全球陆地保护地与城市距离变化分析

在城市用地和保护地都快速扩张的背景下, 保护地与城市之间的距离在急剧缩小, 然而这并未引起人们的足够关注。城市对保护地的负面影响具有尺度效应, 且随着距离的接近, 负面影响也将加剧, 因此保护地与城市距离的远近可成为衡量负面影响大小的重要依据。本文基于全球保护地和大城市及城市用地分布数据, 对全球、洲际、地区和国家尺度1950-2010年城市与保护地距离的变化进行分析。结果表明: (1)在4个尺度上, 保护地与城市的距离都在不断缩小。欧洲和西欧是保护地与城市距离最近的洲和地区, 而大洋洲和澳大利亚及新西兰则是距离最远的洲和地区。在面积排名前20的保护地大国中, 中国是保护地与城市平均最近距离最小的国家, 其与50万以上人口城市的平均最近距离在2010年仅为143.5 km。(2)根据城市与保护地距离的现状及其变化, 可将保护地排名前60的国家分成5类: (a)距离很近, 靠近速度慢, 如西欧国家; (b)距离近, 靠近速度适中, 如中国、美国; (c)距离较近, 靠近速度快, 如沙特阿拉伯、厄瓜多尔; (d)距离较远, 靠近速度较慢, 如巴西、加拿大、俄罗斯联邦; (e)距离远, 靠近速度较快, 如澳大利亚、非洲大多数国家。(3)全球范围内, 越来越多生物多样性较高的保护地将面临被城市影响的境地。该结果以期引起大家对全球保护地与城市距离急剧缩短现象的关注和警惕。     

Genetic Determinants of the Network of Primary Metabolism and Their Relationships to Plant Performance in a Maize Recombinant Inbred Line Population

Deciphering the influence of genetics on primary metabolism in plants will provide insights useful for genetic improvement and enhance our fundamental understanding of plant growth and development. Although maize (Zea mays) is a major crop for food and feed worldwide, the genetic architecture of its primary metabolism is largely unknown. Here, we use high-density linkage mapping to dissect large-scale metabolic traits measured in three different tissues (leaf at seedling stage, leaf at reproductive stage, and kernel at 15 d after pollination [DAP]) of a maize recombinant inbred line population. We identify 297 quantitative trait loci (QTLs) with moderate (86.2% of the mapped QTL, R² = 2.4 to 15%) to major effects (13.8% of the mapped QTL, R² >15%) for 79 primary metabolites across three tissues. Pairwise epistatic interactions between these identified loci are detected for more than 25.9% metabolites explaining 6.6% of the phenotypic variance on average (ranging between 1.7 and 16.6%), which implies that epistasis may play an important role for some metabolites. Key candidate genes are highlighted and mapped to carbohydrate metabolism, the tricarboxylic acid cycle, and several important amino acid biosynthetic and catabolic pathways, with two of them being further validated using candidate gene association and expression profiling analysis. Our results reveal a metabolite-metabolite-agronomic trait network that, together with the genetic determinants of maize primary metabolism identified herein, promotes efficient utilization of metabolites in maize improvement.     

Proteinase-activated Receptor 2 Promotes Cancer Cell Migration through RNA Methylation-mediated Repression of miR-125b

Proteinase activated-receptor 2 (PAR₂) participates in cancer metastasis promoted by serine proteinases. The current study aimed to test the molecular mechanism by which PAR₂ promotes cancer cell migration. In different cancer cells, activation of PAR₂ by activating peptide (PAR₂-AP) dramatically increased cell migration, whereas knock down of PAR₂ inhibited cellular motility. The PAR₂ activation also repressed miR-125b expression while miR-125b mimic successfully blocked PAR₂-induced cell migration. Moreover, Grb associated-binding protein 2 (Gab2) was identified as a novel target gene of miR-125b and it mediated PAR₂-induced cell migration. The correlation of PAR₂ with miR-125b and Gab2 was further supported by the findings obtained from human colorectal carcinoma specimens. Remarkably, knock down of NOP2/Sun domain family, member 2 (NSun2), a RNA methyltransferase, blocked the reduction in miR-125b induced by PAR₂. Furthermore, PAR₂ activation increased the level of N⁶-methyladenosine (m⁶A)-containing pre-miR-125b in NSun2-dependent manner. Taken together, our results demonstrated that miR-125b mediates PAR₂-induced cancer cell migration by targeting Gab2 and that NSun2-dependent RNA methylation contributes to the down-regulation of miR-125b by PAR₂ signaling. These findings suggest a novel epigenetic mechanism by which microenvironment regulates cancer cell migration by altering miRNA expression.     

