The impacts of warming and nitrogen addition on competitive ability of native and invasive populations of Plantago virginica

全球变化因子(如增温和氮沉降)可能会影响生物入侵,但是这些因子如何影响入侵物种的表现并进一步调节入侵物种与本地竞争者之间的相互作用仍不清楚。本文通过为期五个月的温室实验,研究了增温(开顶式增温箱,+0.62°C)和氮添加(4.2 g N m⁻²)对入侵物种北美 车前(Plantago virginica)原产地和入侵地种群与本地车前草(Plantago asiatica)竞争的影响。实验结果表明,在增温及其与氮添加处理(W × N) 的相互作用下,P. virginica的入侵种群(PV-In)和原产地种群(PV-Na)在与本地竞争者P. asiatica竞争时具有不同的生物量分配策略。其中,PV-Na在与P. asiatica竞争时增加了地下生物量,而PV-In增加了地上生物量。我们还发现,P. virginica对增温和氮添加比P. asiatica的反应更强 烈。增温显著降低了P. virginica的竞争能力,这表明P. virginica比P. asiatica对增温的响应更为敏感。同样,在竞争条件下,氮添加及 其和增温交互作用减少了PV-In地下生物量,但增加了PV-Na地上和总生物量。这些发现表明,P. virginica在入侵过程中改变了生物量分配 策略,PV-In展示出更具弹性的竞争能力以适应环境变化(特别是增温)。这些发现可能有助于我们预测气候变化下的植物入侵并制定相应的 管理策略。     

Mild manifestations of COVID-19 in healthcare workers

Medical staff treating Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients are at high risk for exposure to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), and many have been infected, which may cause panic among medical workers, their relatives, health professionals, and government leaders. We report the epidemiologic and clinical characteristics of healthcare workers and that the majority of infected medical staff had milder symptoms/conditions with a better prognosis than admitted patients. Timely improvement to medical staff’s working conditions such as allowing adequate rest and providing sufficient medical protection is extremely important.     

纳米二氧化硅复合寒冷对A549细胞毒性及其炎性因子分泌的影响*

目的: 本研究旨在探讨纳米二氧化硅(Nano-SiO₂)颗粒和寒冷复合对人肺腺癌上皮细胞A549细胞毒性及炎性因子分泌的影响。方法: 本研究以A549细胞为实验对象,分别用10, 50, 100, 200 μg/ml Nano-SiO₂颗粒对A549细胞染毒,以及分别在35℃,33℃,31℃条件下对A549细胞进行低温暴露,培养48 h后,观察细胞形态及测定细胞相对存活率。根据单因素分析结果,选出对A549细胞相对存活率有显著降低作用的Nano-SiO₂剂量和温度的基础上,按照2×2析因设计实验,分为4组:①37℃对照组;②Nano-SiO₂染毒组;③低温暴露组;④Nano-SiO₂和低温复合组,不同条件下暴露48 h后,收集细胞上清液采用比色法检测LDH活性,以及ELISA法测定细胞因子白介素-6(IL-6)和白介素-8(IL-8)的水平,采用qRT-PCR法检测细胞IL-6和IL-8的基因表达水平。结果: 100 μg/ml Nano-SiO₂组和31℃低温组能够显著降低A549细胞活性(P＜0.01),在复合条件作用下对A549细胞活性抑制最为显著,且炎性因子IL-6和IL-8及mRNA的表达水平均显著升高(P＜0.01)。结论: 100 μg/ml Nano-SiO₂与31℃低温复合暴露可协同降低A549细胞的相对存活率,增加炎性因子IL-6和IL-8表达水平。     

Recognition motifs rather than phylogenetic origin influence the ability of targeting peptides to import nuclear-encoded recombinant proteins into rice mitochondria

Mitochondria fulfil essential functions in respiration and metabolism as well as regulating stress responses and apoptosis. Most native mitochondrial proteins are encoded by nuclear genes and are imported into mitochondria via one of several receptors that recognize N-terminal signal peptides. The targeting of recombinant proteins to mitochondria therefore requires the presence of an appropriate N-terminal peptide, but little is known about mitochondrial import in monocotyledonous plants such as rice (Oryza sativa). To gain insight into this phenomenon, we targeted nuclear-encoded enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP) to rice mitochondria using six mitochondrial pre-sequences with diverse phylogenetic origins, and investigated their effectiveness by immunoblot analysis as well as confocal and electron microscopy. We found that the ATPA and COX4 (Saccharomyces cerevisiae), SU9 (Neurospora crassa), pFA (Arabidopsis thaliana) and OsSCSb (Oryza sativa) peptides successfully directed most of the eGFP to the mitochondria, whereas the MTS2 peptide (Nicotiana plumbaginifolia) showed little or no evidence of targeting ability even though it is a native plant sequence. Our data therefore indicate that the presence of particular recognition motifs may be required for mitochondrial targeting, whereas the phylogenetic origin of the pre-sequences probably does not play a key role in the success of mitochondrial targeting in dedifferentiated rice callus and plants.

