高油玉米优良自交系再生体系的建立

以供试的5个高油玉米优良自交系为材料,建立了一个高效的高油玉米幼胚再生体系.研究表明,高油玉米幼胚组织培养的最适幼胚长轴长度在0.5 mm～2.0 mm左右;MB培养基是最适的胚性愈伤组织诱导培养基;各材料胚性愈伤组织诱导率差异较大,以4K261和4K296的胚性愈伤诱导率较高;不同材料最适的继代培养条件存在差异,但基因型仍然是决定各自交系胚性愈伤组织的继代能力的主导因素,其中以4K261最佳.5个自交系均能分化出幼苗,但分化率差异较大,以4K059分化率最高,达82.0 %;其次是4K261和4K296,分别为63.2 %和59.0 %;4K060和4K061表现最差.所以4K059、4K261和4K296均可作为遗传转化的受体材料.该体系的建立为高油玉米的遗传转化奠定了基础.     

Landscape simplification increases vineyard pest outbreaks and insecticide use

Diversifying agricultural landscapes may mitigate biodiversity declines and improve pest management. Yet landscapes are rarely managed to suppress pests, in part because researchers seldom measure key variables related to pest outbreaks and insecticides that drive management decisions. We used a 13‐year government database to analyse landscape effects on European grapevine moth (Lobesia botrana) outbreaks and insecticides across c. 400 Spanish vineyards. At harvest, we found pest outbreaks increased four‐fold in simplified, vineyard‐dominated landscapes compared to complex landscapes in which vineyards are surrounded by semi‐natural habitats. Similarly, insecticide applications doubled in vineyard‐dominated landscapes but declined in vineyards surrounded by shrubland. Importantly, pest population stochasticity would have masked these large effects if numbers of study sites and years were reduced to typical levels in landscape pest‐control studies. Our results suggest increasing landscape complexity may mitigate pest populations and insecticide applications. Habitat conservation represents an economically and environmentally sound approach for achieving sustainable grape production.     

Development of New Natural Extracts

For over the past 20 years, a remarkable development in the study and search of natural products has been observed. This is linked to a new market trend towards ecology and also due to new regulations. This could be a rupture, but also a real booster for creativity. Usually, in the flavor and fragrance field, creativity was boosted by the arrival of new synthetic molecules. Naturals remained the traditional, century‐old products, protected by secrecy and specific know‐how from each company. Regulatory restrictions or eco‐friendly certification constraints like hexane‐free processes triggered an important brainstorming in the industry. As a result, we developed new eco‐friendly processes including supercritical CO₂ extraction, allowing fresh plants to be used to obtain industrial flower extracts (Jasmine Grandiflorum, Jasmine Sambac, Orange blossom). These extracts are analyzed by GC, GC/MS, GC? O, and HPTLC techniques. New or unusual raw materials can also be explored, but the resulting extracts have to be tested for safety reasons. Some examples are described.     

Soil respiration in Tibetan alpine grasslands: belowground biomass and soil moisture, but not soil temperature, best explain the large-scale patterns

The Tibetan Plateau is an essential area to study the potential feedback effects of soils to climate change due to the rapid rise in its air temperature in the past several decades and the large amounts of soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks, particularly in the permafrost. Yet it is one of the most under-investigated regions in soil respiration (Rs) studies. Here, Rs rates were measured at 42 sites in alpine grasslands (including alpine steppes and meadows) along a transect across the Tibetan Plateau during the peak growing season of 2006 and 2007 in order to test whether: (1) belowground biomass (BGB) is most closely related to spatial variation in Rs due to high root biomass density, and (2) soil temperature significantly influences spatial pattern of Rs owing to metabolic limitation from the low temperature in cold, high-altitude ecosystems. The average daily mean Rs of the alpine grasslands at peak growing season was 3.92 μmol CO(2) m(-2) s(-1), ranging from 0.39 to 12.88 μmol CO(2) m(-2) s(-1), with average daily mean Rs of 2.01 and 5.49 μmol CO(2) m(-2) s(-1) for steppes and meadows, respectively. By regression tree analysis, BGB, aboveground biomass (AGB), SOC, soil moisture (SM), and vegetation type were selected out of 15 variables examined, as the factors influencing large-scale variation in Rs. With a structural equation modelling approach, we found only BGB and SM had direct effects on Rs, while other factors indirectly affecting Rs through BGB or SM. Most (80%) of the variation in Rs could be attributed to the difference in BGB among sites. BGB and SM together accounted for the majority (82%) of spatial patterns of Rs. Our results only support the first hypothesis, suggesting that models incorporating BGB and SM can improve Rs estimation at regional scale.     

