Chiral resolution of alpha,alpha'-bis[3-(N,N-diethylcarbamoyl)piperidino]-p-xylene, a novel antiplatelet compound.

alpha,alpha'-Bis[3-(N,N-diethylcarbamoyl)piperidino]-p-xylene dihydrobromide, a novel antiplatelet agent, was resolved into three isomers A, B, and C, on a chiral alpha 1-acid glycoprotein analytical column using a mobile phase of 0.025 M phosphate buffer containing 0.025 M tetrabutylammonium hydrogen sulfate, at a pH of 6.5. The effect of molarity, temperature, pH, flow rate, and organic modifiers on the enantioselectivity was examined. Based on circular dichroic spectra at 220 nm, A and C appear to be the (-)- and (+)-enantiomers, respectively, and B the meso diastereomer. Attempts at resolution using Pirkle type columns gave unsatisfactory results. It appears that both hydrophobic and polar interactions between the compound and the stationary phase are important determinants of resolution.     

Spatial patterns and sampling plans for cereal aphids [Hom.: Aphididae] killed by entomophthoralean fungi and hymenopterous parasitoids in spring wheat

Cereal aphids infesting spring wheat in southwestern Idaho were surveyed during 1988 and 1989 for the presence of entomophthoralean fungi and hymenopterous parasitoids. Cereal aphids killed by the fungi (cadavers) and parasitoids (mummies) includedDiuraphis noxia (Mordvilko),Metopolophium dirhodum (Walker),Sitobion avenae (F.), andSchizaphis graminum (Rondani). Taylor's power law was used to describe the relationships between mean densities of cadavers or mummies (number per tiller) and associated variances. Except forS. graminum mummies, which were at low levels throughout the growing seasons and tended to be randomly distributed, Taylor's slopes exceeded 1.0 for all the aphid cadavers and mummies, indicating varying degrees of clumping in spatial pattern. The spatial patterns ofD. noxia andM. dirhodum cadavers were similar, simply reflecting those of their own populations, but more aggregated than were their respective mummies resulting from parasitoid attack. The intercepts and slopes from the power law analysis were used to generate functional relationships between the proportion of wheat tillers bearing cadavers or mummies of each aphid species and the mean density, and develop optimal numerical (direct counting) and binomial (presence or absence) sample size curves for both cadavers and mummies of each aphid species.      

Detection of covalent enzyme-substrate complexes of nitrilase by ion-spray mass spectroscopy

Nitrilase from Rhodococcus ATCC 39484 was found to consist of two species of Mr 40,258 +/- 2 and 40,388 +/- 2 Da. When the enzyme was incubated with nitrile substrates and the reaction quenched with acid, higher Mr species were observed. The mass differences were consistent with addition of a substrate molecule to each species. These results represent the first reported demonstration that this, or any other nitrilase forms a covalent intermediate with its substrates. The observation that the intermediate, suggested to be either a thioimidate or an acylenzyme, can be trapped by acidification indicates that the rate of breakdown of the intermediate is rate-limiting.     

Inhibition of Ouabain-binding to (Na+ + K+)ATPase by antibody against the catalytic subunit but not by antibody against the glycoprotein subunit

Antibodies against purified ($\text{Na}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{+}\text{K}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{)}\text{ATPase}$ from the rectal gland of Squalus acanthias, as well as against its catalytic subunit, inhibited ouabain binding by as much as 50%. However, antibodies against the glycoprotein subunit did not inhibit ouabain binding. These data suggest that binding of antibody against the catalytic subunit to the enzyme either covers the ouabain binding site or destroys its conformation, while binding of antibody against the glycoprotein has no such effect.     

Pyrophosphate contamination in crystalline phosphocreatine: a source of error in kinetic studies using coupled enzymes.

Commercial crystalline phosphocreatine generally contains a contaminant, probably pyrophosphate, that can inhibit nucleoside triphosphatases and may therefore cause errors in steady-state kinetic studies of creatine kinase-coupled r reactions. Ion-exchange chromatography reveals the presence of pyrophosphate in some batches of phosphocreatine sufficient to account for the observed inhibition. Chromatographically purified phosphocreatine shows no inhibitory effect.     

