岷江干旱河谷黄蔷薇和川滇蔷薇更新能力及其限制因素

植物种子、种子库和幼苗库的研究是种群更新和植被恢复的重要内容.研究了岷江干旱河谷两种乡土灌木(黄蔷薇和川滇蔷薇)的种子、种子库和幼苗库特征.黄蔷薇和川滇蔷薇种子产量较高, 分别为(627±216)和(7832±4347)果/丛,但种子质量较差,饱满率分别为(49.62±1.03)%和(73.83±3.42)%,活力为(32.25±0.67)%和(55.38±2.5)%.黄蔷薇种子产量和活力低于川滇蔷薇,但其种子重量和休眠程度却远高于川滇蔷薇.两种蔷薇土壤种子库的水平和垂直分布格局相似:在水平分布上,离植株基部越近,种子密度越高;在垂直分布上,种子主要分布在地表层.黄蔷薇和川滇蔷薇种子库密度均较高,分别为(560±90)粒m2和(1955±235)粒/m2,但活力种子数量较少,分别为(26±4)粒/m2和(152±18)粒/m2, 处于休眠状态的种子,黄蔷薇(60.6%)较川滇蔷薇(18.4%)高,可萌发的种子,两者分别为(10±1)粒/m2和(124±14)粒/m2.黄蔷薇(65.3%)的种子库中被啮齿动物取食的比例较川滇蔷薇(0.5%)高.两种蔷薇的幼苗密度差异不大,黄薇幼苗密度((4.28±0.49)株/m2)略小于川滇蔷薇((5.24±1.28)株/m2).幼苗组成的总体趋势是高度级低的幼苗所占的比例相对较高,且Ⅰ级幼苗数显著高于较其他级幼苗数.研究表明,两种蔷薇种子存在休眠,能形成持久种子库,种子特征对种子库和幼苗库具有深刻影响.两种蔷薇更新状况不佳,比较而言,黄蔷薇更新较川滇蔷薇好.黄蔷薇更新的主要限制因素是动物对种子的破坏,而川滇蔷薇更新的主要限制因素是幼苗存活定居.     

中国天然林保护、生态恢复与可持续经营的理论与技术

全面总结了近年来中国在天然林保护与生态恢复的理论与技术实践方面所取得的研究进展。高度凝练出了天然林动态干扰与保育技术、典型退化天然林的生态恢复技术和天然林景观恢复与空间经营技术等三方面的创新成果,形成了天然林保护与生态恢复的理论与技术创新体系,对今后天然林保护、生态恢复与可持续经营进行了展望。     

小鼠胚胎干细胞分化形成拟胚体过程中的细胞程序性死亡

为了检测小鼠胚胎干细胞 (embryonicstemcell ,ES细胞 )体外分化的拟胚体 (embryoidbodies ,EBs)形成过程中细胞程序性死亡 (programmedcelldeath ,PCD)的发生 ,通过悬滴、悬浮培养技术定向诱导未分化的ES细胞分化为拟胚体 ,并用RT PCR检测原始内胚层、原始外胚层、中胚层、内脏内胚层 4种分子标记物在EBs中的表达 .通过TUNEL染色、电镜、激光共聚焦显微镜及Western印迹以确定凋亡发生 .结果表明 :ES细胞体外分化为拟胚体并且表达各胚层相应的分子标记物 ;在拟胚体的发育过程中出现明显的空腔化过程 ,TUNEL染色及电镜观察到凋亡生成 ,同时线粒体膜电位 (ΔΨm)在拟胚体发育过程中降低 ,通过Western印迹检测到caspase3、caspase8的激活 .表明小鼠ES细胞所分化的拟胚体可以作为研究早期胚胎发育的实验模型 ,线粒体在拟胚体的细胞程序性死亡过程中发挥重要的作用 .为进一步利用拟胚体研究细胞程序性死亡及相关信号分子在小鼠胚胎发育早期的作用奠定了基础     

台湾乳白蚁肠道鞭毛虫群落结构及三种研究方法的比较

大量鞭毛虫栖息在低等白蚁肠道内, 是白蚁赖以生存的共生微生物。不同种类的鞭毛虫共同作用形成了一套降解食物的系统, 为宿主提供营养和能量。研究鞭毛虫群落结构是揭示其各组成种类生理功能的基础。利用形态特征进行物种鉴定受鞭毛虫生长发育阶段、 样品制备方法等多种因素的影响, 而基于分子标记的分子生物学方法能不受这些因素的制约来研究复杂的微生物群落。本研究结合形态特征鉴定和分子生物学方法研究台湾乳白蚁Coptotermes formosanus肠道鞭毛虫群落结构, 并对这些方法进行了比较。通过光学显微镜和扫描电子显微镜进行形态观察鉴定, 确定了台湾乳白蚁肠道内的3种鞭毛虫, 分别为伪披发虫Pseudotrichonympha grassii、 全鞭毛虫Holomastigotoides mirabile和旋披发虫Spirotrichonympha leidyi。18S rDNA文库限制性片段长度多态性分析较形态鉴定能够反映群落更复杂的物种多样性。利用光学显微镜进行细胞计数较18S rDNA文库克隆数能更准确地反映各种鞭毛虫数量, 每头工蚁肠道内平均含伪披发虫780±179头, 全鞭毛虫1 630±391头, 旋披发虫2 950±1 003头。本研究建立了光学显微镜形态鉴定和18S rDNA分子标记相结合调查鞭毛虫多样性和数量的方法, 为进一步研究白蚁肠道共生生物的功能奠定了基础。     

