胜利河连续系统中蜉蝣优势种的生产量动态和营养基础

大型底栖动物在河流生态系统中发挥着重要作用, 2009 年3月至2010 年3月间对长江中游支流巴河流域的胜利河大型底栖动物群落优势种类的生产力进行为期1 周年的调查研究, 结果表明, 主要蜉蝣优势种扁蜉、等蜉和红斑蜉的生活史为3代/年、3代/年和 2代/年。现存量呈现出1-3级河流增加,而4级又较3级有所下降的趋势。采用龄期频率法( instar-frequency method) 测算的平均周年生产量分别为扁蜉, 200.13 g/(m².a) , P/B 为23.69; 等蜉, 82.06 g/(m².a), P/B 为18.12;红斑蜉, 12.30 g/(m².a), P/B 为8.78。三种蜉蝣的生产量动态在时间上与现存量动态较一致,但彼此各不相同。扁蜉的日均产量于2009年3月在二级河流中达到最大(363.56 mg/m².d),等蜉于2010年3月在三级河流中到达最大(282.76 mg/m².d),而红斑蜉于2009年3月在一级河流中到达最大(33.36 mg/m².d)。生产量的营养基础分析结果表明,扁蜉前肠内含物中无形态碎屑、动物组织、植物纤维、丝状藻类、硅藻所占平均比例为74.37%,4.19%,17.11%,4.29%,0.04%,对生产量的贡献率分别为77.15%,11.27%,6.57%,4.95% ,0.04%;等蜉前肠内含物中无形态碎屑、动物组织、植物纤维、真菌、丝状藻类和硅藻所占平均比例为65.64%,6.17%,23.04%,0.54%,4.53%,对生产量的贡献率分别为: 68.16%,16.61%,8.86%,1.03%,5.23%,0.09%,0.10%;红斑蜉前肠内含物中,无形态碎屑、动物组织、植物纤维、真菌、丝状藻类和硅藻所占平均比例为41.14%,5.96%,38.04%,1.34%,11.21%,2.31%,对生产量的贡献率分别为46.67%,17.52%,15.98%,2.81%,14.13%,2.91%。这与我们在黑竹冲和叹气沟的研究结果存在一定差异,可能与这些溪流自身环境和地区分布有关。     

不同稻作方式对稻田杂草群落的影响

运用半试验与调查相结合的方法,以贵州省从江县传统农业区的糯稻和杂交稻为例,研究了在水稻单作（R）、稻-鱼（R-F）和稻-鱼-鸭（R-F-D）3种不同稻作方式下稻田杂草群落的特征.结果表明：糯稻在3种稻作方式下的抑制杂草能力均优于杂交稻;R-F-D显著降低了田间杂草的发生密度,对鸭舌草、节节菜等的抑制效果达到100%,总体抑制杂草效果显著优于其他稻作方式,杂草的物种丰富度及Shannon多样性指数显著降低,Pielou均匀度指数提高,表明群落物种组成发生了很大的改变,降低了原来优势杂草的发生, 是一种较好的可达到抑制杂草效果的稻作方式.     

Relationships between biological soil crusts,bacterial diversity and abundance,and ecosystem functioning: Insights from a semi‐arid Mediterranean environment

Questions: To what degree do biological soil crusts (BSCs), which are regulators of the soil surface boundary, influence associated microbial communities? Are these associations important to ecosystem functioning in a Mediterranean semi‐arid environment? Location: Gypsum outcrops near Belmonte del Tajo, Central Spain. Methods: We sampled a total of 45 (50 cm × 50 cm) plots, where we estimated the cover of every lichen and BSC‐forming lichen species. We also collected soil samples to estimate bacterial species richness and abundance, and to assess different surrogates of ecosystem functioning. We used path analysis to evaluate the relationships between the richness/abundance of above‐ and below‐ground species and ecosystem functioning. Results: We found that the greatest direct effect upon the ecosystem function matrix was that of the biological soil crust (BSC) richness matrix. A few bacterial species were sensitive to the lichen community, with a disproportionate effect of Collema crispum and Toninia sedifolia compared to their low abundance and frequency. The lichens Fulgensia subbracteata and Toninia spp. also had negative effects on bacteria, while Diploschistes diacapsis consistently affected sensitive bacteria, sometimes positively. Despite these results, very few of the BSC effects on ecosystem function could be ascribed to changes within the bacterial community. Conclusion: Our results suggest the primary importance of the richness of BSC‐forming lichens as drivers of small‐scale changes in ecosystem functioning. This study provides valuable insights on semi‐arid ecosystems where plant cover is spatially discontinuous and ecosystem function in plant interspaces is regulated largely by BSCs.     

Signs of stabilisation and stable coexistence

Many empirical studies motivated by an interest in stable coexistence have quantified negative density dependence, negative frequency dependence, or negative plant–soil feedback, but the links between these empirical results and ecological theory are not straightforward. Here, we relate these analyses to theoretical conditions for stabilisation and stable coexistence in classical competition models. By stabilisation, we mean an excess of intraspecific competition relative to interspecific competition that inherently slows or even prevents competitive exclusion. We show that most, though not all, tests demonstrating negative density dependence, negative frequency dependence, and negative plant–soil feedback constitute sufficient conditions for stabilisation of two‐species interactions if applied to data for per capita population growth rates of pairs of species, but none are necessary or sufficient conditions for stable coexistence of two species. Potential inferences are even more limited when communities involve more than two species, and when performance is measured at a single life stage or vital rate. We then discuss two approaches that enable stronger tests for stable coexistence‐invasibility experiments and model parameterisation. The model parameterisation approach can be applied to typical density‐dependence, frequency‐dependence, and plant–soil feedback data sets, and generally enables better links with mechanisms and greater insights, as demonstrated by recent studies.     

