人工红树林湿地系统净化污水研究进展

咸淡水交接处这种特殊的生境造就了红树植物“抗污”和“降污”的功能,但能否将自然红树林湿地作为污水处理场所目前仍有争议。按照构建的人工红树林湿地的类型,分为三大类：模拟潮汐湿地系统、人工红树林污水处理系统以及红树林种植-养殖生态耦合系统。第一类系统模拟了自然海滩上的潮涨潮落的情形,第二类系统与一般人工湿地相类似,而第三类系统是指在养殖塘种植红树植物以去除有机物和营养盐。不同的类型反映了该领域研究工作的不断深入,展现了红树林湿地净化污水从理论探索向实际应用不断靠近的过程。应用人工红树林湿地净化污水具有较大的可行性,前景可观。     

长期施肥对双季稻田甲烷排放和关键功能微生物的影响

研究不同施肥措施对双季稻田甲烷(CH_4)排放特征的影响及其微生物学机理,对合理利用及评价不同施肥模式对水稻生长的影响具有重要意义。以长期施肥定位试验田为平台,采用静态箱-气相色谱法对施用化肥(MF:mineral fertilizer alone)、秸秆还田配施化肥(RF:rice residues plus mineral fertilizer)、30%有机肥配施70%化肥(LOM:30%organic matter plus 70%mineral fertilizer)、60%有机肥配施40%化肥(HOM:60%organic matter plus 40%mineral fertilizer)和无肥(CK:without fertilizer)条件下双季稻田CH_4排放及其微生物学机理进行了分析。结果表明,早稻和晚稻生长期,不同施肥处理稻田CH_4排放通量均显著高于CK,表现为HOMLOMRFMFCK。各处理间CH_4总排放量差异达显著水平,其大小顺序与排放通量趋势一致,以HOM处理为最高,比CK处理增加105.56%,其次是LOM和RF处理,分别比CK处理增加72.97%和54.17%。关键功能土壤微生物测定结果表明,早稻和晚稻各个主要生育时期,各处理稻田土壤产甲烷古菌的数量变化范围为(3.18—81.07)×10~3cfu/g,土壤甲烷氧化细菌的数量变化范围为(24.82—379.72)×10~3cfu/g。稻田土壤产甲烷古菌和甲烷氧化细菌数量大小顺序为HOMLOMRFMFCK,各施肥处理均显著高于CK;HOM、LOM、RF处理显著高于MF、CK处理。双季稻田CH_4排放与稻田土壤产甲烷古菌、甲烷氧化细菌数量变化关系密切。采用有机无机肥配施促进了双季稻田生态系统CH_4的排放和关键功能微生物的数量。     

Automatic non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy screening system based on color fundus image

Background

Non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy is the early stage of diabetic retinopathy. Automatic detection of non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy is significant for clinical diagnosis, early screening and course progression of patients.

Methods

This paper introduces the design and implementation of an automatic system for screening non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy based on color fundus images. Firstly, the fundus structures, including blood vessels, optic disc and macula, are extracted and located, respectively. In particular, a new optic disc localization method using parabolic fitting is proposed based on the physiological structure characteristics of optic disc and blood vessels. Then, early lesions, such as microaneurysms, hemorrhages and hard exudates, are detected based on their respective characteristics. An equivalent optical model simulating human eyes is designed based on the anatomical structure of retina. Main structures and early lesions are reconstructed in the 3D space for better visualization. Finally, the severity of each image is evaluated based on the international criteria of diabetic retinopathy.

Results

The system has been tested on public databases and images from hospitals. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed system achieves high accuracy for main structures and early lesions detection. The results of severity classification for non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy are also accurate and suitable.

Conclusions

Our system can assist ophthalmologists for clinical diagnosis, automatic screening and course progression of patients.