Nitrogen economy of alpine plants on the north Tibetan Plateau: Nitrogen conservation by resorption rather than open sources through biological symbiotic fixation

Nitrogen (N) is one of the most important factors limiting plant productivity, and N fixation by legume species is an important source of N input into ecosystems. Meanwhile, N resorption from senescent plant tissues conserves nutrients taken up in the current season, which may alleviate ecosystem N limitation. N fixation was assessed by the ¹⁵N dilution technique in four types of alpine grasslands along the precipitation and soil nutrient gradients. The N resorption efficiency (NRE) was also measured in these alpine grasslands. The aboveground biomass in the alpine meadow was 4–6 times higher than in the alpine meadow steppe, alpine steppe, and alpine desert steppe. However, the proportion of legume species to community biomass in the alpine steppe and the alpine desert steppe was significantly higher than the proportion in the alpine meadow. N fixation by the legume plants in the alpine meadow was 0.236 g N/m², which was significantly higher than N fixation in other alpine grasslands (0.041 to 0.089 g N/m²). The NRE in the alpine meadows was lower than in the other three alpine grasslands. Both the aboveground biomass and N fixation of the legume plants showed decreasing trends with the decline of precipitation and soil N gradients from east to west, while the NRE of alpine plants showed increasing trends along the gradients, which indicates that alpine plants enhance the NRE to adapt to the increasing droughts and nutrient‐poor environments. The opposite trends of N fixation and NRE along the precipitation and soil nutrient gradients indicate that alpine plants adapt to precipitation and soil nutrient limitation by promoting NRE (conservative nutrient use by alpine plants) rather than biological N fixation (open sources by legume plants) on the north Tibetan Plateau.     

Effects of methotrexate on the viscoelastic properties of single cells probed by atomic force microscopy

Methotrexate is a commonly used anti-cancer chemotherapy drug. Cellular mechanical properties are fundamental parameters that reflect the physiological state of a cell. However, so far the role of cellular mechanical properties in the actions of methotrexate is still unclear. In recent years, probing the behaviors of single cells with the use of atomic force microscopy (AFM) has contributed much to the field of cell biomechanics. In this work, with the use of AFM, the effects of methotrexate on the viscoelastic properties of four types of cells were quantitatively investigated. The inhibitory and cytotoxic effects of methotrexate on the proliferation of cells were observed by optical and fluorescence microscopy. AFM indenting was used to measure the changes of cellular viscoelastic properties (Young’s modulus and relaxation time) by using both conical tip and spherical tip, quantitatively showing that the stimulation of methotrexate resulted in a significant decrease of both cellular Young’s modulus and relaxation times. The morphological changes of cells induced by methotrexate were visualized by AFM imaging. The study improves our understanding of methotrexate action and offers a novel way to quantify drug actions at the single-cell level by measuring cellular viscoelastic properties, which may have potential impacts on developing label-free methods for drug evaluation.     

Binding and Uptake of RGD-Containing Ligands to Cellular α v β 3 Integrins

The cyclic peptide, cRGDf[N(me)]V, binds to the α _v β ₃ integrin and can disrupt binding of the integrin to its natural ligands in the extracellular matrix. In this work, the ability of a water-soluble, fluorescently labeled variant of the RGD-containing peptide (cRGDfK-488) to bind to integrins on human umbilical vascular endothelial cells (HUVEC) and subsequently undergo endocytosis was characterized. This information was compared to the binding and uptake properties of an α _v β ₃ integrin-specific monoclonal antibody, LM609X. The specificity of the RGD-containing peptide is assessed by comparison with control peptide that does not bind to the α _v β ₃ integrin, cRADfK-488. Using a high purity construct, it is shown that the RGD ligand exhibits dissociation constants in the micromolar range whereas LM609X exhibits dissociation constants in the nanomolar range. However, the RGD ligand showed greater uptake following incubation at temperatures which permit endocytosis. A 7.4-fold increase in uptake of the RGD peptide was observed following a 1 h incubation with HUVEC at 37°C (an endocytosis permissive temperature), as compared to that at 4°C (an endocytosis prohibitive temperature). In contrast, only a 1.9-fold increase in cell-associated fluorescence was observed for similar incubations with LM609X. Results from fluorescence microscopy supports the notion that the RGD peptide is rapidly endocytosed at 37°C as compared to LM609X. These results are discussed with regard to previous work indicating that RGD ligands enter cells by integrin-independent pathways. These studies provide well-controlled measures of how RGD ligands stimulate endocytosis. This may be of considerable interest for intracellular delivery of ligand-associated drugs in anti-angiogenic applications.     

基于i-Tree模型的城市森林经济效益评估

城市森林的生态服务功能对改善城市环境质量具有重要作用,如何量化这些生态服务功能是使城市森林发挥最大效益的一个重要前提.随着科学的发展,对城市森林经济效益评估的量化方法已由传统的CTLA法、Burnley法、碳税法、造林成本法等发展到模型测算法.本文介绍的i-Tree模型是由美国林务局(USDA Forest Service)于2006年开发的城市森林效益评估软件,具有许多其他模型如CITY green模型等不可替代的优势,在国际城市森林研究中已得到了广泛的应用,但国内尚未推广.本文主要阐述和评价了模型中UFORE和STRATUM两个主要模块的研究及应用进展,通过作者在国内的应用实践,讨论了该模型在中国的应用前景及存在的主要问题,为城市森林管理提供科学依据.