Interferon selectively inhibits the expression of mitochondrial genes: a novel pathway for interferon-mediated responses.

As an approach to identifying genes involved in physiological actions of interferons we used differential probes to screen a cDNA library from mouse L-929 cells treated with interferon alpha/beta. We identified two negatively regulated mRNA species which have been examined by analysis of the corresponding mRNAs and by DNA sequencing. Comparison with the GenBank database showed that these cDNA clones corresponded to mitochondrially encoded genes for cytochrome b and subunit I of cytochrome c oxidase. A further cDNA encompassing three mitochondrial genes was used as a probe to show that a third mRNA, NADH dehydrogenase subunit 5, was also down-regulated by interferon while a fourth, NADH dehydrogenase subunit 6, was unaffected. Expression of cytochrome b was also inhibited in mouse NIH 3T3 cells treated with interferon alpha/beta and in human Daudi lymphoblastoid cells treated with interferon alpha. The ability of interferon to reduce mitochondrial mRNA levels could be blocked by cycloheximide suggesting that these effects are mediated by an interferon-responsive nuclear gene which encodes a product capable of regulating mitochondrial gene expression. Analysis of proteins synthesized in the presence of emetine, a specific inhibitor of cytoplasmic translation, showed that the synthesis of several mitochondrial translation products, including cytochrome b, was reduced after treatment with interferon. Our results reveal a novel effect of interferon on cellular physiology which could have important consequences for understanding the effects of interferons as well as suggesting new mechanisms for the regulation of mitochondrial biogenesis and function.     

The importance of being kinked: role of Pro residues in the selectivity of the helical antimicrobial peptide P5

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are promising compounds for developing new antibiotic drugs against drug‐resistant bacteria. Many of them kill bacteria by perturbing their membranes but exhibit no significant toxicity towards eukaryotic cells. The identification of the features responsible for this selectivity is essential for their pharmacological development. AMPs exhibit few conserved features, but a statistical analysis of an AMP sequence database indicated that many α‐helical AMPs surprisingly have a helix‐breaking Pro residue in the middle of their sequence. To discriminate among the different possible hypotheses for the functional role of this feature, we designed an analogue of the antimicrobial peptide P5, in which the central Pro was deleted (analogue P5Del). Pro removal resulted in a dramatic increase of toxicity. This was explained by the observation that P5Del binds both charged and neutral membranes, whereas P5 has no appreciable affinity towards neutral bilayers. CD and simulative data provided a rationalization of this behavior. In solution P5, due to the presence of Pro, attains compact conformations, in which its apolar residues are partially shielded from the solvent, whereas P5Del is more helical. These structural differences reduce the hydrophobic driving force for association of P5 to neutral membranes, whereas its binding to anionic bilayers can still take place because of electrostatic attraction. After membrane binding, the Pro residue does not preclude the attainment of a membrane‐active amphiphilic helical conformation. These findings shed light on the role of Pro residues in the selectivity of AMPs and provide hints for the design of new, highly selective compounds. Copyright © 2013 European Peptide Society and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Palaeoctopus pelagicus from the Turonian of Mexico reinterpreted as a coelacanth (Sarcopterygian) gular plate

Abstract: The supposed vestige of a cephalopod gladius from Turonian platy limestones at Vallecillo, north‐east Mexico, named Palaeoctopus pelagicus by Fuchs et al. in 2008, is reinterpreted and shown to be a gular plate of a coelacanth fish, possibly of the genus Megacoelacanthus. In addition to the gular plate, two extrascapulars and fin rays of all fins are preserved on one slab and its counterpart. This is the first record of a coelacanth from these lower Turonian strata at Vallecillo, which are rich in fish.     

枸杞脱落酸生物合成关键酶基因NCED的克隆及表达分析

脱落酸(abscisic acid,ABA)对植物的生长发育具有独特的调控功能,并在植物适应逆境环境中发挥重要作用。9-顺式环氧类胡萝卜素双加氧酶(NCED)是高等植物中ABA生物合成途径的一个关键酶。根据GenBank中的植物NCED基因的同源序列设计简并引物,通过RT-PCR及RACE技术从枸杞叶片中克隆到1个编码NCED的基因,命名为LbNCED。其cDNA全长为2316 bp,含有1个1824 bp的开放阅读框,编码1个含607氨基酸残基,分子量为67.38 kDa、等电点(pI)为6.43的假定蛋白,其氨基酸序列与番茄(Lycopersicon esculentum)和马铃薯(Solanum tuberosum)的同源性达90%,在N-末端具有1个含15个氨基酸的叶绿体转运肽。Southern杂交结果表明,该基因在枸杞基因组中以低拷贝形式存在。盐处理和脱水处理的枸杞叶片中LbNCED基因的表达与内源ABA的积累同步变化。