     

鄂西南木林子常绿落叶阔叶混交林2014~2019年主要物种动态变化

为了明确鄂西南木林子亚热带山地常绿落叶阔叶混交林的短期群落动态,为该区森林生态的保护、恢复与可持续经营提供科学依据。该研究基于木林子自然保护区2.2 hm²动态监测样地,以2014和2019年样地内所有胸径(DBH)≥1 cm的木本植物为研究对象,从物种组成与多样性、重要值、死亡率、补员率及胸径等方面分析了其动态变化。结果表明：(1)5年间2.2 hm²样地内木本植物个体从17 308株减少到16 533株,降幅为4.48%,胸高断面积31.42 m²·hm^-2增长到35.53 m²·hm^-2,物种增加了1科6属18种,消失1属7种。 乔木、亚乔木、灌木及藤本4类生长型物种的Margalef丰富度指数均上升,而Pielou均匀度指数均下降;除乔木外其他3种生长型的Shannon Wiener多样性指数和Simpson指数均上升。(2)补员个体1 269株,平均胸径2.44 cm,胸高断面积为0.32 m²·hm^-2,平均新增115.36 株·hm^-2·a^-1,隶属39科59属99种;死亡个体2 044株,平均胸径3.32 cm,胸高段面积为1.31 m²·hm^-2,平均死亡185.82 株·hm^-2·a^-1,隶属51科90属146种;不同径级补员与死亡个体数差异明显,总体上随着径级的增大而减少。(3)46个主要物种中有15种重要值增大,有31种降低,增加与降低的变化幅度为乔木层>灌木层>亚乔木层;平均胸径从4.70 cm上升为5.12 cm,除锥栗(Castanea henryi)平均胸径有所下降外其他物种均上升。(4)主要树种中有44个为增长型种群,另外2个物种种群增长率不变,主要物种年补员率大于年死亡率,不同生长型物种及其不同径级的死亡率与补员率不同,不同径级补员率总体大于死亡率;随着径级的增大,补员率与死亡率的差值逐渐降低趋于平缓。研究认为,该群落物种组成与多样性及主要物种的重要值、平均胸径变化幅度较小,未发生明显波动,主要物种不同径级的更新动态有所差别,但不剧烈,因此整个群落外貌基本保持不变,发展较为稳定。     

不同缓释过氧化钙对潜育环境下水稻土微生物特性的影响

为了解不同缓释过氧化钙对潜育化稻田土壤微生物特性的影响,于网室内进行潜育化稻田环境模拟试验,以不施过氧化钙为对照,探究过氧化钙粉末、过氧化钙颗粒与4种不同释氧效果的包膜过氧化钙在早稻分蘖期同等时期对潜育化稻田土壤活性有机碳、有效养分及微生物特性的影响。结果表明: 施用过氧化钙均能提高土壤活性有机碳、有效养分、微生物生物量及可培养微生物数量和酶活性,包膜过氧化钙对土壤微生物和酶活性的改善效果较好,其次依次为过氧化钙颗粒和过氧化钙粉末。包膜过氧化钙处理中,以乙基纤维素包膜效果最好,与不施过氧化钙处理相比,其土壤活性有机碳、微生物生物量碳、微生物生物量氮、微生物生物量磷分别显著提高19.4%、11.4%、121.5%、127.2%,土壤碱解氮和有效磷分别提高4.0%和45.5%;土壤可培养细菌和可培养微生物总量分别显著提高137.3%和113.7%,真菌和放线菌数量分别提高33.6%和44.7%;蔗糖酶、磷酸酶和脲酶活性分别显著提高92.4%、91.8%和112.5%,过氧化氢酶活性提高17.1%。研究结果可为包膜过氧化钙对潜育化稻田改良提供参考。     

An undiscovered facet of hydraulic redistribution driven by evaporation—a study from a Populus tomentosa plantation

Maintaining the activity and function of the shallow root system of plants is essential for withstanding drought stress, but the associated mechanism is poorly understood. By investigating sap flow in 14 lateral roots (LRs) randomly selected from trees of a Chinese white poplar (Populus tomentosa) plantation receiving three levels of irrigation, an unknown root water transport mode of simultaneous daytime bi-directional water flow was discovered. This mode existed in five LRs confined to the surface soil without attached sinker roots. In the longer term, the bi-directional water flow was correlated with the soil water content. However, within the day, it was associated with transpiration. Our data demonstrated that bi-directional root sap flow occurred during the day, and was driven by evaporative demand, further suggesting the existence of circumferential water movement in the LR xylem. We named this phenomenon evaporation-driven hydraulic redistribution (EDHR). A soil-root water transport model was proposed to encapsulate this water movement mode. EDHR may be a crucial drought-tolerance mechanism that allows plants to maintain shallow root survival and activity by promoting root water recharge under extremely dry conditions.