基于SPEI指数的淮河流域干旱时空演变特征及影响研究

运用淮河流域149个气象站1962—2016年逐日气温、降水资料以及历史旱情资料,基于SPEI、EOF和M-K等方法分析淮河流域的干旱时空特征,研究干旱的时空演变规律并揭示其对农业生产的影响。结果表明:(1)基于SPEI得到的干旱频次与受灾、成灾面积的相关性通过了0.1的显著性水平检验,表明SPEI在淮河流域具有较好的适用性;(2)淮河流域干旱发生时间差异明显,干旱次数呈现波动变化,发生重旱和特旱次数占总干旱的比重是20.0%,其中重旱和特旱在1960s比重最大(24.8%),其次是2010s(15.8%),在1980s比重最低(10.0%);(3)干旱的空间分布差异大,淮河流域干旱频率在27.76%—36.04%之间,西北部和东南部发生干旱强度较西南部、东北部及中部低;(4)淮河流域总体呈干旱化的趋势,从中部到四周呈现由高到低递减的趋势变化,且空间模态表现为全区一致型、南北相反型和东西相反型。     

Ontogenetic trait variation and metacommunity effects influence species relative abundances during tree community assembly

Predicting species abundance is one of the most fundamental pursuits of ecology. Combining the information encoded in functional traits and metacommunities provides a new perspective to predict the abundance of species in communities. We applied a community assembly via trait selection model to predict quadrat-scale species abundances using functional trait variation on ontogenetic stages and metacommunity information for over 490 plant species in a subtropical forest and a lowland tropical forest in Yunnan, China. The relative importance of trait-based selection, mass effects, and stochasticity in shaping local species abundances is evaluated using different null models. We found both mass effects and trait selection contribute to local abundance patterns. Trait selection was detectable at all studied spatial scales (0.04–1 ha), with its strength stronger at larger scales and in the subtropical forest. In contrast, the importance of stochasticity decreased with spatial scale. A significant mass effect of the metacommunity was observed at small spatial scales. Our results indicate that tree community assembly is primarily driven by ontogenetic traits and metacommunity effects. Our findings also demonstrate that including ontogenetic trait variation into predictive frameworks allows ecologists to infer ecological mechanisms operating in community assembly at the individual level.     

Chromosome-level genome assembly and characterization of Sophora Japonica

Sophora japonica is a medium-size deciduous tree belonging to Leguminosae family and famous for its high ecological, economic and medicinal value. Here, we reveal a draft genome of S. japonica, which was ∼511.49 Mb long (contig N50 size of 17.34 Mb) based on Illumina, Nanopore and Hi-C data. We reliably assembled 110 contigs into 14 chromosomes, representing 91.62% of the total genome, with an improved N50 size of 31.32 Mb based on Hi-C data. Further investigation identified 271.76 Mb (53.13%) of repetitive sequences and 31,000 protein-coding genes, of which 30,721 (99.1%) were functionally annotated. Phylogenetic analysis indicates that S. japonica separated from Arabidopsis thaliana and Glycine max ∼107.53 and 61.24 million years ago, respectively. We detected evidence of species-specific and common-legume whole-genome duplication events in S. japonica. We further found that multiple TF families (e.g. BBX and PAL) have expanded in S. japonica, which might have led to its enhanced tolerance to abiotic stress. In addition, S. japonica harbours more genes involved in the lignin and cellulose biosynthesis pathways than the other two species. Finally, population genomic analyses revealed no obvious differentiation among geographical groups and the effective population size continuously declined since 2 Ma. Our genomic data provide a powerful comparative framework to study the adaptation, evolution and active ingredients biosynthesis in S. japonica. More importantly, our high-quality S. japonica genome is important for elucidating the biosynthesis of its main bioactive components, and improving its production and/or processing.     

棉田生态系统能流特征分析

为丰富生态系统的能流功能理论,开展以此为基础的生态调控,本文采用田间调查与室内测定相结合的方法,系统地测定了棉田初级生产者（棉株）、次级生产者（害虫、天敌）和土壤分解者的能流参数值,分析和比较了以棉株－害虫－天敌相互作用为中心,受人为干扰作用较大的棉田生态系统能流特征。     

SARS-CoV-2 envelope protein causes acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS)-like pathological damages and constitutes an antiviral target

Cytokine storm and multi-organ failure are the main causes of SARS-CoV-2-related death. However, the origin of excessive damages caused by SARS-CoV-2 remains largely unknown. Here we show that the SARS-CoV-2 envelope (2-E) protein alone is able to cause acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS)-like damages in vitro and in vivo. 2-E proteins were found to form a type of pH-sensitive cation channels in bilayer lipid membranes. As observed in SARS-CoV-2-infected cells, heterologous expression of 2-E channels induced rapid cell death in various susceptible cell types and robust secretion of cytokines and chemokines in macrophages. Intravenous administration of purified 2-E protein into mice caused ARDS-like pathological damages in lung and spleen. A dominant negative mutation lowering 2-E channel activity attenuated cell death and SARS-CoV-2 production. Newly identified channel inhibitors exhibited potent anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity and excellent cell protective activity in vitro and these activities were positively correlated with inhibition of 2-E channel. Importantly, prophylactic and therapeutic administration of the channel inhibitor effectively reduced both the viral load and secretion of inflammation cytokines in lungs of SARS-CoV-2-infected transgenic mice expressing human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (hACE-2). Our study supports that 2-E is a promising drug target against SARS-CoV-2.Subject terms: Cell death, Molecular biology