Robustness of Taylor’s law under spatial hierarchical groupings of forest tree samples

Testing how well Taylor's law (TL) describes spatial variation of the population density of a species requires grouping sampling areas (patches of habitat) into blocks so that a mean and a variance of the population density can be calculated over the patches in each block. The relationship between specific groupings and TL remains largely unknown. Here, using tree counts from a deciduous forest, we studied the effect of four biological methods of grouping sampling areas into blocks on the form and parameters of TL. Regardless of the method of grouping, the species-specific basal area densities obeyed TL, and the estimated slopes were not significantly different from one grouping method to another. Surprisingly, TL remained valid when four kinds of randomizations were performed to the biological groupings and tree census. These randomizations randomly assigned sampling areas to blocks, and/or randomized the species composition within or across sampling areas. We found that the form of TL was robust to different grouping methods and species randomizations, but its parameter values depended significantly on species compositions at sampling areas.     

Anaerobic ferrous oxidation by heterotrophic denitrifying enriched culture

Heterotrophic denitrifying enriched culture (DEC) from a lab-scale high-rate denitrifying reactor was discovered to perform nitrate-dependent anaerobic ferrous oxidation (NAFO). The DEC was systematically investigated to reveal their denitrification activity, their NAFO activity, and the predominant microbial population. The DEC was capable of heterotrophic denitrification with methanol as the electron donor, and autotrophic denitrification with ferrous salt as the electron donor named NAFO. The conversion ratios of ferrous-Fe and nitrate-N were 87.41 and 98.74 %, and the consumption Fe/N ratio was 2.3:1 (mol/mol). The maximum reaction velocity and half saturation constant of Fe were 412.54 mg/(l h) and 8,276.44 mg/l, and the counterparts of N were 20.87 mg/(l h) and 322.58 mg/l, respectively. The predominant bacteria were Hyphomicrobium, Thauera, and Flavobacterium, and the predominant archaea were Methanomethylovorans, Methanohalophilus, and Methanolobus. The discovery of NAFO by heterotrophic DEC is significant for the development of wastewater treatment and the biogeochemical iron cycle and nitrogen cycle.     

The long rod-shaped Sr2MgSi2O7:Eu2+,Dy3+ with ultrahigh afterglow performance

The afterglow properties of long afterglow luminescent materials are greatly affected by their defects, which are distributed on the grain surface. Increasing the exposed surface area is an important method to improve the afterglow performance. In this research, long rod-shaped long afterglow materials Sr₂MgSi₂O₇:Eu²⁺,Dy³⁺ were prepared using the hydrothermal-coprecipitation method. When the reaction time reached 96 h, the length of the afterglow materials could grow to 2 mm, and the sintering temperature was just 1150°C. The emission spectra of all obtained samples upon excitation at 397 nm had a maximum of 465 nm, which belonged to the representative transition of Eu²⁺. The initial brightness was 1.35 cd/m². The afterglow time could reach 19 h, giving a good afterglow performance. The research on this kind of material has essential significance in the exploration of luminescence mechanisms and their applications.     

A protocol for rapid isolation of flanking regions from short known sequences

We present a method for rapid isolation of flanking regions from amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) fragments based on thermal asymmetric interlaced (TAIL)-PCR, in which one sequence-specific primer and one degenerate primer derived from an conserved motif found in homologies of the known sequence were used. The final result showed this to be a simple and efficient strategy, especially for short known sequences containing coding regions. Moreover this protocol was especially useful for species with little available genome information such as Hongkong Kumquat (Fortunella hindsii), since most of their genes have known homologies in other species such asArabidopsis and rice.     

