A revision of the Paeonia suffruticosa complex (Paeoniaceae)

The taxonomical concept of the Paeonia suffruticosa complex i.e. Sect. Moutan Subsect. Vaginatae, has changed greatly since 1990. Six species and four subspecies have been described as new and two subspecies raised to specific level. Five species and two subspecies are recognized in the present revision, viz. P. suffruticosa subsp. suffruticosa and subsp. yinpingmudan, P. jishanensis, P. qiui, P. ostii, P. rockii subsp. rockii and subsp. taibaishanica. P. yananensis, P. ridleyi, P. spontanea, P. moutan subsp. atava, P. suffruticosa subsp. atava, P. rockii subsp. linyanshanii and P. ostii var. lishizhenii are treated as synonyms. P. papaveracea and P. baokangensis are proposed to be interspecific hybrids. A key to the recognized species and subspecies is provided. Biological features of the species are described and their distributions are mapped. The relationships between species are inferred and the origins of commonly cultivated tree peonies ( P. suffruticosa and P. ostii ) are discussed.     

环鸟苷酸对卵巢细胞功能的调控

环鸟苷酸（cGMP）是一种具有广泛生物学活性的环核苷酸。尽管cGMP作为第二信使,在调控卵巢细胞功能中发挥着广泛而重要的作用早有报道,但直至近年,cGMP在生殖活动中的重要作用才受到人们的关注,而成为生殖科学研究领域的热点之一。卵巢是雌性动物的重要器官,而cGMP在卵巢细胞中起着多方面的调节作用。现对卵巢内cGMP的来源,cGMP在卵巢内抑制雌激素（E2）的合成、LH受体表达、卵泡闭锁的作用,以及cGMP的作用机制等方面的研究进展进行综述。     

Dimerization of VirD2 Binding Protein Is Essential for Agrobacterium Induced Tumor Formation in Plants

The Type IV Secretion System (T4SS) is the only bacterial secretion system known to translocate both DNA and protein substrates. The VirB/D4 system from Agrobacterium tumefaciens is a typical T4SS. It facilitates the bacteria to translocate the VirD2-T-DNA complex to the host cell cytoplasm. In addition to protein-DNA complexes, the VirB/D4 system is also involved in the translocation of several effector proteins, including VirE2, VirE3 and VirF into the host cell cytoplasm. These effector proteins aid in the proper integration of the translocated DNA into the host genome. The VirD2-binding protein (VBP) is a key cytoplasmic protein that recruits the VirD2–T-DNA complex to the VirD4-coupling protein (VirD4 CP) of the VirB/D4 T4SS apparatus. Here, we report the crystal structure and associated functional studies of the C-terminal domain of VBP. This domain mainly consists of α-helices, and the two monomers of the asymmetric unit form a tight dimer. The structural analysis of this domain confirms the presence of a HEPN (higher eukaryotes and prokaryotes nucleotide-binding) fold. Biophysical studies show that VBP is a dimer in solution and that the HEPN domain is the dimerization domain. Based on structural and mutagenesis analyses, we show that substitution of key residues at the interface disrupts the dimerization of both the HEPN domain and full-length VBP. In addition, pull-down analyses show that only dimeric VBP can interact with VirD2 and VirD4 CP. Finally, we show that only Agrobacterium harboring dimeric full-length VBP can induce tumors in plants. This study sheds light on the structural basis of the substrate recruiting function of VBP in the T4SS pathway of A. tumefaciens and in other pathogenic bacteria employing similar systems.     

