Structure/activity relationships of C-terminal neuropeptide Y peptide segments and analogues composed of sequence 1-4 linked to 25-36

C-terminal analogues of neuropeptide Y have been synthesized. The influence of chain length, single-amino-acid substitutions and segment substitutions on receptor binding, biological activity and conformational properties has been investigated. Receptor binding and in vivo assays revealed biological activity already for amino acids 28-36 of neuropeptide Y [neuropeptide Y-(Ac-28-36)-peptide] which increased with increasing chain length. Replacement of Arg25 in neuropeptide Y-(Ac-25-36)-peptide had no influence on binding, whereas Arg33 and Arg35 cannot be replaced by lysine or ornithine without considerable decrease in receptor binding. The introduction of conformational constraints by the 2-aminoisobutyric acid residue (Aib) in position 30 and replacing the amino acids 28-32 by Ala-Aib-Ala-Aib-Ala decreased receptor binding. However, the corresponding Aib-Ala-Aib-Ala-Aib-substituted analogue and a more flexible analogue with Gly5 at position 28-32 exhibited considerable affinity for the receptor. All these substitutions led to a decrease in postsynaptic activity. Strong agonistic activities could be detected in a series of 10 discontinuous analogues, which are constructs of N-terminal parts linked via different spacer molecules to C-terminal segments. One of the most active molecules was neuropeptide Y amino acids 1-4 linked to amino acids 25-36 through aminohexanoic acid (Ahx) [neuropeptide Y-(1-4-Ahx-25-36)-peptide].     

Construction of High-Density Linkage Maps of Populus deltoides × P. simonii Using Restriction-Site Associated DNA Sequencing

Although numerous linkage maps have been constructed in the genus Populus, they are typically sparse and thus have limited applications due to low throughput of traditional molecular markers. Restriction-site associated DNA sequencing (RADSeq) technology allows us to identify a large number of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) across genomes of many individuals in a fast and cost-effective way, and makes it possible to construct high-density genetic linkage maps. We performed RADSeq for 299 progeny and their two parents in an F₁ hybrid population generated by crossing the female Populus deltoides ‘I-69’ and male Populus simonii ‘L3’. A total of 2,545 high quality SNP markers were obtained and two parent-specific linkage maps were constructed. The female genetic map contained 1601 SNPs and 20 linkage groups, spanning 4,249.12 cM of the genome with an average distance of 2.69 cM between adjacent markers, while the male map consisted of 940 SNPs and also 20 linkage groups with a total length of 3,816.24 cM and an average marker interval distance of 4.15 cM. Finally, our analysis revealed that synteny and collinearity are highly conserved between the parental linkage maps and the reference genome of P. trichocarpa. We demonstrated that RAD sequencing is a powerful technique capable of rapidly generating a large number of SNPs for constructing genetic maps in outbred forest trees. The high-quality linkage maps constructed here provided reliable genetic resources to facilitate locating quantitative trait loci (QTLs) that control growth and wood quality traits in the hybrid population.     

生态系统服务需求、供给和消费研究进展

生态系统服务的持续供给是社会和自然可持续发展的基础,人类通过对生态系统服务的消费来满足需求和提高自身福祉。研究人类对生态系统服务的需求、消费,分析生态系统服务的供给与需求关系,对生态系统的管理、土地发展规划和资源的合理有效配置具有重要意义。首先分析了生态系统服务需求、供给和消费的内涵与特征,辨析了生态系统服务的有效需求和潜在需求、有效供给与潜在供给,进而提出了生态系统服务需求与供给研究框架,指出应研究生态系统服务供给和需求的空间关联以及生态系统服务需求弹性差异,进而因地制宜地调控生态系统服务供给使得生态系统服务效用最大化。梳理并比较了对生态系统服务供给和需求的量化指标和研究方法,包括基于土地利用和土地覆被的生态系统服务供需关系矩阵法、生态足迹法、公众参与法、模型计算法等。提出了未来的相关研究主要应从不同群体的需求弹性差异、跨学科与多源数据结合的需求定量评估方法、供需关系的多尺度分析、生态系统服务需求与人类福祉的耦合机制拓展等方面展开,为生态系统服务调控管理和社会的可持续发展提供切实可行的科学依据。     

遮阴和种植密度对东北春玉米穗部发育和植株生产力的影响

探讨遮阴对玉米穗部特性的影响及其产量效应,可以为应对气候变化与密植栽培条件下的玉米品种选育和高产栽培提供参考依据.本研究选用2个品种(紧凑型‘中单909’、平展型‘内单4’)和2个种植密度(4.5、9.0万株·hm^-2),在吉林省公主岭市开展田间遮阴试验,设置遮阴(遮阴度65%,小喇叭口期-成熟期)和不遮阴(对照)2个处理,研究遮阴和种植密度对不同株型玉米的穗部发育和植株生产力的影响.结果表明: 遮阴显著影响春玉米雌穗发育,造成散粉和吐丝期推迟,导致散粉吐丝间隔期延长3～15 d;遮阴显著降低春玉米干物质积累,籽粒产量下降50%以上(50.8%～87.0%);密植条件下春玉米穗部特性和产量性能受遮阴的影响显著高于稀植栽培;不同玉米品种相比,紧凑型品种的穗部特性和产量受遮阴和种植密度的影响低于平展型品种,紧凑型品种对生态环境变化的适应性较强,耐阴性和耐密性表现出一致性.     

