陕南茶树栽培区域生态与地方品种分布

陕南秦巴山区是亚热带北缘地区。由于生态环境复杂,地区差异性大,茶树栽培与引种受到一定限制。大致以汉江谷地粮作区为界,南部大巴山北麓低山丘陵区为适栽区;北部秦岭南麓低山丘陵区则为次适栽区。地方茶树群体品种有7个,约由28个地方品种组成,呈斑、块状分布。     

Dilated cardiomyopathy caused by tissue-specific ablation of SC35 in the heart

Many genetic diseases are caused by mutations in cis-acting splicing signals, but few are triggered by defective trans-acting splicing factors. Here we report that tissue-specific ablation of the splicing factor SC35 in the heart causes dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). Although SC35 was deleted early in cardiogenesis by using the MLC-2v-Cre transgenic mouse, heart development appeared largely unaffected, with the DCM phenotype developing 3-5 weeks after birth and the mutant animals having a normal life span. This nonlethal phenotype allowed the identification of downregulated genes by microarray, one of which was the cardiac-specific ryanodine receptor 2. We showed that downregulation of this critical Ca2+ release channel preceded disease symptoms and that the mutant cardiomyocytes exhibited frequency-dependent excitation-contraction coupling defects. The implication of SC35 in heart disease agrees with a recently documented link of SC35 expression to heart failure and interference of splicing regulation during infection by myocarditis-causing viruses. These studies raise a new paradigm for the etiology of certain human heart diseases of genetic or environmental origin that may be triggered by dysfunction in RNA processing.     

Sulfur‐Impregnated,Sandwich‐Type,Hybrid Carbon Nanosheets with Hierarchical Porous Structure for High‐Performance Lithium‐Sulfur Batteries

Sandwich‐type hybrid carbon nanosheets (SCNMM) consisting of graphene and micro/mesoporous carbon layer are fabricated via a double template method using graphene oxide as the shape‐directing agent and SiO₂ nanoparticles as the mesoporous guide. The polypyrrole synthesized in situ on the graphene oxide sheets is used as a carbon precursor. The micro/mesoporous strcutures of the SCNMM are created by a carbonization process followed by HF solution etching and KOH treatment. Sulfur is impregnated into the hybrid carbon nanosheets to generate S@SCNMM composites for the cathode materials in Li‐S secondary batteries. The microstructures and electrochemical performance of the as‐prepared samples are investigated in detail. The hybrid carbon nanosheets, which have a thickness of about 10–25 nm, high surface area of 1588 m² g^?1, and broad pore size distribution of 0.8–6.0 nm, are highly interconnected to form a 3D hierarchical structure. The S@SCNMM sample with the sulfur content of 74 wt% exhibits excellent electrochemical performance, including large reversible capacity, good cycling stability and coulombic efficiency, and good rate capability, which is believed to be due to the structure of hybrid carbon materials with hierarchical porous structure, which have large specific surface area and pore volume.     

Protein instability during HIC: describing the effects of mobile phase conditions on instability and chromatographic retention

Hydrophobic interaction chromatography (HIC) is known to be potentially denaturing to proteins, but the effects of mobile phase conditions on chromatographic behavior are not well understood. In this study, we apply a model describing the effects of secondary protein unfolding equilibrium on chromatographic behavior, including the effects of salt concentration on both stability and adsorption. We use alpha-lactalbumin as a model protein that in the presence and absence of calcium, allows evaluation of adsorption parameters for folded and unfolded species independently. The HIC adsorption equilibrium under linear binding conditions and solution phase protein stability have been obtained from a combination of literature and new experiments. The effect of salt concentration on protein stability and the rate constant for unfolding on the chromatographic surface have been determined by fitting the model to isocratic chromatography data under marginally stable conditions. The model successfully describes the effects of added calcium and ammonium sulfate. The results demonstrate the importance of considering the effects on stability of mobile phase modifiers when applying HIC to marginally stable     

Assessing facilitative responses to a nurse shrub at the community level: the example of Potentilla fruticosa in a sub‐alpine grassland of northwest China