蚕茧近红外反射（NIR）光谱的模式识别──Ⅰ．对雌雄鲜茧、死笼茧的非破坏性识别

探讨了利用蚕茧近红外反射光谱识别雌雄茧、死笼茧的方法及可行性。采用６２５０型近红外光谱分析仪,从波长６８０ｎｍ到１２３５ｎｍ对２０５颗鲜茧做了非破坏性扫描测试,用逐步判别方法从一、二阶导数光谱数据中抽取特征向量,以此特征向量建立Ｂａｙｅｓ判别函数,对３７５个检验样本进行识别,其符合率达９５．７％,该方法明显优于以茧的重量和大小判别雌雄的方法。实验结果还表明,雌雄茧近红外反射光谱的差别,主要是由于蚕蛹性质不同所致,而与茧层的关系不大。     

畜禽保种－选择指数原理

根据系统保种理论有关保种和选择可以相互结合的观点,本文提出了保种－选择指数的概念、导出了适于各种资料条件和各种保种与选择目的的通用保种－选择指数公式、并探讨了该公式在几种特殊情况下的形式,为国内大量地方品种保种选育提供了必要的理论和方法。     

Energy–water and seasonal variations in climate underlie the spatial distribution patterns of gymnosperm species richness in China

Studying the pattern of species richness is crucial in understanding the diversity and distribution of organisms in the earth. Climate and human influences are the major driving factors that directly influence the large‐scale distributions of plant species, including gymnosperms. Understanding how gymnosperms respond to climate, topography, and human‐induced changes is useful in predicting the impacts of global change. Here, we attempt to evaluate how climatic and human‐induced processes could affect the spatial richness patterns of gymnosperms in China. Initially, we divided a map of the country into grid cells of 50 × 50 km² spatial resolution and plotted the geographical coordinate distribution occurrence of 236 native gymnosperm taxa. The gymnosperm taxa were separated into three response variables: (a) all species, (b) endemic species, and (c) nonendemic species, based on their distribution. The species richness patterns of these response variables to four predictor sets were also evaluated: (a) energy–water, (b) climatic seasonality, (c) habitat heterogeneity, and (d) human influences. We performed generalized linear models (GLMs) and variation partitioning analyses to determine the effect of predictors on spatial richness patterns. The results showed that the distribution pattern of species richness was highest in the southwestern mountainous area and Taiwan in China. We found a significant relationship between the predictor variable set and species richness pattern. Further, our findings provide evidence that climatic seasonality is the most important factor in explaining distinct fractions of variations in the species richness patterns of all studied response variables. Moreover, it was found that energy–water was the best predictor set to determine the richness pattern of all species and endemic species, while habitat heterogeneity has a better influence on nonendemic species. Therefore, we conclude that with the current climate fluctuations as a result of climate change and increasing human activities, gymnosperms might face a high risk of extinction.     

三江源地区刺柏属植物群落类型特征

三江源地区位于青藏高原的腹地, 是典型的生态脆弱区, 刺柏属(Juniperus)植物群落是该地区天然林资源的重要组分, 在维持生物多样性与水生态安全方面发挥着重要作用。该研究调查了刺柏属植物群落的主要植被类型, 通过对53个样地的样方数据分析, 量化描述了其各个群落类型的主要特征。结果表明: (1)根据生活型和优势度原则, 该区刺柏属植物群落可划分为祁连圆柏(J. przewalskii)林、大果圆柏(J. tibetica)林、密枝圆柏(J. convallium)林、塔枝圆柏(J. komarovii)林、大果圆柏灌丛和密枝圆柏灌丛, 进一步分为15个群丛。(2)调查所得维管植物共有142种, 隶属34科90属, 其中菊科种数最多, 占总种数的16.20%。(3)群落垂直结构明显, 其中乔木层优势种单一, 灌木层优势种主要有鲜黄小檗(Berberis diaphana)、银露梅(Potentilla glabra)及灌木状的大果圆柏, 草本层以薹草属(Carex)和马先蒿属(Pedicularis)占优势。(4)该区种子植物种的地理成分中, 温带成分占总种数的52.59%, 温带亚洲分布、东亚分布和中亚分布等为本区分布占比较大的分布区类型; 中国特有种占47.41%; 区系成分呈现横断山植物区系和唐古特植物区系成分互相交融的特点。     

Ribosomal protein L22-like1 promotes prostate cancer progression by activating PI3K/Akt/mTOR signalling pathway