黄河三角洲河滩与潮滩芦苇对盐胁迫的生理生态响应

研究黄河三角洲两种生境芦苇对盐胁迫的生理生态响应差异,能为退化滨海湿地生态修复中芦苇植株来源的选择提供重要的理论支持。在盐胁迫(300 mmol/L NaCl)下,比较研究了黄河三角洲河滩芦苇(低盐生境)和潮滩芦苇(高盐生境)叶片中的Na⁺含量、根部分生区Na⁺流速、叶片的光合作用参数、H₂O₂的含量、抗氧化酶的活性、丙二醛和脯氨酸的含量。结果表明:盐胁迫显著提高了河滩芦苇叶片中Na⁺含量,但对潮滩芦苇叶片Na⁺影响不显著。进一步通过非损伤微测技术研究发现,盐胁迫后,潮滩芦苇比河滩芦苇的根部分生区的Na⁺外排流速更高(潮滩芦苇:(1982.05±122.74) pmol cm^-2 s^-1vs.(87.93±12.94) pmol cm^-2 s^-1,P<0.01;河滩芦苇:(1574.16±458.90) pmol cm^-2     

基于叶绿体全基因组的云南樱花品种‘红霞''的种系分析

云南樱花品种‘红霞’(Cerasus‘Hongxia’)广泛种植于滇中地区，3月开花，半重瓣至重瓣，粉红色，观赏价值较高。‘红霞’曾被认为是红花高盆樱(C.cerasoides var.rubea)的园艺品种，而其分子标记结果却聚在钟花樱(C.campanulata)种系，可见‘红霞’的种系归属存疑，对今后的育种及栽培极为不利。为探索‘红霞’的种系问题，该研究以‘红霞’的叶片DNA为材料，应用Illumina软件对叶绿体基因组特征进行测序，通过SPAdes 3.13.0、Gapcloser 1.12和CPGAVAS2 2.0软件进行组装、注释，之后使用MISA和Geneious 10.0软件对叶绿体基因组特征进行分析，并使用RAxML 8.0软件构建Cerasus分支系统发育树，分析‘红霞’在樱属植物的系统关系。结果表明：(1)‘红霞’的叶绿体全基因组长度为157 832 bp,鸟嘌呤(Guanine)、胞嘧啶(Cytosine)含量为36.73%,包含一对反向重复(inverted repeat sequence, IR, 26 381 bp)区，由小单拷贝(short single...     

遮光对臭牡丹生长和光合特性的影响

对全光照(遮光率0％,对照)以及遮光率25％ 、50％和75％条件下臭牡丹(Clerodendrum bungei Steud.)生长和光合特性的变化进行了研究.结果表明:随遮光率的提高臭牡丹枝长生长量和比叶面积逐渐增加、枝条直径生长量和比叶质量逐渐减小,叶面积呈波动变化,其中在遮光率25％条件下叶面积最小.在遮光条件下叶片以及栅栏组织和海绵组织厚度差异不显著,但均显著小于对照.在遮光条件下叶片叶绿素a和总叶绿素含量以及叶绿素a/b值总体上随遮光率提高逐渐增加且均高于对照,仅在遮光率25％条件下叶绿素b以及总叶绿素含量低于对照.在遮光率25％和75％条件下叶片净光合速率(Pn)有明显“午休”现象,Pn日变化曲线近似于“双峰型”;而在对照和遮光率50％条件下Pn无“午休”现象,日变化曲线近似于“单峰型”;4个处理组Pn峰值的大小以及峰值出现时间有差异.在上午9:00,在遮光率25％和50％条件下叶片气孔导度(Gs)略有降低,而在对照和遮光率75％条件下Gs明显升高;此后随时间的延长各处理的Gs总体上呈逐渐下降的趋势.各处理组叶片胞间CO2浓度(Ci)的日变化曲线基本一致,均呈早晚略高、中午略低的趋势,谷值均出现在13:00.在对照及遮光率25％和75％条件下,叶片蒸腾速率(Tr)的日变化曲线均呈“双峰型”;而在遮光率50％的条件下Tr呈逐渐降低的趋势,日变化曲线近似于“单峰型”.总体上看,4个处理组叶片的Pn、Gs、Ci和Tr日平均值均无显著差异;且在遮光率25％、50％和75％条件下臭牡丹叶片的Pn与Tr间有显著或极显著相关性.综合分析结果表明:臭牡丹是偏阴生植物,在栽培中适度遮光有利于臭牡丹的生长发育.