the bacterial community. Conclusion: Our results suggest the primary importance of the richness of BSC‐forming lichens as drivers of small‐scale changes in ecosystem functioning. This study provides valuable insights on semi‐arid ecosystems where plant cover is spatially discontinuous and ecosystem function in plant interspaces is regulated largely by BSCs.     

Retracted: Tusk shells in trouble? Physiology and behavior in response to changing temperature in a scaphopod (Mollusca: Scaphopoda: Dentaliida)

Scaphopods (tusk shells) are infaunal marine predators that occur at locally high densities in coastal and deep‐sea mud habitats, and as consumers of foraminifera they are important in carbon cycling. We investigated oxygen metabolism and burying behavior of the scaphopod Rhabdus rectius and its responses to altered temperatures. These are the first measurements of oxygen uptake rates for any member of this taxonomic class. In response to elevated temperatures, oxygen uptake rates increased, but the ability of animals to bury themselves in sediment was compromised. Female scaphopods were significantly larger than males and, when corrected for body mass, oxygen uptake rates were consistently higher for female individuals than for males. This is consistent with previous anecdotal observations of females in other scaphopod species being larger and potentially more active. In conditions of declining oxygen availability, individuals of Rhabdus rectius showed strong oxyregulatory ability by maintaining the same oxygen uptake rate displayed in normoxic conditions. The ability to maintain normal metabolic functioning even in conditions of oxygen limitation would benefit a species living in a benthic environment that may be prone to temporary or transient anoxic events. Yet the decrease in normal escape response in moderately elevated temperatures indicates these animals may be at risk from rising sea temperatures.     

Signs of stabilisation and stable coexistence

Many empirical studies motivated by an interest in stable coexistence have quantified negative density dependence, negative frequency dependence, or negative plant–soil feedback, but the links between these empirical results and ecological theory are not straightforward. Here, we relate these analyses to theoretical conditions for stabilisation and stable coexistence in classical competition models. By stabilisation, we mean an excess of intraspecific competition relative to interspecific competition that inherently slows or even prevents competitive exclusion. We show that most, though not all, tests demonstrating negative density dependence, negative frequency dependence, and negative plant–soil feedback constitute sufficient conditions for stabilisation of two‐species interactions if applied to data for per capita population growth rates of pairs of species, but none are necessary or sufficient conditions for stable coexistence of two species. Potential inferences are even more limited when communities involve more than two species, and when performance is measured at a single life stage or vital rate. We then discuss two approaches that enable stronger tests for stable coexistence‐invasibility experiments and model parameterisation. The model parameterisation approach can be applied to typical density‐dependence, frequency‐dependence, and plant–soil feedback data sets, and generally enables better links with mechanisms and greater insights, as demonstrated by recent studies.     

采用BS-Ⅱ大孔离子交换树脂分离低分子肝素

采用HNO2降解法,通过控制降解过程中的pH和时间裂解低分子肝素,并经大孔离子交换树脂BS-Ⅱ对其进行分离纯化,用质谱法对其相对分子质量进行分析。结果表明:在pH3.5、4 h的降解条件下,降解得到低分子肝素。在0.34 mol/L NaCl、pH8.5的条件下吸附,4 mol/L NaCl、pH8.5条件下洗脱,其吸附率达97.2%,纯化后的低分子肝素抗凝活性为34.41 U/mg,比纯化前提高1.36倍,效价回收率达到85.24%。质谱分析表明,纯化所得低分子肝素的平均相对分子质量为8 411,67.45%集中分布在7 000~9 000段。     

The importance of being kinked: role of Pro residues in the selectivity of the helical antimicrobial peptide P5

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are promising compounds for developing new antibiotic drugs against drug‐resistant bacteria. Many of them kill bacteria by perturbing their membranes but exhibit no significant toxicity towards eukaryotic cells. The identification of the features responsible for this selectivity is essential for their pharmacological development. AMPs exhibit few conserved features, but a statistical analysis of an AMP sequence database indicated that many α‐helical AMPs surprisingly have a helix‐breaking Pro residue in the middle of their sequence. To discriminate among the different possible hypotheses for the functional role of this feature, we designed an analogue of the antimicrobial peptide P5, in which the central Pro was deleted (analogue P5Del). Pro removal resulted in a dramatic increase of toxicity. This was explained by the observation that P5Del binds both charged and neutral membranes, whereas P5 has no appreciable affinity towards neutral bilayers. CD and simulative data provided a rationalization of this behavior. In solution P5, due to the presence of Pro, attains compact conformations, in which its apolar residues are partially shielded from the solvent, whereas P5Del is more helical. These structural differences reduce the hydrophobic driving force for association of P5 to neutral membranes, whereas its binding to anionic bilayers can still take place because of electrostatic attraction. After membrane binding, the Pro residue does not preclude the attainment of a membrane‐active amphiphilic helical conformation. These findings shed light on the role of Pro residues in the selectivity of AMPs and provide hints for the design of new, highly selective compounds. Copyright © 2013 European Peptide Society and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Palaeoctopus pelagicus from the Turonian of Mexico reinterpreted as a coelacanth (Sarcopterygian) gular plate

Abstract: The supposed vestige of a cephalopod gladius from Turonian platy limestones at Vallecillo, north‐east Mexico, named Palaeoctopus pelagicus by Fuchs et al. in 2008, is reinterpreted and shown to be a gular plate of a coelacanth fish, possibly of the genus Megacoelacanthus. In addition to the gular plate, two extrascapulars and fin rays of all fins are preserved on one slab and its counterpart. This is the first record of a coelacanth from these lower Turonian strata at Vallecillo, which are rich in fish.