Genomic insights into selection for heterozygous alleles and woody traits in Populus tomentosa

Heterozygous alleles are widespread in outcrossing and clonally propagated woody plants. The variation in heterozygosity that underlies population adaptive evolution and phenotypic variation, however, remains largely unknown. Here, we describe a de novo chromosome-level genome assembly of Populus tomentosa, an economic and ecologically important native tree in northern China. By resequencing 302 natural accessions, we determined that the South subpopulation (Pop_S) encompasses the ancestral strains of P. tomentosa, while the Northwest subpopulation (Pop_NW) and Northeast subpopulation (Pop_NE) experienced different selection pressures during population evolution, resulting in significant population differentiation and a decrease in the extent of heterozygosity. Analysis of heterozygous selective sweep regions (HSSR) suggested that selection for lower heterozygosity contributed to the local adaptation of P. tomentosa by dwindling gene expression and genetic load in the Pop_NW and Pop_NE subpopulations. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) revealed that 88 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within 63 genes are associated with nine wood composition traits. Among them, the selection for the homozygous AA allele in PtoARF8 is associated with reductions in cellulose and hemicellulose contents by attenuating PtoARF8 expression, and the increase in lignin content is attributable to the selection for decreases in exon heterozygosity in PtoLOX3 during adaptive evolution of natural populations. This study provides novel insights into allelic variations in heterozygosity associated with adaptive evolution of P. tomentosa in response to the local environment and identifies a series of key genes for wood component traits, thereby facilitating genomic-based breeding of important traits in perennial woody plants.     

荒漠草原生态恢复与重建：人工植被推动下水分介导的系统响应、生态阈值与互馈作用

荒漠草原(生态区)横贯我国西北地区东部,生态地位十分重要。近二十年来,通过封育禁牧、退耕还林(草),植被覆盖显著改善,但是生态系统质量和稳定性依然不高。由于长期将荒漠草原单纯视作草原的一部分,对其生态系统过渡性、脆弱性和复杂性本质特征认识不足,造成了荒漠草原生态学研究与区域生态建设实践之间不同程度的脱节。在分析荒漠草原生态区未来在我国生态安全格局中突出的但是被一定程度上忽视的地位的基础上,进一步归纳了荒漠草原生态系统的一般特征,指出了生态恢复与重建研究中存在的主要问题。进而以人工植被引入荒漠草原生态工程为案例,分析了人工植被驱动荒漠草原生态恢复与重建的过程与机制,归纳了“植被-水文-土壤”互馈作用驱动生态系统层级响应模式,并展望了今后的发展趋势与研究方向。     

A meta-analysis on morphological,physiological and biochemical responses of plants with PGPR inoculation under drought stress

Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) can help plants to resist drought stress. However, the mechanisms of how PGPR inoculation affect plant status under drought remain incompletely understood. We performed a meta-analysis of plant response to PGPR inoculation by compiling data from 57 PGPR-inoculation studies, including 2, 387 paired observations on morphological, physiological and biochemical parameters under drought and well-watered conditions. We compare the PGPR effect on plants performances among different groups of controls and treatments. Our results reveal that PGPR enables plants to restore themselves from drought-stressed to near a well-watered state, and that C4 plants recover better from drought stress than C3 plants. Furthermore, PGPR is more effective underdrought than well-watered conditions in increasing plant biomass, enhancing photosynthesis and inhibiting oxidant damage, and the responses of C4 plants to the PGPR effect was stronger than that of C3 plants under drought conditions. Additionally, PGPR belonging to different taxa and PGPR with different functional traits have varying degrees of drought-resistance effects on plants. These results are important to improve our understanding of the PGPR beneficial effects on enhanced drought-resistance of plants.     

微生物镉解毒机制及微生物-植物互作修复研究进展

镉(cadmium,Cd)是引起粮食减产的主要金属之一,具有高溶解性及高迁移性,易被植物吸收和积累。微生物长期在镉胁迫的条件下进化出一系列的镉解毒机制。微生物对镉的解毒包括抑制Cd(Ⅱ)的进入、促进Cd(Ⅱ)的外排,以及将进入胞内的Cd(Ⅱ)进行“扣押”。微生物的Cd(Ⅱ)钝化是通过细胞吸附和胞外沉淀将游离态的Cd(Ⅱ)进行钝化,这类微生物具有较强的土壤镉污染治理潜力。本文主要介绍微生物的镉解毒机制、微生物-微生物互作、微生物-植物互作机制及其在镉污染生物修复中应用的最新研究进展。     

青藏高原垫状点地梅叶际及内生可培养微生物多样性

【背景】垫状点地梅作为青藏高原最具代表性的垫状植物,其叶际和内生微生物对适应极端环境有重要意义,同时也是一种独特的资源。【目的】探究垫状点地梅叶际和叶内可培养微生物多样性,以及不同生存状态个体之间的微生物差异。【方法】采用纯培养方法分离和纯化3个不同地区垫状点地梅叶际和叶内的细菌、酵母菌和丝状真菌,并用16S rRNA基因和ITS区域序列进行分析鉴定。【结果】最终得到叶际微生物350株,鉴定为22属49种,优势种为Penicillium sajarovii;内生微生物274株,鉴定为19属45种,优势种为Bacillusmycoides;两者的优势属均为Penicillium。垫状点地梅叶际和叶内之间及不同生存状态个体之间微生物的α多样性大多无显著差异,各群落间的成员也有重叠,但物种组成存在显著的空间异质性。【结论】垫状点地梅叶际和叶内有着丰富的可培养微生物资源,来源于不同生存状态的个体或不同部位的微生物物种组成差别较大,微生物对不同环境的选择偏好形成了不同的群落模式。但这些不同来源的微生物群落之间同样存在高比例的共有菌株,这些共有菌株的异养方式和生态位并不固定,可兼共生和腐生生存,生...     

