Trade‐offs between land and water requirements for large‐scale bioenergy production

Bioenergy is expected to play an important role in the future energy mix as it can substitute fossil fuels and contribute to climate change mitigation. However, large‐scale bioenergy cultivation may put substantial pressure on land and water resources. While irrigated bioenergy production can reduce the pressure on land due to higher yields, associated irrigation water requirements may lead to degradation of freshwater ecosystems and to conflicts with other potential users. In this article, we investigate the trade‐offs between land and water requirements of large‐scale bioenergy production. To this end, we adopt an exogenous demand trajectory for bioenergy from dedicated energy crops, targeted at limiting greenhouse gas emissions in the energy sector to 1100 Gt carbon dioxide equivalent until 2095. We then use the spatially explicit global land‐ and water‐use allocation model MAgPIE to project the implications of this bioenergy target for global land and water resources. We find that producing 300 EJ yr^?1 of bioenergy in 2095 from dedicated bioenergy crops is likely to double agricultural water withdrawals if no explicit water protection policies are implemented. Since current human water withdrawals are dominated by agriculture and already lead to ecosystem degradation and biodiversity loss, such a doubling will pose a severe threat to freshwater ecosystems. If irrigated bioenergy production is prohibited to prevent negative impacts of bioenergy cultivation on water resources, bioenergy land requirements for meeting a 300 EJ yr^?1 bioenergy target increase substantially (+ 41%) – mainly at the expense of pasture areas and tropical forests. Thus, avoiding negative environmental impacts of large‐scale bioenergy production will require policies that balance associated water and land requirements.     

华广虻肠道溶纤活性蛋白的纯化和性质(英文)

经过 75 %饱和度硫酸铵沉淀、SephadexG 75凝胶过滤层析、Lys Sepharose 4B亲和层析和电泳制备洗脱 ,从华广虻 (TabanusamaenusWalker)腹部组织匀浆液中分离纯化出分子量约为 6 7KD的溶纤活性蛋白TAFP。经纤维蛋白平板测定表明 ,TAFP不仅具有纤溶酶作用 ,还具有激活纤溶酶原的作用 ;通过三肽生色底物测定发现 ,TAFP能分解纤溶酶原激活剂的生色底物—ChromozymUK及S 2 2 88。还能水解胰蛋白酶专一底物Bz Phe Val Arg NA及CBZ Gly Pro Arg NA ,表明TAFP具有类胰蛋白酶活性 ,专一水解精氨酸形成的酰胺键 (或肽键 )。TAFP无胰凝乳蛋白酶活性     

土壤-植物系统中稀土元素与氮磷养分的交互作用

土壤－植物系统中稀土元素与N,P养分交互作用属农田稀土安全性评价研究的前沿,土壤中稀土元素与N,P交互作用直接关系到稀土对农田土壤生产力的影响以及稀土对农作物的增产机理和生态环境安全性的评价,就土壤－植物系统中有关稀土元素与N,P交互作用的研究作简要综述,提出今后应加强作物根际,农田土壤表层以及植物体内稀土与N,P养分之间交互作用的研究。     

Engineering imaging probes and molecular machines for nanomedicine

Nanomedicine is an emerging field that integrates nanotechnology, biomolecular engineering, life sciences and medicine; it is expected to produce major breakthroughs in medical diagnostics and therapeutics. Due to the size-compatibility of nano-scale structures and devices with proteins and nucleic acids, the design, synthesis and application of nanoprobes, nanocarriers and nanomachines provide unprecedented opportunities for achieving a better control of biological processes, and drastic improvements in disease detection, therapy, and prevention. Recent advances in nanomedicine include the development of functional nanoparticle based molecular imaging probes, nano-structured materials as drug/gene carriers for in vivo delivery, and engineered molecular machines for treating single-gene disorders. This review focuses on the development of molecular imaging probes and engineered nucleases for nanomedicine, including quantum dot bioconjugates, quantum dot-fluorescent protein FRET probes, molecular beacons, magnetic and gold nanoparticle based imaging contrast agents, and the design and validation of zinc finger nucleases (ZFNs) and TAL effector nucleases (TALENs) for gene targeting. The challenges in translating nanomedicine approaches to clinical applications are discussed.     

甲藻分类历史沿革及中国近海部分甲藻分类地位修订

甲藻自发现至今已有200多年的历史.一方面,甲藻的分类地位越来越受到学者的重视;另一方面,随着研究的深入,出现了越来越多的争议和困惑,在一定程度上阻碍了甲藻分类学的发展.本文简述了国内外甲藻分类研究的历史沿革,主要介绍了几次较大的分类地位的变革.另外,目前中国近海甲藻的分类体系与国际上通用的分类体系还有很多差异,为了更好地促进国内甲藻的分类学研究,方便国际间的合作与交流,我们对国际国内的甲藻分类体系(分别以algaeBASE数据库和《中国海洋生物名录》为代表)进行比较,发现目水平上的分类体系基本相同,但在科、属的划分上有很多差异.针对这些差异点查阅文献,寻根溯源,最终提出了一个较为合理的划分.本文所作的主要调整有:将凯伦藻属(Karenia)、卡罗藻属(Karlodinium)和塔卡藻属(Takay ama)3个属从裸甲藻科(Gymnodiniaceae)中分出,单独成凯伦藻科(Kareniaceae);角藻属(Ceratium)中的大部分海洋种改为新角藻属(Neoceratium);亚历山大藻属(Alexandrium)从屋甲藻科(Goniodomataceae)中分出,归入膝沟藻科(Gonyaulacaceae);取消异沟藻科(Heteraulacus),由屋甲藻科取而代之;成立2个新目,即尖尾藻目(Oxyrrhinales)和梨甲藻目(Pyrocystales).     