Prostate cancer (PCa) is one of the most common malignancies in men. Ribosomal protein L22-like1 (RPL22L1), a component of the ribosomal 60 S subunit, is associated with cancer progression, but the role and potential mechanism of RPL22L1 in PCa remain unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of RPL22L1 in PCa progression and the mechanisms involved. Bioinformatics and immunohistochemistry analysis showed that the expression of RPL22L1 was significantly higher in PCa tissues than in normal prostate tissues. The cell function analysis revealed that RPL22L1 significantly promoted the proliferation, migration and invasion of PCa cells. The data of xenograft tumour assay suggested that the low expression of RPL22L1 inhibited the growth and invasion of PCa cells in vivo. Mechanistically, the results of Western blot proved that RPL22L1 activated PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway in PCa cells. Additionally, LY294002, an inhibitor of PI3K/Akt pathway, was used to block this pathway. The results showed that LY294002 remarkably abrogated the oncogenic effect of RPL22L1 on PCa cell proliferation and invasion. Taken together, our study demonstrated that RPL22L1 is a key gene in PCa progression and promotes PCa cell proliferation and invasion via PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway, thus potentially providing a new target for PCa therapy.     

Development and Application of Microsatellites in Candidate Genes Related to Wood Properties in the Chinese White Poplar (Populus tomentosa Carr.)

Gene-derived simple sequence repeats (genic SSRs), also known as functional markers, are often preferred over random genomic markers because they represent variation in gene coding and/or regulatory regions. We characterized 544 genic SSR loci derived from 138 candidate genes involved in wood formation, distributed throughout the genome of Populus tomentosa, a key ecological and cultivated wood production species. Of these SSRs, three-quarters were located in the promoter or intron regions, and dinucleotide (59.7%) and trinucleotide repeat motifs (26.5%) predominated. By screening 15 wild P. tomentosa ecotypes, we identified 188 polymorphic genic SSRs with 861 alleles, 2–7 alleles for each marker. Transferability analysis of 30 random genic SSRs, testing whether these SSRs work in 26 genotypes of five genus Populus sections (outgroup, Salix matsudana), showed that 72% of the SSRs could be amplified in Turanga and 100% could be amplified in Leuce. Based on genotyping of these 26 genotypes, a neighbour-joining analysis showed the expected six phylogenetic groupings. In silico analysis of SSR variation in 220 sequences that are homologous between P. tomentosa and Populus trichocarpa suggested that genic SSR variations between relatives were predominantly affected by repeat motif variations or flanking sequence mutations. Inheritance tests and single-marker associations demonstrated the power of genic SSRs in family-based linkage mapping and candidate gene-based association studies, as well as marker-assisted selection and comparative genomic studies of P. tomentosa and related species.     

Glycosaminoglycan-dependent restriction of FGF diffusion is necessary for lacrimal gland development

Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) play a central role in embryonic development by regulating the movement and signaling of morphogens. We have previously demonstrated that GAGs are the co-receptors for Fgf10 signaling in the lacrimal gland epithelium, but their function in the Fgf10-producing periocular mesenchyme is still poorly understood. In this study, we have generated a mesenchymal ablation of UDP-glucose dehydrogenase (Ugdh), an essential biosynthetic enzyme for GAGs. Although Fgf10 RNA is expressed normally in the periocular mesenchyme, Ugdh mutation leads to excessive dispersion of Fgf10 protein, which fails to elicit an FGF signaling response or budding morphogenesis in the presumptive lacrimal gland epithelium. This is supported by genetic rescue experiments in which the Ugdh lacrimal gland defect is ameliorated by constitutive Ras activation in the epithelium but not in the mesenchyme. We further show that lacrimal gland development requires the mesenchymal expression of the heparan sulfate N-sulfation genes Ndst1 and Ndst2 but not the 6-O and 2-O-sulfation genes Hs6st1, Hs6st2 and Hs2st. Taken together, these results demonstrate that mesenchymal GAG controls lacrimal gland induction by restricting the diffusion of Fgf10.