Cryptic phenology in plants: Case studies,implications, and recommendations

Plant phenology—the timing of cyclic or recurrent biological events in plants—offers insight into the ecology, evolution, and seasonality of plant‐mediated ecosystem processes. Traditionally studied phenologies are readily apparent, such as flowering events, germination timing, and season‐initiating budbreak. However, a broad range of phenologies that are fundamental to the ecology and evolution of plants, and to global biogeochemical cycles and climate change predictions, have been neglected because they are “cryptic”—that is, hidden from view (e.g., root production) or difficult to distinguish and interpret based on common measurements at typical scales of examination (e.g., leaf turnover in evergreen forests). We illustrate how capturing cryptic phenology can advance scientific understanding with two case studies: wood phenology in a deciduous forest of the northeastern USA and leaf phenology in tropical evergreen forests of Amazonia. Drawing on these case studies and other literature, we argue that conceptualizing and characterizing cryptic plant phenology is needed for understanding and accurate prediction at many scales from organisms to ecosystems. We recommend avenues of empirical and modeling research to accelerate discovery of cryptic phenological patterns, to understand their causes and consequences, and to represent these processes in terrestrial biosphere models.     

刺五加皂苷合成关键酶基因表达的半定量RT-PCR分析

根据已克隆的刺五加鲨烯合酶(squalene synthase,SS)、鲨烯环氧酶(squalene epoxidase,SE)和β-香树酯醇合成酶(β-amyrin synthase,bAS)基因序列信息设计引物,通过半定量RT-PCR分析了SS、SE和bAS基因在刺五加不同生长发育时期和不同器官中表达量的变化.结果表明,SS、SE和bAS基因在各生长发育时期和各器官中均有表达,但表达量差异显著(P<0.05),三者均在盛花期表达量最高,之后降低,进入果实成熟期后SS和bAS的表达量迅速回升,SE无显著变化.SS和bAS在叶片和根中的表达量较高,SE表达量的最大值出现在叶片和幼茎中.刺五加SS、SE和bAS基因的表达间存在显著的正相关关系(P<0.05).研究结果为进一步分析关键酶基因对刺五加三萜皂苷生物合成的影响奠定了基础.     

硬覆盖对土壤水热传输及作物生长发育影响的试验研究

河北省盐渍区农业水资源非常紧缺 ,农业节水势在必行。覆盖保摘技术是农田节水管理的重要措施之一 ,国内外对此有过不少研究报道。但多集中在地膜、秸秆、砂砾和化学喷涂等覆盖材料上 ,这些覆盖材料在使用中有种种不理想之处 ,如地膜覆盖容易造成残膜的“白色污染” ,并且使用年限短 ,降水不易入渗 ,中耕、除草、施肥困难 ,使作物抗病力差等[1 ] ;秸秆覆盖容易使秸秆中的毒素物质与作物间发生生化它感现象 ,影响作物生长[2 ] 。化学喷涂除了不利于农事作业外 ,还可能造成土壤污染。为此 ,我们在中国科学院南皮试区盐渍土上试用了一种新型覆…     

Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) interacts with Bim and inhibits Bim-mediated apoptosis

The pro-apoptotic Bcl-2 family member Bim acts as a sensor for apoptotic stimuli and initiates apoptosis through the mitochondrial pathway. To identify novel regulators of Bim, we employed the yeast two-hybrid system and isolated the human gene encoding macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF), a ubiquitously expressed proinflammatory mediator that has also been implicated in cell proliferation, the cell cycle and carcinogenesis. The interaction between MIF and Bim was confirmed by both in vitro and in vivo protein interaction assays. Intriguingly, protein complexes between MIF and the three major Bim isoforms (BimEL/BimL/BimS) could be detected in HEK293 and K562 cells, especially in cells undergoing apoptosis. Moreover, exogenous expression of MIF partially inhibited Bim-induced apoptosis in HEK293 cells. SiRNA-mediated knockdown of MIF increased apoptosis in K562 cells exposed to the chemical oxidant diamide. Endogenous MIF may regulate the pro-apoptotic activity of Bim and inhibit the release of cytochrome c from mitochondria.     

重寄生真菌盾壳霉pH信号通路中Pal相关基因的功能鉴定

【目的】研究pH信号通路(Pal)在重寄生真菌盾壳霉与寄主核盘菌互作过程中的作用。【方法】从盾壳霉全基因组信息中分析获得了6个Pal相关基因CmpalA、CmpalB、CmpalC、CmpalF、CmpalH和CmpalI的全编码序列和氨基酸序列,通过PEG介导的原生质转化技术获得了CmpalA、CmpalB、CmpalC、CmpalF和CmpalH等5个基因的敲除突变体,分析这些敲除突变体与野生型在菌落培养性状、重寄生能力、降解草酸能力、产生抗真菌物质能力等方面的差异。【结果】与野生型相比,在pH 6–8的条件下,5个Pal相关基因敲除突变体的菌丝生长受到显著抑制,这说明缺失Pal相关基因使盾壳霉对高pH值环境更加敏感。菌核重寄生试验发现5个Pal相关基因敲除突变体的重寄生能力均显著低于野生型。qRT-PCR试验结果表明,敲除Pal相关基因之后导致重寄生相关酶基因Cmch1、Cmg1和Cmsp1的表达量显著降低,而且pH信号通路下游的CmpacC基因的表达量也显著降低。Pal相关基因敲除突变体在pH 6条件下对草酸盐的降解能力显著高于野生型,同时这5个突变体在pH 8条件下产生抗真菌物质能力也显著高于野生型。【结论】pH信号通路相关基因的缺失影响盾壳霉对环境pH的响应。pH信号通路在盾壳霉与核盘菌互作中发挥重要作用,不仅影响盾壳霉的重寄生作用,而且还影响盾壳霉的草酸降解作用和抗真菌作用。     