冷害条件下凤眼莲某些生理特性变化的研究

研究了凤眼莲在冷害条件下细胞膜透性、体内生理代谢过程中一些大分子物质的变化。①０℃条件下细胞内大量电解质外渗,质膜性明显增加。此时,植株外部已发生了严重的伤害症状,②低温处理后,叶片内可溶性糖和游离脯氨酸累积,可溶性蛋白质含量基本不变。③过氧化物酶活性在低温下减弱,其同工酶谱带增加１－４条。过氧化氢酶活性明显增加,其同工酶谱带增加１－２条。ＳＯＤ活性有所降低,其同工酶谱带在０℃、３６小时后增加了１     

Preparation and Characterization of a Silk Fibroin/Polyurethane Fiber Blend Membrane Containing Actinomycin X2 with Excellent Mechanical Properties and Enhanced Antibacterial Activities

Development of suitable antimicrobial biomaterials for hygienic wound dressing and healing is an important requirement for medical application. Durable mechanical properties increase the application range of biomaterial in different environmental and biological conditions. Due to the inherent brittleness of silk fibroin (SF), polyurethane fiber (PUF) was used to modify SF containing actinomycin X2 (Ac.X2) to prepare silk fibroin@actinomycin X₂/polyurethane fiber (ASF/PUF) blend membranes. The ASF/PUF blend membrane was developed by solution casting method. Incorporation of PUF improved the flexibility of material and introduction of Ac.X2 has increased antibacterial activity of materials. Excellent mechanical properties (tensile strength up to 25.7 MPa and elongation at break up to 946.5 %) of 50 % SF+50 % PUF blend membrane were proved by tensile testing machine. FT-IR spectra, TGA, contact angle and DMA were tested to prove the blend membrane's physico-chemical characteristics. ASF/PUF blend membrane displayed satisfactory antibacterial activity against S. aureus, and the cytotoxicity tests showed that the blend membrane has better biosafety compared to directly applied Ac.X2 in soluble form. These results suggest that the modification of SF through PUF for development of flexible antibacterial membranes has great potential application value in the field of silk-like material fabrication.     

Environmentally-Friendly Pesticidal Activities of Callicarpa and Karomia Essential Oils from Vietnam and Their Microemulsions

There is an ongoing interest to identify alternative pesticidal agents to avoid the chronic problems associated with synthetic pesticides. Essential oils have shown promise as botanical pest control agents. In the present study, the essential oils of four members of the Lamiaceae (Callicarpa candicans, C. erioclona, C. macrophylla, and Karomia fragrans; Vietnamese names: Nàng nàng, Tu châu lông mem, Tu châu lá to and Cà diện, respectively), obtained from wild populations in Vietnam, have been obtained by hydrodistillation and analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The essential oils were formulated into microemulsions and the essential oils and their microemulsions were screened for mosquito larvicidal activity against Aedes aegypti, Aedes albopictus, Culex quinquefasciatus, and for molluscicidal activity against Pomacea canaliculata. Atractylone and (E)-caryophyllene dominated the volatiles of C. candicans (CCEO) and C. erioclona (CEEO), while the major component in C. macrophylla (CMEO) and K. fragrans (KFEO) was (E)-caryophyllene. The essential oils and microemulsions of both C. candicans and C. erioclona exhibited excellent larvicidal activity against all three mosquito species (Ae. aegypti, Ae. albopictus, and Cx. quinquefasciatus) with LC₅₀ values <10 μg/mL. Additionally, the larvicidal activity of the microemulsions were significantly improved compared with their free essential oils, especially for C. candicans and C. erioclona. All four essential oils and their microemulsions showed excellent molluscicidal activity with LC₅₀ <10 μg/mL. In most cases, the essential oils and microemulsions showed greater pesticidal activity against target organisms than the non-target freshwater fish, Oreochromis niloticus. The in silico studies on physicochemical and ADMET properties of the major components in the studied essential oils were also investigated and most of the compounds possessed a favorable ADMET profile. Computational modeling studies of the studied compounds demonstrated a favorable binding interaction with the mosquito odorant-binding protein target and support atractylone, β-selinene, and caryophyllene oxide as potential inhibitors. Based on the observed pesticidal activities of the essential oils and their microemulsions, the Callicarpa species and K. fragrans should be considered for potential cultivation and further exploration as botanical pesticidal agents.