Temporal-spatial variation and the influence factors of precipitation in Sichuan Province, China

Precipitation is a key factor in the water cycle. At the same time, precipitation is the focus of study in meteorology and climatology, ecological environmental assessment, non-point source pollution and so on. Understanding the temporal-spatial variation and the corresponding factors of precipitation has become the object of hydrology and environmentology. Based on the annual precipitation data, we analyzed the spatial distribution of precipitation in Sichuan Province in China as well as the temporal-spatial variation and the corresponding influence factors involved. The results show that the amount of precipitation was abundant, but the spatial distribution was not consistent with it and the amount of precipitation gradually declined from the south-east to the north-west in Sichuan Province, China. Moreover, the spatial distribution was different throughout the years. The result of correlation analysis indicated that elevation, temperature and air pressure were three key factors affecting the amount and distribution of precipitation, and the correlation coefficients were −0.56, 0.38 and 0.45 respectively. Notably, the relationship between the slope of topography and precipitation were significantly negative and the average correlation coefficient was −0.28.     

The C termini of Arabidopsis cryptochromes mediate a constitutive light response

Cryptochrome blue light photoreceptors share sequence similarity to photolyases, flavoproteins that mediate light-dependent DNA repair. However, cryptochromes lack photolyase activity and are characterized by distinguishing C-terminal domains. Here we show that the signaling mechanism of Arabidopsis cryptochrome is mediated through the C terminus. On fusion with beta-glucuronidase (GUS), both the Arabidopsis CRY1 C-terminal domain (CCT1) and the CRY2 C-terminal domain (CCT2) mediate a constitutive light response. This constitutive photomorphogenic (COP) phenotype was not observed for mutants of cct1 corresponding to previously described cry1 alleles. We propose that the C-terminal domain of Arabidopsis cryptochrome is maintained in an inactive state in the dark. Irradiation with blue light relieves this repression, presumably through an intra- or intermolecular redox reaction mediated through the flavin bound to the N-terminal photolyase-like domain.     

Non‐dormant Axillary Bud 1 regulates axillary bud outgrowth in sorghum

Tillering contributes to grain yield and plant architecture and therefore is an agronomically important trait in sorghum (Sorghum bicolor). Here, we identified and functionally characterized a mutant of the Non‐dormant Axillary Bud 1 (NAB1) gene from an ethyl methanesulfonate‐mutagenized sorghum population. The nab1 mutants have increased tillering and reduced plant height. Map‐based cloning revealed that NAB1 encodes a carotenoid‐cleavage dioxygenase 7 (CCD7) orthologous to rice (Oryza sativa) HIGH‐TILLERING DWARF1/DWARF17 and Arabidopsis thaliana MORE AXILLARY BRANCHING 3. NAB1 is primarily expressed in axillary nodes and tiller bases and NAB1 localizes to chloroplasts. The nab1 mutation causes outgrowth of basal axillary buds; removing these non‐dormant basal axillary buds restored the wild‐type phenotype. The tillering of nab1 plants was completely suppressed by exogenous application of the synthetic strigolactone analog GR24. Moreover, the nab1 plants had no detectable strigolactones and displayed stronger polar auxin transport than wild‐type plants. Finally, RNA‐seq showed that the expression of genes involved in multiple processes, including auxin‐related genes, was significantly altered in nab1. These results suggest that NAB1 functions in strigolactone biosynthesis and the regulation of shoot branching via an interaction with auxin transport.     

病毒衣壳结构亚单位的种类数与三角形剖分数关系的研究和探讨

本文报道了在正廿面体病毒衣壳中,当蛋白结构亚单位以“三聚体”的形式聚集在单位三角形(?)时,其亚单位的种类数应等于该病毒的三角形剖分数值。     

StructureSelector: A web‐based software to select and visualize the optimal number of clusters using multiple methods

Inferences of population genetic structure are of great importance to the fields of ecology and evolutionary biology. The program structure has been widely used to infer population genetic structure. However, previous studies demonstrated that uneven sampling often leads to wrong inferences on hierarchical structure. The most widely used ΔK method tends to identify the uppermost hierarchy of population structure. Recently, four alternative statistics (medmedk , medmeak , maxmedk and maxmeak ) were proposed, which appear to be more accurate than the previously used methods for both even and uneven sampling data. However, the lack of easy‐to‐use software limits the use of these appealing new estimators. Here, we developed a web‐based user‐friendly software structureselector to calculate the four appealing alternative statistics together with the commonly used Ln Pr(X|K) and ΔK statistics. structureselector accepts the result files of structure , admixture or faststructure as input files. It reports the “best” K for each estimator, and the results are available as HTML or tab separated tables. The program can also generate graphical representations for specific K, which can be easily downloaded from the server. The software is freely available at http://lmme.qdio.ac.cn/StructureSelector/ .     

In vitro development and transfer of resistance to chlortetracycline in Bacillus subtilis

The present criteria and rules controlling the approval of the use of probiotics are limited to antibiotic resistance patterns and the presence of antibiotic resistance genes in bacteria. There is little information available in the literature regarding the risk of the usage of probiotics in the presence of antibiotic pressure. In this study we investigated the development and transfer of antibiotic resistance in Bacillus subtilis selected in vitro by chlortetracycline in a stepwise manner. Bacillus subtilis was exposed to increasing concentrations of chlortetracyclineto induce in vitro resistance to chlortetracycline, and the minimal inhibitory concentrations were determinedfor the mutants. Resistant B. subtilis were conjugated with Escherichia coli NK5449 and Enterococcus faecalis JH2-2 using the filter mating. Three B. subtilis tetracycline resistant mutants (namely, BS-1, BS-2, and BS-3) were derived in vitro. A tetracycline resistant gene, tet (K), was found in the plasmids of BS-1 and BS-2. Three conjugates (BS-1N, BS-2N, and BS-3N) were obtained when the resistant B. subtilis was conjugated with E. coli NK5449. The conjugation frequencies for the BS-1N, BS-2N, and BS-3N conjugates were 4.57×10^?7, 1.4×10^?7, and 1.3×10^?8, respectively. The tet(K) gene was found only in the plasmids of BS-1N. These results indicate that long-term use of probiotics under antibiotic selection pressure could cause antibiotic resistance, and the resistance gene could be transferred to other bacteria. The risk arising from the use of probiotics under antibiotic pressure should be considered in the criteria and rules for the safety assessment of probiotics.     

Bioinformatic analysis of BBTV satellite DNA in Hainan

Banana bunchy top virus (BBTV),family Nanaviridae,genus Babuvirus,is a single stranded DNA virus (ssDNA) that causes banana bunchy top disease (BBTD) in banana plants.It is the most common and most destructive of all viruses in these plants and is widespread throughout the Asia-Pacific region.In this study we isolated,cloned and sequenced a BBTV sample from Hainan Island,China.The results from sequencing and bioinformatics analysis indicate this isolate represents a satellite DNA component with 12 DNA sequences motifs.We also predicted the physical and chemical properties,structure,signal peptide,phosphorylation,secondary structure,tertiary structure and functional domains of its encoding protein,and compare them with the corresponding quantities in the replication initiation protein of BBTV DNA1.