地形对植被生物量遥感反演的影响——以广州市为例

目前植被生物量遥感反演研究中的地形校正主要是校正地形变化对地表反射率的影响,较少考虑地形起伏引起的像元面积与实际地表面积的差异,而这种差异将导致植被生物量估算结果的偏差.在生物量遥感反演的基础上,结合地表面积计算模型和物质守恒定律,建立了生物量地形校正模型,定量分析和讨论了地形起伏对广州市植被类型面积提取和生物量准确估算的影响.结果表明:地形校正前后全市针叶林、阔叶林、草地、灌木林和园地面积分别增加6.18％、3.70％、2.86％、1.92％和1.29％;在综合分析区域生物量遥感反演中的各种不确定性的基础上,建立的各植被类型的生物量模型均具有较高精度,相关系数均接近或者超过0.9,可以满足生物量反演的要求;全市植被生物量呈现出东、北高,西、南低的分布格局,像元实际代表的林地(阔叶林和针叶林)平均生物量为61.86t/hm2,高于珠三角区域生物量平均值,但与亚热带林的顶级群落生物量水平有较大差距,林地生物量还有较大的增长空间;经过校正地形变化引起的像元面积和实际地表面积差异对生物量提取结果的影响后,植被总生物量比校正前增加了5.82％,5种植被类型的总生物量有不同程度的增加,阔叶林、针叶林、草地、灌木林和园地分别增加了7.74％,4.76％、3.34％、2.50％和1.58％.与其它的表面积计算模型相比,利用的像元地表面积模型具有较高的精度,可以满足生物量遥感估算中地形校正的需要.     

High-resolution mapping of the S and Z loci of Phalaris coerulescens.

Self incompatibility (SI) in Phalaris coerulescens is gametophytically determined by two unlinked multi allelic loci (S and Z). Neither the S nor Z genes have yet been cloned. As part of a map-based cloning strategy, high-resolution maps of the S and Z regions were generated from distorted segregating populations using RFLP probes from wheat, barley, oat, and Phalaris. The S locus was delimited to 0.26 cM with two boundary markers (Xwg811 and Xpsr168) and cosegregated with Xbm2 and Xbcd762. Xbcd266 was the closest marker linked to Z (0.9 cM). A high level of colinearity in the S and Z regions was found in both self-incompatible and -compatible species. The S locus was localized to the subcentromere region of chromosome 1 and the Z locus to the long arm end of chromosome 2. Several rice BAC clones orthologous to the S and Z locus regions were identified. This opens the possibility of using the rice genome sequence data to generate more closely linked markers and identify SI candidate genes. These results add further support to the conservation of gene order in the S and Z regions of the grass genomes.     

S641 contributes HERG K+ channel inactivation

The kinetics of voltage-dependent inactivation of the rapidly activating delayed rectifier, IKr, are unique among K+ channels. The human ether-a-gogo-related gene (HERG) encodes the pore-forming subunit of IKr and shares a high degree of homology with ether-a-gogo (EAG) channels that do not inactivate. Within those segments thought to contribute to the channel pore, HERG possesses several serine residues that are not present in EAG channels. Two of these serines, S620 and S631, are known to be required for inactivation. We now show that a third serine, S641, which resides in the outer portion of the sixth transmembrane segment, is also critical for normal inactivation. As with the other serines, S641 is also involved in maintaining ion selectivity of the HERG channel and alters sensitivity to block by E4031. Larger charged or polar substitutions (S641D and S641T) disrupted C-type inactivation in HERG. Smaller aliphatic and more conservative substitutions (S641A and S641C) facilitated C-type inactivation. Our data show that, like S620 and S631, S641 is another key residue for the rapid inactivation. The altered inactivation of mutations at S620, S631, and S641 were dominant, suggesting that a network of hydroxyl side chains is required for the unique inactivation, permeation, and rectification of HERG channels.     

