Variation in rare earth element (REE), aluminium (Al) and silicon (Si) accumulation among populations of the hyperaccumulator Dicranopteris linearis in southern China

Plant and Soil - Dicranopteris linearis is a rare earth element (REE), aluminium (Al) and silicon (Si) hyperaccumulator plant which occurs in southern China. To date, there have been no studies on...     

Cation exchange assisted binding-elution strategy for enzymatic synthesis of human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs)

A cation exchange assisted binding-elution (BE) strategy for enzymatic synthesis of human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) was developed. An amino linker was used to provide the cation ion under acidic condition which can be readily bound to cation exchange resin and then eluted off by saturated ammonium bicarbonate. Ammonium bicarbonate in the collections was easily removed by vacuum evaporation. This strategy circumvented the incompatible issue between glycosyltransferases and solid support or large polymers, and no purification was needed for intermediate products. With current approach, polyLacNAc backbones of HMOs and fucosylated HMOs were synthesized smoothly.     

Biotic resistance to exotic invasions: its role in forest ecosystems,confounding artifacts,and future directions

Biotic resistance, the ability of communities to resist exotic invasions, has long attracted interest in the research and management communities. However, inconsistencies exist in various biotic resistance studies and less is known about the current status and knowledge gaps of biotic resistance in forest ecosystems. In this paper, we provide a brief review of the history and mechanisms of the biotic resistance hypothesis, and summarize the central topics and knowledge gaps related to biotic resistance with a special emphasis on forest ecosystems. Overall, although the amount of research efforts on biotic resistance in forest ecosystems has increased since the mid-2000s, aspects such as resistance to exotic pests and pathogens remain understudied. In addition, we synthesize ecological and statistical explanations of observed inconsistencies and provide suggestions for future research directions. Some of the observed inconsistencies on biotic resistance can be attributed to (1) the interactive or additive effects of other ecological processes and (2) the statistical artifacts of modifiable areal unit problem. With the advancement of new statistical knowledge and tools, along with availability of big data, biotic resistance research can be greatly improved with the simultaneous consideration of key ecological processes, the attention to various scales involved, and the addition of understudied systems.     

Perfect Terahertz Absorption with Graphene Surface Plasmons in the Modified Otto Configuration

Perfect terahertz (THz) absorption in the modified Otto configuration with the insertion of monolayer graphene sheet has been numerically demonstrated. This perfect absorption originates from the enhancement of the electrical field owing to the excitation of the transverse magnetic (TM) polarized surface plasmons at the interface of two dielectrics with monolayer graphene. It is found that the absorption peak occurs at the specific incident angles, which can be employed for realizing the angular absorbers. We further demonstrate that the angle of the peak absorption and the corresponding wavelength can be manipulated by changing the Fermi energy of monolayer graphene sheet via electrostatic biasing. Moreover, the behaviors of the perfect absorption are strongly dependent on the dielectric constants and thicknesses of the surrounding dielectrics.     

A vector with the downstream box of the initiation codon can highly enhance protein expression in Escherichia coli

An expression vector, pET-DB, with a perfectly matching downstream box of the initiation codon has been constructed on the basis of the pET system. Any gene of interest can then be inserted into the vector. Four genes were used to test the expression efficiency of the vector. The results show that the vector pET-DB can further increase protein expression level at least up to 35–70% as compared with the initial T7 expression system, indicating that the downstream box can enhance protein expression in Escherichia coli.     

Microbial transformation of ginsenoside Rb1 by Rhizopus stolonifer and Curvularia lunata

Of 49 microbial strains screened for their capabilities to transform ginsenoside Rb₁, Rhizopus stolonifer and Curvularia lunata produced four key metabolites: 3-O-[-d-glucopyranosyl-(1,2)--d-glucopyranosyl]- 20-O-[-d-glucopyranosyl]-3,12, 20(S)-trihydroxydammar-24-ene (1), 3-O-[-d-glucopyranosyl-(1,2)--d- glucopyranosyl]-20-O-[-d-glucopyranosyl]-3,12, 20(S)-trihydroxydammar-24-ol (2), 3-O-[-d-gluco- pyranosyl-(1,2)--d-glucopyranosyl]-3, 12, 20(S)-trihydroxydammar-24-ene (3), and 3-O--d-glucopyranosyl-3, 12, 20(S)-trihydroxydammar-24-ene (4), identified by TOF-MS, ¹H- and ¹³C-NMR spectral data. Metabolites 1, 3 and 4 were from the incubation with R. stolonifer, and 1 and 2 from the incubation with C. lunata. Compound 2 was identified as a new compound.     

草木樨状黄芪抗甲硫氨酸变异系的离体筛选及鉴定

通过组织培养体系进行了草木樨状黄芪(Astragalus melilotoides Pall.)抗甲硫氨酸变异系的筛选。无菌苗幼茎切段诱导的愈伤组织经NaN3诱变后,经过筛选获得了抗14mmol/L甲硫氨酸的变异细胞系,并分化出大量植株。再生植株已经在大田中开花结实。经分析表明：抗性细胞系脱离选择压6个月后,放在含15mmol/L甲硫氨酸的培养基上培养25天后,其相对增长率是对照的10．2倍。抗性系再生植株游离甲硫氨酸是对照的2．12倍,并且天冬族氨基酸都有明显增加。SDS-PAGE及过氧化物酶同工酶分析表明：在蛋白质及同工酶酶谱上抗性系再生植株均出现与对照不同的差异。     

鸭血清胆碱酯酶的纯化及性质研究

首次采用新技术双水相萃取方法作为鸭血清胆碱酯酶(EC.3.1.1.8 CHE) 纯化的第一步,后经 DEAE-Sephadex A50,sephadex G200 柱层析,获得电泳纯鸭血清胆碱酯酶,提纯倍数1018倍,酶活力回收43.4%,比活274.9U/mg。鸭血清胆碱酯酶性质研究表明:此酶是糖蛋白和酸性蛋白水解酶,等电点 4.2 左右,最适 pH7.5 左右;对底物碘化硫代丁酰胆碱的 K_m=9.8×10^-5mol/L;SDS-PAGE 电泳和聚丙烯酰胺梯度电泳表明,鸭血清胆碱酯酶以相同亚基组成的不同聚合体形式存在,亚基分子量 78000,具有完整的酶活性.不同聚合体带电状态相同.     

免疫反应动力学的几个数学模型

免疫系统对抗原刺激的应答过程非常复杂,由抗原刺激导致抗体产生的现象,可借助数学模型的研究获得有意义的结果。本文讨论有关抗体产生与免疫反应的动力学的问题,介绍有关的数学模型,并根据近斯免疫学研究的进展分析了若干模型。     

一种感知视觉运动信息的简化脑模型

视觉运动信息的感知过程,包括从局域运动检测到对模式整体运动的感知过程.我们以蝇视觉系统的图形-背景相对运动分辨的神经回路网络为基本框架,采用初级运动检测器的六角形阵列作为输入层,构造了一种感知视觉运动信息的简化脑模型,模拟了运动信息应该神经计算模型各个层次上的处理.该模型对差分行为实验结果作出了正确预测.本文并对空间生理整合的神经机制作了讨论.