Variation in egg mass within two Atlantic herring Clupea harengus stocks

The main objective of this study was to investigate if egg size (mass) at spawning is invariant for Scotia-Fundy summer and autumn (SFSH) and Icelandic summer (ISSH) spawning herring Clupea harengus. Oocyte dry mass measurements for SFSH females collected in 2001 and ISSH females collected in 1999 and 2000 showed a large variation. Difference in egg dry mass among fish was found to vary by as much as twofold in each stock. For ISSH, variation in egg mass was also apparent from oocyte volume measurements made jointly with a histological examination of the ovaries. Approximately 20% of the variation in egg mass could be explained by maternal whole-body mass or total length, indicating that length or age composition in the stocks can potentially influence the recruitment success. This implies that fisheries management strategies should aim to maintain a broad range in age composition.     

Comparison of the Morphology Development of Polymer–Fullerene and Polymer–Polymer Solar Cells during Solution‐Shearing Blade Coating

In this work, the detailed morphology studies of polymer poly(3‐hexylthiophene‐2,5‐diyl) (P3HT):fullerene(PCBM) and polymer(P3HT):polymer naphthalene diimide thiophene (PNDIT) solar cell are presented to understand the challenge for getting high performance all‐polymer solar cells. The in situ X‐ray scattering and optical interferometry and ex situ hard and soft X‐ray scattering and imaging techniques are used to characterize the bulk heterojunction (BHJ) ink during drying and in dried state. The crystallization of P3HT polymers in P3HT:PCBM bulk heterojunction shows very different behavior compared to that of P3HT:PNDIT BHJ due to different mobilities of P3HT in the donor:acceptor glass. Supplemented by the ex situ grazing incidence X‐ray diffraction and soft X‐ray scattering, PNDIT has a lower tendency to form a mixed phase with P3HT than PCBM, which may be the key to inhibit the donor polymer crystallization process, thus creating preferred small phase separation between the donor and acceptor polymer.     

cDNA Microarray Analysis Revealing Candidate Biomineralization Genes of the Pearl Oyster, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pinctada fucata martensii</Emphasis>

Biomineralization is a common biological phenomenon resulting in strong tissue, such as bone, tooth, and shell. Pinctada fucata martensii is an ideal animal for the study of biomineralization. Here, microarray technique was used to identify biomineralization gene in mantle edge (ME), mantle center (MC), and both ME and MC (ME-MC) for this pearl oyster. Results revealed that 804, 306, and 1127 contigs expressed at least three times higher in ME, MC, and ME-MC as those in other tissues. Blast against non-redundant database showed that 130 contigs (16.17 %), 53 contigs (17.32 %), and 248 contigs (22.01 %) hit reference genes (E?≤??10), among which 91 contigs, 48 contigs, and 168 contigs could be assigned to 32, 26, and 63 biomineralization genes in tissue of ME, MC, and ME-MC at a threshold of 3 times upregulated expression level. The ratios of biomineralization contigs to homologous contigs were similar at 3 times, 10 times, and 100 times of upregulated expression level in either ME, MC, or ME-MC. Moreover, the ratio of biomineralization contigs was highest in MC. Although mRNA distribution characters were similar to those in other studies for eight biomineralization genes of PFMG3, Pif, nacrein, MSI7, mantle gene 6, Pfty1, prismin, and the shematrin, most biomineralization genes presented different expression profiles from existing reports. These results provided massive fundamental information for further study of biomineralization gene function, and it may be helpful for revealing gene nets of biomineralization and the molecular mechanisms underlining formation of shell and pearl for the oyster.     

Genetics of frost hardiness in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Juglans regia</Emphasis> L. and relationship with growth and phenology

The growing interest in broadleaf timber plantations in the Mediterranean area has promoted several studies focusing on the identification and characterization of variability sources in main timber-producing species. J. regia is one of these species, well-adapted to this area, but with freezing, damages registrations. Breeding focused on productive traits should include knowledge of adaptation, required to obtain a good selection capable of producing a suitable turnover in timber plantations. In this study, the features evaluated were autumn and winter frost hardiness and some vegetative traits on 22 half-sib J. regia progenies. Budsticks were exposed to sub-zero temperatures in a controlled chamber and using measurements of relative electrolyte content, the LT50 values (°C) were calculated by each individual. The study was carried out on seven-year-old progenies. The familiar heritability of autumn frost hardiness was 0.68, and on winter, it was 0.77. The autumn frost behaviour correlated genetically with the length of the growing season (0.574 ± 0.351), and both autumn and winter frost hardiness correlated inversely with secondary annual growth measured at breast height (?0.654 ± 0.259 and ?0.740 ± 0.227, respectively). These results pointed that growth could therefore be improved without increasing the frost vulnerability. This should be important for growers, particularly under climate change conditions.     