Biotic interaction studies have revealed a large discrepancy among experiments in target responses to the effects of neighbours, which may in part be due to both high species‐specificity of plant responses and low number of target species used in experiments. Our aim was to assess facilitative responses at the community level and the role of both functional groups and ecological attributes of target species. In a sub‐alpine grassland on the eastern Tibet plateau, we assessed growth responses of all species in the community to removal of a dominant shrub. We also measured changes in the main environmental variables. Species responses were analysed by functional group and in relation to their mean regional altitudinal distribution. All significant interactions were positive and affected one‐third of the total species richness of the community. All functional groups were facilitated but forbs were less strongly facilitated than in the two other groups. High‐alpine species were less strongly facilitated than low‐sub‐alpine species, but the strength of this relationship was weaker than that reported in previous work. There was evidence of a decrease in extreme temperatures below the canopy of the shrub but no variations in soil moisture. We conclude that the highly stressful conditions induced by the dry continental climate of the eastern Tibet plateau are a main driver of the exclusive dominance of positive interactions. Assessing interactive responses at the community level is likely to provide a useful tool to better understand the role of biotic interactions in community responses to environmental changes.     

Genome-wide analysis of the Chinese sturgeon sox gene family: identification,characterisation and expression profiles of different tissues

The sox family is assumed to be responsible for a number of developmental systems. Genome sequencing technology makes it possible to scan sox genes and conduct characteristic analyses of different species. In fish, full characterisation of sox genes at the genome-wide level has been reported for pufferfish Takifugu rubripes, medaka Oryzias latipes, tilapia Oreochromis niloticus and channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus. However, no systematic investigation of the sox family in sturgeons (Acipenseridae) has been reported to date. This study conducted genome-wide identification of the sox genes in the Chinese sturgeon Acipenser sinensis and profiled their tissue distribution between male and female individuals. In total, 19 sox genes were identified, including soxb1, b2, c, d, e, f and h, in the Chinese sturgeon. Genomic structure analysis indicated relatively conserved exon–intron structures in each sox group and phylogenetic analysis supported the previous classification of the sox family. Most of the sox genes showed a tissue-specific expression pattern, indicating the possible involvement of Chinese sturgeon sox genes at different developmental processes such as cardiac and gonadal development. This study provides a comprehensive resource of Chinese sturgeon sox genes and enables a better understanding of the evolution and function of the sox family.     

Changes in microbial biomass,community composition and diversity,and functioning with soil depth in two alpine ecosystems on the Tibetan plateau

Plant and Soil - Plant P acquisition strategies are driven by multiple belowground morphological and physiological traits as well as interactions among these traits. This study aimed to...     

Two Rubisco activase isoforms may play different roles in photosynthetic heat acclimation in the rice plant

Studies on some plant species have shown that increasing the growth temperature gradually or pretreating with high temperature can lead to obvious photosynthetic acclimation to high temperature. To test whether this acclimation arises from heat adaptation of ribulose 1,5‐bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco, EC 4.1.1.39) activation mediated by Rubisco activase (RCA), gene expression of RCA large isoform (RCA_L) and RCA small isoform (RCA_S) in rice was determined using a 4‐day heat stress treatment [40/30°C (day/night)] followed by a 3‐day recovery under control conditions [30/22°C (day/night)]. The heat stress significantly induced the expression of RCA_L as determined by both mRNA and protein levels. Correlative analysis indicated that RCA_S protein content was extremely significantly related to Rubisco initial activity and net photosynthetic rate (Pn) under both heat stress and normal conditions. Immunoblot analysis of the Rubisco–RCA complex revealed that the ratio of RCA_L to Rubisco increased markedly in heat‐acclimated rice leaves. Furthermore, transgenic rice plants expressing enhanced amounts of RCA_L exhibited higher thermotolerance in Pn and Rubisco initial activity and grew better at high temperature than wild‐type (WT) plants and transgenic rice plants expressing enhanced amounts of RCA_S. Under normal conditions, the transgenic rice plants expressing enhanced amounts of RCA_S showed higher Pn and produced more biomass than transgenic rice plants expressing enhanced amounts of RCA_L and wild‐type plants. Together, these suggest that the heat‐induced RCA_L may play an important role in photosynthetic acclimation to moderate heat stress in vivo, while RCA_S plays a major role in maintaining Rubisco initial activity under normal conditions.