Design and synthesis of highly selective pyruvate dehydrogenase complex E1 inhibitors as bactericides

In order to obtain PDHc-E1 inhibitors with high selectivity and efficacy, four series (7, 12, 15, and 19) of 35 novel 4-aminopyrimidine derivatives were rationally designed and synthesized based on the binding site of ThDP in E. coli PDHc-E1. 12, 15, and 19 were confirmed to be potent inhibitors against E. coli PDHc-E1. Selected compounds 12g, 12i, 15f, and 19a showed negligible inhibition against porcine PDHc-E1. To understand their selectivity, the interaction of inhibitor and E. coli PDHc-E1 or porcine PDHc-E1 was studied by molecular docking. The newly introduced acylhydrazone and N-phenylbenzamide moieties could form stronger interaction by hydrogen bond at the active site of E. coli PDHc-E1 compared with that of porcine PDHc-E1. A part of title compounds as potent PDHc-E1 inhibitors also exhibited notable antibacterial activity. In particular, 12e, 12f, 12g, 12o, and 19a exhibited 72–92% inhibition against Xanthomonas oryzae pv. Oryzae and Ralstonia solanacearum at 100?μg/mL, which was better than thiodiazole-copper (34 and 29%, respectively) and bismerthiazol (56 and 55%, respectively). The results proved that we could obtain effective bactericidal compounds as highly selective PDHc inhibitors by rational molecular design utilizing the binding model of active site of E. coli PDHc-E1.     

SIAH2与P-ERK在乳腺癌中的表达及其临床意义

目的观察人乳腺细胞系及乳腺组织中SIAH2和P-ERK表达的变化,探讨乳腺癌中SIAH2与P-ERK的关联。方法应用免疫组织化学检测140例乳腺石蜡包埋组织中SIAH2和P-ERK的表达,Western blot检测人乳腺细胞系和23例乳腺浸润性导管癌及癌旁正常乳腺组织中SIAH2和P-ERK的蛋白表达情况,人乳腺癌细胞系表达SIAH2-siRNA后,P-ERK蛋白表达情况。结果乳腺癌中SIAH2和P-ERK阳性率与组织学分级相关(P<0.05),SIAH2和P-ERK呈正相关性。人乳腺癌细胞系以及乳腺癌组织中SIAH2和P-ERK蛋白表达量明显高于人乳腺正常上皮细胞系与癌旁正常乳腺组织中SIAH2和P-ERK蛋白表达量(P<0.05);表达SIAH2-siRNA的乳腺癌细胞系与对照组相比,P-ERK蛋白表达明显减少(P<0.05)。结论 SIAH2、P-ERK过表达与乳腺癌的组织学分级有关。在乳腺癌细胞系中抑制SIAH2表达后,P-ERK表达也减少,因此抑制SIAH2可以抑制ERK通路。     

Three novel homozygous mutations in the GNPTG gene that cause mucolipidosis type III gamma

Background

Mucolipidosis type III gamma (MLIII gamma) is an autosomal recessive disease caused by a mutation in the GNPTG gene, which encodes the γ subunit of the N-acetylglucosamine-1-phosphotransferase (GlcNAc-1-phosphotransferase). This protein plays a key role in the transport of lysosomal hydrolases to the lysosome.

Methods

Three Chinese children with typical skeletal abnormalities of MLIII were identified, who were from unrelated consanguineous families. After obtaining informed consent, genomic DNA was isolated from the patients and their parents. Direct sequencing of the GNPTG and GNPTAB genes was performed using standard PCR reactions.

Results

The three probands showed clinical features typical of MLIII gamma, such as joint stiffness and vertebral scoliosis without coarsened facial features. Mutation analysis of the GNPTG gene showed that three novel mutations were identified, two in exon seven [c.425G>A (p.Cys142Val)] and [c.515dupC (p.His172Profs27X)], and one in exon eight [c.609+1G>C]. Their parents were determined to be heterozygous carriers when compared to the reference sequence in GenBank on NCBI.

Conclusions

Mutation of the GNPTG gene is the cause of MLIII gamma in our patients. Our findings expand the mutation spectrum of the GNPTG gene and extend the knowledge of the phenotype–genotype correlation of the disease.