黄芩的花粉母细胞减数分裂及核型分析

采用压片法,对黄芩花粉母细胞减数分裂及核型进行了研究。结果表明:黄芩的大多数花粉母细胞减数分裂中染色体的行为正常,在终变期同源染色体配对后可形成9个二价体,后期Ⅰ染色体以9∶9的方式向细胞两极分离,其减数分裂为同时型;在少数花粉母细胞减数分裂中观察到落后染色体、染色体桥等异常行为;其花粉粒育性为76.49%。黄芩的染色体数目为2n=2X=18,核型公式为K(2n)=2X=18=16m+2 sm,染色体相对长度组成为2n=1 s+4M1+3M2+1L,其核型为"1A"型。     

The SciZ protein anchors the enteroaggregative Escherichia coli Type VI secretion system to the cell wall

Type VI secretion systems (T6SS) are multi‐component machines encoded within the genomes of most Gram‐negative bacteria that associate with plant, animal and/or human cells, and therefore are considered as potential virulence factors. We recently launched a study on the Sci‐1 T6SS of enteroaggregative Escherichia coli (EAEC). The Sci‐1 T6SS is composed of all or a subset of the 21 gene products encoded within the cluster, 13 of which are shared by all T6SS identified so far. In the present work, we focussed our attention on the SciZ protein. We first showed that SciZ is required for the release of the Hcp protein in the culture supernatant and for efficient biofilm formation, demonstrating that SciZ is necessary for EAEC T6SS function. Indeed, SciZ forms a complex with SciP, SciS and SciN, three core components of the transport apparatus. Fractionation and topology studies showed that SciZ is a polytopic inner membrane protein with three trans‐membrane segments. Computer analyses identified a motif shared by peptidoglycan binding proteins of the OmpA family in the SciZ periplasmic domain. Using in vivo and in vitro binding assays, we showed that this motif anchors the SciZ protein to the cell wall and is required for T6SS function.     

Population control of the yellow‐spined bamboo locust,Ceracris kiangsu,using urine‐borne chemical baits in bamboo forest

The yellow‐spined bamboo locust, Ceracris kiangsu Tsai (Orthoptera: Oedipodidae), is a notorious defoliator of bamboos in China. In commercial bamboo forests, spraying insecticides to control C. kiangsu is neither convenient nor economic, therefore environmentally acceptable and cost‐effective methods are needed. Ceracris kiangsu adults are known to aggregate and gnaw at human urine‐contaminated materials; NaCl is a strong phagostimulant and NH₄HCO₃ is an attractant/arrestant. In the present paper, we found that foam plastic containers containing a blend of 0.03% bisultap, 3% NaCl, 3% NH₄HCO₃, and 0.1% Triton X‐100 (tetrad bait) had a powerful attracticidal effect and could kill a great number of especially female C. kiangsu adults, comparable to those containing a mixture of 0.03% bisultap and 5‐day‐incubated urine. In a field trial, the tetrad bait killed approximately 80% of females and about 9% of males in the treated plots after daily application for five consecutive days. The corrected average reduction rate was 48.2%. Moreover, the sex ratio was decreased from 1.18 before the trial to 0.25 after the experiment in the treated plots. These results indicated that there is the potential to develop a trap using NaCl as a phagostimulant and NH₄HCO₃ as an attractant that can be used for C. kiangsu control.     

Contrasting genetic metrics and patterns among naturalized rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) in two Patagonian lakes differentially impacted by trout aquaculture

Different pathways of propagation and dispersal of non‐native species into new environments may have contrasting demographic and genetic impacts on established populations. Repeated introductions of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) to Chile in South America, initially through stocking and later through aquaculture escapes, provide a unique setting to contrast these two pathways. Using a panel of single nucleotide polymorphisms, we found contrasting genetic metrics and patterns among naturalized trout in Lake Llanquihue, Chile's largest producer of salmonid smolts for nearly 50 years, and Lake Todos Los Santos (TLS), a reference lake where aquaculture has been prohibited by law. Trout from Lake Llanquihue showed higher genetic diversity, weaker genetic structure, and larger estimates for the effective number of breeders (N_b) than trout from Lake TLS. Trout from Lake TLS were divergent from Lake Llanquihue and showed marked genetic structure and a significant isolation‐by‐distance pattern consistent with secondary contact between documented and undocumented stocking events in opposite shores of the lake. Multiple factors, including differences in propagule pressure, origin of donor populations, lake geomorphology, habitat quality or quantity, and life history, may help explain contrasting genetic metrics and patterns for trout between lakes. We contend that high propagule pressure from aquaculture may not only increase genetic diversity and N_b via demographic effects and admixture, but also may impact the evolution of genetic structure and increase gene flow, consistent with findings from artificially propagated salmonid populations in their native and naturalized ranges.