     

肠炎沙门氏菌鸡源株ompR 基因缺失株的构建及生物学特性与亲本株的比较

【目的】为了探讨ompR基因在肠炎沙门氏菌生物被膜形成及毒力中的作用。【方法】以肠炎沙门氏菌作为母本,运用自杀性载体pGMB151构建了ompR基因缺失株,结晶紫染色法和扫描电镜观察测定缺失株的生物被膜形成能力,细胞的吸附和侵入及小鼠攻毒试验测定缺失株的毒力。【结果】RT-PCR和蛋白表达证明了ompR基因缺失株构建成功;该缺失株不表达纤维素和菌毛,不形成生物被膜;上皮细胞吸附和侵入试验表明缺失株与野生株具有相同的吸附和侵入率;BALB/c鼠腹腔感染性试验表明,缺失株的半数致死量为106.67CFU,而野生株的半数致死量小于2 CFU。【结论】ompR基因既是肠炎沙门氏菌生物膜形成的调控基因,又是重要的毒力基因。     

岷江上游不同树种林地客土混合对土壤生物化学性质和枯落叶分解的影响

人工纯林的长期经营会引发连栽障碍,影响森林的可持续发展,解决途径是引进更新树种形成混交林。为了指导四川岷江上游人工纯林更新树种和混交比例的选择,尝试通过针阔叶树种林地腐殖质土壤及其枯落物的客置和混合原位培养试验,探讨不同树种种间关系的协调性。结果表明:(1)连香树、云南松和云杉林地经过各种客土混合后酶活性普遍都有所提高,而在糙皮桦林地,经云南松土壤客土混合后酶活性普遍有所下降,经云杉土壤客土混合后脲酶和过氧化氢酶活性有不同程度的提高,蔗糖酶活性却有所下降;(2)连香树和云南松林地经过各种客土混合后,加速了C和N由枯落物进入土壤,而在糙皮桦和云杉林地经过各种客土混合后,促进了N从枯落物和有机质矿化分解进入土壤的过程,但却会对有机C进入土壤产生抑制作用;(3)所有不同针阔叶树种林地经土壤客土混合后,对原有土壤的酸碱性起到中和的作用,即原来的阔叶林地土壤向偏酸性方向发展,而原来的针叶林地土壤向偏碱性方向发展;(4)所有不同树种林地的客土混合对枯落叶分解均具有明显的促进作用;(5)连香树林地的LM0.15~0.50和LY0.15~0.35、糙皮桦林地的HM0.15和HY0.15~0.50、云南松林地的ML0.15~0.50和MH0.35~0.50、云杉林地的YL0.35~0.50和YH0.35类型是相对较好的选择,可作为确定更新树种和混交比例的参考。     

RS-1提高CRISPR-Cas9系统介导的人乳铁蛋白基因敲入效率

尝试利用CRISPR-Cas9系统敲除山羊基因组中β-乳球蛋白(BLG)基因,以实现在BLG基因座敲入人乳铁蛋白(h LF)基因,并进一步探讨了不同浓度RAD51蛋白激活剂(RS-1)对同源重组效率的影响。首先针对山羊BLG的第一外显子设计并构建了sg RNA和Cas9共表达载体p Cas9-sg BLG,将该载体转染至山羊耳成纤维细胞,利用PCR和T7EN1法验证了其基因组编辑活性;然后进一步构建了BLG基因打靶载体p BHA-h LF-NIE(包含NEO/EGFP);将该打靶载体与p Cas9-sg BLG载体共转染至山羊耳成纤维细胞,分别用0、5、10和20μmol/L RS-1处理细胞,分析了绿色荧光蛋白的表达效率;同时用800μg/m L G418对不同浓度RS-1处理后的细胞进行筛选,挑取EGFP阳性细胞克隆,进一步通过PCR和测序鉴定h LF定点敲入的阳性细胞克隆。结果显示:设计的sg RNA编辑山羊BLG位点的效率为25%-31%;报告基因的表达效率提示RS-1可以促进基因敲入效率的提高,其效率与RS-1浓度呈正相关,20μmol/L RS-1处理组的效率是对照组的3.5倍;利用G418筛选h LF敲入阳性细胞克隆后,当RS-1浓度为0-10μmol/L时,h LF敲入效率随着RS-1浓度增加而升高,在10μmol/L时阳性克隆率最高为32.61%,然而在20μmol/L时敲入阳性克隆率下降至22.22%,且衰老细胞克隆增多。以上结果表明,利用CRISPR-Cas9系统可以实现在山羊耳成纤维细胞中敲除BLG基因和敲入h LF基因,且适宜浓度的RS-1可以显著提升基因敲入效率,本试验为高效利用CRISPR-Cas9系统获得基因敲入的细胞提供了参考依据。     

Determination of zeranol and its metabolites in bovine muscle and liver by a chemiluminescence enzyme immunoassay: compared to an ultraperformance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectroscopy method