Spatial distribution and abundances of ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) and ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) in mangrove sediments

We investigated the diversity, spatial distribution, and abundances of ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) and ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) in sediment samples of different depths collected from a transect with different distances to mangrove forest in the territories of Hong Kong. Both the archaeal and bacterial amoA genes (encoding ammonia monooxygenase subunit A) from all samples supported distinct phylogenetic groups, indicating the presences of niche-specific AOA and AOB in mangrove sediments. The higher AOB abundances than AOA in mangrove sediments, especially in the vicinity of the mangrove trees, might indicate the more important role of AOB on nitrification. The spatial distribution showed that AOA had higher diversity and abundance in the surface layer sediments near the mangrove trees (0 and 10 m) but lower away from the mangrove trees (1,000 m), and communities of AOA could be clustered into surface and bottom sediment layer groups. In contrast, AOB showed a reverse distributed pattern, and its communities were grouped by the distances between sites and mangrove trees, indicating mangrove trees might have different influences on AOA and AOB community structures. Furthermore, the strong correlations among archaeal and bacterial amoA gene abundances and their ratio with NH₄⁺, salinity, and pH of sediments indicated that these environmental factors have strong influences on AOA and AOB distributions in mangrove sediments. In addition, AOA diversity and abundances were significantly correlated with hzo gene abundances, which encodes the key enzyme for transformation of hydrazine into N₂ in anaerobic ammonium-oxidizing (anammox) bacteria, indicating AOA and anammox bacteria may interact with each other or they are influenced by the same controlling factors, such as NH₄⁺. The results provide a better understanding on using mangrove wetlands as biological treatment systems for removal of nutrients.     

南京地区繁缕和小繁缕群体的研究

繁缕(Stellaria media)和小繁缕(S.apetala)是两个形态相似的近缘种,有人把后者作为前者的亚种或变种来处理。本文通过对南京地区不同生境的三个自然群体和三个人工控制栽培群体的取样,以群体为单位,分别测算了叶、萼片、雄蕊、花瓣、果实和种子的8个数量性状的变异,绘制了多角形图;对花粉粒和种子进行了扫描;还通过花蕾套袋试验对种子活力作了检查。结果发现繁缕和小繁缕都是近亲繁殖植物,在形态上区别明显,对生态环境的要求基本相同,但小繁缕似更能耐受人为的践踏和刈割。     

点叶绵枣叶片培养及器官分化的研究

点叶绵枣叶外植体培养于MS 6-BA 1 PPm IBA 0.5 ppm培养基中,一月后不定芽仅从近轴面的叶表面产生。组织学的观察表明,不定芽起源于表皮细胞。     

内源性一氧化氮在内毒素引起的肺动脉高压和肺损伤中的作用

本实验观察了家兔静脉内注入内毒素的主要成分脂多糖(LPS)后平均动脉血压(MAP)、肺动脉压(PAP)及入、出肺血NO含量的变化,并观察了静脉内预注入NO生成抑制剂Nω-硝基-L-精氨酸(L-NNA)及诱生型NO生成抑制剂氨基胍(AG)后PAP和肺损伤的变化.结果观察到:家兔LPS注入后,MAP均明显下降,LPS注入后0.5、1、1.5、2h PAP明显增高(P<0.05).LPS注入后PAP的高峰期(1h)入肺血NO含量明显降低,出肺血NO无明显变化.与对照组相比,LPS注入后3h出肺血NO含量和5h入、出肺血NO含量均明显增多.相关分析表明,兔LPS注入前和LPS注入后1h PAP与入肺血NO含量呈明显的负相关,而LPS注入后 3h和5h两者相关不明显.静脉预注入L-NNA后,LPS处理组的动物PAP明显增高,入、出肺血丙二醛(MDA)含量也明显增高,动物生存率明显降低.肺组织光镜下可见肺萎陷和小血管淤血加重,白细胞明显增加.静脉预注入AG后,LPS处理组的动物MAP在3～5h明显增高,此时PAP无明显改变,但5h时血中MDA含量明显减低,5h时与LPS组相比肺萎陷和小血管淤血减轻,白细胞也明显减少.以上结果提示,内毒素入血后较早期阶段可出现PAP的升高,此时入肺血NO的减少是参与肺动脉压增高(PAH)的机制之一.家兔内毒素进入血后较早期阶段NO对减轻内毒素引起的PAH和肺损伤起重要作用,而较晚的时期当诱生型NO合酶(iNOS)诱生后释放的NO则参与内毒素引起的肺组织炎症反应和肺损伤.