葛洲坝枢纽下游白鲟性腺发育的初步观察

白鲟Psephurus gladius(Martens)是我国特有的稀珍鱼类,近年来对其生物学做了一些初步的研究。鉴于它的种群较小,在学术上具有较为重要的价值,所以,长江兴修水利工程以后对其资源的影响及资源保护和增殖问题,特别是聚集于坝下江段的白鲟亲鱼性腺能否发育成熟等问题,和中华鲟一样引起了水产科学工作者的普遍关注。       

Overexpression of fucosyltransferase IV in A431 cell line increases cell proliferation

Fucosyltransferase IV is an essential enzyme that catalyzes the synthesis of fucosylated oligosaccharides by transferring GDP-fucose to the terminal N-acetylglucosamine with the alpha1,3-linkage. Lewis Y oligosaccharide has a terminal alpha1,3-linked fucose residue and elevation of Lewis Y level is seen in many epithelial cancers. The mechanism of Lewis Y elevation in neoplastic cells is still largely unknown. To study the impact of fucosyltransferase IV on Lewis Y expression and its role on neoplastic cell proliferation, a pEGFP-N1-FUT4 recombinant plasmid was developed and stably transfected into A431 cells. We found that fucosyltransferase IV overexpression promoted cell proliferation and increased the expression of proliferating cell nuclear antigen that correlated with Lewis Y augmentation. Cell cycle analysis demonstrated that fucosyltransferase IV overexpression facilitated cell cycle progression. In conclusion, fucosyltransferase IV overexpression augments Lewis Y expression to trigger neoplastic cell proliferation. These studies suggest that fucosyltransferase IV may serve as a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of Lewis Y-positive epithelial cancers.     

圈养金钱豹尿液中的挥发性成分分析

<正>哺乳动物的尿液挥发性成分被认为是同哺乳动物信息激素一样重要的物质,迄今报道的野生动物尿液挥发性成分研究的有狮(Panthera leo)(Andersen and Vulpius,1999)、山猫(Lynx rufus)(Mattina et al.,1991)、土狼(Canis lupus)(Raymer et al.,1986)、郊狼(Canis latrans)(Schultz,1988)、红狐(Vulpes vulpe)(Jorgensen et al.,1978)以及鼬科物种(Zhang et al.,2005)。Robert和Joseph(1991)利用山猫和土狼尿液气味抑制白尾鹿(Odocoileus leucurus)对日本     

Large-scale preventive chemotherapy for the control of helminth infection in Western Pacific countries: six years later

In 2001, Urbani and Palmer published a review of the epidemiological situation of helminthiases in the countries of the Western Pacific Region of the World Health Organization indicating the control needs in the region. Six years after this inspiring article, large-scale preventive chemotherapy for the control of helminthiasis has scaled up dramatically in the region. This paper analyzes the most recent published and unpublished country information on large-scale preventive chemotherapy and summarizes the progress made since 2000. Almost 39 million treatments were provided in 2006 in the region for the control of helminthiasis: nearly 14 million for the control of lymphatic filariasis, more than 22 million for the control of soil-transmitted helminthiasis, and over 2 million for the control of schistosomiasis. In general, control of these helminthiases is progressing well in the Mekong countries and Pacific Islands. In China, despite harboring the majority of the helminth infections of the region, the control activities have not reached the level of coverage of countries with much more limited financial resources. The control of food-borne trematodes is still limited, but pilot activities have been initiated in China, Lao People's Democratic Republic, and Vietnam.