A chemiluminescent enzyme immunoassay (CLEIA) was compared to an ultraperformance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectroscopy (UPLC‐MS/MS) procedure for the analysis of zeranol and its metabolites in bovine tissue samples. Apparent recoveries from fortified samples by both methods were comparable at 0.5–4.0 µg/kg and a significant correlation was obtained. For CLEIA analysis, hapten mimicking the analyte was first synthesized and conjugated with the carrier protein bovine serum albumin as the immunogen to produce monoclonal antibody. The obtained antibody showed extensive cross‐reactivity toward zeranol metabolites (zearalanone). The limit of detection of CLEIA and UPLC‐MS/MS was 0.05 µg/kg and 0.5 µg/kg, respectively. Recoveries of both methods for fortified samples were higher than 75.0% with the coefficient of variation less than 15%. These results indicated that the combination of screening with CLEIA and confirmation with UPLC‐MS/MS for zeranol and its metabolites would be a reliable method for a large number of bovine samples. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Moderate severity heart failure does not involve a downregulation of myocardial fatty acid oxidation

Recent human and animal studies have demonstrated that in severe end-stage heart failure (HF), the cardiac muscle switches to a more fetal metabolic phenotype, characterized by downregulation of free fatty acid (FFA) oxidation and an enhancement of glucose oxidation. The goal of this study was to examine myocardial substrate metabolism in a model of moderate coronary microembolization-induced HF. We hypothesized that during well-compensated HF, FFA oxidation would predominate as opposed to a more fetal metabolic phenotype of greater glucose oxidation. Cardiac substrate uptake and oxidation were measured in normal dogs (n = 8) and in dogs with microembolization-induced HF (n = 18, ejection fraction = 28%) by infusing three isotopic tracers ([9,10-(3)H]oleate, [U-(14)C]glucose, and [1-(13)C]lactate) in anesthetized open-chest animals. There were no differences in myocardial substrate metabolism between the two groups. The total activity of pyruvate dehydrogenase, the key enzyme regulating myocardial pyruvate oxidation (and hence glucose and lactate oxidation) was not affected by HF. We did not observe any difference in the activity of carnitine palmitoyl transferase I (CPT-I) and its sensitivity to inhibition by malonyl-CoA between groups; however, malonyl-CoA content was decreased by 22% with HF, suggesting less in vivo inhibition of CPT-I activity. The differences in malonyl-CoA content cannot be explained by changes in the Michaelis-Menten constant and maximal velocity for malonyl-CoA decarboxylase because neither were affected by HF. These results support the concept that there is no decrease in fatty acid oxidation during compensated HF and that the downregulation of fatty acid oxidation enzymes and the switch to carbohydrate oxidation observed in end-stage HF is only a late-stage phenomenon.     

Genus-Wide Comparative Genomics of Malassezia Delineates Its Phylogeny,Physiology, and Niche Adaptation on Human Skin

Malassezia is a unique lipophilic genus in class Malasseziomycetes in Ustilaginomycotina, (Basidiomycota, fungi) that otherwise consists almost exclusively of plant pathogens. Malassezia are typically isolated from warm-blooded animals, are dominant members of the human skin mycobiome and are associated with common skin disorders. To characterize the genetic basis of the unique phenotypes of Malassezia spp., we sequenced the genomes of all 14 accepted species and used comparative genomics against a broad panel of fungal genomes to comprehensively identify distinct features that define the Malassezia gene repertoire: gene gain and loss; selection signatures; and lineage-specific gene family expansions. Our analysis revealed key gene gain events (64) with a single gene conserved across all Malassezia but absent in all other sequenced Basidiomycota. These likely horizontally transferred genes provide intriguing gain-of-function events and prime candidates to explain the emergence of Malassezia. A larger set of genes (741) were lost, with enrichment for glycosyl hydrolases and carbohydrate metabolism, concordant with adaptation to skin’s carbohydrate-deficient environment. Gene family analysis revealed extensive turnover and underlined the importance of secretory lipases, phospholipases, aspartyl proteases, and other peptidases. Combining genomic analysis with a re-evaluation of culture characteristics, we establish the likely lipid-dependence of all Malassezia. Our phylogenetic analysis sheds new light on the relationship between Malassezia and other members of Ustilaginomycotina, as well as phylogenetic lineages within the genus. Overall, our study provides a unique genomic resource for understanding Malassezia niche-specificity and potential virulence, as well as their abundance and distribution in the environment and on human skin.