南通沿海滩涂耐盐植物重金属抗性内生细菌的筛选及生物多样性

【目的】沿海滩涂耐盐植物重金属抗性内生细菌的筛选及其促生长潜在能力的研究有助于我们获得一些能够耐受并促进耐盐植物在被Cd2+、Pb2+、Hg2+、Cu2+,Zn2+等重金属离子污染的贫瘠的沿海滩涂上正常生长的菌株,达到既能够利用广袤的滩涂生物资源产生经济价值又能够净化生态环境的目的。【方法】以江苏南通沿海滩涂地区的4种耐盐植物为材料,采用稀释平板涂布法从中分离得到45株内生细菌,从中挑取23株代表性的菌株,对其进行抗重金属Cu2+、Pb2+、Cd2+、Zn2+,Hg2+的活性筛选;固氮、解磷、吲哚乙酸(IAA)的产生、1-氨基环丙烷-1-羧酸(ACC)脱氨酶活性等促生指标以及NaCl耐受能力的筛选。【结果】发现分离所得的大多数细菌能够耐受高浓度的Cu2+以及Pb2+,但是对Cd2+、Zn2+,Hg2+的耐受能力则较弱;26.1%的细菌具有固氮能力,21.7%的细菌具有解磷能力,60.9%的细菌能够产生IAA,39.1%的细菌含有ACC脱氨酶。对他们进行16S rRNA基因鉴定后发现,他们分属于芽胞杆菌属(Bacillus)、喜盐芽胞杆菌属(Halobacillus)、海洋芽胞杆菌属(Oceanobacillus)、微小杆菌属(Exiguobacterium)、沙雷氏菌属(Serratia)、短波单胞菌属(Brevundimonas)、弧菌属(Vibrio)、葡萄球菌属(Staphylococcus)共8个属,显示了丰富的多样性。其中菌株KLBMP 2432以及菌株KLBMP 2447为潜在的新种。【结论】沿海滩涂地区的耐盐植物内生细菌具有丰富多样的生物多样性以及促生长能力,且存在潜在的新种资源,并对重金属Cu2+,Pb2+具有较强的抗性。     

HIV-mediated phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/serine-threonine kinase activation in APCs leads to programmed death-1 ligand upregulation and suppression of HIV-specific CD8 T cells

Recent evidence demonstrates that HIV-1 infection leads to the attenuation of cellular immune responses, which has been correlated with the increased expression of programmed death (PD)-1 on virus-specific CD8(+) T cells. PD-1 is induced upon T cell activation, and its prolonged expression facilitates CD8(+) T cell inhibitory signals when bound to its B7 family ligands, PD-ligand (L)1/2, which are expressed on APCs. Importantly, early reports demonstrated that blockade of the PD-1/PD-L interaction by Abs may help to counter the development of immune exhaustion driven by HIV viral persistence. To better understand the regulation of the PD-1 pathway during HIV infection, we examined the ability of the virus to induce PD-L expression on macrophages and dendritic cells. We found a direct relationship between the infection of APCs and the expression of PD-L1 in which virus-mediated upregulation induced a state of nonresponsiveness in uninfected HIV-specific T cells. Furthermore, this exhaustion phenotype was revitalized by the blockade of PD-L1, after which T cells regained their capacity for proliferation and the secretion of proinflammatory cytokines IFN-γ, IL-2, and IL-12 upon restimulation. In addition, we identify a critical role for the PI3K/serine-threonine kinase signaling pathway in PD-L1 upregulation of APCs by HIV, because inhibition of these intracellular signal transducer enzymes significantly reduced PD-L1 induction by infection. These data identify a novel mechanism by which HIV exploits the immunosuppressive PD-1 pathway and suggest a new role for virus-infected cells in the local corruption of immune responses required for viral suppression.