Structure insights into mechanisms of ATP hydrolysis and the activation of human heat-shock protein 90

The activation of molecular chaperone heat-shock protein 90 (Hsp90) is dependent on ATP binding and hydrolysis, which occurs in the N-terminal domains of protein. Here, we have determined three crystal structures of the N-terminal domain of human Hsp90 in native and in complex with ATP and ATP analog, providing a clear view of the catalytic mechanism of ATP hydrolysis by Hsp90. Additionally, the binding of ATP leads the N-terminal domains to be an intermediate state that could be used to partially explain why the isolated N-terminal domain of Hsp90 has very weak ATP hydrolytic activity.     

Oxidative stress and NF-κB signaling are involved in LPS induced pulmonary dysplasia in chick embryos

Inflammation or dysbacteriosis-derived lipopolysaccharides (LPS) adversely influence the embryonic development of respiratory system. However, the precise pathological mechanisms still remain to be elucidated. In this study, we demonstrated that LPS exposure caused lung maldevelopment in chick embryos, including higher embryo mortality, increased thickness of alveolar gas exchange zone, and accumulation of PAS⁺ immature pulmonary cells, accompanied with reduced expression of alveolar epithelial cell markers and lamellar body count. Upon LPS exposure, pulmonary cell proliferation was significantly altered and cell apoptosis was inhibited as well, indicating a delayed progress of pulmonary development. LPS treatment also resulted in reduced CAV-1 expression and up-regulation of Collagen I, suggesting increased lung fibrosis, which was verified by Masson staining. Moreover, LPS induced enhanced Nrf2 expression in E18 lungs, and the increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) production was confirmed in MLE-12 cells in vitro. Antioxidant vitamin C restored the LPS induced down-regulation of ABCA3, SP-C and GATA-6 in MLE-12 cells. Furthermore, LPS induced activation of NF-κB signaling in MLE-12 cells, and the LPS-induced decrease in SP-C expression was partially abrogated by blocking NF-κB signaling with Bay-11–7082. Bay-11–7082 also inhibited LPS-induced increases of ROS and Nrf2 expression. Taken together, we have demonstrated that oxidative stress and NF-κB signaling are involved in LPS induced disruption of pulmonary cell development in chick embryos.     

A global alfalfa diversity panel reveals genomic selection signatures in Chinese varieties and genomic associations with root development

Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) is an important forage crop worldwide. However, little is known about the effects of breeding status and different geographical populations on alfalfa improvement. Here, we sequenced 220 alfalfa core germplasms and determined that Chinese alfalfa cultivars form an independent group, as evidenced by comparisons of F_ST values between different subgroups, suggesting that geographical origin plays an important role in group differentiation. By tracing the influence of geographical regions on the genetic diversity of alfalfa varieties in China, we identified 350 common candidate genetic regions and 548 genes under selection. We also defined 165 loci associated with 24 important traits from genome-wide association studies. Of those, 17 genomic regions closely associated with a given phenotype were under selection, with the underlying haplotypes showing significant differences between subgroups of distinct geographical origins. Based on results from expression analysis and association mapping, we propose that 6-phosphogluconolactonase (MsPGL) and a gene encoding a protein with NHL domains (MsNHL) are critical candidate genes for root growth. In conclusion, our results provide valuable information for alfalfa improvement via molecular breeding.     

Polymorphisms of interferon-inducible genes OAS-1 and MxA associated with SARS in the Vietnamese population

We hypothesized that host antiviral genes induced by type I interferons might affect the natural course of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). We analyzed single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of 2',5'-oligoadenylate synthetase 1 (OAS-1), myxovirus resistance-A (MxA), and double-stranded RNA-dependent protein kinase in 44 Vietnamese SARS patients with 103 controls. The G-allele of non-synonymous A/G SNP in exon 3 of OAS-1 gene showed association with SARS (p=0.0090). The G-allele in exon 3 of OAS-1 and the one in exon 6 were in strong linkage disequilibrium and both of them were associated with SARS infection. The GG genotype and G-allele of G/T SNP at position -88 in the MxA gene promoter were found more frequently in hypoxemic group than in non-hypoxemic group of SARS (p=0.0195). Our findings suggest that polymorphisms of two IFN-inducible genes OAS-1 and MxA might affect susceptibility to the disease and progression of SARS at each level.     

G蛋白偶联受体突变及其相关疾病

G蛋白偶联受体（GPCR）是最大的蛋白质受体超家族之一,参与调节各种生理过程,在信号识别和转导中起重要作用。GPCR的突变及基因多态性将引发各种疾病,目前已经发现有30多种单基因疾病与此相关。介绍了GPCR功能失调的分子基础,在此基础上对一些GPCR突变以及相关疾病做了综逑,并指出了其治疗意义。